Thankfully, I've got Anand to pick up the slack.
I’ve been having a hard time coming up with true posts recently. By true, I mean a post that accurately shows how something captured my attention. I’ve given up on any other overarching theme; this isn’t a dating blog or an environmental blog or an engineering blog. To my great surprise, you seem interested in whatever captures my attention, and I couldn’t be more pleased and flattered.
Still, recently, I’ve had to work to come up with stuff. When I’m trying to date, it is engrossing and easy to write about, but I’ve had almost no interest in dating since the last round with Craigslist. I’ll regain my optimism and try again sometime, but until then one well of inspiration is dry. My daily life? Mostly routine. I’m worried about how much time I spend at Unfogged. It always interests me, but sitting behind a monitor watching smart people be witty doesn’t make my life rich. You hear about it whenever some water story catches my eye. I have several incomplete themes floating around, with some cute phrasing I’m anxious to use, but now I know that those will read better when two of them come together to support a third point.
So, since I don’t have much, I’m gonna ask about you. Who are you people? I’ve thought for a while that my audience is mostly men; is that right? Would you tell me where you live and what you do, in whatever detail you’re comfortable with? If you have a blog you’re willing to share, would you give me the link? If you want to weigh in on the mix between tawdry dating posts and pedantic environmentalism posts, you’re welcome to, although it won’t change what you get here. If you pose interesting questions, you might get them answered.
Oh! If you got here some way besides Marginal Revolution, could you please tell me what that was?
Update: You bunch of slackers. I see your IP addresses. I know you stopped by without telling me about yourself. I can't make you, but I am genuinely curious about who you are. Instead of new information, I'm just chatting with the regulars. You won't tell me anything about yourself?
Still, recently, I’ve had to work to come up with stuff. When I’m trying to date, it is engrossing and easy to write about, but I’ve had almost no interest in dating since the last round with Craigslist. I’ll regain my optimism and try again sometime, but until then one well of inspiration is dry. My daily life? Mostly routine. I’m worried about how much time I spend at Unfogged. It always interests me, but sitting behind a monitor watching smart people be witty doesn’t make my life rich. You hear about it whenever some water story catches my eye. I have several incomplete themes floating around, with some cute phrasing I’m anxious to use, but now I know that those will read better when two of them come together to support a third point.
So, since I don’t have much, I’m gonna ask about you. Who are you people? I’ve thought for a while that my audience is mostly men; is that right? Would you tell me where you live and what you do, in whatever detail you’re comfortable with? If you have a blog you’re willing to share, would you give me the link? If you want to weigh in on the mix between tawdry dating posts and pedantic environmentalism posts, you’re welcome to, although it won’t change what you get here. If you pose interesting questions, you might get them answered.
Oh! If you got here some way besides Marginal Revolution, could you please tell me what that was?
Update: You bunch of slackers. I see your IP addresses. I know you stopped by without telling me about yourself. I can't make you, but I am genuinely curious about who you are. Instead of new information, I'm just chatting with the regulars. You won't tell me anything about yourself?
posted by Megan at 1:21 PM
87 Comments:
Tell us what you were like in high school.
Tyler
Male, graduate student, chemistry. Medium-sized midwestern university. Grew up in Oregon. Came here from the 'original' MR dating link. -K.
40 year old married father of 2 boys (2.5 and 0.5), resident of St Paul MN, Sacred Harp singer (that's the fasola), community council member, native of Cleveland Ohio, statistician for soulless huge company. Another MR linker.
http://www.geocities.com/noidea128/
in order, I'm the one in back, middle, only one, on the left.
29, computer engineer (Design Verification is my actual job). Graduated University of Illinois Urbana/Chamapign in 2001. Grew up in Minnesota near Minneapolis, then a far north suburb of Chicago. Currently live in the Bay Area California. I followed some MR link here awhile ago, so I don't remember which post specifically.
And, why don't you talk about your cats more? You should post pictures and stuff.
Justin
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Justin, what was confusing you? I bet we could explain it...
You are requesting more cat-blogging? Surely there is a surfeit of cat-blogging.
More pictures would require a digital camera.
(I deleted my last comment to correct an embarassing typo.)
I'm not sure, that picture is old. But, it's one of my favorites, my hair is all standing up in back. Too bad you can't see the dumb expression on my face though. But, other than what's on the white board behind me there, women confuse me, if you could sort that one out for me I'd appreciate it.
