I need to go to the dentist I have decided to not just get my teeth cleaned (it's been 1.5 years since my last cleaning and exam), but mostly because I think I have TMJ.
I've been told I grind my teeth ridiculously loud so that's a bad sign for my teeth and my jaw, but I've been researching TMJ this week and realized the sharp ear pain I get every once in a while (lasts for like 30 minutes and goes away) could be from TMJ! Since the joint is right in front of the ear, swelling of the tissue and everything around it can cause you to have an earache. Apparently it's a common mistake. People think they have something wrong with their ear and it's really because they're experiencing TMJ. Recently, I'm thinking stress from finals, my jaw has been throbbing pretty strongly and if it lasts for about 5 minutes, I get a ridiculous headache on the same side where my jaw hurts. It's bad enough that I have to take something for it (for those who know me and my stubborn reluctance to take medicine...that says something about the pain level). So...Right side gets ear aches, left side gets headaches and the jaw popping. Joy! I'm hoping a mouth guard will help it and that'll be the end of it. I've been trying to consciously realize when the pain is starting in and trying to relax my jaw. It seems to help. If I start to feel too much pain, I tend to unconsciously pop my jaw, which makes it worse in the long run (even if it helps in the short run). Weirdly, I don't think chewing gum really makes a big difference for me. My jaw never hurts during or after chewing gum. It seems to be after I wake up (grinding teeth) and when I'm just sitting around (jaw clenching). I just now need to remember to make the appointment...I tend to remember during class or after the clinic is closed. Go figure.
Anyway, with that long winded description of my jaw pains, I'm starting my internship hunt again. I still haven't heard from COMPASS. I tried e-mailing earlier this week, but I'll try again on Monday. I e-mailed the Bren graduate at the aquarium (figured I might as well), someone who did a fellowship with the Sanctuary (looking for contacts), and e-mailed Oceana again. The person I contacted before seems to not be with Oceana anyway (I get a "no one at that e-mail address" error when I try it). Unfortunately, I had to use their general North Pacific e-mail address. Hopefully my e-mail doesn't get lost underneath everything else. Oh internship hunting...how annoying can you be?
With that...I should go to bed. I didn't have class yesterday afternoon or this morning so my sleep schedule is pretty messed up now. LoL
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
First week of 3rd quarter
Man...2.5 weeks-ish of sitting around a lot makes you sore when you suddenly walk 4 miles in one day! Because I have a break in between all my classes...I will be walking to and from classes almost every time (unless there's a lunch thingy on Tues/Thurs). That's a lot of walking since it's about a mile one way (approx 16 miles/week)! Today I walked probably more than that because I had to detour to the UCen and then to the Registrar's Office and then headed back home. Should be some nice exercise, though. It is getting hot here, though. It was in the low 70's today, but no wind and just full on bright sun. The funny thing about the weather today is the fact it's supposed to rain/drizzle all week. I think Santa Barbara is just mean like that. On the other hand, it'll be nice not to fry while walking to class. Plus, I need to start wearing a hat or something. My face is getting way too much sun. Since it's nice out again, I'm going to try biking on the weekends again. My lovely 6-8 mile ride. It'll be a nice thing to do to get me out of the apartment!
Anyway, I had 2 classes today and the funny thing is that 2 classes are cancelled this week. I don't have my afternoon class on Tues and no morning class on Wed. An already light week (no hw, sort of, yet!) is even lighter!
Natural Resource Economics (ESM 242 - Mon/Wed 9:30-10:45am) should be interesting. It sounds interesting, but I'm a little worried about the extensive Solver usage. I haven't used Solver since the workshop at the beginning of 2nd quarter. So...that should be a nice trial-and-error for the first homework! There is a term paper/presentation in this class, a midterm, and homework. So that's not too bad. Term paper kind of reminds me of my capstone paper, though. So...bad memories are resurfacing, but it should be good -- once a question is picked and the data obtained.
Stats Part B (ESM 206B - Mon/Wed 2-3:15pm) is pretty much the same as last quarter, but the continuation of the class. Three homework assignments and that's it! The homework assignments are pretty labor intensive, but it should be okay.
