As the end of coursework draws ever nearer (hallelujah) and I suffer through the grinding and darn near worthless course taught by a LooseGoose in a subject that's supposed to be at or near the core of my whole phd existence, and I attempt to pull together readings that make sense on my diss topic and play 'find a theory' -- I wonder .... WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING????!!!!!
"Gee, that's news!" NOT
I know, I know --- I've said it all before. But I sense as the coursework part winds down, the pressure on the dissertation work ramps up, the details and little nudges of our damn funding continue to make odd, sometimes idiosyncratic requests of us, and the future of near ABD status looms --- that things are only going to get harder. Or worse. Or worse and harder.
I'm not making as quick and steady and definitive a progress in my 'find a theory' and related reading work as I thought, or as my friends Astro and Mambo seem to be. I keep going off on little tangents, or just reading whatever comes from the last set of readings and playing the 'citation chain gang game'. Not that that's bad. It's not, it's good. It's just not what I thought I was going to be doing exactly, or more, what I think I'm supposed to be doing. And I have no idea whether I'm really making progress or not.
And I worry that I'm not worried enough about this. I worry that I don't know what I'm doing anymore, or right now, and that I'm losing my spark for this. Not good news heading into the end of coursework, the summer, and the long fall and more of ABD-land or ABD-dom.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Note to self
Do NOT ... I repeat NOT, take more than 2 grad school, PhD-y classes atthe same time, and certainly not 3, with one being at a different university, on a different academic topic, on a different academic calendar.
Unless of course you WANT to lose your sanity and precious sleep when terms start overlapping and the ramp-up reading for one course coincides with the finals, presentations and whopping papers of another course.
I'm nuts .... just plain freaking nuts. And I seriously question what on earth I was thinking or what I've gotten out of this little exercise?!!
I think, no I really hope, that as I finish the bloody paper for this off-campus 'extra' course that I figure out how it fits in and really moves me forward. Especially since it was my bloody idea to take the bloody thing in the first place!! Nuts I tell you, nuts.
Unless of course you WANT to lose your sanity and precious sleep when terms start overlapping and the ramp-up reading for one course coincides with the finals, presentations and whopping papers of another course.
I'm nuts .... just plain freaking nuts. And I seriously question what on earth I was thinking or what I've gotten out of this little exercise?!!
I think, no I really hope, that as I finish the bloody paper for this off-campus 'extra' course that I figure out how it fits in and really moves me forward. Especially since it was my bloody idea to take the bloody thing in the first place!! Nuts I tell you, nuts.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Singed ... but not burnt
Ok ... in the last post, among many ramblings, was some frustration and upset over how my annual 'review' thingie seemed to have gone and how I felt that my committee didn't feel I was on the right path, that I was in some ways 'unqualified' to be going after my stated topics.
And how I didn't necessarily disagree!
But I was clearly frustrated, panicked, bewildered, hurt, annoyed ..... Anyway, I waited a few hours... I think ... and then sent a polite, gently inquiring message to Advocate asking for a 'check-in' on how she thought things went.
Well .... I feel slightly better now... at least because Advocate is in my corner and not overly concerned.
Yes, the committee did have some concerns, particularly regarding the education and potential school library focus of my research and that my background didn't quite support this, or give me the grounding and/or experience necessary to teach in this area when I was done. Hello??!!! This is not news ! I believe I've said the same damn things myself!
Hmmmmmm .... or maybe I've only been saying them to myself... and the incredibly small number of people worldwide who might read this blog. I swear I've voiced this concern to Advocate before! Haven't I?? Damn! The stress of grad school is f---ing up my memory! No really, I know I've talked with Advocate about this, but the rest of the committee, probably not.
Still... no need to rip my already tattered ego to further shreds.
But Advocate provides a needed reality, and confidence, boost. She says not to worry, I'm on a good path, and so I don't worry, because I believe in her and her experience fully.
So I got a little singed and seared in the review ... but contrary to my last thoughts, not burned to a little crisp.
Yet ....
And how I didn't necessarily disagree!
But I was clearly frustrated, panicked, bewildered, hurt, annoyed ....
Well .... I feel slightly better now... at least because Advocate is in my corner and not overly concerned.
Yes, the committee did have some concerns, particularly regarding the education and potential school library focus of my research and that my background didn't quite support this, or give me the grounding and/or experience necessary to teach in this area when I was done. Hello??!!! This is not news ! I believe I've said the same damn things myself!
Hmmmmmm .... or maybe I've only been saying them to myself... and the incredibly small number of people worldwide who might read this blog. I swear I've voiced this concern to Advocate before! Haven't I?? Damn! The stress of grad school is f---ing up my memory! No really, I know I've talked with Advocate about this, but the rest of the committee, probably not.
Still... no need to rip my already tattered ego to further shreds.
But Advocate provides a needed reality, and confidence, boost. She says not to worry, I'm on a good path, and so I don't worry, because I believe in her and her experience fully.
So I got a little singed and seared in the review ... but contrary to my last thoughts, not burned to a little crisp.
Yet ....
Sunday, March 18, 2007
From the frying pan into the fire...
Let's see, another original post about how busy and stressed I am...
Well, c'mon! I'm a grad student in a PhD program dammit...isn't being stressed and uncertain written into the acceptance letter or something?
But still, it does seem like this term has been more stressful than most, if not for shear workload and feeling the grad school equivalent of some "biological clock" ticking away...hmmm, more like the "Doomsday clock" perhaps? Right at the point where you think you know what your resesarch is about, and you think you know how you're going to tackle it, you see exactly how much or really how little, time there is to achieve it and get moving before the inertia and sheer force of 'grad-dom' overtakes you and you never wind up finishing.
I think that's where I am now.
Add to that, our annual reviews of our progress in the progrem and tightening of the screws on our research interests and 'efforts at making progress toward an achievable' dissertation. You walk around feeling like everything is quicksand. Or in the case of Metro, where everything is um, 'challenging', there are more hoops to jump through. No, wait... ... Flaming hoops. Yes, flaming hoops, and my ass keeps getting singed on the way through.
For instance after my annual review, and discussions with Advocate and others of my faculty committee, there seem to be concerns about the direction I want to take my dissertation. Concern that I'm trying to study an area that I have no prior first-hand experience in, no working experience in, and therefore it's unlikely I'll be able to teach in it when I'm done (I'm in a very practically based discipline-- prior experience is key). No, unlike many other fields where doing the dissertation research is precisely what sets you up as uniquely qualified to teach what you've just spent a few years researching, living and breathing -- in mine, that's not enough.
No, I'm not even really whining here-- I understand that point and that necessity very well. I'm one of the first to agree that a professor in my field needs real life experience to go along with the research work in order to teach. Hell, I know that's my shortcoming here. Of course, so did Metro when they accepted me into a special program with a stipulation to teach in that field when I was done. But yeah, it's my biggest fear that I'll never have enough cred to get a teaching job when I'm done because of the lack of 'real' work in that area. It's what gives me 'hives' practically, and has me lie awake at night. It's what I've confessed to my shrink (when I had one), to my BF and to Astro, Mambo and the rest. That all this studying, all the research, everything will be for naught because in the end 'how can I teach something I never actually did'?!?
And because my research wants to look at this subset of my field, as a part, there is concern from my committee that it doesn't make sense.
Hell, if we all only did research on what we comfortably know, nothing innovative would ever happen! And if I only did research on what I did in my past, I'm not sure I'd be in grad school at all -- my past was just that, the PAST! And not terribly connected to where I am now-- sure, tangentially, and sure, it all builds like Legos. But it's not a direct-connect, and it's not something I will research.
So do I change my topic? Do I start over and look for new research questions? Do I try and make something out of my work for this 'new' web initiative that Metro has taken over from another college in my field? Are there real research questions there -- because all the ones that have come to my head just seem like marketing issues for this web thing. Do I ditch the topic revolving around history merely because I was never a historian, or a history teacher? Does that really mean I can't possibly understand the importance of new media and new resources in teaching this subject? Or in the power of inquiry-based learning, constructing new learner-centered knowledge from the powerful primary sources we have available? Do I put that all aside because I wasn't an elementary or secondary ed teacher, or a school librarian, or anything else that interacts with kids and education on a daily basis?
Where is the role of passion? of interest? of seeing a research gap? of wanting to fill that gap? of wanting to bring a new voice to the research? of wanting to represent the teacher, the student, the user of history? Is there no place for any of those roles in the research path they think I should tread? I understand their concern, I understand their caution. Really, I do. I want to believe in my heart that they said what they have because they care, because they want me to succeed.
But I'm left shaken, and uncertain. Standing on wobbly knees. Seeking answers from a computer screen, sending furtive emails, awaiting some gentle reassurance... which may not come.
I thought I saw a light at the end of the tunnel...
...
...
... but it turns out it was a damn train.
Well, c'mon! I'm a grad student in a PhD program dammit...isn't being stressed and uncertain written into the acceptance letter or something?
