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Starting 2016 with a bit of levity. I got the best pizza cutter ever! From ThinkGeek http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/dea2/ I saw the new Star Wars movie, twice actually — once for real, once with children climbing all over me. I really enjoyed it. Which brings us to Costco’s new nicknames for Han Solo and Chewbacca! I sometimes draw…

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 160,000 times in 2015. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 7 days for that many people to see…

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Leaning Out, Grey’s Anatomy Style Grey’s Anatomy is a long-running ABC drama about surgeons. The main character is Meredith Grey, hence the title, which is also a twist on the medical school anatomy “Bible”, Gray’s Anatomy. We have followed Meredith since she was an intern in season 1, all through residency and the past few…

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MOWM 5: Your Poor, Poor Man The other day I saw “The Five-Year Engagement“. I thought it was really funny and I enjoyed it. But, a few days later, I actually caught myself thinking about some aspects of the movie (not something I usually do with comedies) and I realized that the movie was full…

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Some posts that didn’t make the second-to-last cut for the collection I am working on. Tales of Author A$$holishness I review a lot of manuscripts. I think it’s an important service to the scientific community, and I feel that I don’t have the right to expect prompt and thoughtful reviews unless I am willing to provide them myself.…

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Some posts that didn’t make the second-to-last cut for the collection I am working on. Book review: “Lean In,” by Sheryl Sandberg I have read the much discussed book “Lean In,” by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and I can say it is clear that the vast majority of people bashing her have not, in fact, read the book.…

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Some posts that didn’t make the second-to-last cut for the collection I am working on. Academic Service, Take Eleventy I have been thinking recently about what we, as professors, owe to the department and the university where we work in terms of service. We all have to do service, and doing very little is extremely uncollegial. With teaching,…

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So here I am, watching Dinosaur Train with my 4-year-old. He’s sitting with me, or, more precisely, on as well as around me, in a big armchair. He keeps moving around and poking me with his elbow, as he repositions and props himself up. I learn about new dinosaur species. Scott the Paleontologist — who reminds me…

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