The Attack of Who are you, what are you doing here and why do you keep looking at me?
June 16, 2011
Three years ago Ed Yong of Not Exactly Rocket Science asked his readers a simple question:
1) Tell me about you. Who are you? Do you have a background in science? If so, what draws you here as opposed to meatier, more academic fare? And if not, what brought you here and why have you stayed? Let loose with those comments.
2) Tell someone else about this blog and in particular, try and choose someone who’s not a scientist but who you think might be interested in the type of stuff found in this blog. Ever had family members or groups of friends who’ve been giving you strange, pitying looks when you try to wax scientific on them? Send ’em here and let’s see what they say.
I found the comments in response to this fascinating and used the excuse to meme it here. Things kinda took off after that.
My year 2 version of this is here and year 3 is here. Those prior posts have links to other blogs’ versions of this meme.
As a small update for this year, I’m interested in whether you found us, or regularly follow us, through Twitter, Facebook and/or other beyond-RSS mechanisms that you may use to corral your information stream.
DrugMonkey 
June 16, 2011 at 5:02 am
I have been reading this blog off and on since I was a post-doc (~4yrs or so). I started reading it for career advice, grantsmanship. As a junior tenure-track faculty member, I still read this blog for those things, but I am appreciating the overall content of the blog and not just the parts directly applicable to my daily scientific life. Thx! I follow this blog via twitter. I don’t do facebook. Before twitter, I would follow the link on the BlueLabCoats blog.
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June 16, 2011 at 7:12 am
I was a reader of Science Blogs from a while back. I do keep up using the RSS feed. I have all of my science blogs loaded via RSS.
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June 16, 2011 at 7:39 am
I think I found you either through Bean-Mom or Cath @vwxynot. or maybe a google search. don’t really remember, but have been reading you for 3 years.
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June 16, 2011 at 7:52 am
DrLizzyMoore- in terms of the noncareer content are you referring to political diversions, the drug abuse stuff or something else? If you don’t mind sharing…
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June 16, 2011 at 8:45 am
I appreciate the political commentary. I used to want to stick my head in the sand abt the relationship b/t science and politics–letting the facts (ex there is no legit scientific study that has ever shown that vaccines cause autism) speak for themselves. But with the emergence of the tea baggers-ignorance is just irresponsible. Also, I do like the drug addiction stuff. I am a cellular microbiologist-so again, no direct relation to my scientific life, but there is some really innovative research going on in your field. There are people at MRU that work on addiction related studies-so it helps me put it all in context.
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June 16, 2011 at 11:09 am
Hi DM! I started reading your blog when I was starting out in my tt job and was looking for some advice about grantsmanship. I keep coming back because I find it entertaining. I like learning about some of the drug addiction stuff, and also the FWDAOTI.
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June 16, 2011 at 11:44 am
I came here for the career advice and the job search stuff, I stayed for the grant advice and for the candy.
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June 16, 2011 at 12:46 pm
I enjoy arguing with arrogant upper class snobs. It’s fun!
Although maybe a little too easy sometimes.
🙂
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June 16, 2011 at 2:28 pm
I’m a post-doc in a somewhat related neuro field, looking toward TT. I found you via Dr Isis (via my mother, who is also a scientist). I followed first mostly for the career advice/NIH commentary /grantsmanship, and then also for the political commentary and general shenanigans.
I have come to love the discussions throughout this community of bloggers and commenters (on Scientopia and beyond) and the multi-field discussions about all of the above topics. I’ve learned a TON from lurking hereabouts. You guys are awesome.
I follow via twitter, not facebook.
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June 16, 2011 at 5:49 pm
I come to learn more about NIH as I continue to navigate it’s murky depths from my NSF cave.
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June 17, 2011 at 4:31 am
No longer sure how I ended up here but I read out of an interest in other perspectives. As a software engineer, I’d likely know literally nothing of these strange worlds if it weren’t for reading blogs like these. Huh! Kinda feel like some sorta ‘peeping-tom’ now.
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June 17, 2011 at 5:12 am
I probably answered this in previous iterations, but whatever! A week or two after I started my blog, I started poking around, looking for other neuro folks online. I stumbled upon ScienceBlogs, and it was the freaking mother lode. Thanks for all the career and grant advice, and for never failing to give me a hard time about how much I love New York.
