The supervision system when it works

An important part of doing research is, of course, working with your supervisor. I've had three or four meetings with Dr F during my research. He talks me through developing ideas, reviews my work quickly, and is encouraging.

Before he went on two weeks leave, I met Dr F to talk about a very rough draft I had emailed him three days before. He was satisfied with my progress but recommended I extend myself by building a formal systems framework around my project.

I felt a bit anxious that I had to do so much work in the last few weeks of my course but I felt like I should try out his suggestion.

I spent a whole day doodling a systems map and staring thoughtfully at the computer. My eyebrows were furrowed for three days. Tonight, finally, I came up with something exciting, even useful! I am so pleased. I think this will make my dissertation much better.

Thank you, supervisor!

Locating barriers to the adoption of energy efficiency in houses by developers

Broccoli lemon mushroom

I invented something yummy today. Well, actually, I took the 'broccoli lemon chicken' recipe in my 101 one-pot dishes book and replaced the chicken with mushrooms. I have cooked it with chicken before but did not have any tonight. Anyway, this (plus rice) should feed two small people or one big person.

• 1 tbsp oil (I used sesame oil, how extravagant)
  
• Three mushrooms (I used white ones about 5 cm diameter)
  
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  
• 170 g broccoli, cut into little trees
  
• 200ml chicken stock (I used 3/4 of a stock cube)
  
• 1/2 tsp cornflower
  
• 1/2 tbsp honey
  
• Grated zest and juice of 1 small lemon
  
• Large handful of roasted cashews (I used unsalted)
  
• Salt to taste

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok, fry garlic quickly, then add broccoli. Stir fry for about two minutes then cover for maybe three minutes.
   
2. Add mushrooms, stir fry for a minute, cover for another minute (dash upstairs to check your email).
   
3. Mix the stock, cornflour and honey. Pour into pan and stir until thickened (takes longer than you expect).
   
4. Add lemon zest, juice and cashew nuts. Stir, then serve straight away.

I really like this recipe book, it's so student-practical and has nice food porn.

Out of the 101 recipes, I have made (or been inspired by):

1. Broccoli lemon chicken
   
2. Chicken biryani
   
3. Turkish lamb pilau
   
4. Prawn pilau
   
5. Spicy prawn and chorizo rice
   
6. Potato and mozzarella tortilla
   
7. Curried rice with spinach
   
8. Greek salad omlette
   
9. Macaroni cheese with mushrooms
   
10. Oven egg and chips
    
11. Spicy lamb with chickpeas
    
12. Hob-to-table moussaka

Twelve out of 101 is almost 12%. That's pretty good, considering that many people buy recipe books and don't cook anything out of them!

Gravitas

I got a compliment today. At least, I was pretty sure it was a compliment because they were smiling when they said it. I have 'gravitas'. When I got home, I looked it up at Dictionary.com.

grav·i·tas (grāv'ĭ-täs')
n.

1. Substance; weightiness
   
2. A serious or dignified demeanor

Ooooooo... I'm 'weighty'.

Birthday island

Last week, three of my classmates had their birthdays and booked out Darwin College's island for a celebration BBQ. That's right, Darwin College has an island in the River Cam. Here is a picture from that day, with kind permission from two good friends.

On the left is Jen. She's from the US and had just had a haircut from Letty, who you'll remember from earlier this month. It's a beautiful haircut, no? Jen says that she donates her hair to Locks of Love each year. Being away from the US, she will have to post her snippets to them this year.

On the right is Cobi, from Adelaide and therefore my neighbour in a global sense. You might know her writing from here and here. And here. She is a science journalist and has taught me the unnecessariness of the word 'locate'. Cobi is a charming young lady with job and research offers coming out of her ears.


While partying on Darwin Island, someone pointed out a small bridge going downstream.

'There's another island there,' he said. 'That's the illicit sex island.'

Of course, the first thing I wondered was if it was an 'illicit sex' island or an illicit 'sex island'. Then I wondered if there was a difference.

The Scholar Ship

Strange... yet oddly appealing -- The Scholar Ship

It sounds like you pay US$20k to spend a semester travelling around on a cruise ship and studying. The universities that 'steward' the programme are credible ones (e.g. UC Berkley, Fudan, Cardiff). You can then do an additional semester at Macquarie University to get your Masters in International Communication.

The ship going from this September starts in Athens (Greece), then goes to Lisbon (Portugal), Panama City (Panama), Guayaquil (Ecuador), Auckland (New Zealand), Sydney (Australia), Shanghai (China), then debarks in Hong Kong.

