So in the treadmill one, they don't shoot you full of scary radionuclides and dyes? Good to know. (I am paranoid because a friend of mine nearly died from one of the dyes used in, I think, a CAT scan).
They won't have to shave me, so that's one step less. Though I'm guessing I probably want to wear a sports bra if I ever have one...
I have what's described as "uncomplicated hypertension" (my doctor seems to think it's a combo platter of unlucky genes and my being way, way, way too tightly-wound - she very nicely told me, in other words, that I need to "learn to chill the f out"). I take metoprolol which kind of sucks but isn't too bad. I did have to adjust my daily activity schedule so as not to crash out at 8 pm and want to go to bed then.
I've never had a stress test but I presume I will some day. I'm going to demand the walking-on-a-treadmill kind rather than the "non-exercise" kind because I think there are more "weird" chemicals I could react badly too in the "non-exercise" kind. And I pretty much walk on a treadmill every day of my life (literally, not figuratively, though that too) as it is, so I'm used to exercise.
Heh. If my morality and fear of getting caught were not so high, I could see a nice little side career there. (KIDDING, KIDDING. Especially if the DEA is reading this: KIDDING)
[C4]: I wondered about the behavioral screening thing. The thought of flying makes me nervous, and I loathe being in crowds of strangers, and both of those things make me tense and fidgety. I haven't flown since the TSA was instituted but I wonder if I had to, would I be one of the people dragged aside for extra-special questioning? (I am a very pale, Irish-and-German heritage woman who is overweight and approaching 50 - so if they were profiling on basis of looks, Probably Not A Terrorist)
On divorce: My state is trying to make it harder for couples to divorce. A high divorce rate isn't treated by making divorce harder; instead, look at cultural factors that drive people to marry too young/inappropriately/whatever. One thing I know about where I live: I am very weird and stick out like a sore thumb for being a never-married woman in her 40s; I would actually be more socially accepted, I think, if I were thrice-divorced, because a lot of people can't wrap their heads around what used to be called "single blessedness."
On whiteboards: I'd like to ban 'em from our classrooms. They bought cheap whiteboards for here and now we can't get them clean, even with solvents. (That said: I don't think banning whiteboards from dorms is going to fix anything; it's like trying to ban bullying behavior in schools. People can be rude and hateful and they will find OTHER ways to be rude and hateful if their preferred way is banned)
My birthday is Monday, and I worked hard the past two weekends, so I am declaring this weekend My Birthday (Observed). I am going antiquing and out for lunch and other things I enjoy doing but don't get to do enough.
I actually gave my students an extension on an assignment (until Monday) so I wouldn't feel compelled to spend part of the weekend grading.
As a fan of the cartoon, and a collector of the (older) toys...yes, this. I don't like having to explain "I like it, but I'm not one of THOSE fans" but I guess that's kind of any fandom.
Even some of the quilting and knitting magazines have decided to Go There.
I think MY dystopia, if I chose to write about it, was a world where everything was relentlessly political and you were harangued for every choice you made.
I'm on twitter, and I admit, it has its attractions for me - I don't do texting or instant messaging, but a few times in my life when things were going REALLY BADLY, I had a few friends who were on at that time and were willing to virtually "sit with me" (and in a couple cases, offered prayers) because I tweeted out my worry or distress.
What I follow on twitter is about 50% people I consider friends on some level, 30% cute or funny stuff, 20% businesses I want to follow (e.g., a yarn shop that posts their deeply discounted specials there)
Facebook feels too much like "popular kids'" table in school for me to want to venture in there. Twitter is more like where the weird kids with poor impulse control fit in. (And Instagram is the hipster photographers, and Blogger is either the emo kids who keep giant journals, or the hopelessly-behind-the-scenes kids who think blogging is still cool... And Snapchat is that girls' bathroom where the bad girls go to smoke and pop diet pills)
If I could get social media that was NOTHING BUT cat photos, though, that would be just peachy.
the problem is, I started following a few sites that seemed to promise cat photos (or nice landscape photos), that suddenly decided it was Very Urgent they shifted to being Very Political. Feh.
Yeah, I know. And one of my favorite pieces of classical music (Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture") is mostly a pastiche of drinking songs.
(Then again, Brahms wrote it mostly as a joke - he was awarded an honorary degree or the equivalent and the awarding institution was like "oh, and maybe you might want to write a piece of music for us, hint hint" and Brahms was like "okay, but it's going to be all drinking songs")
I still have idealistic dreams of what college could or should be.
When I was a high schooler, my image of university was very much in the "Willie Gillis Goes to College" vein - someone sitting in a window seat at the library, reading a Great Book as the leaves fell outside.
I was somewhat disappointed to find that relatively few people saw it that way once I got there. That it was more about how much you could drink or whom you could hook up with. I became somewhat of an extreme prude as a counter-reaction.
