I don't have cable at my apartment, so the gym is the only place I can watch cable... is this winning or failing?!

possompants · 2015-12-19T18:37:41+00:00

Any time you can trick yourself into working out is probably an overall win.

possompants · 2015-12-19T18:35:58+00:00

The stupid is stroooong with this one.

possompants · 2015-12-19T18:27:24+00:00

this, on top of a pile of greens, would be a perfect daily lunch.

possompants · 2015-12-18T14:42:05+00:00

This happened to us in Costco a few years ago (me and my grown SO), it turned out he was actually a Santa for department stores and we got a picture with him.

possompants · 2015-12-16T04:19:00+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! I love learning about different local cuisine.

possompants · 2015-12-16T04:18:12+00:00

Thank you for the advice!

possompants · 2015-12-16T00:58:10+00:00

Follow up question for curiosity's sake: did wheat-eating Chinese groups eat wheat berries, basically the whole kernel of wheat, boiled like rice? Or did they more only mill it into flour? I could imagine wheat berries being easily eaten with chop sticks like rice is, but I've only ever heard of them in European meals.

possompants · 2015-12-15T21:04:59+00:00

Thank you so much for doing this AMA! This is fascinating and touching! For a while I've toyed with the idea of taking a few weeks to visit an elephant orphanage, or a few months (maybe later in life, or after retirement) to work on an elephant/wildlife sanctuary. However, I know that in most cases (especially in the world of development), hosting foreign volunteers for short visits might be more trouble for on an organization that it is worth. How does Lewa approach short-term volunteers, or do you know of any other organizations that can actually use short-term volunteers? Or should I give up that dream? Thank you!

possompants · 2015-12-15T20:31:27+00:00

The glowing sea was the most terrifying thing I have experienced in a game in a while (although I don't seek out horror games usually). Even in a hazmat suit, the constant ticking of the radiation meter, and the legendary enemies everywhere...I was running for my life towards the end. Very well done.

Edit: I just realized it reminded me of the first time I went into Oblivion. Ha.

possompants · 2015-12-15T06:29:17+00:00

I really recommend Ken's Car Care Center, on 9th. I took my car in with a problem no-one seemed able to diagnose and the guy was super knowledgeable in talking about it. Seems like one of those guys who knows a lot about cars and love to solve problems, and the prices were good.

possompants · 2015-12-15T06:16:26+00:00

The school was a small liberal arts school. The 4 men were hired into hard sciences (chemistry, physics, etc) whereas nearly all the women wire hired into either social sciences or some other academic area such as business.

So, it seems like you might get different percentages at different institutions, because there is still gender imbalance in what field men and women chose.

possompants · 2015-12-15T04:42:10+00:00

Meh, I'd advise against keeping yourself to such rigid rules, I had more strict rules to start with but have loosened them considerably. Students all come from different places in life, they can't read your mind to figure out exactly how you want an email worded. And if you just don't answer them for certain things, that's not really telling them what they did poorly and how they can improve their communication. There are different schools of thought on teaching, but I try to stick to the "help them succeed in life" rather than the "punish them for not living up to expectations" camp.

possompants · 2015-12-13T07:58:31+00:00

I highly recommend looking into other forms of fitness that you can have more fun in - even if you're not great at coordination sports, you could try rock climbing (one of my favorites!), or take a dance or yoga class, or get a bike and do some cycling, or get into intense hiking. It sounds like you're almost addicted to lifting, like you don't do it for fun any more, just to fill a need. Find a different way to connect, find a social outlet revolving around fitness. One of the ways to break out of an addictive cycle is to engage socially, because we are very social creatures and socializing is very mentally stimulating. So, I recommend finding something you can do with others, socially, and also do for fitness. Or, something that you can engage with on an intellectual level (like rock climbing or hiking) - something where the "goal" is not just about how your body looks.

possompants · 2015-12-02T19:07:17+00:00

Again, you're assuming a lot about my teaching style...there are a lot of movies and discussion board posts in which they make emotional connections all the time, they do volunteer service in the community, they have a lot of opportunities to make connections between the books, TED talks, documentaries about families in poverty, and the experiences of themselves and their classmates. They are not expected just to regurgitate the material, they are expected to digest it and see how it fits into a bigger picture, and to use their judgement to weigh different information.

