Blog Roots III

Periodically, I like to return to my blog roots and give a general update, so here goes: (Previous Blog Roots I, II)

T$ Update:

School and research are proceeding quite nicely. The first semesters of my time in Kansas were mostly slow, my research and other involvement did not keep me extremely busy. But then data collection for my thesis, supervising the rat lab, coordinating a student’s convention and other things kept me very busy. The same pattern is beginning to emerge here in Texas.

I’m working on several projects in the Aging and Cognition Lab related to metacognition, social aspects of age differences in memory, and student’s use of study strategies. I’m also very excited about a new project in the Environmental Psychophysiology Laboratory. I’ve written about the ERN here before; the new study is also related to the ERN. The study has the potential to make real progress disentangling several issues that have plagued interpretation of the waveform. The principle investigator (PI) has high hopes for its publication in a high-impact journal.

As is necessary to receive my stipend, I also teach a lab section of PSYC203: Statistics for Psychology, today we talked about independent samples t-tests. So far, it has been a fine experience, but mostly a back-burner activity, if I were the teacher of record I would feel more responsibility for the course.

Other News:

Was in Houston and Rice University over the weekend for the ARMADILLO cognition conference. Friday and Saturday there were talks all day and a poster session Friday afternoon (I presented some of my work on stereotypes and aging). Unlike other conferences I’ve been to, there was only one event at a time, whether it was a talk or a poster session. Meagan and I also enjoyed the Rice Village district, we had tapas Friday evening and visited the Chocolate Bar Saturday afternoon.

One interesting thing about Rice University, a private university with what must be an enormous endowment, is that its often referred to as the Harvard of the south. To students and faculty at Rice though, Harvard is the Rice of the north. UPDATE: I checked, Rice’s endowment is 4.7 billion dollars as of 2007. (wiki)

Meagan and I are hosting a Halloween party this Saturday. We’re hoping we can have as good a party as we did our last year in Kansas, which will not be an easy task. I think our costumes are a secret but I’ll definitely post pictures after the party.

TX Update:

Who knew it would rain so damn much in Texas. In September we had 7.4 inches of rain, over three inches above average, and this month we’re already at 8 inches, 4 inches above average!

Something about Elizabeth Taylor.

Anytime there is a spike of interest in my blog, indicated by page views, I can almost immediately attribute it to Elizabeth Taylor searches. Earlier this Summer I attended the Brazos Center Senior Expo for research purposes and saw a Taylor impersonator. I wrote about this experience on my blog. Orginally, I thought it was just celebrity worship, but I don’t think this is the case now.

Since then, “Elizabeth Taylor” and variants of her name (e.g. Liz Taylor) has been the largest search engine term that has directed people to Blogger5000. Almost a thousand people have come to my site to gather information about her (and probably left dissapointed…). I have yet to figure out why there is such sustained interest. Is this phenom akin to interest in leading ladies like Marilyn Monroe or Bettie Page? My only association with her is eau du toilette and department stores.

The 2nd Amendment is an Antique

Enjoying a nice discussion over at TDAXP about the 2nd Amendment and the man who was seen carrying an assault rifle at a recent U.S. Presedential event in Arizona.

Culture Wars (or Us versus Them)

I enjoy the Google Chrome web browser because it keeps track of my nine most visited sites. Among my favorites is The Daily Beast. It is definitely a left-wing media outlet but there are plenty of articles from the other side (e.g. Mark McKinnon, Reihan Salam) and I enjoy reading their stories.

Recently, The Daily Beast (TBD) featured a video of a TBD contributor, presumably from New York named Tracy Quan. In the video, Quan discusses the “pull-out-method.” She is critical of recent research, and a recent NYT article that argues the “pull-out-method” is better than nothing as a form of contraception. Her argument aside, she says all researchers do is cover their asses when they write. She goes on to say, needlessly, that New Yorkers are basically the brightest people in the world while the rest of us are country bumpkins. I took offense to both comments. You can see the video here.

Meanwhile, Patricia Heaton of Everyone Loves Raymond and other shows made an appearance on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and made disparaging remarks about individuals who live on the coasts, or rather, she said people who live in the middle U.S. are nicer. Then she barely answers an easy question. You can see her video here. The question is below:

If a Euro is worth $1.50, five Euros is worth what?

a. 30 quarters         b. 50 dimes

c. 70 nickels         d. 90 pennies

How long has this culture war gone on? and where does the middle stop and the coast begin?

I’m not sure who is “nicest” or the “brightest,” I’ve met people all over that defy these stereotypes. And I certainly don’t want either Quan representing me as an academic or Heaton representing me as being from middle America.

All I know is that if it came down to it, we could take ‘em, and If I know anything about TX, they’ll be the first ones on the ground.

Associated Content

Adam Schenck’s Contributor Page – Associated Content

http://www.associatedcontent.comuser/423456/adam_schenck.html

Laura Antoine: Update

Video interview with Laura Antoine, American Podium-Girl in for the Tour de France 2009. See the video here.

Courtesy of Twisted Spoke.

Oh, and she’s also married. Below is her Facebook profile picture.

Laura Antoine, Podium Girl

2010 Tour de France: Lance will ride again.

Lance Armstrong Foundation board member, Mark McKinnon (also known for helping various political candidates), has written a short summary of the Tour thus far and made a claim that Lance will ride in the Tour de France 2010 with a team of his own choosing, and Bruyneel as the sport director.

There is still no word if podium girl Laura Antoine will return. If she did, maybe she’d be responsible for the green or red polka-dot jersey

Armstrong's Suitcase of Courage is Huge

My good friend Aaron has indicated “Livestrong” would likely be the team name.

Kraftwerk – Essence Capturers

Check out a fellow tour-blogger over at Twisted Spoke. His by-line is totally right and his write-ups are hilarious. In the meantime, here I am posing with my sweet TDF Kraftwerk 45 from Amoeba Music in San Fran.

Blog Roots II

T$ Update:

Lots of people are counting down the days until the semester is over, I think I have about two, maybe three weeks until the Spring semester is complete. Summer session begins in June. Our wedding is also in June. Planning is nearly complete, we still have to figure out where we will print the programs and confirm all the vendors. Honeymoon planning has barely begun beyond booking (4 B’s in a row) flights and hotel rooms. Minimal planning for the honeymoon is probably best after the planning glut the ceremony and reception required (2 R’s in a row, not as impressive).

Mike, over at thisafterthat, has been at his job for three years. He is a graphic/web designer for the greater Sioux Falls area. He is also my best man and is planning a killer bachelor party at Palisades Park. Recently, I set up a wordpress account for a Sioux Falls business, but I’m not going to quit my day job. I actually did some elementary CSS editing and created a graphic with that Stone Age software called MSPaint, maybe you’ve heard of it.

Other News:

Through a class project, I’ve been collecting electroencephalogram (EEG) data. It is a really simple experimental design related to cognitive neuroscience, but I’m excited about my first foray into human neuroscientific research. If the data supports my hypothesis it could make waves among a small group with esoteric interests (ahh…science). If I can get my phone to communicate with my computer I’ll post a picture. (Done)

Meagan interviewed at Texas A&M to start a school counseling masters program in the Fall. She is still waiting to hear back about their decision.

TX update:

Just a warning, if anyone wants to visit Meagan or I in the future, you should look into getting or renewing your passsport.