En kort beskrivelse av 2007 som jag kommer ihåg året

Av L. Lindblom

År 2007 fortsatte den goda trenden som 2000-talet har inneburit för mig, med spänning, trevliga händelser, förfärliga nedturer, men nästan aldrig en långtråkig dag… Och så himla många trevliga och spännande människor, som jag möter och/eller får lov att jobba tillsammans med! Kort sagt, jag vet att jag lever!

Nästan hela våren var jag arbetsledig, men tiden gick ändå fort, eftersom jag såg till att ha mycket att göra. Bland annat var jag en runda på Södertörns Högskola och jobbade med J.-E. (Och firade en jättetrevlig Valborgsmässoafton med C och L i Flen!) En viktig faktor var dessutom, att jag kunde behålla skrivbordet på BIO. Bland annat skrev jag en så kallad ’kronikk’, som jag skickade till Bergens Tidende. Till min stora överraskelse tog kronikkredaktören kontakt och ville trycka den, och det omedelbart! Den 23 maj publicerades den. Jag hade skrivit den delvis av strategiska skäl, men den ledde till helt andra saker än vad jag hade planerat; 1) en gammal bekant från barndomen i Flyinge tog kontakt, och det visade sig att vi bägge bott i Bergen i flera år utan att veta om varandra, 2) BIO kontaktade mig och frågade om jag ville jobba med en kurs. BIO hade kanske inte bara kronikken som anledning för att fråga just mig(?!).

Ja, iallafall: Den 1 juni äntrade jag ett heltidsjobb, som varar ända till siste februari 2008!

Detta innebar att sommaren blev hektisk. En veckas semester i Vestfold, tillsammans med delar av H:s familj, var väldigt fint. Men jag förstörde ju själv en del av tiden genom att vara orolig för hur jag skulle klara att leda kursen, BIO300.

Sedan var jag tvungen att åka till København, för under arbetsledigheten på våren hade jag (plötsligt desperat för att jag inte skulle ha något att göra på hösten) sökt Synthesys-stipendium, vilket jag hade fått. Tre veckor med molekylär-systematiskt arbete i Danmark. Och det fick jag alltså ta av min fritid = semestern. Härligt, men intensivt, och stundvis ganska ensamt. På helgerna kunde jag resa till Flyinge, vilket kändes som lite extra semester. Jag tyckte, att jag använde tiden väl.

En dag gjorde mamma. pappa, brorsan och jag en utflykt till Borstbäcken och vidare till Vombsjön. Jag fick veta mer om slaget vid Borst, bland annat genom en liten broschyr som jag tog vid stället med minnesstenen. Jag har gjort flera kopior, men inte lyckats hitta texten på nätet. Ett bestående resultat är, att jag har funderat över just denna händelse många gånger. Har försökt få reda på mer, men det har inte gett så mycket. Se här och här.

Hösten gick fort, med planläggning och genomförande av BIO300 (50 %), molekyl-lab-arbete för ’Skogoglandskap-projektet’ (50 %), kommittéarbete (undervisningsevaluering, ?? %), sekreteraruppdrag med mera för Norsk-Svensk Forening i Bergen, föredrag i Bergen Filatelist-Klub (’5 minutter’), plugga pedagogik-kurs (Södertörn), en spännande Tommy Körberg-konsert i Grieghallen, Rikkes disputation i Uppsala, kommittéarbete (provföreläsning), jobb med artiklar, och sist men inte minst den spännande processen med tjänsten i Göteborg, som jag till slut blev erbjuden!

De sista veckorna före jul har jag varit mycket mycket trött. Det är delvis på grund av ’mørketida’ som råder, jag vet det. Men de senaste veckorna har jag också känt en oändlig tacksamhet. Jag har bara lust att gå runt och tacka, bland annat alla som har hjälpt mig, alla som är positiva, all god litteratur, och helt enkelt tacka för allt häftigt jag får vara med om. Jag kunde skrivit en lång lista. But I won’t.

Jag är kort och gott nöjd med mitt år 2007.

Köttbullar julen 2007

500 g medisterdeig (fläskfärs)
100 g biffdeig (nötfärs)
1 dl brødrasp (skorpsmulor)
1 dl helmelk (mjölk) + 1 skvett (skvätt) Kefir
½ revet gul løk (riven gul lök) (riv på fina sidan av rivjärnet)
1- 1,5 teskjed (tsk) salt
1-2 krm vitpepper

SMAKA!
Rulla, fukta händerna i kallt vatten.
Stek på ganska hög temperatur. Jag eftersteker i wok-pannan.

Det blev 47 stycken saftiga välstekta köttbullar!

Doktor Marwe gör såhär!

God jul

...åååhhh en hel dag utan plikter, = jul för mig!

Eftertankens kranka blekhet...

Oi, am I a convenience store? Or a business troubleshooter? Or a general fix-it man? Wikipedia gives the answer, as always!

Depanneur prize at the BIO Christmas Party

I got a prize (in absentia) from BIO!!!

Here is the motivation:

”BIO Depanneur

There are also words in other languages for which there are no equivalents in translation. One of these is the French expression., chomage technique – which means that you cannot work for technical reasons beyond your control – something that happened at HIB yesterday!! We have given this next prize another French name, “depannage” which means, in several English words, “something that is used to over come or get around something that has broken down”!!!

Here at BIO are many exceptional teachers and many exceptional courses. We would like to congratulate all the teachers on their amazing efforts to develop and lead interesting, informative and meaningful courses.
Tonight we would like to recognise a teacher who was not only exceptional, motivational and effective, but who was actually not meant to be a course leader at all. The original course leader was unable to be available to take this particular course this autumn and tonight’s prize winner was only informed of their new responsibility in June!!

Despite the late notice, our winner was able to respond and she lead a very successful course this autumn. The BIO Depanneur Prize for 2007 goes to Louise Lindblom for her terrific work with BIO300. Unfortunately Louise is not with us tonight – she has returned to her family in Sweden for a well-deserved Christmas break.

Please join with us in saluting Louise and all who work so hard teaching and motivating the next generation of biologists.”

No projects

No project of mine got funding from the Norwegian Research Council this year. As every year...

Now that we know how, let's do it again!

So, BIO300 is over... And got some publicity and some more! My first and last time as responsible for the course. I will try to finish grading by this week.

Flyinge

Jag är i Flyinge och vilar upp mig efter en hektisk höst. Men läser flitigt på min pedagogikkurs!

Idag bakade vi lussekattor.

BIO300 är färdig

...men det är den ju inte. Deadline för att leverera är midnatt inatt. Och så ska vi ju sätta betyg, moahahaha. Studenternas presentationer idag gick bra, mycket bra. Och nu är jag trött, mycket trött. Hej hej, styrelsemöte i Norsk-Svensk förening!

Jag återkommer...

P.S. Jag vet nog, att minst en av studenterna har nämnt kursen i sin blogg, haha!

Norwegian Research Council

No, no money from FRIBIO this year, either... The list is clickable in the upper right-hand corner. I am waiting for the result from HAVKYST, probably by 12 December. I have to write an application to the Meltzer foundation now.

I hope that I will be able, in one way or the other, to continue to work with lichens next year, with or without Forskningsrådet or Meltzer funding me!

Luckily, my stamp collection is always there for me! And literature! And, so many other nice things!

Flowering plants evolution

I must remember to check out the next issue of PNAS.

Biologisk dataanalyse og forsøksoppsett, BIO300

Invitasjon til BIO300 Muntlig Presentasjon
Mandag den 3. desember, kl. 08.30 i Store Auditorium!

Store Aud ligger i 2 etasje i Datablokken i Høyteknologisenteret, Thormøhlensgate 55.

