you have to go to this website. I think this is my favorite one

wow

(also, i will post soon about the cruise!)

catchy

I just came from an extremely depressing yet enlightening seminar in which the topic was climate change. We've all heard it before. I know I certainly have. But, for some reason, this particular talk really hit home. He was talking about the world in terms I could understand--thinking about the past and future in terms of eons. When he presented the graphs of the future, it was bleak. Basically, no matter what we do, there will be no coral reefs in 50-100years. I had always heard that, but I think I always held out some hope that we could change it. Somehow, we would find a way to save the coral reefs, and maybe I would have something to do with it. But really, no matter what we do, even if we turn off all cars and engines and anything using fossil fuels tomorrow, the amount of CO2 in the air right now will inevitably kill them. It won't go away. You can't reverse the amount of CO2. It's there forever. And it is killing them... and us. But, I am clinging to the notion that once all humans are dead, the world will recover. Gaia will prevail. In the history of the Earth, there were coral reefs and they were all killed by a huge CO2 influx (due to what, is debatable) and then, ten million years later, they were back. So, they survived somehow, somewhere. I hope we don't fuck up the Earth so bad that once we are dead, it can't recover. All we can hope for is chaos, drought, and depression to rid the earth of human beings...

But my spirit is not crushed beyond all hope. I will still study and love my cephalopodies. That is all I can hope for really.

what the what?

Cruise

Here is a website for kids learning about our cruise that is coming up in a few weeks. They wanted pictures of us with animals. It was a toss up between Elephant and Cheetah... I went with cheetah.

I'm gonna post it with the whole url, maybe this will work
http://www.whaletimes.org/creepintothedeepbios.htm

halloween

science is fun

just so everyone knows--read this article about bats and fellatio... I promise you will enjoy it, or at least find it entertaining.

peanut butter man

does anyone else find this extremely disturbing?

El Perro Del Mar, Change of Heart

El Perro Del Mar "Change Of Heart" from The Control Group on Vimeo.

I wanted to listen to the new El Perro del Mar, and found this video. What began as a bizarre, homoerotic absurdity, turned into one of the most impressive feats of human athleticism I have ever seen. Enjoy.

I'm gonna be a Grandma

One of my babies is going to lay eggs soon. I hope. If she doesn't die first.... But for now, she is holed up in her den in what looks to be a egg laying position. I check on her every day and I put up a sign to make sure people don't bother her. But, people bother her anyway, I am sure. My little octopodies are always being manhandled. They are so popular.

I kinda wish I could just live in there with them. It's a nice sized tank. I get in when I clean it.

Right now is grants time..... so many grants, so little time. midterms, papers, projects....drowning in responsibilities. tired.

This semester is already crazy. Very busy. But, here is a youtube channel of a friend of mine who works as security out at HIMB. He's taken quite a few videos of my babies, if you want to see them :)

These are AMAZING!!! They are videos of animals from their perspectives. I think the armadillo is my favorite. Alright now back to work!

This is a time lapse video of the Las Angeles wildfires. Nature is a powerful force...
I like the music a lot too.

Timelapse - Los Angeles Wildfire from Dan B. on Vimeo.

I just found another one. It must be a common theme right now...

Time Lapse Test: Station Fire from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

This is ridiculous and awesome. Make sure you have your sound on...

Robots!

from coilhouse.net



here's a good description
"8-bit Trip is a stop-motion music video that pays tribute to that generation of videogames that dominated my childhood, using the building blocks that has hijacked untold hours of my free time. Created by two crazy Swedes requiring over 1500 hours of work, who knows how many LEGO and a chiptune soundtrack; it is a perfect storm of cloying nostalgia, paralyzing my brain with its sheer awesomeness."

class

Monday was the first day of class. I had everything all planned out, but as the days go by, I am getting more and more bogged down! So much to do and it is only the third day of classes. Les wanted me to take another class, which is on Tues and Thurs, so now I will have to go to Coconut at 6 am to get the octos fed, instead of having the whole day, and then being able to do genetics work out there... I will make it work, but I think my brain may explode at some point during the semester.

