geek pride

Okay - this "one question geek-test is really cute:

You say to someone “I saw a Volkswagen Beetle today with a vanity license plate that read FEATURE”. If he/she laughs, he/she is a geek.

I have to add here that I am a huge fan of geeks... They're some of the most interesting people in the world.

via Kieran's latest post at Crooked Timber; the link and quote above are from the comment by Des.

appreciation

So I got a raise today. My first real raise! Not a huge one - not anything I'll get rich from. (Or even shift tax brackets for that matter.) But still! And all because my boss thought I did good work in the last budget year. And felt it was important to say so and then show appreciation in other ways too, like have it translate into a bit of a raise. (No one got big raises this year - the university's budget isn't doing well at all - and the fact that my boss made sure mine was the highest possible percentage makes me very appreciative indeed.)

There's a point I'm trying to make here, and to make it more clearly I have to return (somewhat) to what I wrote about how different it is to have a non-academic job - to the extent of pointing out what a novel and precious thing being appreciated for what I do is to me. It was something I had to learn to accept in fact: just having people say, on their own initiative, without really having anything to gain from saying so, and without my having requested a letter of recommendation, a read-through of a dissertation chapter, help, anything: "we appreciate what you do here."

I remember how shocked I was the first time I heard it. (No raise then, just a sort of thank you. People say please and thank you here. The effects of this on one's mental health are surprisingly beneficial.)

And I was quite simply pleased, too, of course. I mean, I did care what they thought of my work. I just never thought I'd find out so directly. Apparently, however, telling your subordinates that they're doing good work if you think they're doing good work is normal at a lot of places where people work. It also seems to have the effect of making said subordinate more committed to doing good work for you in the future. Go figure.

protest panties

To continue with the political vein begun earlier this week (sort of): here you can buy "panties with a purpose" - and it ain't the purpose you think.

via purse lip square jaw

spam

Some of my entries started getting hit with a lot of comment spam, so - as icky as it is, I've started to close those entries for commenting. I'm still not sure if I want to close posts older than 30 days as a general rule - but if I keep getting as much spam comments, I may have to. Which is bad because readers' comments are some of the best things about blogging.

(I hate spammers.)

However, my main point is this: if you find an entry you have something to say about but it's closed for commenting, please don't hesitate to leave a comment under a different entry, referring back to the closed entry. Or, email me. You'll figure it out!

more on soldiering

Jason of miscellany is the largest category posted some links to recruitment facts in the comments to the I am horrified post of two days ago.

I thought I'd elevate these to the top level of the blog so here's Jason's comment in its entirety:

An eclectic smattering of links:

Here's a CNN article that lists some numbers (this is the one I think I remember seeing):
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/05/19/military.recruiting.ap/

And an about.com article that lists some numbers (with specific reference to the bills you mentioned):
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/wars/a/draft.htm

Army News reports high retention (not an objective source, but numbers are fairly easy to check, so I doubt they are unreliable):
http://www4.army.mil/news/article.php?story=5997

Of course, high recruitment and retention numbers doesn't mean that one shouldn't be wary. I'm sure there are some who think that required service of some kind might be a good idea (I certainly don't) and therefore might try to push something like that through. But I suspect that would be very unpopular ;)

I suppose some of this might change in the coming years, especially with tours-of-duty lasting longer and longer.

I'm also including some slightly undeveloped thoughts of my own here on organizing the military based on conscription vs. recruitment - some of which I also wrote down in the comments to the I am horrified post

I'm totally against conscription. On principle. I think it's wrong for any government to think they can dispose of the bodies and souls of its citizens for any political purpose. I say this, too, because I think there is something deeply wrong with how military organizations are structured, whether draft-based or not, reflected in, for instance, the way so much of training is designed to break down the soldiers' individual humanity. I think that if there's a contract between the military organization and the individual who voluntarily signs up for service, the humanity of that individual is just a little bit harder to efface.

U.S. military culture does not fully bear out my theory, at least not for all military units - as the recent torture "incidents" make me wonder to what extent any amount of respect for anyone's humanity is instilled in soldiers these days. To put it simplistically, you treat others the way you are treated. You accept and carry out and even enjoy horrific orders only you've been conditioned to do so. And these are voluntary recruits. Imagine how much worse things could get if they were forced to serve in the military.

A late night

So... I went to my librarian-saxophonist friend's gig tonight. She is amazing. The band she played with is amazing. You just sank into the music, it flowed around you and into you like balmy summer-night air - or a dream.

I have a morning meeting tomorrow but it doesn't matter. So I'll have dark circles covered with some concealer under my eyes, and more eyeliner on than usual.

And just to state my amazement again at my luck with my job: it was my boss who invited me to go; her teenage daughter is a saxophonist herself and she wanted her daughter to meet a real saxophonist. For inspiration.

The music put me in such a relaxed mood.

I love jazz.

So much that I think I may have inadvertantly picked up a boy. Who knew? He's rather younger than me and refused to believe it (a really good line, if I do say so myself...) But more importantly - I had forgotten how good it feels to just be all relaxed with someone and talk, talk, talk. Until after the bar's closed and the waiters have started cleaning the other tables and putting the chairs up, getting ready to clean the floor, and us so engrossed in conversation that we only half-notice it all. Just enjoying being surprised by each new turn, playing with the idea of meeting again but with no real need to plan on it, not yet anyway - and maybe never.

And then to get home and think: I never expected anything like this tonight.

It would appear that despite everything I've been feeling and saying lately, I haven't lost all hope after all.