Tomorrow morning/afternoon (Tues/Thurs 11-12:15) is my Coastal Marine Processes (ESM 254) class. The textbooks remind me very much of oceanography so if it's just that...it shouldn't be too bad of a class. It's supposedly a pretty easy class (so the professor said last quarter, but we'll see once I read this quarter's syllabus). I did look at the syllabus from last year and it's just short writing assignments with a slightly longer paper/presentation, but that's it. Not bad!
Tomorrow afternoon (Tues/Thurs 2-3:15pm) is my 401A class (Group Project A), but it's been cancelled. It's in the afternoon and it's basically to talk about the group project and the proposal we have to write. 401 comes in 3 parts: A, B, and C. This quarter for A I think we're just writing a proposal for our project (not sure) and collecting data and all that stuff. Not sure what classes will be like. We don't have class all the time (they took out some classes based on reviews from past years) so that should be nice.
ESM 207 (Environmental Law and Policy) won't start till May. It's 9 days (including weekends) and at least 3 hours a day. So...that should be interesting. A professor from Duke comes out and teaches it. That class at least has a final and maybe some short assignments (based on previous year syllabus), but we'll see. Intensive courses are nice and horrible at the same time. Nice because you only have the class for a short amount of time, but horrible because you live and breath it along with your other classes too. You're just glad it's finished when it's finished.
Anyway, with that. Time to shower and try and relax early. :)
Oh, one thing. The male shrimp is still in the tank...I decided not to bother returning him as long as I don't see anymore than 3 shrimp in my tank! So...23 birthings/year, here I come! Yes, my 2nd female has a new set of eggs too. The joys of owning a fish tank...
Anyway, I had 2 classes today and the funny thing is that 2 classes are cancelled this week. I don't have my afternoon class on Tues and no morning class on Wed. An already light week (no hw, sort of, yet!) is even lighter!
Natural Resource Economics (ESM 242 - Mon/Wed 9:30-10:45am) should be interesting. It sounds interesting, but I'm a little worried about the extensive Solver usage. I haven't used Solver since the workshop at the beginning of 2nd quarter. So...that should be a nice trial-and-error for the first homework! There is a term paper/presentation in this class, a midterm, and homework. So that's not too bad. Term paper kind of reminds me of my capstone paper, though. So...bad memories are resurfacing, but it should be good -- once a question is picked and the data obtained.
Stats Part B (ESM 206B - Mon/Wed 2-3:15pm) is pretty much the same as last quarter, but the continuation of the class. Three homework assignments and that's it! The homework assignments are pretty labor intensive, but it should be okay.
Tomorrow morning/afternoon (Tues/Thurs 11-12:15) is my Coastal Marine Processes (ESM 254) class. The textbooks remind me very much of oceanography so if it's just that...it shouldn't be too bad of a class. It's supposedly a pretty easy class (so the professor said last quarter, but we'll see once I read this quarter's syllabus). I did look at the syllabus from last year and it's just short writing assignments with a slightly longer paper/presentation, but that's it. Not bad!
Tomorrow afternoon (Tues/Thurs 2-3:15pm) is my 401A class (Group Project A), but it's been cancelled. It's in the afternoon and it's basically to talk about the group project and the proposal we have to write. 401 comes in 3 parts: A, B, and C. This quarter for A I think we're just writing a proposal for our project (not sure) and collecting data and all that stuff. Not sure what classes will be like. We don't have class all the time (they took out some classes based on reviews from past years) so that should be nice.
ESM 207 (Environmental Law and Policy) won't start till May. It's 9 days (including weekends) and at least 3 hours a day. So...that should be interesting. A professor from Duke comes out and teaches it. That class at least has a final and maybe some short assignments (based on previous year syllabus), but we'll see. Intensive courses are nice and horrible at the same time. Nice because you only have the class for a short amount of time, but horrible because you live and breath it along with your other classes too. You're just glad it's finished when it's finished.
Anyway, with that. Time to shower and try and relax early. :)
Oh, one thing. The male shrimp is still in the tank...I decided not to bother returning him as long as I don't see anymore than 3 shrimp in my tank! So...23 birthings/year, here I come! Yes, my 2nd female has a new set of eggs too. The joys of owning a fish tank...
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Movies, who wants to watch a movie?
