Job clips

So, that internship I posted about probably won't happen, and it's not my fault. The Florida field season starts in late February, and I won't be officially done with school until 8 May. So, I paid $25 for the SCA super-summer-internship database, and applied to 28 internships around the country. I've got three amazing people writing letters for me, and they all want to see me succeed. Cool. But, I want a job in Michigan! Darling Marling isn't graduating until December.

Marci and I were going to perform for this show called the Love Hangover in Ann Arbor, on 15 Feb. But, the show was booked with performers before we got our foot in the door, and I've yet again fallen out of musical grace. The inspiration comes and goes in very long disproportionate wavelengths now, and jamming with people is one of my least favorite things.

Little known fact: I had a hell of a time typing this because my nail clippers are missing and my finger nails are in the way of everything right now. I vaguely remember wanting to hide them from my housemates because they were all under the impression that the little silver necessity that was buried in my toiletries, in my part of the cubbard, were for communal use. So, they are either hidden in my room somewhere, or in someone else's. Who clips their nails outside of the bathroom anyway?

The picture at right -->

Here is where I am applying to work between my undergrad and grad school programs. There is a research internship in entomology available at the Archbold Biological Station. Archbold is an independent, nonprofit research facility, devoted to long-term ecological research and conservation. The actual position I am applying for is with entomologist, Dr. Mark Deyrup. The goal of his research is to document distribution of 70+ species of arthropods restricted to Florida scrub habitat at 20+ preserves of various sizes all along the Lake Wales Ridge. This will help assess the adequacy of Florida's habitat preservation system for protecting specialized invertebrates.

My research on the place has proven that this is one of the best opportunities available to me, and I think I can land the position with two excellent letters of recommendation.

This internship has me really excited. It's career-oriented, far from Michigan and closer to Umbonia crassicornis! Plus, there is a $100/week stipend and a free room in the dorm. Hopefully the excitement to explore the natural (and "real") world will win out over my reluctance to actually grow up and leave my familiar role in EL behind.

paper purgatory

So, it's the first Tuesday after exam week and I still have a paper due this Friday. Recycling information from a previous paper (diff class) was not a good idea, and I was caught for it. Dr. Waddell wears smarty pants and called me out by pure logic alone. 13 sources in 3 days, and well written! So, this time it's going to be 8 sources, 7 days and poorly written.

I'm on page 6 or so, and I only want to make it to 12 by tomorrow.
Wish me luck. I've resorted to the triple layer of ear pluggery.
1. ear plugs
2. kick-ass headphones
3. chill-ass music with a steady/heavy beat and very few words.

Stem Cells

Found this in the forum for a comic I read. Thought it was funny cause I had just written a short literature review, and presented on limb regeneration in salamanders.

Re: "Friends" Discussion

by Cassidi3 on Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:55 am UTC

aleflamedyud wrote:Relationships are like stem cells. You have to direct them towards being what you want, or they become something else entirely.

ROFL!

Last edited by Cassidi3 on Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:56 am UTC, edited 1 time in total.

Remora Sandbar

Yo, I finally made a website to post my music on. I sporadically record something once in a while these days, and it has become more of a ukulele passion for me than anything else. For those interested: http://www.reverbnation.com/remorasandbar

Thanksgiving, security, coat

Thanksgiving was great! Red Wings lost, but the family bonding was awesome. We all worked together to bring down a dead American Elm from the front of grandma's yard and split old wood out back. My little cousins, Sarah and Olivia, are funny. Sarah is in 7th grade now and acts older than I do. But, we relate really well because we both have a rambunctious little sister to put up with! My uncle Ken and I stalked through the woods of Grosse Ile and tracked some deer runs and buck rubs. He's an intimidating guy, and at once a quiet and open-minded genius.

As soon as I got home I was tired, and carrying a food baby. Prime conditions to fall for an email phishing scam. D'oh! I am usually so good at detecting that bullshit! But, I've done all I can, including putting a Fraud Alert on my credit for 90 days, and canceling my bank debit card. Marla, and my friend Mike helped me with calling the right people and overall relaxing.

My housemates, Ryan and Erik J. also got scammed last night at their show when the opening band ran off with all of the door money, and the some of the soundguy's equipment. $30 was supposed to be split five ways! Musicians are so underpaid, and right now they are arguing amongst themselves about their management and direction. Sounds like $6 apiece is going to cause the breakup of the band. Stressful! What will become of The Dastardlies, one amatuer release in, and perhaps hundreds to go!?!?

