it's the Friday Shout-Outs Edition, Homey-omeys!
With A Special Dedication to everyone in Bahama Bay Nation, a big-upzz rip-your-lines shout-out to DJ Kool for using his lyrics to stylize today's shout-outs!
"Keep Making Noise!" Shout-out to Humberto, our bringer of goodwill today. Precisely at 9:15am, the cloistery went online. Side benefit to internet in the house (apart from that foul stuff you just thought of, Corcoran...), cable tv! side no-benefit (or, in the econ manner "cost") home study effort just found a new obstacle (side note to the mother: i'm at work right now...)
"Some of Y'all are with be, and some of y'all won't!" shout-out to the flurry of emails i sent out this afternoon. my big two boxes of things finally arrived from st.croix and with them, my address book.
"Have mercy, babe! I hope you don't mind!" shout-out to the Heidididio, formerly of Reno, NV and parts unknown. Big congratulations on the nuptials! I tried to put this as close to the top as possible so that you wouldn't get bored and miss it! Be glad I wasn't there. I bounced a 102-degree fever home with me on my plane.
"Peace Out to C-Lo, Flex, and Doug Lazy!" shout-out to Tyson and Joy S. of Newark, NJ! The C-Lo reference should be obvious enough. Not so obvious is the Doug Lazy (i.e. the piano stand hopefully taking up space in your place that I couldn't get without backtracking 500 miles...)
"Now I Need Some Help From the Maestro, Please!" Shout-out to the Mayor McCheese of St. Croix. You win the "1st to comment" award. Now my mom won't feel weird adding comments. A thought that somehow gives me the willies...
And Finally: "Special Dedication going out to all the ladies and all the brothers in here, like to love y'all to death here!" shout-out to everyone. the settling in is much more complete knowing you're all just a few typed letters away!
Today's True Headline (Courtesy Elibzeff B. of St. Thomas, VI):
"Abuse Counselor Arrested for DUI"
have a great weekend!
Friday, September 08, 2006
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
mid-week shout outs!
a WTF shoutout to all high school math teachers! it's now certified. the majority of students in my lab sections are a bit uncertain in their math skills. to the point they confuse themselves over what happens when you add/subtract some number from zero.
a happy humpday shoutout to Elibzeff B. of St. Thomas, VI. simply b/c i know she giggles when i say "humpday."
a crazy, low-down hug-a-brotha shoutout to brycer of san fran, ca. he has officially re-established the criteria for a d-dialing. good luck trying to meet that standard, friends.
inauspicious, buddhist greeting shoutout to the texas a&m football team. having lined up the citadel in their sights last week, they now take on army. let the suckage begin!
and finally, double-fist-pump holla at ya boy shoutout to the one person (possibly two) who get the buddhist reference above.
--goose
a happy humpday shoutout to Elibzeff B. of St. Thomas, VI. simply b/c i know she giggles when i say "humpday."
a crazy, low-down hug-a-brotha shoutout to brycer of san fran, ca. he has officially re-established the criteria for a d-dialing. good luck trying to meet that standard, friends.
inauspicious, buddhist greeting shoutout to the texas a&m football team. having lined up the citadel in their sights last week, they now take on army. let the suckage begin!
and finally, double-fist-pump holla at ya boy shoutout to the one person (possibly two) who get the buddhist reference above.
--goose
simplifying life in 10 easy steps!
americans have a fascination with making life easier. i haven't quite figured out this fascination with something that might be categorized as an effort to "modernize". why waste ten minutes of your precious time cutting tomatoes that end up being all pulpy and messy when you can get that auto-dicer that does it perfectly every time? as a part-time fan of late-night infomercials (from my periodic insomnia), i have seen nearly every last shortcut for some human endeavour. don't like sit-ups? get that pro wrestling-sized belt that shoots electrodes through your ab muscles. get ripped sitting on the couch! need to make perfect omelettes? or complicated braids for your hair? the message, as always is: your time is more valuable than going to the gym or slicing tomatoes. we americans value our "free time", even when invariably, those extra free minutes each day are squandered by the go-go mentality of trying to do it all.
