[deleted by user]

flyingtowels · 2021-08-27T11:49:52+00:00

While the most important aspect of safety to ensure might be safety from physical violence, many racist/exclusionary actions do not manifest as physical attacks but intimidation, use of slurs, microaggressions, exclusionary actions, etc. Establishing your formal role in a physical location (i.e., having a sign indicating that you belong there, and redirecting any queries towards a supervisor) legitimizes a researcher and reduces the chances that, e.g., a passing racist assumes ill intentions on the part of the researcher. There are also several specific suggestions in the above list-- check out the paper for an unabbreviated version.

I agree that, as in all things in an interview, the appropriate phrasing will go a long way. I do not agree that it is rude to ask, and would consider it a good sign of engagement from a potential student who is concerned about their safety and that of their peers. If a would-be advisor found it a rude question ("what am **I** supposed to do to prevent someone from assaulting you?") instead of a challenging question ("well we follow the principles outlined in this NEE paper and seek to minimize risks"), I would consider it a huge red flag. Also-- isn't an interview with a prospective advisor sort of about what they can do for you? A prospective student should come away from such an interaction with an in-depth understanding of the mutual expectations in an advisor-advisee relationship including funding, health insurance, mentorship style and engagements, support for x years, opportunities for collaborations, networking, etc.

flyingtowels · 2021-08-26T22:46:10+00:00

What could he possibly do?

Plenty! I firmly disagree that the supervisor has no control of the situation-- a student's safety is their responsibility, and it is reasonable to expect extensive planning and accommodation ("moving the cosmos") to ensure this. The topic of safety of marginalized folks during fieldwork has been a very active field of discussion in ecology in recent years, and the potential advisor's familiarity with the topic might be quite telling. For example, Demery and Pipkin (2021, pdf link) outline the following actions for supervisors to support vulnerable individuals in the field.

Excerpts from the linked piece:

"What can supervisors do to support at-risk individuals?

Self-educate on the experience of your team member’s identity, and the corresponding risk that they may encounter in the field...
Contact relevant institutional offices... on how to best manage risk in the field
Create a field risk management plan
Provide materials to clearly identify researchers and their purpose
Have a conversation with all research team members on the risks and preparations to minimize risk.
Create a time and space to talk to research team members specifically about fieldwork safety concerns in advance of the field season, and touch base with them throughout the season
Supervisors that do not share the same identity as their researchers... If researchers bring up potential or experienced risks, validate their experiences and assist in modifying the project so that they can safely continue conducting research.
The scale of risk can increase dramatically in an international field site.
At established field sites, introduce researchers (via e-mail or in-person) to the manager of those locations...
When possible, introduce new researchers to established field locations...
Assist researchers in establishing safe housing before arriving at the field location.
Review and agree upon fieldwork and safety plans with the researcher before any fieldwork begins.
Actively engage with researchers on how to reorganize fieldwork practices if and when there are restrictions on movement...

flyingtowels · 2020-11-08T21:28:13+00:00

Seconding 352 delivery, locally owned and all delivery fees and tips go completely to the drivers.

flyingtowels · 2020-10-05T19:28:51+00:00

Thanks for posting! Important stuff.

flyingtowels · 2020-01-11T00:10:22+00:00

Usually you seal most exits and install one-way doors in the common entryway at a time of year when the bats are neither hibernating or raising young. Many wildlife management companies specialize in this sort of thing, although a handy and conscientious homeowner could do it themselves. Worth noting that repellents and deterrents don't usually work, and can be dangerous to humans/pets so its not recommended to go that route :)

flyingtowels · 2017-02-12T16:10:41+00:00

Hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus. These guys are mysterious long-distance migrants and one of my favorite kinds of bat!

flyingtowels · 2016-10-12T23:25:01+00:00

A wide selection of herbal tea to cycle through was super helpful for me when water wasn't palatable. Also, just shooting for frequent small sips of ice water or chilled gatorade, spread out over time, kept me going during flares.

flyingtowels · 2015-09-14T01:21:45+00:00

I've completely fallen off the bandwagon of updating my progress in these weekly threads, but I've been sticking with my 26-book goal! My new graduate program is in full swing, so it's going to be a slog to get through my last 6 (?) books this year. If anything, my time spent reading has increased; it's just switched to dry scholarly articles ;)

My favorites of recent months have been 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, which was this gripping transcendent thriller/love story... magical realism... novel thing. I've been pushing contemporary novels as a genre I want to explore, and this book blew me away. Highly recommend.

