Who Are You, Dear Readers?
Reader demographics for the previous 100 visitors to this site.
I love looking at my stat meter, mostly because I am intensely curious to know who reads my blog and what country you are from. I know that I have a fair number of regular readers, most of whom lurk, never commenting and never sending email to me. Since I will be leaving this blog at the end of the month and moving to a new, more professional, site, I want you to come with me to that new site, and of course, I want it to be a success. So I am curious, who are you, dear readers? Where are you from? Why do you read my humble blog? What topics do you like most, and what topics would you like to read more about? What else would you like to tell me that might help me improve my blog? You can, of course, send these comments to me in email, but I prefer that you comment here so other people can also read what you have to say, and therefore might be encouraged to add their comments, too.
I also want to remind you that comments are currently on email moderation as a precaution against William, the spam-meister, and his ilk, which means that there will be a delay between the time you post your comments and the time until they appear, but don't let that discourage you.
© 2004, 2005, 2006 by GrrlScientist
posted by GrrlScientist at
08:46
14 Peer Reviews:
Grrl Sc.:
So I am uncloaking per your request: male; age 56; lawyer with commercial law firm in Houston; undergraduate geology major; childhood beachcomber at Clearwater Beach, Florida; long-term amateur student of silicified trilobite parts from Upper Ordovician limestones of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, with attention also to the associated ostracoda, bryozoa, mollusca, sponge spicules and the like; twice-a-year traveler to Florida for meetings of the Florida Paleontological Society to go on field trips to Pleistocene-to-Eocene fossil outcrops, where I see the ancestors of what I collected as a kid along the Florida Gulf along with nifty, extinct invertebrates; active in two land trusts protecting coastal prairie around Houston and high desert in Central Oregon; butterfly- and birdwatcher; divorced from wife who got sick of competing with all the other interests and activities; found my way here through the good offices of Pharyngula et al.
I don't remember how I found you, myabe through blogger or maybe following a trail on my statcounter... but I read you in my bloglines rss aggregator, and I've added you new home to it so that I can continue to enjoy Birds in the News and all the other random and not so random bits.
I spotted a Carolina Wren at my feeder yesterday, but now I'm not so sure as the bird book says they only eat insects.
Alright... you know my name, and you may have looked at my IP or read snippets I've posted on Pharyngula, but still: I'm male, I'm 17, I live in Singapore, I'm about to finish college (don't ask) and start grad school in the US, I found your blog via Pharyngula, and I read it mostly because I find the parts about your life, adjuncting, and New York interesting. If I'm not mistaken, the post of yours that lured me was Scammed.
Well, Hedwig, you know that I found you when blogging got popular way back when. I think you were listed as a blog of note by Blogger. I immediately fell in love with your site, because I could tell you were passionate about your subject. I would like to see some info on how the average person can help the bird habitat and ecology. Or maybe articles where the average Joe has been successful helping birds or educating others about birds within their mundane lives. Because I will soon be living near the water, I have a special interest in water birds.
i'm 23, female, working on a Ph.D. in marine science (specifically seagrass ecology). i am a southern girl, born and raised... i've always lived within 60 miles of the gulf of mexico, and i don't think i could stand to be landlocked. i found your blog by following a link on another blog. sorry, i don't remember which one. i love your (apparent) dedication to your work and the random updates on your job searches. a clue as to what's in store for me, maybe? i also like that you post about the things that interest you scientifically (i really enjoy your 'birds in the news' posts) and that you express your opinions and aren't afraid to tell us all what irks you.
I don't remember exactly how I found this site. It was probably via google searches for bird-related blogs. I have been reading this site for quite a while - at least a year - and it was one of several that got me interested in blogging. I always enjoy the Birds in the News roundups on Fridays.
As with most of the others, I'm not sure how I found your site, but it was probably from a link at another site (Dharma Bums?). Anyway, I am a male, 47, master's degree in one of the liberal arts, with a general interest in nature and a bit more specifically in birds. Also, I tried the adjunct experience, so there's that common ground. I will certainly follow you to your new digs.
As for what I might like to see in your blog, the only thing that comes to mind is embarrassing photos. If I think of anything else, I'll report back.
Same for me: I do not recall how I found your blog, but I sure like it! I'm a 25 year old Ph.D. student from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with a M.Sc in Biology and a current project in muscle mechanics, and interests in paleontology and biology. What I like about your blog is that I recognize the job-related (or should I say science-related?) problems you have. I hope that 2006 will be a better year for you. Keep up the blog!
biosparite; thanks for introducing yourself. i would love to see some of your fossil finds .. do you have any pictures of them to send? i'm also very pleased to know that you are helping with the coastal prairie and high desert land trusts -- those are precious habitats (i am much more familiar with oregon's high desert that texas' coastal prairie, though).
i am glad that you found me: my debt to PZ grows.
