Here goes an attempt at The List.
12. Gayface's (GF) baby sister has an infant. I found this out Sunday I think, via Facebook. GF and I were good friends in high school and college... In a very previous post I mentioned that I had a friend who stopped talking to me after I got married, remember? That is gayface. So he has a sister who is 20 years old now, and I gave her some private tutoring in science and math when she was in high school. She still had the spirit of youth in her, and I enjoyed our time together.
So Sunday I check facebook because I hadn't visited it in forever, and one of GF and my mutual friends had an updated "about me" section. Those either are fun or dumb, and their new "about me" was dumb, but GF had written on their wall and so there was a small thumbnail of GF and this baby! I mean last I checked GF was still single... What if he impregnated someone!? I click over... And, yes, he is still single, but on his wall said some bit about "uncle." What! His 20 year old sister is too young... But yes, it is hers and the kid is now FIVE MONTHS OLD. How could I miss this for five whole months!? (She is living with the guy but they are not married.) But it is true, (and this leads us to 13. Lack of Facebook) In the past five months I have spent MUCH less time on Facebook, and MUCH more time on work stuff, which is good, but also means that I have missed out on the gossip of old friends, and their birthdays... Now I am concerned with more real things like hanging out with girlfriends and working out and running experiments. This is probably good, and it probably means that I am growing up or maturing or something like that.
Maturity will start us off again when we continue the list.
(hopefully tonight.)
----------------------------
1. Zazu Pimple
2. Boss Anger Group Meeting Communication
3. Maru, Katu, and Arum Rae (also Jed, THE FAN)
4. Parents visit
5. Experiments working
6. Black boys catcalls
7. Harlem Shakes Vampire Weekend vs Bonaroo Music Festival
8. Magazine Obsession
9. Cake Therapy
10. Safety is my goal: Please Call
11. Absolute Pear billboard = Georgia O'Keeffe Vagina Flower
14. Penelope Trunk's writing
15. Things that make me happy
16. Feeling happy vs Feeling Powerful vs Feeling Superior
17. Jips comes home
18. Flowers and Presents
Showing posts with label gossip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gossip. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
light my fire
We had group meeting this week. The Boss said that we have funding through a side project. This lowers the chance that I will be teaching in the fall down to 5%. Instead, I will have to dedicate one day a week to doing lab work that is not related to my thesis. This is a much more productive situation than teaching. Teaching would have taken at least 2 full days a week, and would have emotionally drained me (see obsessions.) I like teaching and I generally like college kids, but teaching does not help me graduate sooner therefore it is less desirable.
The fire alarm went of in the main building. We find out later that someone spilled hexane and thought that the best way to clean it up would be to evaporate it with a blow-torch. This idea was incredibly STUPID because hexane is very flammable and guess what happened: The whole bottle of hexane caught fire, the fire alarm and sprinklers went off, and since our buildings are brilliantly designed without drain systems the sprinklers flooded the floor below and killed someones personal laptop while everyone was outside for the fire alarm.
The story was leaked first and we wondered: Who would be stupid enough to use a blow-torch to clean up hexane? Maybe it was an old research scientist who was so experienced in the lab that he was too cocky to be logical. Maybe it was an REU student (Research Experience for Undergraduates Program) who had never been in a lab before. But we were wrong. It was the first year Token.
Maybe Token isn't cut out for grad school. He was failing his classes but wanted to stay (I found out later) and then he goes and pulls this blow-torch shit. His boss rightly dismissed him from his research assistant position, and now no one knows what will happen to him. I mean grad school sucks for everyone, but Token has had an especially bad year.
The fire alarm went of in the main building. We find out later that someone spilled hexane and thought that the best way to clean it up would be to evaporate it with a blow-torch. This idea was incredibly STUPID because hexane is very flammable and guess what happened: The whole bottle of hexane caught fire, the fire alarm and sprinklers went off, and since our buildings are brilliantly designed without drain systems the sprinklers flooded the floor below and killed someones personal laptop while everyone was outside for the fire alarm.
The story was leaked first and we wondered: Who would be stupid enough to use a blow-torch to clean up hexane? Maybe it was an old research scientist who was so experienced in the lab that he was too cocky to be logical. Maybe it was an REU student (Research Experience for Undergraduates Program) who had never been in a lab before. But we were wrong. It was the first year Token.