Universitetet i Bergen har mange flinke masterstudenter og Bergen Kommune har mange oppgaver for flinke folk! Dessuten legger kvalitetsreformen til rette for å ta i bruk aktive læringsformer med selvstendig arbeid.

Emnet Biologisk dataanalyse og forsøksoppsett (BIO300) ved Institutt for Biologi har for andre året inngått et samarbeid med Bergen Kommunes Vann- og Avløpsavdeling. Dermed får det årlige inntak av minst 50 masterstudenter prøve på feltarbeid, analysearbeid, datatolking, trening i å skrive rapport og erfaring i forskningsformidling; alt sammen i en samfunnsnyttig sammenheng.

Gjennom tre måneder, fra slutten av august til begynnelsen av desember, har studentene jobbet i 10 grupper med selvstendige prosjekter. De har samlet inn prøver i felt, analysert resultatene (ved hjelp av Vannlaboratoriet ved Bergen Kommune, BIO sine assistenter, og Chemlab Services AS), tolket data, skrevet vitenskapelige rapporter og øvd seg på muntlig framlegging.

Hva har de jobbet med? Årets prosjekt hadde den overgripende tittelen ”Water quality in connection with waste water treatments and recipient systems around Bergen”. Gruppene har undersøkt vannkvalitet i to mottakssystemer fra vannrenseanlegg, Nesttunvassdraget og Grimstadfjorden. Åtte lokaliteter ble valgt for å undersøke en eventuell gradient fra renseanlegg og nedstrøms mot sjøen. Åtte grupper gjennomførte detaljerte undersøkelser ved åtte utvalgte lokaliteter og to grupper laget sammenlignende studier av alle resultatene.

Noen av spørsmålene var: Fungerer renseanleggene tilfredsstillende? Hvor effektive er de? Har vannrensingen noen effekter på dyre- og plantelivet i vassdragene og sjøen som tar imot vannet?

Å gjennomføre ett slikt arbeid engasjerer ikke bare studentene og undervisningsassistentene, men også en hel rekke andre i kulissene.

Herved inviteres dere til ett spesielt og viktig arrangement, som finner sted mandag 3. desember kl 08.30 (presis!) til kl 12.00 i Store Auditorium, Datablokken, Høyteknologisenteret, Thormøhlensgate 55.

Kaffe/te med noe å tygge på serveres i pausen.

Vel møtt!

Louise Lindblom
Emneansvarlig, BIO, UiB
Tel. 5558 3342

Tre skilling banco

När det gäller filatelin, är min huvudsakliga samling Sverige.

Jag kan nu med stolthet och berusande glädje meddela, att Sveriges första frimärke är införlivat i samlingen. Facit nummer 1: Tre skilling banco. Längst ner på denna sidan.

Att göra-lista

- BIO300 Extended invitation list
- PhD prøveforelesning
- Philea
- Norsk-Svensk Foreninge: Läget
- Møte m Hans/Skogoglandskap

Check, check, check, check, check.

En sista sak: Hämta objekt hos Moldenhauer?

The Sign

Vad gör man klockan halv tio efter att ha satt igång 96 sekvensreaktioner? Jobbar vidare. Först: en kopp kaffe! Sista låten jag hörde på labbet var Let's Go to Bed (The Cure)...

Weblog, no diary

I was reading several texts in my old diary at Diaryland. In those days, when I started writing on the internet, it was my intention to write a diary. That never occurred, I can see now. I remember how I was feeling at the time, and how my life was. There's no trace of it in the diary... Really strange how ones perspective changes! So. that was a diary, sort of. But this is a blog. No intimate details, no personal confessions! Just glimpses of everyday (and, not so everyday) life. When there is time to write about it. Last week, for example, there was no time.

It was a very busy week. And some days were hell. Still, I enjoy every busy second (some very close person might not agree, but this is my blog, my perspective, today!). And today, I enjoyed a quiet hour at the library. I have to remember to appreciate busy times, as well as lazy times. Remind yourself: You are Good Enough.

Teaching

Recommended reading this week-end: Freire, Paulo (2005) Teachers as Cultural Workers - Letters to Those Who Dare Teach.

I like this chapter heading especially: "Don't Let the Fear of What is Difficult Paralyze You"!

SNÖ

Nej, det blev ingen ordentlig storm, men ganska mycket snö! Första snön! Vi går runt i ett vinterlandskap och pratar om julstämning... Snövädret kommer i byar, så idag gick vi en runda i sol och total stillhet. När vi var nästan hemma, började det snöa. Det snöar ännu - stora vita lappar. Blött, för det är några plusgrader.

Jag har betalat räkningar: 44 kronor till Jan Nordhagen AS för en lott med 4 vykort som jag vann på auktion; 1350 kronor som är halvårsavgift för ett SOS Fadderbarn (hon bor i Armenien)- jag har inte lust att vänta till siste december. Får väl skicka en extra-gåva då...

Nu ska jag skriva vidare på Xanthomendoza-manuskriptet!

Väntar på kraftig storm

Stormen skulle dra in över Vestlandet före klockan nio ikväll, men vi väntar fortfarande. Folk är evakuerade från Nordsjön, båtar har säkrats och bundits fast, kanske blir det dessutom slask och åska! Ingenting är säkert, mer än att det blir regn. Hittills i år har det kommit 2524 mm (mot normalt 2250 vid denna tiden).

Jag gillar väder, men hatar is och halka.

Synthesys continued

I have done research today!

The alignment of the xanthorioid taxa X. borealis and X. mawsonii is finally finished (I hope)!!!

The article, tentatively titled Taxonomic revision of Xanthomendoza borealis and X. mawsonii is in preparation. Fortunately, I received an 'out of office' reply when I sent the alignment to the co-author, so there is no hurry in sending him a new version of the manuscript... Until November 11, at least...

The haplotype network (made using TCS) looks fine. It shows just what we wanted it to show!

Thank you Synthesys!

Scienceblogs

I occasionally read this and this. Today, I appreciate this contribution.

Empty

Why is noone here when I arrive in the morning? Why is noone here when I leave in the afternoon? I don't arrive extremely early; I don't leave extremely late...

Jobb, söndag, väder och vind

Torsdag ringde jag Göteborg, och meddelade att jag tyvärr tackar nej till den erbjudna tjänsten. Trevliga, trevliga ställe, men tyvärr, tyvärr, det är omöjligt, av så himla många anledningar...

Ikväll ska Brann fira gullet, medaljerna delas ut, men vilket väder det blev!

Jag pluggar min pedagogikkurs (Södertörns högskola). Har avklarat Säljö: Lärande i praktiken - ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Nu är det dags för Doll: A Post-Modern Perspective on Curriculum.

Måste komma ihåg att tipsa JE om denna länken: Thirty Great Books on Education
A Ten-Year Retrospective!

Xanthoria - as good as it gets!

This was the first slogan for my favourite research objects that came from Sloganizer. The second was: "Xanthoria loves you.", which I quite like. Or, how about: «Ooh la la, Xanthoria.»?!

«Feel the magic of lichens.»

Wasting your time, probably

Spynotes referred to this thread at this site. I know that you and everyone does not have the time, but still - it is exciting!

JAA!!!

Heia BRANN!

10 grains of rice

Hunger: Test your English vocabulary, and simultaneously donate 10 grains of rice for every correct answer.

Neiiiii, det gikk ikke...

...men kanskje i morgen?

Kommer gullet hem?

I kveld spiller Brann mot Ålesund (borte). Hvis Brann vinner, er gullet endelig 'heme' i Bergen, etter 44 år!

The art of problem posing

...is available as eBook.

Statistics

Lately, I have been thinking about statistics. So have other people; bloggers, it turns out.

