New Week & Comments

It is a new week, and the last one can be only viewed in my rear view mirror.... I am not unhappy about that.

Yesterday, though, my wife and I went to an outdoor wind band concert, and it was so wonderful, peaceful, and beautiful!  The theme was "Movie and Theater" songs across the ages.  It was wholly delightful.  My two favorite pieces were "Phantom of the Opera" and "The Incredibles".  I guess that may not be overly surprising as both feature extensive, very fun parts to play in the low woodwinds (aka bass clarinet, hah!).  

I had not written comments to comments in a while, so I thought I would do so today.  As usual, I group my comments by putting the original comments in alphabetical order of the name of the commenter:

AC

“I think everybody gets the basic games even without a subscription.

Perhaps….. I had never really explored anything NYT related until we received the electronic subscription by my U.  Of course, I would occasionally take a luxurious day to buy and read stem-to-stern a physical copy of NYT when I wanted to relive the old “newspaper” days that I do miss. 

‘Do other profs also dress like that? It stopped for me and fellow teachers in the mid-80s, but maybe it has come back.

Profs dress in virtually any context/style you can imagine at the U.  There are some that do look like and act similarly to homeless souls, a fair number just hang around in jeans and casual t-shirts, some wear sportswear attire most of the time (track suits, etc).  I know of one professor who wears pajamas every day, and another professor who wears his doctoral gown and full regalia to each and every class.  

For me, my attire…… is an honor for my Dad….. pants-wise, kakhis of one or another color….. or occasionally very nice jeans…… shirt-wise….always a long-sleeved, button down collar shirt (various hues and patterns)…… and a traditional, long, necktie and sport coat of some sort (vest in high heat, Summer).  The necktie actually served two functions…. one to honor my Dad, and two….when I used to be “portly” (aka Canon-esque), I felt more comfortable wearing a necktie, as it seemed to “bifurcate/bisect” my considerable girth and helped me feel that my girth was “less conspicuous” if that makes any sense.   My sport coats run the gambit….. but I especially like corduroys, tweeds, and dark-blue blazers.  Although my penchant for corduroy and tweeds probably harkens back more to 70s and 80s fashion..... other, more modern sport coat attire akin to mine is work perhaps by ~15-20% of the male faculty.

‘Your memory stuns me.

My memories of dreams are sort of hit-or miss.  Some dreams I remember very, very fleetingly….. but some I remember in rather exacting detail.  I do not know the reasons for the difference, but suspect it may have something to do with the TIMING of when I awaken within or following the dream.  But, I am not really sure.

“We have few of those in the house, even in the somewhat cooler downstairs because my wife runs very hot. Their footprint is much better too

I have been awed and amazed at these odd-looking “tube” fans now that we have two.  I would never have thought they were anything special….. but they truly are……… by being both POWERFUL and QUIET.  It is somewhat of a dream come true for the reasons previously stated.  

“That does seem like a short night for a whorling man, but I realize that everyone has different requirements.

If I had my druthers, I would have between 7-8 hours of sleep a night.  But, that rarely happens, and truthfully, most of the time, I feel guilty for the sleep I DO have.  

DB Stewart

‘You reminded me of the time (as a young boy), I sampled my father's snuff, a strong but disturbing memory. Wistful though since I wish I could dream this to see my father smile and laugh again.

Haha!  I can imagine.  My Dad was never a big fan of snuff (neither nasal nor “chew’)….. although he had an ancient tin (nasal) and pouch (chew) in his tackle box when I was a kid. So, I never really had a lot of interest in either…..I do not remember trying either until I was much older….perhaps 19 or 20.  

I too miss my Dad, and I often wish I could spend more time with him again.  I just realized, it has now been 32 years since he passed away.  It still seems like it was SO recent.  

DMP

‘I think if you described this dream to one of your Parish Priests, he might have an opinion as to the gentleman's identity and purpose that may surprise you.

He calls us in all manner of ways. :-)

I am intrigued by your comment.  If you are thinking it is an allegory for me to become more active in my Parish and in my faith life….. I HAVE been looking for ways that I could do something more meaningful beyond just the traditional commissions and groups in our Parish.  If you would feel so inclined, I would enjoy hearing more details of your thoughts about your comment above.

GaP

“I like this dream.

It was one of the most pleasant dreams I have had (and recalled) in perhaps the last year or so.  It was delightful in every way…. and it was especially nice in that it was not just a “memory” dream of something that did happen in the past….. it was akin to a “movie” of sorts….something wholly new and exciting.  

Margaret

‘I'm so sorry for your issues with this child.

