Quiddities and quandries from my quintessential quest

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The Economic Meltdown to a PhD Candidate

I guess I have been wondering if I should be concerned about the economic meltdown. Good thing I found this handy decision chart!   Here is the transcript of the interaction I had with the chart: [From the decision chart] Are you a grad student? [Me] Yes, yes I am. [Chart] You have nothing to [...]

Lack of Funding in Science

If lack of funding drives our most promising young people away from careers in research, the long-term damage to science could be significant,” Finneran said. To prevent this, he said, scientists may have to learn how to fight for what research dollars they can get. U.S. Bailout May Set Back Science Funding, Experts Fear. I’m [...]

Dreaming of a Six Hour Startup

It didn’t take much to get [it] up and running. Just an initial idea — which [he] couldn’t get out of his head — a domain name, and a few smart people. All told, about $30 was invested in the project, including the snacks … purchased to fuel developers during the coding marathon. Ready, set [...]

End of a PhD Candidate’s Day

Brilliant! Jorge Cham from PhD Comics did it again: he got inside my head, and made a comic of what life’s like as a grad student. It’s so nice to think that I’m not the only one going through this!

Thoughts on Dream Analysis

Some of the dreams I’ve been having lately seem to really be saying things that could be useful in my own personal development.  I’ve been intrigued by dreams for many many years, and have even at various times attempted analyzing symbols in dreams in order to interpret their meanings.  Recently, this intrigue has become more [...]

Two More Years is Too Many…

There comes a time in the life of every graduate student when she or he realizes that another two years of graduate school cannot be endured. There also, surely, comes a time in the life of every graduate student when she or he searches the web for the real scoop on how to write a [...]

Don’t be Afraid to Suck

Don’t be afraid to suck. It’s easier to fix something that’s broken than it is to fill up an empty page. So says Wil Wheaton, in discussing some of the steps he goes through when struggling through a project. Most of these steps are particular things that make him feel ‘stuck’, and many of these [...]

Random Act of Kindness Received!

So, I got a flat tire on my bike today. Really flat, not one of those slow leaks that you can deal with just by filling the tire with air every day or so. No, when I filled this tire, it was totally flat again in just 10 minutes. Naturally, I was not near an [...]

Tuxedo and his evil twin

I’ve been mentioning offhand (via twitter and facebook especially) my recent concerns for our darling cat, Tuxedo, but I’ve never quite gotten around to explaining what’s going on. Some people have asked, and so I’m writing this post partly for them, and partly for other people who haven’t asked yet but really should know. Tuxedo’s [...]

Analyzing my procrastination

I’ve been doing it again: procrastinating madly. The way it seems to happen without my awareness is completely unnerving, and I’m really starting to feel the urge to make it stop. But how? I seem to be addicted to being happy-go-lucky, paying no attention to what I’m doing, just existing and not thinking about it. [...]