The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen. It is lovely, and has one of those -story-within-a-story things going on in the margins. It's about a 12-year-old boy who is a cartographer/naturalist. Read it. You'll like it.
Peace.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
May 24, 2010
Beginings and Endings
Today my little sister graduates from high school. This is a good thing, as she will be free.
I'm done with year two. This semester was just awful, class-wise. But it's over and wasn't a complete waste of time. Now on to studying for quals (which are in September) and doing as much research as humanly possible. I'm working on 5 different projects with a possible 6th.
1) Anatomy
2) in vivo physiology
3)in vitro physiology
4) allometry/development
5) cross-taxa coding model
6?) comparative within taxa
As I write this, I'm watching the Blues Brothers--which is always a good choice.
I'm reading Intuition by Allegra Goodman to see if it's a good alternative to the awful novel we read for research ethics. With about 50 pages to go, I'm very pleased. Decent writing + interesting treatment of ethical issues = good choice. Anyone else ever read a good novel about research that has some form of ethics in it?
Peace.
I'm done with year two. This semester was just awful, class-wise. But it's over and wasn't a complete waste of time. Now on to studying for quals (which are in September) and doing as much research as humanly possible. I'm working on 5 different projects with a possible 6th.
1) Anatomy
2) in vivo physiology
3)in vitro physiology
4) allometry/development
5) cross-taxa coding model
6?) comparative within taxa
As I write this, I'm watching the Blues Brothers--which is always a good choice.
I'm reading Intuition by Allegra Goodman to see if it's a good alternative to the awful novel we read for research ethics. With about 50 pages to go, I'm very pleased. Decent writing + interesting treatment of ethical issues = good choice. Anyone else ever read a good novel about research that has some form of ethics in it?
Peace.
March 7, 2010
books, work, etc
I should be programming now. But I'm watching the Oscars. Which is rather inexplicable. But there's Neil Patrick Harris doing a song and dance number wearing a sequined suit jacket, so that's totally worth it. Also, if Avatar wins best picture, I will be very cranky. Because that was neocolonial nonsense. Along with about a hundred other awful things that I will not enumerate (out of sheer mercy).
Programming is still making me crazy. But I shall beat Matlab. Woman shall triumph over machine.
I've finally finished The Dangerous World of Butterflies. And it was wonderful. Far more so than I expected.
Back to pretending to work.
Peace.
Programming is still making me crazy. But I shall beat Matlab. Woman shall triumph over machine.
I've finally finished The Dangerous World of Butterflies. And it was wonderful. Far more so than I expected.
Back to pretending to work.
Peace.
October 21, 2009
entertainment
It seems that of late
Entertainment and pleasure
Have been inverted
I read Eat, Pray, Love a while ago. It's pretty good. Not great, but enjoyable and Ms Gilbert makes some good points. While visiting Italy, she observes that many people have replace pleasure with entertainment. Instead of enjoyment, we simply fill the time with whatever is easiest and disengage.
That is all.
February 23, 2009
Books I've Read Lately
I've found that I really like narrow histories. This for example:
Yep, it really is about salt. It's quite interesting. Kurlansky places salt into the foreground of history. Very foreground if possible. I've read other books like this before, and I have trouble believing that the subject is as integral as the author claims. Still, engrossing. Also, there are recipes. For ancient methods of salting fish. Neat
I read this for class (research ethics):
The idea is a nice one: dramatize research and difficult ethical questions. The execution sucks. The writing is just painful. I've heard that Djerassi's plays are pretty good. It seems like this would be a better play. But still, pretty awful. The ethical issues aren't really that well developed. And Djerassi gives some silly, random shout-outs to The Pill (which he developed). The characters are pretty pitiful as well. Stick to the science, sir.
I should be reading journal articles, not writing this. But, alas, a certain university's online library access is unneccesarily complex. Can't get to half the articles I need. Most of them are in fairly high-impact journals too. Oh well
Peace.
Yep, it really is about salt. It's quite interesting. Kurlansky places salt into the foreground of history. Very foreground if possible. I've read other books like this before, and I have trouble believing that the subject is as integral as the author claims. Still, engrossing. Also, there are recipes. For ancient methods of salting fish. NeatI read this for class (research ethics):
The idea is a nice one: dramatize research and difficult ethical questions. The execution sucks. The writing is just painful. I've heard that Djerassi's plays are pretty good. It seems like this would be a better play. But still, pretty awful. The ethical issues aren't really that well developed. And Djerassi gives some silly, random shout-outs to The Pill (which he developed). The characters are pretty pitiful as well. Stick to the science, sir.I should be reading journal articles, not writing this. But, alas, a certain university's online library access is unneccesarily complex. Can't get to half the articles I need. Most of them are in fairly high-impact journals too. Oh well
Peace.
July 29, 2008
previous post is a lie
I don't have anywhere to live once I move, oh faithful readers. But I do have some good leads.
I think the name of this generation should be the Carpal Tunnel Syndromes (which would be a good name for a rock band). I've been doing data analysis for 2.5 straight weeks, and my wrists hurt. A lot. Have you tried to buy a mousepad lately? They're really hard to find. And there's like 2 choices. I assume that's due to laser mouses instead of the rollerball kind. Anyway, in spite of my sweet wrist-rest mousepad, this is painful.
You should all read The Overachievers. Even if you aren't one. And then you should talk about it with people.
Peace.
I think the name of this generation should be the Carpal Tunnel Syndromes (which would be a good name for a rock band). I've been doing data analysis for 2.5 straight weeks, and my wrists hurt. A lot. Have you tried to buy a mousepad lately? They're really hard to find. And there's like 2 choices. I assume that's due to laser mouses instead of the rollerball kind. Anyway, in spite of my sweet wrist-rest mousepad, this is painful.
You should all read The Overachievers. Even if you aren't one. And then you should talk about it with people.
Peace.
June 26, 2008
housing hunting
Next on agenda for the move: somewhere to live.
Therefore, the great housing quest begins Friday. This could be interesting. Living expenses are ridiculously high compared to the OK. There's some less expensive (and more rural) places east and north a bit. But that would require about a 30 minute commute.
Thoughts on commuting?
I'm only writing this because I'm waiting for Guns, Germs, and Steel to finish importing so I can listen to it on the trip. I figure driving around, not knowing where I am will be a recipe for longer-than-anticipated drive times. So, some education is in order.
Watched Be Kind Rewind tonight. It was pretty great. You should look at various "sweded" movies on the interweb. And I went bowling with Norman and Jessie. And I didn't completely fail at the bowling endeavor. There were even a couple of strikes and spares in there.
It's time to remove the laundry from my bed so I can go to sleep now.
Peace.
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