And... we're back!

I have been terribly negligent with my blogging. It isn't that I haven't been adventuring. But most of it has been close to home (or my new home, Los Angeles) and has been interspersed with crazy amounts of classwork and fellowship applications and field work and other general craziness. There is lots to catch up on, some of which will inevitably be missed, but going forward I plan to be back here more regularly once again.

What has been occupying my time most recently? Taking pictures of my new toy, finger puppet Narwhal, with various interesting objects and events. As a quick re-introduction, this is (more or less) what I've been up to...

Narwhal goes to the library

Narwhal listens to a talk by Richard Dawkins at UCLA

Narwhal visits the Camera Obscura in Santa Monica

Narwhal swims in the Venice (CA) canals

Narwhal finds his favorite type of tree- bonsai pomegranate! - in the Huntington Gardens

Narwhal eats ice cream by the Russian River

The origin of Narwhal, from the box of many finger narwhals! Guerneville, CA

The Getty

Welcome, twenty-twelve! It is a new year, a fresh start, and even though it doesn't feel like winter in Los Angeles I made the most of my last few days of Winter Break before diving head first into an intense quarter of classes and research.  My lovely sister made the drive from the Bay back down to LA with me, which was the perfect excuse to do some exploring in this city I am beginning to call home. Give me another 5 years and I should be all settled in ;) We started with a landmark not far from my apartment, but it may as well have been a world away.

The Getty Center houses the art collection of oil mogul J. Paul Getty.  More than just a museum, it is a 110 acre museum/research center/garden complex on top of a hill overlooking Los Angeles, from the skyscrapers to the mountains to the ocean.  Even with smog in the air, the views were spectacular.

The feeling of the whole place may have been more impressive than the art collection.  The buildings and grounds were peaceful and sparkling, white marble and fountains everywhere and tables and chairs nestled into shady corners.  It certainly didn't hurt that it was a perfect 70 degrees and sunny outside, too!  I'm sure it wasn't the busiest day of the year, but there seemed to be plenty of visitors and it didn't feel crowded or hectic.  People were playing (or napping) on the lawns in the beautiful gardens, and seemed to be dispersed throughout the different museum buildings without the claustrophobia inducing crowds that are common at many attractions.

It is no accident this place is so awe inspiring.  It took 13 years to build, and cost about $1.3 billion (only about $1 billion over the original estimated budget!). Most of the buildings are made out of Travertine stone, imported from a quarry near Rome.  This is the same quarry that provided stone for the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and Saint Peter's Basilica!  Somewhere between 8,000 and 80,000 years old, there are many fossils visible in the rough faces of the stones that cover the Getty.

All of this is pretty cool, but what's the best thing about this oasis on a hill?  Admission is free.  Thank you, multi-billion dollar Getty Trust.  I'm looking forward to my next visit.

Pocket Mice!

Contrary to popular belief, life as a graduate student can actually get quite hectic.  While many popular coping mechanisms involve watching hours of YouTube, searching funny animal photos, and of course, Facebook, I have actually done something both fun AND productive!  I've started blogging on the San Diego Zoo website (check out my first post here!) about my research with the Pacific pocket mice.  My co-advisor is a researcher at the Institute for Conservation Research at the SD Zoo, and I am working on a conservation project they are getting started up over there.  I'll be contributing regularly with updates on my PPM work and what it is like to be a graduate student and working towards a career in conservation research!

Eel Attack!

Being a graduate student is (surprise!) a lot like being a student again. I'm taking a few classes my first quarter here and am actually enjoying them.  But then again, I was always the kid who liked school (much to the astonishment of many of my classmates, I'm sure).  I'm having fun mentally challenging myself, and there are so many mini discoveries every day that I'm constantly on my toes and excited about something.  Granted, when I am talking about animals and conservation and biology, it doesn't take much to make me happy.  Today, for example, I was reading an article for class about evolved morphological traits in the parrotfish, one of them being a pharyngeal jaw. I couldn't quite picture what that meant so I Googled it (also- thank goodness for the internets! I can't imagine being a grad student without it!!).  I found a picture of how they work in Moray eels, another awesome creature.  Basically, it is a second jaw that comes forward and helps drag food down your throat if you are an eel and can't swallow.  It seems like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.  Nature is the coolest!

Sueños de Chile

It's been almost a year since I finished up my degu work in Chile, and I was feeling nostalgic the other day.  Luckily, I was able to catch up with both Tina and Morgan and reminisce about our giant bag of mustard, silly names for all the street dogs, coffee and ice cream obsessions, and general sense of wonder that pervaded those 5 months.  I found the blogs written by the current students in Chile who are on the same grant that we got to participate in last year.  Most of their posts are actually about their projects and scientific theory and all that "appropriate" stuff.  While Tina and I do (honestly) plan on finishing up and publishing our projects, it was the Chilean experiences- with some amazing kindred spirits- that will always give me a warm fuzzy feeling... and a simultaneous twinge in my heart.

