What next?

Everyone stresses about their future. If someone has everything already (the perfect life that they set out to get when they were 10 years old), they are scared that life will never give them anymore surprises. Or there’s the person that doesn’t have it all, and is seeking the perfect life (or some kind of fulfillment). Some people seek adventure; welcoming surprises. And then the opposite, some people thrive off of routine and organization. Which are you?

I am an individual that fits more into the latter than the former. But this does not satisfy me. I want to be able to do anything without worrying. I am a 26 year old grad student that is about to finish her M.Sc degree in Environmental Biology and Ecology (this December, hopefully). The thing that has been on my mind lately is probably the most common thought that crosses the mind of a graduate (or pre-graduate): What shall I do next?

I thought that I may stay in Edmonton and find work due the surplus of jobs here (particularly Environmental Consulting jobs). Ellie has expressed her opinion on this. Let us just say she doesn’t like this idea and I believe she thinks that I should explore other options. I think I may agree with her now. Why settle in Edmonton when this may be my only chance to see the world and show the world my passion and desire to work on amphibian management conservation issues.

Originally, I was thinking that I would travel Australia (also visiting New Zealand and Tasmania) for no less then three months before I start my life in a management/conservation career. But then I got thinking, I don’t have anything tying me down here. I am single and free to do anything and go anywhere; I have no commitments. So, I am now thinking about moving to Australia indefinitely. This scares me and excites me at the same time. Could I just pack up some cloths and move to a different continent? Could I leave my friends and family? Well, I would miss them, but would they miss me? I could definitely do this, and in fact, if everything works out, I WILL. Australia here I come.

The legendary head bob

Lately I have become accustomed to the notorious head-bob. You know when you are really sleepy, yet you’re fighting it, your head starts to bob like a bobble-head, well that is what is happing to me. I have been suffering from insomnia the last couple nights and because of my work ethic I have tried to be in my office by 8:00 am. Out of the last three days I have been here at 8:00 am one day and 9:30 am the other two days. This isn’t too bad since I haven’t been sleeping at night. To make matters worse, I am reading scientific articles. In general I enjoy reading these papers but they aren’t the most exciting reads. They’re clear and concise which reduces any descriptive detail, making them more of a dry read. I learn so much when I read them, but I just cannot get into them. Lately, when I have been reading them, I have almost fallen asleep. Actually I did once. Thankfully my desk is at the back of my office and is separated from the rest of the room by a large shelf. This was handy because nobody could see me sprawled out on my desk sleeping! I usually catch myself doing the head bob before I jerk myself up and re-read the boring paragraph that almost put me to sleep.

In the past I have performed the bobble-head maneuver on many occasions. One in particular sticks out. I was fishing with my dad one morning on Georgian Bay. I believe it may have been during on of Owen Sounds annual Salmon Spectacular Derbies that we participate in. It was ca. 4:00 am (I cannot remember the exact time) and my dad was driving the boat and I was watching our fishing lines. He noticed that I was a little tired and asked if I wanted to go into the cubby (a little room at the front of the boat) and take a nap. I quickly said no and told him that I would watch the polls so that if a fish bit I would be able to get to the poll fast. He continued to tell me that he can drive and watch the lines because we weren’t going fast and there wasn’t a boat in front of us. But I still said refused his kind appeal because one of the best things about fishing is when you first see the fish take the bait and the tip of your poll bounces to the weight of the fish. You have to jump up, grab the poll, keep the tip up to make sure the hook is set and then reel in like mad (well as long as the fish isn’t taking your line). I guess my dad had been watching my head bob for some time which is why he asked me if I wanted a nap. He was laughing at me because he said that he could see how I was powerfully trying to concentrate on the line yet fighting sleep. I guess my head would suddenly drop and then I would hastily swing it up and look at the line again, trying to adjust my eyes. I did this for about 15 minutes before he said something. I think I remember almost falling over onto the deck as I was consequently tired. With that, I decide to take a nap! Then sometime into my nap, whether it was 5 or 20 minutes, my dad hollered at me to come out and drive the boat since he had a fish on his line. I jumped up fast (hitting my head on something) and took the wheel and maneuvered the boat so that dad could bring in the fish. Oh and what a great fish it was. I think it was a little over 20 pounds! Yum and it tasted even better.

Let the truth be told

This is a picture of a baby toad! Isn't it the cutest thing in the world! I just want to say something that we all know but don’t always say out loud. This is in response to an entry on my friend Ellie’s blog site.

AMPHIBIANS RULE AND FISH DROOL!!!!

And there is no exception to this statement.

Bugs are COOL too!

I thought that I should put up a nice colourful picture to add some energy to my Blog site. So here is a picture of an interesting bright orange CARRION BEETLE. Aren’t they cool!? Now the only bad thing with these bugs is that where ever you find one, you unquestionably know that death is near buy! These bugs are part of Earth’s clean-up crew.

Oliver

Because I am a student and cannot afford a regular prized theatrical ticket ($30-$90) my friend Mika and I went to the Pay-What-You-Can performance of OLIVER. I usually don’t write reviews, but I will make an exception for there is much to say about the set up of Pay-What-You-Can.

The way they have this set up is so annoying that if it wasn’t for my mammoth desire to see this production, I wouldn’t have gone. You have to arrive at 3:00 pm to pick up a numbered wrist band and then return at 7:00 pm to get your ticket. Tickets are granted by wrist band numerical order. Therefore if you want to guarantee a ticket, you have to show up well before 3:00. I got there around 1:40 pm and was pretty close to the front of the line. Approximately 40 people were in front of me. However because I was waiting for my friend, Mika, I couldn’t save her a spot in line. Thus I had to stay at the end of the line until she got there; which turned out to be an hour later. Fortunately there were 175 tickets to be sold so we ended up getting two tickets.

I finally quit being the caboose when I met two fun and interesting ladies. We ended up talking for a while and then Mika came. Instead of going to the back of the line, Mika snuck in line with us. It’s funny though, for the rest of the night, people knew who we were. I was the girl that was forced to be the caboose and Mika was the friend who was late than I.

As alluded to earlier, while I waited in line, I met two chatty, yet pleasant ladies. They were as excited for this production as I was. One of the ladies was actually there to see the dog perform. They informed me that auditions were held for the role of Reggie the dog. In the end, a 7 month old bull dog-bull massive got the part. I guess the pup was born to act. However, to my disappointment and others, the pup did not perform. I wonder if it was a sudden case of stage fright or a sickness. Or maybe he lost his voice and couldn’t rise to the occasion. It’s too bad, I was really excited to see the acting capabilities of this dog.

Most children have either read or seen some kind of production of Olive; but some how I have not. It only took me 26+ years to see it. Throughout the play I was contiuously overwhelmed and extremely impressed with the set design, casting, and overall production. The casting was excellent for everybody did a great job and sung beautifully. With that said, one actress stood out. Pamela Gordon, who played Nancy, had an excellent voice which made you want to hear more. One of the ladies that I met actually raved about her and told me that she never misses her shows. Wow, I can see why! Now, I really wish I could say the same thing for Mark McClintock’s (he played Oliver) voice. Mind you, he was a wonderful actor, but his vocal cords were not up to par. I found that when he was trying to hit the higher notes he couldn’t sing loud enough and ended up trailing off. However, his voice was youthful and innocent; which is what you would expect from a young boy.

Since moving to Edmonton, I have experienced various theatrical productions such as: Live Opera, Live Opera viewed at a Cineplex (premier of “The First Emperor”), musicals, and plays. I would have to say that I prefer musicals over the others by far. They are more lively and energetic. In particular, I really love the musical “The Phantom of the Opera”! All-in-all, I would recommend the musical, Oliver, to everyone.

Change isn’t always an improvement, just a change

For the past couple months I have been feeling quite blah which means it’s time for a change! To correct this blah feeling, a month ago I finally pierced my nose; which looks quite natural on me. Well, this is what I have been told. I have been contemplating getting a nose stud for some time before I succeeded in doing it. I am pretty happy that I went through with it. However, It is still tender and a little swollen inside. In a week or so I plan on changing the medium sized jewel (and its long rod) to a smaller jewel and shorter rod so that it’s less conspicuous.

However, this small change didn’t fix my blah feeling. So I started thinking of another way to change. Changing my personality was out of the question, so I had to think of something else. This past November, I was convinced that I was going to cut my hair to a length above my shoulders, at Christmas. My hair fell below my shoulder blades and a short cut would be a drastic change. Was I up for it—definitely! However, when I went home for Christmas, everybody was against this and I was easily persuaded not to cut my hair. In addition to all my friends and families opinion, my best friend’s sister who was my hair dresser, wouldn’t let me cut it. So I came back to Edmonton with long hair. My friends were disappointed when they found out I didn’t cut it. Now, four months later I still wanted to cut my hair. So I went to the Swizz salon and got a hair cut. I ended up cutting my hair off to my shoulders!!! And you know what, I love it. It’s a nice change and I hope it helps my mood.

A day filled with frogs

Recently I helped Arthur (a friend in my lab doing Tadpole Ecology) out by assisting him in the field for a day. Basically we were inspecting various ponds that he is studying. We were walking the aquatic pond perimeters, searching for amphibians (measuring successful captures), and egg masses. At this time, the wood frogs (WF) and boreal chorus frogs (BCF) were in full chorus; bringing music to my ears (and deafening me at times). I had a lot of fun with Arthur and got to see things (associated with amphibians) that I have never seen before.

I was able to find Arthur a large patch of chorus frog egg masses. This was exciting because I have never seen BCF egg masses before. It was also exciting for Arthur because last year he didn’t see a single mass and now this year we found > 76! Arthur collected these egg masses and took them home to hatch so that he can perform an enclosure experiment. Unfortunately, most of these eggs have died L He will have to find the cause of this high egg mortality before he goes back into the field to collect more eggs.

After I found the BCF egg masses, I saw the largest gathering of wood frogs in my life. There were probable over 100 frogs in a 7 by 4 meter quadrate! It was surreal! Among these frogs was a WF egg mass nursery, containing well over 200 egg masses. The interesting thing here was that male WFs were actually crawling over the masses and sitting on them. You would think that this kind of interference would be stressful for the eggs. However, wood frog eggs are thought to be able to withstand various stress factors since they are laid in cold water which experience periodic freezing and thawing. I mentioned this to my supervisor, and she thinks that the male WFs may be sitting on the egg masses to provide deposit more sperm over them, hoping to fertilize ones that were unsuccessful the first time.

At this same location I saw my first wood frog mating ball. If you are not familiar with the term mating ball in amphibian biology, I will fill you in. It’s when you have a female in the middle and various (2 to >2) males attached to her. Males will be on her back, stomach, head, butt, etc, trying to successfully mate with her. Poor female! ;) In these mating balls, the female has a reduce chance of living.

What was really exciting about this ball was my ability to see the hind limbs of both sexes. As I got really close to examine this ball, I noticed the webbing on the female and male hind limb. The female had concave webbing while the males had convex. This is quite interesting because a couple years ago Arthur mentioned that he read that you can use this diagnostic feature to identify sexes in the off breeding season. However, during my 2005 field season, I looked for this trait but NEVER found it. I wonder, since I saw the webbing on male and females (in mating ball formation) in the water, water is the medium that allows the webbing to be distinct and in air the webbing isn’t as extended so the trait is masked.

During this trip I also got to see various raptors, bison (so cool), a dead porcupine (which was the first time I have ever seen one), ground squirrels, and lots and lots of amphibians. It was a fun and fulfilling day.

First dinner and then a night out on the town

This blog entry is dedicated to my friend, Ellie. She is the one person that I know that reads these religiously! She is the only one too, that is always nagging me to put up new ones. So here it is; almost a full month since my last one.

The other night I attended a potluck at my friend Connie’s house. It was a small quaint party. The funny thing though, each and every one there was in Biological Sciences (with the exception of one person, Doug (Connie’s younger brother. He is in the military) and our conversations, whether one-on-one or as a group, always drifted towards school, field work, or individual study species. Now, we had some stimulating conversations on these subjects, but over time, they can get boring and repetitive. The thing is, we immerse ourselves in school and biology, so we end up talking about it. These subjects contain our passions, our drives, our life, so you can see why we always seem to address them in our conversations. I don’t like Politics, so why would I talk about it.

Towards the end of the potluck, we were starting to wonder what was next. I was thinking of going home since it was after 10:00 pm (I think) and I was exhausted (I had been up since 5:00 am), but others wanted to take the party to a local pub or bar. I knew that everybody else wanted to so I sucked it up and went with them. My motive was simple; maybe in the future they would refrain from calling me a party pooper (which I am not. I can be the life of the party ;) Especially since Connie seems to think that I always go home and tuck myself in by 10:00 pm. This isn’t always true. It just happens that in the past when I have hung out with Connie, I have never lasted until 6:00 am in the morning with her. She likes to stay out ALL night and morning. I will admit, I like to watch a movie or two until midnight (on a weekend), rather than gallivanting all over the city, staying up until > 4:00 am. When I do this, I am so tired the next day I become incoherent and sluggish, wasting my day. I really wish people would stop saying that I never go out or stay out late, especially since they don’t share the same life style as me. I prefer going out for a few drinks or shoot a game of pool and then head home at a decent hour. Yes I do like to stay out late (occasionally), but when I want to, not when someone else pushes me to.

That same night, Mika and I got to meet Connie’s brother, Doug (the guy in the military). He seemed like a nice guy. With that said, he took a liking to Mika the moment he laid eyes on her. I can just picture it. He probably looked like the Warner Brothers cartoon wolf when he sees a hot girl – eyes come out of his head and he starts slobbering and howling! Throughout the night he would make conversation with her (that was DIRECTED at her and not others) and then at O’Byrne’s, he was being hunted by an older woman (~35), so instead of telling her he wasn’t interested he asked Mika to pretend that they were an item. He had a lot of fun holding her hand and being close to her. And what I understand from Mika, she too had fun. At the end of the night they parted ways, but we had a sneaking suspicion that he would be contacting Mika in the near future. That suspicion has now been proven, he emailed her yesterday!!! Score one for Mika.

A tangent and an Easter Memory

It’s Easter Monday and I am working from home. Surprisingly I am getting a lot done. I was going to take the whole day off but my conscience got the better of me. I ended up taking part of the morning off; due to me sleeping in until 8:30am and having my friend Crystal call me to say Happy Easter. Now the funny thing is that she woke me up from a deep sleep and I can not remember the beginning of our conversation. I was still half a sleep. In my sleepy haze, I believe she said Happy Easter. We ended up talking on the phone for more than thirty five minutes. Thanks Crystal, I really needed to talk to you.

Wow, that was one of the longest telephone calls I have had in a long time. Usually when I talk to anyone in Ontario, we end up having a five to ten minute conversation. I blame it on them because I try to keep the conversation going but they never have anything to add or contribute. Plus there seems to be nothing new happing in their lives. Nevertheless, I don’t believe that. Oh well, at least I have my Edmonton friends and they like to talk to me on the phone. Especially Ellie, she will call me and leave hilarious messages on my phone or intrigue me in an enlightening phone conversation; even when we had just seen each other a few hours earlier.

However, I do have one family member that defies this. I love how my big brother, Bob, calls me anytime of the day, including 1:30 am my time. Actually, I have come accustomed to these late night calls and miss them when they don’t happen. We usually talk about what he or I have done that day or night, and then the conversation always navigates to Hockey. Yep, the Oilers didn’t make it to the playoffs this year, but neither did Toronto. Ha, told you they wouldn’t make it, Bob! Lately I have even started calling him late at night too. It’s a way for me to think that I am back in Ontario, only minutes away from my family and friends.

Ah, I got off on a phone call tangent. I initially started talking about Easter, so I will now finish this entry talking about it. Easter weekend is almost as big as Thanksgiving weekend in my family. We always have people over and my mom cooks a feast fit to feed an army. I have one Easter memory that stands out. It involves my sister, me and the Easter bunny (now referred as Mr. B in the remainder of this blog). One Easter when we were a lot younger, my sister woke me up early, informing me that Mr. B had brought us a whole bunch of chocolates and gifts. As we snuck down stairs, making sure not to disturb mommy and daddy (and Mr. B if he was still there), Tina filled me in on what he had brought us. We both received really cool bright rain boots, since we were a fan of puddle jumping. We also got some clothes (Mr. B. must have known we were rapidly growing out of our Gem Doll jogging suits), and a lot of chocolate eggs and bunnies. However, to my great disappointment, by the time we got to the place where Mr. B. supposedly put our goodies, they were mysteriously gone!!! Nothing was in sight. Tina was surprised and insisted that they were there when she went up stairs to get me. The only sensible solution was that Mr. B. knew that Tina was going to go get me so he took everything back. In his mind, Tina's mad dash to get me was bad, for it wasn't morning yet and we should still be in bed. Therefore, we were bad girls. Thus, we sadly snuck back upstairs, understanding that we were in the wrong and would not get anything for Easter that year. By the time we made it done stairs the next morning we were not expecting anything. But to our surprise, everything was back! Mr. B must have forgiven us and returned everything. How kind!

It wasn’t until years later, that mom and dad filled us in on what really happened that morning. In fact, when Tina first came upstairs to get me, mom and dad knew what she was up to and decided to trick us by hiding everything; knowing that we would think that Mr. B. did it. They really got us with that trick.

Computer Communication

You know, I sometimes hate all these modern internet writing communications, such as MSN and Facebook. I am not including Blogger or Myspace in this rant because they are forms of internet journals; not quick back and forth communication devices. MSN and Facebook are impersonal, a waste of time (or a way to procrastinate) and they are negatively affecting our writing skills. People are starting to rely on myriad abbreviations (lol-laugh out loud, ttyl-talk to you later, omg-oh my gosh, etc.) in their internet chat. The worst thing of all is that I have even heard people use these abbreviations in oral communications. Plus, due to the short, abrupt messages, it is really hard to understand sarcasm and emotions via MSN and Facebook; especially without the help of body language.

I will admit that I use two of these internet communications, but only as a way to quickly communicate with someone. For instances, if I need a coffee break I simple MSN Ellie, Mika, or someone else, requesting their company to Tim Hortons. I also use it to ask quick questions, instead of going up or down the stairs to a friend’s office or say a quick hi to family members in Ontario. But I will not carry on a four hour conversation with these people. I do not talk for hours on MSN because there is only so much you can say and read before you are bored; I use the phone (if my family/friends ever pick up or return my phone call; in which, half the time they don’t). Yes I can see people using these devices as a way to save money, but honestly, how much do you save?

Recently, I have been trying to get a hold of a friend in Ontario. I have tried phoning her but she never calls me back. I have tried sending her messages via Facebook, but she replies to everyone else but me. Lately I could really talk to her, however she is unreachable. I shouldn’t take this lake of communication response to heart because I do not know the whole story. But for some reason I am! I cannot stop thinking that I have upset her for some God forsaken reason. Darn-it, why is she not calling me? I strongly dislike these modern internet communications, yet I use them everyday!

Tattoo Anyone?

Today, while I was staring off in space (trying to figure out how to do an analysis), my eyes fell onto a coffee cup my friend Ellie gave me. The cup has three tropical frogs performing “hear, see, and speak no evil motions”. I love it. So I took a five minute break and googled the “no evil motions”. Wow, I hit the jackpot. There are t-shirts and tattoos of these three “no evil frogs”. I think that I will get a t-shirt with these adorable frogs on it. Well, if I don’t end up ordering one online, I will make my own. How hard can it be?

Now what about a tattoo in this design? I do want a frog tattoo, but is this exactly what I want? Maybe. I am definitely leading towards getting it. However it may be too large and conspicuous for my first tattoo. Initially I wanted a frog or a bunch of little frogs, on my foot/ankle, but now that I have seen this tattoo, I don’t know. Since tattoos are permanent, lets just say that I will be sleeping on it (for countless nights) and doing my homework before I jump the gun and get one.

I have numerous friends that have them. My friend Eryn has an angel on her right shoulder; Julie has a maple leaf on her lower back (I think); and Connie has a tattoo of a turtle on her upper back, between her shoulder blades. Eryn and Julies are smaller and less conspicuous while Connie’s is a little bolder. Connie’s is quite colourful, large (a little smaller than my hand) and really well done. She loves her turtles, just as much as I love frogs. All of these girls got a tattoo that meant something to them and have not regrets.