But still, it does seem like this term has been more stressful than most, if not for shear workload and feeling the grad school equivalent of some "biological clock" ticking away...hmmm, more like the "Doomsday clock" perhaps? Right at the point where you think you know what your resesarch is about, and you think you know how you're going to tackle it, you see exactly how much or really how little, time there is to achieve it and get moving before the inertia and sheer force of 'grad-dom' overtakes you and you never wind up finishing.
I think that's where I am now.
Add to that, our annual reviews of our progress in the progrem and tightening of the screws on our research interests and 'efforts at making progress toward an achievable' dissertation. You walk around feeling like everything is quicksand. Or in the case of Metro, where everything is um, 'challenging', there are more hoops to jump through. No, wait... ... Flaming hoops. Yes, flaming hoops, and my ass keeps getting singed on the way through.
For instance after my annual review, and discussions with Advocate and others of my faculty committee, there seem to be concerns about the direction I want to take my dissertation. Concern that I'm trying to study an area that I have no prior first-hand experience in, no working experience in, and therefore it's unlikely I'll be able to teach in it when I'm done (I'm in a very practically based discipline-- prior experience is key). No, unlike many other fields where doing the dissertation research is precisely what sets you up as uniquely qualified to teach what you've just spent a few years researching, living and breathing -- in mine, that's not enough.
No, I'm not even really whining here-- I understand that point and that necessity very well. I'm one of the first to agree that a professor in my field needs real life experience to go along with the research work in order to teach. Hell, I know that's my shortcoming here. Of course, so did Metro when they accepted me into a special program with a stipulation to teach in that field when I was done. But yeah, it's my biggest fear that I'll never have enough cred to get a teaching job when I'm done because of the lack of 'real' work in that area. It's what gives me 'hives' practically, and has me lie awake at night. It's what I've confessed to my shrink (when I had one), to my BF and to Astro, Mambo and the rest. That all this studying, all the research, everything will be for naught because in the end 'how can I teach something I never actually did'?!?
And because my research wants to look at this subset of my field, as a part, there is concern from my committee that it doesn't make sense.
Hell, if we all only did research on what we comfortably know, nothing innovative would ever happen! And if I only did research on what I did in my past, I'm not sure I'd be in grad school at all -- my past was just that, the PAST! And not terribly connected to where I am now-- sure, tangentially, and sure, it all builds like Legos. But it's not a direct-connect, and it's not something I will research.
So do I change my topic? Do I start over and look for new research questions? Do I try and make something out of my work for this 'new' web initiative that Metro has taken over from another college in my field? Are there real research questions there -- because all the ones that have come to my head just seem like marketing issues for this web thing. Do I ditch the topic revolving around history merely because I was never a historian, or a history teacher? Does that really mean I can't possibly understand the importance of new media and new resources in teaching this subject? Or in the power of inquiry-based learning, constructing new learner-centered knowledge from the powerful primary sources we have available? Do I put that all aside because I wasn't an elementary or secondary ed teacher, or a school librarian, or anything else that interacts with kids and education on a daily basis?
Where is the role of passion? of interest? of seeing a research gap? of wanting to fill that gap? of wanting to bring a new voice to the research? of wanting to represent the teacher, the student, the user of history? Is there no place for any of those roles in the research path they think I should tread? I understand their concern, I understand their caution. Really, I do. I want to believe in my heart that they said what they have because they care, because they want me to succeed.
But I'm left shaken, and uncertain. Standing on wobbly knees. Seeking answers from a computer screen, sending furtive emails, awaiting some gentle reassurance... which may not come.
I thought I saw a light at the end of the tunnel...
...
...
... but it turns out it was a damn train.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Cool diss related links
Ahhh, it's nice to have such helpful friends.
Since we're so close and talk about our research, what we're working on, directions exploring, headaches, etc it always seems like we're sending each other tidbits and info and links that might help.
Got a few lately I wanted to put in one place here to remember lately... hopefully. Many thanks to Mambo for several of these.
From a group of teachers in Rhode Island working on integrating digital and archival primary source materials into the history curriculum [aha! soooo topical!], here's something called the Tirocchi Dressmaker's Project. Nice curriculum guide, intro on 'constructing history', links to educational standards and more. A good example of showing how to use digitized historical materials, rather than just throwing them out there on the web. "Here's some photos, here's a diary, oh look, here's a newspaper front page". NO... that's not gonna work folks. Demonstrate how to use the materials effectively. Sheesh...
[I'm joking a bit there... teachers work very hard to integrate what they find into the curriculum and don't just show items to kids and say 'here, learn'. But too often the people putting the materials online don't help the teachers out any. Let's work together here people!]
IMLS Digital Cultural Heritage Community Project -- digitization of materials from Illinois for integration into social science curriculum. IMLS support made wide collaboration possible and they built materials to support stated standards. Article and research are not new, from 2001 in First Monday -- but still very worth reading, and looking for other work that might cite this project, or similar ones. Here's a link to part of the project.
An article whose reference I found buried in my email folder-- apparently a link I mailed myself months ago from a search done in a database (why I didn't print it, or save it to my computer I have no f--n idea!! aargh!).
"Using technology to teach historical understanding" Robert P Stephens, Jane L Lehr, Daniel B Thorp, E Thomas Ewing, David Hicks. Social Education. Arlington:Apr 2005. Vol. 69, Iss. 3, p. 151-154 ; mentions the 'Digital History Reader'
History, Digitized (and Abridged) -- a recent article from the NY Times. Talks about how some museums, archives and libraries aren't/can't/won't move to more of their items to the digital realm and wondering whether these important items and artifacts are being left behind in a way-- that parts of our cultural history are very vulnerable. This is especially true as more and more people prefer to do all their information seeking through electronic means-- ignoring anything non-digital (even if it might be the best resource to answer a particular need).
This is part of the more widely written about issue of the perception that 'everything is online', or 'if it's worth knowing it must be available online'. Ummm, no...sorry, just not true. Not now, maybe not ever. Sure there are fantastic efforts underway in many disciplines to make information available electronically, and to help users transform that data and information into real knowledge-- but not even Google's vaunted efforts (among many) can not, and will not, make it "all" available online.
Based on some other research I'm doing right now, things I'm reading, I may be writing more aboutarchives, digital libraries, history, digital preservation and this potential loss of our historical, cultural and intellectual output. The NY Times article is a nice summary piece-- some good stats here too.
Since we're so close and talk about our research, what we're working on, directions exploring, headaches, etc it always seems like we're sending each other tidbits and info and links that might help.
Got a few lately I wanted to put in one place here to remember lately... hopefully. Many thanks to Mambo for several of these.
From a group of teachers in Rhode Island working on integrating digital and archival primary source materials into the history curriculum [aha! soooo topical!], here's something called the Tirocchi Dressmaker's Project. Nice curriculum guide, intro on 'constructing history', links to educational standards and more. A good example of showing how to use digitized historical materials, rather than just throwing them out there on the web. "Here's some photos, here's a diary, oh look, here's a newspaper front page". NO... that's not gonna work folks. Demonstrate how to use the materials effectively. Sheesh...
[I'm joking a bit there... teachers work very hard to integrate what they find into the curriculum and don't just show items to kids and say 'here, learn'. But too often the people putting the materials online don't help the teachers out any. Let's work together here people!]
IMLS Digital Cultural Heritage Community Project -- digitization of materials from Illinois for integration into social science curriculum. IMLS support made wide collaboration possible and they built materials to support stated standards. Article and research are not new, from 2001 in First Monday -- but still very worth reading, and looking for other work that might cite this project, or similar ones. Here's a link to part of the project.
An article whose reference I found buried in my email folder-- apparently a link I mailed myself months ago from a search done in a database (why I didn't print it, or save it to my computer I have no f--n idea!! aargh!).
"Using technology to teach historical understanding" Robert P Stephens, Jane L Lehr, Daniel B Thorp, E Thomas Ewing, David Hicks. Social Education. Arlington:Apr 2005. Vol. 69, Iss. 3, p. 151-154 ; mentions the 'Digital History Reader'
History, Digitized (and Abridged) -- a recent article from the NY Times. Talks about how some museums, archives and libraries aren't/can't/won't move to more of their items to the digital realm and wondering whether these important items and artifacts are being left behind in a way-- that parts of our cultural history are very vulnerable. This is especially true as more and more people prefer to do all their information seeking through electronic means-- ignoring anything non-digital (even if it might be the best resource to answer a particular need).
This is part of the more widely written about issue of the perception that 'everything is online', or 'if it's worth knowing it must be available online'. Ummm, no...sorry, just not true. Not now, maybe not ever. Sure there are fantastic efforts underway in many disciplines to make information available electronically, and to help users transform that data and information into real knowledge-- but not even Google's vaunted efforts (among many) can not, and will not, make it "all" available online.
Based on some other research I'm doing right now, things I'm reading, I may be writing more aboutarchives, digital libraries, history, digital preservation and this potential loss of our historical, cultural and intellectual output. The NY Times article is a nice summary piece-- some good stats here too.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Tech news, media and hints of censorship-- a short round-up
Wired News: Adobe Tackles Photo Forgeries
Fascinating stuff!! Great tech explanations here and about why this is so important now, gives a few examples of recent episodes of questionable photos. And while we're on the subject of photos, here's a link to recent news that Microsoft is aiming to take on JPEG as the photo file standard. Is there any area Microsoft doesn't want to own??!! H/T to Slashdot for this one.