Amanda; ah, i think the rss aggregator sends out the first copy of everything i post here .. that means you are reading all my pre-edit typos and other mistakes! i always edit everything after it appears on my blog .. but i decided that i would only allow myself to edit for 24 hours after i first post something, and then i'd have to keep my hands off after that.
yes, wrens are big insectivores .. what sort of seed were you providing? perhaps the bird was poking around for seed moth larvae in those seeds. or are you providing suet? they will eat suet, too.
Alon; i forgot that you were 17, but i never knew you live in singapore! i was so curious about, and proud of, my mysterious reader(s) in singapore .. for some reason, i thought you were jewish .. if so, how did you end up in singapore?
ah, yes, scammed was an interesting essay because it was the impetus for a magazine editor to find me using google, and as a result, she ended up republishing some other essays from this blog in the print media.
Tabor; i was listed in "blogs of note"? or was i in the "recently updated" list instead? to the best of my knowledge, blogger has never paid attention to my blog (in their "blogs of note") .. i always wanted to be listed in the "blogs of note", and i am disappointed that i am moving my site without that ever happening. maybe i complained too much and made them mad at me?
Latina Marie; i have no idea what your job search will be like, but my guess is that it will be very difficult, and for that, i am truly sorry. i hate to think that anyone else might have to experience what i am going through!
i am also surprised that you think i am so bold with my opinions .. i always think i am so careful on my blog to remain polite and cautious about expressing my opinions about most things .. a clue; i have some very strong opinions about evolution, science, academics, teaching, public policy, avian influenza and religion that i rarely state here for fear that saying what i think will prevent me from getting a tenure-track position. on the other hand, considering that i currently don't even have a job, maybe that fear is misplaced? it is likely that i will become more forthcoming with my opinions in the future on the Seed site.
John; i am glad to hear that you enjoy Birds in the News .. each issue that i write takes one week to put together, and the photo permissions for each week's feature photo often takes longer than that. as a result, i am always writing several essays at the same time, one of which is BitN.
and thanks for letting me know that i helped to inspire you to keep a blog, too! that's very sweet of you to tell me that. of course, i am always happy to know that the interest in blogging about birds is growing because i think blogs are the perfect medium for birders.
Pablo; embarassing photos? yikes. i hate having my picture taken so almost every photo taken of me is embarassing, or so i think. on the other hand, i am going with PZ to the minneapolis chapter of "drinking liberally" tonight, and there will be cameras and bloggers present (along with a gubernatorial candidate who happens to be a vampire) so it is likely that i will be revealed on someone's blog in an embarassing way.
dharma bums are a great couple whom i am proud to be friends with. they routinely remind me of my other home in the great Pacific NorthWest.
Hanneke; you have such a lovely name. i'm curious to know if it as difficult to find a job in science in the netherlands as it is here?
i also hope 2006 is a better year for me .. i really hit rock bottom recently. i am grateful that i have such good blog pals and friends who cared enough to notice that my difficulties had gotten the best of me, who then made a concerted effort to keep me going.
GrrlScientist
I'm Jewish-Israeli, in origin (in practice I'm an atheist with no cultural affinity for Judaism beyond the obligatory jokes). In 2000 my dad got tired of living in Israel, so he looked for countries he could move to and found Singapore.
I think that you're bold, too, not so much about politics (although from what I've gleaned from your posts here and from your comments on Pharyngula, you have strong, informed opinions about many political issues) as about your job situation and your life in general. You don't have any trouble ramming your previous employer for underpaying you, or complaining about how adjuncts are treated like non-persons, or making sarcastic comments about your inability to find work.
I can imagine how long it must take to put Birds in the News together. I find that on link-type posts that I end up spending a long time just reading through articles to find useful ones, let alone finding something intelligent to say about them. And your comments are much more detailed than mine.
You already know me, but I have to post to represent your almost high school drop-out, fundamentalist-raised, brain-drained, former lounge-lizard singer constituency.
Thank you, that's so nice of you to say! Here in the Netherlands, a female name ending in -anneke (JOanneke, Sanneke, Anneke, Janneke, etc) is very common, but when I first went to the US, everybody kept asking why I was named after the Jewish Christmas... I didn't understand what they were talking about, until a friend told me that my name sounds exactly like Chanoeka... I never realized that!
Scientific life here in the Netherlands is though also...... Especially for biologists; I know several good Ph.D's, who after they got their degree now work in a museum doing very simple things. It IS a job though..... Both my boyfriend and I got our M.Sc's in evolutionary anatomy, but we got more or less 'forced' to take a Ph.D. position a different field (Craniofacial surgery and human movement sciences). It is a related field, but we would have loved to get a job in Biology. I will have my Ph.D. degree in 1,5 year and I'm getting slightly worried about my future job. My professor also told me to consider a job outside of science, just in case......Maybe it is time to work on my culinary skills and consider opening a restaurant....
Woops, I'm late for the party. Dev knows me from the Lory List she used to administrate. I have a Black Cap Lory named Missy, or Miss Bird. My family can be found at the Fatbird website, which also has a link to my blog.
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