We continue our year of stories with a nod to Robert’s favorite book when he was in elementary school. He’s read a lot of other stories since then but keeps going back to Homer.
Patience, Please
This site is under reconstruction and will look strange for a while. We regret the inconvenience.
Responding to Oxlin’s question on the January random thread, I asked Ivars Peterson about the math column. Here’s his reply:
“I am returning on occasion to past topics, but the writing is new, in general. But I don’t always recall that I have covered something before, as may have been the case with my first one. I do have one coming up that is explicitly an update, on the TSP problem. The original, more than 10 years ago, was a bit messed up, and I hope the new, updated one is clearer. I am also writing for Ask, and those columns will certainly seem familiar to sharp-eyed elderly readers of Muse.”
Yaaay! New columns!
If Homer gets a month, I hope you let Ovid take a month as well. Western literature over the past 2000 years would have a totally different set of stories without Ovid. Or maybe you could do a Vergil/Lucan combo month (a paper on the wheels-within-wheels parallels between the Pharsalia and the Aeneid was one of the highlights of my senior year of college).
We won’t slight the Romans. Of course, twelve months won’t even scratch the surface of all the stories in the world. One thing you can say about Homo sapiens: we love stories.
Don’t forget Catullus!
Anyone named after a cat is A-OK in my book.
Naming a cat “Catullus” is definitely one for the “life goals” list.
Like Felis Baumgartner and Joe Kitten-ger?
And I doubt any dogs have written anything close to such excellent love poems.
Currently in a group chat with friends of one of my friends. They keep me busy so I don’t get lonely as offten.
But of course, I’ll still be on here to speak to you guys. 
First day of work today! (Trying not to build it up too much as the “first day of the REST OF MY LIFE” but the thought has crossed my mind.)
The weather outside is frightful, but I’m still walking five blocks to the subway, as I am too stubborn to wait for the bus and nervous that I won’t have enough on my MetroCard for it and nervous that I’ll somehow miss my stop even though the subway station is fairly obvious. (Don’t tell my grandparents – they want me to take the bus I think. They also want me to call when I reach work, in case… somehow I get lost on the subway?? I have taken this route into Manhattan before, just saying.)
I have three meetings on my schedule today, including “lunch and learn with the CEO and other new hires,” and I’m not sure how scared to be. Torn between “take it a day at a time, see what happens in the moment” and “WIDESPREAD PANIC,” as the company I interned for had thousands more employees than this one, and seeing the CEO in person was reserved for people much higher up than interns. (Panic probably isn’t the right emotion to have. I’ll do my best to wait and see.)
My hours are 10-6 (it’s 7:45 now, an hour’s commute), so I’ll tell you about my day later tonight!
How about: “Mwahahahaha! The world is mine!”
What a day!
I was somewhat soaked by the freezing rain. My boots were wildly insufficient, I don’t think they even tried at all to keep my feet dry. The bus didn’t come; after one drove by the stop, I walked to the subway.
(Then 45 minutes on the subway. )
I got to work and signed a bunch of papers, including some I had never seen before and kind of wished I’d gotten a chance to prepare for. By this point, it’s not like I’m not working here, though — so I didn’t make a fuss about them taking all the profitable ideas I might come up with while working there.
I had a meeting with the entire development team, where they went over their weekly goals and introduced me. After, a couple people came up and introduced themselves, including the CEO (“Hi, I’m Scott.” “Are you /that/ Scott?” He was very friendly but his face was very generic and I’m bad at faces, so I’m not sure I can recognize him. )
I spent most of the day setting up my laptop. I was given a Mac, and it’s been an adjustment, to say the least. I’m not thrilled, but I’d rather be on the platform that the support team is most familiar with. If I really can’t adjust, I’ll switch back to hardware/software I’m more familiar with (a ThinkPad running Linux, ideally).
I was placed on the internationalization team. It also does some stuff with making subgroups. I am really thrilled about internationalization – I think it’s cool and important, and I hope that I can contribute in a meaningful way, since it’s a relatively new team.
I’m very excited to actually start doing bug fixes tomorrow! By this afternoon I was kind of fried, and I’m hoping that I can really start to look at the code base tomorrow instead of just installing all the prerequisite programs.
(I got a bus on the way home. The freezing rain/slush/snow looks to continue tomorrow, unfortunately.)
Also, the CEO lunch was rescheduled. So that worry was for nothing.
Happy birthday, Groundhog! Could you do something about this winter, please?
Still waiting for winter to show up.
take some of mine. we got 15 inches of snow over the last two days.
We got random snow yesterday, feel free to have some of ours too.
Hey, could I have some?
Send some over here. Please. We have pretty much no snowpack and this summer’s going to be really dry if this winter stays so warm.
Update: it is fifty degrees out today. Random snow now gone, leaving awkward piles of really unnecessary salt on the walkways.
I wonder why we can’t box all of our excess snow up in refrigerated train cars and send it somewhere with a drought. I mean, not all of it has salt in it…
Someone actually did something like that, I think. Some grandfather in the U.S. (I forget which state) actually drove his pickup many miles into a place with some snow so he could bring back a load for his granddaughter to build a snowman with. Apparently, the storm missed their town and the kid really wanted to build a snowman. (I’m not quite sure about riding bikes around in the halls, though…)
The trick is to learn to appreciate each season in and of itself. Winter is as natural as summer.
cavities are natural too, but that doesn’t mean I like them
Point taken.
I can try and talk to Phil, but he’s really stubborn!
Thanks.
Wait–your birthday is on Groundhog’s day?
It all makes sense now…
Happy birthday! xD
Oh, gosh. I came to this thread to escape my compare/contrast essay on Plato and Aristotle’s approaches to political theory, and here we go with more ancient Greeks.
Plato didn’t like Homer much. Aristotle quotes him a lot.
Something I just noticed about this month’s image: One of the riders is wearing pink. Is that supposed to be Achilles?
So I just got back home from a weekend winter trip in the mountains with my friends and family and went to check my grades from last semester because I really wanted to know how I ended up doing. I was in pretty good shape last time I checked. Wow! I expected to get a B in that class but it’s an A! My eyes move down the list of letters until… wait. I have straight A’s except for this B in… Language Arts? I open up a new tab, go straight to Google Drive (our school has this ‘paperless’ thing where we do almost all of our work online and then Share it with our teachers on Drive) and find my folder for that class. I know exactly where to go and… I didn’t Share the LAST ASSIGNMENT OF THE SEMESTER with my teacher and now have a zero in the grade book and an 88% in the class. Cakecakecakecakecake. This was the year that I wanted to start a 4.0 trend all the way through the rest of my academic career, but, no. Of course not. Uuuuuggggghhhh! Next year, maybe?
Can you email your teacher?
No, she made it really clear that she’s not accepting anything after 3:16 pm, January 30th. I really thought that I had turned that thing in, though. Oh, well. Things happen, I guess.
While there is absolutely nothing wrong with striving for a 4.0 (provided you don’t put too much pressure on yourself and get down on yourself if you don’t meet your goals) and while it ABSOLUTELY feels awful when you miss an A by such a small margin (especially for the reasons you did)–in the big scheme of things, a B isn’t a big deal. Especially at your point in your academic career. You’re what–13? 14? Unless you’re in highschool, your GPA is pretty much irrelevant outside of your own (and possibly our parents’) mind. So don’t be too hard on yourself!!
That said–I second oxlin: is there any way you can get in contact with your teacher? While it is a long shot, if you politely and respectfully explain that you had completed the assignment, but somehow neglected to “share” the assignment (especially if you have any way of proving that you had completed the assignment prior to the deadline–does Google Drive show an uploaded/modified date for documents?) there is a chance she would be lenient and consider revising your grade.
Just remember: even if you’re in high school–and even once you’re in college–getting less than a 4.0 is not the end of the world. And the occasional B will not drag your GPA down significantly. Just do your very best and maybe put a few safeties in place to check yourself and make sure you’ve not neglected to fully submit an assignment in the future.
(Also, I fully admit I am a hypocrite, because I still get inordinately upset over getting grades less than As, even though at this stage in my academic career I could be getting a C average and it wouldn’t effect my future job opportunities in the slightest, since I’m just planning on going straight into practice and not pursuing any sort of academically competitive internship.)
I guess I could try showing her that I had finished it before Friday, since there is a place where you can find the revision history on Google documents. And I know that it probably isn’t that big of a deal. I was feeling a little worse about it at the time of the writing because of course my whole family (of overachievers) came down on me for not managing my time and blah blah. Although they are entirely correct. Thanks, though!
But the skiing was fun!
Okay, forget everything that I said because I just opened my grades and it says I have a 90% in that class and I don’t know how that happened, I’m just really happy and thank you YAAY!
Your teacher likely tweaked it…but regardless I’m glad things worked out for you!
Oh man, your schools have a 10-point grading system? We have a seven-point system (93 is the lowest A, 85 is the lowest B and so on). We’re reportedly set to switch to the 10-point system next year and I’m so pumped.
anyway, congrats! It sounds like you’re really working hard in your classes.
Today I ran into a professor in the Earth Science department who I know does research in Antarctica, so I said “I guess you must think it’s really warm right now, huh?”
But it turns out many other people had told him that joke already.
If you want to describe a boy doing things that would be described as “fangirling” if a girl did them, or vice versa, what would you say? I’m not actually sure if “fanboy” can be used in a non-derrogatory way, but I’d like to describe my male friend’s behaviour with something like “fangirl”. (In my first semester CS course, I answered an exam question using Haskell instead of general math notation. When I asked about the mark, my lecturer said “you were being a Haskell… uh…” *awkward pause* “… fanboy”.)
there is no good reason to consider fanboy derogatory but fangirl not (I would say the distinction you’re making comes down to how seriously we take / how much respect we give people of different genders participating in fandom – ie there’s a trend of mostly male fandoms being considered socially acceptable while mostly female fandoms – for instance, twilight – are put down as trash)
I’ve definitely heard “fangirl” used in a derogatory way. Sure, there are girls who are fans whose behavior is unacceptable/ Embarrasing, but this shouldn’t excuse the stigma against girls who are fans. a lot of the gender stigma in fan communities definitely has basis in underlying sexism and. I believe that identifying this as sexism is the key to being more welcoming towards girls in a fan community. I tend to use the gender neutral term “fan” when I can because when you take out the gender it’s a lot more ambiguous and a lot of the time I don’t want negative stigma to be associated with people I may be referring to with my words.
“Fanboying” is the male version of “fangirling” as far as I know, both can be either positive or negative depending on inflection and context– because there are both male and female fans who are admirable and both male and female fans who are embarrassing.
I’d mainly heard ‘fanboy’ used by people outside the given fandom as an insult, while I’ve spent enough time on certain websites with visible largely female followings for various fandoms that when I hear ‘fangirl(ing)’ it’s usually neutral-ish or positive.
Lizzie and AL – Yep. I’ve somehow managed to avoid within-fandom gender stigma for now, but I see the mostly-female-fandoms-suck version all the time, and am highly displeased.
Not only that, but there’s also the whole games snafoo where girls have to completely sell their soul to a video game and know every detail about it before they’re a “real fan”.
May or may not be useful to y’all, but I have a genderqueer friend with whom I had a discussion on what to call them instead of fanboy or fangirl. Their response was initially “fanperson” and was immediately upgraded to “fandragon”. So there’s that.
I greatly approve of that solution.
Is there some way to tint a PDF so that black appears blue or green or something and I can print my readings with the colored ink cartridge rather than going out to buy a new black one immediately?
you could try converting it to another file format- like a picture format- and tinting that image. I’ve never had much luck with PDFs in general but if you can get it to a .png it should be fairly simple. And if you’re looking for programs with which to tint your image, firealpaca and gimp are both open source and handle those thigns pretty well.
Can’t you screenshot, then edit the color, and then re-insert the images and text?
I could, but it doesn’t seem very efficient for a 25-page document if there’s an easier way to change the whole thing at once.
With my old printer, you could just select the color cartridge when printing, it’d still print in black but it’d waste the color ink.
Catwings… you wouldn’t have happened to write a letter that made it’s way into Muse’s February issue installment of Muse Mail, would you? I couldn’t help but notice that the letter was signed, “Catwings of the Dead”.