Thank you.  I do appreciate that you can understand how hard it can be (though I wish you did not have to feel the worry/concern you are facing with your own child).  It was just so out-of-the-blue and has changed the dynamics within our family so much, that it makes me cry.

‘I absolutely love your sampling of dishes from various cultures; I would love to try them! I'm a small plate person who loves bites of many specialties. I wasn't that impressed with Korean food when I was there, but perhaps I didn't try the right dishes.

For both me and my wife, that is one of our favorite parts (of many favorite parts) of travel….. being able to sample cuisine we do not have available at home.   I usually am not a big fan of “Korean” style cuisine, as (at least what I have been exposed to) much of it is very oily and/or fried….. which I just simply do not like in ANY sort of food. The Korean “sushi” we had, however, had no fried components at all…. and it helped me to greatly appreciate the Korean spices, flavors, and textures in the food.  

It may seem odd…. but when a food is oily or deep fried, I usually cannot “get past” the texture/smell of the oil/frying and I taste little if anything beyond the oil.  

“I'd wondered about the expression pipe dream and now I know! The details that you remember about the dream are astounding. I can usually remember bits and pieces of mine and they quickly fade

Yeah, I always find it very interesting when I can find out the origins of various colloquial phrases of that sort.  I so enjoy words and metaphors and analogies….. I always have.  

“Your dream has such detail; I'm impressed! I wasn't as big a fan of Theo of Golden as you although it was a decent discussion at Book Club.

I do so appreciate it when I have dreams that I actually REMEMBER….. but it is very hit-or-miss where dreams are concerned.  There was a recent period where it seemed I had LOST all ability to remember dreams…. or even if I was HAVING dreams….. but then it has now returned……  sometimes sketchy/hazy with little impression…. or better yet…. sometimes super detailed like the one I wrote about.  Those are (of course) my favorites.   I am really enjoying "Theo of Golden" especially since I had feared it would be an "Oprah-esque" book like my wife tends to favor.  It has been gentle, kind, and refreshingly joyful..... now of course..... I am only ~1/2 through...... and I have been coaxed by modern media to "anticipate" this is a calm before the storm, and any moment there will be some sort of "mass murder" or the protagonist will reveal his is a vampire or some such thing..... but I am keeping my fingers crossed that the work will continue on its wonderful path to a satisfying, pleasant conclusion.   

“I swear I'm not highfalutin' at all but I have that top fan in my bedroom (except in black) and love it! The remote control comes in very handy too.

Haha!  I apologize….. I just always had thought those fancy contraptions were just “rich people” toys….. and I do now admit I was completely mistaken….. they are SO MUCH better than old box fans….. so strong AND simultaneously QUIET!!!!  

Pam J

“Wordle addict here. And other NYT games, too: Connections and Strands. Breaking a winning streak is awful, well, painful at least. But getting Wordle in One is a mood-lifter.

I am, I believe, now at Day 21 of a “Wordle Streak”!  Today’s word (Monday) was in my opinion….. VERY, VERY HARD, though.  It took me all SIX tries, and I was actually lucky in that I guessed it……. I felt sure I was wrong about today’s word…… it seemed TOO discipline specific for it to be a Wordle word.  I had thought of it around my 4th guess…. but kept dismissing it as a “NO WAY IN HELL WOULD THEY USE THIS WORD” type of word.  I was shocked at my last available guess, when I just put it in thinking I had lost….. and it WAS the word!

“You can probably explain, scientifically, why a human body would stay in one position for 5? hours. A nontechnical term might be exhaustion? And I agree with Anvilcloud: Maybe if your body had been allowed to wake up when it was ready you would have felt great.

Hah, yes, I probably was exhausted…. hence no moving.  I would like more sleep…. but then I feel guilty about “wasting the day” when I SHOULD be doing SOMETHING.  It is a sort of “no-win” situation that plays in my head, I guess.  My resting heart rate while I have been sleeping has been typically around 44 – 48 the last few years since I have been running.  But in the last month, it has on several days been actually in the 35 – 38 range.  I should go back and see what my resting heart rate was on the day above when I was so exhausted.  

Pat M.

“I have to admit, Professor, that when I first saw the title of your post I thought you were going to tell us about your day's challenges that weren't as concrete as so many others you have shared.

So, never mind. :-) Perhaps this new academic verification procedure has something to do with the increasing ease of AI-related fakery?

From what I understand, the whole change resulted from one person who complained that she did not know or want to be a co-author on an abstract that was submitted by someone else in the prior cycle…. and this is why now everyone has to be verified.  It is a bit frustrating that when one person does something incorrectly (not notifying a co-author), then the lion’s share of us who do try to do things correctly…..end up getting more work and hassles.  

I guess that is it for today’s post!

PipeTobacco