so why is this today's subject? well, "free time" in the ph.d.-candidate world-view is a highly ambiguous, and oftentimes ephemeral concept. apart from attending class and leading my lab section, technically all my time is "free". i don't "have" to do my readings, and i don't have to do a literature review. there are short-cuts out there. and in a class with 20 people, chances are i could fake a discussion if pressed. and i could just read abstracts or cross-reference papers (referencing a paper simply from reading its citation in a second paper...) but that, in my humble opinion, "lessens" the experience. so it's hard work! woo-hoo! reading until 2am, watching the first 20 minutes of "Wallace & Gromit" b/c any more would waste your window of falling asleep, volunteering for innumerable requests from various professors/advisors to help them. i want to, in all senses and varieties of the term, EARN my degree.
of course, hang around a university office long enough, and you'll begin to wonder if it's more insane asylum than ivory tower. the story is that we all go crazy at some point. maybe it's by degrees. maybe it's a clock-tower-esque total meltdown. but, i hope, it's not inevitable. as a result, i'm girding my sanity with some daily rituals, which, over time, hopefully will both shape me professionally/personally, and keep my sanity. for your reading pleasure, i present: "Goose's 10 easy steps to sanity"!
1) change your alarm time. daily. pre-establishing what time you "need to wake up" is building stress into your day before it even starts. for convention, i like to vary it b/n 7:10am (MW) and 9:49 (TR). on Friday (F), i like to play russian roulette. it makes it exciting! you wake up, say at 8:00am, and you start thinking, "is it about to go off? can i lay here for 30 minutes playing fifa soccer on my computer before it goes off? 2 hours? all day?" see, instead of stress, you start with hopeful possibilities and optimism! of course, to be on the safe side, i limit the "blind setting" to no later than 4pm. which is when the "non"-mandatory guest lecture begins.
2) whistle. no kidding. the halls here are nice and echo-ey. and i remember reading an article whilst at yale saying something like "happier people whistle" or maybe it was "guys whistle when thinking about girls". i can't recall. either way, your happiness quotient improves. to recount: happiness +2, stress 0.
3) pack exciting things for lunch. like twinkies. happiness +4, stress +0.5 (simply b/c you know that a) you're 30 and are probably the only person in the building with twinkies for lunch, and b) that whole "bad diet leads to heart attack" idea...
4) read the comics. for regular readers, you know that i read 6 comics religiously. find your 6. 7 if you insist "better or worse" or "hagar" are funny/entertaining. if you're unable to find a couple good ones, may i recommend: "over the hedge" (esp. if you have the LA experience), "pearls before swine", and foxtrot (esp. since the good dr.mav, as a young collegian, confided the daughter in said comic was "cute"). sure, people may catch you reading the latest dilbert and think you either unprofessional or scatter-brained. but realize, if they do think that, they are the ones needing help. relax, muha! enjoy "zits" and get over yourself. happiness +10 (+9 if boondocks gets a little too political or doonesbury isn't making fun of the president), stress 0 (reading over the hedge gets over your twinkies guilt...)
5) when conceptually lost or mentally fatigued, give yourself a pep talk. i like the one, "there's a guy farming yams in kenya, who does that every day for no money and his family is dirt poor and he's always tired, and he always works harder than you." it might make you feel more kinship with kenyans or agrarian farmers or sympathy for their plight. or, it might, for a few moments, get you to forget about whatever was bothering you. if you want to rise up and celebrate not being that yam farmer, good for you. if not, imagine being his assistant. that'll get you through the reading! happiness +5, stress +1 (temporary, once the work gets done, stress drops to -4)
6) get away from the work once a day. even yam farmers do other things. currently, i like the gym or grocery shopping or fiddling with the antenna to get nbc. until i realize that nbc has no good shows. (happiness +8, stress -1) (the muscleheads at the gym remain a bit too much...)
