Classes aren’t quite over, but I gave my last lecture for the fall 2007 semester today. I still have a discussion session, a lab, and an exam to give, but it’s still something of a landmark in the trajectory of the term. No more lecture prep! No more daily theatrical performances! What’s left is more like friendly conversation and accounting.
I have this six-pack of homebrew from Dave Puskala waiting for me in the refrigerator at home…I’m opening one tonight.
People keep sending me horrible, frustrating news stories — I’ll post some later, but first, I have to restore my center with pleasant contemplation. Deep breaths. Grade some more exams. Watch some fish for a little while.
OK, here’s a pleasant memento: Mrs Janes’ 3rd grade class at O’Brien Elementary School, in Kent, Washington. The year is 1966.
This is where I met my wife. I’m in the picture somewhere, and so is she. Think you can find us?
I think I’m feeling better now.
Names are added now, you can all stop guessing. I’m fourth from the right, middle row; the Trophy Wife™ is third from the left, front row.
Those sneaky alumni organizations — they’ve always got new angles on how to get to you. The alumni magazine for the University of Oregon has a writeup on me and a current member of the UO faculty, Mark Thoma. Apparently, we are Cyber Scholars, professors who use the blogosphere to teach the world. I think we need some new academic robes to go with that designation — preferably something in silver fabrics, and with a jetpack.
I did not drop off the face of the earth in the last 3/4 of a day — I joined the 47 million Americans who spend the day before Thanksgiving in an annual familial migration. I had to drive Daughter #1 and her sweetie-pie to Buffalo, Minnesota; then drive to Minneapolis to pick up Son #2, who’d had a long day on a bus from Madison, Wisconsin; then back to Buffalo to pick up Daughter #1 sans sweetie-pie; then to St Cloud to pick up Son #1; and finally, back home to Morris. For a time there I had my entire genetic output in a small car with me, in the snow, on a freeway (and I think all 47 million traveling Americans were on I94 between Minneapolis and Monticello for a time), and I was thinking that this whole family get-together thing was an opportunity for a major Darwinian catastrophe.
We made it safely back in the wee hours of the morning, fortunately. Now today I spend preparing mass quanitities of protein and carbohydrate to pack into the gaping, peeping maws of the younglings, which does make Darwinian sense, at least.
I hope you are all out reinforcing the social and familial linkages that enhance your inclusive fitness today, as well.
An article in the NYT on surname frequency settles the most important issue of our time:
|
Myers |
83 occurrences/100,000 people, rank 85. |
|
Meyers |
21 occurrences/100,000 people, rank 528. |
Now can everyone please start using the dominant, correct spelling?
This is going to be a big problem. I’m at this gathering of bloggers, which means they’re all going to be posting stuff about our meeting here at Americans United, and I’m outnumbered — I can’t keep up. I had dinner with Blue Gal, BAC, DCup, and One Pissed Off Veteran, and some of them already have pictures up.
And after dinner we had the combined Pharyngula/Bad Astronomy gathering, which seemed to have a majority of BA fans, to my chagrin. I think more failed to show up because they know I shoot laser beams out of my eyes. We also got a surprise visit from Tara and an Evil Monkey. The ScienceBorg Collective was out in force, trying to collect souls for the Empire — we leaned on Phil a bit, but he is stubborn. Clearly, it’s time to deploy the fully operational…but wait, I’ve said too much.
Anyway, anyone who was there should speak up in the comments, and feel free to leave a link — it will simplify my efforts to keep track of everyone.
Oh, one guy it’ll be easy to keep up with is Phil, who is still unconscious up in the room. I guess he needs his beauty sleep.
So I arrived here in Washington D.C. several hours ago, and made the mistake of taking some shuttle service from Dulles…which proceeded to take the passengers direct to their homes, which meant I got a long, long tour of winding narrow suburban roads all over the outlying parts of the city, sitting behind the choked traffic as the wall-to-wall cars parked on both sides meant we were constrained to basically one lane. How do you people live in this chaos? It took me almost as much time to get from Dulles to Capitol Hill as it did to drive all the way across the state of Minnesota this morning! I’m thinking now that I’m going to have to leave awfully early on Monday to make sure I get to the airport in time.
