Friday, May 04, 2007

miscellany

  • Sorry my blogthusiasm has been flagging lately. Much is going on. Note to friends who know about the main ongoing distraction in my life: still no resolution, but hopefully soon.
  • I have not restarted my diet as I promised.
  • Now that everyone seems to have read Getting Things Done, perhaps someone could direct me to its prequel, Getting Things Started.
  • A difference between Dan Myers and me: Dan, whenever he needs a little pick-me-up, apparently drops and does 20 push-ups. Me, I've taken to brightening my day by idly listening to the vegemite jingle over and over.
  • Taking a long time to make a decision doesn't necessarily mean that a person is indecisive; it could be that the decision in question is genuinely hard.
  • Via Tom B, a new contender for my favorite actual completion of the title "The Social Construction of X": The Social Construction of Time for Mars, by two of the principals on the astrosociology frontier. I sure hope a certain graduate student doesn't try to use connections to apply for any sociology faculty positions on Mars.
  • When I was at the National Science Foundation, the meeting was interrupted by the building-wide announcement that rumors that a gunman had been loose in one of its buildings had been shown to be unfounded, and were the result of someone mishearing "fire alarm" as "firearm." I am not making this up. The announcement went on for a few minutes, describing some preliminary "lessons learned" from the incident, and promised a follow-up report that would be distributed throughout the foundation.

7 comments:

Bad Runner said...

It's better than a shot of caffeine--Guaranteed!

Anonymous said...

"Taking a long time to make a decision doesn't necessarily mean that a person is indecisive; it could be that the decision in question is genuinely hard."

Actually...it means you are indecisive. Don't change dog, we wouldn't want you any other way...

Anonymous said...

will the readers who aren't friends-in-the-know ever get to find out about the main distraction?

Anonymous said...

I was just lamenting to my friend the other day that I needed the "getting things started" book - sometimes your posts freak me out.

Good Luck with distractions/decisions.

-Katie

Anonymous said...

"Taking a long time to make a decision doesn't necessarily mean that a person is indecisive; it could be that the decision in question is genuinely hard."

I agree - take your time and make the right decision. At the same time, both decisions would likely be right in the long run.

Anonymous said...

In case others clicked over to the vegemite jingle and thought, "they put a *what* in every cheek?"--here are the lyrics, from http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/VegemiteHistory.htm:

The Happy Little Vegemite Song

We are happy little Vegemites as bright as bright can be,

We all enjoy our Vegemite for breakfast, lunch and tea,

Our mummy says we're growing stronger every single week,

Because we love our Vegemite,
We all adore our Vegemite,

It puts a rose in every cheek!

jeremy said...

Thanks, Katie and various anon commenters.

Anon 11:31am: Yes, all will be revealed eventually.