Understanding Russia through metaphor

Posted by on . No comments.

From Nikolai Leskov’s short story The White Eagle:

… all my thoughts seemed to revolve around Ivan Petrovich, that gay living man who had popped out of the ground so suddenly, just like a mushroom in a field after a shower: it is very small, but you can see it from anywhere; everybody looks at it and admires it: “What a lovely, firm mushroom!”

Marriage and language skills

Posted by on . 2 comments.

From Nikolai Leskov’s short story The Left-handed Craftsman:

… Platov found it a bit hard to say what he wanted to say in French, because, to tell the truth, Platov wasn’t much interested in French and, being a married man, he thought all French talk silly and hardly worth while.

While you’re waiting for the bus

Posted by on . No comments.

You can work for UPS if you’ve got a bad back, but not if you’re pregnant.

Voter suppression scares the bejeezus out of me. Only rich white folks deserve to vote?

I think overcast days are actually rather nice.

My biggest obstacle to getting a job outside of academia is that most jobs are utter bullshit, even less useful than my PhD, and not nearly as interesting.

There is a whole blog about Lake Baikal with lots about its super awesome photosynthesizers. It is my new favorite thing in the world.

The culture of academic science could be improved; it’s ridiculous that we feel guilty for dinner with our loved ones and adequate sleep.

Some species and their associated ecosystems will disappear no matter what we do.

Nina Paley (of Sita Sings the Blues) summaries the history of Palestine.

 

Back in my day, people worked for a living

Posted by on . No comments.

Randy Shore advocates for a shorter work week so we can get our hands dirty in the garden. Sounds like a lovely idea, right? Unfortunately, he prefaced those thoughts with this:

I grew up in a world where every adult worked five days a week and I know that isn’t the case so much today. People work at home, work on contract or, if they are young enough, work only when they feel like it. [emphasis added]

Ah yes, I’m sure the 16.6 % unemployment rate for young people would be so much lower if we worked even when we didn’t “feel like it.”

I’m not a special snowflake

Posted by on . 3 comments.

When I started graduate school, I knew I didn’t want to do the tenure track professor thing. To be successful, I’d have to work harder than I think I can physically work and harder than I know I want to work [Seriously, it’s really hard to even get your foot in the door]. But I really, really, really love doing research. So I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can do what I love and also afford pretty shoes (or at least student loan payments). Unfortunately for me, I’ll be competing with a ton of other people who can do the sorts of things I can do who also love research. And they probably work harder than me. It’s enough to keep me up at night.

As part of my routine what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-do-when-I-graduate panic, I read about non-academic career options for scientists and what happens to science PhDs after they disappear from academia. A recent paper in PLOS ONE about what people with science PhDs want to do (and are encouraged to do) included this figure.

Scientists like research and telling people how cool the world is, not selling shit. (Sauermann & Roach 2012)

Basically, it says that people who get science PhDs like research and teaching, but we hate turning our beautiful ideas into simplified, commercialized crap and selling it. Also we think paperwork is awful. I can handle a little more management/admin than average, but otherwise I’m pretty much like all the other science PhDs, which means I’m going to have an awful hard time finding a job anywhere near my interests. Eeek.

A lot of scientific societies and universities are trying to do more to help new PhDs find jobs outside of academia, but a lot of times their efforts really fall flat.