I received official word on Friday that my paper was accepted to Neuron. My parents wanted to know if they could pick up a copy at the local news stand. I’m not sure if I would even know where to get a paper copy of a scientific journal any more, except by stealing one from the library. Everything is available online now, except for the most obscure journals and articles published before 1995 or so (but that is changing, too, as journals and independent organizations like JStor go through their back catalogues). It is enormously convenient in some respects. No more trekking down to the library to photocopy articles, no more unorganized piles of photocopies, and it’s easy to navigate from a paper to the papers that it cites or is cited by using Google Scholar or Web of Science. On the other hand, at least for me, it leads to some sloppiness. It’s easy to cite for the sake of completeness or politics without really taking the time to read and understand the field. It is part of a general trend for the externalization of knowledge. We use our brains more and more as indexing systems, keeping track of which folder on the computer has such-and-such a file, and less (it seems) for truly becoming conversant.

I went to the 36th Annual Fungus Fair at the Oakland Museum of Californa on Sunday. If you think bird people are a little twitchy, check out the fungus folks some time. We heard one lecture about mycoremediation, by Paul Stamets, who just wrote a book called How Mushrooms Will Save the World. Well, it was mostly about mycoremediation, but there were significant digressions into topics in theology, cosmology, and neuromycology that left me thinking mushrooms may have been an even larger inspiration for his ideas than he lets on.

I suppose that the crunchy hippies are one of the many things I find insufferable about California but will miss when I am gone. Somehow, knowing that I am leaving makes it easier to appreciate this place. And there are a great many things I need to do before I leave. Here is a rather short list, which I would appreciate any help in extending:

• return to Oakland Museum of California, go through natural history exhibits
• cycling to: Drake’s Point, top of Mt. Diablo, Mines Road
• Yosemite in the winter
• dining on Clement St
• visit all the parks and wildlife refuges in the bay area.

(cdm | ExtendedFarewells)