A decade of self-indulgence
I realized the other day that I have kept some form of online "blog" for ten years now (starting 1/26/1999). In tribute to that, I bring you ten years of journal entries - the best entry (potentially also the best memory) from March of each year.
1999 - "chowder and cars trump all"
Tonight I was going to go to Starf*ck, the LGBTA dance, but instead I went with my friend Nik to get a snowmobile engine for a hovercraft I'm helping him build. I had so much fun with him. We got lost (he was driving my car...he loves to drive. He races for Brown.), and we found a chowder place. We also found a beach. We decided to forego that, because we wanted to bring the engine back. We talked so much, about cars, about bad dates...it turns out that we both love Woodman's Clams in Essex and both have t-shirts from it. We're going to roadtrip up there. Halfway home to Providence from Warwick, where the motor was, we decided we wanted chowder. We figured we should ask Techhouse if they wanted to come. Not really. So we went back to Warwick, this time in his sports car. The chowder places were closed, so we drove around, got rejected from a few bars, found a cool lighthouse, sat on a jetty, found a castle, and finally went to a little pizza place in the sketchy part of Providence at 1am. It was a fun night. Much better than Starf*ck could ever be.
2000
I was in Jamaica in March of 2000 and so wasn't really doing any "blogging". If I was, I would have told you about being horribly ill the night we hiked Blue Mountain, and probably also how awesome my dive buddy Craig was.
2001 - "Tuna Girls and Weather Men"
(actually from Feb. 2, 2001 because there are no March entries)
So many things to tell you, faithful readers! First of all, you might be amused to know that I took action to solve the tuna problem. I wrote this poem and hung it on the bathroom mirror. To "tuna girl" :
Tuna is tasty,
So most people think,
But what's not appealing
Is "tuna fish sink"
The redolent odor
of the fishy flesh
Is making the bathroom
smell not so fresh.
Throw the can away elsewhere,
Rinse the sink when you're done,
And the air will smell cleaner
For everyone.
Pleasant, isn't it? Poetry is definitely the nice way to ask people to do things. Let's see...what else. Well, I found more evidence today that some of my peers at this school (where most of us should be pretty bright I'd think) are a bit...dim. I went to the Blue Room, which is a sort of snack bar here. I got a large hot chocolate ($1.35) and proceeded to the cashier. He says (apparently having seen me holding my wallet) "I have no change, so unless you're using points I can't help you." He then yells out "Anyone with points, I can help you here." I am shunted to the register next to his (same counter mind you...I didn't have to move) where nobody is working. I say "I have exact change." He says "I'm sorry, but I have no change in the register." He then ignores me until he has served a few more people, has gotten change, and apparently can then, accept my exact change. I give him $1.35 and walk away sighing in an exasperated tone. As I walk across the main green, I notice my favorite meteorologist from Channel 10 doing a little piece on Brown students helping earthquake victims in India. I wait until he's done then say "Aren't you a meteorologist too?" since he's apparently not doing weather. He walks over, shakes my hand, asks my name, tells me he's R.J. Heim (which I already knew), and then tells me he anchors on the weekdays and does meteorology on the weekends. I point out that I usually watch the news on weekends (Sunday nights, after X-Files). He informs me that he really likes his schedule, except that he doesn't get to go out on Saturday nights. He accompanied this information with a sort of nudge to my leg with his foot...the sort of gesture that would be a kick to the shin if it were a lot harder. I tell him he's a very personable meteorologist and that I love his work. He noted that some meteorologists seem to focus too much on isoclines and the technical items behind weather...but he just wants to let people know what it's going to be like tomorrow. A good mission if you ask me. I tell him that I think meteorology is interesting, and he recommends some school up in Vermont. Then he had to go. After that I helped the girl sitting on the bench with me think of ideas for photos to take to use as Valentines Day cards to her friends. I thought today would suck because I got 5 hours of sleep last night and got locked out in my jammies this morning...but it hasn't sucked, and that's cool.