Anyway, I am home and content, and not ready to start studying for exams and writing final papers. I just got the new dual-pivot caliper brakes for Sara's bike (different, no "h," Sara) and might put those on. Maybe I'll dilly-dally some more and work on that school stuff all day tomorrow. If Marla doesn't have stuff to do maybe I'll call to hang. Cool, passionate, vegan. A New Age Girl.

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Check out this pea coat! It's an authentic Navy pea coat from my grandpa. E.E. Phillips is stamped or painted directly on the lining. This thing puts my other coats to shame. Thick wool, insulated corduroy pockets, huge wind blocking collar. I'ma gonna use that collar to tack and wear through harsh wind on my bike!

season for sufjan

Had a late morning dream that we met at the border. Some town like Sturgis, Howe, Bristol or Kessington. We drank and had food at some townie bar and got a hotel. We stayed together until I woke up to it snowing big fat lazy flakes. It's the time of year for Sufjan Stevens' desolate winterpop music.

To quote The Four Seasons, "Oh what a night." Got split between two groups at wine night, and was convinced to dance at Rick's American Cafe. Biked home and wiped out in a driveway somewhere on Anne St and lost my keys and bike lock amongst the mess of fallen leaves. I'll wait a couple days and see if something turns up, but I've got a recovery plan in the works.

Losing keys is kind of a pain. Like losing a wallet or cell phone. It makes us reach out to people you wouldn't normally speak to, like the mail lady in this case. She got too drunk at a convention and left her wallet!

Other than that, this Indian summer rocks! I haven't played in a pile of leaves in years, and drunkenly careening into a big pile of them was just what I needed, keys aside.

I've been feeling the urge to get in shape. I think it would make me feel better, and be a nice change of pace. If only my LG boss would give me a reserved locker! He said he gives them away on a seniority basis. That bastard hired twice the number of guards he needed and gave me a quarter of the hours I asked for, despite it being my fifth year here. Now he's told me that reserving a locker is based on how many hours you work. That guy is a tart, and he's treating me like Milton, from Office Space. This is my last semester working at the IM pools.

weekend going on halloween week

Hammering on a literature review for my herpetology class under the working title "Limb regeneration in amphibians and the potential for regenerative growth in humans". I have an annotated bibliography due a day later on the quality of natural and artificial wetlands. It's all going well, and this week shouldn't be too busy because I finished my pops lab on Saturday.

Saturday, when we took it to UofM at the Big House 35-21 and swept Northern Michigan at Munn 3-2 and 2-0. Go Spartans!

Oh my god

So nervous. Such a candy shell with nothing inside.

Another Way to Die

Jack White is cool. But, he always looks like a goddamn Sith lord.

Young Frankenstein

Here is one of my favorite songs. I get it stuck in my head at the strangest times. Written and scored by John Morris for Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.

Boomp3.com

Backpack

I was perusing Camelbak backpacks today. I had no idea that most of their target audiences were those who need concealed weapons. They even have a camelbak reservoir hose that attaches to a combat gas mask. Sheesh! I think I am going to try and sell my Osprey Atmos 50 because it's too big for my day-to-day use, and my other packs are too small. I need that baby-bear porage.

Haha, I've been stuck with this Eddie Bauer stuff sack for the last two years and it hurts so bad to wear. I love its subtle design though, with pockets inside pockets inside pouches. It's a mysterious rabbit-hole of a bag. But, since I've used the large Atmos 65 for traveling for about 3 years now I would love to stay with Osprey. Their packs are wonderfully comfortable and practical. Camelbak freaks me out now.

Student work!

Why does everyone fall for them at some point? Those pyramid scams that put YOU in the driver's seat of your life by selling Educational Suites (not quite encyclopedias, not quite textbooks; in other words wastes of paper) and really sharp knives (will cut your shoe or face in half!). I'm sitting here in the library listening to this "Regional Sales Rep" who traveled to Budapest and "graduated from MSU" interviewing this poor girl. She's way too eager, and falling right into this "resume builder," with the potential for "moving up." They suckered me in sometime in 9th or 10th grade.

You know what, nameless girl, you should do it. Go all the way. You say you're a Supply Chain Management major? Perfect! You could be the top seller in your region. Sell books aaalllll summer in a college town, or win a trip on our exchange program and do it in some retirement community. Work your own hours, no less. Get people to stay fresh and mentally nimble in the off season. I mean, it has to be more fun than a video game, right? Or more useful than wikipedia?

