In the home stretch of grad school. This semester is all about preparing an e-portfolio that satisfies 14 professional competencies (replaces the gawdawful papers they used to make everyone write). Next week I also start an internship at the Chabot Space & Science Center, digitizing their collection of over 1,000 glass plate dry collodion negatives from several eclipse expeditions in the 1890's. Cool stuff.

A cunning law of nature dictates that if a smoke detector is to go off due to a cobweb or speck of dust, it will occur between the hours of 1 and 3 a.m. The one outside my bedroom door erupted at exactly 1.08. Luckily I had earplugs within reach (which means, I guess, that I should thank the nitwit kid next door who decided to have a raucous party on Saturday night), so I was able to get at the smoke detector with a Swiffer duster and a can of compressed air without my eardrums actually bursting. Of course, after it's all over your nerves are so jangled there's not a chance in hell of ever getting back to sleep, no matter how tired you are.

Best Show on TV: Dirty Jobs