Bryan Wright

I'm the IT manager for the UVa Physics Department. I have a PhD in physics, and used to do research in nuclear physics. I teach introductory programming to undergrads. Also, flies are underrated.

Public Key

npub18p7c0mamknhwsdlt334ndmlawkyet8s5s2w85ahydcxnv8pasyxsa7txpu

NIP-05 Address

catselbow_at_fosstodon.org@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsrslv8a7amfmhgxl4cc6ekal7htzv4nc2g98r6wmjxurfkrs7czrgpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qz9nhwden5te0w3jhxapwden8yetvv9ujuctswqjhgq97

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relay.mostr.pub

test.nfrelay.app

Author Public Key

npub18p7c0mamknhwsdlt334ndmlawkyet8s5s2w85ahydcxnv8pasyxsa7txpu

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Last Notes

2024-10-05 22:17:51

I'm finally moved into my new, post-renovation office. It's nice!
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/113/257/114/582/570/595/original/562e339376a5580d.jpg

2024-09-10 11:20:34

An abandoned cicada exuvia hanging from the back of a poison ivy leaf.
#Cicadas #hemiptera #insects #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/113/112/915/255/954/771/original/d45f6bb83bdd9699.jpg

2024-09-07 11:25:13

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@npub1d5t…jq8t
I use GIMP. If you're working with RAW files you might want to take a look at rawtherapee, but it seems to take more knowledge/skill than I possess to get good results out of it.

2024-09-07 11:19:35

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@npub12e5…d0su
This looks very cozy, but how do people reach the books on the high shelves? Are there ladders?

2024-09-02 12:11:38

The fruit of a kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa). These are just getting ripe now, and they're edible. They're very sweet, and it only recently dawned on me that their texture is similar to "Circus Peanuts" (a sugary candy that's shaped like giant peanuts). There's a tree right across the street from the physics building, and I sometimes stop to snack from it.
#plants #trees #photography #foraging
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/113/067/821/398/530/794/original/33b2ae8150e5a94b.jpg

2024-08-05 16:46:20

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@npub12e5…d0su
I know how you feel. I often have to put a book down for a while because I get a sense that something bad is going to happen to the characters, and I just don't feel up to facing the anxiety.

2024-08-04 16:47:52

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@npub12e5…d0su
Chrickerns.

2024-08-03 16:54:50

An interesting article about aphantasia:
https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-happens-in-a-mind-that-cant-see-mental-images-20240801/

2024-07-12 11:16:29

A slender tachinid fly sunning itself on a leaf.
#fly #flies #FlyFriday #tachinidae #diptera #insects #arthropods #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/773/150/265/692/277/original/ec5a7349761c4704.jpg

2024-06-25 01:07:47

It's *so* hot and dry here in central Virginia now. If we don't get some rain soon, I'm worried that 4th of July fireworks will set off a flurry of wildfires.
This has been an exceptionally hot June. We live in an old house that's never had A/C, but summers are generally bearable with the exception of a few July or August "90/90"* days. We open the windows at night and close them (and curtains) in the morning. Last Saturday hit 100F, and 97 on Sunday (90 inside).
*90 degrees F / 90% humidity

2024-06-17 18:18:57

I took the day off today, and picked some raspberries this morning for use in lunch. I had lots of company: a little calligrapher intent on slurping some sticky juice on a raspberry leaf; a condylostylus flitting back and forth, probably complaining that I was interfering with his hunting; a harvestman, scared and scuttling out of the way. If you see me standing in a bush and hear me talking, these are the people I'm talking to; asking how their day is going, telling them how nice they look.

2024-06-08 11:45:44

Some leaves and flowers of curly dock (Rumex crispus) and some spittlebug foam, with one tiny dot of blue sky.
#plants #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/580/703/080/100/408/original/991aac7bbb6bba4a.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/580/704/326/630/638/original/dedaa847d7b15658.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/580/705/795/891/608/original/58c1eac82e1ef1a4.jpg

2024-05-30 11:25:10

A very handsome beetle (Hippopsis lemniscata) with long, Long, LONG antennae, on a wild onion.
#beetles #coleoptera #insects #arthropods #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/529/677/373/403/782/original/5bc395d670a5bca3.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/529/680/103/584/796/original/051ddebf52f9d90b.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/529/681/209/065/046/original/25b3ce2b29250472.jpg

2024-05-24 11:31:24

A bagworm moth cocoon, now abandoned.
#moths #mothstodon #lepidoptera #insects #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/495/732/655/470/058/original/05dfbdd4f33585df.jpg

2024-05-10 11:23:22

A little platystomatid fly laying her eggs on a twig (if I would only leave her alone!)
#fly #FlyFriday #diptera #insects #arthropods #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/416/474/464/315/738/original/2ae1eeb2cef70071.jpg

2024-04-28 11:23:33

#SilentSunday #plants #flowers
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/348/509/749/393/657/original/60685c8fa49b93a2.jpg

2024-04-19 11:24:04

This little fellow kept me company for a long time. He'd fly away occasionally, but flit right back and resume tasting me.
#fly #flies #diptera #insects #arthropods #flyfriday #flyday #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/297/555/605/878/813/original/993f4cd390477c0c.jpg

2024-04-15 10:54:55

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@npub16nz…kyqx
Good luck! We're clearly at a disadvantage in these encounters. Maybe someday natural selection will breed a human able to outsmart a groundhog or a rabbit.