Also, today I found out that I am likely to go on another cruise this semester!! We will be going to the NW Hawaiian Islands and I might be able to go in a submarine!!!! Keep your fingers crossed.

in homage to the coolest jacket on the planet that my dad wore (and maybe made?)


this work is pretty impressive. i wonder how long it lasts?

octo pics

Here are some pics of my octos that a lady on the island took :)

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

this simple video has renewed my faith in humanity...

and--i love robots!

i'm not sure if i posted this already. i may have... this is my great grandpa with his first cadaver.

also, i am so excited--a documentary that i have wanted to see for a long time is available on hulu. it's called Second Skin. it's about people who play online role playing games and how it affects their lives. here it is.

i find myself increasingly nostalgic for a simpler time. i suppose that comes with getting old. i look at the children on the sidewalk, on their way to tae kwan do class, and in that moment i can remember when the only responsibilities were extra curricular activities and maybe biking to the store for salad dressing.

This is weird and amazing. This species of frog lays infertile eggs for its tadpoles to eat--they eat them as they come out of her body...It makes for a bizarre writhing mass of tadpoles feasting from their mother's behind...

Driving A Motorcycle in a Hurricane:

Cons
1. The rain feels like hail hitting my delicate skin
2. Wind
3. No tire traction, turning is hazardous--and because Hawaii's roads were designed by a person without a frontal lobe, there are many tight, terrible turns
4. I looked like a wet rat when I walked into Safeway
5. People laughing at me
6. There is no windshield wiper on a helmet

Pros
1. ......nope

SCINTILLATION from Xavier Chassaing on Vimeo.

"This is an experimental film made up of over 35,000 photographs. It combines an innovative mix of stop motion and live projection mapping techniques."

And I like the song too.

Hurricane a comin...

On Thursday, one of my males died. He was the male who was most eager to mate, so it stands to reason that he may have been nearing the end of his life. I did a necropsy and was unable to find anything egregiously wrong--with disease, you look for abnormalities in the gills, strange coloration, mucous, or tumors. He looked healthy all around, but he had very few spermatophores left, indicating old age. This particular species of octopus lives for approximately a year, so it is not surprising some would die. My females are well, however.

I am starting to get a bit nervous about this hurricane Felicia coming. It doesn't seem likely it will hit Oahu, but there will be rain without a doubt and motorcycle riding in the rain is no fun. I need to go out to Coconut tomorrow to feed and check on the octos, so I am hoping if I go early enough I may be able to avoid the rain.

I need to get more octos. I should have called the octopus fisherman to help me, but I forgot. I keep having this problem. I seem to have lost all motivation. I think I am debilitated by the extremely high expectations. I am looking forward to classes beginning so I might have a bit more structure in my life. However, before that happens, I need to fix my proposal enough for Les to agree to allow me to do cephalopod research.

Science is cool

Mating

On Monday, I went to Coconut to feed and clean the octo tanks. I started cleaning the female tank when I realized it was too filthy to keep the octos in there with me. So, I decided to move them to the male tank--since I don't have anywhere else to put them. I thought that they would likely be stressed and there wouldn't be any problems putting the males and females together. Literally the moment I added the females, the males started trying to mate with them!! One of them successfully.

I was excited to see that it was much easier to get them to mate than I had read. With luck, the females will lay eggs in the tanks.

Then I had a very productive meeting with two of the head researchers at HIMB. They seemed to be willing to support me through my PhD research. My biggest issue is going to be funding. So, I need to make sure I apply for a lot of grants. Stress!


I like this guys work :)

I like this song.

The octos are doing very well :) Yesterday they ate a lot of fish! I was surprised because usually they won't eat anything unless it is alive. Also, apparently one of the males almost escaped but Kasie rescued him (or me rather) and put him back in the tank. Now I have put the Astro Turf on both of the tanks and I can sleep at night knowing they are there. I need to start running trials.

Les called today. He is in Maine and I am house sitting/ cat sitting for him. He told me I should contact the guys at the aquarium to see if I could use space there since it is much closer to me. I've contacted them before and haven't heard back, but I might try again.

