Lately, I've been having trouble with the captchas on blogger. That is annoying.
I've also been having trouble finding time for the paper from my PhD that I'm working on. And getting down to business when I do have time for it. Wah.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
NYR update
I'm doing exceptionally well with my new year resolution this year, which was to be a more active person.
I've been working out nearly every day! My only aim has been to just go. No other fitness goals. Even if it's 20 min of walking on the treadmill that doesn't break a sweat, it's a success. I just want to build exercise into my routine so that working out feels like something I just do at the end of the day instead of being a big deal. I've been doing weights a couple days a week, treadmill or elipitcal some days, and...wait for it...a dance class one day a week! I DID it! I've been taking ballet and it's really fun.
I've also been doing all sorts of social things. I'm extremely fortunate that I have recently landed in a group of friends who are doers. They plan all kinds of interesting things and get people to do them. I've said yes to some things I wouldn't have wanted to do in the past, and it has been quite rewarding. And I've had people over a couple of times too.
I'm not sure I can say the exercise has me feeling all that different except that I seem to have more energy for chores. I've been keeping the house WAY cleaner. A nice consequence of that is that I can have friends over on short notice without worrying if the toilet's gross.
I've been working out nearly every day! My only aim has been to just go. No other fitness goals. Even if it's 20 min of walking on the treadmill that doesn't break a sweat, it's a success. I just want to build exercise into my routine so that working out feels like something I just do at the end of the day instead of being a big deal. I've been doing weights a couple days a week, treadmill or elipitcal some days, and...wait for it...a dance class one day a week! I DID it! I've been taking ballet and it's really fun.
I've also been doing all sorts of social things. I'm extremely fortunate that I have recently landed in a group of friends who are doers. They plan all kinds of interesting things and get people to do them. I've said yes to some things I wouldn't have wanted to do in the past, and it has been quite rewarding. And I've had people over a couple of times too.
I'm not sure I can say the exercise has me feeling all that different except that I seem to have more energy for chores. I've been keeping the house WAY cleaner. A nice consequence of that is that I can have friends over on short notice without worrying if the toilet's gross.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Format, then delete
I don't want to polish text that's just going to get deleted.
That was my attitude about early drafts of papers that became my thesis. I wanted my advisors to read my work when it was relatively immature so that I could get reassurance that I was on the right track. I wanted to know the content was ok before I really got my hands dirty with the presentation.
But, as much as I wanted to do things that way, my advisors were unable to read early drafts for content without getting distracted by style. They would comment on all sorts of relatively minor things that were low on my priority list (although I'm sure they would say the problems were not minor). For example, tables with the gridlines showing, text that wasn't super well crafted. I would think, I'm not going to spend the time to format that table if you're going to tell me I should cut it. But it just couldn't work that way.
I had to learn to suck it up and make my drafts better before I handed them over for comments. My advisors sometimes wouldn't really get into the challenges of improving content if there were easier problems to fix. And they are so slow at reading my stuff that I realized I needed to make it as painless as possible for them. Further, their slowness means I want them to have to read fewer drafts, so making the first one as good as possible means less time waiting for feedback. Now I do everything I possibly can before I hand over a draft: journal-specific formatting, contact info, keywords, figures, whatever. I want them to know I'm serious about the draft so that they're serious with their feedback.
Interestingly, my postdoc advisor is great at reading early drafts. He has no problem ignoring presentation problems and commenting on the direction of a document. I'm not sure if it's because I'm so much better at the presentation now, making my drafts better and him feel like he doesn't have as much to teach me about writing, or if it's because he's not the perfectionist that my old advisor is. Probably both.
That was my attitude about early drafts of papers that became my thesis. I wanted my advisors to read my work when it was relatively immature so that I could get reassurance that I was on the right track. I wanted to know the content was ok before I really got my hands dirty with the presentation.
But, as much as I wanted to do things that way, my advisors were unable to read early drafts for content without getting distracted by style. They would comment on all sorts of relatively minor things that were low on my priority list (although I'm sure they would say the problems were not minor). For example, tables with the gridlines showing, text that wasn't super well crafted. I would think, I'm not going to spend the time to format that table if you're going to tell me I should cut it. But it just couldn't work that way.
