It felt really good to go over hurdles. My body remembers how to do it. The hurdles were so low it threw me off a little bit. The second time I tried to three step my acceleration was off and I led right. Consciously but without decision I shortened my stride into a four step and took the second hurdle well, something that was instinctive 15 years ago but that surprised me today.

The 300 times are disappointing. That would be a really nice 400 time. I think realistic goals at this point are 19 seconds in the 110 and 1:20 in the 400. If I do a 300 and come in under a minute I should be satisfied. But I don't think I will be. I'd like to pick up right where I left off.

Julie and I went to Claire's second birthday party this evening. Reuben took a lot of photos of her opening presents, but what was really fun was the reactions she would occasionally have. I think a camcorder set up and running would capture those funny moments without getting in the way of the moment. Something to remember.

After a well-behaved trip to the dog park with Moxie and Keely, I spent a good part of the day working in the yard between thunderstorms.

LCA

PCA

TREES
Throw in a set of 'predictor' variables and an outcome variable. The software runs through each of the variables with different dichotomous cutpoints and chooses the variable and cutpoint that creates the largest difference in mean outcome between each branch. This process is repeated (independently) in each branch, and continues until you run out of variables or branch size reaches a specified minimum. Conditional tree analysis generates p values for each branching.

I'm really disappointed with myself. I did some work on the weekend and Monday evening, but most of it was work work, with the excuse that I have to do it before I leave for Alabama Thursday, so it really doesn't affect the time I have to allot to the grant. True, but there's something to be said for spreading this paper out. Anyhow, that's not the problem. The problem is the first 14 weeks of class during which I did not work on this. The problem is that I don't set aside time on a recurring basis. The problem is that I procrastinate.

I've been quite energetic the past few days. I have a million things to do instead of the grant. Important things like tearing open the rotting elm stump in the back to see what critters live inside. Important things like figuring out the phone. Sigh.

Oh, one more thing. I'm resigned to turning in a mediocre paper. No problem. But I'm still stressed, as evidenced by the fact that I was clenching my teeth at night.

One more thing. Alabama is in two days, and over the weekend I was looking for reasons not to go. It's too nice, too many yard projects while the ground is moist, the seedlings aren't planted... I was also trying to come up with plans to leave Alabama early next week This is how I always am - looking for reasons to bail out or return early. I wonder if I will be reluctant to leave once I'm there. That's often the case - once I'm there I want to stay. I didn't want to go to Florida, but I could have stayed another two weeks easily. But sometimes not, like the South Dakota trip or when I was sick at Tettegouche. Is it easier to be gone in the winter? Is it easier to relax when you know your flight is on a certain date? Dunno.

Stop procrastinating and write this grant!

[Mayday parade]

Spring returned just in time for the Mayday parade. Every year it seems I decide it is a priority to go, but I have some Very Important Projects that I need to do, so I want to keep it short. Therefore I go about an hour after it starts and walk counter current so that I can see it in a short amount of time.

On the one hand that is a very practical approach. On the other hand, it makes it a fun think to check off my to-do list rather than a vacationy experience. Some day I would like to stick around for the ceremony. I haven't dedicated that much time since I was a kid. LOSER!

I spent the morning in the dust and mold of the arrowhead collection, seem to have wasted time in the early afternoon, went to the Blue Door for the Longfellow Blucy, and then wasted time until I went to bed. In other words, I didn't work on the grant project.

Seminar today was David Shoham (Loyola): Insights into childhood obesity using social network analysis and agent-based models

Reasons for correlation within social networks

• Exogenous / Shared environment


• Correlation / Homophily


• Endogenous / Contagion

I spoke to him briefly afterwards, and he's interested in the Box Lunch data. Unlike what he used, it is a trial, and it is also among adults. I don't know if our network data is adequate.

[Downtown obscured by snow]

I took the new phone to the river this morning and was playing with it at the beach. Keely saw it in my hand and charged me. She figured I would throw the phone into the river for her. She's having a hard time with it.

Iphra had an interesting presentation about delay discounting in class. Her model's two predictors of discounting were parental investment and religion. I wonder if religion is something we should be asking about in studies - it seems like a possibly great proxy for many things.

5/1 - MAYDAY
2.5 sets isometrics
1 set plyometrics
1 accel

I was late this morning because I dropped a May basket at my mother's, but everyone else was later. I set out three baskets before Sarah, Nola and Sarah got in.

[Maybaskets]

4/30
Rest

Nola gave me Dr. Crow's Galaxy phone. It's quite fancy, but I'm not able to connect it to transfer files between it and the computer. Otherwise it seems great.

4/29
3x 400m at 1:20
2x plyometrics

This was the first stretching session that felt good. Either I'm getting looser as I exercise more or the near 80 temperature did it.

I finally signed up for the Zap bicycle commuter program todya. Just in time to seem like a fair-weather cyclist. I hope the tags work after being broken off, since I think I deserve credit for rollerblading.

This morning I was thinking of what to say in my performance evaluation (which was postponed) and came up with a new analogy about my critical side. I've thought of myself as being particularly good at spotting flaws and pointing them out. Now I'm thinking of myself like a jeweler. Sure, I'll tell you there's a flaw in something. But there is another set of weaknesses caused by the structure of the crystal. The jeweler's job is to use those weaknesses to reveal the light and beauty.

How is this like me? I'm always seeing things to cut out of databases as superfluous, that don't add to the beauty. Similarly with bikes - I want to take away any unnecessary moving parts to leave a simpler and cleaner form. Streamline.

I presented at the Obesity Prevention Center work group today. I showed some information from Take Action and then talked about the grant proposal I'm working on for class. Not bad, but I felt like I didn't really lead them along in my ideas.