Brown Penny

by William Butler Yeats

I WHISPERED, 'I am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair. 

O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon. 

 One of my favorite poems.

Grad School Politics

Politics suck.  I'm not talking about government politics here, either.  I'm talking about department politics.  Everyone holds some petty jealousy against everyone else in the department.  And when people in positions of power hold these jealousies, it can get ugly.  Very ugly.

And what better fire to ignite jealousy than money?  And in an academic department, how much money you have for research is everybody's business.  Everyone knows who has the funding.  And everyone is jealous of said person. 

So when the opportunity arose in my department to really piss off the guy with funding, everyone was on board.  In a civil society, they would have discussed taking away this professors lab space with him before any decision was made.  Instead, the decision was made with *no* input from the professor involved, and they waited two months after all the paperwork had been signed and stamped to tell him that he was losing his lab space.

And the worst part?  They lied about why they were taking the lab space.  

The reason they first cited: "This building was meant to be wet laboratory space, so we need to maximize its use and move anyone who does not need a high-tech facility with fume hoods."

The reason it eventually boiled down to: "We want space for this new distinguished professor and his graduate students to have nice offices."

So what does this mean for the professor who was evicted from his space?  Well, for one, he's really pissed off with the rest of the department.  And for another, his students are going to get crammed into a tiny room where they will barely be able to work.  Think about it: a whole group of stressed graduate students stepping on eachother's toes trying to get work done when all they can do is tell one another to move or stop making that noise...  It won't last long.

i'll be yours for a song

My favorite song, for so many reasons. I could listen to it over and over. It's "Kathleen" by Josh Ritter.

all the other girls here are stars—you are the Northern Lights
they try to shine in through your curtains—you’re too close and too bright
they try and they try but everything that they do
is the ghost of a trace of a pale imitation of you
I’ll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen
this party is made with the night air and the chance that a smile
will wind its way from your face to one of the boys in your line
you act like you’re hip to their tricks and you’re strong
but a virgin Wurlitzer heart never once had a song
I’ll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen
and I’ll have you back by break of day
I’m going your way anyway
and if you’d like to come along
I’ll be yours for a song
I know you are waiting and I know that it is not for me
but I’m here and I’m ready and I’ve saved you the passenger seat
I won’t be your last dance just your last goodnight
every heart is a package tangled up in knots someone else tied
I’ll be the one to drive you back home Kathleen
so crawl up your trellis and quietly back into your room
and I’ll coast down the length of your drive by the light of the moon
and the next time I see you—a new kind of hello
both our hearts have a secret only both of us know
‘bout the night that I drove you back home Kathleen

so this is grad school

It's not that different than what I was doing at Tech. The only difference right now is that I'm not doing research. But that will change soon. Oh, and another difference is that all my friends are 200 miles away.

post-field camp

Six weeks in Montana/Wyoming/Idaho with 30 geologists... I have to admit it was really intimidating at first, and I did not want to go (but when do I ever really start out wanting to go anywhere?), but now all I can think about is getting back. (Or just anywhere other than suburbia...)

I walked off the plane last night, and the thick, hot, humid air almost choked me. Add in the jet fuel fumes, and you've got a noxious concoction that would make anyone who's spent 6 weeks at elevation want to hurl. And the people... Even just sitting in the Denver airport, watching all these "normal" people was like watching a whole new species of human. And they smell funny too. But the thing that got me the most was the sheer number of people. It was really overwhelming. There had to be thousands of people just standing/sitting around in the airport terminal.

Enough of that. Field camp was a pretty awesome experience. We went to some pretty amazing places, and while some of them were a little crowded (ahem, Yellowstone), it was still an experience I wouldn't give up. The group we had was one of the best parts - it was such a diverse group, and everyone had something interesting to add to the group. And I may be the only one, but I really liked all of the mapping projects we did. I wish we had done more mapping (I might have been shot for saying that a week ago).

I don't really know what I want to do anymore now. Before, all I had really been exposed to was structural geology and geomorphology, and I really liked both of those, but now I'm curious about other things, like oil and economic geology, and I have no idea what I want to do anymore. The plan used to be to get my Ph.D. and teach, but now I'm not so sure. I know I'm definitely taking at least a year off of academia after I get my masters. I could see myself working for an oil company or a mining company in the future, maybe, possibly. Well I guess I have a little while to figure this out, or at least until summer internship applications for 2012 are due.

Now all I want to do is go camping and hiking... Some time soon I will put up pictures.

Symposiums and stuff...

