@allostericsite
Dad, Mol. Biologist, reader, music listener, etc...Skeeting about STEM, SciComm, science nonprofits, & also parenting, food, fitness, travel, being a grumpy GenXer. Aspiring to be an ally to anyone who needs allies, here and IRL.
A pink and blue hued lunch bag featuring two howling wolves on a star field
I left my lunch bag in the lunch room and a co-worker brought it to me, saying “I figured you were the only person here who wouldn’t be too embarrassed to bring this to work.” Hell yeah—I’m hungry like the wolf.
Let’s take your awful and really dig deep into the awfulness😅
No, I'm pretty sure my little PSA here is going to change the course of how Bostonians have been driving for the past 80+ years.
Dear Boston suburbanites: It’s a “Stop” sign, not a “Lightly tap your brakes for a fraction of a second just for show” sign.
It might be my imagination, but I feel like my phone's predictive text has gotten way, WAY worse since the last iOS update. It is taking me substantially longer to text because the suggestions are so wacky.
The (excellent) book I'm reading right now was written 48 years ago. Thank goodness it made the cut🙄
My 16yo and I went on tours of two New England public universities over the past two days. One school mentioned all the support systems for neurodiversity, students of color, and queer students. The other school mentioned NONE of these things. Guess which one my daughter is still considering?
A sparkly sticker with roses that says “Thou may ingest a satchel of richards”
My sister dropped a bunch of stickers in my Xmas stocking and I confess I had not looked at all of them very closely until now. Anyway, my sister is the best😂
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES OF SCULPTURE, MICHELAN-gelo said, "It is easy. You just chip away all the stone that isn't David." It's simple to cut things out of a life. You break up with a shitty partner, quit eating bread, delete the Twitter app. You cut it out, and the shape of what's actually killing you clarifies a little. The whole Abrahamic world invests itself in this promise: Don't lie, don't cheat, don't fuck or steal or kill, and you'll be a good person. Eight of the ten commandments are about what thou shalt not. But you can live a whole life not doing any of that stuff and still avoid doing any good. That's the whole crisis. The rot at the root of everything. The belief that goodness is built on a constructed absence, not-doing. That belief corrupts everything, has everyone with any power sitting on their hands. A rich man goes a whole day without killing a single homeless person and so goes to sleep content in his goodness. In another world, he's buying crates of socks and Clif bars and tents, distributing them in city centers. But for him, abstinence reigns.
I can’t stop thinking about this paragraph from Kaveh Akbar’s “Martyr!”, and saddened by the fact that the government can’t even get the “don’t be shitty” part right.
My latest GenX column in the local paper (I provided multiple titles for this column--this was not one of them😅). Who else will confess to a love-hate relationship with their wearable tech?
belmontvoice.org/generations-...
Screen shot of a text that reads “A library we're working on has a little room off the children's section called "Wiggle Room". I presume for the nuggets who can't sit still through story time.” Followed by a blue print of a library with the designated Wiggle Room.
My sister works in HVAC and just sent me this text. I’d be a big proponent of any and all public buildings having a Wiggle Room. Or, for the oldsters like me, a Nap Room.
R4E is hosting a webinar for all, no cost. Learn how to design an effective poster webinar
www.repro4everyone.org/blog/r4e-web...
Thank-you to @addgene.bsky.social for sponsorship! #AcademicSky #EduSky #neuroskyence
How I know I’m getting older, Olympic edition…
8 years ago: Did you see the air that freestyle skier got? Also, curling is boring.
Today: Freestyle skiing is dangerous! Someone’s going to get hurt. But this curling game—the US has the hammer and they’ve got a nice pocket on the button!
I talked to them about Baby KJ last year, but I'm definitely planning on sharing an update! @addgene.bsky.social has a blog post about this story, too! blog.addgene.org/base-editing...
Hey scientists! Starting to collect interesting new #CRISPR applications/ethical quandaries for my annual presentation to 8th graders. What's a cool new CRISPR application that you think will blow a 14yo's mind? Blowing a 14yo's mind is no easy task, I assure you.✂️🧬🤯
Links much appreciated!
I’m not mad! Just very surprised 😅
Apparently my 16yo went and talked to multiple science teachers at her school offering my services as a guest speaker. She did not confer with me before doing this 😅
One with a giant crack in it through which poos like me have to squeeze through, I guess 🤔
Behold the half ass sidewalk clearing I experienced today in Watertown, MA. It was a very tight squeeze, and I’m not a big dude.
Do better New Englanders.
My 13yo just got back from her Model UN conference, where she had to represent the US (not her choice). Her take: “Never again! NOBODY wants to represent the US when it come to current events.” They’ve got to find someone who relishes playing the villain, I guess😒
As the spouse in my marriage who does nearly all the grocery shopping, I want hazard pay for today😩
A plastic drawer filled with 40-50 lip balm tubes f various colors and flavors.
My daughter is only 16, but she already possesses a lifetime supply of lip balm (this pic just shows the top of layer of three).
I've been using @bandcamp.com for 80% of my music listening and buying for years because it gets more $$ into artists' hands, but with this announcement I'm moving towards using them exclusively. pitchfork.com/news/bandcam...
I did not have to get many pages into Kaveh Akbar’s “Martyr!” before it got an entry into my Journal of Good Writing:
“The only people who speak in certainties are zealots and tyrants.”
Poster with the title “Genmanipulation mit CRISPR: Weltrevolution oder unabsehbares Risiko“
Could I give a talk about CRISPR benefits and risks? Sure.
Could I give such a talk in *German* like my 16yo tomorrow? Absolutely not.
An AI comic book-style rendering of my Slack message this morning of my looking at at an Apple laptop and saying "OMG, that OS update erased all my Chrome windows and hundreds of tabs AND the history, so I can't restore them! I had a system...I HAD A SYSTEM!"
Though I have very mixed feelings about AI images, my co-worker's very rapid rendering of my Slack rant this morning is frighteningly accurate.
Reducing vaccination requirements AND raising health insurance costs is a bold move. One would think killing and/or bankrupting citizens would not be a good idea, yet here we are.
I say this as a pedant living in the suburbs of Boston: these are totally valid things to complain about.
That's totally braggable. This is why I'm planning to frame the pages of a the comic book in which I was depicted and I'll hang that in my office but not my diplomas. Anyone can get a diploma. How many people can say they've been drawn into a comic book?