You should buy a digital camera. I love my cameras. I can take 100s of pictures, and all it costs me is disk space.
And, cats, I love cats, you could just tie them in a bit more maybe. Like, "My date tonight didn't go as well as I hoped, so I went home and cuddled up with my cat and read all night." If it weren't for the fact that I'm horribly allergic to cats, and I'm never home, and pets aren't allowed into any state or national parks for some reason (other than horses) I'd have a cat myself.
Justin
Honestly, there is nothing particularly unique about your blog. It simply serves as a handy watercooler in a nation that Bowls Alone. Many people prefer less popular blogs because that very smallness makes it easier to satisfy their narcissistic tendencies. Like most relationships, serendipity -- just happening to be reading MR and clicking on a link that day (because honestly, how many links do you really follow in the 50 blogs you read?) -- and settling with what you find play a far more important role that a pointless quest for perfection.
All of which is to say, you don't need to try so hard to find things to talk about. (Do you stress out this much when talking with Real Life People?) The format is similar to unfogged but without the 200+ post threads full of in jokes and pointless "29, 35, and 47 have it just right" me-too-isms.
I work two blocks from Focus on the Family (home of James "Teletubbies are gay and destroying America" Dobson) and the New Life Church, which The Atlantic (I think, it was one of those liberal rags) called "the most powerful megachurch in America". Both Dobson and New Life's Ted Haggard allegedly have weekly calls with President Bush. One of my coworkers, whom I tremendously like and respect, thinks that Intelligent Design should be taught on an equal basis with evolution.
There are five military bases in town: the Air Force Academy, Fort Carson, Schriever Air Force Base, Peterson Air Force Base, and (recently mothballed and home of Stargate: SG-1) Cheyenne AFB (aka NORAD). Once while driving on Academy Blvd. someone stopped asked me, "Which way to the base?" I don't think there are many other places in the US where you need clarification for a question like that. Which one of the five are you talking about?
Colorado Springs, a thousand feet higher than "Mile High" Denver, is in the shadow of Pikes Peak, the mountain that inspired unofficial national anthem "America the Beautiful". A 40 minute drive will take you to the top where you can nearly see Kansas on a clear day. There is an oxygen bar for woozy low landers.
Right now is the best time of year to live in Colorado Springs. Pikes Peak has a dusting of snow from a storm a while back. The foliage rivals New England's. Today it is sunny and 80.
I graduated with a degree in Computer Science/Math from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. That gives me license to root for the Steelers without being a bandwagon-jumper.
I have one patent but it was for some bullshit little thing that just proves how fundamentally terrible our current patent system and the USPTO is. Not that I let morals get in the way of the extra money my company added to my paycheck when I filed the Invention Disclosure Form. All it takes to coopt my soul is apparently $2500. I once had a security clearance when I worked for Lockheed Martin. Either their investigative techniques leave something to be desired or I have become less scrupulous.
I believe that nearly all of my success in life has been due to dumb luck. That my brother, two years younger, is a recovering meth addict ex-con high school drop out divorcee with two kids (the first at age 17) who is currently living in my basement only confirms this belief.
31 years old, Ph.D. in infrastructure management but currently a consultant for a software company, grew up in Pittsburgh, live in the Research Triangle now, came here through MR, disagree with your Ayn Rand and environmentalism posts but enjoy reading them nonetheless, ran competitively in high school and college and I run marathons now so I *really* enjoyed the jogging track post, oh yes, and I'm female and married (no kids).
I think I got here from a some form of link off of Geese Aplenty, but I have your blog on my bloglines, so I don't remember how I first got here. I read because I like your sense of humor and get identify with your search for the ideal mate. Plus you remind me of my friends who are also obsessed with flying discs.
As for me, I am a recent college graduate living in Chicago and working in a library as a lowly (but well paid with benefits) teacher's aide.
Oh and in case you can't tell from the name, I am female.
Am writing from somewhere near the Tora Bora cave complex...sorry, can't be more specific.
Personal details ..er...
what I do...er...
why is this beginning to sound like therapy?!
Was once an imaginary person and now have been upgraded
to your list (I bow before thee for thy graciousness dear lady).
Hmm. If that's the only choice, one between environmentalism and dating,I'm not sure.
I know this is going to sound incrediblty rude Megan so please forgive me in advance. But have you ever talked about your mother?