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June 17, 2011 at 10:06 am
HAHAA, you guys are not supposed to be appealing to my base nature and fondness for messing with people Gerty-Z!
NatC- huh, I think that’s the first time I’ve heard of a parent turning her (adult*) child onto scienceblogs. good for your mom!
Isabel, yes you DO make it a little to easy at times… 🙂
pinus- haha, no candy dude. all celery and carrots around here…..
SM- aww, you didn’t give up on me yet? 🙂
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June 17, 2011 at 10:21 am
Wow is someone sure deluded! Easy? You wish!
At least you’re not a baby like Physioprof and Brayton. 🙂
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June 17, 2011 at 1:29 pm
I recall coming to this blog via some smartass response DM had to one of my smartass tweets. Given his ranty & sarcastic nature, I’m fairly certain we’re somehow related.
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June 17, 2011 at 6:34 pm
Came here first after reading some-grant related posts. I enjoy the posts, but I also enjoy the commentary, probably more than the posts. DM is good at getting folks riled up, and he is easy to rile up too. Inspired me to start my own blog.
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June 17, 2011 at 6:53 pm
I have just the one talent Nammie…..
DrRubidium, we need to get you bloggin more…
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June 17, 2011 at 7:25 pm
I’m sure I landed here because of a FWDAOTI comment you made on another blog I was reading at the time. No clue which one it was. I stay because your blog (and twitter) make me laugh and think about aspects of science that I never would have thought about seeking out on my own (or even knowing where to look). I’m talking mostly about the NIH changes and general grant writing/ funding/ reviewing stuff.
Keep up the good work!
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June 24, 2011 at 6:22 pm
i’m way behind on my blog reading (as always) but oh what the hell.
if i recall correctly (it *was* a while ago), i stumbled upon the DM blog via stumbling upon scienceblogs in general. i figured someone who went around the internet calling himself “drugmonkey” had to be just crazy enough to pull the shit off.
i am a research scientist with a few significantly overlapping scientific interests with things discussed on this blog. sometimes it’s actually more productive to the way my brain works to discuss in social media type format rather than reading through yet another fucking methods section where they suck at describing how they did their shit. i dunno. at any rate, it’s been an interesting supplement to my meat-and-potatoes reading list. also, the informal exchanges with and reading thoughts from more senior folks can occasionally provide valuable perspective/challenges to my own perceptions.
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June 29, 2011 at 5:27 pm
hurrr isabel is so socialist, she hates us bourgeoisie folks, up the revolution lololol (never mind that she’s standing up for the gibbering uneducated conservative fuckheads of the world)
I’m an undergraduate biology student. And, I’m afraid, also gradually turning into an asshole every minute I look at society. Wait, scratch that, I don’t mind turning into an asshole.
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July 4, 2011 at 11:21 pm
I,m new here. But have seen the Drugmonkey mentioned here and there. Now at The Fix.
I have worked in treatment in Sweden for many years and always been something like a “pain in the ass” for politicians when I for many years writing in the newspapers about addiction and particuarly about the lack of interest, or if you prefer, priority for addiction and treatment in Sweden. The result, I mean, always be the same: increasing stigma and discrimination of addicts and relatives in the society.
I,m also interested of the relationship between sience, the research results, and the politic and or the other side the infuence from the orhganisations who adopted the repressive thoughts for about 40- years ago. Are that politic or policy evaluated? And is this war effective? Do we need tho rethink about it? Yes is my answer. I can teell you that I do not want legalislation of cannabis or other drugs, but I want the goverment to think over a new policy for the field.
So, we are a group now in Sweden who is going to start a organisation with the purpose to fight back stigma and discrimination. We are looking for contacts in Europe and in US who can learn us about:
– The Recovery Movement
– Reaserch about stigma
– Persons who want to write blog post about this topics.
Until we set up the new organisation and the website you are all invited to wrote on this site (translation option exist – you can find english organisations writing there)
http://www.magnuscallmyr.se/2011/06/27/gastblogg-tillfrisknanderorelsen-i-uk-del-1/
Thank you for a interesting site Drugmonkey! (Sorry for the english 🙂
Jimmy Blondin
Addiction councelor
Sweden
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June 20, 2012 at 12:15 pm
[…] head over to the previous editions (here, here, here and here) and get a feel for the […]
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