7) pack in as many things as you can whilst standing. for example, before sitting down when you get home, start cooking. then maybe go freshen up. then maybe check the mail. then maybe organize shoes, or something. so when you do get to sitting down, you get to think things like, "YEA!" and "man this stirfry is tasty 5 nights in a row!" or "that phone better not ring b/c i forgot to grab it and bring it over here." (happiness +11, stress -4)
8) ponder shaving options after your shower. then spend time convincing euge to join the "mustache club". (happiness + 12 or +21 if euge joins, stress -9)
9) celebrate the little things. you'd think that this is a bit redundant. but not having the opportunity to go climb everest or disappear into the amazon for a month doesn't mean that the routine must become routine. another way to put it: amuse yourself. for example, this week i've turned my bike route from home to campus into a slalom course. the gates? undergrads of course. and yes, time yourself. (happiness +22 or + 25 if you clip a few gates, stress -11 or +4 if the gate wants to press charges...)
10) finally, the best way to simplify life is to remember rule #1: "there are no rules". when in doubt, check rule #2: "SEE rule #1". stress is self-made. and therefore, self-eliminated.
ok, i'm off. i got a great Super G course to the gym. theme music i'll be whistling "always let your conscience be your guide" (give a little whistle). time to beat: 6:18.05
--goose
so why is this today's subject? well, "free time" in the ph.d.-candidate world-view is a highly ambiguous, and oftentimes ephemeral concept. apart from attending class and leading my lab section, technically all my time is "free". i don't "have" to do my readings, and i don't have to do a literature review. there are short-cuts out there. and in a class with 20 people, chances are i could fake a discussion if pressed. and i could just read abstracts or cross-reference papers (referencing a paper simply from reading its citation in a second paper...) but that, in my humble opinion, "lessens" the experience. so it's hard work! woo-hoo! reading until 2am, watching the first 20 minutes of "Wallace & Gromit" b/c any more would waste your window of falling asleep, volunteering for innumerable requests from various professors/advisors to help them. i want to, in all senses and varieties of the term, EARN my degree.
of course, hang around a university office long enough, and you'll begin to wonder if it's more insane asylum than ivory tower. the story is that we all go crazy at some point. maybe it's by degrees. maybe it's a clock-tower-esque total meltdown. but, i hope, it's not inevitable. as a result, i'm girding my sanity with some daily rituals, which, over time, hopefully will both shape me professionally/personally, and keep my sanity. for your reading pleasure, i present: "Goose's 10 easy steps to sanity"!
1) change your alarm time. daily. pre-establishing what time you "need to wake up" is building stress into your day before it even starts. for convention, i like to vary it b/n 7:10am (MW) and 9:49 (TR). on Friday (F), i like to play russian roulette. it makes it exciting! you wake up, say at 8:00am, and you start thinking, "is it about to go off? can i lay here for 30 minutes playing fifa soccer on my computer before it goes off? 2 hours? all day?" see, instead of stress, you start with hopeful possibilities and optimism! of course, to be on the safe side, i limit the "blind setting" to no later than 4pm. which is when the "non"-mandatory guest lecture begins.
2) whistle. no kidding. the halls here are nice and echo-ey. and i remember reading an article whilst at yale saying something like "happier people whistle" or maybe it was "guys whistle when thinking about girls". i can't recall. either way, your happiness quotient improves. to recount: happiness +2, stress 0.
3) pack exciting things for lunch. like twinkies. happiness +4, stress +0.5 (simply b/c you know that a) you're 30 and are probably the only person in the building with twinkies for lunch, and b) that whole "bad diet leads to heart attack" idea...
4) read the comics. for regular readers, you know that i read 6 comics religiously. find your 6. 7 if you insist "better or worse" or "hagar" are funny/entertaining. if you're unable to find a couple good ones, may i recommend: "over the hedge" (esp. if you have the LA experience), "pearls before swine", and foxtrot (esp. since the good dr.mav, as a young collegian, confided the daughter in said comic was "cute"). sure, people may catch you reading the latest dilbert and think you either unprofessional or scatter-brained. but realize, if they do think that, they are the ones needing help. relax, muha! enjoy "zits" and get over yourself. happiness +10 (+9 if boondocks gets a little too political or doonesbury isn't making fun of the president), stress 0 (reading over the hedge gets over your twinkies guilt...)
