The Blog

 Marking...

Locate the plane of the galaxy. What features can you see along it?

"Along the plane of the galaxy, there is a pancake of stellar objects surrounding us and we are a raisin embedding along it so all we see around us is pancake."

Someone save me.

Labels: astronomy, marking, pancakes, uni

 Still alive...

Chocolate-covered crystallised ginger is the nommiest thing I've encountered this week, and I can't believe Ian gave me a giant block of it because it was his birthday yesterday. He should turn 70 more often.

ETA, because I'm too lazy for a new blog post: I may have just turned down my one shot at moving out of home and gaining a measure of independence and self-worth before the PhD is done because I'm too much of a wimp to try. I can't decide if I'm relieved or want to cry myself to sleep.

Labels: death by chocolate, send me love, thesis ftl, uni

 Well, have at it...

I've quite stupidly decided that I want to apply for jobs. I want to be one of the underpaid, unappreciated, unloved. That is, a postdoc. My first application deadline is this Sunday, and I haven't yet got myself a statement of research interests, which is apparently a Big Deal.

But after most of a week of suffering, I present to you my CV. All feedback and job offers are gladly appreciated.

Labels: astronomy, dangerous things, jobs, middle class mediocrity, uni

 I can't see the screen anymore...

Well, it's Friday and so I'd better update on progress. I think the introduction of the paper is closer to being properly first-drafted now, though I haven't really gotten the overarching narrative together yet because I can't quite find the story I want to tell. But there are words talking about the book the story resides in which has to count for something. As you might be able to tell it's time to move away and let it percolate in my brain for a bit and figure out what needs to go in the other sections.

Labels: InaDWriMo, thesis ftw, uni, writing

Hmm...

Realised this evening that I've been in Cambridge three weeks and only visited two of the 31 colleges so far (well, three I suppose, but I wasn't staying on the main campus of Girton). Now I'm feeling slack.

(And to be fair, I've cut across St John's a few times on my way into town when feeling brave enough to face the porters, but again, I haven't really explored.)

Fortunately, tomorrow night the conference I'm skipping my vacation for is hosting a welcome reception in the Master's Lodge at Trinity. Not that I'm excited and gloating or anything.

Labels: cambridge, exploring, holiday, trip09, uni

Well oops...

I probably shouldn't be spending my first hour back at work planning my next vacation.

Labels: holiday, losing sleep, uni

The story of my life...

Yesterday: "Catherine, Dr. D is totally impressed with your marking, you're leaving really helpful feedback for the students and we're impressed by your turnaround rate. Yay you!"

Today: "Umm, Catherine, one of the students is complaining that you didn't add the marks up right. Can you come fix it?" (Sure enough, I'd written 36/50 when I meant 46/50. I suck.)

Labels: I am Joe the Plumber, marking, physics, uni

The stats from MacFest '08 day 1...

A short breakdown on the people with stalls:

• Christian groups (primarily prosperity-preaching evangelicals): 40%
• Nationality-based groups: 30% (There are some overlaps, such as the Chinese Catholic Students Association, but these stats were never going to be terribly precise)
• Other religious groups: 2% (I think I saw the jewish students group somewhere)
• Charitable groups (eg. Amnesty, Cancer Council, Macquarie students who want to help the starving children in Africa (yeah, they didn't have an acronym)): 10%
• Clubs based on choice of major (eg. economics students association): 10%
• Actual clubs for hobbies or social activities (eg. role-playing society, dramac): 8%

I feel old and unwelcome. Even the clubs I used to have membership of don't seem to be there anymore. Now if only our corporate overlords had shown up, there might have been some free food to scab. But I'm assured they'll be there tomorrow, so there may yet be ramen for Catherine.

Labels: get off my lawn, I want to go home now, uni

   Not mine...

Labels: how do I get home now?, public transport, uni

   Feed me...

So after all those years of not being able to buy lunch at uni because I was poor (I'd just bring a packed lunch or go hungry if I forgot), I finally have enough cash to be able to buy lunch whenever I want and I discover a terrible truth: all the food on campus is terrible greasy gross gunk.

