October Readback and Update

October was a sparse month for weblog updates. To the few who might be reading, I'm sorry. I've been putting my head down and plowing through a bunch of midterm papers, exams, and presentations. The last major one was today.

In theory that would give me a week to relax, but the inevitability of looming deadlines at the end of the semester make any relaxation feel like procrastination. Pleasure just turns into anxiety. Such is the life of a student.

What I did write about this month, in reverse chronology:

• The emotional retardation of academic environments. Basically they're stuck competing when they should be cooperating.
• A miscellaneous grab-bag of fall impressions. Including an interesting presentation by the CEO of Pandora.
• A news story about past extinctions and asteroids. File under, death from above.
• Short speculation on genius and environment, prompted by a story about the brother of R. Crumb.
• Notes on different ways to tell a history.

Enjoy the rest of the year. 2006 is drawing to a close.