I like your personal anecdotes about your father and your family and think you are at your best when you talk about the simple realities of life.
good blog. Danke.
Justus gets it exactly right.
Anyway, male, no blog, live in SF, software type (CMU SCS '98 - when were you there, Justus?), bounce from startup to startup, came here via Marginal Revolution.
I did the water engineering posts the most, although I do wonder if anything came of the advice on how to be handy. Did you fix your leaky bathroom sink?
-jake
Jake - SCS '97; very likely that we were in one or another class together at some point. Tartans represent! (Kinda hard to feel any loyalty to your school when the mascot is plaid.)
Justus and Ogged:
All of which is to say, you don't need to try so hard to find things to talk about. (Do you stress out this much when talking with Real Life People?)
Hmm. Well, not trying so hard might address the problem that all my recent posts are a freaking mile long and I keep explaining things instead of forcing you to follow along and figure it out.
I don't stress out this much when talking to real people, but that's because 1) I know who they are and 2) they do half (or more) of the work.
2:59 anonymouse:
Sharp eye.
Jake:
I knew before that it wasn't the sink, and I haven't done a thing about it.
I know who they are
Given that we're imaginary, it should be even easier. We are whatever you want us to be.
Whatever happened to your promise of mystery and science fiction book recommendations?
Tartans represent indeed! Did you know / were you friends with Chris O'Rourke?
My mental listener has come unmoored. I wrote this to re-construct you imaginary people.
A book review has been on my mind recently.
Actually, Chris was possibly my best friend in college; it seemed like we were in every class together. I actually went to his parent's house in Buffalo one Spring Break and another time we drove up to Toronto where his brother was going to school. He went to work for Cisco in Research Triangle Park, I think, and we never really kept in touch. Were you on the swim team? Small world....
Infrequent reader, but one with a particular interest: long ago, I worked in the water rights bureau in a western state. Some permitting for new uses, but mostly checking out historic uses (we were doing a statewide general stream adjudication). I'm not an engineer, but I learned a lot about water handling -- on a micro-scale, and, what in California, is still pretty small stuff. I should say, I learned a whole lot about state of the art for dealing with water from about 1880 to 1930, and a little of the more modern stuff.
I'm reminded of your blog when I see you address a water issue on Unfogged. And I click over because I like articulate narrative. I'm not in the habit yet, and may or may not get in the habit. Not that it would be any reflection on you, your life, or your writing either way.
I'll buy the book when you've published it.
Lawyer in DC, not doing water law (unfortunately). Male.
Yeah, swimmer, actually went to work for Cisco down in RTP with him. Small world, indeed. And to think, it was the sewers of Los Osos that brought us all together.
And a second for coming for intelligent narrative about something that's different enough from what I know to be new and interesting yet similar enough to what I know to be understandable.
I also thought that a lot of the advice you got about internet dating profiles was horrendous, or at least horrendously informed, but talking about that sort of thing is weird among complete strangers of the appropriate gender.
Hi, I'm Bob V. (I'm not Bob the Fifth, but I laughed when one of your commenters called me that.)
I am a male, so I came from MR. I've never actually commented there actually.
I miss the times a little while back when your comments were just hordes of men who were hot for you. Where did they go? Ultimately, I find the current crew more interesting.
Topic I'd like to see more on:
- that emigrant you hate
Why we're interested in everything:
We're generally an intelligent bunch who likes to know stuff about everything. Since you're competent, you are able to talk about all this stuff in an interesting way that we like. Your blog is more about your personality than it is about any subject, and we are ok with that. If you start talking about things that you have no idea about and can't ask interesting questions about, we'll get annoyed with that and take the whole party to:
http://bobvis.blogspot.com
I graduated from CMU too. I got a minor in CS to go with my civil engineering degree (E'97). I would have been in the same CS classes as those who graduated in '98.
So is Megan statistically significant because she has so many readers who graduated from CMU in the late 90's? Or are there just that many more people from CMU trawling blogs? It's a small school...
Topic I'd like to see more on:
- that emigrant you hate.
Now sure what you mean by that. I said what I have to say about ex-pats. If you mean the ex-boyfriend, he was second-generation.
24, about to graduate with a BA in CS (I took the long way 'round). I lived in Kansas City, MO until I was 15, then moved to Upstate, NY. Dropped out of High School, dropped out of College.
I'm kind of a writer, programmer, fitness nut, and agoraphobe.
