"What
you’re
looking
for,
ultimately,
are
stories.
Statistics,
to
anyone
who
knows
anything about
them,
aren’t
factoids
‐‐
4
out
of
5
dentists
agree
that
Colgate
is
the
best
toothpaste, Uganda
is
the
118th
most
populous
country
‐‐
but
instead
quanta
of
information
that
can be
pieced
together,
just
like
all
the
other
information
that
you
collect
as
a
journalist,
to
help
you
write
stories
and
inform
others
about
the
world."
— Nate Silver, the brains behind FiveThirtyEight, in a speech to the Columbia Journalism School (pdf of the speech). (via mattwaite)
That last post was supposed to go on a different Tumblr. Trying to keep the medical stuff separate, but approach it with my normal me-ness. It’s keeping me sane, saving a lot of random updates to people (though I do love phone calls), and helping me remember what this is like. If you want to follow that “fun”, (and I use the word “fun” semi-sarcastically, follow michelleskidneyadventures.tumblr.com. Or wait until I post to the wrong blog again. It’ll happen.
Upon asking what I do for a living, two nurses have now responded by saying, “I wanted to do that, but my parents talked me out of it because they said there weren’t any jobs. So, I do this instead. But I want to write a book some day. What do you write?
I launch into a diatribe on what data-driven journalism is, and try to describe this awesome project called Mapping L.A..
My favorite response to that? “If you do computer programming, is that why you understand how to restart the IV machine?” Sure, let’s go with that.
I’ve been quiet in the general social media space, and especially on my poor Tumblr, for some time now. Doubt anyone noticed. Lots of stuff going on, not the least of which was a recent transplant checkup (had a kidney transplant five years ago) and the doctor noticed my diet and lack of exercise has taken a turn for the worse since coming to DC. That’s a correlation, not necessarily a causation.
My theory has to do with the fact that even though this is a more walkable city, the weather was so nice in LA that I was walking outside more.
Hopefully, the approaching spring will get me out and about more. Need to remember not to neglect my body in favor of the journalism I love to do. Because I can’t do the latter without the former. Not eating breakfast or lunch and binging on dinner isn’t helping anyone.
Eating more regular, healthy meals now and making time for a daily walk either outside or on my apartment fitness room’s treadmill. Lifestyle change == now!
