TITLE: Remembering the Answer a Few Days Late
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: February 04, 2009  7:44 AM
DESC: 
-----
BODY:
I need a better memory.

<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2009-01.html#e2009-01-30T15_10_28.htm">
   Last time</A>,
I wrote about being surprised by an interview request.
But more than a year ago I
<A HREF="http://twistedphysics.typepad.com/cocktail_party_physics/2007/06/just_dont_quote.html">
   read about a similar problem</A>
and one solution:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
As a science journalist, I can tell you the best thing
to do, as an academic getting interviewed and wanted to
guide the interview somewhat, is to have analogies cocked,
locked and loaded....  [R]eporters go nuts for
pre-thought-out analogies/explanations because it's
quotable material, and could in fact be the center of the
article....  So cranking them out before you speak with
someone is a great way to maintain some control of what
reporters quote you on.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

As in so many things, preparation pays off.

Of course, this isn't quite the same problem.  Talking
about one's own research or teaching is different than
talking about department business or someone else's
project.  But that is one of the responsibilities that
comes with chairing the department -- speaking about
the wider interests of the department.

The bigger issue here is, how to convert what I read
into learning.  The passage above stuck out enough that
I filed it away for eighteen months.  But it doesn't
do me any good sitting in a text file somewhere.
-----