New York, NY

This past Spring, I had a game in New York on Saturday. I literally had not been to New York in over two years, so I figured it was about time to have a wandering around day, and check out some stuff.

My first goal was to check out the infamous Shopsin’s, potrayed in the documentary I Like Killing Flies. Just watch so you understand. Unfortunately, I had a bit of work to do. I got an early start, and worked at Starbucks nearby. (Actually kudos to this particular Starbucks, it had plenty of big tables.) I finished my tasks around 10:30, and went over to Shopsin’s for brunch.

As I walked over, I was treated to the familiar sights of the East Village, brought about by many trips on the Chinatown bus (RIP). The produce of all kinds. The Congee Village Bar. All of the restaurant supply stores.

Shopsin’s is not in its original location, as you can learn in the documentary. It’s in the Essex St. Market, essentially a few tables in front of a counter. There are still a good number of tchotchkes decorating the walls around the counter, making it seem like a bit of the old joint. There was a 3 top bar and a handful of two and four tops. No wonder this place gets crowded on the weekends. It was about half-ish full at 11 am on a Friday.

Kenny himself was present. He is a balloon of a man. He wasn’t cooking that day, and I wonder how often he cooks. During my meal, he mostly sat in a plastic chair in the corner which had two pillows on it. Played a bit with his flip phone. Occasionally would yell at his employees. But not actually criticizing them, just communicating via yells.

Kenny’s son was my server. He had long hair in a ponytail and a Metallica shirt. I wanted to steal the menu, but realized I could print it…It is dense:

http://www.shopsins.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/10/Shopsinmenu437.pdf

I guess Kenny has a brain that just keeps creating new things, but never wants to edit. So the menu and the food resembles the walls covered in stuff.

The decor reminded me of Carman’s in Philly (RIP) though with not so many penises. Carman’s had exactly the opposite concept as far as food. Two, maybe three options per day. Changed daily.

There was a sign saying no smartphones. I was brought a plastic cup of water. The prices are a bit high for what you’re getting, but hey, they’re paying rent in Manhattan.

Kenny literally shuffles, but silently. He wears suspenders, an apron, a greasy rag tucked into his pants, and backwards trucker hat of unknown origin.  I admit I was nervous he was so close. I was afraid I would start talking to him, geek out, and look like an idiot.

I had corn tamales, hatch and chorizo mac and cheese pancakes, and pound cake french toast.  The tamales were well-seasoned but falling apart. The hot sauce (which was recommended) was good but not needed really on anything I got. The pancakes were spicy, but the spiciness was distributed in a way so that there were blank spots where I could tell what the unadulterated thing tastes like. It was good and had a nice skin. The FT was sweet, and came with a little bottle of VT maple syrup.

When I was done gorging, I was surprised and happy to see that they accept Square. It was $35 including tip.

The table close to me had a man and woman sitting across from each other, next to Kenny’s chair. The man used the restroom, and Kenny got into a conversation with her.

She said she was an escort, joking, “I love my fucking job.”

She also added, “Seriously, it’s great, it’s a cash-based business.” This was somehow related to Square in a way I don’t recall.

Kenny replied with, “We’re in the same business, making people happy. It’s unfortunate, we have to declare 40% more of our income than we used to. It used to be you could buy used, do some work yourself and make a living. It’s harder now. I always figured there was enough business to go around. I’ve realized being happy has to do with the essence of how you are, separate from the  world.”

The escort offered, “My grandmother was very sick, and passed away recently. But I know she was surrounded by people who loved her at the end and was at peace.”

“Yeah, then I guess we all have our happy endings, my son just opened a massage parlor. ”

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The Essex St market itself is a pretty nice place. It reminded me of a super-chill version of Reading Terminal Market. It has about one of each thing: cheesemonger, fishmonger, chocolatier. A few produce stands and bread stands. A stand with Japanese ingredients, a stand with Latin American ingredients. If I lived in the East Village, I’d be a regular.

Full, I decided to spend my noontime checking out shoes at Nordstrom Rack and Gap, because I needed some for a wedding. I decided to walk up Bowery to Union Square. On the way, I passed the Bowery Hotel, the Village Voice, and the old CBGBs. Appropriately listening to Patti Smith’s “Wander I Go.”

