"We can not solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when
we created them." -Albert Einstein
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Argh internets!
Soooo the internet in my house is down. Has been down for the past three days. It kind of sucks, because now I have to go to the library for internet, but I guess since the library's like a one minute walk from work it's not that bad. And it's open until 9. I've dealt with worse *coughGatlinburgcough*.
On Sunday morning I looked up a couple of recipes for stuffed cabbage b/c the landowner from the planting the previous weekend had given me a HUGE cabbage from his field. Well, later that afternoon was when the internet crapped out so I was flying blind cooking this stuffed cabbage. I used some stuff from a couple diff. recipes, in addition to simply making it up myself. Didn't turn out half bad. Actually it was a damn good first attempt, the more I think about it.
Yeah, I don't really have anything else to say.
On Sunday morning I looked up a couple of recipes for stuffed cabbage b/c the landowner from the planting the previous weekend had given me a HUGE cabbage from his field. Well, later that afternoon was when the internet crapped out so I was flying blind cooking this stuffed cabbage. I used some stuff from a couple diff. recipes, in addition to simply making it up myself. Didn't turn out half bad. Actually it was a damn good first attempt, the more I think about it.
Yeah, I don't really have anything else to say.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Some quotes
I've been reading a collection of John Muir's work ("Nature Writings") and I pulled out some good quotes from what I've read so far. So, for anybody who reads this and is even remotely interested, here they are:
On poison oak: "Like most other things not apparently useful to man, it has few friends, and the blind question, "why was it made?" goes on and on with never a guess that first of all it might have been made for itself." ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra
"Here, we are camped for the night, our big fire, heaped high with rosiny logs and branches, is blazing like a sunrise, gladly giving back the light slowly sifted from the sunbeams of centuries of summers; and in the glow of that old sunlight how impressively surrounding objects are brought forward in relief against the outer darkness!" ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra
"No wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself." ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra
On poison oak: "Like most other things not apparently useful to man, it has few friends, and the blind question, "why was it made?" goes on and on with never a guess that first of all it might have been made for itself." ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra
"Here, we are camped for the night, our big fire, heaped high with rosiny logs and branches, is blazing like a sunrise, gladly giving back the light slowly sifted from the sunbeams of centuries of summers; and in the glow of that old sunlight how impressively surrounding objects are brought forward in relief against the outer darkness!" ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra
"No wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself." ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra
Saturday, November 8, 2008
quick update
I'm going to Corvallis to visit Erin for thanksgiving!!! Yay!!! Unfortunately it's more expensive than I thought it would be, and involves more sitting on a Greyhound than I would like, but I don't care. I get to see Erin!!! And then, for those who don't know (and actually read this blog), I'm coming home for Christmas for almost three weeks, actually. I fly out of here December 16th and fly back January 4th. So I'll be around for New Year's, too.
Tomorrow I have my second planting, and it's going to be muddy as all hell. Hopefully it'll be fun though. I'll stay more or less dry through the miracle of raingear, and I just hope that the volunteers will not be miserable. Especially the little kids. I'd rather deal with mud fights than complaining kids :)
Just putting it out there, but this season of The Office is amazing.
I want to go camping. Really badly. I suppose I should probably wait until it's not raining every day though...
Tomorrow I have my second planting, and it's going to be muddy as all hell. Hopefully it'll be fun though. I'll stay more or less dry through the miracle of raingear, and I just hope that the volunteers will not be miserable. Especially the little kids. I'd rather deal with mud fights than complaining kids :)
Just putting it out there, but this season of The Office is amazing.
I want to go camping. Really badly. I suppose I should probably wait until it's not raining every day though...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Happy Halloween everyone!
I like Halloween in theory, but it's just one of those holidays that could easily be a "normal day." Obviously when you're young you want the candy, and you like dressing up. Ten years ago I'd have just finished trick or treating, and I'd be rummaging through my candy right about now (assuming that Pacific time=Eastern time, for the sake of argument. It's all time as perceived by me anyways). In Granville, the kids would have been finished trick or treating before it even got dark. I saw some random little kids with parents trick or treating in Everett today driving back from the field. Other than that, I've been pretty isolated from the whole Halloween phenomenon this year. Though I did watch the Office on nbc.com, and the beginning at least had Halloween references (Creed was a KICK ASS Joker).
I guess, like most holidays, Halloween just isn't fun if you're not around people who are into it. I miss Denison. Not the stupid drunken Halloween parties and people running around in ridiculous costumes. THAT I can live without, lol. I miss going out to Pigeon Roost and getting pumpkins, and then carving said pumpkins. I miss baking the pumpkin seeds. I miss walking around campus and hearing the freshly fallen leaves crunch beneath my feet (I believe there's a Facebook group honoring that). Essentially, I missed out on the Midwestern fall this year (the leaves were just starting to change significantly when I left). It's weird though, because it doesn't feel like it should have happened yet. All my life it's happened about a month, give or take, after I've started school. This year I didn't start school, which I THOUGHT would be the weird part, but it just sort of went unnoticed. The real "void," I guess, is that seasonal phenomena that occur September-onward just don't feel like they should be here yet, and thus some things have sort of flew by unnoticed. Perhaps that's partially because I'm in a new place, and it's been a huge transitional period. Old routines are easily forgotten in the whirlwind of the new. But I think that the academic state of mind has largely been tied to my "seasonal emotions." And this meant different things at different points in my life, I think. Most recently, and what I miss most is that the essence of Denison and, more importantly, all of the people that I am friends with from Denison, have become a huge part of my seasonal routine. So I have to re-define that routine and take back what the seasons mean, but I'm not quite sure how to go about that. It's happened before in my life (from different stages of childhood, HS to college, etc.), but somehow it's different now. Maybe it's just because the seasons don't have the same meaning in the Northwest. Perhaps this process initiated in Tennesee, which through off my rhythm even when I was in Ohio. Will something as blatant as Christmas bring me back on track? Or do I simply have to get used to the fact that connectedness with the annual rhythms has taken a new form, which I don't recognize? Is that ok? And will the recognizable seep back into my present consciousness?
Not sure if that made sense or not. It's sort of outlining some abstractions that are flying through my brain right now, and I don't feel like expending the effort to explain.
I meant to post an entry about my SERVES training in Wenatchee, WA. I was there from Tues-Thurs. Every WSC Americorps member in the state (somewhere between 700 and 950, I've heard varying estimates) was there. But at this point I don't feel like there's much to say. Even though there sort of is. I guess I just don't feel like getting into it.
I've had a strange form of insomnia for nearly a week now. I can get to sleep (more or less) fine, but it's a restless sleep (interspersed with the occasional dream that is unusually comforting, but that doesn't last) and I usually wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep. I guess I sort of go in and out of sleep, so it's better than being wide awake I supposed, but it's not consistent with a normal modern sleep cycle. I've been getting only about 4 or 5 hours of the type of sleep that I actually need each night. It's taking a toll in a subtle way, I think, but I'm not sure how to fix it. I guess I've never been a particularly good sleeper.
Vague longings for an AT thru hike are cropping up again. It's damn impractical, and I'm not sure if I see myself getting enough out of it to justify doing it, but you only live once, right? Maybe I just need to go camping in general.
I guess, like most holidays, Halloween just isn't fun if you're not around people who are into it. I miss Denison. Not the stupid drunken Halloween parties and people running around in ridiculous costumes. THAT I can live without, lol. I miss going out to Pigeon Roost and getting pumpkins, and then carving said pumpkins. I miss baking the pumpkin seeds. I miss walking around campus and hearing the freshly fallen leaves crunch beneath my feet (I believe there's a Facebook group honoring that). Essentially, I missed out on the Midwestern fall this year (the leaves were just starting to change significantly when I left). It's weird though, because it doesn't feel like it should have happened yet. All my life it's happened about a month, give or take, after I've started school. This year I didn't start school, which I THOUGHT would be the weird part, but it just sort of went unnoticed. The real "void," I guess, is that seasonal phenomena that occur September-onward just don't feel like they should be here yet, and thus some things have sort of flew by unnoticed. Perhaps that's partially because I'm in a new place, and it's been a huge transitional period. Old routines are easily forgotten in the whirlwind of the new. But I think that the academic state of mind has largely been tied to my "seasonal emotions." And this meant different things at different points in my life, I think. Most recently, and what I miss most is that the essence of Denison and, more importantly, all of the people that I am friends with from Denison, have become a huge part of my seasonal routine. So I have to re-define that routine and take back what the seasons mean, but I'm not quite sure how to go about that. It's happened before in my life (from different stages of childhood, HS to college, etc.), but somehow it's different now. Maybe it's just because the seasons don't have the same meaning in the Northwest. Perhaps this process initiated in Tennesee, which through off my rhythm even when I was in Ohio. Will something as blatant as Christmas bring me back on track? Or do I simply have to get used to the fact that connectedness with the annual rhythms has taken a new form, which I don't recognize? Is that ok? And will the recognizable seep back into my present consciousness?
Not sure if that made sense or not. It's sort of outlining some abstractions that are flying through my brain right now, and I don't feel like expending the effort to explain.
I meant to post an entry about my SERVES training in Wenatchee, WA. I was there from Tues-Thurs. Every WSC Americorps member in the state (somewhere between 700 and 950, I've heard varying estimates) was there. But at this point I don't feel like there's much to say. Even though there sort of is. I guess I just don't feel like getting into it.
I've had a strange form of insomnia for nearly a week now. I can get to sleep (more or less) fine, but it's a restless sleep (interspersed with the occasional dream that is unusually comforting, but that doesn't last) and I usually wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep. I guess I sort of go in and out of sleep, so it's better than being wide awake I supposed, but it's not consistent with a normal modern sleep cycle. I've been getting only about 4 or 5 hours of the type of sleep that I actually need each night. It's taking a toll in a subtle way, I think, but I'm not sure how to fix it. I guess I've never been a particularly good sleeper.
Vague longings for an AT thru hike are cropping up again. It's damn impractical, and I'm not sure if I see myself getting enough out of it to justify doing it, but you only live once, right? Maybe I just need to go camping in general.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Everett, WA
So I've arrived in Everett. I flew in on Wednesday, and Thursday was my first day of work. Just to provide some background for those I haven't talked to, I'm working at the Stilly-Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force, which is a small non-profit organization. The name comes from the fact that we work in the Stillaguamish and Snohomish watersheds. The position is through Americorps (and more specifically, Washington Service Corps), and is pretty varied. Over the course of the next 10 1/2 months I'll be doing a lot of habitat restoration (including invasive plant control, riparian plantings, and nutrient enhancement, aka carcass distribution), education (working with volunteers and/or school groups to accomplish the above restoration goals, as well as some classroom lessons I guess), and project planning/office work type stuff. So far I've mostly done office work. I did get to do some mapping, but the Task Force has a really old version of ArcGIS (technically it's ArcView v. 3.2, and if anyone from my mapping class is reading this they'll understand hopefully). Obviously the older program can't do as much, but that lowered the learning curve for me a bit, as I'm used to wading through a bazillion more options. Of course, it was no fun looking for stuff that ArcMap v. 9.whatever Denison has can do, but the older version simply doesn't have...but whatevs.
So enough about the position itself. I'll probably have more to post about as I delve deeper into the work. Living in Everett, to put it bluntly, pretty much sucks. I really do hate cities quite a lot. You would think that having more options in the general vicinity would make things easier, but honestly I feel just as constrained as I did in the Smokies. In some ways, I feel more constrained. I don't care if I have 5 different Teriyaki places within walking distance. I have ZERO natural areas within walking distance. Yep, that's right, ZERO. No access to Puget Sound really, no access to mountains, no access to forests. There's an arboretum at the north end of the city, but it's quite pathetic. As someone who would rather run around in the woods, climbing trees and looking for birds and salamanders, yes, I feel incredibly constrained in Everett. Field work will alleviate that somewhat, but it's not totally the same. In the Smokies I could wake up early to go birding on weekends, or just decide to go on a long hike up a mountain and GO. Here, I can walk to the grocery store, or walk around neighborhoods, but that just doesn't appeal to me that much.
And then we come to the house. It's not terrible I guess. It's certainly not a dump (in fact, it's kind of nice I guess). It's just that there's not really a useable common room. There's a "living room" (which is really just a hallway basically), but it doesn't have a TV, chairs, a couch, or anything else except a few lamps and our wireless router. That said, the internet connection here is DAMN good. But then we move to the kitchen. It's nice enough, stocked with dishes, and cooking stuff, etc, but it is missing something that I just assumed all kitchens had: a kitchen table. There's a small metal patio table type thing with one metal chair, but honestly, that's just not the same. So needless to say everyone pretty much just stays in their individual rooms (there are 5 rooms being rented out on the main floor, and the landlords live downstairs). And aside from Claire, the other Americorps IP (Individual Placement) that works at the Task Force, there's nobody else my age in the house. Makes me miss park housing in the Smokies.
But perhaps I just need to give things more time. I probably won't ever get to the point that I actually LIKE living in Everett. But I'm sure even that will be valuable: I doubt I'd ever move to a big city again unless I had a VERY good reason, and it would have to be temporary.
I DID get a new computer though. Which is why I'm able to provide this lovely update. It's one of the new Macbooks, with an aluminum casing and more energy efficient screen (sorry Kim, I know you advised me not to go with a Mac, but I've used Vista and hate it, and the new Macbook is a very environmentally conscious computer, which to me is WELL worth the extra cost).
So yeah. That's enough of that. Sorry if this post was a bit too negative. Maybe I just need to settle in a bit more. But for now it's almost bed time (yay for field work tomorrow!).
