It was halftime of the Suns-Clippers game, and it was already midnight. The Eastern Time Zone is all screwy.
I'm in Indianapolis, where I'll be a judge at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair again. The next few days will be hectic, but rewarding. Should I be grading? Oh, yes. Perhaps I should do a bit of that before turning in. Of course, the Suns game is still in the third quarter, so I'll be up awhile longer anyways.
I got this meme from Mike: "Write ten words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along. " He gave me the letter N.
1. Nice - this is typically how I'm described. Not that it's bad, but it is boring. Whenever I try to break the mold, though, I fail. Guess I'm doomed to be nice.
2. Niche - thought I'd found mine; turns out I haven't. That's a good thing, I believe, because I'd hate to think that life couldn't change after the age of thirty-five.
3. NASA - from Mercury to Apollo, Hubble to Cassini, grad school funding to E/PO grants, NASA has had an effect on my life that's almost impossible to describe. Perfect? No, but where would our understanding of the cosmos be without NASA?
4. Nebula - birthplace of stars, birthplace of dreams. The cycle of life and death playing out on an unfathomable scale. Seeing this image of the Vela supernova remnant when I was a young girl marked the beginning of my journey towards being an astrophysicist.
5. Nerd - gee, ya think?
6. Nature - you might be sensing a theme here. Taking the time to appreciate the universe around me is very important to me - looking through a telescope, touching a moon rock, sitting on an cliff overlooking the ocean, pressing my nose against the airplane window to peer at volcanoes, hiking in the cool mountain air... It isn't that I don't appreciate man-made works of art and literature, but nature awes me.
7. Night - I love the darkness, the cool air, the silence. I love the stars, Moon, and planets all shimmering above. I love moonlight streaming through the window and the last lingering stars before dawn.
8. Never - I never thought I'd fly alone on a plane. I never thought I'd lose 60 lbs. I never thought I'd drive across country alone. Never is a word that I will attempt to use more judiciously in the future.
9. Nine Inch Nails - the last few years been rough, and I don't know what I would have done without Trent Reznor - new album, concerts, and lyrics that speak to me like no others.
10. Next - mmm...the possibilities are endless.
All in one day...it's an amazing world.
Last night I had a very odd dream. It started with a discussion with a student, who said he owned a bookstore specializing in history books. (Surprising, because he doesn't strike me as being particularly bookish.) However I was reminded that I had been neglecting the course I was taking on running my own business. So I dragged myself to that class, where we were doing some sort of trust-building exercise by singing solo in front of the class. Everybody else performed lovely renditions of Beatles songs or snippets of opera arias. Me, I couldn't think of anything. No songs, no words were in my head. When it was finally my turn, I burst into the only song I could think of at the time - "Particle Man" by They Might Be Giants. Much laughter ensued. I left the class, but on the way out I did sure take that last chocolate donut.
My dreams are typically straightforward to interpret: student interaction is done on a daily basis, I'm obsessed with books, and I want every bit of chocolate I see. The singing was prompted by chancing upon a student who was demonstrating her singing skills by singing "Country Roads" by John Denver in her best soprano vibrato. Now that's weird.
Today is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Many people celebrate this day - we did so by preparing a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and banana walnut pancakes. It was a very pleasant day overall, a nice respite from the hectic semester that this has become. Only four weeks left, including finals. I'm not convinced I'll be able to finish all my grading and other obligations. But for most of today, I forgot that. It was a good day.
They were calling to me, those peanut M&Ms. I usually don't have them around, but there they were, leftover from the Vegas road-trip. I could not resist. All gone now. I guess I'll call this M&M incident "dinner" and move on.
Got back not too long ago from a weekend in Las Vegas with Greg, who graciously escorted me to my fourth Nine Inch Nails concert of the past year. Vegas, as always, was fascinating and repulsive. NIN, as always, was spectacular. Opened with "Mr. Self Destruct" - aaiiee! Performed "Something I Can Never Have" - as a guy behind me blurted out during this song, "God can strike me down now". Saul Williams was an amazing opening act. I'm glad I've been introduced to his work - kind of punk hip-hop. Gotta see if I can squeeze in one of the shows on the NIN summer tour, which Trent says will be the last for the US for awhile. And is there any man who looks sexier with a tambourine than Trent Reznor? I know, it makes no sense unless you see him, but oh my goodness...
