#uponium

[scienceinchaos]

No Updates, Big Change.

So because I don't update this blog anymore and do a hell of a lot more on my ScienceInChaos blog or what I refer to as my mod blog. This change is mostly because my first blog becomes my primary name when I like/respond/reblog, etc. and it would just be easier on me if I swap out the two instead of creating a new account or something. I will let everyone know when it happens, but it will also give me a chance to rework my settings and theme and what not, but I will be switching the two and Ask Professor Uponium will soon become ScienceInChaos and visa versa. If I would have known when I first created this and my mod blog that I should have done it in reverse I would have done this far earlier. None of my posts will be deleted and I will keep a link and tag for old Ask Blog related stuff and probably go back through ScienceInChaos and queue some old but definitely rebloggable posts from further back.

i also hope to get to posting more research and other information as it progresses. I know I promised it sooner, but my time applying to PhD programs and working on end of semester grading and other work has put a lot of research on hold. I do have 4 research presentations coming up I can talk about and will be working on research over the next 6 weeks pretty substantially and probably use Tumblr to post and discuss some of my notes and findings.

[professoruponium]

Guardians of the Galaxy!!

In Baltimore, seeing Guardians of the Galaxy! Gearing up for BronyCon!

[professoruponium]

Beer good. Badge line long...not as long as 20 hours on the road over 2 days. Time for shower, food, research, and sleep. Probably in that order. Tomorrow BronyCon!!!!

[scienceinchaos]

BronyCon

hello everyone,

the Summer semester is over. I begin my drive to South Carolina to meet with Dr. Edwards (Dr. Psyc-ology of Brony Study) and we will then drive to Baltimare. I have most of my updates drawn, most of my 1 year giveaway drawings sketched. I really just need to scan them in (tomorrow probably) and then work on them digitally (probably over the weekend and some time tomorrow if I get a chance between packing and playing with the baby)

I hope to see some of you there, Ill be either in my tweed jacket or lab coat and roaming around. 

We have 2 panels, last year I was a spectator, now I am a panelist!

the first about our study findings and some infor about what makes a fan, can you convert non-bronies to the fandom, and what makes fans leave. At 3 in the Hall of Dawn

and the second is a Q and A with the Brony Psychologists, including yours truly, Professor Uponium. at 4:45 in the Hall of Dawn on Saturday.

Stop me, talk to me, say hi, whatever. I love discussing psychology, ponies, and anything else I can get away with. 

So as always, updates at some point, lots of them, Brony Con, psychology, and probably some blogging if I can find the time.

[scienceinchaos]

Updates: From the Desk of Professor Uponium

With final research papers due tomorrow and time with a rapidly developing infant keeping me busy, I figured some updates would be in order. So a lot has been happening and it will probably keep me from all these half drawn projects I want to work on. 

Posted a nice poem about depression, meant to throw it on my mod blog, but it ended up here and after getting a few notes, decided to keep it as it was fitting for my own mood and oriented in psychology

The big data collection run is complete for our fandom exploring BronyStudy study this semester, now I just have to enter it. In addition I need to start getting my stuff together for finals (in 2ish weeks), final papers (40-50 of em this semester), and my materials for the summer semester and the fall.

On a more somber note, we had a death in the family. My wife's grandmother passes. She lived with her for years and they were very close. Waiting now to see when the funeral will be. She will be missed.

In addition to this we experienced a bit of tragedy on campus, with a student committing suicide. To top it all off, this is at the beginning of the same week I lecture on the seriousness of suicide and depression and relay information on how to seek and offer assistance in those situations.

And on top of all of this, with everything going on, I lost it at some students yesterday. I found their snickering and talking amongst themselves to be rude and grossly inappropriate during my depression/suicide lecture and gave them a fair piece of my mind. I will have to see if next class it changes their demeanor, which has been some of the worst I have dealt with all semester. I find myself calm and it takes a lot for me to be set off, but after everything that was probably the most disgusted I have ever felt after dealing with students.

Anyway. felt I should share some thoughts. If things perk up, I will have something to show this weekend and get to some questions I am really excited about finishing.

Until then everyone, 

Professor D.Y. Uponium

Edit:

I have plans for a 100 follower giveaway. I may turn it to: 87 followers, push to 100 giveaway. More to come once I decide what all I will be giving away.

[scienceinchaos]

75+ Followers

OOC: So I have broken 75 followers. And with that will come something special to thank all of you. This time around I plan on showcasing a few of my new followers, those not in the 50 followers post.