At some point, maybe around Houston, the whole place gets decidedly less punk rock. A bar for shots, which can go either way, I suppose. Whole Foods and pizza shops and diners. Cleaner, fancier, younger, and whiter. Duane Reades, McDonalds, 7-11 and Loews. Kiehl’s. Shoppes. Restaurants. A Jennifer Convertibles. Trader Joe’s, Chipotle and GameStop.

My shoe expedition failed. I peed at Starbucks twice.

At some point I decided to travel to JB Prince. I love cooking things, equipment, and tiny things. JB Prince is a store that chefs actually go to. Business cards of chefs serve as the wallpaper for the entrance. The store itself is a smallish few rooms on the 11th floor of an office building. Thye have sous vide equipment, any kind of knife you want, any sort of cookware and serving ware of all sizes. And they have only one of each thing sitting out, to save space. Pictures of tiny things follow:

Next I wanted to check out Crif Dogs. On my way I passed the great Joe’s Pub, seen many a show there. Walked along St. Marks place; Karaoke, sushi, tattoos, head shops, two dollar sunglasses, comics, suspenders, jazz. I also saw the RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH guy.

In Crif’s there are upright arcade games and arcade tables. You can get PBR or Dales. I went PBR since the afternoon was hot and still very much happening. I got a Spicy Redneck, bacon-wrapped, with chili, coleslaw, and jalapeños.  The bacon was nice but more of a texture thing. The ingredients worked well together. I wanted to try more hot dogs but this was not the day for that. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. A wonderful place for theoretical day drinking and eating, though.

There were a couple good-looking places next to it, too. A Tuck shop (meat pies) and Five Tacos. I walked up Avenue A and saw many charming cafes. Then I walked to Katz’s.

I had never been to Katz’s deli before, so I made a point to do so. Definitely a touristy zoo-like place now and crowded and sweaty, and the sandwich is a bit too expensive. But it is yummy. And really two meals. And the pickles. There were two 65ish rotund midwesterners sitting next to me who probably could done without this trip. They asked for salt. One asked what a Reuben was. Facepalm.

I ended my workday at the New Museum, which was having an exhibition on early 90s artists. Pretty worth it, though I was paranoid about the smell of my leftover Reuben.

After I was done at the museum, I met one of my hosts at a sports bar. He was drunk with some other Englishmen and they were watching soccer. I was offered a couple pints, then we went on our merry ways. I was running late for a dinner in Astoria with people from high school.

It was far. I ended up taking a cab. Which ended up being a private car-type deal, which cost me too much money.

After dinner, I was half expecting us to have more drinks, but my company seemed to be in really lazy friday moods. So I met up with my hosts at the Way Station, a bar in Brooklyn with a TARDIS bathroom. We saw a jug band and danced and clapped along for a good long while. Much sleep was had.

The next morning, before my game, the second half of the Reuben was consumed. No comment on my athletic performance.

Random: 99 miles to Philly

Whole30

So I did a Whole30. There are many reasons and non-reasons why. For one thing, my girlfriend wanted to, and on a whim I told her I would join. I had never done a “cleanse” before and was curious. I also wanted to get strict pull-ups down, and if I lost a few pounds of fat, all the better.

Now, I don’t believe I have any inordinate sensitivity to gluten, lactose, or legumes. (I am pretty much a garbage disposal.) In fact, I don’t believe that most people who follow diets like this really do.

What I truly believe is that the Whole30 is by design a weight loss/body fat maintenance tool, specifically good for athletes doing crossfit-esque things, and also good for people who eat too much AMUURRRICAN junk (which can include so-called diet foods). In my mind, the athletic pursuits it is good for are: rugby and field sports in general, weightlifting, sprinting, and some other things I am no doubt forgetting. I do not think this is a good way of life for, say, triathletes. Which does bring up an interesting point…should this be treated more as a diet or a cleanse? The Whole30 website seems to be of slightly two minds about this. They consider this extreme form of the paleo diet (the 30 day challenge) to be more of a cleanse, but seem to advise people to be paleo-ish most of the time. Sometimes they do suggest things like if you eat a donut you are impure. After all this is the only body and life you have, why would you poison it!* To which I say, yes but no. Your body is a resilient fucker. Slamming many donuts everyday is a recipe for disaster but one every once in awhile is fine. And if you’re healthy in your ways otherwise, you could probably have a donut a day.

