Post your asides here

[aside]

Let's be charitable and assume you did not think that through before posting.

[hungry_ghost]

Personally I think the way this was handled is dumb.

[aside]

[not directed at hungry_ghost]

You realize you just called a lot of forumites dumb!

[polly_mer]

{probably unrelated to any recent posts on this thread}

My inner LarryC is amused.

[miss jane marple]

<unrelated>

I suppose I'm the last one to figure that out.

[polly_mer]

<probably unrelated>

I hear the Limericks thread calling your name. 
It's not Friday, but you could still contribute to the Friday haiku thread as well. 

How's your weather?  Are you staying cool during a heat wave or enjoying the pleasant weather where I am or something in between?

What are you reading?  You can be reading for pleasure, for work, or for just being unable to look away from a train wreck.

Gotten started on fall prep yet? 
Are Jedi Mind Tricks coming to mind?
Do you have any tips to share with others in Humane Course Policies that make life easier?

Are you teaching right now so that Classroom Victories are appropriate?
Or, would the commiseration at Bang Your Head be more appropriate right now?

How's that writing going? 
Would checking in with Paralysis Analysis help you stay on track? 
Or is Work Sprint more your style?


Need office supplies? 
How about a new device? 


Is it less about a discussion and more a need to vent? 
Do you need affirmation in your beliefs?
How about validation for your actions?

Finally, maybe you just want some cheering up?

No?

Well, let me just pull this one out of the closet from 2012 where someone thought it should go on the Posting Hall of Fame:

Are you waiting for someone to seek you out and praise you?  That's not going to happen.

Instead, I get a lot of motivation from doing the fascinating things and the interactions that come with the doing. 

Publishing sucks.  I hate writing papers.  I hate editing them.  I hate doing the revisions for them.

Reviewing papers sucks.  I hate all authors everywhere and filling out editorial forms.

Prepping for classes sucks.  I hate having to think "how will people manage to screw up this very simple task?".  I hate doing the same stinking problem with a bazillion steps so that anyone who tries can follow it.

Grading sucks.  How could anyone mess up copying a fact from the book?  How could anyone not be able to do arithmetic?  How could anyone not being able to write a coherent sentence in legible penmanship?

Committee work sucks.  I hate my colleagues who cannot attend a meeting on time, didn't prepare for the meeting, and can't make a decision even with a gun to their heads.

Research sucks.  As soon as I get good at something, I have to learn something else.  My hard drive crashed and it's three days to put the system back into working order.  I've lost 10 programs that I wrote in the past month and all the data as well.  And, as soon as I really know what's going on, then I have to write a damn paper or make a presentation.

Presentations suck.  I can see half the room is reading the program to see if something better is coming up and I spent roughly five hours to make a presentation that is over in 10 minutes.

Yet.....

When students get a topic, then their pleasure is my pleasure.  All is forgotten about prep and grading and all that remains is that shining joy that someone learned something and I was there to help it happen.

When my research is humming along, I looooooooooove the feel of being in the groove and will snap at anyone who mentions the weeks, months, or years of drudgery to get to that point.

Nothing is better than the spirited give and take with colleagues about our common interests.  I've gotten a lot of trophies, medals, certificates, and A's, but I would trade all of them for an afternoon of spirited conversation in one of my areas of interest where ideas are shared and everyone goes away with new things to try.

I do have mentors for particular aspects of my career, but they are often people who push me hard to try new things and revise whatever one more time before submitting instead of praising me.

I am seldom praised by anyone for the things of which I am most proud.  Instead, I often infer praise from people inviting me to be a collaborator, be a reviewer, and be a speaker, or asking my advice in some area of my expertise.  Clearly, they appreciate my efforts, but few ever come right out and say, "You're doing a great job, Polly.  Keep it up!"  You, too, will have to learn to take pleasure and motivation in the doing instead of seeking praise, or you will be very unhappy waiting for praise that will be too little with huge gaps between instances.

Your life is yours.  Every day, you get to decide.  We can't decide for you and almost nothing we can do in this virtual world will matter unless you decide it matters enough to you personally so that you act on it.

Oh, and really do stop by the Limericks thread: you'll be glad you did.

[polly_mer]

In case it becomes important, I prefer to be compared to Joseph Stalin rather than Adolf Hitler.  Just FYI.

[archaeo42]

...

oh. okay then.

[ciao_yall]

I think I'm going to puffy-heart-with-glitter-and-sprinkles this "ignore" feature.

[RatGuy]

I think I'm going to puffy-heart-with-glitter-and-sprinkles this "ignore" feature.

It cut the number of pages in one thread by half

[mahagonny]

In case it becomes important, I prefer to be compared to Joseph Stalin rather than Adolf Hitler.  Just FYI.

I thought your thing was you took jobs nobody wanted to do. And I find out you're vain.

[polly_mer]

In case it becomes important, I prefer to be compared to Joseph Stalin rather than Adolf Hitler.  Just FYI.

I thought your thing was you took jobs nobody wanted to do. And I find out you're vain.

Do you think a lot of people wanted the jobs that Uncle Joe took along the way to becoming Uncle Joe?  Go read up on Uncle Joe's biography.  It's a pretty good read.

[scamp]

I think I'm going to puffy-heart-with-glitter-and-sprinkles this "ignore" feature.

It cut the number of pages in one thread by half

Where do I find this?!

[Thursday's_Child]

One of the advantages of a moniker change is that you can leave all sorts of issues behind you.
But only if you want to, of course.

[namazu]

I think I'm going to puffy-heart-with-glitter-and-sprinkles this "ignore" feature.

Where do I find this?!

Instructions on the "Technical FAQ" thread.