Maybe Token isn't cut out for grad school. He was failing his classes but wanted to stay (I found out later) and then he goes and pulls this blow-torch shit. His boss rightly dismissed him from his research assistant position, and now no one knows what will happen to him. I mean grad school sucks for everyone, but Token has had an especially bad year.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
PhD granted by Heaven's Gate University
In Yes Masta, Youse a Good Masta, I compare graduate school to slavery. But of course, there are other opinions. One of them is that graduate school is a cult. The main difference in cult vs. slavery is that when you are in a cult, you buy into what your superiors tell you, but in slavery you know that your situation is filled with injustice. You know your situation sucks.
If you read the article about G-skoo being a cult, you will see that it is about the humanities not science. Maybe the fact that I think graduate school is like slavery is because in science we are trained to question and test all assumptions. If you spend all of your time questioning the physical world, it seems natural to question your current situation. When you do start thinking for yourself you become aware of the injustice.
Still, there are cult-like aspects. Remember Sexy Pablo who is leaving with a masters? He is super paranoid that the rest of us will find out. Jips says: "If someone wants to leave with a masters I think they should. Graduate school sucks." But Jips and I are free-thinkers. The problem (for graduate students) is that the graduate students and professors in our department are OUR WHOLE LIFE. So that "leaving" is a major thing. You drift away from the rest of us if you leave. And you might be looked down upon by people who are unhappy and insecure and sacrificing to be here. The worst thing is that other graduate students might talk about you. The truth is that gossiping is our only source of power.
Remember Shawshank? We don't hang out with him anymore. Jips has judged Honey G to be a better investment of his time, and he is right. Honey G is a better person, closer to our age, and more like Jips and me. But this abrupt abandonment of Shawshank makes me feel slightly awkward. One of the biggest problems with Shawshank is that he totally buys into The Academy. He will give undeserving people A's because he is afraid of what the Department Co-Chair will say to him. He is also totally brainwashed into thinking that our school is the best even though he hasn't been anywhere else. He even went so far as to say bad things about my alma mater. That was too much. So Shawshank is banished. I feel better now that I have blogged about it.
Honey G and his girlfriend came over last night. She had a job interview and they were going to make her an offer today. Anyway, two nights ago Honey G was over and he wanted to come to the tennis courts to play fetch with dog 2. So we went, and things were going fine until Honey G decided to hurdle the tennis court net! Dog 2 is very accustomed to the tennis courts but he has never seen anyone hurdle the net. So when Honey G did it in Dog 2's direction, Dog 2 freaked out! He ran away and whimpered. I think that was the first time I ever heard him whimper.
My latest obsession is baking cakes.
I just thought I would put that out there.
BONUS LINK: Stuff White People Like At The Wedding!
enjoy.
If you read the article about G-skoo being a cult, you will see that it is about the humanities not science. Maybe the fact that I think graduate school is like slavery is because in science we are trained to question and test all assumptions. If you spend all of your time questioning the physical world, it seems natural to question your current situation. When you do start thinking for yourself you become aware of the injustice.
Still, there are cult-like aspects. Remember Sexy Pablo who is leaving with a masters? He is super paranoid that the rest of us will find out. Jips says: "If someone wants to leave with a masters I think they should. Graduate school sucks." But Jips and I are free-thinkers. The problem (for graduate students) is that the graduate students and professors in our department are OUR WHOLE LIFE. So that "leaving" is a major thing. You drift away from the rest of us if you leave. And you might be looked down upon by people who are unhappy and insecure and sacrificing to be here. The worst thing is that other graduate students might talk about you. The truth is that gossiping is our only source of power.
Remember Shawshank? We don't hang out with him anymore. Jips has judged Honey G to be a better investment of his time, and he is right. Honey G is a better person, closer to our age, and more like Jips and me. But this abrupt abandonment of Shawshank makes me feel slightly awkward. One of the biggest problems with Shawshank is that he totally buys into The Academy. He will give undeserving people A's because he is afraid of what the Department Co-Chair will say to him. He is also totally brainwashed into thinking that our school is the best even though he hasn't been anywhere else. He even went so far as to say bad things about my alma mater. That was too much. So Shawshank is banished. I feel better now that I have blogged about it.
Honey G and his girlfriend came over last night. She had a job interview and they were going to make her an offer today. Anyway, two nights ago Honey G was over and he wanted to come to the tennis courts to play fetch with dog 2. So we went, and things were going fine until Honey G decided to hurdle the tennis court net! Dog 2 is very accustomed to the tennis courts but he has never seen anyone hurdle the net. So when Honey G did it in Dog 2's direction, Dog 2 freaked out! He ran away and whimpered. I think that was the first time I ever heard him whimper.