Why, yes, as a matter of fact.
Wait, really? I’ve been meaning to do one of those someday. Actually, I got published in Ask a few years ago when I asked why light didn’t break the speed of sound. For Muse, though, I had the idea of sending a picture of my collection of magazines spelling out “Muse Rocks!!!!!”. This was inspired by a letter written a little while ago with the picture of another subscriber’s collection spelling out “Muse” and Kokopelli’s request that she send another picture once she could spell out “Muse Rocks” with ‘at least a dozen exclamation points’. I think I’m at the point where I am just starting on the first punctuation mark. A couple more years, and I’m done! (Unless, of course, I can write out ‘x12’ with fewer magazines)
Good ideas! Show us your pictures once you get there.
I wonder how many exclamation points I could get…
Wow, awesome! Congrats on getting published!
A note to anybody considering learning a string instrument: if you live in the Midwest, your practice sessions will quickly devolve into tuning sessions. Or just flat-out regular restringing if the weather’s been particularly weird lately. My poor violin isn’t used to this D:
Honestly this applies to basically any type of instrument except probably brass and maybe flutes.
Flutes are basically little untuneable devils. Though usually the only way that weather can make them worse is if they’re cold. Wooden flutes and piccolos are probably a pain, though.
It applies extra to organs. Thousands of parts going out of tune independently of each other…yikes. And the one pipe that’s really bad is always in an impossible-to-reach spot.
Out of context on the Recent Comments thread, this could be the complaint of a frustrated surgeon.
you need to humidify your instrument. Assuming you’re not doing anything dumb like leaving it in parked cars for hours, dryness tends to affect it more than cold because wood shrinks when dry. While you can get a room humidifier pretty cheap, in-case humidifiers are probably the best bet because they’re easier to keep at a consistent level. Dampits are cheap, I like stretto bags a lot and they’re safer than dampits, or if you aren’t going to get around to buying anything soon, stick a few baby carrots in there somewhere not in contact with the instrument (some people use orange peels but that seems grosser) and switch them out when they get desiccated.You want to aim for 40-60% humidity.
I’ve actually been wondering if I oughta do that. Thank you!
It’s my birthday tomorrow! DX
And Cerulean Pyros’s the day after that.
(I’ve just added you to the MuseBlog Calendar.)
But don’t you mean XD?
Nah…I’m actually upset and worried about this…
Any particular reason?
It’s hard to explain….
That’s what you always say….
I thought I told you before that I am bad at explaining things…
Birthdays are largely irrelevant dates, and become more irrelevant as the number increases. If they provide an excuse for joy, celebrate them. If not, ignore them. Or do the Elizabethan thing and celebrate the life of the saint whose day corresponds to your birthday. Preferably a really obscure one from Wales or Latvia that no-one has ever heard of. There’s a saint for every day of the year. There are probably some obscure Roman or Norse deities who could be pressed into service, too. Doesn’t matter if you’re not religious. I sometimes raise a glass of ginger beer to the memory of Aerdeyrn or Gwenllwyfo.
Happy Birthday, GCA-DS! I hope that whatever you’re worried about ends up okay and that you may celebrate the coming year with less anxiety than any of your years before!
I maybe have a job offer?
Meh. Follow up suggests that things are more fluid than initially implied, and it’s really just a job interview.
Imagine if bacon actually tasted as good as the Internet acts like it tastes.
I have to say though, IHOP bacon isn’t all that bad.
I had a phone interview with a schooner yesterday and I really hope I get the position. Even if I do though, it doesn’t start until September, and another boat I’d applied to said they don’t have any open positions (but that if anyone cancelled unexpectedly that they’d keep my application on file).
I really hope I get the fall position, and also find something to do for the summer. And then after that I need to figure out what next. I guess my life from this point on out (or until I settle down) will be a constant job search.
Things I didn’t really consider about the kind of transient work I’m getting into. Hm.
better schooner than later
Do you really need to pun-ish us like that?
Bravo! At last there appears a hero who can retaliate effectively to Fern’s sheep puns!
In the current economic climate, you wouldn’t be the only one with a transient job. You’d just be happier than most.
Alright, so… Homestuck has officially ruined my life. Now, what is this “Hetalia” I keep hearing about? They seem to coincide with each other for some reason.
The two fanbases used to overlap quite a lot. I don’t think there’s much an active following for the combination anymore, but Hetalia is a silly anime about World War II in which all the countries are personified as anime characters. I’ve seen a bit of it. It’s meant to be very blunt and full of crude stereotypes.
Speaking of Homestuck though, have you caught up yet? Who’s your favorite character? Its been so long since I did any diving deep into that comic.
As for my fandom with Homestuck… I actually have not caught up yet. I’m only to the part where they introduce the water-dwelling Trolls. And, so far, my favorite character – no matter how cliche it may seem – would have to be Dave. People who know me find it shocking since I despise Rap music with a passion, but I just like Dave… he seems more mature than the others. And he’s just plain awesome at that.
Dave’s my favorite human, now, too! I recently finished my fourth readthrough of the comic, and this time I read most of the pesterlogs out loud in different voices. His raps are so dope!
Everybody gets a bunch of character development as Act 5 progresses, so you’re in for a treat! Dave’s character arc is my favorite.
God I could talk about homestuck all day.
Wait, you’re just starting to read the pesterlogs out loud in different voices on your fourth readthrough?! I do that already on my first readthrough!
Of course then begs the question; where in the heck did you get all of that time to waste reading all of Homestuck and all of it’s lengthiness four times?
Well it was of course slightly more lengthy with each readthrough! I started reading at the very beginning of 2012, and Act 6 had just started. Then I did my first reread at the… end of 2012? I remember that the kickstarter was happening at the time. Then my second reread was during the Megapause, a two-month long hiatus spring of 2013. I read it again so soon after since some people had organized a community re-read when faced with the prospect of a months-long hiatus. Oh, how naive we were… My most recent reread began last summer when I didn’t have a whole lot else to do before school started. It was month… eight or nine of the Gigapause, which would eventually last exactly a year. Reading everything out loud took a lot longer than reading to myself, especially since I couldn’t make any progress when anyone else was in the room. So that’s why it took five months.
Homestuck took me… maybe 1 week of reading to get through the first time? Over winter break, when I didn’t have anything to do. Of course, it’s about 50% longer now than when I started reading… that’s a scary thought!
Hey, do you or anyone have any tips for remembering names? Especially troll names? I find myself getting confused or forgetful.
Me too! I actually didn’t get all the troll names until my second readthrough!
I guess just make sure you know the names of who’s talking in each pesterlog! And you don’t need to worry about their trollian handles after you learn what their real names are.
I like Hetalia because even though the characters are stereotypes of their countries and some annoy or fight with each other sometimes, the world is still depicted as a big group of quirky friends that go to the same parties and learn about each other’s cultures.
ok I know I am eternally the “sleep is for the weak” one
but i haven’t been posting about it much actually so
all this past week or two I’ve been going to bed at like 6am/waking up between noon & 2pm. it has been so much nicer than normal but is honestly still a struggle to go to bed at all, like, I am still very awake at 6am. i just lay down & try for the sake of it at this point.
except I have to babysit at 8am tomorrow so last night I didn’t go to sleep at all I just woke up thursday at 2pm and have been awake since
and now it’s after 1am and I am still WIDE AWAKE
like I was sleepy around like… noon-3pm. but now I am so awake.
normally this is the part where I would say “what is wrong with me”
but the other news is: I… think I may have actually figured it out?
it’s called “Delayed sleep phase disorder” and I read the wikipedia page and just. everything fits. I’ve spent so much of my life struggling with sleep (like… since age 6 & only gotten worse), all through middle/high school/college I just kept myself sleep deprived enough that I could fall asleep in under an hour around 2am so I’d get just barely enough sleep to function the next day
I’ve always said that my circadean rhythm feels longer than 24 hours, & that if I sleep from 6am-noon I feel 800% better than if I sleep from midnight-6am
so just
wow. maybe I can have a name for it now.
The website in which I usually contact a friend of mine is down. So I can’t speak to him right now.
He’s a rather depression-prone person, so I’m obviously worried. He has said multiple times that I have saved him from doing something drastic.
The site’s been down for over two days.
God, I’m worried half to death.
I’m sorry, Catwings. I really hope your friend is okay.
Let’s hope the problem is just a tech failure. But whatever it is – it’s natural to worry about a friend, but don’t start blaming yourself. You’ve tried very hard to help him. A lot of people wouldn’t.
Update: the site’s back up, and my friend is doing alright.
Phone interview in 5 minutes. My stomach is tying itself in knots. Phone interviews are more stressful than in person interviews. I like being able to see the person I am talking to.
I think that went well.
Something I did in preparation for phone interviews was to write up all of my relevant class and lab experience, by hand, outside of my resume — a sort of cheat sheet for my life, just so I wouldn’t get really nervous and forget everything. It’s seemed to work so far! I keep it handy taped on the wall next to my desk.
I did something a little similar. I had my resume open on my computer (in case i forgot my life history) and then wrote a list of questions down on a sheet of paper, as well as a few notes with questions I’d had difficulty with from previous interviews because I couldn’t really think of an answer to them at the time, but then realize after the interview a perfect example that fits the question. So I had those jotted down.
of course, that jsut meant that none of those questions were ones I got asked, and I got a lot of new questions I’d not heard previously.
Just saw Spirited Away for the first time last night…. I didn’t know you could DO that with a movie…..
In case anyone cares, here is a quick update from me!
Classes: Going well, I think. Taking classes on human physiology, imaging (e.g. X-ray, CT, MRI), modeling of biomedical systems, and bioinformatics. I’ve been working super hard and doing all of my readings, so even though I am currently procrastinating I think I’m doing okay this quarter! Hopefully. I’m optimistic.
Internships: I’ve applied to oodles of biotech companies all around the Bay Area, and even though only a couple of them have gotten back to me I’m optimistic about this one startup in Mountain View, [name self-redacted because it’s pretty small and also I’m not even sure if anything will happen], that has interviewed me twice over the phone and seems to be impressed with my profile. The last phone interview was even a technical interview (which I didn’t know it would be beforehand) and apparently I passed it with flying colors! So hopefully they’ll offer me a job there for this summer.
Personal: I’ve been getting a lot more sleep lately, and even though I’ve lost a friend recently over a political debate, I think that if she was willing to give up our friendship over a political issue (after two years of us knowing each other!) it didn’t mean that much to her anyway so I should probably just let it go. Otherwise, all of my other friendships are doing well. I think I’m starting to develop more solid friendships that will last a long time, rather than having many shallow relationships.
So I’m in a good place, people. After thinking of myself for years as being pessimistic (I think I was just more realistic at a younger age than most people), I’m coming to terms with the fact that I am actually a very optimistic person. Relevant: http :// xkcd . com/828/
UPDATE: Someone wants to do a real, live interview.
oh god oh god what, I can’t use my cheat sheet, I’ll forget everything
You’ll just have to be yourself. Deep breaths!
Thanks. I stopped panicking once I realized that it’s only a 30-minute interview with two people (so really, two 15-minute interviews), so they can’t ask me that many questions I can’t answer… hopefully.
Also it’s a startup, so that’s significantly less intimidating.
Interesting people with an interesting job to offer, who are really interested in your skill set and what they’ve seen of you so far. Don’t be intimidated, see it as an opportunity!
Spellcheck recognizes “chemosynthetic”. Hmm, improvement!
I’ve been sick for most of the time since I got back from New Zealand. I had a cold lingering even longer than usual, and now I’ve managed to catch something else, just in time for O week. The weather here is erratic, but seriously, it’s nearly 30 degrees, this is not appropriate.
Wow, none of you will ever guess what crazy thing happened to me last night!
You stole the Declaration of Independence?
…tune in next week to find out!
Nah, I got shocked badly by my on/off switch when turning off the light. It tingles and hurt for over an hour and I couldn’t think straight. XD It was weird!
Let us know if you start to develop superpowers.
XD Alright!
Not wanting to be a health & safety obsessive, but it would be worth having that light switch checked. If you’ve been zapped, there’s an earthing problem in there somewhere.