Did You Hear About the Morgans? - Rom-Com film and predictable. It wasn't totally bad and it was enjoyable for a rom-com, but it's nothing to write home about. It also wasn't that great of a rom-com. B-
Where the Wild Things Are - It's no wonder this film didn't do as well as it did. I think it kept parts of the book well and some parts fit well with the feeling from the book, but I think Carol got a little scary at times (for kids, I'd think) and it was just an overall slow paced film. It was very...lazy...in a way. There were some parts that picked up, but it overall just meandered through the storyline. It was too slow for an adult and too scary at some parts for a child. It just didn't really fit anywhere. There weren't really any funny parts either. It also sometimes felt like an Indy film to me...those types of films that are not the normal Hollywood film, but have a certain charm to them. Unfortunately for this film, it just felt short of the point to make it charming/whimsical for an adult or childlike enough for a child. B-
Up in the Air - I actually liked this film. I wish the end was way better because it was like you went through this whole film and nothing really changed. So it was kind of depressing in that way, but I overall liked it. I think everyone in the film did a really good job and it had an interesting point about the value of interacting with people face-to-face and being close to someone. I just wish, like I said, that it ended differently. I felt like you learned this lesson and it never was resolved for Clooney. A-/B+
Ponyo - Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animators and I've enjoyed every film he's created. They're very whimsical, imaginative, magical, childlike, and adventurous. They appeal to children and adults. I think they all involve magic of some sort and his more recent ones have dealt more with environmental themes, but they're fun. I didn't get to see this one all the way through because the stupid disc was dirty and I just didn't bother to clean it and rewatch it after I figured this out, but what I saw I liked. Very similar elements to his other movies, except it deals with the ocean. It was kind of combination of Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo. Only Ponyo is neither a fish nor a Mermaid. Ponyo is a pure magical creature that semi-resembles a fish (there is no tail fin), but eventually transforms herself into a girl (she's very powerful) to live on land and all that jazz. It was cute. A-
Princess and the Frog - I can see why this got the good reviews it got when it came out. It was a throwback to the old Disney Animation films where the characters sing and there's a cute storyline. This one was fun because it took place in New Orleans so it was a real place. Some of the songs bugged me just a little because they were close to the makings of memorable Disney songs, but they never quite got there. There were parts of them that were catchy, but other parts that just didn't jive with me. I liked the storyline with the slight twist on the Princess and the Frog story and it had the theme that love is what you need in your life more than goals/etc. I enjoyed the overall story more than I thought I would. A-/B+
Where the Wild Things Are - It's no wonder this film didn't do as well as it did. I think it kept parts of the book well and some parts fit well with the feeling from the book, but I think Carol got a little scary at times (for kids, I'd think) and it was just an overall slow paced film. It was very...lazy...in a way. There were some parts that picked up, but it overall just meandered through the storyline. It was too slow for an adult and too scary at some parts for a child. It just didn't really fit anywhere. There weren't really any funny parts either. It also sometimes felt like an Indy film to me...those types of films that are not the normal Hollywood film, but have a certain charm to them. Unfortunately for this film, it just felt short of the point to make it charming/whimsical for an adult or childlike enough for a child. B-
Up in the Air - I actually liked this film. I wish the end was way better because it was like you went through this whole film and nothing really changed. So it was kind of depressing in that way, but I overall liked it. I think everyone in the film did a really good job and it had an interesting point about the value of interacting with people face-to-face and being close to someone. I just wish, like I said, that it ended differently. I felt like you learned this lesson and it never was resolved for Clooney. A-/B+
Ponyo - Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animators and I've enjoyed every film he's created. They're very whimsical, imaginative, magical, childlike, and adventurous. They appeal to children and adults. I think they all involve magic of some sort and his more recent ones have dealt more with environmental themes, but they're fun. I didn't get to see this one all the way through because the stupid disc was dirty and I just didn't bother to clean it and rewatch it after I figured this out, but what I saw I liked. Very similar elements to his other movies, except it deals with the ocean. It was kind of combination of Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo. Only Ponyo is neither a fish nor a Mermaid. Ponyo is a pure magical creature that semi-resembles a fish (there is no tail fin), but eventually transforms herself into a girl (she's very powerful) to live on land and all that jazz. It was cute. A-
Princess and the Frog - I can see why this got the good reviews it got when it came out. It was a throwback to the old Disney Animation films where the characters sing and there's a cute storyline. This one was fun because it took place in New Orleans so it was a real place. Some of the songs bugged me just a little because they were close to the makings of memorable Disney songs, but they never quite got there. There were parts of them that were catchy, but other parts that just didn't jive with me. I liked the storyline with the slight twist on the Princess and the Frog story and it had the theme that love is what you need in your life more than goals/etc. I enjoyed the overall story more than I thought I would. A-/B+
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Shrimp, Oh Shrimp...
