My new favorite song

I am generally irritated with blogs that include a song list on their page that automatically plays... mostly because I don't want to get caught reading blogs at work. But while reading a friend of a friend's blog, I came across this song and loved it. For the most part, I'll love any sad song with piano. Bonus points if it's in a minor key.

Sorry for anyone who sees me in real life for the next few days, because I'm constantly singing this.



Missy Higgins - Where I Stood

Too much research

I know I've already posted one of these, but I noticed that you can plug in your blog address and it will make a wordle based on the content in your blog. As far as I can tell, it also sizes the words according to the frequency with which they appear.

My life - or at least my blog posts - are boring and talk way too much about that R word. I'll try to blog about more interesting things.

Mosaic of me

Well, I dropped Xav off at the airport this morning and realized that in all of our travels, this will actually be the first time that Xavier has traveled without me. I travel without him and go on trips with him, but haven't been alone in our house before. Luckily, (?) I have lots of writing to do with two paper revisions due on Sunday and a paper section due on Friday. /Sigh/

But back to the fun stuff - mosaic meme. Jill posted this on her blog and it looked pretty cool, so I'm copying her. Here's what you do:

• Go to Flickr search and pick out a photo for each one of your answers to the questions below (I didn't post a picture for all of them).
• Click on the picture you want and copy the URL
• Open another browser, Mosaic Maker, and paste the URL for each picture into the desired space. (You'll see directions)
• Once you have selected, copied and pasted all of your pictures, click Create to make your MosaicClick Share (at this point you can copy the html and paste it into your post)

1. Name: Nicole. (Note that when you Google me, you get some interesting results. Apparently there's a Necole Velasquez who posed in Playboy. In case you were wondering, I'm not her, though it never ceases to raise eyebrows when fellow academics Google my name for my pub list.)
   
2. Favorite color: Blue - different shades for different days.
   
3. High school: Madison High School
   
4. Favorite food: This week, anything from Cafe Poca Cosa
   
5. Celebrity crush: You people know this one by now: George Clooney. Mmmmm. Honorable mention is Michael Phelps.
   
6. Favorite drink: Ginger ale.
   
7. Dream vacation: Italy, and while I'm over there, Slovenia, too.
   
8. Favorite dessert: This one is tough. My mom makes a mean Isabel's Dessert... Maybe ColdStone. Brownies. Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate covered strawberries.
   
9. What I want to be when I grow up: Successful.
   
10. Favorite thing in the world: Spa days and good books.
    
11. One word to describe me: Stressed. (I'm working on it. Hence, the spa days.)
    
12. Favorite school subject: To take or teach? Back in high school, it was math, so we'll go with that.

1. Erosion by Nicole Pietri, 2. Blue, 3. Sideline at the Rigby Homecoming... Madison kicked their ass, 4. DSC_2196 - Restaurant in Tucson, 5. George Clooney in Dolce e Cabbana, 6. High Rock Ginger Ale Bottle, 7. Austria,Slovenia,Italy Borders, 8. chocolate covered strawberry, 9. Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win !, 10. himalayan spa room, 11. Stress, 12. I graduated math today!!!

Update

First of all, the PhD is official. Somehow, hitting the last day of summer semester actually felt different: the realization that no matter what, I was done. Even if my committee wants dissertation edits (which I'm sure they will once we publish the research), the PhD is there and it's not moving. So please indulge me here: Nicole Forsgren Velasquez, PhD. No, I won't be going by all three names and I haven't hyphenated them, but it's fun to see the 'Forsgren' in there, and it needed to be included the first time I ever typed it. And no, you don't have to call me 'Dr.' That's for my students and the people I don't like.

Last week I was in Toronto for AMCIS, an academic MIS conference. I was fairly busy there talking about my research and interviewing, but still managed to relax a bit and have some fun. For those of you wondering who I interviewed with and who my favorites are, we'll have to take that discussion offline. I don't want to jinx myself or show my hand, and for now, I like keeping this blog public. I somehow stumbled into the cool kids' group and had more fun than I've had at past conferences. Better yet... I realized toward the end of the conference that much of us do similar research and a couple of us are already scheming ways to collaborate. Yesssssss.

By way of publication updates, the paper I wrote with A. Durcikova and R. Sabherwal was accepted to HICSS... Which means that I have to go to Hawaii in January and present. Tough life, I know. (Someday I'll be faculty and won't have to pay for my own travel, which will be even better.)

• “Studying Knowledge Management Success in System Administration,” with A. Durcikova and R. Sabherwal. HICSS 2009, Big Island, HI.
  

Even though I was strangely free in my evenings last week, that free time has suddenly disappeared. With IBM, BR, paper revisions, and two (and possibly three, see above) ongoing research projects, I'm back to the old grind. It really makes me wonder: as much as I think I'm stressed and need some time off, I never seem to let myself have it. Maybe I really am happier being pulled in a million different directions.

I know this post is all over the place. Sorry. I wanted to get all of you updated so I can post random little observations and funnies from my life.

Reading can be fun...

... when it's not related to research. :)

Now that I have completed my dissertation revisions and turned in all of the paperwork, I suddenly find myself with all sorts of free time. You should have seen my mild panic on Monday at 5:00 when I was finished with my day job, didn't have to go to my night job, and didn't have research to do.* I honestly didn't know what I was supposed to do. Go home? And do what? Xav did his best to entertain me for a few hours before finally just taking me to Borders. Ahhhhh....

So here are, or were, the books on my list:

• Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human. This book about the chimp (Nim) raised to prove Noam Chomsky wrong was definitely interesting and heartbreaking, but seemed to take a long time to get started.
  
• The Last Lecture. The bookstore was finally stocked when I went in. This is a quick read and more scattered than I was expecting, but very good. Just don't read it at work or you'll have to explain some tears. (Busted.)
• Candy Girl. Because I've always wondered... And I think Diablo Cody is funny as hell. Interesting, but definitely not for the easily offended.

I'm also currently weighing various Orson Scott Card books... I would love to re-read Ender's Game and segue right into the (not yet read) Shadow books, but I've also been eyeing the Seventh Son series, which would be a re-read but with a new book at the end.

Unfortunately, it looks like the lull in my schedule won't last for long. I'm still on the market for a job and am interviewing for a few positions in IBM. My second research proposal with IBM research labs (where I worked last summer) was just approved and I was reminded yesterday that I still have to turn my dissertation into journal pubs. I also head to AMCIS in Toronto next week to present some research and interview for some academic positions. Better yet, I'll get to meet Dr. Rajiv Sabherwal. He's a highly respected researcher and has agreed to collaborate on a research project with me and Alexandra.** The research is looking exciting (or as exciting as research can look) and we have one paper submitted to a conference. He will be attending AMCIS as well, so we will finally get to meet in person.

* Well, I will always have research to do. I just didn't have any pressing research to do.
** Rajiv was on Alexandra's PhD committee. Alexandra was on my PhD committee. Yay research family. :)