I've written previously about how difficult this semester has been. I haven't really noted much improvement. I've made connections with individual students, but none of my classes have a good vibe still. And some of the students have been rough to deal with - the ones who get up and leave without trying if the lab has math in it, the ones who demand to know why they have to take the course for their major, the ones who yell at me because they find the course difficult and I have to bite my tongue and not yell back that this IS the easier version of introductory physics, the ones who are inert in the classroom... Last Wednesday, during the introduction to Mars lecture, my class was almost completely silent. Things that have sparked great discussions with previous classes did nothing here. I kept thinking during that hour, "I'm just gonna go back to my office and cry. Just bawl." Then one of my students approached me after class. He said that he was thinking about becoming a teacher and wondered if he could ask a few questions. Then he asked me, "How do you deal with a class that just refuses to respond, no matter what you do?" And I realized that some of my students were frustrated by their classmates' lack of interaction, too. We chatted for quite some time, and when he left he told me that he appreciated all of the effort I put into our class.
So I'd just like to thank Brian for saving my semester. I was pretty much bottoming out there, and he threw me a lifeline.
Today I hit the 60 lb mark - I've lost 60 lbs since August 2004. It's going slowly now, having taken almost six months to lose the last ten lbs. But slow and steady is a good thing. I'm going to try to keep it up a little while longer.
Yesterday, a particularly cold storm ended 143 days without precipitation for Phoenix. Snow fell in the surrounding mountains, so today I went to one of Phoenix's urban parks - Papago Park - to take some pictures. Trust me, the beauty could not be adequately captured by my lame attempts.
Just to show you that I am indeed in the desert, here's the view to the South:
But here's the view to the East:
And here's the view to the Northeast - never has the contrast between Red Mountain and the White Mountains been so obvious:
The solar system was prominent in the news this week. First came news that Saturn's small moon Enceladus might have liquid water geysers. This would be an incredible find. The Earth is the only world known to have liquid water at the surface. Jupiter's moons Europa and Ganymede may have subsurface oceans. But for water geyser activity to be happening in Enceladus, the water would have to be awfully near the surface. Many questions remain, though - most small worlds are geologically dead, and I don't know that the scientists studying Enceladus have determined the reason for such unexpected geologic activity. Let's hear it, though, for the amazing science coming from the Cassini mission.
Can't leave the planet Mars out of the news. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter successfully completed its orbit insertion around Mars. It will be aerobraking into a low Martian orbit for the next six months. Expect the first Mars data in November 2006.
Lost in the coverage of Enceladus and MRO was the followup Hubble observations of the two new moons of Pluto. Scientists have determined that the two new moons show the same color properties as Charon, Pluto's largest moon, pointing to a common origin for all three moons. It is thought that another Kuiper Belt object smashed into Pluto and formed the three moons, much as we think a Mars-sized object impacted the Earth and formed our Moon.
And on a local scale, but seeming almost as important today, it's raining here in the Phoenix metro area, bringing an end to a record-setting 143 days without measurable rain! Believe it or not, some parts of the region are getting snow! From the Arizona Republic:
Other states have similar bills before their legislatures - keep an eye on them, people! From the Arizona Republic:
Offensive-coursework bill shot down
Robbie Sherwood
While this discussion focused on moral objections due to depiction of violence or sexual content, you can imagine how us science instructors felt about this can of worms. We're keeping an eye out for reintroduction of the bill with changed language.
I awoke this morning from a very pleasant dream. I was in an urban area, perhaps a city park of some sort, quietly populated with a few people. It was snowing gently, muffling the sound such that all I could hear was the crunching of snow beneath my feet. I felt peaceful and content, with the day ahead of me seeming so full of possibilities.
Definitely a dream, not a reality. The sense of place I had in my dream that I don't have in my waking moments, well, it's left me feeling slightly blue today.
This semester is chaotic and busy and stressful. I feel like I do nothing but work. And I'm excited that Spring Break is in a week so I can catch up on grading. I bore even myself.
I was invited by the city of Scottsdale's Parks and Recreation Dept. to give a presentation at a family stargazing night this past Saturday. Despite the partly cloudy skies, a few dozen people showed up. Had a lot of fun, met some interesting people, got to see Saturn. All in all, a good time.
