Alyssa Smith (job market era)
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cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
Alyssa Smith (job market era)
@cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
770 followers 610 following 160 posts
she/her
Going on the job market in fall 2025
PhD candidate @nunetsi.bsky.social
website: https://asmithh.github.io/
NSF GRFP Awardee, narcoleptic, whale fan, and powerlifter
Posts Replies Media Videos
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
mood?
A road with cones demarcating new lanes (because there's construction ahead). There's a bright orange sign that says "Utility Work Ahead" but someone has added an F to the beginning so it says "Futility Work Ahead".
July 6, 2025 at 2:30 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
them: AI is the future
me, while trying desperately to turn off the AI "helpers" in powerpoint: this AI?
Microsoft Powerpoint attempting to generate alt text, starting with an explainer on alt text: Alt Text How would you describe this object and its context to someone who is blind or low vision? - The subject(s) in detail - The setting - The actions or interactions - Other relevant information (1-2 detailed sentences recommended) The AI-generated alt text is the following: A graph of a graph of a graph of a graph of a graph.... (you get the idea; this goes on for about 12 iterations) It comes with the disclaimer "AI-generated content may be incorrect" Microsoft Powerpoint is once again attempting to make alt texts. We have the same instructions on alt text as the last picture. The AI-generated alt text is "A graph of numbers and numbers" and it also comes with the disclaimer that "AI-generated content may be incorrect"
June 24, 2025 at 12:12 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
is this meme going to be evergreen now
Futurama meme template with a sign saying "0 days since last egregious ethical violation by CS researchers"
May 21, 2025 at 3:29 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
we got so married

(now with an actual photo of us)
A woman in a green dress holding a bouquet of flowers dances with a nonbinary person in a blue suit. They are standing in a well-lit building with a colorful tiled floor mural.
May 20, 2025 at 12:48 AM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
We Got Married Today And All Poppy Got Was This Silly Bowtie

(Alert The Media)

(more pics to come)
Poppy, a white pitbull type dog with brown ears, is wearing a green bow tie and lying on her bed next to a beautiful colorful floral bouquet. she is looking at the camera, perplexed.
May 18, 2025 at 9:46 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
i delved too deep on google scholar today 💩
text reading “An actor network analysis of constipation and agency: Shit happens”
January 10, 2025 at 5:08 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
new northeastern university seal brought to you by the very important form you have to fill out by tomorrow that is also extremely broken (bless the staff who are helping figure this out)

god forbid they confirm our enrollment in a robust and functioning way

the latin = we can but we don't want to
the northeastern university seal but the motto is "possumus sed nolumus"
January 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
あけましておめでとうございます！
two bowls of ozoni, a Japanese new year’s soup. the soup contains mochi (rice cakes), spinach, chicken, shiitake, and carrots.
January 1, 2025 at 5:32 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
may your ups and downs be as gentle as this seal bobbing up and down in the water
January 1, 2025 at 1:39 AM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
happy new year to everyone but especially to this very round seal
a very round harbor seal is floating vertical in an enclosure. only its head is above water level; the rest of its body is visible below the surface because the wall is transparent. i (mixed asian & white woman, green cargo pants, beige sweater) am pointing with both my arms to the seal from the previous picture.
January 1, 2025 at 1:35 AM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
Thanks for fostering! Our absolute goblin of a pittie mix was also saved by a foster, and she fills our life with chaos every day ❤️
A white pitbull mix dog is wearing a beige turtleneck sweater. She is staring at the camera with big eyes, looking kind of startled. The turtleneck is so long her ears are in the sweater’s neck, and only her face is visible.
December 28, 2024 at 4:00 AM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
Without downloading any new pics, what’s your energy going into 2025?
Poppy, a white pitbull mix with brown ears and a brown spot in the middle of her head, is tucked on our couch underneath a green blanket. Her head is poking up from the blanket and she is looking at the camera with a perplexed expression. One of her ears is inside out, and her lip is partially caught on one of her teeth. The overall effect is comical.
December 28, 2024 at 3:56 AM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
i really like being Just Okay at my hobbies because it feels very freeing to do a thing for the sake of doing the thing instead of doing the thing well/being excellent
more black fabric with meandering pastel curves sewn on it. the lines are denser in this picture and frequently intersect with each other
December 24, 2024 at 7:49 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
i’m in Full Break From Work No Work For Real mode and this means i get to go be mediocre at my hobbies instead! these are the “hand - quilted because i ran out of fabric scraps and got sick of making log cabin blocks” portion of the quilt i’m making
a black piece of fabric with some fluffy quilt batting underneath. there are lines of pastel yarn stitched in a meandering curve all over the fabric.
December 24, 2024 at 7:47 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
being downright Bad at things has been a great way to exorcise the productivity culture demons from my soul