Yeah… One of my friends who had to put up with my silly behavior told me that…
My friend just contacted me, and told me that his boss is looking to hire a female programmer. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, yes we should be promoting the idea that women can be programmers, but on the other hand, I don’t think that gender should be a factor in hiring practices. On a third hand, I feel like I shouldn’t look a gift job opportunity in the mouth.
Take the job, move into management, and then you can hire MORE female programmers. Or at least encourage more to apply.
I had a weird/kind of bad day today to be responding to this now, but honestly I feel like my startup should probably only hire women for a while. There are only about five women in the whole code-writing side of the organization, around 50 people. I think those kinds of abysmal numbers are unacceptable, and I see hiring only women as rectifying the errors of the past/trying to create a better present day environment.
Gender shouldn’t be a factor in hiring, but it already is – study after study shows men are offered more money and seen as more competent during the hiring process. Making a conscious effort to counteract this is the only way to make change.
I really like your answer. I just wish that there were more female programmers out there–when I was in college, I was usually one of only two or three women in a class of 40 or more. It may not be feasible to hire only women, because there aren’t enough women in the field.
It would be pretty awesome if an established tech company offered computer training for women…or, even better, for young girls.
this is something I think about a lot, but also I just woke up, so we’ll see if this post is readable or not.
I don’t think the sum total of the problem is that not enough young girls think CS is an option. You see this “pipeline” argument a lot from major companies, and I think it’s shortsighted even when it’s well-intentioned. I think that often, going to school for CS or working in CS is a toxic environment for women and minorities. I think that women (and other minorities, but as a white American woman I’m not sure I can really speak to them, so I’m going to just say “women” from here on out) self-select out of that because it just isn’t worth it to them to spend the rest of their lives dealing with constant microaggressions/being seen as less competent than their peers and getting fewer opportunities after doing better work/etc.
This can be summarized as: the pipeline goes to a toxic waste facility.
Yes, change begets change, and women are more likely to join if there’s already women there. But change needs to come from all levels to be lasting, I think.
I definitely agree with you, especially with the microaggressions thing, because it’s something I’m experiencing right now at work. Actually, some of it is overt aggression, but I digress.
About the whole “not enough young girls think CS is an option” thing. From what I’ve read, there are actually a lot more girls who have an interest in CS and other STEM fields in elementary school. Then, in middle school, they start to be intimidated out of it by the boys. This is why I think that CS training for young girls is important–we need to catch them before they are intimidated away from it. Obviously the support needs to continue all the way up, but I strongly believe that getting an early start is crucial. Then, the pipeline will have more girls in it, and we can use that to make the destination less toxic.
This is obviously thirdhand, but I’ve heard that a notably-larger-than-the-population-average proportion of US women in CS and related areas are trans, many of whom presented as male until they were adults. Which kind of supports Groundhog’s argument – trans women would have internalised more socialisation directed at boys than cis women, although it’s complicated.
I mean, you’re right. But my concern is: do I really WANT to be shoving young girls towards a career where I know firsthand that they won’t be treated well? I want to first make sure the support for them is there all the way up. I’ve read that mid-level is where women really drop out of CS – long after the pipeline is through.
ML – I haven’t seen any statistics or articles on that but I would be very interested to. Especially considering the awful job I think most tech companies (mine included) are doing at supporting women and transgender people. I mean. I heard Meghan Stabler talk at the LGBT lunch event at Grace Hopper last year, and she was amazing, and she did mention how she’d had higher roles in companies and made more money before transitioning (though it seemed like she’s still pretty powerful, so take that as you will.)
I take your point about shoving girls into a career where they won’t be treated well. One of the things that pushed women out of computer programming in the first place were male-only programmer clubs and unions. (Originally, programming work was marketed towards women, so at first, most programmers were female) Maybe we need to create female-only programmer clubs and unions.
I’m actually very, very interested in the trend of feminist hackerspaces. Check out Double Union in SF for the canonical example. I’m hoping somebody will start one in New York – I actually once emailed Leigh Honeywell to ask if she knew someone around here so I could help them, but I imagine she gets a lot of emails as she has yet to respond over a few months.
It’s not official yet since I still have to sign the contract, but I’ve been offered a job, to start asap after I graduate!
Way to go, Luna!
I say, congrats, old fruit!
Congratulations, Luna! What’s the job?
It’s a small animal veterinary clinic back home in Alaska. I will be one of the veterinarians at the practice. (It still seems surreal that I’m actually going to be a vet in just a few short months).
From my interview/phone conversation with the veterinarian who owns the practice, it sounds like an extremely good working environment, and I will have several other doctors to work with/learn from at the practice, so I feel I will be getting quite a bit of mentoring. While I’ve never seen the clinic nor met any of the vets in person, I got a very positive opinion from our conversation, and I think it’s going to be a really good fit for me.
And by opinion, I actually meant impression.
Fantastic and flamablamablous! Congrats!
Thanks, everyone!!
Just signed the contract so now it’s off to mail it.
Congratulations!!
Ugh, my band director’s leaving for the new school they built. I’m going to miss him. I can’t wait for next year when everyone will whine about how awful the new director is and be generally grumpy unproductive! Yay! I totally want to spend my senior year with a band filled with crippling New Director Syndrome!
Does anyone else think the “Subverted Suspcion Aesop” trope (a character thinks a person is up to no good, they spy on, stalk and do other questionable things to the person in order to prove it, other people tell them not to be suspicious, but in the end they end up being totally right) in kids’ shows is a really bad message to teach? “It’s okay that you spied on the neighbor, broke into his house, went through his personal belongings, and messed with his clothing and food– he really *was* a werewolf!” (Or, in the case of one Bailey School Kids book, it’s okay that you blew up your teacher’s garage and forced her to move out of town because she probably was an alien.)
Ooh, mixed feelings about this one. To begin with: I question the extent to which children are going to follow the lead of books like that. I read many many Bailey School Kids books, but that couldn’t change the fact that I was fundamentally a timorous and studious child who basically trusted adults and liked to leave well enough alone. Besides which, how many kids are ever going to meet anyone who acts enough like a werewolf to arouse that kind of genuine suspicion? Obviously kids are influenced by the media they consume — but, you know. Complicated.
But, looking at it as a message being given to young people:
On the one hand: boundaries and privacy and respect are all so important! I am all about those things. When I am a weird & witchy adult, I will not want the neighbor children spying on me, no matter how much they think I’m a werewolf. (I say that, but I would be so flattered if neighbor children were stalking me to figure out if I was a werewolf.)
On the other hand, I feel like those plots tend to be part of a larger — ethos, for lack of a better word, that teaches “curiosity and skepticism are good, and adults are fallible.” Those are good lessons; “you should not necessarily trust adults implicitly” is a message I can get behind. I know I encountered some pretty cakey adults when I was young, and I think that it’s important for media aimed at kids to make it obvious that, you know — be respectful, sure, but not all grown-ups are worthy of your respect, or of your trust, and some grown-ups will lie to you and about you. If anything I think it would be irresponsible for children’s lit to teach its audience that it’s wrong to be suspicious of adults. While it’s still not good to be a stalker and so on, the general idea that some grown-ups aren’t great people and it’s good to trust your instincts? That’s solid. And see also Lemony Snicket, a man who understands childhood better than almost anyone else in the field.
I have more to say! but consider this part one, and I’ll comment again later.
True, true. It’s not the suspicion so much that bothers me as the “it’s okay to do bad things to people based on scanty evidence” part of it.
Speaking on behalf of eccentric older people who might very well be mistaken for aliens, I’d rather not have hordes of curious kids investigating me.
(On the other hand, I might meet some interesting people that way.)
The other day I made an appointment to get the two tattoos I’ve been wanting for 3 years! This is super exciting and terrifying, and I have no idea how to tell my parents, or whether I should just tell them after it’s done.
What are they of?
I’ve had several tattoos I’ve wanted for a while and currently have the money and independence to actually make that happen, but I’m nervous. Let us know how it goes!
Oxlin- A pig on my left foot, and a rooster on the right. The artist who’s doing them does really beautiful black and grey work with a really great balance of traditional tattoo art feel but with more delicate details. I’m really excited, because all the work I’ve seen of hers has been completely gorgeous.
The pig and rooster on the feet are a traditional nautical set believed to be a protection against drowning, which I really like. I also like that they’re farm animals, and I’m about to graduate from a farm school.
Shadowfire- I definitely will let you know about my experience.
Ahoy, Bay Area MBers! I’m in San Jose for the next few days. Wave if you see me!
Without a way to get there, I’m afraid there’s not much I can do
But do let me know if you’re stopping by Stanford! We could get coffee or something.
Robert and I Kokonvened with Kokonilly! She showed us around her Stanford stomping grounds (including grass steps, a worm hole to MIT, and a replica of Hewlett and Packard’s famous garage). We discovered that she is a real person and she found out that we are real too. It was great!
Yes indeed! I can personally confirm that half of the GAPAs exist. (The other two could still be figments of our imaginations.)
[in response to my unmoderated comment]
But I could be a figment of YOUR imaginations too. oOo
Oh, you don’t want to start on that, that’s the kind of philosophical rabbit hole that can ruin your whole week…
*googles* Wow, the worm hole is an actual thing! Too bad it can’t transport Stanford’s weather.
To my list of dream projects that make me desperately wish I could video-edit so I could make: a music video of the various Scooby-Doo episodes with “alien” villains for Don Henley’s “They’re Not Here, They’re Not Coming”. Because, well, aside from certain spoilers for the end of “Alien Invaders”, that’s exactly what Mystery Inc proved in those episodes.
Why is the calendar always a few days behind?
Because not everybody checks it every day, and I want MBers to be able to wish one another belated birthdays, K Days, etc., if they miss the actual date.
That is solid reasoning. Thanks!
There is usually method in my madness (and madness in my methods).
That makes sense. I was just worried it was a glitch.
Happy birthday, Noah2316!
Thank you! Valentine’s Day has always been my favorite holiday, for some reason.
Happy birthday! I can see why!
Happy Birthday, Noah!
Tonight, I saw a star for the first time in my life… I live close to an airport so usually I only see planes. There are no planes out tonight, just a single, beautiful, sparkling star.
Really? I grew up 10 minutes from the airport and I know I could see Orion.
If it was that bright, it was probably a planet. Jupiter is very bright right now.
Oh! Perhaps it was a planet than…. XD either way, I’ve never seen anything that beautiful in the night sky.
I’m glad you got to see an astronomical object and I’m sorry your area is so light-polluted.
Jupiter must be the baleful eye that directs its unrelenting gaze through my bedroom window around 3 AM.
I’ll try to remember to look for that tonight at 5am when I’m still awake, before dawn has a chance to chase it off.
Mars is bright tonight.
We’ve heard.
I’m so sorry about the squid! Meant for that to be a pie!
Happy Valentine’s day, my loves! Any day celebrating love wouldn’t be complete without my declaring my undying affection for you all. ♥
Last night I went on a fancy date with one of my friends who is also in a long-distance relationship, so it was a Valentine’s by proxy thing. We got all dressed up in heels and makeup and the whole shebang, got dinner, cocktails, swung by the bookstore, and then went to a square dance, then came home, ate some more food while watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and called it a night.
Today I celebrated by watching period dramas about lesbians all day, wearing cute clothes even though I didn’t leave the suite at all, and catching up on the backlog of Muse and Smithsonian magazines while taking a bath.
Not too bad, in all.
Happy Birthday, Galileo and Sir Ernest Shackleton!
Snow day. <3
Side note: seems like each year that goes by, the less snow we have to receive for a snowday. It's maybe, maybe 4 inches tops, at least at my apartment complex.
Lucky! All our snow already melted. Must be global warming.
Naw, it’s just that all the cold whether went to my area. It’s snowing a lot at my house. When one area is hot, another will be cold. That’s just the way weather works.
I didn’t get to see “Humpback Whales 3-D”, but I did have a fun time at the aquarium today and spent a lot of time staring at the absolutely beautiful mandarinfish.
