Growin' Blog

It's odd...

2010-02-01T22:39:00.000-08:00

Here I am in my last few weeks at Duck U and I have found some sort of a balance. Oddly, I find myself doing the same things I did before starting grad school again: holding strictly to 9-5; doing my best to exercise and get on the tennis court as often as feasible; having a nice glass of wine or beer before reading a book and going to bed (ok, and tonight liver sausage and crackers too).

The house is clean (-ish). The wife seems satisfied. Dinners, with actual vegetables, have been put on the table. Time is being spent with friends. If only the backache would go away, life would seem completely satisfactory.

Why is it this happens only now that I am preparing to leave? Is it an indication that the correct decision was made? Or is it another symptom of short-timer's syndrome? Or has the exercise and wine and vegetables and 9-5 achieved an actual balance? Dammit! Too many variables and not enough empirical data. I'd have to change jobs 5 more times just to figure out the true cause!

Our National Scavenger?

2010-01-25T22:32:00.000-08:00

The vote(s) are in. The cloud / hive mind thinks it's an eagle. I understand considerable time was spent. Perhaps later in the spring additional empirical data can be gathered.

Mystery beast

2010-01-23T10:59:00.000-08:00

Since November, I've been starting each day with a brisk walk to the top of Skinner's Butte. Several times now, about half-way up, I am greeted by the warble or some creature. It seems like it's coming from high up in a conifer, but I wouldn't swear to it (those of you who have ever walked up the north face of that hill in semi-darkness would understand).

So: anybody have a clue what makes this sound? (250k .wav file)

#WAMLsp10

2010-01-21T18:50:00.001-08:00

I hereby declare that our hashtag for the upcoming Western Association of Map Libraries spring meeting, the hosting of which will be one of my very last tasks at Duck U. Today I officially filled the program, announced registration, AND received my 100th email related to the meeting.

I also reconnoitered the fieldtrip by taking a long lunch out at King Estate Winery. This had been previously arranged, but the day turned out to be stunning: sunny and 60 degrees. This was foreshadowed last night by the appearance of crocusses in the front garden--I hadn't even noticed they had broken through the ground. I don't know why I'm surprised by this development, as there is precedent. I suppose my midwestern DNA continues to be morally outraged by flowers in January.

From WAML

Oh, the lunch: I'm still full. A bacon-foie gras cheeseburger and truffled French fries. I think the fired may have been made in duck fat. My gut is still a little stunned--it's a good thing I was only in the office for a couple hours today, I don't think I could have digested the meal if my stress hormones had been activated by a full day's work.

So register for WAML!

(ps: I did NOT put the burger on the fieldtrip lunch menu. I hope WAMLites reading this post don't consider that teasing.)

Where everybody knows your name.

2010-01-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

It's starting to sink in a bit that we are actually leaving Eugene. Put more accurately: last week I had an experience that bummed me out about the move. I ran to the Red Barn for some Shanghai pork supplies (and yes, you can substitute anise seed for star anise), and because Facebook told me that the Dylan tribute band was playing, I stopped in Sam Bonds for a quick beer and listen. I got a head nod from the doorman (and no ID check); a New Year smooch from the bartender; and a hug from the guitar player's girlfriend; and a heyyyyyyy... from a couple neighbors (or maybe it was a smooch from the guitar player and a hug from the owner?). And the band was great! And I thought all the instruments in Brian's man-den were just for show.

It wasn't until I got back home that I realized that I had had an awesome neighborhood experience. And this sense of belonging has been steadily growing as we have set down roots here in Eugene. But now we're throwing them into a pot again and hauling them south. Does Santa Barbara have a Chicken Town?

Moving on.

2010-01-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

Another New Year internal debate has been how frank to be with this blog and with social networking sites. As President Obama says, I'm someone who wants organizations to err on the side of openness. Does that mean that I also have a personal obligation to be as open as I want my institutions to be?

This morning I tested the waters by announcing, somewhat cryptically, that I am leaving my job at Duck University, although I failed to mention exactly where I'm heading. Indeed, I simply updated my status to say "Jon Jablonski just quit his job." Along with the expected congratulatory notes and comments, this generated quite a bit of confusion. Some folks were obviously in the know, others are still catching up.

It also prompted my mother to ask 'Isn't quit a strong statement'? In response I ask: can I not call a spade a spade?* I'd love to start my new job off by being the strongly opinionated, plainly stated person that I am. After all, if one's head is firmly planted up one's ass, should I not be able to tell him or her to remove it? (This assumes that my own head is in the fresh air. Perhaps that is not a fair assumption?)

