P.antalones M.ucho P.ink

So, the week is crazy. It's just that time of year- I have too much to do and not enough time. All of the things I have to do are difficult, and as you may have noticed, I don't always react well when things are difficult. In addition to work, I feel like I have a lot to blog about, but not a lot of energy (or time, really). But, that's not exciting. All of my statistics struggles are making me punchy, so let me share a couple of exciting things for now, to tide you over until I can go into more detail about the important things that make me tired. I'm sure you can hardly wait.

Things that made my day:

1. My boss gave me a pair of silver glittery strappy open-toed pumps. I know, not what you were expecting, right? I had to teach her class for her on Monday at the crack of dawn because she was out of town, and when she got back today she said she had a regalito for me (she likes to use Spanish too). I had told her about my event on Saturday (big fancy party with TMH) and she apparently found these shoes when she was out of town. She's a shoe diva, so she's always coming in with shoes she found on super sale, $3 shoes, etc. I am sure she didn't spend much on these, but that's not the point. It was just so unexpected! She presented them to me after I had three difficult final evaluation meetings with students (with crying, the whole nine yards...the absolute HARDEST part of my job for me. Remember, my final evals are high stakes- they determine students' funding options, etc. Stressful). Needless to say, it was just what I needed. I don't know that I will wear them to the fancy event (and she didn't expect me to, they are just for fun), but you never know. Silver shoes are in right now, they are super fun...and as she said, I can always wear them for Halloween. How many people out there can say that their bosses have ever given them a pair of silver glittery strappy open-toed pumps? Awesome.

2. TMH sent me an email with the subject line "pantalones" and he called me P.antalones M.ucho P.ink. (I told him a few days ago that I had gotten out my pink winter pants, which apparently rekindled my summer nickname). He said that he couldn't go in order (pink pantalones) because he couldn't think of any other "m" words in Spanish, besides margarita, which doesn't fit. Obviously. Actually, to be technical, in Spanish the adjective usually comes second anyway... so he shouldn't be too concerned.

The rest of the day was full and difficult... but tomorrow is my last day of classes (for the semester), I am going out of town for the fancy event this weekend (and I get to see TMH AND my good friend), and somehow everything else will fall into place. It always does, right?

You keep using that word...

I do not think it means what you think it means.

(I am bummed that no one responded to my previous movie trivia challenge).

The overused words in my life right now are of a wide variety. Epistemology. I don't think anyone really knows what that means, as much as they would like to impress you by how much they do. Ontology, too. If you thought that things just mean what they mean, and you know what you know, boy do you have another thing coming. Unless you're not a grad student, in which case it doesn't matter in the slightest. Hmm. Regression. That's another big one lately. I wonder who decided it was a good idea to fit a straight line to things. And, why does our common usage of the word regression mean to go backward? Usually regressing is not a good thing, right? In statistics it's apparently the best thing you can do. Then there are the common words that are always buzzing around my head. Committee. Proposal. Stress. Craziness. Bad mood. BUSY. Bzz bzz bzzzzzz....

Given my stress, and my concern about how I will actually get everything done, I think I am mostly handling things OK. Do I sound confident, or what? This week has been one of the busiest I can remember, and I haven't even had any big papers due. That scares me. The big issue right now is that I am overscheduled. My days are so full that I don't have enough time to actually get things done, and even when I write things down it is easy to forget them. I have been starting to lose perpective...on the verge of a freak out... but I have kept it at bay. I am proud of myself (so far). I am doing my best... fitting things in... making stuff happen... pulling myself out of dangerous moods... only forgetting minor things. Let's hope I can keep it up as we enter the home stretch. That tread mill is starting to go faster, it's a slippery slope, yadda yadda yadda...

In committee news, I had a very positive meeting with the guy on Monday. That's all I'll say for now. It seemed premature to ask him, after only one meeting, but at least I haven't ruled out the possibility (I realized that I should shift my perspective. I was checking HIM out). He was nice and interested, which is way better than the alternative. It's sort of like dating. We can't get too serious too soon.... but we have starting the courting process. I am optimistic.

