meanwhile, the folks behind how to write your dissertation in fifteen minutes a day expected you to do that whole quarter hour in a row

I have a friend who is planning on writing a book in ten nonconsecutive days this summer. I advised her to check out the book How To Write A Book In Ten Nonconsecutive Days. Turns out, though, this book does not exist. I suggested she might write it during the off days of the ten nonconsecutive days writing the other book. She was not amused.

"I was so! I giggled! I was amused!"
"It doesn't work as well as a post if I say that you were amused."
"You always misrepresent what I say on your blog. This is why you don't have a label with my name for posts about me."

pluto!

This begins my last month in Cambridge. People keep asking me what things I want to make sure to do before I go. My answers are not especially inspiring, other than that I want to make sure I finish my quest to see all the planets in the Boston model solar system. Today, Sara and I went to Pluto, whose demotion to dwarf planet status I fully endorse but is part of Boston's system and so part of my quest. Pluto is at the Riverside T stop, which is the furthest stop out on the Green Line. We got there and there was all these buses, because the station had been closed due to some problem. Still, our bubbly astronomical enthusiasm was good enough to talk our way over the construction tape and up to the platform.



We also went to visit Brandeis University, including a stop by this peace garden they have there:



If you look close, you can see I'm wearing my man purse. It was pointed out that the buttons on my man purse do not exactly suggest success at fulfilling whatever inner peace goals the peace garden may have:



As for the planets quest, the major obstacle to completion would seem to be--cue the Beavis laugh-track--Uranus, as the Saturn's location is only a few blocks from my house and the Sun is at the Museum of Science.