Continuing the ever growing drama that is my fish tank...
So I wrote a week or so ago that my female shrimp had her eggs hatch. What I didn't get to mention last week (thanks finals...) was the fact she has another clutch of eggs!
Her eggs hatched, the next day I noticed the entire egg area was cleaned out of unhatched eggs and the egg shells (or whatever the eggs are made out of). Then I noticed the female was picking on the male. The next day I see that the male is chasing my female around and freaking her out. I know she had another set of eggs ready (you can see them developing), but I was hoping she'd wait. Well...later that day I went to check on her because I was worried the male was harassing her. I see her swim away from the male and she has a whole new set of eggs... :
Apparently I am now into the shrimp breeding business! I may have to give my male shrimp back to the pet store. I am just not set up to be a shrimp breeder. You'd think these shrimp would understand that too. It's only a 6gal tank for goodness sakes! I'm just lucky, so far, that no babies have shown up. If they start showing up, I am in some serious trouble...
So let's do some math. It took her about 4.5 weeks to have her eggs. My other female shrimp is about a week behind her. That means my 2nd female will be having her eggs sometime this week that I'm gone and I also know she has developing eggs. Therefore, by the time I return to Santa Barbara, I should have two roughly-recently pregnant shrimp. If there are 52 weeks in a year and it takes them about 4.5 weeks to hatch a set of eggs and I have 2 females...That's about 23 hatchings a year! Too much...Too much!
With that said...time to go. Next posting will be a movie update: Up in the Air, Where the Wild Things Are, Did You Hear About the Morgans, and Ponyo (as soon as I watch it...it's in my room on DVD).
Oh...last thing...A- in coastal marine law and policy and B+ in environmental biogeochemistry. Kind of proud of that B+ considering I failed the midterm. LoL I have learned I will never be a biogeochemist in any form or way because those chemical transformations kill me...
So I wrote a week or so ago that my female shrimp had her eggs hatch. What I didn't get to mention last week (thanks finals...) was the fact she has another clutch of eggs!
Her eggs hatched, the next day I noticed the entire egg area was cleaned out of unhatched eggs and the egg shells (or whatever the eggs are made out of). Then I noticed the female was picking on the male. The next day I see that the male is chasing my female around and freaking her out. I know she had another set of eggs ready (you can see them developing), but I was hoping she'd wait. Well...later that day I went to check on her because I was worried the male was harassing her. I see her swim away from the male and she has a whole new set of eggs... :
Apparently I am now into the shrimp breeding business! I may have to give my male shrimp back to the pet store. I am just not set up to be a shrimp breeder. You'd think these shrimp would understand that too. It's only a 6gal tank for goodness sakes! I'm just lucky, so far, that no babies have shown up. If they start showing up, I am in some serious trouble...
So let's do some math. It took her about 4.5 weeks to have her eggs. My other female shrimp is about a week behind her. That means my 2nd female will be having her eggs sometime this week that I'm gone and I also know she has developing eggs. Therefore, by the time I return to Santa Barbara, I should have two roughly-recently pregnant shrimp. If there are 52 weeks in a year and it takes them about 4.5 weeks to hatch a set of eggs and I have 2 females...That's about 23 hatchings a year! Too much...Too much!
With that said...time to go. Next posting will be a movie update: Up in the Air, Where the Wild Things Are, Did You Hear About the Morgans, and Ponyo (as soon as I watch it...it's in my room on DVD).
