chels: Last night in Austin was hands down the best night of the trip. We had a little meetup of some of my favorite bloggers (is there a word yet for a group of bloggers? like a snark of bloggers or something?) and it was as if my favorite corner of the internet came to life for an evening. I’ve known some of these guys for months and some for years, and it was a blast getting to talk with them in person.  In person observations: Elizabeth has the best smile, Shane has the kindest eyes, Dieter’s softspoken and just the nicest, and Joe has a good laugh. I hope this is just the beginning of many good times with these folks.  Tumblr: Real Life Edition! So awesome to hang with these great bloggers and generally cool people. Enjoy the rest of your trip, Chels!
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chels:

Last night in Austin was hands down the best night of the trip. We had a little meetup of some of my favorite bloggers (is there a word yet for a group of bloggers? like a snark of bloggers or something?) and it was as if my favorite corner of the internet came to life for an evening. I’ve known some of these guys for months and some for years, and it was a blast getting to talk with them in person. 

In person observations: Elizabeth has the best smile, Shane has the kindest eyes, Dieter’s softspoken and just the nicest, and Joe has a good laugh. I hope this is just the beginning of many good times with these folks. 

Tumblr: Real Life Edition!

So awesome to hang with these great bloggers and generally cool people. Enjoy the rest of your trip, Chels!

Listen to me talk, about things!

I did an interview recently for a podcast called New Empire Builders (iTunes). I assure you it is not a show about global conquest, but rather a place that highlights people out to change the way things are done. I am one of those people, apparently!

I talked with Scott about what it’s like to write about science today, why I do what I do, the challenges facing us as scientists, and why we need more people engaged in science communication from both sides. If these are things that you think you might be interested in, give it a listen! I say the words “Neil deGrasse Tyson” and “Carl Sagan” in it if that helps.

Anyway, if you’ve ever wanted to be able to picture me reading to you as you peruse my blog, here’s a good reference point. For me, it’s like hearing my voice on an answering machine, only 1,000X worse. 

Summer daze … vacation time!

So I’m heading out on vacation for the next several days. I’ll be letting the soothing sounds of crashing waves heal my soul, which is something everyone should do as much as possible. Wind through trees and bubbling streams are also useful for this purpose.

Anyway, I have no idea if we’ll have internet down at the beach house. If I do, then I’ll hop on to feed the science hunger every so often. If not, then it’s only some reblogs, whatever I can do on my iPhone and some Instagram shots of my feet on a beach.

As always, you can get more brain food and random stuff from me on Twitter. 

thefluffingtonpost: Hot Dog Hints at Global Warming On an unseasonably warm May day in Austin, TX, a 6-month-old pup named Oliver was given a pail of water to drink. Rather than lap it up, he jumped right in. “That’s the moment we realized: global warming is totally real!” shouts Caleb Wilkenson, a local scientist. “He’s not a scientist,” says Dr. Harry Cobb, an actual scientist. “We’ve known global warming is real for years.” Submitted by Joe Hanson. Oh hey, look whose dog made it on The Fluffington Post! What a doofus.
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thefluffingtonpost:

Hot Dog Hints at Global Warming

On an unseasonably warm May day in Austin, TX, a 6-month-old pup named Oliver was given a pail of water to drink. Rather than lap it up, he jumped right in.

“That’s the moment we realized: global warming is totally real!” shouts Caleb Wilkenson, a local scientist.

“He’s not a scientist,” says Dr. Harry Cobb, an actual scientist. “We’ve known global warming is real for years.”

Submitted by Joe Hanson.

Oh hey, look whose dog made it on The Fluffington Post! What a doofus.

It’s Okay To Be Smart: Two Trips Around The Sun

Happy Second Blog-o-versary to ME!!

That’s right, this blog was birthed into the digital world, kicking and screaming and with only a basic mastery of its bodily functions, 731 days ago (thanks to the leap year). So of course I have to take a moment to get a tiny bit sentimental.

Thanks.

Seriously. Two years ago, I was sitting at the same desk as I am now, probably doing something similar to what I am doing now (scowling at an experiment that didn’t work very well), and I activated this Tumblr. And here we are.

If you asked me how many people I figured would be interested in my particular brand of sciencey blogging (equal parts wonderfulness/off-the-wall/creative/educational/analytical/whatever else I do) two years from that day … I would have guessed maybe 10% the number of people that have joined along on this trip, max. And even that is on the high end of my wildest dreams. So wow, yeah, THANK YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE SO MUCH! It’s really about you. The energy I get from this, no words. And maybe we’re making a small difference, learning, and making the world feel comfortable in smart skin.