So enough about the position itself. I'll probably have more to post about as I delve deeper into the work. Living in Everett, to put it bluntly, pretty much sucks. I really do hate cities quite a lot. You would think that having more options in the general vicinity would make things easier, but honestly I feel just as constrained as I did in the Smokies. In some ways, I feel more constrained. I don't care if I have 5 different Teriyaki places within walking distance. I have ZERO natural areas within walking distance. Yep, that's right, ZERO. No access to Puget Sound really, no access to mountains, no access to forests. There's an arboretum at the north end of the city, but it's quite pathetic. As someone who would rather run around in the woods, climbing trees and looking for birds and salamanders, yes, I feel incredibly constrained in Everett. Field work will alleviate that somewhat, but it's not totally the same. In the Smokies I could wake up early to go birding on weekends, or just decide to go on a long hike up a mountain and GO. Here, I can walk to the grocery store, or walk around neighborhoods, but that just doesn't appeal to me that much.
And then we come to the house. It's not terrible I guess. It's certainly not a dump (in fact, it's kind of nice I guess). It's just that there's not really a useable common room. There's a "living room" (which is really just a hallway basically), but it doesn't have a TV, chairs, a couch, or anything else except a few lamps and our wireless router. That said, the internet connection here is DAMN good. But then we move to the kitchen. It's nice enough, stocked with dishes, and cooking stuff, etc, but it is missing something that I just assumed all kitchens had: a kitchen table. There's a small metal patio table type thing with one metal chair, but honestly, that's just not the same. So needless to say everyone pretty much just stays in their individual rooms (there are 5 rooms being rented out on the main floor, and the landlords live downstairs). And aside from Claire, the other Americorps IP (Individual Placement) that works at the Task Force, there's nobody else my age in the house. Makes me miss park housing in the Smokies.
But perhaps I just need to give things more time. I probably won't ever get to the point that I actually LIKE living in Everett. But I'm sure even that will be valuable: I doubt I'd ever move to a big city again unless I had a VERY good reason, and it would have to be temporary.
I DID get a new computer though. Which is why I'm able to provide this lovely update. It's one of the new Macbooks, with an aluminum casing and more energy efficient screen (sorry Kim, I know you advised me not to go with a Mac, but I've used Vista and hate it, and the new Macbook is a very environmentally conscious computer, which to me is WELL worth the extra cost).
So yeah. That's enough of that. Sorry if this post was a bit too negative. Maybe I just need to settle in a bit more. But for now it's almost bed time (yay for field work tomorrow!).
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Goodbye Ohio...
Wow, for some reason when I typed in the "Goodbye" in the subject line "Goodbye Ida" popped up as something that I'd posted before. Well, seeing as Ida departed Curtis forever after FRESHMEN year, and I just made my gmail blog last year, I don't see how that's possible. Computers are creepy.
Anyways, in one week I will depart the state of Ohio. I was offered the fisheries position in Washington (state), and I accepted it today. I also secured a pretty much guaranteed source of housing 5 min. from work, though I'm still going to check out one other source to compare prices. Now the task that is before me is whether to take the train (more environmentally friendly and slightly cheaper) or fly (MUCH faster). Either way, I'm going to force myself to purchase a ticket by tomorrow, because I don't want to get screwed. This is already last minute. Today would probably be better, but we'll see.
And so begins my next exciting adventure. At this point I'm really most excited about being in Washington. I'm not sure what they'll have me start out doing for work (though I suspect that the first couple of days will be training of some sort). I won't have a car, obviously, but that won't be an issue in terms of day to day life (or so I've been told). The major drawback will be not being able to drive somewhere to go camping/hiking. If I have time off I'll probably rent a car or something. Take a little backpacking trip, or perhaps visit Erin (who, despite being only one state away, will still be about 5 hours away). Another unfortunate side effect of doing an Americorps position is the pay, but my loans will be deferred and I'll get another education award (of larger sum). So money will be tight for the next 10 1/2 months, but not as bad as it was this summer.
Since I'll be flying or taking the Hogwarts Express, I won't be able to bring my computer :( I'm sure there will be a library somewhere nearby, but that was kind of annoying over the summer and so we'll see how this all works out. I am considering getting a Macbook (while I'm in WA), since I don't have plans to get a car in the next year or so. Might as well take a chunk out of my savings with something, right? Hehehe, bad logic, I know, but I think having a laptop will be worth it. I don't need anything fancy, either. I just feel bad because my desktop is only 2 years old, and I don't want to be one of those nerds with multiple computers (cue comment from Josh here).
Anyways, I guess that's all for now. I'll actually be doing something with my life again, and who knows, maybe I'll even have reason to post on this blog more often...
Anyways, in one week I will depart the state of Ohio. I was offered the fisheries position in Washington (state), and I accepted it today. I also secured a pretty much guaranteed source of housing 5 min. from work, though I'm still going to check out one other source to compare prices. Now the task that is before me is whether to take the train (more environmentally friendly and slightly cheaper) or fly (MUCH faster). Either way, I'm going to force myself to purchase a ticket by tomorrow, because I don't want to get screwed. This is already last minute. Today would probably be better, but we'll see.
And so begins my next exciting adventure. At this point I'm really most excited about being in Washington. I'm not sure what they'll have me start out doing for work (though I suspect that the first couple of days will be training of some sort). I won't have a car, obviously, but that won't be an issue in terms of day to day life (or so I've been told). The major drawback will be not being able to drive somewhere to go camping/hiking. If I have time off I'll probably rent a car or something. Take a little backpacking trip, or perhaps visit Erin (who, despite being only one state away, will still be about 5 hours away). Another unfortunate side effect of doing an Americorps position is the pay, but my loans will be deferred and I'll get another education award (of larger sum). So money will be tight for the next 10 1/2 months, but not as bad as it was this summer.
Since I'll be flying or taking the Hogwarts Express, I won't be able to bring my computer :( I'm sure there will be a library somewhere nearby, but that was kind of annoying over the summer and so we'll see how this all works out. I am considering getting a Macbook (while I'm in WA), since I don't have plans to get a car in the next year or so. Might as well take a chunk out of my savings with something, right? Hehehe, bad logic, I know, but I think having a laptop will be worth it. I don't need anything fancy, either. I just feel bad because my desktop is only 2 years old, and I don't want to be one of those nerds with multiple computers (cue comment from Josh here).
Anyways, I guess that's all for now. I'll actually be doing something with my life again, and who knows, maybe I'll even have reason to post on this blog more often...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Latest job news
Hmmm, amphibian surveys in Northern California. I'm sort of hoping I DON'T get the fisheries position in Washington, since I'll likely have to commit to that before hearing about the amphibian one. And I'd hate to turn the fisheries position down and then NOT get selected for the amphibian one. That would be risky, but possibly worth it? Oh, and the amphibian position pays more than double the fisheries one. I'd be able to afford a not piece of shit car, and make loan payments! And shit, the position is damn near perfect for me. Decisions, decisions. Watch me get neither and end up a bum though :(
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Short update on my life
I've recently started thinking more intensively about jobs. I found a really cool 6 month SCA position somewhere on Florida's panhandle. The following is a description for the position, taken straight from SCA's website: "Conduct gopher-tortoise/indigo snake and flatwood salamander surveys and associated data entry; assist with red-cockaded woodpecker management, amphibian monitoring, GIS analysis and prescribed burning (possible). This position is perfect for you if you are self-motivated and enthusiastic and wants to pursue your own research interests, within the scope of assigned duties."
Is that not perfect for me? Well, I guess Florida isn't the most ideal location, but that's not too big of a deal I guess. I've also found a promising position as a research assistant for a professor at the University of Rhode Island. He's studying various aspects of the ecology of hemlock wooly adelgid. So while I technically don't have as much research experience as he's looking for, I'm going to sell the fact that I spent all summer treating hemlocks for this damn insect! I also found an awesome position as a research assistant in KENYA!!!! Yes, Kenya. And the best part is that room, board, a roundtrip airline ticket, and a monthly stipend (amount not specified) are provided!! The position is looking at host behavior and parasite infection in Grant's gazelles. So I'll get some animal behavior field experience, and of course I'll be in KENYA for 6-9 months! Obviously that position offers the most unique and exciting opportunity, but my mom is really not very happy about it at all. So everybody cross your fingers that I get one of these :)
Another thing that's been stressing me out is the fact that I need a car. I resisted for a very long time, but it's finally come to a point where not having one is a severe inconvenience that will effectively cut off a good amount of my options for the next few years. My highest criteria are good fuel efficiency, small, and reliable (oh, and relatively cheap, of course). So far the top candidate is a Honda Civic, but I'm having issues determining whether I should go for a new car and struggle financially, or go for a used car and struggle financially if it breaks down, plus not have as many choices. Oh, and a lot of the used Civics that Honda dealers in my area have a more expensive than the damn new ones. Granted, I'm looking at bare bones packages in new cars, and I'll go for a manual and learn how to drive it if at all possible, but come on now! When you get a new car they have to MAKE A NEW CAR!!!!! That's resources expended!! Used cars should be way cheaper! What a rip-off. Damn greedy bastards. But whatevs, I guess there's nothing I can do about it. The search continues...
Is that not perfect for me? Well, I guess Florida isn't the most ideal location, but that's not too big of a deal I guess. I've also found a promising position as a research assistant for a professor at the University of Rhode Island. He's studying various aspects of the ecology of hemlock wooly adelgid. So while I technically don't have as much research experience as he's looking for, I'm going to sell the fact that I spent all summer treating hemlocks for this damn insect! I also found an awesome position as a research assistant in KENYA!!!! Yes, Kenya. And the best part is that room, board, a roundtrip airline ticket, and a monthly stipend (amount not specified) are provided!! The position is looking at host behavior and parasite infection in Grant's gazelles. So I'll get some animal behavior field experience, and of course I'll be in KENYA for 6-9 months! Obviously that position offers the most unique and exciting opportunity, but my mom is really not very happy about it at all. So everybody cross your fingers that I get one of these :)
Another thing that's been stressing me out is the fact that I need a car. I resisted for a very long time, but it's finally come to a point where not having one is a severe inconvenience that will effectively cut off a good amount of my options for the next few years. My highest criteria are good fuel efficiency, small, and reliable (oh, and relatively cheap, of course). So far the top candidate is a Honda Civic, but I'm having issues determining whether I should go for a new car and struggle financially, or go for a used car and struggle financially if it breaks down, plus not have as many choices. Oh, and a lot of the used Civics that Honda dealers in my area have a more expensive than the damn new ones. Granted, I'm looking at bare bones packages in new cars, and I'll go for a manual and learn how to drive it if at all possible, but come on now! When you get a new car they have to MAKE A NEW CAR!!!!! That's resources expended!! Used cars should be way cheaper! What a rip-off. Damn greedy bastards. But whatevs, I guess there's nothing I can do about it. The search continues...
Monday, August 25, 2008
Pictures
As I've been home, I've had more time to browse the internet and as a result I've Facebook friended more people from the Smokies and have even had time to browse their photos. Now I took my fair share of pictures, and some of them are ok, but some of the pictures that other people took are just incredible! I didn't get as many plant pictures as I could have. I didn't really do much in the way of sunset/sunrise (though I did get a pseudo-sunset in N. Carolina, which was mostly just cool-looking clouds). And I didn't really take any pictures of the streams that I'm so fond of! Hell, I never even took a picture of the cabin, which is unfortunate because it would have been cool to show people where I lived this summer. The main subject of some of my better photographs ended up being salamanders. Not that that's a bad thing (and I did get some really cool salamander pictures), but I just feel like I missed some good photo opportunities while I was in the Smokies for 12 weeks, and now it's pretty much too late.
That said, one of these days I'll probably get around to uploading some of my better pictures to facebook. But that will require that I sort through them, and there's enough to make the task a little daunting (enough to put me off in any case). So don't hold your breath for pictures. Unless you see me in person, in which case I'll be happy to show you the pictures that are on my computer.
That said, one of these days I'll probably get around to uploading some of my better pictures to facebook. But that will require that I sort through them, and there's enough to make the task a little daunting (enough to put me off in any case). So don't hold your breath for pictures. Unless you see me in person, in which case I'll be happy to show you the pictures that are on my computer.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Better late than never
Now that I'm home and have more time available for the internet, I decided to go ahead and transcribe the description of my first solo backpacking trip from the 4th of July weekend.
July 5th, 2008
Back from my first solo backpacking trip! I realized while on the trip that it was fitting to go for Independence day, since going solo is a step toward a kind of independence in a way.
I left a half hour later than I planned on Thursday morning, filled out the permit, and then walked the horrible 2 miles along the side of the road (which of course doesn't have shoulders) before getting to the Huskey Gap trailhead. I hiked onward at a relatively good pace (perhaps TOO good) until reaching campsite 23 on the Goshen Prong trail. I'm not sure what time that was, but it was mid-afternoon. The total hike was about 10 miles. I read a lot when I got to camp (Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods"), made dinner (pasta sauce in a duct-taped tupperware doesn't leak!), read some more, then I was in bed before it was even fully dark. Not a great night's sleep, but not the worst.
On the 4th I continued on the Goshen Prong trail to the AT and spent a little time in the high elevation Spruce-Fir forest. In retrospect I should have rested there and enjoyed it a bit more. I reached the very disappointing Siler's Bald and had lunch there. The bald isn't maintained, so the only grassy area is about 10 ft X 10 ft. A beech forest is taking over, however, and the forest after the bald was comprised of young beech with an understory of ferns and soft-looking grass. I did take the opportunity to rest in this forest, and I realized how extraordinarily beautiful it was with the sun shining through the beech leaves and all of the vegetation such a fresh shade of green. While I was watching the patterns that the sunlight made on the ground through the gently whispering beech canopy I had a perfectly "zen" moment, for lack of a better word. A surge of powerful emotion that I cannot explain (in fact, don't even fully understand) overtook me nearly to the point of tears.