Seriously, you wouldn’t think those colors and patterns were real: http://www (.) svsu (.) edu/~tkschult/moia/images/reef-mandarin-710×300 (.) png
Got back on Sunday from a trip to London with my boyfriend – three days in London and then Valentine’s Day in Oxford. We miraculously found a table at an Italian restaurant despite not having even thought about reserving anything (it helped that we got there super early, like, before 6 pm.)
But I had such a lovely time, was able to catch up with some friends – some from school, some otherwise – and it was overall a wonderful trip!
Second semester starting this week so it’s pretty much back to the routine of lessons and so on. Life’s been busy but that’s no excuse… I’ve missed posting!
I want to look bony. How do I achieve this?
Sulfuric acid? A school of piranha might work too.
Makeup? Smoke and mirrors? Cloak of semi-invisibility? Why do you want to look bony?
Shine a flashlight over your face from above and notice where the shadows fall, then apply dark makeup to those areas to make the shadows more pronounced. I think under the eyes and on the cheeks are the general places people do that when trying to go for the “creepy skeletal” look for Halloween.
Bony?
Why?
I just think it would be a better look for me than “Blob of Lard”
It seems like you’re looking at body shapes as two extremes with no in between.
Exactly. There are other body types besides fat and bony. If you would like to become muscular, for instance, I recommend finding a form of excercise that appeals to you.
Well, but for most people it’s not good to be bony either. (And a lot of people, like me, probably couldn’t be bony if they tried!) Like Kai & AL say, most people naturally fall somewhere in between, & different weights are good for different people. I understand that you see yourself as overweight, but it’s not reasonable or healthy to aim for extremes, and you run the risk of making yourself feel worse if you can’t live up to your goals.
How about “healthy”?
Define “bony.” As someone who could be described as “skeletal,” I can tell you it’s overrated. People make fun of one’s elbows.
If you mean skinny, trust me, it’s no fun at all!
It’s not that bad if you’re tall. People don’t ignore me; they just occasionally mistake me for a tree.
I am slightly tall, but yeah. I have trouble finding tight enough belts and have difficults with always being too hot or too cold(mostly too cold). It’s not fun being as skinny as I am and I wish I was chubbier.
Between this and your “skeletal” comment, I’m picturing you as Gabe from The Office.
I have lighter hair and a better jawline, but other than that the resemblance is striking.
Hey. It’s LittleBasementKitten. I had to change my avatar for a school thing, figured I’d change my name to go along with it.
It’s been…wow, it’s been several years, right? I can’t believe some of the people I remember are still hanging around. Piggy, Catwings, Selenium, Kai, Luna, Midnight Fiddler, Maths Lover, Tesseract, Jadestone, Groundhog, Agent Lightning, Lizzie, oxlin, Dodec, just to name a few. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some, but my memory’s not quite what it used to be. Golly, the memories I have of this place. This was where I learned what an RPG was, something I still enjoy doing on The Rest Of The Internet. I almost feel like I shouldn’t post this, like I don’t belong anymore, but y’all deserve a bit of explanation I guess. I don’t quite know why I stopped posting. Might have something to do with the bad bouts of anxiety, or the severe lack of motivation. I have this habit of cleaning out my bookmarks every once in a while, and I deleted MuseBlog because I hadn’t visited in a while. Then a few months ago I remembered this place and all the fun times I had, and started lurking around a bit. And now I guess I’m making my first post in years and years??
So, lots of stuff happened in my long, unexpected hiatus. I turned seventeen, for one, that was cool. Still don’t have my driver’s license, since I have no desire to drive a giant metal death machine on wheels and be responsible for the lives of strangers all around me. Got a job at a local library, 8 bucks an hour for four hours every other Saturday. I also finally figured out my sexuality; I’m pretty sure I’m aromantic and also somewhere on the asexuality spectrum. Haven’t really had enough close relationships to tell whether I’m gray-ace or demi-ace or full-on ace. Sounds a little sad when I type it out, ha ha. Uh, high school has been good. Well, except for this one jerk kid in my Government/Economics class, but that’s a story for the Rants and Plaints thread! I’m starting to look at colleges. Still gunning for a degree in marine biology, so a lot of the places I’m looking at have that as, at the very least, a minor. There’s a couple of really cool ones in Maine, and University of British Columbia was super duper pretty.
I’m not sure where I wanted this to go. I guess…hi? For those of you that don’t know me (lookin’ at you, Noah2316 and GCA-DS), I used to be known as LittleBasementKitten, Way Back In The Day(tm). I’ve been subscribing to Muse for as long as I can remember. That sounds impressive, but I’ve also been typing this post for as long as I can remember. :I At any rate, it’s really nice to see that this place is still active. I…am not sure if I’ll post again beyond replies to this comment. I do see that there’s a reboot of an RPG up, so I might check that out a bit, but yeah. Just popping in. Love this month’s theme, GAPAs; my Latin class just finished off most of the Aeneid (parts of books 1, 2, 4, and 6), and we’re starting Caesar’s De Bello Gallico.
MuseBlog, I missed you. I missed this.
No I’m not crying you’re crying shut up!!
Hey, LBK, or HW if you’d rather we call you that now! Glad to see you again! I really hope you’re able to study Marine Biology, I loved my oceanography class and the marine geology class I’m taking right now is amazing.
Hey!! It’s great to see you around again. Feel free to drop by and stick your head in anytime.
Marine biology sounds like it would be really interesting; go for it!! (Side note: I now want to rewatch Voyage Home….).
I’m glad life is going well for you!!
Don’t worry about not belonging anymore. I never really stopped lurking here, but for a year or two I almost never posted. Now I’m more active and I feel like part of the community, almost like I was never gone.
Welcome back.
Yeah, pretty much in the same boat. I’m shocked at how many people have stuck with this site over the years. Guess they don’t call ’em “formative years” for nothing.
Welcome back LBK! It’s ok to cry
I’m still here. I’ve always been here. I’ll always be here. *eerie music*
Welcome back! It is good to catch up! Do feel free to leave a comment or too — I enjoy hearing from you and I bet others do too!
LBK! It’s great to hear from you! (I was Ducky)
Wow, you actually remembered me! And you said my name, too! Ahh!Welcome back, LittleBasementHuntressWizard! It sounds like you’re having a great time.
Hello LBK! Welcome back, we’ve missed you!
LBK! I remember you!
Good luck with De Bello Gallico; my Latin class just finished that and we’re starting on Cicero.
Wow, so many responses! Thanks you guys. I’m on my phone right now, so this is just a quick little thank you.
Kai-Either is fine. On other sites people also call me Huntress or Wizard, if that’s more your jam. And my school is offering an oceanography online course next year, so I’m taking that.
Rós, Rosebud2-Oh hey! I remember you guys.
Now how could I ever object to calling someone Wizard?
Welcome back, LBK!
Am I late? Oh, well, I’ve never been very good at meeting new people, anyway. Hi, Huntress Wizard. Haven’t had the pleasure. *extends hand* Please stay. If you’ve poked around the recent comments, you should know that I’ve only been around since about October. GCA-DS is even more recent, and I think I speak for the two of us (not to mention every one else) when I say that you should stay. I can already tell that you’re awesome and I really want to meet you.
LBK!!!!! My demon-kitten love! Ah, this brings back memories of the Garlic War of 2011(?).
THE GARLIC WAR . I’m really not sure if I should remember that as a dark time or a joyous time, honestly.
Dark. I remember it as a dark time. *shudders*
But do you remember the Watership Down/Chuck Norris battle? Mm?
I don’t remember the garlic war. I do recall a cheese war, though. We fought evil cheese from the future…fun times.
Cheese from the future — very sinister. But do you remember that the future was the year 2015?
https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=1016#comment-143977
Well, we’ll have to see if Mr. Baker’s prediction comes true this year– and destroy the evil cheese early if it does.
Does this mean we should be readying ourselves for the Cheese Impact?
Was that an Eva reference?
Well here’s 2015, and I thought my prediction must be wrong. But I received a rather strange email today, enquiring whether I could ship instruments to Liechtenstein. There was a faintly cheesy aspect to it, which I put down to the enquirer not having English as his first language. But now It’s made me think. Am I being sounded out? Is someone – or something – checking communication and distribution channels? Was I wrong about Switzerland? Have I set up a clandestine cheese monitoring operation in the wrong country?
Does anyone have contacts in Liechtenstein? I don’t want to ask hard-working wungs to infilltrate yet another country.
Not yet, but I’m learning the language.
Liechorish?
Tee-hee. German, actually.
Yikes. I live in Switzerland.
I just checked, and it was in January 2010. Boy, I feel old.
It all started with a saxophone…
https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=5678#comment-346441
Just read over the whole thing… should I be scared?
I….. I feel great shame upon reading that. So much shame.
I didn’t recall having participated in that comment thread, so I searched for my username in that thread…
“Kokonilly! Are you still obsessed with Pokemon? Me too! Join me, and together, we shall defeat evil!!!!”
LBK/HW (welcome back!), if you see this… *gazes at her 3DS with Alpha Sapphire* Yes. Yes, I still am. But back off, I’m about to figure out what’s going on with this meteorite, and unless you’re Steven I can’t trust you.
…oh god, what did I just write. I am a junior in college
*stares at 3DS with Alpha Sapphire, X, and Y* Uh…so yeah. Safe to say I still have a bit of a problem too, lol. Have fun with the Delta episode!
I’m really enjoying Alpha Sapphire! I love how they’ve fleshed out the story, and with all of my nostalgia it’s just been a really pleasant experience. I’m going slowly through the story because I don’t want it to end.
I have Alpha Sapphire too. I’m just training to enter the league. My first Pokémon game actually.
Oh, cool, good luck! I thought I was fairly prepared but I nearly got the crap kicked out of me ha ha ha…
My first was Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, but the first “main” one I ever got was Pearl. It’s like, I know people kinda dislike Sinnoh for some reason, but I can’t because it was the first region I ever visited. *wipes tear from eye*
Sapphire was my first Pokemon game, but I must say, now that they’ve retooled the Exp Share I’ve found the games to be a little too easy… when I got to the Elite Four my weakest Pokemon was a level 57 Latias, which was way stronger than all of the Elite Four’s Pokemon.
Did you turn off the Exp Share or switch out your team a lot? (Making the battles too easy isn’t bad, though, and the new Exp Share is nice because I can level up multiple Pokemon at one time now.)
The Mystery Dungeon games were the BOMB. God I miss those. I should go home and replay them…
Nah, my levels were fine, it was my mismatched types. I had two Flying-types taking up space in my party and nothing that was good against the Dark-type user, so that was a pain. And I had a hard time with Steven because the only thing I had that was good against Steel was a Camerupt, and he kept getting KO’d by Steven’s stupid Aggron and its stupid Earthquake.
When I go, I’m taking my Breloom. It’s level 86 right now and I plan on raising it to 100.
We never even got around to suing the saxophone.
2010?????? Oh god, that was when I was 13. And now I’m 18. Wow…
Noah2316–should you? You probably should be scared of me and Enc, actually.
Ros–Why shame? We were fabulous and super creative.
Ros+LBK (above)—It was an extremely joyous time. Now excuse me as I wander off to add a few new scenes to our Embi family scripts.
I was 20 in 2010! Somehow it doesn’t seem that far away, but I suppose 20 is nearly 19 and 19 is a teenager. I’m 24 now, turning 25 soon.
No kidding on the whole age thing. I’m pretty sure I joined the blog in 2006 — when I was 9. And now I’m 18! How time flies, and how we’ve all grown up.
Hello!!! I’m so glad to see you back!
LBK! Welcome back! Now that you have returned, you shall once again be ensnared…
Had a miniature Kokon with Clare de Lune this weekend at MBLGTACC (Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference), which I went to with some people from my school’s largest queer group. It was enormous and crowded and massively overstimulating but also so cool. I got to see Laverne Cox and one of my favorite poets, met some really rad people, learned a bit of ASL, and made friends. I hope I can go back next year!