2002 - "I woke up today singing "Just What I Needed" by the Cars"
I've been sort of boring lately, not updating and such. I think when too much time passes, the prospect of relating it all in one fell swoop just seems intimidating. I'll try though...
Yeah...so, Friday...I don't really remember what I did on Friday. OK, now I do. I went to the Kingston Mall, a.k.a. the Independence Mall. I wandered around a while, then saw "40 Days and 40 Nights", which was pretty good, and not necessarily due to the SPG Rule (where 1 thing I like improves my opinion of the whole movie.) It was escapist, and sweeter than I expected, although just as filled with bodily humor (and by that I am not referring to black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood...those are humours I think) as I had expected. I wouldn't recommend it to most people. After that, I went to the bookstore which seemed to be filled with a disproportionate quantity of young men. Odd. I spent the rest of the evening reading in bed.
On Saturday, I got a haircut, then headed to Woods Hole to meet Kara. I spent most of the day sitting in front of my computer being creative. I have written a lot of poetry lately. When Kara arrived, I gave her her b-day present (a correspondence journal) and we sat in the lab together, I writing, she doing "Metamorph" (some sort of tracking program). We went out for Thai food after she was finished, and ended up missing her bus. I drove her to the train station, then met Moriah, Josh, and Katie for some ice cream at Friendly's. That was really fun. Afterwards I went home to Marshfield, where Hannah was having a party with her drama friends. (I suppose I could call them "the other theater people" or maybe "the actors and actresses" but...drama friends works.) It was amusing to watch them, but I soon got sort of tired and went to bed. Unfortunately there was a bed shortage, so I moved into the TV room so more people could fit in my bed. The TV room was sort of uncomfortable, and loud, and some inconsiderate person kept asking my sister to kick me out so he could watch TV. I decided to leave at 1:00 am. I drove back to Woods Hole in my pajamas, and got a much better sleep. I way overslept on Sunday, until 10:30. I went to the Fishmonger for breakfast but ended up catching lunch instead...an absolutely delicious arugula, marinated feta, and grilled shitake mushroom salad. I also read "The Botany of Desire" and learned a lot more about apples and Johnny Appleseed. Apparently apple seeds when planted don't grow into the apple trees we think of, but rather stunted versions. Each seed has very different genetic structure, so there are many different apple variants for the seeds within a single tree. This makes the apple tree very adaptable. Johnny Appleseed was revered practically as a Christian saint in the midwest, but was really more like a Christian Dionysus without the sexual abandon. Most apples grown in the midwest (the ones he planted) were not eaten, but rather turned into alcohol. Very interesting. Anyway, after leaving there I headed to Coffee O. Drea told me that 20 whitesided dolphins had stranded in Wellfleet and the 7 that died were being brought to the shore lab for necropsies. I spent from 2-7:30 at the Shore Lab working on the necropsies, which turned out to be very educational (not surprising) and not nearly as smelly as last time with the pilot whale (a pleasant surprise.) I spent the remainder of the evening with Joseph and his girlfriend. It was also St. Patrick's Day, and although I wore my green, I did not consume anything Irish.
Yeterday just sort of sucked. Actually it really sucked. I don't feel like talking about it because it's yesterday and I'd rather not dwell on it.
Today! Who knows. So far I've been to a thesis defense and now I am organizing myself for the fellowship I'm applying for. Requesting transcripts from 3 different universities (Brown, Northeastern, and BU) is a pain.
2003 - "the results of the weekend"
Hi all. The date on Friday went well. I've ended up spending most of the weekend with Joe (that's his name...he's 6'4" and an entomologist.) We're unbelieveably compatible, and at this moment he's making me scrambled eggs, and we all know how much I love breakfast.
Veronica's birthday party was a lot of fun. Shawn and I got a lot of time to talk in the car, which is always wonderful, and everyone seemed to get along really well, I won at pool, played a lot of Galaga and SkeeBall...pretty rocking, I'd say.
Last night I went to see Hannah in "Necessary Targets", and she did an amazing job. The play itself was very dark and depressing though...about Serbian refugees. At least we got to hang out afterwards to lighten the mood.