While I'm not necessarily a big fan of the SI 'swimsuit issue', I am a huge fan of fairness, equality and saying no to censorhip in all its forms. With that said, here's a link to a story that SI is refusing to send its biggest selling issue to libraries that hold subscriptions. Not cool. Here's more commentary on that from the library community.
"In an unannounced policy change that already has librarians fuming, Sports Illustrated (SI) decided this year to withhold copies of its risque annual swimsuit issue from classrooms and libraries."
For anyone out there who thinks that the whole digital book, or Google scanning project (or ones similar) thing are in any way a sexy, techie endeavour... I've got news for you...it's not. It's lonely, probably boring, definitely dark, and not very intellectual or high-skill. Perhaps necessary, but not thrilling in any way. Check out the links from the great folks at Resource Shelf in the Comments section. Gary Price is a guru of the highest order.
"A suite of photo-authentication tools under development by Adobe Systems could make it possible to match a digital photo to the camera that shot it, and to detect some improper manipulation of images ... But the advent of Photoshop and its variety of tools has made it easier for photographers to tinker with images after they're captured. By the same token, the internet has allowed skeptical bloggers around the world to analyze photos in depth, and expose chicanery. ... hopes to develop a plug-in that will detect if a photo has been changed at all since it was taken."
Fascinating stuff!! Great tech explanations here and about why this is so important now, gives a few examples of recent episodes of questionable photos. And while we're on the subject of photos, here's a link to recent news that Microsoft is aiming to take on JPEG as the photo file standard. Is there any area Microsoft doesn't want to own??!! H/T to Slashdot for this one.
"Microsoft Corp. will soon submit to an international standards organization a new photo format that offers higher-quality images with better compression, the company said today.The format, HD Photo -- recently renamed from Windows Media Photo -- is taking aim at the JPEG format, a 15-year-old technology widely used in digital cameras and image applications."
While I'm not necessarily a big fan of the SI 'swimsuit issue', I am a huge fan of fairness, equality and saying no to censorhip in all its forms. With that said, here's a link to a story that SI is refusing to send its biggest selling issue to libraries that hold subscriptions. Not cool. Here's more commentary on that from the library community.
"In an unannounced policy change that already has librarians fuming, Sports Illustrated (SI) decided this year to withhold copies of its risque annual swimsuit issue from classrooms and libraries."
For anyone out there who thinks that the whole digital book, or Google scanning project (or ones similar) thing are in any way a sexy, techie endeavour... I've got news for you...it's not. It's lonely, probably boring, definitely dark, and not very intellectual or high-skill. Perhaps necessary, but not thrilling in any way. Check out the links from the great folks at Resource Shelf in the Comments section. Gary Price is a guru of the highest order.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Time flies...
"...when you're having fun", or so the quote goes.
I'm not sure that's at all apt here. Since when is grad school "fun"??!!
But time sure flies anyway. One minute it's a Friday, I'm having a good chat with Blue about a research project and I swear the next minute it's nearly two weeks later and I haven't gotten done half of what I wanted to, or planned to, on that research project or half of my other crap. Damn. I've been so busy I haven't gotten anything done.
And now by the time I get around to actually posting this 'post' an entire month will have elapsed since I had this particualr angst, and yet it all still rings so true! I'm further along in the project with Blue, but we're not quite where we wanted to be, and are having some techie issues trying to share data collection and make sure we both know what the other is doing.
In the meantime though I don't know whether I'm coming or going. I have no idea where this term has gone. I have not a clue how I will get finsihed all that still needs to be done, and yet I've been super productive through most of the winter. So much so that at times I seem like I never get any sleep, or have time to sit and think about reserch or projects, or hell, just to breathe!
It seems like every deadline I could possibly have, for what seems like the whole damn year, all hit in the same 3 week or so period. Conferences, workshops, doc student consortia, internal paper deadlines, annual reviews, personal stuff-- you name it, it's all been due the past month. And naturally that's also when my immune system gave up and of course I wound up with the flu. Not the 24-48 hour kind like all my friends and relatives.... oh nooooo... I get the strain that lingers for a week, leaves you feeling like you got run over by a Mack truck and then lets crap linger in your head and chest for weeks. Oh joy.
So there, that's why my pathetic self hasn't been blogging in forever. Yes, the outlet would've been good for me, get some of the stress out. Gawd knows there's been enough of that lately. So maybe better late than never.
I'm not sure that's at all apt here. Since when is grad school "fun"??!!
But time sure flies anyway. One minute it's a Friday, I'm having a good chat with Blue about a research project and I swear the next minute it's nearly two weeks later and I haven't gotten done half of what I wanted to, or planned to, on that research project or half of my other crap. Damn. I've been so busy I haven't gotten anything done.
And now by the time I get around to actually posting this 'post' an entire month will have elapsed since I had this particualr angst, and yet it all still rings so true! I'm further along in the project with Blue, but we're not quite where we wanted to be, and are having some techie issues trying to share data collection and make sure we both know what the other is doing.
In the meantime though I don't know whether I'm coming or going. I have no idea where this term has gone. I have not a clue how I will get finsihed all that still needs to be done, and yet I've been super productive through most of the winter. So much so that at times I seem like I never get any sleep, or have time to sit and think about reserch or projects, or hell, just to breathe!
It seems like every deadline I could possibly have, for what seems like the whole damn year, all hit in the same 3 week or so period. Conferences, workshops, doc student consortia, internal paper deadlines, annual reviews, personal stuff-- you name it, it's all been due the past month. And naturally that's also when my immune system gave up and of course I wound up with the flu. Not the 24-48 hour kind like all my friends and relatives.... oh nooooo... I get the strain that lingers for a week, leaves you feeling like you got run over by a Mack truck and then lets crap linger in your head and chest for weeks. Oh joy.
So there, that's why my pathetic self hasn't been blogging in forever. Yes, the outlet would've been good for me, get some of the stress out. Gawd knows there's been enough of that lately. So maybe better late than never.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Slashdot | Meetings Make You Dumber
Slashdot: Meetings Make You Dumber
Check out this link on Slashdot to a study reported on MSNBC where researchers have confirmed what many have long thought-- large group meetings are a waste of time and instead of great new ideas, you get "group think".
Well, now this makes my past life make a bit more sense. And explains why so much of the advertising on U.S. TV is crap-- it's dreamt up first be ad types stuck in a room together, then by focus groups of consumers stuck in a room together, and then vetted by more people stuck in a room together.
On a slightly more serious note, for all of us doing qualitative research out there in academe, this is indeed one of the downsides of focus group based research and something to be aware of. Not a reason not to talk with subjects in groups, just need to be aware of all potential pitfalls and know your way around them.
Check out this link on Slashdot to a study reported on MSNBC where researchers have confirmed what many have long thought-- large group meetings are a waste of time and instead of great new ideas, you get "group think".
Well, now this makes my past life make a bit more sense. And explains why so much of the advertising on U.S. TV is crap-- it's dreamt up first be ad types stuck in a room together, then by focus groups of consumers stuck in a room together, and then vetted by more people stuck in a room together.
On a slightly more serious note, for all of us doing qualitative research out there in academe, this is indeed one of the downsides of focus group based research and something to be aware of. Not a reason not to talk with subjects in groups, just need to be aware of all potential pitfalls and know your way around them.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Ohhhh, you know you want it!!
This is a link to one of the most brilliant, dead-on, scathing, and hilarious pieces I've seen written about anything lately. That it's about how we need to stop being tech-whores basically, and stop buying all the latest whizbang gadgets that ultimately suck.
Here, see for your self with this dagger-esque excerpt--
I can feel a bit righteous in posting this since I'm not part of the uber-geekdom he's skwering so badly. Oh my research may be in digital media, and I may be studying with some of those supposed high priests of nerdom, but believe me I'm not drinking the Kool-aid. Never have. Hell, I've usually been among the most cautious adopters of new anything. I always seem to catch on to a trend when it's already gone way mainstream.... or past that. People, my own damn family included, used to joke that if I caught on a trend, or picked up on something, it was because it was already "out". I'd show some interest in the latest fad or clothing trend and my own mother would say something along the lines of, "oh, that's been popular for some time now. I wondered if you'd ever pick up on that....or finally want that". Gee, thanks everyone!
So go ahead, read, laugh, find your self or your friends in this post and the linked article.
And then perhaps do what he says so that we can get some truly good, really user-oriented design out there. Money talks.
Here, see for your self with this dagger-esque excerpt--
"And you guys just ate it up. Kept buying shitty phones and broken media devices green and dripping with DRM. You broke the site, clogging up the pipe like retarded salmon, to read the latest announcements of the most trivial jerk-off products, completely ignoring the stories about technology actually making a difference to real human beings, because you wanted a new chromed robot turd to put in your pocket to impress your friends and make you forget for just a few minutes, blood coursing as you tremblingly cut through the blister pack, that your life is utterly void of any lasting purpose."