(Also they put up signs outside the bathrooms to make them all gender-neutral, and even as a cis person that was incredibly freeing. We need to do it everywhere, seriously)
MBLGTACC! (pronounced “mumble-tech” for those of you not in the know.) I went in 2012, my senior year. I wish I could have gone again/done more of what I wanted. The person running our trip was very into “we need the whole club to get something out of this so lets all sign up for what session we’re all going to” and she had tons of strict sounding rules. In retrospect, I could have done whatever I want. I’m also bitter I didn’t get to hear the spoken word poet that was there as no one else wnated to and I’d have to find my own way back to our hotel.
Hope you got to see everything you wanted at your MBLGTACC! I suppose I’m going to grad school soon, maybe in the midwest, and could possibly go and present.
Yeah, fortunately our group was very do-as-thou-wilt so I was free to wander off as long as I was findable by text. There were some issues (most of the workshops were extremely overcrowded, which was a problem for those of us with sensory trouble), but it was still really rewarding.
What did you learn to say in ASL?
Relearned fingerspelling, and then some LGBT-related stuff. (Fun fact: the sign for “drag” is basically making a motion to indicate enormous bouffant hair) Also I figured out after having a nonverbal episode due to said crowds that learning ASL would be useful for purely selfish reasons, because it’s a way to communicate when I can’t make words happen.
I really want to learn some ASL, we had a teacher who tried teaching us to do the alphabet in Elementary School, but I never remembered the signs.
I have a job for the fall through the first half of the winter, and not only is it a liveaboard position, there’s also a crew apartment (with SHOWERS and a KITCHEN and presumably/hopefully a WASHING MACHINE). Also they pay over twice what the boats I worked on past summer do. So that’s a huge relief, because I’d been getting pretty worried about post-graduation employment. Planning between May (when I graduate) and September (when that job starts) is a lot less daunting than planning from May until forever. And another schooner replied to my job inquiries and said they wanted a phone interview, and I’m waiting on replies from some other boats too, so I’m really hoping that I can find something to do over the summer as well. But like I said, even if none of that falls through, I at least have something to go to in the fall, and with that knowledge I’d be down to wait tables or do whatever I needed to do.
Classes were also cancelled today due to ice, so it felt like a nice mini-vacation because I got to sleep in and even though I went to work it was a pretty relaxing day.
Then next weekend I’m going to make bank flipping rugs at a fancy arts and crafts fair, which is fun and exciting because that money is what I’m going to put towards my tattoos.
I feel so good right now. I’ve been doing decently well anyway, but today has been so excellent. It’s nice.
Congrats!
YAY FERN!
The boats are finding you.
So far I have heard back from one of the grad schools I applied to, and I got in!
That’s awesome! Last I heard, you were going for a Museum Studies MA — is that still the case?
Yup! I’ve applied to 4 schools.
YAY OXLIN!
Thanks!
Congratulations, old girl.
I mentioned this in the Lists thread, but it’s really only hit now — I have two job offers for internships this summer! One is for a startup in Mountain View (oh god, so cliche) and the other is for a major biotech company in South San Francisco. I’m ecstatic that multiple people apparently want me to work for them, but on the other hand, I need to turn one down…
I had two job offers last fall and it was obvious which one I wanted, so I’m not sure how much I can help you pick. I also think you’ve pretty much gotten right the pros/cons on the Lists thread.
I do want to note that the connections you might make at the larger company are dependent on what you want – e.g. when I was at IBM, everyone talked about how I was making so many connections at my internship that would help me in my career…. now that I’m not at IBM anymore, and have moved to NYC, I’m not sure how useful they are. (Though to be fair I did get some people to speak highly of me/be references after the internships, which helped me get my current job.)
Depending on your financial situation, picking the one that pays better might be a viable way to make this choice. When I did internships, the amount of spending money I had vastly increased, and I suddenly started traveling to see my friends a lot more, because I’d always wanted to, but now I could. I do think that improved my life.
I’d also maybe go with the startup because then you can see if you can tolerate startup world. On the other hand, if you’re leaning towards the other company, definitely worth seeing if it’s everything you’ve hoped for. One goal is to make sure you’re not surprised by where you end up full-time.
Also: main thing to remember about rejecting an offer: don’t burn bridges, keep it vague and polite. You don’t need to say “I got a job offer at X company for $Y so I’ll be accepting that.” All you really need is: “Thank you for this opportunity, but I’ve accepted another offer.”
Good news: I thought my math teacher would combine a few days in lieu of the snow day we had yesterday, but he didn’t! Unless he’s planning to do that further down the line, haaaa…Anyway, I was so sure he’d combine today and tomorrow that I did today’s homework yesterday, so now I don’t have any to do tonight!
Bad news: I don’t see a way to weasel my way out of my Gov debate. *deep sigh*
I had an idea for a thread, basically a “Look after each other” thread. MBers would kind of check in with each other, like “hey, so-and-so, are you remembering to take care of yourself (can be more specific, or general)” and maybe certain MBers would kind of adopt each other (though that wouldn’t be required). I was just thinking that quite a few of us could probably benefit from having someone checking in on us – I know I would.
Thoughts? i just don’t want to make the thread without knowing if anyone would use it.
That’s a darling idea and I love it.
Between the Coping thread and the Warm Fuzzies thread, I think we have this mostly covered. I could be convinced otherwise, though.
WHHHHHRRRRRRR
well, happy 5am. I trust you know which side of the night/morning I am on currently.
anyway uh. still bumming around by Chicago. Had phone interview for Job Thing yesterday, it went okay I think? I hope. Idk. I don’t hear one way or the other till early next week. If I don’t get it, then I’ll go back in the pool to be matched up to another project, hopefully. We’ll see. I don’t wanna blather about it in case I don’t get it & am then disappointed but it’d be in Nevada doing desert plant ecology stuff.
I’m the worst mermaid. landlocked states, then cold places, now a desert. Sigh. will I ever return to the sea???
uhhhhhhh my life is still Dragon Age Downward Spiral, but less now than before, heh. Took most of this week off for preping for interview but now that that’s over I have a week of distracting myself again.
OH I remembered another thing! SO, Song of the Sea was supposed to come to Chicago on January 20th, but it got pushed back to Feb 20th. Which is now almost here! I’ll be going on either friday or saturday, I can’t wait!!! I’ve been looking forward to the movie for like 2 years now
Another note: I know other chicago-based MBers were talking about trying to get together sometime but I am super bad about posting ever (though I do read all the comments every day! jI’m ust lurker mode I guess), but I am still totally up for that. If I get jorb I will probably not be in the area past mid-march (or sooner even) but just throwing that out again.
I have also been lurking! Sorry I never followed up on that, life has been hectic. I’ve been in the city a lot but most of it was Things For Class that were very specifically structured, so there wouldn’t really have been a good time to Kokon. Possibly a good time for me is, ironically, finals week (March 16th on, if you’re still here then), although I’m going home that Friday. Normally I would have a reading week with no classes, but I’ve switched schools within NU and no longer am in the only one that does that, so I still have class the week before finals and a lot of my Big Stuff is that week. My only actual finals stuff is like, final screenplay draft that’s probably going to be done weeks ahead of time, reflection-type paper, another paper I can get done ahead.
Another thing is that I still need to see (and have not gotten tickets for) another play or musical for my theatre design class, so that could potentially be combined. I’m sorry, I have very little free time this quarter so scheduling what would probably amount to almost a full day is nearly impossible unless you were able to come here.
So…Welcome to Night Vale, anyone?
I’m going to see one of their love shows soon!
Live… I meant live…
Yeah!! Although I’m actually… about six months…. behind….
YES! Though I must admit I’m a few episodes behind…. I just got kind of frustrated with it, I guess, with [SPOILERS WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE POST-OLD OAK DOORS] Carlos still being in the desert otherworld with no signs or returning (or planning to return) anytime soon. [END SPOILERS]
But I will get back into listening to it soon.
Oh man, it’s so frustrating!! But hopefully all this waiting will pay off soon. I’m mostly curious about the Man in the Tan Jacket; he’s probably one of my favorite recurring background characters, and I want to know more about him.
Yeesss. I’m Very Into It.
Best podcast.
So I got into NYU! I haven’t heard back from any of the other grad schools I applied to yet, and I do want to go to Penn if I get in, but I know that at least one graduate school wants me.
Congratulations! Of course they would want you, you’re awesome.
YAY KAI!
Congratulations!
Congrats, old bean.
Someone in Alaska has the personalized license plate “thyla”. Given that outside of fanfic, t’hy’la is not what i would consider a well known trek term (since i believe the only canon/official material usage was Roddenberry’s novelization of The Motion Picture), I really want to know who this perosn is.
As well as all the other people who have a monopoly on all the star trek/dcotor who/trchwood/harry potter license plates.
There’s apparently a soccer player with that name, but she appears to live in Virginia.
Without the apostrophes, it’s also a Dutch women’s name, a grunge band, and a scientific prefix based on the ancient Greek word for a purse or pouch (as in “thylacine,” referring to a genus of Tasmanian marsupials).
Oh, and what looks like a village in Senegal, and another one in Karnataka state, India.
Huh. I didn’t know that. I would like to believe they are a Trekkie though. But that’s really interesting!
there’s a little blue prius that lives down the street from my parents with the license plate “TARD1S”
It would appear that TARDIS, TARD1S, and TARD15 are all taken in Alaska, based on the DMV website.
What about SIDRAT?
That is not taken.
I know there was once a magician who had MAG1C as his plate number.
When I eventually have a car, I’m really tempted to go for NX-01.
Go for it! That’s be pretty sweet. (And is yet another license plate that is already claimed in Alaska)
Yay! I’m graduating from Middle School! Monday is my first day of Highschool!
Congrats!
Congratulations! And twenty points to your Muse Academy house for saying “graduating from.” *is an editor*
What is your house, CGA?
House? I don’t know. XD
YAY GCA-DS!
Hey, congratulations.
Congrats
Just accepted the internship offer from the startup in Mountain View!
Good luck, Kokonilly!
Thank you! I’m very nervous — I know this will be a challenge but I hope it will pay off. I plan on practicing my bioinformatics next quarter using Rosalind.
Congratulations, Kokonilly!
I just looked up Rosalind, and woah, it looks so cool! I’m in a bioinformatics class this semester, but it seems like Rosalind would be great for filling in remaining understanding gaps and practicing.
Yeah, I don’t remember how I heard of it, and I haven’t tried it yet, but it seems like a very useful resource!
Yay!
Did I ever tell you guys about the time I went to the doctor’s office and in the waiting room there was this big Mongol warrior all covered in bruises.
“Ouch, man. Who were you fighting? The Song Dynasty? The Abbasids? The Hindu states? Some other Khan?” I asked him.
“I wish! I just fell down the steppes!”
groan
boooooooo
(just kidding I love puns)
(when my friend told me to stop impersonating a flamingo, I had to put my foot down)
sounds like he lost all ability to khan
It’s what he gets for being a Horder.
Adding to the good news…I’ve been accepted to study Spanish in Costa Rica for 6 weeks during the summer! I’m extremely excited for the immersion, the classes, the homestay, and the country’s amazing biodiversity and natural beauty as a bonus!
Also, my college consortium’s women’s club soccer team played our first ever game tonight! We started practicing this fall and aren’t really official yet (actually, we’re not allowed to exist…long story). Even though we lost the game 2-1, we played really well, and playing together in a real game was a great bonding experience. I’m thrilled to be a part of a soccer team again!
That sounds great! Immersion really does help with learning a language– I was surprised by how quickly everything came back to me in Menorca even though I hadn’t taken a Spanish class for three years.
Re-reading a story a friend of mine wrote guest-starting some characters I created years ago and remembering that yes, I gave an OC the impossibly awesome name Yuri Snorri Drakon. Yes, he’s named for a cosmonaut and a Viking and his last name means “Dragon”.
In what news reporters are calling “the most important story to ever hit the face of the earth no seriously you guys,” I have a stuffy nose, a sore throat, and a vague desire to take a very long nap.
HULLO, THE BLOG.
I was stopping by to see who’s still around – and good God are you all leading interesting and amazing lives – and I thought I’d check in. (I’ve been taking a week off from social media and am somewhat starved for social contact.)