The January voyage is different again.

You know, I wouldn't mind lecturing at such an institution!

Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

I love it!

Today I met Joaniesaurus
She breakdanced before us
Then crashed into the fridge
She now tries to ignorus...

Wigiwigiwigi...!

Stranded

Had a meeting in Bristol, 3.5 hours by train from Cambridge. Big rain, fat rivers of water slashing the train windows. Thought I might be late to meeting but got there in time.

Going back, looking forward to seeing Damjan at dinner in Swindon, then to Oxford. When I got to Bristol Parkway station, a hundred lost looking souls and 1 PM trains still on the platform, three hours late.

'What's happening?' 'We'll tell you when we know.' 'What's happening?' 'We'll tell you when we know.' 'What's happening? Can I get to Cardiff? London? Didcot? Oxford? Bath?' 'No.'

Trains down, roads flooded. No routes to Swindon, to Oxford, to London, to Cambridge.

'There will be one train. It will go to Bristol Temple Meads.'

What is Bristol Temple Meads? Called Anna, who lived in Bristol once.

'What do I do?'

'Go to Temple Meads, Joan. It's the main station in town.'

Other people with luggage and trolley bags were sent on a coach back to Wales. I took the train to Temple Meads. Five minute train ride took almost half an hour. Speed restrictions? Sections flooded?

Called Damjan. He was turning back. Got partway to Swindon but now had to go back to Oxford. I almost cried. No way between here and there. Disappointment. Will be staying here tonight.

Called classmate Joe, Anna's boyfriend, Bristolian. He was driving from Cambridge to Bristol. Arranged for me to stay at his parents' house. Relieved.

Joe to arrive 8 PM but came in at 11 PM. Had to cross country to get around the floods.

Woke early next day in someone else's home. Good kind people. Sent me to train station. Was lucky -- one line out of Bristol and it was the one I needed. Got on train. Carriage soon crowded with refugees, yesterday's backlog.

Train left Bristol, arrived in Bath. Others squeezed on. After that, no one could get on train. Bewildered passengers left on the platforms.

Sardines. 'Why did I pay for my ticket today?' someone shouted through the carriage. 'I'd like to see a ticket inspector go through here!'

Laughter.

Everyone talking to each other, telling their stories. Thousands of cars abandoned on M4 highway. 'M4 landslide causes traffic chaos.' One person stuck on train for six hours. Others wading through four feet of water. People naked up telegraph poles.

'Last night, my 85 year old grandfather flew into Birmingham airport. My wife, my brother and I were at three different parts of the country and none of us could get to the airport to pick him up.'

Harry Potter fans canoeing to the book launch?

Maybe this havoc is Voldemort's work.

Took two hours for train to go from Bristol to Oxford. Train speed limited, dodgy track. Authorities must have spent the night pumping water. Watched flooded fields go by on both sides of track. Electricity poles in lakes. Tall trees now mangroves.

Saw flooded roads, dozens of cars abandoned and empty on roadsides.

Finally, to Oxford and something like home. Tired, hungry, sick with cold. Went home to Cambridge via London. Sleep.

Frightened and inspired

Emerging from solitary weeks of writing, today I went to the first of three days of our dissertation conference. The thirty-six members of the class are presenting their research to date. Presentations are followed by questions.

I am frightened and inspired at the same time. I'm frightened because of the impressive amount of rigour in other people's study design. I feel like a fraud in comparison. Somehow, I must persuade others that my results are valid and reliable.

I am also inspired by how interesting and useful people's research is. For eight hours today, my brain was filled with non-Joan-shaped thoughts and that gave me ideas for my own work. I went home, eager to tweak my presentation, looking forward to my turn to present on Wednesday.

Before I started this course, I knew two things about research: that it often a lonely occupation, and that it is a hard slog. I was warned about this and I have experienced it to be true. I also knew that good research practice includes collaborating with people and sharing ideas to ward off loneliness and stagnation, and that the best way to slog through research is to work nine to five, even in the most uninspired times.

Despite forewarning, I did not follow these two guides and it has been to my detriment. Because I didn't have the willpower to hack through the lows, I feel the pressure now. Because I am under pressure, I feel like I can't spend the time to talk to people and socialise. Because I don't talk to people and socialise, I am unproductive and low.

Maybe this conference, enforced interaction, is what I need to break the cycle.

Joan-shaped thoughts

My thoughts fit into my head comfortably. I've had nothing but Joan thoughts for days, maybe weeks. They're all the same shape, they sound the same, they use the same words. They're familiar, they don't challenge me and I'm sick of them the way that one is sick of eating the same food every day.

