Science Monkey

Emma and I had a couple friends over last night to play Risk, one of whom had never played before. Guess who lost? Guess who got his ass completely handed to him? If you guessed that I did, you’re right!

I was pretty stupid in my original set-up. I gambled that I could quickly dominate Asia while Emma and Chris fought over the Americas and Deborah was bottled up in Australia. Yeah, not so much. In my first battle, my 10+ Chinese armies lost to Deborah’s 4 in India, and then it was downhill from there. If I had managed to win that battle, the outcome may have been different (but probably not). By losing that battle, I was suddenly too thinly spread out along my other borders to attack and only barely strong enough to defend some of the territories. Within three turns — not more than four — I was gone.

It was a small comfort that Emma was the next person out, because she usually wins when we play. Not much of a comfort, though, because I was already out. Deborah put up a decent battle for a while, but then Chris swarmed over Asia and routed her back to New Guinea, where he magnanimously offered her a truce. “Go live with the native tribes,” he offered. Heh.

Here are Deborah, Emma, and Chris (clockwise from left) just after Chris’ rampage through Asia. He is yellow (and green), she is red.

Then, on his next turn, poor Deborah had little chance.

Even though I got royally creamed, I had a good time. We’ll totally have to do this again in the future, and maybe then I’ll be a little better. Asia is just not something you can win early in the game. Focus on Australia, Africa, and South America first, then work northward. Lesson learned.

It’s the end of March and as good a time as any for a little navel-gazing. I thought I’d take a few minutes and review my resolutions and see how I’m doing and how I might be able to improve over the next three months.

1. Lose 40 pounds.

This is the one I’ve been struggling with the most. Since January I’ve been on a 10-pound yo-yo. Very frustrating. I tend to eat and exercise well on Monday through Wednesday or Thursday, then slack off the rest of the week.

I’m going to try and take up running. Well, jogging for the near future and walking for the immediate future. I figured out a nice two mile walk around the neighborhood earlier this week, but haven’t walked since Wednesday. I’ve been pretty good about riding my bike or walking to work, though, which makes me at least a little proud. I’ve only driven in or gotten a ride about five times this year so far.

2. Spend more time with my family.

If by family, I mean wife, I’m doing pretty well with this one. I’m trying to work hard in the lab when Emma is on a more time-intensive rotation and then spending more time at home when she’s not. Er, not on a time-intensive rotation, not not at home. You understand. I haven’t spent much time with my immediate (or extended) family but…so be it.

3. Make new friends and spend more time with old ones.

Yeah, this one is trying. I’m reasonably good at being social and amiable at work (I think), but I’m a total loner afterwards. Let’s work harder on this one, eh? Maybe I’ll get my happy ass to a Florida Free Culture or Alacloud meeting, given my desire of being that sort of geek. I should go flogging, too…that’s almost like exercise.

4. Drink good beer.

Check. I’ve been enjoying Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat and Sam Adams White Ale this season very much. I’ve been on a wheat beer kick for this last year or so but think these are really nice. I could always go check out the homebrew shop and learn to make my own. That might be social, too, but will probably work contrary to goal #1.

5. FINISH MY GODDAMNED DEGREE.

Getting there. I had a committee member tell me that I’m essentially ready to move on, other than having a coherent story that I can turn into a manuscript, a thesis, and a job talk. I’ve got a decent plan to get that story right now, so we’ll see what I can bang out in the next three months. I suspect I can get a lot of data if I can maintain my focus.

6. Take piano lessons.

Check.

7. Ride 1000 miles on my bike.

So far, I’m at approximately 178 miles for the year, so I’m a little off the thousand-mile pace. I can pick that up this next quarter.

8. Write something every day.

Meh. Not so good. I’m blogging more regularly, which is almost like writing, but I’m not doing the productive, work-related writing that I’d like to have done. Now that I have a good idea of my final project, I should start working on my thesis. I can do the Introduction, Relevance, and Materials and Methods sections now, and work on the rest as I get the data.

9. Get my happy ass organized (GTD).

Nope. Haven’t even read the book yet. I’m trying to write lists of what I need to do at the beginning of each day which helps, but I’m nowhere near organized yet.

10. Learn to use my camera well.

This one has been fun. I’m having a great time taking pictures with my new camera, as you’ve probably noticed. I should try and learn some of the features of the camera and see if I can’t take some more artistic pictures. That’d be nice. There are lots of great birds around the house right now, including a great blue heron in the pond up the hill, so I’ve got some good subject matter.

Okay…that’s enough navel-gazing for now. New petite protopodcast coming soon, I promise. I know you’re all on tenterhooks waiting for the next one. Go Gators!

One last question. What do you think: Haircut? Or no?

I had dinner last night with an old friend from high school. She has, perhaps, the cutest baby I’ve seen in a long, long time. Totally adorable. We’ll see how well those looks hold up over the next twenty or thirty years, I guess, but for right now she’s a peach.