So this past week was the Keck Geology Consortium Symposium in Schenectady, New York: one hundred undergraduate geology majors with posters and powerpoints to present to each other and their advisors. I was really happy to see my research group from Colorado again. It had been about 8 months since we had seen each other. The reunion was nice.

The symposium was at Union College. They planned a field trip for us on Friday. We saw some 10cm garnets, stromatolites, The Great Unconformity, and some other outcrops of rock in the southeastern Adirondacks. Upstate New York is very "cute." All the houses are cute (and huge). There was still some snow on the ground in some places - it was still quite cold there. (Really makes me glad I didn't opt to go to Vermont for grad school! I just can't handle that much snow.) On Saturday there were two 3-hour oral presentation sessions and two 1-hour poster presentation sessions. The large majority of presentations had to do with petrology and mineralogy, which are two things I know nothing about (well, not yet anyway). I feel like my presentations went well. They finished the day off with a cocktail hour and a formal dinner. It was a good experience and I feel better prepared for AGU or GSA conferences in the future.

So close, yet so far

Less than 4 weeks of school are left. This semester has been a whirlwind of research and projects and field trips. I can barely catch my breath.

I have finished my research from Colorado. I presented it at a poster session today, and I am also presenting it at the Keck Geology Symposium on April 15. The map is awesome (if I do say so myself) and the calculations, well, we made them work. But, it's complete. I just need to have my thesis revised and get two signatures, then I'm good to go.

I have accepted an offer to grad school. I'm pretty excited to work in an actual geology department where there are rocks everywhere. I also know which classes I'm taking in the fall: Tectonics and Mineralogy. The description of the tectonics course: "Evolution of Earth’s lithosphere in context of plate tectonics theory. Formation of continents through comparative anatomy of mountain belts, including Appalachians, Alps, Urals, Caledonians, Cordillera, Andes, and Himalayas." That sounds so awesome! Much better than the classes I have been forced to take at GT (specifically field methods and data analysis).

On that note... field methods is probably the most irrelevant class I've had to take. And it requires the most work. It's so biased towards water chemistry that it's almost impossible to create a project in anything else.

The curriculum of this department is poorly organized. Some classes are duplicates of others. Some classes are irrelevant to some students. Basic classes (such as mineralogy) are missing. There is no excuse for these faults. Well, they do give an excuse, but it is a poor one: "We don't want to compete with UGA." Honestly, what does competing with UGA have to do with the course offerings? If a course is useful to the students in the department, it should be offered. If the course is required by all other comparable curricula and departments, it should be offered.

Then they suggest that students take the courses they don't offer at GT at GSU, which, yes GSU is right down the street and it does offer the courses, but the logistics are just wrong. I looked into this. The courses I needed to take (sedimentology and mineralogy) all conflicted with the classes I needed to take here (which are irrelevant to my interests, but required for graduation). It was impossible.

So now, I will have to take remedial courses in grad school to catch up. And I'll have to wait another year to take the siliciclastic petrogenesis class that sounds cool (if they offer it next year).

Now I just need to go to the gym so I can get in shape for field camp. I'd like to not die when I get there. Here's a link to the field camp:

http://www.geology.siu.edu/courses/geol454/index.html

And the semester comes to an end...

It's almost over, my last fall semester at GT. All that's left is one class tomorrow morning, two final exams, and a take home exam. Then I start my last semester here. My last semester, can you believe that? I can't...

I'm pretty excited about next semester, though. Double A and I have lots planned... we're going to have dinner making parties and go to the gym and just have a generally awesome semester. At least all of that will make up for the crappy classes I have to take. I am really not looking forward to taking field methods or data analysis. Field methods would be okay if it weren't purely chemistry field methods, which will be no help to me in a geology career. And somehow, I have to finish my research and write two theses... somehow. But I'm auditing a French class! That should be exciting, right?

But, I still don't know what I'm doing after I graduate. I should figure that out...

Two spaces or not two spaces?

I've finally finished the first drafts of my three NSF essays. I must say, I really did not enjoy it. It's so hard to incorporate "broader impacts" into it all like they want. Writing these essays gave me a headache, which I still have.

And in this whole writing process, I learned that I have been wrong about something all my life. Apparently it's wrong to use two spaces at the beginning of each sentence! I've been doing this since I can remember, and now it's just second nature. It supposedly went out of style when they switched from typewriters (which use a monospaced font) to computers (which use a custom spaced font). I don't know what to think anymore.

I think I'll keep my two spaces, thank you very much.

Updates...

I visited a potential grad school this weekend. I really like it there, everyone seemed pretty nice. I hope I get in...

Meanwhile, we are still waiting on microspheres for my research with Joe. And I think we will finally start sieving my Colorado samples this week (progress!). I was really getting tired of the waiting around to do stuff. And is it just me or does the word "sieving" look like it is spelled wrong?

