The Balance of Organizing

 What has been really interesting to see as the new tech chair for my student union is the tension that seems to exist with technology. The tech team is very focused on safety and security, while others seem to lean much closer to utility and what they can do quickly. In a sense I understand both sides, organizing is hard work and there are a lot of factors to balance, but I am also a little surprised.

Now with organizing you have to collect a lot of data. You have information about who is in the union, who is eligible to be in the union, who is attending different events, and who is interested in getting more involved. But you also have a team that primarily consists of a small group of dedicated students who need to do a lot of stuff very quickly. And while both safety and speed are important to everyone, there are different priorities for different groups.

It seems like the issue is that tech is brought on to specialize on this, but they aren't always heeded. And also that there's a lack of compromise, or just an attempt to understand why someone is saying something else. And I mean that from both sides, truly. Which is all very unfortunate. But it does seem to me that if you're going to bring people on to run an aspect of the group, you should probably let them do their job.

Now I don't think that this issue is unique to this group, I think it exists everywhere with organizing. Which is interesting, it's an aspect that I don't think I ever really considered before. Do you want to move fast and break things? Or create systems that are super secure and last? It's a push and pull between the two. I'm really looking forward to this position, and thinking more about how to reconcile the two as I go.

This Is Beautiful: Not Going Into Work

 First weekend in a while that I haven't had to physically be in work! Not that I wasn't working, but at least I didn't have to go in and deal with the cells. It's been a while of doing that every single day and at least I got a respite there. (It was to go to a work conference, but still.)

“Interim Errantry” by Diane Duane

Having finally finished the cats series, I have now turned to a book of short stories Duane wrote about the characters in the Young Wizards series. They’re really cute! All of the stories take place between A Wizard of Mars and Games Wizards Play.

The first story takes place on Halloween. Nita befriends her pumpkin, and the night takes a turn for the eventful when the pumpkin senses something happening at its patch. Turns out that a horde of zombies are attacking there. Nita, Kit, Ronan, Darryl, and Dairine fight them off, using the power of the pumpkin. It’s a cute story, I especially loved the pumpkin addition.

Next is one about Christmas. Kit’s sister Carmela wants to throw a Christmas party where the main festivity is decorating Filif as a Christmas tree. He loves getting dressed up, and even holds a lit candle at one point, overcoming a fear he had earlier in the series. Filif also fends off the neighborhood boys who love destroying things when they try to take his decorations. This might be my favorite of the three, it’s really heartwarming. And of course it’s about our favorite tree wizard!

Finally there’s a story where the human wizards are sent to a planet to evacuate the beings there as their moon is about to fall onto the planet. It is all from Kit’s perspective, though Nita, Ronan, Dairine, Tom, and Carl are all there as well. The problem is that a lot of the beings there don’t want to leave the planet, and have to be left to make their own decisions. Venting his frustration, Kit talks about this to a species of like octopus pet on the planet. Quickly after that, the species changes its mind and they all get off of the planet. This is the longest story, and it is really nice to have one from Kit’s perspective as well. It's also cute because it references Kit’s connection with Ponch and how he was able to get through to the dog-equivalent on this planet as well.

The afterword is also interesting, it talks about how Duane has been wanting to talk about the more ordinary occurrences in the Young Wizards universe. Because not everything can be about how the world is ending for these guys. And it also talks about how she consulted on a movie that dealt with a moon falling on its planet and the scientific accuracy… left some things to be desired. It is quite nice knowing that she’s an author who does her research haha.

I really liked these, I hadn’t read them before but it is like reading a new book in the series since it is quite long and talks so much about the characters. I especially liked getting to know Filif a little better! There’s another installment of short stories I’ll be reading next and am quite excited about!

This Is Beautiful: Summer Picnics

 This past week the department that I'm in for graduate school had its summer picnic and it was a great time! I've been working (too much) and needed a break to go outside and just socialize. The weather is so beautiful these days! 

Conferences

 The journey that I have gone on with conferences has been interesting. I feel like I have a pretty solid love/hate relationship with conferences now, but it has been a journey in how I think about science and talking to people about science.

During my postbac I went to a single conference and I told myself I had to make the most of it and the fact that I was there and went to everything. And I was exhausted and burnt out by the end. It was also over a weekend so we got back and I immediately had to go to work Monday morning. I did not enjoy that experience for sure.

After that I started graduate school and the pandemic started so it was like I had nothing better to do than to go to these conferences. Also I was able to watch a conference session in my pajamas with ice cream so I didn't fully hate that experience. Once things opened up again I was a little late jumping on the conference train so once I started going I was excited, but I started having a healthier relationship to it. I took time off, I went to what I was interested in and also saw the town and whatever. I did want to have conversations with people and get feedback though, and would go to all of the networking things to chat.

Now though if I'm going I'm doing the bare minimum. I am so close to graduating, I just need to do what I have to do and get out. I'm not looking for feedback, I'm not interested in your thoughts, I get in and get out.

I'm heading to another conference next week. I think it'll be fun, but I also just want to relax so badly.

This Is Beautiful: Pride

 Happy Pride! June is a month for celebrating queerness in all of its glory.

I've had a weird relationship to pride month the past few years, not for any like identity based reason, but because I've been doing Shakespeare in the Arb that kinda just becomes my Pride month. With performances every weekend in June, it's hard for it not to. And I really miss being able to go to Pride, or even better when I was in Pride parades all of the time a few years ago. (Hence me forgetting that last week was the first week of Pride even.)