I hope you're happy you pushed for an answer!
Male, 29, married, SoCal native, but went to college in the SF Bay Area. Living in Colorado; after too many years of grad school working as a statistician/survey researcher doing work for nonprofits. Was sent here via MR, but stayed because you have a great voice. Don't really care what you write about (although the Los Osos saga is strangely compelling).
To answer you, I'm Brian, originally from the west now living in Toronto. I'm single, I like walking about town on the weekends, I saw a cool documentary "Manufactured Landscapes" this past weekend, I enjoy reading Marginal Revolution, and the Economist while drinking coffee. I work in finance. I used to have a finance blog but then I decided to keep my great ideas to myself. If I didn't have to work I would return to being a professional speculator and undergrad student (although I have graduated twice already).
Male, early 30s, Eastern European Ph.D. scientist living in Canada. Came from the MR and stayed mostly for the dating posts and the sense of humour/attitude that you show on your blog. And I've learned a few interesting things from the enviromentalism posts as well.
You know, there's one thing you could post about...
I'm a male undergrad at a large, well-known university in the rural northeast, majoring in linguistics. I came here from Unfogged, as you well know. I initially came for the dating posts, but I stayed for the water issues (fascinating stuff).
Old married guy (47), no kids, two dogs. Live in South Florida (the natural home of all scandal!) I was cooking professionally to get through engineering school, had an epiphany and quit to open a restaurant. Been doing doing the restaurant thing ever since - with occasional breaks teaching scuba.
Working on a book project - how to weather natural disasters with some grace without turning into a survivalist nut. During the last 3 hurricaines we watched (on our tiny battery powered tv) neighbors who had the means to take care of themselves (if they had tried to prepare just a little bit)lining up to get water from FEMA. My friends and I were dining on duck quesadillas.
Probably linked in from from MR, 'cause I read that other Megan - seldom agree with her, but I don't seek agreement as much as interest. Keep coming back here because...uh, pretty sure this is breaking the no complement rules... your eye for detail, along with compassion and intellegence are pretty damn rare. Funny and sexy doesn't hurt either.
The book list thing might be good if you're stuck. I picked up L Sprauge deCamp's "Ancient Engineers" on a sale table recently and thought it might amuse you. How often do you get to see the phrase "Watershed Civilizations" pop up repeatedly?
-=richard=- (aka "bearded chef guy)
young 20s, just opened a bakery in Seattle, only occasional reader, used to keep a personal blog here
and a business blog here until all my time got sucked away into my bakery.
Male, late 20's, Chicago area, attorney who went to law school because he didn't have the guts to admit he wanted to do something else with predictable results. Found you via MR. Blog that occupies my attention less than I might like, but not that much more that I want to change.
It seems that your bloggarazzi is mostly men, although there I can think of at least three women who must read your blog and didn't bother replying to this (probably because you know them in person) so maybe they are the silent majority.
All the imaginary readers of my blog came from yours, I think.
Male, working on PhD in plasma physics at University of Wisconsin. Got here via the MR dating post. Really enjoy the water engineering posts.
Hey Don,
Are you the Don who doesn't like my new picture? It'll stay up until someone takes a new good picture.
I came here for the huge knockers! Yum, yum, yummy! Delicioso!
Ha ha, I'm viewing from a hotel so you can't tell where I am.
They still look GOOD!
M: 2:59 anonymouse:
Sharp eye
Is this where I say, like Grandma/wolf, "all the better to see you my dear"?
bob, that was joke about the fifth..okay, an incredibly lame one, but still...
My, my , everyone has snapped into revelatory mode pretty quick! Anyway, there's no way you can know I'm writing from London.
doh!
rogelio, I don't know which pictures you have access to, all we're getting here is one of Megan when she was 14 !
Really? I like your new picture more than your old one. But, again, you should get yourself a digital camera so you can take pictures all the time. I love all the pictures I have of all the things I do now. So much fun going through them.
Justin
14? I was thirty-two in that picture.
No more cat posts. Please.
Er..that was another poor joke...pony tails.
I'm 'totally' not getting this blogging thing.
Male, recent PhD, physics. Came here from Unfogged, where I spend too much time. Just moved from Pasadena to Washington, DC, and am unsure about life. I have a blog and and LJ but am unsure what to do with them now that I am not in school. I'm not sure why I read. It's more your style than the substance. That's meant to be a compliment.