My latest obsession is baking cakes.
I just thought I would put that out there.
BONUS LINK: Stuff White People Like At The Wedding!
enjoy.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Moral not Oral
My time at work flew by today. Probably because (I see a list coming!)
are totally fun. I have decided to focus on trying to do the best work rather than the most work. I am trying to give myself credit for doing well-thought-out experiments carefully rather than trying to figure out how I can be The-Most-Productive-Scientist-In-The-World. It is good. Hopefully my results will be good, too.
Boss.
The fact that he did not show up for work today was awesome. It just makes me enjoy my day so much more when I am not subconsciously concerned about him popping into the lab and making his "unsatisfied" face.
Zazu.
Do you recognize the name? I named him after the bird in The Lion King who was always worrying and who would never shut up. Still I found Zazu in the movie, (and now in my real life) very lovable. So Zazu showed up late because he forgot where the lab was. He is just at the end of his first year of college. I taught him this past fall, and so I was already attached to him. He is just so innocent and nice and bright and I would hate to see my boss break his spirit. I guess everyone has to grow up sometime.
Oral Exam
Every time I read the words "oral exam" I think about the dentist. I haven't been to the dentist in awhile. Last time I went they made my teeth hurt and told me I needed a root canal. I was too busy with graduate school at the time to schedule a root canal so I just haven't done any dentist stuff in 1.5 years now and my teeth feel great! But my conscience nags me about it every time I brush my teeth. By the end of the summer, I promise I will go back.
I taught with the chick who had her oral practice. And I taught with her boyfriend. They are both really great and really smart. They are both Asian. Guess who is racist against Asians? Yep, its the boss!!! And he is on her committee. This is going to be bad. Racism combined with the fact that he likes to be an asshole combined with the fact that she is presenting on stuff related to my project, Citizen's project, and my boss's specialty area. Basically, she is fucked. I told her if she fails, just remember you can do it again and you can kick my boss off of your committee and get a different prof.
Oral Asian Chick also asked two of my other friends to come help her practice. And I learned some gossip. Sexy Pablo (a promiscuous Latino grad student in my entering class) is leaving with a masters. He isn't doing his Oral Exam. And this is a secret. I promised I wouldn't tell. So keep it hush hush! Little Bo Peep (another one of my friends/colleagues) wants to quit also but I made her promise to have lunch with me first. Bo Peep even already passed her Oral Exam! She is a PhD Candidate, the bitch part is DONE, and she wants out. I will know more after Friday when we have lunch... and of course I will try to talk her into staying. She is a smart one with her act together. Coming into grad school, everyone assumed she would make it.
So work is fun again. YAY!
AND, if my boss is too lazy to schedule group meeting, work could be AWESOME all summer.
Yay Grad School Yay!
- I was back in the lab actually doing experiments that relate to my thesis.
- My boss did not show up to work today. (Always a nice surprise, seriously.)
- It was the undergraduate Zazu's first day.
- I spent 1.5 hours helping one of my friends/colleagues with her oral exam practice.
are totally fun. I have decided to focus on trying to do the best work rather than the most work. I am trying to give myself credit for doing well-thought-out experiments carefully rather than trying to figure out how I can be The-Most-Productive-Scientist-In-The-World. It is good. Hopefully my results will be good, too.
Boss.
The fact that he did not show up for work today was awesome. It just makes me enjoy my day so much more when I am not subconsciously concerned about him popping into the lab and making his "unsatisfied" face.
Zazu.Do you recognize the name? I named him after the bird in The Lion King who was always worrying and who would never shut up. Still I found Zazu in the movie, (and now in my real life) very lovable. So Zazu showed up late because he forgot where the lab was. He is just at the end of his first year of college. I taught him this past fall, and so I was already attached to him. He is just so innocent and nice and bright and I would hate to see my boss break his spirit. I guess everyone has to grow up sometime.
Oral Exam
Every time I read the words "oral exam" I think about the dentist. I haven't been to the dentist in awhile. Last time I went they made my teeth hurt and told me I needed a root canal. I was too busy with graduate school at the time to schedule a root canal so I just haven't done any dentist stuff in 1.5 years now and my teeth feel great! But my conscience nags me about it every time I brush my teeth. By the end of the summer, I promise I will go back.
