Tam has had the surgery for her chronic neck problem and is home from the hospital. I spoke with her very briefly last night (briefly because having doctors go through your neck to reach your spinal cord makes talking difficult the next day) but she seemed to be doing fine, although her first night after the surgery was pretty awful. Of course, I cannot vouch that she was actually awake during this conversation, but according to her boyfriend Ed who answered the phone, she was up and cooking spaghetti when I called, so either she was awake or has become even more impressive at functioning in her sleep. In any event, she is pretty clearly still alive and has not lost her well-known preference for pasta, so that is very good news.
Now we wait to find out whether the surgery has had the desired effect. In the meantime, Tam is going to be sporting a very fashionable neck brace, reducing her movement to almost nothing, and periodically a "bone growth stimulator" that does not sound too frightening.
Good luck, Tam.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Sensory Perception of Identical Foods
As most everyone has heard by now, researchers recently found that children who were presented with foods in packaging labeled with McDonald's logos often reported that those foods tasted superior to identical foods in plain wrappers. Hence, McDonald's is exploiting children with insidious branding, taking advantage of the fact that kids are unable to distinguish advertising claims from fact, and generally being an evil, profit-mongering corporation.
I have some methodological issues with this research - such as, is it really appropriate to cue your subjects by opening the experiment by asking them (I don't recall the verbatim wording from the article) "Do you know which of this food is from McDonald's?" and saying "Yes, that is correct" to the ones who point to the Golden Arches wrapper and "This one is" (pointing out the one in the McD's wrapper) to the kids who don't. The researchers made an express effort to make the McDonald's food salient (stand out such that this fact is highly accessible in memory and likely to be considered in the evaluative task) to the subjects and by implication, suggested that the food not in the McDonald's wrapper was not from McDonald's, thus increasing the likelihood that the kids would perceive taste differences that did not exist.
But even to the degree that the findings are valid, what is the big revelation here? Research conducted over the last many decades has consistently found that people are very poor at food discrimination tasks (including wine experts who cannot tell the difference between a red wine and a white wine served at room temperature) and that sensory perception of food is strongly influenced by non-physiological factors, with brand labeling being only one of many.
Yesterday, I read about a 1975 branding experiment in which regular beer drinkers who watched TV ads for obviously fake beer brands and then tasted the four beers labeled with the fake brands from the commercials (but which were all the same product) reported "strong preferences for the brand portrayed as satisfying their individual motivations for alcohol consumption." Further, "all the subjects believed the brands were different and that they could tell the difference between them. Most felt that at least one of the four brands was not fit for human consumption." So even under controlled laboratory conditions, using fake brands with which the subjects had no previous experience (unlike the McDonald's study), people were easily influenced to find taste differences where none objectively existed.
Although this other research is not receiving the press of the McDonald's experiment, recent articles the false inclusion of "soy" on an ingredient list, the use of color as a visual clue in evaluations of orange juice, and the labeling of wine as Californian or North Dakotan, to name just a few, have all been investigating this area. I would love to see a study on taste perceptions of fruit and vegetables presented as organic vs. conventionally grown.
This is an interesting and complex field of study and it appears that there is still much to understand - e.g. the degree to which these perceived (or at least reported) differences in various scenarios are the result of biased perceptual processing, impression management or self-esteem concerns, or cognitive or associatively learned emotional responses.
As for the crazy popularity of McDonald's among children, I read somewhere recently that the primary reason kids like to go there is that their parent is less stressed out and generally more pleasant and affectionate when they are eating at McDonald's than when eating at home. (I cannot vouch for the validity of this claim, since I have forgotten the source and could be demonstrating the sleeper effect here.) If it is true that parents are in better moods and meal-time is nicer when eating at McD's than eating at home, there is little surprise that kids would have a positive emotional response to McD's food that would strengthen brand preference driven by marketing.
I thought this commentary from the article was amusing:
And although the parents hold the keys to the car that goes to the fast-food restaurant, they're not entirely to blame.
"Parents don't choose for their children to be exposed to this type of marketing," he said. "Parents have a very difficult job. It may seem easier to give in to their child's plea to go to McDonald's than to give in to the many other hundreds of requests they get during a day."
So are kids also buying the televisions that they are watching?
Another report on the research states: "Study author Dr. Tom Robinson said the kids' perception of taste was 'physically altered by the branding.' " I'm not quite sure what he means by "physically altered" but this is not at all the way I would describe the effect that occurs. I would save "physically altered" to situations like disabling the sense of smell in rats and studying the effects on taste of food. Even an effect in the perception of taste would not necessarily be physical. Perhaps more than anything else, that statement suggests to me that these clowns don't know what they're talking about. (Ugh, now it's happening to me: all this talk of McDonald's leads to questionable word choice of "clowns." Is anyone safe from the wicked, degrading influence of McD's?)
I have some methodological issues with this research - such as, is it really appropriate to cue your subjects by opening the experiment by asking them (I don't recall the verbatim wording from the article) "Do you know which of this food is from McDonald's?" and saying "Yes, that is correct" to the ones who point to the Golden Arches wrapper and "This one is" (pointing out the one in the McD's wrapper) to the kids who don't. The researchers made an express effort to make the McDonald's food salient (stand out such that this fact is highly accessible in memory and likely to be considered in the evaluative task) to the subjects and by implication, suggested that the food not in the McDonald's wrapper was not from McDonald's, thus increasing the likelihood that the kids would perceive taste differences that did not exist.
But even to the degree that the findings are valid, what is the big revelation here? Research conducted over the last many decades has consistently found that people are very poor at food discrimination tasks (including wine experts who cannot tell the difference between a red wine and a white wine served at room temperature) and that sensory perception of food is strongly influenced by non-physiological factors, with brand labeling being only one of many.
Yesterday, I read about a 1975 branding experiment in which regular beer drinkers who watched TV ads for obviously fake beer brands and then tasted the four beers labeled with the fake brands from the commercials (but which were all the same product) reported "strong preferences for the brand portrayed as satisfying their individual motivations for alcohol consumption." Further, "all the subjects believed the brands were different and that they could tell the difference between them. Most felt that at least one of the four brands was not fit for human consumption." So even under controlled laboratory conditions, using fake brands with which the subjects had no previous experience (unlike the McDonald's study), people were easily influenced to find taste differences where none objectively existed.
Although this other research is not receiving the press of the McDonald's experiment, recent articles the false inclusion of "soy" on an ingredient list, the use of color as a visual clue in evaluations of orange juice, and the labeling of wine as Californian or North Dakotan, to name just a few, have all been investigating this area. I would love to see a study on taste perceptions of fruit and vegetables presented as organic vs. conventionally grown.
This is an interesting and complex field of study and it appears that there is still much to understand - e.g. the degree to which these perceived (or at least reported) differences in various scenarios are the result of biased perceptual processing, impression management or self-esteem concerns, or cognitive or associatively learned emotional responses.
As for the crazy popularity of McDonald's among children, I read somewhere recently that the primary reason kids like to go there is that their parent is less stressed out and generally more pleasant and affectionate when they are eating at McDonald's than when eating at home. (I cannot vouch for the validity of this claim, since I have forgotten the source and could be demonstrating the sleeper effect here.) If it is true that parents are in better moods and meal-time is nicer when eating at McD's than eating at home, there is little surprise that kids would have a positive emotional response to McD's food that would strengthen brand preference driven by marketing.
I thought this commentary from the article was amusing:
And although the parents hold the keys to the car that goes to the fast-food restaurant, they're not entirely to blame.
"Parents don't choose for their children to be exposed to this type of marketing," he said. "Parents have a very difficult job. It may seem easier to give in to their child's plea to go to McDonald's than to give in to the many other hundreds of requests they get during a day."
So are kids also buying the televisions that they are watching?
Another report on the research states: "Study author Dr. Tom Robinson said the kids' perception of taste was 'physically altered by the branding.' " I'm not quite sure what he means by "physically altered" but this is not at all the way I would describe the effect that occurs. I would save "physically altered" to situations like disabling the sense of smell in rats and studying the effects on taste of food. Even an effect in the perception of taste would not necessarily be physical. Perhaps more than anything else, that statement suggests to me that these clowns don't know what they're talking about. (Ugh, now it's happening to me: all this talk of McDonald's leads to questionable word choice of "clowns." Is anyone safe from the wicked, degrading influence of McD's?)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Googling "Empirical Question"
UPDATE BELOW.
As Robert pointed out to me this weekend, this blog was briefly the #6 result on Google for "empirical question." I have now moved farther down into obscurity; the posts "I Don't Like Pancakes" and "Cricket Season" are now on page 4 of the results. I can only hope that people who are actually trying to figure out what an empirical question is are smart enough to not think posts like that are likely to deliver the desired information.
But in case somebody wants to know:
An empirical question is something that can only be answered by going out into the world and gathering data on the subject through observation, experimentation, or other investigative techniques. An empirical question cannot be answered through application of logic, moral reasoning, concepts, definitions, or otherwise sitting around drinking beer with your friends and considering the issue; evidence from the world is needed.
Example of an empirical question: What item does Wal-Mart sell more of than any other?
Example of a non-empirical question: What is the moral status of a vampire with a soul?
So what is Wal-Mart's best selling item? According to a Wal-Mart checker and my marketing professor: bananas.
What about a vampire with a soul? This question is best posed to a group of undergraduate Buffy and Angel fans at about 1:30 a.m.
Speaking of Angel, I watched two episodes last night that got me where I live - WWII submarines and muppet-like puppets. A moment at the end of the puppet-infused episode "Smile Time" is one of the cutest things I have ever seen on television - it comes right after the line, "So, you got a little demon in you" in the clip below, which does not do it full justice but is still damn funny.
UPDATE: In the episode of Angel I watched this evening, the two vampires with souls were in a huge argument that turned out to be about this question - "If cavemen and astronauts got into a fight, who would win?" I will leave the determination of whether this is an empirical question as an exercise for the reader.
As Robert pointed out to me this weekend, this blog was briefly the #6 result on Google for "empirical question." I have now moved farther down into obscurity; the posts "I Don't Like Pancakes" and "Cricket Season" are now on page 4 of the results. I can only hope that people who are actually trying to figure out what an empirical question is are smart enough to not think posts like that are likely to deliver the desired information.
But in case somebody wants to know:
An empirical question is something that can only be answered by going out into the world and gathering data on the subject through observation, experimentation, or other investigative techniques. An empirical question cannot be answered through application of logic, moral reasoning, concepts, definitions, or otherwise sitting around drinking beer with your friends and considering the issue; evidence from the world is needed.
Example of an empirical question: What item does Wal-Mart sell more of than any other?
Example of a non-empirical question: What is the moral status of a vampire with a soul?
So what is Wal-Mart's best selling item? According to a Wal-Mart checker and my marketing professor: bananas.
What about a vampire with a soul? This question is best posed to a group of undergraduate Buffy and Angel fans at about 1:30 a.m.
Speaking of Angel, I watched two episodes last night that got me where I live - WWII submarines and muppet-like puppets. A moment at the end of the puppet-infused episode "Smile Time" is one of the cutest things I have ever seen on television - it comes right after the line, "So, you got a little demon in you" in the clip below, which does not do it full justice but is still damn funny.
UPDATE: In the episode of Angel I watched this evening, the two vampires with souls were in a huge argument that turned out to be about this question - "If cavemen and astronauts got into a fight, who would win?" I will leave the determination of whether this is an empirical question as an exercise for the reader.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Sandwich Making Meets Morrowind: A Brief Conversation
9:50 p.m., an apartment in South Austin
Sally: "I can't believe the 'pull here' strip to open this cheese actually pulls away cleanly. Thank you, Kraft."
Sally: "This top slice of cheese is kind of dried out looking. Oh, this one is OK."
Robert: "Is it the new package of cheese?"
Sally: "Yes, as I said, the 'pull here' strip even worked as it's supposed to."
...
Sally: "You're aren't listening to me even though you asked me a question, are you?"
...
Sally: "I'm trying to give you a really hard time here about how you are not paying attention to anything I'm saying but you're not even listening to me say that."
Robert: "What? I have 3 outcasts whaling on me here."
Sally: "I can't believe the 'pull here' strip to open this cheese actually pulls away cleanly. Thank you, Kraft."
Sally: "This top slice of cheese is kind of dried out looking. Oh, this one is OK."
Robert: "Is it the new package of cheese?"
Sally: "Yes, as I said, the 'pull here' strip even worked as it's supposed to."
...
Sally: "You're aren't listening to me even though you asked me a question, are you?"
...
Sally: "I'm trying to give you a really hard time here about how you are not paying attention to anything I'm saying but you're not even listening to me say that."
Robert: "What? I have 3 outcasts whaling on me here."
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Bobcat High, Day 2
We went over the homework in math today and I got to be a total Front Row Frannie, since I figured out several problems that no one else (was willing to admit that they) did. We had a quiz and it was good. When I got up I saw the person behind me had a totally blank paper; not a good start to the semester, girlie. This is furthering the math mastery streak I've been on ever since I happened to see Robert searching for the solution to an integral he was using in his dissertation work and realized almost immediately, Holy shit, I know how to work this problem with a u substitution! (That was a definite rule the school high point for me, since up until now, all of the math assistance between me and Robert has come the other way.)
I got my student ID made, on which I thankfully do not look drunk or stoned, but am rather more stern-looking than I expected. Watch out, man, this person is seriously, almost dementedly, fixated on her education.
I spent my long break in the library for the most part. I found an interesting looking book on consumer psychology that I am going to keep going back and reading every Tues/Thurs until I am finished with it. I figure there is no point in checking it out and carrying it around while the library is willing to store it for me. In the outrageously unlikely event that someone else checks it out, I will simply move on to another book. They have a lot of them, after all.
By far, the funniest moment of my day was when looking up books in the catalog, I became confused by one titled: Disciples of the wise: the religious and social opinions of American rabbits. I clicked on it to see more information, and of course, the title really said "rabbis."