2024-04-15 10:43:01

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@npub16nz…kyqx
Good point. We have some experience using similar techniques trying to keep groundhogs out of our garden, but without much success.

2024-04-15 10:24:07

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@npub16nz…kyqx
That's a good idea. There's a big mulberry tree that we'd like to preserve if we can.

2024-04-14 22:39:52

The beavers are hard at work! It's a little sad to see them taking down big trees, but they're making a nice wetland.
#beavers #wetlands
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/271/924/553/264/555/original/759340957d7951e1.jpg

2024-03-12 11:19:43

Rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera) on the forest floor. These are little orchids with intricately patterned leaves. Like partridge berry, these pop up between the fallen leaves.
#plants #orchids #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/082/341/846/054/585/original/64018c9e1e39994a.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/082/341/854/240/131/original/391799049e048d52.jpg

2024-03-10 12:19:08

Some ripe partridge berries (Mitchella repens). These plants are thin vines that wind under the fallen oak and beech leaves, occasionally popping up a leaf or berry. I wonder if the berries last all Winter, since there are plenty of them to be seen now.
The plants will bloom with small white fuzzy four-lobed trumpets in a couple of months, as shown in the second picture, taken in June.
#plants #winter #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/071/239/245/144/793/original/1165b708659d3e64.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/071/258/130/517/861/original/14d8cd63bc6d7636.jpg

2024-02-03 01:45:48

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
Whenever you write "cone ant" my mind thinks "Cone-Ant the Barbarian" and wonders how an ant would wield a two-handed broadsword.

2024-02-02 18:13:36

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
I like the idea of a soft-spoken Doveman calmly introducing himself in a quiet voice:
"I'm Doveman.
If that's alright with everybody?"

2024-01-04 11:03:56

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@npub1czz…v0as
You have to BELIEVE! If you have sufficient faith, maybe you can MAKE it Friday.

2023-12-31 12:47:59

Moss spore capsules, like polished wood.
#moss #Mosstodon #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/111/675/053/983/376/772/original/ed52cb35057aeef0.jpg

2023-12-26 18:14:02

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
Are the birds phoenixes?

2023-11-21 12:16:26

An osage orange leaf (Maclura pomifera). This species was brought back to Virginia from the West by Lewis and Clark, and planted by Thomas Jefferson as a curiosity. They have sharp thorns, red-orange wood, and fruit (inedible by humans) that looks like baseball-sized oranges.
#plants #trees #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/111/448/416/313/324/321/original/11cab560a9422da1.jpg

2023-09-15 11:14:19

Inaturalist tells me that both of these are quadrate snipe flies (Chrysopilus quadratus), but their coloration is very different. Does anyone know why? They both look like males, with their head-encompassing (holoptic) eyes. Is there just this much color variation, or have I mis-identified them?
#fly #flies #FlyFriday #rhagionidae #diptera #insects #arthropods #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/111/068/812/059/045/815/original/13ef5a3b65cd56cc.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/111/068/812/446/979/692/original/7226ced02cec1f49.jpg

2023-09-15 01:52:07

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
It's understandable that it would be unrecognizable at this point. They're just getting started. But clearly, when they're done, it will be a sculpture of you, for worship purposes. That's why the ant at the end was staring so intently at you.

2023-09-14 15:55:49

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@npub1wj8…s5yh @npub1hx0…0hpe
Hmm. Somehow, I picture the anoles singing Trololo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavMtUWDBTM

2023-09-14 10:22:50

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
In my mind I hear Tuvan throat-singing.

2023-09-07 16:43:17

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
Im my case, we had a regrettable tendency to weaponise plant matter. I remember folding sand inside catalpa leaves to make "hand grenades" that could be thrown against a tree trunk, where they'd explode in a cloud of dust.

2023-09-07 11:18:52

A chestnut I found on the ground. I don't know what species it is, but the tree is growing in someone's yard.
These are very tempting to pick up ("So fuzzy!"), but very, very sharp ("Ouch!").
#plants #trees #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/111/023/505/482/115/534/original/8a488e2e0316077d.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/111/023/505/916/966/395/original/b5f57f28aec093a3.jpg

2023-08-24 00:06:39

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
Rufus and Anna
Sittin' in a tree
F-i-g-h-t-i-n-g.

