FSP haz Schwag!
November 4, 2008
Female Science Professor, the Grand Dame of prof-bloggingTM, comes to the rescue of all those poor souls who are, as of today, in withdrawal from perusing cafepress for cool political tshirts to buy (c’mon, show hands!). In a recent post she introduced the official FSP logo shop on Zazzle.com.
Apparently this move ticked off at least one buzzkill:
well, this blog has now lost any credibility it had for me and I think I will be moving on.
Right. Because FSP has blogged for two and a half years just so she can make $0.50 apiece for the couple of dozen tshirts sold to her fans. The things people choose to get worked up about, I tell you.
DrugMonkey 
November 4, 2008 at 1:54 pm
How’s this for a buzzkill?
I love FSP, but I had to stop reading her blog.
The grumpy-professor perspective is one that is very valuble for me to gain some empathy into how hard PIs have it (and that’s meant completely genuinely). But at a certain point, I just got too mad by the “get-off-my-lawn” tone. I project waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much onto the poor hapless Clueless Students she encounters.
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November 4, 2008 at 2:06 pm
But at a certain point, I just got too mad by the “get-off-my-lawn” tone. I project waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much onto the poor hapless Clueless Students she encounters.
I have no problem whatsoever with people deciding they don’t want to read a blog anymore for substantive reasons. Because it is repetitive or has moved too far away from one’s original interest or because one has changed one’s own perspective. I just thought this was a little bit silly as a reason to leave the FSP blog.
(but srsly….we do ‘get offa my lawn’ here too. it’s just we tend to
bashgently correct the postdocs instead of the grad students and u-grads..)LikeLike
November 4, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Well, I do know some people who are pretty anti-label, and in a way she’s turning “FSP” into a brand. So I understand the complaint, even if it doesn’t seem “substantive” based on what I value.
You say “get offa my lawn” to those Pernicious Postdocs? That’s crazytalk! We all know you and Comrade PhysioProf (and Dr. Isis, when she wanders over here) offer nothing but saintly patience to those ungrateful wretches who think that just because they pipet with their own thumbs they somehow know the science better than their omniscient, well-funded, and good looking PIs.
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November 4, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I stopped reading FSP’s blog too. I found she never really had anything of substance or consequence to say.
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November 4, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I stopped reading FSP’s blog too. I found she never really had anything of substance or consequence to say.
Interesting phrasing in objective absolutes. Of course what you meant to say was that you find she never has anything to say that interests you. A far different matter.
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November 4, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Uh… yeah… I read blogs because the material I’m interested in interests me specifically. Thanks for clarifying that point.
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November 4, 2008 at 5:09 pm
it’s just that you selected the asshat way to express yourself, that’s all…
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November 4, 2008 at 5:48 pm
There aren’t that many blogs I read anyway, but FSP’s one I occasionally read because it gives me a calm insight into what PIs think (calm being the operative word). And I like the tone of the posts.
As an experienced postdoc, I find more in common now with viewpoints of PIs like FSP and DM rather than clueless/whiny/hope-or-hapless students (mainly grad students, since undergrads don’t even register on my radar). And as DM says, it is mainly due to change to my own self rather than the bloggers. As in, I grew older.
Interesting how blog preferences change with age….
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November 4, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Now that y’all mention it, I’m going to stop reading my own blog. I never really had anything of substance or consequence to say.
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November 4, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Abel Pharmboy: yes, that’s also why I don’t read your blog 🙂
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November 5, 2008 at 2:29 am
If I liked graph paper I’d definitely buy a FSP shirt. Why the @#$% not?
Her blog gives me plenty of insight into how the politics of science ticks, among other things. And how many senior FSPs are out there blogging again. . . anyone done a count lately?
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November 5, 2008 at 6:26 am
I just thought this was a little bit silly as a reason to leave the FSP blog.
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November 5, 2008 at 7:12 am
I have not stopped reading, rather, I read it more often as well as the comments. Some calmness and reason out there in the ‘blogosphere’ is something we need in larger quantities. I might also add that I have started some nonscience academics reading it and they find great value in it. If you just want to read about the science and NIH funding and that sort of thing, it makes sense that you wouldn’t find as much offered there, but I think I’m more right than not when I say that FSP offers a more interesting take on being a professor from many angles, including those not specific to her field.
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November 5, 2008 at 8:23 am
For the record, Dr. Isis’s blog contains only insightful and thoughtful commentary.
And the FSP shirt is hot and appropriately form fitting. Dr. Isis is going to have to get one, if for no other reason than to show off a picture of the FSP logo on the front of the shirt.
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November 6, 2008 at 12:47 am
I will head over and read her blog, because that’s one rocking fucking shirt. Though not being a scientist, I have little interest (though some) in the trials and tribulations of running a lab and seeking grants – I’m far more keen on the results. Still, pretentious assholes annoy me, so I’ll probably be back, but I’m heading over to her place now.
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