My grad-level psych class (seminar on attitude change in the context of health psychology) is going to be odd, but hopefully good. Dr C (and I do mean "Dr C" because she has a very difficult to pronounce Polish name, which when I asked her after class how to say it, she said, "I will tell you but it probably won't help" and apparently people just call her Dr C) had worried that the class wasn't going to make, but we have 6 students - a health psychology major, two health something else majors, a criminal justice major, one woman I have already forgotten about, and me. The overall approach is probably more applied than I would prefer (because most of the students are in applied subjects, this makes sense) and some of the assignments are a little outside of my area of interest. We have weekly short papers due on the readings, two essay tests, a research presentation (an academic lecture on recent research in an area of interest), "co-facilitation of class discussion" for one of the class meetings that we will get to choose, and a very strange final. We are to design and delivery a 30 minute health education lecture on the topic of our choice geared to a specific audience (e.g. I could make up one on the importance of physical exercise for the audience of low-income families with children) and write a paper explaining the theory behind the design and justifying the choices made. Today she discussed the Elaboration Likelihood Model, which I am not only familiar with but just had a lecture on this topic at CSU a couple months ago, so I was all over it.
After class, my classmate T, who is a health psych major, and I went to the library to run some photocopies and since he already obviously knew Dr C, I asked him if he had been an undergrad at Texas State. He said, No, I went to A&M; I'm still trying to adjust to how small this school is. And I said, My school was really small, so this seems big to me. He asked me where I went, and I told him. (I have been avoiding playing the Rice card among my classmates at CSU but in this context, it would have been weirder not to say and the guy seemed generally cool and unlikely to assume I was trying to be a ass.) He said (and it was interesting and pleasant for that his mind went to this immediately), You guys have a good marching band, I hear. I said, Yeah, an amusing one, anyway, with a lot of enthusiasm if modest talent.
I recognize that it seems crazy that TSU, with 26,000 students, would be kind of "small" but given that A&M has 45,000, that is small in comparison. And it does dwarf the 5,000 students at Rice.
[A google search revealed that 14 of the top 120 colleges by enrollment are in Texas.
UT-Austin 50,000; A&M 45,000; University of Houston 35,000; University of North Texas 31,000; Texas Tech 28,000; UT-San Antonio 26,000; TSU 26,000; UT-Arlington 25,000; San Jacinto College 24,000.
Houston Community College 40,000; North Harris Montgomery Community College 36,000; Austin Community College 36,000; Tarrant County College 34,000; El Paso Community College 26,000.]
Walking back to my car at 2:30 was brutal. It was not terribly hot - maybe 92 degrees - but it was humid and I was carrying a 20 pound backpack (which I weighed when I got home). Twice in about 20 minutes I found that my right hand had fallen asleep, presumably from the pressure of the backpack. I am not taking my calculus book with me to class again. Once again, I had reason to love the super-awesome air conditioner in my car that I did not have to turn above setting 1 to cool down very quickly.
I got my student ID made, on which I thankfully do not look drunk or stoned, but am rather more stern-looking than I expected. Watch out, man, this person is seriously, almost dementedly, fixated on her education.
I spent my long break in the library for the most part. I found an interesting looking book on consumer psychology that I am going to keep going back and reading every Tues/Thurs until I am finished with it. I figure there is no point in checking it out and carrying it around while the library is willing to store it for me. In the outrageously unlikely event that someone else checks it out, I will simply move on to another book. They have a lot of them, after all.
By far, the funniest moment of my day was when looking up books in the catalog, I became confused by one titled: Disciples of the wise: the religious and social opinions of American rabbits. I clicked on it to see more information, and of course, the title really said "rabbis."
My grad-level psych class (seminar on attitude change in the context of health psychology) is going to be odd, but hopefully good. Dr C (and I do mean "Dr C" because she has a very difficult to pronounce Polish name, which when I asked her after class how to say it, she said, "I will tell you but it probably won't help" and apparently people just call her Dr C) had worried that the class wasn't going to make, but we have 6 students - a health psychology major, two health something else majors, a criminal justice major, one woman I have already forgotten about, and me. The overall approach is probably more applied than I would prefer (because most of the students are in applied subjects, this makes sense) and some of the assignments are a little outside of my area of interest. We have weekly short papers due on the readings, two essay tests, a research presentation (an academic lecture on recent research in an area of interest), "co-facilitation of class discussion" for one of the class meetings that we will get to choose, and a very strange final. We are to design and delivery a 30 minute health education lecture on the topic of our choice geared to a specific audience (e.g. I could make up one on the importance of physical exercise for the audience of low-income families with children) and write a paper explaining the theory behind the design and justifying the choices made. Today she discussed the Elaboration Likelihood Model, which I am not only familiar with but just had a lecture on this topic at CSU a couple months ago, so I was all over it.
After class, my classmate T, who is a health psych major, and I went to the library to run some photocopies and since he already obviously knew Dr C, I asked him if he had been an undergrad at Texas State. He said, No, I went to A&M; I'm still trying to adjust to how small this school is. And I said, My school was really small, so this seems big to me. He asked me where I went, and I told him. (I have been avoiding playing the Rice card among my classmates at CSU but in this context, it would have been weirder not to say and the guy seemed generally cool and unlikely to assume I was trying to be a ass.) He said (and it was interesting and pleasant for that his mind went to this immediately), You guys have a good marching band, I hear. I said, Yeah, an amusing one, anyway, with a lot of enthusiasm if modest talent.
I recognize that it seems crazy that TSU, with 26,000 students, would be kind of "small" but given that A&M has 45,000, that is small in comparison. And it does dwarf the 5,000 students at Rice.
[A google search revealed that 14 of the top 120 colleges by enrollment are in Texas.
UT-Austin 50,000; A&M 45,000; University of Houston 35,000; University of North Texas 31,000; Texas Tech 28,000; UT-San Antonio 26,000; TSU 26,000; UT-Arlington 25,000; San Jacinto College 24,000.
Houston Community College 40,000; North Harris Montgomery Community College 36,000; Austin Community College 36,000; Tarrant County College 34,000; El Paso Community College 26,000.]
Walking back to my car at 2:30 was brutal. It was not terribly hot - maybe 92 degrees - but it was humid and I was carrying a 20 pound backpack (which I weighed when I got home). Twice in about 20 minutes I found that my right hand had fallen asleep, presumably from the pressure of the backpack. I am not taking my calculus book with me to class again. Once again, I had reason to love the super-awesome air conditioner in my car that I did not have to turn above setting 1 to cool down very quickly.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Bobcat High, Day 1
The commuter parking lot was already surprisingly full (about 65% full) by 7:30 a.m. I'm glad I have an 8:00 class so I will be getting in early enough to ensure a free parking spot.
It is much easier to navigate one's way toward the main buildings of campus with a whole bunch of other people walking the same direction.
I experienced the classic night-before-school-dream situation when an Asian man carrying a "college mathematics" textbook walked into the room. "Was anyone else expecting this to be cal 2?" I asked. About 8 people were like, "Yeah, me too." The prof went to figure out what was going on with the room. A guy said to me, "I didn't think he looked much like a Dr. P---- [distinctly non-Asian name]." The Asian prof had a fairly strong accent; as soon as he left, one girl who is in the business calculus class said to another, "I already can't understand what he's saying and we haven't gotten to the math part yet." We were told to go to another room, where indeed Dr. P and a whole lot of other people were waiting. The desks were rather filled up, but a nice girl on the front row said "You could pull that chair around and sit next to me." I ended up with the very best seat in the room - front row, right end - positioned with clear views of both the front and side chalkboards; I hope that after one class, it has been established as my very own. I discovered to my utter delight that Dr. P is starting the semester with a review of "Techniques of Integration," which will also be on my UT calc 1 final. (I guess not everyone has been spending several hours a day doing math for the past couple of months. Shocking.) This means I will not be trying to learn totally new math while studying the old math, which was a concern of mine. In fact, doing the homework tonight, I discovered a couple of neat tricks in my new textbook that my UT textbook didn't even include, which simplifies things like taking the integral of sec x dx or dx/(1 + sin x) hugely. I'm thinking now that, if anything, this class is going to make me learn the previous material more thoroughly. We have a quiz tomorrow, the first of 25; we will be graded on those instead of homework, which Robert points out is a smart way to handle the problem of students going to a frat problem bank to get the answers.
The marketing professor was late to the class, which rendered his later monologue on "professional behavior" amusing - he did get the Bobbsey Twins to come to the class and let us know about the situation, though. While we waited, I finished the worksheet from calc and listened to a guy chatting up a girl he didn't know in the seats just behind me. His technique was the tried-and-true "ask her a lot of not-too-difficult questions." I learned a lot about this girl, who is from Killeen, from a military family, is a finance major, just got into town yesterday, is living with 3 other girls off-campus, is not driving her car because she doesn't like to walk and doesn't want to have to park in the distant commuter parking lot by the stadium [which is farther away than the lot I used at 7:30]. He asked her at one point why she didn't join the Army (since it's the family profession) and she paused for a moment. I could not resist turning around and saying "Well, if she doesn't want to walk from the commuter parking lot, she probably wouldn't enjoy being handed an 80 pound pack and told to march 20 miles." He recovered from this interruption very well, I thought, saying something like, "Yeah, that's true. You would have to be an officer then." I said, "Right, telling some other fool to march 20 miles with a huge pack." They were very cute. I wish the guy well.
The marketing professor, Dr N, turned out to be a variant of the tall, dark, and dorky (and skinny) variety (which is to say, attractive) with a slight Indian accent that made words like "wirtuous cycle" and "man-DA-tory" interesting. He also has a verbal quirk that I can't tell yet whether will ultimately be annoying or not. He frequently puts an upward, questioning tone on the last few words of a sentence, then pauses briefly, and says the final word in a normal voice. So a sentence would be like: "So you will want to make sure you are on time for the ....? class." It's odd and I'm not sure what the genesis of it is; perhaps he started doing the questioning pause to elicit student input on certain things (e.g. "The ultimate goal of college is to get a.....? job.") and then it became habitual. He has obviously put a lot of thought into avoiding problems like students begging/pleading/crying/attempting to bribe him to round up their grades, students having their "grandfather die 3 times during the semester" in how he structures the class grading. A favorite moment for me - "The tests will be multiple choice, on scantron. I will supply the scantron." Excellent. I found myself watching him with the thought: perhaps someday I will have this same job, teaching intro to marketing. He was talking at one point about the increase in salary that comes with a bachelors and with a masters and said that having a doctorate does not increase one's salary over having a masters, on average, but pointed out, "In what other job [compared to college professor] do you get three months off every year?" I was like, Preach it, brother. One guy left the class in the middle to buy a bottle of water and thus became an object lesson for both "professional conduct" and the power of marketing to convince people to spend about $7 a gallon on bottled water, which is crazy. After class, I wanted to ask the guy, "So did Dr. N slip you a twenty in appreciation for setting him up like that?" but I didn't get the chance.
When I was walking across the quad at 10:45 or so, it was totally packed with students. And being the first day of class, there were all the usual booths for organizations (including ROTC and sororities/fraternities) and random crazy people with signs. A pretty blond girl (who looked totally normal) was carrying a gigantic sign that said in part: "Defy the World. Deny Yourself. Jesus." When I walked past her the second time, she was ranting in a shockingly loud voice, but all I made out was "...along the river. You are looking for it too!" At the top of some stairs, two guys were holding a "Ron Paul Revolution" sign. One of the Ron Paul supporters said something to a guy walking about two people ahead of me; the walking guy kind of shook his head and the Ron Paul supporter muttered loudly at him "Communist!" About a dozen of us laughed.
It is much easier to navigate one's way toward the main buildings of campus with a whole bunch of other people walking the same direction.
I experienced the classic night-before-school-dream situation when an Asian man carrying a "college mathematics" textbook walked into the room. "Was anyone else expecting this to be cal 2?" I asked. About 8 people were like, "Yeah, me too." The prof went to figure out what was going on with the room. A guy said to me, "I didn't think he looked much like a Dr. P---- [distinctly non-Asian name]." The Asian prof had a fairly strong accent; as soon as he left, one girl who is in the business calculus class said to another, "I already can't understand what he's saying and we haven't gotten to the math part yet." We were told to go to another room, where indeed Dr. P and a whole lot of other people were waiting. The desks were rather filled up, but a nice girl on the front row said "You could pull that chair around and sit next to me." I ended up with the very best seat in the room - front row, right end - positioned with clear views of both the front and side chalkboards; I hope that after one class, it has been established as my very own. I discovered to my utter delight that Dr. P is starting the semester with a review of "Techniques of Integration," which will also be on my UT calc 1 final. (I guess not everyone has been spending several hours a day doing math for the past couple of months. Shocking.) This means I will not be trying to learn totally new math while studying the old math, which was a concern of mine. In fact, doing the homework tonight, I discovered a couple of neat tricks in my new textbook that my UT textbook didn't even include, which simplifies things like taking the integral of sec x dx or dx/(1 + sin x) hugely. I'm thinking now that, if anything, this class is going to make me learn the previous material more thoroughly. We have a quiz tomorrow, the first of 25; we will be graded on those instead of homework, which Robert points out is a smart way to handle the problem of students going to a frat problem bank to get the answers.
The marketing professor was late to the class, which rendered his later monologue on "professional behavior" amusing - he did get the Bobbsey Twins to come to the class and let us know about the situation, though. While we waited, I finished the worksheet from calc and listened to a guy chatting up a girl he didn't know in the seats just behind me. His technique was the tried-and-true "ask her a lot of not-too-difficult questions." I learned a lot about this girl, who is from Killeen, from a military family, is a finance major, just got into town yesterday, is living with 3 other girls off-campus, is not driving her car because she doesn't like to walk and doesn't want to have to park in the distant commuter parking lot by the stadium [which is farther away than the lot I used at 7:30]. He asked her at one point why she didn't join the Army (since it's the family profession) and she paused for a moment. I could not resist turning around and saying "Well, if she doesn't want to walk from the commuter parking lot, she probably wouldn't enjoy being handed an 80 pound pack and told to march 20 miles." He recovered from this interruption very well, I thought, saying something like, "Yeah, that's true. You would have to be an officer then." I said, "Right, telling some other fool to march 20 miles with a huge pack." They were very cute. I wish the guy well.