Oh...last thing...A- in coastal marine law and policy and B+ in environmental biogeochemistry. Kind of proud of that B+ considering I failed the midterm. LoL I have learned I will never be a biogeochemist in any form or way because those chemical transformations kill me...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Finals, shrimp, and tweaked back
Finals...Turned my econ final in yesterday. It was a take home due tomorrow at 4pm, but I slept bad two nights in a row over it and decided I was not going to get any closer to solving the issues I had with it so I decided to cut my losses and turn it in. I feel confident for 60/100 points or 5/7 problems. Those first two stupid problems that are each worth 20 pts is what killed me. The test was too mathematical than it was theory based like our class. It was frustrating because I knew what we were supposed to do for the math problems, but I couldn't figure out how to do the math to get to where I needed to be! : I must have spent like 12 hours trying to solve them...Fairly sure I got the first two problems wrong, but I'm hoping for partial credit on the 2nd one since I knew how to do the rest of the parts in the problem, I just couldn't figure out how to create the aggregate supply curve from the information that was given. So frustrating...
I'm now studying for my 202 final that's later this week. That test is in-class, but open books, notes, and powerpoints. Not sure if that's really a boon because it makes it hard to study...
One of my shrimps (the first one) had her eggs hatch. I haven't seen any evidence of the babies at all so they either got eaten by my fish, got sucked into the filter, and/or are hiding really well. I figure if I end up with 4+ shrimps, I'll know where the extra one(s) came from! I expect my other female will have hers hatch in a week. I can't tell if I'm bummed I haven't seen the babies or relieved I may not have more shrimp...
Between all the writing I did last week for my 3 papers and working on the take home final, my back is SO tweaked from sitting and bending over to look at my desk. The wireless keyboard has certainly helped this quarter, though. I can't imagine doing all that typing at the height I was doing it. Now to figure out a way so I'm not bent over my desk reading, writing, and checking information while I type...Every few hours I have to lay down to realign my back and it's important to remember to stand up every once in a while. Quarter is almost over, though! Yay!!
The weather here has been extremely nice. Today's high was about 80 degrees so it definitely feels like Spring has arrived. It's been a nice change from the cold weather we had 1-2 weeks ago. It just won't be fun to walk in to class. LoL Oh well.
Well...with that...I should study for 202 again.
I'm now studying for my 202 final that's later this week. That test is in-class, but open books, notes, and powerpoints. Not sure if that's really a boon because it makes it hard to study...
One of my shrimps (the first one) had her eggs hatch. I haven't seen any evidence of the babies at all so they either got eaten by my fish, got sucked into the filter, and/or are hiding really well. I figure if I end up with 4+ shrimps, I'll know where the extra one(s) came from! I expect my other female will have hers hatch in a week. I can't tell if I'm bummed I haven't seen the babies or relieved I may not have more shrimp...
Between all the writing I did last week for my 3 papers and working on the take home final, my back is SO tweaked from sitting and bending over to look at my desk. The wireless keyboard has certainly helped this quarter, though. I can't imagine doing all that typing at the height I was doing it. Now to figure out a way so I'm not bent over my desk reading, writing, and checking information while I type...Every few hours I have to lay down to realign my back and it's important to remember to stand up every once in a while. Quarter is almost over, though! Yay!!
The weather here has been extremely nice. Today's high was about 80 degrees so it definitely feels like Spring has arrived. It's been a nice change from the cold weather we had 1-2 weeks ago. It just won't be fun to walk in to class. LoL Oh well.
Well...with that...I should study for 202 again.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Group Project: Cache Creek and Mercury
I got onto the project I wanted! Now I'm going...why did I pick this one? LoL Not really. I think it's more the shock of now being researchers for BLM and I get to be a mercury expert! That may or may not be a good thing. This biogeochem class has made me want to make a sterile bubble and keep myself in there...The flame retardant stuff in our couches and floors and such have endocrine disruptors in them! Our professor told us how he has a cat that liked to scratch the couch and suddenly the cat wasn't gaining weight. They took it to the vet and it turns out it was ill from the fire retardants in the couch foam -- the endocrine disruptors! It was causing the cats metabolism to go funky and it took the cat years to gain the weight it lost back. They say they now keep the cat away from the furniture. That's kind of scary...I mean, seriously, it's a wonder we even live to adulthood with all the chemicals everywhere. LoL The project should be pretty interesting and I'm excited to go see the place.
We're almost down to finals. I've turned in 1 paper, have another one 99% finished (might do one final, final read through), and my 3rd and last is about 95% complete. We get our econ take home final tomorrow after class and next Thursday is our 202 final. I'm really excited to NOT have classes next week. I'm also SO happy I don't have anymore 8am classes! Those classes were seriously killing me towards the end. It's really sad when 8:30am feels like sleeping in and 9:30 makes you feel like the morning is gone. LoL I'm also glad next quarter means I have a lighter school lecture load. No more 5 hours of class in one day all in a row or anything!