Male, 27, former computational scientist, current environmental/resource econ student, Salt Lake City, ultimate frisbee and such, probably came via MR (it was a while ago, so I don't recall, but I do read it daily.
Female, 35, Irish, no blog. Started reading regularly after coming here from Unfogged but felt I might have come across the blog before but not bookmarked it. I read for the voice.
Male, 35, engineer (EE) by education and disposition, Dutch. Arrived here through MR and was sold on the blog by the link to the photos of the LA River flood control system.
Love the posts on the important issues of our age (would you ride a giant spider, the importance of pie). I have the blog on my RSS feed, but am usually sufficiently intrigued by the posts to click through and check the comments as well. Posts on dating and/or where to go next strike a chord, as I'm in a similair position. Got a couple of hobbies I enjoy, but in the larger scheme of things they do not bring fullfillment. Will skip all cat blogging.
Not maintaining a blog or public website.
Daran
Another from MR: I'm male, 44, married, live in DC - how modal. I have a Ph.D. in history (military history and history of technology) and am working as a historian for the government.
In common with a lot of blogs I follow, I enjoy yours for its mixture of intriguing occupational stuff and self-portraiture. It's good work.
--Blair
Male, 37, airtanker pilot, single, euro-mutt. Got here through Geese Aplenty, never left. Rarely get back to GA. Grew up in the East Bay. Now live near Chico. Playing ice hockey for Cal Berkeley “C” was as close as I got to attending college. (They needed a goalie, I needed a team. We overlooked each others faults.) No dogs or cats. I travel a lot, so I stick to spiders and shower mold. The shower mold suffers a bit in my absence but rebounds quickly. The spiders seem to have managed to cut me out of their lives entirely. Probably for the best. I hear squirrels can hibernate with a body temperature below freezing, so that will probably be my first attempt at a real pet. Something I can pop in the microwave when I get home. I enjoy the water issues, but your style makes most things interesting. Flying over the aqueduct ten times a day lately has kept you on my mind. I kept meaning to take pictures of the parts I couldn’t figure out, but never charged the camera up (and I was supposed to be working). Your readership is almost as interesting as you are. Some of the more intelligent comments you’ll see on the internets. But, when you folks get into your fancy math talk, my eyes roll back into my head. I’ve only been disappointed by one of your posts. I thought you had more to lose than you realized when you wrote about the guy that went back to his girlfriend. And the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass post reminds me that the band never got off the ground. I’ve been practicing.
Hi. I'm a health economist currently working on something entirely unrelated to FTA (the cost-effectiveness of antiretrovirals for HIV+ people) in Cape Town, South Africa. Grew up in the UK and studied there and in Montréal.
I arrived via MR, I stayed for writing that has the analytic insight of an economist/engineer but covers topics like boys and pies.
As a globetrotter I really enjoy reading about your sense of community and ownership of your locale. It's something I often miss having. I really valued your posts on ex-patriotism - they made me evaluate why I do what I do.
I'm male and 28, at least for the next few days.
i think i came here via amber taylor's blog. she is a mother figure to me, much better than the television that raised me during my formative years. i work for a company based in san jose. we produce poetry and software. i have a blog which is read by only a few people that i'm not sure even exist. i think i come back here because i see some of myself in your writing.
Male, 52, PhD chemistry, BS computer science. Resident of Indiana. Married; between us we have 6 sons, 4 in college this year (yikes!). Another MR linker.
This reminds of the a/s/l introductions on AIM, way back in the day.
27, female, working on a master's in library and information science at UIUC. I grew up in KS but doubt I'll ever live in the state again since there's no industrial research jobs there for an analytical chemical biologist (my husband is working on a PhD at the same school). I do maintain a LiveJournal account, which I began when I still worked at a bank. But I try not to think about the bank because it makes me twitchy.
I don't remember how I got here. I just wandered in one day and found this person who made me laugh.
I went to Carleton College which has like 3 frisbees per capita and 4 ultimate teams. I played a season on the 4th string team so I play some ultimate but I'm not that good really. I'm usually on a few soccer teams, run, and want to pick up rock climbing next.
One time, I went on a first date type event. It was on Lake Superior and the lake doesn't freeze because its endless and enormous like the ocean, but in the Winter a good 20 foot thick layer of ice builds up around the edge. It was Spring and we were walking along on the ice trying to get to know each other when a huge slab of the ice we were standing on broke off and started floating away. That could have ended really badly I think, but we made it back to safety with a running jump.
