Blogging Silence

So, things are going to be a bit quiet around here for a while longer. There’s a lot going around here at casa de Lady Scientist. First, I had Unbloggable Problem #1 that wasn’t resolved until recently (and resolved very nicely). Now, I have Unbloggable Problem #2 that is a bit closer to home and I won’t be able to resolve until the end of this month. Plus, Unbloggable Event is just around the corner. So, with all the unbloggables going on, I’ve had a hard time finding (1) safe topics* and (2) time to blog. I guess, I’m just staying, stick around for a while longer and my semi-regular blogging activity will resume.

*I do have EcoGeoFemme’s interview questions to answer. The time thing is just a bit of a problem.

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Another Scene from the Home Front

The other day Dr. Man and I were carpooling to work and I asked him about his upcoming day. He had [Specialty] Clinic that day, which I thought sounded like fun. (As an aside, it probably isn’t but the name sounds funny and vaguely wrong.) I told him that and he elaborated on the scheme of the place and about the types of patients he sees there.

He said that most of his patients could be divided up into two groups: Those with Type A Chronic Problem and those with Type B Chronic Problem.

Hmm, I said, Sounds like a fairly good set up. Possibly boring, though.

He responded with: It mostly is, I guess, but there is this vampire I treat…

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As seen everywhere: BBC Book list

BBC Book List

Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.
Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read. (I’ll bold those I’ve read and italicize those of which I only read part.)
2) Add a ‘+’ to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling+
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne

8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis

10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë


11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller*

12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger

16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens*
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling+

23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
+
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling

25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien


26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy*

27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck

30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll


31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett

34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute

38. Persuasion, Jane Austen*
39. Dune, Frank Herbert

40. Emma, Jane Austen

41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery +

42. Watership Down, Richard Adams

43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

46. Animal Farm, George Orwell

47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian

50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett+

52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck

53. The Stand, Stephen King– I just can’t get past the wandering.
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth

56. The BFG, Roald Dahl

57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome

58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer

60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman

62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden

63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens*

64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough

65. Mort, Terry Pratchett

66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

67. The Magus, John Fowles

68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman– My favorite book ever!

69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett

70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind

72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell

73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl

75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding

76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt

77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins

78. Ulysses, James Joyce

79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens

80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson

81. The Twits, Roald Dahl

82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

83. Holes, Louis Sachar

84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake

85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

89. Magician, Raymond E Feist

90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo

92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel

93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer

97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot

100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie*

I’ve read more of these than I thought! I’ve read about 38 of these. I read a lot of these in high school. Sadly, my recreational reading is a lot less edifying these days.

Posted in Meme | 9 Comments

Flattery is lovely

I turned on my computer this morning to find this list bandied about on my google reader. Curiousity (and a desire to read more blogs) had me clicking over to see who was on the list. Imagine my surprise when I saw my blog on that list! I was delighted to see several blogging giants on the list (and confused by one) and cannot fathom how I fit among them. I’m honored to apart of anything with this creed:

Women have long played an important role in scientific developments and discourse, however, this role has historically received relatively less recognition and coverage as compared to their male counterparts. Over the last few years, however, blogging has opened up a way for leading women in science to bring to light the important improvements women have made, the struggles they still encounter, and the strategies they set up for their work to be recognized.

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Mutually Inclusive, Part Two

Recently, Dr. Isis had a post up about how she feels her religion (Catholicism) and science mix. As I do, when reading one of Dr. Isis’s posts, I looked through the comments. I was dismayed by how many commenters seemed upset (outraged in some cases) that Dr. Isis had the audacity to have faith in God and believe in the Scientific Method, simultaneously. Much of the concern is centered on (and I’m paraphrasing a bunch of people here): That the Bible has some pretty strange things in it (Noah’s Ark, Parting of the Sea, etc.). So, how can you reconcile that with Science?

I’ve written before on how I found that my religion and my science are mutually inclusive. So, this conversation on her blog hit close to home and I had some thoughts on it. Rather than taking up lots of space in Dr. Isis’s comments, I figured I’d talk about my thoughts on my own blog.

The [Christian Denomination] I grew up in did not advocate that the Bible is entirely true as written. What [Christian Denomination] told me was that the Bible was written by men and men are fallible, just like [Christian Denomination]. God is the only one who is infallible. Therefore, maybe things didn’t happen like they did in the bible. And it is our duty to question the faults of men. So, there could be a physical reason behind every miracle in the Bible. And I’m ok with that. I have faith because of completely subjective experiences and feelings (these are not logical, as I’m not Data).

In fact, I’d be more than ok if all miracles in the bible could be explained by natural phenomenon. There’s this quote that I heard somewhere about how science is the how and god is the why. That’s how I think of everything around me. Science explains how we evolved into the beings we are today, how plants utilize the sun to make energy, and how we can build tall buildings. God explains why we are here today, why we should appreciate our environment, and why we should be good to our neighbors in those tall buildings.

Beyond seeing some of the cool things that nature does as somewhat wondrous, I keep my faith out of the lab. I do not predicate my scientific hypothesis upon the Bible, as besides being an ethical guide it doesn’t have much to do with the laboratory. Also, I do not explain my results by, “Then a miracle occurred and data appeared from on high.” So, until the day that I start allowing my religion to dictate my science or vice versa, it shouldn’t matter to other people what I believe.* For if I’m right and there is a God, well then, good for that and, maybe, on that day I’ll finally get some answers (like why do bad things happen to good people? And wtf is up with the playtpus?). And if I’m wrong we can all go out and laugh at me over a beer (or other beverage of choice).

