Liz's Bloglet

A surprisingly intelligent article asks "Did Obama...

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:18:26 -0600

A surprisingly intelligent article asks "Did Obama make the South irrelevant?"
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When to end long-term experiments is always a...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:10:43 -0600

When to end long-term experiments is always a difficult question. The government has decided to end its long-term CO₂ enrichments. This has rather huge effects on my lab and about 10 others at Pseudo Ivy alone.
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Democratic Concern Trolls Voice Concern About the...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 07:25:21 -0600

Democratic Concern Trolls Voice Concern About the Future of Democratic Concern Trolling
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I took my mentees to see The Secret Life of Bees...

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:38:08 -0600

I took my mentees to see The Secret Life of Bees yesterday. We really enjoyed it. Not amazing cinema or anything, but the acting was quite good and the scenery was lovely. And we even learned about apiculture.

Afterwards we were discussing how good Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keys were. I mentioned that the young man who played the main character's love interest was really good, and looked familiar, and I was surprised that neither of them recognized him. Yes, neither of my 11 year old mentees have seen The Wire.
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Cool environmental ads

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:30:03 -0600

Cool environmental ads
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Blaming Black Voters for Prop 8 Loss is Wrong and...

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:23:25 -0600

Blaming Black Voters for Prop 8 Loss is Wrong and Destructive There is more cause to blame the LDS and Catholic churches, whose members contributed most of the money and whose leaders stretched their non-profit status in advocacy, still keeping in mind that not all Mormons or Catholics are homophobes or supported Prop 8.
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Two months before I was born, NC voted to elect...

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:14:00 -0600

Two months before I was born, NC voted to elect Jimmy Carter president. It took 32 years, but today it was officially called that NC voted for Obama. On the radio, in passing, the NPR guy said something about President-Elect Obama. Readers of this blog know I never drank the Kool-Aid, but I got a little weepy.
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This Rolling Stone profile of Rahm Emanuel...

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:35:15 -0600

This Rolling Stone profile of Rahm Emanuel answered several questions I had about him, including which West Wing character was based on him.
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Yes. This. ...

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:02:27 -0600

Yes. This.

Obama is ahead right now in NC by 12,000 votes, and they are counting provisional ballots right now. And in 4 years, I will not be sneered at as being from a "red state" and presidential candidates will actually be forced to campaign here if they want to win.

Those of us from the Democratic wing of the Democratic party still can't rest, and must be constantly vigilant that what really matters remains front and center in national discourse. But things are only easier with a few more Democratic members of Congress (whichever wing of the party they may be from)

And I actually believe that Obama is waking up this morning and saying "What's next?"
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Just got home from a 1 day trip to Asheville...

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:00:04 -0600

Just got home from a 1 day trip to Asheville. We have our first female governor and the Ruby Slipper Campaign sent Liddy Dole home to Kansas. It's still too close to call the presidential race for our state, but nationwide it's over and Obama has come very close to making this so-called red state blue. Too tired to stay up, but happy.
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In other NC political news, Junior Johnson...

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:28:33 -0600

In other NC political news, Junior Johnson endorsed Obama.

For those uncool kids who don't follow motorsports: Junior Johnson is a NASCAR driver
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A nice analysis of the current state of things,...

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:18:18 -0600

A nice analysis of the current state of things, and John Edwards' absence from them by local misanthrope Hal Crowther (who besides being a prominent political commentator at various times over the years is married to the awesome novelist Lee Smith).
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I learned a new thing...

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:44:21 -0600

I learned a new thing. Maybe everybody else in the world already knew this except me. Apparently, rental car reservations only mean that they will have some vehicle for you to rent and will probably charge you the same rate that your reservation was for. But they can, say, substitute a gigantic minivan or SUV for your reserved subcompact car and call it an "upgrade" (because who wouldn't rather drive a gigantic minivan or SUV rather than an actual car?). Maybe if gas was still 80 cents a gallon that would be an upgrade. But I'm not going to drive a gigantic vehicle all the way to Asheville and then around on little tiny mountain roads with gas around $3 a gallon. So my relaxing week in the mountains with a conference in the middle has turned into a 2 day trip with my advisor in her car. I may work at home the rest of the week and pretend like I'm vacationing, except for, well, the work.
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I took my mentees trick or treating in the...

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:34:09 -0600

I took my mentees trick or treating in the prosperous neighborhood adjacent to ours. It is a very big deal, with cops at all the intersections and elaborate decorations on most of the houses (one had a life size Barack Obama at the door). We saw a ton of Sarah Palins and Joe the Plumbers, including one family where both the mom and dad were dressed as Joe. The youngest Sarah Palin was probably 12 (and had a very nice machine gun that made noises) while the youngest Joe the Plumber was a toddler.

My favorite manufactured costume was probably the toddler sized bumblebee. One of the other 6th graders with us had amazing angel wings made out of real feathers.
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Voted early today...

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:39:46 -0600

Voted early today. It felt better than voting for Kerry or Clinton (I could only vote for Clinton in 1996). Probably about the same as voting for Gore, although I do like Biden slightly more than Lieberman.

Except for absentee ballots when I was in college, this is the only time I've ever not voted on election day. I'll be at a conference in Asheville next week, so I'll be watching the election results alone.
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Wow. The Daily Show actually did a good piece on...

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:40:34 -0600

Wow. The Daily Show actually did a good piece on the whole air quotes thing, without pulling any punches. And had a woman say it. And, just, wow.
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Tony Hillerman died yesterday...