I had a great day today. I wrote 2,500 words. I went for a walk at the cemetery. While I was there, I realised that the reason I felt so uninspired was because my brain is full of Joan-shaped thoughts, which I forced myself to pursue to wretchedness.

Someone once described to me what it is like when he meditates. It isn't that his mind is empty. He lets his thoughts enter as usual. The difference is that he watches them drift by without following them. There is no need to follow thoughts. They can come in and leave as they want.

Di told me about a woman who would spill a bowl of rice grains on the floor. She then uses a pair of chopsticks to pick up the grains one at a time. When the bowl was full again, she pours the rice out and starts again.

In the corner of the cemetery, there is a little stone house. I thought a priest lived there because it looked like a miniature church. The house was open today and I went in. It turns out that it is the home and studio of an artist. While I was there, about ten other people came in to look at her prints and sculptures. The patterns in her work helped me not follow my thoughts.

It was nice to get a rest from thinking.

Treading water

I feel like I'm treading water. I have six weeks to get to the end of the pool but I feel like I'm not progressing. I am sick of it. So uninspired.

I have to present my findings on Wednesday. It's a twenty minute presentation. I'm sick of thinking about this topic. I want to think about something different. I don't want to read my own writing anymore.

AAAARGH. BUT I HAVE TO. I HAVE TO KEEP GOING.

Waaaaah....

Shame, Australia, shame!

The article on parental leave in Wikipedia gives the leave entitlement for new mothers (and often fathers) in different countries.

I never knew how generous other countries were! I scanned through the column, gobsmacked. I'm so ashamed that Australia is only one of three countries with 'zero' in its column for number of weeks of paid maternity leave. The other two offenders are USA and Papua New Guinea.

Shame, Australia, shame!

Joan and the flies

After the party last week, we accumulated twice as much rubbish and recycling as normal. Tomorrow is bin day so Alex, Di and I pitched in to move all the bins and boxes to the front of the house for tomorrow's early morning pick-up. It was a bit of an operation and we congratulated ourselves once it was done.

Ten minutes later, I heard Di cry, 'There are bugs in my room!'

Alex and I popped our heads into Di's room.

'Bugs?' I said. 'You mean ants? Spiders?'

'Look!' she said, pointing to her window. Zipping around in front of her sheer white curtains were dozens of tiny black flies.

'They came from the bin,' Alex identified. 'I saw them come out when we opened the lid... What are you doing?'

Di was leaning over her desk to open her window. 'I don't know how they got in, since the window was shut. I'm opening the window. Maybe the flies will go outside.'

'Maybe more will come in,' I said, worried.

'No, they came from the black bin and that's on the footpath now,' said Alex.

We watched a short while. The flies made no visible move towards the open window.

'I'll leave it open for a while,' Di decided.

I had an idea. 'I know! Why don't we put a cake or something on the window sill outside so that they will be attracted to it and leave?'

Di and Alex stared at me. I thought about what I had said.

'Oh...' I realised. 'I guess a cake might attract more flies inside.'

As they shook their heads sadly at me, I protested, 'I am smart! Really I am!'

A quiet evening walk

This evening, I went for a walk through Midsummer Common. I walked through the warm summer air and light breeze, and felt peaceful and comfortable. The old Victorian buildings seemed hyperreal against the blue sky. The cloud streaks were white when I left home and soon, were tinged with the orange of sunset. I took a photo of all this with my mind.

Midsummer Common is dotted with oak trees. There is an especially expansive one near the river. As I walked towards it on the path to the river, something shimmered at me from its branches. I didn't have my glasses on so for the half minute it took for me to get near it, it was a shimmering, shiny red globe. Finally, when I was five metres away, I saw that someone had hung a red tinsel wreath from a slim looping branch.

It looked so pretty.

I took another mental photo.

Then it was time to go home.

Hungry!

I was hungry today! I finally got over my recent unhungriness.

At least, I think I was hungry. My tummy didn't feel funny like last time but I kept thinking about food and wanting to eat. This was at about 7 PM so it coincided nicely with dinner.

A woman, a man, a baby, and a student

When I reached the pedestrian crossing, the 'WALK' signal had just started flashing. I stepped off the curb on to the black and white stripes. An old lady and a man cradling a baby were already in front of me.

'WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU DOING?' the man with the baby yelled.

My heart was pounding. A red car had decided to reverse back into the zebra crossing. It had only stopped when the man yelled.

I could have been run over.

At least the old lady and the man with the baby would have cushioned the impact.

