The end of an era

I’ve been doing Iron Blogger, in one form or another, for almost two years now. That’s over a hundred weeks of posts, with a few misses here and there, paid for in beer. I try to make each post substantive, meaningful to someone, even if just to me.

With the approaching end of Iron Blogger, I can already feel myself slipping out of the habit. That’s okay. Sometimes one needs to prioritize other things. I hope my small cadre of quiet readers will not be too disappointed if posting becomes more sporadic around here.

That said, here’s a roundup of my last few weeks:

• I went to AdaCamp. It was pretty spectacular. I’m not sure what my expectations were, as AdaCamp is strict about privacy - one reason why I’m not doing a full blog post on the experience - but they were definitely surpassed. I’ve never been to a conference that so thoroughly laid out a policy of inclusion and respect, and it made the atmosphere special. I can’t begin to recount the dozens of conversations I had on topics ranging from journal access to work-life balance to data security to the stigma of emotionality to government transparency to fanfiction. I also can’t wait for next year.
• I made a children’s book for my favorite three year old. I can’t link the full thing because in my rush to get it done, I used some pictures I don’t have the license for, but here’s the covers and first two pages.
• I have a busy extended weekend ahead. There’s an OpenHatch event at Northeastern I’ll be running, the Center for Civic Media’s hack day, and next Monday and Tuesday, Software Carpentry’s Women in Science and Engineering bootcamp, where I’ll be a volunteer instructor. I plan on doing absolutely nothing on Wednesday. Well, I might eat some frozen yogurt.
• Our softball game on Monday was interrupted by lightning. The collective intelligence of two softball teams worth of MIT graduate students decided to play through. Or perhaps I should say the collective impatience? I have no regrets. I hit three for four and made a clutch out in the bottom of the last inning.
• I did some subbing at Parts & Crafts, which has got me all jazzed up about summer camp. This year I’m teaching during Girls’ Week and during a special collaboration week with the Harvard Museum of Natural History. I’m thinking of making a lego Difference Engine during Girls’ Week, inspired by a recent read. Suggestions of bug, botany, and archaeology-related activities for the Museum Week are very welcome.