Well, with that...Time for an early bed. I'm fighting off something...I also had a nose bleed yesterday, which was weird. I think it's just dry here (it's been super windy).
We're almost down to finals. I've turned in 1 paper, have another one 99% finished (might do one final, final read through), and my 3rd and last is about 95% complete. We get our econ take home final tomorrow after class and next Thursday is our 202 final. I'm really excited to NOT have classes next week. I'm also SO happy I don't have anymore 8am classes! Those classes were seriously killing me towards the end. It's really sad when 8:30am feels like sleeping in and 9:30 makes you feel like the morning is gone. LoL I'm also glad next quarter means I have a lighter school lecture load. No more 5 hours of class in one day all in a row or anything!
Well, with that...Time for an early bed. I'm fighting off something...I also had a nose bleed yesterday, which was weird. I think it's just dry here (it's been super windy).
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Papers, finals, and movies...
I have 3 papers due on Friday and I have a draft of all 3! I'm so proud of myself, but now I'm having to edit, trim, etc and that's just plain annoying. One of my papers is far too long and it's just painful cutting things out...In fact, I wrote almost an entire single-spaced page worth of information and decided to do a table instead. So now I have to trim out almost all the technical information and beef up the examples and it's just...painful. All that time and research! Oh well...
Next week are finals, which is nerve wrecking. I'm not worried about the econ final too much because it's take home and I have a pretty good A in the class, but I'm worried about my biogeochem final. It's in class (we get 3 hours to do it), but I'm pulling only a mediocre B right now so I have to do well on the final to ensure I don't fail the class. I know they're going to curve the entire class at the end (my guess is half a letter grade), but we have to have a solid B to pass a class at graduate level! That's pressure! I'd feel better if the pass grade was a B-. LoL
I am slightly concerned about my policy and marine classes. The final papers for those classes will make up almost my entire grade. So I have to do well on them or I may tank. I don't think I'll tank the paper, but it's always a possibility lingering in the back of my head. I guess it makes me want to do better, but at the same time...sometimes your best just isn't good enough! I just need to think happy thoughts and once the papers are turned in I won't care again till I look at grades. LoL
Anyway...Movie update!
Informant: I admit I fell asleep through part of it, but I was tired! I like Matt Damon and thought he did a good job. I thought it was a good film overall too. It was kind of interesting how he kept fabricating the story and leading along people. It was also interesting to see who figured it out quicker than others. His poor wife, though... B
Law Abiding Citizen: Really interesting film! I liked it more than I thought I would. The movie had an interesting message about the legal system and how it's flawed, but it's the only system we have. Essentially the main character feels injustice because the man who murdered his wife and daughter got away on a deal and only served 5 years. The lawyers (protagonist - Jamie Foxx) argument was there wasn't any hard evidence to support the criminal did it and he didn't want to go to trial if there was no chance (he had like a 97% conviction rate he was proud of). So the main character (antagonist - Gerard Butler) spends 10 years plotting and basically kills a man which everyone knows he did, but there is no proof. So he plays the system to show them the flaws in following just by the rules and making deals with criminals. It was interesting to say the least and the acting was well done. A-
Alice in Wonderland: Maybe it's because the hype was built up a great deal, but I didn't leave the theater feeling all that satisfied. I felt like it was a little rushed and the story wasn't flushed out all that well. I thought Helena Bonham Carter did a great job as the Red Queen, though. The voice acting was really good too. Johnny Depp was good, but every once in a while he reminded me too much of Jack Sparrow. I haven't had that rememberance of his former characters before. Maybe I've just seen PotC too much. LoL Anne Hathaway portrayal of the White Queen was, uhm, interesting. It kind of drove me nuts. LoL If you see the movie, you'll understand what I mean. The actress who plays Alice was pretty good, but her make-up was way too pale for me. She looked ill! She's not that pale in real life. The combination of CG and live acting was pretty amazing, though. It had a definite Tim Burton spin, but it wasn't bad. Overall, enjoyable, but not worth the pre-hype. B
Quick thing about the Oscars...I think I read too many pre-Oscar guesses because none of the winners surprised me. So...it was a boring Oscars for me and I am once again glad I just kept up with the winners on-line instead of watching it for 3+ hours. I will say I am glad Avatar did not win Best Picture because that would have really irked me. It's bad enough they're having Miley Cyrus present to bring in younger crowds, but picking Avatar would have just done it for me. Hurt Locker isn't a bad pick and it has a lot of Academy "politics" involved since it's a women director and a political type film. I did enjoy the film, though, and I'm glad Kathryn Bigelow won. In fact...this might be one of the few times the Best Picture winner is a film I've seen before the Oscars! Weird...