But Pride is still a special time and a special month. I hope that you're all celebrating in your own way and in your own time out there!

“The Big Meow” by Diane Duane

This is the last book in the feline wizards series from Duane. I thought the first two were mostly ok, and this was… more of the same. 

The plot centers around Rhiow’s team who get called to help with a gate in Los Angelos California. While there a gate mechanic from the past comes to get their help, and they head to 1940s LA. Before heading, they meet Helen Walks Softly, an Indigenous wizard who comes with them. While there, they meet the Silent Man, a man who writes stories and keeps a house full of stray cats. He just ran into this scary dark lady, and since she seems to be a part of this the cats reveal themselves to him and he starts taking them around town. They learn that one of the big LA people is running some sort of cult and that the Lone Power made a deal with an ancient Aztec evil and that this is destabilizing the gate. Meanwhile, their contact for the LA gate from the past, Hwaith, reveals to Rhiow that he would like to be her mate, which she is unable to process for a while. In the end, Rhiow has to channel the Lone Power in the fight against the ancient Aztec deity, there’s huge earthquakes and such, but they emerge victorious. Rhiow finally accepts Hwaith and they unfortunately have to part soon after. But upon returning, Rhiow finds Hwaith waiting for her at home! The Lone Power pulled a few strings to get him to reincarnate near Rhiow, and Rhiow then reveals herself to her human by asking him if they can keep Hwaith.

Alright so this book does have some good stuff in it. Helen Walks Softly is a gem of a character where her being Indigenous and a shaman are portrayed very respectfully and integral to her character. I really loved her addition to the book. But some characters get a little looked over, for example the LA gate cat from modern times did not get blessed with a real personality or anything like that. I kept forgetting he was there.

But it also felt so similar to the previous one in the series. There’s the assistance with another group’s gate, the time travel, and the end of the world or whatever. There’s also the fact that in the previous book they made a big fuss over not being able to stay in the past for very long, but in this one they stay in the 40s for days.

My biggest gripe though is that the stakes just did not make sense to me. They’re there to fix a gate, I’m still not sure how that connects to the cult stuff, other than it was going down in the same town. There’s also a subplot where the cult is stealing hearts from people, that was kinda resolved when they use it in a ritual but not really in that we don’t know specifics here. It in general felt like there were a ton of ideas thrown in, but not a great way to connect them.

Anyways so that’s the conclusion of the feline wizards series. I didn’t love it, but you can’t have every book be a hit. I still love Duane’s work, she’s one of my favorite writers, and I will proceed to read the rest of her stuff!

This Is Beautiful: Shakespeare in the Arb Starting!

Shakespeare in the Arb is starting! We've been in dress rehearsals all week, and opening night is tomorrow! We are doing "As You Like It" (which is not a play anyone knows, but that's ok).

I've been feeling pretty eh about the rehearsals, but I am excited to see it go up and to get to performing! That's the actually fun part of this. Rehearsals can be ehh and maybe not feel great, but at the end of the day we get to put this up in front of people and that always feels so much better. It's hot, sweaty, and exhausting, but it's so fun to do!

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

I was a big fan of the Professor Layton series when I was younger! I had all of the original trilogy on my Nintendo DS and would go back to watch the videos and try out the puzzles I was stuck on again. So when I was seeking something a little more fulfilling to download on my phone, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the Layton series was all available for Android!

The plot of the game is fairly simple. You play as the genius Professor Layton and his assistant Luke as they head to the curious village of St. Mystere. You were called there by the widow baron of the village to uncover the puzzles surrounding the late baron’s estate. It has something to do with finding the Golden Apple. As you progress, the villagers ask you to solve puzzles. Quickly though, something is up. One of the members of the household is murdered, and a Detective Inspector Chelmy shows up acting oddly and accusing Layton of the murder. Eventually, Layton makes it to a tower at the north of town and finds Bruno who is the mechanic who has made all of the villagers! At the top of the tower is the Baron’s daughter Flora! Chelmy is exposed as Don Paolo who is Layton’s nemesis, and it’s revealed that when Flora laughs, a birthmark shaped like a heart appears on her collarbone. Tapping that location in a portrait of her reveals a big treasure. However, removing any of the treasure will cause all of the villagers to cease to function. Flora decides to leave the treasure, and she heads back to London with Layton and Luke.

So the story is very cute, it’s all about finding family in odd places and being open to people joining that family. What I also really appreciate is all of the in game reasons for how the game works. All of the villagers repeat the same phrases because they’re mechanics! They present you with puzzles because they’re testing your worthiness of finding the Golden Apple! It’s these things that don’t come together until you get to the end of the story.

The mechanics are really simple, you just solve puzzles. Some puzzles give bonuses, like a painting you put together to get a bonus and things like that. And if you get through the painting then you get a secret category of harder puzzles! It works so well as a mobile game because I can pick it up and put it down and not worry too much about losing lives or something. I was able to get through all of the puzzles, except for the very last one ugh, on my own. So the puzzles really run the gamut, most are easy enough for children but adults will still have fun with it.

The most frustrating part, to me, is that the game doesn’t come with great ways to replay it. You have to set up a whole new save slot, even if you just want to go through the story again. But such is life.

I’m excited to replay the next one! It’s such a fun series.