I'm stressed and frustrated recently.

Also, this song is pretty cool, in a Phoenixy kind of way. Not sure I like the video though.

Five

I now have five octopods! I went out fishing with an octopus fisherman on Sunday and he helped me get them. Two more females and two males. Yay! I bought something to cover the tank and it wasn't big enough. So today, I bought AstroTurf because I read that octopuses don't like the feel of it and won't crawl put of the tank if it is lined with turf.

Also, I am moving soon. I can't believe how much crap I have. I've been here a year, I came with two suitcases, and now I have accumulated six boxes of crap. What is it?! Mostly papers and books. Things that weigh a ton. Ugh.

I was talking to my landlady tonight (whom I love) and discovered that on Saturday, someone from the building next to me jumped. It's the building right out my window. I actually remember hearing someone screaming and kind of a bump noise, but I thought it was a car accident or something. I hear noises like that all the time in Waikiki. I don't even bother looking out the window anymore. It kind of shook me up though. Poor person...

Right, back to packing.

Atta

My octopus is well :) Her name is Atta (it means eight in Swedish). I was sure she would have escaped today, but she is doing well. She's eaten one crab, but I think she must be stressed because she hasn't eaten since. I moved her into a cleaner tank, which probably stressed her out even more. She is so beautiful, though. I could watch her forever.

I'm still sick. Poo.

I like this fireworks video


Also, I think this is pretty impressive

OCTOPUS LADY!

Today...I got an octopus!!! Well, I didn't really get it. I got in contact with an octopus fisherman who gave it to me :) And when I got to the tanks, they were filthy. I have been out of town for two weeks and neglected to tell someone to make sure my tarp stayed up to avoid growth of algae. So, I got the octopus (it's a female) and then put her in a small clean tank while I cleaned out the big one. The octopus fisherman said I was good with her, I was putting her to sleep--I am the octopus whisperer! Then of course, as I was feeling super confident in my abilities, she inked everywhere. So I had to take her out of her tank, and she escaped into a larger area. I managed to wrangle her again and calm her down. I got her some crabs to eat and I'll go back in the morning to make sure she is ok. I hope she makes it through the night :)

It's really funny. We are all really attached to our animals. Christine goes a little hysterical when she gets a shark and transports it to it's tank. It's a precarious time. Now that I have an octopus, I see why she does that. I spent at least and hour trying to make sure everything was ok for her.

I'm so happy! I can start doing science!!

However, I did time my departure from HIMB poorly. It poured on me. Riding a bike in pouring rain is not super fun...And sitting in rush hour traffic for an hour is no fun either. Oh well, tomorrow I will go over early and leave early--it's the Hawaiian way :)

this is a super trippy video collaboration from Dali and Disney. Very weird.

ill

i woke up with a sore throat. i blame the airplane. i don't trust that recirculated air... all those people, all those germs. eww.



where can i get some sparkles for my lips? i want to wear them everyday

also, i like this song:


and this one

PONY PONY RUN RUN - HEY YOU [OFFICIAL VIDEOCLIP]
Uploaded by 3emebureau. - See the latest featured music videos.

weekend

So, it's been a crazy weekend. I went para sailing on Friday. It's the first time I've ever done that, and I went twice! It was beautiful. Floating in the bay, 40 stories up. The captain was my friend's boyfriend, so he dunked us a couple times. It's very peaceful though, one step closer to flying...my favorite feeling :)

Then, on Saturday, I went with Christine to the North Shore. We went to Sunset beach where the surfers usually go. But the water was so glassy, there were no waves at all! They are on the South shore right now. We went to go look at surf boards because Christine is going to get one. It was a great day. We had mudslides and daiquiris, garlic shrimp and french fries. Here's a pic of Sunset



Oh also, last week I house sat for Les and his cat and my friend and I went hunting for frogs in his backyard. He has the green and black poison dart frogs--but they aren't poisonous here because they don't have the food that gives them the poison. We didn't get any frogs, but we found this crazy slug with eggs. I have been trying to figure out what it is. I've never seen anything like it. Here it is (and Les' cat Dongwa)




Then, yesterday, I went to see Up! It was wonderful. Then Christine and I went to the beach and watched the waves and the sun set. There was a monk seal on the beach! It's the first time I've seen one here (other than at the Aquarium).



