Author Archives: Cath@VWXYNot?

About Cath@VWXYNot?

"one of the sillier science bloggers [...] I thought I should give a warning to the more staid members of the community." - Bob O'Hara, December 2010

I’d like to teach the world to blog

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Well, the big autumn grant deadline cluster is finally behind me. Thank goodness for that. Now I can get to the rest of my to-do list: it’s four days until a big meeting with some international collaborators, eight days until … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 29 Comments

I’d like to thank the International Academy

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I’m coming up to the second anniversary of my return to academia, and I’m still loving it. I like to say that I learned a lot from my time in industry, the most important lesson being that industry doesn’t suit … Continue reading →

Posted in career, rants, science | 26 Comments

Hockey Pool, Week 2

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Only one day late… ScientistMother joined us one week into the competition, but is making up ground very quickly! How will all the injuries the Canucks sustained on Sunday affect the pool? Stay tuned and find out!

Posted in hockey pool 2009-2010 | 12 Comments

"Marriage is gay"

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Just a quickie: this week is going to be crazy busy with grant and progress report deadlines galore. But I just wanted to send a belated “Happy Thanksgiving!” to my Canadian readers! We spent the long weekend at my mother-in-law’s, … Continue reading →

Posted in family, food glorious food, politics, videos | 1 Comment

Nature Network Blogger in Frightful Frankenstein Felines Furore

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Um… Bob? What have you been up to? You told us you adopted The Beast from an Australian postdoc. Now, tell the truth: are you actually planning to invade Germany with an army of undead cats? I didn’t realise how … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Friday silliness

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I have a new joke! I’ve had my hair cut very short before, and when I started to grow it again, I never quite got tired of repeating the same line: Friend: “So how long are you going to grow … Continue reading →

Posted in furry friends, silliness | 4 Comments

I can has brain back?

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I have clearly spent far too much time looking at LOLcats. In trying to clear a massive backlog of New Scientist magazines from my house, I was reading a little too quickly yesterday when I reached this snippet at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 18 Comments

Ink

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I’ve wanted a tattoo for, ooh, about ten years. Not just any old tattoo, though – one that means something to me, that commemorates a specific event. Initially, I decided that I’d get one when I got my PhD. But … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Canada, personal, photos, UK | 38 Comments

Hockey Pool, Week 1

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

 Weeks on the X axis, Points on the Y axis. ScientistMother, what happened to you?! Your name isn’t showing up in the group any more…

Posted in hockey pool 2009-2010 | 8 Comments

Book Reviews: the good science, the bad science, and the ugly

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Inspired by Science Bear’s epic book review post, here are three very overdue book reviews of my own! The Good Science Dry Store Room No.1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum, by Richard Fortey. I first visited the … Continue reading →

Posted in bad people, book review, communication, medicine, nature, pseudoscience, science, the media | 4 Comments