Students nominated me for an award at the university where I teach part-time. I'm not eligible for the award (due to the part-time status), but I was touched to be nominated. The award would have meant participating in the Last Lecture Series, which enables the faculty member to give the lecture that they would want to give if they only had this one last chance to speak to the public. (And I'll take it on faith that students just wanted to hear what I had to say, instead of just hoping I'd give this last lecture and then shut-up forever.)
So, I've been wondering...what would I say? It is a provoking thought. Sure, I could give a decent talk full of pretty astronomy images, but freed from the educational objectives of a traditional lecture, really, what would I say? I'm not sure, but it's something I continue to think about.
What would you say if you had one last chance to sway or move or motivate an audience?
Wow, time does fly...
Over 50% of my caloric intake today was chocolate of some form. That's a good day, I say.
Today was a holiday for me. I took the morning off, but worked the rest of the day. I made chili for lunches and a decadent pasta dish for dinner. I wrote eight physics quizzes. I wrote one astronomy midterm. I wrote half of a new astronomy lab. Whew.
I had to work today because I had a glorious weekend hanging out with friends. This weekend marked the twentieth anniversary of the college science fiction club where I've made so many friends. It's also where I met Greg over sixteen years ago. Some of the new members weren't even born when the club started! It was just lovely seeing all the geeks, many of whom I hadn't seen in years. I'm very glad I let Kirsten drag me to that first meeting so many years ago.
Hmm...if I go to bed now, I might get six whole hours of sleep! Good night, all!
I just haven't reached my classes this semester. I wonder if it's because I was sick the first week and didn't make a good impression? I don't know, but the vibe in the classroom isn't as pleasant as it usually is. With one lecture in particular, I find myself stumbling for words at places where the complete lack of reaction catches me off guard. I think of teaching now almost as performance art, and I feed a lot off of my audience. This feedback loop is an unfortunate cycle this semester, and I can't figure out how to break out of it. It's a shame in so many ways - the students are not getting me at my best, and I'm not having the fun I normally do at work. I feel like the more I try to reach them, the more distant they become.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I know I only have to pay the $500 deductible (only $500 - sigh) , but the fact that some assholes inflicted $1200.03 worth of damage on my car in a random act of vandalism has upset me very much. And it isn't just the money - it's going to take about a week for the repairs. I have a rental, and it's covered by my insurance, but it isn't the same. Some worthless jerks have robbed me of time, money, and the little car that's taken me to friends and freedom and ragey music and peaceful vistas.
I don't understand meanness, but if your goal was to make me very sad, it worked.
There are many times when I quell my baser instincts. I don't say the mean thing that pops to mind or perform the inappropriate action that would be immediately gratifying. Nope, I bite my tongue and try to do the right thing because I do believe the vast majority of people deserve no less.
So imagine how I felt this morning coming out to the car after breakfast to find two big shoeprints on the passenger side, one accompanied by a big deep dent in the door.
People are poopy.
:(
Oh, to be there!
David stopped by for a few days on his epic cross-country roadtrip. (Jealous.) I think it's exciting that David is moving to Switzerland. Sounds so romantic and adventurous. (Jealous.) Best of luck to David! And wish him well getting over his evil sickness! (Not so jealous.)
I have not done any significant grading yet this semester. I am so screwed.
If Arcosanti weren't so cultish, I could totally see myself wanting to retire there. But, no.
It occurs to me that I should ask the chemistry lab tech if he's washed his hands before I accept the piece of chocolate, but for 73.5% cocoa content, it's so worth the risk.
We all know the dream is better than the reality, but do you ever wonder if you might just be wrong about that?
The green laser pointer I purchased for the astronomy labs kicks ass. I'm gonna get in trouble with that thing. :)
I think I shall eat a peanut cluster now.
For a moment, I thought this CNN headline was about me:
Student: Teacher humiliated him over Broncos jerseyA lot of people have basic misconceptions about astronomy and science in general. Many seek out information, whether it be by reading magazines and newspapers, watching science programs on TV, or attending talks, like the symposium on religion, intelligent design, and evolution that I attended last night. The majority of Americans may be scientifically illiterate, but sometimes I think it's not due to an unwillingness to learn, but rather lack of ability to filter out the crap.
Case in point - this last weekend, the USA Today Weekend Magazine supplement, which appears in many papers nationally, published an article on how the newly discovered possible tenth planet "Xena" might affect your horoscope. Not tongue-in-cheek. Devoid of sarcasm. And listed under the subject heading "Science". So let's say John Doe wakes up on a Sunday morning and decides to educate himself in current events in science, so he opened up his newspaper, and pulled out this article. Didn't he do his part? Didn't he try?