We have our second field trip for structure this weekend. It's mostly "show and tell" I am told, but who knows for sure? Kurt does, but he's not saying anything. And, we're getting t-shirts made for structure! I got to design them, so I'm really excited to see them.

I've been looking at buying a new camera. I have found lots and lots of good reviews for the Panasonic FZ35, but they recently came out with a new model (the FZ40). I'm a bit wary of buying a new model before it's had ample time to have it's flaws pointed out, but then I feel like I should not buy the old version because it is the old version.

Random thoughts of procrastination

My desk has more rocks on it than anything else.

Why is it so hot in October? I dislike this weather.

What are you supposed to wear for an interview to a geology school? I feel like business clothes are not appropriate for geology, but then you should dress up for an interview.

When is the next GT Observatory night? Did I already miss it?

How am I supposed to remember 35 notecards worth of test material?

Grad school... where to go? No one ever replies to my emails. Except for the guy at UTK. He's super awesome at replying. Can I get into CU Boulder without talking to any professors first?

Why are the GTPD such jerks? And why are they so creepy? I mean, why would you sneak up behind some innocent pedestrian in your cop car, and surprise them with a loud "BEEP!"? And why do they feel the need to set off their alarms at 3 in the morning for no reason?

I didn't realize Bruno Mars was so short until I saw him on SNL. They really fool you in the videos.

I don't want to study, but I guess I will..... maybe...........

Nostalgia

Right now, I am feeling just that, nostalgia. A desire to go back in time, to go to where I once was. A need for a rewind button. Maybe it has something to do with the cool weather...

A chilly breeze reminds me of wandering around Queenstown and Christchurch aimlessly. Drinking tea reminds me of the night in Te Anau where my friend and I sat by a cozy fire and worked on our module assignments, sipping chai and sharing good conversation.

The clear fall sky reminds me of panoramas of wide open spaces fringed with mountains in Colorado. Watching picturesque sunsets with rainbows of color outside my window only remind me of the evenings spent in Colorado watching the sunset change from color to color. The nights spent braving the cold for the smallest bit of contact with the outside world.

I want so much to go back...

Making connections

I've been working on "networking" with geology professors at different grad schools recently. What an ordeal it is! Write an email, reread said email 15 times, attach super long CV, send, and wait for a reply. The waiting is the worst. Some professors reply the next day. Others, not so much. I've been waiting five days for one of them to reply. And I know he's in his office. I saw him give a presentation last week when I was in Colorado. Does it really take that much time and effort to say, "Hey, I got your email and will look at your CV when I have time." Or just cut to the chase, "Hey, I'm not accepting MS students right now." Just let me know something.

So, for those who don't reply to my emails, I'm going to take it a step further. I got the idea from one of the professor's websites. It said, "Please try good old U.S. mail if email isn't working!" So this is my plan. I will send them a letter in the mail. Hopefully, it won't get lost or ignored like an email might. I mean, they may get 3o emails a day, but only 2 or 3 letters a day. And soon, one of them will be from me.

Pictures from Colorado

I have uploaded photos from Colorado.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kwarrell/KeckColorado2010#

Catching cool breezes

Most of my work is done now. I don't think I have any field work left (emphasis on think). I'm sure Dave or Will will come up with something. Actually, they just did. I have to go get seven more samples of stream sediment. Happily, it will all be shipped home for me. I do not have to take it all on the plane.

I think I made some sort of personal record. I finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in five days. Never have I finished a book in that time. I was certainly impressed with myself, mostly because I didn't believe it was possible. I've started The Joy Luck Club. I'm not certain that it will be as good as Snow Flower. That book was really good. It started off really sad and depressing, but then I really got into it. I recommend it to anyone, and have it if you'd like to borrow it.

We have five days left! It's certainly sad to think about. I do believe that I just might miss Gordon Gulch. I mean, I've spent seven hours there every day for the past two and a half weeks. And Colorado, oh Colorado. When the trip started, I was not impressed in the least with Colorado. Over the three weeks I've been here, it has slowly grown on me. The wild flowers, the weather, the hippies, the lifestyle. It almost evokes something similar to New Zealand (it just took longer for it to sink in). I don't know how exactly to describe it. I guess you'd have to travel to either of the two to understand what I mean...

Looking up at the clouds, to the west, everything is a pale steel blue, the clouds a tad darker than the sky. The blue darkens toward the east. Directly overhead, the clouds are a fleshy pink, soft and undefined. They fade into a tangerine color in the east, with well defined billows edged in a slightly brighter gold. On the horizon, silhouettes of the mountains, not so far away. Can you see it?

