Ode to Whiskers

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to stop shaving...again. To celebrate my return to hirsuteness, I composed this poem:

Fuzzy-wuzzy was a bear,
Fuzzy-wuzzy grew some hair,
Fuzzy wasn't fuzzy--
Was he scuzzy?

Can it get any worse?

A whimsical muse

I was thinking as I worked on my latest post for my IDOL dissertation blog (and thus for my IDOL dissertation). I had occasion to use the word "focus," but I wanted to use the plural. I thought "If the plural of 'locus' (a point, as on a line graph) is 'loci' (pronounced lo-kee), then the plural of 'focus' must be 'foci' (fo-kee), right?" Well, I put it in the text in Word and didn't get a squiggly red line! I was certainly encouraged. (I verified this with dictionary.com and it is listed as one possible plural)

So, I got to thinking further (you know, that usually means trouble): so if the plural of "locus" is "loci" and the plural of "focus" is "foci," then the plural of (wait for it....) the plural of "hocus pocus" has got to be "hoci poci" (ho-kee po-kee), right? And that's what it's all about!

Happy Valentines Day - Monday!

Well, I haven't been exercising much, but I've been losing weight anyway. Terri (my wife) started us on a new diet and I've dropped almost 20 pounds. But I've got at least 50 more to go. And I keep cheating. Anyway, the venerable day of love is Monday. I'd better get out today and get a card and some flowers. Maybe I'll wait until Monday for the flowers.

I have been getting some work done on my dissertation. I've been working on the literature review. So far I've reviewed six sources; the results are posted in my dissertation blog (go to my profile to find a link).

One thing I have missed is the opportunity to build models. I have a model of the Wright Brothers Flyer (still shrink-wrapped) that I've had for a year. Then there's the four other models out in the garage in various phases of incompletion. Add to that my desire to get a balsa-wood model of a Sopwith Camel (Snoopy's plane). But there's always other priorities. Ah, to enjoy the freedom and pleasures of childhood again.

Aha! I see!

So, two-and-a-half months have gone by since my last post, and what's new? Well, I've put on more weight, my feet are getting weird (peripheral neuropathy, a complication of type 2 diabetes), and my wife sold my Star Trek: The Next Generation VHS collection on e-Bay before I was able to capture them and transfer them to DVD. I got the first season done before I had to ship them off, but now I have to find the other six seasons somehow. And I really don't have the time. I have got to finish this dissertation for my Ph.D. It is taking way too long and the school loans are really piling up. So two things are imperatives for this new year: exercise and writing! Too bad I don't have an exercise machine I can put my laptop or wireless keyboard on. That way I could combine the two, which are usually mutually exclusive. But then I don't have an exercise machine anyway. Too bad.

Well, time to get at it and make the most of this federal holiday.