Contest Update

I was keeping an eye out for the results of the "What's Your Favorite Toy" Brickfish contest but I got tired of waiting. The results were supposed to be posted a month after the deadline, but months after the deadline they still weren't posted. So I gave up.

Anyway, today I got curious and I checked and, not surprisingly, I didn't win. These people did.

Oh well. I really appreciated all of your votes and comments.

I had my first Organic Chem class today. My professor seems like he'll be a fantastic teacher. He immediately had the respect of the class, even though it was clear that he won't take any b.s.

I am not nervous about the class. I've heard horror stories and I know that the subject is notoriously difficult. But I've gained a good deal of confidence in my abilities as a student and I am sure I'll be fine.

I have Ecology and Evolution in an hour and a half. The professor for that class has a reputation for being a great teacher.

I think I have a great course load this semester.

J also started today. It's his first time at a big university. He's taking 17 credits: two philosophy courses, calculus, chemistry and biology. So far, he seems really excited and happy about the classes he's attended. I'm SO excited for him. And proud.

Fred Phelps in Vermont

I learned the other day that Fred Phelps has Vermont on his picket schedule. On September 1st, the day that the new marriage equality law goes into effect, he and about 9 others will picket in Montpelier and Burlington. Phelps is planning on picketing in Vermont for about 3 hours. The RU12? Community Center is countering the picketing by holding a pledge drive.

I urge you to donate even a penny a minute (that's just $1.80!).

I'm going to take the day off from work and spend my day living as peacefully as possible...my own little protest. Maybe I'll protest in person...but I don't know...I don't want to give the crazy too much attention. It's a tough call with people as crazy as Phelps.

How would you protest? Would you protest at all?

Things I have/haven't doen this summer: list edition.

Have done:

• learned to use my new camera (and now I have a newer one to learn!)
• read books (except I haven't finished "The Link" - I'm finding it to be quite dry)
• ran around barefoot in the woods
• swam in my clothes
• picked strawberries (and tonight - blueberries!)
• seen Lucy and Ida (and Brian!)
• read numerous poems by Mary Oliver
• listened to the first bunch of episodes of Radiolab (please please listen if you haven't!)
• gone on 3 or more 5k runs each week
• started doing yoga
• reached a goal of 5 pull ups and am on my way to 10
• worked many hours of overtime because a colleague quit
• been really really lazy when I was home and enjoyed having nothing to do

Have not done:

• written on this blog

I bought my school books yesterday - looks like my Ecology and Evolution class will be very math-heavy (at least in the beginning). They don't even have my organic chem book in...but I'm sure that'll be very, well, organic chem-heavy.

Since I'm not taking a geology class this semester, I thought I would try and get myself signed up for the New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference. The conference is in Lyndonville, Vermont and there are a couple of interesting field trips. I'd like to go on any one of the following:

• Road to the Kingdom: A Bedrock Transect Across the Pre-Silurian Rowe-Hawley Belt in Central Vermont
• Glacial Geology, Climate History, and Late-Glacial Archaeology of the Northern White Mountains, New Hampshire
• Bedrock Geology of the Montpelier Area, Central Vermont

I've also decided to try and fit the following classes into my course of study:

• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Biological Anthropology
• Primates and Anthropology

Some of the stuff I've read this summer has really piqued my interest in the role evolution plays in behavior - especially human behavior.