The marketing professor, Dr N, turned out to be a variant of the tall, dark, and dorky (and skinny) variety (which is to say, attractive) with a slight Indian accent that made words like "wirtuous cycle" and "man-DA-tory" interesting. He also has a verbal quirk that I can't tell yet whether will ultimately be annoying or not. He frequently puts an upward, questioning tone on the last few words of a sentence, then pauses briefly, and says the final word in a normal voice. So a sentence would be like: "So you will want to make sure you are on time for the ....? class." It's odd and I'm not sure what the genesis of it is; perhaps he started doing the questioning pause to elicit student input on certain things (e.g. "The ultimate goal of college is to get a.....? job.") and then it became habitual. He has obviously put a lot of thought into avoiding problems like students begging/pleading/crying/attempting to bribe him to round up their grades, students having their "grandfather die 3 times during the semester" in how he structures the class grading. A favorite moment for me - "The tests will be multiple choice, on scantron. I will supply the scantron." Excellent. I found myself watching him with the thought: perhaps someday I will have this same job, teaching intro to marketing. He was talking at one point about the increase in salary that comes with a bachelors and with a masters and said that having a doctorate does not increase one's salary over having a masters, on average, but pointed out, "In what other job [compared to college professor] do you get three months off every year?" I was like, Preach it, brother. One guy left the class in the middle to buy a bottle of water and thus became an object lesson for both "professional conduct" and the power of marketing to convince people to spend about $7 a gallon on bottled water, which is crazy. After class, I wanted to ask the guy, "So did Dr. N slip you a twenty in appreciation for setting him up like that?" but I didn't get the chance.
When I was walking across the quad at 10:45 or so, it was totally packed with students. And being the first day of class, there were all the usual booths for organizations (including ROTC and sororities/fraternities) and random crazy people with signs. A pretty blond girl (who looked totally normal) was carrying a gigantic sign that said in part: "Defy the World. Deny Yourself. Jesus
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
"Jules et Jim"
An excerpt from the classic 1962 French film "Jules et Jim" directed by Francois Truffaut. Fast friends Jules and Jim have recently seen and been captivated by a slide of a statue of a woman's head shown to them at another friend's house.
Narrator:
The statue was in an outdoor museum on an Adriatic island.
They set off immediately to see it.
They both had the same white suit made.
They spent an hour by the statue. It exceeded their expectations.
They walked rapidly around it in silence.
They didn't speak of it until the next day. Had they ever met such a smile?
Never.
And if they ever met it? They would follow it.
Jules and Jim returned home, full of this revelation.
Paris took them gently back in.
[In the gymnasium, where Jules - who is Austrian or German and blond - and Jim - who is a tall, skinny, mustachioed Frenchman - engage in the gayest exhibition of French boxing ever known to mankind, while some only slightly less ridiculous fencing occurs around them. They finish up and take a break against the wall.]
Jules: That's good. Is your book coming along?
Jim: Yes, I've done quite a bit. I think it'll be rather autobiographical. Our friendship will play a major role in it. I'd like to read a passage for you.
Jules: Please do.
Jim: "Jacques and Julien were inseparable. Julien's last novel had been a success. He had described, as if in a fairy tale, the women he had known before Jacques or even Lucienne. Jacques was proud for Julien's sake. People called them Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and rumors circulated behind their backs about their unusual friendship. They ate together in small restaurants and each splurged on the best cigars to give the other."
Jules: It's quite beautiful. If you'd allow me, I'd like to translate it into German.
Jim: Now let's hit the showers.
[Jules and Jim bathe separately.]
Jules: My cousin just wrote me. Some girls are coming to Paris who studied with him in Munich. A girl from Berlin, one from Holland, and a French girl. They're coming to dinner tomorrow. I'm counting on you to join us.
[We see a girl come down the walkway.]
Narrator: Catherine, the French girl, had the smile of the statue on the island.
Her nose, mouth, chin, and forehead bore the nobility of a province she personified as a child in a religious celebration.
It started like a dream.
[They drink a toast to brotherhood at Jules' house while playing a strange game of footsie. Thus a love triangle begins.]
---
It is hard to fathom under what circumstances and for what occasion it would be non-insane for two men to have identical white suits made. A photo-negative gay wedding in which their bridesmaids wore black? A Fantasy Island theme party? Somehow, this seems excessive for celebrating a trip to an island to look at a statue, no matter how beautifully lipped it is.
I cannot over-emphasize the degree to which these guys made boxing look like flirtation.
It is amusing that Jim is aware of what their friendship looks like to outsiders. Is the cigar he is giving Jules just a cigar?
"Her nose, mouth, chin, and forehead bore the nobility of a province she personified as a child in a religious celebration" is arguably the single oddest sentence I have ever heard in a movie.
There is a later point in the film where the narrator tells us that Jim considers how his and Catherine's children would be tall, slender, and prone to headaches; it makes me think of Robert.
The movie is remarkable in how the dramatic subject matter is treated in a very distanced, understated way, and the inclusion of significant amounts of exposition by the narrator was unusual to me. It made more sense when I watched the interview with the director in which he explained that the film is based on an autobiographical novel written by a 70 year old man who describes the events of a distant past that no longer have the intensity they did when they occurred. The strange, sometimes lovely language was lifted directly from the book.
Narrator:
The statue was in an outdoor museum on an Adriatic island.
They set off immediately to see it.
They both had the same white suit made.
They spent an hour by the statue. It exceeded their expectations.
They walked rapidly around it in silence.
They didn't speak of it until the next day. Had they ever met such a smile?
Never.
And if they ever met it? They would follow it.
Jules and Jim returned home, full of this revelation.
Paris took them gently back in.
[In the gymnasium, where Jules - who is Austrian or German and blond - and Jim - who is a tall, skinny, mustachioed Frenchman - engage in the gayest exhibition of French boxing ever known to mankind, while some only slightly less ridiculous fencing occurs around them. They finish up and take a break against the wall.]
Jules: That's good. Is your book coming along?
Jim: Yes, I've done quite a bit. I think it'll be rather autobiographical. Our friendship will play a major role in it. I'd like to read a passage for you.
Jules: Please do.
Jim: "Jacques and Julien were inseparable. Julien's last novel had been a success. He had described, as if in a fairy tale, the women he had known before Jacques or even Lucienne. Jacques was proud for Julien's sake. People called them Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and rumors circulated behind their backs about their unusual friendship. They ate together in small restaurants and each splurged on the best cigars to give the other."
Jules: It's quite beautiful. If you'd allow me, I'd like to translate it into German.
Jim: Now let's hit the showers.
[Jules and Jim bathe separately.]
Jules: My cousin just wrote me. Some girls are coming to Paris who studied with him in Munich. A girl from Berlin, one from Holland, and a French girl. They're coming to dinner tomorrow. I'm counting on you to join us.
[We see a girl come down the walkway.]
Narrator: Catherine, the French girl, had the smile of the statue on the island.
Her nose, mouth, chin, and forehead bore the nobility of a province she personified as a child in a religious celebration.
It started like a dream.
[They drink a toast to brotherhood at Jules' house while playing a strange game of footsie. Thus a love triangle begins.]
---
It is hard to fathom under what circumstances and for what occasion it would be non-insane for two men to have identical white suits made. A photo-negative gay wedding in which their bridesmaids wore black? A Fantasy Island theme party? Somehow, this seems excessive for celebrating a trip to an island to look at a statue, no matter how beautifully lipped it is.
I cannot over-emphasize the degree to which these guys made boxing look like flirtation.
It is amusing that Jim is aware of what their friendship looks like to outsiders. Is the cigar he is giving Jules just a cigar?
"Her nose, mouth, chin, and forehead bore the nobility of a province she personified as a child in a religious celebration" is arguably the single oddest sentence I have ever heard in a movie.
There is a later point in the film where the narrator tells us that Jim considers how his and Catherine's children would be tall, slender, and prone to headaches; it makes me think of Robert.
The movie is remarkable in how the dramatic subject matter is treated in a very distanced, understated way, and the inclusion of significant amounts of exposition by the narrator was unusual to me. It made more sense when I watched the interview with the director in which he explained that the film is based on an autobiographical novel written by a 70 year old man who describes the events of a distant past that no longer have the intensity they did when they occurred. The strange, sometimes lovely language was lifted directly from the book.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Visual and Kinetic Learning
Did you ever take one of those assessments in school that tells you about your learning style, or were you at least exposed to the idea that there are different methods that kids use to learn? I don't know how valid that stuff is, but according to the typology I have seen, I am a visual/kinetic learner, and I have been using that self-knowledge to good effect this weekend.
Application 1: Studying for My Calculus Final
I have made a gazillion flash cards for my cumulative (ugh) math final that contain all the formulas, approaches to solving problems, and key points that I want to completely internalize prior to the second phase of studying for my final, solving example problems. I divided these cards into 6 categories, ordering them from easy/earlier in the book to difficult/later in the book and so far have been working on each category individually.
The first time through, I first looked at the front of each card (e.g. integrating sin mx * sin nx dx) and then wrote down what was on the back of the card (e.g. sinAsinB = 1/2 cos (A-B) - 1/2 cos (A+B)), once for the easy-seeming ones and multiple times for the harder ones. The second time through, I went through them again and looked at the front, thought about what the answer was, then flipped it over and wrote down the answer one time. The third time through, I looked at the front, wrote down the answer, then checked it. The fourth (final) time through, I shuffled the deck, then wrote down and checked the answer for each card. Between each of these stages, I would take a 5-10 minute break because I have a vague recollection that this aids memorization and because playing a few rounds of Shape Shifter was an immediate reward for studying.
So far, I have done 5 of the 6 stacks and have learned the material in those cards. Once I have done all 6 stacks, I will merge them and give myself a test. When I can answer them all correctly, I will proceed to the practice problems. There is no point in attempting to answer a question like "What is the integral of (3/2x^2+x+2) dx?" until I have totally internalized how to approach this problem (which I have but will spare you); it will take a lot of time to execute the solution without flailing about for some idea of how to begin.
Application 2: Finding My Way Around a New Campus
Robert and I went to TSU this morning to help me learn my route - how to get from the commuter parking lot to the classrooms where my classes are being held. This was particularly important to me because I have an 8:00 a.m. class that I don't want to be late for or waste any time getting to. And given my rather poor navigational skills, I thought this reconnoitering would be very beneficial both to my actual ability to get around campus as well as my overall comfort/anxiety level. Oh, and since I had not, in a couple of previous visits to the campus, been able to ever find the building where my math class is being held without help (from a particularly cheerful and nice girl in the sociology department), I wasn't feeling good about my chances of doing this independently with a bunch of other students wandering around. Anyway, Robert hadn't seen the campus yet and I was eager to impress on him how many stairs there are. (After two straight hours of walking around on campus, we both felt very clear on the stair-intensity level.)
Of course I drew in the route on one of my several campus maps, but I also stopped and looked around at various points where I will have to make a decision about where to go. At one point, as we were finishing up our investigations of the business school, I took off in an unexpected direction and Robert called after me, "Where are you going? That's the direction of the library [which is not the direction of our next destination]." And I turned around and said, "I know - I will be coming from the direction of the library to this building; I need to see what it looks like again."
I'm sure I'll still be wandering around a bit on Wednesday morning, but at least I won't have to learn for school at 6:00 a.m. to ensure that I can find my classroom before 8:00.
Application 1: Studying for My Calculus Final
I have made a gazillion flash cards for my cumulative (ugh) math final that contain all the formulas, approaches to solving problems, and key points that I want to completely internalize prior to the second phase of studying for my final, solving example problems. I divided these cards into 6 categories, ordering them from easy/earlier in the book to difficult/later in the book and so far have been working on each category individually.
The first time through, I first looked at the front of each card (e.g. integrating sin mx * sin nx dx) and then wrote down what was on the back of the card (e.g. sinAsinB = 1/2 cos (A-B) - 1/2 cos (A+B)), once for the easy-seeming ones and multiple times for the harder ones. The second time through, I went through them again and looked at the front, thought about what the answer was, then flipped it over and wrote down the answer one time. The third time through, I looked at the front, wrote down the answer, then checked it. The fourth (final) time through, I shuffled the deck, then wrote down and checked the answer for each card. Between each of these stages, I would take a 5-10 minute break because I have a vague recollection that this aids memorization and because playing a few rounds of Shape Shifter was an immediate reward for studying.
So far, I have done 5 of the 6 stacks and have learned the material in those cards. Once I have done all 6 stacks, I will merge them and give myself a test. When I can answer them all correctly, I will proceed to the practice problems. There is no point in attempting to answer a question like "What is the integral of (3/2x^2+x+2) dx?" until I have totally internalized how to approach this problem (which I have but will spare you); it will take a lot of time to execute the solution without flailing about for some idea of how to begin.
Application 2: Finding My Way Around a New Campus
Robert and I went to TSU this morning to help me learn my route - how to get from the commuter parking lot to the classrooms where my classes are being held. This was particularly important to me because I have an 8:00 a.m. class that I don't want to be late for or waste any time getting to. And given my rather poor navigational skills, I thought this reconnoitering would be very beneficial both to my actual ability to get around campus as well as my overall comfort/anxiety level. Oh, and since I had not, in a couple of previous visits to the campus, been able to ever find the building where my math class is being held without help (from a particularly cheerful and nice girl in the sociology department), I wasn't feeling good about my chances of doing this independently with a bunch of other students wandering around. Anyway, Robert hadn't seen the campus yet and I was eager to impress on him how many stairs there are. (After two straight hours of walking around on campus, we both felt very clear on the stair-intensity level.)
Of course I drew in the route on one of my several campus maps, but I also stopped and looked around at various points where I will have to make a decision about where to go. At one point, as we were finishing up our investigations of the business school, I took off in an unexpected direction and Robert called after me, "Where are you going? That's the direction of the library [which is not the direction of our next destination]." And I turned around and said, "I know - I will be coming from the direction of the library to this building; I need to see what it looks like again."