The crux, of course, is that there is a big difference between being honest and being a jerk. If I'm aiming for breezy self-confidence, how do I avoid being labeled a cocky (and crude!) bastard. First impressions are hard to overcome, and I definitely don't want to go in tossing verbal hand grenades. That said, most future coworkers probably know about the Google, therefore they can easily see what I've been up to over the past few years.

So what approach should I take? As Jordan Jesse Go and a future colleague pointed out recently, new beginnings are also opportunities for reinvention of the self. On the other hand, this isn't the summer between 8th grade and freshman year of high school (see above comment about the Google). It's not like I can suddenly adopt a Manchester accent. Should I go with the Mork and Mindy suspenders or the utilikilt for my first day as the head of the University of California, Santa Barbara's Map and Imagery Laboratory?

*etymological note: the phrase comes Greek and has no racial connotation. Indeed, it refers to shovels.

New Year new blog?

2010-01-05T19:15:00.001-08:00

I suppose the New Year always comes with a resolution to post more often (or more deeply), but this year it will take on special meaning as new opportunities are poised to be seized.

Tonight though, is cribbage at a local bar with friends. Part of the new regimen of early-morning exercise, not going in too early, and evening recreational activities. The goal, is to not take work too seriously. In other words: to have a personal life.

The possibilities are endless I suppose, and will perhaps be detailed on the blog. Or maybe not.

OH, Canada!

2009-12-15T17:54:00.000-08:00

Just returned from a couple days at Whistler, and finished up a wander-around downtown Vancouver. My Vancouver companion agrees that two days of riding/skiing in a row is idea, and the second day sees a huge improvement in skill and comfort.

The resort itself was lovely, and our party included a lovely couple, one half of which is contemplating a move to Vancouver. The couple is affectionately known as the cocoon, as when they colocate in the same city, they tend to lay low and enjoy each other's company. It was the first ski for both of them, and they said they loved it. Dinner was excellent, even if the service was a bit slow. I couldn't tell you the last time I was in a restaurant where the owner's cookbook was on sale at the front desk (and yes, he does look just like his jacket photo). We were definitely lingering, but the wacky Quebecois waiter definitely forgot to put in our wine order. But he did regale us with a tale of a poutine made with fois gras. JBM had a carpaccio plate that he said was excellent (I totally should have tried it--but I was attempting to be careful with my 'delicate' stomach). I had squash tortellini with prawns, and it was EXCELLENT. Well worth the wait.

The cocoon stayed only one night, leaving JBM and I for a second day on the slopes and a second evening out in the village.

I don't do it nearly often enough, and likely will never be proficient. But it sure is a ton of fun.

....the conversation continues.

2009-12-02T22:18:00.000-08:00

The phone won. And planning for a brief trip while learning a new device has been a bit entertaining.

Many events are on my mind. Looking at joining a budding consortium; trying to work within a separate one; and juggling many pieces of the puzzle. Oh--and planning a 4 day meeting! But my entertainment this week is figuring out the new gadget. I'm hoping to become proficient before hitting the road with it. But then I need to turn it off while in Canada--but I think that will be ok. It will help to transition me to a deep vacation in which I will not save email. That's right--I picked up one new online technology while walking away one that was working just fine. But I need a couple weeks away, and that means no work email. Will this here blog become a one-way channel of communication? Will I microblog? Shall I tweet? Or is it Tweet?

If it wasn't winter, I think I'd be going camping or fishing. Cold and rainy (and snowy?) make for indoor activities. And it seems like going mobile is sort of made for that.

Hard, throbbing gadget lust.

2009-11-29T13:53:00.001-08:00

Since returning from UVa ten days ago, my gadget lust for a smartphone (or app-phone as one reviewer dubbed it) continues unabated. We are leaning towards a Droid and Verizon because of AT&T's oft-mentioned coverage problems. Also, if I had to make a long-term bet on a platform, I'd bank on the more open model of Google and Android. But then again, the iPod and iTunes juggernaut continues unabated even with crippling DRM and the difficulty of using a Pod with anything BUT iTunes.

Beyond feature sets and platform wars, more interesting in our household is the debate about adopting a cellphone lifestyle.

GIS Humanities Institute

2009-11-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

I'm at UVirginia attending a training seminar for GIS folks working in the humanities. Actually, that's not quite accurate, since I don't work in the humanities all that much. There are people here deeply involved with the humanities, but the attendees are all over the map. Librarians, developers, lab managers, a handful of entrepreneurs. And yes, even humanists.

