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Laura McKnight

@lauramcknight.bsky.social

1.8K followers 1.5K following 1.4K posts

former scientist of all kinds, now Senior Director of the Knight Campus Graduate Internship Program at University of Oregon I mostly talk about parenting, pets, and food, but I amplify science and scientists I think are neat [opinions are my own]

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 2d

If this was a person I knew and it just happened, that's cool. A srranger who thinks it's a privilege worth paying for? Ehhhhhhh

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 3d

It's Eugene 🤷‍♀️

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 3d

It's at $175

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 3d

There are sculptures, paintings, etchings, and more. The tour includes stories of how he acquired some of his favorite pieces. Includes a glass of wine and a nosh.

(2/2)

Ends with a website to his work. I left out the name because it felt too mean to include.

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 3d

Listing:

Tour for up to two people with local artist ... to see his private art collection and studio. He will open a bottle of Pfeiffer Blue Dot Pinot Noir for the occasion. Yes, there are a few of his own works, but his home displays the works from a multitude of other artists. (1/2)

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 3d

Either a serial killer...or just your average insufferable dude

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 3d

I'm going to a humane society fundraiser tomorrow with an auction, and one of the prizes is a guy giving you a tour of the art in his house and telling you stories about how he got the pieces

I would pay not to have to do this

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 4d

Y'all I was on hold for almost 2 hours

On the upside I was very productive because I couldn't really do much but email

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 4d

Today I'm on hold with someone else, 70 minutes and counting!

At first I thought I liked this one better because they give you an estimated wait time, but it has been fluctuating wildly. I have been below 5 minutes on 3 separate occasions - once down to 1 minute! That was half an hour ago.

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 5d

Yes there's also crosswords

Are we not excited about this? I'm absolutely stoked

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 5d

Right? When someone is short on time and making impossible decisions don't make it harder for them

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 5d

Agreed. I think it's unlikely reviewers are just being petty and dinging a grant on things like tiny font. But if it's rubbing people the wrong way it is likely impacting their opinion, even subconsciously

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 5d

You'd think being on hold for 35 minutes so far would be a clue

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 5d

I don't know why companies give you the option to turn off hold music but not the option to say "please don't interrupt the hold music every twenty seconds to play a 10-second message saying you're sorry, all of our staff are assisting other customers"

That's not even an exaggeration I timed it

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 6d

That's definitely her usual vibe

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 7d

I'm going to feel bad turning it off soon

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 7d

Oops she melted

Same cat, still facing the fire but lying on her side

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 7d

She has been staring at the fire ever since I turned it on over 3 hours ago

I think it's cute but it's also funny to imagine she thinks she's watching a very boring TV show

Fluffy white and gray cat lying in front of a fireplace, facing the fire with her back to the camera

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 8d

It's a cheeky little top knot

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 9d

Kiddo is at an age where people just sent gift cards as gifts and it is SO AWESOME that she chose to go nuts in a bookstore with that money

Not that I have more room in my house for books but we will make that work 🤣

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 10d

I share all this because I know my bsky circle has a lot of folks who work with students, and maybe it would work for you to try something similar, and also as a way to see if any of you have ideas for things we could add!

Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 10d

I'm not saying we have solved their issues and everything is happy and fun now. But I think the effort makes a huge difference and honestly *I* felt better doing something and getting to talk openly with students about stuff other than our program.

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 10d

We'll follow up to share out info we discussed with the whole group, and get to work on new programming based on these ideas.

It was kind of scary planning this and worrying about getting it just right, but I realized we needed to do *something* and it was okay if we stumbled a little

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 10d

They came up with great ideas too:
-topics for fireside chats: student activism & local protest groups; environmental concerns; student affinity groups
-a virtual forum for anonymous Q&A that's asynchronous to accommodate different schedules, which might feel less daunting
-access issues to address

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Laura McKnight @lauramcknight.bsky.social · 10d

Then we addressed anonymous submissions plus a Q&A. I admit it felt odd having such a minimal agenda, but the students who attended were really engaged and later said they felt supported. A few said even just the email advertising what we're trying to do made them feel less alone

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