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d e v o n
Today's Document
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
Cosimo Galluzzi
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
ellievsbear
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
Peter Solarz
Monterey Bay Aquarium
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
Discoholic 🪩
JBB: An Artblog!
No title available
Stranger Things
Xuebing Du
seen from Netherlands
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Malaysia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Mexico
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Chile
seen from Argentina
@missmathematician
On the menu for this weekend:
Design survey questionnaire for factor analysis (I’m doing a research study to determine why so few math students are using online tutoring at my institution)
Get approval from Institutional Research department to deploy my survey
Diddle around with Tableau (I want to build a faculty-facing data dashboard breaking down tutoring utilization at my institution)
Y’all, I think I’m doing it! I think I’m growing into a baby data scientist!
Relational database design has no right being this fun
Everything is Fine. Art by Lisa Sterle, from the Modern Witch Tarot.
Me waking up and realizing it’s Monday again.
William K. Hartmann
Why am I so hard on myself
Heck! Remember to practice self-empathy — especially since even the “small” successes tend to take 1,007% more effort thanks to COVID. I call it taking a healthy dose of “IDGAF”. 😅
I just want to know
I had a literal emotional breakdown when I got my diagnosis. It was quite literally life changing for me.
Before diagnosis?
I was plagued with a feeling of brokenness — why does it take me 10x longer to learn concepts than it takes my peers, even when I’m attempting to apply all the same strategies? Why is it so dang hard for me to commit to a single project, and why do I spend weeks obsessing over a project only to suddenly lose interest and never touch it again? Why do I have such a visceral reaction to the smallest, friendliest amount of criticism? Why does that person keep making that tiny paper noise while I’m trying to complete my exam — wait, what was the question asking? Let me re-read it AGAIN.
After diagnosis?
Validation! Holy cow is the validation game changing. I no longer had to blame myself for just not trying hard enough. I was trying plenty hard; however, the tools and strategies that work for neurotypical brains don’t necessarily work for my brain! And that’s perfectly okay. As well, I discovered that my anxiety and depression were symptoms, and as I treated my ADHD and developed coping mechanisms around it, I no longer wanted to die.
Of course, the armchair psychiatrists among my friends and family do sometimes try and chime in to tell me that Adderall is bad(derall), and that’s certainly infuriating; however, f*ck em. I don’t care what they think -- they’re clearly not thinking rationally if they see me taking Adderall carefully as prescribed (which they see as me ”basically doing meth” -- a deeply misguided and inaccurate view) as worse than quite literally trying to kill myself, and they don’t deserve to have a say -- it’s my body and my mind, so I can do what I want.
So... yeah. I’m a big advocate for getting assessed for ADHD if you think you may have it. Does a diagnosis mean you have to medicate? Absolutely not. I prefer not to medicate unless it’s absolutely necessary -- my Adderall crash is always draining, so I am never motivated to abuse the medication. But when I do take it? All of the internal thought-clutter calms to a hush, the world comes to me more clearly, I am able to find a calm within myself that I never before knew existed, and I can just be. Like, I can just think without interruption. Wow! Clarity of mind is the most incredible feeling. It’s not even a high. It’s just... absence of chaos.
END RANT
It’s only Tuesday and I’m already burnt out! My boss has really been micromanaging the heck out of me lately and it’s draining every ounce of joy out of what I do.
Currently, I’m spearheading 3 massive projects at work and am not permitted the autonomy to directly contact the faculty members intrinsic to each project. Instead, I have to send my boss a “May I please...”, wait for her response, then send out the desired communications. So many layers of red tape just to schedule an initial zoom discussion. Meanwhile, I’m being assessed on what I do or do not accomplish in terms of tangible results. Like, sorry bruh, it’s hard to put forth anything tangible when 99% of my job has devolved into just emailing people. I’m hoping things will improve now that I’m (obligatorily) back on campus.
I’ve been trying to drum up the time and creative energy to start translating my learning from my grad courses into resources to share (maybe videos, mini podcast episodes, and/or charming infographics), but dang does my executive dysfunction make it hard! I’ll probably start with infographics since those require less planning and the execution is easier. The goal is to have stuff worth sharing soon!
Mimas (moon of Saturn) taken by the Cassini spacecraft.
Credit: NASA/JPL
about once a month I put like. 10 oreos in a mug and THEN fill it with milk, and proceed to drink the whole thing. then I remember why I don’t do that because I always feel like shit afterwards. but there’s always a moment right before I do where I tell myself “it’ll be worth it this time, it’s so delicious and you’ll probably go to bed right afterwards” and then. it’s always fucking awful afterwards
Every part of this is a warning but now I really want to do this. I feel like the kids in a horror movie being warned about the haunted house we rented.
