Thursday, August 2, 2012

Me, in the news.

Yep.  Me again.

Just a quick one to pass along some sort of exciting news.

Last month, the journal article based on my thesis research was published.  Shortly after, I was contacted by a guy at the University of Missouri News Bureau who wanted to interview me about the article.  He wrote a short press release, which will be shared with the national news outlets (in case anyone thinks it's interesting...).  The release came out today.

You can read it here (there's even a picture included!):
bit.ly/NcLwEu

Also, if you want to read the whole journal article, you can find it here:
bit.ly/QyKNnC

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The Bus Stop

Hey all,

The official countdown has begun.  I have 7 days of Bangla class left and only a week and a half left in Madison.  I'm happy-sad about this.  It's been a great summer.



I'm actually writing today, though, to share this with you:

My Madison roommate, Becky, has this friend who has been married 13 years, is wise about all things relationship and always eager to share his knowledge, it seems.  He gave us this little gem the other night, and it's totally worth sharing.

The Bus Stop Analogy.
Dating is sort of like waiting at a bus stop.  You're standing there, and you're really not sure where the bus is.  It's possible you've missed the bus (which is why I, personally, recommend always being a few minutes early...), in which case, you're waiting like an idiot for a bus that's already gone.  However, it's also possible that the bus just hasn't come yet; that the bus is a little behind schedule.  In that case, if you're patient and just wait a little longer, you'll be rewarded with a nice, easy, free ride downtown to your destination of choice.  But the question is...  how long do you wait at the bus stop?  If you wait too long for an already missed bus, you're wasting time on a bus you were never going to ride anyway.  But, if you give up too soon and go back inside, you're going to miss a perfectly good bus that was just a little late that day.

I'd like to take this one step further and say that it seems there are plenty of nice, normal, good-looking busses (who have homes, jobs, and all the other things that responsible busses should have) that are driving around town with their "Not In Service" light on.  Frustrating.

So...  Do you wait?  Do you go back inside, grab your car keys and drive yourself?  Or, do you walk a few blocks over and see if a better, newer, air-conditioned bus is coming?