Or he could sign up for a class at his local community college and walk into a room where a mousy mid-thirties chick attempts to debunk astrology as the pseudoscience it is. Who carries more sway - the nationally syndicated newspaper or me? I'm not claiming that this has happened, but rather use this example to illustrate my point. Misconceptions are being perpetuated by what we consider to be legitimate information sources. Sigh. I guess this is why I do what I do.
I napped for almost two hours today. I think the stress of the first week of classes caught up with me. Or it could be the overeating. When I'm not feeling well and still have to work, I eat everything in sight to keep up my energy. Oof.
So I'm wondering, what would be your reaction to someone sitting on a bench in Scottsdale who was barking and growling softly at passersby?
Congrats to Greg and Tim Pratt for the selection of their story "Robots and Falling Hearts" for Kathryn Cramer's and David Hartwell's Year's Best Fantasy 6. Yay!
I've developed a crush on Kevin Garnett, due to his new Adidas commercial. Yup.
Just the first week of classes, and I'm already behind. Sigh. This is going to be such a long semester.
Lack of sleep and a long flight conspired to put me under the weather this weekend. Raging ear infection, to be precise. I'd have been completely miserable without the gentle ministrations of Greg, who brought me hot cocoa in bed, made a doctor's appointment for me, and settled me on the couch with hot tea and Empire Strikes Back. I am once again reminded how lucky I am in my friends and family. Did I mention Mom sent chocolate chip cookies and Sis brought us her famous peanut clusters? :)
But as you can imagine, being sick and still wishing I was on my D.C. trip made the first day of classes a little rough today. I was feeling down and uninspired, but then I received my course evaluations from last semester and my day started to improve. I work really hard at what I do, so it feels good to have my efforts be appreciated. Then I had a visit with Charly, who always brightens my day. (And dare I say he's a physics major now, hmm?) My physics lecture went a little rough, in part due to a lack of misunderstanding of the word "prerequisite" by many students. But tonight's astronomy lab had some friendly faces in it, and I just ate two chocolate chip cookies, so the first day of classes wasn't so bad after all.
My photos from my D.C. trip sucked, but here are a few I liked (and I had to do something while watching Colts-Steelers):
I'm old enough to rule the world from here now.
However this building is much more impressive.
Here's the Lincoln memorial as seen from the WWII memorial.
I became obsessed with the Washington monument, which looks so gleaming white in the distance...
...but shows such beautiful texture up close.
The problem with such an amazing trip is that I don't even know how to begin describing it. I spent last week in Washington, D.C. at the American Astronomical Society winter meeting. I had tremendous amounts of fun. The conference itself was impressive - over 3100 astronomers in attendance. There were many good talks and posters presented. I attended a talk by the NASA administrator - he painted a realistic picture of the future, but the budget next month is going to be very, very ugly.
In the past, I've generally attended conferences all day long and didn't explore the cities much. This time, however, I decided to follow my New Year's resolution, which is to not be such a good girl anymore. :) So I cut out of the conference in the afternoons and explored D.C. My explorations actually began the day before the conference started, when my beloved Philip and his lovely Faith took me to the National Air and Space Museum. Ah...heaven on Earth. I touched a Moon rock! And saw the Columbia module from Apollo 11! And the Wright Flyer! And the Spirit of St. Louis! I returned there again the next day when I cut out of the conference, and then I headed over to the Natural History Museum to check out the Gem and Mineral exhibit. Oh, so lovely. Especially the meteorites. Oh, the meteorites. I've never seen such a beautiful selection on display. There was a piece of Nakhla out to touch - I've touched Mars! I saw snippets of some of the other museums on the other afternoons, with my friend Kevin, and I must say that every other museum I've been to previously looks like a bad museum gift shop next to the Smithsonian museums. And the monuments and buildings are all remarkable. I took tons of pics, but they all suck compared to reality.
The socializing was excellent. Got to meet new people, including Jackie M.! Nice to see you in person. Got to catch up with the old UCLA astronomy crowd (Robert, Steve S., Suzi, Deborah, Brant). Hung out with the ASU astronomy crowd (Sam, Steve B., Paul, Kevin, Joe, Katie, Greg S., Hu, Ravi, Jason A.). Spent a lot of time, although not enough, with Philip.