Also, I finally got a picture of me and my bike. You asked for it and I finally have delivered it!!

King Kamehameha Day

It's King Kamehameha day. He was credited with uniting the Islands.

Yesterday I went with Christine to catch baby hammerheads. We got one! I'm still octopusless... It's making me rethink my project. I'm feeling at bit lost right now.

One of the students here, Melanie Hutchinson, is doing research on the effects of some types of metals on shark behavior. She is trying to figure out how to minimize shark bycatch. Last semester she was in my animal behavior class and she gave a presentation where she showed this picture. When I first saw it, I was momentarily confused by what it was--an upside down baby hammerhead shark placed against the background of a sort of hand made protractor. It was such a weird image and it reminded me of the baby from Eraser Head. Enjoy!

Thursday already?

I just had my first real compliment on my bike (from a stranger)! :) It felt good. Although, I had kind of a creepy compliment this morning. I was sitting at a red light and this guy conspicuously walked over to where I was and looked me up and down, then said "Hi." Thankfully the light changed and went on my merry way to work.

Speaking of work, I haven't gotten any octopods yet!! They are poopy and eluding me. This particular species is supposed to be the best camouflager ever, so maybe I am swimming over a billion of them and not knowing it. I don't think that is the case though, because I know what I am looking for. You try to find a sort of cemetery of crabs and bivalves--then you know you have found a den. Then, you take a stick and poke around a bit, hoping an octopus will grab on. However, this species is active during the day so likely won't stay in their dens but will be out foraging for food. I talked to a girl who studied them a few years ago and she said she thinks they go to deeper water in the summer...I need to talk to the fishermen. They'll know what to do!

Even though I haven't found any specimens to study sexual selection, it has been quite beautiful snorkeling around Coconut Island. I saw the largest trumpet fish I've ever seen as well as a puffer fish as big as a basketball! The coral seems much healthier over there than any other place on the island. I saw a stomatopod (mantis shrimp) using it's hammer-like appendages to kill and eat small crustaceans. I've seen several Cassiopeia jellyfish (upside down jellies), their green tentacles undulating in the current.

I've decided to organize a group hunt for octopods. Maybe I'll have more luck with some more eyes... But really, who can complain? My days consist of snorkelling and riding my motorcycle, not so bad. I've also been watching a lot of Star Trek--the original series. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but it is so good!! It's terribly cheesy and wonderful. Every episode is on CBS and so is every episode of Twin Peaks!

Alright, I'm on campus today trying to get some work done for Les today--and this weekend I get to cat sit! I'm so excited. I love his cat. I miss animal love (I guess that sounds kinda bad...)

i have recently become kind of obsessed with this song--and the video isn't bad either. it's some weird video from 1984, the year i was born.

one of the more depressing parts about being poor is saving quarters for weeks to do laundry for five dollars at the laundromat and having my clothes come out damp, knowing i can't afford to put them in the drier again. my apartment has become a sauna recently, which proves ineffective when drying clothes... oh well, pour myself another glass of wine.. :P

from here

saturday night

so, it's saturday night, and i'm spending it at home with a glass of wine and my motorcycle owner's manual. i'm actually having a wonderful time. it's fun to get to know my bike.

Alright, today I finally changed the title to my motorcycle and it is officially mine! However, I have noticed a bit of a troubling trend of the bike getting hot pretty fast and the temperature gauge getting almost to the H... So, I have been spending the past few hours trying to see if I can find a reasonably priced motorcycle manual to figure this out. I think this weekend I will be spending some quality time with my bike. I found a great website that has diagrams of all the parts--I bet I could take apart and put back together the whole bike if I wanted to. But I don't want to. I also need to do research this summer :) I think it is probably just an issue of the coolant level, which should be easy enough to fix. Unfortunately, I have no previous experience with motor vehicles of any kind, so I am really starting from the beginning. Everything I read assumes a general understanding of the mechanics of a bike, so I end up feeling pretty stupid most of the time.