I had to learn to suck it up and make my drafts better before I handed them over for comments. My advisors sometimes wouldn't really get into the challenges of improving content if there were easier problems to fix. And they are so slow at reading my stuff that I realized I needed to make it as painless as possible for them. Further, their slowness means I want them to have to read fewer drafts, so making the first one as good as possible means less time waiting for feedback. Now I do everything I possibly can before I hand over a draft: journal-specific formatting, contact info, keywords, figures, whatever. I want them to know I'm serious about the draft so that they're serious with their feedback.
Interestingly, my postdoc advisor is great at reading early drafts. He has no problem ignoring presentation problems and commenting on the direction of a document. I'm not sure if it's because I'm so much better at the presentation now, making my drafts better and him feel like he doesn't have as much to teach me about writing, or if it's because he's not the perfectionist that my old advisor is. Probably both.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Girls in the office
Lately there has been a problem with the shared printer in my area. Lots of people use it, including some non-research, technical support type of folks who are all men and relatively new to our building. Yesterday, I saw one of them in the printer room, where we had the following conversation.
Dude: Should I go tell the girls in the office about this problem or have you already done that?
Me: No. You should tell [Man]. Do you know [Man]?
Dude: No.
Me: He looks like [description of Man].
Dude: Oh yes! I know who you mean. Where is his office?
Me: His office is [description of where Man works]. And they're women, not girls.
Dude: Thanks. Wait: what?
Me: The people who work in the office are women, not girls.
Dude: Oh. Oh! Should I go report myself to HR now?
Me: No. Just don't call them girls. [More description of the printer situation]
Dude: Thanks! I'll go find Man.
Me: Good luck!
I know some people think this is dumb, but it drives me absolutely fucking crazy when people call adult women girls. The women he was referring to are administrative assistants in their mid 40s to mid 50s. They are SO not girls. I think it's ok to call women girls when it's in the context of "girls' night out" or maybe dating, but not in a situation like this.
I was proud that I said something about it in the moment, but did not make it a big deal. I ignored his defensive joke, and continued the main conversation with no hostility. I wish I could do that sort of thing more often.
The worst part is that it crossed my mind to offer to take care of the problem myself, i.e., go email Man to report the problem. But why? Producing science by means of published papers is the mission of my institute. I was going back to my office to work on a paper. This man's job is in support of that mission in a kind of indirect way (i.e. although his work is important, he does not do research, write grants, or in any way produce new science). Why should I consider his time more valuable than mine? Honestly, this gender role shit is hard to shake.
Dude: Should I go tell the girls in the office about this problem or have you already done that?
Me: No. You should tell [Man]. Do you know [Man]?
Dude: No.
Me: He looks like [description of Man].
Dude: Oh yes! I know who you mean. Where is his office?
Me: His office is [description of where Man works]. And they're women, not girls.
Dude: Thanks. Wait: what?
Me: The people who work in the office are women, not girls.
Dude: Oh. Oh! Should I go report myself to HR now?
Me: No. Just don't call them girls. [More description of the printer situation]
Dude: Thanks! I'll go find Man.
Me: Good luck!
I know some people think this is dumb, but it drives me absolutely fucking crazy when people call adult women girls. The women he was referring to are administrative assistants in their mid 40s to mid 50s. They are SO not girls. I think it's ok to call women girls when it's in the context of "girls' night out" or maybe dating, but not in a situation like this.
I was proud that I said something about it in the moment, but did not make it a big deal. I ignored his defensive joke, and continued the main conversation with no hostility. I wish I could do that sort of thing more often.
The worst part is that it crossed my mind to offer to take care of the problem myself, i.e., go email Man to report the problem. But why? Producing science by means of published papers is the mission of my institute. I was going back to my office to work on a paper. This man's job is in support of that mission in a kind of indirect way (i.e. although his work is important, he does not do research, write grants, or in any way produce new science). Why should I consider his time more valuable than mine? Honestly, this gender role shit is hard to shake.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Off to a good start
I went to the gym today. I had a good workout with a good stretch at the end.
I have tentative plans with a new-ish friend on Saturday.
Not failing yet, yo.
I have tentative plans with a new-ish friend on Saturday.
Not failing yet, yo.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Stretch
My new year's resolution is to stretch. Literally and figuratively. I need to become a more active person.
On the literal side, I don't think I get enough physical activity regularly enough. I'm starting to feel like I'm aging, with my body getting stiff and crampy more often than I'd like. So I think I should make a point to stretch more, and that stretching should come with being more physically active.
In the figurative sense, I want to stretch out of my comfort zone. I have many interests and there are lots of things I'd like to do, but I pursue very few of them because I don't want to try new things on my own and I have trouble recruiting friends to do things with me. If I'm honest, that's mostly because I'm a little afraid to ask. So I'm going to make an effort to be more proactive and also more independent, and take charge of my evenings and weekends. I'll have to be more focused and proactive at work in order to allow myself to leave early enough to have evenings in which to do things. I'll have to make plans in advance for weekends so that I have accountability to get me out of the house. I'll have to put myself out there and invite people to do things with me. Also, I think I will finally, finally sign up for a dance class.
This mindset will also be helpful at work, as I expect to finally have data from my postdoc. It will be a kind of data that I've never worked with before, so I'll have to stretch my mind to conduct the analyses and interpret the results. It will be cool.
On the literal side, I don't think I get enough physical activity regularly enough. I'm starting to feel like I'm aging, with my body getting stiff and crampy more often than I'd like. So I think I should make a point to stretch more, and that stretching should come with being more physically active.
In the figurative sense, I want to stretch out of my comfort zone. I have many interests and there are lots of things I'd like to do, but I pursue very few of them because I don't want to try new things on my own and I have trouble recruiting friends to do things with me. If I'm honest, that's mostly because I'm a little afraid to ask. So I'm going to make an effort to be more proactive and also more independent, and take charge of my evenings and weekends. I'll have to be more focused and proactive at work in order to allow myself to leave early enough to have evenings in which to do things. I'll have to make plans in advance for weekends so that I have accountability to get me out of the house. I'll have to put myself out there and invite people to do things with me. Also, I think I will finally, finally sign up for a dance class.
This mindset will also be helpful at work, as I expect to finally have data from my postdoc. It will be a kind of data that I've never worked with before, so I'll have to stretch my mind to conduct the analyses and interpret the results. It will be cool.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The psychology of being stuck
All week I floundered on a paper. It's one from my PhD that was really in pretty good shape in my thesis. I just had to extend the data analysis I did for the thesis, edit the text based on the new statistical results, and then do some other editing to include literature that has been published in the last two years (TWO YEARS since I defended! Reallly?!?!?!). Relatively straightforward, right? And that's good because the publishing plans of other groups is motivating me to get this thing out now.
I couldn't figure out how to do the analysis. I knew what I wanted to do conceptually, but I couldn't figure out how to execute it. The papers I found were like, way beyond my level. I found some helpful advice in some stats forums, but it wasn't specific enough to my problem. Finally on Thursday I talked with my old advisor, told her what I had figured out and where I was stuck, and we came up with a plan to move forward that puts the ball in her court for now.
The interesting thing is that once we figured out what to do, it became clear what else I could do on this paper that doesn't involve the stats results. All week I had been feeling like I couldn't do anything else until I had these stats nailed down. That's partly true because the outcome will have a big impact on how we tell the story. But, there are some sections that don't hinge on that outcome. I was just so caught up in my imposter syndrome that I couldn't see all the things I could do. Why do I (repeatedly) let this happen?
I couldn't figure out how to do the analysis. I knew what I wanted to do conceptually, but I couldn't figure out how to execute it. The papers I found were like, way beyond my level. I found some helpful advice in some stats forums, but it wasn't specific enough to my problem. Finally on Thursday I talked with my old advisor, told her what I had figured out and where I was stuck, and we came up with a plan to move forward that puts the ball in her court for now.
The interesting thing is that once we figured out what to do, it became clear what else I could do on this paper that doesn't involve the stats results. All week I had been feeling like I couldn't do anything else until I had these stats nailed down. That's partly true because the outcome will have a big impact on how we tell the story. But, there are some sections that don't hinge on that outcome. I was just so caught up in my imposter syndrome that I couldn't see all the things I could do. Why do I (repeatedly) let this happen?
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