tug of war with the neighbor's cat

Tookie played tug of war with the neighbor's dog over the neighbor's cat and I have been in a non-dog loving mood until Maria gave me a pep talk.

and the plan is.....

Dear Amy,

Thanks for the feedback!

The plan with Professor Blue is to become rich and famous. Or else to get Maria a job in her field. And to maybe give me a career boost in my newly chosen field. The way to do this is to create something silly yet valuable, and then (this is the part where we are right now) to peddle it like crazy. Who is the object of our peddling? Other professors, researchers, foreign people with money from their governments who support things like a clean environment (Sweden and Switzerland right now), movie producers, artists, anyone really.

There is a wee bit of money allocated in research budgets for this thing called "Outreach". Disseminating science to the ordinary folks. National Science Foundation does this, same thing for NIH, DOE, yadda yadda. Plus there are private institutions that have money for this purpose. Since the US ranks somewhere like last in the so-called developed world for children pursuing science degrees in college, there is a bit of anxiety on the part of american colleges / universities, as well as for american scientists, to get this number to rise.

Our aim is to make the outreach really enticing.

Our other aim is to make whatever we do look really enticing. So if we get, say, a contract to do a children's show that isn't only about science, we're ready.

Our aim is to get paid for our work.

My immediate aim is to fix the web page. Then to post something on YouTube. Then to post on iTunes. And elsewhere. Then to get some feedback from kids to show people at NSF and other places that the outreach is actually effective. Maybe we'll make a Take-A-Quiz podcast.

I know there are companies that do this very thing and have a large staff to do this, but since we are a Mom and Mom shop we have to do this ourselves. Which makes socializing not so urgent. Unless it's to invite people over to our house for a potluck and, say, a "movie".

Suckers!

professor blue, as if

Hi Everyone,

It's official. Sort of. Please check our latest opus (maria's and mine):

http://www.professorblue.com

And spread the word.

Nuff said for now. I am going to collapse, in a good way.

Early Snow Storm

We got enough snow for the kids to play outside and throw snowballs. However, it all melted by 2 pm.

My life's not that different from yours Sheila

You watch elephants' behinds. I clean playrooms. BEFORE:

After

AFTER:

kind of like a parade

only with a traffic jam squared. Well, what better place to have it than at nerd central?

thought a lot about poop suddenly

...though I can't say why exactly...

take a walk on the wild side

I seem to have recalled myself writing about walking my dog along the train tracks in Cambridge, you know, where the elephants in the circus walk when they're in town? Well, we got an email from whomever at MIT announcing that it was 'that time again'. Many in my building yawned. 'It' has been happening since forever. But since I've gotten a dog, I am more appreciative of the animal arts, shall we say. Though I must say it has to be at a distance.

The pic is of some circus animals walking right past the nuclear plant on campus. They camp out in the railway cars on the tracks for a couple of weeks that they're in town. I don't think the elephants have to walk back and forth over the bridge to Boston every day, but do not know where they wine and dine there.

Emma

Apple Picking

look at me, I'm 2D!

Awesome commercial KT!

I just got a new computer at work, which has filled me with dread. Beginning of the semester = everyone's hair is on fire. So who has time to move files, set up new email application, make sure I've got everything from the old tanker, wa wa wa?

Who has the time?

Cartoon girl does, apparently. The new computer comes with a wicked new software and built in movie camera/digital still cam.

uhoh.

Subway Commercial

Jared's not as cool as me! Danny and I taped this after we'd been out drinking at my friend's bar...so it's a little silly. I'm putting it up cuz Sheila and Maria haven't seen me in a bit...

Rhoda Says Thanks!

Thanks for the birthday greetings. We went to Minnesota to visit Dave's brother Keith at the Mayo Clinic. He's not doing great, and right now, we're just looking at life maintenance rather than "curing" or "healing." Mayo is an amazing place, doctors here, there, everywhere at all hours of day & night. Dave took me out for an Italian dinner for my birthday, so no generic iced tea, and no French Onion Soup. I'm not a big cake eater, more likely to have cheesecake! But, we stopped for ice cream after the restaurant. As Rhoda Morgenstern once said, "I don't know why I bother eating it, I should just apply it directly to my hips!" PS You can buy this picture on EBAY for $9.99!

hey emma! I am late!

Emmatine!

Very sorry that I did not wish you a happy birthday earlier...as in on your birthday. You are getting to be such a big girl now that I almost don't recognize you. I bet you don't recognize me, but perhaps you do of my dog. Here Tookie is, in the hotel built for nerds. How can you tell it is for nerds? Look at the bedspread. There are scientific equations all over it. For decoration.

In this picture Tookie is very tired. Not pleased to be in hotel that doesn't have a lot of barking and kibble. He could not get away from the lights over our desk and so had to stay up as long as we were up. We tried making it up to him the next day when we took him for a long walk on the railroad tracks without a leash. It was the only place we could let him go loose. The railroad is only used once a day at 5:30. And it serves as a place for the circus to hang out when they come to Boston to do some shows, They arrive in their trains and then let their train cars sit on the tracks for the 2 weeks that they're here. Sometimes they walk the elephants there, just as I did for Tookie. But good thing that Tookie's poop isn't as large as an elephant's. But that is for another day.

Kisses and cookies,
Sheila

How to chop off your finger...Happy Birthday!

So -

There I was - in a hotel room, trying to put in finishing touches on a mini film with me as a character called Prof Blue, when the files I'm working on vanish on the computer, Maria is desperate for a cigarette but can't leave because of the new disaster, and yet cannot light up in the room since all of Massachusetts is thankfully indoorly smoke-free. We hadn't slept more than 4 hours per night in the past three weeks or so and were a bit punchy. I put the headphones back on, clicked on the microphone, to do voiceovers yet again when I was reminded of the bits Amy and I had done back on Southport. On analog tape. And how funny they were, and how great Amy's voice sounded when spewing forth about some fake detergent. I can't recall what other fake ads we did. But they were all, in my most humblest of opinions, done really well. That night in Cambridge, I wasn't getting what I wanted in the audio sense and knew that I had it in me to get it. Like I'd done like 30 years earlier.

So Amy? Hapy Birthday. In case I didn't tell you then, you did a great job.

For your birthday I ate some dangerous cookies. The only ones I really like these days are called Chocolate and Mint made by a company called Back to Nature. I ate more than I'd planned. Like the line in one of Rufus Wainwright's songs: "Have to eat them all in just one sitting." Hopefully you've had your fill of....french onion soup and....um...generic iced tea. Do you ever eat cake?

Not-So-Chatty-Lucy

Well, here's Lucy....not really talking.  Let's see if this works.  I'm trying out a new program thingy. 

The girl is 7!

Seven years ago I gave birth to my first child, Emma Kayrene...hard to believe it's been so long....

Dave got a job!

Dave was offered a job yesterday at an outsourcing human resources company. He'll be on the phones doing customer service. It's a temporary position until January, at which time, if they like him, they will hire him outright. He goes in on Thursday for orientation, and they will tell him a start date. He also has another interview today (Wednesday) for a full time management position, so we're hoping for that one. PS this pic is from a friend's wedding, which Dave was the MC.