I can’t remember what was going on in my life last time I posted, but: I’m currently working two jobs (one’s a generic work-study job, but the other is at the New York branch of the ACLU, which is INCREDIBLE and has been one of the cooler experiences of my life); I’m getting involved with the LGBTQ Center at my school and will probably work there next semester; I’m a “stressbuster”, which means I give people backrubs during finals week at Official Backrub-Giving Events, and I have gone on a date with a Girl, which was a very exciting new experience.
Also, apparently, classes are a thing that are real. But mostly I try not to think about this?
On Friday night I was on the R train to Union Square and watching the stations rattle past the window, and it struck me suddenly: I was a pink-haired girl on the New York subway listening to punk rock and plotting out her new novel while going from a job at a wonderful nonprofit to a friend’s apartment to cook her dinner. I am leading the life that fourteen-year-old me wanted to be leading, down to some very precise details. Honestly, the only things that nineteen-year-old me would like added are an apartment of my own, a girlfriend, and a cat. And I think – I hope – aside from the girlfriend, I may have gotten some of the most difficult bits of my life goals over with.
So I’m happy, I think, is the upshot of all this. I’m really happy and I’m where I want to be, doing what I want to be doing. And it’s not perfect but nothing is and I’m glad I made it.
So: how goes the blog, how go you all?
Wow, glad to see you’re doing well! Congratulations on acheiving some life goals, and good luck on finding an apartment, girlfriend, and cat!
I’m doing pretty well, and I think the blog is swimming along as always. Happy February!
HULLO CAT’S EYE. Good to hear from you! Sounds like there are lots of cool things happening!
I’m good. I just got a temp job, which is good, as I’m going to soon be going to grad school and having some money saved will be nice. It sounds sort of boring though. I’m applying to museum studies grad school programs and am excited about starting those soon! Still writing poems, still submitting poems. Doing math, learning things.
CAT’S EYE!! Welcome back! I’m so glad life is good for you. I finally got a large part of what I wanted, too, and it’s so strange and wonderful.
Hey Cat! We’ve interacted elseweb so this isn’t really a reunion for me, but welcome back anyway.
The blog seems to have settled into a small pool of active regulars (I wonder how it compares to the old days?). As for myself, I’m not fantastic but I’m making the best of my situation. After the Great Collapse of Winter ’14 I eventually decided to take a gap semester this spring. Found a therapist (starting tomorrow), got a volunteer position at the local library, and I’m hoping to get some tutoring clients soon for some extra money (though when I’m living with my parents I basically have no personal expenses except books and the occasional Steam sale). Future plans range from “go to law school” to “teach English abroad” to “flee to New Zealand and become a sheep farmer/hermit.” I’ll let you know.
CAT HI. (I know we’re not totally out of touch, but. I miss you anyway.) I’m so glad about your life, I’m so happy the world’s being good to you. And I’d totally let you play with my cat if I could — I hope you get your own soon, because I am learning that having a cat makes everything 7000% better.
Hello hello! Life is good for me. Junior in college now, got a sweet internship for the summer at a local startup, getting enough sleep, not living on ramen too much, tentatively looking for an apartment for this summer. Can’t complain. Glad you’re an exciting city girl now; I, too, am thrilled to be an 18-year-old trying to break into the biotechnology industry. Hurray for lives going the ways we’re hoping!
Cat! And Vendy! And FantasyFan! And LBK! Amazing to see you all
I am glad about all the good things in all of your lives.
Quick version of mine: Now 20-going-on-21, junior (!??!?) at Brown, studying anthropology, pretty sure I want to work in public humanities of some sort (museums, oral history, ??). I love anthro but hate jargon, hence the desire to continue with it in the public sphere rather than an academic one. Pretty sure I’m going to take time off after undergrad to work for a year or two, but then probably try to get a master’s degree in public humanities or public history. I still haven’t ruled out book publishing, though (had an awesome internship doing that over the summer in New York City where I sat on a couch and read novels for 7 hours a day. The dream).
What else? Still queer, now single, had a breakup over sophomore winter break which, despite it being my decision, I was pretty torn up about for quite a while; 100% over it now. Pretty okay with being single at the moment. Spending a lot of time with the Brown Band (and have had some 5-minute Kokons with Speller73 (are those the right numbers?) and Beedle the Bard during band events at their respective schools.
I’m writing and editing for an arts/culture/lifestyle magazine at school, which I love, and I could post the text to some of the articles here if anyone is interested. It’s slightly ironic because my pop culture knowledge is highly spotty, but I love it. Had a Doctor Who phase that’s now rooted in extreme fondness for seasons 1-4 and an increasingly critical reaction from there on out, but still like the show. I am All About A:TLA and Legend of Korra Forever And Ever, The End, and spent most of winter break floating around because of the LoK ending.
My sister is a college freshman this year and I miss her lots, I’m going to Harry Potter World with friends over spring break, my classes this semester are interesting, and life as always has its ups and downs but is generally pretty great at the moment.
Let’s talk about museums/public history sometime!
All I want to do is bike, but it’s way to cold to bike.
But seriously, that’s all I want to do. Not programming, not politics, not reading. Just a nice long bike ride.
hey, everyone!
I always enjoy reading about how you are all doing, so many fantastic things- both big and small, so I have some quick updates of my own to add. The fantastic things:
I’m in college, on track for a BA in Arts Management. Arts Mgmt is basically Business+Art History, essentially because I am aspirationally aligned with Jeremy Deller, who said “I went from being an artist who makes things, to being an artist who makes things happen.†I think I’m not a great student, but I’m pretty good- professors like to have me in class, and I’m happy to be there. I wouldn’t feel so confident in my abilities and devotion to call myself a scholar though, and grad school isn’t likely. I don’t know exactly what shape my future work (jobs, career, w/e) will take, but I’m optimistic that it’ll be fulfilling and that I’ll do good. I’ve had a good internship already, and there’s so much opportunity ahead.
This summer I’ll be at a high-level sailing school, where I’ll get to do things like sail Olympic dinghies, learn all sorts of seamanship and business skills, and race from Marblehead to Halifax. I feel like kind of an imposter because I’ll be going on a scholarship, but my experience is almost entirely in small boats in shallow waters, and I’m about as much of an athlete as I am a scholar. Decently capable, but at the grad school level. Which this kind of is. I mean, they’re training the Olympic teams, and graduates are literally sailing around the world at this very moment. I went to nationals once and came in last. I’m sure it will be exhilarating and so worthwhile, I just hope I can keep up.
Finally, of the good news, the most important is that I have fallen in love. It feels strange saying it so factually, but I am 100% certain that whatever neurological reaction love consists of is happening in my brain. It’s scary and wonderful, being here so fully. My girlfriend, I’ll call her A, is amazing, and we fit together so well. She’s a film major, (soon switching to new media), and shares my passions for arts, and creation, and subversion. We are both thoughtful and caring and present and striving. It feels like all good things are possible.
The things I’m not satisfied with:
– Making friends. It’s slow going making good friends. There are great people all around, but I feel like I don’t always fit in, which is ironic, given how accepting this school is. I think part of it is that I come off as too straight. Not necessarily my sexual-orientation, but because I adopt the mannerisms of dominant power structures in order to blend in and promote quiet radicalism. Or, I look like a boring bro, when I’m actually an exciting en. As a transfer student into a large major I’m also disconnected in larger ways. I think I would make friends easier with visual arts students than arts mgmt students, but I’m not in those classes, and they’re pretty tight knit. I feel like I have to prove myself? Like, that I am an artist, and want to hang out and make things with them, but my experiences and thoughts are either bizarrely high level (it sounds like name-dropping), or nontraditional (re: Deller).
To be clear, I’m not unhappy with the small number of good friends I do have, but I wish I could make more. It’ll probably just come with time?
-My roommate. He’s not exactly bad or malicious, but I don’t want to be friends with him. I value people who are respectful and intentioned in words and actions, towards people and objects. He is not. But he wants to be friends with me, or just more friendly than I would like. Because I don’t know many people, especially males with the right number of credits, we’ll probably be housemates next year. It’s not ideal, but I can’t really pin down anything specific enough that warrants venturing out on my own for a random roommate in what would be a much less worthwhile room (I want a kitchen!). I feel like I’m settling, but it’s just something I’m going to have to live with.
any thoughts on how to work on those problems?
any questions? comments? concerns? please, share.
you’re looking fine as always, museblog
Whoops, didn’t mean to post this as a reply.
While I’m here, I just got a road bike! My aforementioned roommate was trying to throw away what he thought was a broken bike, so he gave it to me to trash. It just needed new tubes. I’m looking forward to really riding it as it gets warmer, I’ve only been able to stand getting around campus in this cold.
Tubes? As in innertubes? He threw away a bike because it had flat tires?
Well, no, he didn’t throw it away. He wanted to throw it away but Vendy stopped him from wasting a good bike.
Yep! He wanted it out of the room (me too!), but also didn’t want to move it to a dumpster himself, so he gave me what he thought was trash. I feel a little guilty, but I had told him that the free bike shop on campus does new tubes and free tune-ups… it’s also icky that he acted generous while giving me what he thought was trash.
I am glad to hear that you are, for the most part, doing so well!
also I now really want to talk with you sometime about dominant power structures/quiet radicalism, and how I can apply that in my daily life (since I’m trying as hard as I can to be out at work, but sexual orientation just never really comes up? I’ve mentioned it offhand at one after-work social event, so like five or six people know, but the people I talk to every day, for the most part… don’t. )
a bonus list:
ways I am considering coming out at work:
-mentioning increasingly radical queer-friendly changes to our site until either someone asks or everyone assumes (I’ve already started this… “what if we had a text box to self-identify gender in addition to a dropdown?”)
-wearing my “I ♥ Lesbians Who Tech” t-shirt in
-kissing a girl? and then a boy?? and then a person of indeterminate gender??? idk haven’t really thought this one through
-at the next diversity meeting: “hello, Scott, I am queer” [note: Scott is our CEO]
-(but seriously, though, the data team sits down the row from me, and does analytics involving gender, and identity-based groups are a large part of the site, and it makes me feel uncomfortable sometimes when they talk about LGBT stuff. it’s like, non-straight people are not hypothetical, we are not just data points, I am sitting RIGHT HERE)
I’m sadly not very familiar with contemporary coming out (although I do want Coming Out Today to be an album title). My understanding is that it’s been largely de-radicalized, which is a good thing from the perspective that it’s because non-heteronormative sexuality is normalized (at least, in major urban centers). Many people have stopped formally coming out. From my own privileged and wonderful personal experience, orientation has always obvious or comfortably undiscussed, until en made it known by seeing people romantically. Surprisingly, this has held true for bisexual and transgender acquaintances too, but I don’t think that’s normal. I tend to move in very progressive circles.
But I’m not gay, and I’ve never come out. So I ask you, will coming out be a radical action? If so, why? What is the desired result? Can that action be achieved in other ways? Sometimes direct approaches are necessary, other times, subtle means are more effective.
It sounds like you’re already engaged in a sort of soft coming out, only bringing to light sexual orientation when it is relevant (which you decide! The “I ♥ Lesbians Who Tech” t-shirt is an example of this).
Self-identifying gender options are awesome, I implement those whenever I’m in charge of making a form.
Some yacht clubs
askedbegged for my help doing some regatta management stuff this summer, and I updated their forms accordingly. (I had offered my services beforehand and they didn’t take me up on it… then they did ask at the last minute, but didn’t pay, so I felt allowed to take liberties correcting, er, structural errors. Yacht clubs are generally very annoying.) Other ways of quiet subversion of assumed norms include asking for preferred pronouns when meeting new people, and not immediately recognizing work as a virtue.Maybe you could talk to someone approachable on the data team and ask about LGBT user groups. If they’re like the data people I know, they will love to talk about data. Collecting data, storing data, visualizing data, analyzing data. So much data. It might be that they’re not othering non-straight people any more than any other group, I think the clinical language used in those instances can be depersonalizing for any group, regardless of the intentions of the analysis. That’s not necessarily welcome, but a conversation might open the doors to your input on the subject, which is probably needed.
