To be or not to be... a prof

I'm supposed to be writing things, but I keep stumbling across interesting articles...

This one is about what it takes to be a science professor... at least some of the many aspects... with emphasis on the many. Certainly being academically strong is not the only requirement for the job.

University Affairs: So you want to be a science professor?

I think that piece of advice regarding asking someone you respect who is already there whether they think you have what it takes (and listening to them) is a good one... a reality check both for those suffering from impostor syndrome (they might say you'll be great!) and those on the other end of the spectrum (maybe it's important to consider other options). I had a conversation like this with my supervisor a few months ago, and while I got the impression he's confident I could get and do (maybe even excel) at the job, he brought up the issue that it might take longer than I'd like to find a professorship in the right area, both academically and geographically, and encouraged me to think about alternate plans should I get to the point I'm not willing to wait longer for a "real job". He knows I have other life goals/plans, and well, I guess reality is that a professorship *might* not work out for me. Not what I wanted to hear, but something I think I needed to hear... not that I'm giving up or anything!

So...

Of course science has it's vocabulary, the euphemisms for "well, actually we don't know" and "we have found that these other folks were completely wrong", and there are the "um"s and "uh"s of talks when we need a pause to collect our thoughts again. But then there are the "so"s. I hadn't really thought about it, being such a little unassuming word, but it carries many meanings, and potentially great weight.

So, without further ado, click over to Seed magazine's article on "so":

Seed: "So"

sigh...

... i think it's going to be another one of those days. somehow, i can't get my thermos open, which contains the life-giving coffee i so desperately need at the moment. oh, and i put the lid on, so... how does that work??

huh, it was the same side of the bed as every other morning...

I'm in a foul mood today. I've decided to just finally admit it to myself. Absolutely everything is getting to me today. It's kind of like being really itchy. I'm just plain cranky, and it doesn't help that everything is taking longer than I think it should today.

In fact some things I thought would be relatively simple have turned out to be a major pain in the arse due to a gnome infested computer that likes to change parameters without recording them anywhere accessible. So I'm guessing a calibration. It's 50-50 (there are only two options), and they're different enough I'm pretty sure I know it used the wrong one, but I don't like guessing.

So instead of writing the paper I'm supposed to be writing, I spent the last 5 hours trying to figure out what the heck is going on with my stupid images. Nothing seems to read the header fully enough to find out which calibration was used... if that is recorded at all (there's nm/pixel, but I need to know which nm/V was used to determine that).

Also, it is 30 C in my office. The university switches from heating to air conditioning on May 1 regardless of the actual weather.

I don't like heat.

My computer is overheating and burning my hands.

Gah.

Can I go home now?

haiku for you

Haiku2 for mad-sci
education but i also knew cheating was wrong fast forward 5
@ aboutmylife.netadvogato.orgblogger.comblogs.gnome.orgblogspot.comdeadjournal.comgreatestjournal.cominsanejournal.comlivejournal.commyspace.comspaces.msn.com
Created by Grahame

seen over at Brazen Hussy's.

you've got to be frackin' kidding me... snow???

you've got to be frackin' kidding me... snow???, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

yup. it's still snowing.

Ironically, I'm waiting for a phone call from someone who might have a post-doc opportunity for me in California.

Geee... let me think... snow? beaches? snow? ... beaches.

wha??

It's snowing out.

Not a little bit either.

It is April 4th. April... 4th...

Spring supposedly started two weeks ago.

What the frack?