Geek Love is..

"Oh no..! Don't wear a red shirt to the conference! That means you'll never come back!"

Life happens..

Sorry posts have been a little sparse lately! I've been preparing for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge (More on that on April 1, but click on the link to the right if you are curious!) as well as doing some writing for other things. And then, ya know.. life.. happens..

Around here we are gearing up for the end of the semester (Graduation!) and the transition into summer (my busiest time! eek!) so my days have been pretty packed. Ever get that feeling like you are going from meeting to event to other thing, without stopping to breathe in between? That's been me the last couple days. This morning I literally made piles on my desk of what I needed to bring to each meeting so that I could just walk in and  exchange what I was carrying around without having to think about it.

My list of things "To Do" is growing unconscionably long and every time I get an actual spare moment to look at my email it just gets longer. One of the things we've had going on is interviews for a position on campus. I thought it was interesting that a couple candidates have mentioned the "24 hour rule" for responding to emails and tasks.  I thought that was a nice concept, if a bit optimistic. I have always tried to respond to things as soon as I can but have never put a time limit on responses. I find myself wondering if that would cause more stress or decrease it by making the list of things set within a more definite timeframe.

Interesting to ponder though I don't think it is a change I will be making right now.

How is the Spring wrapping up for y'all? Everyone keeping their heads above water?

A Bonny St. Patrick's Day

I just realized that three of my last four posts had to do with holidays of sorts. So, why not make it an even four of five and say, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!" Today we spent the morning working on house stuff, and the afternoon near Golden hiking with the fabulous Katie. 

Toward the end of the hike there was this neat wooden walkway. Part of it had quite a bit of fire damage. Not sure what happened there, but it was a pretty neat place to walk!

                                

Beware the Ides of March

image from: www.regards.com

This day always reminds me of high school Latin Class (yes, I'm waving my nerd flag right now..). We used to translate Roman poetry and accounts of historically significant events and it was actually a lot of fun. We even made one infamous movie adaptation of the story of Persephone and the pomegranate seeds.

The Ides of March of course, is famous because it was the day that Julius Caesar was stabbed in the back 23 times by the members of the Roman Senate. It's humorous to me that people like to say that Latin is a useless dead language and yet there are definitely elements of the Roman culture that are still influential today as well as a slew of words that are taken directly from Latin that we use every day (agriculture, sinister, gubernatorial..).

Anyway, yesterday was Pi Day (also Einstein's birthday) and today is Ides of March. It's a geeky holiday week. Enjoy!

Happy International Women's Day!

Women's issues are something I have always been passionate about. My mom was a single mother for much of my childhood so I have seen firsthand how important resources in our communities can be for women. I have also, unfortunately, seen some ways that our society still makes it difficult or even makes it seem shameful for single women trying to take care of their families. Thankfully there are a lot of community and world-wide organizations working to help our women and their families be successful and healthy. 

I donate money, items, and when I can, time to support organizations that do good work and encourage you all to do what you can to do the same.

Here are links to a few of my favorites:

- The V-Day Project/Vagina Monologues - Last year I had the honor to work with a group of women at MDC to produce the Vagina Monologues (and they are doing it again this year! So proud!). It was an incredible journey and I totally support what V-Day does for women around the world.

- Strong Women, Strong Girls - Uniting girls who live in the city with college and community mentors. This program is exceptional.  

- Planned Parenthood - I know they are a controversial group, but I do stand with Planned Parenthood. They provide thousands of women with affordable healthcare every year. When I was coming out of grad school and had no insurance for a couple months I got sick and was able to go to Planned Parenthood for meds. They were kind and provided me with medication I may not have been able to otherwise afford. And that's what they do for thousands of women, every day.

- The Women's Center in Waukesha - Small but oh so mighty!


- Kiva - Provide loans to men and women around the world, to help make their lives better. You can help with as little as $25!

There are so very many more.. Who do you support in your neighborhood? 

March Forth!

March fourth is the only day of the year that the date makes a full sentence. I could wax poetic about how it inspires me to march forth toward achieving goals, etc but really it's more fun to just look at a picture from our hike today, don't you think?

Way back in the distance you can see a plateau, which is Table Mountain, right near CSM. Hard to believe this picture is from very near to where these pictures were taken, eh?