Of course, the problem is most people aren’t healthy in their ways. Even if they try, letting one vice in lets all of them in. One donut becomes room for, fuck it, I’ll have two. And probs a cheeseburger and a beer. And when they try to make up for it, they fall short of ideal. My pedometer counted 10,000 steps so I can cheat a bit, right? Also I have some Lean Cuisine at the office for lunch. The Whole30, with its no moderation policy, leaves no room for this behavior. CUT IT OUT. (Less crazy thoughts on moderation here.)

Here are the facts as I see them, aka the reasons why the Whole30 works coming from a skeptic.

-Sugar and alcohol are empty calories, so get rid of those. Really, any good diet should get rid of these. Your body hates processing alcohol (for instance, you sleep better without it), and we all know the highs and crashes that come with sugar.  Further, with alcohol, it’s easy to make poor food choices when drunk. And with sugar, it’s too easy to consume too much, since you never feel full.  (You know how each nutrition label mentions calories in carbs, fat, and protein? Well there is a fourth category of calories, from alcohol. Alcohol is really its own thing, but the alcohol industry has been successful in covering up this fact. And per gram, alcohol really has a ton of calories. So having a rum and diet soda doesn’t put you that far ahead of the game.)

-To me dairy is not inherently bad, unless you are actually lactose intolerant (and even then its a weak argument, since cheese and real yogurt have little if any lactose). The problem with milk is the often high hormone content. Really good cheese can have similar omega-3 profiles to salmon. And fermented foods in general offer a great host of good bacteria. The problem with cheese is that it’s so damn calorie dense, and will back you up. The problem with yogurt is that most people equate yogurt with Yoplait with fruit-on-the-bottom, not real plain thick yogurt. Further, some cheese is really cheese product. Product = additives = hormones get screwed with.

-Legumes, such as soybeans and peanuts, contain compounds like lectin (peanuts) and estrogen (soy). These cause inflammatory reactions in some, and mess with your hormones to a certain extent. Soy and peanut are also in lots of additives, so eliminating them is a handy way to eliminate overprocessed foods. HOWEVER, beans like black beans have small amounts of lectin when cooked, so they really aren’t bad in this way. So I believe the elimination of beans in general has a lot to do with a) just say legumes, and people will not accidentally eat soy or peanut and b) beans are pretty carb-y. Fundamentally, this is a low carb diet.

-Sweet potatoes are okay, white potatoes are not. Here is the weakness in their whole “do it for the nutrients and sanctity of your body” argument. Sweet potatoes and white potatoes are nutritionally not very different. It seems the designers of the diet recognized people would need to have one source of starch or they will become very angry, so let’s make it the orange one since it seems healthier. And it makes sense in other ways, too (just not in the nutritional way). White potatoes are a slippery slope to french fries and potato chips. Cut ’em out.

-Grains in general are not okay, and this sadly includes corn. In addition to the trendy “gluten is bad” philosophy, this seemed a quick way of eliminating all factory-processed foods. The more processed something is, the more it can potentially absorb in our bodies –> extra energy stored as fat. The likelier it is to have sugar added, or other franken-additives. Further, grains are (duh) carb-y. Pretty much anyone with a slammin’ physique eats low carb.  Finally, as we all know it’s easy to overeat things like bread and tortilla chips.

-You get calories from: Animal protein (Good protein source), Nuts (Good fat source and protein), Sweet Potatoes (really your source of complex carbs), veggies (carbs and protein), avocados (fat), fruits (yes sugar but also plenty of good compounds and fiber, really hard to eat too much). That’s pretty much it. It’s a low carb diet by design, and takes an absurdly high volume of food to consume too many calories. So it works. And it’s really nutrient dense, and unprocessed, so I do think it gets the healthy stamp overall.

My experience was as follows. The first few days sucked, but not in a crippling way…I was mostly just a bit hungrier than usual. While I like sweets and bread, they just aren’t much of my diet so I wasn’t going through intense cravings. I’ve been getting CSAs for quite some time so I’m used to dealing with loads of veggies daily. And I love meat!

Days 4 and 6 involved going to happy hours. I am not going to lie, this sucked. Neither of them were with people I knew that well, so I would normally have a drink to loosen up. But, I lived, I was good, I had good times overall, and a saved a few bucks. And after the first week I found it easier and easier to resist, with a major exception to be detailed.

