The Big Cat Theory

There are many times when my son Dylan (now close to four months old) is cranky and will not be consoled by rocking, bouncing, or holding while I am sitting down with him (actually it happens with any adult, not just me).  He fusses and fusses unless I walk around the house with him.  If [...]

Woodworking update

Not too much to update, but I have finally posted pics of the box I made for my cousin Lydia for Christmas 2007 (the one I finished in August 2008).  They can be found in the woodworking pages here.
Upcoming woodworking projects: guitar stands for me and Jonah, a set of small shelves for the nursery, [...]

Wood and How We Use It

I’ve updated my blog site with some pages about my woodworking projects.  I’ve been interested in woodworking for a long time—my dad had a workshop in one corner of the basement in our house in Big Flats (western-ish New York state, where I lived before moving to the idyllic hamlet of San Mateo, California).  I’ve [...]

Chairman

This semester I am taking over as Chairman of the Chabot College Curriculum Committee.  Friday I signed my first documents (a bunch of distance education proposals) as curriculum chair.
It’s kind of a weird feeling.  I don’t have tenure yet—I’m in my third year at Chabot and my tenure decision is next year.  Yet I am [...]

Strange Loops and Self-Writing Poems

I recently finished reading Douglas Hofstadter’s I Am a Strange Loop and I highly recommend it. In it, Hofstadter details a theory of the soul, if you will. Both Hofstadter and I use the word soul advisedly. It is not the traditional religious/spiritual definition, but rather a concept what could also be [...]

Call me Dr. P

I’m Dr. Wayne Pitcher, Chemist and Poet. Welcome to my blog. After talking about it, thinking about it, and having numerous friends suggest I do it, I am now blogging. I intend to use this space for random musings…well, maybe not so random. I have a lot of interests, from poetry to baseball to science [...]