I read your blog because you are wise and because you are awesome.
I'm 28 and I do financial database programming stuff in St Paul, MN.
Write more about Sacramento mass transit/infrastructure/city layout/parks/industries/etc.
Male, 31, arrived here from MR, stayed for the pie. Favorite post was when you said you thought really needing a beer was an emergency worthy of making a spare key available to drop-in visitors. Most important thing I've learned lately: having a baby is not "rewarding," like I thought it would be (i.e. hard now but I will be glad I did it later), it is a lot of fun in the present, every day. Lots of hobbies, but I'll narrow the list down to: running, comics, zymurgy, foreign languages, making lists, building a stack of books by my bed that I will never finish reading, commenting on blogs to avoid work.
Dubin, Real Person, Architect, Singer, Actor, Dancer, Model; Artist, Dogwalker, Satirist, Procrastinator. Former co-oper, but never got naked in front of any of you.
31, brown hair, blue eyes, married to the Teej.
Blog of my own - in Megan's sidebar!
Female. 29 years old. Mother of one. I enjoy your writing. Been lurking for a while now. I comment occasionally, but I read daily.
Yossi, 32, male, Orthodox Rabbi. Came via MR
I came here through a link to your blog because someone found an entry you had about dating... don't know how she found you.
I read because I like hearing different points of view. I can relate to many of them because I'm also in Northern California. I also happen to have friends who play ultimate or who are PhDs in environmental engineering. I'm willing to bet we have only a couple degrees separation. We won't go there, however, because I don't want my friends reading my blog.
My blogs are all over the place. You have my dating topic link. I also track shopping. I like reading a little of everything you discuss though I suppose I tend to be more interested in discussion about human nature.
33 year old electrical engineer in Maryland. Married with 3 kids.
Jim
Another female, one of a limited group it seems. 19, English, still a student. Have lurked for a while but this gives a reason for a comment. Came here through a link in a friends blog, not sure how he found you.
Sophie
30, Brooklyn. Soon to be married. Dubin sent me.
I do stuff, with computers and community organizers. Teaching mostly, some planning or actual construction of databases or websites or database driven websites. I am overzealous about open source software and local produce. I used to be a reporter, for a while I was an artist. I'm easily distracted, but it makes me look well rounded.
I can't read MR or Unfogged. I've tried, I don't get it. I mean, I look, but nothing grabs me. I could try harder but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'd get even less work done. One idle blog is enough.
I have my own blog, too. No one reads it but my dad and Dubin, which is okay with me.
If you have the patience to sift through all these IP addresses, you probably look at referrers too, so these tidbits probably represent few bits of new information. Nevertheless...
Nate, 27, resident of tha Illadelph. Friend and neighbor (well kinda, those kids are genuine G-Ho; I think my place is probably just 'in the ghetto') of da Dubin; friend, neighbor, and classmate of TJ; involuntary recipient of many kisses from Carmen.
I came for the procrastination, and stayed for the ultimate and pies (and now bluegrass? woo!). I keep track of my training and put them on the web, but I'm still not sure about the word 'blog'.
26, instructor in an economics department, Oxford Ohio. Male. Tyler Cowen sent me.
Why do I feel like starting my miniature biography with "the details of my life are quite inconsequential"? I dunno. I went to see Ira Glass in a little theater this weekend, and he said "narrative goes into the mind through the back door, to a place that reason cannot enter." That's why I come here. Your narrative is fun and heartfelt and often painfully sad, too. Sometimes you sound bitterly angry at something I think is totally acceptable. Sometimes you're overjoyed at something I think is lame. So what? I read MR because I want to think well; I read FtA because I want to feel well.
So, um, yeah. You tell a good story, with poignant little moments. I came because Tyler said there would be thinking, and there was. But I come back because I like the stories of an imaginary person.
Have a good day,
hamilton
PS- In high school (and undergrad) I was a jerky little know-it-all, and you wouldn't have liked me. In fact, not a great deal has changed since then...
You've shamed me into commenting, I'm a female law professor, 35, who came across your blog when the Volokh Conspiracy linked to your post on not dating lawyers. As someone married to a lawyer, who creates new lawyers for a living, I disagreed with much of your reasoning. Because I really enjoy the way you write, I've stuck around.
