The bad news: I threw out my back playing basketball by myself. (I'm old).

The good news: none.

The good news: I got accepted into the PhD program at (un-named Southern) university.

The bad news: none.

Sarah and I went to Washington D.C. this weekend to visit some friends. We had fun catching up, doing touristy stuff, and taking in the 'free' museums (our tax dollars at work).

The actual trip part, on the other hand, was really not fun. About 300 miles into the drive there, the car decided that it didn't want to go much farther, and it threw some sort of a temper-tantrum: every time we used an electrical device (e.g., blinkers, air conditioning, radio, windows, cruise control, windshield wipers, headlights, etc.), the car stalled.

Despite some harrowing moments (going through a tunnel when I couldn't stop the lights from coming on--stupid smart automatic lights), we did make it there, and all the way back home, safely. God is good.

Now I'm just waiting for a replacement car to show up on our doorstep. This one has messed with me for the last time.

The new addition to the family. He was 7 lbs, 19 and 3/4 inches. More pictures available on Sarah's facebook account.

One of our cats (Mrs. Hufflepuff) was sleeping on the sill of an open upstairs window, enjoying the warm sunlight and gentle breeze, when a crow buzzed by and squawked five or six times in her face. I'm pretty sure she almost peed herself as she tried to escape from/eat the bird she never actually saw. Hilarious.

No news on the Southern front. No news on any front. Or any back. Whatever that might mean. Also, I'm glad that it appears spring has finally arrived. I hear there are only three seasons in the South: hot, cold, and stay inside in the air conditioning or die. So we've got that to look forward to.

I read an article the other day about the importance of giving good lectures, and at the time, I decided it would be important to evaluate myself to make sure I continue improving. As I taught today, I was doing my best to use different voice volumes and varying timbre, but I found myself thinking that some voice tricks just weren't going to do the job. I kept picturing myself doing something shocking like standing on my desk or eating some chalk.

Yes, let's incorporate that into the lecture about correlational methodology. The higher my elevation, the more the students will listen. The more chalk I eat, the more the students will have to pay attention to make sure I'm not insane. Definite positive correlations there.

Instead, I drew some graphs on the board and talked extensively about the importance of increasing our n so that we can be more certain that our rejection of the null hypothesis is based on non-chance factors. Maybe next time.

I can't believe it's already been a week since I last wrote. Time really flies when you're only working four hours a week. Last week's interview went as expected: not great; not terrible; typical interview. I'm still waiting on their decision, but they won't make it until all my supporting documentation (e.g., transcripts, letters of reference, etc.) has arrived. I don't really know when that will be (because I'm not the one sending that stuff), so things are still up in the air for an indefinite amount of time. It's something I've gotten used to, but it's not an overly-pleasant experience.

I taught my first lab of the spring semester today. On the first day, I always go over the syllabus, a big part of which is the emphasis of the fact that I (a) do not require excuses of any kind for anything (e.g., a missed assignment, tardiness, etc.), and (b) would prefer not to hear excuses of any kind for anything. My big point is that in college, if you don't want to come, or can't come, it's really your life and not mine.

Immediately after a 'quiz' at the end of class where I check to make sure everyone now knows all the important parts of the syllabus, a student came up to my desk and said, "I know you're not really into excuses, but I was 30 minutes late today because I had a flat tire."

I think my eyes only bulged out a little.

In other news: tomorrow is a big day. I've got a phone interview with a certain Southern university.

I've been slacking on the posting again lately. I'm sure you haven't noticed. I think it's because I haven't quite settled into my vacation routine yet. I'm working on setting a schedule; here's what I've come up with so far: get up, eat, surf the internet, eat, watch TV, eat, go to bed, rinse, and repeat.