2023-08-23 10:17:12

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@npub1w7a…egqy
Maybe a whitefly:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitefly

2023-08-23 00:03:23

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@npub1z8r…dq4e
That's terrible! I'm so sorry you lost them.

2023-08-22 23:22:56

Pawpaw fruit! Not ripe yet, but hanging in there. I only saw a few others on this tree. We seldom see fruit at all. Usually, despite lots of blossoms in the spring, only a few fruit are set and most fall off while they're small.
#plants #foraging #pawpaw
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/935/793/432/677/801/original/2176069b3b8fee8f.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/935/793/454/264/799/original/bfbfe84746957f89.jpg

2023-08-21 22:41:28

An unidentified moth with a luxurious sedimentary cloak wrapped around its shoulders.
The image also features the @npub1zdp…vqv8 -mandated photobombing ant, without which it would incur a 10% "missing ant" fee.
#moth #mothstodon #lepidoptera #insects #hymenoptera #ants #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/929/962/139/612/915/original/f1f3ca3efed52db1.jpg

2023-08-15 16:22:08

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@npub1k0f…yhgq
Thanks for the suggestion!

2023-08-15 16:20:00

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@npub1cyp…z0fv
Yes! That's exactly the theme I had in mind.

2023-08-15 14:03:29

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@npub1ztq…r2j6
Many people have suggested that. I'll have to see it someday.

2023-08-15 10:25:39

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@npub19t8…yud8
Ahh, but maybe you didn't have magical abilities until you'd accumulated the life experience and wisdom to use them.

2023-08-15 01:35:41

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@npub1qxm…0dmf
The trail winds through the moonlit wood, until you enter a clearing. In the clearing sits a tall brick Victorian house, its unlit windows reflecting the moon's pale white light. You approach the building, climb the steps onto its house-girdling porch, and stand before the massive oak door. You knock. Slowly, the door swings open, revealing an elderly, sweater-clad woman in a brightly lit room. "Welcome!" she smiles. "You're just in time for Bingo!"

2023-08-14 23:40:17

There are lots of books about schools for magical kids: Hogwarts, Camp Half-Blood, Unseen University, Strange Academy, and on and on.
But what about a retirement home for magical grownups? Imagine reaching a ripe old age, children and grandchildren grown and gone, and one day you find a gold-embossed letter in your mailbox:
"Greetings!
You have been selected for residence at the Moonfrost Home for Exceptional Elders."
Somebody write a novel about a magical retirement home. I want to read it.

2023-08-14 17:15:15

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
I was thinking of Brian Aldiss' Hothouse:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hothouse_(novel)

2023-08-14 16:54:41

Building a web from Earth to moon? A spider suspended in a dark void.
#spider #arachnid #arthropods #photography #sunlight
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/888/893/619/120/641/original/3fd2c0de028ad45f.jpg

2023-08-14 00:19:52

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@npub1kj7…qvw4
"Surprise Ahead."

2023-08-13 10:28:14

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@npub1ks7…eg5u @npub1kvn…hm73
Thanks for this! I just started reading The Land of Little Rain and I'm really enjoying it.

2023-08-09 23:13:40

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
I've tried to become a meteor, but seem to remain a turtle.

2023-08-09 20:42:09

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
Sometimes I just want to shout "WAIT!". Years whiz by like meteors.

2023-08-09 18:31:00

As I was driving to work this morning I noticed several schoolbuses. At first I wondered why the buses were out during the summer, then I realized that today is the first day of school!
Our son graduated from high school last spring. This is the first time since kindergarten, 13 years ago, that I haven't been acutely aware of the first day of school. This is weird.

2023-08-09 10:31:39

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@npub1hzh…3ezg
If you choose "Irrelevant" do you start getting junk mail addressed to "Irrelevant Valerie Aurora"?

2023-08-09 00:03:42

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
"We can rebuild you. Make you better. Stronger. Faster.
These legs, for example. They have hollow bones. They are strong and light. Their feet have delicate toes to wrap firmly around the smallest twig.
These eyes see colors formerly invisible to you. This organ lets you sense magnetic fields, to know where you are.
This heart pumps stronger, faster than your old one. These feathers will clothe you in warm or cold.
These wings. They will lift you."

2023-08-06 15:56:08

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@npub1hr0…4k2l
You'll have to extend the book on your own. Write an additional few chapters for it.

2023-08-06 13:18:11

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
Thanks!

2023-08-06 13:16:48

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
Newly discovered unpublished Oz book: The Clockwork Diptera of Oz.

2023-08-06 11:42:23

A beautiful little Condylostylus: a fearsome jewel.
#fly #flies #dolichopodidae #diptera #insects #arthropods #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/842/436/761/130/201/original/a6824d51c1c50977.jpg

2023-08-06 11:12:00

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
Do you know which fly species this is?