I am working on some art along with a slew of question updates, that hopefully I can work on tonight and tomorrow between baby time. 

Also I want to do something big for my 100 followers mark (then I may cut back from something every 25 followers, unless it goes slow). I could always do a giveaway, though I don't know what I could do, except for maybe some art, maybe the winners appear as characters in my slowly going story. I may have something else special planned when I hit 100, still mulling it over though.

So thank you all for following and give me some suggestions for what you would like to see in a giveaway: art or something else. 

[scienceinchaos]

Las Pegasus Unicon: My Thoughts

I got home last night and immediately realized why I was not as involved in social media as I thought I would have been. My exhaustion hit me hard and I finally got to stop and slow down from the pace I was keeping myself at the entire convention (well Friday and Saturday, and to an extent Thursday prior).

It was busy, from being up at 5am crunching data and preparing what we were going to talk about and spending my day preparing and balancing my time between exploring the convention, sitting in on panels, and spending some time with my wife.

I plan on keeping this short, I am just getting into work and need to catch up on the work I couldn't get to over the weekend but I wanted to give my perspective on the good and the bad at the convention (And I would argue that there was more good than bad).

The Good: it was fun. I would not say I experienced the energy I did at BronyCon (and I am looking forward to presenting some more data there this year) but the energy was there during many of the panels and I did enjoy those I had the opportunity to sit in on (Joh DeLancie is always great and the voice actor panels were fun.) I also got to interact with the community a lot more than I do online and much more than I did at BronyCon. Being able to sit on several panels allowed for much more interaction and being able to talk to several fellow bronies after the talks was also fun. (Im kicking myself for not getting their names but Dr. Edwards and I met two bronies at the pub, one a truck driver and the other a diving instructor and they made both of our Saturday nights). It was also good to kick back and talk psychology and other topics with bronies, the rest of the BronyStudy group, and my wife over dinner and at the convention. As I don't get to sit around and discuss philosophy and psychology and to a limited extent politics that often, it was mentally engaging. And the length of the non-actors panels (ours ran 2ish hours long) was also a plus for us to field questions and take time to answer them in between discussing some new findings in fandom studies.

The Bad: The location (and from what I understand the event holders agree) The hotel was unionized and to get a projector hooked up for example would have been a multi-thousand dollar endeavor that the hotel would have run and set up and would not have been worth it. It also felt too crammed in. I was always inside and because of our schedule and running around I never got to go outside (with the exception of the fire alarm going off). My wife went out and shopped and walked the strip. At BronyCon (which has become my default comparison) I was able to get out and about much much more. This really holds up as my second biggest complaint and it has more to do with the location than the way the convention was run. My biggest complaint would probably have to be much of the disorganization, lack of labeling, and rush that permeated the air of the convention. Most of this I can probably place on the shoulders of dealing with Hasbro, who I understand did not give the final go ahead until the convention was almost upon us. This is more of a conventions and Hasbro history issue than again being the fault of those running it. And I hope that by their attempts next year they can put on an even better show.

So, overall I enjoyed myself, I had a few problems and would love to hear what anyone else who went thought. I was sort of stuck on one side of the convention and didn't get to experience it in the same level I did BronyCon (which may be why many of my complaints stuck. I was more of a spectator at BronyCon and more of Speaker at Las Pegasus.)  So if you went let me know what you thought, if you know someone else who did send their opinions my way. And if you happened to see me and the BronyStudy group droning on about research let me know what you think and if you have any questions!!!

[scienceinchaos]

1. The rare mod photo, though I pale in comparison to Lee Tockar in the shot and I never like how I look in pictures. But he voices most famously int he fandom Snips and Stephen Magnet, but also the baby loves watching him in Martha Speaks (and I do as well) as Dr. Monkey (who is amazing and understands a dozen languages but speaks only monkey) and Craig Cretoxyrhina (sp.) from Dinosaur Train, which is becoming another favorite of mine to watch with my son.

2. The slot machines are amazing. We played the Lord of the Rings slots and my wife won our spent money back and there is a Maltese Fortune...which is based around the Maltese dog. Hilarious.

3. And THE SINGLE GREATEST SLOT MACHINE EVER CONCEIVED BY AN. JUDGE JUDY. I lose it every time I pass it and I will play it before I leave.

4. Also a view from our hotel room

5. And Trump Tower which I don't think is gold enough...

Goooooooold.