Let's Make Some Science!

You may have already seen this, but MIT is conducting a survey of bloggers. Go to http://blogsurvey.media.mit.edu/request to check it out. Jeff, I read a survey once that said the majority of bloggers are men, but you wouldn’t know it by the crowd we run with (Darlene, Tink, Revs Wife, Stacey, etc.). Let’s do the survey to beef up the male representation.

Every spring when classes end in May, I look at the long summer ahead and think of all the neat things I want to do with the time: write an online course, figure out ways to do things better in reaching students, dream up cool things to get us recognized by our national organization. Heck, maybe I’ll even clean my office. So what have I accomplished so far this summer? You got it—my office is looking great!

I am on the committee planning our big deal regional conference for the Midwest Association of Colleges and Employers (Midwest ACE), and one of the things I had to do was put together a budget for the Publicity Committee, since I am the chair. I can’t stand budgets. Never could. You would be amazed at how many things I found to do instead of working on the budget. I finally got it together on Friday afternoon and emailed it off to whoever wanted it. I did it a week early I hated it so much.

What else has happened so far this summer? I’ve read 24 books and have numbers 25 and 26 going right now. I think I’m a little behind my usual pace due to this 95 pound lump of dogflesh laying at my feet.

I used to get up in the morning and have half an hour or so to myself to read. Now that time is taken up by walking the dog.

I used to eat dinner and then plop myself into a chair outside and read until it was too dark to see. Now I’ve got dog maintenance to attend to. Walking a mile takes some time, then when we get back, he’s all “Are you gonna brush me now? Are ya? Huh? The brush is right in there—right on that shelf. See it? Are ya gonna get it now and brush me, huh? Well are ya? Huh?” There was an old cartoon where the dog would get a treat and he would float up in the air as if he were in heaven and drift back down to earth sighing contentedly. That’s Kodiak when you brush him. He could stand there till it got dark getting his fur all primped and smoothed.

This is seriously cutting into my reading time.

(And blogging time—don’t forget blogging time.)

(Now my daughter will read this, but don’t be thinking we don’t love him. We do.)

Hey--I really nice thing happened to me in the blogosphere. Someone I didn't even know listed my humble space in her "Clickworthy" list. Check her out.