A Tomboy Walks Into a Bar...

I am not sure if it's because I don't get out much, but sometimes I get hit on very strangely.

Take this past Wednesday for instance.

Guy at the bar: I'm really attracted to you.  I don't know if it's because of your short hair or the fact that we're wearing the same shoes.

Mission Impossible

I tried to do some analysis in ATLAS.ti which sounded very promising and...

Blah.  But, creative.

Holidays

Gobble, gobble, folks.  The stuff-your-face holiday is almost upon us.  Which of course leads to the very important question of readiness.

Do you know what beer you are going to pair your Thanksgiving meal with???


BeerAdvocate has some suggestions in case this slipped your mind (heavens!).

In the October Issue of MAA (Mathematical Association of America)

Why does "her" have to be in parenthesis, a smaller font size, and un-capitalized?

More memories!

S found me on facebook! And sent this photo along.  Too funny.  Sometimes facebook comes in handy.

Modern Relationships

Susan Orlean, a summertime vacationer of Wellfleet*, at the New Yorker has written an article titled, "The Social Index" for her column, Free Range: Encounters with people, places, and things, by Susan Orlean.


In response to this article, The Atlantic Magazine picked up a modern relationship that is missing from the index, the one that exists when a person reads a post, article, book, entry, etc. that has been written by a human being, thus being social and thus being a relationship. The Atlantic tumblr post is here.
The Atlantic seems to be arguing that even sitting alone and reading is social.  I, personally, agree.  I probably wouldn't have two years ago, but I do now.


Is there anything that is not social?  Can thinking be not social?  If thinking is laden with intentionality, then it is, by nature, social?  Just thoughts for myself or for yourself.
Anyway, I'm still running a fever.  Maybe I'll pop some more Tylenol.
 
*I just had to add a plug for my awesome tiny hometown!

Language

Language is critically important; as many of us know.

In this graduate program, I am constantly finding myself refining, re-phrasing, and re-defining for myself, the words I use to express my thoughts (or attempts at expressing my thoughts).  A perfect example, and something I am struggling with in class, is the word "operationalize". 


You can think of operationalize in two ways:
1) to define a concept or variable so that it can be measured or expressed quantitatively

or

2) to put into operation, start working



I use operationalize regularly in the second way.  However, "operationalize" is extremely important in class (and in research) as it relates to the first definition.  I am having to re-define "operationalize" for myself so it is used in relation to the first way as opposed to the second; although both are accurate.  This is a very interesting thing, re-defining words, and something I find myself doing more of this semester, this year 2 of the program.  This is hopefully a product of thinking more scientifically and precisely however, I cannot make such causal inferences.



(Also, for some reason when I see the word "language" lately, I've been reading it as "Lagrange" as in Lagrange multipliers.  There's a calculus flashback.  Actually, I know the reason why.)

We have an activity involving a rocket simulation.  Boss insisted the Rocket be named "Challenger" in the activity.

I am often the person in the classroom when the teacher and students see this for the first time.  There are often a lot of comments and reactions to this name from both students and the teacher.  I am silently in agreement with them.