Helg

Mitt i middagen i fredags ringde Göteborg... ja, nu är det officiellt; de erbjuder mig tjänsten som 1.intendent i mykologi.

Så bra att "extended lichen group" skulle ut och ta en öl tillsammans på kvällen. Så kunde jag tänka på något annat.

Debate?

Hitherto, 7 people responded. Americans and Brits. Someone put the contribution on the ABLS homepage, too.

A contribution to the Lichens-l listserver

Promoting lichenology – interest, networks and funding

Promoting interest in lichenology is a responsibility for all of us, Jan-Eric Mattsson pointed out in an article in the 39(2) issue of the IAl Newsletter (2007). In this contribution, I focus on the responsibility to support research projects in the field of lichenology.

There are different aspects of this responsibility. For example, Jan-Eric listed several suggestions concerning teaching, research, and various scientific meetings. He specifically stated that it is a responsibility for “those of us who have more or less permanent positions and some degree of financial support etc”.

On page 16, he stated that “Most of us appear… doing what they [the funding body] ask rather than something scientifically more productive.” I would like to add that perhaps it is possible for “those who have more or less permanent positions” to write successful applications without considering the requests from the funding body. But, for someone in a more unsafe position, for example having completed both a Ph. D. degree and a subsequent post doctoral fellowship and with no permanent position within reach, it is crucial to please the funding body by proposing projects, which contain the requested elements and relate to given criteria. That is, to offer to do what “they” ask. Scientific reviewers are asked to evaluate and judge the proposed projects with the given criteria as the framework. The product is likely to be a mainstream research project that provides a kind of research that may or may not provide valuable knowledge for the discipline of lichenology.

There are other aspects to consider when writing project proposals. For example, it is important to consider various aspects that committees tend to find attractive, for example, to what degree international collaborators from countries considered appropriate are included.

Since the lichenological family is comparatively small, finding suitable partners to invite to a collaboration (i.e. with good scientific quality in relation to the criteria and the proposed project, good personal chemistry with the applicant, as well as being appetising for the deciding committee, for example, by being located to a country considered scientifically cool) can prove to be a difficult task. Moreover, most who have more or less permanent positions are overworked and hesitate to accept potential additions to the workload by accepting to be active collaborative partners.

Basic research in Norway is currently under-financed and struggling. Politicians repeatedly express intentions to raise research funding to the OECD levels, but seem to fail. The Norwegian Research Council is one of very few realistic funding bodies, and one of the sections, Fribio (funding the whole spectre of research in biology and biomedicine, see http://www.forskningsradet.no/servlet/Satellite?aid=1179775827355&c=MidlerParent&cid=1176800609882&erAktiv=true&pagename=ForskningsradetNorsk%2FPage%2FStandardSidemal#Resultat), is in practise where almost all lichenological projects must be proposed. Competition is extremely tough. For example, out of > 80 proposals submitted to Fribioøko (the section preceeding Fribio, funding biology, e.g. terrestrial ecology) in 2006, only 9 were funded (c. 10%).

As a consequence, only projects that receive the highest marks from all scientific reviewers (last year, there were three reviewers for each application) have any chance whatsoever being considered by the deciding committee!

Again, the lichenological family is relatively small, which brings about both advantages and disadvantages. The fact that most of us know each other or at least our work, or, have met may disturb the individual evaluation process, which ideally should be objectively critical. This may manifest both positively and negatively, of course.

The tradition of the lichenological family to strive to maintain a neutral perspective on ourselves and our science and to give honest criticism (although friendly!) can prove to be a disadvantage in the context of relation to funding bodies. Although we may like the project that we evaluate as a reviewer, find it scientifically sound and worth of funding, perhaps we are too carful to point out any details that may improve the project. The consequence is that the reviewer might not be able to give it the highest marks for some of the evaluattion criteria. And a good or very good overall mark is given, but it may seem impossible to reward the proposed project with the highest overall mark, in the name of objectivity.

In some countries, e.g. Great Britain, our head of department has told us, the Research council have access to an adequate amount of money. The competition is indeed strong, but a character indicating that the project is “Good” to “Very good” (equal to a character of 4-5 out of 7 in the Norwegian Research Council) can be enough to get the proposed project funded. In Norway, however, basal biological research (including all aspects of the science of lichenology) is financially squeezed, and only proposed projects given the highest marks by reviewers are considered by the committee in the final round!


Suggestions to reviewers and referees of proposed projects
- Be aware of that the fact that we belong to a small and “tight” scientific community may affect your role as an evaluator.
- Be aware that reviewers of other disciplines may give high marks in order to promote their particular scientific field – we lichenologists might consider promoting our science likewise.
- In some cases, in order for the project to have the slightest chance of receiving funding, it must have received the highest mark available. That is, if you like the proposed project and think that it is worthy of carrying through – reward it with the highest character! If you give any other (that is, lower) character you might just as well have written that you hate it and don’t think it worthy in any way or at all.

Friday

Fina fina Bergen i sol!

Og Brann går fra succé til succé!

Ja, det var visst Kanelbullens dag i Sverige igår!

Kanelbulle

Är det kanelbullens dag idag?

Flextid

Institutt for Biologi, UiB, har nu infört flextid. Det känns ungefär som Facebook. Man känner sig tvingad att vara med, men det är meningslöst...

Bättre nu

Jag mår bättre nu. Det var en ångestladdad natt. Idag är det sol, och helt tyst i korridorerna här. Jag har ingen undervisning förrän halv ett. Nu ska jag gå och leta upp kaffe.

Kan inte sova

En händelserik dag. För mycket. Jag kan inte sova. Ingen som kan lugna ner mig. Hotell Mutterns mjuka säng borde räcka, men det går inte. Har jag målat in mig i ett hörn?

Snälla gör så att jag somnar...

Muttern

Hi, jag ligger på trevliga hotell Muttern i Uppsala, testar just nu deras trådlösa nätverk. Det verkar funka bra.

Imorgon Rikkes disputation.

Gonatt!

YouTube

Sökte litegranna på YouTube; ville hitta "Vid Molins Fontän" med Körber, men den fanns inte, däremot en lagom häftig grej tillsammans med The Ark från TV3.

Hittade en liten fin scen från min institution (Inst f Biologi, Univ i Bergen). Kolla här!

Trött dag

Idiotgrannen under oss spelade musik mellan 1 och 2 inatt. Natt till måndag. Jaha.

Möte klockan 9 imorse. Hade inte fått något kaffe. Fick inte kaffe förrän klockan 11, när mötet var slut. Vi hade mötet på Bergen Vitenskapsenter "Vil Vite". Fint.

Sedan var jag uppom BIO på HIBen och kollade upp några grejor och pratade med C. Sedan gick jag upp till Realfagbygget och fick undan ganska mycket kontorjobb. Sedan åt jag lunch, vi var många idag. Sedan gick jag ner til HIBen igen och hälsade på studenterna, de två sista grupperna var på lab och bestämde sina djur. Så nu är fältdelen av BIO300 avslutad!

När jag hade pratat lite med assistenterna, tog jag alla studentgruppernas vattenprov med mig och reste ut till Sandviken. Levererade proverna till Chemlab, som ska analysera P (fosforhalt). Det var trevligt, de har trevliga lokaler med utsikt över fjorden.

Sedan tog jag bussen till Bystasjonen, gick en sväng på biblan, handlade mat på Meny, och så 90-bussen hem.

Trött, sömnig och trött. Och hungrig var jag. Så fort H kom hem, lagade jag middag, plommonkräm till efterrätt, nam.

Sedan har jag i stort sett legat i soffan.

Tog lite av disken, medan H lagade en kopp te till mig. Skickat en epost som jag hade glömt till Chemlab, och bloggar nu - men NU SKA JAG GÅ TILL SÄNGS och SOVA!!!