I'm sure I'll still be wandering around a bit on Wednesday morning, but at least I won't have to learn for school at 6:00 a.m. to ensure that I can find my classroom before 8:00.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
"Drumline," the Movie
Yesterday I watched the movie "Drumline," which was a fun little combination of fish-out-of-water comedy and feel-good, overcoming adversity, growing as a person, follow your dream, there's-no-I-in-team sports movie, only set in the competitive world of southern historically black college marching bands.
The plot and characterization were both fine - especially when you think about how bad it could be; even the implausible (but sweet) love story was handled okay. And they captured many of the elements that are familiar to all marching band members: the boot camp nature of the early practices, the agony of being challenged for your position, each section's belief that their own instrument is the most important.
Of course, the most enjoyable part to me was just watching the bands (and their scantily clad dance teams, obviously included as eye candy for those whose love of marching bands does not go very deep) perform. The battle of the drumlines was exciting and entertaining. Stylistically, they definitely err on the side of crowd-pleasing, and it was interesting to see how physical the performances were - acrobatic and dancelike.
Especially when compared to those of, say, my high school marching band, in which the typical (white) member was only slightly more fluidly rhythmic than Al Gore. We went in for very elaborate marching designs and relatively difficult pieces of music. Our first piece (of the 3 in the competition set) was "Pictures at an Exhibition," which is music I love; the opening notes of the brass are now incredibly evocative for me of those early morning practices late in the season: the moments I'm standing still on the field at 7:00 a.m., with the wind blowing my hair, waiting for it all to begin. I hated a lot of things about band (hence I quit after 10th grade) but I did like that, and the fact that we were pretty damn good.
I learned from Roger Ebert that Morris Brown College, which is the main competitor to the band we follow, is a real school. (And a song by Outkast, according to my Google results.)
One of the things not dealt with in the film directly is the degree to which having money for instruments, gorgeous new uniforms and flags, etc., plays a role in marching band competition success; we do get a sense of the financial issues involved, and Morris Brown puts on quite the expensive show, but the issue of tons of money -> flashier show -> winning is not spelled out. However, this aspect is handled well and to good comedic effect in Kurt Vonnegut's short story "The No Talent Kid," (which, incidentally, I came across as a junior high English class substitute teacher). The story is only 7 pages long and greatly amusing to anyone with school band experience.
The plot and characterization were both fine - especially when you think about how bad it could be; even the implausible (but sweet) love story was handled okay. And they captured many of the elements that are familiar to all marching band members: the boot camp nature of the early practices, the agony of being challenged for your position, each section's belief that their own instrument is the most important.
Of course, the most enjoyable part to me was just watching the bands (and their scantily clad dance teams, obviously included as eye candy for those whose love of marching bands does not go very deep) perform. The battle of the drumlines was exciting and entertaining. Stylistically, they definitely err on the side of crowd-pleasing, and it was interesting to see how physical the performances were - acrobatic and dancelike.
Especially when compared to those of, say, my high school marching band, in which the typical (white) member was only slightly more fluidly rhythmic than Al Gore. We went in for very elaborate marching designs and relatively difficult pieces of music. Our first piece (of the 3 in the competition set) was "Pictures at an Exhibition," which is music I love; the opening notes of the brass are now incredibly evocative for me of those early morning practices late in the season: the moments I'm standing still on the field at 7:00 a.m., with the wind blowing my hair, waiting for it all to begin. I hated a lot of things about band (hence I quit after 10th grade) but I did like that, and the fact that we were pretty damn good.
I learned from Roger Ebert that Morris Brown College, which is the main competitor to the band we follow, is a real school. (And a song by Outkast, according to my Google results.)
One of the things not dealt with in the film directly is the degree to which having money for instruments, gorgeous new uniforms and flags, etc., plays a role in marching band competition success; we do get a sense of the financial issues involved, and Morris Brown puts on quite the expensive show, but the issue of tons of money -> flashier show -> winning is not spelled out. However, this aspect is handled well and to good comedic effect in Kurt Vonnegut's short story "The No Talent Kid," (which, incidentally, I came across as a junior high English class substitute teacher). The story is only 7 pages long and greatly amusing to anyone with school band experience.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Nocturnal Visitor
Last night at bedtime, I was taken aback by a rather large (4"?) wobbly-running creature in our dining room that Robert identified as a house gecko before it ran under the sofa. (We each independently had the first impression along the lines of "Is that the world's biggest silverfish or ...?" OK, my first reaction was actually to be startled and afraid.) We've had lizards that lived for a long time in our old apartment and I'm not bothered by the idea of it, as long as they can avoid appearing in the open areas of the apartment as I am walking around barefoot.
Wikipedia has a nice close up photo of a house gecko on someone's balcony in Austin, doing a public service that at least one of my readers can truly appreciate.
Wikipedia has a nice close up photo of a house gecko on someone's balcony in Austin, doing a public service that at least one of my readers can truly appreciate.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
And Yes, It's Official
Yesterday was my absolutely last day at my job, so I am now officially out of the workforce.
We had a big going away party in the afternoon that resulted in me bringing home a huge amount of Italian cream cake (from Whole Foods) and a more modest, but generous quantity of a fantastic chocolate dump cake a co-worker made, that she tricked me into taking by saying, "Wouldn't Robert like a piece of this cake?" I did not know that "a piece" was going to equal "the rest of." Robert and I both had cake for dinner last night, we each saved a piece for dessert today, and I sent the rest with him to work, where if he leaves it in the break room, it is guaranteed to disappear. I had briefly thought I might have to knock on doors around the apartment complex looking for takers and was glad when I came up with this obvious solution to the extra cake problem. I am sorry that I could not find a way to share this cake with you all.
It was interesting to realize that now that I won't be seeing these people at work every day, or every week in some cases, for years that many of them really do have the potential to become friends, and when people mentioned that they were going to miss me on some personal basis (as opposed to those with whom I have had Mutual Appreciation of Professionalism and Competence Societies and who are primarily agonizing over having to deal with some other less capable and satisfying co-worker in my absence), I went on record as saying I am going to be in Austin for a while and since I have Fridays off from school (woot! 3 day weekends every week!), it will be easy for me to come up to the office and meet for lunch or something. This is kind of a big deal for me, because I tend to let relationships fall apart as I get distracted by other things, get lazy and don't tend to them, and just generally fall into asocial habits, but it's something I should do (because social networks are important and useful) and something I want to do. And posting this here is another way for me to commit to doing a better job of keeping in touch this time. Of course, since they are all still at the same place, unlike my last job where we all got riffed and scattered to the winds, it should be easier to manage since I have everyone's work phone numbers and emails and can arrange to see several people at one time. They asked for my email address too, which I am going to send out to everyone (my second-tier email anyway).
So today I get to celebrate my newfound freedom by... studying for my calculus final. Groan. At least I have one more piece of cake to get me through the day.
We had a big going away party in the afternoon that resulted in me bringing home a huge amount of Italian cream cake (from Whole Foods) and a more modest, but generous quantity of a fantastic chocolate dump cake a co-worker made, that she tricked me into taking by saying, "Wouldn't Robert like a piece of this cake?" I did not know that "a piece" was going to equal "the rest of." Robert and I both had cake for dinner last night, we each saved a piece for dessert today, and I sent the rest with him to work, where if he leaves it in the break room, it is guaranteed to disappear. I had briefly thought I might have to knock on doors around the apartment complex looking for takers and was glad when I came up with this obvious solution to the extra cake problem. I am sorry that I could not find a way to share this cake with you all.
It was interesting to realize that now that I won't be seeing these people at work every day, or every week in some cases, for years that many of them really do have the potential to become friends, and when people mentioned that they were going to miss me on some personal basis (as opposed to those with whom I have had Mutual Appreciation of Professionalism and Competence Societies and who are primarily agonizing over having to deal with some other less capable and satisfying co-worker in my absence), I went on record as saying I am going to be in Austin for a while and since I have Fridays off from school (woot! 3 day weekends every week!), it will be easy for me to come up to the office and meet for lunch or something. This is kind of a big deal for me, because I tend to let relationships fall apart as I get distracted by other things, get lazy and don't tend to them, and just generally fall into asocial habits, but it's something I should do (because social networks are important and useful) and something I want to do. And posting this here is another way for me to commit to doing a better job of keeping in touch this time. Of course, since they are all still at the same place, unlike my last job where we all got riffed and scattered to the winds, it should be easier to manage since I have everyone's work phone numbers and emails and can arrange to see several people at one time. They asked for my email address too, which I am going to send out to everyone (my second-tier email anyway).
So today I get to celebrate my newfound freedom by... studying for my calculus final. Groan. At least I have one more piece of cake to get me through the day.
Things That Made Me Laugh This Morning
Playing "Set Them Up, Knock them Down" (using toilet paper and paper towel rolls, with his toys balanced atop them) with Leo until he ran in circles around the room, attempted to gnaw his way through one of the remaining walls of the bunny castle, and had to have second breakfast. Apparently he had so much fun he had to take a nap, so he is now flopped out asleep under the futon.
This comic strip.
The opening line of the Summer 2007 Vanguard newsletter, a joke I had not heard before: "One wry definition of an economist is someone who, when he sees something that works in practice, wonders whether it will work in theory."
An email from my sister (with a long backstory) that involves an interview question regarding the 6 Days War that I want her to know I appreciated.
Thinking this dress makes her look pregnant, until I realized that she is pregnant. For a maternity dress, it rocks. (I feel for this woman and this one, to whom I give kudos for being honest in their assessment of those ubiquitous styles that cannot look good on anyone who is not a child. The gathered sleeveless top pattern is awesome on 10 year old girls, for instance, but cannot translate into adult woman wearability, unless perhaps that woman is "too skinny to be a model in Madrid" super-skinny - and maybe not even then - in which case I beg her to cover up before she terrifies the kids.)
Checking my calculus grades online and finding I got a 100 and an 98 on assignments #17 and #18, leaving me with a current grade of 100 going into the last homework set and the midterm. (Muahahahaha.)
[Note: Yesterday I looked at the dismal - overall GPA under 2.2 - UT Austin transcript of the biologist who applied for my job and noted that he took this calc class and received a D: impressive work, dude. Incidentally, I was baffled at how many people included their transcripts with their applications, even when their grades were pretty bad, but Robert said my boss had requested it on the job posting. Upon examination of our - oops, their - web site, I found that almost every job requiring a college degree wanted the transcript as well so it must be an HR thing. Proof, I suppose, that you have the degree that you say you do.]
This comic strip.
The opening line of the Summer 2007 Vanguard newsletter, a joke I had not heard before: "One wry definition of an economist is someone who, when he sees something that works in practice, wonders whether it will work in theory."
An email from my sister (with a long backstory) that involves an interview question regarding the 6 Days War that I want her to know I appreciated.
Thinking this dress makes her look pregnant, until I realized that she is pregnant. For a maternity dress, it rocks. (I feel for this woman and this one, to whom I give kudos for being honest in their assessment of those ubiquitous styles that cannot look good on anyone who is not a child. The gathered sleeveless top pattern is awesome on 10 year old girls, for instance, but cannot translate into adult woman wearability, unless perhaps that woman is "too skinny to be a model in Madrid" super-skinny - and maybe not even then - in which case I beg her to cover up before she terrifies the kids.)
Checking my calculus grades online and finding I got a 100 and an 98 on assignments #17 and #18, leaving me with a current grade of 100 going into the last homework set and the midterm. (Muahahahaha.)
[Note: Yesterday I looked at the dismal - overall GPA under 2.2 - UT Austin transcript of the biologist who applied for my job and noted that he took this calc class and received a D: impressive work, dude. Incidentally, I was baffled at how many people included their transcripts with their applications, even when their grades were pretty bad, but Robert said my boss had requested it on the job posting. Upon examination of our - oops, their - web site, I found that almost every job requiring a college degree wanted the transcript as well so it must be an HR thing. Proof, I suppose, that you have the degree that you say you do.]
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The Market for Market Researchers
If the paucity of responses to the job opening for my current position is anything to go by, the market for market researchers is really good right now. I don't have the same local market knowledge I had when I worked client-side, where you would always hear right away if a big employer (e.g. Dell) was laying people off and flooding the market with experienced people, so I don't know whether this is just a fluky, fortunate time where most of us already have jobs or whether it augurs well for the market in general. I was sort of surprised not to see applications from anybody that I ever worked with at my previous job in a research firm. Of course, it's always possible that my reputation has preceded me and no one wants to attempt to fill my shoes. But they're such... cute... shoes!
It's a very different time from 2001, when I got riffed and then hired by my current employer against stiff competition, including at least one other person from the same research firm who survived into the interview process. The job closed today and by 1:00, we had only received 15 applications, of which literally 1 person was met the minimum qualifications (5 years experience in market research) and another 2 could generously be considered in the general range of qualifications if you look at the resume sideways, squint, and fudge the math. By comparison, there were over 100 applications for the marketing manager position that is at the same level as mine and closed about a month ago.
One application motivated me to say, "Too bad this job isn't rocket science... because if it were rocket science, this guy would be great." Is the job market for people with physics PhDs and significant particle accelerator experience so dire that he would consider putting his quant skills to work analyzing park visitor datasets? That is sad. Perhaps not as sad as this, but sort of, kind of sad, in a way. The idea of my boss D having a male Russian particle physicist working for her was a pretty amusing concept, however, given that I do not know of a single man in our office that she gets along with very well at all.
The BLS has predicted that job growth for market researchers would be "faster than average" (i.e. increase 18 - 26 percent between 2004 and 2014). (By comparison, jobs for physicists are expected to grow more slowly than average, more's the pity.) In other heartening BLS news, they report the following about job outlook for college professors, which mirrors what I have been reading elsewhere about marketing professors as well as being a no-brainer application of supply and demand: "Prospects for teaching jobs will be better and earnings higher in academic fields in which many qualified teachers opt for nonacademic careers, such as health specialties, business, and computer science, for example."
