Discourse!

Q: is this how we see you've lost your mind????
--sassylittlepunkin

A: Sure, why not. Sounds about right to me.
--Sara

Moral: Grad school is bad for one's sanity. The End.
 

Huh?

Oh, I thought I heard you say something. I guess that was just the dog snorting.

When's lunch?

Oh yeah, I guess I did eat already.

Yep.
 

How did I get myself into this situation? Oh, yeah. Now I remember. Crap.  

Oh wow. My office really can get messier. Cool.  

Is "my head exploded" a better excuse than "my dog at my homework"?
 

Notes from the Temporally Challenged:

more later
 

Quote of the day: "Work-safe if you are allowed to read epic poetry."

Quislibet, in reference to: The Bushiad and The Idyossey.

In The Bushiad and The Idyossey, George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, Colin Powell and others in the Bush Court are the players in this modern epic, fostering conflict and warfare in concert with the corporate gods. Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Osama bin Laden, Kim Sung Il of North Korea, "Old" Europe, The United Nations, Canada and any that stand in their way or that can be used to further their ends are vulnerable. The Bushiad and The Idyossey demonstrate that when power-mad, testosterone-poisoned religious fanatics in league with greedy multinational corporations wield unlimited military might, all humanity is vulnerable.

 

5K: Oh, I passed 5000 on my Sitemeter count! To me, this seems like a lot. To you, perhaps laughably paltry. Anyway. Yay!  

Link I'm Enjoying at the Moment: The Art Bin Magazine Health Issue. Interesting stuff. Also in Swedish! Be sure to look at Imagery from the History of Medicine.  

The joys of air travel, pt. ?

Very very delayed. Due to weather. Really, it couldn't be helped. Yeah, that's the ticket.*

1. In the airport restroom, in a stall, peeing away. All is well in the universe. Then, from the next stall over, the sound of a cell phone ringing. The sound of the woman over there answering her phone from on the toilet. Talking to someone. Doesn't it occur to her that the person on the other end can hear her peeing, hear me peeing, hear the 35 other women in the bathroom peeing, and flushing, and whatever else?

*I still don't know if the Jon Lovitz liar character is based on Buddy. Phooey. Anyone?

2. First noticed by Xolo. I was going to take a picture of this for you, but my camera batteries need a re-charge and I'm too lazy.

**On the front of the package**

SOUTHWEST DRY ROASTED PEANUTS

**On the back of the package**

Ingredients: Peanuts, Dry Roasted with Salt and Tapioca Dextrin.

Produced in a facility that processes peanuts and other nuts.

Really?
 

Dog Net Networking: Because sometimes sniffing other dogs' butts and micro-neighborhood-hierarchy-oriented pee spots (wet or dry!) is just too local.*
(Indeed, truly provincial!)

Forget Friendster!**

Now there's Dogster. For those pets who need an online networking tool for the rapidly globalizing world!

[Yes, I make fun. But I really do like all of the cute dog pictures.]

Link via go fish, and her socially-networked friend/dog Murphy.


*But still makes a great hobby!
**If you ever really cared about it in the first place, that is  

As you may well have already noticed

I haven't had much time to do much posting lately. As it turns out, my life is so busy and chaotic that it zips by before I can catch my breath.

I'm also thinking that when I start my postdoc in August or September, Corn Smut may need to retire. I'll probably start an academic/nonpersonal blog, though. The blog is fast becoming another normalized tool, just like the web and email have done. Have to keep up.

Happily, the school at which I will be postdoc-ing offers up blog space through the Law School to anyone affiliated with the university. A new media comes of age?

Becoming a stuffy academic even as I type.  

The fun world of academia

First Person Articles at the Chronicle of Higher Education. Some stories from recent Ph.D. recipients, some not so happy. [Link via Metafilter, read it for additional commentary.]  

The Expanding World of Blog: MIT Media Lab Blog Survey Results. [Thanks to Vanessa for link]

Does blogging seem less appealing when it becomes too mainstream?  

Tired: I am back, but I'm just completely exhausted and unable to write anything at the moment. Hopefully I will be reborn like a phoenix from my ashes! Soon. Or whatever, I'll take anything at the moment. The imbibement of gallons and gallons of coffee looks like my most realistic choice.

Links to keep you busy while I wander about in a zombielike yet caffeine-infused state: Corn Palace! In South Dakota. One of the roadsideamerica.com roadside attractions in america, I believe. Of which there are also some more here and/or there. Plus, here are some additional photos of Corn Palace! These Corn Palace links have come from J-Walk Blog, which promises "Stuff that may or may not interest you." He also links to something called monkey stirs up a nice pot of tomato soup as well as vegetarian shoes. So, go on. Veg out.

Ok, bye for now.  

Boston Story #1: Dante and Beatrice on the T?

On Monday, I was riding the T (Boston Subway). A woman with a baby girl in a stroller came and sat down beside me. She positioned the stroller in front of her facing the back of the train. At the next stop, a couple came in wheeling a little boy in a stroller of his own. They sat in the seats across from us, also positioning the stroller in front of them facing the back of the train. So the two strollers were side-by-side.