I'm terribly disappointed, and I'd rather go hungry.

Labels: fat-Cat, mmm food, uni

   Dear L...

Stop sending out group emails that make it seem like I am completely incompetent. I mean it.

Yes, we're missing 2.5 abstracts. I am well aware of that, given that I formatted the website / book so that those abstracts were just headings, and not proper outlines of their talks/poster. I even talked with the boss and we decided not to include the .5 of one person's abstract that we did have, preferring to leave hers out and include it in a page of errata after the fact, rather than have an unprofessional half-abstract in the book.

And yes, I have repeatedly chased those people up. By sending out your own chasing emails, you make me look completely incompetent in front of people from outside the university.

And yes, I am more capable than you to proofread this book. Just because you used to proofread joe's astronomy newsletter does not mean you have a better grasp of the English language than I. All it does is make you look like a bragging bitch.

Fuck you,
Me.

PS. "Monday lunchbox" is the most dumb name for a lunchtime meeting ever. I hope A smacks you down for it.

Labels: conferences, hating myself, stupid people, unhappiness, uni, wasting my life

   No, I'm not really here...

But I got to thinking too hard about things, and then I got confused. So I thought I'd take my query to the few readers of my blog.

Is the phrase "stellar astronomy" redundant?

I thought it was, but then I found that it had its own (albeit a stub) wikipedia page. I mean, I get what they're getting at, that astronomy has branched out and everyone needs a category these days, but still... It confuzzled me when I started thinking about the words themselves.

Labels: astronomy, don't ask about the commas, uni, wasting my life, yes I am dumb

   Snippets of an Update...

• Got enough HWWS conference registrations (and enough speakers not attending the dinner and pizza nights) that we can afford to give everyone gingerbread in their conference bags. Bags are still cheap ones, but they now will contain mq-branded mugs, books and pens, and star-shaped gingerbread, along with some tacky 'health bars' that we're getting for free. Yay team budget!
• The PhD is suffering because of the stupid conferences. Fortunately, I think that after today I'll be back on top of things (currently coding up the schedules and the like, which is horrible).
• I have knitted about ten rows since the last time I posted the scarf, which meant that I was in no rush to take photos this week (the fact that I've only had one night off this week may have also had something to do with it). I might do something about it tonight, but I might just go home and sleep.
• Heidi and Tony got to move in to their new house on Wednesday night. It's great, perfectly suited to them (no lawn to mow, just enough of a garden that it won't take Heidi forever to manage it and huge lounge rooms for having lots of people over to watch movies). Their furniture will follow tomorrow (hooray for moving days!), the internet will arrive in 2 weeks and then it really will be their house, full of their stuff. I'm so jealous.
• On the subject of jealousy, Manda (*Star) has gotten engaged to her boy, and it looks like they're going to live happily ever after. Congratulations you guys.
• I got an email wednesday about a film producer seeking a 'physics consultant' for a new screenplay they're working on. I replied yesterday morning, but haven't heard back yet. I hope I do.
• And blogger's autosave feature let's me know when my html is broken. I approve. (There's nothing quite like having to wait until it finishes uploading to see that you screwed up and now your blog is broken.)

Labels: blogger, conferences, feeling lucky, happily ever after, Heidi, knitting, never going to graduate, nice people are nice, phd, uni

   *sniggers*...

If all you have in your "music" collection is porn, don't share your music on iTunes.
Especially not under your real name.
Especially not if you name is rare enough that googling it takes me directly to your profile on a social networking site with photos.
And most especially not if after finding those photos I'll be able to recognise you down in the foyer of E6A.

Labels: names omitted to protect the guilty, stupid people, the internet is for porn, uni

   An Actual Conversation...

Q: So, when's the website going to go live?
Me: Probably early next week.
Q: Excellent, excellent. You are getting paid for this, right?
Me: Not a cent.
Q: Good, because this is meant to be volunteer work.

*sweetdrops*
I get that a lot.

Labels: conferences, still poor, uni, wasting my life, web stuff