Today, our brand new marketing manager G (who won out against the 99+ other applicants, many of whom were excellent, such that my boss D felt overwhelmed with great candidates) mentioned that she knows of a particular research firm that likes to hire anthropologists to work on research teams for developing new products. I said that I was glad any time an anthropologist can get a half-way decent paying job.
Heh, just now as I was closing the BLS web site, a survey popped up and, in keeping with my karma theory of survey research, I answered it. I enjoyed being able to decide when providing my ratings on the 10 point scale whether I wanted to place my score in the top-box or not (most commonly, a top-3 box including 8, 9, and 10); my insider knowledge helped me really distinguish between a 7 and 8 on several questions.
It's a very different time from 2001, when I got riffed and then hired by my current employer against stiff competition, including at least one other person from the same research firm who survived into the interview process. The job closed today and by 1:00, we had only received 15 applications, of which literally 1 person was met the minimum qualifications (5 years experience in market research) and another 2 could generously be considered in the general range of qualifications if you look at the resume sideways, squint, and fudge the math. By comparison, there were over 100 applications for the marketing manager position that is at the same level as mine and closed about a month ago.
One application motivated me to say, "Too bad this job isn't rocket science... because if it were rocket science, this guy would be great." Is the job market for people with physics PhDs and significant particle accelerator experience so dire that he would consider putting his quant skills to work analyzing park visitor datasets? That is sad. Perhaps not as sad as this, but sort of, kind of sad, in a way. The idea of my boss D having a male Russian particle physicist working for her was a pretty amusing concept, however, given that I do not know of a single man in our office that she gets along with very well at all.
The BLS has predicted that job growth for market researchers would be "faster than average" (i.e. increase 18 - 26 percent between 2004 and 2014). (By comparison, jobs for physicists are expected to grow more slowly than average, more's the pity.) In other heartening BLS news, they report the following about job outlook for college professors, which mirrors what I have been reading elsewhere about marketing professors as well as being a no-brainer application of supply and demand: "Prospects for teaching jobs will be better and earnings higher in academic fields in which many qualified teachers opt for nonacademic careers, such as health specialties, business, and computer science, for example."
Today, our brand new marketing manager G (who won out against the 99+ other applicants, many of whom were excellent, such that my boss D felt overwhelmed with great candidates) mentioned that she knows of a particular research firm that likes to hire anthropologists to work on research teams for developing new products. I said that I was glad any time an anthropologist can get a half-way decent paying job.
Heh, just now as I was closing the BLS web site, a survey popped up and, in keeping with my karma theory of survey research, I answered it. I enjoyed being able to decide when providing my ratings on the 10 point scale whether I wanted to place my score in the top-box or not (most commonly, a top-3 box including 8, 9, and 10); my insider knowledge helped me really distinguish between a 7 and 8 on several questions.
Money Well Spent, In Advance of Getting It
After months of wanting a new pair of shoes, I was not able to resist buying these 80s style Keds from eBay - new in box for under $21, including shipping, which compares mega-favorably to buying Keds champion slip-ons with inferior fabric from Zappos at $46. (See, it's not how much you spend - it's how much you "save" - well, um... anyway.) I had shoes of this style in a very dramatic flower pattern in the 80s (sans denim edging) and I loved them. I am happy to see this style make a comeback.
Of course, this purchase does beg the question, How is it Operation Cheap Ass compatible? I justified it in my mind (retrospectively) when a few days after the purchase, I received a market research survey in the mail that offers me $25 to complete a two-week daily diary of personal habits. And while initially I was not necessarily keen on the idea that every time I take a leak, someone at Synovate needs to know about it, it does offer me the opportunity to earn money to pay for my new shoes.
And let me take this opportunity to emphasize how glad I am that I am not the market research manager heading up the toilet paper project at Synovate, nor do I anticipate that I ever will be in possession of ridiculously detailed knowledge on this subject. There are some topics that I am happy to live in ignorance of and this is one of them. It took me long enough to forget more than most people ever knew about 3-in-1 printers, for example.
Of course, this purchase does beg the question, How is it Operation Cheap Ass compatible? I justified it in my mind (retrospectively) when a few days after the purchase, I received a market research survey in the mail that offers me $25 to complete a two-week daily diary of personal habits. And while initially I was not necessarily keen on the idea that every time I take a leak, someone at Synovate needs to know about it, it does offer me the opportunity to earn money to pay for my new shoes.
And let me take this opportunity to emphasize how glad I am that I am not the market research manager heading up the toilet paper project at Synovate, nor do I anticipate that I ever will be in possession of ridiculously detailed knowledge on this subject. There are some topics that I am happy to live in ignorance of and this is one of them. It took me long enough to forget more than most people ever knew about 3-in-1 printers, for example.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Sally's (Psychological) Closet: Condescending Compliments
Livingdeb writes about getting a condescending compliment from a fellow dancer of the Argentine tango - "Wow, you're actually good." (It's the "actually" in that sentence, along with the tone of voice I assume was used, that makes it.) She says: "...certain compliments come with the assumption that the person doing the judging is extremely knowledgeable and thus able to have very important and worthy judgments" and notes that this person wasn't that great a dancer himself. She does not report responding to this statement with "Well, so much for the validity of the 'it takes one to know one' theory."
This reminded me strongly of something I hadn't thought of in a while but that totally pissed me off at the time.
In high school, my psychiatrist was Dr Toad - who was an asshole and is not to be confused with my incredibly tall/dark/handsome and helpful psychologist Ed (who was quite worthy of more erotic transference than he got from me). One day, Dr Toad had his son Toad Jr, who was in medical school at the time, sit in on my session. (This now strikes me as borderline unethical, esp since neither my parents nor I said that it was OK for him to do so, but at the time, it just seemed like more of the typical bullshit.) So we go through our usual drill of Dr Toad asking me questions and me responding in a minimal way and at the end of the session, Toad Jr says, with every aspect of seriousness and even a kind of disturbing flirtatious manner, something like "You have a very good vocabulary." (Was I too blindlingly white for him to use the term "articulate"?) I called upon my inner catatonic and did not respond with "Fuck you, pendejo," though it seemed the obvious rejoinder to a comment on my language skills.
To say that I was unaccustomed to being spoken to in such a patronizing way would be a vast understatement.
By contrast, Ed would occasionally laugh at things I said. (When, after a couple of months of going to his office, I actually started to talk.) At the time, it was annoying to feel mocked, but I quickly realized that those ideas were completely ridiculous and I appreciated his respecting me enough to laugh rather than pretend to take the statements seriously. It was good to not be treated like a child in need of protection.
This reminded me strongly of something I hadn't thought of in a while but that totally pissed me off at the time.
In high school, my psychiatrist was Dr Toad - who was an asshole and is not to be confused with my incredibly tall/dark/handsome and helpful psychologist Ed (who was quite worthy of more erotic transference than he got from me). One day, Dr Toad had his son Toad Jr, who was in medical school at the time, sit in on my session. (This now strikes me as borderline unethical, esp since neither my parents nor I said that it was OK for him to do so, but at the time, it just seemed like more of the typical bullshit.) So we go through our usual drill of Dr Toad asking me questions and me responding in a minimal way and at the end of the session, Toad Jr says, with every aspect of seriousness and even a kind of disturbing flirtatious manner, something like "You have a very good vocabulary." (Was I too blindlingly white for him to use the term "articulate"?) I called upon my inner catatonic and did not respond with "Fuck you, pendejo," though it seemed the obvious rejoinder to a comment on my language skills.
To say that I was unaccustomed to being spoken to in such a patronizing way would be a vast understatement.
By contrast, Ed would occasionally laugh at things I said. (When, after a couple of months of going to his office, I actually started to talk.) At the time, it was annoying to feel mocked, but I quickly realized that those ideas were completely ridiculous and I appreciated his respecting me enough to laugh rather than pretend to take the statements seriously. It was good to not be treated like a child in need of protection.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
The 100 Streak Continues
...for assignments #15 and #16. Somewhere beneath my migraine, I am happy about this.
Class Registration Completed - Hurray!
I logged on this morning at the earliest possible opportunity to enroll in classes at the opening of the late registration period. One cool thing about TSU is that all grad students, including non-degree seeking ones like me, can enroll at any point of the registration period, which allowed me to blitz in and enroll as soon as registration began.
I even lucked out and an opening appeared for the marketing class at a more convenient time - presumably someone enrolled but had not paid their tuition so the slot was opened up again this morning.
My schedule is:
M-Th 8:00 - 9:15 Calc II
M/W 9:30 - 10:45 Intro to Marketing
T/Th 12:30 - 1:45 Attitude Assessment
I did run into one snag the first time I tried to register for classes; it accepted me into the marketing and psych class but because I do not have the prereq Calc I class in the database, it wouldn't allow me to register for Calc II. When I called the math department, the staff member on the phone said that Dr P (who is both the grad advisor and my calc II teacher) had not given her the paperwork, but that since she wasn't sure when he was coming in today, she would go ahead and do the override for me so I could enroll today. I said, "When do you think you will have everything in the system?" and she responded, "Oh, I'm doing it right now... OK, it's ready for you to register now." And after thanking her profusely, I got off the phone and tried signing up for the classes (lecture and lab sections) again and it worked. Awesomeness. I really appreciate the fact that every time I need to get something done at TSU, the people are genuinely interested in smoothing the way and are immediately helpful (and generally cheerfully so); it makes for a very positive customer experience.
I have purchased a commuter parking permit ($72 - not bad!) but Robert found that TSU has a shuttle that picks up at the Whataburger in the shopping center across from my apartment complex, so if I have trouble with my car or just don't feel like driving, I have an alternative transportation option (that does not involve making Robert miss work).
I am feeling hugely relieved and excited... and because I'm on mind-altering painkillers right now, I'm even more crazy feeling about it. In fact, I am feeling sufficiently separated from myself that I am sort of surprised to watch these words appear on the screen as if from nowhere. It is an odd thing, sort of like that floating/detached head feeling that comes with taking cold medicine only much more so. I should stop now before I begin writing about myself in the third person.
I even lucked out and an opening appeared for the marketing class at a more convenient time - presumably someone enrolled but had not paid their tuition so the slot was opened up again this morning.
My schedule is:
M-Th 8:00 - 9:15 Calc II
M/W 9:30 - 10:45 Intro to Marketing
T/Th 12:30 - 1:45 Attitude Assessment
I did run into one snag the first time I tried to register for classes; it accepted me into the marketing and psych class but because I do not have the prereq Calc I class in the database, it wouldn't allow me to register for Calc II. When I called the math department, the staff member on the phone said that Dr P (who is both the grad advisor and my calc II teacher) had not given her the paperwork, but that since she wasn't sure when he was coming in today, she would go ahead and do the override for me so I could enroll today. I said, "When do you think you will have everything in the system?" and she responded, "Oh, I'm doing it right now... OK, it's ready for you to register now." And after thanking her profusely, I got off the phone and tried signing up for the classes (lecture and lab sections) again and it worked. Awesomeness. I really appreciate the fact that every time I need to get something done at TSU, the people are genuinely interested in smoothing the way and are immediately helpful (and generally cheerfully so); it makes for a very positive customer experience.
I have purchased a commuter parking permit ($72 - not bad!) but Robert found that TSU has a shuttle that picks up at the Whataburger in the shopping center across from my apartment complex, so if I have trouble with my car or just don't feel like driving, I have an alternative transportation option (that does not involve making Robert miss work).
I am feeling hugely relieved and excited... and because I'm on mind-altering painkillers right now, I'm even more crazy feeling about it. In fact, I am feeling sufficiently separated from myself that I am sort of surprised to watch these words appear on the screen as if from nowhere. It is an odd thing, sort of like that floating/detached head feeling that comes with taking cold medicine only much more so. I should stop now before I begin writing about myself in the third person.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Vanity Sizing
From the youlookfab blog, I found this series of articles, written by a pattern maker, about what's going on with the change in women's clothing sizes over time - such that what used to be a size 12 is now a size 6 and so forth. Reading information from someone who actually works in the industry and has some facts about what the situation really is, rather than the rants of unhappy small women, was refreshingly educational. I recommend the entire set of posts. Whether the author is correct in saying that vanity sizing is only a myth (I don't believe she can be trusted to speak for every pattern maker or every clothier on the planet - Chico's sizing alone stands as some kind of counter-argument), she certainly makes clear that there is a lot of complexity (technologically, economically, etc.) to the issue that people are generally completely unaware of when trying to make sense of it, and she apportions out blame/responsibility for bad clothing fit to a wide variety of involved parties.
One thing I see over and over again in these kinds of discussions is smaller women blaming "vanity sizing" for the problems they have getting clothes that fit. "I used to be able to fit a size 4, but now the size 0 hangs on me - damn that vanity sizing!" they say. I just want to ask these women, Have you looked around lately? You are having trouble finding clothes because your skinniness makes you more of an outlier than ever. It's not that I don't sympathize with anyone, small, large, or just oddly-shaped, who has difficulty getting a good fit in clothes, and kvetching about it is surely within everybody's rights, but it seems absolutely insane to me that they blame vanity sizing rather than the obvious changes in body shape and size amongst the population. If vanity sizing were outlawed with 100% successful enforcement, it wouldn't make clothes fit them any better. Those stores would just not offer anything below a size 6 or whatever is the cut-off point for that company's profitability. It's the actual size of the clothing, not the number on the label, that's the issue.
People are getting bigger (esp. with the growth, ahem, of the Hispanic population in this country - of course, race/ethnicity is something people don't want to talk about in this context) so the clothes are getting bigger too. It's not particularly difficult to grasp this, I wouldn't think. It certainly sucks for the tinier women among us, but there isn't some kind of mystery or conspiracy behind it, and it frankly just comes across really shitty when fortunate small-boned, slender women make it sound like it's the fault of those big fatties who need to be pandered to that they cannot get clothes that fit. (And I really do mean that these women are fortunate; people like me, who have a large frame, start looking gaunt and actually pretty awful when we get below a size 6. It's not just a matter of diet and exercise; you have to have won the genetic lottery to be an attractive size 2.)