Anyway, tomorrow I am off to Coconut Island again to try and get some Octopus cyanea. I haven't had much luck recently... I sent Roger my proposal and he had a lot of interesting input that was difficult but necessary to hear. This is going to be quite the summer of self exploration (as well as cephalopod exploration).

I have been either sleeping too much, or not at all. It is sort of an unsettling place to be. I need to get my circadian rhythms back on track. I've lost eight pounds though, which is something :) I'm back on my gym schedule--kind of, and all the fruit I love is back in season. Strawberries, mangoes, pineapple (although that is never really out of season here).

It has been disgustingly hot here recently. Everyone says it is unseasonably hot for Hawaii. And of course my fan died. So I bought a ridiculously small fan for $20 that barely does anything, but was all I could afford. However, today, after taking apart my fan down to the motor and still not being able to fix it, I broke down and ordered a fan from amazon. At least there is free shipping.

Sailing, Riding, Summer

So, still haven't taken photos of me on my bike--but I promise it exists! I've named my bike: Hunter. After Hunter S. Thompson. I thought it was appropriate. Today I went riding around the south coast of the island over to Waimanalo. It makes me happy to be here. Flying around on my bike (I made it up to 70mph today) looking at the beautiful scenery, feeling free. I feel like Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind--at least as close as I can get without flying.

Last week I went sailing and took some photos. It was lovely. We got first place in the race, which earned us 3 pitchers of rum and coke. I am speaking as if I had anything to do with the victory, but really, I just served as ballast when they would "tack."



Last night I had drinks with a friend of a friend at the Royal Hawaiian--very posh! We sat right by the beach and watched the sunset while eating delicious food and listening to a live hawaiian band and watching a woman hula dance for us :) It's funny, I live in Waikiki, but never get a chance to do the touristy things.

Contrary to the way this post sounds thus far, I have also been doing work. I set up the octo tanks last week then went hunting for octos, though they are proving elusive. I knew they would be, but if I can't find them, there's no chance of getting research done! So, I better get hunting. However, it is Saturday night! So I will save the hunting for the week days...

I've been riding my bike and getting used to it. I love it. I love the freedom to move round the traffic and make it home without talking to several creepy bums (not all of them are creepy).

Today, I went to Coconut Island with Christine and was able to set up several of the octopus tanks. We'll see if it works out! I caught four crabs to feed to the octopi once I catch them. Hopefully I will get some on Thursday.

I talked with Les and he is very supportive about me getting my work done this summer :) He has just left for a conference in DC and I may get to take care of his cat when his wife and daughter go to Maine.

Fantastic Planet

I saw this movie the other day--everyone should see it. It's amazing and awesome--amawesome!

Also, this...

Motorcycle!

I got it. I bought a motorcycle today. It's a 2003 Kawasaki Vulcan 750. Here's a pic of what it looks like :)



The guy I bought it from asked for a ride home, so I had a nice long ride getting to know my bike today. I managed to avoid the highway, but honestly, I can't wait to get on the highway and really get moving. I feel bad for my bike starting and stopping at all the red lights. I did manage to stall twice (and I felt really stupid), but I am just getting used to the way this bike rides. The last bike I was on, you just let the clutch out in first and it rolls forward. This one needs a little gas to get it going cuz it is a bigger bike. I love it though--it definitely runs smooth. Also, unlike the bike I learned on, it actually goes into neutral without having to have the engine off! So I had a little bit of an embarrassing moment when I was trying to switch to second and I ended up in neutral. Not fun. BUT--I have an awesome motorcycle and I can take people on it and get around the island! I'm not going to ride it 24/7 until I get insurance, which I hope will be tomorrow...

