November 2011
30 posts
Hello, Thanks for offering the book for free. I've been following you for a while and love your Tumblr… so am really looking forward to reading the book. Happy Thanksgiving from Dublin, Ireland!
You’re welcome.
Enjoy!
- Angry
That’s my email :)
Thanks again for the book, looking forward to a good read!
Why I hate the current job market...
Apparently ‘entry level’ or ‘trainee’ science jobs no longer exist.
So I’m stuck in a world where I need to commit to a masters degree to get a low-level job that would help me figure out if science is where I want to be
OR
Not get a masters and therefore not get an entry level science job and thus go another few years trying to figure out what would be a good fit.
Does anyone have any advice on gaming the current job market to get an entry level job without a masters/higher degree? I have a very good bachelor degree, but because of the economy it is getting very little respect :(
Play
“We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and — in spite of True Romance magazines — we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely — at least, not all the time — but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.”
—Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (via liquidnight)
5 Gifts of Being Highly Sensitive (World of Psychology) →
psychcentral.com
This is something I struggle with from time to time… and have seen my mother struggle with constantly. I think it’s about time that stopped automatically focusing our positive attention on the outgoing ones and thinking quieter people to be strange and gave some more nurturing attention to everyone (this goes for children as well as adults)!
Living out of sync with our culture
Living in a culture that devalues sensitivity and introversion as much as the U.S. means there are many pressures to be “normal” — meaning extroverted, sociable and outgoing.
Dr. Ted Zeff, author of The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide, points out that other cultures, such as Thailand, have different attitudes, with a strong appreciation of sensitive or introverted people.
Jenna Avery, a “life coach for sensitive souls,” counsels people to accept or even pursue being “out of sync” with mainstream society, and be aware of other’s judgments of people as too sensitive, too emotional, or too dramatic.
And if we are sensitive, we may use those kinds of judgments against ourselves, and think, as Winona Ryder said she did at one time, “Maybe I’m too sensitive for this world.”
Certainly, there are extremes of emotions that are considered mood disorders, for example, and should be dealt with as a health challenge.
But “too emotional” or “too sensitive” are usually criticisms based on majority behavior and standards.
Overall, I think being highly sensitive is a trait we can embrace and use to be more creative and aware. But it demands taking care to live strategically, even outside popular values, to avoid overwhelm so we can better nurture our abilities and creative talents.
I hear those 84 year olds are really intimidating... →
theatlanticwire.com
Who in their right mind can pepper spray an 84 year old?
I’m disgusted by a lot of what’s been happening lately, but this is the worst.
US Supreme Court... NOT held to highest judicial standards? WHAT!?! →
huffingtonpost.com
Suppose you were party to a lawsuit and you learned that the judge handling your case was hobnobbing with lawyers on the other side and helping to raise money for a group dedicated to defeating you in court? You’d be pretty uneasy about your prospects for an impartial hearing, wouldn’t you?
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Any dancer or doctor knows full well what an incredibly expressive device your body is. 300 joints! 600 muscles! Hundreds of degrees of freedom!
The next time you make breakfast, pay attention to the exquisitely intricate choreography of opening cupboards and pouring the milk — notice how your limbs move in space, how effortlessly you use your weight and balance. The only reason your mind doesn’t explode every morning from the sheer awesomeness of your balletic achievement is that everyone else in the world can do this as well.
With an entire body at your command, do you seriously think the Future Of Interaction should be a single finger?
” —Do yourself a favor and read this brilliant rant on the future of interaction design by former Apple designer Bret Victor (via curiositycounts)What a way to start the day...
- Text from BF this morning...
- "G'Morning my love, look out the window."
- Me: *Look out the window, see bus pull up*
- Dav: *Making goofy face at me from the top deck*
- Me: *Uncontrollable grin*
- Ah, the joys of working in an office at one of the major commuter bus stops in the city centre... and of adorable boys.
A Modest Proposal??
I’ve just handed my boss draft one of a proposal to be made full time in January. He wants me to be full time as we are trying to expand opportunities for our students and this requires someone having the time to find said opportunities.
I outlined the areas where we are lacking, why it’s important to grow these areas and some ideas of how we could do it… given that someone can be dedicated to that area.
One important thing I left out… compensation expectations. We had a brief (one minute) chat and it involved my boss saying what he thought I should be paid and then running to catch his bus. I was a bit shocked by his suggestion, it was much lower than I’d expected. You see, I’m currently doing a full time maternity cover position in the office and what he said was a few hundred euro less than what I’m currently making. I will get housing provided for me in the new/modified old position… but with this I am on call to our students 24/7 (if they come during dinner, my dinner is halted… if they ring when I’m sleeping, my sleep is halted) and living adjacent to them (so their parties wake me up) and also having to move into temporary housing when I become unemployed each summer.
Is it unreasonable of me not to be happy with the pay when housing is provided? Should I accept lesser pay than what I currently earn with full weekends off just because I get housing and thus no real weekend?
Or should I fight for the same pay as I’m doing the same hours of work with additional responsibilities at the weekends and in the middle of the night?
GGGAAAAAAAHHHHH! I don’t know what to do.
Grumples is going to bed now.
Tomorrow = Up too early, go to work, write proposal to be made a FT employee after New Year, go to the gym, have a GOOD session, go home, relax and in the process stay peaceful, calm, happy and keep everything clean.
Here’s for a ‘No Mess Monday’
“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.”
—Plato (via primalpalette)
If you think contraception is expensive, you haven't priced babies. →
nytimes.com
“Family planning is morally laudable in Christian terms because of its contribution to family well-being, women’s health, and the prevention of abortion,” the draft says.
Amen! Contraceptives no more cause sex than umbrellas cause rain.
So as we greet the seven-billionth human, let’s try to delay the arrival of the eight billionth. We should all be able to agree on voluntary family planning as a cost-effective strategy to reduce poverty, conflict and environmental damage. If you think family planning is expensive, you haven’t priced babies.