Today I am going out into the field to look for horseshoe crabs, and tomorrow I fly to Balto. Mmmmmm...things are amazing.
2004 - "in like a lamb"
It's so nice out! I'm so easily influenced by warmer weather, because it makes the devil and angel voices on my shoulder both get louder.
The devil sez:
- leave work. Now.
- drink a lot of iced coffee.
- read all day. For pleasure.
- Buy spring clothes.
- Ignore your to-do list.
The angel sez:
- Go the gym...just think about how strong you'll be this summer and how good you'll look for your wedding.
- Do your mathematical ecology homework.
- You have to run a meeting this afternoon...you can't bail on the student body, remember?
- Shouldn't you be catching up on all the things you need to do?
Of course, I like to think of myself as pleasure-seeking, but as my friend Veronica pointed out, I'm not as hedonistic as I like to think. I have excellent self-control.
Somebody left granola bars in my mailbox. That's pretty awesome.
2005 - "it's been a weekend all week"
I have been laying low to write my thesis, which is sort of crawling along but has received a kick in the ass because I have to talk to my advisor on Monday, and don't want him to be harsh. Which he might be, because I don't quite know what I'll have in hand.
I've had an intriguing couple of days...I took my Jeep in (finally) to get the u-joints checked out/replaced (I knew they'd need replacing) as well as some other random stuff like an oil change, tire rotation a rear wiper blade, and a fuse for the driver's side running lights, which seems to blow on a regular basis. She's got 126,400 miles or so and treats me pretty darn well considering the fact that I put 3,000 miles on her a month and take her off-road occasionally (but of course, being a Jeep, that's no big deal.) I was experiencing a weird harsh noise at a certain accelerator point as well as severe vibration at 50mph and 70mph. (See the mention of the u-joints above.) However, this is what ended up happening:
1) Yeah, the fuse keep blowing...because the trailer hitch is wired wrong. Add a new wiring harness to the list.
2) Somehow my front differential was completely empty. They couldn't find a leak. Add the 30K (miles) fluid flush and replace to the list.
3) Usual stuff...tire rotation, lube, oil, and filter...
4) Oh yeah...and you need new front brakes.
Fortunately my Mom was around (I take my car to Duxbury and she was headed to Marshfield) so we ended up hanging out, having lunch and going shopping. (My laptop was in the Jeep, on the lift, so I couldn't work. That's my excuse, even though for the most part, I shouldn't be making excuses.)
I got some sweet Converses at Marshalls. I'm not usually a shoe person, but I had a pair of blue and yellow One Stars my sophmore year of college, and I totally wore them out with love, and tried to preserve them with copious duct tape for as long as I could. My Mom eventually threw them out. These may be those shoes re-incarnated, except with badass velcro by the toe and in Brunonian colors. They are Limited edition John Varvatos shoes...$120 normally, but we got them for (wait for it...wait for it...) $12. That's a 90% discount. Awesome.
In addition, my car now runs like new and whereas before I love driving it, now I f*ing love driving it. Again.
2006 - "vernal awesomeness"
It's going to be 70 today. I have the window open in my office, and nobody else is in the office so I can listen to music and talk to myself and swear and grin and do all the things I do.
I've got an iced coffee from the little shop down by the harbor. They make the best iced coffee there.
The birds are chirping outside.
How awesome could things be? Pretty damn awesome. I have work to do, but that's ok because it's essentially filling out a form with things I definitely know.
I'm so lucky to have this kind of job. Seriously. No academic structure making me publish or perish. A minimum of government rigamarole. Any project I want to do, I can make happen just by writing a grant. I get to sit in an antique Cape in a coastal town and help people love the water.
Spring is awesome. Every spring I think "This is my favorite season", and I think that's true. Sometimes fall tries to beat it out, but I don't think it ever really makes it.
More awesomeness for April and May:
- conference end of next week with other estuary people
- assorted bits of sampling here and there
- singing with my a-capella group and our CD release party
- going out on a whale watch boat with junior high school kids
- getting my doctoral hood
- birthday!