In TMH news, he is coming to visit this weekend. Yay for that! (I wonder what he'll think about my keeping the stats book next to the bed. He usually says helpful things, like "sometimes you gotta.") He helps me get out of my head a little bit... it will be nice to have a bit of a break from myself ... and see him, of course! Then in two weeks he'll be back, we'll see his parents for Thanksgiving, and it will be December. But, I am getting ahead of myself for now. One step at a time...

Stalled by Stats

Sometimes I go to my computer to look something up... just now it was OLS. I did not know what it meant, and it was used in an article I am reading. Since I may have to talk about the article tomorrow, I figured I should at least check what it meant. I learned that it means "Ordinary Least Squares" and is used in situations with a multivariate one-sided hypothesis where the covariate matrix is unknown. OK. Translation? At least I have heard all of the words before-- it's a start. I almost called my dad the statistician to talk to him about it, but I realized it was late and he probably didn't want to get into it with me.

My story has a couple of points. The first is obvious- I get easily distracted. I came over to my computer to look something up, and instead of going right back to my article, I decided to check my email, and now here I am blogging.

The second is that I am hoping that one of these days I will actually take a stats class that is useful. The problem is that I want to know it. Can you believe that? I actually want to learn it. Unfortunately the only classes I have taken in stats- that everyone in my department is recommended to take- have not been helpful. I got an A+ in stats last semester, but if you gave me a data set I would be lost. I guess because I'm in social science the professors are afraid I'll be scared of math. My current professor is careful to say that there is no math involved. Um, ok. I am not scared of math- I got a 5 on the AP Calculus exam, for goodness sake (granted that was nearly 15 years ago, but still. Oh my gosh. 15 years. I really didn't need to count). Just because I am not a "hard scientist" or a mathematician does not mean I can't do it. I am annoyed that social scientists cannot expect to learn good statistics. I am particularly frustrated about this now because I am taking 4 classes, including stats (the second semester in the sequence that I started)- so it is taking up my time, but so far we haven't done anything NEW. Hello- it's supposed to be a sequence, but we have yet to make any progress. The professor just keeps telling us not to worry, it will be easy. But is the point to fulfill my requirement, or to actually learn the tools that will help me do research later?? I thought I went to a good school. No wonder social scientists have a complex about stats. I was just reading a study about math education in the U.S. I think we are told from an early age that math is hard. It's simple. You keep telling people it's hard and they won't be good at it- hence the entire country is math-illiterate. It's embarassing. Lots of Americans will be scratching their heads, wondering who all the multilingual math-literate people are who eventually take over this country.....

The third point (TMH says you can use a couple to mean three) is that I think students should try to learn things, and be prepared for class. I know, I know, I am a nerd again. Just because I got distracted doesn't mean I didn't look into the problem, so I will be more prepared for class. I have been in two classes in the past two days (apart from stats, which was also clearly frustrating) where the students were not prepared, asked inane questions, and generally frustrated me. Again, I thought I went to a good school? The caliber this week seems quite low. Aren't these people supposed to be smart, I ask you???? My time is too valuable for that (of course, not too valuable to spend time blogging).

So, maybe I am just feeling nerdy. I am. Well, I am here to learn things, not to kill time (though I do think that we should have Labor Day off- there's a line, you know). I'm getting old, you know. I was talking to a friend about this tonight. If it weren't for my grad program, I wouldn't be here, on my own, trying to do a degree. I don't need to waste time being told not to worry, I'll get an A in stats, and then not be able to design my research study. That is not the point! Oh well... I am cranky because I am busy (remember 4 classes, and a demanding job) and have to try not to let my tight schedule get to me.

In good news, I'm having a birthday party in 2 days and my mom is coming! All the more incentive to get back to OLS-wait, what did it mean again?- and my reading....