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Random The First:Watching the sunrise over the [fairly flat] horizon as I type this. Woke up extra-early this morning[1], attempting to catch the express version of the Oxford Tube. There are only three each morning and I was shooting for the latest, but it looks like I might have missed it by a couple of minutes. In any case, the first coach after the last express bus of the day is not a bad place to be, as it is quite sparsely populated. I highly suspect that the express bus would have been much more crowded. In any case, I get to see all of today's sunlight -- the skies are clear and I have been awake since thirty-one minutes before the dawn[2]. I am very much not a morning person, but I do like sunlight. Given that it is in such short supply at this time of year, I will take the full eight hours thirty five minutes (and forty one seconds) of today's light as a silver lining for being awake so early.
Random The Second: I have a lion-butt coin! Which is to say, I received as change one of the new 20p coins yesterday. The term "lion-butt coin" originates from the lovely![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bammba_m, based on a comment that she made here. Not counting the full set of uncirculated new coins that I purchased from the Royal Mint, I now have a new version of the 5p coin (July), as well as the 1p and 2p coins (August). From 2008, I also have old versions of the 1p, 2p, 5p, and 10p coins. I find the way that the Royal Mint begins circulating coins to be odd. I always check my change for interesting (to me) coins. Even so, it is now late November and I have not yet found old-style 2008 coins for 20p, 50p, £1 and £2 denominations. Similarly, I have not yet received the new-style coins for 10p, 50p, £1 and £2.[3] Rather than add this lion-butt coin to my collection, however, I will be bringing it Stateside next month to give to bammba_m. It is the least that I can do, really, to show my appreciation.
Random The Third: As of right now, there have been five comments on my previous entry about ice skating. That's cool. What caught my attention, though, is that they are all from women. Now this may simply be pure chance -- the statistics are far too low to conclude anything. It is also possible that this is because I have more women than men on my f-list[4]. Still, I have noticed that ice skating seems to appeal much more to people with two "X" chromosomes. I am currently in my fifth term taking lessons at the ice rink. Usually we have six to sixteen people in a class each term. Only once was there a single other "Y" chromosome in the class[5], back in my second term (taking Level Three and Level Four at once). Also, I believe that he was there mainly to be with his partner; she left halfway through the course and, although he did finish the term, he did not return for the next one. I don't quite understand why there seems to be such a gender slant in ice skating; it is not at all intuitive to me. Still, observationally speaking, it does seem to be there. Perhaps I don't comprehend it because I really am not very well attuned to gender stereotypes.[6]
[1] Seven oh two, leaving the house at seven thirteen.
[2] Which is at 7:33am in Oxford today.
[3] Although I did see somebody else behind me in a queue with a new 50p coin.
[4] Checking my list of mutual friends now, and ignoring duplicate journals from the same person plus -- for the sake of this quick scan -- people who do not self-identify as either of the traditional two genders, I see eighty-two women and fifty-one men. That's about 5/8 women and 3/8 men.
[5] Not counting the twelve year old vunderkind who passed through our class last term. Although he does have a "Y" chromosome, I choose not to count him. Not because of his age, but because he really didn't stay in our class. In week one of the term, he was in Level One. By week two, he had joined our Level Six class. He stayed there for another week or two before the bumped him up to Level Seven. By the end of the six week term, he was in the Level Nine course. I don't see him as having been in our class so much as "passing through."
[6] I had a conversation not long ago with somebody who disagreed with me on this, citing my career in a field that is mostly male and several of my hobbies (e.g., comic book collecting) as evidence. I am not convinced, however. To me, disregarding gender stereotypes is not about shunning all activities that tend to be biased in population in favour of my gender. Nor is it about actively seeking out activities because they are favoured by the other gender. It is about doing what I want to do -- regardless of gender. There are male stereotypes that I do not fit -- I hate watching sport(s) of any kind, I cry, et cetera. There are female stereotypes that I do not fit -- I loathe shopping... and the colour pink! Similarly, there are both "male activities" and "female activities" that I enjoy. What I have a hard time understanding is why some of these activities end up containing a sizable gender split. Indeed, the gender asymmetry in ice skating, from what I have seen, is far greater than it is in particle physics!
Random The Second: I have a lion-butt coin! Which is to say, I received as change one of the new 20p coins yesterday. The term "lion-butt coin" originates from the lovely
bammba_m, based on a comment that she made here. Not counting the full set of uncirculated new coins that I purchased from the Royal Mint, I now have a new version of the 5p coin (July), as well as the 1p and 2p coins (August). From 2008, I also have old versions of the 1p, 2p, 5p, and 10p coins. I find the way that the Royal Mint begins circulating coins to be odd. I always check my change for interesting (to me) coins. Even so, it is now late November and I have not yet found old-style 2008 coins for 20p, 50p, £1 and £2 denominations. Similarly, I have not yet received the new-style coins for 10p, 50p, £1 and £2.[3] Rather than add this lion-butt coin to my collection, however, I will be bringing it Stateside next month to give to bammba_m. It is the least that I can do, really, to show my appreciation.Random The Third: As of right now, there have been five comments on my previous entry about ice skating. That's cool. What caught my attention, though, is that they are all from women. Now this may simply be pure chance -- the statistics are far too low to conclude anything. It is also possible that this is because I have more women than men on my f-list[4]. Still, I have noticed that ice skating seems to appeal much more to people with two "X" chromosomes. I am currently in my fifth term taking lessons at the ice rink. Usually we have six to sixteen people in a class each term. Only once was there a single other "Y" chromosome in the class[5], back in my second term (taking Level Three and Level Four at once). Also, I believe that he was there mainly to be with his partner; she left halfway through the course and, although he did finish the term, he did not return for the next one. I don't quite understand why there seems to be such a gender slant in ice skating; it is not at all intuitive to me. Still, observationally speaking, it does seem to be there. Perhaps I don't comprehend it because I really am not very well attuned to gender stereotypes.[6]
[1] Seven oh two, leaving the house at seven thirteen.
[2] Which is at 7:33am in Oxford today.
[3] Although I did see somebody else behind me in a queue with a new 50p coin.
[4] Checking my list of mutual friends now, and ignoring duplicate journals from the same person plus -- for the sake of this quick scan -- people who do not self-identify as either of the traditional two genders, I see eighty-two women and fifty-one men. That's about 5/8 women and 3/8 men.
[5] Not counting the twelve year old vunderkind who passed through our class last term. Although he does have a "Y" chromosome, I choose not to count him. Not because of his age, but because he really didn't stay in our class. In week one of the term, he was in Level One. By week two, he had joined our Level Six class. He stayed there for another week or two before the bumped him up to Level Seven. By the end of the six week term, he was in the Level Nine course. I don't see him as having been in our class so much as "passing through."
[6] I had a conversation not long ago with somebody who disagreed with me on this, citing my career in a field that is mostly male and several of my hobbies (e.g., comic book collecting) as evidence. I am not convinced, however. To me, disregarding gender stereotypes is not about shunning all activities that tend to be biased in population in favour of my gender. Nor is it about actively seeking out activities because they are favoured by the other gender. It is about doing what I want to do -- regardless of gender. There are male stereotypes that I do not fit -- I hate watching sport(s) of any kind, I cry, et cetera. There are female stereotypes that I do not fit -- I loathe shopping... and the colour pink! Similarly, there are both "male activities" and "female activities" that I enjoy. What I have a hard time understanding is why some of these activities end up containing a sizable gender split. Indeed, the gender asymmetry in ice skating, from what I have seen, is far greater than it is in particle physics!
