penn

So as not to leave you hanging

I had my presentation today, and it went well. I am happy with my talk. It's loads better than all the practices I gave thanks to the tons and tons of help from my fabulous friends here in Ann Arbor. I'd name them, but I don't know if they'd like that; they know who they are :-)

I am two thirds done with prelims, and this is a good thing. I'll be happy to be done with the stress so I can get back to my research.

Daylight Savings psych out

I don't know how I feel about this new daylight savings thing. I totally could have used an extra hour today My prelim presentation (read: important presentation that I give to my department, and I'll be evaluated on how well I do) is tomorrow at noon. I feel mostly ready and a bit nervous, and that extra time would have come in handy.

For better or for worse, the presentation will be over tomorrow. I'm not too worried about the actual speaking part -- I've got lots of practice at public speaking -- but my thoughts and research plans are also being evaluated, and that's a bit nerve-wracking.

Donors Choose

Much of the work of being a scientist is wrapped up in research, seminars, committee meetings, and writing. But a big part of being a scientist is teaching the next generation, and there are lots of ways to do that. Right now, I'm a GSI (grad student instructor). In the past, I've led a junior high science club and was the president of my college bio club.

Due to the magic of the internet, there are now wonderful ways to help the next generation without making a large time commitment. Donors Choose is a great website that allows anyone to contribute financially to schools in need by giving money to specific projects teachers have posted. Any teacher can request money to buy books, equipment, or experiences for their students.

This month, a large fundraising push has been made within the blogosphere to raise money for Donors Choose in the form of a competition between blogs. I've already made a donation via Adventures in Ethics and Science. One of the perks of donating this month are the incentives being offered by various bloggers in exchange to donating toward their fundraising goal. Additionally, Seed is running a weekly raffle for donors.

In recognition of my donation, I've received two wonderful frog drawings from the offspring of Dr. Freeride, the voice of Adventures in Ethics and Science. I also won a coffee mug in the Seed raffle, so I'm doing pretty well! See the pictures below (click through for a larger version), and go donate yourself in order to receive a fabulous drawing (or any one of the other incentives offered by the science bloggers).

Elder offspring picture:

Younger offspring picture:

I dislike it when people utilize natural selection when talking about dumb people.

First of all, if someone has already had kids, it doesn't matter if they die. Evolution doesn't care (except for parental investment, but that's another issue). Your genes have already been passed on.

Second, it's only sort of natural selection for someone to die by being electrocuted if they were too dumb to turn off the breaker. I suppose one might be weeding his/herself out by not having common sense or intelligence. But I don't know about the mechanisms of natural selection going on there.

In any case, it's annoying. It showcases a lack of knowledge about evolution. Even more irksome is the witty rejoinder to "evolve already" seen on some bumper stickers. Yes, because evolution is an individual process that can be directed toward a goal. Um, no.

I like hedgehogs

And this is why:

I can finally speak of October

After almost two weeks of unseasonably warm weather (it was 90 F on Sunday; the afternoon frisbee game was killer), it has cooled off here in Ann Arbor. Fall is my favorite time of year, so I am quite content right now. I am sitting on the couch in my apartment, curled up in a fleece blanket, working on a paper.

I am calm and content with things at this very moment. Let's hope the feeling stays long enough to get this paper done. Looking forward to tomorrow evening, 5 pm, so I can commence with celebrating. My birthday is on Saturday, and I'm going to take a bit of time to relax for Friday evening and Saturday. I see video games, movies, and a party with friends in my two-day forecast, and I'm excited.

My apartment is great, my friends are awesome, frisbee is going really well, and my life is finally settling down here in Ann Arbor.

Two posts I like

I've had these up in my browser forever, as I've been meaning to comment on them. I have to sadly admit to myself that I don't have time for that right now, so I'll just link you guys to them. Enjoy!

Reusing Plastic Bags -- mind, I'm a big fan of canvas. I personally feel it's better not to bring the plastic bags into the home (tho they do come in handy every once in awhile). The author agrees. And I think she has a great further point that it's better to continue to reuse existing plastic bags rather than throw them all away. So kudos to her for reinforcing a point that doesn't often get made. Personal admission: I like to rewash and reuse ziploc bags too. I don't really do it when I have a roommate, but when I lived by myself, I was always using ziplocs (bought meat in bulk and froze), and 20 ziplocs lasted me 4 months.

Everything I know about environmentalism I learned from Star Wars Kinda cute, with rings of truth :-)

Warm days and open roads

It's a warm, sunny day in Ann Arbor. Despite being October, the weather has been in the 80s for the past two weeks or so. This is the longest Indian summer I've ever experienced, and it's certainly much warmer than last year at this time.

I can hear folks playing frisbee and soccer at the fields that are about a quarter mile from my home, and I find that amazing.

Over 200 mopeds just buzzed past my balcony here, and I stood outside to watch. It reminded me of another night almost three and a half years ago. In April of 2004, I was staying at a hostel in Paris. The hostel owner humorously placed me in a room with nine guys. One night, one of the guys called to me was I was brushing my teeth: "come over to the window! You've got to see this!"

Outside, easily 500 people were rollerblading down the streets of Paris. The whole clump went past our window, accompanied by roller blading policemen. There, standing at the window in the cool evening breeze, I marveled at the group coordination and dedication to fitness.

Today, on my balcony enjoying the warm sun, I marveled at the American love of hitting the road to explore new spaces. I hope they all enjoy their day's journey on this fine Saturday. I wish I could join them; I miss the open road.