Archive of Writings
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Reaching into the Low Orbit Frontier
One of the great things about working on Astronomy Cast is that sometimes I get to learn about things that I just didn't fully appreciate in the past. Today I'm preparing for an episode on amateur/community spacecraft. I knew this was something that was going on, but...
Catching up on wishes – my bucket list
Holy expletive, Batman - I just logged into my old Livejournal account to look up a 2004 bucket list that I posted. (copied here) I was looking it up because I wanted to see how my goals have changed, and see where I've succeeded in the nearly 10 years since I wrote...
Why I stay (2 of 2)
This is the second part in a two-part essay on why I stay in academia. As I did with yesterday's post, I wanted to start with an infographic, but I couldn't find one communicating what I wanted to say. Astronomy is a rich field, doing and discovering amazing things,...
Why I stay (part 1 of 2)
Lately I've been thinking a lot about how to articulate why it is I keep doing what I do. Anyone who has been around me knows that between the stress of budgets and the overall climate against women in STEM, my career isn't one that makes me happy at the moment. The...
DHS adds stigma to mental health issues
When it comes to somethings, I still go old school, and one of those things includes getting a daily summary of SlashDot highlights. In one of these quick summaries of all that's new, I stumbled across a story that broke me on many levels. Here is the summary from...
Truth against Humanity
This rambling essay attempts to give voice to my struggles with #RipplesOfDoubt, and with the realities I've faced as a woman in science and skepticism. This is a piece written with too much honesty and not a lot of poetry. It is written because there are men out...
Work Travel: The longest days
One of the flaws in what many of us do is this: When we spend our days disseminating our work and training people to use our materials, we are doing one aspect of our job that is very important, but the other parts of our jobs still need to be done. The emails keep...
Jeff Medkeff: a legacy of giving
There are certain moments that get burned into your memory. for me, one of those moments is the morning of August 4, 2008. I was sitting on the floor in Lynn Cominsky's house getting ready for a teacher training workshop at Sonoma State. Flipping through my email I...
Helsinki for a day
For not the first in my life, I find myself passing thru Helsinki. To me, it keeps being a waypoint between places that gets slept in, wandered about in, and then left behind. The first time I was here was 24 years ago. I and 24 others were on our way back from...
I’ll Fly Away
For the past week, I've had the Alison Krauss & Gilian Welch song, "I'll Fly Away," stuck in my head. This fabulous song is one that I hope someone will remember to play when I die, but... beyond that... I'm wondering what my subconscious is trying to tell me...