Summer Vacation

Most of my blogroll's still on vacation. Can't blame them. Can't think of anything much to blog myself, even though I've been doing all sorts of interesting things. Here, go look at pretty pictures.

OK, maybe I should take up running...

writingandliving on life after [starting] running:

I was contemplating these things last night. What gives? Why the new and improved attitude? What's different about me?

"Maybe," I thought, "it's the running." I decided to ask Theodore:

Me: Honey? Do I seem different to you since I've started running?

Theodore: Oh, yeah. I've noticed a big difference. You're more cheerful, you have more energy, your moods are better, you're happier, more patient...

While I'm pleased that the running seems to have had positive results, it would have been nice if he could have at least PRETENDED to have to think about it.

Sheesh.

Sarah on life after [starting] running:

Oh, and another thing: teach yourself to do something difficult. Something you believe is nearly impossible like, say, running. Because when you do it you'll realise that you're so damn amazing you can do anything. Even walk away from the computer. You'll even have the energy to do it.

Maybe I should get in on this... But, for heaven's sake, do you people have to be good examples in [almost] August?

...

Too many of the people on my blogroll have gone a week, or two weeks, or, in Alaska's case, two whole days without making new entries. Do you people think it's summer and you get to have vacation and personal time? Fine then, if you won't blog, I'll blog. :)

I've had an exciting three weeks on the other side of the country. We've been working hard and playing hard and I'm exhausted now so I'm not sure what to blog about.

Still trying to get control of my nasty temper. Especially when I'm tired (which I mostly have been these whole three weeks), it's easy for me to get annoyed with myself, and once I'm angry I feel like shouting at everyone. Which mostly means shouting at Boyfriend since he's there most often. He continues to outdo himself, though, in being patient and kind to me, while also pointing out that I'm really being kind of horrible.

Heading home early tomorrow morning, via my real hometown, where I will get to ooh and aah over my hordes of baby cousins -- my mother's the oldest of eight kids, and everyone's coming back to town for my grandfather's 75th birthday. I'm looking forward to the relaxation, and to seeing one of my favorite aunts, who doesn't have time to come home very often. And the babies. Ooh, babies!

(I'm allowed to be all girly... I spent the last three weeks surrounded by mathematicians!)

Happy almost-August, everyone.

You go, girl.

I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I can hardly not link to it...

Cool.

I like this.

Delegar does seem awfully angry, but then, a lot of angry people have awfully good reasons. Anyway, I like this:

(In Jewish tradition -- at least the Jewish tradition I favor -- I realize Dennis Prager and his conservative ilk are pushing a different meme -- God created man to fight back: we were put here to argue with him, not submit to him. In Jewish tradition, that, among other things, is the lesson of Sodom. Not kill the gays, as the Fundavangelicals like to read it, but argue with God when he's about to do something you think is wrong.)

Food

"[I think a reasonable policy is] you shouldn't eat anything that benefits you more if you don't eat it than if you do eat it." -- Advisor

"Have you finished those plots for me? Because I'm hungry." -- Advisor, to Boyfriend

"And you saw that I ordered The Slab. It's not like you're too much for me." -- Advisor, to Skinny Boyfriend

Bits and pieces

Not only was I too tired-of-brain to blog yesterday, I was apparently too tired to actually post the entry I cobbled together from across the web. So here it is now. Enjoy!

Bitch, Ph.D. has a tremendous and insightful post on nice guys and bitchy women.

"Getting students to do great work is the easy part. Getting them to write it up is the hard part." --Organizer Person
"Well said" -- Advisor

Two finds from this week's Christian Carnival:

Jami has a nice meditation on why parents should let children help which seems to be relevant to the advisor-student relationship as well as the parent-child relationship. Anyway, I appreciate my advisor's "letting me help" in this way; I'm old enough now to know that it's sort of a fiction, but it's a useful fiction.

Rolling Stone has an interesting article on "The Young and the Sexless". The author seems bemused, but makes a rather successful effort to be fair and understanding. Christian Carnival also links to Jeremy's commentary on the article, which links to Jeremy Lott's commentary on the article.

And, from The Yarn Harlot's post on beginning spinning, some thoughts that apply to beginnings in general:

Cassie wrote about the new spinners urge to save good stuff for later, when you are a better spinner, and how she didn't really get behind that theory a whole lot. I couldn't agree more.

While (clearly) I have no issues with hoarding lovely fibres (and clearly, neither does Cassie) until their day comes, I also think that there is a great deal to be said for learning to spin with the best materials you can afford.
Nobody needs to be hindered by things that are barely usable, and nobody needs to feel that they are a crappy spinner (or just more crappy than they actually are, since we all suck in the beginning and it is only the length of time that we are sucking for that is really variable among learners). Good fibre makes good yarn.

Good things inspire you. Good things get you to try harder. Good fibre actually helps you spin. Beautiful fibre gives you something to live up to.

Crap fibre depresses you, frustrates you and encourages you to give up and (in the less determined) could cause a fledgling spinner to wander off entirely, thinking that they obviously aren't meant for this...given that they keep turning out crap yarn. Even the best spinner is going to end up with crap yarn if you start with crap fibre, except at least they are going to know why they apparently suck so hard.