[haha, I feel like this post has gotten too long, so I’ll pause here…]
quick response as I’m not super awake or on time today:
yeah I don’t feel like I face any real danger if I’m out, agreed that it’s not SO radical… but I feel that visibility is a big deal and will unconsciously impact decisions of those around me in a positive way. e.g.: when doing hiring interviews, if some potential employee mentions her girlfriend or something, I want the associations my coworkers have to be “well Anne likes girls too and she does good work” …subconsciously, you know?
“But I’m not gay” — well… neither am I, if that makes a difference. I have really been pushing back lately against being seen as either straight or a lesbian – both are equally wrong descriptions in my opinion, and I feel that people often fall into the trap of assuming I must be one of the two.
Usually I refer to my partner as “my partner” (they) rather than “my boyfriend” (he) for a variety of reasons. Yesterday my manager asked “what’s your partner’s name” and since they currently go by an unambiguously male name, when I said it my manager started using “he” instead of “they” and it made me kind of sad.
DID YOU SEE THAT FB PUT A SELF-IDENTIFYING GENDER FIELD IN A DAY OR TWO AGO I’M SO UPSET THAT I COULDN’T DO IT FIRST
I’ve learned more about the people on the data team, and the one who was making me kind of uncomfortable seems to have a history of saying controversial things not because he necessarily agrees but because he seems to think it’s interesting to hold unpopular opinions… he’s still been a nice person overall I guess? I think you’re right that he’s that way about multiple groups and not just LGBT.
also… today is the Lesbians Who Tech SF Summit, I’m planning to watch the livestream in the background at work and I think I’ll wear the shirt today. (under a sweater, so I have the option of disclosure depending how nervous I feel when I get there)
Yeah, totally, I think you should come out if you’re comfortable enough to feel good about doing it. And the act of coming out may or may not be radical, but it’s still undoubtedly important. I don’t want to downplay that.
It does make a difference! I should’ve just said “I’ve never had a reason to come out.” I was trying to be grammatically more even, but the way I phrased it implied that you’re lesbian, sorry! Science fiction story idea: neuro-cogntive therapy that treats cognitive biases, which are now seen as diseases. Binary thinking is the first to go.
“My partner” is great, I like how it goes beyond even the important gender identity and sexual orientation connotations of enfriend, and implies a collaborator. Hmmm, other possible identifiers: ally, associate, accomplice, comrade, companion, confederate, co-conspirator.
haha, yeah! It was finally something I could be happy about Facebook doing… amid their “real names” mess, and, well, everything else. :/
That guy sounds like a real hassle, don’t give him quarter to be antagonistic for the sake of being “interesting.” It sounds like he’s one of those people who confuses interesting with infuriating.
Good luck!
“That guy sounds like a real hassle, don’t give him quarter to be antagonistic for the sake of being “interesting.†It sounds like he’s one of those people who confuses interesting with infuriating.”
This.
So today at work I reserved a conference room for the afternoon and then sent an email to everyone in the NYC office saying “I’m going to be watching the Lesbians Who Tech livestream in this conference room while I work today, come join me if you’re free”
so… I’m no longer definitively NOT out to the 100+ people who work with me? it’s not the end of the conversation though. I hope. (And three or four people did come join me! I think a lot of others were busy with meetings.)
>>Science fiction story idea: neuro-cogntive therapy that treats cognitive biases, which are now seen as diseases. Binary thinking is the first to go.
how did we reach a point where non-binary became default/accepted to the point of needing to train people for it? computers are binary in nature so it’s not like the AI overlords did it? and like, the people with power right now definitely are advantaged by binary thinking? hmmmm
I feel that “partner” is the best of those words. It keeps some of the ambiguity that the connotations of the other words flatten. “Co-conspirator” is probably my second favorite.
And yeah I don’t… love the devil’s advocate guy? Like, we’ve already had a discussion about whether Linus Torvalds is above criticism (I don’t think he is, for the record.) But I don’t have to really interact with the data team, and I don’t need to be making enemies so soon (or ever really!) Thank you, though I definitely need to keep in mind that perspective.
re: binary thinking
In Psychology I think it’s more commonly known as splitting, or black and white thinking. It’s seeing situations as all-or-nothing, people as all-good or all-bad, sexuality as gay or straight. I don’t know that it help does people in power? I suppose the worldview created within it is easier to make decisions in.
In my latest unanticipatible twist of fate, today I was given a job offer at a place that I never interviewed with, applied to, or inquired at. Details to follow once I decide whether to take it.
Congrats! But I feel like I missed something really important… didn’t you say you were going to be gone at a monastery (?) for years? Sorry. I feel dumb asking, but I really feel like I missed the knowledge boat on this one.
Kokonilly: see https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=11129#comment-488641
Ah, yes, thank you, Robert!
It looks like things are already picking up for you, Piggy, and I’m glad to hear it. Sorry I don’t follow the more artsy threads.
today I cried about how much I love Macbeth — also among other things drank about a quart of tea, watched Call the Midwife, and made the best tomato soup in the world. My life’s in a good place right now. & if any of you need a ridiculous English major-y cliche in your lives, HELLO FRIENDS I AM HERE, I think my suitability for the position is amply demonstrated by the rest of this post.
Currently saddened right now that “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” lost to “Big Hero 6” at the Oscars. (Not really surprised at all, but Studio Ghibli never gets enough credit it seems. And man is that film a work of art)
Yeah, the Academy Awards are a joke. Have you seen the interviews with some of the voters? A lot of them don’t even bother watching the animated films. And “Boyhood” should have won best picture. :p
Please give me reasons why YA is awesome/reasons why you like YA. If you don’t like YA, please wait to let me know why. I’ve just been arguing with my roommate who apparently dislikes it and am currently frustrated that he acts like his opinion is the only one that matters. He’s totally allowed (and so are you) to dislike YA, but some of us like it and our opinion is valid too. So if that is you, please let me know why you like YA!
I love YA because it’s escapist. Literary, grown-up fiction is nice too, when I’m in the mood for it, but I grew up reading genre fic (mostly the large piles of SF/F books in the spare room) and sometimes something that’s upfront about being a little pulpy, something that doesn’t demand my full attention, is what I want.
Which is not to say that literary and YA are opposites – The Book Thief is probably the best example of this off the top of my head.
besides, the love triangles in YA are totally a good distraction from the love triangle in my life, which is rather too unfortunate right nowI like YA, because it often deals with identity and is really important for teenagers. There have been some amazing books that fall under YA. I think it gets a bad reputation because of all the tiring tropes it uses. (love triangles, manic pixie dream girls, etc etc etc) but if you’re willing to weed through the muck there’s some fantastic stuff in there.
I like that anybody who’s anybody in YA right now is a woman. The John Greens of this world get a lot of press, obviously, and some of them really are good, but they’re outnumbered. (And a lot of the big male names aren’t big deals like they were even a few years ago — when’s the last time Markus Zusak published anything, eh?) A huge amount of YA is by, for, and about women and girls. Which matters, to me: I haven’t read exclusively YA in a long time, but I’m a teenage girl and sometimes it’s really nice to read something that’s written just for me. Even the garbage is /my/ garbage (and I’m more protective of YA garbage than of, say, F/SF garbage more generally).
I like that genre distinction’s not as big a deal. Fantasy and science fiction and historical fiction and contemporary romance are all shelved together. Sure, it’s easy for a YA reader to restrict herself to just one sort of book, but it’s also really easy to go in new directions as a reader.
Hello! It’s been a while. Like a year since a made an actual post here, I think, thought I’ve dropped in time to time to see what was happening. Life’s been busy. I had an internship this summer, and then I declared a minor in Computer Informatics last semester, even though it’s my senior year and I’m graduating, which has its own mess of things to deal with…and, yeah. Stuff. This is the very condensed version.
It’s nice stopping by and seeing everyone, and where everyone is with their lives, especially since so many of us are doing professional stuff now. (I feel a little bit behind on that, tbh).
Should I throw a pie for old times sake?
Hi! FantasyFan! It is good to see you back!
I feel sort of behind on professional stuff too, and I’ve been out of school for a while! None of my jobs have lasted particularly long and that is kind of frustrating. Though one was contract, so it was only meant to last so long. But still.
Good to hear from you and hear what is up! What is your major in?
Environmental Science, concentrating in ecology. And then there’s the Computer Informatics minor, which is a recent thing. I might have tried double majoring if I’d had more time. As it was, cramming in a minor senior year was difficult enough.
I’m thinking about going into the environmental science equivalent of bioinformatics. Or something. I don’t know.
Also, good luck with your professional life. I can empathize.
Agent Lightning’s references to “Les Miserables” on the Dreams and Music threads reminded me of our Mis-inspired pie war in 2013. Remember Rosanne’s explosive chocolate-avocado filling?
Working on Marine Geology essay due in three days.
Everything is chemosynthetic and only the deadline hurts.
No, but it is so cool that in the second 2004 issue of Oceanus, Woods Hole summarized all the geographic variations of vent fauna known to date and then was like “going forward, we want to look at the Southern Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and the Mariana Trench”, and then people went out and DID find vents/seeps there and wrote up how the vent fauna compare to Atlantic, Indian, and East Pacific vents. In a decade it went from “oh but we’d really LIKE to know…” to bam, confirmed, explored, published!
You go oceanographers. You had a plan and you wrote it up and then you went out and made it happen.
Cat’s Eye, LBK, FantasyFan and now Vendaval — is 2015 the MuseBlog Reunion Tour, or what?
Seriously! I came back, Zinc stopped in for a while…. everyone seems to be back all of a sudden.
How better to celebrate our tenth anniversary?
Yesterday I won the first full-time-orchestra audition I’ve taken and now I have a job offer for a titled position, with benefits and everything and a salary, not per-service pay.
I think I spent so long not allowing myself to imagine this outcome that now I don’t really know what to do with myself.
Wow, that’s absolutely amazing! Congratulations!
I wish to point out that it is thoroughly deserved.
Congratulations, Lizzie! I’m so happy for you.
Congratulations!!
Well, I guess I might as well hop on the bandwagon. Finals this week though, so I gotta be brief:
-In college. Graduating in June, eep! Still haven’t quite wrapped my head around it. I’ll have a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with triple minors in patience, going through study hell and communication with multiple variations strange life-forms*.
-Working a little part-time as a receptionist plus some tutoring- unfortunately, a job I was looking forward to (zombies!) next semester fell through. For those following the saga, they did call me back a ?-th time to offer me a different part. But I needed time to think about working out the schedule with my classes and they pressured me to give them a yes/no answer in a few hours (after making me wait six months) so I politely refused.
-Still waiting to hear back from a school in Africa I applied to teach at next year. I’ve started looking around for other options but it would definitely be my first choice.
-Social life… stabilized. I have a boyfriend and a few close friends, but after complaining all through high school about how large group events stressed me out I’ve come to realized that I miss them a bit. But new semester == new classes == new people, so yay to that.
-Still not sure what kind of Masters I’m going to do: it’s basically between something more research-oriented (there are some interesting math/physics, math/biology, math/chemistry etc masters) or something “sensible” economics-oriented (as in: and after this I will get a full-time job like a responsible adult!). But since I plan on taking a year off anyway, this can wait.
I’m also turning 20 in a few months. This is pretty terrifying.
*Professors, Grad Students, people who think the cafeteria food “isn’t half bad, really”, that weird conglomeration of leftovers in the back of your fridge during final semester months that suddenly starts to look a little fuzzy around the edges…
I have a fun story about “that weird conglomeration of leftovers in the back of your fridge during final semester months that suddenly starts to look a little fuzzy around the edges”:
At the end of freshman year, one of the guy in my dorm (let’s call him Ricky) asked my friend and I to move his things from our dorm to the dorm where we were all staying over the summer. Because we are nice people (and he offered us money), we accepted, even though we are both girls and I am the taller one at 5’5″ (granted, she is an athlete (sailor), but still — we’re not exactly bodybuilders).
So on the day that we have to move everything, we walk into Ricky’s room to see his fridge and one other one. Confused, we call Ricky and he promptly swears, saying “Did [Mario] actually live his fridge in my room? That [expletive], I told him not to. Guess you guys have to move that one too, I’m really sorry. I’ll pay you back somehow.”
