Professor Count

Number of Professors Contacted: 4
Number of Rejections: 3
Number of Professors Retiring and Therefore Unlikely to Take Another Grad Student: 1

Update: This whole thing has been resolved. "Rejections" was kind of a harsh word - these professors are actually full up on grad students. Since I wasted so much time on law school I was a little behind on this application process but it's all moving along now. I've been notified that I'll have a final decision in a day or two.

Teach Me!

My grad school department contacted me on Friday. They said: Find a professor willing to advise you through your Ph.D.

I sort of thought it would be a more formal process than shooting professors emails saying "Hey, want to work with me for the next 6-8 years?" But I guess not. So I looked though the faculty research pages and chose a few with work that overlaps with my interests. I'm pretty anxious to have this part over with. I'm very anxious to know whether I'll be back in school in September or paying back student loans. I have a lot of student loans. I'm choosing not to think about them. I think that's best.

J and I have been setting goals for the year, most of them mountain related. To that end, we're spending time getting back into shape so we can be ready when climbing season starts. I've been spending about an hour and a half per day working out during the week and we're starting with easy hikes on the weekends. This past Saturday we went out to Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge where we saw this cute little mushroom cluster:


Next weekend we're planning on heading out to Sandy River Gorge. We're also excited about doing some hikes and climbs with Mazamas this year, and one of our goals is to meet the qualifications for full membership by the end of the season.

Sad

How callous can a society get?

A person, with a family, was shot and subsequently suffered related heart problems. Jokes aren't appropriate.

Revenge of Gaia

Reading James Lovelock is always an amazing experience for me. The first book of his I read was Ages of Gaia, and it quite literally changed my entire worldview.

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, his new book Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back - and How We Can Still Save Humanity is still only available in the UK. Hopefully it will show up in a bookstore near me soon.

Fortunately, there's a great review/summary over at RealClimate. And, as an added bonus, Biosphere 2 gets a mention!

Stuff

Oops, it's been awhile since I've posted. There's been kind of a lot going on, but there's been quite a bit of chilling out, too. And for the past few days obscene amounts of Olympics watching. Man, I love those Olympics.

So, I just now made my 50th picture sale! Yay! That's all very exciting.

Also, I managed to get a job. And it's awesome because I get to telecommute.

Third - I heard from the school I'm applying for and they say my application is in review and I should hear by March 1! I wasn't expecting to know either way until May-ish so I was pretty surprised by the March 1 date.

30 Boxes

The new online calendar system by 30 Boxes is sleek and simple yet versatile. I've been looking for something like this for awhile. If you have too you should check it out and help beta test it.

Why?

Why are there suddenly all these Google ads for McDonald's everywhere?