Faerieloch Dances

I have been saved from wanting to be sexy, thanks to random men in San Francisco. While attending a conference (read: dressed professionally but definitely not sexily), I was cat-called or commented upon three times in the same day-- once by a homeless man. What is up with that? What on Earth gives these men the right to comment upon me in such a fashion? Clearly it is because they are men and I'm a woman.

Prior to this, I'd been going through a phase where I wanted to feel and appear sexy. I have been totally cured of that. In fact, this experience makes me want to gain back all of the 15-20 lbs I've lost just to avoid such an experience-- being commented on as an object because I'm female and walking down the street. What a horrid world to live in: a world that drives women to not appear attractive or feel attractive because doing so attracts unwanted commentary that needs to be actively resisted.

I now hate the fact that I look good. Well done, random men in San Francisco.

I am in the midst of frantically making a new Victorian dress for Dickens' Faire. I *love* the fabric, but I can't help feeling I'll look like I'm wearing curtains. :P (For sewers or Victorians, do you think I can get away with a purple and burgundy fringe on the dress, even though neither of those colours are in the fabric?) Yesterday I got the skirt pleated and halfway sewn to the waistband, which feels really good. I also got all but two boning channels sewn into one half of the corset. I was once again reminded that *this* was why I had sprung for two specialty presser feet: a stitch-in-the-ditch foot and an edge-stitching foot that has a guide 3/8" from the center needle position. No more measuring and marking boning channels for me! (Except for the ones in the centre of the piece, of course.) I was also really clever and took photos when I was planning out how to pleat the skirt, so that when I came back to it and couldn't remember exactly in spite of my notes, I could just turn on the camera and voila!

On a completely separate note, I'm doing a nuke-and-pave on my laptop, installing windows 7. (For those who say "but why didn't you just upgrade?": I was already running the release candidate and you can't upgrade from it.) Hopefully, this will also speed up my laptop again by getting rid of a whole bunch of cruft and also get it back to running at normal temps (it's been running really hot, lately).

This weekend was opening weekend of the Northern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire, in which I am dancing as part of the group Siamsa le Cheile. Thus, I went down to Casa de Fruta and camped for the weekend. We had good weather, although it was hot in the sun. Then the sun heated the stage so much we could feel it through our shoes. But, back to the beginning. Siamsa is a scottish-irish dance troupe and we do three shows a day at the Port o' Call stage (in the food area): 11:30, 1:30, and 3:30. So I did six shows this weekend. Saturday I didn't drink enough water (only 2.5 litres because they ran out) so I felt really awful in the evening and sortof hungover the next morning until I got more water into me. Sunday I drank at least four litres and felt much better. :) My feet and legs are *really* sore today, but I think it was fun. Saturday was also a bit of a downer because I was in one dance I didn't know particularly well so I felt like I was failing every performance, even though all the other dances went smoothly. However, it was my very first performance with Siamsa, so I guess it wasn't too bad. :) Anyhow, come see me and the rest of the group! I am dancing all weekends of faire except the weekend of 25 sept and closing weekend. If you want to meet up with me at faire, it'll have to be after the 1:30 or 3:30 shows as I have no time after the first show. We always do show notes after each performance and the first ones of the day are where we iron out all the wrinkles. :P

The 14th ICC is going well. There have been, however, a few hiccups. In one session yesterday, one speaker did not show. This meant my talk got moved up and there was an extra 20 mins for general discussion. The discussion was really good and no one felt as if any time were wasted. By contrast, a session I was in this morning was missing two speakers, as it turned out. The session chair appeared remarkably inept, unsure what to do. He did not want to start the next talk early (understandable at a meeting with multiple, parallel sessions), but he did not simply say “we’ll take a ten minute break and re-convene at 10”. Then, in order to fill the time, he asked the next speaker to give a longer introduction to his talk, essentially fobbing the job off on someone else. When that talk was finished and it turned out the last speaker was also a no-show, he rather unenthusiastically declared we had an early coffee break. I was not impressed, especially in direct contrast to the way a similar situation was handled the day before.

Another topic I wanted to address is the recent habit some people have developed of taking pictures of the slides during the presentation. This varies from one individual taking a picture of one or two slides, to several people photographing every slide for their records. I dislike this practice and find it incredibly disruptive both to the speaker and the other listeners. On top of that, there is a certain amount of intellectual property that goes into a presentation and taking a photo seems akin to stealing another’s work. Frequently, the photos aren’t good enough to pawn off as your own, but the direct duplication in any form somehow crosses a line. An exception could be made if the speaker has given prior permission. I have also attended meetings where all presentations are later posted online for posterity but we were consulted first and given the opportunity to remove or change any part of the talk before it was posted.