Almost done?

My project is probably 85% complete... maybe. At least the field portion of my project is... we'll have to see what Kurt wants me to do with it when I get back, which could be a lot or a little. In either case, it will be a whole lot less work than some of my colleagues will have to do.

It has rained almost every day this past week and is supposed to rain the next three days. It's really a downer on everyone's mood. Meanwhile, I've taught myself how to weave flowers out of grass while waiting for the rain to pass. Not very productive, but it is rather hard to map anything when any amount of dampness will ruin the paper.

I've started reading a new book entitled Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Very interesting, and I recommend reading it so far. I finished reading The Namesake. I started it in New Zealand and didn't have time until now to finish it. Not much else is new. We went to the Boulder Farmers' Market last Wednesday and are planning to go again this Wednesday. They have mango sticky rice, which I am eagerly looking forward to. The dining hall here is not too keen on ethnic food, and if they do serve it, it lacks some serious flavor.

the beginnings of a "thesis"

So for the past four days here, i have been doing roughly the same thing: surveying the stream in Gordon Gulch. So far, I have about 50 pages in my little notebook full of data points to graph, which will eventually end up being a map of the stream. Once i get this map, I then have to go survey both the north and south banks of the stream and draw out the terraces onto my map. Eventually, my project will end up being similar to this one, maybe a little less extensive:

http://www.azgs.az.gov/sanpedroriver2009.shtml

Obviously, these people had a lot more time and resources than I will, but it's roughly what I'd like to achieve. I (hopefully) only have one more day of surveying the stream, which means only one more day of wet shoes. I'll probably still have to fight the vegetation when I map the terraces, but that's okay. It's a whole lot easier than hiking up a mountain. I'll probably even end up coring trees, which means that I take out a small cylinder of the tree to count its rings to see how old it is. That way, we can know a minimum age for the terraces. We'll probably end up using radiocarbon dating to get a maximum age by dating some old logs that are buried in the terraces. I've probably been working the most out of everyone here, and probably still have the most to do. But that's okay with me. I'd rather work on my project than be someone else's assistant.

Colorado, day 1

So today we took a leisurely hike up a mountain range. A lot easier said than done. First, we had an hour long drive in the bed of a truck over gravelly and rocky roads. We had to cross over huge boulders and a rapid creek, and the whole time we were being watched by marmots, which are supposed to be really vicious. They look like prairie dogs to me. The whole thing was exhausting, and makes me realize how terribly out of shape I am. These things get better with time, right? Needless to say, I don't think I'll be picking a project in the area we visited today.

Pictures! Finally!

Here are 443 of the total 1599 pictures I took in New Zealand. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kwarrell/AotearoaNewZealand#

End of an era

It's over. I don't want it to be over. Right now, if I could, I would take another 26 hour journey back to New Zealand. In a minute.

To catch up:

The first day in Queenstown, we tramped on part of the Routeburn track. The whole thing takes 3 days one way. We drove an hour to the track, and unloaded the bus. The track was very interesting. There were 4 or 5 spring bridges, which are probably the scariest things in the world. They move way too much when you walk across them. The moss everywhere was a bright green, there were shield ferns everywhere in one section of the forest. The track followed the Routeburn River, which was a bright aqua blue. So beautiful.

The next day was my free day in Queenstown. I went to breakfast at a small place with a few girls from the group. We went to the botanical gardens after breakfast, then went shopping. It was a nice, relaxing day. We went to Fergburger for dinner, and I had the lamb burger, again.

We left Queenstown the next day and travelled to Te Anau (pronounced tea ahh-noo). It snowed on the way there, and everything was white. We took a cruise through Milford sound in the Fiordlands the next day, which was beautiful. It's very controversial, because Milford gets so many tourists that it is having a negative impact on the place.

The next day we travelled though to Aoraki/Mt. Cook. Many roads were closed because of the snow and ice. We hiked through Hooker Valley the following day. I think it might have been the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

We had to leave and go back to Christchurch. It was our last coach trip, and no one liked that. We drove through the beautiful countryside, back into the city. I had kebabs for dinner, then watched a movie in my room. It was the first time I had had a room to myself. No roommate. The next day was a free day, and I did a little shopping with a friend. We went to a place called the Honey Pot for breakfast, which had the most amazing pancakes. The final day was our exam, which I think went well, and we had our last group dinner at a restaurant called Two Fat Indians. Not really spicy enough... but still good.

The flight home was long. Because we crossed the international dateline, I had to live June 3 twice. Quantas is still probably one of the nicest airlines. No bags were lost.