So, the semester ended last Wednesday. I have been working for Les and trying to figure out what I am going to do this summer. I really need to get some work done on my dissertation research. It's been a good semester, I think. It was a semester of lots of life experiences. I learned how to ride a motorcycle, got master, nitrox, and rescue certifications in SCUBA diving, went on a research cruise in the Bahamas. It was great. But in terms of academia...not so great. I really have not been on the ball. I got here last semester and really hit the ground running, trying to figure out if I could do what I wanted with octopus. But this semester...I'm not sure what happened. I had a lot of classes. But, I'm disappointing in myself. Hopefully, I will get it together this summer! Although, I will be going to Maui at some point and possibly the Big Island as well :)

I'll get some pics of me on my bike as soon as I can :P

May 11th

This weekend I had my motorcycle class. It was wonderful :) I don't know why everyone doesn't ride a motorcycle. It is so exhilarating! It feels like flying... I wish I could fly. This gets me one step closer.

One issue though, is sunburn. I have a very attractive raccoon eyes and helmet sunburn. I learned my lesson after the first day of six hours in the sun on the motorcycle. I put lots of sunscreen on for the second day, but it didn't help much. I'm going to try to avoid being seen in public for a while.

Another issue is sweaty butt. Sitting on a hot motorcycle wearing jeans and long sleeved shirt makes for lots of sweating. But when you start going fast, you don't notice it anymore.

My favorite thing is weaving and swerving and feeling in control of this four hundred pound machine. When you gain some confidence, it starts to feel amazing!

We had our written exam yesterday morning (I got 100%!!) and then the driving exam in the afternoon. I got one point off because I went out of the yellow lines... But it was still passing!

I found a bike I really wanted and called the person who was selling it--it already sold :( so now I have to find a new one...

It is my birthday today and I have spent most of it writing my dissertation proposal. It didn't turn out great, but I did it. And now, I am going to make myself a cake and get some thai food to give myself a treat :) My friends are all quite busy as it is the end of the semester and so it will be a bit of a solitary birthday. But I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have given myself several treats--I slept in, I took a nap, I did the dishes and am cleaning my apartment. These are all luxuries I can't normally afford.

I'd like to extend a big happy birthday to my friend Salvador Dali

also, someone at UH has swine flu. so, i guess it's only a matter of time before i get it. it's a small island, and an even smaller campus...

NOAA has an article about our Deep Sea Cruise :) I didn't get a chance to write anything about myself, but there is a pic of me (with super white teeth for some reason) and it says I'm a grad student.

Tonight is my first motorcycle class. Tomorrow I will actually be riding, tonight is just preliminary stuff.

Monday

The semester is ending. It is hectic... There is a lot to get done before it is over and I am having trouble getting motivated to do it!

Yesterday though, I made it out to Coconut Island to clean off the tanks I will be using for the octos. It was quite strenuous. I ended up taking off a chunk of my toe and scraping my leg in many places. I didn't realize how much I was bleeding until I saw my flip flop was covered in blood. Oh, the things I do for the octopods. I'm excited though. Now all I have to do is write a proposal and collect some octopuses and start research! Ahh!

So, there may be a chance I end up getting a truck instead of a motorcycle... It might be easier for octopus collections.... We shall see. I'll keep you posted!

Motorcycle Helmet :)

For Dad

Quimby The Mouse from This American Life on Vimeo.

My Next Adventure (I Can Dream...)

Procrastinating

Well, I got through last week and somehow lost all motivation. I had a final exam in diving (which I did well on--100% on one section!) then two presentations. I got an email from my Invert Bio Seminar prof and she told me she really enjoyed the papers I chose to discuss. I did my presentation on Sacculina, a parasitic barnacle that infects crabs, and on carnivorous sponges. Les gave me a lot of information on them and even let me take some of our specimens to show--like show and tell. I think that is the best way to learn though. Why does grad school mean the end of show and tell?

Anyway, after last week, I have done nothing... Well, that's not entirely true. I did go to to Coconut Island today to try to set up some space for myself for octopus research--yay!

Unfortunately, the semester is not yet over. I still have one more presentation and I need to finish up my proposal... Not to worry, only 30 pages of the rest of my life...

Ahhh!

