baby hens!

we finally got baby chicks. they’re barred plymouth rocks (barred is the color. it’s looks like herringbone when they get a little older). the barred rocks lay about 200 eggs a year, are very friendly and curious, and are so pretty. we got them when they were 3 days old. the picture in andy’s hand [...]

saints championship game: a scam

who does a girl have to sleep with to get refs to give fair calls? as if new orleans hasn’t had its share of injustices, the refs in the Saints game today are clearly being bought off. 2 turnovers in the first quarter? i think not.
*update*
i’m not going to blame this on the snow/weather and [...]

google trends

can i just say how much i love google trends?
i’ve been playing with it all break. Some of my favorite bits of data?

solar panel versus wind turbine
britney spears versus iraq
vegetarian versus vegan versus mad cow

holiday gifts…

i love making holiday gifts…little ideas that i have thought of over the year get to all come together and manifest themselves in journals made from a mixture of materials i have around the house. the above journal came from an old pair of jeans and an old keyboard from an old laptop (i knew [...]

adventures in the daily commute

 i bicycle to and from school every day and i love it. it’s only about 5 miles round-trip from our house and it’s grown to be such a necessary part of my life that when it’s raining hard and i have to drive, my day is truly lacking. in the morning the ride serves as [...]

nieces and nephews…

One thing I love about our monthly trip to visit Andrew’s brother (JD) and sister-in-law (Maria) is that I get a big dose of kids. Trinity is 3, Hunter is 6, and Brian just turned 13. I love playing with them even though I’m am constantly amazed at their video game addictions (3 and 6 [...]

academic year resolutions

Though I’m a couple of weeks late joining the academic year resolutions meme, I’m following the better late than never ideology.
1. My are prelim exams are in about 20 weeks. I have been debating whether or not to a. post all my notes on all my books here, b. keep electronic notes on my computer [...]

Random Updates

So it has been a rough month to say the least–more health scares, 2 car break-ins, and just the pure chaos of back to school-ness. Andy is teaching for the first time and has been assigned quite the workload. He’s teaching 2 intro to Physics sections and 1 physics lab and is also expected to [...]

Healthcare and Graduate Students

Someone once said that revolutions only come about when people are physically impacted–physically uncomfortable–otherwise change is only talked about.
In May I started designing a university-wide graduate student survey about healthcare. At LSU (and at many (most?) universities) graduate students are offered the same healthcare plan as undergraduate students. Now, this is obviously problematic for many [...]

letter to the editor

Here’s my letter to the editor in response to the business model influence on united way:
Dear Editor,
In your July 13th article, “United Way debates changes,” co-chairman of the strategic planning committee Michael Polito is quoted as saying, “United Way has lost relevance and we must do something different.” While there is always room for innovative [...]