Konsert

Jag var och hörde Tommy Körberg igår; Rakt upp och ner. I Grieghallen. Han hadde nåt virus i halsen, så han sjöng inte den enda sången jag hade mailat in och önskat mig, trots att den stod på programmet: Vid Molins Fontän.
Men rösten verkade ändå hålla ganska bra. Som extranummer fick vi Joni Mitchell; Kommer inte ihåg just nu vad den heter...

I stort sett en inspirerande upplevelse, och jag lyckades ta med mig en del av den gnistan till Svampföreläsningen i BIO112 - nu med uppdaterad systematik!

Consanguinous

Consanguinous (matings) - relationship through a common ancestor (Wright 1943).

A Room of One's Own

A thought. A feeling. Of space. And of solitude. Of room to think. No disturbance. No reminders of one's failures and insufficience.

Too low, low too

I have three tasks at work right now:
1. Run BIO300
2. Run the Lobaria project
3. Write a document for the education evaluation committee

All are meaningful tasks. In addition it adds up to a 100% positon until end of February 2008. So, why am I feeling low?

I really should be getting home...

Ryszard Kapuscinski

Today I went to buy some food for dinner before taking the bus home. I felt a bit grumpy, so I went to the library. I borrowed Reiser med Herodot, which is on the syllabus list for the Södertörn Univ College pedagogics course. Just from going into the library building made me feel brighter. And, waiting for the bus, reading the book, the sun almost shining, a nice autumn afternoon, I felt a great freedom!

A Life

Gripande läsning idag:
'Den mamman jag trodde fanns har aldrig funnits men det får gå ändå.'

More humans sequenced

Another human genome was sequenced, that of Craig Venter. Here is a short summary of what was found out.

Syllabus

"Litteratur (preliminär)
Jag har inte tänkt att vi skall använda en gemensam lärobok utan studenterna väljer litteratur utifrån förslag från en lista med möjlighet med egna tillägg. Ev. kan Alters & Nelson 2002 och delar av Sjøberg 2005 vara obligatoriska men då inte ingå i föreslaget sidantal.
Det finns dessutom en bra liten bok som heter
• The art of problem posing.
• Alters, B. J. & Nelson C. E. 2002. Teaching evolution in higher education. – Evolution 56: 1891–1901.
o
• Bowers, C.A. & Flinders, D.J. (1990) Responsive teaching. An ecological approach to classroom patterns of language, culture, and thought. – Teachers College Press, New York.
o
• Doll, W. E., Jr. 1993. A post-modern perspective on curriculum. – Teacher College Press, New York.
o Ikke I UiB – bestille?
• Freire, P. 1998. Teachers as cultural workers. Letters to those who dare teach. – Westview Press, Boulder.
o Ikke I UiB – bestille?
• Kapuscinski, R. 2006. På resa med Herodotos. – Bonniers.
o HF-bibl
• Mattsson, J.-E. & Lättman, H. 2004. Chaos and order in teaching and research. – Acta Univ. Ups. Symb. Bot. Ups. 34:1, 245–255. Uppsala
o Tønsberg?
• Säljö, R. 2000. Lärande i praktiken. Ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. – Prisma, Stockholm.
o PSYK-bibl (utlånt)"

Post

Yes, I am very much alive, but not very kicking... It was a wonderful day in Göteborg. Indian summer... But it was a very difficult interview. And I returned home very late, in the middle of the night. Friday night was a party with EECRG, and very late home again. I feel drained.

Shopping was successful, though!

Another interview

...so it is 'radio silence' again. Back very late tomorrow night.

Lördag

...och jag måste vila! Harry Potter läste jag färdigt natten till onsdag, och på ionsdagen var vi, dvs BIO (Institutt for Biologi), på tur med M/S Midthordaland till Lyngheisenteret hela dagen. Annars har all tid gått till BIO300 (och det verkar aldrig ta slut, men jag måste hålla ut...) och Norsk-Svensk förenings Kräftskiva. Jag var hemma klockan ett inatt; skönt att kunna köra hem (jag hade lånat 'svärmors bil). Ingen alkohol, men det räckt bra med det jag drack i onsdags...

Jaha, på torsdag är det dags för anställningsintervju i Göteborg. Jag blev kallad till, den 24 september, på Universitetet i Oslo! Oh shit!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

...hmm and I need to find out what Hallows mean. Here is the book in Wikipedia.

Trögstartad läsning för mig denna gången. Hoppas att jag snart kommer in i det. Det är så mycket som ska knytas ihop, jag tycker att handlingen hittills är präglad av det. Till exempel att Dudley tackar för att Harry räddade hans liv i en tidigare bok innan de skiljs åt, att Bill och Fleur gifter sig, Kreachers story, usw.

Men det beror kanske delvis också på att jag har så himla mycket annat i huvudet: BIO300 och "samarbetet" med Bergen kommune, intervjun den 6 september, Norsk-Svensk förenings Kräftskiva, diverse artiklar i produktion, bla bla.

"Jag är inte så himla smart, men jag är arbetsvillig."

The 7.05 bus again!

Yess, I can do it!

15 hours

Yesterday I took the 07.05 bus for the first time in a long time! BIO 300 started at 08.15 (c 50 students). At 10 I had a meeting in the BIO teaching program evaluation committee. At 13.00 I had a meeting with two course assistants concerning the field projects (BIO 300). At 19.00 there was a board meeting with Norsk-Svensk Förening i Bergen. Thanks to Camilla driving me home, I was at home at 22.05. It felt like a very long day. In between meetings, I found time to order a ticket to Göteborg on September 6 and study some lichens and prepare for DNA extraction. The entire day, I missed H. But time really flies when you're busy!

Today, summer is here again: around 20 degrees and really sunny!

I look forward to the evening, because we are going to the club.

Jobb i Göteborg?

Kommer ni ihåg att jag skrev en ansökning på ett jobb i Göteborg? Nä, knappt jag heller. Senaste framsteget är att han som blev erbjuden tjänsten avböjde. Och fråga mig inte varför de inte bara gick till nr 2 på listan och frågade den personen. Men nu är jag iallafall inkallad till intervju den 6 september!

BIO300

Biological data analysis and research design, BIO300, starts today. In half an hour. Am I prepared? Enough, I hope.

Jag håller med jontas

jag citerar jontas blogg rakt av: "...tänkt skriva om de senaste veckornas alla rapporter kring ms som tidningarna skrivit om. Men det hade inte varit så intressant främst p.g.a. att jag inte är imponerad. Hur utveckling och behandling går framåt enligt studier är något jag inte bryr mig om. Det som är en forskningsrapport i dag kräver många år av kliniska prövningar, bakslag, nya försök, bakslag och kanske en färdig produkt som ändå inte är aktuell för dem som i dag lever med ms. För oss är det ändå för sent då sjukdomen hunnit progrediera oavsett form. Dagens nyhet var väl detta med att man nu gjort kopplingen mellan ms och andra autoimmuna sjukdomar. En pseudonyhet. Man har bara genom forskning kunnat bekräfta det man under alla år misstänkt. Det förändrar ingenting. Sedan tidigare har man just tagit fram behandling med det i åtanke, så att när de nu har det svart på vitt gör det ingen skillnad. Det där med gen- och/eller stamcellsterapi är väldigt riskabla åtgärder som kan förstöra mer än vad det hjälper."

The not-so-royal we

This blog post could be useful when I'm teaching BIO300 this autumn. BTW, I really like the blog; why did I stop reading it?

Raining

It's raining, raining, raining, and it seems that it's only getting worse.