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:38:11 -0600

Tony Hillerman died yesterday. If you've never read his books, he beautifully depicted the desert Southwest and the people there in a way that utterly captured me when I was pretty young, while also telling cool murder mysteries. His books have held up, and finally getting to go to Utah this summer was an amazing thing.
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Somebody stole our Obama sign last night, as well...

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 10:37:21 -0600

Somebody stole our Obama sign last night, as well as those of several of our neighbors. It is weird both because there are no McCain signs in our neighborhood really at all, and because there are still a number of Obama signs remaining on our block. They seem to have avoided those that were near front doors, taking the ones that were out of the view of the front door and window. Cowards.

I'm sad because I had planned to take a picture going down our block trying to show as many as possible. I think I could have easily gotten 8, including the handmade "Clowns for Obama" contributed by our neighbors' little girls. They actually stole that one, as well, but for whatever reason left the "Polar Bears for Obama" sign that was right next to it.
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If only...

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:28:12 -0600

If only...
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We are home. Things are okay.

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:38:53 -0600

We are home. Things are okay.
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In happier news, this

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:15:10 -0600

In happier news, this
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Remi is in the hospital and will be having surgery...

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:12:43 -0600

Remi is in the hospital and will be having surgery this afternoon. Everything is going to be okay, but he could use your good wishes.

Update: They pulled Remi's gallbladder out through his bellybutton. He is in recovery. He got to see all of your comments right before he went into surgery and he really appreciated it (as you might imagine Pseudo Ivy Medical Center has wi-fi).
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We saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist...

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:07:30 -0600

We saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It was pleasant. The perfect thing to see on our first fall-like afternoon. I had been worried that the trailer basically gave away the whole movie, so it was nice that that wasn't true. Remi loves Bishop Allen so it was amusing to see Nick's band open for them, then leave before their set really started.

We are both worried about Michael Cera though. We have loved him in a wholesome way since Arrested Development first started. I heard an interview with Jason Bateman, post-Juno, where he raved about Cera's acting chops and comic timing. We are afraid his career may be more like Christian Slater's than John Cusack's, and that makes us sad.
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I sure as hell did not agree with every word that...

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:48:34 -0600

I sure as hell did not agree with every word that came out of Senator Obama's mouth regarding abortion, but in the end what we got was the picture of a man who respects the health of women and their right to control their own bodies. What we got from Senator McCain was a clear picture of an extremist who disregards women's autonomy and their very lives. And as a woman, yes, I do take that personally.

Considering the constant pain in my hips and back, there is simply no way I could handle pregnancy right now, especially since it would necessitate my stopping taking the drugs that are making the pain bearable. This is beyond the question of how could someone with my pain and fatigue raise a child. Or if I can barely handle my current responsibilities how could I handle being responsible for another person? Let alone the rather obvious question of whether I would want a kid even if I were in perfect health.

This is not a philosophical question. Do you know how much I wish it were?
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Note to anti-abortion idiots (including Senator...

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:17:47 -0600

Note to anti-abortion idiots (including Senator McCain): Everytime you discount women's health as an important consideration in abortion rights, you lose votes. Women like our health. How dare you dictate what we should be willing to sacrifice for your principles?
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This is a sort of sad, sort of odd, sort of cool...

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:21:21 -0600

This is a sort of sad, sort of odd, sort of cool story about one researcher who contributed to this Nobel Prize in chemistry
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I am made speechless by the accuracy.

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:29:42 -0600

I am made speechless by the accuracy.
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500 m this morning! Woot...

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:38:26 -0600

500 m this morning! Woot! I'd like to add some kickboard work next week, to up my total activity time and keep my hips going. Unfortunately, they're closing my pool for fall break, and of course the other pool is not open in the mornings. So my schedule for the next few days will be messed up.
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We are in Athens...

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:11:42 -0600

We are in Athens. It's been nearly 4 years since we were last here, and 7 1/2 since Becca joined me in a road trip to find a place to live here (we stayed in the very same Best Western that Remi and I are staying in tonight).

It is weird being back. This is one of the places I lived the longest, a place where I grew up a lot, the place where I became a scientist. Many of my cohort of grad students are back for the science symposium/celebration this weekend. Since they were all here the last time I was here, it's easy to forget that years have passed and we all have lives elsewhere. Several of them have kids now, who didn't back then.

I didn't go out to the bars following the evening activities. I'm old now. I have arthritis. I spent 5+ hours in the car today. And I remember very clearly the actual reality of Athens night life: the smoke, the noise, the smell of urine and vomit which fills the streets, especially during football season, the unpleasantness of tens of thousands of undergrads.

It's great to be back and see people and remember good times, and go to a symposium of the greatest freshwater scientists of our time, but it is very nice that it's not a football weekend and that I feel no obligation to have a full Athens experience.
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I think she just said that the current crisis has...

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:27:49 -0600

I think she just said that the current crisis has made the American people for the first time aware of greed and corruption on Wall Street. I think I was aware of that about 20 years ago.

So she doesn't know if it's necessarily true that climate change is caused by our activities, but she thinks we can do other things that will solve the problem? Millions of tons of anthropogenic greenhouse gases can't affect our climate, but something else can?

I'm impressed by how strongly Biden just defended gay rights. I'm used to Democrats being very wishy-washy. And how dare Palin talk about "tolerance" and "people choosing to be gay". Oh, don't worry, though, because Barack Obama and Joe Biden both oppose gay marriage. And apparently think marriage is defined by religion.

I think I have to go to bed now. This format is just completely infuriating. Palin has no incentive to answer the questions, and she hasn't even been trying to. I know Ifill's hands are completely tied on this, but I'd really like her to just refuse to move on until Palin actually answers a question.
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