- Commencement/Reunion
Hooray!!!!!!
2007 - "Food web lesson"
Wow.
A Northern Harrier just swooped in and grabbed something (someone?) from the picnic table outside. I saw one on Friday sitting on a tree near the driveway and watched it for a while. This is probably the same one.
Sunflower seeds --> small birds and squirrels --> Northern Harrier
Other harriers not present at this time - a dog and an airplane.
Let's play hawk, dog or airplane!
* First pass day or night target strike capability at low altitude/high speed
* Active, well balanced, full of strength and quality, in all ways appearing able to work tirelessly, no matter the terrain, for long periods
* Can fly at great heights where many of their features become less obvious
* Neither hare nor fox can escape its exceptional sense of smell, its cunning, and its unequaled boldness
* During the ascent and hover, the reaction control system is continuously adjusted to maintain position over the patch of ground
* Not recommended for apartment life
* Particularly well-suited for providing dedicated close air support
* Prefers coastal prairies, marshes, grasslands, swamps and other open areas
* Care needs to be taken to see that they are not allowed to get into unsupervised mischief
* Courtship is a series of dramatic “barrel rolls”
2008 - "answering some questions"
Before I get to the memage [Note: not included in this recap], I just want you to know I am doing wonderfully in all aspects of life. I could be more financially confident but I have been making budgets and calculations and I feel okay. I just hope that when the gas prices go up to $3.50 I will still be able to afford life. I am doing well on the health and fitness front but I am waiting for some milestones before I go into detail. Work is feeling more exciting because the spring and summer are coming. I keep hoping for a day that is both above 50 and sunny (we keep getting sunny in the 40's or rainy in the low 50's, and it is still cold in the morning when I go to the gym at dawn) but, hey, March in New England amirite?
2009 - I did not write a single entry in February, which leads me to believe that the things I have heard about Facebook (which I do) and Twitter (which I do not do) killing these types of ventures may be slightly true. Why write a blog entry if you can change your status? It makes me a little sad, given the previous retrospective. That said, I will keep writing here, because I have a lot more to say than just a single line, I think.
1999 - "chowder and cars trump all"
Tonight I was going to go to Starf*ck, the LGBTA dance, but instead I went with my friend Nik to get a snowmobile engine for a hovercraft I'm helping him build. I had so much fun with him. We got lost (he was driving my car...he loves to drive. He races for Brown.), and we found a chowder place. We also found a beach. We decided to forego that, because we wanted to bring the engine back. We talked so much, about cars, about bad dates...it turns out that we both love Woodman's Clams in Essex and both have t-shirts from it. We're going to roadtrip up there. Halfway home to Providence from Warwick, where the motor was, we decided we wanted chowder. We figured we should ask Techhouse if they wanted to come. Not really. So we went back to Warwick, this time in his sports car. The chowder places were closed, so we drove around, got rejected from a few bars, found a cool lighthouse, sat on a jetty, found a castle, and finally went to a little pizza place in the sketchy part of Providence at 1am. It was a fun night. Much better than Starf*ck could ever be.
2000
I was in Jamaica in March of 2000 and so wasn't really doing any "blogging". If I was, I would have told you about being horribly ill the night we hiked Blue Mountain, and probably also how awesome my dive buddy Craig was.
2001 - "Tuna Girls and Weather Men"
(actually from Feb. 2, 2001 because there are no March entries)
So many things to tell you, faithful readers! First of all, you might be amused to know that I took action to solve the tuna problem. I wrote this poem and hung it on the bathroom mirror. To "tuna girl" :
Tuna is tasty,
So most people think,
But what's not appealing
Is "tuna fish sink"
The redolent odor
of the fishy flesh
Is making the bathroom
smell not so fresh.
Throw the can away elsewhere,
Rinse the sink when you're done,
And the air will smell cleaner
For everyone.
