all i want to do is watch parks and recreation on hulu and be lazy. forever.

no dissertations. ever.

wisp

I have knitted this little wisp three times now. Two gifts and one for myself which was lost nearly as soon as I finished it. That is the third (two self-knitted) scarf lost by me in something ridiculous like a week. I can not stand myself. I am broken up about it. I wish I could promise myself to never lose a scarf again, but that is pretty unrealistic. But I better be incredibly more careful.

Anyhow, each time I was working on this in some public place it got compliments, and the gift receivers claim to like them, I liked mine for the day I had it. Looks kind of complicated but super dooper simple. So I will share the pattern (found via ravelry). Here you have: Wisp.

MegaNYC

Im on my way home, on the megabus, after just over 7 hours hoofing it all over Manhattan. Even with sensible shoes my feet and hips are Tired. After confirming one interview, then losing that one to sickness, I managed to wrangle another meeting. So today I figured out how to find my way to the Two UN Plaza building (in the rain) and had a very nice chat (got to use my voice recorder toy - hope it worked well!) with someone who was able to give me lots of insight tid bits and some contacts too. It has begun! Talking face to face really is better than over the phone.

I also bough z. a little Unicef doctor toy from the Unicef store with a white coat that says "UNICEF" on it, so she can have a white coat like her daddy. And I lost my scarf. But I also finished knitting a scarf on the way here - dearest Sophie's birthday present (several days late and it hasn't even left for London yet...sorry!). And after that whole shabang I caught an hour in MOMA before it closed. I sat on a comfortable bench, pulled my feet up and stared at Monet's lillys. I am not so in love with Monet prints. But I was in love with the real deal. LoVe. The three panel piece in particular. Could look into that forever. There were of course many other fantastics. The one above was a particular favorite on this trip.

This megabus has worked out pretty well. costs less than gas and tolls (and especially parking) would cost and wifi to boot. of course significantly cheaper than amtrak. im sure ill be doing this again. next time I am finding places to eat before I get there. I sure did a lot of random walking trying to decide where to pull up a chair.

Interview Blues

I just bought a digital voice recorder. 60 annoying bucks. But I suppose necessary. That is, if I actually manage to arrange any interviews for the disastertation. So far I am having a really annoying time with people who respond to my request in a positive hopes-raising way asking me to send some dates for next week, then I promptly send potential times and ... lalala...wait for a response...that never comes.
This has happened only two times. But two annoying times from the only contacts I have made so far. DangitAll! So I sit poised, ready to jump on a bus to NYC and waiting by my computer for an email. I actually did get one confirmation - late wednesday night I got an email saying We will see you Thursday. Did he mean the next morning? Did he mean next week? I wrote back and left a voice message and have not heard back. Now I may have missed my chance because I didn't travel to NYC the next morning just in case. Some amount of warning is useful when you have bus tickets to buy and a baby to consider. Arrgh people! I know I am at the very very bottom of your priority list, but please just communicate with me!!!

*update...I have a confirmation!

Recycling dirty diapers!

This is the BEST! A recycling plant for dirty diapers. It will be powered by converting the organic parts (you know, poo) in the diapers to energy and the inorganic bits (the remaining 98%) will be post-consumer pulp and plastic. That is so fabulous. Have you ever thought of the bazillion dirty diapers in the landfill? Its the kind of thing that drives me bonkers to consider. That is a big part of why we use primarily cloth (not the only reason). But a lot of day cares and the like won't use cloth and 'sposies are not always avoidable. If we can work on improving the sustainability of how they are made and then recycling them, thats just awesome.

In other news: For the first time ever I planted garlic in the fall! I finally did it! For no good reason I have never managed to get it done in the past. So yesterday, a gorgeous day, z. and I pulled up the tomatoes, dug up the dirt, mixed in some compost, and stuck the little bulbs in the dirt. Yay! (note to self: they are just east of the broccoli)

an independent coffee shop in towson, really? really!

For those unfamiliar with baltimore, Towson Maryland is on top of Baltimore. In theory it should be a university town, with towson university and all. But when I think university town I think independent coffee shops full of students and books and brooding. Instead Towson has starbucks and a fancy pants mall with a "luxery wing" (literally.) So Towson in my book is remarkably less cool than any other part of baltimore, basically all neighborhoods of which are really full of wonderful independent shops. When I need to exit my office to get work done (i do try to stay where there is nothing to spend money on and no cookies to tempt me but sometimes that just wont do) and i need a coffee shop I always head back to the lauraville spots. but on mondays red canoe is closed. and i come to my point: today I found a coffee shop in towson! apparently it has been here a whole year. Its cute. good soup. friendly barrista lady. books. art. outdoor seating. so far so good.

now to that work i came to do...

oh, its called the french press

Evidence, Science, Rationality, Please!

Oh this riles me up. Science and rationality people!

The conversation should at least be civil. evidence based. Evidence!

Thank you Amy Wallace for the article and dealing with the vitriol that came after.

But how is it that so many people believe in a vast vaccination conspiracy? How could all scientists with children be lying to the public - what is the motive, greed? How can this be a sufficient explanation for the oppressiveness such a comprehensive lie would require? Is not a belief in science and evidence more satisfactory?
We have universally eradicated disease (smallpox) and nearly got there with Polio, but for pockets of vaccination resistance. Deadly disease has seemed so far from our safe protected lives in this usofa that people have no fear. But disease is a daily threat in much, most of the world. So would be, and will be, the case if we refuse science. I get angry because of the threat outbreaks cause for all of us. I am anxious to vaccinate my daughter for H1N1, as she has had the seasonal flu shot, which has a long track record of safety and effectiveness. But the issue is so much bigger than this flu epidemic.
I heard an interview with Ms. Wallace and she said that one sort of response she recieved that she had not considered and that was welcome (as opposed to the many decries of Whore! Murderer!) were those from individuals with Autism who said - I do not believe vaccination caused my autism, and I am tired of people equating autism with death, or treating it as a worst case scenario (worse than life threatening infectious disease). seriously.

a snippet from the article:
"Looking back over human history, rationality has been the anomaly. Being rational takes work, education, and a sober determination to avoid making hasty inferences, even when they appear to make perfect sense. Much like infectious diseases themselves — beaten back by decades of effort to vaccinate the populace — the irrational lingers just below the surface, waiting for us to let down our guard."