Day 4-6 totally sucked. But I’m not convinced the diet was the cause, I think it was just an added cherry-on-top of my stress. My cat disappeared for a few days, and I was really worried about him. It was August in Maryland, and he couldn’t survive very long without water. Luckily, he showed up just as I was about to put posters all over the place, thinned out and parched, but okay.

Day 8 of the challenge I was to be at a wedding in Boston. I figured I would schedule in a 24-hour cheat day around the wedding, because, let’s face it, I would want a few cocktails. This was the wedding of a college friend, and many other college friends would be there.

My initial plan was to incorporate some nice cheese I bought a couple weeks before into this cheat 24-hours. But then I stopped myself. I will feel better if I can do this to the fullest. The cheese went in the freezer and I got on my plane.

I met up with the people I was rooming with and we found a Greek place near the hotel to have a late dinner. I informed them of my diet (but also cheat 24 hours), with some moderate eye rolling from both sides. At dinner I really thought about not getting a beer, but then went for it, and I would have been totally fine without it. It wasn’t a great beer. Had great on-plan kabobs and veggies.

The good part was the meal warmed me up to tasting alcohol again and I could be the champ when another friend showed up, and wanted to go out for a drink (everyone else was too tired).

In the morning, my late-to-dinner friend and I went for a long run about Cambridge and Boston. At the Holiday Inn Express (we are classy) I helped myself to all the water in the world, and a plate of bacon and a couple hard-boiled eggs. Our other friends wanted to get brunch, but we realized it would be at least an hour or two before that really happened. The bacon no doubt had sugar and additives, but frankly, I didn’t work myself up about this.

When we got to brunch, I went on the mostly Whole30 kick, and had a seltzer+grapefruit juice mocktail. I ordered a custom plate of sausage, salsa, eggs and avocado.

I really like bloody marys though. Our server was really busy, so by the time I had decided to order one mid-meal, we never really saw her again. One of my companions didn’t finish hers, so I got to have it both ways. Not a whole bloody, didn’t have to shell out dough, got a little happy.

After the wedding, the pre-dinner options were BEAUTIFUL plates of cheese and fruit and nuts and grilled vegetables. I had a couple pieces of cheese, but didn’t feel the need to have a bunch. I ate a ton of veggies (did I mention how beautiful the presentation was?). The day was a little hot, so I had a sparkling water at first.

At some point, I slowly dipped my toe into the champagne. And settled on the classic vodka soda for the night. I don’t know how many I had—it was a fun night of catching up and dancing.  If my main dietary sin was drinking a bit too much vodka, I figured I was doing my best. I tried my best to get as much water in as I could.

Dinner was served family style, and I found it pretty easy to stay on plan – ish. I didn’t have anything from the bread basket. The salad was a beet salad. The chicken was grilled with peaches and it was excellent. There were candied pecans at the table and I had a few. (I’m sure there was added sugar in the chicken, too.) There was a salad with green beans, tomato, and corn. I had some of this, just tried to take scoops with less corn. I didn’t have the quinoa salad. (Yes, this was a lesbian wedding if you couldn’t tell already.) I had some of the swordfish, which wasn’t that good. The cake (ice cream cake) wasn’t served at the table, so I didn’t even have to awkwardly refuse it.

In the morning, after a few hours of sleep, I had to hop in a cab to get to the airport. Hungover, I grabbed many apples and hard boiled eggs from the hotel lobby and ALL OF THE WATER. When I got to the airport at home, all I could find in the newsstand to eat was almonds, but they were delish.

As for my day-to-day life during the diet, it involved a weekly trip to Costco,  a weekly trip to the farmers market, and a weekly trip to the organic market, in addition to my CSA veggies. How I usually operate is work with my CSA veggies, go to the market for a few things if at all, and stock up monthly on everything else at Wegmans/TJs/Giant/Costco.

Sometimes, it seemed like I would just putter around the kitchen everyday for hours, with nothing to show but some chopped vegetable and coffee RTG for the morning. But really, I was on the same routine as normal. I cook most days anyway, so this was just a little more. My food routine was the same: eggs + coffee, workout, coffee + snack, lunch, snack, dinner, prep for tomorrow.

The last 15 or so days were a breeze. I got in the habit. I slept like a CHAMP. My nails grew faster. And I did lose some body fat. I wasn’t really craving alcohol anymore. Food was not something I consumed out of boredom.

