Yuck.

Classes start tomorrow. I am not really ready for the first day at all. I am teaching two classes, organic chemistry and Chemistry for Non-Majors.

I’ve taught orgo five times now, so I am feeling pretty comfortable with that. Syllabus is done, quiz for the first day is done, the lab stuff is mostly done, but I have some time for that. Lab doesn’t start until 2PM. I can do it in an hour!!

But I’m not so confident about the non-majors course. I’ve not taught this specific class before. It could be a blood bath. I have some stuff planned for the first day, but you never know who you are going to get in the class. It could be a great class with lots of motivated people or, more likely, 90% are only there because it’s a requirement to graduate and they will refuse to do anything beyond the bare minimum.

We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted as the semester wears on…

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On a lighter note, I’ve decided to take part in something called “Project 365″. Basically, you are challenged to take a photo every day for a year. They don’t have to be good photos, just at least one a day. One of my bloggy friends (hi Cathy!!) is doing it and it sounds like a fun challenge. So here we go. I actually started on Friday, but I’ve been lazy with posting.

Project 365 - No. 1 (August 22, 2008)

Matriculation for the new students. All of the faculty have to parade in in their academic regalia. I love seeing the faculty in their “academic glory”. Sometimes schools have special regalia (that ends up costing more), which is how you end up with all of the different colors of robes. The hoods are pretty standard. The hood is that drape-y thing over the top. You can see it best on the left most guy. The color of velvet around the collar is indicative of the specialty you got your degree in, the satin on the inside is the school you got your degree from. The bars on the robe mean it is a Ph.D.

They are hot and heavy and we all grumble about wearing them. But I love watching everyone in their finery. It reminds me of nothing so much as birds showing off their plumage.

Project 365 - No. 2 (August 23, 2008)

This is an enormous bug that was on the window. It was a good two inches long. We were at one of Jim’s student’s wedding:

(This one doesn’t count because I didn’t take it.) Jim saw that huge bug on the window so I had to go take a picture. Then everyone else had to go take a picture too.

I’m such a trend setter.

Radio Star!

The report appeared on the radio! Jim wasn’t kidding when he said it was only a few seconds, but it was so cool when they said his name on the radio. I got chills.

http://www.environmentreport.org/story.php3?story_id=4142

Here’s the link for those of you that want to hear the story. Just a word of warning - the reporter got it all wrong. The catalyst generates oxygen, not hydrogen. Why is this important? Jim tried to get her to correct the report before it went out, but he didn’t have any luck. He was pretty bummed, but I’m still super excited to know that my husband was on the radio!

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I spent some time a week or so ago stalking the hummingbirds again. This time I set up at a different window. It really funny; last year, I had feeders at the same window, but the humming birds would only visit the one in the back. This year, they love the front feeder. They empty it about twice as fast as the one in the back. Strange.

Anyway, this time, I decided to go for the one in the back. The light is better, but the curtain thing wasn’t working quite as well as the front window. So instead, I turned the chair around and hid behind the back rest. I think it worked just as good. Plus it was much more comfortable.

I love the look on this guys face. Claire asked me about the spray on the window, was it raining? Nope, just dirty windows. So I cleaned the windows inside and out (man were they filthy) and went back to my hiding place to see about catching some more shots.

I also played around with the setting on the camera. Instead of using the Auto setting, I changed the ISO to 1600. It is a faster “film speed”, but the picture is pretty grainy. I like it though because it didn’t need the flash with the faster speed. I also adjusted the color balance, using the “cloudy” setting. I’m not sure what it does, but I like the colors that it gave. They are much truer to the colors outside.

Enough with the talking, more photos!

You can see how changing the film speed really lets you capture the wings! Pretty grainy, so I might try to play around with lower speeds the next time I stalk the hummingbirds. I didn’t zoom too tight on that photo either. Our camera has a digital zoom and for this one, I tried to make sure that it wasn’t engaged. I think that it made a big different in the quality of the photo. I went into Photoshop and cropped a lot of the window frame out the photo. I got rid of a lot of boring stuff out of the photo, but didn’t lose quality.