I can feel a bit righteous in posting this since I'm not part of the uber-geekdom he's skwering so badly. Oh my research may be in digital media, and I may be studying with some of those supposed high priests of nerdom, but believe me I'm not drinking the Kool-aid. Never have. Hell, I've usually been among the most cautious adopters of new anything. I always seem to catch on to a trend when it's already gone way mainstream.... or past that. People, my own damn family included, used to joke that if I caught on a trend, or picked up on something, it was because it was already "out". I'd show some interest in the latest fad or clothing trend and my own mother would say something along the lines of, "oh, that's been popular for some time now. I wondered if you'd ever pick up on that....or finally want that". Gee, thanks everyone!
So go ahead, read, laugh, find your self or your friends in this post and the linked article.
And then perhaps do what he says so that we can get some truly good, really user-oriented design out there. Money talks.
Friday, January 26, 2007
You get a gold star!
I've actually gotten some good work done the past 24-36 hours and am feeling both surprised and a bit righteous.
Ok...that righteous feeling will go away REALLY quickly, especially if I bother to look that the to-do list of projects I should be working on, submissions I should have ready or going, articles to read, conferences to think about, dissertation proposal pieces to work on, etc etc, ad nauseum.
Well...that about did it right there. Wonderful... I'm my own personal joy-kill, or kill-joy.
..sigh...
I WAS feeling good because of seeing some progress on projects and my work. I'm not going to get into details here since I'm a paranoid idiot...but let's just leave it at 'digital library related' and 'teens and web or digital library related'. Gawd, could I be more vague??!!
The second of those 'mentioned' projects is one I'm doing outside of my work at Metro U, on an area of interest and something a bit tangential to my Diss work. But I'm doing it because it's interesting, will give me something publishable while the Big D work is in progress and winding through the Hell of IRB. [THAT is another topic for another blog post... or a whole bunch of 'em sometime!] And perhaps most importantly, I'm doing it because I get to work with Blue on it. Any chance to reconnect and keep things going with my former advisor, and always mentor, is a big plus in my book. So the project will fly on under the radar.
How long it flies under the radar may be limited as I need to make some progress reports to the Powers that Be soon...and because I kind of want access to some data that's now housed at Metro and connected to my 'work' project.
Ok...I admit. That made sense only to my addled little brain, and even then I'm not 100% sure of that. This may be one of those great posts that made sense to me at the time I wrote it, and if I read it again in 3 months I'll go "huh??" particularly becuase of my cryptic nature. I may fool even myself...
Ok...that righteous feeling will go away REALLY quickly, especially if I bother to look that the to-do list of projects I should be working on, submissions I should have ready or going, articles to read, conferences to think about, dissertation proposal pieces to work on, etc etc, ad nauseum.
Well...that about did it right there. Wonderful... I'm my own personal joy-kill, or kill-joy.
..sigh...
I WAS feeling good because of seeing some progress on projects and my work. I'm not going to get into details here since I'm a paranoid idiot...but let's just leave it at 'digital library related' and 'teens and web or digital library related'. Gawd, could I be more vague??!!
The second of those 'mentioned' projects is one I'm doing outside of my work at Metro U, on an area of interest and something a bit tangential to my Diss work. But I'm doing it because it's interesting, will give me something publishable while the Big D work is in progress and winding through the Hell of IRB. [THAT is another topic for another blog post... or a whole bunch of 'em sometime!] And perhaps most importantly, I'm doing it because I get to work with Blue on it. Any chance to reconnect and keep things going with my former advisor, and always mentor, is a big plus in my book. So the project will fly on under the radar.
How long it flies under the radar may be limited as I need to make some progress reports to the Powers that Be soon...and because I kind of want access to some data that's now housed at Metro and connected to my 'work' project.
Ok...I admit. That made sense only to my addled little brain, and even then I'm not 100% sure of that. This may be one of those great posts that made sense to me at the time I wrote it, and if I read it again in 3 months I'll go "huh??" particularly becuase of my cryptic nature. I may fool even myself...
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Non-required Reading
Formerly known as 'Recommended Reading'.
Ok, that's stretching things a bit since I only had one other post with that title and thus that harldy constitutes a theme or a recuring element. And, especially given the subject of the first link, maybe this semi-regular posting should be called "More damn ways to procrastinate, or only fool yourself into thinking you're working."
The other alternate title should be something along the lines of "Stuff you're interested in but don't bother reading when you find it and think you're going to come back to, but hardly ever do, cause you can't remember you posted it in the first place."
All of which begs the question as to why I'm doing this in the first place?? No, not 'why am I in grad school...again... in the first place' ... that's an ongoing issue for me, my advisor and my therapist. See the last post and the discussion on "imposter syndrome". But for now...'been there, done that' on that argument. No, while that's a great ongoing discussion and frequent blogging topic (ok, practically the ONLY ongoing blog topic I have. sheesh. THAT oughta tell me something...), it is not what I meant. I was talking about why, if it's so damn hard for grad students to stay focused and keep plugging away, do so many of us find the need to post reminders to ourselves or to the Web ether, about things to read, things to distract ourselves... giant, neon-glowing-red tangents.
I don't know.
But here they are for the week. Or for the day. Whatever...
Procrastinaton Central -- semi-academic look at procrastination. Including a survey to measure your procrastination. Wow...that's taking it to a whole new abusrd level.
How to create the perfect password , a compound password.
[Link from LIS News ]
From Salon, a review of Barry Glassner book on our culture's obsession with food. The Gospel of Food
We have lots of 'foodie' related books at my house and something tells me this one will eventually make its way in. I'd lay bets on how long it takes to appear on DH's Amazon wish list...
Procrasdistractions-- amusing new word coined by The Academic Coach
Lessons for dealing with stress -- new article from Time .Including lesson 1: Remember to breathe
Damn. I always have such problems with that one. No wonder I'm not getting anything done...lying around here getting blue lips and bugged out eyes because I was so stressed out I forgot to do that elemental thing.
No, seriously, it's about meditative or focused breathing, a good thing-- and other tips to combat stress. Can always use those right? Even if we've heard 'em before.
Great post about digital libraries, teaching history, visual literacy, images in teaching. (must send this link to Mambo!!) Recommendations for additional reading here, current research and more. This is a personal must-read [all that crap up at the top about how I often forget to finish reading this stuff...well, I'm gonna have to combat it big time on this one!] From some conference called ELI...oh wait... you nincompoop, that's "Educause Learning Initiative". Geez...I'm a moron at times. Of course it has good, relevant stuff!
And finally...
Category of "Who the hell knew?!"
There is a Blog Carnival for the Info Sciences and here . Well d'uh, of course there is. I mean there's a Carnival for everything isn't there??!!
There is this cool interactive map on Frappr (ok, a web bling I was only vaguely aware of, and a 'procrasdistraction' for another day...) of 'blogging librarians'. Hmmm, not such a nerdy looking group-- no librarian stereotypes there!
And this one is just an interesting approach to using a blog to help you along in your dissertation work-- this person uses each post to talk about an article read, giving summaries, etc. I'm only guessing at how that gets used later, for the lit review or something? But an interesting thought. But not necessarily interesting reading...which opens up a whole new point of discussion for another time!
Ok, that's stretching things a bit since I only had one other post with that title and thus that harldy constitutes a theme or a recuring element. And, especially given the subject of the first link, maybe this semi-regular posting should be called "More damn ways to procrastinate, or only fool yourself into thinking you're working."
The other alternate title should be something along the lines of "Stuff you're interested in but don't bother reading when you find it and think you're going to come back to, but hardly ever do, cause you can't remember you posted it in the first place."
All of which begs the question as to why I'm doing this in the first place?? No, not 'why am I in grad school...again... in the first place' ... that's an ongoing issue for me, my advisor and my therapist. See the last post and the discussion on "imposter syndrome". But for now...'been there, done that' on that argument. No, while that's a great ongoing discussion and frequent blogging topic (ok, practically the ONLY ongoing blog topic I have. sheesh. THAT oughta tell me something...), it is not what I meant. I was talking about why, if it's so damn hard for grad students to stay focused and keep plugging away, do so many of us find the need to post reminders to ourselves or to the Web ether, about things to read, things to distract ourselves... giant, neon-glowing-red tangents.
I don't know.
But here they are for the week. Or for the day. Whatever...
Procrastinaton Central -- semi-academic look at procrastination. Including a survey to measure your procrastination. Wow...that's taking it to a whole new abusrd level.
How to create the perfect password , a compound password.
[Link from LIS News ]
From Salon, a review of Barry Glassner book on our culture's obsession with food. The Gospel of Food
"Glassner ... takes on nearly every sacred cow of contemporary food culture. High-end restaurant reviewers, eaters seeking "authentic" ethnic eateries, organic converts, local agriculture proponents, and fast food's detractors all receive a methodical interrogation of the accuracy of their claims... examines nearly every issue populating the food landscape "Gospel" shines brightest when he turns his gaze to two that are frequently absent from it: poverty and class... laundry list of inaccurate spins should not be taken as a humorless diatribe. "Gospel" is also sprinkled with a passionate eater's enthusiasm for cuisines both street and haute."