Anyway, I’m going to depressurize here in the hotel for a few hours and then strike out (on foot) for food. There’s some kind of big white marble building near here…there’s probably beer nearby.
Hi, Stan. You’re new here, like a whole lot of people. You’ve just shown up, and here’s your very first comment.
I noticed that this blog is in the running for a Best Science Blog award.
I’ve looked over the site. Cna someone point out where the science is on it. I have looked but I can’t find any.
Let me introduce myself. My name is PZ Myers. I’m an associate professor of biology at a small liberal arts university in the upper midwest. I make no grand claims for myself, but I have been exceptionally busy lately, with lots of travel and lectures, and it’s all on top of teaching two courses, one of which is both new to me and a new course in our discipline, so I’m writing lectures at a frantic pace and trying to keep up with 80 students. I’m also working on a book and have a magazine column to write, in addition to other irregular writing jobs. I’m stretched very, very thin right now, I’m a bit frustrated myself that I haven’t had much spare time for the blog, and I’m feeling extremely cranky.
Welcome, Stan Palmer, I’m going to unload on you as a proxy for all your fellow denialist idiots!
Hey, everyone, I said I was going to be in Washington DC this weekend, with the notorious Phil Plait. We’ve compared notes and figured out our schedules, and are ready to announce a time and place for a general meetup: 9pm, Saturday, 10 November at the Senators Sports Bar at Holiday Inn on the Hill (here’s a map). There may be some other infamous bloggers on hand, too — we’ll invite them, but well, you know, this is going to be a gathering of High Nerddom, and it may be a bit intimidating to normal people.
Now go vote for Bad Astronomy for Best Science Blog. He’s behind that front for denialists blog, and this is the last day…help him out! If he doesn’t win, everyone will have to buy lots of Bubble Me Blue martinis to console him.
I have been sleeping the sleep of the dead—it turns out that if you don’t bother to sleep for 40 hours you get really tired and when you lie down your brain shuts off. This is very good to know. It means I’ve been completely ignoring Pharyngula for a long, long time, and wow, did the comments pile up. So let me deal with a few things quickly.
I am pleased to see that the comments did not descend into total anarchy, but come on, don’t pick on Robert O’Brien because he looks like a dork. I look like a dork. I suspect that if you people had to verify your comments with your passport photos we’d discover that Pharyngula is Dork City.
The most amazing stupidity in the comments, though, is coming from a certain dork from Conservapædia. Listen: you know you’re a paranoid kook if post a comment late at night, get a message that it’s being held for approval, and then start repeatedly ranting that you’re being suppressed, and make it an issue for the front page of conservapædia.
I was asleep, man.
I think the conservapædia articles on evolution and homosexuality are excellent examples of right-wing stupidity, and I may get around to critiquing them at some point…after I clear the backlog of work I’ve got on my desk. It might be a while. And I’m willing to put off as long as a whining fool from conservapædia is actively demonstrating his inanity for me in the comments.
How about happier news? Yes, I’m going to be in Washington DC this weekend (the 10th and 11th), returning on Monday evening. I’m doing some stuff with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, so I’m not totally free, but I’m sure we can work out some time for a meetup.
Notice I said “we”…another fellow, among others, who will be there is Phil Plait. We’re even rooming together (before you assume too much, you should know that Phil has a man-crush on Wil Wheaton, not me (nor William Riker)).
I bet with a little negotiation we could arrange to have both Phil Plait and PZ Myers in the same public place for a few hours, and you all could stop by and buy us beer and calamari and make pointed comparisons and tell us how dorky we look.
So there you go. Lots of travel last week, brief recovery from exhaustion this weekend, lots of teaching to do this week, then more travel next week. I’ve got to spend some time at home!