This first time I experienced this photo-taking phenomenon was with a bunch of undergrads, who would bustle in making an extraordinary racket, sit in front and take photos, then bustle out again in a gaggle. I thought it was just something that people who didn’t know any better and were lazy and didn’t want to take notes did. But here, I’m seeing professional scientists doing exactly the same thing, so I don’t know what’s going on. I suppose if I’m speaking in a session where this is occurring, I will politely ask at the beginning of my talk not to take photos. In my case, almost all the data I work with is in public domain, so they’re taking photos of all my processing results and image enhancements. If they’re interested in the data, they can go get it themselves.

What do you think? Does the same thing happen at meetings in other fields?

I now know two people who have quit grad school, more or less permanently. I have certainly thought about it! However, I decided to stick with it. Why? Because having that degree is really worthwhile: it is a mark of status, no matter where you go. The fact that it raises your pay scale doesn’t hurt, either. A primary reason I’m getting my degree is because I’d like to teach geology, and that can only happen at the university level. To teach at a university, you need a Ph. D.. However, I still occasionally wonder whether it’s all worth it. At this point, it would feel like I’d wasted four years of my life if I quit; I’m so close, another year is a small price to pay. But, people who were almost at the same stage have quit. Should I? Will it make me happier? There are definitely times I’d have said “yes” (like January, when I was swamped with work, conferences, teaching, and proposals). This was the first year I didn’t get my normal kick out of teaching. Bad sign?

Getting a Ph.D. is a really tough process: you essentially spend five-plus years working on a single project. Much of the first two years is taken up with schoolwork, but it’s nonetheless a really long time. Imagine getting to take only one subject (e.g. physics, geology, psychology, 18th c. english lit.) for all of your undergraduate time. Putting it in that context, no wonder so many of us get burnt out. Some keep going, some don’t. I find myself shocked that someone would quit, but I totally understand the desire and have contemplated it myself.

Right now I’m trying to put together a brief talk on my research for a department seminar. It’s an annual tradition in my department that all even-year grad students (2nd, 4th, 6th years) give a brief 15 minute talk about their research. It’s a great time to practice in a non-hostile, relaxed atmosphere and to get feedback on your presentation. It’s definitely the best-attended seminar all year. Two years ago, I was in a tricky position because I didn’t really have any research at that point; it was more of a research outline. This year I’m in the opposite position: I have far too much to cram into 15 minutes. This is a good thing and is serving to remind me that I have in fact accomplished a hell of a lot, particularly in the past year.

People are always impressed when I mention I’m working on my Ph. D.. They are even more impressed when they here I’m researching stuff on Mars (it’s officially “cool” as is anything to do with space). And sometimes it shocks me, because it’s simply what I’m doing. But as I write this, I’m thinking “damn straight they should be impressed! It’s one hell of a difficult job!” I’m not looking forward to the absence of a secure job for the next several years as I finish my Ph. D. and do a post-doc somewhere, and I’m really disliking the feeling of simply jumping through hoops in order to get where I want to be. But, I am finally feeling good about getting my Ph. D., about sticking with it even when it really sucked and felt like I was never going to get anywhere. I am now a long way from where I was a year ago, and am continuing to learn. And it is good.

As some of you know, I am an historical costumer. What does this mean? I like making and dressing up in clothes from historical eras. One of my favourites is Victorian (if you couldn't guess). I subscribe to a monthly online magazine "Your Wardrobe Unlock'd" which has fabulous articles on things like corset-making and drafting, how to make your own pirate dress similar to Kiera Knightly's in "Pirates of the Caribbean", where to find good books and resources, how to make hats, men's tailoring, and more! (Goodness, yes, there is more!) If you click the banner below, it will take you to the site to sign up. If you sign up (after clicking the banner!) then I will get a small bonus for referring someone if you stay for two months. It's only 9.97$/mo. and I certainly don't begrudge the money! I was recently doing research, trying to figure out if a particular fabric was historical, and there was an article right there! So, if you are interested, I highly recommend it. (And, if you sign up in April, I could win a referral contest to win a shiny costuming book of my choice!)