Friend wheel

What is this? Do you know?

It's my Friend Wheel!

Yes, indeed. Someone has come up with a nifty way to visually depict the relationships between my friends on Facebook. Every dot on the circumference of the wheel represents a friend. I've erased friends' names, as well as mine in the middle.

You can see some interesting patterns. Recently, the network effect worked its magic amongst my high school friends from Melbourne. Consequently, that isolated patch of purple at 11 to 12 o'clock is the high school arc.

The pink arc at one o'clock is the beginnings of my university dancesport crowd. Facebook has only just started to ripple through them. I don't think that blob will get any bigger, though. I didn't have that many friends at uni :)

At 2 to 3 o'clock, the Friend Wheel application decided to place my un-networked friends. There are a couple of people from my university course, work, other courses, and truly random acquaintances.

Which leaves the mass of lines from 3 to 10 o'clock. This is, of course, the Cambridge arc of people who sucked me into Facebook in the first place. Now, as far as I'm concerned, there should be four main groups: my coursemates, my scholarship friends, dancing people, and college people.

However, it's a mess. The Friend Wheel app has revealed how interlinked everyone in Cambridge is. I really shouldn't be surprised that scholarship people dance, and that coursemates are in college with scholarship people.

Oh, there is also an interesting blue blob at around half past nine. That's the Oxford dancesport people. Even though I don't know them, many of them 'friended' me after I released photos from the Varsity Match in May. It's very easy to make friends on Facebook. Currently, I have 212.

You would think that the lines that cross from one side of the circle to the other would represent the most unexpected relationships. They do to some extent. However, the application has chopped my scholarship group in half and the internal links there represent much of the crossover. Hmm, now that I look at the names, I don't know why the application has done that. There's an island of scholarship people at 10 o'clock. Also, for some reason, the Oxford group has bisected my coursemates (divide and conquer?).

Hehe. Kevin Rudd is at 4 o'clock, surrounded by Aussie mates. That's right. I'm officially friends with Kevin Rudd. I looked, but John Howard's not on Facebook. Maybe he has a MySpace (read Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace).

Damjan suggested someone could make a Venn diagram application for friends. That's the mental model I've always had for my friendship groups. I have Venn brain. However, now that I've seen what a mess that lines make, I think circles would be an impossible ask.

Witness the transformation!

From Joanie Sloth...


...to Joanie Bee!

Some videos that made me laugh

Hahaha... hahaha... haha...

• Facebook Off
  
• The Sopranos Censored

And major nostalgia here for those who ever played Street Fighter.

• Street Fighter: The Later Years
  
• Part II
  
• Part III

America in food form

Our house celebrated Independence Day with a BBQ today. I stuffed myself silly with cookies, brownies, strawberries, pie, watermelon, zucchini bread and a concoction of orange, cottage cheese and whipped cream. Then, when dessert was done, I had a homemade hamburger and hot dogs, hot off the grill, plus a Southern pasta salad and American chilli. I am so sad that I am too full to eat any more food.

Vegetarian kebabs

Blueberry pie, which was declared, 'America in food form'.

Sangría.

What Independence Day party would be complete without an American flag cake?

2010

Janice let the couple progress through the hallway, the study and the living room. Soon enough, they had reached the kitchen, the heart of every house. The woman glided her hand over the granite bench top, nodding approvingly. The man gazed up the skylight, then pulled open the German-engineered oven.

'Good morning,' Janice said. 'My name's Janice. How do you like the house?'

'It's nice,' the man noncommittally. 'A new paint job in the hallway, I see.'

'Yes,' Janice replied. She was glad he had noticed. She had told the Cranfields it was an easy way to add £1500 to the asking price so they had it done three weeks ago. The paint smell was gone in time for house inspections. The Cranfields had also taken their agent's advice and removed personal photos so that prospective buyers could more easily imagine themselves living here. There were fresh flowers in the house, too. Janice was a good agent. She knew what the punters wanted.

'I like the natural light,' the woman buyer said.

'The skylight really does open up the space, doesn't it?' Janice enthused. 'The owners also installed dimmable halogens. This really is a great lifestyle house. There's a heated conservatory, and the media room, of course. And it's close to shops.' Janice recited this all with the perfect illusion of spontaneity.

'I'm not sure about the halogens, Dean,' the woman said, turning to the man. 'Or the other lights. Halogens use up a lot of energy.'

Dean nodded. 'Janice, are the lights the energy efficient types? What's the SAP rating on the house?'

'SAP rating...' Janice felt her control of the situation begin to fray at the edges.

