miscellany

• Sorry my blogthusiasm has been flagging lately. Much is going on. Note to friends who know about the main ongoing distraction in my life: still no resolution, but hopefully soon.
• I have not restarted my diet as I promised.
• Now that everyone seems to have read Getting Things Done, perhaps someone could direct me to its prequel, Getting Things Started.
• A difference between Dan Myers and me: Dan, whenever he needs a little pick-me-up, apparently drops and does 20 push-ups. Me, I've taken to brightening my day by idly listening to the vegemite jingle over and over.
• Taking a long time to make a decision doesn't necessarily mean that a person is indecisive; it could be that the decision in question is genuinely hard.
• Via Tom B, a new contender for my favorite actual completion of the title "The Social Construction of X": The Social Construction of Time for Mars, by two of the principals on the astrosociology frontier. I sure hope a certain graduate student doesn't try to use connections to apply for any sociology faculty positions on Mars.
• When I was at the National Science Foundation, the meeting was interrupted by the building-wide announcement that rumors that a gunman had been loose in one of its buildings had been shown to be unfounded, and were the result of someone mishearing "fire alarm" as "firearm." I am not making this up. The announcement went on for a few minutes, describing some preliminary "lessons learned" from the incident, and promised a follow-up report that would be distributed throughout the foundation.