Here are some pics from the deep dive on the wreck a couple weeks ago. Why do I always look so spaced out? No wonder I'm so calm underwater--I look like I'm drugged.










I'm on the left giving Kasie the shaka :) and she's giving it back!

Ahh! Amazing

this is one of those songs where when you first hear it you kind of want to put forks in your ears. but then, after one listening, you want to listen to it over and over! or at least i do :)

Finals

It is the end of the semester and unarguably, a stressful time. I just had a final tonight in my dive class. We had our last two dives on Saturday. The first one was on a wreck 100ft deep off of Kewalo. Before we got in the water, there were 4 turtles just hanging around the boat. Then, there were a couple of turtles on the wreck too, and some eels, giant puffer fish, and parrot fish as well. One interesting thing about this wreck is that there is a tourist submarine that passes by it every once and a while. It was pretty surreal. There I was, narced from diving Nitrox at that depth, kind of spacing out staring at this giant turtle, when this weird noise came from behind me. It definitely took a second to register and I looked around to see where it was coming from. This big white tube was coming towards us and people's faces were pressed against the sub's windows. We waved at them and I think they got a kick out of it :)

On the second dive, we were joined by a dolphin. We did photo transects and saw eels, giant scorpion fish and many exciting invertebrates. The end of that second dive meant the end of Scientific Diving (for the most part). Today we had our final exam, and I feel ok about it. I felt fine until I started talking to other people in the class...but isn't that always how it goes? Why waste time worrying about it? I have a presentation of Thursday and a presentation on Friday, so I need to get cracking on those. I need to have my proposal done by the end of the semester and I have a presentation in a week for my Pop Bio class and then I'll be done! Whoo Hoo!

Also, I finally signed up for a motorcycle class at the community college so I will be on my way to transportation. I'm very excited :)

Just need to make it a little longer..

And of course, now Hawaii has decided to have beautiful weather everyday that makes you feel terrible for staying in doors and working on academia...


And, these are the creepiest slippers ever...

Tuesday

Today was one of those days that just makes you happy to be alive. I went to work with Les today, but he wasn't there until around 10, so I had an hour to read (Ender's Shadow) and then we worked with the corals we got from the cruise. I've been really going back and forth on my dissertation research proposal since Les gave me my ultimatum. I wanted to do cephalopod work, but should I spend my summer freaking out trying to get data, just to have him tell me I need to do something else? I decided, yes. I'm going to do ceph work, but keep an open mind for other research possibilities. He had mentioned a very interesting competitive interaction project between hermit crabs and amphipods in Palau. Ultimately, I'd still be an invertebrate biologist--and that is the goal. I guess I just hope people will still love me even if I don't study cephalopods... But, I will cross that bridge when I get there--I still have at least 4 months of octopod friends.

Speaking of octopod friends--we had our first night dive on Saturday. We saw a baby octopus, a slipper lobster, lots of fish (don't I sound like a marine biologist?). Someone saw a white tip shark, but I didn't :( The best part though was when we turned off the lights. I preferred to dive without the lights, actually. I eventually kept mine off the rest of the dive because I found it cumbersome, and the ambient moon light was enough to see. And you can't see all the cool bioluminescents with the lights on... The goal of the dive was to learn underwater photography though--so here are some photos of me looking silly :)





Anyway, Les let me leave early this afternoon because he didn't have anything for me to do. And, I found out that I won't have too much work to do for him this summer either, which gives me more time for my own research, but I'll still get paid the same amount--yay! With my free afternoon, I went to the beach. It's been way too long. I decided to treat myself and I just read Ender's Shadow and relaxed in the sun. When I finished the book (which was amazing), I went to see a masters defense of a friend of mine, then went to dive class. We have an exam on Thursday and were reviewing for it. It was a good class. But I think any class would have been good--I was just in such a good mood today. And then, after class, I got a ride half way home and walked the rest of the way under the moonlight. The air is the perfect temperature, the clouds are glowing with the reflection of the moonlight, the breeze from the ocean is fresh. Sometimes I can actually get my head out of my ass long enough to realize I live in Hawaii and am lucky enough to study science all the time :)