As much as I was glad to come home, where Greg had a beautiful piece of azurite waiting for me from his road-trip, I was sad to leave D.C. There is still so much to explore there. I shall have to return soon.
I've been keeping track of how many books I read each year since 1997. 2005 marks a new low in number of books read - only 39. Methinks I spend too much time on the interthingie. Here are the notables from my 2005 reading, in the order I read them:
Happy Reading in 2006, everyone!
Like all years, 2005 had its highs and its lows, but instead of dwelling on the bad, I'll concentrate on the good:
Here's to hoping we all have a peaceful, fulfilling, and happy 2006.
SpaceWeather.com has compiled all of their aurora images into a gallery, finally. There are some magnificent images here, contributed by people all over the world. Here's a current favorite of mine:
Enjoy!
Yesterday was a lovely relaxing day. I was spoiled rotten by friends and family - thanks so much for all of the gifts and gift cards. I will now go buy all the clothing I need! I received socks and clothes and books and chocolates and a tackle box and sea salt and cocoa and much more. I'm a spoiled brat!
I'm also a stuffed brat - I cooked all day. For our holiday breakfast, I made sausage, roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs, and banana walnut pancakes. For holiday dinner I made chicken cordon bleu and pasta, because it's really all about the decadent cream sauce. Mmm...for snacking, well, there was a chocolate incident. Maybe several. That's all I'll say. It was a good day.
I hope that everyone is having happy and peaceful holidays!
The latest ruling in the Dover, PA Intelligent Design case should make me happy, but it doesn't. My fear is that this will now get played out on a much larger stage. The judge's ruling that ID is a religious movement, rather than a scientific model, is correct, but now some proponents of ID are citing this as religious persecution. A couple of quotes for you, from a Washington Post article:
"This decision is a poster child for a half-century secularist reign of terror that's coming to a rapid end with Justice Roberts and soon-to-be Justice Alito," said Richard Land, who is president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and is a political ally of White House adviser Karl Rove.
The Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank, wrote that the judge has a "pernicious understanding of what intellectual and religious freedom in America means."
So, my friends, the battle is far from over, and in many ways may have moved even further away from being a scientific battle than it was before. If you want more information on how the Discovery Institute is waging this war, go to http://www.evolutionnews.org/. It's good to understand the strategy of your opponent.
Today is the winter solstice, when the Sun stands still before beginning its trek back towards the north. The Sun appears to hover, thinking about its next move before continuing on.
Kinda how I feel right now. I'm at a bit of a loss. I keep feeling like there is something I should be doing. Comes from always having tons to do during the semester, I suppose. I feel pretty useless when school isn't in session. Teaching is satisfying and meaningful and it enables me to (hopefully) contribute to society in a positive way. Without it, I am a loser. Blah.
Finals week brings out all of our hopes, fears, and quirks. I see the students struggle and remember being them. I remember doing so many of the same things and asking the same questions.
Will flash cards help? Um, if they're good flash cards. Not if you attempted to write an entire semester's worth of notes on five cards. (I still have the flash cards for my undergraduate astronomy courses.)A few of my astronomy students have voiced their surprise that not only do I correct their grammar and spelling, but I will also dock their grade. I've heard "This isn't an English class, you know." I like the implication that proper English usage is only necessary for their English courses, which have no bearing on the rest of their academic and personal lives, of course.
Don't worry. Next week is finals week, and then my petty griping will slow down somewhat. Until I hit the malls, that is.A couple of images for your enjoyment - too beautiful to choose one over the other
New composite image of the Crab Nebula, from Hubble - Jeff is famous for his many Hubble images (for example, the Eagle nebula), and congrats to Allison for her great work.
Whew. Busy. Very busy.
My mother and sister visited this weekend! I had not seen either of them in over a year. My own mother had difficulty recognizing me because of the weight-loss - nifty, I think. I converted them to the cult of IKEA and drove them around Northern Arizona. We had a lot of fun, and I was sorry to see them go.
The end of the semester is rapidly approaching, and I have so much to do! Grading, writing exams, applying for travel funding, preparing a talk... there are 84 things on my to-do list, and I'm positive that I'm forgetting something important.
Aaiee!