FUCK YES! SIGN ME UP. I think the "bulk of my resume" should be etched from the patented contoured design of Cutco knives, or slathered in a slowly simmered red sauce from Southwestern Co. cookbooks. Don't forget about the long list of a thousand equally colorless references like door slams, "sorries," and "leave me alones!"

Don't ever find yourself in an interview where the ratio of boss-to-candidate dialog is 98:2, or they guide you by the hand through all of your bad answers like a special-ed teacher (and still want your schedule for another meeting tomorrow). Excuse yourself to the bathroom and never come back.

listening vs remembering

I fed a stink bug to a sweet orb-weaver spider today. In other news, my 12 credits of classes really rock. I have no excuse to lower or maintain my 3.1 GPA this semester. It's all up, or bust. My classes are fun, challenging and practical. If I can't keep somewhat of a 3.0 or its close kin, I have no reason to apply for grad school. But, as I've been informed by some people, it's not about what you score, it's about who you know. My greatest skill is meeting new people and, at least, superficially taking an interest in their life and work.

There's merit in any research, as long as the researcher is taking the trouble to outreach and talk to people about it. I love listening. But, whether I can remember the particulars or not is a different story...

Catch-22

Man, this blog needs a new look. Also, researching my future is really hard. My brain doesn't let me think about it for long before it curls up like a dog's tail between its legs. I think my brain is protecting my balls from being kicked on the path to one of the many possible futures available to me.

The grad students I have talked to and worked with all seem to be living a very complex lifestyle. They don't really apply for a traditional job, interview, train, work 40 hours 5 days a week and get paid hourly. Instead, they apply multiples times to numerous funding agencies with a proposal to research their ideas. If they are starting from scratch on a project they need to have an entire experimental design, time line, budget, a short literature review supporting the need for funding of the proposed idea, and a personal statement.

Sometimes a grad student can get that money and they work something like 60 hours 7 days a week. As the project nears an end, you better have something worth publishing and presenting at a conference or two. And, you better have more ideas for more research projects so you can start the whole process over again in a couple of years. You've got to keep the money rolling in way in advance. It would seem that it's best to start general.

Oh, and you also have the burden of graduate level classes, with all of their accouterments.

The only jobs that I sense a future in are in teaching, government land management, or private environmental consulting. But, the prerequisite to get any reasonable position for any of the three is to complete graduate school...Catch-22.

VP for Obama

I don't care how much I have had to drink (a lot...). Getting a text message from the Obama campaign means a lot to me. Barack has chosen Joe Biden, senator of Delaware, as a running mate. He is not my first choice, but JB has a certain international candor that most naysayers tout against my main man Barack.

"The United States Secret Service has dispatched a protective detail to assume the immediate protection of Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., a source tells ABC News, indicating in all likelihood that Biden has been officially notified that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has selected him to be his running mate."

Biden has family in Iraq, but he maintains a conscience. To address every side of this issue right now would be misleading, but I will try and maintain a score of different views on the whole thing.

My Future: EarthCorps?

It's strange to know that sustainable development, natural resource management, ecology, environmental remediation and conservation biology are all listed separately as fields of study and professional careers. And, it's strange to know most of the reasons why, too. These topics (and more) were always nebulously related to each other during my 4 years in school, alongside my venturing interests.

Now, it's time to narrow. For the next three weeks until school starts I will be exploring a range of research/grad school topics. I hope to include schools, programs and people in each topic area as potential options for my future. I am not truly feeling the pressure yet, so this is probably going to be splotchy. At the very least I can refer to this very blog as a decent compilation of easily attained (copied & pasted) facts and figures. Anyway, here goes.

This is all meant to establish a reference point against which I wish to compare my other option: full-time work. Since I already have one job option pretty well-researched, I will start there. The agency is EarthCorps, based in Seattle, WA. I came across it on accident while researching sources for my Uplands Ecosystem Management class last spring. It fit perfectly with what I was learning about in Uplands. Nearly every concept and technique discussed with Dr. Campa is being used for real in EarthCorps.
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Since 1993, EarthCorps has been building global community through local environmental service. They actually employ about 80 young people (ages 18-25) from across the US and around the world to restore habitats and lead environmental service volunteers. EarthCorps staffers manage 10,000 volunteers (ages 8-80) per year in diverse projects ranging from maintaining trails to restoring complex stream and shoreline eco-systems around the Cascade Mountains and the Puget Sound.

