Back in Time: Denver Drama

Apr 4, 2010 Leave a Comment

This is a continuation of the regurgitation of my old lj posts, to be continued as long as I feel like it, whenever I feel like it.

The following sequence includes the events leading up to and during the geology conference I went to in Denver to present the dinosaur stuff with my Wyoming group.  We drove all the way from Western Michigan to Denver in a 15 passenger van, but that's not originally how it was supposed to happen, as you will see.

I associated with three different people named Mark in college.  One was blind, one was a paleontologist, and one was the student newspaper advisor. I talk about the former two here.  

October 26, 2004

 fuck this i don't need this shit i'm down with the sickness (i was totally into making quotes and song lyrics as my titles at this point in my life, and sometimes they had swearing)

goshdarnit. i'm in such a bad mood right now. quantitative labs stink. can't we just go back to the qual ones? i had to breathe into this tube that was stuck in a tub of water because no one else in my stupid group wanted to do it and then the t.a. decided it would be funny to throw some dry ice into the water. so i'm gasping for air trying to concentrate on this experiment and he's just sitting there laughing. what a jerk. a really hot jerk, but still a jerk.
then after lab dr. h comes up to me and asks if i'm flying to GSA
(Geological Society of America) because that is apparently what dr. b told him. why would i be flying to GSA? okay, considering i talked to dr. b TWICE about this, i would have thought he could have gotten it straight. but apparently not.
everything is so confusing right now. why does everyone have to be such morons all the time yet then i am still considered the dumb one because i can't do stoichiometry
or whatever crap we're doing right now.
and now i have to go write my column for the anchor for which i will probably be spending all of eternity at tonight and get nothing done homeworkwise. this stinks. i quit. i'm going to run away and live out my 8th grade dream of becoming a street bum in ecuador with a hairstyling business on the side.


October 28, 2004
right as usual, king friday (this is from mr. rogers neighborhood.  a girl in my class said it to me that day and I thought it was funny)

so today was not so bad. this morning was kind of crappy because i had to get up early for GIS the worstest class ev-ar, but alas, it was just dr. b today because the other lady who normally teaches it had to go somewhere. and i finally figured out what's going on with GSA, for the most part. in a span of about two days, i was driving, then flying, then driving again. apparently since the wyoming group has money from the grant, i could have flown, but hope is cheap and i am not. i guess they hadn't even bought my ticket yet. what were they expecting me to do? hitchhike to colorado? hmm, that could have been interesting... i'm happier driving though, because it would have been really boring flying by myself. plus i get to go on all the fun field trips with dr. h and everybody now, which is exciting. yay!
the mineral quiz was good. i have no clue how i did on the individual part but i actually knew the formulas well enough this time to not have to make them up. and the second part was pretty fun, even though sean was being a jerk (and i was on his team, even). yeah for me knowing the formula for epidote. that was pretty much my only contribution. oh well...
(I totally do not remember the formula for epidote.  I think it has aluminum in it?)
the japanese food at dinner tonight was really gross but i was hungry so i ate it anyway. i should have had that beef and noodle stuff that michelle got. it was much better. too bad.
well, this is getting to be somewhat long so i'm going to go attempt to do some homework or something before bed, because i have much, but, guess what, it is 10 p.m. and i am DONE with CAPA! woohoo! i rock. i guess the eclipse wasn't a bad omen after all, but still very cool to see. 


 October 29, 2004
i can't tell you anything, and i can't commit.  you're right, i can't commit... to you (William Shatner)
well, today was weird. i go to spanish class this morning and find out that i have a test on monday. grr. i was really hoping to be able to focus on chemistry this weekend but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. so here's what i think of you mr. spanish test !@#$%^&**!!!!!!!!!
now that that's done, i guess i am somewhat happy because i got an 87% on my mineral quiz. plus a good job!(exclamation point included) and a really weird drawing of some monkey looking thing from dr. p1.
eric came over this afternoon to work on our project. it was good to see him but it seemed kind of pointless for him to come all the way here because basically all we did was print off our trench drawings. i could have done that on my own a long time ago. no matter though. i showed him the display case with all the dinosaur bones and pictures of us at the site in it.
when i was about to leave, dr. p1 came into the computer lab. he said hi but it was one of those "don't talk to me" kind of hi's. i needed his help with something but it seemed like a bad time to ask. earlier he said he wasn't trying to blow me off or anything and i know he's busy. heck, i'm busy too. i still feel really annoying, though. i wish i understood things better on my own. oh well. 

(I was one of those students who utilized the prof's office hours to max capacity to ask questions about all sorts of crap i didn't understand.  I didn't understand a lot. There were 2 Dr. P's.  Dr. P1 (geology) and Dr. P2 (chemistry).  Anyway...)
dinner was a lot better than last night. i went to the kletz with dana and mark. i was leading mark around and it was kind of funny, actually, because i kept forgetting i had a blind person on my arm and he kept running into things.
hmm. i'm tired. i wish i could go to bed but there's too much homework for that. this morning i made a weekend plan, and i'm going to stick to it if it kills me.
 

November 11, 2004 
there and back again 
well, i just got back from denver about half an hour ago. it was really great. and weird seeing so many geologists all in one place. it felt so awesome to be among them, to be a part of one of the coolest clubs (in my opinion) in America. i wore my nametag all over town. goshdarnit, i love geology.

i used my assignment notebook as a sort of makeshift journal while i was gone so i wouldn't forget anything i thought was important. so, here's what happened:

Friday, Nov. 5
Something I heard on NPR: "A city in Georgia has too many squirrels." The steering wheel's various degrees of freedom. Feet falling asleep
(this was actually really annoying). Staring out at the stars and imagining universes far beyond us.


Saturday, Nov. 6
Driving. Dr. H's driving with us because he lost the coin toss. The Rocky Mountains. Snow! Falling numerous times. The cool birds and the weird noise they make. Falling asleep to mountains and waking up to buildings.



Sunday, Nov. 7--GSA in Denver!
Waking up early and registering with Jenny, Eric, and Dr. H. A very long breakfast and not knowing what to do. My hero the paleosol guy. Amy Ellweiss? Seeing all the Wyoming kids, but where's Emily? Tim getting up and giving me a hug as soon as he saw me. aww...Tim. Turkey stories. The guy who called me a dork for liking paleosols and groundwater. Met the Northern Arizona guy. The
(annoying) Oklahoma lady whose sister is named Maureen, but wanted a nickname, so now she's called Mo. Being bored and thirsty. Dr. H's talk and the crazy overwash bank lady. Free stuff! Doing CAPA. Ready for sleep and another day.


Monday, Nov. 8
Poster presentation. Hanging out with Emily. Met the Nebraska guy. More free stuff! Dr. P1's popular pictureless poster (and his orange and blue striped tie). That guy... whose book I used this summer. I have a baby B.A. Dexter Perkins' prizes. Free dinner. Dr. P2's right. I still have a lot more rocks to get through.



Tuesday, Nov. 9
Sleeping in. Looking for Keiko's poster, losing everyone else, but finding Mark. Movies, media, and geology (or the lack thereof- the kind of stuff we could never get away with at the anch). is this the sexy part?
(an old man said that.  it was pretty awesome) The giant rolling can. Dog, cat, and mice? Food (finally). Weird noises in the hallway. Exploring, stealing, and frolicking. Oliver and Company. Sword fighting. Frisbee throwing. Pen floating. Oh yeah... the Anchor. Chemistry. Tomorrow's our last day? Already?

Wednesday-Thursday, Nov. 10-11
The 4:30 a.m. alarm of doom. Jenny and Eric's poster. Yet more free stuff and people thinking I'm from UofM. Bagels. Taco John's. The guy on the side of the highway, the accident and the search party. Driving... and the semi. among other things. alternating between sleeping and having to pee. coming home glad but sad to be back.
  (On our drive home, I was pretty much forced to drive at 5 am.  While I was driving the headlights kept going out.  The person in front who was supposed to stay awake with me had fallen asleep, and a girl in the back told me to pull over at the next exit.  So I did, in the middle of nowhere, and the prof, who was sleeping in the back, got all mad at me for stopping.  Oh yeah, and I really had to pee but the gas station was closed.  Fun times.)
well, folks, that's it in a nutshell. i'd love to stay and chat but it's already 11 a.m. and i have much to do. and if you've made it this far, you're probably really sick of reading this by now anyway. so goodbye.  

2 comments »

  • Off-Black said:  

    "what a jerk. a really hot jerk, but still a jerk."

    Classic :)

  • Sprite's Keeper said:  

    Doesn't matter how hot he is. Still a jerk. I actually told a guy that once. I believe my exact words were "Do you know how lucky you are that your looks counteract your absolute jerkiness?"
    I love that line.

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