We've just started, so there hasn't been much actual content yet, but there is a lot of potential here. We're divided into 2 groups: stewardship (I'm in that) and software. One thing I didn't expect can be summed up by this comment: "Stewardship isn't just about stewarding the data. It's about stewarding the projects and the scholars." Stewardship in this sense is piece of cyber-infrastructure. I've been neglecting that piece.

Lots of other good stuff. But it's been an exhausting day.

What's the purpose of metadata?

2009-09-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

GIS practitioners generally blow off metadata. 'Yeah, yeah--metadata is important, I'll get around to writing it as soon as we finish updating the data itself at the end of the next leap-fiscal year.' And their lack of emphasis on it is not misplaced: their job is generally to make sure that their data is as accurate and current as possible. Someone who makes data generally knows where all of his data is.

But how does he find out where everyone else's data is? If Joe is in charge of the county land ownership file, why should he care where Susie's city parks file is? He only has to figure that out once every three years when he is banging out a basemap to justify his job or entertain his kid's Cub Scout pack.

For Joe and Susie, their daily need for metadata is to document data that is already found. So naturally, they don't think of it as serving a discovery function. The metadata sits right next to the data--it doesn't help anyone discover it. This is exactly like descriptive cataloging versus subject cataloging. The descriptive cataloger is just trying to accurately describe the item in hand. She doesn't care about making sure the item is findable. It's not her job.

So who does need a discovery mechanism? Where do description and discover meet? Who is searching for GIS data? Where do they start looking? What methods do they use? Do they act like other users with information needs?

25¢ coffee.

2009-09-19T09:41:00.000-07:00

With my chicken-fried steak for breakfast. What is it about the chicken fried steak that attracts me like a spider to the moths near the porch light? Is it the combination of salt and fat that Michael Pollan says we have all become addicted to?

Or is it the pizza-like infinite variation in country gravy? It’s never actually bad, but sometimes it’s spectacularly good. Or at least an interesting local variation. American breakfast is American breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, omelets. There’s a wide variety of combinations, but basically they are all variations on a theme. I’m not sure what to do with the fact that most of them are bad for you.

Cody turned out to be a fun town, and the meeting I attended was flawlessly orchestrated. I’m thinking that libraries and conferences only have so many variations also. All the librarians complain of slow-moving administrations, irrational belt-tightening measures, and a misunderstanding of our various specialties. But we also brag of generous donors, engaged readers, and pride in our collections. I struggle to reconcile this contradiction as well. It is so easy to fall into complaint mode, but it is also easy to share accomplishments.

It was a pretty good 25¢ cup of coffee.

WAML dinner talk

2009-09-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

Before dinner two nights ago, I had a lovely talk with Dr. Peter Simpson, former Wyoming legislator, Republican nominee for governor, and retired history professor. Oh: and Duck U alum. He shared fond memories of many of our emeriti in the geography department, where he rounded out his education. I shared with him that there are only two real disciplines in the social sciences: history and geography. All others are derivative.

He seemed to really like that.

After dinner, he gave a great talk that revolved around the history 5oo yards around the restaurant where we sat. The three terraces of the Shoshone River have been settled in three distinct phases, and he walked us through the social and economic developments of each. And he charmed the comfortable shoes off the room full of librarians. There are rumors that we'll publish the talk in its entirety. I'm not sure if the whiskey jokes will be included.

Hong Kong and Shenzhen

2009-09-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here we go! Last photos from the trip.

And now I'm on the road again in Cody, Wyoming. Great little town, great company at WAML.

And this weekend in Seattle.

I need to slow down.

Lagging...

2009-09-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

We had dinner tonight with my friend's parents, whom we have been euphamistically referring to as our 'package from Shenzhen.' This was a nice opportunity to apologize for any misunderstandings / deprivations / draggings-to-tourist-destinations that happened over our 3 days together. They swore there were no such things, and that the traveling went off without a hitch. I have to say though, that I was pretty much panicking in SFO trying to explain the monitors to them--they were originally scheduled to come in 2 hours later and the gates tend to change a lot with the mini-planes there.

We also got to fill in some gaps in the narrative--are they retired? How big is their town? How long have the 2 other kids been in Shenzhen? Did you really like the bird park or were you just humoring us? I was really happy for the chance to have this follow-up. And we got some typical Hubei food--rive powder stir fried with cabbage and pork. We were also treated to CY's and XB's first attempt at homemade sausage, which I enjoyed very much.

We are still a bit jet-lagged. Well--our schedules are off anyway. But tomorrow it's back to work and our normal schedule. That will take some getting use to--just like the empty streets of Eugene.

The next set of photos is ready. These are all from Shanghai, where we spent 5 days. As always--click on the thumbnail.

China tour 2009--Shanghai

First photos from China.

2009-09-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry to those who were hoping for frequent updates. Blogger was caught up in the Great Firewall. I did post a few geographer-ish notes over at the more business-like blog.

The thumbnail below will lead you to the first batch of photos--all from Beijing. I'll post the details of the trip in coming days, but I figure that most people just look at the pictures anyway. It was a great trip, and the only possible shortcoming (other than the weather--hot and humid all the way through) was a lack of time to visit with friends at Bei Da. I promise you all that next time will be more leisurely (if not for a full 5 months--but we all know the location of that trip is not up to me).

China tour 2009--Beijing

What's next?

2009-08-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

The public diary seems to have moved over to Facebook, but that doesn't mean that the blog is dead. Although my mother continues to complain that it does not get updated enough.

I resisted blogging our remodel this summer for fear that writing anything negative would fuel the fire (or at least make me worry) if there was any conflict with the contractors. Now that that's (almost) over, I am gestating a 'ten things you should know before hiring a contractor' posting. Don't hold your breath though.

There's also the next steps now that the degree is complete. The everyday stress of working at an under-funded university makes having some sort of side-project almost mandatory. I'm realizing that if I stay, I need either an extremely active personal life or an extremely engaging personal research agenda that I can drive forward with a minimum of logistical support and funding. From my understanding of our internal procedures, securing outside funding might create more problems than it solves. So off we go to China, just as internal GIS projects are taking off.

Speaking of GIS, Friday afternoon I spent about 3 hours doing something that I should have done several months ago. And it's going to bite me, because now I have to go ask for gaps in a dataset to be filled in. But the process will result in a great new set of imagery for campus users--now I just have to figure out how to give people access to it!

Ampersand

2009-07-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

Another reason for big city envy. We just don't get cool stuff like this:

Is that jonquil?

2009-07-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

I KNEW we picked a good color, but I didn't realize we were in such distinguished company.

From house

Results are in!

2009-07-18T09:06:00.001-07:00

During spring break, I asked the cloud (ie: I posted on Facebook) about podcasts: what do folks listen to, are they using their PCs or their iPods or some other device to listen. I got a bunch of great suggestions--some hits, some misses, and some things that I've taken to listening to regularly.

The whole highly unscientific experiment was inspired by the lameness of the local NPR station. They don't play the talk shows during the day, and they don't purchase This American Life. (There is an alternative station that gets it, but it's AM and scratchy.) For a couple years I've been downloading the weekly podcast, but that's only an hour and yardwork takes a lot longer than that. So here is what got suggested, in the order that I continue to listen to them regularly:

The Adam Carolla Podcast. I don't think I had cable when the Man Show was around, and I certainly never heard Adam on the radio. But dang--I'm almost embarrassed to say how much I've been listening to this and laughing out loud. He's very much an unreconstructed knuckle dragger and I do wish he'd tone down the 'pull yourself up by your own bootstraps' and 'women can't change light bulbs' crap. But if you like masturbation and fart jokes--and frankly, who doesn't--this is the podcast for you. One recent episode featured a celebrity barbecuer (if that's a word) and devolved into the sounds of chewing and threats to cut off legs once they ran out of meat. Good stuff--and several episodes per week. Thanks Marie!

Jordan Jesse Go is a kinder, gentler NPRish comedy podcast--masturbation and fart jokes without the misogyny. Unfortunately, both Jordan and Jesse have day jobs (oddly--Jordan as an NPR music show host), so there's typically only one of these per week. Like Carolla, it's probably an acquired taste. Oh--and I would guess that a significant number of people who like one hate the other. Just a guess. Thanks Kramer.

The BBC's Thinking Aloud is a talk show about social science research. This one wasn't actually recommended. Rather, Joe pointed me towards In Our Time, which is a history talk show. That one I have listened to a few times, but the shows with topics I'm not interested in just don't grab me. But--at the end they always plug Thinking Aloud, which I've grown to really like. But again--only once a week.