Note: I am at least as irritated by the self-righteous large women who like to quote that Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 (which is not the modern size 12), as though that justifies their own size and means that the world at large is somehow duty-bound to find their bodies attractive. We can call her a size 372 for all I care, but she was hot and these complainers are generally not; no amount of quibbling over the numbers is going to change that either.
Several commenters on the youlookfab blog appeared to be saying they disliked "vanity sizing" because if women knew they were "really" a size 14, they would think twice before eating another doughnut - as if overweight women aren't aware of their size all the time. To say nothing of the ludicrousness of clothiers making items available that will cause their would-be customers break down crying in the dressing room instead of buying something. Lane Bryant clearly needs to replace their current branding with big signs that say "You too fat to buy new clothes, pig-woman!" That'll teach 'em. Because we all know that low self-esteem is so effective at making women lose weight, even if we were to grant (which we are not!) that encouraging weight loss is something the clothing industry needs to promote more than it already does.
This comment sums up another argument I see a lot and that blows my mind every time: "the discrepancies in sizes between various brands and retailers makes it much more difficult to successfully shop online. it would be nice to have across-the-board standards dictated by a higher authority…kinda like the FDA but for fashion (although the FDA ain’t all that effective either…)" Leaving aside (1) that there is a reasonable argument that the major problem with the FDA is that they are so afraid of bad publicity that they would rather let hundreds of nameless people die from withheld treatment rather than have one person die such that the public could believe it was from some treatment the FDA approved and (2) the idiosyncratic emphasis on online shopping convenience as a primary driver in the desire to get something done about sizes, there is this assumption in these kinds of calls for government action that the standardized fit that the government would be enforcing would somehow magically match that of the individual calling for the standards. How do these people not see that by allowing different manufacturers to target different market segments, there is much more diversity in sizing and hence it's possible for most people to find clothes that at least fit okay? I would shudder to imagine, say, Jen and Tam being forced to buy clothing made according to one set of sizing standards, since they do not have the exact same body scaled up. And my mom and I have many times been hugely amused when trying on pants together at a second-hand store - she will put some on that are so huge in the butt/thighs that surely they must fit even me, but, heh, no way, even though we both end up buying the same size of different manufacturers/styles.
Knowing how to sew hems, take in side seams, and insert simple darts are useful skills that I'm very glad I have.
One thing I see over and over again in these kinds of discussions is smaller women blaming "vanity sizing" for the problems they have getting clothes that fit. "I used to be able to fit a size 4, but now the size 0 hangs on me - damn that vanity sizing!" they say. I just want to ask these women, Have you looked around lately? You are having trouble finding clothes because your skinniness makes you more of an outlier than ever. It's not that I don't sympathize with anyone, small, large, or just oddly-shaped, who has difficulty getting a good fit in clothes, and kvetching about it is surely within everybody's rights, but it seems absolutely insane to me that they blame vanity sizing rather than the obvious changes in body shape and size amongst the population. If vanity sizing were outlawed with 100% successful enforcement, it wouldn't make clothes fit them any better. Those stores would just not offer anything below a size 6 or whatever is the cut-off point for that company's profitability. It's the actual size of the clothing, not the number on the label, that's the issue.
People are getting bigger (esp. with the growth, ahem, of the Hispanic population in this country - of course, race/ethnicity is something people don't want to talk about in this context) so the clothes are getting bigger too. It's not particularly difficult to grasp this, I wouldn't think. It certainly sucks for the tinier women among us, but there isn't some kind of mystery or conspiracy behind it, and it frankly just comes across really shitty when fortunate small-boned, slender women make it sound like it's the fault of those big fatties who need to be pandered to that they cannot get clothes that fit. (And I really do mean that these women are fortunate; people like me, who have a large frame, start looking gaunt and actually pretty awful when we get below a size 6. It's not just a matter of diet and exercise; you have to have won the genetic lottery to be an attractive size 2.)
Note: I am at least as irritated by the self-righteous large women who like to quote that Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 (which is not the modern size 12), as though that justifies their own size and means that the world at large is somehow duty-bound to find their bodies attractive. We can call her a size 372 for all I care, but she was hot and these complainers are generally not; no amount of quibbling over the numbers is going to change that either.
Several commenters on the youlookfab blog appeared to be saying they disliked "vanity sizing" because if women knew they were "really" a size 14, they would think twice before eating another doughnut - as if overweight women aren't aware of their size all the time. To say nothing of the ludicrousness of clothiers making items available that will cause their would-be customers break down crying in the dressing room instead of buying something. Lane Bryant clearly needs to replace their current branding with big signs that say "You too fat to buy new clothes, pig-woman!" That'll teach 'em. Because we all know that low self-esteem is so effective at making women lose weight, even if we were to grant (which we are not!) that encouraging weight loss is something the clothing industry needs to promote more than it already does.
This comment sums up another argument I see a lot and that blows my mind every time: "the discrepancies in sizes between various brands and retailers makes it much more difficult to successfully shop online. it would be nice to have across-the-board standards dictated by a higher authority…kinda like the FDA but for fashion (although the FDA ain’t all that effective either…)" Leaving aside (1) that there is a reasonable argument that the major problem with the FDA is that they are so afraid of bad publicity that they would rather let hundreds of nameless people die from withheld treatment rather than have one person die such that the public could believe it was from some treatment the FDA approved and (2) the idiosyncratic emphasis on online shopping convenience as a primary driver in the desire to get something done about sizes, there is this assumption in these kinds of calls for government action that the standardized fit that the government would be enforcing would somehow magically match that of the individual calling for the standards. How do these people not see that by allowing different manufacturers to target different market segments, there is much more diversity in sizing and hence it's possible for most people to find clothes that at least fit okay? I would shudder to imagine, say, Jen and Tam being forced to buy clothing made according to one set of sizing standards, since they do not have the exact same body scaled up. And my mom and I have many times been hugely amused when trying on pants together at a second-hand store - she will put some on that are so huge in the butt/thighs that surely they must fit even me, but, heh, no way, even though we both end up buying the same size of different manufacturers/styles.
Knowing how to sew hems, take in side seams, and insert simple darts are useful skills that I'm very glad I have.
Backyard Birding, Of A Sort
Because I stayed up late last night (exercised too late, then cramps), and got under 6 hours of sleep the night before, I didn't get up with Robert's alarm this morning at 6:00. Instead I spent the next two hours half-dozing, half-lounging with my head under a pillow.
At one point, I was in my parents' living room, looking out the back windows at four giant colorful birds (two adult, two young) on the fence.
"What kind of birds are those?" I asked my mom.
"Hmm... I don't know."
"They aren't turkeys, not with those strange crowns, but they are not familiar at all... Wait," I said, recognizing this experience of viewing of exotic, fantastical birds in my mom's yard, "I'm dreaming now, aren't I." (I dream about this situation quite often.)
My mom looked over the tops of her reading glasses at me from the sofa and said, "How should I know?"
"Fair point. OK." I went to the glass patio doors in the dining room, thinking: if this works, I must be dreaming. I opened the door slightly, then pushed it closed really hard so that the glass expanded out - sort of like the metal hinged doors in old elevators but glass, so it makes no sense - and covered the entire back wall of the house. "OK, I am definitely dreaming." For further amusement, I walked up the side of the wall like Spiderman and then walked across the floor on my hands. Then I could not resist making the radio come on to play Nashville pop country music with these lyrics that I made up on the spot for the occasion:
"I waited for the darkness
And hoped for the rain
But I was the one to fall."
At this point, I was sufficiently satisfied with testing my powers that I decided to wake up, and did.
Someday I am going to see someone's escaped parrot sitting on the branch of my parents' pear tree and become very, very confused when I am unable to make Bell (the cat) float across the room using the powers of my mind or, worse, hurt myself attempting to juggle their knives.
At one point, I was in my parents' living room, looking out the back windows at four giant colorful birds (two adult, two young) on the fence.
"What kind of birds are those?" I asked my mom.
"Hmm... I don't know."
"They aren't turkeys, not with those strange crowns, but they are not familiar at all... Wait," I said, recognizing this experience of viewing of exotic, fantastical birds in my mom's yard, "I'm dreaming now, aren't I." (I dream about this situation quite often.)
My mom looked over the tops of her reading glasses at me from the sofa and said, "How should I know?"
"Fair point. OK." I went to the glass patio doors in the dining room, thinking: if this works, I must be dreaming. I opened the door slightly, then pushed it closed really hard so that the glass expanded out - sort of like the metal hinged doors in old elevators but glass, so it makes no sense - and covered the entire back wall of the house. "OK, I am definitely dreaming." For further amusement, I walked up the side of the wall like Spiderman and then walked across the floor on my hands. Then I could not resist making the radio come on to play Nashville pop country music with these lyrics that I made up on the spot for the occasion:
"I waited for the darkness
And hoped for the rain
But I was the one to fall."
At this point, I was sufficiently satisfied with testing my powers that I decided to wake up, and did.
Someday I am going to see someone's escaped parrot sitting on the branch of my parents' pear tree and become very, very confused when I am unable to make Bell (the cat) float across the room using the powers of my mind or, worse, hurt myself attempting to juggle their knives.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Marketing Programs Revisited
As I've discussed before, I had not been able to completely eliminate all marketing PhD programs from consideration, and the more I think about it, the more compelling the arguments are to apply to at least a few. Of course, marketing PhD programs are a small, niche market, unlike psychology programs, and it's proven rather surprisingly difficult to glean any information about them online (whereas it's super easy to find web sites dedicated to helping you get into psychology programs in general, finding information about social psychology, and convincing you that you would be a fool to get a psychology PhD). It's like panning for gold to find any nuggets of real information among all the chatter about MBA programs. But I have been able to find out some things, much of it from psychology sources, amusingly enough.
I spend the entire day today researching specific marketing PhD programs and taking copious notes, particularly on the professors and the students. I still have a lot of this to do. It was kind of tedious, and my mouse hand got quite tired, but it's necessary work and ultimately was more acceptable to me today than demonstrating (or to be more accurate: attempting with abiding desperation to demonstrate) that the integral from 0 to infinity of sin x/x dx is convergent. It's good to remember what all this calculus-induced headache is for.
Some Advantages to Marketing PhD Programs:
(1) Comparing psych departments to marketing departments, I have found that there tend to be clusters of professors specializing in consumer behavior-oriented research in (some) marketing programs, where any given psych department is lucky to have one or maybe two professors in a compatible field of study, even when that field is defined broadly to include general topics such as attitude change. This means that in those marketing programs, my area of interest is not some sideline to the main work occurring in social cognition or the psychology of peace or whatnot, but is a primary, thriving research field with many professors and students working on the subject. This is appealing. It also sounds practical since I am not stuck hoping like hell that Professor X, the one person doing compatible work, is not an asshole and is taking on grad students right now and is not going to move to some other school right after I get accepted.
And I appear not to be totally alone in this perception. According to Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology, "an undergraduate student with a degree in psychology and a genuine interest in consumer psychology would be wise to seek graduate training within a professional school or department" because so many of the psych PhDs in the field are now housed within business schools and are training their own students there rather than in the psych department.
A surprisingly large number of marketing professors are publishing in the psychology literature also, including top social and personality psychology publications. Many if not most members of the APA Division 23 - Society for Consumer Psychology are working out of business schools.
(2) Marketing programs are more likely than straight psych departments to have people doing the kind of interdisciplinary work in psychology/economics that interests me, since, duh, marketing is an obvious nexus between these two disciplines. So while the flexibility to go into a totally non-consumer related aspect of psychology is gone (so long emergent properties of complex social categories), I have more flexibility in pursuing behavioral decision-making, experimental economics, etc.
(3) Let's talk money and job security, now and in the future. Since marketing degrees are so, duh, marketable in the private sector, the business schools have to pay both students and professors more money. (See: supply and demand.) The stipend for marketing students is apparently often twice as high as stipends for psych students; I have not done any exhaustive comparison myself, but the marketing programs do seem to be paying more. It was not unusual for me to see figures in the range of $15,000 - $22,000 per year, with all tuition and fees paid. The programs themselves are also better funded, which can mean better and more accessible equipment, etc. And starting salaries for marketing professors is something in the range of $90,000 a year.
But the thing that really gets me is that everything I have read says that it is much easier to get an academic position as a marketing professor than as a psychology professor. This is so true that many people who get social psychology PhDs in consumer psychology end up getting hired by business schools, though sometimes after having to do post-docs (which is another couple of years of being paid squat to do research and is not something I saw on the CV of a single marketing professor who came directly from a marketing PhD program). Robert read that the number of openings in a given year for marketing professors is less than the number of marketing PhD graduates, hence they have to make up the difference with psychology students. This is very different from the psych world, where the supply of psych grads outstrips the available jobs in academia (esp in research-oriented universities) by a large margin.
But couldn't I just get my social psychology degree with a focus on consumer psychology and get hired by a business school and all is fine and dandy? Well, maybe I could. However, I will have spent the last several years teaching classes like Intro to Psychology and Intro to Social Psychology and not Intro to Marketing and Consumer Behavior. That seems like a kind of awkward transition. Why not do the marketing degree if I am going to be working in marketing?
Although I would not be happy spending the rest of my life researching and teaching boring aspects of marketing like professional selling, retailing, supply chain analysis, customer management, or entrepreurship, there are plenty of opportunities to focus on fun topics like persuasion, decision processes, emotional attachment, consumption of time, psychology of financial decision making, memory and judgment, consumer perceptions, social relations theory, motivation, self-regulation, affect and cognition in customer satisfaction, future oriented consumption behaviors, affect biases in processing, meta-cognition, non-conscious goal pursuit, preference construction, and food consumption (to name just a few of the research areas listed by professors I looked at today).
(4) Older students who have spent some time in the workplace are much more common among marketing PhD programs. (Psych programs tend to like to get their hands on kids when they're young and stupid and don't know any better.) I think I will be less of an anomaly as a 35 year old applicant who has spent 8 years doing market research management and might even get a little credit for having some real world experience. As a psych applicant, all my years in the workforce are basically a negative.