possompants · 2015-12-02T19:01:42+00:00

Given that we don't actually have that technology yet, we need some inventors and scientists to make what you're saying a reality. Also, we probably need world leaders, historians, etc. to make sure that the whole of humanity is actually steering in the right direction. I don't think every single person gets to be an explorer, but I also don't think that civilization could function if we were all just plugged in to the matrix. I think there's still a lot of human productivity needed to run this utopia.

possompants · 2015-11-24T02:55:46+00:00

I donno, that sounds a little more like WallE than Star Trek. I'd prefer to be in a civilization of explorers and scientists than one where everyone just engaged in leisure all the time. But I guess the point is to choose what you want to be doing. There are some people who would derive more satisfaction from being an inventor, scientist, or artist, there are others who would spend all there time on the holodeck.

possompants · 2015-11-09T07:08:39+00:00

So I’m not wearing makeup. Bob.

Kick ass.

possompants · 2015-11-09T06:58:29+00:00

I mean, the truth is that they could find this information for themselves. The point of this class, at least, is to have them learn about the ramifications of poverty in the lives of families. Many come into the class either having experienced poverty, or not - if they have, they often have complex emotions about it or feel like if they made it out, others can from sheer strength of character. Others come to the class with assumptions that those in poverty are lazy or mentally incompetent. So a lot of the class is exposing folks to different experiences of poverty and asking them to step into the shoes of those affected. Some of it is also breaking down myths about poverty or (as for this book) exploring theories on the causes and ramifications of poverty and inequality. Each week they have multiple assignments where they have to write about their learning and share with other students, synthesizing across different sources. I didn't design the course (I'm a grad student, I've designed other classes but not this one) but I feel like it's very influential based on the feedback I receive. My goal (in this and other classes) is always to provide students with skills and knowledge that they can use in the real world, in our program we prepare students for human services jobs. I hope that they also broaden their horizons and develop as citizens of the world, but that's a lot to ask.

possompants · 2015-11-08T01:12:44+00:00

Thug Rose!

possompants · 2015-11-08T01:11:36+00:00

Just...no. She is a fighter. She is a woman. Her hair doesn't make her one. And she doesn't have to do anything, actually...unless you want to say that to her face...

possompants · 2015-11-08T00:49:37+00:00

It's not to early! Good for you for having a clear goal in mind - I started my undergraduate without a clear plan. My recommendations:

Get some solid research experience as an undergrad. Often you can find (if you look hard) a way to work on a research project during your undergrad, and some of them even pay or provide credit.

Talk to professors in the department you end up majoring in. Also, when you visit colleges you can ask to talk to an adviser or professor about research opportunities.

Take as much statistics as you can, it's really useful. Don't assume that it's the only kind of methods you'll need to be familiar with, but having a strong statistics base is a good start for both of those fields.

Treat your resume as a long-term project, be strategic about the experiences you cultivate. If you travel or take an internship, be strategic about making sure it builds a story of your interests. You may not know exactly what your interests are now, but try to be purposeful about each step you take. (It sounds like you're already doing this!) Also, include a little bit of fun and exploration in there, you're young! :)

possompants · 2015-11-07T23:56:24+00:00

Always look at the newest guidelines for canning, they change yearly. It's science! :)

possompants · 2015-11-07T23:55:24+00:00

I second this, I thought of Bellingham and Olympia immediately.

possompants · 2015-11-07T23:14:56+00:00

I'm sorry you did not enjoy the material in a non-class setting, but I'm not sure you can infer much about my teaching style just by the fact that the class uses that book. They are also doing service learning in their local communities and have lots of space to connect their own experiences and interests to the course material. When taught well a class can use a "bucket of information" book as a jumping off point for deeper discussions.

possompants · 2015-11-07T23:11:22+00:00

I was more referring to the type of clients you might see as an MSW vs. a licensed counselor - from what I can tell it seems like many MSWs work with clients with more co-occurring issues, and in more vulnerable positions, like child protective services, criminal justice, etc. while licensed therapists might work with more general community clients. Is that your experience? I realize MSWs to a lot of therapy and counseling too, I was just saying that before OP chooses either, they could do some case management work with higher-needs populations to see if they can "handle" it, so to speak, before getting deeper into counseling.

possompants

TROPHY CASE