Today, I gave this speech to one of my favorite communities: engineering educators and engineering education researchers. I had two minutes to give an overview of my 2011 paper that won a best paper award. It read like one of my blog entries so I figured it should go here ( Read more... )

I've had many opportunities in my life. My parents worked very hard to give many of these to me. But many of them were also triggered by attending public schools, supported not just by local taxes but also by money distributed by the federal government. I've been working in a federal agency this year and I've been closer to the issues of broken ( Read more... )

Being in Brazil always makes me want to write. I am more sensual in Brazil. I notice the tastes, I notice the breezes, I notice the flowers and the bugs, I notice the sounds. I slept badly last night because I didn't set an alarm clock. I kept checking to see if it was 5:45 yet, even though I really wanted to sleep through puja. At 5:42, I got ( Read more... )

Moving as slow as molasses is not in my psyche. It's not embedded in my body. My cello teacher never let me play The Swan, even though I loved it. I think a few more days of hot mugginess in DC might beat some sense of still into me. I move too quickly for this space and it is uncomfortable. Once I get where I am going, I have to sit and let ( Read more... )

I'm up late because I had a lovely nap this afternoon. I'm sunburnt, definitely on my shoulders and possibly on my head, something that has never happened before but the itchiness and no-hat while planting yesterday leads me to believe sunburn is likely ( Read more... )

I just paid my membership for the year so figured I should post something. My life has been reduced to reacting to deadlines. I have a goal of being able to act with forethought and after reflection. It may need to be a longterm goal ( Read more... )

So, colleges and universities within my system are required to send me letters informing me of jobs I may be qualified for within the system. They are usually wildly inappropriate for my background and skills. Today I received two notices. One was for theatre (yes, spelled that way) adjunct faculty. The other was for associate vice president ( Read more... )

I'd like to connect but I don't want to write. I'd like to just sit near the people I love. And not have to talk. I'm still thinking about my deep attachment to words and sometimes, I just let go of them. And sometimes, I'm so full of words and typing and writing that my massage therapist scolds me when she gets to my arms.

But hello.

I just found out that you can get this little display that plugs into your car's computer and see pretty much all of the data that your car creates. I totally want one. But! My experience is that I am learning to drive with a lot more visual information right now and I'm not sure getting a cute little ScanGauge would be a good idea. I've driven ( Read more... )

Monday: I bought a new car. I now own a 2007 Civic Hybrid that I can't yet make have good gas mileage. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Or I need to stop obsessing over the electronic estimate and calculate mileage based on filling up the gas tank and doing simple math ( Read more... )