I tippity-typed out some thoughts about my blog journey a couple weeks ago — you know, the “How it changed my life” stuff — so you can go read that if you want to continue on this sentimental walk in the park with me!

So, by my count I have posted something like 5,474 times since then. For this party, in lieu of presents or your presence, why not spend the next several hours clicking this Random Button or going back-back-back through The Archive (all 5,474 posts) and telling me what your all-time favorites are? Take your time. It’s a weekend.

Tweet me @jtotheizzoe if you find a gem that means something to you (to get around the pesky URL/Tumblr messaging impasse).

I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast the day before, so this will help me recall some of the fun we’ve had. Memory goes with age.

Oh, last but not least … I got you guys some cake:

Whiskey Questions … A note about me: I don’t discriminate with cocktails, but there’s nothing like fine whiskey, folks. Where’s the app that will allow my followers to buy me a drink? Can we make this happen? Programmers … go do that! An It’s Okay To Be Smart blog happy hour is a fine idea by me. I’m so fortunate that I get to share intelligent and fun diversions with you all every day, so that some may become smarter and others may be more comfortable feeling that way. Thanks for that note. As for my favorite whiskey? Besides “the one in my hand at that moment”, it comes down to these two: They’re not for beginners. You never mix them with Coke. They make Joe happy :)
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Whiskey Questions …

A note about me: I don’t discriminate with cocktails, but there’s nothing like fine whiskey, folks. Where’s the app that will allow my followers to buy me a drink? Can we make this happen? Programmers … go do that!

An It’s Okay To Be Smart blog happy hour is a fine idea by me.

I’m so fortunate that I get to share intelligent and fun diversions with you all every day, so that some may become smarter and others may be more comfortable feeling that way. Thanks for that note.

As for my favorite whiskey? Besides “the one in my hand at that moment”, it comes down to these two:

They’re not for beginners. You never mix them with Coke. They make Joe happy :)

STORYBOARD - It’s Okay To Be Smart

I couldn’t resist the opportunity to write something after reading topherchris’s story about how Tumblr (quite literally) changed his life. I mean, he works there now. Check the paragraph at the bottom for more about the STORYBOARD project. Anyway, on with my story, which is long, but I’m feeling sentimental. So deal with it.

If you don’t know by now, I’m more than just a science blogger. I’m an actual scientist (which is how I got that shirt, but not really). I am approaching the end of my 6th year as a biology Ph.D. prisoner student in Austin. That means I’m getting pretty close to being done, at least according to The Plan™. I’ve been doing science as a job for almost 9 years now, and for the first time since the beginning, I have no idea where it’s going to take me.

(Personal stuff continued after the break, should you so desire. Go ahead. Click.)

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“So … Chuck, Emilio … apparently there’s this Joe guy that looks like me?

What’s that all about?”


The tribe has spoken. Apparently I am Willem Dafoe, but not completely terrifying. Thanks for not focusing on the crooked-ass fingers of a former goalkeeper.

LATE EDIT: I might also be Dexter Morgan or perhaps a cyborg bot that just crawls the internet looking for science stuff dunno I’ll never tell (but I can totally pass the Turing test)

I was up near Chicago last month speaking at a TEDx event about the the changing face of science communication (aka “This Blog”), and I had the great pleasure to meet (and be photographed) by Robert X. Fogarty for his Dear World project. If you aren’t familiar with his work, it’s awesome, and you should check it out. What started as love letters to a hurricane-battered home in New Orleans has turned into a collection of human poetry. He’s super nice and we had fun drinking in the hotel bar together, which I think is the true test of a man’s sanity and self-worth. Also, NO SUNGLASSES.
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I was up near Chicago last month speaking at a TEDx event about the the changing face of science communication (aka “This Blog”), and I had the great pleasure to meet (and be photographed) by Robert X. Fogarty for his Dear World project.

If you aren’t familiar with his work, it’s awesome, and you should check it out. What started as love letters to a hurricane-battered home in New Orleans has turned into a collection of human poetry. He’s super nice and we had fun drinking in the hotel bar together, which I think is the true test of a man’s sanity and self-worth.

Also, NO SUNGLASSES.

This is super-duper touching and awesome :)

Someone took one of my blog posts and made it into their new bookmark. For an Oliver Sacks book no less!

happiestchemicals:

I sort of needed a new book mark.
Then I thought maybe I should make one.
Then I remembered how much I liked this post by It’s Okay To Be Smart (aka jtotheizzoe)

I freakin’ love his tumblr.
I hope he doesn’t mind that I copied the whole quote.
And I really really really wan that tshirt- the one that he’s wearing in his icon picture.



That’s now my bookmark.



I want to make someone’s brain melt out of their ears too.

And no, I don’t mind at all :)