(also, this, from Out of Office by Anne Helen Peterson)

(it’s about me and my awful dog drawings from the pandemic)
Midway through the pandemic, a subscriber to Anne's newsletter told her that she'd taken up drawing. She'd never drawn before in her life, had no natural skill, and didn't really aspire to cultivate it. She just liked making what she called "shit-tier" renderings of scenes in her life-like her dog, say-and then sending them to her friends as amusement. Her pleasure isn't in the product itself, or trying to perfect it. It was the transportative process, the radical delight of doing something that had no purpose or value other than you like it, because it grabs something indescribable of you and refuses to let go.
December 2, 2024 at 3:21 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
lost track of time and space. almost have a pair of pants.
my lower half, wearing somewhat baggy dark denim pants with dark green corduroy front pockets. there’s also a hammer loop made out of dark green corduroy
December 2, 2024 at 1:56 AM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
breaking news: attaching pockets to the actual pants
two pants fronts made of dark, heavy denim. they have pockets made of dark green grid-patterned corduroy sewn to them; eventually they will be the front pockets on a pair of jeans.
December 1, 2024 at 6:37 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
pockets! and more pockets! so many pockets! (more to come)
a bunch of pockets in various shapes (not on the pants yet); the pockets’ outsides are made of dark green corduroy, and the insides (lining) are a navy blue Japanese fan/umbrella pattern.
December 1, 2024 at 6:14 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
even the dog is not safe from corduroy lint
a white pitbull type dog with brown spots is wearing a tan sweater. she’s curled up in a ball on the sofa, asleep, and she has little bits of dark green corduroy lint sprinkled on her back.
December 1, 2024 at 5:16 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
this is the “i’m making pants to force myself to relax” thread

first up: these will one day be belt loops. if the waist on these pants fits right, they will not need to harbor a belt. i have doubts, however.
eight dark teal strips of fabric, each about 1cm wide and 5 in long, sitting on a wood table in a pile. all of them are slightly wonky and their widths vary.
December 1, 2024 at 4:48 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
show me your pet and what they were named after!
a picture of an orange poppy, leaves billowing in the wind a white pitbull type dog is mid-gallop as she runs towards the camera, a silly but delighted smile on her face.
November 23, 2024 at 7:09 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
the invention of the epi pen (i am very allergic to peanuts) and the feeling of throwing your unused, expired epi pens a retirement party:
a pair of epi pens are standing up in a whale shaped jar with a banner reading “happy retirement” above them
November 18, 2024 at 2:02 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
the dog, or possibly a small sandworm:
poppy, a white pitbull type dog, is sitting on the ground staring into the camera with wide eyes. she is wearing a tan sweater with a very long neck, so her ears and most of her head are hidden inside the sweater.
November 18, 2024 at 12:14 PM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
lifted some heavy things today; got a medal half the size of my face (i deadlifted 325 lbs, which i did not know i was capable of doing) #ScientistsWhoLift
A mixed Asian and white woman is wearing a large medal with a blue ribbon. She is holding up the medal part of the medal, which says US Powerlifting Association on it and is half the size of her face.
November 17, 2024 at 1:55 AM
cetaceanneeded.bsky.social
making my garments for the barbie movie this weekend
a Barbie movie promotional meme saying “this barbie is beautiful inside and out” with a picture of a stuffed animal ikea shark wearing a pink and blue paisley dress
July 27, 2023 at 11:49 PM