Yup, that's how quickly the semester has gone by.
It's interesting to think about how different this spring semester is from previous ones. Things that seemed insurmountable a few semesters ago (daily lecture prep, early morning labs, service, research, students....) always seem to get done.
I don't have any new preps, so what used to take me four to six hours to prep now takes 30 to 90 minutes. I've got committee meetings under control, and my undergrads can work fairly independently in the lab.
So hang in there, new profs! We're practically done with the semester, right?
(This is where all you tenured profs out there can let me know that things really hit the fan post tenure....)
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Do you bring happiness to work?
Campbell's has a commercial that tells you to "bring some happiness to work."
I don't know about you guys, but we're barely a month into the new semester yet I'm already exhausted.
May seems a long, loooooong way off. (Because it *is*, I suppose.)
How do you suggest I bring a little bit o' happiness to work?
I don't know about you guys, but we're barely a month into the new semester yet I'm already exhausted.
May seems a long, loooooong way off. (Because it *is*, I suppose.)
How do you suggest I bring a little bit o' happiness to work?
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Students are out to get us!
...or at least that is how it feels sometimes.
Faced with a classroom full students armed with bored faces, armed with texting weapons, teaching can sometimes take an "us versus them" tone.
But just like professors aren't plotting against students, our classes don't meet in the dark of night to plan against us.
The Forbes article is an interesting read. I wonder what the student version would include?
Faced with a classroom full students armed with bored faces, armed with texting weapons, teaching can sometimes take an "us versus them" tone.
But just like professors aren't plotting against students, our classes don't meet in the dark of night to plan against us.
The Forbes article is an interesting read. I wonder what the student version would include?
Sunday, January 1, 2012
What has your degree done for you lately?
Winter break is for watching instant netflix. Lately, NA and I have been watching a lot of old Bones episodes (a show about a forensic anthropologist).
In one show, an FBI asks Tempe, "What, are you really going to be a bone lady all of your life?"
She responded, "I studied anthropology for years!"
"I got a degree, too, but I'm not going to let it ruin my life."
Whether you are a work-in-progress or out of grad school for decades, how is your degree treating you these days?
In one show, an FBI asks Tempe, "What, are you really going to be a bone lady all of your life?"
She responded, "I studied anthropology for years!"
"I got a degree, too, but I'm not going to let it ruin my life."
Whether you are a work-in-progress or out of grad school for decades, how is your degree treating you these days?
Saturday, December 31, 2011
You must not have gone to a public school!
...or so sayeth the CNN news anchor.
A guest came on the show to do a bit about NYE celebrations around the world. At the end of the segment, the guest told the host some New Year's greetings in several different languages.
The anchor's response?
"Wow. You must not have gone to a public school like me! I don't know any of those languages."
A guest came on the show to do a bit about NYE celebrations around the world. At the end of the segment, the guest told the host some New Year's greetings in several different languages.
The anchor's response?
"Wow. You must not have gone to a public school like me! I don't know any of those languages."
Friday, December 30, 2011
UR 2011 in Review!!
Another year in the books. It's time for my favorite meme! (If you are looking for something to do, here is 2010, 2009, and 2008.)
1. UR 2010 in Review!!! What a year!
2. Choose your own adventure. Have you ever woken up from recalling a vivid dream and then had it stick with you ALL. DAY. LONG?
3. What will we lock up next? Today, driving around Conference City, I saw a car with a padlocked gas tank.
4. The machine or instrument that must DIE! Over the years, I have had many an instrument or machine nemesis.
5. Kids vs. dogs (or kid owners vs. dog owners). It occurred to me the other day that I have never seen a puppy sonogram posted as a facebook profile picture.
6. Chicken vs. eggs. I've been in a documentary state of mind.
7. Magic numbers. People say that three's a crowd, it takes two to tango, and one is the loneliest number.
8. At-bat songs for professors. Unfortunately, I've been watching a lot of baseball lately.
9. A message to all the new professors. It gets better.
10. Sorry that I don't have kids. I've recently become quite the broken record.
11. Grants require blood, sweat, and tears....and more blood? No, really.
12. Do faculty need more vacation time? When you are a professor at a PUI, you are constantly giving giving giving of yourself to your students.