Next week are finals, which is nerve wrecking. I'm not worried about the econ final too much because it's take home and I have a pretty good A in the class, but I'm worried about my biogeochem final. It's in class (we get 3 hours to do it), but I'm pulling only a mediocre B right now so I have to do well on the final to ensure I don't fail the class. I know they're going to curve the entire class at the end (my guess is half a letter grade), but we have to have a solid B to pass a class at graduate level! That's pressure! I'd feel better if the pass grade was a B-. LoL
I am slightly concerned about my policy and marine classes. The final papers for those classes will make up almost my entire grade. So I have to do well on them or I may tank. I don't think I'll tank the paper, but it's always a possibility lingering in the back of my head. I guess it makes me want to do better, but at the same time...sometimes your best just isn't good enough! I just need to think happy thoughts and once the papers are turned in I won't care again till I look at grades. LoL
Anyway...Movie update!
Informant: I admit I fell asleep through part of it, but I was tired! I like Matt Damon and thought he did a good job. I thought it was a good film overall too. It was kind of interesting how he kept fabricating the story and leading along people. It was also interesting to see who figured it out quicker than others. His poor wife, though... B
Law Abiding Citizen: Really interesting film! I liked it more than I thought I would. The movie had an interesting message about the legal system and how it's flawed, but it's the only system we have. Essentially the main character feels injustice because the man who murdered his wife and daughter got away on a deal and only served 5 years. The lawyers (protagonist - Jamie Foxx) argument was there wasn't any hard evidence to support the criminal did it and he didn't want to go to trial if there was no chance (he had like a 97% conviction rate he was proud of). So the main character (antagonist - Gerard Butler) spends 10 years plotting and basically kills a man which everyone knows he did, but there is no proof. So he plays the system to show them the flaws in following just by the rules and making deals with criminals. It was interesting to say the least and the acting was well done. A-
Alice in Wonderland: Maybe it's because the hype was built up a great deal, but I didn't leave the theater feeling all that satisfied. I felt like it was a little rushed and the story wasn't flushed out all that well. I thought Helena Bonham Carter did a great job as the Red Queen, though. The voice acting was really good too. Johnny Depp was good, but every once in a while he reminded me too much of Jack Sparrow. I haven't had that rememberance of his former characters before. Maybe I've just seen PotC too much. LoL Anne Hathaway portrayal of the White Queen was, uhm, interesting. It kind of drove me nuts. LoL If you see the movie, you'll understand what I mean. The actress who plays Alice was pretty good, but her make-up was way too pale for me. She looked ill! She's not that pale in real life. The combination of CG and live acting was pretty amazing, though. It had a definite Tim Burton spin, but it wasn't bad. Overall, enjoyable, but not worth the pre-hype. B
Quick thing about the Oscars...I think I read too many pre-Oscar guesses because none of the winners surprised me. So...it was a boring Oscars for me and I am once again glad I just kept up with the winners on-line instead of watching it for 3+ hours. I will say I am glad Avatar did not win Best Picture because that would have really irked me. It's bad enough they're having Miley Cyrus present to bring in younger crowds, but picking Avatar would have just done it for me. Hurt Locker isn't a bad pick and it has a lot of Academy "politics" involved since it's a women director and a political type film. I did enjoy the film, though, and I'm glad Kathryn Bigelow won. In fact...this might be one of the few times the Best Picture winner is a film I've seen before the Oscars! Weird...
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Group Projects...Oh joy...
So...we had the introduction of all the group projects today! It was an exciting thing leading up to it because we don't know what group project ideas will be picked until this presentation by the student on the committee give it. I was hoping for a "wow" factor from one of the projects and I never got it from 18 accepted ideas. It's kind of a bummer...You hope that your group project is something you're really interested in since you're stuck with it for a year and it consumes your life, but at least there were none that really went "ugh, definitely don't want that one."