And then on I hiked. I got off the AT at the Miry Ridge trail and hiked to campsite 26. Before that, however, I saw an enormous rattlesnake. It was easily 4-5 inches in diameter, and was probably bloated from a good meal. It was about a foot off the trail, stretched out, when I noticed its enormous, beautifully patterned but slightly terrifying form. It almost looked like it belonged in the tropics, and without seeing the head or tail my initial (though unfounded) reaction was "python!" Needless to say I was startled and jumped back off the trail and just looked at it for a second. And then the rattling started. It must have been used to hikers passing it, unnoticed, but it definitely didn't like my sudden movement. It never coiled though, so it wasn't TOO perturbed. I took a picture (unfortunately I was never able to see the head through the vegetation from my position, but I did photograph the rattle). Then, a short distance down the trail I met two older guys who turned out to be staying at the same campsite as me. They informed me that the water source was more or less dry. They had dug holes in the mud and were waiting for the sediment to settle, but wanted to scout out any alternative water sources. I warned them about the snake and then set up camp.
After looking at my map, I decided to check out a drainage about 1/4 mile back up the trail. I ran into the two guys again (the older one was John, the name of the younger escapes me), and they said they'd checked it out but found only wet rocks. I decided I would go anyways, but travel further downstream. I ended up bushwacking about 1/2 mile down the drainage before I found adequate water. Hiking back up the slope after having already hiked 13 miles with a pack that day was taxing, but I'd managed to collect enough water.
I cooked Zatarain's black beans and rice (which overboiled once, giving me a second degree burn on one of my knuckles). I did devise a good method for simmering with a Whisperlite, however. The trick that I'd heard on the internet is to de-pressurize the fuel tank and then re-pump it 5 times so the flame is weaker. THAT didn't work. But I did think that the burner would stay hot after the gas was turned off, and that if I kept turning off the stove and re-lighting it to keep the burner warm my rice would simmer. The trick is to use a flint and still fire starter to re-light the stove so that matches or lighter fluid isn't wasted. It worked, it just takes some patience.
Later on that night the two guys invited me over to their fire and we chatted until about 10. They had a mixture of rum and honey that was quite good. They both had made and used alcohol stoves and swore by them, so some day I'll probably try to make myself one. I had a good night's sleep, except for a brief period when a skunk or raccoon was nosing around right outside my tent (as in messing with the tent itself).
In the morning, just as I finished packing everything up, it started raining. It rained pretty much all morning, but the pack cover that I'd just purchased worked great and everything in the pack stayed perfectly dry. For some reason though, my GORE-TEX boots did not stay dry. They didn't even help much. They used to. I'm not quite sure what the issue is. The right one leaks especially fast, and I suspect that I may have tore the Gore-Tex when I stepped on glass on the Foothills Parkway (a rather large shard that did tear the sole). I did find a Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) sitting on the trail when it was raining, which is odd since they're normally not very terrestrial and there wasn't a nearby stream, but I guess the rain made it wander into the upland a bit.
In the afternoon the rain stopped, and as I was hiking back to Huskey Gap I saw a bear foraging along the side of the trail about 20 feet away. I shouted at it and clapped my hands, but it was ineffective. The bear simply took its sweet-ass time crossing the trail and walking far enough away for me to safely pass. Shortly afterwards, I was back on the road (definitely the worst part of an otherwise good trip) on my way to the cabin. And there you have it.
July 5th, 2008
Back from my first solo backpacking trip! I realized while on the trip that it was fitting to go for Independence day, since going solo is a step toward a kind of independence in a way.
I left a half hour later than I planned on Thursday morning, filled out the permit, and then walked the horrible 2 miles along the side of the road (which of course doesn't have shoulders) before getting to the Huskey Gap trailhead. I hiked onward at a relatively good pace (perhaps TOO good) until reaching campsite 23 on the Goshen Prong trail. I'm not sure what time that was, but it was mid-afternoon. The total hike was about 10 miles. I read a lot when I got to camp (Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods"), made dinner (pasta sauce in a duct-taped tupperware doesn't leak!), read some more, then I was in bed before it was even fully dark. Not a great night's sleep, but not the worst.
On the 4th I continued on the Goshen Prong trail to the AT and spent a little time in the high elevation Spruce-Fir forest. In retrospect I should have rested there and enjoyed it a bit more. I reached the very disappointing Siler's Bald and had lunch there. The bald isn't maintained, so the only grassy area is about 10 ft X 10 ft. A beech forest is taking over, however, and the forest after the bald was comprised of young beech with an understory of ferns and soft-looking grass. I did take the opportunity to rest in this forest, and I realized how extraordinarily beautiful it was with the sun shining through the beech leaves and all of the vegetation such a fresh shade of green. While I was watching the patterns that the sunlight made on the ground through the gently whispering beech canopy I had a perfectly "zen" moment, for lack of a better word. A surge of powerful emotion that I cannot explain (in fact, don't even fully understand) overtook me nearly to the point of tears.
And then on I hiked. I got off the AT at the Miry Ridge trail and hiked to campsite 26. Before that, however, I saw an enormous rattlesnake. It was easily 4-5 inches in diameter, and was probably bloated from a good meal. It was about a foot off the trail, stretched out, when I noticed its enormous, beautifully patterned but slightly terrifying form. It almost looked like it belonged in the tropics, and without seeing the head or tail my initial (though unfounded) reaction was "python!" Needless to say I was startled and jumped back off the trail and just looked at it for a second. And then the rattling started. It must have been used to hikers passing it, unnoticed, but it definitely didn't like my sudden movement. It never coiled though, so it wasn't TOO perturbed. I took a picture (unfortunately I was never able to see the head through the vegetation from my position, but I did photograph the rattle). Then, a short distance down the trail I met two older guys who turned out to be staying at the same campsite as me. They informed me that the water source was more or less dry. They had dug holes in the mud and were waiting for the sediment to settle, but wanted to scout out any alternative water sources. I warned them about the snake and then set up camp.
After looking at my map, I decided to check out a drainage about 1/4 mile back up the trail. I ran into the two guys again (the older one was John, the name of the younger escapes me), and they said they'd checked it out but found only wet rocks. I decided I would go anyways, but travel further downstream. I ended up bushwacking about 1/2 mile down the drainage before I found adequate water. Hiking back up the slope after having already hiked 13 miles with a pack that day was taxing, but I'd managed to collect enough water.
I cooked Zatarain's black beans and rice (which overboiled once, giving me a second degree burn on one of my knuckles). I did devise a good method for simmering with a Whisperlite, however. The trick that I'd heard on the internet is to de-pressurize the fuel tank and then re-pump it 5 times so the flame is weaker. THAT didn't work. But I did think that the burner would stay hot after the gas was turned off, and that if I kept turning off the stove and re-lighting it to keep the burner warm my rice would simmer. The trick is to use a flint and still fire starter to re-light the stove so that matches or lighter fluid isn't wasted. It worked, it just takes some patience.
Later on that night the two guys invited me over to their fire and we chatted until about 10. They had a mixture of rum and honey that was quite good. They both had made and used alcohol stoves and swore by them, so some day I'll probably try to make myself one. I had a good night's sleep, except for a brief period when a skunk or raccoon was nosing around right outside my tent (as in messing with the tent itself).
In the morning, just as I finished packing everything up, it started raining. It rained pretty much all morning, but the pack cover that I'd just purchased worked great and everything in the pack stayed perfectly dry. For some reason though, my GORE-TEX boots did not stay dry. They didn't even help much. They used to. I'm not quite sure what the issue is. The right one leaks especially fast, and I suspect that I may have tore the Gore-Tex when I stepped on glass on the Foothills Parkway (a rather large shard that did tear the sole). I did find a Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) sitting on the trail when it was raining, which is odd since they're normally not very terrestrial and there wasn't a nearby stream, but I guess the rain made it wander into the upland a bit.
In the afternoon the rain stopped, and as I was hiking back to Huskey Gap I saw a bear foraging along the side of the trail about 20 feet away. I shouted at it and clapped my hands, but it was ineffective. The bear simply took its sweet-ass time crossing the trail and walking far enough away for me to safely pass. Shortly afterwards, I was back on the road (definitely the worst part of an otherwise good trip) on my way to the cabin. And there you have it.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
2/3....
So I'm 2/3 through my internship. I only have 4 more weeks and then I'll be back at home. In some respects I'm looking forward to being back home, but at the same time this summer seems to have gone by pretty quickly. It's going to be tough to not have ready access to so many trails, and so many salamanders, and so many birds. And it sucks that I've only gone backpacking once here this summer (4th of July weekend, I'll probably post about that when I get home and have more internet time). I have been gradually building up my gear though. I can obviously take a backpacking trip successfully, but there are just a few more things that would make it more effective. I already ordered a backpacking tent (it was actually delivered here already but who knows where the hell it is; I'll have to check the warehouse on Monday), and really the other major thing that I need is a water filter/Steripen. I'm definitely leaning toward the steripen. It just really sucked trying to chemically treat all of my water. The Chlorine Dioxide that I bought was the only one that killed Giardia and Cryptosporidium, but it also takes 4 hours to completely work. Which means that you have to carry more water than you normally would with other filtration means. Also, I was reading the label and the chemical is quite nasty (before the 4 hours are up). Extremely toxic to aquatic life (don't fumble and drop one in a stream!) and you shouldn't even really touch the stuff (which we definitely did last summer when we used it).
Anyways, my computer time is about to expire, and this is my third session online already. So I'm going to have to cut this short so I can eat/make phone calls/maybe browse around the Happy Hiker.
Oh, and if anyone is interested in hiking the AT, I"m thinking about doing it...
Anyways, my computer time is about to expire, and this is my third session online already. So I'm going to have to cut this short so I can eat/make phone calls/maybe browse around the Happy Hiker.
Oh, and if anyone is interested in hiking the AT, I"m thinking about doing it...
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Randomly feel like posting
I know I just posted an update a few days ago, so I don't have much new info. I'll try to keep this non-pointless though. I've sort of been wondering what I'm going to do in the fall, after I return home. I would definitely like to go camping (and I really hope that the Yellowstone trip with Liz and whoever else wants to come ends up working), but I also probably need to make some money. I decided to drop out of an SCA position that sounded pretty cool. It was in Colorado doing wetland/riparian restoration and wildlife surveys, but it was another short position and I would basically have to leave like a week after I got back. That's too soon, and I don't need the stress. Plus I want my next SCA position to be a long one (6 months). Not necessarily because I want to spend 6 months in any one place, but the weekly stipend is more and the Americorps education award is higher. And since I can only get two Americorps awards and I've already gotten (am getting, technically) one, I should wait for a financially ideal position to present itself. And if nothing turns up this fall, I could always do something else. Work seasonally somewhere (if that's at all an option) or hope that someone on ECOLOG is looking for a field assistant. In any case, if anyone hears about an cool temporary employment that would interest me, let me know.
This past weekend was the first time that I got REALLY nostalgic and started longing for Denison. I've had brief moments of nostalgia since graduation, but nothing like this. I just kept thinking about it. It wasn't tormenting or unbearably sad or anything, but it was definitely a significant emotional presence. I honestly thought that it would occur sooner than this. It's been almost exactly a month since I graduated (tomorrow will be a month). It sort of seems longer than that. But I don't know. I think I've more or less gotten settled in here. I'm less reserved when I'm at work, but I still wouldn't say I feel completely comfortable here. Though in 3 months, I'm not sure if that will ever happen. But who knows.
I've been thinking about geographic location quite a bit recently. I think it started when someone commented on my first day of work about how people from the midwest often come down here to visit/intern/whatever and then end up moving here. I decided shortly after that that I would almost certainly not be one of those people. It's nice down here, for sure, but I can't see myself settling down here. It just doesn't feel like home. Part of it is the weather. I know that it's sunnier down here, but that also means that it's hot. And there's not enough snow. Honestly, it's possible that I might stay in the midwest, but if I did I would settle down further north, like northern Wisconsin/Minnesota. Though I haven't ever been up there, I like it in theory. Probably some place I should visit. I would also love to go to Canada very soon. I think I just need to go more places and experience them before I decide where I can settle down. But as of now, those are my thoughts. New Hampshire was cool too, when I visited Laurel. Who knows. I guess I probably have many years before I actually have to make a decision about that, and even then it could always change, right?
I want to visit Erin in Oregon.
This past weekend was the first time that I got REALLY nostalgic and started longing for Denison. I've had brief moments of nostalgia since graduation, but nothing like this. I just kept thinking about it. It wasn't tormenting or unbearably sad or anything, but it was definitely a significant emotional presence. I honestly thought that it would occur sooner than this. It's been almost exactly a month since I graduated (tomorrow will be a month). It sort of seems longer than that. But I don't know. I think I've more or less gotten settled in here. I'm less reserved when I'm at work, but I still wouldn't say I feel completely comfortable here. Though in 3 months, I'm not sure if that will ever happen. But who knows.
I've been thinking about geographic location quite a bit recently. I think it started when someone commented on my first day of work about how people from the midwest often come down here to visit/intern/whatever and then end up moving here. I decided shortly after that that I would almost certainly not be one of those people. It's nice down here, for sure, but I can't see myself settling down here. It just doesn't feel like home. Part of it is the weather. I know that it's sunnier down here, but that also means that it's hot. And there's not enough snow. Honestly, it's possible that I might stay in the midwest, but if I did I would settle down further north, like northern Wisconsin/Minnesota. Though I haven't ever been up there, I like it in theory. Probably some place I should visit. I would also love to go to Canada very soon. I think I just need to go more places and experience them before I decide where I can settle down. But as of now, those are my thoughts. New Hampshire was cool too, when I visited Laurel. Who knows. I guess I probably have many years before I actually have to make a decision about that, and even then it could always change, right?