Well, technically it’s day 2—tuesday. Thus far, it has mainly consisted of getting posters up and meals. The second annual Women in Planetary Sciences breakfast. It’s always a good time to network and talk about issues that women (though not exclusively) face in planetary science: the two-body problem, work/life balance (family!), mentoring, how to move up the chain to be a PI, etc. It was really good. :) Lunch was with a bunch of Santa Cruz folks. There were only a handful of talk I wanted to hear in the morning, one mars talk and two lunar talks about m^3. One of the m^3 talks was given by Dad, which is always neat. We’re having dinner tonight before the poster session.

Posters were a challenge this morning. I had Elena’s and Alicia’s posters for today and my and Janice’s posters for thursday. Due to complications, I picked up Adrian’s poster, which he mailed to my hotel. Mario had his poster for thursday and my poster for today. Ensue chaos. Fortunately, it all worked out and all the posters are up.

Favourite talk for the day goes to Carle Pieters et al. and m^3 results. The images it’s sending back are just beautiful and chock-full of great spectra. (Oh, m^3 = Moon Mineralogy Mapper.)

A talk discussing the depth of the cryosphere using MARSIS results (radar) comes a close second

Re-posting and expanding upon a tweet I made. A grant of mine that runs out at the end of the month still has 2000$ on it. I can use this money to buy a new computer, and I'd like recommendations. I need something with lots of processing power, memory, and storage. To explain, I process images (read: 3-d arrays) that are several GB in size. This typically involves reading the image in (usually sequentially, not all at once), doing some sort of frequently-complicated math on them, and spitting them back out. I often have ArcGIS running at the same time, which is a resource-intensive mapping and database management program that can do similarly complex selections and math (intersecting two vector polygons, clipping them, etc.). Combine these two and my laptop hates me. :( It has an Intel core 2 duo with 2 GB of RAM and 120 GB hard drive. I have external drives for it. Because someone tweeted for the info, ENVI runs on an IDL platform and can multi-thread. The IDL processes are interpreted, not compiled (I don't understand what this means, but my lab mate assures me this is the case). ArcGIS runs only in Windows. I also need a better graphics/video card than the default; re-drawing is the cause of frequent delays on my current system.

So, now that y'all have way too much information about my computing needs, please make recommendations!

While we're in London, Albert and I will be going to see "Waiting for Godot". Why? Because it's starring Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart!

I'm dancing in the Piedmont Ceilidh this year, march 7, 6:30-10 pm. There will be called scottish country, ceilidh, and possibly irish dancing that you can participate in, as well as dance performances and singing and bagpipes! This is a casual night of folks gathering together to sing, dance, and generally have a good time. :)



PIEDMONT HIGHLANDER’S CEILIDH

(Ceilidh means a visit or party)


Join us for an Evening of Scottish, Irish and other Celtic Music, Piping, Dance, Song and Stories. Children are welcome.


Saturday: 07 March 2009


Attendees are encouraged to participate, so be sure to bring your dancing shoes, musical instruments, Celtic stories, voice etc. Easy social dances for all will be taught. Scottish/Irish/Celtic attire is welcome, but NOT required.

If you wish to perform something Scottish/Irish/Celtic, please see below.

Please bring finger food or Non-alcoholic drinks to share.



Ellen Driscoll Play House
Next to the Citi Bank

333 Highland Ave

Piedmont, 94611-4023

(Near Oakland, California)

Doors open at 6:00 PM

Ceilidh 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM



Ceilidh Performer information

If you wish to perform at the ceilidh, please contact us by 02 Mar 2009 at dancer.highland@gmail.com Late entries will be accepted on the night of, however it makes life easier to coordinate if you let us know in advance. Please briefly describe your Celtic song, dance, story, poem, musical number, etc, as well as any equipment you will need (microphone, amplifier, music stand, etc). Variable speed CD/Tape player will be available. Please limit your performance to 5 minutes or less. If time permits additional time slots for performer(s) if they wish to do more will be added during the ceilidh.



Please be sure to also participate in the general dancing and singing!

For other information please e-mail dancer.highland@gmail.com.

Ceilidh is Free, although donations will be gratefully accepted.



Directions to the Ellen Driscoll Playhouse
From Highway 580, take the Grand Ave Exit east.

Go through downtown Piedmont.

Turn right on Oakland Ave (there is a stop light)

Turn right on Highland Ave (there is a stoplight)

The Playhouse is about half way down the block, on the right.