AAPT

so I'm in Syracuse, NY for a conference (AAPT = American Association of Physics Teachers) this week. I left the insane heat in Phoenix (it was 117 on Friday) to the relative cool of central New York on Sunday morning. the day of travel was not so exciting, especially since I had only gotten about three and a half hours of sleep the previous night, and then the airline lost my luggage, so that just added to the headache of the day. luckily my bag showed up the next morning and so I wouldn't have to go buy clothes for the conference. anyway, yesterday was the first full day of the conference, 8am to 10pm, and it was exhausting. I ran into some people I hadn't seen since the conference last year, so that was nice. this morning I gave my talk (on STEM behaviors of high school math and science teachers, in case you care) and I think it went really well, so that is good. I wasn't able to show the video clip I wanted to, but I think it's for the best, because otherwise my talk would've run over the eight minute (!) time limit. so it all worked out for the best. now I'm just taking a break before lunch and more sessions. today we will end at 10pm again, and the same tomorrow, but Thursday (the last day of the conference) won't go as late. I'll be back in the heat on Friday.

little miss sunshine

so Angel and I just got back from an advanced screening of the new movie Little Miss Sunshine. I saw a thing online on imdb to get a ticket for this free screening a few weeks ago, so we were super excited to go. we showed up about an hour ahead of time and had to wait in the heat for a bit before they finally let us, searched my bags (for recording devices), and then finally let us to the theatre. the wait was definitely worth it, though. the movie was really good. it was more serious in parts than I was expecting, but overall was really hilarious (especially the last part of the movie). I would definitely recommend it when it finally comes out.

schork

just thought I needed to post something. can't sleep (again). I'm having one of those weeks. crappiness interspersed with periods of happiness. which isn't so bad, when you look at it all at once. school/work (or, schork, if you prefer) has been crazy this week. I am leaving for a conference this weekend and I have all of this stuff I have to get done before that. oh, and I have to prepare my talk for the conference as well. somehow, that got to the bottom of my to-do list so I only actually starting writing the slides this afternoon. but no worries, it'll be fine. also, I'm just so happy that I saved our project from near-death last week, I almost don't mind working on the stuff this week.

I can't believe July is more than half over. where did it all go?

happy birthday Jody. "we're sonic fucking death monkey!"

4th o' July pics

I put up some of my favorite photos from my crazy 4th of July adventure in Washington, DC on Flickr. they have an upload limit, so that's all that will be up there for a while. I will put some others on this blog also and I will also be putting together a movie of all the fun we had (surviving the storm, watching the fireworks, etc.).
here's the link: my Flickr 4th of July photos

the truth is out there

I just got back from seeing An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's movie on global warming, with Jeremy David Cogan (for some reason, he wanted me to use his whole name). it was a surprisingly good and entertaining movie, and of course, very informative and educational. EVERYONE needs to go see it. as soon as possible. and bring a friend. and then see what you can do to be part of the solution. check out the website for ideas.

welcome Stephen!

Jen and Lynn had their baby last night! he's so big! and lots of hair. (and very very tired.) Jody and I went to go see them in the hospital today and little Stephen looked great (and Jen looked good too, especially considering she was in labor for like 30 something hours). so, we have a new member to our soccer team (well, in a few years anyway).