I want to visit Erin in Oregon.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Mountain Adventures
As per Amanda's request, I am updating my blog. I usually don't have time to do this since my internet time is limited. After my internship I may do what Laurel did and post some of my journal entries.
Anyways, I don't really remember what I posted about last time so I'll just randomly mention a few things.
The log cabin is pretty crowded at this point. There are four girls and five guys living there. There aren't any more beds on the girls side, but since the guys side has bunk beds for some stupid reason, technically three more guys COULD fit. But if even one more guy moves in, I am probably going to move into the back yard with my tent. It's a lot of people for that space.
Last weekend was exciting (though not for me personally), as there were two copperhead bites (there was alcohol involved). One of them was one of my roommates (Noah), who got bit on the ass when he sat on a rock, which crushed the baby copperhead that was sitting under the rock (the copperhead was later found dead from this injury). The other was a dry bite. One of the fisheries guys saw the snake and decided that it had to be relocated, so he drunkenly tried to pin it down with a mop and pick it up. He got bit, and then proceeded to pick it up again and threw it in the woods. The night after these bites occured, I was crouching on the ground at night watching a spider devouring a cranefly after pouncing on it (I had swatted the cranefly, which was attracted to my headlamp, down and the spider took advantage of the opportunity). Suddenly, I noticed a copperhead about a foot and a half away from me and slithering closer. I jumped back and it stopped for a second, and then slowly slithered away from me, stopped again (presumably assessing the situation), and then slithered back into the woods. I guess it was attracted to my headlamp? But in any case, copperheads are usually pretty docile (as was the case in my encounter), so don't let the snake bite story scare you. Just don't mess with venomous snakes when you're drunk. Duh.
Yesterday I went on a really cool hike. We took two cars and parked them on opposite trailheads of the Sugarland Mountain trail and starting at the high elevation (it was 5,700 feet approximately I think?) we hiked 12 miles downhill. There was a lot of stopping to look at plants and I worked on my bird songs. I heard a Scarlet Tanager toward the end of the hike (I'd been specifically trying to see one of these since I started birding) and I tracked down the song and FINALLY SAW ONE. So that was exciting.
We also saw some little chestnut sprouts, as well as one that was taller than me. In case you are unfamiliar with the current chestnut situation, the chestnut blight pretty much killed all of the chestnuts in the 1930's I believe (plus or minus a few decades). The blight is a fungus, which doesn't kill the roots, so the still-living roots will sometimes send up sprouts. The sprouts die when they reach a certain hight. It's so weird actually seeing these trees, which were so impressive during their time. The Smokies used to be dominated by chestnuts. Seeing the sprouts is like seeing ghosts, or like the blight is playing some cruel joke. Knowing the history and then seeing the sprouts was kind of an emotional experience for me. These sprouts are doomed, and there is no way that I can ever see a towering chestnut.
Anyways, I hope that was enough to satisfy you Amanda (and anyone else who reads this). More entries will follow, but I'm not sure when exactly.
Anyways, I don't really remember what I posted about last time so I'll just randomly mention a few things.
The log cabin is pretty crowded at this point. There are four girls and five guys living there. There aren't any more beds on the girls side, but since the guys side has bunk beds for some stupid reason, technically three more guys COULD fit. But if even one more guy moves in, I am probably going to move into the back yard with my tent. It's a lot of people for that space.
Last weekend was exciting (though not for me personally), as there were two copperhead bites (there was alcohol involved). One of them was one of my roommates (Noah), who got bit on the ass when he sat on a rock, which crushed the baby copperhead that was sitting under the rock (the copperhead was later found dead from this injury). The other was a dry bite. One of the fisheries guys saw the snake and decided that it had to be relocated, so he drunkenly tried to pin it down with a mop and pick it up. He got bit, and then proceeded to pick it up again and threw it in the woods. The night after these bites occured, I was crouching on the ground at night watching a spider devouring a cranefly after pouncing on it (I had swatted the cranefly, which was attracted to my headlamp, down and the spider took advantage of the opportunity). Suddenly, I noticed a copperhead about a foot and a half away from me and slithering closer. I jumped back and it stopped for a second, and then slowly slithered away from me, stopped again (presumably assessing the situation), and then slithered back into the woods. I guess it was attracted to my headlamp? But in any case, copperheads are usually pretty docile (as was the case in my encounter), so don't let the snake bite story scare you. Just don't mess with venomous snakes when you're drunk. Duh.
Yesterday I went on a really cool hike. We took two cars and parked them on opposite trailheads of the Sugarland Mountain trail and starting at the high elevation (it was 5,700 feet approximately I think?) we hiked 12 miles downhill. There was a lot of stopping to look at plants and I worked on my bird songs. I heard a Scarlet Tanager toward the end of the hike (I'd been specifically trying to see one of these since I started birding) and I tracked down the song and FINALLY SAW ONE. So that was exciting.
We also saw some little chestnut sprouts, as well as one that was taller than me. In case you are unfamiliar with the current chestnut situation, the chestnut blight pretty much killed all of the chestnuts in the 1930's I believe (plus or minus a few decades). The blight is a fungus, which doesn't kill the roots, so the still-living roots will sometimes send up sprouts. The sprouts die when they reach a certain hight. It's so weird actually seeing these trees, which were so impressive during their time. The Smokies used to be dominated by chestnuts. Seeing the sprouts is like seeing ghosts, or like the blight is playing some cruel joke. Knowing the history and then seeing the sprouts was kind of an emotional experience for me. These sprouts are doomed, and there is no way that I can ever see a towering chestnut.
Anyways, I hope that was enough to satisfy you Amanda (and anyone else who reads this). More entries will follow, but I'm not sure when exactly.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
In the Smokies
So I'm at a computer at the Gatlinburg library, and they have computer access for 30 minute increments and there is this little timer at the top of th screen that is counting down. It's pretty frustrating. I'm at 9:33 right now. And counting. So this post will be short (whatever I can write in 9 minutes). I'm not sure if I have a lot to write about, but I potentially do. I guess I'll start with my quest to get down here.
Took the Greyhound, which left at 11:00 pm Friday night from Cleveland (more like 11:30 because Greyhound tends to be late). It was definitely interesting. It wasn't too bad, but more "stressful" than flying. Not that I was super stressed. It was just an "oh this is kind of sketchy and nobody is really that friendly and it's crowded and I'm tired and what if they forget to load my checked bags when we transfer" etc. It all worked out fine though. Cheaper than flying.
I'm living in a log cabin, which is pretty nice inside. There's a huge common room, and then on either side is a doorway onto the girls side or the guys side. Each gender specific side has a kitchen (bigger than the one I have at home), a bathroom, and two shared bedrooms. The bedrooms each have two sets of bunk beds (so they can each accomodate 4), but supposedly there probably won't be more than 2 to a room. I already have one roommate, and the guy in the other room (Paul, the air quality intern) still has his own room.
I guess I'm not sure how much more I want to go into the living situation, because I'm still not sure how I feel about it. But it will definitely suffice for the summer.
Yesterday was my first day "on the job," but since there are two more interns coming in over the weekend (they will be in my cabin), orientation was postponed until next week. So I'm just doing stuff that doesn't involve pesticides basically. Yesterday I planted native grasses in the increase fields at Cades Cove (if you want to know what an increase field is, then just ask and I'll explain but as of now I have less than 3 minutes left). Today I looked for Ash trees to set up Emerald Ash Borer traps in. There are very few Ash in te park, and th EAB hasnt' come here yet, but this is the most visited NP in the country and people will inevitably bring firewood.
Ok, I'm gonna cut this short. I might write more if I can get more time.
Took the Greyhound, which left at 11:00 pm Friday night from Cleveland (more like 11:30 because Greyhound tends to be late). It was definitely interesting. It wasn't too bad, but more "stressful" than flying. Not that I was super stressed. It was just an "oh this is kind of sketchy and nobody is really that friendly and it's crowded and I'm tired and what if they forget to load my checked bags when we transfer" etc. It all worked out fine though. Cheaper than flying.
I'm living in a log cabin, which is pretty nice inside. There's a huge common room, and then on either side is a doorway onto the girls side or the guys side. Each gender specific side has a kitchen (bigger than the one I have at home), a bathroom, and two shared bedrooms. The bedrooms each have two sets of bunk beds (so they can each accomodate 4), but supposedly there probably won't be more than 2 to a room. I already have one roommate, and the guy in the other room (Paul, the air quality intern) still has his own room.
I guess I'm not sure how much more I want to go into the living situation, because I'm still not sure how I feel about it. But it will definitely suffice for the summer.
Yesterday was my first day "on the job," but since there are two more interns coming in over the weekend (they will be in my cabin), orientation was postponed until next week. So I'm just doing stuff that doesn't involve pesticides basically. Yesterday I planted native grasses in the increase fields at Cades Cove (if you want to know what an increase field is, then just ask and I'll explain but as of now I have less than 3 minutes left). Today I looked for Ash trees to set up Emerald Ash Borer traps in. There are very few Ash in te park, and th EAB hasnt' come here yet, but this is the most visited NP in the country and people will inevitably bring firewood.
Ok, I'm gonna cut this short. I might write more if I can get more time.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Nature and Human Economy
I've spent a good portion of the morning reading a topic on a backpacking forum that I sometimes frequent on trapping. Obviously a topic such as this spurred some debate. There were contradicting statements made by different people, all claiming to have had experience trapping. Much of the arguments focused on whether or not trapping was cruel. That particular topic is not one that I will address here, as I do not know enough about the practice even after reading about it, and more importantly I've never witnessed it. However, an interesting aside was mentioned a few times in the debate. Basically, when public trapping is banned the government gets to go in and trap for "management purposes" anyways. So instead of selling trapping licenses (I know that hunting licenses benefit conservation, and even if the same isn't currently true for trapping it could certainly be set up in the same way) our taxes are used to fund government trapping. One (or a few, I don't remember) forum members mentioned that much of this "predator management" occurs in order to lower livestock mortality. Though I've certainly read about alternatives to minimizing livestock mortality in areas with predators, I don't remember the specifics and would need to research that a bit more in order to talk about it. Essentially, it comes down to the government trapping in order to cater to large scale ranchers. Agribusiness on the large scale, which has obviously been so extremely harmful to the environment and our economy, as well as the livelihoods of small, local farmers and ranchers.
I've been thinking a lot lately about whether or not our economic system is viable. Everyone knocks communism/socialism, saying that it's a good idea in theory but it's proven ineffective in practice. Well, unfortunately here is where some historical knowledge would help me, but from what I understand it was socially ineffective. Rebellions and dictatorships and such resulted from it. Please correct me if I'm mistaken, or comment with specifics if you know them.
Capitalism, however, is socially more effective but it's fairly clear that it's unsustainable in the long term, and on a large scale. Sure, it's taking more time to prove capitalism's ineffectiveness, but the result is even more dangerous. Large scale agribusiness has mostly taken over our food industry. I'm not going to go into a long rant about why it's so bad because I would probably rant for far too long and that's not really the point. In short, monocultures are unstable, genetic diversity is reduced, they are only useful for their single purpose (no habitat value), our soil is being depleted, government subsidies for large scale agriculture are driving small, sustainable farmers out of business, and the low cost of mass-produced food is exacerbating the problem. Not the mention the atrocious effects of fertilizers and pesticides/herbicides. The point is, if large scale agriculture continues we will destroy much of the natural world. Eutrophication and coastal dead zones will develop from runoff (a severe blow to fishing/fisheries), chemicals will accumulate in ecosystems, poisoning organisms from insects to ourselves, our soil will become barren resulting in a need for more fertilizers (compounding the problem), a greater population and lower production efficiency of the land will result in more habitat being lost, and eventually desertification will probably result. Look at the Middle East. That place used to be the Fertile Crescent. It's desert now because of how many large civilizations have abused the land in that region. North America certainly hasn't been utilized for as long as the "Fertile" Crescent, but our population (and the world population in general) is larger than it's ever been and growing. So yes, the destruction of the land that we depend on certainly could happen on a shorter scale. I'm not saying that it will, because as a society we could change our infrastructure and values. But if we keep going on the current track that we're on, then we're going to doom ourselves. And destroy a large chunk of the natural world in the process. A 6th mass extinction indeed.
So that's largely why I've been thinking about how our economic system is inadequate. But I wish I'd taken an econ class, because I really don't understand our economic system that well. I'm aware of its inadequacies, but could capitalism be made to work sustainably? Going back to the forum topic, someone mentioned that agriculture should once again be placed into the free market (then there was a snappy comment about how the demand for food certainly isn't going to go down). Would something like that even help? Obviously local, sustainable farms that do not grow crops in monoculture would greatly help this problem, but would capitalism allow that? Wouldn't we just get big big "Wal-Mart" style farms that were privately owned instead of given government subsidies? Hell, large chain stores are running small businesses out of business. Is this an inherent failure of capitalism? Would some variant of socialism be more sustainable? Were the failures of socialist systems simply due to the fact that the social timing was not right?
Any comments by anyone who has any idea of what they're talking about when it comes to things like this would be more than welcome. I guess a liberal arts education gave me just a taste of certain fields, but not enough to make me feel confident and/or knowledgeable. Or maybe I strive for too great a knowledge of the big picture, and the details of all of its components. Should I be content to focus on the scientific aspects of ecology and conservation? How can I best preserve the natural world and work towards creating a sustainable society using my field? Am I trying to do too much? Taking on for myself the work of what needs to be our entire society? Well that's an obvious question. Of course it needs to be our entire society, or at least a great majority.