2023-08-05 21:42:03

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@npub15u0…zzt9
People who are at universities might have free access to this book online through the "sign in through your institution" link on this page:
https://academic.oup.com/california-scholarship-online/book/19562

2023-08-05 14:49:03

I just watched the second episode of the Netflix "Defenders" series, and it's SO GREAT! Everything about this episode was wonderful: the cinematography, the writing, the acting, the score. This is the kind of storytelling I'd like to see in every comic adaptation.
#marvel #comics

2023-08-05 14:40:02

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@npub1zxz…8jtz
When I started college in 1979 at the University of North Carolina there was a restaurant in town called Hector's. It had a sign that said "Famous Since 1969", which, even in 1979, sounded like "Famous Since Tuesday". It turns out, though, that they put up the sign when they opened - in 1969.
Hector's was great, and I went there often for greasy cheeseburgers or souvlaki. To know what it was like, see this SNL skit, which it MUST have inspired:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=puJePACBoIo

2023-08-05 00:40:57

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@npub1hx0…0hpe
This reminds me of some Henri Rousseau painting. Maybe this one?:
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henri_Rousseau_-_Woman_Walking_in_an_Exotic_Forest_(Femme_se_promenant_dans_une_for%C3%AAt_exotique)_-_BF388_-_Barnes_Foundation.jpg

2023-08-04 23:27:40

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@npub1jnt…88c4
I think it's a refracted image (inverted) of what's BEHIND the bubble: The underside of the fly.

2023-08-04 23:19:04

A little sepsid fly watches the photographer while blowing a bubble and lazily waggling its wings back and forth. "Whatcha doin'?", it says.
#fly #flies #sepsidae #diptera #insects #arthropods #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/833/837/189/396/824/original/53d2ccb3d37fb90a.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/833/837/197/181/285/original/780215697f8730c8.jpg

2023-08-03 21:10:19

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@npub10aw…5egs
Wow! That's a tough one. In terms of number of pictures taken, it's probably Condylostylus. But there are so many others! I love the little fuzzy Bombylius major. I love all of the syrphids, especially the little Toxomerus that light on your fingertip and waggle their butts at you. And golden-backed snipe flies! And Gonia, with its teddy-bear face! And the huge Mydas flies! And the tiny, roly-poly black and yellow Thaumatomyia! And the bitey deer flies with psychedelic eyes...

2023-08-03 16:51:09

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@npub10aw…5egs
The very pinnacle of caterpillery.

2023-08-03 11:01:03

Another stinging caterpillar, a saddleback caterpillar (Acharia stimulea), showing off its fine green livery while waiting for a fairy knight (in spine-proof armor) to ride it into battle.
#moth #moths #mothstodon #lepidoptera #insects #arthropods #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/825/282/042/492/957/original/844776ec351ec712.jpg

2023-07-30 13:55:40

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@npub1hgu…pcwf
Yes!

2023-07-30 11:23:48

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@npub1duw…dcu5
Thanks!

2023-07-30 11:13:02

I think I might have posted this before but, what the heck, I like this picture of a little ambush bug nuzzling a wingstem flower while waiting for an unfortunate bee or butterfly. Just sittin' and thinkin'.
#bug #bugs #hemiptera #insects #arthropods #photography #flowers #FlowersOfMastodon
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/802/683/446/138/359/original/0193769caf17c3a2.jpg

2023-07-29 11:34:21

A little skipper having a snack on an aster.
#butterfly #butterflies #lepidoptera #insects #arthropods #photography #flowers #FlowersOfMastodon
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/797/087/939/674/403/original/d8c01a7f1a90ff1e.jpg

2023-07-20 11:04:26

No, it's not a crinoid. This is Centaurea, a thistle-like aster.
#plants #flowers #FlowersOfMastodon #photography
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/746/044/311/271/697/original/3b94ce5760e81cbc.jpg

2023-07-18 21:20:04

We're done with the second and final day of "parent orientation" at #UVa and have collected our son, to keep him for a few more weeks until classes start. Even though we live nearby, 1st-year students are required to live in dorms.
Much of the orientation was about the importance of letting go. Older students in a roundtable discussion were asked how often they wanted parents to contact them: "Every couple of weeks, maybe", or "Once a month". Dunno if I'm up to that!
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/737/074/460/483/981/original/afb13b2100312cc6.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/737/075/353/387/013/original/55f300293db85ec6.jpg

2023-07-17 23:34:20

Our son starts at the University of Virginia (#UVa) this Fall. Today my wife and I spent the first of two days of "parent orientation" alongside his student orientation session. We heard interesting talks about the changes going on in young adult brains, and how best to help our son during this new phase of his life.
We weren't sure about signing up for the orientation. I've worked at UVa for 40 years, so I don't need a tour of the grounds. I'm glad we did it, though. I learned a lot.