Nervous about con programming

I just said, to brisingamen, "I look forward to seeing you at Wiscon, even if I'm not sure what I'll be doing there or why I agreed to be on programming. (This happens to me betimes; with any luck I'll get over it in time to actually think about said programming.)"

In particular, sometimes there's programming I'm sure I know enough to be on, like the Earthsea panel a few years ago; sometimes there's programming I'm obvious for for other reasons, like our Tiptree jury discussing what we'd done; and sometimes I cheerfully say "sure, I can do this" and then wonder what on Earth I'm going to say, and why they picked me. (Once in a while I walk into a program item and find myself drafted. That's worked well, so far, and it doesn't leave me time to be nervous beforehand: it's someone saying "This is Vicki Rosenzweig, your fellow panelist" to a woman I don't know when I expect to sit and listen in Hall 4 [1] or tnh demanding to know what I'm doing in the back of the room when I should be up on the panel with her and three other people, and me not saying "I wanted to be able to slip out unobtrusively if the panel wasn't working for me."

I haven't yet looked at the list of things kalmn is looking to fill; all else aside, I'm taking adrian_turtle to what is effectively her first Wiscon (she did one day of one quite a while back, while looking at grad schools and not feeling well) and don't want to overbook myself in other directions.

[1] Yes, Intersection, with the horrid acoustics, and me completely dried out by the end and gratefully claiming my drink entitlement as a panelist after the fact, and downing a glass of pineapple juice fast.

Nervous about con programming

I just said, to brisingamen, "I look forward to seeing you at Wiscon, even if I'm not sure what I'll be doing there or why I agreed to be on programming. (This happens to me betimes; with any luck I'll get over it in time to actually think about said programming.)"

In particular, sometimes there's programming I'm sure I know enough to be on, like the Earthsea panel a few years ago; sometimes there's programming I'm obvious for for other reasons, like our Tiptree jury discussing what we'd done; and sometimes I cheerfully say "sure, I can do this" and then wonder what on Earth I'm going to say, and why they picked me. (Once in a while I walk into a program item and find myself drafted. That's worked well, so far, and it doesn't leave me time to be nervous beforehand: it's someone saying "This is Vicki Rosenzweig, your fellow panelist" to a woman I don't know when I expect to sit and listen in Hall 4 [1] or tnh demanding to know what I'm doing in the back of the room when I should be up on the panel with her and three other people, and me not saying "I wanted to be able to slip out unobtrusively if the panel wasn't working for me."

I haven't yet looked at the list of things kalmn is looking to fill; all else aside, I'm taking adrian_turtle to what is effectively her first Wiscon (she did one day of one quite a while back, while looking at grad schools and not feeling well) and don't want to overbook myself in other directions.

[1] Yes, Intersection, with the horrid acoustics, and me completely dried out by the end and gratefully claiming my drink entitlement as a panelist after the fact, and downing a glass of pineapple juice fast.

Oh, the glamorous freelance life

I just sent an editorial query pointing out that a "900-pound dinosaur" was not actually large by the standards of well-known dinosaurs (though there were some fine small ones, even in the old days [1]). I think the writer was thinking of "900-pound gorilla" for large and does-what-it-wants crossed with dinosaur to signify old-fashioned relic. I doubt anything will be changed here.

Other than that, I've been wrestling with fax stuff (at their end this time, I think), waiting for the mail (a package to be redelivered—I was going to go out and grab some cold cuts, but saw the letter carrier's stuff in the lobby, without him, so came back upstairs). If he doesn't ring soon I'm going downstairs again.

In between, I tried installing einstein@home, which runs on the Boinc distributed computing platform, and discovered that it froze my machine badly enough that I had to throw the power switch (in the power strip), in order to reboot in safe mode and remove the software. So now my answering machine is blinking "CL" alternating with the "2" for how many saved messages.

Fortunately, before all that I had a nice time in the park, talking with two neighbors and their lazy old dog.

[1] The only surviving dinosaurians, class Aves, don't get that big.

Oh, the glamorous freelance life

I just sent an editorial query pointing out that a "900-pound dinosaur" was not actually large by the standards of well-known dinosaurs (though there were some fine small ones, even in the old days [1]). I think the writer was thinking of "900-pound gorilla" for large and does-what-it-wants crossed with dinosaur to signify old-fashioned relic. I doubt anything will be changed here.

Other than that, I've been wrestling with fax stuff (at their end this time, I think), waiting for the mail (a package to be redelivered—I was going to go out and grab some cold cuts, but saw the letter carrier's stuff in the lobby, without him, so came back upstairs). If he doesn't ring soon I'm going downstairs again.

In between, I tried installing einstein@home, which runs on the Boinc distributed computing platform, and discovered that it froze my machine badly enough that I had to throw the power switch (in the power strip), in order to reboot in safe mode and remove the software. So now my answering machine is blinking "CL" alternating with the "2" for how many saved messages.

Fortunately, before all that I had a nice time in the park, talking with two neighbors and their lazy old dog.

[1] The only surviving dinosaurians, class Aves, don't get that big.

Book: To Kill a Mockingbird

I just read Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time: I happened to see it sitting on a shelf at the library the other day.