I'm going to end with an article that someone posted in the trapping topic.
It talks about how language perpetuates our perception of nature/economy as a society. The article itself is a little extreme (nobody thinks completely like that), but I think the extremity is necessary. As a society, I think that we do use language that justifies or desensitizes our effects on the environment. And in the context of this language, I think that the points are valid. I thought it was an interesting read in any case.
I've been thinking a lot lately about whether or not our economic system is viable. Everyone knocks communism/socialism, saying that it's a good idea in theory but it's proven ineffective in practice. Well, unfortunately here is where some historical knowledge would help me, but from what I understand it was socially ineffective. Rebellions and dictatorships and such resulted from it. Please correct me if I'm mistaken, or comment with specifics if you know them.
Capitalism, however, is socially more effective but it's fairly clear that it's unsustainable in the long term, and on a large scale. Sure, it's taking more time to prove capitalism's ineffectiveness, but the result is even more dangerous. Large scale agribusiness has mostly taken over our food industry. I'm not going to go into a long rant about why it's so bad because I would probably rant for far too long and that's not really the point. In short, monocultures are unstable, genetic diversity is reduced, they are only useful for their single purpose (no habitat value), our soil is being depleted, government subsidies for large scale agriculture are driving small, sustainable farmers out of business, and the low cost of mass-produced food is exacerbating the problem. Not the mention the atrocious effects of fertilizers and pesticides/herbicides. The point is, if large scale agriculture continues we will destroy much of the natural world. Eutrophication and coastal dead zones will develop from runoff (a severe blow to fishing/fisheries), chemicals will accumulate in ecosystems, poisoning organisms from insects to ourselves, our soil will become barren resulting in a need for more fertilizers (compounding the problem), a greater population and lower production efficiency of the land will result in more habitat being lost, and eventually desertification will probably result. Look at the Middle East. That place used to be the Fertile Crescent. It's desert now because of how many large civilizations have abused the land in that region. North America certainly hasn't been utilized for as long as the "Fertile" Crescent, but our population (and the world population in general) is larger than it's ever been and growing. So yes, the destruction of the land that we depend on certainly could happen on a shorter scale. I'm not saying that it will, because as a society we could change our infrastructure and values. But if we keep going on the current track that we're on, then we're going to doom ourselves. And destroy a large chunk of the natural world in the process. A 6th mass extinction indeed.
So that's largely why I've been thinking about how our economic system is inadequate. But I wish I'd taken an econ class, because I really don't understand our economic system that well. I'm aware of its inadequacies, but could capitalism be made to work sustainably? Going back to the forum topic, someone mentioned that agriculture should once again be placed into the free market (then there was a snappy comment about how the demand for food certainly isn't going to go down). Would something like that even help? Obviously local, sustainable farms that do not grow crops in monoculture would greatly help this problem, but would capitalism allow that? Wouldn't we just get big big "Wal-Mart" style farms that were privately owned instead of given government subsidies? Hell, large chain stores are running small businesses out of business. Is this an inherent failure of capitalism? Would some variant of socialism be more sustainable? Were the failures of socialist systems simply due to the fact that the social timing was not right?
Any comments by anyone who has any idea of what they're talking about when it comes to things like this would be more than welcome. I guess a liberal arts education gave me just a taste of certain fields, but not enough to make me feel confident and/or knowledgeable. Or maybe I strive for too great a knowledge of the big picture, and the details of all of its components. Should I be content to focus on the scientific aspects of ecology and conservation? How can I best preserve the natural world and work towards creating a sustainable society using my field? Am I trying to do too much? Taking on for myself the work of what needs to be our entire society? Well that's an obvious question. Of course it needs to be our entire society, or at least a great majority.
I'm going to end with an article that someone posted in the trapping topic.
It talks about how language perpetuates our perception of nature/economy as a society. The article itself is a little extreme (nobody thinks completely like that), but I think the extremity is necessary. As a society, I think that we do use language that justifies or desensitizes our effects on the environment. And in the context of this language, I think that the points are valid. I thought it was an interesting read in any case.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Day after graduation
As the title indicates, I graduated from Denison yesterday. And summa cum laude at that. It all happened very quickly, and even today I'm not sure that I've processed everything yet. Overall it wasn't really what I expected. I didn't get super emotional. Although it didn't seem like many people did. Shannon was the only person who cried that I saw. I just couldn't really focus in on any one emotion since I was feeling so many of them. I thought that the goodbyes would be rough. And they were sad, but not overwhelmingly so. I know that I'll see almost everyone again. And probably sooner than I think. I also actually didn't get to say goodbye to a lot of people. With the confusion it's understandable though. Seems like that happened to a lot of people.
Commencement itself was long. Cicerone was a great speaker though, and I'm glad that our class got to have him. I found myself spacing out a lot as the B.A.s were walking the stage. There weren't very many B.F.A.s (5, I believe) and most of the people that I know got B.S.s (and there really weren't that many of them either). So after that I would read ahead in the program until I found someone's name that I knew, and that would give me an indication of how much time I had to try to focus my thoughts. It worked only moderately well. I was in such a haze through the whole thing that I didn't even know if they'd pronounced my name right (I was told later that they did). I feel like the day would have been much more enjoyable overall if the stress of cleaning the apartment and moving out by 7 wasn't there. That really is the stupidest thing ever. I know that we should pack during senior week, and I largely DID pack during senior week. But loading can still take quite some time, and packing stuff that is used until the last day. And of course cleaning took by far the longest time. Mike left more than his share of stuff/mess behind, but Josh, Reyan and I all worked together and cleaned the place up fairly quickly. It was still stressful though, because I just kept thinking about whether people had left already and when/how I would track people down. I guess that just reinforces the notion that I will definitely miss the people more than anything else.
I am so thankful that I lived in Morrow freshmen year. Not only were a lot of my current friends fellow Morrow residents, but I really think that it helped my social life freshmen year. Even with the close atmosphere of Morrow I was anti-social until Anne made me hang out in the common room. And I'm so glad that it was a nerdy north-quad dorm, because that was also integral in forging relationships with people living there. Saturday night before graduation Liz and I were toasting buildings with a bottle of wine, and I regret that we never got around to north quad to toast Morrow. When I think of Denison, the innards of that building are still often the first thing that comes to mind.
Going back to commencement, President Knobel's class charge to us was to experience ubuntu whenever we could. At first I thought that that was sort of a weak charge for our class. But I guess it's sort of fitting, and my first act of ubuntu (is ubuntu a verb? I should research the word later) is really the solidification of my intent to remain friends with as many people as possible. I've largely lost touch with people from my High School, and if I get around to talking to people it doesn't happen very often. I feel like it's easy for me to do things like that, but I should really work hard to not make the same mistake twice.
I'm not sure how coherent this post was, but that may reflect my current state of mind. Then again, a few people have mentioned that their thoughts probably weren't coherent and they seemed fine to me. Anyways, I think that's it for me right now. I still have to wrap my mind around the fact that I'll be in Tennessee in less than a week, after I let all of this graduation stuff to sink in.
Commencement itself was long. Cicerone was a great speaker though, and I'm glad that our class got to have him. I found myself spacing out a lot as the B.A.s were walking the stage. There weren't very many B.F.A.s (5, I believe) and most of the people that I know got B.S.s (and there really weren't that many of them either). So after that I would read ahead in the program until I found someone's name that I knew, and that would give me an indication of how much time I had to try to focus my thoughts. It worked only moderately well. I was in such a haze through the whole thing that I didn't even know if they'd pronounced my name right (I was told later that they did). I feel like the day would have been much more enjoyable overall if the stress of cleaning the apartment and moving out by 7 wasn't there. That really is the stupidest thing ever. I know that we should pack during senior week, and I largely DID pack during senior week. But loading can still take quite some time, and packing stuff that is used until the last day. And of course cleaning took by far the longest time. Mike left more than his share of stuff/mess behind, but Josh, Reyan and I all worked together and cleaned the place up fairly quickly. It was still stressful though, because I just kept thinking about whether people had left already and when/how I would track people down. I guess that just reinforces the notion that I will definitely miss the people more than anything else.
I am so thankful that I lived in Morrow freshmen year. Not only were a lot of my current friends fellow Morrow residents, but I really think that it helped my social life freshmen year. Even with the close atmosphere of Morrow I was anti-social until Anne made me hang out in the common room. And I'm so glad that it was a nerdy north-quad dorm, because that was also integral in forging relationships with people living there. Saturday night before graduation Liz and I were toasting buildings with a bottle of wine, and I regret that we never got around to north quad to toast Morrow. When I think of Denison, the innards of that building are still often the first thing that comes to mind.
Going back to commencement, President Knobel's class charge to us was to experience ubuntu whenever we could. At first I thought that that was sort of a weak charge for our class. But I guess it's sort of fitting, and my first act of ubuntu (is ubuntu a verb? I should research the word later) is really the solidification of my intent to remain friends with as many people as possible. I've largely lost touch with people from my High School, and if I get around to talking to people it doesn't happen very often. I feel like it's easy for me to do things like that, but I should really work hard to not make the same mistake twice.
I'm not sure how coherent this post was, but that may reflect my current state of mind. Then again, a few people have mentioned that their thoughts probably weren't coherent and they seemed fine to me. Anyways, I think that's it for me right now. I still have to wrap my mind around the fact that I'll be in Tennessee in less than a week, after I let all of this graduation stuff to sink in.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Magee Marsh
Yesterday I went birding at Magee Marsh, and here is the breakdown of what I saw:
Visitors Center:
American Goldfinch
Robin
Red Winged Blackbird
Barn Swallow
White Crowned Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Grackle
Drive to Board Walk
Green Heron
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Great Egret
Coot
Tree Swallow
Lesser Yellowlegs
Boardwalk
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Swainson's Thrush
Yellow Warbler
Palm Warbler
Ovenbird (warbler)
Veery (thrush)
Black Throated Green Warbler
House Wren
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Swamp Sparrow
Blackburnian Warbler
Lincoln's Sparrow
Black Throated Blue Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Red Breasted Nuthatch
White Throated Sparrow
Additionally, Meredith saw a White Breasted Nuthatch and a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, but I missed them.
Ottowa Wildlife Reserve
Double Crested Cormorant
Killdeer
Magee Boardwalk take 2
American Woodcock!
Least Flycatcher
female RW Blackbird making a nest
Hooded Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Waterthrush (warbler)
Blackpoll Warbler
Whippoorwill!
Ruddy Duck
Baltimore Oriole
Bald Eagle
Additionally, others in the group saw a Redstart.
My total was 43 birds seen, 29 of which were firsts for me. The group list was an impressive 76! Meredith had 44, because she had the White Breasted Nuthatch and Rose Breasted Grosbeak, but she didn't see the Hooded Warbler.
I definitely need to go to Magee Marsh again. I wonder if it would be good during the fall migration? If not, whatever, I can go in some future spring again...
Visitors Center:
American Goldfinch
Robin
Red Winged Blackbird
Barn Swallow
White Crowned Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Grackle
Drive to Board Walk
Green Heron
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Great Egret
Coot
Tree Swallow
Lesser Yellowlegs
Boardwalk
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Swainson's Thrush
Yellow Warbler
Palm Warbler
Ovenbird (warbler)
Veery (thrush)
Black Throated Green Warbler
House Wren
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Swamp Sparrow
Blackburnian Warbler
Lincoln's Sparrow
Black Throated Blue Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Red Breasted Nuthatch
White Throated Sparrow
Additionally, Meredith saw a White Breasted Nuthatch and a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, but I missed them.
Ottowa Wildlife Reserve
Double Crested Cormorant
Killdeer
Magee Boardwalk take 2
American Woodcock!
Least Flycatcher
female RW Blackbird making a nest
Hooded Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Waterthrush (warbler)
Blackpoll Warbler
Whippoorwill!
Ruddy Duck
Baltimore Oriole
Bald Eagle
Additionally, others in the group saw a Redstart.
My total was 43 birds seen, 29 of which were firsts for me. The group list was an impressive 76! Meredith had 44, because she had the White Breasted Nuthatch and Rose Breasted Grosbeak, but she didn't see the Hooded Warbler.
I definitely need to go to Magee Marsh again. I wonder if it would be good during the fall migration? If not, whatever, I can go in some future spring again...
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Getting closer
I'm almost finished with Painting. Basically the only thing that I have left to do is show up to the critique. And then clean out my stuff on Sunday and collect my paintings. I finished my final painting today, and it really didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Probably because there wasn't a whole lot of detail work. I mean, I could have made it photorealistic and I half intended to, but when I had my first couple layers of paint on and the trees painted in, I decided that I liked how it looked as it was. And then once I painted in all of the reflections, my mind was made up. The only really detailed elements were the frog in the foreground (which looks amazing and didn't actually take me as long to paint as I thought it would) and there's a turtle basking on a log that is kind of detailed but it's so small that there wasn't much detail area to cover. I decided to leave out the dragonfly (which probably would have taken a few hours to paint) because of focusing issues. It would be "zoomed in" but the background wouldn't be blurry, and since a painting is 2D the viewer's eye wouldn't make the background blurry just by looking at the dragonfly so I think it would have ruined the painting. And I'm sure that I could have worked on it more (I spent like 7 hours outside of class on it, and I suspected it would take me between 12 and 16), but even yesterday I kept looking at it and thinking to myself "this is finished." Even without the frog and the completed reflection of the weeping willow it looked done. But I didn't want to leave the frog out, and I knew that it would look better with the improved willow reflection, so I went back in today. I'm quite pleased with it. Even moreso since it took me so little time, and I actually enjoyed painting it.
