… because I’ve got a good conversation topic perking along at the other blog. Go share!

… they got crazy little women there, cause that’s where this one is from.

On a plane to the old home town today, folks, where I’ll be for the next week. I’m hoping to get a chance while I’m gone to write about a whole bunch of things that have been on my mind, as well as catching up with about a six-inch stack of back issues of the New Yorker. My camera’s on the fritz at the moment, so no travel pix until I get back.

Hey, friends. Please don’t be concerned about the relative lack of blogging around here. I’m doing fine — I’m just enjoying summer, and taking things easy for a change. (Almost the entire past year was spent either coping with my illness or various work emergencies, so normal life seems pretty sweet.) Keep me on your RSS feed, I’ll be posting here and there. Got some plans to update the site, and I’m planning to start style blogging fairly soon as soon as I can figure out a few things about my camera.

If there’s more or less of anything that you’d like to see on the blog, let me know. I’ve been thinking I should start blogging more about findings in the social sciences, pop culture, and possibly current events. I’ll continue to use my Twitter (robinabrahams, or you can keep up with the feed on the right-hand column) to link to articles that I think would be of interest to people who read my writing.

And, of course, there should always be room on all blogs for the occasional cute dog picture.

As promised, and somewhat less likely, as now delivered, are some follow-up answers from yesterday’s chat.

First of all, I was unable to find any references to Memorial Day parade etiquette in terms of whether or not one should applaud for the military groups. As far as traditional etiquette experts are concerned, apparently, the True Meaning of Memorial Day is that one can now wear white shoes. (Miss Conduct, though conservative as all get-out about flag etiquette and respect for veterans, is far more liberal on this topic.) In the absence of official guidelines, I’d say that Katie’s advice to “Put your hand over your heart to pay tribute to the Veterans” is awfully good. And, as many people mentioned — don’t forget to applaud the person at the end of the parade who’s cleaning up after the horses!

Also, we got to talking about Simon Baron-Cohen and his cousin Sasha, and I mentioned an article that Mr. Improbable had written about the “Awkward Moments Test.” Here it is!

Technical difficulties look to have been resolved! And the blog, in a few weeks, is going to be going in a slightly different direction: less about the book, more about reactions to current events, findings in the social sciences, and so on.

In the meantime, some catching up:

Here was this Sunday’s column, and some follow-up advice.

Here is Wednesday’s chat.

I Tweeted a link to a scientific abstract that, apparently, a lot of folks couldn’t access. Here’s the abstract:

The Scientific Impotence Excuse: Discounting Belief-Threatening Scientific Abstracts

Geoffrey D. Munro, Towson University

ABSTRACT

The scientific impotence discounting hypothesis predicts that people resist belief-disconfirming scientific evidence by concluding that the topic of study is not amenable to scientific investigation. In 2 studies, participants read a series of brief abstracts that either confirmed or disconfirmed their existing beliefs about a stereotype associated with homosexuality. Relative to those reading belief-confirming evidence, participants reading belief-disconfirming evidence indicated more belief that the topic could not be studied scientifically and more belief that a series of other unrelated topics could not be studied scientifically. Thus, being presented with belief-disconfirming scientific evidence may lead to an erosion of belief in the efficacy of scientific methods.

Haven’t read the paper yet, but it sounds interesting.

No worries about the slim posting rate here, folks. I’m involved in a weeklong event at Harvard Business School. Regular schedule to resume next week.

As noted earlier, these are some hectic times. I’ve got a huge project that’s just wrapping up at my Harvard job — and a big private appearance scheduled for next Tuesday. All good and exciting stuff, but combined with being a single dog-mommy while Mr. Improbable is out of town (I hope he won’t be a “volcano refugee” past his planned return date of next Monday) … well, there just hasn’t been much time to post, or to respond to your fabulous comments on the “politeness v. being a victim” thread. Or to go to Trader Joe’s or do laundry, for that matter.

I believe this panel from “Apartment 3-G,” hat tip to Comics Curmudgeon, sums things up nicely:

Happy Monday, all. I am heading into a wildly busy time at my Harvard Business School job, and Mr. Improbable is jetting off today to introduce the wonders of Improbable Research to Scotland, Denmark, and Sweden, so posting frequency may be low for the next week or so.

But feel free to drop a comment about whatever’s on your mind these days, and if I get a free 20 minutes and inspiration at the same time, I’ll write about it!

UPDATE: Oh, wait, I know what I want to hear from you all! Unfortunately, my work busy-ness isn’t going to come with predictable deadlines while Mr. Improbable is gone. This means I can’t make a lot of social plans in advance. Which means, probably, a fair amount of movie and TV-watching with Milo in the evenings. I’d love to find some good television show on DVD to get addicted to. What would you recommend? Shows I like include “Deadwood,” “Mad Men,” “Lost,” “Six Feet Under,” “Sopranos,” “True Blood,” and “Dexter,” so that should give you an idea of my taste. Recommendations gratefully accepted!

I’m back to regular programming at the boston.com blog. This one will take a bit longer, but please hang in there.

In the meantime, I must share with you the worst spamscam ever. This one got past my regular account’s spam filter. The subject line is “Get back to me ASAP” and the sender is “false.” (No, really.) The body of the text goes like this:

I hope you receive this message on time ? Sorry I didn’t inform you about my trip to the UK England for a program,I am presently in England,something extremely dreadful happened to me,I was mugged at gun point on my way to the Hotel by some Hoodlums and they made away with my Bag and other valuables. I called my bank for a wire transfer but it has proven almost Impossible to operate my account from here as they made me understand international transactions take 7 working days to be effective which i can’t wait.

I feel so devastated,now my passport and other belongings are been retained by the hotel management pending the time I pay my hotel bills.This is shameful,I need you to help me with a loan of (1,850 pounds= $3,350) to pay my hotel bills and get my self home.I will reimburse you soon as I get back Home.I will appreciate whatever you can assist me with.Can you help?

All hopes on you
Bob

I have to wonder: how would anyone who could fall for this have accumulated $3,350 to begin with?

I’ve got a discussion I hope will be interesting up on the boston.com blog. Check it out.