Entries Tagged 'photos' ↓

this guy is beyond zombie tired

I am highly tired, now. Almost zombie tired, but not quite. I stayed up half the night writing a $15,000 grant proposal for sex offender research (In the world of funding, this is considered a “small grant,” or “chump change”). It was last-minute¹, but it is closely related to some of my other projects, so the text is probably not embarrassingly bad. I really have no idea how much chance I have of getting funded with this one. I couldn’t find data online about that.

The proposal is to the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. Hogg as in Ima. Yes, her name was Ima Hogg, and she was apparently pretty cool. If you read her Wikipedia entry, I’m sure you’ll agree. I had heard her sister’s name was Ura, but Wikipedia says she didn’t even have a sister.

Who knows if I will get the research funds, but either way, I applied for funds from an institution established by someone named Ima Hogg. Pretty cool.

I think I’ve made one of the mental shifts people talk about in academia: redefining success. Sure, big-time success is getting funding. However, the rejection rates (or maybe just my rejection rates) are high enough that it’s useful² to consider completion of the proposal as a lesser form of success. It’s approximately as satisfying as soy milk and NutraSweet with Cheerios.

1. hence the many hours of proposal writing, versus many days or weeks [↩]
2. for morale [↩]

check me out!

In today’s episode: A goat. It’s not a great picture, but it’s a goat :) Isn’t he (or she?) awesome?

No, not that kind of flash testing, you pervert.

AAA! MY NOSE! AAA! MY FACE!

it's a radiation vibe she's grooving on

I have a new(ish) flash for my camera, and have figuratively pounced upon my long-suffering wife as a subject for testing its functions and performance. They were only goofy test shots, but a few of them turned out OK. Naturally, the “mistake” (overexposed – top) was lots of fun. A few more, under the cut.
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slight obsession with square composition

Fence in Edinburg. I guess there was a sign or sumthin.

dark and full of cool

The other good shot from last week’s brief sojourn in BUF. Maybe my nation’s near-phobic avoidance of public transportation isn’t so bad, all the time. People would have really messed this shot up.

Hotel shuttle: terminal 1. Charon the ferryman: terminal 2.

Taken while waiting for Alex to pick me up last Friday at BUF.

that reflection makes your butt look big

I still don’t know what these birds are called. I’ll figure it out someday.

...at least that's what I *think* they are...

what, am I an astrophotographer?

I know it’s not a turkey. It’s a great-tailed grackle. I don’t have any pictures of turkeys, even though wild ones apparently live in theseabouts. Since it’s a holiday, today I shall do no work. Probably. I did bring home a huge stack of tests that need grading, but I may just ignore them. In honor of turkey day, I have shamelessly ripped off the following from www.shoeboxblog.com :

Where Would We Be Without The Pilgrims?
An Essay by Dan

Jammed into England like sardines with bad teeth.

The End

Does he realize how poignant he is?

Another photo from the fun little carnival a couple of weeks ago. I now have one of those moody patriotic pictures. Actually, I probably have a few more somewhere. Despite my deep cynicism and fundamental insistence that patriotism isn’t (or should not be) exactly the animal it’s made out to be by certain groups here in the US… I am deeply patriotic, and sometimes get choked up over patriotic symbolism. I don’t consider that to be a bad thing.

After the cut: The Avenue of Poignant and Symbolic Flags with a Menacing Symbol of Capitalist Amusement Lurking at its Obscure Terminus!

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This is the only hurricane, to my knowledge, that has threatened South Texas this year. Threatened… with puking! Another photo from the little carnival last week, in case you hadn’t guessed. Under the cut: a pic (not quite as cool, IMO) where you can clearly see the terrifying title of this ride. Continue reading →

iz not best bed evar... is ok

Alex made me miss my cats today, so I’m posting a picture of Nyc (or Euphrates or whatever), who was briefly my cat, and who believed he owned my entire house, as you can see.

swirly swirly swirly swirly... PUKE!

It’s a cheesy pic; there are a thousand like it. But I wanted to take it anyway. Below, you see the beast at rest.

Exclusive: Centipedebot Devours McAllen

Femme fatale up to no good

Sadly, I will not be going to church with Alex for… let’s see… about six or seven more weeks. Sigh. To assuage my sadness, please indulge my recounting of three fun things from church today.

1. A South American man we know told us about how confusing it was, as a child, to spend half his day in a Catholic school and the other half in a school run by communists. I can only imagine.
2. While the Primary children were on the stand (yes, today was that day), Alex leaned over and whispered, “I am a child of God… and so can you!” Okay, I thought it was funny.
3. One of the children said, very loudly into the microphone, something about the Holy Goats. Boy does that have implications for my religious worldview ;)

Go see the play, already! It’s amazingly good. No, really. Note the dramatic awesomeness of both actors (my wife is the one on the right. Sa-Weeeet!)

Did I already post this? Maybe. But here it is again. With enough cool pictures, I can temporarily forget about what is happening to my fair nation. :/