Rambling

Yesterday I went to the mangroves with my oceanography class to take some sediment samples. Other than waking up at 6am, it was a fun trip. We went to the other side of the island to a current mangrove site and a former mangrove site (they were removed). All the mangroves in Hawaii are invasives, so people here really don't like them. I was surprised because in Zanzibar the mangroves were an important habitat that served as nurseries to many of the species there. Here they just seem to be a haven for more invasives while taking away habitat for endemic species. Here are some pictures of us taking samples.



I took the bus to get to campus to go to the mangroves yesterday. And the sight that I was fortunate to witness at 6:30 in the morning was a large gentleman fondling his breast absentmindedly in the seat across from me. He inspired me to start a series of drawings that I am going to call "Bus Buddies." Please don't expect any groundbreaking artwork--it's just some doodles in the fashion of R.Crumb's restaurant series (but mine are much more juvenile and far less detailed). Here is my first:


This is another in the series. This was actually a woman I met on my very first bus ride to campus. Her name is Candy. I'd say she was about sixty and very sweet, but she was wearing the brightest make-up I've ever seen on an older woman and it seemed to be bleeding into the skin all around her face. (Maybe I'm being cruel...) Here she is:


Today I saw a video of hagfish devouring a huge yellowfin tuna that was dumped into the ocean for observation on scavenger behavior in benthic habitats. It was fascinating but horrifying at the same time. The body was writhing with these long black snake-looking fish, sucking off its flesh. But the really amazing thing was seeing the fish burrow under the skin through the gills and causing the skin to undulate around the body, creating the illusion that the tuna was still alive. Our professor hypothesized that this is where the idea of Medusa came from--they probably pulled the body of a woman up from the ocean floor with hagfish writhing out from her eyes and scalp (seriously, he said this, not me). Anyway, it was pretty incredible. Another cool thing I learned in my benthic biology class was that all the sand and silt and small substrate in the world that is in the sediment record has passed through the gut of a deposit feeder at least once. Awesome! The turnover rate is overwhelming! The invertebrates that inhabit this earth are more and more magnificent to me every day. More evidence of how nerdy I am...

I do not own measuring cups. But I may have to invest in them. I think I overestimated the amount of rice in a cup. I tried to make two cups of rice and ended up making about six. I know it expands, but not this much! I have enough food to feed myself for a very long time. But on the bright side, the chicken curry I made is amazing! It tastes just like my Mom makes--which is always the ultimate goal!

Now I need to prepare for my lab tomorrow. Some of my students wrote Ms.Ylitalo-Ward on their homework assignments--as if I were a legitimate teacher! It made me feel a little weird. But I love them :) They all had a test today in the lecture part of the class and it was interesting to look around the room and see some people look totally comfortable and some people with faces of intense anguish...My students looked perfectly relaxed and they all did great. One of the students in the other Teacher Assistant's lab section got a 14! Out of 50! So...I'm glad that one wasn't my fault (but I'm sure it wasn't the other TA's fault either).