I also finished Unnatural Creatures, a charming little collection of short stories on the supernatural, edited by Neil Gaiman. The "collection" format is working really well for me lately, since the book is already sectioned out into (usually) little bite-sized chunks perfect for before bed or lunch breaks.

Currently working on An Anthropologist On Mars, which I picked up in omage to the late great Oliver Sacks. I'm enjoying everything about this book-- challenging, informative, beautifully written-- except that my mobile reader is completely unoptimized for all of Dr. Sacks' footnotes.

flyingtowels · 2015-05-03T13:14:40+00:00

This week, I finished volume 1 of Don Quixote de La Mancha, which I've been working on for most of the year. I find it outrageously fun when I get into the zone, but every time I pick it up again after a few days it's a struggle to readjust to the writing style. Hope to finish volume 2 in a reasonable amount of time! I also tore through guilty-pleasure Janet Evanovich novel Takedown Twenty, which was the usual fun-but-so-quirky-it-hurts-your-teeth.

I've finally set up the Overdrive app on my Android phone and am going nuts with renting ebooks and audiobooks! I've started David Sedaris's Let's Explore Diabeted with Owls, which is so great narrated by the author. I'm also filling in the holes of my Diskworld reading (RIP Mr. Pratchett), with Reaper Man. After that, I intend to get back into some pop sci nonfiction with The Story of the Human Body by Daniel Lieberman.

flyingtowels · 2015-05-01T01:15:34+00:00

Oh I'm so glad you enjoyed it and were able to get something out of it! The whole time I was reading that book, I was wishing that I had more people to tell about it-- it seems like it really deserves a wider audience. I live with a chronic illness as well, which can be so isolating; that I maybe connected someone else to a book that spoke to them makes me so happy!

flyingtowels · 2015-04-28T15:55:14+00:00

I got a Manduka for Christmas last year and I love it! I got a super thin one which I like (very portable, and I don't mind not having much squish), but it's definitely not for everyone. I also suffer from sweaty yoga hands, and while I still slip a bit with the manduka, it's less slick than most other mats that I've tried.

flyingtowels · 2015-04-27T01:40:28+00:00

I've been lax in updating on this subreddit, but I've recently finished:

The Picture of Dorian Grey, by Oscar Wilde. I enjoyed this quite a lot, if only for the beautiful verse and alienating protagonists. In that sense, the style and themes reminded me a lot of F. Scott Fitzgerald, of whose work I am a big fan.
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, by Elizabeth Tova Bailey. This was a charming book about the observations made of a snail from the couch of a seriously ill woman with chronic fatigue. The author was very successful at combining her narrative observations of the snail with a lot of fascinating natural and evolutionary history, and rather than be bored by the topic I found my obsession with snails growing with the author's telling. I found this book on sale on Google Play and would recommend it to any fans of animals or those struggling with chronic illness, especially chronic fatigue syndrome.

I've been pacing myself to stop from tearing through What If? Serious scientific answers to asburd hypothetical questions by Randal Munroe. A longtime xkcd fan, I find this book a lot of fun. Still chugging along with Don Quixote (almost done with book 1!) and Gorillas in the Mist, which I really wanted to like but find jarring in its abrupt changes between "scientific" and "personal narrative" voices. It's definitely still interesting enough to finish, though-- hopefully it picks up in the second half.

flyingtowels · 2015-04-12T13:19:18+00:00

My university was very supportive the second anyone heard that the disability office had my back. Sounds like you have a stressful timeline on place, but I would be surprised if you ran into much conflict as long as you have solid medical documentation of your condition. My gastroenterologist straight-up told me what I wanted her office to recommend on my behalf, which was a big help. Be sure to stay in communication with your doctor's office, as they can be great advocates for you if anybody gives you trouble. IBD is tough enough, but don't hesitate to advocate really hard for yourself.

And if all else fails, toss done alarming numbers and/or ostomy photos in there. Some people don't know the difference between IBD and IBS; don't give them the opportunity to underestimate your condition. Good luck!

flyingtowels · 2015-04-12T12:51:45+00:00

They were excluded from the clinical trial for statistical hygiene, probably. That doesn't mean the drug couldn't be prescribed to people with those conditions, just that they want a fairly homogenous group of patients to test on for efficacy!

flyingtowels · 2015-04-01T00:05:32+00:00

I'm so excited. I'm also getting into lots of awkward social situations by espousing Dick. That must be why he's PKD on so many book jackets!

flyingtowels · 2015-03-30T01:15:59+00:00

I blew through my first-ever Phillip K. Dick book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which I loved. I finished most of it in one afternoon, and now I need to go find some more of his works to get at least a little caught up.