At the close of my diet, I wasn’t really “craving” alcohol or the “bad stuff.” In fact, I secretly feared how my body would react. However, my housemates and I had scheduled a dinner that night. So we ordered pizza and had too much to drink. I was surprised how easy it was to get back into this way of being.

Then I farted for about a minute straight when I retired to my room. Hmm. This was something I hadn’t been experiencing on the Whole30. Perhaps because the pizza is easier to inhale than a mound of vegetables? Anyway….

I also should have taken in more water that night. I felt a bit rough in the morning.

Since then, I’ve been a little bit better that usual, but as it’s rugby season, also pretty much ignoring all dietary restrictions in the name of having a good time. It may be that doing Whole30s occasionally is really the way for me to go. I, like so many others, have moderation issues. The problem now is after rugby ends, we pretty much dive straight into the holidays, so I’m not sure if there is a proper time until 2014.

After and during the diet, I reflected about myself and the diet a lot. Here are some things.

-One of the main things I had fears about was alcohol. I had literally never “given it up” for a period of time, and I do enjoy drinking. It got easier. I questioned why I usually got two drinks instead of just one at happy hour. Limes and seltzer is a great way to liven up your drinks at home or when going out. My wallet and morning self thanked me. I would like to abstain again soon, again, not sure when this will be.

– I did not want to be “that guy” so I didn’t often ask waitstaff what kind of oil was in things, etc, though technically you are only supposed to eat certain oils, and avoid all added sugar and other fun add-ons.  Whatevs.

-Obviously, free food at the office has to be ignored. Which I will admit to sometimes hoarding some to take home if there are extras and it was good.

-I’m still not sure if I saved money or spent more money. The grocery bill for the month was absurd. But I went out less, and when I did go out, there were no drinks on the bill. It definitely cost me time, going to the market so often and preparing food.

-I drank coffee (endorsed) and chewed gum (not endorsed).

-Fundamentally, a diet based on so much animal protein is not sustainable for the Earth. Which is why I think this better viewed as a cleanse, and only used as a regular diet for elite athletes. Also, I like beans and cheese. Also, I feel a bit like I have disordered eating when I am on this diet. There is a lot of feeling pure that comes with doing this, and I’m not sure that’s how one should live their life w.r.t. food.

-A lot of the websites devoted to the Whole30/Paleo lifestyle seem to be about “Sex with your pants on.” This means, follow “the rules” to a T (be that guy who asks about added sugar in the restaurant) but find technological solutions to have the things you crave. Coconut aminos as a replacement for soy sauce. Gluten-free “pancakes.” Almond “milk.” Healthy “desserts.” There are even sites that claim which is the best alcohol for a paleo lifestyle, if you’re going to have it (answer: agave tequila). All of these are really against “the point” of the Whole30, but we love finding loopholes, don’t we?

In conclusion, this diet can certainly be an eye-opener if you are on a standard American diet. If you’re not, you might find it an interesting exercise anyway. I don’t suggest drinking the Paleo Kool-Aid by any means, but do think diets like this fundamentally force us into mostly healthy choices.

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*Quote from Whole30 people: It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your ‘struggles.’ YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime.

Providence, RI

I had a chance to attend a conference in Providence recently. I had certainly been through Providence before at various times, but never with intent. Never went to Brown. I have played rugby there two or three times. My good friend’s mom lives in Barrington, so I’ve been there a few times. The same friend decided to have a 30th celebration in Providence, but that was for one night only. We also had a driver, because YOLO / 30th. Suffice it to say, did not get as much city flavor as I might have usually desired.

I hear good things about it, but had no evidence to back it up.

The conference was an engineering conference, so I didn’t know too many people there. I was able to keep most of the chatting / collaboration to the official conference hours themselves, which left me a good amount of free time to explore the city solo. I can really enjoy exploring places solo – I don’t feel obligated to keep anybody happy. If I accidentally have to walk three miles because I took a wrong turn, so be it.

Brown itself was nice, though nothing too surprising…it’s a nice college campus. Here is a picture of a thing on campus.

If you’re at Brown, there are many nice walks to take. You can go up and down Thayer St, which has funky shops, cafes, and bars. What Cheer is a great antique shop, and Blue State Coffee is recommended. But as the area also must appeal to 18 year olds straight from the suburbs, there are some less funky things like Chipotle and the university book store.

If you take Thayer all the way south to Wickenden, you’ll find the Coffee Exchange, a great roaster that also has good indoor and outdoor seating. It’s just far enough away from the university to have a mix of ages.

You can take Brook St back up towards campus, and see some other cafes and cute house. Actually the historic Victorian houses near Brown is a substantial part of the charm.

From Brown you can also swing over to RISD. I recommend taking Waterman St west to hit the RISD museum. A good permanent collection that can be done in a couple hours. A GREAT exhibition was there when I was, about dandy fashion, and I get the feeling that the exhibitions are typically off the beaten path.

A sandwich shop called Geoff’s was nearby. It was recommended that I go there, but I had eaten already. The line was also out the door. I guess it’s good? Just don’t go during a peak time.

The other thing I did while in the Brown area was hit up Farmstead Inc. To get there, walk east on Angell, until you get to Wayland Square, another cute area in itself. Farmstead has a cheese shop (with other fun fixins) and you can buy things by the pound. You can also eat in their restaurant. I sat at the bar, and had a couple of great cocktails. Their menu is probably what you expect: local, American, artisanal. But they also have cheese and charcuterie boards, and much of their charcuterie, sauces, and pickled items are made in-house. I was able to taste a few of my neighbors menu items (had a tasty heirloom tomato salad, and some ceviche…the ceviche was an odd choice and it was an odd ceviche), but ordered a cheese and meat board for myself. YUM. Can’t go wrong with the basics. If I lived in Providence, I’m sure I would be a regular and get to try more regular menu items, like grilled cheese….

Here are some random photos from the Brown-ish area of town.

 

Providence itself is split into two areas, separated by the Providence river. There is the College HIll area to the East, and downtown to the West.There was a shuttle operating between the downtown hotel and the university, but more than once I just walked. One way to walk was via Westminster St, the street downtown that has the requisite handmade shops, alterna-fashion, cute cafes, and classy liquor stores.

My hotel was right by the statehouse, in a weird intersection of the riverwalk and a mall. I took some nice runs through the town and along the river, but never quite made it to the harbor. For future reference, it looks like Collier Park (downtown) and India Point Park (College Hill) are good places to aim for.

Of course, Providence has more than two neighborhoods. One other neighborhood I checked out was Federal Hill, just to the west of downtown. It has a strong Italian-American history, and a large number of restaurants. Take a walk down Atwells Ave to get the gist. If you’re going for straight up Italian, you’ll have a number of choices, though I also recall seeing Lebanese and Greek places as well. I got a recommendation for Julian’s on Broadway, but didn’t have enough time to check it out. Looks to be an assortment of modern American fare, a good beer selection, and a good brunch spot. A place everyone can agree on if you’re in an eclectic group.

My goal in going to Federal Hill was getting to the Providence Oyster Bar. I had given two talks that day, and needed to get my grub on and enjoy a beverage. It looked to be not so great a deal for a regular meal, but had a smashing happy hour. The lobster roll, for instance, is usually $18. During happy hour it is $6. It was maybe worth $9. A good deal. Oysters are buck-a-shuck, and available fresh from many locations. My martini (okay, I had two) was another story. I was a little miffed when I saw the price tag for those, but the price of the food made it all okay in the end. Would definitely return, over and over again if I lived in Providence.

A good one about reverse discrimination

http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2013/09/on-reverse-discrimination.html?goback=%2Egde_1765297_member_271255391#%21

Presented without too much comment, except it’s a perfect time to mention this wonderful graphic featuring logical fallacies:

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/2f/cb/8f/2fcb8f3ec9380844c70f86afa62b8a51.jpg

So when you’re faced with someone ‘debating’ whether sexism/racism/etc exists, it’s a fun game to figure out where their logic has failed. And it’s a life skill to know right off the bat where it’s failed so you can respond appropriately.

Speaking of games, also this gem:

BINGO

My Digital Life

About 2 years ago, it started officially happening. My paper trail was dissolving. I had relied on a paper calendar for years. I don’t remember how it happened now, but I realized I needed the ability to schedule myself from any browser, and make repeated appointments. Google calendar is now an essential tab in my life.

