Radiolab

I haven't known what to blog about, so I figured I would blog about my latest obsession.

A student saw me on campus today; my sunglasses on, my headphones in. I guess I walked right by, ignoring their attempts to say hi, because I couldn't hear them. In class, I was asked what I was listening to so attentively that the world passes me by without my knowledge. My response: podcasts.

For the past year or two, when I've happened to be in my car on Saturdays between 1 and 2 pm, I would hear bits of this odd show, Radiolab. The editing is crazy, and I assumed it was given that name, because of the editing - like experimenting with radio.

On our trip to Arizona, we decided to listen to a bunch of podcasts - Fresh Air, Car Talk, This American Life, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, and Radiolab. I have to admit, the trip got me hooked on Radiolab.

I've heard stories of a woman who is two people in one (she has two different sets on DNA, organ by organ), a guy who always hears music in his head, a guy who had a fly come to life by living off the flesh in his skull, that children may not grow while under extreme stress, and the gross mis-diagnosis of SIDS in the early 1900s.

Radiolab is, in the hosts' words, a science show that takes you back to 3rd grade, when science was more fun than it would ever be again (for most people).

So I ride the bus, go to the gym, walk through campus, walk to the grocery store, listening to my new obsession; until the next one comes along.

MBA-free

I left for work today, at about 10:30 am, thinking to myself, that I would not be back until 8 pm. It's going to take some time to adjust to my afternoon/evening teaching schedule, and I'm still working out the kinks as far as when I'm going to eat; I get migraines when I don't eat, but I never really feel hungry, so I can go long periods of time, not realizing I haven't eaten, until the migraines come.

Anyhow, at the end of the day, at 7:16 pm, I was sitting in my office, updating my facebook status and wondering when my transcript would show what grades I got in my MBA classes that ended in October (why does it take 3 months for grades to show on an unofficial transcript? Isn't everything computerized these days?). So, I'm sitting there, and I feel no stress and no real tiredness; I'd been teaching for 4 1/2 hours straight, went to pilates, and was getting ready to get home. I didn't feel the least bit anxious, as I often do on weekday evenings, worried that there was some work that needed to be done, that wasn't.

Then it hit me. It's 7:16 pm on a weekday, and I'm in my office, updating my facebook status. I'm not sitting in a 4-hour MBA class, I'm not reading a book for an MBA class, I'm not doing MBA homework, working on an MBA group presentation/paper, not looking at the syllabus of an MBA instructor, wondering what their class will be like. I'm not even looking for a place where I can get a cheap MBA textbook (preferably an international edition). I'm not doing any of these things. I'm updating my facebook status.

In fact, the only MBA concern I have at the moment is, why can't they put the freaking grades on the transcripts, because I need to turn them in as part of my sabbatical requirement.

Even though I was done with the MBA in October, for some reason, at 7:16 pm today, I felt completely MBA-free.

Into 2009

The Arizona trip was wrapping up (you can see pictures here), and we knew we wanted to do something for New Year's Eve, since we were in the LA area, but didn't really know what. We had tossed around the idea of going to the Santa Monica area, but hadn't looked into anything. Ellen (my aunt) told us of a party she was going to, so we decided on that, because whenever we toss around an idea (as we did with Santa Monica), it usually ends up with us walking around aimlessly, and realizing we should have planned better.

We were to meet up with Don and Ellen on the evening on the 31st, at their place, then head to the party. Ellen wasn't feeling well, we tossed around more ideas, and ended up going to the Hollywood and Highland area of Hollywood, where we walked around, ate at Mel's Diner, felt really cold, and didn't understand why some women felt the need to dress so scantily in 45-degree weather.

It was cold, so we decided to head back early. We thought it might hit midnight on the subway back to our car (it did not), while Lauren was in 7-11 buying water (it did not), while we bought gas (it did not). For the record, I thought we would make it back to our hotel before midnight (we did not).

We were on Van Nuys Boulevard when midnight hit. I pulled into a closed gas station, kissed my beautiful wife, attempted to honk the horn (being that it was a rental, it took me a little while), and headed back to our hotel, where we promptly took our computers to the lobby (the only place that got a wireless signal) and checked our email.

We drove back to Mountain View on the 1st day of 2009.

2009 is going to be an odd year, in the numerical sense and otherwise. Lauren is on the market this year (I love the phrase 'on the market'), so I'm not sure where I'll be on the 1st day of 2010. It's that same kind of feeling, though I don't remember feeling it, in your last year of high school or college, where you don't know where you'll be come next fall. The difference is, I have less of a say in this case. We go where Lauren feels is the best fit for her, and of course, there is the possibility that she doesn't get a job (I hope that doesn't happen), in which case we'll be where we are now, next year.

When I bring up the thought of us moving, people often seem surprised, especially when I don't seem to see what the big deal is. 'Why can't she get a job around here?' is the most common question. The answer I often give: She's in a narrow discipline that has about 10 openings around the world every year. People have a hard time wrapping their heads around that; in any given year, there are more openings for presidents of a country than for tenure-track, sociolinguist, positions.

So, who knows where I'll be on the 1st day of 2010? Probably visiting family, or driving to/from visiting family, but where I'll be on the 11th day of 2010 remains a mystery.