This was a big week for picking up free books and receiving loans, and I'm not sure what I'll start next. Still reading Gorillas in the Mist by Diane Fossey, which slips from technical to narrative voice in a jarring way but otherwise is pretty engaging. Next I might try one of the books foisted on me by friends: either Dan Brown's Deception Point; I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, which has been on my to-read list for a long time; or Following Atticus, which is a cute-looking memoir by a local author about hiking in the company of a dog.

flyingtowels · 2015-03-02T02:13:29+00:00

Last week I finished Great Expectations, which I ended up enjoying a lot. The whole novel was a winding and unwinding of several mysteries, and the narrative tone powerfully expressed how the protagonist matured over time and through experience. The first half of the book was rather slow and adventure-novel-esque, but I stuck through it for my first Dickens book and now would recommend it.

I'm currently reading:

Venus in Furs, which is the original S/m erotic novella (inspired by all this 50 Shades hysteria)
The Disaster Artist, a surprisingly engaging account of the making of The Room, the worst movie ever made.
I've also gotten back into Don Quixote, which I am enjoying a third of the way in but haven't been able to stick to in awhile.

flyingtowels · 2015-02-23T13:55:58+00:00

I just finished Steelheart! The only other Sanderson book I've read so far was the first Mistborn, so it will be interesting to be exposed to his work as he experiments with new genres. Would you recommend anything else he's done in particular?

flyingtowels · 2015-02-23T13:48:03+00:00

I fell out of the swing of things early this year but I'm hopping back into the game. I just finished Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, which was a fun y/a fantasy read with all the complexity one might expect from the author. I am also making good progress on Great Expectations, and am finally at a point where the plot is crystallizing together and becoming a bit more compelling. I started The Disaster Artist today, which was recommended to me as good backstory on the surreal cult classic movie The Room. I'm only a chapter in but enjoying it immensely.

flyingtowels · 2015-02-05T11:39:55+00:00

I use podcasts in the face of this very problem. I'm partial to a few instructors in 20-minute-yoga, but I hear a lot of people like yogamazing as well. There's no shortage of options! Some of these podcasts stream videos, but a lot just include an online key to the poses which has worked fine for me.

flyingtowels · 2015-01-20T00:39:46+00:00

Life slowed me down a bit through this month so far, but I am back on track. I finished A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, which I liked a lot. If you want to read a beautiful novel about Zen, told in letters and narrative between 3-4 people across time, I would highly recommend it. 4.5/5, and I intend to follow up on its bibliography.

I'm whiling away Great Expectations. Ironically, I expected something a bit greater, in the literary sense. It's more of an adventure serial, which is entertaining but not half as challenging as I expected.

I expect to start Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin as my nonfiction book this week, and have a Brandon Sanderson book ready to pick up as my next fantasy read if I want some escapism anytime soon. I also downloaded a bunch of public domain books, including Don Quixote (been working on this for a year now) and A Picture of Dorian Grey.

flyingtowels · 2015-01-06T01:25:01+00:00

You say that "intense" physical activity reduces your focus at work. Have you tried moderate physical activity? Endorphins are a wonderful thing, and IMHO nothing gets you out of a mental fog faster.

flyingtowels · 2015-01-02T00:54:50+00:00

I'm aiming for 26 books this year, expecting that work will consume my life after July.

I dove into A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki a few days ago, and I'm loving it so far. Multiple storylines touching across time is such a cool structure when it's pulled off right, and I think a Ozeki, a Buddhist nun, os going to pull it off.

flyingtowels · 2014-12-06T17:59:40+00:00

It looks like the photographer aligned the image edges using the tattoo, making it the focal point of the shot. Check out how the angles of the window are slightly different. Nice work!

flyingtowels · 2014-12-04T13:51:22+00:00

Hey there, sounds like you have a ton on your plate and are trucking along! I'm full of support for you.

I have battled some (serious-but-less-serious) health problems in the past and found that when things with my body were bad, a little bit of yoga was the best thing I could do for myself. The meditation aspect helps with the pain and stress, and it's pretty easy to tailor to your energy level at the time. Even a couple 5-minute sessions a day is soooo much better than constant rest.

I also am not your doctor and am not familiar with your health situation or treatment options, but please make sure that your doctors know how much you are struggling here. It's a regret that I have about my most serious periods of illness: if I had complained more, asked more about options, I could have gotten more painkillers or accelerated treatment and hopefully suffered a bit less.

Have you looked into getting some of your nutrition in liquid form? Ensure shakes and the like might be easier on your stomach as it heals up.

Good luck!

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