5) when conceptually lost or mentally fatigued, give yourself a pep talk. i like the one, "there's a guy farming yams in kenya, who does that every day for no money and his family is dirt poor and he's always tired, and he always works harder than you." it might make you feel more kinship with kenyans or agrarian farmers or sympathy for their plight. or, it might, for a few moments, get you to forget about whatever was bothering you. if you want to rise up and celebrate not being that yam farmer, good for you. if not, imagine being his assistant. that'll get you through the reading! happiness +5, stress +1 (temporary, once the work gets done, stress drops to -4)
6) get away from the work once a day. even yam farmers do other things. currently, i like the gym or grocery shopping or fiddling with the antenna to get nbc. until i realize that nbc has no good shows. (happiness +8, stress -1) (the muscleheads at the gym remain a bit too much...)
7) pack in as many things as you can whilst standing. for example, before sitting down when you get home, start cooking. then maybe go freshen up. then maybe check the mail. then maybe organize shoes, or something. so when you do get to sitting down, you get to think things like, "YEA!" and "man this stirfry is tasty 5 nights in a row!" or "that phone better not ring b/c i forgot to grab it and bring it over here." (happiness +11, stress -4)
8) ponder shaving options after your shower. then spend time convincing euge to join the "mustache club". (happiness + 12 or +21 if euge joins, stress -9)
9) celebrate the little things. you'd think that this is a bit redundant. but not having the opportunity to go climb everest or disappear into the amazon for a month doesn't mean that the routine must become routine. another way to put it: amuse yourself. for example, this week i've turned my bike route from home to campus into a slalom course. the gates? undergrads of course. and yes, time yourself. (happiness +22 or + 25 if you clip a few gates, stress -11 or +4 if the gate wants to press charges...)
10) finally, the best way to simplify life is to remember rule #1: "there are no rules". when in doubt, check rule #2: "SEE rule #1". stress is self-made. and therefore, self-eliminated.
ok, i'm off. i got a great Super G course to the gym. theme music i'll be whistling "always let your conscience be your guide" (give a little whistle). time to beat: 6:18.05
--goose
Monday, September 04, 2006
a very special monday shout-outs
first, a big "too soon, mate, too soon!" shout-out to the crocodile hunter. as you all know by now, steve irwin met the sharp side of a sting ray earlier today and died from the resultant trauma. all in all, i wouldn't have predicted that. after all, this was the guy who swam with hundreds of bull sharks, caught thousands of crocs, wrangled sea snakes (the most poisonous on the planet), and pulled off any number of other "you couldn't pay me a million bucks to do that" on his always popular, once must-see show. and as i'm certain dear friend, fellow yalie and ocean-lover elibzeff b. of st.thomas can agree, hearing that a sting ray killed steve produced an immediate WTF?!!!!
my bet is it takes all of 30 minutes for cnn and fox news to come up with some hideously overblown "when stingrays attack" special. but, in terms of actual danger to someone's life, a stingray falls somewhere between fire coral and a stone wall. sure, if you roll on top of fire coral for a good long while, you might die from toxic shock, and if you mess with a stone wall for a while, sooner or later it's going to topple on top of you, but in general, both are neatly avoidable and, barring your stupidity to bother them, they tend to give you plenty of warnings to stop before you do actually die. but there you are. instead of swimming away like every other stingray i've ever observed (and sometimes touched...), this one throws its tail up and gets him in the heart. what a pity. what a shame. and seriously, that's some bad luck. he will be missed.
my bet is it takes all of 30 minutes for cnn and fox news to come up with some hideously overblown "when stingrays attack" special. but, in terms of actual danger to someone's life, a stingray falls somewhere between fire coral and a stone wall. sure, if you roll on top of fire coral for a good long while, you might die from toxic shock, and if you mess with a stone wall for a while, sooner or later it's going to topple on top of you, but in general, both are neatly avoidable and, barring your stupidity to bother them, they tend to give you plenty of warnings to stop before you do actually die. but there you are. instead of swimming away like every other stingray i've ever observed (and sometimes touched...), this one throws its tail up and gets him in the heart. what a pity. what a shame. and seriously, that's some bad luck. he will be missed.
the post-mortem of teaching
it should come as no surprise that usc crushed arkansas. in fact, it was such a blowout that 1) i don't feel bad driving 580 miles to the game (and another 580 back), and 2) we didn't even watch most of the 4th quarter.
