Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist
Combining Science and Joyful Creativity
Today on the Kickin’ it Old Skool Blog-a-Thon, we’re encouraged to talk about books.
I’ve done this once or twice already. Earlier in the Blog-a-Thon we were asked to find the first line of the third book on our top bookshelf. This was a problem for me because I have so many bookshelves.
A few months ago, I wrote a post about just how many books my husband and I have, and the dangers of letting bibliophiles get married.Continue reading “Books for the Bibliophile – Old Skool”
Today’s Kickin’ it Old Skool Blog-a-Thon prompt is to show the world what’s in your bag. I read this and looked from my desk to my poor, abused backpack sitting on the floor of my office.
Today has been a day of frustration. My anxiety level is high. Nothing seems to be going right.
Well, it’s actually not that bad. I mean, the water analyzer finally decided to work correctly, and my classes went smoothly. And (and this is totally crazy), I actually did my homework before going to class. Yes, I taught the class, but we all needed to work through an exercise in advance, including me – and I did. It seldom actually works out that way.Continue reading “Frustration Happens”
There is art to making sushi. You know, the good stuff with rice and fish. (Oops, I’m salivating.)
I’m not talking about that today. I’m talking about a different type of artistry. This is the fine art of getting a tiny amount of powdered or liquid sample into a tin capsule, and rolling and crushing it up into a little tiny cube.Continue reading “Making Sushi Rolls – It’s Not What You Think”
It’s the time of year when I service the mass spectrometer. One of my many tasks is to change the oil in the rotary pump.
Well, the end of the summer, anyway. Or this fleeting phenomenon some call ‘summer vacation.’
Honestly, I’m not sure what people are talking about when they talk about vacations. Apparently, people get ‘time off’ to ‘relax.’
Have you heard of this?Continue reading “The End is Nigh”
I was cleaning up my office at work this morning, in preparation for my coming field season. OK, I admit, I was procrastinating.
I came across this fortune:
Actually useful, for once. How many of us suffer from ‘analysis paralysis’? pic.twitter.com/fKTdvxEewL
— Penny Higgins (@paleololigo) July 17, 2013
In one week I begin the long trek across the country, from my home in western New York State, to Laramie, WY (and then to Vernal, UT), for three weeks of field work.
It’s been two years since I’ve been to my old stomping grounds in Wyoming. I’ve never been to the field site in Utah. There will be a lot to see.Continue reading “Field work cometh”
I run a mass spectrometry laboratory. Most days it’s no big thing. Other days, I regret my career path.
On Friday, all of my sample peaks disappeared.Continue reading “Lessons Learned from Instrumental Headaches”
I have to do it. It’s time.
I need to publish something science-y.
That’s what motivated me to write my post on Monday. But honestly, that post was mostly procrastination. And so is this.Continue reading “Writing That Journal Article”
Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist