Friday, February 29, 2008

Video: Roan Walking Past

Here is a video I took about two minutes ago of a Roan walking past my house. On the hill behind her, first you'll see four Hartman's Zebras and them another Roan.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Insomniatic

I think there might be a connection between cooking, baking cookies, and insomnia. Have there been any studies on this?

Symptoms:
-Long periods of contemplation over ex-loves.
-Imagined spider bites from imagined brown recluses between real bedsheets.
-"Tired" missing from the menu.

Possible Causes:
-Homemade cookies.
-Homemade chili.
-Homemade ceasar dressing.
-An open window with no screen and a recently acquired knowledge of the brown recluse.
-Stupid boys.
-A cup of coffee 12 hours ago.

5 hours 'til work.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Still Knitting Strong

Don't worry, not matter where I go I still knit. Two of my most recent projects have been a shrug and a head scarf.

The shrug came from the Spring 2006 issue of Interweave Knits magazine. It is called the "Streakers Shrug" and was designed by Pam Allen. The recommended yarn is la Lana Wool Streakers!, but I used some Noro's Cash Lane I bought on sale instead. Except for only knitting a 3 inch, not a 4 inch, hem, I was able to follow the pattern exactly. The Only problem I have with my finished project, and this may be related to my missing inch, is that it falls off my shoulders a lot. I made the larger size to accomidate for my long wingspan, but if you are on the smallish size with a longer wingspan, I recommend you just add a few inches to the cuffs on the smaller size (the sizing is by wingspan).

The head scarf is knitty.com's Calorimetry. I used the last of my Lamb's Pride Worsted. Because the gauge was off and I have a smaller head than most, I didn't cast on as many stitches as Kathryn Schoendorf's pattern called for.

Well, I'm on go #5 or #6 for my mother's vest so I'd better get back to it. Laters!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Fossil Hunting & Cave Dwelling

Today, when the other two interns were off, the education dept. went on a group trip to go fossil hunting. Our host, "Bussy", lead the 6 of us ladies, a volunteer from Fossil Rim, and two people from the local magazine doing a story up to a ranch where he showed us the best ways to find fossils then let us walk around for a bit collecting them. I didn't get any photos of the area, but I did get a bunch of fossils. Here are some pictures and what I think they are:


Ammonites - interior molds


???


Gastropods - interior molds


These are two complete arrowheads my boss found. They are very fragile, so it's really a great find. A specialist is going to take a look at them and tell us what kind of arrowheads they are.

After the fossil hunt, Bussy took us to a cave cut into the rocks by water. A solutional cave cut out by a river didn't have many fossils to show, but I got some shots of the area, so here they are:




Lunch time! Also, Bussy told us a story about the caves' first family of settlers and about the discovery of a 7' woman's mummified body they found there.


Baby stalactites!


Bussy at the top of the waterfall that marked the end of the caves.


Well, that's the end of my day. What did you do?

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Dinosaur Valley National Park

Last weekend, my Janine and I took our day off to go to one of the other local parks near exciting Glen Rose, Texas. Dinosaur Valley National Park (DVNP) is a few minutes from Glen Rose in the middle of this gorgeous countryside (blackland prairies). The park is named for the various fossilized dinosaur footprints that have been preserved within the Paluxy River.

This is one of the two "life" size dinosaur statues here on the park. Of course, this is a Tyranasuarus Rex (which never lived in this area) and this is an old statue (the tail is dragging on the ground).

One of the great things about this park is that you can swim in the Paluxy. Since the hiking trails follow the river and it's estuaries, this is a really great thing in the summer (I imagine). Unfortunately, there are no life guards; that's what the jugs are for.

As this area has gone through a bunch of different environmental phases, there are some pretty interesting rock formations. On our hike, Janine and I spotted this cool rock formation that looked like a giant diving board. GIANT. The photo doesn't really show you how long it sticks out, but it stuck out a good 30 feet from the cliff.

This isn't a very good picture, but it shows a couple really great things I like about this area. The water is so clear, it's amazing. Also, the land is real flat so you can see miles in the distance, but there are always beautiful trees and soft hills decorating the view. I'm not very good with words, so I'll leave it at that.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

US SE RT 08 Conclusion [Part 2]

Saturday, 2 February, 2008

I wanted to start on my trip at noon, but as my brother and I are sitting around having brunch I walk in to his kitchen to find it full of smoke. "Um, Charlie, have you lit anything lately?" Apparently the furnace broke. So after a late start I was on the road to Texas. Along 76/74 there were multiple "Ron Paul for President" signs. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go back up 87, so I couldn't test out TallE's theory of fried chicken fries as gas. I'm sure it would have worked.

Anyways, I wanted to get to Georgia before I stopped for the night, so it was straight on to I-95 and South of the Border with me.



South Carolina was pretty much the same as North Carolina only more southernly.

By the time I got in to Georgia, I was really tired, but I didn't want to stop until I was on the other side of Atlanta. Unfortunately I couldn't make it that far and stopped at a motel near Meriden for the night. Now, I know motels are the butt-crack of overnight lodging, but I think they're pretty nice. The walls are usually sound, the water is always hot, and cheap food is guaranteed to be near by. In this case, the food was KFC. After those fries in South Carolina, it only seemed right. Yes, it was as gross as you think it is. Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it. After a nice long shower it was to bed with me to rest up for a drive the next day to make up for lost time. (Unfortunately I was unable to get a photo of the GA welcome center because it was too dark.)

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

US SE RT 08 Conclusion [Part 1]

I have been without internet for quite some time now, so I was unable to give proper updates on how the road trip went. Fortunately, I have it now AND I have all the time in the world to send out the 411 so here it is:


My travels began in Wilmington, North Carolina along the Atlantic coast. The great thing about Wilmington is location. Yes, it has your rows of strip malls up and down the city, but it also has a quaint little downtown area that transforms from antique shops, a used book store, and a great coffee place during the day and a dozen or so bars and clubs at night.

While some people have those cute southern accents, the majority of young people in this college town talk with more subtle regional accents. The most interesting sight in the city is a giant Ron Paul sign in someones front yard along one of the main roads. I wish I had taken a photo, but the majority of my stay looked like the photo above.


On the days that were sunny, I headed out to Wrightsville Beach a few minutes away to study for my internship on the beach. Wrightsville Beach is one of the highlights of Wilmington. Actually, it might be the highlight. Even in January it was gorgeous and breezy. People constantly go for walks along the water and the parking is free out of season.

While I've never visited my brother in the summer, I can't wait to go back after my internship. Surfing is popular along the coast there as is SCUBA. Also, my brother and his boss just opened their tattoo parlor/art gallery there last week and while I saw it right before I came to Texas, I look forward to seeing it after it's been lived in for a few months.

[Photo of shop here.]