We have lots of 'foodie' related books at my house and something tells me this one will eventually make its way in. I'd lay bets on how long it takes to appear on DH's Amazon wish list...
Procrasdistractions-- amusing new word coined by The Academic Coach
"You finally sit down to write and suddenly you remember bills unpaid, dogs unfed, thank you notes unwritten, phone calls unmade, dishes dirty. And all of these tasks feel surprisingly pressing. I call these thoughts that charge into your mind, blasting away all thoughts of your task at hand, “procrasdistractions.”
Lessons for dealing with stress -- new article from Time .Including lesson 1: Remember to breathe
Damn. I always have such problems with that one. No wonder I'm not getting anything done...lying around here getting blue lips and bugged out eyes because I was so stressed out I forgot to do that elemental thing.
No, seriously, it's about meditative or focused breathing, a good thing-- and other tips to combat stress. Can always use those right? Even if we've heard 'em before.
Great post about digital libraries, teaching history, visual literacy, images in teaching. (must send this link to Mambo!!) Recommendations for additional reading here, current research and more. This is a personal must-read [all that crap up at the top about how I often forget to finish reading this stuff...well, I'm gonna have to combat it big time on this one!] From some conference called ELI...oh wait... you nincompoop, that's "Educause Learning Initiative". Geez...I'm a moron at times. Of course it has good, relevant stuff!
And finally...
Category of "Who the hell knew?!"
There is a Blog Carnival for the Info Sciences and here . Well d'uh, of course there is. I mean there's a Carnival for everything isn't there??!!
There is this cool interactive map on Frappr (ok, a web bling I was only vaguely aware of, and a 'procrasdistraction' for another day...) of 'blogging librarians'. Hmmm, not such a nerdy looking group-- no librarian stereotypes there!
And this one is just an interesting approach to using a blog to help you along in your dissertation work-- this person uses each post to talk about an article read, giving summaries, etc. I'm only guessing at how that gets used later, for the lit review or something? But an interesting thought. But not necessarily interesting reading...which opens up a whole new point of discussion for another time!
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Help from the blogosphere
Saw this post on BlogHer, which I don't often read (but very occasionally look at the education blogroll), but caught this one because of the reference to Bitch PhD. Post is about a talk given at Emory about mentoring grad students. [conference on education was going on at same time...I thought about trying to submit for this one or go to it at some point...may do so someday-- Educause. ]
I really like this part discussing something that many grad students undoubtedly feel at some time, I know I sure as hell have... "imposter syndrome".
Wow. Well, that pretty much sums up a whole lot of complaining, venting, angsting, whining and banging my head against a wall for the past 18 months...literally, figuratively and "blog-ily".
Why can't Metro U or my dept have some of these mentoring tools and tips as mentioned in the Bitch PhD talk, or one the many websites out there for helping grad students? Like this one from U of North TX for Sociology students, or this one from Inside Higher Ed [didn't I blog about this earlier???] ? this site has a long article on mentoring (in a very poorly designed website. ugh. and I have serious concerns about its credibility despite its good intentions because I have no idea who this org is... ahh, an information literacy and web credibility problem within my own little posting...great!) From a more credible site (About.com-- commercial yes, but fairly reliable and credible) there's an article as part of a series on grad studies and relationships with faculty. From the west there's this set of resources from U Washington, including a link to 'helping prepare future faculty'.
I'm not the only one out in the blogosphere looking for help, railing at their university to do more, do something more concrete and logical. Love this quote, "Signing progress reports does not a mentor make. " HA! Hello, Metro U?? Are you listening??!
This started as me wanting to link out to others in the academic blogosphere who are helping others, and to take some of that energy out there and channel it. I don't have a whole lot to offer back in terms of mentoring, but I'll work on it for later.
I really like this part discussing something that many grad students undoubtedly feel at some time, I know I sure as hell have... "imposter syndrome".
One such issue is impostor
syndrome, where, in a grad school context, you feel as if you don't
really belong where you are, that you're a fraud and everyone will eventually
find out. You're not intelligent enough, you haven't read enough, you don't work
as hard as everyone else--and when you do work
hard, you feel as if your labor gets you nowhere.
Wow. Well, that pretty much sums up a whole lot of complaining, venting, angsting, whining and banging my head against a wall for the past 18 months...literally, figuratively and "blog-ily".
Why can't Metro U or my dept have some of these mentoring tools and tips as mentioned in the Bitch PhD talk, or one the many websites out there for helping grad students? Like this one from U of North TX for Sociology students, or this one from Inside Higher Ed [didn't I blog about this earlier???] ? this site has a long article on mentoring (in a very poorly designed website. ugh. and I have serious concerns about its credibility despite its good intentions because I have no idea who this org is... ahh, an information literacy and web credibility problem within my own little posting...great!) From a more credible site (About.com-- commercial yes, but fairly reliable and credible) there's an article as part of a series on grad studies and relationships with faculty. From the west there's this set of resources from U Washington, including a link to 'helping prepare future faculty'.
I'm not the only one out in the blogosphere looking for help, railing at their university to do more, do something more concrete and logical. Love this quote, "Signing progress reports does not a mentor make. " HA! Hello, Metro U?? Are you listening??!
This started as me wanting to link out to others in the academic blogosphere who are helping others, and to take some of that energy out there and channel it. I don't have a whole lot to offer back in terms of mentoring, but I'll work on it for later.
Lesson in brevity
Tag...I'm "it". Elle tagged me with this muse to go out thou and be witty, creative and do it all in only 6 words. Well, now if that doesn't get the writing juices going, gee what will?! hmmm...
Ok, what I have so far...
Dark. Noises. Alone. Mom's home. Safe.
Tied. No time. Throw. Caught? Joy!
Glances. Whispers. Sighs. Kiss. Partners. Endure.
Questions abound. Found book. Answered safely.
No more hate. Peace is love.
Research stalled. Motivation scarce. Need chocolate!
[ or its alternate.... Need sleep! ]
Hmmm... I've even mused on this one overnight and I still don't have anything terribly witty or as good as the ones in Elle's comments.
Hmm... one more maybe....
Competitive. Crazy. Sleepless. Blocked. Typical student?
Ok, what I have so far...
Dark. Noises. Alone. Mom's home. Safe.
Tied. No time. Throw. Caught? Joy!
Glances. Whispers. Sighs. Kiss. Partners. Endure.
Questions abound. Found book. Answered safely.
No more hate. Peace is love.
Research stalled. Motivation scarce. Need chocolate!
[ or its alternate.... Need sleep! ]
Hmmm... I've even mused on this one overnight and I still don't have anything terribly witty or as good as the ones in Elle's comments.
Hmm... one more maybe....
Competitive. Crazy. Sleepless. Blocked. Typical student?
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
State of indifference | Salon.com
State of indifference Salon.com
"Bush views his State of the Union speech as another occasion for declaring what he will do regardless of what anyone thinks (with Cheney's approval). His intention is not to report on the state of the Union. It is to express his state of indifference to the Union. "
Brilliant...just brilliant. Well written, well backed-up, and just scathing enough.
No this piece has nothing whatsoever to do with my graduate studies...only in that Tuesday's numbingly painful to watch, State of Obliviousness from the Dodo in Chief will give me a very good excuse to turn off the darn TV and get some serious reading and work done!
"Bush views his State of the Union speech as another occasion for declaring what he will do regardless of what anyone thinks (with Cheney's approval). His intention is not to report on the state of the Union. It is to express his state of indifference to the Union. "
Brilliant...just brilliant. Well written, well backed-up, and just scathing enough.
No this piece has nothing whatsoever to do with my graduate studies...only in that Tuesday's numbingly painful to watch, State of Obliviousness from the Dodo in Chief will give me a very good excuse to turn off the darn TV and get some serious reading and work done!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Blog Bling
Hmmm... tongue twisters for the 21st century. Say "big blog bling" ten times fast...
Anyway... cool article from NY Times Tech section on 'blog bling', more commonly known as 'widgets' (and not to be confused with the kind of widgets that are desktop apps), and their growing popularity.
Nice quote here on the different types or categories of 'widgets' (you know me, all about the categorization!):
So I guess I'm going to go to that Widgetbox site and check out a little adornment for my humble, and plain, virtual self here. I have always wondered about that map with the red push-pin like dots I've seen on many a blog, and now thanks to this piece I know where it comes from[ Clustr Maps ]-- so maybe something 'useful' like that. Definitely not some of the more asinine ones like "ugly person of the day'" (what the hell are they thinking??! and no, on 2nd thought I am NOT going to outlink to that one!). Or maybe this thing called Sphere It (but it's more a bookmarklet, and the widget isn't available directly for Blogger. Hmmm). Nothing silly or wildly extraneous. Refined, classy. Like the quote from the last page of the Times article, somewhere "between Mr T. and Audrey Hepburn."