So basically now I just have my GIS final project which I present on Wednesday and need to have the paper turned in by next Monday, the Vertebrate Zoology paper that's due tomorrow and just needs to be edited (hopefully not too much, as I haven't seen the sections that Liz and Meg wrote), the plant collection, and the finals in Vertebrate Zoology and Plant Systematics (which will be on the same day, next Monday). So my massive end of semester workload suddenly seems a lot lighter, and a huge part of that is because the painting went so well. Because in theory I could have spent the rest of today and most of tomorrow on that painting if I had to, and then I would have hated it and been quite pressed for time on GIS.
And anyone who actually enjoyed reading this entry is crazy because it's boring. Honestly now, who really cares about my last undergraduate assignments? Well, perhaps I'll look back on this some day and enjoy reading about it. Who knows. But probably not.
Ok, I'm done procrastinating now.
So basically now I just have my GIS final project which I present on Wednesday and need to have the paper turned in by next Monday, the Vertebrate Zoology paper that's due tomorrow and just needs to be edited (hopefully not too much, as I haven't seen the sections that Liz and Meg wrote), the plant collection, and the finals in Vertebrate Zoology and Plant Systematics (which will be on the same day, next Monday). So my massive end of semester workload suddenly seems a lot lighter, and a huge part of that is because the painting went so well. Because in theory I could have spent the rest of today and most of tomorrow on that painting if I had to, and then I would have hated it and been quite pressed for time on GIS.
And anyone who actually enjoyed reading this entry is crazy because it's boring. Honestly now, who really cares about my last undergraduate assignments? Well, perhaps I'll look back on this some day and enjoy reading about it. Who knows. But probably not.
Ok, I'm done procrastinating now.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Last week of undergraduate classes
The last week of classes at Denison is almost over. Just thought I'd throw that out there. It hasn't really sunk it how soon I'll be out of here. That's probably for the better. My departure should be quick and painless. No need to get reminiscent. It'll happen eventually though. As soon as more of my insane quantities of work start to get done. Right now I haven't really been able to enjoy the nice weather, or enjoy the company of people who I probably won't see again for a good long while. But I think I've already spent much of this year processing the fact that it's almost over, so maybe it won't be too bad. There are a lot of things that I'm ready to be done with, and I do feel like I need to move on. Things have been stagnant this year, and last year as well to an extent. I would have liked my senior year to be better, but there's really nothing I can do about it now. And it hasn't been bad, necessarily. Just not the great "last hurrah" that was supposed to bookend my Denison career. Freshmen year was the best for me because of Morrow, and I guess I had this idea that because I needed to make the most of it this year would also be great. But alas. I guess it's just been kind of dull. I'm sure noteworthy things have happened, but there hasn't been very many defining events. I sort of wonder what a 5th year would have been like, if that were the norm, and I think that I would probably be thoroughly sick of Denison after that year even if everyone I knew stayed. But anyways, I think it's bed time. Enough tired rambling.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Birds
It's been an interesting few days. It's becoming more and more obvious how little time is left in the semester, and oddly enough I'm becoming a little more ok with it. There are a lot of things that I just want to be done with, as is usual, and it doesn't really matter that that also means that my college days will draw to a close. This place has done a lot for me, but part of me feels like it can't help me anymore, and that I need to move on to other things.
Yesterday was Relay for Life, and for some reason the energy of the previous two years just wasn't there. There were fewer people there, and everyone seemed to be less into it. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't the experience it usually is. Andy stayed for a while this time, and I spent a lot of time talking with him. It made me feel good about where I'm at in my life, and where I'm going. Grad school is definitely in my future, but first I need to just explore. Explore the world (or at least parts of it), my options, and myself. Because I'm starting to realize that I don't have as firm a grasp of myself as I thought I did. Which is a pretty strange thought, and I'm not sure how to articulate it so I won't say anything further about that.
Now on to the title of this post. I left Relay early because I had to get up early today to go on Dr. Schultz's bird walk. Well, I didn't have to, but I wanted to. It was at 8 (which is late for a bird walk). I didn't get much sleep because I had one of my weird dreams and woke up, unable to fall asleep for a good long while. I've been having a lot of dreams like it lately, where I create this task for myself in my sleep, and I wake up absolutely convinced that I'm supposed to get it done in real life, and that I've procrastinated it or am somehow on a really tight schedule and should figure it out so that when I wake up I can just get right on it. And they're absurd things. Like last night, I was supposed to count plants for DUBS. There were strips of grass and sod with little flowers in them, just laying on the ground in Mitchell, and Bridget kept telling me that I had to count the flowers. It didn't make sense to me why (it certainly didn't seem very scientific) but I felt like I really had to do it. But for some reason counting wasn't just a simple task. I'm not sure why it was so complicated, but it began to really stress me out. And then in my stressed out state I couldn't fall back asleep. I'm also not sure how much of this happened when I was fully asleep, in the dream, or half awake.
But I digress. Back to the birds. A good number of people showed up (5 students in all: myself, Meredith, Liz, Sarah, and Alice, and of course a bunch of people from Granville). There weren't many birds out (it was the morning after a storm and the temperatures were cooler), but that didn't really bother Dr. Schultz, who was really good at explaining the biology of everything that we did see (most of which was fairly common). There were quite a bit of tree swallows out, which are pretty common (they're utilizing a lot of the nest boxes that are set out) but they're one of my favorites anyways. And I found out that there have been SANDHILL CRANES at Dawes recently, and I would REALLY like to make it out there. That is a very rare sight in Ohio. Overall it was a good re-introduction to birds for me. I started learning my birds last year, but then never really continued that this year. I'm surprised I didn't try more over the summer. Hopefully this summer I'll work on it a bit more.
After the bird walk I helped Meredith check buckets, and there were a fair amount of salamanders (mostly males) leaving the pond. Unfortunately, a lot of toads decided to go back and forth as well, and they were not so fortunately toxic. Raccoons had raided many of the buckets, and there were a lot of mangled toad carcasses. The ventral portions were eaten and their backs were left, of course, because that is where their glands that produce bad-tasting chemicals are produced. And oddly enough, there were eggs scattered around, so when a gravid female was eaten the raccoons left the eggs alone. I'm kind of wondering why, as I would think they'd be nutritious and delicious. The worst part was that a decent amount of toads had sustained really severe injuries but were left alive in the buckets. The first toad that we saw was in one of the minnow traps (so I don't know HOW a raccoon managed to do this) and had the skin ripped off of one side of its body and a hole through the axial muscles so that you could literally see into its body cavity. And it was hopping around relatively normally, though more sluggishly than most toads. When I set it down on the ground and it tried to hop away from me, some intestines started poking their way through the hole. A lot of other toads had various organs spilled out, but were still alive (barely). There was one female with a large tear in her side and eggs and viscera were spilling out, and an (uninjured) male was in amplexus with her. She was still alive, but barely. Why the raccoons didn't just finish these toads off I don't know. But it was a little traumatizing to see the results.
And so that I don't end on such a gruesome note, I'll say that after checking buckets Meredith and I picked Liz up and we went to the indoor farmers market and I got some more grass-fed beef (only a pound this time, because it doesn't have to last me super long). I also got a delicious chocolate chip scone from the village bakery. And all of this was accomplished before noon. I actually kind of like getting up early, it makes me feel so productive. And I should probably get used to it anyways.
Yesterday was Relay for Life, and for some reason the energy of the previous two years just wasn't there. There were fewer people there, and everyone seemed to be less into it. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't the experience it usually is. Andy stayed for a while this time, and I spent a lot of time talking with him. It made me feel good about where I'm at in my life, and where I'm going. Grad school is definitely in my future, but first I need to just explore. Explore the world (or at least parts of it), my options, and myself. Because I'm starting to realize that I don't have as firm a grasp of myself as I thought I did. Which is a pretty strange thought, and I'm not sure how to articulate it so I won't say anything further about that.
Now on to the title of this post. I left Relay early because I had to get up early today to go on Dr. Schultz's bird walk. Well, I didn't have to, but I wanted to. It was at 8 (which is late for a bird walk). I didn't get much sleep because I had one of my weird dreams and woke up, unable to fall asleep for a good long while. I've been having a lot of dreams like it lately, where I create this task for myself in my sleep, and I wake up absolutely convinced that I'm supposed to get it done in real life, and that I've procrastinated it or am somehow on a really tight schedule and should figure it out so that when I wake up I can just get right on it. And they're absurd things. Like last night, I was supposed to count plants for DUBS. There were strips of grass and sod with little flowers in them, just laying on the ground in Mitchell, and Bridget kept telling me that I had to count the flowers. It didn't make sense to me why (it certainly didn't seem very scientific) but I felt like I really had to do it. But for some reason counting wasn't just a simple task. I'm not sure why it was so complicated, but it began to really stress me out. And then in my stressed out state I couldn't fall back asleep. I'm also not sure how much of this happened when I was fully asleep, in the dream, or half awake.
But I digress. Back to the birds. A good number of people showed up (5 students in all: myself, Meredith, Liz, Sarah, and Alice, and of course a bunch of people from Granville). There weren't many birds out (it was the morning after a storm and the temperatures were cooler), but that didn't really bother Dr. Schultz, who was really good at explaining the biology of everything that we did see (most of which was fairly common). There were quite a bit of tree swallows out, which are pretty common (they're utilizing a lot of the nest boxes that are set out) but they're one of my favorites anyways. And I found out that there have been SANDHILL CRANES at Dawes recently, and I would REALLY like to make it out there. That is a very rare sight in Ohio. Overall it was a good re-introduction to birds for me. I started learning my birds last year, but then never really continued that this year. I'm surprised I didn't try more over the summer. Hopefully this summer I'll work on it a bit more.
After the bird walk I helped Meredith check buckets, and there were a fair amount of salamanders (mostly males) leaving the pond. Unfortunately, a lot of toads decided to go back and forth as well, and they were not so fortunately toxic. Raccoons had raided many of the buckets, and there were a lot of mangled toad carcasses. The ventral portions were eaten and their backs were left, of course, because that is where their glands that produce bad-tasting chemicals are produced. And oddly enough, there were eggs scattered around, so when a gravid female was eaten the raccoons left the eggs alone. I'm kind of wondering why, as I would think they'd be nutritious and delicious. The worst part was that a decent amount of toads had sustained really severe injuries but were left alive in the buckets. The first toad that we saw was in one of the minnow traps (so I don't know HOW a raccoon managed to do this) and had the skin ripped off of one side of its body and a hole through the axial muscles so that you could literally see into its body cavity. And it was hopping around relatively normally, though more sluggishly than most toads. When I set it down on the ground and it tried to hop away from me, some intestines started poking their way through the hole. A lot of other toads had various organs spilled out, but were still alive (barely). There was one female with a large tear in her side and eggs and viscera were spilling out, and an (uninjured) male was in amplexus with her. She was still alive, but barely. Why the raccoons didn't just finish these toads off I don't know. But it was a little traumatizing to see the results.
And so that I don't end on such a gruesome note, I'll say that after checking buckets Meredith and I picked Liz up and we went to the indoor farmers market and I got some more grass-fed beef (only a pound this time, because it doesn't have to last me super long). I also got a delicious chocolate chip scone from the village bakery. And all of this was accomplished before noon. I actually kind of like getting up early, it makes me feel so productive. And I should probably get used to it anyways.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
LOLZelda
I thought of this pun randomly earlier this week, and thought it would make a funny LOL for the (probably 3) people knowledgeable about both Zelda and Geo.
In case you don't get it, I'm going to be one of those losers that has to explain their joke. Gorons eat rocks. Apatite is a rock (or a mineral, or whatever it happens to be. For non-Geo people like me, it's essentially a rock). I'm sure you can figure it out from there.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Media Collage Painting
After the ridiculous workload that was the portrait projects, we are now starting on our media collage paintings in Intro. The way this works is that we chose images from the media and made a physical collage, and now we have to make a painting from that collage source (though we are free to incorporate collage into the painting or represent the collage in different ways on the painting). I've had an idea for this painting for several weeks now, and after collecting some choice images I was actually amazed at how well they fit together. I think my subconscious was intentionally searching for specific imagery, because I inexplicably visualized some of the key images (though not necessarily their relations to one another) from the outset. Anyways, Chris never got a chance to talk with me about the painting in class today, so he asked me to write an email explaining my thoughts on the project. So here is that email, just to give you an idea of what is going on with my painting:
Hey Chris,
So the basic theme of my painting is going to be media in excess and its negative
impacts on people/society. The generic excessive viewer of media is portrayed in the
center of the painting as a large, very bloodshot eyeball and a brain just behind it,
which will be dull, drippy, and ugly (not quite a "this is your brain on drugs" but
close). The brain will be entangled with two cords: one from a mouse and one from an
x-box controller. The brain imagery will also be enhanced by an MRI scan showing
hemorrhaging. Around the periphery of the central viewer, there will be various media
images.
Some specific media images related directly to each other. There is a CNN screenshot of
soldiers in Iraq holding up what looks like some kind of missile launcher. This image
will be obscured/blocked by a stormtrooper holding a gun (at the exact same angle as the
rocket launcher) and a screenshot from Halo. These fictional images cover the CNN image
to suggest that the fictional media world of video games, etc. is more real to the
viewer than real life. An image of Warcraft, a PC role playing game which has a
tendency to completely take over people's lives (I know a few), plays into that theme
more. Warcraft is essentially in its own virtual world, which essentially replaces the
real world for players (moreso than most other video games).
I'm also including images of popular TV shows, specifically CSI and Lost. The Lost
image is particularly important, as it suggests that the viewer has lost touch with the
real world, or is even lost among the many fictional media worlds. I've also included a
picture of Homer Simpson and the American Idol logo, both of which are popular TV shows
but the images also have a specific relation to each other. American Idol is spatially
right below/overlapping Homer Simpson, suggesting that this character has become the
ideal American (a lazy person who sits on the couch and watches TV all day).
