more unrelated wee chunks of content
*
GHANA! Awesome.
* I look forward to using
Amazon Grocery. I was a huge fan of Webvan, back in the day, but since its demise I've not taken advantage of the various grocery delivery services attached to stores nearby because the fruits/veggies/meats at Safeway/Albertson's aren't nearly as good as Whole Foods (duh). Webvan had very high quality foodstuffs, so I really could get all my shopping done through them. Sigh. Anyway, Amazon Grocery will be good for bulk purchases of dry goods and what not, I'm sure.
* Scott McLemee's
IHE column about Wikipedia is interesting and the comments aren't as horrid as usual. From a technology point of view, I'm a fan of the wiki concept and of Wikipedia. I contribute when I see things that should be fixed (typos, grammar, etc) but then the quasi-academic side of me kicks in and I stop short of really working on an entry. Why? Because I'm conditioned not to publish crap (blog posts notwithstanding!) and in order not to publish crap one must put in time, effort, and research, and if one is to do that then why is one not working on one's thesis/conference paper/article? Hmmmm? HMMMMM???? If I look at editing Wikipedia entries as rewards (contribute to the greater good! w00t!) rather than Things to Do, then perhaps I could happily sit down one day and fix up some entries and add others.
* Mel has a post that includes
a random bullet of crap about "Asparation," aka the most stupid name for a vegetable I've ever heard. It contains no asparagus (it's a cross between broccoli and kale) and already has a perfectly lovely name (broccolini), so wtf? In a recent poll of four people, I got the following responses: 3 "that's dumb" and 1 "what's kale?" Good job, PR people. Go back to "broccolini."
* I might have to buy this
microbe-shaped liquid soap dispenser.
* Had dinner last night with the mentor prof family, and I still adore them. Plus? Good food. Things I've learned: mentor prof #1 will direct my thesis, and when I told them the school I was targeting for PhD work (I've finally made my list, which is essentially the same school I've wanted to go to from the beginning plus four others close by/fit my style) and asked for an honest opinion if I had a chance, they indicated there was nothing about me or my work that would preclude me from going there. In other words, I'm not applying over my head at all. So, I feel good about that. I'd really, really like to go there, and like I said, it's the school I've been aiming for since I began at SJSU. The school? The northern-most
UC campus. I've liked the town for a number of years, and there are so many people in the department with whom I'd like to study that it makes me a little verklempt. But, like a good little grad student, I'm applying to four other schools.
* I finished my draft syllabus, and stuck it in mentor prof #1's box (he's the bossman of the TAs)...a month early. I didn't want to obsess over it all summer so I just took a crack at it and I'll see what he has to say when he meets up with us in July. Actually, I know what he has to say, a little bit: "Got your syllabus. I think that's some kind of record for being done!" Since he already knows I'm some sort of overachieving freak, we later discussed classroom logistics...because I said I hoped the room assignments hold because I have a good one (yes, I already went to look at it) in the Business building, with tables that can be moved around. Did I mention I'm stoked about this? I fully expect the bubble to burst after day 2 (the diagnostic in-class essay) but leave me to my glee for now. :)
* US-Italy is on soon...must go make a drink or something. I hope the US shows some fire in the belly, or
something.