Little daily reminders in my room: the Chilean flag from a fonda, mug from Pablo Neruda's house, and of course, Slothsicle; Valparaíso degu. 

*** Oh dear. I never actually finished writing about my trip to Southern Chile after finishing degu work.  It took me all the way down to Patagonia (the region, not the store) and in the town of Puerto Natales there is a cave where they found fossils of a giant ground sloth (milodon) and have a fantastic statue I wanted to pose with.  On the last day I was doing some souvenir shopping and found a woman who made little clay figures on top of pencils.  The best was obviously the milodon, but she had just finished painting them and couldn't put it in a bag.  Instead she wrapped a paper bag around the pencil part (for what reason was lost in translation) and promised it would dry shortly if I let it air.  So we walked around for the rest of the day holding a sloth pencil like a popsicle- which, incidentally, is what my hand felt like since it was freezing outside and I couldn't keep it in my pocket.  That's a lot of background, but I can't remember laughing so much that my eyelashes froze since :)

Stumbling into Coincidences

I recently stumbled upon www.stumbleupon.com. I don't know exactly what it is - just that it is like a guided tour of interesting pages on the internet based on a couple of questions and an uncanny insight into your head.  You sign up, select a couple categories of interest, and start clicking the "stumble" button.  It brings up a page - a blog, a photo, a video, anything - and you can like it or dislike it, see what other people have thought of it, and then move on after as little or as much time as you please.  It shows you things based on what people with similar interests have liked, and I have to say. I was Impressed.

Tonight, after clicking through half a dozen or so somewhat interesting pages (for some reason it really wants me to like the Maldives), I stumbled upon a TED talk on crows.  First of all, I love TED talks.  Short talks by insanely intelligent people on interesting and thought-provoking topics.  Score.  But CROWS? I have had a number of conversations lately on the merits (or lack thereof) of crows, and someone mentioned teaching crows to pick up coins from the street which I thought was a bit clever.  Turns out it is MUCH cooler and crazier than that, and this talk was by the guy who designed that study.  I have a new respect for crows and all, but the real point is - it is kind of creepy stumble sent me that video, on that topic, a couple of days after I had that seemingly totally random conversation.  I am sufficiently impressed (and a little creeped out).

This is the link to the talk.  It really is fascinating, and will definitely give you something to think about the next time you see a crow!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2zBIz8

P.s.  I just remembered another crazy coincidence this weekend.  We were being chided by our professor last week as none of us could come up with the name of the man given credit for starting the Green Revolution and thus saving over a billion people from starvation in the 1970's.  On Sunday, while waiting for the bus, I randomly selected a podcast to listen to and it happened to be about food science.  And of course they spent a few minutes talking about the Father of the Green Revolution.  So now, next time that question comes up on Jeopardy, let's all be sure we can answer correctly "Who is Norman Borlaug?"

Riding the Big Blue Bus

I feel like a true urbanite using public transportation every day.  Los Angeles is the city of the car, but the roads (rather the highways) scare me and the little CRV, so I stick to the bus as often as possible.  Plus, parking on campus costs something like $20 a day and that is waaayyy beyond the grad school budget.

I am starting to get a handle on the bus routes through the process of trial and error (example: even if the route looks close enough, where the bus will actually stop may be much further away than desired.  Duly noted).  Going to school I pretty much have to chose a line and commit, as there are 2 close by but in opposite directions.  At first I was closely following the printed timetables (ok the Google Map timetables) but somehow I was waiting 15-20 minutes for the bus EVERY TIME.  So I have started just leaving when I am ready and hoping it works out for the best.  (Where's your equivalent of nextmuni.com, Los Angles? Get on top of it!).

Given the erratic nature of the bus schedule I typically leave my house fairly calmly, then begin to get nervous I'm going to miss the bus and power walk the alley to the main street.  I have found that the alley is my best option because it provides 2 options - if I don't see the bus I can walk half a block against traffic and wait at the closest stop.  More often than not, however, I seem to time it and see the bus passing me just when I am nearing the end of the alley.  Luckily (in these situations, anyway) there is usually enough traffic in the morning to hold the bus up at the next stop light and I'm able to make a run for it through the 7-11 parking lot and make it on.  Nothing like a little heart pumping action first thing in the morning.  It is incredibly frustrating when I see the bus whiz by on a quiet morning and have no chance of catching up with it and am stuck waiting a full 20 minutes for the next one to come along.  Some day I will get brave enough to ride my bike...

On a side note, the walk down the alley gives me a chance to observe one of the other urbanite experiences, that of the bottle (or just trash) collectors.  There are dozens of people that methodically go through every recycle bin in the alley looking for cash-redemption bottles and cans.  The 7-11 may draw them in, but there are clearly enough gems to keep them coming back.  The major downside to this is that there is a dumpster grouping just outside of my window and there aren't conventional business hours for this system.  The other morning I was startled awake around 4am by a bang- the dumpster lid being thrown open and hitting the side of my building (aka the wall 3 ft from my head).  Good morning to you, too, Los Angeles.