More recently, Ellie told me that when her mom comes to visit (this September) they are thinking of getting matching tattoos. That is the most endearing thing I have heard in a long time. Yet, I am kinda jealous. I wonder if my mom would ever do that with me. Mom, would you? Ellie and her mom are indecision on what they want to get. I know that both women love the band U2, thus they are thinking of tattooing something that is associated with the band. Actually, U2 is Ellie’s favorite band. She has seen them perform three or four times. However, Ellie has also expressed interest in tattooing a fish on her ankle; since she studies them. Furthermore, Cecilia (Ellie’s mom) has mentioned that she wanted an Elvis Presley head. You couldn’t find two things farther apart in similarity if you tried. Trying to find a tattoo that mother and daughter both want may prove more difficult then these two women think. Ah, but they will prevail.

Believe it or not!

True or False, did this merman from the Great Lakes really exist?

Crazy Stats

How many times can you do something wrong before you do it right? Well, in my case, I cannot say because I am still doing it wrong. Currently I am analyzing my M.Sc amphibian data, which has become a hair-pulling, exhausting, painful learning process. I believe I have re-analyzed my data at least 5 different times (either modifying what data goes into the analysis or changing the actual statistical analysis used). Sometimes I wish I had a little more guidance; allowing me to avoid these unfortunate wrong-doings. But then again, they are teaching me to think-by-myself, analyze data multiply ways, and learn from my mistakes and introducing me to myriad statistical packages and functions that are out there. On the bright side, I sought out a statistician yesterday and I believe he has put me on the right track. This new statistical journey will involve a Nested ANOVA and Split-Plot analysis. Let us hope this is my last time doing this.

Wednesday Night Tradition

Last night I went to my friend Mika’s house to watch this weeks “America’s Next Top Model” and have dinner. We, and others, are addictive to this show! However, I cannot put my finger on the reason to this addiction. Maybe it’s the social aggressiveness of each model-to-be, and their interactions; I’m just not sure. The funny thing is they’re not all drop dead gorgeous. Yes they are pretty but each one brings something different to the table. Whether it is cockiness, bitchiness, confidence, comical, or unique attitudes, they all contribute to an attention-grabbing show. Unfortunately the girl that I thought would make it to the final two was voted out last week. Yep, this is another reality show! Now, I have no idea who should be “America’s Next Top Model”. Nobody is shining through.

Just before the show came on, Mika made her famous Berry Smoothie. Boy was it good. Sadly, I developed one of my infamous pain striking stomach aches that are usual provoked by certain foods (whip cream, chip/veggie dip, sour cream, cream cheese). The only thing that may have triggered the stomach ache would be the yogurt. Or the two tall glasses I drank. For my sake, I hope it was just a freak occurrence and not one that will be provoked by yogurt in the future. If yogurt ends up triggering these acute stomack aches, I know the next thing to cause this type of pain will be ice cream. If this does happen, I couldn’t carry on living without my triple chocolate chunk ice cream (or various flavours of chocolate ice cream).

Deciphering a Dream

Last night I had a dream. Now it wasn’t a nightmare, or a pleasant dream, but a cliffhanger! I hope it wasn’t a glimpse into my future. The place where this dream took place was in Ellie’s office. Ellie, Claire, and Liv and me were all there. I was sitting in the middle of the room and all three girls were sitting at their respective desks. I cannot remember what we were talking about, but I do remember who came in and started to talk to us. It was my tall, dark, handsome guy that I have been crushing on! He remains nameless because my detective work has not allowed me to figure out his name. But don’t worry, I will figure it out. Well, he started talking to all off us about…well I cannot remember the exact conversation but I do recall that he started signaling me out by asking me specific questions about who I am and what I do. It was going so well, but then he said bye and left the office. I was caught off guard. I didn’t know if you would be returning or not. Does anyone know how to decipher dreams? I sure hope it isn’t saying that I am doomed to lead a solitary life with my many loving poodles and hairless dogs (no cats or other kinds of dogs because I am allergic to them), fish, and herpitiles (amphibians and reptiles).

A So-So Conference

A week ago, I attended The Wildlife Society Conference in Canmore, Alberta. One of the main reasons (other than learning what research is being carried out across the province and going to Banff) why I attended this conference was to give an oral talk on my research. In my mind (and my friends) my talk went well. I didn't forget anything or faint infront of ~150 people. Moreover, Mika gave an extraordinary talk that should have taken home the prize ($100.00) for best oral presentation. All-in-all, I learned about various wildlife species and management/conservation implications.

