Below are the 9 most recent journal entries recorded in catalpic's LiveJournal:

Sunday, June 26th, 2005
10:35 pm	underwhelming I officially have another degree in science - a Master's of Science. It is quite underwhelming given that I have at least 4 more years of this grad school thing. My lab bought me 10 different types of cheese to celebrate after my MSc defence on Friday. It was amazing. Sooooo much good cheese! The Leerdammer was the best. The catalpas are blooming! (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 2nd, 2005
2:29 pm	Catalpa! The catalpas of Soutern Ontario are finally leafing out! Yippeee! (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 29th, 2005
10:33 pm	yum yum Fresh strawberries, goat cheese, and balsamic vinegar = yum yum (Comment on this)
3:39 pm	click, click, CLICK! 2800 mouse clicks later, my data is in order. Science..... blerph. (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 28th, 2005
3:24 pm	i should use this I haven't written anything on here in ages, because A) I have been writing in my real non-electronic journal and B) I am boring. So I thought I would write something. I have been writing up my MSc thesis in preparation to finish up at Guelph and then get out of here. I have been staring at Excel spreadsheets so much that sometimes they become 3-D and I feel like I am sinking into them. Scary. I had an interesting idea today about using plant roots to make cool root print paintings. I think I will try that out soon. Back to the damn thesis.... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 3rd, 2005
8:45 pm	trowel trouble Thanks to US National Science Foundation's "Ben, Not Bombs" program, I am able to wander about and be a free-spirited scientist without much responsibility while still earning a reasonable living. For example, I spent a fun day in the interesting city of Toronto doing "science" (and a bit of shopping). I am organizing a project with the Allan Gardens Botanical Conservatory (a dinky joint, but a cool place to go with the gloomy winters of Southern Ontario) to do soil biodiversity outreach (insert nerdy laugh and body odor here). I went to the gardens today to meet the manager, and talk about my ideas and get approval. It was a very productive and fun meeting. As part of my trip, I sampled the roots of some palms and other tropical plants at the gardens to bring back to the lab and search for the elusive fungi that I study. To do this, it required my three handy soil ecologist tools: a trowel, a sharpie, and Ziplock bags. Unfortunately, if you try to go into any anti-shoplifter facility (say, the Gap, used CD stores, bookstores, etc), the shoplifter detector things at the door go crazy when you walk through with a large metal trowel in your bag. The more frustrating part is explaining to store managers why you are walking around with a laptop, a dayplanner, and a trowel. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 1st, 2005
10:32 pm	thank you Buddha The last two hours did more for me than 18 years of unilateral Christianity could ever come close to. I went to my first Buddhist meditation, and it was amazing. I always thought that the concepts of "connecting body and mind" and other stereotypical Buddhists teachings didn't work in Western society, but I actually think that attending meditation and hearing the teachings of Buddha are exactly what I need in my life right now. It doesn't feel like a rigorous religion with only one approach or understanding. It is a way to understand yourself. You don't feel guilt for what you have done in the past, and you don't have to freak out about burning in hell in the future. It is all about now. Everything that the leader talked about was so appropriate to my current funk and how to get out of it. Being judgmental, worrying about the future, harnessing your erratic and irrational thoughts and understanding them, and finding self-awareness. Good things are to come. (Comment on this)
Monday, January 31st, 2005
10:24 pm	Vacancy We are seeking candidates for a tenure track position in irrational thought and erratic emotions.... (Comment on this)
1:25 am	Bores of Canada Just back from a Funk. Haven't been there in awhile. Probably my inability to make any meaningful contacts or relationships here in Guelph has a large part to do with the trip. Or maybe I am just a judgmental patriotic introvert that hates women and spends too much money. I'm at the lab at 1:30 in the morning. That could also explain a lot. I'll be in California next week and hopefully the next 4 years of my life. That should help. Current Mood: flumphraggen (1 Comment |Comment on this)