#eponymous rose

[cue an instant 1500 words from @jadesabre301, @servantofclio, and myself, including several calculations of travel distances, the average mile-per-day speed of horses vs. ships, and a discussion of error bars and the latitude bands for doldrums]

A highlight from a recent Jackbox night with the movie night crew.

Edit: actually I'll throw in this one too, from Talking Points:

Tonight at D&D, almost three real time years later, it turns out I WAS RIGHT.

Wyll: regular 15-speed road bike, red, says Huffy on the side

Gale: recumbent bike

Shadowheart: one of those really elegant bikes that are fancy and have thin aluminum frames

Karlach: big bike with baseball cards in the spokes

Jaheira: old bike, extremely well kept, those weird narrow wheels that aren't in fashion anymore

Halsin: sensible fat bike with large basket for groceries

Minthara: roller derby skates

Lae'zel: motorcycle and/or penny farthing

Astarion: Aston Martin

Minsc: tricycle

Boo: unicycle on his shoulder

Not a day goes by where I don't count my lucky stars @tarysande introduced us all those years ago. I still remember reading your blog start to finish and thinking to myself, oh golly, I need to be friends with this person! And now, all these years later, here we are and sure enough, you were indeed every bit of the funny, kind, generous, smart, and clever person your posts showed!

You are SO good at your job. Not just because you're an amazing scientist, but because you CARE. You want your students to succeed not because it makes your life easy but because you want them to love science the way you do and do good for the world the way you do. It's not easy to be excited about some of these equations, but I've seen your lectures--you manage it anyway, and you do it clearly and cogently and FUNNILY, which is insane to me. (Put THESE panegyrics in your promotion packet: unsolicited positive written feedback from outside professor regarding quality of lecture materials.)

We've talked about this before, but it's just so rare to find friends as adults, and even rarer to find one with so many similar interests and hobbies. I truly treasure our watch parties, even when we're mostly just hanging out and doing our own thing and listening together. D&D with you has been an even greater gift--it's SO FUN to run scenes with you, every time, and your DMing is an absolute treat.

You are so patient, even with me when I'm being a pill, even with your students when you KNOW I wouldn't be. You model an example that I strive to match every time, and I hope you know just how much it's meant to have this twinned career path with you. I am a better teacher because you have shown me how you teach.

Anyway speaking of teaching I'm technically grading practicals right now, so I will wrap up, but please just let me shout one more time from the rooftops about how much your friendship and unceasing support has meant to me. You are a rare jewel in this sea of humanity, and I treasure every minute I get to spend with you in it. ❤️❤️❤️❤️