tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post8739585665698073839..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Staying focused over the summer. An Early Thirsty. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-76779179058727141662015-06-09T14:03:44.379-04:002015-06-09T14:03:44.379-04:00"Getting sucked into plots," is ALWAYS a..."Getting sucked into plots," is ALWAYS a good thing! I am one of those people that gets so immersed into a story that when a character dies or something major happens I feel it. How can the world go on when character X is dead? I love books!<br /><br />I realize the job may not have been the right fit for me and their lack of flexibility is telling. I will let you guys know the Frennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17126693773120200776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-12555521432950682452015-06-09T10:49:09.144-04:002015-06-09T10:49:09.144-04:00Frenna, I have said in at least one other comment ...Frenna, I have said in at least one other comment (e.g., <a href="http://academicwatercooler.blogspot.com/2014/02/wombat-of-copier-sends-some-job-misery.html?showComment=1392418525561#c1121897504774161545" rel="nofollow">here</a>) that they did you a favor in letting you know what to expect if you actually worked there, in this case by making you uncomfortable and being so irrationally inflexibleOgre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-26295314217310440922015-06-09T10:06:30.940-04:002015-06-09T10:06:30.940-04:00Getting sucked into plots is, indeed, a good thing...Getting sucked into plots is, indeed, a good thing (and even, I'm pretty sure recent brain research suggests, a useful antidote to the ill-effects of distraction/multitasking). I have not, however, been able to get into _Wolf Hall_, much as I would like to. Maybe I was just *too* tired/distracted, and needed to get drawn into something lighter and shorter first. I will have to try again. <Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9344377968010913122015-06-09T09:59:33.779-04:002015-06-09T09:59:33.779-04:00Well it is dasparagus season (or at least the tail...Well it is dasparagus season (or at least the tail end thereof, in some places), and they're good steamed (though I prefer roasting). Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-29702983536454558322015-06-09T08:25:00.269-04:002015-06-09T08:25:00.269-04:00Without the influence of "Wolf Hall" (bo...Without the influence of "Wolf Hall" (book and TV series) I would have gotten so much more done.EC1https://www.blogger.com/profile/13414931249618049097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-75464767891172752342015-06-09T07:50:06.485-04:002015-06-09T07:50:06.485-04:00Not authentic enough? I worked real hard on that. ...Not authentic enough? I worked real hard on that. The other teachers all praise me for my authenticity. You are dasparagusing my selfiesteam.<br /><br />But thanks for noticing the horrible style. It is actually more work for me to write that way; I literally had to remove the paragraph breaks. To help you refine your filter, here are some of the intentional spelling and/or grammatical errors I Ogre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62142461080317555932015-06-09T06:46:18.570-04:002015-06-09T06:46:18.570-04:00" I just get sucked into plots..."
I ..." I just get sucked into plots..." <br /><br />I can't help the gentle jab that you say that like it's a bad thing. Like serious books aren't supposed to have plots.Rosencrantz Andor Guildensternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095512139776536635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-60566650426181128322015-06-08T23:22:51.585-04:002015-06-08T23:22:51.585-04:00I am teaching this summer. So, I must be producti...I am teaching this summer. So, I must be productive those days. On other days I nap and try to clean the house or something, but I keep reading "fun" books. I just get sucked into plots...<br /><br />I keep waiting to hear from a job interview I had a few weeks ago. If I get an offer, I will accept and then I will need to stop napping and start planning to sell a house and move. <Frennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17126693773120200776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-65451905928884700512015-06-08T21:00:33.353-04:002015-06-08T21:00:33.353-04:00I'm tempted to paraphrase the person who repli...I'm tempted to paraphrase the person who replied to Bill Clinton's (I think it was Clinton's) claim to have created many millions of jobs with "yes, and I have three of them." Ph.D.s are, indeed, unlikely to be unemployed, if only because most of us are pretty smart, and also have a few other useful "soft skills" like persistence and time management and Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62930508734292255722015-06-08T19:14:11.517-04:002015-06-08T19:14:11.517-04:00I would have left imprints of two of the stamps I ...I would have left imprints of two of the stamps I use for grading. One of them is:<br /><br />Omit needless words.<br />See The Elements of Style, <br />by Strunk & White.<br /><br />The second one is:<br /><br />Avoid colloquiualisms<br />or cliches.<br /><br />Two that I wouldn't have used are "Spelling error" and "Grammar error." That's why this message isn'Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-49815894814707420712015-06-08T19:10:55.747-04:002015-06-08T19:10:55.747-04:00As I tell students, although your parents will pro...As I tell students, although your parents will probably react with horror (Carl Sagan’s asked him, “Is it possible to make a living doing that?”), you won't starve with an astronomy degree. Astronomy graduates have a 3% unemployment rate, and Ph.D.s have a 2% unemployment rate. For some time now, many of them have been going into financial services: I know people who left fingerprints all Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-2539795787420445992015-06-08T19:02:34.891-04:002015-06-08T19:02:34.891-04:00Mostly, I'm teaching -- a 7.5-week online cour...Mostly, I'm teaching -- a 7.5-week online course, which is about 3-4 weeks longer than the summer courses I usually teach, and is probably more pedagogically responsible, but I still feel the loss of "real" summer time. If I took the "you must be available 2 weeks before and after the official beginning and end of the semester" part of my contract(s) seriously, there Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-16438571155146577612015-06-08T18:46:38.966-04:002015-06-08T18:46:38.966-04:00It is, indeed, enough. Presumably an astronomy Ph...It is, indeed, enough. Presumably an astronomy Ph.D. allows one to acquire at least a few transferable skills along the way? And there will (we hope) be a need for a few new astronomers. <br /><br />Just don't let her go into debt to get the degree (getting into a first-tier school is, presumably, a pretty good step in that direction). Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-10990903259780007282015-06-08T18:44:03.582-04:002015-06-08T18:44:03.582-04:00I'm trying to find the minimum word count in t...I'm trying to find the minimum word count in the assignment above, but I must have missed it. <br /><br />I'm not actually much of a fan of Strunk and White (I'm more of a fan of Williams' _Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace_, or whatever they're calling it these days; the older editions are just as good, and priced much closer to what is reasonable for a smallish Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-4070533732140696222015-06-08T15:28:39.103-04:002015-06-08T15:28:39.103-04:00> Yes, I've told her about the job situatio...> <i>Yes, I've told her about the job situation, enough so that she yelled at me, so I stopped.</i><br /><br />That's all you can do.<br /><br />And yes, that is enough for two people. dmckeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18052641757203089416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-17337877862994283312015-06-08T14:47:12.274-04:002015-06-08T14:47:12.274-04:00You can send regalia to the dry cleaner? This page...You can send regalia to the dry cleaner? This page never stops amazing me!<br /><br />What am I doing this summer? I am: <br /><br />(1) Building model rockets for my nephew. Right now I am working on one of the coolest ever, the Mars Lander. It has legs, so when the parachute comes out, it lands upright, or at least it's supposed to. Here's a video (that I didn't make) of a flight:<Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-74711404190937466712015-06-08T07:30:10.605-04:002015-06-08T07:30:10.605-04:00How I Am Spending My Summer
by OPH
I am spending ...How I Am Spending My Summer<br />by OPH<br /><br />I am spending my summer this year doing several things, which I will now tell you about. But in order to understand that, first you have to understand how I spent my year. Back in the day, I did some research, and wrote a part of a paper that I intend to publish someday. So I spent my year trying to finish the paper between other duties that I Ogre Proctor Hephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17428431147495287413noreply@blogger.com