The window is cleaner, but you can see in the next photo, it isn’t great…

I think this is the male still, just the colors were a little washed out.

Anyway, fun with photography. It’s a hobby, so expect to see more! (Feel free to ignore all of the technical stuff if you want to.)

What to my wondering eyes should appear…

But two tiny little deer!

I was looking out the window one morning and these two little fawns went tripping across the backyard. They were so stinking cute. I didn’t have the heart to run out back and chase them away. I know that in about two months I’ll be regretting this because those little suckers will be eating all of my flowers, but they were so cute!! They still had their white spots and everything.

I love this next photo. It really makes me laugh. But no one else seems to think it is nearly as funny as I do. This photo is one of the reasons that I have started carrying Jim’s camera around with my everywhere. You just never know what you are going to see:

Yes. I stop and take photos of other people’s trash cans, especially when they killed Barney and are trying to get rid of the evidence.

Nice dress. Was it a gift?

I like hanging out in bookstores. I get so many great ideas of books that I want to read. But I’m way to cheap to actually buy the books. That’s what the library is for. We support local libraries with property taxes and I fully intend to get my money’s worth.

But when I get to the library, I usually stand at the stacks, thinking “What was the name of that book again?” I would try to write down the titles, but it was usually on the back of a receipt or other scrap of paper in my purse. The only time I ever clean out my purse, it seems, is right after I go to the bookstore and I get rid of all of the titles.

So I started taking pictures of the books with my cell phone camera. I don’t use the camera for anything else because I don’t know how to get the pictures off the phone. Now, it is a library of books that I want to read!

One of the books that I recorded recently was “Seducing the Boys Club” by Nina DiSesa. Nina DiSesa is the Chairman of one of the larger advertising agencies in the US. The byline on the books says “uncensored tactics from a woman at the top”. I thought it would be a good book, maybe to learn some of the habits and tips of a successful woman at the top.

I think what I’ve learned is that advertising is very different from academics, even though they both start with “a”.

In one of my favorite parts of the book, she is trying to make the argument that women are more intuitive than men and can read a room better. In a presentation meeting, if you realize the clients are happy, she suggests that you should break the ice by saying something like:

I can see by that scowl on your face that something is wrong here. Do you want to talk about it? Or should we just leave now so you can start drinking heavily?

I’m thinking about using that one in my tenure meeting. (I really might try it out on my chair the next time that we are in a meeting just for a laugh. But he has a sense of humor. I hope.)

Another idea she has is that women need to try to relate to men as women, not as another man. She thinks that flirting with a client that you are presenting to is a good idea. When meeting a male client, she suggests that you should break the ice with veiled compliments so you can get a read on them. For example:

Nice tie. Did you pick it out? No, wait. It was a gift, right?

The new president and dean of faculty at Albion College are both women. I think to start the next meeting I have with either of them, I’ll say something like “Nice, dress. Was it a gift?”

Then I’ll start looking for a new job.

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I’m working on a post, with PHOTOS and everything.

He’s my hero.

I’m a big NPR fan. I go through phases where that is all that I listen to. (Then I get tired of hearing the same thing for about a week and listen to audiobooks, but it’s always back to NPR!)

Guess who’s going to be on NPR tomorrow?

That’s right: my hubby!!

The Environment Report interviewed MY HUSBAND about a recent discovery in water splitting. I’m so excited to hear it!! The audio file of the report will be on the web on Monday and you can be sure that I’ll link to it then. But if you are near a radio tomorrow morning, be sure to listen for the environment report!

The discovery was made by a friend of ours, Dan Nocera. Nocera (well, a grad student probably did the actual experiment) discovered a cobalt catalyst that can produce oxygen from water when a modest potential is passed through the water. The great thing about the catalyst is that it uses neutral water, under ambient (normal) conditions and earth abundant materials. It is a great breakthrough and it means we are one step closer to accessible hydrogen fuel cells. Go green!!