My to-do list also was shredded. I have casual jots in Simplenote, as well as long lists (what to bring for LA), and life goals. If I want to remember something while I’m reading it, screenshot. If I want to remember something while I’m looking at it, snap a photo.

With Gmail’s Priority Inbox, and the iPhone’s improved search functionality, I keep only a few emails in my inbox, with the action items of the day starred. For better or worse, personal and work email goes to the same place.

I haven’t been able to go completely digital, though. While a lot of my work involves data analysis and writing, a large part of it is still jotting notes, making sketches, and writing out equations longhand. My official work to do list is still a few sheets of paper on my desk, and I have a lab notebook. Of course, anything final gets a digital version, but it is an issue I can’t overcome. Also, my raw data files are so large that I can’t have my project folders on the cloud (yet?). So data has to stay local.

At one point a long time ago, I tried to use the app Papers to keep track of literature. This has mostly failed. The papers for which I have digital copies are random and in random folders. I still print most things I want to read. I haven’t figured this out, though in principle it seems easy. Maybe it’s because I like to highlight and take notes. Maybe it’s because I feel like I’m too far behind. Maybe the organizational scheme seems daunting.

As far as other files, Dropbox has proven indispensable. Almost all of my personal and work-ish (basically anything that’s not experimental data and analysis files) I have instant access to. Google Drive seems to have improved recently; I need to figure out whether to use this more regularly. I definitely need to organize the files there at some point…right now it’s a dump of files that were mostly shared with me.

Unfortunately with Dropbox, I don’t have enough space to store my music collection. I don’t know why I would really need this all the time, but I think it would be comforting to have a copy everywhere. The computer my phone/ipod syncs to stays at home. I carry a Macbook Air with me, which is great, but doesn’t have near enough storage.

I was an early adopter of Amazon and Amazon Prime. But I was not using it efficiently. My Amazon cart had served as some sort of dumping ground for desires, half-desires, and things I was intrigued by.

I’ve reorganized. My Amazon cart is reserved for music only. Books I might want to read are sampled on my Kindle. Pinterest serves as the new file system for half-desires, major purchases, pantry items, and curios.

A podcasting app keeps me automatically up-to-date for my commute.

I have several websites for journaling purposes, though get more and more grossed out by the Blogger layout whenever I come from a WordPress site.

Speaking of websites, I have used Reader for about a year now, and now don’t know what to do when it expires in July! TBD. I never ever got into bookmarks, probably because I always spent so much time hopping from computer to computer. But with Reader and the links on my website, I have managed to patch them together. If something is worth caring about but not worth “bookmarking,” I can often find another digital home for it, even if it’s just a pdf saved to my Dropbox. Occasionally I might (shhhh) print something out.

I still haven’t found the time to organize my photos, but at least now I try to put albums on Facebook with some regularity. I’m one of the rare ones who wants my mom to join FB, so I don’t have to go through some convoluted sharing process.

I also now have what might generously be called a Twitter presence, too. For me FB is personal, and Twitter is for following people and getting some people to read my stuff. The occasional joke. I don’t know if I can deal with Twitter being the new norm, since that’s what the kids are doing. And I like having separate Twitter and FB spheres. I really am hooked to the visual nature of FB. I don’t necessarily see the point of Instagram. Maybe I will someday/I am an old. I sorta get the point of Tumblr but can’t be bothered yet.

I’ve also signed up for Mint, and it’s nice it automatically tracks things. But I can’t say I use the tools. Every once in awhile I just look at it. Maybe a worthy next digital goal?

Oh, and ladies, if nothing else, get a period tracker app. I’m pretty sure this is why smartphones exist.

Online Presence

For those keeping track at home, I am maintaining or contributing to several sites now.

http://physicslessonplans.wordpress.com/
A new site that is starting out with material developed by my students this Spring. I envision it as a space where people can share their lesson plans or demonstration ideas for physics concepts. Most of the content currently is aimed at elementary school students, but it’s all fair game. The only rule: it must involve demonstration and discussion.

http://figureoneblog.wordpress.com/
A site to which I am contributing regularly. I’m attempting to have polished pieces posted there.

http://kerstinnordstrom.com/
My online CV.

This blog
Will still be a place where I write my ideas or rough pieces. I’ll also sometimes link to my work elsewhere for archival purposes. I hope to start using it more often for personal stuff (aka travel journal).

Reasons to Study Impacts