in case you're wondering, there is quite the contingent of usc alums / former faculty here at texas a&m. in fact, there's a sneaking suspicion that certain elements of the faculty are actively recruiting their best usc students to undertake a ph.d. here. don't believe me? how about this: of the current crop of ph.d.-bound students, fully 7.5% have a root at southern cal. there aren't even that many texas a&m grads continuing on here. and, removing those individuals with undergraduate degrees abroad, that number jumps to 19%! what can you say?
on a side note, i do believe i am the only one with an ivy league degree too. who says you can't have it all?!! damn! i'm fine! that's right! one fine hunk o'man! just dip me in butter!
okay, enough self-posturing. the weekend, having come and gone, is now just a notch on the very long and nearly-unnotched totem that counts my time here. 1 notch in! as the buddhist say, "even a journey of a 1000 miles begins with 1 step." i must admit there are some in the camp who are hoping for journey of less than 1000 miles. which would be nice. but at times, based on things i discover, how some people who are finishing up behave, 1000 miles might just be the outskirts of the destination. the goal, as always, is to remain aware of the destination and the path that leads me there. and if i can get away with skipping along the path sometimes, why not?
ok, enough self-uplifting. for today's topic is: my first TA session! as seasoned readers can attest, a certain portion of my life (namely 2003 and 2004) were dedicated to the profession of teaching. in particular, teaching mathematics. for all its faults (and they are myriad), i was always quite comfortable in front of a classroom, and my instructional style both fit my personality (students can spot a fake from a mile away) and benefitted their learning (or so i would like to believe, though if SAT scores can be a gauge, i didn't leave so deep an impression as i would have liked). so go figure today, after several days of thinking, "the TA-ing will be a joke!" i found myself nervous as the students filed in, more or less on time. was it the newish material i was expected to be master of? certainly, that couldn't explain it. after all, i had taught calculus for 2 years with sometimes little more than a quick review of the material to guide me and the awesome skill of recognizing when i was both 1) wrong and 2) confusing the students, leading me to quickly erase the board and start over, whilst saying something like, "okay, one more time. let's see if you guys can follow the Chain Rule this way..." (ahh! the secrets of teaching revealed!)... was it being away from the classroom? or was it not knowing the level of knowledge of the students? to be honest, i still haven't determined why i was nervous. but i did discover 3 things: 1) no matter what people say, a good kid in a bad school can be at least as successful in an academic setting as a mediocre kid in a great school, 2) you figure out the moment the students start trusting and liking you in a college setting b/c they go from the dazed look of every student to asking whether you had seen some movie "X" or fished on some river "Y" or ever visited some place "Z". and loyal readers will know, and to this i admit a weakness to vanity, i did drop the "let's use st. croix as an example." if some people name drop, i place drop. a geography lab is, therefore, a great excuse to do the "okay, so when i lived in australia, at the december solstice, the sun made a 90-degree..." you get the idea? so, in the course of 2 hours, while i learned a little bit about the students (they're atrocious at math, didn't think about reading the lab ahead of time, are hard workers, and are very polite), they found out that i had, through lab-oriented examples, mind you, lived in the virgin islands, france, australia, and northern norway (the last might be a bit of a stretch insomuch as i haven't actually lived there, but it was the only way to discuss why the sun doesn't set above the arctic circle in june...). as i always say, the greatest challenge of a teacher is being an entertainer. think about it. then tell me that i'm wrong.
actually, don't. i like my gentle ignorances.
final note: so yesterday (sunday) was a great day. nothing special happened. didn't really do much. did read about 80 pages for 1 class. did read about 6 journal articles (another 60 pages). but most importantly: i made a superb stir-fry! on the exclamation point scale, that's like:
stir-fry!!!!!!
it might even be higher. now why was this stir-fry so tasty? after all, to those out there who enjoy the cooking effort, a stir-fry is about 1 step beyond making toast. poorly. but, in the world of the "bachelor ph.d. student life", making stir-fry that is tasty and waiting for you after a long day of reading, is like sailing to your home and knowing sitting on that dock is your best girl waiting with a nice big chocolate cake.
don't believe me? try eating dried carrots and frozen pizzas for a week and tell me otherwise.
actually, don't. as i said, i like my gentle ignorances.