Anyway... cool article from NY Times Tech section on 'blog bling', more commonly known as 'widgets' (and not to be confused with the kind of widgets that are desktop apps), and their growing popularity.
Nice quote here on the different types or categories of 'widgets' (you know me, all about the categorization!):
Ed Anuff, a co-founder of Widgetbox.com, divides widgets into three categories. “One is self-expression widgets, like photo galleries, games or YouTube videos that you like,” he said. The second category includes widgets that generate revenue for a blogger, like a box that displays auctions from a particular eBay category, or a blogger’s favorite DVDs from Amazon.com. The third category, Mr. Anuff said, encompasses “site-enhancement widgets, like discussion forums, news feeds or a
guest book, which provide better utility for your Web site.”
So I guess I'm going to go to that Widgetbox site and check out a little adornment for my humble, and plain, virtual self here. I have always wondered about that map with the red push-pin like dots I've seen on many a blog, and now thanks to this piece I know where it comes from[ Clustr Maps ]-- so maybe something 'useful' like that. Definitely not some of the more asinine ones like "ugly person of the day'" (what the hell are they thinking??! and no, on 2nd thought I am NOT going to outlink to that one!). Or maybe this thing called Sphere It (but it's more a bookmarklet, and the widget isn't available directly for Blogger. Hmmm). Nothing silly or wildly extraneous. Refined, classy. Like the quote from the last page of the Times article, somewhere "between Mr T. and Audrey Hepburn."
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Recommended Reading
Yah...like academic, grad student bloggers don't already have enough in their lives to read! Sheesh. Sometimes I think the web and all its Web2.0-ness glory is just one big conspiracy to keep productivity down and keep all those little students out there from ever graduating!!
That said...I'm gonna be distracted, and distracting, anyway. Ha. So there.
H/T to Elle for the links to the new Carnival of Gradual Progress. Now there's one I can get behind.
Hmm...speaking of 'behind' that seems to be the perfect descriptor for the state of my work.
Another potentially relevant one is Carnival of Education, now in its 102nd...ummm...what do ya call it? "format", "iteration", "round" ??? For a doc student in info thingies I'm not as up on this as I perhaps should be. H/T to Education Wonks for the link.
And a great post commenting on Friedman's bestselling "World Is Flat" book (which Golden Child gave to everyone this year with admonishment to read it 'now'. Right...I'll just slip that into my bedtime reading pile, or perhaps a little light travel reading?!!) and about some recent data that may dispute a few major points of Friedman. Hmm. Things to think about.
Oooooh! 'digital media alert!' 'beware of history'
Great new digital collection project called "African American Women in Iowa" from U. of Iowa. Have to come back and explore further. Found it at Research Buzz.
And can someone please tell me how (and why) taking our shoes off, or standing on ridiculuous and malfunctioning scanners, in the name of "improved security" helps us at airports, when it's apparently this easy for a kid to sneak onto not one, but TWO, flights--without a ticket or a guardian??? Hellooooo??!! I think the TSA has it all wrong. Boneheads...
ok, that's more than enough distractions. Oops, look at the time! Darn, another evening of 'hoping to get some work done' wasted....
That said...I'm gonna be distracted, and distracting, anyway. Ha. So there.
H/T to Elle for the links to the new Carnival of Gradual Progress. Now there's one I can get behind.
Hmm...speaking of 'behind' that seems to be the perfect descriptor for the state of my work.
Another potentially relevant one is Carnival of Education, now in its 102nd...ummm...what do ya call it? "format", "iteration", "round" ??? For a doc student in info thingies I'm not as up on this as I perhaps should be. H/T to Education Wonks for the link.
And a great post commenting on Friedman's bestselling "World Is Flat" book (which Golden Child gave to everyone this year with admonishment to read it 'now'. Right...I'll just slip that into my bedtime reading pile, or perhaps a little light travel reading?!!) and about some recent data that may dispute a few major points of Friedman. Hmm. Things to think about.
Oooooh! 'digital media alert!' 'beware of history'
Great new digital collection project called "African American Women in Iowa" from U. of Iowa. Have to come back and explore further. Found it at Research Buzz.
And can someone please tell me how (and why) taking our shoes off, or standing on ridiculuous and malfunctioning scanners, in the name of "improved security" helps us at airports, when it's apparently this easy for a kid to sneak onto not one, but TWO, flights--without a ticket or a guardian??? Hellooooo??!! I think the TSA has it all wrong. Boneheads...
ok, that's more than enough distractions. Oops, look at the time! Darn, another evening of 'hoping to get some work done' wasted....
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Not nearly famous
Well holy s--t!! There are actually people out there reading the drek that spews from my mouth and my addled brain...on occasion at least.
See, after seeing one on some other nifty (dear gawd did I really just say that??) blog, I went and added a stat meter sometime near the end of the year, mostly just for kicks. And I admit that I have paid scant little attention to it. C'mon, I'm not that egotistical...and I really didn't think I was blogging for much more than an audience of 1 to 3. ;-)
Anyway, I looked at the other data it collects today for the first time and I noticed all these hits and weird link-ins and 'page froms' and wondered what on earth USA Today had to do with how or why people linked to my blog.
And then I discovered a link to something I'd posted about a short while ago, the "Unitarian Jihad Name Generator", and saw there was this 'shout-out' to my blog from the Techspace blog at USA Today. Well damn.... who knew!!??!
I am minutely scarcely famous. and apparently not alone out here afterall.
Damn...I mean "darn"...I may have to watch my language more often.
Shoot....
See, after seeing one on some other nifty (dear gawd did I really just say that??) blog, I went and added a stat meter sometime near the end of the year, mostly just for kicks. And I admit that I have paid scant little attention to it. C'mon, I'm not that egotistical...and I really didn't think I was blogging for much more than an audience of 1 to 3. ;-)
Anyway, I looked at the other data it collects today for the first time and I noticed all these hits and weird link-ins and 'page froms' and wondered what on earth USA Today had to do with how or why people linked to my blog.
And then I discovered a link to something I'd posted about a short while ago, the "Unitarian Jihad Name Generator", and saw there was this 'shout-out' to my blog from the Techspace blog at USA Today. Well damn.... who knew!!??!
I am minutely scarcely famous. and apparently not alone out here afterall.
Damn...I mean "darn"...I may have to watch my language more often.
Shoot....
Best of Technology Writing
Best of Technology Writing
-from 2006; assorted writings about tech issues that appeared in places such as Wired, Slate, New Yorker, New York Times, Salon, New Republic & Popular Science.
-free e-copy from new imprint digitalculturebooks from U. of Michigan Press [in fact I linked to the imprint in my last post...buried deep in the 5th paragraph]
-from 2006; assorted writings about tech issues that appeared in places such as Wired, Slate, New Yorker, New York Times, Salon, New Republic & Popular Science.
-free e-copy from new imprint digitalculturebooks from U. of Michigan Press [in fact I linked to the imprint in my last post...buried deep in the 5th paragraph]
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
In absentia...me
So, not only is my "cranium" in absentia lately... I've actually been "in absentia."
Yeah, I know it's only the beginning of the damn term and I've already skipped town...oh that bodes well!! I've got whatever you call 'senior-itis' but for grad studentes who are tired of sitting in classrooms and want to be on doing something else...like, oh maybe, THEIR F---N DISSERTATION work???!!!!
--big sigh, bigger eye roll, seriously melodramatic stance--
Like I believe Elle said a few weeks ago, I've just to get over my damn self now don't I?! Seriously, all I seem to do in this little piece of the blogosphere is whine. Ok, I occasionally post links to items of interest that I've read and have no hope of remembering[ooohh....like this one...how did I miss "national religious freedom day" and how do I celebrate it??!] if I don't link them somewhere, and even then my memory is suspect...but really, all the 'personal' posts seem to have this whingy, pity-me, acid dripping cynical tone. Gawd...is that all that these years of grad school have reduced me to...and me with years of hard-core Diss. work yet to go???!! Oh man...
Hell, I think the first post of this year was even something along the lines of a resolution to QUIT doing that...and I seem to have a really lousy start on that 'resolution'.
Ok...now how on earth did I get from writing about not writing (huh?!) to my whiney ass-self? I swear sometimes I need to get checked for that adult ADD or something.[oooo...pretty shiny blog things...oooo... gotta remember to read this one more, not like I need more books, but still..] Add on top of that the fact that I seem to rival a goldfish for short term memory and it's just a bundle of fun getting older folks! sigh...
Hmmm.. here's another interesting blog post about digital media and research on digi media...didn't I post about this a short while ago, or did I just imagine that I read something, linked to it, and wrote a post about it???
Alright, I think I was going to write about how I've been on the road...again...and that's why no postings for days. Not that I didn't have my laptop...I do. Not that I don't have internet...I do...wireless even. Not that I haven't been checking email and working on the computer...I have. I just have let time get away from me while I'm away on personal business. The computer time i have carved out has been mostly spent on the important, and necessary, bits of school related work that just HAD to be done on a certain time frame, and other than that, little else Net related.