I think part of the reason I became a prof is that on some level I am still chasing that dream of a brick row, a quiet library, the Great Books, and leaves falling outside. It's more distant now than ever, but it still lives somewhere in me.
It's funny how the Horrible Deaths in fairytales don't bother me like Horrible Deaths in modern fiction do.
I suppose it's because I figure on some level, "Well, in those days, if you made it through childhood without dying from typhoid/plague/smallpox/non-specified bacterial infection/crushed in a mine accident, you were one of the incredibly lucky ones" and that the stories kind of reflected the general high mortality rates.
It also didn't help the other kids accept me any more.
A bitter joke: what makes a kid less popular than being in the gifted program at school? Being nominated for it, but not quite making it in.
that was me.
I found out later it was because a teacher said my handwriting was too bad, and I should spend my time working on THAT instead of in the gifted program. But of course, the other kids didn't know that, so I was branded as the one who was "too retarded* for the gifted program"
(*Sorry if that's a no-go word here; I know some places it's the equivalent of the "n word." But that's literally the word they used, so.)
Some days, I think it's kind of amazing I even made it out of childhood.
Fairy tales in general (in their original) are some messed-up stuff. Not just Andersen. I have the whole Andrew Lang set and I like to read them sometimes but sometimes you have to take them in small doses. Lots of people being killed in pretty creative ways.
then again, they are mostly BAD people, so it's kind of okay ;)
yeah, the whole Fillory thing. It was maybe "my stuff" talking but it felt to me like the author was going, "Hey, I know what would be fun! Let's ruin Narnia for the people who loved it as a kid!"
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Weekend!”
I actually said out loud to colleagues last week that I picked the wrong week to give up sugar.
Got a rueful laugh in response.
"
So in the treadmill one, they don't shoot you full of scary radionuclides and dyes? Good to know. (I am paranoid because a friend of mine nearly died from one of the dyes used in, I think, a CAT scan).
They won't have to shave me, so that's one step less. Though I'm guessing I probably want to wear a sports bra if I ever have one...
"
I have what's described as "uncomplicated hypertension" (my doctor seems to think it's a combo platter of unlucky genes and my being way, way, way too tightly-wound - she very nicely told me, in other words, that I need to "learn to chill the f out"). I take metoprolol which kind of sucks but isn't too bad. I did have to adjust my daily activity schedule so as not to crash out at 8 pm and want to go to bed then.
I've never had a stress test but I presume I will some day. I'm going to demand the walking-on-a-treadmill kind rather than the "non-exercise" kind because I think there are more "weird" chemicals I could react badly too in the "non-exercise" kind. And I pretty much walk on a treadmill every day of my life (literally, not figuratively, though that too) as it is, so I'm used to exercise.
On “Linky Friday: Survival of the Fittest”
Heh. If my morality and fear of getting caught were not so high, I could see a nice little side career there. (KIDDING, KIDDING. Especially if the DEA is reading this: KIDDING)
"
[C4]: I wondered about the behavioral screening thing. The thought of flying makes me nervous, and I loathe being in crowds of strangers, and both of those things make me tense and fidgety. I haven't flown since the TSA was instituted but I wonder if I had to, would I be one of the people dragged aside for extra-special questioning? (I am a very pale, Irish-and-German heritage woman who is overweight and approaching 50 - so if they were profiling on basis of looks, Probably Not A Terrorist)
On divorce: My state is trying to make it harder for couples to divorce. A high divorce rate isn't treated by making divorce harder; instead, look at cultural factors that drive people to marry too young/inappropriately/whatever. One thing I know about where I live: I am very weird and stick out like a sore thumb for being a never-married woman in her 40s; I would actually be more socially accepted, I think, if I were thrice-divorced, because a lot of people can't wrap their heads around what used to be called "single blessedness."
On whiteboards: I'd like to ban 'em from our classrooms. They bought cheap whiteboards for here and now we can't get them clean, even with solvents. (That said: I don't think banning whiteboards from dorms is going to fix anything; it's like trying to ban bullying behavior in schools. People can be rude and hateful and they will find OTHER ways to be rude and hateful if their preferred way is banned)
On “Weekend!”
My birthday is Monday, and I worked hard the past two weekends, so I am declaring this weekend My Birthday (Observed). I am going antiquing and out for lunch and other things I enjoy doing but don't get to do enough.
I actually gave my students an extension on an assignment (until Monday) so I wouldn't feel compelled to spend part of the weekend grading.
On “Tech Thursday: Billions & Billions”
I honestly thought the fancy-straw story was maybe an April 1 story that got leaked early.
then again, these days, it feels like a lot of the news is April 1 stories that got leaked early....
On “Morning Ed: Media {2017.02.22.W}”
As a fan of the cartoon, and a collector of the (older) toys...yes, this. I don't like having to explain "I like it, but I'm not one of THOSE fans" but I guess that's kind of any fandom.
Fandoms are the worst.
"
Yeah, that too.
