Other Interests

Animal Training

Until I started to study vision, my career goal was to train exotic animals (think whales, lions, eagles... oh my?). To prepare for a career in animal behavior I volunteered at zoos and nature parks, and learned all I could about animal cognition. I now want to pursue academia and science, but there are days when I miss hanging out with animals.

Three tips: Consistency is key. Use positive reinforcement by adding a treat or praise to encourage good behavior. When necessary, use positive punishment by saying "no" to discourage bad behavior that's occurred within the last 5 seconds.

Book recommendation: Don't Shoot the Dog.

Reading (the hobby, not the city)

As a child I read books voraciously. Roald Dahl's fiction was an early favorite. One of my few memories I recall from before age 6 was sitting on a porch under the broad, shady leaves of a banana tree, blitzing my way through Matilda.

I don't have many books on my bookshelf. Before you judge me, know that I still love books but I have this thing about not hoarding stuff so that when I move to another state I can pack lightly. Furthermore, when I start to read a book I have immense difficulty focusing on anything else until I've finished it, so I allow myself to read books only when I know I can spare a few days not doing much else. Unfortunately, this rarely happens.

Fortunately, I do often find myself with a half hour of free time. I enjoy reading longform journalism or other interesting things. If you're like me, you'll enjoy these sources:

• longform.org for excellent journalism pieces
• Metafilter for learning and discussion
• Information is Beautiful for inspiring data visualization
• 3 quarks daily for a daily dose of nifty
• Delanceyplace for eclectic excerpts from non-fiction books

Factoids, Advice, and Word Vomit

• Drowning doesn't look like drowning.
• Sharks are neat freakin' awesome animals because some are viviparous (they give birth to live young), some are oviparous (they lay eggs), but most are ovoviviparous (there is an egg that hatches inside the mother before the baby shark swims out).
• Mammals are warm-blooded, breathe air with lungs, have mammary glands, give birth to live young, and have hair. Dolphins and whales are mammals. Hair, you ask incredulously? Baby whales and dolphins have little whiskers around their rostrum, the nose-like area above their mouths. Like a mustache. Stupid hipster dolphins.
• As a general rule, bargain. For everything from your cell phone bill to furniture.
• Embrace your inner nerd. I did! And now I'm in grad school and I'm absolutely rolling in money.

Web Design

Now before all you real web designers and graphic artists get your panties in a bunch, you should know I do not at all consider myself a "website designer." All my designs are static and non-interactive and boring. This is just something I've done in the past and continue to enjoy doing. I was a pretty nerdy 12-year-old who decided one day to learn HTML so I could make a website about killer whales. True story.

So no, I'm not a designer. But I've made some websites. Many of them no longer on the internet. I'm that old, guys.

• Perception, Attention & Control Lab - my previous lab.
• Becky & Eric get Married - for a friend. My first ever attempt at CSS. Oof.

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[ updated 8/6/2011 ]