And I haven't even done more of the school related stuff I should be. I had this meeting on Friday before leaving town where I kinda sorta publicly stated I was going to try to submit a proposal, based on my Diss. topic, to a doctoral student consortium at a major conference in Far Away City, this summer.
ummmmm....deadline is this coming Monday. WHAT THE F--K was I thinking??????!!!! Oh holy hell....
something tells me the plane ride home to a wintry, cold, wet, miserable home in the Burbs ain't gonna be nearly as productive as I imagined it might be. oh crud....
Yeah, I know it's only the beginning of the damn term and I've already skipped town...oh that bodes well!! I've got whatever you call 'senior-itis' but for grad studentes who are tired of sitting in classrooms and want to be on doing something else...like, oh maybe, THEIR F---N DISSERTATION work???!!!!
--big sigh, bigger eye roll, seriously melodramatic stance--
Like I believe Elle said a few weeks ago, I've just to get over my damn self now don't I?! Seriously, all I seem to do in this little piece of the blogosphere is whine. Ok, I occasionally post links to items of interest that I've read and have no hope of remembering[ooohh....like this one...how did I miss "national religious freedom day" and how do I celebrate it??!] if I don't link them somewhere, and even then my memory is suspect...but really, all the 'personal' posts seem to have this whingy, pity-me, acid dripping cynical tone. Gawd...is that all that these years of grad school have reduced me to...and me with years of hard-core Diss. work yet to go???!! Oh man...
Hell, I think the first post of this year was even something along the lines of a resolution to QUIT doing that...and I seem to have a really lousy start on that 'resolution'.
Ok...now how on earth did I get from writing about not writing (huh?!) to my whiney ass-self? I swear sometimes I need to get checked for that adult ADD or something.[oooo...pretty shiny blog things...oooo... gotta remember to read this one more, not like I need more books, but still..] Add on top of that the fact that I seem to rival a goldfish for short term memory and it's just a bundle of fun getting older folks! sigh...
Hmmm.. here's another interesting blog post about digital media and research on digi media...didn't I post about this a short while ago, or did I just imagine that I read something, linked to it, and wrote a post about it???
Alright, I think I was going to write about how I've been on the road...again...and that's why no postings for days. Not that I didn't have my laptop...I do. Not that I don't have internet...I do...wireless even. Not that I haven't been checking email and working on the computer...I have. I just have let time get away from me while I'm away on personal business. The computer time i have carved out has been mostly spent on the important, and necessary, bits of school related work that just HAD to be done on a certain time frame, and other than that, little else Net related.
And I haven't even done more of the school related stuff I should be. I had this meeting on Friday before leaving town where I kinda sorta publicly stated I was going to try to submit a proposal, based on my Diss. topic, to a doctoral student consortium at a major conference in Far Away City, this summer.
ummmmm....deadline is this coming Monday. WHAT THE F--K was I thinking??????!!!! Oh holy hell....
something tells me the plane ride home to a wintry, cold, wet, miserable home in the Burbs ain't gonna be nearly as productive as I imagined it might be. oh crud....
Friday, January 12, 2007
Rain stopped
Earlier this week I posted an overly long rant...maybe screed is a better word?!... on the latest and greatest headaches in grad school. Yes! More whining! Aren't you surprised?
No, I didn't think so...
Well, I'm happy to report that Advocate talked me down and gave me a good "there, there" and reassured me that LooseGoose is being...well... "loose". Quacking up the wrong tree...or pond...or cracker...or whatever. The upcoming Pow-Wow may not be so bad afterall, and now I know more, and am better prepared and thus feeling a bit more ready to face the world. And less like I've just been buried under the entire weight of it.
'Course, like everything else, it's all 'subject to change' and I'll review this again after said meeting. Which may not be until next week, I got a shindig to attend this weekend. And there will be copius amounts of food and alchohol involved.
and music.
and sunshine.
Hoooo--ahhh!!
No, I didn't think so...
Well, I'm happy to report that Advocate talked me down and gave me a good "there, there" and reassured me that LooseGoose is being...well... "loose". Quacking up the wrong tree...or pond...or cracker...or whatever. The upcoming Pow-Wow may not be so bad afterall, and now I know more, and am better prepared and thus feeling a bit more ready to face the world. And less like I've just been buried under the entire weight of it.
'Course, like everything else, it's all 'subject to change' and I'll review this again after said meeting. Which may not be until next week, I got a shindig to attend this weekend. And there will be copius amounts of food and alchohol involved.
and music.
and sunshine.
Hoooo--ahhh!!
Aha!!
Ok... instead of waiting and coming back to that list of digital history suggested readings I just posted, I started scanning...just to see if I've read any.
Ha! And now I can righteously feel just the ever so teeniest bit smug...because I have read some.
Ok..."some" is the operative word here. I've read at least 5 of the titles.
[Linked, Sorting Things Out, Social Life of Info, Ambient Findability among them]
But c'mon, does knowing the names of at least 10 more authors count?? And really, where are the other really big players in information retrieval, information science, user studies, to go along with all those information architects, data miners, software geeks, AI lovers and code gurus?!? Can you really talk about 'digital history' without talking more about digital libraries, repositories, digital preservation, or the more 'history' side of things? Interesting to see how so many from different perspectives are playing in the same area, in barely overlapping circles.
Ha! And now I can righteously feel just the ever so teeniest bit smug...because I have read some.
Ok..."some" is the operative word here. I've read at least 5 of the titles.
[Linked, Sorting Things Out, Social Life of Info, Ambient Findability among them]
But c'mon, does knowing the names of at least 10 more authors count?? And really, where are the other really big players in information retrieval, information science, user studies, to go along with all those information architects, data miners, software geeks, AI lovers and code gurus?!? Can you really talk about 'digital history' without talking more about digital libraries, repositories, digital preservation, or the more 'history' side of things? Interesting to see how so many from different perspectives are playing in the same area, in barely overlapping circles.
Digital History Hacks
Digital History Hacks: "for a student interested in pursuing digital history. For graduate students, a more useful exercise is to compile a reading list of a hundred or so books for a general / comprehensive examination. Obviously, there are very few books that are specifically about digital history (never mind a canon) so any list has to cover the space where the field is emerging."
Oh brilliant...simply brilliant!! No, I really do mean that. I could nearly kiss this blogger's virtual feet. A fantastic list of things to read in the area of digital history, a major issue for me, and akin to my research area. So I say "a thousand times thank you".
Of course this is all subject to change once I actually read the whole damn list, and investigate each title more thoroughly. So this could all be jumping the gun....
...or it could be a major time-saver! hee hee!
Oh the timing of this is quite auspicious too, coming right before the Big Ol' Meeting with Majesty, LooseGoose and other Powers That Be tomorrow. Now I actually kinda feel smart... 'yuck, yuck'.
Oh brilliant...simply brilliant!! No, I really do mean that. I could nearly kiss this blogger's virtual feet. A fantastic list of things to read in the area of digital history, a major issue for me, and akin to my research area. So I say "a thousand times thank you".
Of course this is all subject to change once I actually read the whole damn list, and investigate each title more thoroughly. So this could all be jumping the gun....
...or it could be a major time-saver! hee hee!
Oh the timing of this is quite auspicious too, coming right before the Big Ol' Meeting with Majesty, LooseGoose and other Powers That Be tomorrow. Now I actually kinda feel smart... 'yuck, yuck'.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
When it rains it pours
Out here in my part of the country today that applies literally as well as methaphorically.
Today was the official start of the new term and I managed to run at least 5-10 minutes behind all day it seemed. Constantly playing catch-up. Isn't that just the bitch of it?! I have no deadlines and nothing I absolutely have to do for at least two weeks, and then stuff all crashes down in one day.
Interesting candidate presentation at Metro today with someone whose research interests are right up my alley. Very personable too it seemed. But I was a few minutes late, missed my opportunity to talk further at lunch because of another commitment and missed another shot at talking because of class. I think my Metro dept. is going to wind up on the fence here, and for selfish reasons of research connections that would be disappointing.
The class thing was a bit disorganized but I think that's to be expected when you're trying to do it for the first time via video conference. I hope it settles out in the next few weeks. I may have to rework what my proposal was/is for my deliverable for this "class".
And that is connected to my biggest headache of the day. It came at the very end too, when Astro relayed some news of a meeting with LooseGoose as we walked out of our building to go home. Seems LooseGoose is backpedaling now on the whole "yes you're funded" bit that Advocate communicated to us back in November. [here is where I was going to link to a post about that, but apparently I didn't actually write about it. d'oh] We hear one thing, think we may lose our funding support because the Principal Investigator may not get the grant refunded/renewed, then we hear something and we think we do have guaranteed funding, now same-said PI (LooseGoose) is saying "no, no guarantee on $$".
