Thank God for C-Sections

Siberian woman's 12th child weighs in at 17 pounds

Yikes! I don't know if I'm more surprised by the fact that it's her 12th child or the fact that it weighed 17 pounds!

The Asterisk Will Be Memorialized

I guess I wasn't the only one underwhelmed by Barry Bonds. The guy who bought Barry Bond's homerun record-breaking ball for over $700,000 is having it branded with an asterisk and then sent to the Hall of Fame to reflect Bonds' tainted record. Too funny.

Successes

The mantra for success at research universities is publish, publish, and then publish some more. Teaching is given a token nod, but readily dismissed. ("Sure, you're a good teacher, but that won't get you tenure.") For those of you not in academia this is probably distressing given how much we pay for college educations; nonetheless, it's true. I'm bothered by this attitude because it assumes that you can only do one well and that you have to consciously choose to pursue research at the expense of teaching. I'm still clinging to my naive belief that you can do both well and that you shouldn't have to choose between them; although I'm realistic enough to know that the only thing that will really count in my tenure evaluation is research.

I have recently had a string of successful events with students that have bolstered my belief that I really shouldn't have to choose between the two. I finished my first paper co-authored with a graduate student, who I met through teaching. One of my undergraduate students won an international paper competition with a research paper that she wrote for my class. I also had the research/teaching work that I did with a freshman recognized by the university. Some will say that only the first of these accomplishments will help me get tenure, and they are right. But student successes are one of the great joys of this occupation that too many people miss because of their quest to get tenure via publications alone. Three years from now we may be laughing at my naivete if I don't get tenure, but for now I'll enjoy these successes for the sake of my students rather than my own career objectives.

Things That I Just Don't Get

I've been down on the blogosphere lately. I found myself getting really annoyed at many of the blogs that I had been reading regularly. They're typically academic blogs and I got tired of the egotistical posing. I haven't given up on them all together, but a serious purging of my Bloglines subscriptions made me feel better.

I also haven't been writing much lately because I've been preoccupied. The homefront has kept me pretty busy these last few weeks. Additionally I've been thinking about some serious professional issues that are not bloggable. I should qualify and say that I shouldn't be blogging about them in an effort to keep up the pretense that I will behave myself until I'm tenured.

So while I sort out a few things, I've decided to blog about a fairly benign topic -- things that I just don't get:

• John Mayer -- He's sooooo bland.
• Toxic personalities -- How is it that some people who appear to move in normal social circles (jobs, families, etc.) seem to have completely skipped the entire socialization process and suffer no apparent repercussions?
• O.J. Simpson -- Why do people still care?
• Facebook -- I think I'm just too old for this one.
• The Emmys -- A celebration of mediocrity.

Humpty Dumpty

has been put back together again. Ed had knee surgery yesterday and he's fine. It'll be a while before things are back to normal, but he's happy to have this part over. As for my other patient, Brittany, she has an inner ear infection that she can't seem to shake. Not only does it bother her, but she also can't hear very well now (or else she's become very good at ignoring me).

Too Funny

Flashback to the 80s

This evening I'm listening to the "All 80s Metal 24/7" internet radio station. It's pretty amusing to hear all of the songs that were popular when I was a teenager. I still like some of them, and others are so bad that they're funny. Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head" brought back some funny memories -- cruising Gratiot, partying on Belle Isle, and AquaNet. Do they still make AquaNet or has the FDA banned it now? That stuff's totally toxic.

I was inspired to tune into this station after trying to buy some fall boots this evening. Talk about 80's inspired -- pointy toes and pointy heels. No thanks! Though I won't succumb to 80s fashion, I'll continue to enjoy my musical flashback. Now they're playing the Scorpions "Rock You Like a Hurricane."

The Dog Park

We recently learned of a dog park in Albany where the pups can run around off leash with other dogs. We've never been to one before, but since Brittany is slowing down we thought it would be a good idea to let Hershey play with other dogs to burn off all of the excessive energy that she has. Yesterday was the first trip to the park and they loved it. The only problem was that there were no dogs there! We're going to try again during the week right after work. Still they had fun checking out the area.

You can see from the top picture that Brittany looks happy and healthy. She has perked up a lot during the last week or so, but she still has her slow days. So as not to be accused of favortism, here's a picture of Hershey as well. She's hard to photograph because she tends to rush toward you and the camera (and subsequently slobber all over it).

Blindsided

The college football season has just snuck up on me. I've been eagerly awaiting fall, the new school year has started, Eddie and I have been talking a lot lately about how we miss the "Big 10" environment this time of year ... and yet I forgot about football season. It didn't occur to me that the season started on Saturday until I was heading out the door and heard that Michigan was playing Appalachia State. I was tempted to turn back into the house to watch the game and then I thought "Hmmm, Appalachia State is going to get slaughtered, so I'll wait for the 'real' season to start next week." Well, I guess I should have stayed home because that was probably the game of the season. Not only was it a stunning loss, but it happened in the Big House. I think I probably would have cried if I was at the game that day.