With Greg off at the World Fantasy Convention, I spent the weekend in Flagstaff. Completely hedonistic. I left work on Friday and went immediately to my massage therapist for an hour-long massage. Then I drove to Flagstaff in the late afternoon. The sun was setting as I drove into the Verde Valley, highlighting the red rocks of Sedona in the distance. So lovely. But my goal was at the base of the San Francisco Peaks.
My time in Flagstaff involved soaks in the jacuzzi, hiking in the beautiful sunny crisp weather, and eating at some of my favorite places. I watched Revenge of the Sith and What The #$*! Do We Know?! I drank cocoa and window-shopped for hippy clothing. I managed to spend only $2.70 at the bead shop. I have arrived home completely relaxed, and the mountain air has helped my lingering cold tremendously.Mmm...mexican food...the perfect comfort food. Warm, soft, spicy...mmm....
I had warned a few students over email to be wary about attending office hours today, because I'm sick. One of the students showed up to my office with a thermos of hot tea and honey and a mug. That and a dose of DayQuil got me through the day.I must say I receive much more support and affection from students than I ever would have anticipated. There's been hot tea and thank you cards and flowers and chocolates. There's been Star Wars discussions and magic tricks to cheer me when I'm blue. Visits from former students. Nice emails and hugs. Friendship. If you'd told me before I started teaching how much warmth I'd feel from students, I would have laughed at you. Now I know better, and every day I'm grateful.
Wow, time flies. I can't believe it's Friday already, although I'm grateful.
This week flew by in part because last weekend was full of fun. Greg and I joined Kirsten, Aaron and two other couples for a trip to Catalina Island to celebrate Kirsten's birthday. This was my first trip to Catalina, and it was wonderful. The trip involved eating seafood, seeing dolphins, and dancing all night! It was so much fun. And many congrats to Kirsten's sister and her new fiance!Heard a new one this week. I received a message from a parent saying that her son, one of my students, had suffered memory loss in a pole vault accident and that he wouldn't be in class the rest of the week. Here's to hoping he recovers quickly!
Another new thing - word verification for comments. Hopefully it isn't too annoying for my gentle readers and commenters.I'm in a lab room near some chemistry labs, and one of the chem labs is performing a stinky experiment. Blah!
One of the geology classes brought back a bunch of halite samples from a field trip, lending a rather sulfurous aroma to the stockroom. The samples sure are pretty, though.One of my students asked me the name of my perfume. He says he can always tell when I'm around due to my scent. I'm hoping it's at least a good scent.
During the physics exam I gave yesterday, one of my students was sniffing her wristband. She said it had a nice associative scent - reminded her of Christmas - to keep her positive during the exam.Bread and chocolate chip cookies. Cinnamon and nutmeg. Mmm...
Spent a big chunk of my weekend cozying up to The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. It is beautiful. All of the strips are produced larger than they were originally and on high quality paper. The color is gorgeous. The books themselves are huge, but you get the sense of reading an important tome while flipping through the pages.
I remember reading the first strip in the newspaper, after my brother pointed it out to me. I was immediately hooked. Calvin and Hobbes has helped me through many rough days, and I typically reread the entire collection once each year. I was ready for this new edition, and I'm enjoying it very much.I drove out to Los Angeles last Friday afternoon. It was mostly an uneventful drive, but the fires in L.A. made the Sun an amazing blood red as it set. It was one of those times that I had to chant "don't look at the Sun" over and over, because I really wanted to look for sunspots. Then I arrived at my beloved Kirsten and Aaron's abode, where they took good care of me all weekend.
One of the highlights of the weekend was meeting the new twins! Brian and Amy welcomed twins into the world a few weeks ago. I spent a pleasant hour holding Tristan and Kirsten held Gwendolyn and we had a pleasant conversation with Amy. Tristan was so strong! Babies are so much fun to watch, especially at that early stage. They make little cooing noises and I like to cuddle and coo back - so soothing. I was so happy to meet the new kids and look forward to seeing them again.Dear Students,
This is college. That means you should know better than to write notes to each other during class on the exercise you're going to hand in. I don't care that Roger is sweet or that you want to buy flowers for Becky. I am curious, however, if you noticed that the spectra of air and nitrogen are almost identical. Please check your high school behavior at the door, or at the bare minimum, write these little notes on pieces of paper that aren't to be graded. Or do what the rest of your classmates are doing, and text each other.Hopped on the scale this morning and saw good news. As of this morning's weigh-in, I have lost a total of 50 lbs since August 2004. Even better, this puts me in the healthy weight range for my height. I am no longer overweight. Woo!