Finally, I've included some popular internet media sources as well because it's so easy
to waste a lot of time on the internet. A picture of Potter Puppet Pals in Harry Potter
and the Mysterious Ticking Noise (the Snape, Snape, Severus Snape video, if you have
seen it) represents Youtube in general, and I've included 2 LOLcats. Which sort of
proved my whole point, as I spent easily over an hour looking through the LOLcat images
even after choosing two. One is a video game reference to play into that (it says Bad
Respawn, relating to the feeling of immortality and power that goes along with video
games) and one references models and negative self image (a cat is sitting next to a
thin cat statuette).
Some things I'm not entirely sure about are how drastically disgusting I want to make
the brain. A "rotten brain" seems a little too extreme, and I think that the
hemorrhaging brain MRI covers that aspect, so I'm wondering if I should just go with a
sickly looking color. Also, I'm not entirely sure of what to do with the background. I
know that I sort of want the images to blend into each other and/or a fuzzy or foggy
background to create a swirl of media chaos, or an ethereal plane leading to many
different media universes. I'm still trying to work out how to portray that visually.
That was probably a longer email than you expected, but those are pretty much my
thoughts on the painting so far.
*Brian*
So there you have it. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Hopefully I have the energy to make this painting as awesome as my plans for it are. Those portraits really did drain me though. As did other recent events.
Also, I could use some suggestions for my final painting (which is coming up really soon!). I initially wanted to do a pondscape with frogs and dragonflies and such just because I like wetlands and wanted to paint it. But I think that Chris will feel that it doesn't have enough meaning. It's basically just a realistic scene more or less copied from a few images. I like the scene, but it would really just be a pretty picture. So now I think I want to do something with anthropogenic environmental effects. I read an article on amphibian declines recently, and the title was Ghosts in our midsts: something or other about amphibian declines. That ghosts in our midst imagery kind of stuck with me, and I think I may paint some phantom frogs to comment on amphibian declines (because they're important, damnit!!!). And I think that in the distant background, I want to have a city. I don't want this to be an urban pond. I think that on the left side I'll have a cityscape, with a natural landscape on the right. So it's a pond at the threshold of human habitation. And I want to somehow portray urban expansion. My initial thought was some kind of creeping/groping hands (evil-looking, of course) pulling up trees in the background or otherwise engulfing the natural land. And the pond will of course look pristine and wonderful, but will be in obvious danger.
Anyways, if anyone has any brilliant thoughts on what else I could do with that/better ways to portray expansion, let me know.
Hey Chris,
So the basic theme of my painting is going to be media in excess and its negative
impacts on people/society. The generic excessive viewer of media is portrayed in the
center of the painting as a large, very bloodshot eyeball and a brain just behind it,
which will be dull, drippy, and ugly (not quite a "this is your brain on drugs" but
close). The brain will be entangled with two cords: one from a mouse and one from an
x-box controller. The brain imagery will also be enhanced by an MRI scan showing
hemorrhaging. Around the periphery of the central viewer, there will be various media
images.
Some specific media images related directly to each other. There is a CNN screenshot of
soldiers in Iraq holding up what looks like some kind of missile launcher. This image
will be obscured/blocked by a stormtrooper holding a gun (at the exact same angle as the
rocket launcher) and a screenshot from Halo. These fictional images cover the CNN image
to suggest that the fictional media world of video games, etc. is more real to the
viewer than real life. An image of Warcraft, a PC role playing game which has a
tendency to completely take over people's lives (I know a few), plays into that theme
more. Warcraft is essentially in its own virtual world, which essentially replaces the
real world for players (moreso than most other video games).
I'm also including images of popular TV shows, specifically CSI and Lost. The Lost
image is particularly important, as it suggests that the viewer has lost touch with the
real world, or is even lost among the many fictional media worlds. I've also included a
picture of Homer Simpson and the American Idol logo, both of which are popular TV shows
but the images also have a specific relation to each other. American Idol is spatially
right below/overlapping Homer Simpson, suggesting that this character has become the
ideal American (a lazy person who sits on the couch and watches TV all day).
Finally, I've included some popular internet media sources as well because it's so easy
to waste a lot of time on the internet. A picture of Potter Puppet Pals in Harry Potter
and the Mysterious Ticking Noise (the Snape, Snape, Severus Snape video, if you have
seen it) represents Youtube in general, and I've included 2 LOLcats. Which sort of
proved my whole point, as I spent easily over an hour looking through the LOLcat images
even after choosing two. One is a video game reference to play into that (it says Bad
Respawn, relating to the feeling of immortality and power that goes along with video
games) and one references models and negative self image (a cat is sitting next to a
thin cat statuette).
Some things I'm not entirely sure about are how drastically disgusting I want to make
the brain. A "rotten brain" seems a little too extreme, and I think that the
hemorrhaging brain MRI covers that aspect, so I'm wondering if I should just go with a
sickly looking color. Also, I'm not entirely sure of what to do with the background. I
know that I sort of want the images to blend into each other and/or a fuzzy or foggy
background to create a swirl of media chaos, or an ethereal plane leading to many
different media universes. I'm still trying to work out how to portray that visually.
That was probably a longer email than you expected, but those are pretty much my
thoughts on the painting so far.
*Brian*
So there you have it. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Hopefully I have the energy to make this painting as awesome as my plans for it are. Those portraits really did drain me though. As did other recent events.
Also, I could use some suggestions for my final painting (which is coming up really soon!). I initially wanted to do a pondscape with frogs and dragonflies and such just because I like wetlands and wanted to paint it. But I think that Chris will feel that it doesn't have enough meaning. It's basically just a realistic scene more or less copied from a few images. I like the scene, but it would really just be a pretty picture. So now I think I want to do something with anthropogenic environmental effects. I read an article on amphibian declines recently, and the title was Ghosts in our midsts: something or other about amphibian declines. That ghosts in our midst imagery kind of stuck with me, and I think I may paint some phantom frogs to comment on amphibian declines (because they're important, damnit!!!). And I think that in the distant background, I want to have a city. I don't want this to be an urban pond. I think that on the left side I'll have a cityscape, with a natural landscape on the right. So it's a pond at the threshold of human habitation. And I want to somehow portray urban expansion. My initial thought was some kind of creeping/groping hands (evil-looking, of course) pulling up trees in the background or otherwise engulfing the natural land. And the pond will of course look pristine and wonderful, but will be in obvious danger.
Anyways, if anyone has any brilliant thoughts on what else I could do with that/better ways to portray expansion, let me know.
Monday, March 31, 2008
More on the Smokies
I finally finished all of the paperwork and mailed it in today. There was a LOT of it. I originally planned on scanning it in the library and emailing it, but the scanners are slow and I couldn't get the file size to be reasonably small. Also, I couldn't figure out how to save the scanned images as PDFs. So I gave up, took the 20 minutes (and $3) to walk down to the post office and have them mailed. Glad that's over.
While I was filling out the travel grant form, I realized how much cheaper it was to drive than fly. I mean, sure Skybus is cheap, but they don't fly to Knoxville, and Chatanooga is 100 miles away, I believe. Plus Skybus doesn't have flights listed past mid-April. I don't know what's up with that. So I think I'm going to take Greyhound down there. That'll be interesting. It's even cheaper than driving yourself, if I'm remembering the rates correctly. And WAY cheaper than flying. I just have to do a bit more research (when I have less work to do) about luggage and such. Turns out I'll need to bring bedding and stuff, so that's more than just a backpack. And I won't have much room in my backpack for clothes anyways, as I plan on bringing all of my camping stuff (yay!!!!). And I'm sure that I won't be able to bring my bike, but oh well. Gatlinburg is 2 miles away from where I'll be staying, and even though it's pretty hilly a bike would be useful. Not sure how groceries are going to work yet, and I'll probably have to walk to Gatlinburg to go to the library (the nearest place with internet access unless I decide to buy a laptop and get a wireless card. Given my financial situation, that's not going to happen). And there's no TV reception there, so I'll pretty much be without TV. So I should probably pack lots of books. Plus I'm sure I'll get a library card there (which is funny, because I never even got a Granville library card and I've been here for 4 years). I guess I'll need the public library more this summer than I did here though.
It's really beginning to set in that I'm actually going to be doing this soon. And the more I've thought about it the more excited I am for it. It will be an adjustment, but it's not as remote as some of the other positions that I applied for. And I DID want something remote. But 12 weeks is a long time if I decide that I need to have some civilization every once in a while. I guess this will be a good position to test those waters. Hopefully it will be good for a lot of reasons. And I hope there are plenty of people living around me (based on the map there seems to be several buildings in the housing area). And (Julie should note this) every other week in my schedule I get Fridays off, so if anyone wants to come down and visit me, we could feasibly backpack Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.
While I was filling out the travel grant form, I realized how much cheaper it was to drive than fly. I mean, sure Skybus is cheap, but they don't fly to Knoxville, and Chatanooga is 100 miles away, I believe. Plus Skybus doesn't have flights listed past mid-April. I don't know what's up with that. So I think I'm going to take Greyhound down there. That'll be interesting. It's even cheaper than driving yourself, if I'm remembering the rates correctly. And WAY cheaper than flying. I just have to do a bit more research (when I have less work to do) about luggage and such. Turns out I'll need to bring bedding and stuff, so that's more than just a backpack. And I won't have much room in my backpack for clothes anyways, as I plan on bringing all of my camping stuff (yay!!!!). And I'm sure that I won't be able to bring my bike, but oh well. Gatlinburg is 2 miles away from where I'll be staying, and even though it's pretty hilly a bike would be useful. Not sure how groceries are going to work yet, and I'll probably have to walk to Gatlinburg to go to the library (the nearest place with internet access unless I decide to buy a laptop and get a wireless card. Given my financial situation, that's not going to happen). And there's no TV reception there, so I'll pretty much be without TV. So I should probably pack lots of books. Plus I'm sure I'll get a library card there (which is funny, because I never even got a Granville library card and I've been here for 4 years). I guess I'll need the public library more this summer than I did here though.
It's really beginning to set in that I'm actually going to be doing this soon. And the more I've thought about it the more excited I am for it. It will be an adjustment, but it's not as remote as some of the other positions that I applied for. And I DID want something remote. But 12 weeks is a long time if I decide that I need to have some civilization every once in a while. I guess this will be a good position to test those waters. Hopefully it will be good for a lot of reasons. And I hope there are plenty of people living around me (based on the map there seems to be several buildings in the housing area). And (Julie should note this) every other week in my schedule I get Fridays off, so if anyone wants to come down and visit me, we could feasibly backpack Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Summer internship
I have accepted a summer position in the Smoky Mountains. It seems like it will be pretty cool, and consists mostly of invasive (plant) species monitoring and removal. It wasn't my ideal position, but it's certainly good enough. I would have liked to get a 6 month position just to keep myself occupied a little longer, but this just means that I'll have to search for something else in the fall instead of the winter. In theory that should be a little bit easier. There was also a really cool 2 month position that paid really well, and I would be doing amphibian population monitoring, but I wasn't guaranteed that and I sort of wanted to be on the safe side. I was in the top third of their applicant pool, but not in the top 3, who were being contacted first. I was competing against people with more experience than me though, so I don't really feel super bad about it. I just wish I could be doing stuff with amphibians instead of plants and insects.
However, even though I wouldn't be officially researching them, the Smokies are pretty much the center of caudate diversity in the world. So I'm thinking that in my free time I will probably poke around and try to find and ID as many different salamander species as I can. And the actual work that I'll be doing will be good. GSMNP is one of the most heavily visited national parks in the country, and with lots of visitors comes a greater chance of introduced exotic species. And I guess in some ways it might be good for my first internship after graduation to be just for the summer. It will potentially be an easier transition, especially since it's closer to home than a lot of the other positions that I was looking at.
Anyways, I'm tired now and should have gone to bed a half hour ago (there was no reason not to) so I'm gonna do that now.
However, even though I wouldn't be officially researching them, the Smokies are pretty much the center of caudate diversity in the world. So I'm thinking that in my free time I will probably poke around and try to find and ID as many different salamander species as I can. And the actual work that I'll be doing will be good. GSMNP is one of the most heavily visited national parks in the country, and with lots of visitors comes a greater chance of introduced exotic species. And I guess in some ways it might be good for my first internship after graduation to be just for the summer. It will potentially be an easier transition, especially since it's closer to home than a lot of the other positions that I was looking at.
Anyways, I'm tired now and should have gone to bed a half hour ago (there was no reason not to) so I'm gonna do that now.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The icing on the spring break cake
So. Obviously, as anyone who has read my previous post knows, my spring break plans just did not work. At all. Well, I found out yesterday that the outing club DIDN'T LEAVE UNTIL SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Way to call me and let me know, Bob! Even if I HAD been able to go to my conference, I still could have left for Florida on Sunday!!!! And the fact that I WASN'T able to get to the conference made it worse anyways.
UGH!
UGH!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Spring break rant
Wow, so for the THIRD TIME this year I've had spring break plans that won't be happening. Which is ridiculous. I feel like this year has just been so full of promise but then nothing comes of it. Winter break I was supposed to go to Texas, but that ended up not happening (though I do understand the reasons why Liz didn't want to go, and I don't hold it against her. It's just unfortunate that Texas didn't happen). And now spring break. Last year was the complete opposite, which is what I don't get. The Habitat trip happened over winter break, and that sort of got me in a "travelling" sort of mindset, and then Arizona was a huge success. And over the summer Bear Island and the Smokies certainly came together after some difficulties. Those successful trips just convinced me that I could pull together anything if I really tried hard enough. But I guess this year is a learning experience, in that I get to realize that it's not always the case. Sometimes it's just not the best option for things to work out.
