Notices by chiasm (chiasm@mastodon.online)

In a fit of navel-gazing, I reviewed the 10ish posts I put up over on FB as part of a 10 days of things that remind you that life is good. I came up with two pictures of things coming into bloom; one cocktail in the afternoon sunlight; one dessert buffet (all you can eat is always one of my weaknesses); space exploration; dinosaurs; fairy tales; and anime. That pretty much covers it. What about you? 😁

Wow. I didn't not need to know that about Neil Gaiman. That man needs more than cancelation. He needs serious physical pain inscribed on his various organs. 🤢

#introduction Realized I've never made an introduction post and I've been here almost a year! 😂 I study the brain and how disorders like schizophrenia develop and play out. I am not a medical doctor of any sort, but I do research for a living. For fun currently I read, play games on my phone, and watch anime, not in that order. I have no hobbies or artistic tendencies--love art, can't make it. My sweetie and I live in the southeast US, and I am a firm believer in not knowing the future.

@bmacDonald94 sigh.

That's nice--i posted on FB I wasn't going to be there anymore, giving my fediverse and Bsky contacts, and promptly got follows here and bsky from a half dozen friends I hadn't known how to follow. Work friends and college friends in my life have often made the switch.

I'll miss my non work mostly older church friends and some family, but that is at this point up to them. #fediverse

Huh! A camp for kids with HIV shuts down after decades--because childhood HIV rates have dropped to such low rates they don't have enough kids!

Wild. That's good news of a sort! (Wish they could turn the camp into something else, but there it is)

https://www.startribune.com/closure-of-northern-minnesota-camp-is-the-greatest-story-heres-why/601199362

@amydiehl interesting! I've found as soon as anyone of any sex tries it for a work-related goal, they often start using regularly, with the usual caveats that it's not deep or brilliant. But it's great at the mind numbing tasks you don't want to do anyway, that don't have to be innovative.

I often wonder what the next generation will roll their eyes at that I don't know how to do--"you can't make your doodle whip do the sniggle fritz? You're so old!".

I just hope it is new technology, and not "you can't grow and preserve your own food? You're so screwed!"

@GottaLaff that's not actually a fair situation. The rrigning political party re-worded the ballot so that as you read it it was not clear what a yes or a no vote was going to do. They deliberately messed with the ballot wording. It was truly shocking when I looked at the ballot and had to read the wording and then go back and check whether I was supposed to vote yes or no. It really looked like voting no is how you would end gerrymandering.

Heh. Very fair point.
"Republican Jesus isn’t half as demanding as Gospel Jesus is. In fact, all things considered, he requires very little from me: say a quick magic prayer in exchange for a permanent Get Out of Hell Free card, a life of unrepentant privilege, and the right to judge the humanity around me however I please. It’s a pretty sweet deal....Republican Jesus also frees me up from worrying about the planet heating up or the coral reefs dying..."

https://johnpavlovitz.com/2023/07/13/im-ready-to-invite-republican-jesus-into-my-heart/

Cutest Halloween costumes last night was a toss up between Goldilocks and her family dressed as the three bears (and Darth Vader), and the puppy family with the toddler who insisted on trying to carry the umbrella Dad had. The umbrella was bigger than the child, so she'd hold it for a few seconds like an adorable mushroom, then drop it and become completely invisible behind it, then dad would pick it up and it would all start over. 😂

#Halloween

There is nothing three day about working with 3 Day Blinds. They are good about showing up to give you a quote, but after that they disappear into the swamp... It was weeks from the time we ordered it, and it was incomplete, and it's now been weeks again.

I'm glad we started by giving them the smaller of the two jobs we were interested in, because we're now two months into it and it's still an incomplete job!

We definitely won't be giving them the larger job we had considered. 😡

I voted today!! I voted for unions and healthcare and democracy, and to honor my grandparents, who way back when supported the war effort against fascism. May their sacrifices not be in vain, eh?

#harriswalz #VoteBlue2024

We have reached the point in the semester where the new undergrad researchers have figured out how R works, and are charging ahead making graphs and doing regressions, exploring and really getting to know the datasets they are working with. They are all proud smiles, have a deserved sense of accomplishment, and I get to see the evolution of their skills and thinking in real time. ::happy::

Plus, they are finding stuff out, which is the addiction we are trying to instill. 😁

#science #R

I am amused that, even though I've been working with some of my collaborators for multiple decades, that when they tell me the grant reads really well and they're really impressive with my hard work on it, I still tend to say to myself, oh well they're just saying that, you have to say that at 5:00 p.m. when the grant is due.

Imposter syndrome dies *hard*. 🤣

#academicchatter

@thomasfuchs So computer trends of getting smaller follow skirt length trends...?

@silverwizard oh wait--what do they say constitutes "proof"? Push back on that.

@silverwizard that's a toughie, for those of us not used to hacking the system like that. Can she screen shot the threats, with date and time and user name, then block that user and see if the same threats show up under another name? That should at least be a start for FB, to show there's a pattern. Proving who it is, though, that I'm not sure about. Can she explain why she thinks she knows who it is? That and the screen shots might be enough to have a conversation with a lawyer.

@silverwizard that sounds like a horrible situation. I'm a little confused how she could be being harassed on FB if she's made her account Friends Only and then unfriended anyone who is nasty, though. You don't have to be wide open to the public, there (unless you are trying to run a business).

Locking her account down only addresses stopping that avenue for the harasser, though. It doesn't address getting the cops to handle threats. But is her harasser using multiple FB accounts?

Stand one foot with your eyes closed? I'm not sure I can stand on two feet with my eyes closed! 😆

It is bizarre how I don't feel myself falling. I'm practicing standing on two feet with eyes closed, shifting my weight to get as little weight in one foot as possible.

After doing that for a few minutes, though, it was weird to open my eyes! It was like meditation.

I wonder if "pay intense attention to every body signal for fear of falling over" is a legit form of some body mindfulness?? 😂