The book lives up to its reputation: plot and characterization and prose style are all good. I got annoyed at Scout's older brother using "acting like a girl" as an insult, but it is entirely in character for anywhere in the U.S. in 1935 (and entirely plausible that I should be annoyed by how a random 11-year-old treats his younger sister). It wouldn't be that surprising, alas, even in 2006, though I can hope that in 2006 the sister might not immediately be persuaded not do whatever was labeled "acting like a girl."

I can't say, of course, whether a small Alabama town in 1935 really felt like Maycomb, but Lee's depiction is self-consistent and richly textured. So are Scout and Jem (her brother) and their father Atticus, their friend Dill, Calpurnia, and Boo Radley.

Lee's characters are dealing as best they can with difficult situations, difficult in ways both practical and ethical. I suspect that part of what gets this listed as "Young Adult" (that's the label on my library copy) and put into high school curriculum is largely Atticus talking about bravery and what it does and doesn't mean. (The back cover talks, of course, about "the crisis of conscience that rocked" the town, but part of Lee's point, I think, is how quickly so many people put things in the past.)

It's not going to be my favorite book, but I expect to reread it. (Besides, I like mockingbirds.)

Book: To Kill a Mockingbird

I just read Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time: I happened to see it sitting on a shelf at the library the other day.

The book lives up to its reputation: plot and characterization and prose style are all good. I got annoyed at Scout's older brother using "acting like a girl" as an insult, but it is entirely in character for anywhere in the U.S. in 1935 (and entirely plausible that I should be annoyed by how a random 11-year-old treats his younger sister). It wouldn't be that surprising, alas, even in 2006, though I can hope that in 2006 the sister might not immediately be persuaded not do whatever was labeled "acting like a girl."

I can't say, of course, whether a small Alabama town in 1935 really felt like Maycomb, but Lee's depiction is self-consistent and richly textured. So are Scout and Jem (her brother) and their father Atticus, their friend Dill, Calpurnia, and Boo Radley.

Lee's characters are dealing as best they can with difficult situations, difficult in ways both practical and ethical. I suspect that part of what gets this listed as "Young Adult" (that's the label on my library copy) and put into high school curriculum is largely Atticus talking about bravery and what it does and doesn't mean. (The back cover talks, of course, about "the crisis of conscience that rocked" the town, but part of Lee's point, I think, is how quickly so many people put things in the past.)

It's not going to be my favorite book, but I expect to reread it. (Besides, I like mockingbirds.)

Truly is the turtle an amazing animal

We got to wondering about phylogenetic relationships, and after a while I got to this:

Turtles belong to the reptilian grade of physiological organization. They are ectothermic and have relatively low metabolic rates. Being ectotherms, their body temperature remains close to the temperature of their environment, and they are entirely reliant on external sources of heat. Many turtles bask in the sun to raise their body temperature to a point where bodily functions can operate optimally. One species, the leatherback, can maintain a body temperature above that of its environment, but how this is achieved is yet to be determined. Most turtles cannot be active during very hot or very cold periods. Therefore, hibernation in winter and aestivation in summer is common for members of this group.

Turtles breathe with lungs located inside of a rigid ribcage. They therefore must use a different mechanism for breathing than most vertebrates. Muscles in the region of the leg pockets act to inflate the lungs, muscles on the surface of the lungs dorsally and ventrally deflate them. Many turtles augment gas exchange at the lungs with gas exchange in the throat or in the cloaca.

In addition to providing protection for the turtle, the shell of at least some species has an important physiological function. It acts as a "calcium bank". Calcium and other cations are taken from the carapace and plastron to buffer the blood during hibernation when metabolic acids are likely to build up. In other species, it appears that in reproductively active females, calcium is removed from the shell and incorporated into eggshells forming around follicles in the oviducts.

Truly is the turtle an amazing animal

We got to wondering about phylogenetic relationships, and after a while I got to this:

Turtles belong to the reptilian grade of physiological organization. They are ectothermic and have relatively low metabolic rates. Being ectotherms, their body temperature remains close to the temperature of their environment, and they are entirely reliant on external sources of heat. Many turtles bask in the sun to raise their body temperature to a point where bodily functions can operate optimally. One species, the leatherback, can maintain a body temperature above that of its environment, but how this is achieved is yet to be determined. Most turtles cannot be active during very hot or very cold periods. Therefore, hibernation in winter and aestivation in summer is common for members of this group.

Turtles breathe with lungs located inside of a rigid ribcage. They therefore must use a different mechanism for breathing than most vertebrates. Muscles in the region of the leg pockets act to inflate the lungs, muscles on the surface of the lungs dorsally and ventrally deflate them. Many turtles augment gas exchange at the lungs with gas exchange in the throat or in the cloaca.

In addition to providing protection for the turtle, the shell of at least some species has an important physiological function. It acts as a "calcium bank". Calcium and other cations are taken from the carapace and plastron to buffer the blood during hibernation when metabolic acids are likely to build up. In other species, it appears that in reproductively active females, calcium is removed from the shell and incorporated into eggshells forming around follicles in the oviducts.