Tired but too lenient to do anything about it, we agree to move Mario’s fridge too. And so we loaded up Ricky’s things into the car we rented for the day, Ricky’s fridge, and then Mario’s fridge. Now, Mario tends to… imbibe… a lot, so when liquid started leaking from the fridge (it wasn’t left out to dry) we were very cautious to touch it and noticed it smelled kind of noxious, so we decided to keep the door shut. We bring everything to Ricky’s new room and leave it there.
We sort of forgot about Mario’s fridge until we went to visit Ricky over the summer and saw that Mario’s fridge was still there… but now completely covered in tape. We asked why it was covered in tape, and Ricky told us that he was going to clean the fridge but that it was just too disgusting, and now it was too late — the inside of that fridge was surely a biohazard by now.
I never knew what happened to that fridge or who, if anyone, had the misfortune to clean it out. But I do know that it was a disgusting science experiment that spent an entire summer brewing its poison.
Like Dirk Gently’s, it probably spawned a nascent Guilt God.
As I’m rereading this, I’m noticing grammatical errors that I wouldn’t normally make. I’m sorry! Let’s call it artistic license (but actually I didn’t get enough sleep last night and am somewhat groggy).
Aaaaah! One of the other grad programs emailed. It sounds like they want to talk to me. Not really sure what about. Aaaaah! Any advice on what to do beforehand? I assume this is like an interview for undergrad programs but done by phone.
Take deep breaths and be yourself. And remember, world domination is your destiny, and everything is copy. That’s all I can think of.
Write down everything you have ever done and keep it next to your desk for when they call so that you don’t forget anything about yourself!
I’m going to get to do an animation for work! It’s for a trade show that’s coming up, to attract customers to my company’s booth. Since I haven’t gotten to do much animation in a while, I am really excited about this! *happy dances*
Today on “my life is literally a movie, why do I even need to be a film major?”: one of the professors I work with emailed me asking me to make a poster for an event and somehow managed to attach a secret email to the department’s professors with all the info on the job search they’re doing. I now know who they plan to choose, who got job offers from where and literally every bit of info that I did not want or need to know. Why is this happening to me.
If your life were literally a movie, hordes of ninjas would now be trying to make sure you never leaked that information to anybody.
…
Hello? RoseQuartz?
Blast it, this couldn’t have come at a worse time. The wungs are spread thin enough as it is.
Nothing for it though — I’ll get the Society on the line. We can’t leave an operative in danger.
Good news: I almost had to debate today, but a missing person turned up just in time to prevent it. Phew!
Bad news: I still have to go tomorrow. D:
Wish me luck! I’m sure as heck gonna need it.
It sucked but at least it’s over with. I lost, unfortunately, but the teacher isn’t grading us on that.
For those of you who don’t pay attention to the main page, I’ve created a place for keeping track of projects and ideas.
Remember how Jacques Cousteau tried to make it a thing to call the deep ocean trenches “the basement of the world” in “The Silent World” because people call the Himalayas “the roof of the world” and it was the early 1950s and Himalayan mountaineering expeditions were a big thing in the news?
Whaddup, Museblog? After seeing a post on [redacted –Mod] about people being back I’m jumping on that train. Seeing so many familiar avatars is kind of incredible.
I haven’t really been around since 2010 maybe? That was 5 years ago, good god. My state of being has changed in many ways since then but some elements appear to be eternal.
-I’m a sophomore in college studying cinema and media culture at a big school near where I grew up
-Not currently in a job but very busy with more student group leadership positions than any power-hungry teen needs or deserves
-Very excited about art. I love art so much and I didn’t consciously realize it until this semester
-Also excited about community building/collaboration/doing cool things with cool people/making friends
-I think life is really cool and great and full of cool great things! That might be the biggest change since 2010 when I was a kind of depressed 14/15 year old. I’m 19 and I love life so much that I want to live to be 150.
I’m so glad that all of you are here and I’m so proud of every one of your accomplishments. Way to go everyone. I’m so happy to be back.
HEY I just saw you a few months ago but hello!!! You should come and visit me in California!
HEY I’m going to California for spring break so that’s actually a possibility!!
HEY oh I’m going home for spring break so we may actually just switch places.
Hey there! I remember you!
Not many things beat having a hot shower at home after a 12-hour flight. Aaah.
I went and saw Neil DeGrasse Tyson speak in Philadelphia yesterday!
It was absolutely amazing: there were so many people packed into such a tiny theater. The place practically exploded when he came out. He told us after we’d calmed down, he said, “You guys know you came here to listen to a lecture, right?” And then we all exploded again.
The meat of his speech was all about culture, specifically the culture of discovery. He talked about Egypt and Islam and how they led the world for a significant amount of time, but not forever. He talked about the growing minority of people in America who do not believe in evolution, which was pretty scary. He ended the speech with Cassini’s 2013 photo of Saturn, with Earth as a “pale blue dot” in its shadow, as he read a excerpt from Carl Sagan’s book.
Even though it meant I got ~5 hours of sleep last night, it was totally worth it.
Ooh, cool! My dad and brother saw him speak earlier this year and I envied them so much. They said he was great and have been recommending hearing him to everybody who might have the chance! It’s good to hear that confirmation from you.
That is so awesome! I love that photo (I bought poster of it at NASA HQ and gave them to Robert, Purple Panda, and Midnight Fiddler when we Kokonvened.)
I need help… A friend of mine changed her username to “Please Kill Me…” And she has been missing all night… I’m afraid that she may be dead…
Possibly but honestly, anyone could be dead at any given time if you don’t currently have proof that they’re alive. Hopefully she didn’t do anything and it’s just something that happened and she expressed her negative emotions through going away and changing her username. Don’t give up hope.
And if she is alive and comes back, she might yell at me for spamming her with my assumptions…
If it were me, I’d be glad that someone was concerned about me. Is she an IRL friend and physically missing, or is she just offline?
She hasn’t been online for over 24 hours and all her friends have been rather quiet as well… I kept asking them over and over again since they know her in real life… They never answered my questions…
This might be a thing you have to wait out- it could be they’re all taken up by recent events and don’t have a lot of free time or energy to respond. They’ll give you news eventually. I hope she’s doing alright!
If it makes you feel better, my username on another (private) account was “punch me in the face” for several months, and not once did I actually attempt to punch myself in the face.
Had she been showing signs that something was wrong?
Well, I know she has a crush on a boy that she says doesn’t even know she exists and he’s going to college soon so she’ll never see him again.
Has she demonstrated earlier signs of depression or suicidal behavior?
Depression a lot, but not suiccidal behavior.
You shouldn’t feel bad for worrying about a friend.
Never mind all that… She reappeared to tell me that her iPod got taken away(AGAIN!)and she’ll continue to be offline for awhile.
Phew!
I know right?!
Tell her at least you cared enough to worry. If she realizes that, it might help her feel a bit better.
in fact, we could all be dead right now
oooOOOooo
*sharp inhale*
Ooh! Someone has made Sierpinski Hamantaschen! The best thing. I love it when people play around with math and the triangular shape of Hamantaschen lends itself well to Sierpinskization!
I want to try that!! If only I had an oven…
~lurking~
I’ve been really busy lately, sorry, but I’m reading everyone’s posts and I love you all a lot! I have a job now- I’m a waiter at a Turkish restaurant. It’s not hugely exciting work, but the customers are nice, my coworkers are friendly, and I get free rice pudding whenever I want it.
Yay rice pudding!
live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy has died
Leonard Nimoy :((((
I’ve created an In Memoriam thread, but I’m sure the whole Internet is talking about this.
RIP Leonard Nimoy. You will be missed. I may have been a latecomer to Trek, but Mr Spock has come to hold a special place in my heart the last 2 years. A brilliant character played by a talented actor. May your memory live long and prosper.
Diff tor heh smusma, MuseBlog.
Sochya eh dif.
Rest in Piece, Leonard. Your body may die but your image shall forever remain in the hearts of viewers of the screen.
I almost hate to bring this up, but… how ’bout that dress though?
(It’s black and blue.)
It’s clearly blue and black. That dress isn’t even sold in a white-and-gold colorway. My own mother is laboring under the delusion that it’s white and gold, even though she’s seen the evidence with her own eyes that that’s impossible.
It’s very odd. In my case, the first time I saw it, it was white and gold. But no context was provided for the picture, so I just scrolled past it without looking closely. Every time after that, it was very definitely blue and black. I showed my brother the picture on the very same computer screen, and he said it was white and gold. When I told him it wasn’t, he thought I was joking at first.
POSOC- Sorry…
getoutfrog.jpg
this was the only place on the Internet I was safe :'(
POSOC is right. We should keep discussion of that incontrovertibly white-and-gold dress off this blog.
I’m a little scared by how rapidly it spread. If a Snow Crash-like neurolinguistic virus ended up on the Internet today, nobody could react quickly enough to stop it. After 12 hours the only uninfected people would be uncontacted tribes and Mennonites.
what makes you think it hasn’t already?
I’m fascinated by how rapidly it spread. Networks! I was at a birthday party for a couple hours and came home to it. Before the party? No mention of dresses.
+1000 in my heart for Snow Crash reference (not that you needed it, but still)
Agreed! I was just thinking earlier how nice it was that there was one place nobody’d brought up the white-and-gold dress — almost made a comment saying as much, but then the irony was too great & I had to lie down for a while.
I do think though that the basic premise of the issue is quite muserly: if I’m understanding it correctly, it’s basically an application of the optical illusion that was demonstrated with the picture of the cube in Muse about 10 years ago, where the side in shadow looked a different color than the side in light but they were really the same, it was just your brain interpreting the colors through their context.
I really think it depends a lot on how individual people have their monitors set – when I first saw it on my computer, it looked white / gold, then as f.lux kicked in it went to blue/gold then blue/black, but on my phone which has more of a blue glow / greater brightness or contrast in general it looked very solidly blue/black.
I’ve seen the dress twice, both times I have found it to be a strange shade of green with some black, plus some white, then a lot of blue and some gold. Am I the only person in the world who saw green in the dress color along with the other four colors all at once…?
My dad said it was green!
I see green in the lace, and was willing to see that as black, but looking at it again blue/dark olive green fits.
So i had no idea what you were talking about because i hadn’t been on social media since yesterday when i read your post.
Anyway. definitely NO black. The lacy bits are definitely a gold/brownish goldish color. The other bits are either white material in shadowy lighting that gives it a grey/light blue coloring, or is grayish/bluish material.
So it’s either white and gold taken in shadow, or it’s light blue/grey and gold, taken in normal light.
Nope, it’s been conclusively proved to be dark blue and black. The original poster provided another picture of the dress in which it appeared so to everyone. Somebody found the listing of the dress for sale online, too, and it comes in a blue and black colorway, but not white and gold or anything else it could be misconstrued as.
Also, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu said she thought it was blue and black, and she knows everything.Oh, I know all that. I wasn’t debating the color of the actual material of the physical dress, just the colors in the image. There is not a single pixel in the image in the lacy portion of the dress that could resemble any shade of black.
The actual dress may be blue and black. The image is not. (Well, the lighter portions are a light blue color in the image)
I just think it’s nice that in such a crazy and complicated and sometimes messed-up time, millions of people can still take a moment to appreciate the simple joy of being confounded by a really good optical illustion.
The truth is that I’ve associated being 22 with Andrew Irvine since I was ten and it seemed very far away. I have no plans to climb Everest, though, or to do anything else particularly dangerous, so unless I get hit by a car or something, at graduation I will have lived longer than he did, which is just really strange to think about and I don’t know how I’ll feel about it then.
Happy birth-plus-one-day, Kai!
I don’t know about you
but are you feeling TWENTY-TWO
(sorry. you’ve probably heard that a lot recently.)
Happy belated birthday!
Happy birthday KaiYves!
Happy birthday! *pies*
Happy 22-ness!
Just did my audition this morning and it didn’t go well at all, I completely fluffed up the second orchestral excerpt, and the jury were basically laughing at me at the end. Ah well. I can always try again next year.
Where is the March thread? Is it late?
That’s right. This thread has been going so well that I didn’t want to interrupt it. But I’ve just posted the March thread that Jadestone so thoughtfully created.
Don’t ask Jadestone about bobbit worms. She will tell you about them.