Nerdy Thrills...

Today I decided to finally pay for the NY Times "Times Select" option so I could return to reading the op-eds of my favorite columnists. It used to be discounted for faculty members, and I figured it was worth the price. Low and behold, it is now FREE for students and faculty - lucky me! I have finally returned to reading the news daily - it's a habit I broke during my busy interview period in the spring. Being out of the country made me want to get back to reading the news even more - since I don't have NPR on my radio.

Speaking of the radio - I have become sick of the local station. This happens to me every time. I move somewhere and turn on what sounds like a fun station while I settle in. Within a few days I get absolutely sick of it. The same songs over and over, and the ridiculous things said by the people on air. I will have to start listening to the web broadcasts of NPR. I also remembered I have several CD's on my laptop, so I can listen to them as well. I am now listening to Satie in my office.

I remembered a funny thing today - in the first lecture I sat in last week, a bird flew in the lecture hall - the students were quite amused by that. Today's lecture was a lot better than last week - on a Monday I guess the students are a bit more serious. They seemed to be engaged and enjoying the majority of it. One of the projects I'm working on is helping them make productive lecture notes. I took my own notes today, and the difference between mine and what I saw on the pages around me is phenomenal. My host spent the first 15-20 mins on some demonstrations, and many people wrote nothing down the whole time. Then when he was discussing graphing, many people copied the graphs without ever stating on their papers what they represented, what the actual problem was that they corresponded to. It will be interesting to see what we can measure from this study, but I think in the least it is worthwhile to help them with this.

I'm off to get lunch. I had to sit in front of my heater for a bit before venturing outside. My feet and fingers needed to thaw out. I should have worn thicker socks today - the weather is deceiving. It will get worse again tomorrow, but that is ok, as long as it clears up by the weekend. During the week I simply have to get more work done.

Yesterday my dorm became more interesting. There is a Brazilian guy that introduced himself to me - he looks like he's just arrived from years on a deserted island. Then we have at least two new young looking fellows, who unfortunately don't believe in cleaning up after themselves. Today was the first day since arriving that I couldn't wait for the cleaning people to show up. The common kitchen was a mess. I have learned to be good again, cleaning up my dishes immediately since so many of us must share the sink. I will be glad for my dishwasher in Oregon :)

I am nearly done with Slaughterhouse 5 already - it is an interesting and quick read. I found a terrific mention of Newton's 3rd law in there last night. I typed it up and would like to use it with my students. It states that when Billy coughed, something simultaneously came out his back end, due to the 3rd law of equal and opposite reactions. I am shortening it here, and making it less grossly explicit. I think the students will enjoy that!

Ahh... time for lunch. It's amazing how quickly time passes!