And did I mention I miss school? I miss having a goal in mind, a challenge. I miss leaving class and nearly skipping back to my office with excitement over the stuff I just learned. I miss getting back tests and plugging the numbers into my calculator and finding out that all my hard work paid off. I miss almost all of it.
It's been really hard for me to keep up this blog this summer. I think it's because I'm not taking classes and I'm falling into a bit of a thinking rut. I don't feel like writing anything I have to research at the moment.
Anyway, here's what's been going on:
- I took a leave from Aikido. I just won't have the time come fall and I can't afford to pay 80$ a month to only take one or two classes.
- My cat's ACL seems to be mending just fine. But now she won't eat. I think it's just because she's been getting into Zeus's wet food and she's being snotty. I hope. Otherwise, it's back to the vet.
- I have a bazillion plans coming up: J's mom is visiting this weekend, my aunt turns 70 after that and then I have two weddings to go to (and I'm in one of them as a bridesmaid). Then school starts and the annual meeting follows!
- I've been reading Stephen Jay Gould's Wonderful Life and I'm loving it. It's really quite fascinating and it's also making me want to go to Alberta to visit the Burgess Shale.
- I've been going to the gym. Like, pumping iron. I love it! My goal is to be able to do a single pull-up and ten push-ups (the kind where your arms are under your shoulders and your elbows are tight against your side). So far, I can do almost 3/5 of a pull-up and 1 push-up.
And here are a few paleo pics, just to stay on topic:
The original head from the Brontosaurus mount at the Peabody Museum. Ick.
Some Ceratopsian skulls at the Peabody Museum
2 comments:
That's it. I have to go to Yale. I don't know when, but your pictures have convinced me that I need to get there. While I'm around I should probably hit up the Harvard Museum of Natural History, too. It's too bad Princeton closed down their geology museum, though (especially since it's so close!)
I'm sorry to hear Echo isn't eating. Chase wouldn't eat either after he was sick and I had to force-feed him until he started again. We tried chicken, wet food, dry food, kitten food, everything... he still wouldn't eat. I hope she does soon, though, and I'm glad she's on the mend.
I'm glad you're enjoying Wonderful Life, too. It's a little dated but it's still great in terms of Gould's philosophical argument for contingency. Full House was something of a follow-up but it wasn't as good. If you do like his stuff, though, I would recommend checking out some of his essay collections. Bully for Brontosaurus, Hen's Teeth and Horses Toes, and Dinosaur in a Haystack are among my favorites.
The Burgess Shale is defiantely worth the visit, but when you go don't do just the Walcott Quarry. Due to its small size and protected status you aren't allowed to prospect on it.
If you also hit the Mount Stephen site (right across the Yoho valley from the Walcott) there are more Trilobites than you can imagine! Though you can't keep any they let you "look" for them to your hearts content (my advice look at your feet, and you'll see a couple hundred!)
The Peabody looks cool! Are those old skool ceratopsian skeletons still up or is that an archive photo?
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