I moved out of my cube today for a new office slightly closer to campus. And while I love my new office – the natural light is wonderful – I’m a little sad to see the old cube go. It’s amazing how a place can become so meaningful over time. Even a simple beige cube.
Quick Thoughts
Shorter than a blog post.
Saw this article in the NY Times about the Southern Baptist Convention kicking out a megachurch for ordaining women. We are ELCA Lutherans and my children have always had a woman as a pastor. So here’s a shoutout to Pastor Karen, Pastor Ginger and Pastor Joanna. I’m grateful that you have been able to be a positive presence for our family and thankful that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allows you to serve as you are called.
Havard Business Review with an interesting (academic) take about how developers should view the Apple Vision Pro:
Developers looking to profit off the platform Apple has created would do well to focus on applications that provide users with hard-to-access contextual information at just the right level of detail.
Got to work. Found out I grabbed the wrong laptop. Sigh.
Finally got a chance to watch the keynote and read the reactions of people who’ve tried the new Apple Vision Pro headset. Going into WWDC, I didn’t know if Apple could pull off the technology and I had no idea why I would use one. After reading everything, it sounds like they aced the tech, but I still don’t know why I’d use one.
I’m tired. But also, I can’t sleep. Sigh.
Months ago, I scheduled my daughter’s college orientation for tomorrow. Which means that instead of watching the Apple Keynote, I’ll be watching presentations about adjusting to college life.
Spending some time tonight thinking about my dissertation topic. Do I stick with the research topic that I’ve worked on for the last few years? Or venture out with a new topic? There are pros and cons to each approach. Just not sure what I want to do.
For a short week, it’s been a long week.
One of my favorite bakeries closed after a long successful run, but I found out yesterday that another wonderful bakery is taking over its location. They’ve been selling cakes at local markets and haven’t had a permanent space. It’s the circle of life, but for bakeries.
I’ve been to a lot of high school graduations over the years. And most of them aren’t great. They start late. The guest speakers and district officials give speeches that aren’t particularly inspirational. The student speakers share a bunch of inside jokes that make sense to a small slice of the graduating class. And they just last too long.
So while I was looking forward to my daughter’s graduation today, I wasn’t looking forward to the ceremony itself. (Not to mention the ceremony was held at 8 a.m. on a Wednesday morning.)
What I got instead was a delightful ceremony. It started right at 8:00. The student speakers did a wonderful job. They incorporated some meaningful traditions. The district superintendent delivered short and relevant remarks. The whole thing was done in 1.5 hours with around 350 students graduating. Everyone had their name read and crossed the stage. My daughter was happy and I was pleasantly surprised.
Our oldest graduated from high school today. Next stop, studying English at the University of South Carolina.
Hanging out on my deck after a long weekend of home improvements. Beautiful evening.
Saw this beautiful flower on campus yesterday.
I’m really intrigued by Adobe’s approach to generative AI. Building AI tools that assist the process of creative development, but don’t seek to replace it. The Generative Fill feature that they are building into Photoshop looks seriously useful.
Jamovi is so much easier to use than SPSS.
Just submitted my revised journal article. I was pretty discouraged when I got the long list of feedback, but honestly, with all the changes incorporated, the new revision is significantly better. We’ll see if the editor and reviewers feel the same way.
My 11-year-old’s orchestra teacher is retiring and he’s rallying his fellow students to make a giant card to thank her. He’s working so hard on it and the whole thing is so sweet.
RE: Paywalls. I want writers and publications to make money, but I also want to share the great things that they write — often with people who would never pay to support online writing.
My favorite new coffee shop is in a restored Victorian house that was once a funeral home. The historic preservationists who worked on this project deserve an award for the amazing work they’ve done to turn the house into a coffee shop and apartments.
After being sick last week, my sleep schedule is all kinds of messed up. It’s not insomnia… I’m getting sleep. But I get tired earlier and then wake up in the middle of the night. I’m like a toddler who has their days and nights mixed up.
I have to pack up my cube to move to a new office in a couple of weeks. While I’m looking forward to having walls and a door again, I’m not ready to pack everything up. I’ve been in this spot for six years – longer than I’ve ever been in a work space before. Going to feel strange to move.
When I see people arguing about Mastodon vs. Bluesky, I realize that we need to ask an important question:
What do you want from social media?
It’s not about what service is best. It’s about what’s best for you. And that answer is going to differ from person to person.
I’ve been sick for the past few days. Pretty minor symptoms. Pre-COVID, I would have just toughed it out, but now I take even minor symptoms seriously. I don’t want to get anyone sick.
(FYI: Just got back from the doctor. All the tests were negative. I just have a bad cold.)
Taylor Swift put on an amazing show last night in Atlanta.
My daughters are making sure the whole family has appropriate attire for tomorrow night’s Taylor Swift concert.
Spending the day at the coffee shop with my daughters who are reviewing for AP exams next week. I’ve been working on finishing up the revisions to my journal article, but I keep going down rabbit holes…
I had no idea that the Denver airport was such a hub for conspiracy theories: A Towering, Terrifying Demon Horse Isn’t Even the Weirdest Part - The New York Times
The willingness of my children to wear mismatched socks perplexes me greatly.
My daughter’s high school lacrosse season ended last night. It’s been a tough year for her, missing her senior season with a torn ACL, but she cheered her team on from the sidelines and attended every practice. I’m so proud of her and how hard she fought along the way.