Even some of the quilting and knitting magazines have decided to Go There.
I think MY dystopia, if I chose to write about it, was a world where everything was relentlessly political and you were harangued for every choice you made.
"
I STILL mourn Cute Overload.
I'm on twitter, and I admit, it has its attractions for me - I don't do texting or instant messaging, but a few times in my life when things were going REALLY BADLY, I had a few friends who were on at that time and were willing to virtually "sit with me" (and in a couple cases, offered prayers) because I tweeted out my worry or distress.
What I follow on twitter is about 50% people I consider friends on some level, 30% cute or funny stuff, 20% businesses I want to follow (e.g., a yarn shop that posts their deeply discounted specials there)
Facebook feels too much like "popular kids'" table in school for me to want to venture in there. Twitter is more like where the weird kids with poor impulse control fit in. (And Instagram is the hipster photographers, and Blogger is either the emo kids who keep giant journals, or the hopelessly-behind-the-scenes kids who think blogging is still cool... And Snapchat is that girls' bathroom where the bad girls go to smoke and pop diet pills)
"
If I could get social media that was NOTHING BUT cat photos, though, that would be just peachy.
the problem is, I started following a few sites that seemed to promise cat photos (or nice landscape photos), that suddenly decided it was Very Urgent they shifted to being Very Political. Feh.
On “Dystopia Revisted”
I was thinking more along the lines of "Dystopia Week will continue until morale improves."
"
"Every week is now Dystopia Week"?
On “Chosen Ones and Extraordinary Things”
I was very good at test taking.
As an adult, I've learned that being good at test-taking is worth fish-all in the real world.
I have a good memory, and that's served me well, but these days I'm more likely to say I'm the opposite of a genius than a genius.
I fall firmly in the camp that says kids should be praised for their hard work on something rather than any innate ability ("You're smart.")
On “Morning Ed: World {2017.02.21.T}”
I harp on this all the time in the soils class I teach; perhaps I should actually use the Seattle story as an immediate example.
(Many of my students are essentially Industrial Hygiene majors so they may wind up in a career that has an impact on this)
On “Chosen Ones and Extraordinary Things”
This, so much.
The "socialization" I got from my peers is why I'm so broken today. (Never married, have no close friends, don't really trust people)
"
Yeah, I know. And one of my favorite pieces of classical music (Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture") is mostly a pastiche of drinking songs.
(Then again, Brahms wrote it mostly as a joke - he was awarded an honorary degree or the equivalent and the awarding institution was like "oh, and maybe you might want to write a piece of music for us, hint hint" and Brahms was like "okay, but it's going to be all drinking songs")
"
I still have idealistic dreams of what college could or should be.
When I was a high schooler, my image of university was very much in the "Willie Gillis Goes to College" vein - someone sitting in a window seat at the library, reading a Great Book as the leaves fell outside.
I was somewhat disappointed to find that relatively few people saw it that way once I got there. That it was more about how much you could drink or whom you could hook up with. I became somewhat of an extreme prude as a counter-reaction.
I think part of the reason I became a prof is that on some level I am still chasing that dream of a brick row, a quiet library, the Great Books, and leaves falling outside. It's more distant now than ever, but it still lives somewhere in me.
"
Well, also, many people know that's an evil game (/RegularShow)
"
It's funny how the Horrible Deaths in fairytales don't bother me like Horrible Deaths in modern fiction do.
I suppose it's because I figure on some level, "Well, in those days, if you made it through childhood without dying from typhoid/plague/smallpox/non-specified bacterial infection/crushed in a mine accident, you were one of the incredibly lucky ones" and that the stories kind of reflected the general high mortality rates.
"
I'm now envisioning "Rock, Paper, Scissors: superhero edition"
Superman beats Batman
Wonder Woman beats Superman
But Batman beats Wonder Woman.
"
I couldn't make it very far in, for those very reasons.
"
It also didn't help the other kids accept me any more.
A bitter joke: what makes a kid less popular than being in the gifted program at school? Being nominated for it, but not quite making it in.
that was me.
I found out later it was because a teacher said my handwriting was too bad, and I should spend my time working on THAT instead of in the gifted program. But of course, the other kids didn't know that, so I was branded as the one who was "too retarded* for the gifted program"
(*Sorry if that's a no-go word here; I know some places it's the equivalent of the "n word." But that's literally the word they used, so.)
Some days, I think it's kind of amazing I even made it out of childhood.
"
Fairy tales in general (in their original) are some messed-up stuff. Not just Andersen. I have the whole Andrew Lang set and I like to read them sometimes but sometimes you have to take them in small doses. Lots of people being killed in pretty creative ways.
then again, they are mostly BAD people, so it's kind of okay ;)
"
yeah, the whole Fillory thing. It was maybe "my stuff" talking but it felt to me like the author was going, "Hey, I know what would be fun! Let's ruin Narnia for the people who loved it as a kid!"
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.