Disadvantages of Marketing PhD Programs:
(1) Unlike psychology, where masters degrees are usually treated as suspect for PhD applicants (because most people in the experimental psych disciplines get their masters en route to their PhD and masters degrees are often pursued as a remedial degree for those whose BAs were lousy and did not entail enough research to prepare them for "real" grad school), marketing programs often prefer them and some of them even require them. However, I have seen programs which claim to want students with masters degrees but then have several current students who do not, and there are certainly programs that specifically state that they do not care about masters degrees, particularly MBAs, which bear no relationship to a PhD program preparing one for academic research. I think I will be somewhat less competitive without a masters degree but not hugely so.
(2) More problematic is that the damn programs are so freaking small. They typically only admit 1 - 5 students per year, out of anywhere from 100 - 300 applicants. Yikes. Even if you assume that the majority of those applicants are totally unqualified, the numbers are still not favorable. Of course, the kind of top psych PhD programs that eventually graduate people into decent university appointments have among the lowest acceptance rates around, so I'm basically embarking on a risky enterprise no matter what I do. I am going to have to just look really, really good, period.
(3) They also like their applicants to have a strong quantitative background, more so than psychology. I am working on mine and will be able to meet/exceed the minimum requirements, but this is going to be a weak spot for me going up against the amazingly large number of mathematicians, engineers, statisticians, and econometricians who end up in marketing PhD programs. However, I hope that most of those guys (and yes, they are mostly men) will be entering "quantitative" rather than "behavioral" marketing tracks and hence I will not be competing with them quite as directly. The women (yep, it's the classic gender divide) in the behavioral programs, particularly the Americans, look more like me (or me as I will be when I apply) in their math background.
(4) Many programs also require general business coursework in accounting, finance, management, etc., as prerequisites. I am not thrilled at the prospect of doing this. Fortunately, programs that are serious about the business background also tend to be the ones that absolutely require an MBA as a qualification for the program, so I can just eliminate them from consideration. Some programs don't seem to give a flying fuck whether you have taken these classes or not and frankly state that a background in the social sciences and/or quantitative subjects is the preparation they prefer to see. Some, like UT, want a small enough number of these classes (which can sometimes be taken after you are admitted, if you are otherwise impressive enough) to be worth doing if it means getting to attend a top program.
(5) I will have to take the GMAT for a lot of these programs, which is another test prep, expense, and general source of stress and pain in the ass. But if I'm lucky, the GMAT will not be totally different from the GRE so it will not require a huge amount of extra study. And I recognize it's silly to be concerned about extra study, given what I'm willing to do to get into a good program in general. I just am iffy on standardized tests because I feel that I don't test very well. This perception is really arrogant, I grant, from someone who scored a 1540 or so on the GRE when I took it 10 years ago, but it feels true even if it's not and that perception is a little anxiety-inducing. I also don't know how well I will do now, since 10 years is a long time ago. Obviously, I plan to prep for the exams, but I would not be surprised to score somewhat lower than when all that geometry and stuff was fresh and I was more in the groove of taking tests. I would like to take the GRE earlier rather than later so I can see where I stand vis-a-vis average GRE scores for various programs.
(6) At the end of the day, I will get a job in a business school, teaching marketing and behavioral courses to undergraduate business majors, MBA students, and maybe eventually marketing PhD students. This seems less fun than teaching psychology students. I am really into this whole thing for the research, but teaching is a big part of the job and it needs to be relatively enjoyable (or at minimum endurable). I will have a better feel for this once I have actually taken intro to marketing this coming semester and consumer behavior next semester. A couple of years ago, I read an intro to marketing book and was surprised to find the material quite interesting, so perhaps there is some hope for me here. But this is still a primary downside to the marketing PhD path.
(7) If I decide that consumer psychology isn't for me, I'm basically screwed. In a psychology department, I can make the transition to another area of social psychology where I know I have an abundance of interests. It is my prediction that in a marketing program that is a good fit, where the professors are working on psychology-based behavioral research, I'll be happy, but that means that I have to be even pickier about marketing programs than I am psychology programs.
I spend the entire day today researching specific marketing PhD programs and taking copious notes, particularly on the professors and the students. I still have a lot of this to do. It was kind of tedious, and my mouse hand got quite tired, but it's necessary work and ultimately was more acceptable to me today than demonstrating (or to be more accurate: attempting with abiding desperation to demonstrate) that the integral from 0 to infinity of sin x/x dx is convergent. It's good to remember what all this calculus-induced headache is for.
Some Advantages to Marketing PhD Programs:
(1) Comparing psych departments to marketing departments, I have found that there tend to be clusters of professors specializing in consumer behavior-oriented research in (some) marketing programs, where any given psych department is lucky to have one or maybe two professors in a compatible field of study, even when that field is defined broadly to include general topics such as attitude change. This means that in those marketing programs, my area of interest is not some sideline to the main work occurring in social cognition or the psychology of peace or whatnot, but is a primary, thriving research field with many professors and students working on the subject. This is appealing. It also sounds practical since I am not stuck hoping like hell that Professor X, the one person doing compatible work, is not an asshole and is taking on grad students right now and is not going to move to some other school right after I get accepted.
And I appear not to be totally alone in this perception. According to Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology, "an undergraduate student with a degree in psychology and a genuine interest in consumer psychology would be wise to seek graduate training within a professional school or department" because so many of the psych PhDs in the field are now housed within business schools and are training their own students there rather than in the psych department.
A surprisingly large number of marketing professors are publishing in the psychology literature also, including top social and personality psychology publications. Many if not most members of the APA Division 23 - Society for Consumer Psychology are working out of business schools.
(2) Marketing programs are more likely than straight psych departments to have people doing the kind of interdisciplinary work in psychology/economics that interests me, since, duh, marketing is an obvious nexus between these two disciplines. So while the flexibility to go into a totally non-consumer related aspect of psychology is gone (so long emergent properties of complex social categories), I have more flexibility in pursuing behavioral decision-making, experimental economics, etc.
(3) Let's talk money and job security, now and in the future. Since marketing degrees are so, duh, marketable in the private sector, the business schools have to pay both students and professors more money. (See: supply and demand.) The stipend for marketing students is apparently often twice as high as stipends for psych students; I have not done any exhaustive comparison myself, but the marketing programs do seem to be paying more. It was not unusual for me to see figures in the range of $15,000 - $22,000 per year, with all tuition and fees paid. The programs themselves are also better funded, which can mean better and more accessible equipment, etc. And starting salaries for marketing professors is something in the range of $90,000 a year.
But the thing that really gets me is that everything I have read says that it is much easier to get an academic position as a marketing professor than as a psychology professor. This is so true that many people who get social psychology PhDs in consumer psychology end up getting hired by business schools, though sometimes after having to do post-docs (which is another couple of years of being paid squat to do research and is not something I saw on the CV of a single marketing professor who came directly from a marketing PhD program). Robert read that the number of openings in a given year for marketing professors is less than the number of marketing PhD graduates, hence they have to make up the difference with psychology students. This is very different from the psych world, where the supply of psych grads outstrips the available jobs in academia (esp in research-oriented universities) by a large margin.
But couldn't I just get my social psychology degree with a focus on consumer psychology and get hired by a business school and all is fine and dandy? Well, maybe I could. However, I will have spent the last several years teaching classes like Intro to Psychology and Intro to Social Psychology and not Intro to Marketing and Consumer Behavior. That seems like a kind of awkward transition. Why not do the marketing degree if I am going to be working in marketing?
Although I would not be happy spending the rest of my life researching and teaching boring aspects of marketing like professional selling, retailing, supply chain analysis, customer management, or entrepreurship, there are plenty of opportunities to focus on fun topics like persuasion, decision processes, emotional attachment, consumption of time, psychology of financial decision making, memory and judgment, consumer perceptions, social relations theory, motivation, self-regulation, affect and cognition in customer satisfaction, future oriented consumption behaviors, affect biases in processing, meta-cognition, non-conscious goal pursuit, preference construction, and food consumption (to name just a few of the research areas listed by professors I looked at today).
(4) Older students who have spent some time in the workplace are much more common among marketing PhD programs. (Psych programs tend to like to get their hands on kids when they're young and stupid and don't know any better.) I think I will be less of an anomaly as a 35 year old applicant who has spent 8 years doing market research management and might even get a little credit for having some real world experience. As a psych applicant, all my years in the workforce are basically a negative.
Disadvantages of Marketing PhD Programs:
(1) Unlike psychology, where masters degrees are usually treated as suspect for PhD applicants (because most people in the experimental psych disciplines get their masters en route to their PhD and masters degrees are often pursued as a remedial degree for those whose BAs were lousy and did not entail enough research to prepare them for "real" grad school), marketing programs often prefer them and some of them even require them. However, I have seen programs which claim to want students with masters degrees but then have several current students who do not, and there are certainly programs that specifically state that they do not care about masters degrees, particularly MBAs, which bear no relationship to a PhD program preparing one for academic research. I think I will be somewhat less competitive without a masters degree but not hugely so.
(2) More problematic is that the damn programs are so freaking small. They typically only admit 1 - 5 students per year, out of anywhere from 100 - 300 applicants. Yikes. Even if you assume that the majority of those applicants are totally unqualified, the numbers are still not favorable. Of course, the kind of top psych PhD programs that eventually graduate people into decent university appointments have among the lowest acceptance rates around, so I'm basically embarking on a risky enterprise no matter what I do. I am going to have to just look really, really good, period.
(3) They also like their applicants to have a strong quantitative background, more so than psychology. I am working on mine and will be able to meet/exceed the minimum requirements, but this is going to be a weak spot for me going up against the amazingly large number of mathematicians, engineers, statisticians, and econometricians who end up in marketing PhD programs. However, I hope that most of those guys (and yes, they are mostly men) will be entering "quantitative" rather than "behavioral" marketing tracks and hence I will not be competing with them quite as directly. The women (yep, it's the classic gender divide) in the behavioral programs, particularly the Americans, look more like me (or me as I will be when I apply) in their math background.
(4) Many programs also require general business coursework in accounting, finance, management, etc., as prerequisites. I am not thrilled at the prospect of doing this. Fortunately, programs that are serious about the business background also tend to be the ones that absolutely require an MBA as a qualification for the program, so I can just eliminate them from consideration. Some programs don't seem to give a flying fuck whether you have taken these classes or not and frankly state that a background in the social sciences and/or quantitative subjects is the preparation they prefer to see. Some, like UT, want a small enough number of these classes (which can sometimes be taken after you are admitted, if you are otherwise impressive enough) to be worth doing if it means getting to attend a top program.
(5) I will have to take the GMAT for a lot of these programs, which is another test prep, expense, and general source of stress and pain in the ass. But if I'm lucky, the GMAT will not be totally different from the GRE so it will not require a huge amount of extra study. And I recognize it's silly to be concerned about extra study, given what I'm willing to do to get into a good program in general. I just am iffy on standardized tests because I feel that I don't test very well. This perception is really arrogant, I grant, from someone who scored a 1540 or so on the GRE when I took it 10 years ago, but it feels true even if it's not and that perception is a little anxiety-inducing. I also don't know how well I will do now, since 10 years is a long time ago. Obviously, I plan to prep for the exams, but I would not be surprised to score somewhat lower than when all that geometry and stuff was fresh and I was more in the groove of taking tests. I would like to take the GRE earlier rather than later so I can see where I stand vis-a-vis average GRE scores for various programs.
(6) At the end of the day, I will get a job in a business school, teaching marketing and behavioral courses to undergraduate business majors, MBA students, and maybe eventually marketing PhD students. This seems less fun than teaching psychology students. I am really into this whole thing for the research, but teaching is a big part of the job and it needs to be relatively enjoyable (or at minimum endurable). I will have a better feel for this once I have actually taken intro to marketing this coming semester and consumer behavior next semester. A couple of years ago, I read an intro to marketing book and was surprised to find the material quite interesting, so perhaps there is some hope for me here. But this is still a primary downside to the marketing PhD path.
(7) If I decide that consumer psychology isn't for me, I'm basically screwed. In a psychology department, I can make the transition to another area of social psychology where I know I have an abundance of interests. It is my prediction that in a marketing program that is a good fit, where the professors are working on psychology-based behavioral research, I'll be happy, but that means that I have to be even pickier about marketing programs than I am psychology programs.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Hypothesis Still Standing
My (only half-joking) hypothesis has been that my calc instructor is going to just give me 100s on all the assignments from here on out. Homeworks #11 and #12 have already come back with 100s and no notes/comments on the pages. I just now checked my progress report and homeworks #13 and #14 are also graded with 100s. So far, so good.
Of course, homeworks #17-19 are where the hypothesis is really going to be tested, since I have at least one problem on each assignment that I know is wrong.
I am working on my last (four-part) problem on my last homework assignment (#19) for the class! I have finished part a but am baffled by parts b-d. Determining the convergence or divergence of improper integrals that lack elementary solutions is annoying; I am not good at coming up with appropriate "comparison" functions for these. I have already given up on one such problem in this assignment set and consider it likely that I will bail on the remaining three.
Blah! I say.
Finding useful information online for the tougher problems on my math homework has been quite difficult. Too often I find that the recommended methods of handling the problem (or a very similar problem) use methods that I don't have in my Calc 1 toolbox yet - polar coordinates, multivariate calculus, Fourier series. And much of the time, it's just about impossible to find anything at all about the problem that's confounding me. At a minimum, the fact that google doesn't consistently recognize the use of mathematical symbols in the search (when you can even express the mathematical symbols using the standard keyboard) means you get a lot of garbage as you try to find pages that use precisely the text "sin x/x" and not some other combination of "sin" and "x." And I don't speak LaTeX.