I love your Los Osos posts. Something about the combination of science, bureaucracy, and interpersonal scandal appeals to me. ~KC
You can see our IP's? I didn't know that. That's kind of spooky.
43, male, New York City, securities trader, came here from Volokh, not articulate enough to explain why I read.
I am female, early thirties, married, and have a toddler. East coast math geek. Came here via geese aplenty (I believe it was 2nd degree MR). I stayed because I like your sense of humor, intelligence, and fierce morality.
Since you gave a suggestion for my comment, here's a suggestion for a blog post: finally get yourself drunk and tell us about your hangover. Only a few months left in 2006, so we may need to pull out the office holiday party cliche action.
-dithers
30 year old, partnered up with a kid. Civil engineer, graduated from University of Illinois in '98 and '00. Have a career in helping fish have sex. Love it!
Love the Los Osos posts and don't love the posts with me in them. Actually, they're fine.
P.S. Justin is HOT! But I'm a lesbian, what do I know?
27 y.o. single male and nuclear physicist in Livermore. Came here via MR and thought it amusing. Since moving out west I've taken an interest in mining and water issues so I enjoy your posts on water engineering etc.
Steven
Keep your shirt on! Actually, on second thought....OK, I think from that thought you can tell that I am male (or an unusually lewd lesbian, but the former is the correct interpretation).
American citizen, although I was born German.
Getting close to 50, married, 2 children (17 and 14). Software developer, you've probably used some software I helped develop if you've ever used your credit card in a supermarket or a gas station.
I pretty much discontinued my personal blog at http://localhost/Blogging/Default.aspx to concentrate on myspace at http://blog.myspace.com/jensfiederer (don't link to myspace if you care about your page rank, except with a "no-follow" link).
As I mentioned before, I think I came in from MR, under the impression you were the other Megan running a 2nd identity.
When I'm not at work or home, I am out doing trivia at the Old Toad ( http://theoldtoad.com/ ), doing karaoke at Whiskey's or Monty's ( respectively http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=88720901 and http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=78163131 ), dancing to 80's music on Manic Monday's at the Bug Jar ( http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=29045811 (if you look at their pics, they captioned me as their "number one dancer", probably because I look so funny)),
or maybe playing indoor soccer.
Yes, my wife sleeps a lot and I hardly sleep at all. But after the picture linked below, she bought me a nice German-style shirt:
http://jens.dynalias.com/pix/me/gift-idea.jpg
an unusually lewd lesbian
No no. That's sedate for the lesbians I hang out with.
Whatever, lesbians are clearly the most honest people alive.
Justin
Male, 23, physics grad student. Unfortunate circumstances mean that I waste all my time reading economics blogs instead of doing what I love more.
I play ultimate (being tall helps), and am learning to keep my criticisms of all things to myself. I was attracted by your blog's humor, and hope you find someone. Can't help but sometimes feel that blogging isn't the best use of your time in that respect, but I bet you know better.
23 year old college student in St. Paul Minnesota, attending the University of Minnesota. I found the site through Marginal Revolution. I still think about your "In the House and in the Senate" post. In the culture in which I was raised, any male considering himself a feminist would have been just weird. For that reason, I still hesitate to apply that label to myself even though I at least partly fit that label. But your post was the first time I really actually thought about it.
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dubin, little sister of dubin, 29, los angeles, single (the subject of all of my own blog posts except one, which turned out boring), envious of your prolific flow, possibly met you once in person when your sac'to roof also covered my sister in 2001 or so, didn't know you in the preceding naked co-op days, although was also a co-oper with enough loth friends to get a coveted invitation to food orgy in the mid-90's, real enough to be a link in your sidebar, came here to be awed by your freakishly always-right-on wisdom.
Didn't mean to be a slacker -- just distracted by busy-work...
I'm 42 years old, male, divorced post-postdoc, working in bioinformatics (with a Ph.D. in molecular biology). I probably found this blog through Megan McArdle's Asymmetrical Information.
This is only my second comment ever on a blog (it's a little late, but better late than never). I found this site through the Volokh Conspiracy (a link to why Megan won't date lawyers). I was initially interested in the site because of the dating stories and that Megan is an engineer and a lawyer. I, too, have engineering and law degrees, but (unlike Megan), I left engingeering and went into law. I am now a practicing corporate attorney at a Southern California biotech. I had never heard of MR before coming to this site.