Pleasant, isn't it? Poetry is definitely the nice way to ask people to do things. Let's see...what else. Well, I found more evidence today that some of my peers at this school (where most of us should be pretty bright I'd think) are a bit...dim. I went to the Blue Room, which is a sort of snack bar here. I got a large hot chocolate ($1.35) and proceeded to the cashier. He says (apparently having seen me holding my wallet) "I have no change, so unless you're using points I can't help you." He then yells out "Anyone with points, I can help you here." I am shunted to the register next to his (same counter mind you...I didn't have to move) where nobody is working. I say "I have exact change." He says "I'm sorry, but I have no change in the register." He then ignores me until he has served a few more people, has gotten change, and apparently can then, accept my exact change. I give him $1.35 and walk away sighing in an exasperated tone. As I walk across the main green, I notice my favorite meteorologist from Channel 10 doing a little piece on Brown students helping earthquake victims in India. I wait until he's done then say "Aren't you a meteorologist too?" since he's apparently not doing weather. He walks over, shakes my hand, asks my name, tells me he's R.J. Heim (which I already knew), and then tells me he anchors on the weekdays and does meteorology on the weekends. I point out that I usually watch the news on weekends (Sunday nights, after X-Files). He informs me that he really likes his schedule, except that he doesn't get to go out on Saturday nights. He accompanied this information with a sort of nudge to my leg with his foot...the sort of gesture that would be a kick to the shin if it were a lot harder. I tell him he's a very personable meteorologist and that I love his work. He noted that some meteorologists seem to focus too much on isoclines and the technical items behind weather...but he just wants to let people know what it's going to be like tomorrow. A good mission if you ask me. I tell him that I think meteorology is interesting, and he recommends some school up in Vermont. Then he had to go. After that I helped the girl sitting on the bench with me think of ideas for photos to take to use as Valentines Day cards to her friends. I thought today would suck because I got 5 hours of sleep last night and got locked out in my jammies this morning...but it hasn't sucked, and that's cool.
2002 - "I woke up today singing "Just What I Needed" by the Cars"
I've been sort of boring lately, not updating and such. I think when too much time passes, the prospect of relating it all in one fell swoop just seems intimidating. I'll try though...
Yeah...so, Friday...I don't really remember what I did on Friday. OK, now I do. I went to the Kingston Mall, a.k.a. the Independence Mall. I wandered around a while, then saw "40 Days and 40 Nights", which was pretty good, and not necessarily due to the SPG Rule (where 1 thing I like improves my opinion of the whole movie.) It was escapist, and sweeter than I expected, although just as filled with bodily humor (and by that I am not referring to black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood...those are humours I think) as I had expected. I wouldn't recommend it to most people. After that, I went to the bookstore which seemed to be filled with a disproportionate quantity of young men. Odd. I spent the rest of the evening reading in bed.
On Saturday, I got a haircut, then headed to Woods Hole to meet Kara. I spent most of the day sitting in front of my computer being creative. I have written a lot of poetry lately. When Kara arrived, I gave her her b-day present (a correspondence journal) and we sat in the lab together, I writing, she doing "Metamorph" (some sort of tracking program). We went out for Thai food after she was finished, and ended up missing her bus. I drove her to the train station, then met Moriah, Josh, and Katie for some ice cream at Friendly's. That was really fun. Afterwards I went home to Marshfield, where Hannah was having a party with her drama friends. (I suppose I could call them "the other theater people" or maybe "the actors and actresses" but...drama friends works.) It was amusing to watch them, but I soon got sort of tired and went to bed. Unfortunately there was a bed shortage, so I moved into the TV room so more people could fit in my bed. The TV room was sort of uncomfortable, and loud, and some inconsiderate person kept asking my sister to kick me out so he could watch TV. I decided to leave at 1:00 am. I drove back to Woods Hole in my pajamas, and got a much better sleep. I way overslept on Sunday, until 10:30. I went to the Fishmonger for breakfast but ended up catching lunch instead...an absolutely delicious arugula, marinated feta, and grilled shitake mushroom salad. I also read "The Botany of Desire" and learned a lot more about apples and Johnny Appleseed. Apparently apple seeds when planted don't grow into the apple trees we think of, but rather stunted versions. Each seed has very different genetic structure, so there are many different apple variants for the seeds within a single tree. This makes the apple tree very adaptable. Johnny Appleseed was revered practically as a Christian saint in the midwest, but was really more like a Christian Dionysus without the sexual abandon. Most apples grown in the midwest (the ones he planted) were not eaten, but rather turned into alcohol. Very interesting. Anyway, after leaving there I headed to Coffee O. Drea told me that 20 whitesided dolphins had stranded in Wellfleet and the 7 that died were being brought to the shore lab for necropsies. I spent from 2-7:30 at the Shore Lab working on the necropsies, which turned out to be very educational (not surprising) and not nearly as smelly as last time with the pilot whale (a pleasant surprise.) I spent the remainder of the evening with Joseph and his girlfriend. It was also St. Patrick's Day, and although I wore my green, I did not consume anything Irish.
