Tesla Anomaly

I've gotten feedback from all five of my written exams now, and with one exception they were all very good responses. The one that was critical was sort of expected, from a professor who's typically critical of all the wrong things (e.g. the prof didn't have a problem with my actual science). I can deal with that.

My advisor's given me encouragement that orals on Wednesday will go well as long as I don't totally freeze up. Now I just need to make myself address all the extra issues my committee has asked me to brush up on. I find I'm really having a hard time staying motivated now, with one hurdle behind me.So tired of studying. Just one more to go, though, and then this will be behind me and I'll be one step closer to being Dr. Elisel. (Or, as Randy Pausch would say: A doctor, but not the kind who helps people.)

It looks like as soon as orals are done, I'll be heading to South Carolina to help my father move into his new house. My dad's wife will be coming in from Texas and my sister is also there, so it'll be great to see everybody all at once.

I have found time to play with the iPhone a bit, though. It's crack. Shiny, technological crack.

Let's see how long it takes me to break it.

elisel,

I've looked over your answers to my questions. You've certainly passed the written portion of my exam with flying colors.


....Followed by three paragraphs of critique on things I should look over before my orals, but YAY. This was my major professor's exam so if I wanted to feel good about my performance on any of my comps, this was the one to ace.

:) :) :)

...All right, stick a fork in me and call me done. I don't feel ready, but my brain is full (and leaking out the ears).

Warmfuzzies to storm_dancer for calling and wishing me well (and offering to send me food). ♥ ♥ It meant a lot!

I'm headed over to veg out and have a tasty dinner with friends, and then I am going to lie awake and fret for a while get a good night's sleep.

I'm back home, walking around in an aromatic cloud of camphor and menthol anti-itch cream. How is it fair that mosquitoes can bite you through your clothes? How did I get bitten twice on the palms of my hands? Never again will I go into the field and forget my insect repellent.

On the other hand, my funky bruised bite from last week (spider?) is scabbing over nicely and I made it out of the woods last week with only one tick bite - a minor miracle.

My three-day research trip has left me relaxed and hyped and ready to tackle this exam thing. *cracks knuckles*

DA PLAN:

• Wednesday: Finish preliminary review of Biometry & Multivariate Stats
  
• Thursday: Review stuff for Prof L: Plant Taxonomy, etc.
  
• Friday: EcoEvo lunch discussion; seminar; work on Bossman's samples; review Wetlands Ecology.
  
• Saturday: Buy instant dinners for next week and move all needed books to my office at school, just in case I get to use them for any of the exams. Review Plant Ecology.
  
• Sunday: Review Invasive Species Ecology, Statistics. Avenue Q in the evening! ♥
  
• Monday: Review Chemical Ecology, start with Population Genetics.
  
• Tuesday: Finish reviewing Pop Genetics. Take the evening off.
  
• Wednesday: Comps begin!
  

Now let's see if I can actually hold to that schedule. Hah, hah.

1. I like camping.

2. The only thing better than listening to rain on your roof is listening to rain on your tent (provided your tent does not leak).

3. Men really won't stop for directions. Even from a GPS.

4. Being stranded on a desert island is highly overrated.

5. Why my advisor and I get along:

Him: *makes a clever suggestion*
Me: "This is why you are the master, and I am the student."
Him: "It was from so many fuck-ups."

6. If you wear sandals on a desert island, for the love of God, don't forget to put sunscreen on your toes.

7. When spending two eight-hour days on white sand at the beginning of the season? There is not enough sunscreen in the world. SPF 50 is great, but 50% of what it takes to char a cow is still enough to fry an egg over-medium.

8. Dirt is heavy.

9. Quartz sand is heavier than dirt.

10. When you write a permit that states "I would like to collect 50 liters of quartz sand," the proper response from the issuing agency is really, "No. No, you would not like."

11. There are a lot of insects in south Mississippi, and the majority want to bite you. I know I'm an ecologist, but you know what? Fuck the circle of life. There are a few things that have no place on my planet. To wit: Ticks, biting flies, no-seeums, VALUE SIZED MOSQUITOES WTF?!?, and fire ants.

12. It takes all kinds. Including the kind that uses blow-dryers and hair straightening irons when they are out camping. Just don't ask me what that kind is being taken for.

13. It's a bad idea to sit on a cactus.

Researching a topic in the primary literature is sort of like browsing Wikipedia.

No, really. Every other paragraph references some other work related to your topic, or potentially related, or giving background information that you think might somehow be relevant. And so you click those links make a list of those references, and hunt them down in some dusty corner of the library or submit them to Interlibrary Loan, and a week later you have twenty other articles that you read, and find references to still earlier works...

...and finally, you are sorting through journals dating back to 1895 and finding the ultimate references to your species/topic/ecosystem. And the statement that has been cited is something like, "Plants grow in the dirt."

Now I'm off to return these books to Interlibrary Loan.

HAHAHAHAHA.

Florida says that torpedograss* invaded from Australia. Australia says that it came from Europe. Or maybe Asia. Nobody wants to claim the stuff.

*The invasive species starring in my dissertation.

...Today I distributed the first draft of my dissertation prospectus to my committee.

Cue anxious nail-biting while I await the bend-fold-staple-mutilate process.

...and there is, once again, water falling from above.

No, no; it's not raining. There is water pouring from the ceiling of Shoemaker again.

This is disturbingly common (and doesn't even count the time the ENTIRE CEILING over part of the fourth floor fell in. There is - or was - a fifth floor, for the record).

They really just need to tear this building down.

Yay! It's Spring Break!

Actually, the first three words alone are enough to have me jumping up and down with glee. I am definitely ready for some warm weather. I've got all my windows open today and the house is wonderfully full of fresh air.

I have taken off work this week so I can have an actual 100% break break... and do lots of schoolwork. But it's still going to be relaxing, simply by virtue of the fact that I can set my own schedule instead of watching the clock all the time.

Trying to be realistic, here's my list of things I want to complete this week. ( But I won't make you scroll through it if you don't really care. )