Review: The Soloist by Steve Lopez

I just finished this book on an airplane.  I was in a hurry to finish it because the movie is already out.  I really enjoyed the bood and felt like I learned a lot.  It explores the incredibly difficult question of how much freedom/control should be given to someone that is mentally ill.  Should the mentally ill individual be forced into treatment?  The current law is basically someone cannot be forced into treatment unless they are a danger to themselves or others.  Obviously, the definition of "danger" is highly subjective.  Overall, the book explores the issue without providing an answer.  The book does, however, provide hope, and that makes it a wonderful book to read.

TED

One of my favorite discoveries recently is www.ted.com.  This sight posts videos of short talks and performances by the top scientists and artists in the world.  I especially loved the talks by Bonnie Bassler, Pattie Maes, Dan Arlie, Sean Gourley, Peter Donnelly, and Nate Silver.

My Job

Many people ask me "How is your job going?" or "Do you like your job?" ever since I moved from Arizona State to Montana State.  I don't know the answer to these question so I usually just mumble something like "good".  The short answer to the question is I absolutely love my job, but it often keeps me awake at night, and I don't think this is a contradiction.  The job is very complex and diverse since it is a combination of teaching, research, meetings, community service, councilor, and cheerleader.  I absolutely love lecturing and teaching.  I love it when a student working in my lab solves a problem.  I work with a wonderful group of colleagues and I have the best department head in the world so the meetings part of my job is enjoyable.  The hard parts are getting proposals rejected and seeing students fail even though they are trying hard.  Those are the parts that keep me awake at night.  On balance, I have the best job in the world and I hope I can do it forever.  I also hope I can sleep tonight since I should be getting a proposal review back soon.