And I am procrastinating, it seems. I feel so totally happy and fine - so why bother making the files that I should be writing? Working on the Xanthomendoza alignments works fine, though. BUT: I should really be getting on with the BIO300 course stuff...

Again, this is a good time of my life. i feel content, satisfied, and totally convinced that everything will work out just fine. I am not used to feeling like this, so it's a bit creepy.

My Inner Gender

You Inner Gender is Female

You're sensitive, caring, and willing to connect with anyone who's open to you. You make friends easily, and you enjoy all sorts of conversations. You understand most people you meet - better than they understand themselves. You're totally a woman... or at the very least, your soul is female.

What's Your Inner Gender?

Bergen, Bergen

...och Brann slog RBK!

Jag: jobbar...

...and two more...

...but I am going home tonight!

BTW the cake was good, and the seminar quite relaxed!

Jobbkväll

Trodde att jag kunde koppla av lite nu, men icke... Det blev jobbkväll ikväll!

De 10 sista sekvenserna!!!

En fin kväll på Zoo

Det var en fin kväll igår, och jag tog en sväng på Zoologisk Have. Faktiskt ganska fint. Men det blir ännu bättre när den nya elefant-faciliteten blir färdig. Och savannen. Jag ska hälsa så mycket från sengångaren, som hängde 2 meter från mig. Han/hon käkade ett löv.

Buss 6A funkade fint och tog en fin sväng genom centrum. Det kostar 120 DKK att gå in på Zoo. Men om jag bodde här, hade jag köpt ett årskort!

Idag kommer mamma och pappa över en sväng!

Hvalsø

Trevlig grillkväll i Hvalsø igår. Det är varmt nu.

Fråga: hur många sorediekorn ska jag mäta? Jag mäter 10 per individ, men hur många individ?

Weekend in Scania

Search for articles, check citations, etc: Web of Knowledge - ISI.

Lovely, sunny weekend in Skåne. Visited Borstbäcken, Vombsjön, and relaxed at my parents house. My brother beat me in boule (petanque)...

Tivoli

Jag var på Tivoli dag. Idag var första dagen jag slutade jobbet tidigt, dvs klockan fem (var inte sist!). Drog rätt ner till Rådhusplassen, där det just nu pågår fotbollsturnering för hemlösa (något slags VM, alltså). Tog ut pengar, och gick på Tivoli! Mysigt! Där var jättemånga människor. Barnfamiljer, nyförälskade par, tonårsgäng från Malmö, pensionärsgäng, alla möjliga. Och ensamma jag, men det gjorde ingenting. Åt en massa skräpmat och glass. Köpte en souvenir men vann inte någon choklad. Efter några timmar kom regnet, så jag var väl hemma vid åttatiden. Och ganska trött...

Imorgon sticker jag till Flyinge igen, efter jobb på instituttet.

Xanthoria parietina IGS

IGS primer for Xanthoria parietina designed by me (Lindblom & Ekman 2006):

IGSLL2F: 5'-GATTAGTGGCCGCTGGCTAT-3'

Prinsessen på erten

BTW, asking for an extra mattress on top of the hotel bed was a success. Why didn't I do it before? I did it Tuesday, so I have had 5 nights on the incredibly uncomfortable hard bed. And now, two ok nights - no pain!

All over again

I have to set up all sequence reactions all over again, because I had been given an algal primer instead of ITS1f-ITS4... So yesterday afternoon/night I set up 96 reactions, and today I came in early to have a look at them to see if there is any PCR product. I am nervous!

Made some coffee, nobody is here. What am I supposed to do if there is nothing?!

I mitt tillfälliga hem

Hemma på Classensgade igen. Nu med doft-teljus (äpple) tänt. Köpte ett paket på ICA (Bröderna Andersson) i Södra Sandby. Hoppas på mysfaktor och lite bättre lukt i mitt köpenhamnska krypin.

Det var skönt med en tur till Skåne. Fredag var jag på Botaniska museet i Lund. Ska försöka få ihop en epistel om att komma med pågatåget till Lund en solig förmiddag, och funderingarna jag hade över min studenttid och det att komma tillbaka som besökare. Jag flyttade väl ut från Kämnärsvägen våren 1997.

Och så en skön helg i Flyinge med mamma och pappa. Brorsan var också där mycket.

Inatt drömde jag massor.

Thursday night

The first PCRs were crap. But the PCR last night gave superb products! And the one I set up this afternoon, too! Wow, I feel like I never want to stop making PCR reactions! Tonight, we went into herb C to find more material of X. borealis, and tomorrow I will get some collections from herb LD.

And then, I will spend the week-end with my parents in Skåne. In the rain, probably.

So I have to (reluctantly) pack a week-end bag.

I like being here in Copenhagen. It feels like I though it would. If only my legs were better, I want to walk around a lot. But I get tired.

Wonderful Copenhagen?

Vacation is over. Yesterday I traveled to Copenhagen to carry through my SYNTHESYS funded work here at the Dept of Biology.

Det känns ganska konstigt att resa hit. Själva resan är ju inte lång. Och man kommer bara till Danmark. Men det är ändå annorlunda. Språket till exempel. Jag pratar ju ngn konstig slags "svorsk", och den låter hemsk här. Skånska, tja...

Och så måste jag vänja mig vid stället jag bor, och nya matbutiker, hur pengarna ser ut, och nya människor med namn som jag borde lära mig... Och labrutiner som är nästan som hemma, men litegranna annorlunda... Fast det är inte så illa, tror jag. Har satt upp en direkt-PCR och en PCR med en del av de DNA extrakt som jag hade med mig. Gömda i kofferten och modigt släpade med genom tullen, tillsammans med 3 kg lav-kollekter!

Vi hörs!

Holiday

From now, I am officially on holiday, vacation, ferie, semester!

Några visa ord från BIO-info

Minner da bare om den britiske økonomen John Maynard Keynes, som i 1923 advarte mot å planlegge med for stor vekt på ”i det lange løp”:
”Long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.”

(Redaktör för nyhetsbladet BIO-info är J. Giske.)

We went to Tysnes for a couple of days of relaxation and field work. Results are soon available at NLD (NXL).

July 4

14 years ago, I celebrated Independence Day in Denver, Colorado. That was great! My eternal gratitude goes to HMO (nowadays known as HM), who patiently drove the car.

A Man Without a Country, cont.

- A Memoir of Life in George W. Bush's America
By Kurt Vonnegut (2005)

I am reading this book for the 2nd time. The first time was a week or so after Vonnegut died. I went to the library, this book was among the displayed, and I borrowed it since I had never before read or even seen it.

You should check this out.

Chapter 1: As a kid I was the youngest

Vonnegut was the youngest member of his family. He says that the youngest is always a jokemaker, because a joke is the only way to enter the conversation. He then discusses comedy and what is funny and what is not funny. He claims that occasional obscene words are the only shocks he uses. Some things are not funny, for example there is not one funny thing about Auschwitz. On the other hand, total catastrophes can be very amusing. For example the Lisbon earthquake, as showed by Voltaire (I have read this, maybe 15 years ago, and I cannot remember one detail!)

He then goes on to discuss that humor is almost a physiological response to fear. The text ends with a story from the bombing of Dresden. You will have to read it for yourself. It teaches me something about being a human being and having a sense of humor.


Chapter 2: Do you know what a twerp is?

If you have not read the greatest American short story ”Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, V. considers you a twerp. The chapter starts with the definition of the term. All great literature is about what a bummer it is to be a human being. See list of Vonnegut’s examples of great literature.

As far as V. is concerned, evolution can og to hell! ”What a mistake we are”, he says. Because we are trying to wreck our planet. But he also defends humankind: everybody just got here, and the crazymaking games were already going on.

