I’m back! I’m exhausted!

My travels are done for a whole week now (according to my calendar, I’m going to have to go to Washington DC next week), and I’m very, very tired. I’ll put up some of my thoughts on the Beyond Belief conference later (short summary: exhilarating!), but for now I’ll acknowledge the wonderful time I had at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. It was a big audience — much bigger than I expected — and they asked really sharp questions and tossed back a few important ideas on communicating science that I appreciated. Special thanks to my host, Miriam Goldstein.

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I promised to mention the Three Seas Program, which looks like an excellent opportunity for students interested in marine biology—actually, I wish I could do it—and I’m going to be sure too suggest to my students who think marine biology and oceanography are cool (we get a few of these students from the midwestern prairies every year who dream of the distant seas) that they ought to consider the Scripps for grad school.

Thanks also to Hao Ye, official photographer to the PZ Myers Southern California Tour 2007.

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I can’t really thank this guy for showing up, since he missed my entire talk and therefore missed the opportunity to absorb the PZ mojo and have his IQ doubled but some of you may know who he is. If you can’t, here’s a hint.

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PZ Myers at the Scripps

While I’m here in San Diego, I’ll also be giving a talk/hosting a discussion at the Scripps Institute on Friday at 3:00. The title is:

Sharing science: education, activism, and advocacy

I’m planning on telling the attendees the secret to getting a million visits per month to their blogs. No, actually — I’m going to discuss and justify diverse approaches to getting the public engaged in science issues, and I plan to mention both what I consider to be successes (but which may not change the wider conversations) and failures (which even so are of value). And it’s open to the public! Come on down to Vaughn 100 on the Scripps Institution of Oceanograph (map), and join in the conversation.

Northfield!

I have arrived in beautiful Northfield, MN (motto: “Cows, Colleges, and Contentment.” I expect a placid audience for my talk tonight). My first impression, right after passing St Olaf College, was an odd one: what is that strange chocolatey aroma I’m smelling everywhere? Shortly afterwards I came upon a gigantic Malt-O-Meal plant, and all was explained. I guess smelling like Malt-O-Meal isn’t the worst thing that could happen to a college town, although there is one better: the UO campus at Eugene used to occasionally smell intensely of fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, thanks to a bakery down the street from it.

I have to mention one of the unfortunate things about Morris. It used to occasionally reek like yeasty sour beer, from the ethanol plant on the edge of town. They seem to have cleaned up their act in the last few years, and we rarely get that odor anymore. There were a few days this summer, though, where the wind was just right and we got treated to the stink of the local pig farms, which is not at all pleasant.

I think I’ll take the scent of breakfast cereal any day.

Travelin’ again

As you read this, the Trophy Wife™ and I are zooming down I94, on our way to a pleasant weekend together in Madison for the Freedom from Religion Convention. Our hotel does have wi-fi, so have no fear — I won’t be out of touch. And perhaps I’ll have tales of Julia Sweeney and Christopher Hitchens to share with you all.

If you’re in Madison, too, don’t forget: Saturday, 12-2, at Brocach is the IIDB/Pharynguloid meetup.

Meetup in Madison

As I mentioned earlier, I’m going to be in Madison this weekend for the Freedom from Religion Foundation convention. A bunch of IIDBers are also attending, and they’ve suggested a meetup over lunch (12-2) on Saturday, the 13th, at an Irish pub called Brocach. That sounds good to me — a meeting of the IIDB and the Pharynguloid sects of the Atheism cult, over beer.

Auto-da-fe of any schismatics and heretics afterwards!

Countrywide? I’ve heard of them…

Alright, I want you people to school me real quick. I’ve been reading these stories about the Countrywide mortgage company getting mean and nasty with foreclosures, and the Countrywide CEO leeching huge personal profits from the company — Krugman even compares Countrywide to Enron.

Now normally, financial news just flies by my bleary eyes and is ignored, but the name in this case perked me up: the mortgage on my house is through Countrywide. Do I have to worry?

I wouldn’t think so. We got our mortgage at a good, low fixed rate some years ago, we haven’t had any problems keeping up on the payments (the cost of living in Morris is wonderfully low), and we don’t foresee any reason to trouble a lender in the future. But I have noticed an annoying uptick in dunning phone calls from Countrywide “offering” to renegotiate the mortgage (we neither need nor want to), and now all this chatter has me losing confidence in them.

I know there are economics wizards and smart legal minds among the readers here. Reassure me.