Yeterday just sort of sucked. Actually it really sucked. I don't feel like talking about it because it's yesterday and I'd rather not dwell on it.
Today! Who knows. So far I've been to a thesis defense and now I am organizing myself for the fellowship I'm applying for. Requesting transcripts from 3 different universities (Brown, Northeastern, and BU) is a pain.
2003 - "the results of the weekend"
Hi all. The date on Friday went well. I've ended up spending most of the weekend with Joe (that's his name...he's 6'4" and an entomologist.) We're unbelieveably compatible, and at this moment he's making me scrambled eggs, and we all know how much I love breakfast.
Veronica's birthday party was a lot of fun. Shawn and I got a lot of time to talk in the car, which is always wonderful, and everyone seemed to get along really well, I won at pool, played a lot of Galaga and SkeeBall...pretty rocking, I'd say.
Last night I went to see Hannah in "Necessary Targets", and she did an amazing job. The play itself was very dark and depressing though...about Serbian refugees. At least we got to hang out afterwards to lighten the mood.
Today I am going out into the field to look for horseshoe crabs, and tomorrow I fly to Balto. Mmmmmm...things are amazing.
2004 - "in like a lamb"
It's so nice out! I'm so easily influenced by warmer weather, because it makes the devil and angel voices on my shoulder both get louder.
The devil sez:
- leave work. Now.
- drink a lot of iced coffee.
- read all day. For pleasure.
- Buy spring clothes.
- Ignore your to-do list.
The angel sez:
- Go the gym...just think about how strong you'll be this summer and how good you'll look for your wedding.
- Do your mathematical ecology homework.
- You have to run a meeting this afternoon...you can't bail on the student body, remember?
- Shouldn't you be catching up on all the things you need to do?
Of course, I like to think of myself as pleasure-seeking, but as my friend Veronica pointed out, I'm not as hedonistic as I like to think. I have excellent self-control.
Somebody left granola bars in my mailbox. That's pretty awesome.
2005 - "it's been a weekend all week"
I have been laying low to write my thesis, which is sort of crawling along but has received a kick in the ass because I have to talk to my advisor on Monday, and don't want him to be harsh. Which he might be, because I don't quite know what I'll have in hand.
I've had an intriguing couple of days...I took my Jeep in (finally) to get the u-joints checked out/replaced (I knew they'd need replacing) as well as some other random stuff like an oil change, tire rotation a rear wiper blade, and a fuse for the driver's side running lights, which seems to blow on a regular basis. She's got 126,400 miles or so and treats me pretty darn well considering the fact that I put 3,000 miles on her a month and take her off-road occasionally (but of course, being a Jeep, that's no big deal.) I was experiencing a weird harsh noise at a certain accelerator point as well as severe vibration at 50mph and 70mph. (See the mention of the u-joints above.) However, this is what ended up happening:
1) Yeah, the fuse keep blowing...because the trailer hitch is wired wrong. Add a new wiring harness to the list.
2) Somehow my front differential was completely empty. They couldn't find a leak. Add the 30K (miles) fluid flush and replace to the list.
3) Usual stuff...tire rotation, lube, oil, and filter...