Fortunately, I have been able to make good use of my inhouse tutor, but lately, even he has been saying things like "I don't remember ever doing this" and "OK, I've read the material in the book, but this book sucks." His thinking about the book's style, which I had not considered before but makes sense to me, is that this method of teaching by example works particularly poorly when there is no instructor to fill in the gaps. This would explain why it always seems to me that they show us a few simple examples of problems and then spring really hard problems on us in the homework; maybe the examples really are inadequate to teaching the material without an instructor.
In any event, I'm going to be happy to have a professor to actually go over future material in a classroom. This will be especially true as we approach the introduction of the dreaded Taylor series. I might also be allowed to use a calculator. And take advantage of the 3-D imaging capabilities of Mathematica instead of trying to visualize things all in my head, and failing, and trying to actually create my own models using glasses and balls and pieces of paper, and failing. (There is a "lab" section that accompanies my class; surely that means we will be using Mathematica or Maple or something.)
Of course, homeworks #17-19 are where the hypothesis is really going to be tested, since I have at least one problem on each assignment that I know is wrong.
I am working on my last (four-part) problem on my last homework assignment (#19) for the class! I have finished part a but am baffled by parts b-d. Determining the convergence or divergence of improper integrals that lack elementary solutions is annoying; I am not good at coming up with appropriate "comparison" functions for these. I have already given up on one such problem in this assignment set and consider it likely that I will bail on the remaining three.
Blah! I say.
Finding useful information online for the tougher problems on my math homework has been quite difficult. Too often I find that the recommended methods of handling the problem (or a very similar problem) use methods that I don't have in my Calc 1 toolbox yet - polar coordinates, multivariate calculus, Fourier series. And much of the time, it's just about impossible to find anything at all about the problem that's confounding me. At a minimum, the fact that google doesn't consistently recognize the use of mathematical symbols in the search (when you can even express the mathematical symbols using the standard keyboard) means you get a lot of garbage as you try to find pages that use precisely the text "sin x/x" and not some other combination of "sin" and "x." And I don't speak LaTeX.
Fortunately, I have been able to make good use of my inhouse tutor, but lately, even he has been saying things like "I don't remember ever doing this" and "OK, I've read the material in the book, but this book sucks." His thinking about the book's style, which I had not considered before but makes sense to me, is that this method of teaching by example works particularly poorly when there is no instructor to fill in the gaps. This would explain why it always seems to me that they show us a few simple examples of problems and then spring really hard problems on us in the homework; maybe the examples really are inadequate to teaching the material without an instructor.
In any event, I'm going to be happy to have a professor to actually go over future material in a classroom. This will be especially true as we approach the introduction of the dreaded Taylor series. I might also be allowed to use a calculator. And take advantage of the 3-D imaging capabilities of Mathematica instead of trying to visualize things all in my head, and failing, and trying to actually create my own models using glasses and balls and pieces of paper, and failing. (There is a "lab" section that accompanies my class; surely that means we will be using Mathematica or Maple or something.)
Friday, August 3, 2007
The Happiness Project Blog
This morning I decided today would be a total fun day - I would not have to do any work for my calculus class or do any research/work for my future school plans. (Well, I violated that a bit because I did feel compelled to spend about 30 minutes making a stream of consciousness list of "to do" items for my coming semester and things I want to remember to think about/do for longer-term stuff.) So of course, right after breakfast and checking my email, I decided to spend the next couple of hours doing housework - cleaning and cooking. I even unloaded and loaded the dishwasher so my Dish Cleaning Fairy wouldn't have to do it (which turned out well since the DCF came home from work with a migraine today and fell into bed immediately upon putting on more comfortable clothes).
Then I finally started reading a blog that I had come across and had been looking forward to delving into when I had some time - The Happiness Project blog. This is the blog of a woman planning to write a book about happiness based on a year of her life, trying to apply the myriad prescriptions for happiness, from Epicurus through Oprah. I started with the very first entry in the archives and am working my way toward the present. I immediately recognized a kindred spirit in many ways - she is a Crazy Person about organization, clutter-busting & closet cleaning (she quoted a magazine article in which a reader suggested a term opposite to a pack rat - a "wouldchuck" - which I like a lot), sticking with her routine, and other Myers Briggs Judger type qualities.
If you're interested in reading a post that made me laugh out loud (I mean this in the literal sense), check out this post about her failings during "Pollyanna Week." The orange bracelet observation was priceless.
I am familiar with a fair amount of the happiness research but have found that historically, I have resisted many of the things that have been known for centuries to make people happy - things like doing favors for others, taking care to notice your good circumstances and feel grateful, making the decision to think about something in a positive rather than negative light (i.e. re-framing), creating and maintaining flourishing social networks, etc. When I was younger (as a teenager specifically - not like last week), I fell into that unfortunate tendency to assume that using any of these kinds of Jedi mind tricks (see, even the name I gave them demonstrates my disdain) on oneself was bogus and "inauthentic." But I got a little older, fell in love with the works of psychologist William James (this love not to be confused with uncritical acceptance), and slowly came to see that these mind hacks (notice the terminology improvement) can serve a useful, positive purpose. This is not to say that I have made much of an effort to trying them in any systematic way, though I think it would be a good idea. My alter ego remains a mean, curmudgeonly loner, keepin' it real with depression and anxiety.
I was quite taken by these quotations from the Happiness Project blog, which resonate with me:
W. H. Auden observed, “Between the ages of twenty and forty we are engaged in the process of discovering who we are, which involves learning the difference between accidental limitations which it is our duty to outgrow and the necessary limitations of our nature beyond which we cannot trespass with impunity.”
But in the meantime, I keep reminding myself of something C. S. Lewis wrote: “When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” I don't want my pride to keep me from venturing away from the familiar.
I still struggle with these issues in a big way.
Then I finally started reading a blog that I had come across and had been looking forward to delving into when I had some time - The Happiness Project blog. This is the blog of a woman planning to write a book about happiness based on a year of her life, trying to apply the myriad prescriptions for happiness, from Epicurus through Oprah. I started with the very first entry in the archives and am working my way toward the present. I immediately recognized a kindred spirit in many ways - she is a Crazy Person about organization, clutter-busting & closet cleaning (she quoted a magazine article in which a reader suggested a term opposite to a pack rat - a "wouldchuck" - which I like a lot), sticking with her routine, and other Myers Briggs Judger type qualities.
If you're interested in reading a post that made me laugh out loud (I mean this in the literal sense), check out this post about her failings during "Pollyanna Week." The orange bracelet observation was priceless.
I am familiar with a fair amount of the happiness research but have found that historically, I have resisted many of the things that have been known for centuries to make people happy - things like doing favors for others, taking care to notice your good circumstances and feel grateful, making the decision to think about something in a positive rather than negative light (i.e. re-framing), creating and maintaining flourishing social networks, etc. When I was younger (as a teenager specifically - not like last week), I fell into that unfortunate tendency to assume that using any of these kinds of Jedi mind tricks (see, even the name I gave them demonstrates my disdain) on oneself was bogus and "inauthentic." But I got a little older, fell in love with the works of psychologist William James (this love not to be confused with uncritical acceptance), and slowly came to see that these mind hacks (notice the terminology improvement) can serve a useful, positive purpose. This is not to say that I have made much of an effort to trying them in any systematic way, though I think it would be a good idea. My alter ego remains a mean, curmudgeonly loner, keepin' it real with depression and anxiety.
I was quite taken by these quotations from the Happiness Project blog, which resonate with me:
W. H. Auden observed, “Between the ages of twenty and forty we are engaged in the process of discovering who we are, which involves learning the difference between accidental limitations which it is our duty to outgrow and the necessary limitations of our nature beyond which we cannot trespass with impunity.”
But in the meantime, I keep reminding myself of something C. S. Lewis wrote: “When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” I don't want my pride to keep me from venturing away from the familiar.
I still struggle with these issues in a big way.
"As Good As It Gets" Noodle Salad
From the movie "As Good As It Gets" (which of course you have seen because it is excellent and Jack Nicholson is brilliant in it; it has the line I sort of want on a t-shirt, "Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here"):
Carol (Helen Hunt): OK, we all have these terrible stories to get over, and you-...
Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson): It's not true. Some have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But, a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good.
I do not have a boat, but this week I made a noodle salad that is so good that it will make other people bitter and angry.
Sally's "As Good As It Gets" Noodle Salad
Serves 6
12 oz. small pasta (I used a combination of whole wheat rotini and some Wacky Mac for visual interest)
1 lb chicken breast, cubed and cooked
1/2 onion, chopped and cooked with the chicken until soft
Cauliflower florets, steamed until mostly soft (I used 1 head of cauliflower to produce enough florets for my 3 servings)
Calamata olives
Pesto made with:
Lots of fresh basil, as well as some oregano and thyme (from my herb garden)
Extra virgin olive oil
A mix of pine nuts and pecans
Shredded parmesan
Mix ingredients and refrigerate, allowing flavors to blend. Eat and know that life is good.
Carol (Helen Hunt): OK, we all have these terrible stories to get over, and you-...
Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson): It's not true. Some have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But, a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good.
I do not have a boat, but this week I made a noodle salad that is so good that it will make other people bitter and angry.
Sally's "As Good As It Gets" Noodle Salad
Serves 6
12 oz. small pasta (I used a combination of whole wheat rotini and some Wacky Mac for visual interest)
1 lb chicken breast, cubed and cooked
1/2 onion, chopped and cooked with the chicken until soft
Cauliflower florets, steamed until mostly soft (I used 1 head of cauliflower to produce enough florets for my 3 servings)
Calamata olives
Pesto made with:
Lots of fresh basil, as well as some oregano and thyme (from my herb garden)
Extra virgin olive oil
A mix of pine nuts and pecans
Shredded parmesan
Mix ingredients and refrigerate, allowing flavors to blend. Eat and know that life is good.
Even Stupider Than Usual Internet Quiz
...but where Tam leads, I must follow, where these things are concerned.
7331 Cat
41% Affectionate, 53% Excitable, 53% Hungry
7331 Cat
41% Affectionate, 53% Excitable, 53% Hungry
Lolzergs have nothing on you. You are swift and ruthless, cutting down whatever and whomever necessary in order to obtain the foodz. As one of the first lolcat known to man, your ancient skills in location-declaration and object-verbing have been passed down several generations, keeping the spirit of felinity alive.
For a list of all possible results, go here.
To take this moronic quiz for yourself, go here.
What the fuck is a lolcat? Go here for a description and here for examples.
I have a lingering fondness for Roast Beef's lolcat.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Sucky Revised Class Schedule
The very neat, clustered class schedule I planned out before has now gone to hell, as a couple of classes that had only an opening or two have filled up prior to my opportunity to enroll. One I am able to attend at another (undesirable) time and the other is no longer available at all (this was one that I was ambivalent about taking anyway, so it doesn't break my heart). Fortunately, I got my paperwork signed with permissions for a couple other classes, so I should be able to take 3-4 courses, but the timing will be very inconvenient. This is the only semester I will have this problem, since as a grad student I will be able to sign up for classes at the very beginning of the registration period in the future. This semester, due to my late application, I am having to wait for late registration on August 9. Please don't let anything else get screwed up between now and then.
Here's my current tentative schedule, assuming none of them fill up:
Calc II, M-Th, 8:00 - 9:15
Intro to Marketing, M/W, 12:30-1:45
Attitude Change (psyc grad), T/Th, 12:30-1:45
And maybe, if I can gird myself for such a terribly long day, Advanced Stat (psyc grad), M/W, 3:30-4:45
At least I will have an abundant opportunity to eat lunch between my first and second classes.
Here's my current tentative schedule, assuming none of them fill up:
Calc II, M-Th, 8:00 - 9:15
Intro to Marketing, M/W, 12:30-1:45
Attitude Change (psyc grad), T/Th, 12:30-1:45
And maybe, if I can gird myself for such a terribly long day, Advanced Stat (psyc grad), M/W, 3:30-4:45
At least I will have an abundant opportunity to eat lunch between my first and second classes.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Taking Cues From the Sartorial Master
...in which I talk about somebody else's shoes, to add variety to this blog.
Robert was somewhat hesitant about wearing his new burgundy shoes with his grey suit to the commission meeting at work this week, even though I told him I thought they looked good. Person after person on the Internet agreed with this assessment (except one) but he wasn't really comfortable until he read this:
"Watch the movie North by Northwest and see Cary Grant wear some nice burgundy cap-toe shoes with his famous grey suit."
Although we did not actually watch the movie to verify the accuracy of this statement, it was funny how merely evoking Cary Grant in these situations works.
Robert eventually admitted that he couldn't reliably tell that the shoes were not black. I said I thought that few people would notice that they weren't black and those who did would like it.
See for yourself (note that the weird pale dots around the laces are an artifact of the photo and not the shoes):
Of course he then ruined the look by wearing a pair of Mork from Ork era rainbow suspenders, a bolo tie, a puffy pink ski jacket, a brown belt with BOBBY stamped on the back and a big buckle in the shape of Texas, a Rice University baseball cap, a tie-dyed bandanna headband, and a single white Michael Jackson style glove, but the shoes and grey pants worked together nicely and were totally appropriate for his presentation at work.
Robert was somewhat hesitant about wearing his new burgundy shoes with his grey suit to the commission meeting at work this week, even though I told him I thought they looked good. Person after person on the Internet agreed with this assessment (except one) but he wasn't really comfortable until he read this:
"Watch the movie North by Northwest and see Cary Grant wear some nice burgundy cap-toe shoes with his famous grey suit."
Although we did not actually watch the movie to verify the accuracy of this statement, it was funny how merely evoking Cary Grant in these situations works.
Robert eventually admitted that he couldn't reliably tell that the shoes were not black. I said I thought that few people would notice that they weren't black and those who did would like it.
See for yourself (note that the weird pale dots around the laces are an artifact of the photo and not the shoes):
Of course he then ruined the look by wearing a pair of Mork from Ork era rainbow suspenders, a bolo tie, a puffy pink ski jacket, a brown belt with BOBBY stamped on the back and a big buckle in the shape of Texas, a Rice University baseball cap, a tie-dyed bandanna headband, and a single white Michael Jackson style glove, but the shoes and grey pants worked together nicely and were totally appropriate for his presentation at work.
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