Several people suggested the Savage Love Podcast. I'm sorry Dan, but you need a sidekick and/or guests. Your writing is fantastic, but it's clear that you slave over each word (even if you are scribbling them on cocktail napkins) in your column. I just don't think you have the spontaneity it takes to do the podcast--unless you want to get Ira Glass to produce each of them. There's another possibility here. While I love the column, and would read every week regardless of my circumstances, I mostly read the column out loud to my wife each week. Often in a restaurant. So perhaps this we have taken to getting a little vicarious exhibitionist thrill discussing santorum, pegging, and other Savagery in public?

There are a few more that never really grabbed me. After three months of this I finally figured out that You Look Nice Today is with Merlin Mann--the 43 Folders, productivity guru, steam-punk penis-pump guy. It's a pretty good podcast, but I'm not wild about the editing. I'm not sure I gave We The People Stories a fair chance. I did listen to some some good lectures, but it just didn't stick. And then there's Eugene's own Dan Carlen, with Common Sense and Hard Core History. Neither did anything for me.

So that's the big podcast experiment, and now I generally have plenty of listening material for gardening, woodworking, and making up for the lack of a full-blown NPR affiliate.

Back to China

2009-07-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

I guess we'll call this my birthday / graduation present: we're heading back to China for 2 weeks at the end of August. Whoo-hoo! We're calling it a practice run for a potential sabbatical trip.

I want independance: from construction!

2009-07-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

Sitting here at the end of week 8 of what was quoted as a 5 week job, I'm regretting a little bit not blogging the whole process: from the mis-sized windows to the mis-communications about paint, it would have made a good story.

But we're at the mercy of the people working for us. Once the house is taken apart, you're sort of stuck with them. It is nice to have them sit down with you and explain what's going on, but I can't help but feel like smoke is being blown up my ass. Disclosure is nice, but all to often it feels like finger pointing. 'We didn't know the sub was going to do it this way, etc. etc.' What you want to say is: 'Hey--the check to the sub doesn't have our name on it, it has yours.' Or: 'Hey--it's your insurance policy, not ours.' But then again, I have no idea who would get tangled up into the bullshit if things went downhill. But one thing I do know would definitely happen: work would grind to (even more of) a halt, we would continue to sleep on couch and twin bed in the mini-dining room, and it would be a huge mess.

So we smile, nod our heads, and I secretly reconfirm my decision not to tell this story day-by-day.

Fish on.

2009-06-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

I feel like such a baby. I spent a little money today replacing some lost gear (fuck you burglars!) and learned a new trick--a trick I probably should have learned a long time ago. The trick is: take advantage of those pre-tied loops in your leader. Buy a leader one notch up from what you want and by some tippet material. Put a perfection loop on the end of your leader and to the end of a length of leader. Now you have 2 loops that you can tie together, and it's easy to take that knot apart. This way, you have a length of tippet to tie flies to. Once this tippet gets short, you can take it off the leader and put on a new length of tippet. This way--your leader never gets shorter. It will really lengthen the life of the leader.

Really glad for the advice. But like the shop owner said: the advice is always free.

Finding the best resources.

2009-06-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

Lindsay has already recommended the New York Times and content from the BBC. I'll add a few other sources that are excellent:

The Christian Science Monitor. Please don't confuse it with Scientology. It's very different, and this online-only newspaper is an excellent source of coverage of world events.
The New Yorker. Most of its content is available for free online, and each week they will typically have two or three 5000 word essays which are excellent.
The Economist. Staunchly pro-free market, this British magazine is a good alternative to openly political journals such as The Nation and he National Review.

But that's just the open web. The UO Libraries has a huge assortment of material available to you (we spend about $4 million per year). Try the topical lists of databases available for searching. These databases are especially good at finding news sources:

Newspaper Source. A search engine that includes content from many different newspapers.
Lexis Nexis. Has even more news content.
Ethnic News Watch. An index of newspapers by and about ethnic minority groups in the US.

And this is just news stuff! I'm sure you'd get bonus point if you were to use scholarly journals in your work--stuff like a couple of the journals I have listed under geography on my blogroll. Try GeoBase, or some of the indexes under Political Science and International Studies to get a taste of what these are good for.

As for the cheese--when I returned to the coffee shop, I'm sure the two young ladies thought I was pretty smooth when I walked in and said "Excuse me, did you see a piece of cheese sitting here when you sat down?" I finally bit the bullet and rode my bike all the way back downtown. I had left the dang goat cheese sitting on the cheesemonger's table when she gave me her change. She had set it aside for me in a little wax paper bag. "I knew you'd be back."