Life as an Extreme Sport

Author: Kelly

lo, on the horizon – there travels a geek

...and everything else, Academics, Doctor Who

Not as though the world really needs further proof of the fact that I’m a terrifically geeky person, but this afternoon I made a Nietzsche/Foucault/robot joke, which hinged on imitating a Dalek. (I can’t really explain it, because like most jokes, that would make it unfunny, but I basically called Foucault Nietzsche 2.0, and it went from there.)

So not only am I geek, but I absorb new pop culture (for those not in the know, I’ve only started watching Doctor Who and Torchwood in the last week or so) at an impossible rate in order to regurgitate it back out into areas of interest. I’m truly, truly pathetic.

…but the people in the room laughed, so hey.

small glimmers

...and everything else, Academics

A few hours later, and at least I got one (rather visible) thing working right. God, reminds me of my CRC days, except without Bennett to keep me company. And this is ever-so-much more fun with someone else around. Especially when there are random episodes of CSI or BSG playing in the background.

And now, oh, dilemma. Continue banging my head against this wall, or switch to the wall of epistemology. Either way, I end up with a headache.

(Lest anyone think that all I feel like doing is taking a break every few hours to swear and complain, rest assured, the swearing and complaining has been pretty much nonstop – I just opt to share every few hours. And a very large portion of the day was very good – the cohesive feeling of the graduate student group at school continues to exist, and yours truly just got herself crowned queen of a committee for an upcoming conference, as the combination of my work and past conference experience made me the ideal choice. It’s just that it’s back to the balance thing, and the start of the semester is a rough time to hold job talks and candidate interviews, since with my academic schedule this semester, it ends up wiping out an entire day.)

pulling teeth, eyes, yanking hair, etc

...and everything else

I swear to god, I’m not an idiot. But in-house, custom and zero documentation requires a level of telepathy I haven’t reached yet.

Plus I’m exhausted, as the neighbors folk decided to have a lovely row ’round 4am, and kept at it til either the cops or super or someone intervened – squinting eyes said that was ’round 5am. That, plus a long day of faculty interview/meeting/class/lunch/job talk/pertinent errands has left me a drained sack of mostly water that is apparently unable to think in anything resembling logic. Case and point: meant to buy myself a white board. Forgot til I was home.

All of which is to say, in other words: see last post. Rinse. Repeat.

a scene in frustration

...and everything else, AMBI, Bioethics

My new mantra:
“That should have worked. Why didn’t that work? Why can’t I make this work?

…why does it hate me?”

Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat.
I need a white board, or a butcher paper covered wall. An 8×10 pad isn’t large enough to sketch all the code bits and toggles out so that I can actually visualize what’s going on, and see where to fix it. Not to mention it would be harder for Toledo to crumple a white board, or Lunar to decide to eat it. Damn dumb cat.

That should have worked. Why didn’t that work? Why can’t I make this work?

…why does it hate me?

It’s Stronger Than A Shark

Academics, Bioethics, Stargate

And because it’s come up not once, or even twice, but three times this week, here’s the cold open of Stargate Atlantis that talks about (and pokes delightful fun at) Phillipa Foot’s trolley problem.

Also, I’ve determined that Sarah Connor is the ultimate consequentialist. Of what particular type, I haven’t yet decided (although I’m leaning towards ethical altruism).

Edited to add:
Since the video keeps disappearing from the internet, here’s a transcript.

Rodney: Let me ask you a question. Say there’s a runaway train. It’s hurtling out of control towards ten people standing in the middle of the tracks. The only way to save those people is to flip a switch — send the train down another set of tracks. The only problem is there is a baby in the middle of those tracks.
Teyla: Why would anyone leave a baby in harm’s way like that?
Rodney: I don’t know. That’s not the point. Look, it’s an ethical dilemma. Look, Katie Brown brought it up over dinner the other night. The question is: is it appropriate to divert the train and kill the one baby to save the ten people?
Ronon: Wouldn’t the people just see the train coming and move?
Rodney: No. No, they wouldn’t see it.
Ronon: Why not?
Rodney: Well … (he sighs) … Look, I don’t know — say they’re blind.
Teyla: All of them?
Rodney: Yes, all of them.
Ronon: Then why don’t you just call out and tell them to move out of the way?
Rodney: Well, because they can’t hear you.
John: What, they’re deaf too?
(Rodney throws him a look)
John: How fast is the train going?
Rodney: Look, the speed doesn’t matter!
John: Well, sure it does. If it’s going slow enough, you could outrun it and shove everyone to the side.
Ronon: Or better yet, go get the baby.
Rodney: For God’s sake! I was just trying to …