keeping it real....

i do feel the need to try and keep it real at times on this blog....i love beautiful interiors but i am far from being surrounded by pretty spaces right now....

in fact if you really want to know- my house is a disaster, i am sleep deprived, laundry has tripled in size, i get peed on daily by my two week old, i take showers in the middle of the day, i pray for coffee to appear in the coffee pot, i dread the 2 o'clock feeding, i went out in public and discovered i had a lovely wet spot on my shirt b/c it was close to feeding time, walker's umbilical cord fell off and we had no idea where it was (we did find it thankfully), potty training is the WORSE thing ever and it makes me want to cry on a regular basis, and i tried on my regular clothes entirely too early and was instantly met w/ defeat.....

BUT no matter what i wouldn't trade it for the world...pretty interiors will return, my child will one day be potty trained, and i will be able to sit back and laugh at all of this :)

in the meantime, i hope y'all have a very HAPPY 4th of JULY weekend!!

*images courtesy of haute design, pretty stuff, stephanie rausser

July Scientiae: Fantasy Institute

This month's July Scientiae is from JaneB:

"You have been selected as the Director of a newly endowed research institute. It is your job to decide where the institute will be based, its codes of conduct, its structure, and who you will hire. Dream away! Tell us what would make your institute a haven for scientists." 

Photo by Glisglis

Location:

- Based in warm climate with fantastic public transportation and great restaurants. 

People:

- Nice, smart, and passionate about science. 

Facilities:

- On-site chef

- On-site, high-quality childcare with enough space for all employees

- Lots of green space (trees, shrubbery, etc), flowers, parks, benches, hiking trails, maybe a pond or two

Funding:

- Researchers never have to worry about funding or making a profit.  

- Funds are always available to buy cool research toys, the caveat being that you need to make sure at least two other colleagues have played with your toy.

- Funding is always available to travel to conferences, even if you don't have a paper accepted. 

Administration:

- Fantastic, friendly, helpful administrative support whom are well paid and well treated.

- When reimbursing travel/equipment, no one is allowed to make a fuss over anything less than $50. Ever. 

Work environment:

- Slacking is encouraged, in order to generate brilliant ideas. No one is allowed to feel guilty (or make others feel guilty) for sitting in the park reading a fiction novel, playing sports, going for a swim in the pond, or chatting with others. 

Our motto: Great ideas and great work come from treating people well. 

the great thing about stripes...

is that they look fantastic no matter what the settings....

*images courtesy bippity boppity boo, plush palate, oh happy day, luxe and lilies, tiny white daisies, coco and kelly, lucky boy sunday

Err on the side of "Doctor"

DrugMonkey's post on academic titles reminded me of something I wanted to mention.

Photo by Cybertoad

When addressing someone in an academic context whose gender and/or academic ranking is unknown, it's generally best to err on the side of "Doctor". The worst that happens is you're wrong and they're flattered.

Recently a colleague (C1) invited another colleague (C2) to review a paper. C2 is a woman, and a postdoc. C1 is a male academic researcher. If one searches for C2's name, the first few hits clearly show that she has a PhD, and also that she appears to be a "she". But for some reason, C1 entered C2's information into the reviewing system as "Mr. C2 Lastname". C2 has spent a lot of time in a country which has a masculine culture, so she's probably not phased by this, but I find I am a bit. Why is "Mr." the default?

Another FCS and I were once in charge of allocating a small pot of money and advertised a call for applicants. Several applications we received were addressed, "Dear Sir". I just couldn't wrap my head around this. If we both didn't have photographs on our webpages (which both show us very much looking female) I could maybe excuse this error. But even still, the applicants could have written, "Dear Committee Members" or even just "Dear FCS1 and FCS2." Ah well... too bad about that funding. ;)

what's a girl....

gotta do to sport a cute outfit like this one??! i think it needs to magically appear in my closet. it would be a lot cuter then the t-shirt and gym shorts i am currently living in these days. it's that elastic band that keeps me coming back for more....

*images courtesy of house and home, urban electric, the zhush