Saturday, May 12, 2018
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Astro Field Trip
Haystack Observatory
42 WHS seniors + Mr. Froberg + myself visiting the famous radio telescope!
Sunday, May 6, 2018
A play about astronomy, women, and the joy of discovery
Although nominally covering old ground for some of us (women in science not getting their due credit: Silent Sky, COSMOS, Hidden Figures) as well as having a shaky start and being purposefully vague about its own timeline, I would up finding this new play at the Central Square Theater profoundly affecting:
Not only was its unpacking of the challenges (historical and contemporary) of being a female scientist surprisingly eloquent and personal, but I was blown away by its unabashed enthusiasm for the thrill of a scientific discovery. The play literally showed Cecelia Payne sitting at a desk doing math and having a joyous epiphany as she became the first human being to know that the stars are mostly made of hydrogen. I mean this play had a scene about constructing a graph while showing the graph being constructed on the backdrop of the stage. No idea how it struck the non science people in the audience, but I thought 'right on!' while I was sitting next to my twelve year old daughter who is (in the words of the play) standing on the shoulders of Payne, Leavitt, Canon, Fleming, Maury when she looks out at the stars and knows how far away they are and what they are made of.
Catch it if you can!
Not only was its unpacking of the challenges (historical and contemporary) of being a female scientist surprisingly eloquent and personal, but I was blown away by its unabashed enthusiasm for the thrill of a scientific discovery. The play literally showed Cecelia Payne sitting at a desk doing math and having a joyous epiphany as she became the first human being to know that the stars are mostly made of hydrogen. I mean this play had a scene about constructing a graph while showing the graph being constructed on the backdrop of the stage. No idea how it struck the non science people in the audience, but I thought 'right on!' while I was sitting next to my twelve year old daughter who is (in the words of the play) standing on the shoulders of Payne, Leavitt, Canon, Fleming, Maury when she looks out at the stars and knows how far away they are and what they are made of.
Catch it if you can!
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Pleasantly Surprised
Sometime cool things happen that you would never predict. On the last day before spring break I wanted to give one of my physics classes a fun, boost-your-grade "quiz". As I was making up questions, I ended with this one:
If Physics were a food, what food would it be?
In this particular class (designed for students who are having trouble with the mainstream physics curriculum), open ended questions tend to be met with blanks or minimal effort. However, look at some of these really interesting, creative answers I got:
I'm already looking forward to reading this post years from now and hearing these particular students' voices in my head!
Monday, March 19, 2018
5000 meters
A couple of months ago, my bro gives me a call: "Hey - I just started running. You used to run, right? How about we run a 5k together in March? I'll fly out."
I hang up and think, oh no - what have I done? I last ran a 5k 14 years and 25 lbs ago...
Well, I did meet my goals: Finish the race (a) alive, (b) still able to move, and (c) without stopping (and, I'm not gonna lie here, (d) not in last place).
It was super-cold but that probably affected my brother more as he lives in California and had never run in the cold before (he still smoked me, of course!).
We chose this particular race (Maynard Boys and Girls Club) because of the timing and the fact that you get one free beer after the run:
(yes, those are the Lehmans in the background!)
(Note Seb in the foreground. When he smelled the beer he said it smelled like it was still fermenting...)
I hang up and think, oh no - what have I done? I last ran a 5k 14 years and 25 lbs ago...
Well, I did meet my goals: Finish the race (a) alive, (b) still able to move, and (c) without stopping (and, I'm not gonna lie here, (d) not in last place).
It was super-cold but that probably affected my brother more as he lives in California and had never run in the cold before (he still smoked me, of course!).
We chose this particular race (Maynard Boys and Girls Club) because of the timing and the fact that you get one free beer after the run:
Senior Show Skit
Peter Moore made this awesome, funny video for the senior show (2018).
He wrote the script. He directed us and edited the final cut.
I think it's great, but if you haven't seen a single episode of "The Office", you probably should check that out first!
Friday, January 19, 2018
plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose
I'm sick and tired of hearing things from
Uptight short sided narrow minded hypocritics
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic psychotic pigheaded politicians
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
Uptight short sided narrow minded hypocritics
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic psychotic pigheaded politicians
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
No short-haired, yellow-bellied
Son of tricky dicky's
Gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocket full of hopes
Money for dope, money for rope...
Son of tricky dicky's
Gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocket full of hopes
Money for dope, money for rope...
I'm sick to death of seeing things from
Tight-lipped condescending mama's little chauvinists
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
I've had enough of watching scenes from
Schizophrenic egocentric paranoiac primadonnas
All I want is the truth just give me some truth...
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
I've had enough of watching scenes from
Schizophrenic egocentric paranoiac primadonnas
All I want is the truth just give me some truth...
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