*I’m completely unwilling to get into the fact that Christianity can be the source of a lot of bad things (like the unexpected Spanish Inquisition). Christianity can be the source of good things, too (like Catholic Relief Services, among others). People can be capable of both good and bad, despite what they believe and I don’t think one can use that as an argument for or against religion.

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RBOSickness

Things that I’ve noticed while being sick the past few days:

  1. I’m finally reading The Watchmen. I’m enjoying it so far. It’s only my second foray into the graphic novel genre and I’m not quite sure if it’s entirely my thing. I tend to focus a bit too much on the words than the pictures. A perfect example of this is: Dr. Manhattan. I was entirely unaware that he went about naked most of the time, until one of the characters mentioned it. Perhaps it was because they only drew him from the waist up? Nope, it’s because the word bubbles (for lack of a better term) are at the top of the panel.
  2. I finished reading Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. Also, I read the recaps, by Cleolinda, of the first seven episodes of True Blood, a series based on the books. And now I really want to see the series. However, I found a place to watch them over the internet. Hmm… I wonder if I can use the Wii to watch them over the internet on the TV? I’ll have to look into that.
  3. Daytime TV still stinks, by the way. I did end up watching a Top Chef Season 2 marathon. Do reality TV people not realize that everyone can see their confessionals on the Confession Cam? I mean, really, every little crappy thing you say about your colleagues to that camera is going to be on National TV. It’s not like it’s doctor-patient privilege or anything. It’s not a confessional in a church. Or maybe they [the producers] dress the camera person up like a priest?
  4. Ok, I’m done with being sick. I can has health now?
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Gah! Sick!

How in the world is it that I get sick out of nowhere and I escape when everyone else is sick? I hate being sick and feeling crappy and all kinds of icky. Anyhow, I have thoughts on things that include, but are not limited to: impostor syndrome, exercise (I’m working on it), lab progress, and books. Unfortunately, right now, I feel like my brains have been replaced with scrambled eggs.

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AM or PM?

I tallied up the results from the comments in my previous post (where I asked about the best time of day to exercise). It seems that right now the majority of people try to fit it in the evenings. However, two of you noted that you’d prefer mornings but due to weather you’re stuck with working out in the evenings. Some of you pointed out that I just need to make time and stick with it. So, I’m going to take my cue from the you flexible-scheduling people there and exercise in the evenings– starting today.

Dr. Man and I took the Dixie Dog for a nice, brisk walk this evening. We’re going to try to do this three or four times a week. I figure if I start out with something small and achievable, I just might reach my goal.

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Of Awards, Exercise Times, and Scenes from the Home Front

Awards:

Contemporary Troubadour gave me the Inspiration Award and I’m very flattered. As I don’t consider myself very inspiring.
The rules are as follows:

  • Put the logo of the award (above) on your blog if you can make it work with your format.
  • Link to the person from whom you received the award.
  • Nominate seven or more blogs.
  • Put the links of those blogs on your blog.
  • Leave a message on their blogs to tell them.

So, I nominate:
Katie at Minor Revisions
Aunt Becky at Mommy Wants Vodka
Julie at Disgruntled Julie
Ambivalent Academic at Ambivalent Academic
Science Girl at Curiosity Killed the Cat
Academic at Journeys of an Academic
EcoGeoFemme at The Happy Scientist

Exercise Times:
When do you all exercise? In the morning? Evening? Lunchtime? I’m trying to fit it in, but I seem to have a problem with all the available times. If I exercised in the Morning, I’d have to get up at 5:30 am and I’m not a morning person. Lunchtime interferes with experiments. Evenings, well, I’m exhausted and it’s dark out. Hence, I’m turning to the wisdom of the internets. Plus, if I see how you all overcome the excuses, it’ll encourage me to do the same (and it’ll refute all my so-called reasons to not exercise).

Scenes from the Home Front:
Dr. Man and I are sitting on the couch last night getting ready to watch a movie (Robots, by the way. It was very cute and I enjoyed it.). I get up to pour a glass of wine. I come back and realize that Dr. Man is gone. He’s been sick so I figure he’s going to go get tissues or take medicine or something. He comes back and sits on the couch, cupping something close to his face. I’m afraid he’s going to be sick until I realize that he’s taking deep breaths of something. Suddenly, I realize what he’s doing and I ask, “Sweetie are you huffing the Vick’s VapoRub?” He cuts his eyes over to me and mutters, “And so what if I am?”, and breathes in deep again.

Posted in Awards, Family, Random | 18 Comments

Ok, so maybe I’m having a moment here

While hydrating my membrane, I came across this article in the NY Times. For some reason, I was really touched by this:

It requires no metaphysical commitment to a God or any conception of human origin or nature to join in this game, just the hypothesis that nature can be interrogated and that nature is the final arbiter. Jews, Catholics, Muslims, atheists, Buddhists and Hindus have all been working side by side building the Large Hadron Collider and its detectors these last few years.

And indeed there is no leader, no grand plan, for this hive. It is in many ways utopian anarchy, a virtual community that lives as much on the Internet and in airport coffee shops as in any one place or time.

I started to tear up in the middle of the lab. I have absolutely no excuse, except that wouldn’t it be wonderful if this really was the way of Science?

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