4) Oh yeah...and you need new front brakes.
Fortunately my Mom was around (I take my car to Duxbury and she was headed to Marshfield) so we ended up hanging out, having lunch and going shopping. (My laptop was in the Jeep, on the lift, so I couldn't work. That's my excuse, even though for the most part, I shouldn't be making excuses.)
I got some sweet Converses at Marshalls. I'm not usually a shoe person, but I had a pair of blue and yellow One Stars my sophmore year of college, and I totally wore them out with love, and tried to preserve them with copious duct tape for as long as I could. My Mom eventually threw them out. These may be those shoes re-incarnated, except with badass velcro by the toe and in Brunonian colors. They are Limited edition John Varvatos shoes...$120 normally, but we got them for (wait for it...wait for it...) $12. That's a 90% discount. Awesome.
In addition, my car now runs like new and whereas before I love driving it, now I f*ing love driving it. Again.
2006 - "vernal awesomeness"
It's going to be 70 today. I have the window open in my office, and nobody else is in the office so I can listen to music and talk to myself and swear and grin and do all the things I do.
I've got an iced coffee from the little shop down by the harbor. They make the best iced coffee there.
The birds are chirping outside.
How awesome could things be? Pretty damn awesome. I have work to do, but that's ok because it's essentially filling out a form with things I definitely know.
I'm so lucky to have this kind of job. Seriously. No academic structure making me publish or perish. A minimum of government rigamarole. Any project I want to do, I can make happen just by writing a grant. I get to sit in an antique Cape in a coastal town and help people love the water.
Spring is awesome. Every spring I think "This is my favorite season", and I think that's true. Sometimes fall tries to beat it out, but I don't think it ever really makes it.
More awesomeness for April and May:
- conference end of next week with other estuary people
- assorted bits of sampling here and there
- singing with my a-capella group and our CD release party
- going out on a whale watch boat with junior high school kids
- getting my doctoral hood
- birthday!
- Commencement/Reunion
Hooray!!!!!!
2007 - "Food web lesson"
Wow.
A Northern Harrier just swooped in and grabbed something (someone?) from the picnic table outside. I saw one on Friday sitting on a tree near the driveway and watched it for a while. This is probably the same one.
Sunflower seeds --> small birds and squirrels --> Northern Harrier
Other harriers not present at this time - a dog and an airplane.
Let's play hawk, dog or airplane!
* First pass day or night target strike capability at low altitude/high speed
* Active, well balanced, full of strength and quality, in all ways appearing able to work tirelessly, no matter the terrain, for long periods
* Can fly at great heights where many of their features become less obvious
* Neither hare nor fox can escape its exceptional sense of smell, its cunning, and its unequaled boldness
* During the ascent and hover, the reaction control system is continuously adjusted to maintain position over the patch of ground
* Not recommended for apartment life
* Particularly well-suited for providing dedicated close air support
* Prefers coastal prairies, marshes, grasslands, swamps and other open areas
* Care needs to be taken to see that they are not allowed to get into unsupervised mischief
* Courtship is a series of dramatic “barrel rolls”
2008 - "answering some questions"
Before I get to the memage [Note: not included in this recap], I just want you to know I am doing wonderfully in all aspects of life. I could be more financially confident but I have been making budgets and calculations and I feel okay. I just hope that when the gas prices go up to $3.50 I will still be able to afford life. I am doing well on the health and fitness front but I am waiting for some milestones before I go into detail. Work is feeling more exciting because the spring and summer are coming. I keep hoping for a day that is both above 50 and sunny (we keep getting sunny in the 40's or rainy in the low 50's, and it is still cold in the morning when I go to the gym at dawn) but, hey, March in New England amirite?
2009 - I did not write a single entry in February, which leads me to believe that the things I have heard about Facebook (which I do) and Twitter (which I do not do) killing these types of ventures may be slightly true. Why write a blog entry if you can change your status? It makes me a little sad, given the previous retrospective. That said, I will keep writing here, because I have a lot more to say than just a single line, I think.