Geologist Kate

Sorry for the long time-no-write thing, I will try to keep this blog up-to-date this summer as I will be in Houston working as an intern, away from all of my buds, in a lonely place, surrounded by the city, yet utterly alone. Enough of that! It's not gonna be that bad! After all, I will be surrounded by family and be consumed by the pursuit of knowledge, what more could a girl ask for?

Before I head to Houston, just thought you might like to see what Kate looks like when she heads out into the field to geologize (since most people never get to see the geologist in her natural habitat). That's me in front of the Spartan Royal Mansion - our Air-Stream trailer (single wide) for the trip to Colorado.

There are also some lovely lizards in Western Colorado - I thought I was on "Wild Kingdom Lizard Edition" sometimes. The prettiest ones are called Collared Lizards and get really vibrant when they have been sunning themselves.
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Hoppy Easter!!

Whatever Happened to My Old Friend?

Sleep
by Riley Armstrong

looking straight at the light

it never used to be that bright last night

but it's a new day with fuzz in my eyes

alarm is still ringing when I open the blinds

how do these people do it

they are like driving around like there's nothing to it

I imagine it's like the medication their on

or probably just the coffee but

one thing is certain in life

and that is that today I'm going to eat cereal

I mean come on let's get our priorities straight

but before I know it I'm out the door late

just trying to catch some rat or some race

or something I'm not quite sure what it is

so for now I just best keep moving

and by nine a.m. my brain and my body

finally decide to meet

and we come to the same conclusion as yesterday

that I never get enough sleep

{chorus}:

sleep, no I never get enough

always waking up tired

sleep, no I never get enough

if I don't show up I might get fired

sleep, no I never get enough

always waking up tired

sleep, no I never get enough

if I don't show up I might get fired

they call it commuting

but I think they should call it intravenous

cause it's what I need every time I get

stuck behind a truck, just trying to turn left

just trying to turn left, why are you trying to turn left

why don't you park your silly cube van

hop in I'll drop you off

cause at this rate we'll both be late

but I'd rather be late than sitting here doing nothing

and by nine a.m. my brain and my body

finally decide to meet

and we come to the same conclusion as yesterday

that I never get enough sleep

{bridge}:

sleep go on and sleep some more

sleep go on and sleep some more

The Caspian

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Caspian Sea, my new area of research. I have just received word that I will be working with the Caspian team at ConocoPhillips this summer in Houston. I am very excited about the opportunity to work an international project as an intern. As an added bonus, I will be daily reminded to pray for my friends who are in the former USSR this summer teching English and sharing their lives. What a blessing!!! It always astounds me how good the Lord is to me... I don't even know what to ask for most of the time. What a great Dad with great gifts for His kids! It's gonna be one wild summer with work and looking for a good church in Houston.

The Greatest Concert that Ever Was

It's official, I am in love. You know, you can like a band, have some of their CDs and play them in the background of your life, but it takes an amazing concert to seal the deal. These guys are incredible performers, playing for their fans and giving them every penny of the ticket cost back in a fantastic live show.

How is it even possible to sound as good as (if not better than) your CD when you are jumping around stage and sweating? I have been to some concerts where the band is so bent on getting the audience to like the songs that they like to play (not neccesarily the songs the audience wants to hear) that they end up alienating their fan base. Coldplay did an excellent job of playing favorites (they have quite a few popular songs now) along with a few of their older songs and fun additions.

Enough concert talk! I had a great time, but now it is back to the daily grind!

Squiggly Lines

Is this really to be my life? All of the "geology" that I have done recently for my grad classes has been squinting at these squiggly lines and "interpreting" them. Everyone in the industry reminds me that I need more experience in geophysics if I want to be an integrated geoscientist and a valuable asset to a team. I don't wanna be a valuable asset if it means staring at the matrix all day long...

If you relax your eyes you can see Neo kicking some major tail...

Je suis l'albatros

L'Albatros

Souvent, pour s'amuser, les hommes d'équipage
Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux des mers,
Qui suivent, indolents compagnons de voyage,
Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers.

À peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches,
Que ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et honteux,
Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches
Comme des avirons traîner à côté d'eux.

Ce voyageur ailé, comme il est gauche et veule!
Lui, naguère si beau, qu'il est comique et laid!
L'un agace son bec avec un brûle-gueule,
L'autre mime, en boitant, l'infirme qui volait!

Le Poète est semblable au prince des nuées
Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l'archer;
Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées,
Ses ailes de géant l'empêchent de marcher.

— Charles Baudelaire

And for my non-French speaking buds...

The Albatross

Sometimes for sport the men of loafing crews
Snare the great albatrosses of the deep,
The indolent companions of their cruise
As through the bitter vastitudes they sweep.

Scarce have they fished aboard these airy kings
When helpless on such unaccustomed floors,
They piteously droop their huge white wings
And trail them at their sides like drifting oars.

How comical, how ugly, and how meek
Appears this soarer of celestial snows!
One, with his pipe, teases the golden beak,
One, limping, mocks the cripple as he goes.

The Poet, like this monarch of the clouds,
Despising archers, rides the storm elate.
But, stranded on the earth to jeering crowds,
The great wings of the giant baulk his gait.