Through classes, workshops and field training the international group of staffers also lead community and corporate volunteer expeditions. Through this cooperation, EarthCrops creates a sense of community ownership and responsibility for our natural resources, fosters cross-cultural and intergenerational understanding, and promotes civic engagement.

They consistently work with about 100 other partner organizations on projects of many sizes. One of EarthCorps' larger projects is the revitalization of 3,700 acres of dying forests in the city's parks in cooperation with the City of Seattle and Cascade Land Conservancy.

The Corps values sustainability, diversity, integrity and service. These values are cleverly presented anthropocentrically on the website. I read the first three with their ecological definitions in mind, only to see them as the undertones for a more business/community-oriented goal. Even there, an ecological double-entendre exists with the word "community." Regardless, they are good values on both sides of the coin.

Starting as an all-volunteer urban park restoration organization in the 1990s, EarthCorps quickly gained popularity and notoriety through close networking with local and national environmental groups. Now, it pays to join the corps.

EarthCorps runs two program sessions per year:
February through November (calendar year - 10.5 months)
October through August (school year - 10.5 months)

Terms of service:

• $925/mo. stipend
• $4,725 AmeriCorps educational award at end of program for qualifying participants
• Paid vacation and accrued sick leave
• Health insurance coverage for participants
• No housing provided for U.S. participants
• 7:30AM-5:00PM workdays in crews of 5-6 people
  
• Weekend volunteer events
• Basic classes every other week covering ecology and botany of the Pacific NW, ecology and restoration theories and practices, leadership skills, inter-personal and cross-cultural communication
• 3-4 off-site multi-day retreats

Applications and reference forms are accepted:
May 1 - June 15 for crews starting in October
October 1 - November 17 for crews starting in February
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If I decide to hit some kind of grad school program first I will surpass the maximum age allowed in the EarthCorps staff program and I will not be able to take this opportunity to travel, interact and learn in such an intense hands on manner while getting paid, albeit minimally. I took a look at the app, and it's very different from what I expected. Could take some serious thought. But, that's what I'm here to do.

Next, I think I'll try and find land grant schools with entomology programs regarding invasive agricultural species.

Later,best,
Ben

According to Wikipedia

I keep coming to this thing with something inspiring or thought-provoking up until the moment I get here. I feel estranged by my own mind! How about this...a game on wikipedia. It's the best procrastination tool, but why not add some goals?

1. Come up with a random person, place or thing - OR - click "random article". For example, the Television.
2. Now, click on "random article"
3. Find your way to the self-chosen person place, or thing (or back to the first random article) from step 1 by using only the in-text links and informational side bars from the random page.

You can't click "back" and you can't use the search function (ctrl+f)

Here is a quick run through, with a list of my travels. My end-goal is Christmas. My random start article is Flicker, which is apparently a name given to many things. The following is my clicked route to Christmas...

• Flicker, the novel by Theodore Roszak
• From the plot summary I find the hot-linked word "Catholic"
• In the "see also" category I catch a reference to Christianity
• Off to the right I discover a nifty summary of the Christian faith, including a Calendar of its significant celebrated moments
• Boom! The Westerners' section declares Christmas as a season in the liturgical calendar...

So, get at it. Watch out for math links. Once you get into math theories it's nearly impossible to link out. And don't even try to find this one...

Grapes of Wrath, Illinois

Grapes of Wrath is mostly about dust. Dust comes in many forms. Dust in your home is predominately made up of you, the dead you, the shed you. Grapes of Wrath is about dead people. Dead in the water, without water, yearning water. All stuck in a doldrums. Grapes of Wrath is also about the Bank. The liquidation Bank. And the dust soaks it right up and passes it through without a thought, like a gold-panners sieve. It leaves the characters and their kin in migrating death throws like ship sturgeon in the Aral Sea.

Oh, apparently the word "hubbub" is not commonly used in Illinois. And, in the hand state I have never heard anyone describe a half-gallon jug of liquor as a "handle". But, those Illini do. Weirdos. Their campus is bisected by the city limit of Urbana, IL on the east and Champaign, IL on the west. It is like Cold War Germany, or a ying-yang, but more amicable.

The most entertaining thing to hear is a person being described as a resident of either town. "You know Chet, right? Buzzed brown hair, glasses, from Urbana." And from that brief description another student of UofI could make an accurate assumption of their general behaviors, financial situation, social network, at least one movie from their top five all time favorites, and major of study as if they had already facebook stalked them. I have not noticed this as strongly on any other campus. Silly bunts, with their underground libraries, and the nation's oldest agricultural experimental farm plot.