After a little while, the two little kids noticed each other. They both reached out to the other and grasped hands. And they sat there, content as could be, holding hands for the next few stops. The other passengers in the vicinity were all charmed by this cute display. A couple of hoodlum-looking teenage boys, a sour-looking woman in business attire, some old people - everyone was suddenly smiling.

Then, the little boy and his parents had to leave the train. I wonder if, in the future, they will remember this encounter. Probably not, but I will.


I told you so link of the week: Thriving Trade in Body Parts Under Scrutiny. Remember how I was going on and on about human cells and body parts for sale on the internet? And nobody cared? Remember that? Huh? Huh?

Thank you: J. and Quislibet for the lovely 2-CD Bat themed music compilation!

I'll be back: from San Antonio in a few days.  

Corn Smut goes Mainstream

A while ago, astute reader John found this picture at Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition online. As longtime readers may remember, I also have one of these, bought after Estella noticed it at the mall.

So, that's it. Corn Smut has gone mainstream.

Now what? Popcorn Smut? Pop it and they will come!*

*It's a field of dreams reference, sillies.  

Very tired

Here is the beginning of contentful posts. Hopefully some more tomorrow. Then, flying to San Antonio for the memorial service for my grandfather.

Employment

I went to the interview not necessarily thinking it would go well or that I really wanted this position, but after talking to people there, I realized the position was much better than I had thought and that the people there were much more interested in my work than I had anticipated.

It was snowing in Boston, sticking a little, and I was wearing my nice shoes. They have about 2-inch heels, but for me, that's high. I went along with one person to lunch, which involved walking over the above-ground T tracks and a bunch of sharp snow-covered rocks, and I didn't fall or get run over! A good omen!

At the end of the day, after meeting with many many people in rapid succession, I was pretty exhausted and disoriented. I was expecting to hear from them later. Much to my surprise, they offered me the job right then.

There are a few things to decide before I give a final answer, but it's looking quite like I'll accept it. It's a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at a very nice place to be. And I love Boston. The city where the Citgo Sign watches over me with its benevolent flashing neon lights...


[click image for photo source]

More about Boston soon. tired sara...
 

Thank you everyone for the good thoughts!

They must have worked, because they offered me the postdoc position today after the interview! Now I just have to decide if I'm going to take it or not. It's looking promising...

Thank you again!!!  

Interview

My interview is tomorrow, so if anyone has any good thoughts to spare, I could certainly use them for this!

Also of note: some actual content forthcoming on Wednesday!

Thank you :)  

I should pee in the library more often!

I am of the sort who enjoys reading bathroom stall graffiti. It is very interesting to see how it varies from place to place. Today I was in the bathroom at my school library, and in this particular stall I found a literary discussion, with book recommendations. Appropriate, I guess.

One stall-[wall]-text suggested that The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a good book. Has anyone read it? Shall I trust this advice?

Another recommended this web site: Spineless Books. Which is, indeed, quite interesting. Take a peek.

Anyone else read any good bathroom stall writing lately?  

Substances, Vice, and Classical Music

Perhaps you remember when, long ago, I subjected you to all of the lyrics of Bach's Coffee Cantata. Well, I would then be remiss if I didn't at least mention the premier of Edward Elgar's Smoking Cantata. I wish I could get a recording.

Substances and Mathematics

The other day, I was in a seminar on ADHD and Ritalin, and a professor in the audience told a story. (For those of you familiar with this place, it was a large linguist):

There was this celebrated mathematician, and he had been taking amphetamines for pretty much all of his life. A friend said to him that maybe he shouldn't be doing that.

"I vill stop" said the mathematician. He was Hungarian, hence the accent. (at this point, my advisor, who is Hungarian, started to laugh loudly). And he quit cold turkey.

A month later, the mathematician came back to the friend and said that he had spent a month without any amphetamines.

"You have set mathematics back one month." He said.  

Measure my stress levels with a Geiger Counter

I have an all-day interview visit for a postdoctoral fellowship this coming Tuesday. It is for a position at a very well known medical school in the Boston area.

Yeah, I might be a little nervous about this.
 

I decided a while back not to post quiz results, but this one turned out to be too strange yet oddly accurate to pass up. Plus, part of it makes no sense:

You're Pakistan!

You used to ask people what they thought about things, but quite
recently you've decided to just do stuff without asking nicely.  You really want to go
to the mountains, but for some reason, people won't let you, mostly because they won't let
acquire any nice sweaters.  In the meantime, you're avoiding alcohol and pork and trying
to balance eating right with not falling behind in your competition with your next-door
neighbor.
Take
the Country Quiz at the
Blue Pyramid

Thanks Sherri for link  

Slip of the Tongue of the Week:

"Chernobyl prize"

Accidentally said by someone in my class, talking about a book on health consequences of nuclear accidents.