The one I'm feeling the strongest about I have a feeling might be pretty popular. There weren't many water/marine related projects. There were really 2 strictly marine ones (I don't count invasive species on the Channel Islands as marine!): one about aquaculture in La Paz, Mexico and the other about whale ship strikes in the Santa Barbara Channel. Oh, there is another one about heritage rights to marine resources and trying to come up with a model and impact that cultural heritages have on resources and this uses the MLPA. That was kind of interesting, but I'm not jazzed about the faculty advisor. LoL Anyway, I have a feeling the aquaculture one might be popular because it's in La Paz. :P For me, of all the topics, it relates the most to the marine environment and is something I'm actually interested in. Whale strikes deals with migratory patterns and shipping lanes and that just doesn't interest me all that much. Also, there was really only one water resources project (looking at mercury and other substances in the Cache Creek Basin). So the water/marine people are pretty much out of luck. There were some other ones like life cycle assessment on clothing, solar power technology, invasive plants, sustainability of Gills Onions, and some on carbon emissions and greening practices (high-rise buildings, senior community, food service, etc). There are also three Eco-E projects. So they're basically entrepreneurship projects that are also green related.
There was one that was pretty interesting. There's an organization called the Environmental Coalition of Faith Communities (Eco-faith) and it is basically looking at mobilizing churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other religious communities to mitigate local causes of global warming in their buildings and practices. So the project would be to look at ways that religious groups can mitigate, implement, and educate about green behavior and be a driving force since faith-based communities influence human behaviors. It's definitely out of the box. It'll be interesting to see if the project actually goes forward or not.
Anyway, I need to pick my top 4 by next Monday. Might pair up with a friend to try and get onto the same project, but we'll see. Our scores for our top 4 get put through an optimization program like Solver. I still don't know how to use Solver and I went through a 4 hour workshop on it. Well, that's not true. I know what Solver is SUPPOSED to do and I might be able to jimmy my way through it, but it'd take a LONG time. LoL
With that...Time for me to get back to writing my papers. I have 3 papers due next Friday...
The one I'm feeling the strongest about I have a feeling might be pretty popular. There weren't many water/marine related projects. There were really 2 strictly marine ones (I don't count invasive species on the Channel Islands as marine!): one about aquaculture in La Paz, Mexico and the other about whale ship strikes in the Santa Barbara Channel. Oh, there is another one about heritage rights to marine resources and trying to come up with a model and impact that cultural heritages have on resources and this uses the MLPA. That was kind of interesting, but I'm not jazzed about the faculty advisor. LoL Anyway, I have a feeling the aquaculture one might be popular because it's in La Paz. :P For me, of all the topics, it relates the most to the marine environment and is something I'm actually interested in. Whale strikes deals with migratory patterns and shipping lanes and that just doesn't interest me all that much. Also, there was really only one water resources project (looking at mercury and other substances in the Cache Creek Basin). So the water/marine people are pretty much out of luck. There were some other ones like life cycle assessment on clothing, solar power technology, invasive plants, sustainability of Gills Onions, and some on carbon emissions and greening practices (high-rise buildings, senior community, food service, etc). There are also three Eco-E projects. So they're basically entrepreneurship projects that are also green related.
There was one that was pretty interesting. There's an organization called the Environmental Coalition of Faith Communities (Eco-faith) and it is basically looking at mobilizing churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other religious communities to mitigate local causes of global warming in their buildings and practices. So the project would be to look at ways that religious groups can mitigate, implement, and educate about green behavior and be a driving force since faith-based communities influence human behaviors. It's definitely out of the box. It'll be interesting to see if the project actually goes forward or not.
Anyway, I need to pick my top 4 by next Monday. Might pair up with a friend to try and get onto the same project, but we'll see. Our scores for our top 4 get put through an optimization program like Solver. I still don't know how to use Solver and I went through a 4 hour workshop on it. Well, that's not true. I know what Solver is SUPPOSED to do and I might be able to jimmy my way through it, but it'd take a LONG time. LoL
With that...Time for me to get back to writing my papers. I have 3 papers due next Friday...
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