I would have to say that the conference was ordinary and didn’t stand up to other ones that I've attended. However, the quality of talks was above average. I ended up attending a great deal of them on the last two days of the conference. The first day was a field trip (we stayed long enough to see a wildlife over-pass corridor.) and the seconded day was jam packed with talks that didn’t hold my interest (with an exception of a Grizzly Bear session). Unfortunately during GB talks I was stressing about a talk that I was giving the next day, I couldn’t focus on the speakers and their presentations. When I am asked “How was the conference?” I simply reply, “The talks were great”. I don't dwell on another other aspect of the conference. On the other hand, since Oz has only been to two in her during her academic career, she would probable say that it was the best she has attended, relative to one she attended last month (PUBS).

The best part of the conference occurred during the second day of the four-day long conference. The morning sessions sounded dull so some friends and me set off to Banff. We had a great time hiking around lakes, seeing a merman (half man and half fish) skeleton, visiting a dissimilar, appealing, yet smelly sulfur stream, and visiting many candy/chocolate stores. I really enjoyed spending the day with Mika, Oz, and Krissy. Too bad the rest of the conference couldn’t have been based on various hikes through Banff.

Body Modification

Why is it when I really want something I never do anything about it. This comment encompasses myriad things, but right now it is directed at one thing: piercing my nose. I have always wanted to do this, but have never had the courage. Multiple times I have walked to Strange City (a tattoo and piercing parlor) to have my nose pierced, but found myself walking past the doors. I just couldn’t bring myself to go in. However, twice I actually went in, but was unsuccessful in actually having my nose pierced. This happened because of two reasons: 1) they were too busy, and 2) my nose was slightly swollen (because I must have hit it in my sleep).

It is not that I am afraid of the piercing instrument nor the potential pain that may be associated with it; it is the post-piercing effects that truly scare me. I don’t like the idea that I could scar, develop the ominous, hideous bump, or that the stud may slightly hang out of my nose (until it heals and then I can have it sized properly). In addition to the aesthetics appearance, there’s the professional appeal. Lately I have been thinking about what I actually want to do with my life after my masters. I may go into consulting, work with government or non-government organizations, or try teaching high school science. The question that arises is: would a nose piercing be unprofessional? All of these factors contribute to my uneasiness about nose piercing.

After all of this, I have come to the conclusion that next week I am going to get my nose pierced. Well, with my track record (number of times I chickened out beats successful entry into the piercing building) I hope I will be able to!

Now the next thing to do is determine what side I want pierced. My friend told me that you should pierce the side that feels right. Meaning one side should out way the other. But I don’t favour one side over the other. Hmmm, this shouldn’t be a hard decision.

Coinciding with the nose piercing decision, I am also in-decision about tattoos. Someday I think that I will get a tattoo. But first I have to figure out where I want it and what I want. Currently I would like to get some kind of frog tattoo on or around my ankle/foot. But this is still up in the air.

Cell phone usage

Just because I own a cell phone doesn’t mean that I have to answer it 24/7. I have had people leave messages on my cell or tell me in person they have no idea why I have a cell phone if I never answer it or have it on. Let me make something clear, yes I do have a cell phone and no I don’t have a land-line phone. Therefore my cell is my only phone. In addition just because I always have my phone on me, it doesn’t mean that it is always on.

I believe that there is a time and place to have your cell turned on. Firstly, during my work/school hours (8:00am – 5:00pm), I am in my office and therefore have my cell off. I have an office number and an email address if one needs to get a hold of me. It’s not fair to my office mates if someone calls and I am not there to answer my phone and it keeps ringing and ringing and then my voice mail song goes off. Secondly, if I am out with my friends (or at an event), my phone is usually turned off because I believe it is quite RUDE to talk on the phone in front of everyone. An additional reason why I may not answer it is because my phone only rings 4 times and then goes onto voice mail. Consequently, if my phone is buried in my purse, somewhere unreachable, or I am in another room, I simple cannot get to it in time.

So please do not lecture people with cell phones that they are unreachable. Just because they have a cell, doesn’t mean they have it turned on or have to answer it. Here is my advice: if your calling someone between the hours of 8:00 am and 6:00 pm during the weekdays, don’t expect them to answer and treat the situation as if you are calling their land line and they are not home to pick up.