SCOTUS on "Ramblings"

I've rambled about the Supreme Court rulings for the next few days. So, if you'd rather hear me be sarcastic and watch me gesticulate about things than read the news, here you are:

On the Voting Rights Act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWvC5mAUrQA

On the Defense of Marriage Act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIVrvYMrO94

Alternatively, do a quick Google search for "scotus rta" and "scotus doma"...HuffPo, NYTimes, and Washington Post articles on them are all good. The VRA nixing actually does a lot more immediately than DOMA does, I would say...and it's removing protections rather than granting them, unfortunately.

Journal Article Review

I am a real, live, grown-up academic.
At least, if one measures these things by completing an article review for a peer-reviewed journal.
Hey, someone apparently considers me a published author's "peer". ;)

I can't really tell you much more than that I reviewed an article, given the blind review process...but suffice it to say that it was *very* exciting. :)

Exmouth!

The 2012 Class of Marshall Scholars retreated to Exmouth, a gorgeous town on the Jurassic Coast in Devon on the edge of Cornwall. (No, seriously. It's called the Jurassic Coast. Eee!)

The National Trust (UK version of the US National Park Service) owns bunkhouses on many of their properties - converted barns, etc. that now hold lots of bunkbeds and equipped kitchens for a cheap and remote way to get out of town without actually camping or just renting a full fancy holiday house somewhere. When groups volunteer for a days' worth of conservation work, they get a night free. We just paid the fee, since we reserved the house not knowing who all would be attending and what their willingness for outside labour would be. But the bunkhouses are actually really lovely - we may be visiting every few months with a group as a fun, service-y, and super cheap holiday!

As you can see, the Jurassic Coast is rather lovely.

We also visited Exeter, home to a gorgeous cathedral and really good university.

And now, back to work. I really must write a thesis one of these days.

Playground Detour

Iorwerth and I detoured to the Norwich Playhouse Gardens on our way home. We swung for about 30 minutes...the swings are perfectly spaced such that Becca can swing and hold Iorwerth's at the same time to move him along. We practiced pumping - he won't need any pushes soon!
And then we went goose stalking...and Becca snapped the camera at quite a lovely moment.

Poor overworked oven

I've been totally overworking our poor oven of late...first the 500 muffins and cookies transported across the British Isles for Interwoven, and now some 12 loaves of various breads for the Marshall 2012 Class Retreat to Exmouth. Yesterday, Iorwerth and I baked:

-Banana bread (with and without chocolate)

-Chocolate strawberry bread

-Cranberry orange coffee cake

-Apple cinnamon coffee cake

I do not want to discuss how many dishes I've washed recently. 

Guess who's coming to dinner

...and staying the night too!

Master Iorwerth had a sleepover at Miss Becca's yesterday. His mum is teaching two classes at their house today, and we thought we'd try a sleepover instead of getting us both up super early in order to evacuate on time. 

We did very well - minimal murmuring for mummy and daddy last night, and not a single request for mum today, even when we woke up in a strange place!!

We thoroughly conked out post-errands this afternoon...

Interwoven

Today's "Ramblings" are much more a blog post than an intellectual explanation of everything.

I took 500 muffins and cookies to London via suitcases on trains yesterday.

 

Find out why and who ate them at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9HMc8NFlpM&list=PLSFK9Eic29gp-4dn9CihKPp0WRpAT-LxQ.

Learn more about the conference I attended at interwoven.co.

Reepham Careers Day

I had a wonderful day out in rural Norfolk today. The school I mentored for the Water & Enterprise Programme in February is having a Careers and Skills Week. They needed someone to present on various things in geography...and there I was. So one gorgeous taxi ride through the countryside later, I got to visit my student mentees, chat with a group about uni, job application, and transferable skills, and see the adorably quaint market town!

Becca reads Beatrix Potter

Most of you have seen "Ramblings", the web series of five-minute videos where I blab about intellectual topics in an attempt to explain them to myself and my mother. I am feeling somewhat less than highly intellectual at present, though...so we just recorded a session of my reading to Iorwerth and called it good.
In case you need to reminded of the genius of Beatrix Potter, "Ramblings with Rebecca" presents "The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher." Lily pad boats and galoshes and trout, oh my!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Mfthdqs4I

A free Saturday!

I have managed, finally and at last, to keep a Saturday entirely unscheduled. Tomorrow I'm free as a lark!

...

I will be writing a literature review on the hydro social cycle. But I will be doing it in PJs. ;)

Given past history of free Saturdays, I will likely wake up at 6 am without an alarm and be full of energy. But that's okay, and all to the better, in terms of getting things done. It's just nice to not have to be anywhere on a schedule!

Movie Stars!

I'm going to be famous. If, by famous, we mean "appearing in a video on exam regulations for the University of East Anglia's Learning and Teaching Services".
I and a few mates are doing a colleague from work a favour, and will be forever immortalised via video instructions online.
It's going to be quite exciting, I assure you.

Other than that, life chugs on...reading and writing summaries and critiques of many academic articles on water and society. Having a blast, but not one that's all that exciting about to discuss on the blog.

I'm doing some fun stuff next week - teaching a session of UEA's Water Security Short Course, speaking at a Careers Day for a local high school, and helping with a cool conference in London (interwoven.co). So fun updates coming! :)

Jas' Show

I have just spent quite a delightful evening attending the dance showcase recital for one of the girls I babysit. She is ten, but the dance school has classes from about four on up through high school. Cue the adorable little baby dancers!

The show's theme was "USA", which was rather entertaining. As required, we danced to "New York, New York" and "Hotel California". But we also had "I'm a Lumberjack", to great hilarity. 

There was a combination of tap, ballet, and various modern. 

I wasn't sure what to expect - thought it was going to be a standard school recital type of thing. But it was really quite the production, with really professional costumes and seamless lighting, etc. I enjoyed more than just seeing Jas, which was nice. And now I've had a glimpse into a British caricature of American culture. And I have to say...I'm fairly sure I could have seen basically the same show in America. Either the stereotypes are viewed the same way on both sides of the Pond or they're all true. ;)