Today was a very pleasant and relaxing day. I slept in and then lounged around in my huge robe all morning. We went to see "Corpse Bride", which was quite a lot of fun. Me being me, however, I got the most giddy over seeing the "Harry Potter" trailer. Woo! Much good food was eaten, and with the exception of answering two student emails, I didn't do any work! Yay!!! I hope that all of you had as pleasant a Saturday.
I seldom take any personal time off from work. Let's see...I think one time a few years ago I took a Friday off so we could to go Los Angeles for the weekend, and I took off the Friday before the Nebula Awards last year. Two days off in over five years of work - I think that's pretty good, so why do I feel so guilty about getting a substitute to cover two of my classes last night so I could go see Nine Inch Nails?
My guilt did not impede my fun, however. We had floor tickets and we got to the arena early enough to be really close to the stage. Close enough for a short person like me to see Trent up close! Two hours of glorious aggressive music. They played the three songs I've been binging on recently - "The Line Begins to Blur", "Beside You in Time", and "RIght Where It Belongs" from "With Teeth." Somehow we ended up on the edge of the mosh pit, and I have to admit I enjoyed pushing people back into the pit and supporting the other people around me. We started off closer to the stage, but Greg chivalrously extracted me when the pushing got too furious. Not before I elbowed some pushy chick in the jugular, allowing her momentum to drive me into a back strike to her face, where my diamond ring left a lovely gouge in her cheek.I hadn't felt that good in months.
I have bruises.
Kirsten, Aaron - I'll try to behave when we see NIN in the genteel confines of the Hollywood Bowl, I promise.
I woke up to news that NIN's drummer had to stop the show last night in San Diego and be hospitalized with heart problems. That meant that the show tonight in Tucson, which I merrily had tickets for, was cancelled. However, the hotel was booked and good mexican food restaurants had been scouted out, so Greg and I drove to Tucson, where I now type this at a pleasant little coffeehouse with WiFi.
We hadn't been to Tucson in years - it's so much bigger now! Every chain store the average American demands populates the 'burbs. Still an ugly city, but we had sublime mexican food (Cafe Poca Cosa), and later we'll head to Bookman's and the Frog and Firkin. A very nice way to spend the day, all in all.Just had a student in my office, crying because she has to fly home where her brother is in the hospital. Hospitalized because he was beaten up pretty badly, probably because he is gay. All I could do was give her a hug and some tissue and reassure her that I'll make certain her astronomy class won't be an additional area of stress.
Doesn't feel like enough.
One of my students, a young single mother who wants to be an astronomer some day, is in the hospital with a blood clot in her lung. Please direct happy thoughts her way - aim toward central Arizona. Thanks in advance.
I'm in lab currently, watching my students do a kinesthetic exercise. They are the Earth, a light in the center of the room is the Sun, and they each have a Styrofoam ball representing the Moon. They are rotating and moving the ball to mimic the phases of the Moon.
They are also paranoid that, because I have my computer in the room with me, I'm webcasting their antics. Now that they've mentioned it, I think it's a great idea. Hmm...Borg, Oliphant, Doom, Laser - great last names.
I survived the first week of classes. Hectic, even more so than usual, but I survived. It helps to be surrounded by such supportive students - many ready to learn, many returning from other courses with me, many referrals. My long first day ended with a hug and kiss on the cheek from a former student, whose girlfriend is taking my class. He's referred cousins (including my padawan Carlos) and friends before. My classes have become quite the family affair, actually. There's a sister of a former student, a mother of a former student. One woman asked me if I remembered her husband and, recalling her last name, I shuddered. Remembering her husband, I knew she had to have a good sense of humor. :)
Last night, teaching anxiety dominated my dreams. Showing up late to class. Not having enough copies of my syllabus. Students out of control. General lack of preparedness. Missing a class altogether.
Sigh.I wonder what this semester will bring?
Earlier this week I found myself exposing parts of my underwear in public. It was all very innocent, really. I was being fitted by a tailor who is taking in several of my skirts. It's just that she works out of a dry cleaners and as she was pinning my skirts sometimes the top of my underwear was visible as people were dropping off their cleaning. It was surreal. Almost as surreal as the fact that one of my skirts is being taken in almost 2 inches...on each side! And yesterday I purchased a skirt and blouse, each three dress sizes smaller than I was wearing this time last year. Woo!