He goes on to discuss socialism in America, which is quite an interesting issue. Among other things, many American socialists were freshwater people (like V.). Then he tells about becoming a writer in a family of artists and about instead of writing for money writing about the 1945 bombing of Dresden in Germany (”Slaughterhouse Five”, 1968). ”You know, the truth can be really powerful stuff.”


Chapter 3: Here is a lesson in creative writing

1st rule: Do not use semicolons. From here, V. will tell us when he is kidding…

He writes about What Art Is. And he explains his system of the G-I axis (good fortune – ill fortune). It is exemplified with ”The Man in Hole Story”, ”Boy Meets Girl”, ”Cinderella”, and ”The Kafka Story”. The Question posed: Does this system V. have devised help us in the evaluation of literature?

”Hey, what was the good news and what was the bad news?”


Chapter 4: I’m going to tell you some news

This is a piece about smoking and fossil fuels.

V. chain-smoked unfiltered Pall Malls, starting when he was 12 years old. When he wrote this text, he was 82. And for many years the company had promised to kill him, right on the cigarette package! He was planning to sue them for breaking their promise…


Chapter 5: Okay, now let’s have some fun

Let’s talk about sex.

What do women want?
What do men want?
Why are so many people getting divorced today?

The answer is that most of us don’t have an extended family anymore.

A husband, a wife, and some kids is a terribly vulnerable survival unit, not a family. An extended family is a large group of people that can be called on for help. I’ve been having some similar thoughts lately, however, they are approaching the theme from another angle. The national state is a too large unit, for example there are ca 4,5 million citizens in Norway and ca 9 million citizens in Sweden. I believe in smaller units, like counties (e.g. Scania) or even tribes (100-200 people living close to each other). Then, humans are able to care for each other and know each other.


Chapter 6: I have been called a Luddite

”We are here on Earth to fart around. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.”

This is an enjoyable, warm, hilarious, giggling, enlightened piece about technology as ”newfangled contraptions”. Electronic devices that turn us into dancing animals. How beautiful it is to get up and go out and do something.

”Like posting a letter, with stamps!”

(BTW: A Luddite is - hmhm, they destroyed machines, and I will tell you the rest tomorrow!)


Chapter 7: I turned eighty-two on November 11, 2004

What’s it like? To be so old? And, what’s life about? One of V’s sons has one answer.

But, music is always wonderful. And it makes us like life better. To deal with depression, music works! By playing and singing the blues, ”Old Man Suicide” could be shooed away by slaves in the era of slavery in North America.

After this point, I think that V’s text dwindles and consists of several digressions. Wise words, yes, but I can’t follow any consistent line or thread of thoughts. I think that a major point might be to compare the society today with the world of yesterday. And this might be one answer to what’s it like to be old…


Chapter 8: Do you know what a humanist is?

V educates us about being a humanist. He was, btw, Honorary President of the American Humanist Association as the successor to Isaac Asimov. In Norway, there is Humanetisk Forbund with Åse Kleveland as the new President. I do not know what the Swedish equivalent might be.

V explains why you shouldn’t aim to be a guesser but that if you are using the knowledge available to educated persons you are probably going to be very lonesome…

He explains why he is a man without a country – as the book title says. He seems to have lost all faith in the human race. And the most he can give us is a modern hero: Ignaz Semmelweis. If you are a biologist, you have heard about this obstetrician before. If not - learn the story! However, the guessers won again.

If there’s anything the guessers hate, it’s a wise human. ”So be one anyway. Save our lives and your lives, too. Be honorable.” V says.


Chapter 9: Do unto others

Good people: Jesus, Confucius, Mark (V’s son the doctor), Eugene Debs…

The most scary reality show that V could imagine: ”C-students from Yale”!

There are so many psychopathic personalities (PPs). And they have taken charge of the U.S.A. But the librarians resist, and hence, V is a man without a country, except for the librarians!


Chapter 10: A sappy woman from Ypsilanti

V was sappy too: A lifelong northern Democrat in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt tradition, a friend of the working stiffs.

This is a chapter on some of the letters that V had received, including some answers to them.


Chapter 11: Now then, I have some good news

…and some bad…

I convey this text as a typical V novel, in just 7 pages. With all his trade marks, like extraterrestrial beings and a telephone call from Kilgore Trout. V claims to be working on a novel with the working title If God Were Alive Today. V gives us an epitaph: ”The good Earth – we could have saved it, but we were too damn cheap and lazy”.


Chapter 12: I used to be the owner and manager of an automobile dealership

It was called Saab Cape Cod. (Btw, I visited Cape Cod in 1995.)

V claims to believe that his failure as as dealer of Swedish cars so long ago explains why the Swedes never gave him a Nobel Prize for Literature! (Which would otherwise remain a deep mystery.)

As the old Norwegian proverb goes: ”Swedes have short dicks and long memories.” (I have lived in Norway since 1998, and never heard this! There might be several reasons why…)

V explains technical stuff about the Saab cars of those times, constructed by aeroplane engineers.

Then, he is back writing about jokes and humor (compare chapter 1). Then again, some autobiographical remarks, and he urges us to please note when we are happy!

---

I don’t know if www.vonnegut.com is up again, but some of the artwork appearing in the book might be there. The home page is there!

Facebook

My feelings for facebook were adequately summed up by PhD comics today!

Chaos and order in teaching and research

Chaos and order in teaching and research
By Jan-Eric Mattsson & Håkan Lättman

Read: June 22 2007.

The full reference to this article is: Mattsson JE, Lättman H. 2004. Chaos and order in teaching and research. Acta Univ. Ups. Symb. Bot. Ups. 34(1), 245-255. This particular volume of the monographical series was dedicated to Prof. Leif Tibell on his 60th birthday.

The authors state in the abstract that in the article they present experiences from teaching evolution and a program for further course development, leading on to a discussion. Also, they present data from different lichen studies in order to stimulate the generative reflection of the reader. Finally, possible interpretations and ideas of forthcoming projects are presented.

I have read it. I understand most of it. I can not find any ideas for forthcoming projects, and I am mostly irritated by the language, it is much too complicated for me. This is the nth time I have read it. One idea from this article, I have used over the past few years in my teaching is the idea of chaos as a starting point for the studnet in order to be inspired, think, and create order to gain knowledge. I realise that I am writing this too complicated, but, who cares?!

A man without a country

A man without a country
By Kurt Vonnegut (2005)

I am reading this book for the 2nd time. The first time a week or so after Vonnegut died. I went to the library, this book was among the displayed, and I borrowed it since I had never before read or even seen it.

Chapter 1: As a kid I was the youngest

Vonnegut was the youngest member of his family. He says that the youngest is always a jokemaker, because a joke is the only way to enter the conversation. He then discusses comedy and what is funny and what is not funny. He claims that occasional obscene words are the only shocks he uses. Some things are not funny, for example there is not one funny thing about Auschwitz. On the other hand, total catastrophes can be very amusing. For example the Lisbon earthquake, as showed by Voltaire (I have read this, maybe 15 years ago, and I cannot remember one detail!)

He then goes on to discuss that humor is almost a physiological response to fear. The text ends with a story from the bombing of Dresden. You will have to read it for yourself. It teaches me something about being a human being and having a sense of humor.

No 2

The letter with the committee's ranking (see 13 June and 24 January) arrived today. I was ranked no 2...

This is my note from January:
"Among other things, I am writing an application to this position:
http://melding.uib.no/doc/Ledige_stillinger/1167901095.html
...another one in the chain of positions I won't get to inhabit..."

I feel happy for the person who is no 1, I really do.

But I also feel a bit disappointed, and tired right now.

Another 'kronikk'

This time, my former office mate wrote a 'kronikk' in Aftenposten. Way to go, girl!