BG
This is only my second comment ever on a blog (it's a little late, but better late than never). I found this site through the Volokh Conspiracy (a link to why Megan won't date lawyers). I was initially interested in the site because of the dating stories and that Megan is an engineer and a lawyer. I, too, have engineering and law degrees, but (unlike Megan), I left engingeering and went into law. I am now a practicing corporate attorney at a Southern California biotech. I had never heard of MR before coming to this site.
BG
Male
first time here so reading bottom up.
recommended by another male (his wife also reads this)
Nerd
San Diego
male, 29 - I'm a biochemistry postdoc in Philadelphia. I've been reading for a while but never posted, came her originally from MR (the post about the ocean). It's not the water engineering or the dating stuff in particular that I like - you just write well and have interesting and funny things to say.
like a few others, i'm in the minority among your readers, and only commenting because you insisted!
I'm imogen, 21 yo medical* student from Adelaide, South Australia. I keep a somewhat sporadic blog/LJ at rhiannon519.livejournal.com
As I recall, I found your blog through blogspot most recent posts back in the early days when it was mostly dating stuff. Stayed because I find your writing style engaging and content strangely facinating ;) Mostly I lurk, though I may have commented once or twice..
*that's right - neither engineering nor law! (tho my boyf's a lawyer)
21, Male. Bioengineering major working in finance in SF. Came here through MR. Read your blog because your analysis of whatever it is you talk about is interesting, and is usually pretty orthogonal to everything else I'm reading.
-Agent00yak
Also shamed into commenting. I'm 28, female, live in Boston. I think I see your site as a quasi-substitute for the anything/everything talks I used to have with my best girl friends before everyone got so busy (me included).
(The above isn't meant as a slight on your site at all.)
Well, hi, Megan. I'm Matt, and I wandered over from Unfogged.
I'm 31, live in Rhode Island, and I'm a software engineer... FOR NOW.
I've been known to "blog" occasionally at http://www.unlikelywords.com.
How can I resist an opportunity to flesh out my imaginary character? I'm David, I'm 38 and married and live and work by Boston; above should be a link to my imaginary blog, except that posts mentioning my now 10-month-old kid are locked until I spend some time thinking about the implications of letting Google see them. And at 10 months, she's of course most of what I have to talk about most days. (In grad school-- I studied AI, dropped out with a master's-- I noticed that cognitive scientists pretty much could not ever shut up about their kids. That wasn't especially mysterious then, but if it had been it'd be abundantly clear why now. A few months ago she learned that bottles are instances of a class! etc.)
I maintain computers for a research group that does brain imaging; this means that counter to the usual sysadmin stereotype, my users are great. It's all postdocs carrying neuroanatomy textbooks and asking questions about Linux.
I found your blog through MR, a couple of times, and at some point read some of the older posts and liked your voice, as someone put it above, and started forwarding choice posts to my wife. I think my favorite post was the one where you were telling your boss how to torment the engineers by spending a meeting talking about the fish's feelings. I tend to admire people who can smoothly translate between the idioms of different technical fields or social groups.
I hope your dating search works out. Wish I had useful advice to offer, as I'd also then be able to offer it to a few other of my smart, successful, attractive friends who haven't paired up and would like to.
You sound like a fun person to go drinking with, though, if you ever come through Boston.
Hello! I don't have any questions about you right now apart from how does it feel to be so popular on the internets?
I probably got here from marginal revolution, sorry about that.
So, who am I?
My name is Jordi, don't try to say it out loud, not even my girlfriend after two years nor my stepchildren after nine months manage to pronounce it right. It is a bit disturbing sometimes, like, what the fuck am I doing here if they cannot even say my name right?
I have been living in Brighton (UK) for the last nine months.
I quit my telecommunications degree a few years ago because it was only a bit of everything(physics, electronics, programming, communication, maths) and I didn't want to be 27 earning a good wage and spending all my money on whores and coke as I wasted my time playing stupid computers games.
One day I will tell you the story of how I fell in love with her and what drove me to move to England with her and the kids (I'm originally from Barcelona, capital of Catalonia), but not tonight.
I am mainly a househusband at the moment, although I am studying, learning, meeting people, doing Reiki, working part-time and amusing myself with your blog as muchj as I can. You have written so much it is going to take me ages to catch up!
I haven't started posting yet but my blog will be
http://wherearemyfuckingcarkeys.blogspot.com
Take care
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