Now, is this because our dept at Metro doesn't have the $$ they thought they did? is it because the dept. doesn't really want to fund us because they don't think we're 'worthy' somehow (this too is now being implied)? Is it because the dept. wants or needs the $$ to go get some more poor naive new PhD students (never mind that we have too many at pre-candidacy stage already)? is it because LooseGoose doesn't think the investigator team did such a great job on the grant renewal proposal and is gonna get shot down...or it gets shot down because 'we' didn't do 'enough' to warrant more $$ from said funding agency? or some other odd combination of money, politics, poor planning? Becuase I think it's a bit late to tell us we have to go find new funding on our own to replace our stipends, particularly when they haven't prepared us in the least to go write a grant proposal like that, and while we're moving along on our dissertation proposals, we wouldn't qualify for any of the funding that goes to those at dissertation stage of the game. DAMN their disorganization!!! I'm so pissed right now...
I know it's not like this in other schools in my discipline. I know it's not like this in all similar PhD programs...and I'm even pretty sure it's not like this in other disciplines (hassles sure, different problems, but better organization from the websites and blogs and books i've read!).
My program is just one big headache.
And it's only the first day of the bloody term!! C'mon!! Who did I piss off in academia in a former life??
...or in this one?!
Today was the official start of the new term and I managed to run at least 5-10 minutes behind all day it seemed. Constantly playing catch-up. Isn't that just the bitch of it?! I have no deadlines and nothing I absolutely have to do for at least two weeks, and then stuff all crashes down in one day.
Interesting candidate presentation at Metro today with someone whose research interests are right up my alley. Very personable too it seemed. But I was a few minutes late, missed my opportunity to talk further at lunch because of another commitment and missed another shot at talking because of class. I think my Metro dept. is going to wind up on the fence here, and for selfish reasons of research connections that would be disappointing.
The class thing was a bit disorganized but I think that's to be expected when you're trying to do it for the first time via video conference. I hope it settles out in the next few weeks. I may have to rework what my proposal was/is for my deliverable for this "class".
And that is connected to my biggest headache of the day. It came at the very end too, when Astro relayed some news of a meeting with LooseGoose as we walked out of our building to go home. Seems LooseGoose is backpedaling now on the whole "yes you're funded" bit that Advocate communicated to us back in November. [here is where I was going to link to a post about that, but apparently I didn't actually write about it. d'oh] We hear one thing, think we may lose our funding support because the Principal Investigator may not get the grant refunded/renewed, then we hear something and we think we do have guaranteed funding, now same-said PI (LooseGoose) is saying "no, no guarantee on $$".
Now, is this because our dept at Metro doesn't have the $$ they thought they did? is it because the dept. doesn't really want to fund us because they don't think we're 'worthy' somehow (this too is now being implied)? Is it because the dept. wants or needs the $$ to go get some more poor naive new PhD students (never mind that we have too many at pre-candidacy stage already)? is it because LooseGoose doesn't think the investigator team did such a great job on the grant renewal proposal and is gonna get shot down...or it gets shot down because 'we' didn't do 'enough' to warrant more $$ from said funding agency? or some other odd combination of money, politics, poor planning? Becuase I think it's a bit late to tell us we have to go find new funding on our own to replace our stipends, particularly when they haven't prepared us in the least to go write a grant proposal like that, and while we're moving along on our dissertation proposals, we wouldn't qualify for any of the funding that goes to those at dissertation stage of the game. DAMN their disorganization!!! I'm so pissed right now...
I know it's not like this in other schools in my discipline. I know it's not like this in all similar PhD programs...and I'm even pretty sure it's not like this in other disciplines (hassles sure, different problems, but better organization from the websites and blogs and books i've read!).
My program is just one big headache.
And it's only the first day of the bloody term!! C'mon!! Who did I piss off in academia in a former life??
...or in this one?!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Excuse the mess
I finally decided to switch over to the 'new' blogger after getting gawd knows how many prompts and little messages or whatever. I kept waiting for them to finish it and get the glitches out. Particularly the one where the BlogThis bookmarklet was fixed. I use that quite a bit when I'm out doing work, reading, surfing, etc and find something I want to blog, and it was a pain in the butt to not have that feature available. So I didn't switch. Until today, when I read that they fixed the BlogThis feature a few days ago.
I hope it really does work with the 'new' version!
Also there may be some mess as I fix things in the template, fix the blogroll, fix any of the other little add-ons that once were here and figure out if I need to go back to every post individually to add labels, or if I'm just going to start labeling from here on out.
Gee...couldn't I have done this at the START of break and not 36 hours before the END of break?? Sheesh...
Obviously "time management" should've been on that resolution list...
...again...
I hope it really does work with the 'new' version!
Also there may be some mess as I fix things in the template, fix the blogroll, fix any of the other little add-ons that once were here and figure out if I need to go back to every post individually to add labels, or if I'm just going to start labeling from here on out.
Gee...couldn't I have done this at the START of break and not 36 hours before the END of break?? Sheesh...
Obviously "time management" should've been on that resolution list...
...again...
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Unitarian Jihad Name Generator
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Sibling Shotgun of Reasoned Discussion.
Well...that's amusing for sure! I'm late on this meme bandwagon. But that's not out of character here at all.
Let's adjourn for coffee shall we?
[those who understand will know...and smirk along with me]
(had heard of the Unitarian Jihad parody some time ago, and forgotten it, until stumbling across this post in a librarian oriented blog on other memes)
while i'm on a meme thing...
here's one I may get to soon...not that anyone has 'tagged' me with it, b/c that would require someone other than me to read this blog and that's just being a bit presumptious now ain't it?! It's one of those "5 Things" memes. And it's a bit similar to this series of posts from a great academic blogger I've followed off and on for a year or so.
And now the end of this post is in now way shape or form related to its beginning...and that's what ya get at nearly 3am.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
New year...same headaches?
Oops...apparently it's been longer than i thought since my last reflection and post.
Come to think of it though, it about corresponds to the end of the term, and "break". That wonderful artifact of educational calendars when we can supposedly let our minds turn to mush for a few weeks either at the end of a term, or between terms, or whatever. While the winter break is by far the longest, it is by no means the most relaxing, nor do all those days get spent relaxing or recharing one's mental or physical batteries.
Oh nooooo... because winter break includes the stress-filled, angst-riddled, expectation-laden holidays! Wheeeee! But that's an area bit too private to get into out here in the blogosphere, at least it is for me at this time. So let's just leave at this: the holidays were not evil, nor were they awful, neither were they filled with peace, mirth, and goodwill to all. But hey, families are involved here, so how could they?!
New term starts soon, and so the next round of headaches will begin. Will they be the same as the term before, and the whole year before...or different? Hmmm..first indicators after email from LooseGoose are.....
.....
same old same old!! Tada!
Ambiguous expectations, amorphous directions, punitive language, controlling behavior and general cluelessness are expected in the forecast for this coming Winter and Spring. Everyone get out your umbrellas, the shit is about to rain down again. Hope you've got your boots on because it's time to go wading in the puddles of muck that are our beloved Metro U.
But really... one of my resolutions is to get off my @$$ and get more stuff done. Not because THEY want it...Not because it's on THEIR list...but because it's what I want, nay, NEED, to do. Other resolution has to do generally with not letting them get to me, not letting them dictate next steps. I know my research topic, heck I know my research questions and my likely methodology, even a range of potential research sites. So please, just let me go get it done, show me how to achieve what I want to do, what I plan to do, and let's stop playing games. Please stop making me regret ever being at Metro U for my PhD. Help me get done on my terms, with my needs, and my interests. Ok?
See now that's a new year's resolution I can stick with.
Come to think of it though, it about corresponds to the end of the term, and "break". That wonderful artifact of educational calendars when we can supposedly let our minds turn to mush for a few weeks either at the end of a term, or between terms, or whatever. While the winter break is by far the longest, it is by no means the most relaxing, nor do all those days get spent relaxing or recharing one's mental or physical batteries.
Oh nooooo... because winter break includes the stress-filled, angst-riddled, expectation-laden holidays! Wheeeee! But that's an area bit too private to get into out here in the blogosphere, at least it is for me at this time. So let's just leave at this: the holidays were not evil, nor were they awful, neither were they filled with peace, mirth, and goodwill to all. But hey, families are involved here, so how could they?!
New term starts soon, and so the next round of headaches will begin. Will they be the same as the term before, and the whole year before...or different? Hmmm..first indicators after email from LooseGoose are.....
.....
same old same old!! Tada!
Ambiguous expectations, amorphous directions, punitive language, controlling behavior and general cluelessness are expected in the forecast for this coming Winter and Spring. Everyone get out your umbrellas, the shit is about to rain down again. Hope you've got your boots on because it's time to go wading in the puddles of muck that are our beloved Metro U.
But really... one of my resolutions is to get off my @$$ and get more stuff done. Not because THEY want it...Not because it's on THEIR list...but because it's what I want, nay, NEED, to do. Other resolution has to do generally with not letting them get to me, not letting them dictate next steps. I know my research topic, heck I know my research questions and my likely methodology, even a range of potential research sites. So please, just let me go get it done, show me how to achieve what I want to do, what I plan to do, and let's stop playing games. Please stop making me regret ever being at Metro U for my PhD. Help me get done on my terms, with my needs, and my interests. Ok?
See now that's a new year's resolution I can stick with.
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