I hope you can all look back on your OWN 2011 and think of it fondly. What a year!
1. UR 2010 in Review!!! What a year!
2. Choose your own adventure. Have you ever woken up from recalling a vivid dream and then had it stick with you ALL. DAY. LONG?
3. What will we lock up next? Today, driving around Conference City, I saw a car with a padlocked gas tank.
4. The machine or instrument that must DIE! Over the years, I have had many an instrument or machine nemesis.
5. Kids vs. dogs (or kid owners vs. dog owners). It occurred to me the other day that I have never seen a puppy sonogram posted as a facebook profile picture.
6. Chicken vs. eggs. I've been in a documentary state of mind.
7. Magic numbers. People say that three's a crowd, it takes two to tango, and one is the loneliest number.
8. At-bat songs for professors. Unfortunately, I've been watching a lot of baseball lately.
9. A message to all the new professors. It gets better.
10. Sorry that I don't have kids. I've recently become quite the broken record.
11. Grants require blood, sweat, and tears....and more blood? No, really.
12. Do faculty need more vacation time? When you are a professor at a PUI, you are constantly giving giving giving of yourself to your students.
I hope you can all look back on your OWN 2011 and think of it fondly. What a year!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Christmas is the new Halloween!!
Adventures in Ethics and Science has a hilarious re-post of a child's story about what happens when mice go Christmas caroling. (Semi-spoiler: It doesn't end well.)
The last bits of the post include
Hmmm.... that sounds an awful lot like what I do during Halloween. Well, at least the killing the lights part. (Calling animal control on some of the particularly wild ones is just something I dream about doing.)
There are lots of other similarities between these holidays. Behold!
Both freak out the religious. Anyone else grow up having to call school halloween parties "harvest fests"? And if I have to see one more Jesus cake.....
You wear weird shit to celebrate them. Wearing bell jewelry of any kind should be outlawed. Ditto the memo on slutty kitty costumes. From holiday sweaters to dressing up like Dexter, you really do have to wear some weird crap to proclaim your allegiance to the christmas/halloween spirit.
The tackier the exterior of the house, the better. Or at least I *think* that's what my neighbors are going for with their 12 foot, inflatable spider. Or those damn inflatable snow globes. Or anything in an animal shape that lights up.
You give away stuff to people because it is expected. Do I really need to spend forty bucks on candy for non-neighborhood thirteen-year-olds? Sure, unless I want my house egged. Do I really want to give my surly coworker a holiday mug filled with chocolate-covered espresso beans? Not really, but I'd like to avoid any 2012 drama.
You get a free pass on exceeding your daily sugar intake. (I don't think this one needs explanation, which is good because my fourth truffle has just entered my bloodstream. Pardon me as I lapse into a diabetic coma.)
How else is Christmas like Halloween?
The last bits of the post include
"Reading between the lines, I'd have to say the very best thing to do if you see or hear caroling mice approaching your door would be to kill the lights and call animal control."
Hmmm.... that sounds an awful lot like what I do during Halloween. Well, at least the killing the lights part. (Calling animal control on some of the particularly wild ones is just something I dream about doing.)
There are lots of other similarities between these holidays. Behold!
Both freak out the religious. Anyone else grow up having to call school halloween parties "harvest fests"? And if I have to see one more Jesus cake.....
You wear weird shit to celebrate them. Wearing bell jewelry of any kind should be outlawed. Ditto the memo on slutty kitty costumes. From holiday sweaters to dressing up like Dexter, you really do have to wear some weird crap to proclaim your allegiance to the christmas/halloween spirit.
The tackier the exterior of the house, the better. Or at least I *think* that's what my neighbors are going for with their 12 foot, inflatable spider. Or those damn inflatable snow globes. Or anything in an animal shape that lights up.
You give away stuff to people because it is expected. Do I really need to spend forty bucks on candy for non-neighborhood thirteen-year-olds? Sure, unless I want my house egged. Do I really want to give my surly coworker a holiday mug filled with chocolate-covered espresso beans? Not really, but I'd like to avoid any 2012 drama.
You get a free pass on exceeding your daily sugar intake. (I don't think this one needs explanation, which is good because my fourth truffle has just entered my bloodstream. Pardon me as I lapse into a diabetic coma.)
How else is Christmas like Halloween?
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