DNA extraction

Today, I used Qiagen's TissueLyser for the first time. It was great, extracting DNA from 192 samples at a time (minus 4 "blind samples"). I do hope that the DNA is ok, but I think so. Lobaria pulmonaria is usually not difficult. Thanks to Heidi, who trained me today!

Bra, tack!

Yes, the interview was ok. Seven people were interviewing, incl the three from the comittee. But it felt safe. My presentation (15 min) went well, I think.

And I hear that all three candidates performed well.

Now, we just wait patiently.

Radio silence

From now and until Wednesday, this blog is positively silent.

Here is an interesting Skåne blog.

Too hot...

och jag måste gå och handla! Kom igen nu, ta på sandalerna och gå! Var är H? I Hardanger... Måste hitta på någon god middag. Och efterrätt. Och hitta energi. Har inte lust att göra någonting alls. Om bara 12 juni var över...

SYNTHESYS

I forgot to tell:
I received a grant from SYNTHESYS, to visit the Taxonomic Access Facility (TAF) in Copenhagen!

Yeah, almost forgot: the Living on the edge project was submitted, on Tuesday...

I need a phix, 'cause I'm going down...

Submission to Fribio (Norwegian Research Council) - CHECK! (proposed project PHIX)

Submission to HavKyst (Norwegian Research Council) - tomorrow... (proposed project MARLICH)

...down to the bits that I left uptown...

I'm on Facebook...

...and I'm confused...

The Art of Problem Posing

The Art of Problem Posing
By Stephen I. Brown & Marion I. Walter
(3d. ed) Review
Läst den 31 maj 2007.

I början tyckte jag att det var svårt att hänga med. Jag blev dessutom lite rädd när jag såg att det skulle handla så mycket om matematik (senare lärde jag mig begreppet math anxiety).

Men mycket snart, redan när jag läste x2 + y2 = c2 på sidan 12, och funderade över ”What are some answers?”, och faktiskt förstod att Pythagoras var inblandad, började skräcken ge vika för nyfikenheten. Det blev så, att jag genom hela boken åtminstone försökte förstå problemen, och hitta lösningar / utföra uppgifterna författarna gav! Jag klarade ju naturligtvis inte av alla…

Jag lärde mig vad en isosceles triangel är. Den termen kan jag inte minnas att vi lärde oss i skolan (liksidig?). Jag kom ihåg vad Pythagoras sats innebär, och de avsnitt som handlar om den, tyckte jag var spännande. I kapitel 4 försökte jag jämföra olika metoder och känna efter vilken som jag gillade mest. Det hade varit kul att försöka sig på datorprogrammet som de skriver om.

Men det allra roligaste att läsa om Fibonacci-sekvenser och relaterade saker! Jag ska sätta mig ner med den delen av boken igjen, och leka med talen!

Kapitel 7 Student as author and critic var verkligen himla inspirerande! Jag fick lust att konstruera en ny kurs med en gång. Det ska jag inte göra, men om det visar sig vara möjligt, kommer jag att prova åtminstone en anpassad variant.

T.A.L.M.U.D.-varianten förstod jag inte helt.

Eftersom jag i stort sett sträckläste boken, tänker jag läsa en del passager igen. En del av texten kan vara intressant att läsa efter att idéerna har fått mogna i min skalle.

Mitt favoritcitat just nu hittas i på sidan 168 i kapitel 8 Conclusions: ”…not only provides an atmosphere of for encouraging problem generation, but fosters a spirit of adventure, intellectual excitement, and group unity as well.” och, allra viktigast:

”Problem generation has the potential to redefine in a radical way who it is that is in charge of one’s education.”

L.

A writing day at home

I am staying at home today. I want to write: One of the applications needs to be finished, and the article with JE needs something. And I need to rest...

These are my two applications for the NFR this year: 1) PHIX, 2) MARLICH.

These are my three publications in May: 1) Äntligen - ett skånskt nyfynd av fjällig vägglav! (Lavbulletinen), 2) New evidence corroborates population differentiation in Xanthoria parietina (Lichenologist), 3) Økologisk krise langs kysten (BT).

Sitting in the sofa with the door to the balkony open, I just heard the cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)!!!

A chronicle featuring lichens

was published in Bergens Tidende (BT), our daily paper, today.
Of course, the part about lichens had to be disguised in something that hopefully appeals to the general public!

BTW, I had so much fun writing it!

Storvreta

A posting from Storvreta, N of Uppsala. Enjoying life.

Teaching yesterday was great. Discussing research project and 'doctoral strategy' with H and JE was inspiring and fruitful. Relaxing at A and JE's house is great. Tonight, we are invited to W and S for dinner and socialising. I will rest now for a couple of minutes, then I have to dress.

Södertörn university college

Here I come! One week teaching, project work with the team, and week-ending. I hope that this terrible cold will end before the flight tomorrow - otherwise, my ears will hurt like...

The project concerns genetic variability etc in Hypogymnia physodes (and H. tubulosa). I hope that we will succeed in finishing the analyses and write up the paper asap. But I must not and cannot forget the NFR deadline June 6. And, a couple of days ago, the Cliostomum article was submitted!

I am in bed, trying to rest, trying to recover. At 1900 the board (?) of the "Norsk-Svensk förening i Bergen" will meet here, and I am so tired. (And lonely, because H is away, at a meeting in Sandefjord. And he won't come home in time to see me before I leave for Sweden...)

Økologisk krise på kysten

Ti uker etter «Server»-forliset var mange bukter og viker fremdeles svarte av oljesøl i Øygarden. Ryddegjenger har ikke kunnet gjøre helt rent. Vil naturen klare å ta hånd om resten selv?

I wrote a so-called kronikk and submitted it to Bergens Tidende. It seems that they do not want to print it. I have to consider to send it elsewhere. Perhaps it will fit here in the "Biodiversity..." blog?!

I'll never use this word again...

...douchebag!

Post-travel

I traveled to Sweden to meet one of my very best friends. We had a delightful long week-end, wonderful. It's good to be back, to be home, though. The sun is shining. But... all my worries, and writing that has to be done, and thinking, and etc... Well, I am tired now. And I must buy some food for tonight. And...

Heia BRANN

Kära Bengt Sæternes,
jag hade slutat tro på dig, och jag ber om förlåtelse! Jag var en stor fan, länge, men din måltorka... ja ja ja... Så sent som imorse trackade jag dig för att du sa att du "prioriterar familjen" i en intervju. Men just precis nu, efter fyra (4) FYRA snygga mål mot Vålerenga, vill jag säga: Förlåt mig!
Kram,
Louise

Himmel over Bergen

The view from our balkony yesterday. It looked more dramatic irl, though.
The black silhouette is one of the "seven mountains" (syv fjell) that surrounds Bergen, called Løvstakken. This part, more specifically, is called Gullstølen.

Books

Today, I gave a couple of books to the book shop called Norli here in Bergen. The World Book Day will be on April, 23, and they will sell books for charity.

Here are some other book recommendations from the last week:

John Sutherland: How to Read a Novel. A User's Guide. Profile Books, Great Britain.
Melanie Falick: Weekend knitting. Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York.
Mike Tidewell: In the Mountains of Heaven.
Kurt Vonnegut: a man without a country. Bloomsbury.

... and last but not least: Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-five.

I started to note all books I read in a book in early 2004, and it is good, really.

Vonnegut

Listen, the bird left his cage.

Wiki:
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) (pronounced [ˈvɑ.nə.gət]) was an American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973).
Vonnegut reportedly smoked Pall Mall cigarettes, unfiltered, which he claimed is a "classy way to commit suicide."

I see that in Sweden, the label cynical is sometimes put on him. He was not.
http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1353&a=638267

...last sentence of "Slaughterhouse 5", the bird asks "Poo-tee-weet?"