I love how many people have responded/messaged me saying something similar and all I can say is. I fully support this dumbfuckery, and that if any of you try this I hope you think of me both:
as you are delightfully one by one spooning out each of the disks of crème des Oreo (which don’t dissolve in the milk), elated by the freedom and exhilaration of the “fuck you, I’m an adult, I understand the consequences and I’m choosing to ignore them” feeling that comes with the brazen consumption of so much sugar in so short a time, the thickness of the semi dissolved Oreo concoction is so heavenly that you feel it was absolutely worth it
&
as shortly thereafter you are doubled over regretting your life choices, because the moment you polish off the remaining sludge (because by the time you’ve nearly finished, the liquid that remains in the mug does not resemble/can no longer be classified as milk) the intense stomach pain immediately reminds why you’re an adult that does not frequently make such hedonistic decisions- because the attempt of chasing a physical high such as the gluttonous consumption of sugar has uncomfortable digestive results, through which, you must now suffer.
All in all it’s a great exercise, because you fully immerse yourself in the pursuit of physical pleasure and then are immediately humbled. You are yet again taught the timeless lesson that our actions are not without consequences.
11/10, will certainly do again in a few weeks. If you attempt this you are obligated to document your experience and share with the class.
Me, except overdosing on ooey-gooey brownies (but with crispy edges, OF COURSE).
I built some of my polyhedra ( Icosahedron, Dodecahedron, Slide- Together, Paper sculpture, ….)
Also, Object of my inspiration is here:
“Slide-Together” Geometric Paper Constructions - George Hart
Paper sculpture - Richard Sweeney ( Flower Icosahedron)
So vibrant! So whimsical! So mathematical! 😍
I think that, for me, part of the appeal of data analytics / data science is the aspect of seeking structure in chaos. My executive functioning skills have been especially suffering during work-from-home times, but my graduate studies are helping me build the skills to take the chaos and disorder and translate it into an organized format that can then be analyzed, optimized, and used to better-understand the big picture.
Since I’m still floating around in survive-then-thrive mode, I don’t yet have the time to put together any helpful tips for others to consider; however, doing so is ultimately my major goal for this blog. Some topics I’ve already been learning and hope to address soon via new content are:
Identifying reliable research via 6 key characteristics
Building a strong hypothesis for a research study
Designing effective research methods
Understanding key concepts in beginner database management and design
Skills I haven’t learned yet but eventually want to share:
Programming in R
Programming in SQL
...and likely SO much more
In today’s episode of “Nobody asked you to be my armchair psychiatrist...”
(Yet again) receiving unsolicited “advice” from a recreational cocaine user without any medical professional qualifications comparing getting assessed for ADHD to recklessly doping one’s self to the point of total cognitive dysfunction just for funsies. 🙄
Did I ask for your medical input? No? Then don’t offer it.
Ya know, in this day and age I’m extra glad to be going into a field that’s all about evidence-based decision making. Until now, I never really thought about my grad focus (business analytics / data science) in the context of current events, but now that I am, it seems fitting.
My first assignment in one of my classes is all about evaluating the quality/reliability of research — a skill I began to develop in high school but lost strength in over time. I’ve almost certainly been guilty of accidentally sharing misinformation via unfounded claims and weak research studies because social media makes it too darn easy to pass info along without a second thought. All this to say that I’m glad I’ll be more equipped to hold myself accountable for thinking critically about information before passing it along to others.
The first week of grad school is off to a slow, introductory start, so I don’t have anything particularly special to share yet. So instead, enjoy my new Cheshire Cat teacup (though it’s sized more like a mug) and saucer duo! 😄
So... Throughout the last 6 months, I’ve been coordinating with a teaching faculty member on a BIG mandatory tutoring project that he began to support the subject of his dissertation. Today, he told me that my name will be included in any research he publishes for the dissertation! Holy cow, am I excited! I might even get to take part in writing the conclusion. This might be smol beans but I’m stoked nonetheless!
Goals for January 13th
Professional
Attend Writing Center Director’s Day Out (Completed at 12:00 pm)
Send out draft schedule (Completed at 2:00 pm)
Finalize first week tutor reflection questions
Academic
Set up financial aid direct deposit
Spend 1hr learning SQL for data science
Review web campus requirements to ensure I’m on-track to start
Personal
Relax and enjoy Stardew Valley for 1hr (but no longer) (Completed at 7:30 pm)
Spend 1hr reading for leisure / book club
Spend 1hr on a walk without using social media (Completed at 1:30 pm)