So in case anyone is wondering what went wrong with spring break (and because I feel like ranting about it because it's so absurdly ridiculous), I will explain pretty much in full. So last semester Meg told me about this trip to New Orleans that Green Team was pulling together, restoring degraded wetland habitat. I went for so long assuming that it would be great and psyching myself up for it. And then the person who was organizing it was a loser and it ended up not happening. And I've heard no good reason why it didn't happen, because I think it totally could have if whoever was in charge of it would have tried. Damn, next time maybe I should just be in charge of things like that. Anyways, that was failure number 1. So after that realization, I decided to go on the Outing Club trip to Florida. 4 days of backpacking in Ocala National Forest, and then 3 days of canoing in the Everglades. Sounds amazing, right? Well I'm sure it will be. I got my defensive driving certification for that trip and everything. And then less than two weeks ago, I find out that MEEC (Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference) is the FIRST WEEKEND OF SPRING BREAK!!!!! I'm (probably, but I'll get to that later) presenting my summer/senior research there, and it's been planned since the summer, and I'd already registered and paid and everything. I knew that it was in March, I just didn't know what the exact date was. But yeah, it's tomorrow (the first Saturday of Spring Break), and the outing club left this afternoon. Obviously these two events were not compatible, and since I was already all set up for the conference and I hadn't even turned in my money for the FL trip, I decided that I wouldn't back out of the conference. Once again, I had no spring break plans. And then, just YESTERDAY (the Thursday before break) I found out that Liz didn't have to drive to the airport for her Geo trip, and so she lent me her car. FINALLY, I COULD PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER FOR MYSELF!!!!!!!!! I planned on going backpacking solo, but mom freaked out and wanted me to at least try to convince someone to go. So I asked Dawn, and she was totally for it, and I planned it out perfectly in less than a day. I spent the morning packing, and I had the food worked out and everything. And then, of all times, an actual winter storm hits CENTRAL OHIO!!!!!! How often does that happen? NOT VERY!!! I mean, Granville schools get snow days all the time, but it's usually for nothing serious (central Ohioans don't know how to deal with snow). But this time it's apparently pretty bad. I70 is closed. Who closes an interstate, there's less than 6 inches of snow!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, anyways, that would be fine and all, except that tomorrow there is supposed to be a legitimate blizzard. And it better be a damn serious blizzard, because the third spring break failure is completely due to this weather. We were supposed to drive down to the conference tonight because the weather will be worse tomorrow, but on her way home Dr. Homan saw 2 cars that had gone off the road (she lives really close to campus) and decided that we'd wait until tomorrow morning and see what happens. Well, if the meteorologists are correct (and not exaggerating things), there's going to be a BLIZZARD tomorrow, so I'm not going to be the least bit surprised if we just don't go to the conference. So I COULD HAVE GONE ON THE DAMN OUTING CLUB TRIP IF I"D KNOWN THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the blizzard is keeping Dawn in Columbus (because 70 is closed), and I decided that I wouldn't go solo to the Smokies because gas would be too expensive if I was paying by myself, and it wouldn't be worth it for just 2 nights. So I looked at places that were closer (hell, I have winter camping exp., no big deal) but the trail I had in mind in OH is accessed through various minimally developed roads (some are forest roads), and if there IS a blizzard, then those roads sure as hell won't be maintained. I do NOT want to get stuck somewhere, and I want no harm to come to Liz's car. So that's out. And I looked at this place in West Virginia, but I would take 70 (which is CLOSED) to get there, and even that would be a lot of gas for just myself when I'm pretty financially screwed at this time.
So that was my rant. I'm probably going to stay at Denison until Sunday (after the blizzard), and then drive home. Three failed plans, what are the odds of that happening? And 4 if you count the conference that we probably won't be going to.
Ok, I'm done ranting now. I'm just sick of explaining this crazy situation so now people can read it to get the details.
So in case anyone is wondering what went wrong with spring break (and because I feel like ranting about it because it's so absurdly ridiculous), I will explain pretty much in full. So last semester Meg told me about this trip to New Orleans that Green Team was pulling together, restoring degraded wetland habitat. I went for so long assuming that it would be great and psyching myself up for it. And then the person who was organizing it was a loser and it ended up not happening. And I've heard no good reason why it didn't happen, because I think it totally could have if whoever was in charge of it would have tried. Damn, next time maybe I should just be in charge of things like that. Anyways, that was failure number 1. So after that realization, I decided to go on the Outing Club trip to Florida. 4 days of backpacking in Ocala National Forest, and then 3 days of canoing in the Everglades. Sounds amazing, right? Well I'm sure it will be. I got my defensive driving certification for that trip and everything. And then less than two weeks ago, I find out that MEEC (Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference) is the FIRST WEEKEND OF SPRING BREAK!!!!! I'm (probably, but I'll get to that later) presenting my summer/senior research there, and it's been planned since the summer, and I'd already registered and paid and everything. I knew that it was in March, I just didn't know what the exact date was. But yeah, it's tomorrow (the first Saturday of Spring Break), and the outing club left this afternoon. Obviously these two events were not compatible, and since I was already all set up for the conference and I hadn't even turned in my money for the FL trip, I decided that I wouldn't back out of the conference. Once again, I had no spring break plans. And then, just YESTERDAY (the Thursday before break) I found out that Liz didn't have to drive to the airport for her Geo trip, and so she lent me her car. FINALLY, I COULD PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER FOR MYSELF!!!!!!!!! I planned on going backpacking solo, but mom freaked out and wanted me to at least try to convince someone to go. So I asked Dawn, and she was totally for it, and I planned it out perfectly in less than a day. I spent the morning packing, and I had the food worked out and everything. And then, of all times, an actual winter storm hits CENTRAL OHIO!!!!!! How often does that happen? NOT VERY!!! I mean, Granville schools get snow days all the time, but it's usually for nothing serious (central Ohioans don't know how to deal with snow). But this time it's apparently pretty bad. I70 is closed. Who closes an interstate, there's less than 6 inches of snow!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, anyways, that would be fine and all, except that tomorrow there is supposed to be a legitimate blizzard. And it better be a damn serious blizzard, because the third spring break failure is completely due to this weather. We were supposed to drive down to the conference tonight because the weather will be worse tomorrow, but on her way home Dr. Homan saw 2 cars that had gone off the road (she lives really close to campus) and decided that we'd wait until tomorrow morning and see what happens. Well, if the meteorologists are correct (and not exaggerating things), there's going to be a BLIZZARD tomorrow, so I'm not going to be the least bit surprised if we just don't go to the conference. So I COULD HAVE GONE ON THE DAMN OUTING CLUB TRIP IF I"D KNOWN THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the blizzard is keeping Dawn in Columbus (because 70 is closed), and I decided that I wouldn't go solo to the Smokies because gas would be too expensive if I was paying by myself, and it wouldn't be worth it for just 2 nights. So I looked at places that were closer (hell, I have winter camping exp., no big deal) but the trail I had in mind in OH is accessed through various minimally developed roads (some are forest roads), and if there IS a blizzard, then those roads sure as hell won't be maintained. I do NOT want to get stuck somewhere, and I want no harm to come to Liz's car. So that's out. And I looked at this place in West Virginia, but I would take 70 (which is CLOSED) to get there, and even that would be a lot of gas for just myself when I'm pretty financially screwed at this time.
So that was my rant. I'm probably going to stay at Denison until Sunday (after the blizzard), and then drive home. Three failed plans, what are the odds of that happening? And 4 if you count the conference that we probably won't be going to.
Ok, I'm done ranting now. I'm just sick of explaining this crazy situation so now people can read it to get the details.
Monday, January 21, 2008
A new semester
So the first week of classes of my last semester is over. As is the first weekend (pretty much). It is Monday, MLK jr. day, and we actually don't have classes for the first time since I've been at Denison! We usually have our three day weekend the week after the actual holiday, which is a bit silly. Anyways, this will mostly just be a brief retrospect of my initial impressions of my classes.
Vertebrate Zoology is ok so far. Nothing too exciting, and I think that it will be a fairly easy class. Our review paper (which is our major paper for the semester) only has to be 5-6 pages. The hardest part will be keeping it to 6, because we'll get POINTS OFF for going over. AHHH!!! I ALWAYS end up going over. Labs should be fun once we get our group project going. Meg, Liz, and I are doing a small mammal survey. Liz and I scouted out some locations in the Bio Reserve, and we'd like to do a "disturbed" location as well, most likely on campus or possibly at Dr. Frolking's.
Plant Systematics feels a bit strange at the moment. I guess I'm just not used to Dr. Hauk's teaching style. Class is laid back, but in a strange way. Maybe it's because it's just after lunch. Or possibly because it's in the same room as Animal Behavior and I sit at the stupid little "island" of tables in the middle of class. And it's moving a bit slow. I certainly don't know much about plants, but I DO know about phylogenies and I don't think we needed to spend so much time on them. The textbook is just so detailed, and the difference between that and the very watered down lectures (so far) is a little jarring. I think it will start to get fun when we learn more details about how to identify plant families and such.
Mapping only meets two days a week, and that is definitely a good thing. Our main "textbook" is basically an instruction manual for ArcGIS. It's dull. And our first little intro lab was also pretty dull. I think that the class will be boring, but at the end when I realize how much I can do with ArcGIS I'll be happy I took it. Besides, it's a good skill to possess.
Painting is going to be my most time consuming class, I think, but in a relaxing way. It'll be a little challenging to find large enough blocks of time to work (at least 2 hours at a time is probably needed). Today I only worked for an hour, but I also finished the painting that I was working on (a box still-life, painted in grey scale). In some ways I'm glad that I "waited" until senior year to take Painting. It's a nice change of pace. So is Mapping, actually, as it's pretty much a computer class and much more practical than other classes I've had. Having those two classes is nice, since last semester I had research and three science classes (physics, biochem, and wetland eco). I'd gotten into such a science routine, it's good to break free of that comfort zone a little bit.
Vertebrate Zoology is ok so far. Nothing too exciting, and I think that it will be a fairly easy class. Our review paper (which is our major paper for the semester) only has to be 5-6 pages. The hardest part will be keeping it to 6, because we'll get POINTS OFF for going over. AHHH!!! I ALWAYS end up going over. Labs should be fun once we get our group project going. Meg, Liz, and I are doing a small mammal survey. Liz and I scouted out some locations in the Bio Reserve, and we'd like to do a "disturbed" location as well, most likely on campus or possibly at Dr. Frolking's.
Plant Systematics feels a bit strange at the moment. I guess I'm just not used to Dr. Hauk's teaching style. Class is laid back, but in a strange way. Maybe it's because it's just after lunch. Or possibly because it's in the same room as Animal Behavior and I sit at the stupid little "island" of tables in the middle of class. And it's moving a bit slow. I certainly don't know much about plants, but I DO know about phylogenies and I don't think we needed to spend so much time on them. The textbook is just so detailed, and the difference between that and the very watered down lectures (so far) is a little jarring. I think it will start to get fun when we learn more details about how to identify plant families and such.
Mapping only meets two days a week, and that is definitely a good thing. Our main "textbook" is basically an instruction manual for ArcGIS. It's dull. And our first little intro lab was also pretty dull. I think that the class will be boring, but at the end when I realize how much I can do with ArcGIS I'll be happy I took it. Besides, it's a good skill to possess.
Painting is going to be my most time consuming class, I think, but in a relaxing way. It'll be a little challenging to find large enough blocks of time to work (at least 2 hours at a time is probably needed). Today I only worked for an hour, but I also finished the painting that I was working on (a box still-life, painted in grey scale). In some ways I'm glad that I "waited" until senior year to take Painting. It's a nice change of pace. So is Mapping, actually, as it's pretty much a computer class and much more practical than other classes I've had. Having those two classes is nice, since last semester I had research and three science classes (physics, biochem, and wetland eco). I'd gotten into such a science routine, it's good to break free of that comfort zone a little bit.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Wisconsin
I can add another state to my list of places that I've been. Today I got back from visiting Liz in Wisconsin for a few days. Now I'm home for two or three more days before heading back to Denison for my final semester. Let's not get into the fact that this is going to be my final semester. That's a complicated topic, and I'm not even sure how I feel about it, so I'm certainly not going to write about it in a blog. Anyways, Wisconsin was fun, but I was sort of in a funky mood most of the time. A little tired and apathetic, and I tried not to make it show but I'm not sure how well that worked out. The point is, I think it was because I've been such a lazy ass at home for the past three or so weeks. Moreso than usual, I think, or maybe I'm just becoming more restless in my old age. I haven't been getting enough exercise, and I haven't been keeping myself busy enough. Sure, I was occupied re-reading all of the Harry Potter books, but that was actually quite a lot of reading, especially on just one subject. I really wanted to finish them all again over break, and I succeeded, but I probably should have done other things as well. And I overslept a LOT. I'd been getting around 10 hours of sleep every night. Sure, that sounds great and all, but it was too much of a good thing. Too much sleep makes me tired, and having nothing better to do, I would just sleep more because I didn't feel like doing much of anything else. I didn't even really move forward on the job search front at all. Let this be a lesson to me. I need to keep myself occupied in a variety of ways. Because I'm sure that before I start grad school, there will be periods where I'm not really doing much of anything. I just hope I get one of the longer SCA internships. And I hope it helps me to figure out what the hell I'd like to do with my life. And damn, I wish I had some money to travel. Maybe I'll look for an actual job some place cool after that first internship (which I'm assuming I'll get) so I can be in a new and exciting place and make some money. I might need to get a car, too. Damn. Oh well, time for all of that later, I suppose.
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