When I was a graduate student in Rhode Island, it was pretty normal (to me at least!) to be watching t.v. while wearing multiple layers, at least two pairs of socks, sometimes a hat and scarf, covered in blankets with a snuggly calico cat snoozing away in my lap. Graduate students don’t get paid much and, turns out, New England gets pretty damn cold in the winter. Heating an apartment with lots of windows, high ceilings, and an inefficient heating system was pretty expensive. So, I did what I needed to—layer, layer, and more layers, and blankets, and kept the heat ridiculously low. Continue reading →