I taught with the chick who had her oral practice. And I taught with her boyfriend. They are both really great and really smart. They are both Asian. Guess who is racist against Asians? Yep, its the boss!!! And he is on her committee. This is going to be bad. Racism combined with the fact that he likes to be an asshole combined with the fact that she is presenting on stuff related to my project, Citizen's project, and my boss's specialty area. Basically, she is fucked. I told her if she fails, just remember you can do it again and you can kick my boss off of your committee and get a different prof.
Oral Asian Chick also asked two of my other friends to come help her practice. And I learned some gossip. Sexy Pablo (a promiscuous Latino grad student in my entering class) is leaving with a masters. He isn't doing his Oral Exam. And this is a secret. I promised I wouldn't tell. So keep it hush hush! Little Bo Peep (another one of my friends/colleagues) wants to quit also but I made her promise to have lunch with me first. Bo Peep even already passed her Oral Exam! She is a PhD Candidate, the bitch part is DONE, and she wants out. I will know more after Friday when we have lunch... and of course I will try to talk her into staying. She is a smart one with her act together. Coming into grad school, everyone assumed she would make it.
So work is fun again. YAY!
AND, if my boss is too lazy to schedule group meeting, work could be AWESOME all summer.
Yay Grad School Yay!
Friday, February 22, 2008
The Fermi Level
The pressure is on. First posts are always hard, and this seems even more difficult because I am
aware that other people know this blog exists. What if my grammar is bad? My writing uninteresting? My headache is intensifying.
I never plan things for Friday nights because I am always so worn out. But today was a good day. We had lab clean up because the EPA will be inspecting our labs next month. The clean up instilled a sense of community between me, Citizen, and Cole: we had a goal and we achieved it with great finesse. Of course it also alienated Babu from the rest of us.
Babu annoys me a great deal. He is bossy where he doesn't need to be. He reminds me of an old woman who is powerless outside of her kitchen. Much like our boss, he has good intentions...
I guess someone has to pave the road to hell.
I think it is also hard to be bossed around by someone who doesn't show up to work most days.
So today we found explosives. All sorts. Yellow solids in beakers covered with para-film. (Para-film is the lab equivalent of saran wrap.) Volatile liquid explosives standing alone un-entered in our chemical inventory. And a whole drawer of "specialty" explosives that you probably can't even purchase anymore.
Now, Citizen, Cole, and I thought: Wow, Let's be careful and dispose of these properly. So I found a metal jug with a screw on cap and started putting the yellow solid from the beaker into it. I was about to make the appropriate waste label when Babu advises me not to dispose of the yellow explosive. I ask why, and the reason is
because our boss used to have projects with explosives in the eighties.
Citizen will stand there and argue with Babu on if we should keep the explosives or not. I tell Citizen to just agree with Babu that we will keep them, and then we will dispose of them quietly. So that is what we do. It really is ridiculous to keep a beaker of explosive product when it has been sitting untouched for 5+ years.
For general info:
Babu: 5th year male
Citizen: 4th year male
Cole: 2nd year female
Me: 2nd year female
aware that other people know this blog exists. What if my grammar is bad? My writing uninteresting? My headache is intensifying.I never plan things for Friday nights because I am always so worn out. But today was a good day. We had lab clean up because the EPA will be inspecting our labs next month. The clean up instilled a sense of community between me, Citizen, and Cole: we had a goal and we achieved it with great finesse. Of course it also alienated Babu from the rest of us.
Babu annoys me a great deal. He is bossy where he doesn't need to be. He reminds me of an old woman who is powerless outside of her kitchen. Much like our boss, he has good intentions...
I guess someone has to pave the road to hell.
I think it is also hard to be bossed around by someone who doesn't show up to work most days.
So today we found explosives. All sorts. Yellow solids in beakers covered with para-film. (Para-film is the lab equivalent of saran wrap.) Volatile liquid explosives standing alone un-entered in our chemical inventory. And a whole drawer of "specialty" explosives that you probably can't even purchase anymore.
Now, Citizen, Cole, and I thought: Wow, Let's be careful and dispose of these properly. So I found a metal jug with a screw on cap and started putting the yellow solid from the beaker into it. I was about to make the appropriate waste label when Babu advises me not to dispose of the yellow explosive. I ask why, and the reason is
because our boss used to have projects with explosives in the eighties.
Citizen will stand there and argue with Babu on if we should keep the explosives or not. I tell Citizen to just agree with Babu that we will keep them, and then we will dispose of them quietly. So that is what we do. It really is ridiculous to keep a beaker of explosive product when it has been sitting untouched for 5+ years.
For general info:
Babu: 5th year male
Citizen: 4th year male
Cole: 2nd year female
Me: 2nd year female
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