Miljø 2015

"Everybody" is talking about the latest announcement of the Norwegian Research Council, and working on their applications. Deadline April, 18. Yes, I will participate as a partner in one of them.

...and don't forget:
Deadline for bids to Malmö Frimärkehandel's auction is next Thursday, at 1800!

Glad Påsk!

Minus: Snö, regn, kyla...
Plus: Godis, mat, stickning, läsning, filateli!!!

From my msn group (Lavgruppen)

I wrote this last year:
"Den 20 och 21 mars i år var jag i Lund och höll två föredrag på universitetet. Den 20 fick jag skjuts av pappa, och han hämtade mig också på Ekologihuset när jag var klar. Den 21, på tisdagen, lånade jag bilen, och körde själv in till sta'n. När jag var klar med föredrag och besök på Botaniska museet någon gång på eftermiddagen, passade jag på att köra in på den gatan jag och mitt ex bodde på de sista åren vi bodde i Lund (ca 1991-1997?). Den var inte enkelriktad längre, men jag körde ändå så som man skulle köra då, på den tiden. Och så parkerade jag bilen och gick en runda och såg upp på balkongen och vardagsrumsfönstret, lägenheten ligger på 3e våningen. Mycket var sig likt, och en del var olikt runt husen. Jag kollade in cykelstället där jag ställde cykeln varje dag när jag kom hem, det var sig likt. Det såg fint ut. Vad var det jag sökte? En känsla, av vemod kanske. Eller nostalgi. Men det hände ingenting inuti mig - jag kände ingenting. Snopet. Men efteråt, när jag satte mig i bilen och körde hem, tyckte jag nog att det var bra. Jag är färdig. Jag är en annan nu. Efter allt som hände åren 1998-2002 har jag blivit bättre på att gå vidare med livet. Jag kan koncentrera mig på det som händer just nu, och vem jag är nu. Det är inte så pjåkigt, va!"

OBS! "Efter allt som hände åren 1998-2002 har jag blivit bättre på att gå vidare med livet." Det betyder ju inte att jag alltid klarar det!

Darrell Wright

Following message arrived from Bill Hill this morning.

"I am sad to announce that Darrell Wright, one of the founders of the California Lichen Society and its first Editor of the Bulletin, passed away at his home in Greytown, New Zealand in the afternoon of Saturday, March 24, 2007, after suffering a relapse of cancer which was thought to be in remission in January of this year. This news was conveyed to me by his wife Janet Collinson, whom he had met online when he was living in Arcata CA, and who has been his life companion ever since. Darrell grew up in San Anselmo in Marin County and for years, once he was excited by lichens, scoured the County on weekend lichen jaunts and had probably the most thorough collection and survey of Marin County lichens as anyone. Besides the excitement of discovery and study of lichens in his newfound home in New Zealand with Janet, he was in the process of writing a Lichen Flora of Marin County, a work which will have to be completed by others now. He was also fascinated by the genus Usnea, he had written a synoptic key in FoxPro for Bryoria, and was an advocate of "fingerprinting" lichen species by their chromatograms.
He was a dedicated and enthusiastic lichenologist, first in California, and later in larger circles. We will all miss him greatly."

I never met him, but I know him, because we described a new lichen species together. It was initially called The Mystery Lichen by the people in the Californian Lichen Society, who first discovered it. Darrell and me described it in 2004 and named it Xanthoria pollinarioides in the second volume of the Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. The name was suggested by him, and it fits the lichen perfectly, I think.

I will remember him as a very friendly person who cared for details. Here is something he wrote in one of the emails during that period:
“Xanthoria parietina is certainly weedy here in NZ. I suppose if it was not reported by the early explorers that that would argue for its having been introduced since their time, although, if they do report it, that would not say much about its origin. It might then have been introduced by Captain Cook!”

Wilmer

The Scanian (Malmoe) rock band Wilmer X started in 1978, and was originally called Wilmer Pitt. The name was changed in 1980, when the slightly disturbing word Pitt was replaced with a more versatile X. I would say that the peak of the band's career was in the eighties. Some of my favorite songs are: Vild, Vem är den flickan, Säj din mamma & din pappa, Kör dej död, Om en hund mådde såhär, and so on.
The band has connections with legendary Scanian music profiles, Torsson and Peps. Nowadays, I guess that their history is over. And, presumably, noone in Norway has ever heard about Nisse, Jalle and the other boys in Wilmer...

Assymetry and chaos

OK, so I'll go on with just this blog: "kaos och asymmetri", as it was commented.

A first

Yesterday, for the first time, I reviewed for a scientific journal with a journal impact factor above 4! I was relieved when I received (confidentially) the other two reviewers' comments today, and found that we all pretty much agreed! Wow!

Academic life

"Vad i detta kan du påverka till 100%?”

appr. "What about it can you influence a 100%?"

In this process of writing applications, reviews, papers and things:
I guess, that the only thing I really can influence is my own performance...

... and my performance, is, I guess, adequate and "good enough" from a coaching perspective.

This is what I ought to do:

Split this blog into two: One for personal stuff, one for fungal and scientific stuff. Why is it so hard?

Happy Birthday

Today, I have been present on Earth for 39 years. I will celebrate by taking a walk in the sunny chilly winter weather and buying cake for me and my lovely darling.

Happy week-end!

Searching blogs for Xanthoria

Sorry, Abigail this is not Xanthoria borealis! In fact, it is Xanthoria parietina. Additionally, while Xanthoria borealis belongs to the genus Xanthomendoza, and therefore is Xanthomendoza borealis, Xanthoria pariteina belongs to Xanthoria sensu stricto.

I demand

Ok, so you may think that I am demanding quite a lot of myself. But I can comfort you; I expect more of people around me!

Kicked out?

Rumours that I will soon have to move out of the office that I am sharing with a postgrad here. I hate rumours!

Submitted the application for the Milde job. Feels good to get rid of it.

Now: must focus on the two articles that I must focus on.

Sällan

Hm, jag skriver så sällan här, så jag kommer inte ens ihåg vilket språk jag brukar skriva på. Sorgligt. Just nu är jag inne i en övergångsfas, och försöker vänja mig vid att vara "arbetslös".

Among other things, I am writing an application to this position:
http://melding.uib.no/doc/Ledige_stillinger/1167901095.html
...another one in the chain of positions I won't get to inhabit...

2007 - fresh

I år är målet:

1. Lyssna mer på musik
2. Vara vänligare (mot världen, människorna och mig själv)
3. Äta ordentligt
4. Fortsätta träna


Hur har det gått såhär långt?
1. Var och tittade/lyssnade på ny stereo i dag (Hifiklubben). Vad tror vi om en Denon DM33? Men jag tror att det får blir Dali-högtalarna istället för Argon, som ingår i det billigaste paketet…; 2. Tja, får nog jobba hårt; 3. Ja, och de senaste dagarna har jag börjat känna mig hungrigare – bra; 4. Jadå – Isabell kommer att hålla mig igång! I går fick jag nya övningar för armarna (aj!), och jag har lagt på vikt på alla bengrejorna.

Jag har precis sett en visstund med Lena Nyman, Rune Andersson och Bernt Egerbladh på TV, och nu är det Eric Gadd. Bra. Mer musik. Och där kom Leonard Cohen (NRK2)...

I am number one...

...on the waiting list of Norwegian Research Council!!!
(Which, of course, does not mean anything, more that that I am NUMBER ONE!

"din søknad er ikke innstilt til bevilgning, men står på førsteplass på ventelisten. Dette betyr at hvis noen trekker seg vil du rykke opp. Vi er nå i kontraktsfasen,og det ser ikke ut som noen vil avstå fra bevilgningen de har fått."