Lisa Sieverts

Finished reading: Inland by Tea Obreht 📚 I didn’t love it, mostly because I liked none of the characters, except perhaps Burke the camel.

I’m reading a book called The Guest Book. I can match each character to a member of my family. This one, elderly, was born the same year as my mother. That one is the age of my aunt. And this one is my own age, exactly. I’m finding that it invades my dreams. #mbnov

Currently reading: The Guest Book by Sarah Blake 📚

Somedays I have to force myself to work. But I find that I can get right to it if I do a few things right. First, do no more than 5 minutes of email in the morning. Save the beautiful, productive, AM hours for real thinking work. Then the rest of the day goes smoothly. #mbnov

The word bind makes me think of bindweed, a weed that infested my Idaho garden and was so difficult to eradicate. #mbnov

I find that when I consciously inflate my lungs as I breathe, I am calmer and more mindful. #mbnov It’s interesting how often I forget to do this.

I haven’t had much time for puzzling over puzzles. I do enjoy a good word game, and recently spent some time on a pretty Apple game called tint. #mbnov

There’s that period play, She Stoops to Conquer. I never understood that title. #mbnov

This could be a near miss and I could be wrong but I do believe Biden will be the winner once all the votes are counted. I have to say I am praying for this outcome. #mbnov

I’m staying calm and planning not to be astonished by the electrion results, whatever happens #mbnov

Anyone remember my Python project? I had to give it up BUT I’ve just discovered that the local Makerspace is offering a 10-session Python class for non-programmer beginners. I signed right up. So maybe I will be able to automate scraping those 400 addresses.

I’m trying so hard to concentrate because I have a lot of prep to do for a class I’m teaching on Thursday. But the state of the world and the state of my brain are making this difficult. Breathe and be mindful. #mbnov

Note this is a pre-print article: Neuropathology and Virus in Brain of SARS-CoV-2 Infected Non-Human Primates | Research Square

Here, we show for the first time, microhemorrhages and neuropathology that is consistent with hypoxic injury in SARS-CoV-2 infected non-human primates (NHPs). Importantly, this was seen among infected animals that did not develop severe respiratory disease.

Ain’t nothing dreary about the opportunity to write everyday, and I’m grateful for the prompts. Looking forward to 29 more! #mbnov

None to Run Week 10: for me, three 10-minute runs, spaced with a 1-minute walk. 🏃‍♀️ I could barely manage a 30-second run when I started so I’m super happy and proud. Next week 20 minutes and then I’ll “graduate” with a 30-minute run.

Currently reading: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 📚

Finished reading: Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand 📚A cracking good read. Interesting insights into the world my parents grew up in - 1930s and 1940s America (they had nothing to do with horses!).

Currently reading: Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand 📚

Currently reading: Inland by Téa Obreht 📚

Finished reading: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 📚 Turns out this is a novel about surviving a pandemic, one which kills 99% of the world’s population. The tension is that I think the author believes the world would be a better place. It is good storytelling.

Finished reading: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño 📚 Ugh. The book is made up of five smaller books. I was quite interested by the first three books, thought-provoking tales which made me consider the nature of reality. But book 4 is horrific, to the point of being sick. Is this a novel about the awfulness of men? Perhaps.

Wondering if POTS is the name of what my post-COVID brother is suffering from

postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, was coined in 1993 by Dr. Phillip Low and his team at the Mayo Clinic, though it went by other names throughout history. POTS precludes standing for more than a few minutes at a time, because autonomic damage prevents blood vessels in the lower extremities from properly returning blood to the heart and brain against gravity. Heart rate can double or triple on standing, and lack of oxygen to the brain and upper body lead to many of the symptoms seen in POTS patients: dizziness, headaches, shortness of breath, chest pain, “brain fog.”

If a POTS patient does stay vertical for a prolonged period, he or she can be left with massive fatigue, light and sound sensitivity, tingling extremities, temperature intolerance and gastrointestinal problems (again, all the bodily functions of the autonomic nervous system gone awry).

When the Doctor Is a Covid ‘Long Hauler’ - The New York Times

Really good article about the Google antitrust suit from Stratechery United States v. Google – Stratechery by Ben Thompson

I loved this concept: > what is SEO but a collective effort by basically the entire Internet to ensure that Google’s search engine is as good as possible?

Contract Grading Samples

How I Contract Grade · Ryan Cordell

Sample course explanation Course Assignments

Another one, same teacher Course Assignments

My Current Grading Contract – Teaching with Trust

Intrinsic Motivation

The Wrong Lesson That Almost All Schools Are Teaching – Teaching with Trust

This one especially resonates for me. Could I start off the class with a discussion of intrinsic motivation, then talk about contract grading?

I’m actually hoping this incident makes people more likely to keep their cameras on during Zoom calls, so no one thinks they are engaged in weird sex while on the call.

But what the hell was Jeffrey Toobin thinking?

Jeffrey Toobin of New Yorker Is Suspended After Zoom Incident - The New York Times

During a pause in the call for breakout discussions, Mr. Toobin switched to a second call that was the video-call equivalent of phone sex, according to the two people familiar with the call, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.