'Yes, the energy rating of the house? The insulation are in the walls? What are the owners spending on energy? Is there a heat recovery system?'

'Erm.' Janice started shuffling through the promotional material, scanning for something about the 'SAP rating' or heat recovery.

'Dean, can you ask about the heating controls too? We'll want to keep the kids' rooms warmer at night but turn down the temp in the study and guest room.'

Janice was rifling through the brochures a second time. 'Ah, I'm sorry sir, madam. I don't seem to have the information here but I'll call the office now and see if I can get it. Could you hold on?'

The agent darted into the study to use her mobile phone.

'Troy, what on earth is a SAP rating?... Build regs? You mean people care about that? ... Sheesh, I can't believe it. I'm sure Cass and Jim got asked the same thing last weekend... No, the lifestyle angle isn't working, you'll have to send the energy info... That's three days away! ...Oh, fine! Nothing we can do about it now. Bloody marketing. Gotta sell houses like cars these days.'

When Janice returned to the kitchen, the couple had opened up the boiler.

'Forty kilowatts is a bit excessive for this size house but at least it's a condensing boiler. More efficient than the electrics. I know this manufacturer, had some warranty issues five years ago but they seem to have sorted it out...'

'Sorry for making you wait,' said Janice. 'We do have the energy information at head office. It'll be here on Friday. Ah, if you leave me your details, I can post it to you or you could come back...'

The couple exchanged looks. 'All right. Maybe we come back in a bit. We'll look around a bit more, see a couple of houses.'

In the face of failure, Janice put on her most genuine smile. 'Of course! And here's my card. Give me a call if you think of anything.'

Would you like a haircut?

I was walking home this morning after a meeting when two women came up to me.

'Hello! My name is Letty. I'm an apprentice hairdresser. Would you like a free haircut?'

Letty's companion added, 'Letty has basically finished her training. I'm her teacher. She just needs to practice for the test.'

I said cautiously, 'Sure. I'd love a haircut.' I wondered if they had spotted me walking down the street and targeted me because of my terrible hair. So now I have an appointment for a haircut this Friday, just in time for Di's Fourth of July party at out house.

Try this! It's pretty amazing. Put on your headphones and listen to the YouTube clip. I read about it at Why not try a virtual haircut?

Jazzy flowers

Damjan and I went to Midsummer Jazz at Spencers on Saturday. It was long day of enforced relaxation. We ate lots of food, danced, and listened to some good music. Spencers is known best as a garden. Here are some flower photos that Damjan and I took. I took the first five and Damjan took the last two.

An expensive adventure

Last Wednesday, I had to travel to Solihull, which is less than two hours from Cambridge by car but more than four hours by public transport. I was smart, though. I bought my train and bus tickets a week early so that it only cost me £22.

Here is what happened that day.

11.04	Train from Cambridge to Birmingham. Productive two hours, working on my laptop for my dissertation.
13.45	Arrived in Birmingham New Street station. Walked to Birmingham Moor Street Station
14.20	Train from Birmingham to Solihull
14.45	Bus from Solihull to meeting location (I was so lucky! The bus only comes every hour and the trip is half an hour so I arrived in time for the 15.30 start time.
15.50	Meeting starts late.
17.45	Meeting runs an hour over time. As I leap on the bus back to Solihull station, I realise that I'm not going to make it in time for my 18.25 train from Birmingham back to Cambridge.
16.15	The helpful man at the Solihull ticket office tells me that I will have to buy a new train ticket to Cambridge for £38.50 (A$96). I realise I can go to Oxford for half that price. With five minutes before the Oxford train departs, I try to buy the ticket. The card machine will not accept my bank card. I am forced to use my Australian credit card -- foreign transaction fees :(
18.25	I get on the train in time.
19.40	I arrive in Oxford. I walk slowly to Damjan's place. A day of walking in heels is painful. I make in time for Damjan's birthday -- hooray!

It turned out to be an expensive adventure. I wasted a train ticket from Solihull to Birmingham and Birmingham to Cambridge. I had to buy a bus ticket from Oxford back to Cambridge. I needed a new toothbrush, clothes, and a pair of shoes (the heels were not a long-term walking proposition). But I had a nice unscheduled holiday. Damjan had Melbourne friends over, we went punting and also had a birthday celebration.

Now I am very far behind my dissertation schedule. If I don't post as frequently, this is a good sign for my research.

Good grief. Has the world gone mad?

Well, at least the US justice system still has a bit of sense. See Judge loses pants suit at the Herald Sun.