in case you're wondering, there is quite the contingent of usc alums / former faculty here at texas a&m. in fact, there's a sneaking suspicion that certain elements of the faculty are actively recruiting their best usc students to undertake a ph.d. here. don't believe me? how about this: of the current crop of ph.d.-bound students, fully 7.5% have a root at southern cal. there aren't even that many texas a&m grads continuing on here. and, removing those individuals with undergraduate degrees abroad, that number jumps to 19%! what can you say?
on a side note, i do believe i am the only one with an ivy league degree too. who says you can't have it all?!! damn! i'm fine! that's right! one fine hunk o'man! just dip me in butter!
okay, enough self-posturing. the weekend, having come and gone, is now just a notch on the very long and nearly-unnotched totem that counts my time here. 1 notch in! as the buddhist say, "even a journey of a 1000 miles begins with 1 step." i must admit there are some in the camp who are hoping for journey of less than 1000 miles. which would be nice. but at times, based on things i discover, how some people who are finishing up behave, 1000 miles might just be the outskirts of the destination. the goal, as always, is to remain aware of the destination and the path that leads me there. and if i can get away with skipping along the path sometimes, why not?
ok, enough self-uplifting. for today's topic is: my first TA session! as seasoned readers can attest, a certain portion of my life (namely 2003 and 2004) were dedicated to the profession of teaching. in particular, teaching mathematics. for all its faults (and they are myriad), i was always quite comfortable in front of a classroom, and my instructional style both fit my personality (students can spot a fake from a mile away) and benefitted their learning (or so i would like to believe, though if SAT scores can be a gauge, i didn't leave so deep an impression as i would have liked). so go figure today, after several days of thinking, "the TA-ing will be a joke!" i found myself nervous as the students filed in, more or less on time. was it the newish material i was expected to be master of? certainly, that couldn't explain it. after all, i had taught calculus for 2 years with sometimes little more than a quick review of the material to guide me and the awesome skill of recognizing when i was both 1) wrong and 2) confusing the students, leading me to quickly erase the board and start over, whilst saying something like, "okay, one more time. let's see if you guys can follow the Chain Rule this way..." (ahh! the secrets of teaching revealed!)... was it being away from the classroom? or was it not knowing the level of knowledge of the students? to be honest, i still haven't determined why i was nervous. but i did discover 3 things: 1) no matter what people say, a good kid in a bad school can be at least as successful in an academic setting as a mediocre kid in a great school, 2) you figure out the moment the students start trusting and liking you in a college setting b/c they go from the dazed look of every student to asking whether you had seen some movie "X" or fished on some river "Y" or ever visited some place "Z". and loyal readers will know, and to this i admit a weakness to vanity, i did drop the "let's use st. croix as an example." if some people name drop, i place drop. a geography lab is, therefore, a great excuse to do the "okay, so when i lived in australia, at the december solstice, the sun made a 90-degree..." you get the idea? so, in the course of 2 hours, while i learned a little bit about the students (they're atrocious at math, didn't think about reading the lab ahead of time, are hard workers, and are very polite), they found out that i had, through lab-oriented examples, mind you, lived in the virgin islands, france, australia, and northern norway (the last might be a bit of a stretch insomuch as i haven't actually lived there, but it was the only way to discuss why the sun doesn't set above the arctic circle in june...). as i always say, the greatest challenge of a teacher is being an entertainer. think about it. then tell me that i'm wrong.
actually, don't. i like my gentle ignorances.
final note: so yesterday (sunday) was a great day. nothing special happened. didn't really do much. did read about 80 pages for 1 class. did read about 6 journal articles (another 60 pages). but most importantly: i made a superb stir-fry! on the exclamation point scale, that's like:
stir-fry!!!!!!
it might even be higher. now why was this stir-fry so tasty? after all, to those out there who enjoy the cooking effort, a stir-fry is about 1 step beyond making toast. poorly. but, in the world of the "bachelor ph.d. student life", making stir-fry that is tasty and waiting for you after a long day of reading, is like sailing to your home and knowing sitting on that dock is your best girl waiting with a nice big chocolate cake.
don't believe me? try eating dried carrots and frozen pizzas for a week and tell me otherwise.
actually, don't. as i said, i like my gentle ignorances.
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