Nerdy and Proud of it!

Workout notes 4 miles in 54 minutes OUTSIDE prior to yoga, then 6.3 miles in 1:26 back; my timed segments were 13:26, 14:04 (3 laps of the gooseloop, or about 13:34 for the mile), 13:09 (41:41 at the Riverplex) 10:06 for 1200 meters (13:30 pace) then 34:11 back up the hill (2.5 miles).

Previously, I’ve done some track mileage prior to yoga….in the air conditioned Riverplex. Needless to say, that doesn’t help one with hot weather races!

Academics: yep, we are nerds. Read what Cosmic Variance has to say (note: unlike me, he is an accomplished academic).

Here’s the thing: the Chronicle of Higher Education asked a handful of academics to divulge their guilty pleasures. Seems like a potentially amusing parlor game, no? Well, as a moment’s reflection would reveal, no. Because you see, what could they possibly say? Most academics, for better or for worse, basically conform to the stereotype. They like reading books and teaching classes, not shooting up heroin or walking around in public dressed up in gender-inappropriate undergarments. (See, I don’t even know what would count as a respectable guilty pleasure.) And if they did, they certainly wouldn’t admit it. And if they did admit it, it certainly wouldn’t be in the pages of the Chronicle.

I was one of the people they asked, and I immediately felt bad that I couldn’t come up with a more salacious, or at least quirky and eccentric, guilty pleasure. I chose going to Vegas, a very unique and daring pastime that is shared by millions of people every week. I was sure that, once the roundup appeared in print, I would be shown up as the milquetoast I truly am, my pretensions to edgy hipness once again roundly flogged for the enjoyment of others.

But no. As it turns out, compared to my colleagues I’m some sort of cross between Hunter S. Thompson and Caligula. Get a load of some of these guilty pleasures: Sudoku. Riding a bike. And then, without hint of sarcasm: Landscape restoration. Gee, I hope your Mom never finds out about that. [...]

Read his article to see the conclusion; I just about blew coffee all over my keyboard.

On another note: Recursivity has an excellent candidate to join the creationist friendly Discovery Institute! (and yes, I-D is just repackaged creationism)

Republicans: they really want Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination. Read: they are afraid of Barack Obama.

President Bush is predicting that Hillary Clinton will win the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, according to a new book, ‘Evangelical President,’ set for release on Monday and written by FOX News contributor Bill Sammon.

Breaking his rule not to talk about presidential politics, Bush told Sammon, who writes for The Washington Examiner, that he thinks the New York senator will defeat Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primaries, but will fall to the Republican nominee.

“She’s got a national presence and this is becoming a national primary,” Bush said. “And therefore the person with the national presence, who has got the ability to raise enough money to sustain an effort in a multiplicity of sites, has got a good chance to be nominated.

“I believe our candidate can beat her but it’s going to be a tough race,” the president said. [...]

I’ve done a couple of these; they are kind of fun.