Monday Funnies

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After much consideration of the amount of time I had available to prepare blogs, as well as what direction I wished to take this blog when The Guide is finished, I have decided to change up the posting schedule.  I had the great good fortune to attend LibertyCon this past weekend in Chattanooga this past weekend.  I participated on Science panels, spoke at length with many authors, and with the inestimable Pete Abrams, creator of the long-running "Sluggy Freelance" webcomic (http://www.sluggy.com).  Among other things we spoke of science and webcomics.  It occurred to me that this blog would be a good place to link to stuff that makes me laugh  - as a Scientist!

The Classic example of Science Humor is the sadly no-longer-drawn Far Side comic.  Gary Larson just had a way of poking fun at Science and Scientists while still capturing the essence of what makes us tick.  It is still around in calendars, web links and taped to walls of student cubicles and academic offices!

For today, I'd like to link to PhD Comics.  "Piled Higher and Deeper" is a phrase quite often used to describe the futility and absurdity of advanced degrees.  Jorge Cham's main characters suffer many of the indignities that we all faced in grad school - the distant professor, the unappreciative undergrads, and misunderstanding public.  One of my favorite comics describes the "Science News Cycle" (link below) that shows how a grad student's statistical correlation turns into sensational news.  Many of us have been there.  We have a love/hate relationship with the press and the public.  Everyone *needs* to know what we discover, but few of us can have the expository genius of an Isaac Asimov or a Carl Sagan - or even a Jorge Cham. 

It's funny - to us at least.  I hope it's funny to you as well!

So - for the inaugural "Monday Funnies"

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1174

Enjoy (and don't blame *me* if you lose sleep reading the archives!)