Outta This World! Lamp Shade

I made my brother a home made lamp shade for Christmas out of old slides he found with cool space stuff on them. It took me a while to think of how to do it, and I'm sure I could have come up with something simpler, but to be honest, I didn't think my design would be that hard to create. As it turns out it was much more difficult than I thought, and way more time consuming. That last part was the worst on account of my inability to acquire and maintain even a shred of patience. I basically had to drill holes in all the slides, then link them together each silver loop at a time (think opening and closing each one with pliers), then find a lamp shade frame (which I couldn't so I had to buy a shade, cut the shade part off and make my own out of material), and well, it's not as easy as it looks. Trust me. BUT it did turn out OK and he loved it! In retrospect it was worth it since by bro liked it so much but that being said this will probably be my one and only slide-lamp shade.

FINALLY Finished!

Dropping off my signed thesis!

Well, it only took five years, but I finally finished my thesis! I'd like to say it was a great experience (and the actual field work was) but mostly it was frustrating and exasperating. I felt the pressure to get it done, but most of the time I was helpless to make it go faster. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place as it were. No pun intended. But it's done, it's over, and I have a Masters Degree in Geology. I wish I felt happy about it, but at the moment all I feel is relieved. So...wheeew.
What was my thesis title?
Incorporation of Host Rock Blocks During the Growth of the Aztec Wash Pluton, Eldorado Mountains, Nevada.

The final FINAL document!

What was it about?
How magma bodies move through the crust, specifically whether or not they utilize the mechanism of stoping (downward transfer of host rocks through a magma chamber), and whether there was geochemical evidence of assimilation of blocks in the Aztec Wash pluton specifically.
Is there anything else you need to know about it?
Nope.

Sunset South of Sacramento

Photos by Me and my iPhone

Paedophryne amauensis

Paedophryne amauensis is the smallest (and I might add the cutest) frog in the world...at least that we know of. Don't you just love nature. Just when you think you've seen it all, something new and unexpected appears! Just look at this little guy! I mean he makes a dime look spacious!

Google Rocks

I love the Google homepage logo for today! It's not often that you see geology incorporated into internet art. Curious about what inspired the geo-drawing I did a little research, and found out that today is the 374th birthday of Nicholas Steno the founding father of the geological sciences.
Back in the 1600's in addition to realizing that fossils were the remains of animals that no longer existed (I guess at the time people thought they were left over from the flood?), he also discovered the three of the primary laws of geology which remains uncontested today.
The law of original horizontality states that all sedimentary rock layers originally form horizontally, and are only tilted later. The law of superposition states that the material in the lowest layer is older than the material in the upper layers. And the law of discontinuity states that if one object or rock layer cuts another than the layer that is cut is older than the one doing the cutting.
So, thanks Nick for all your great observations and starting my specific branch of science! You rock! (ha ha get it?)

New Flavors: Christmas Classics

Over Christmas holiday we made some experimental ice cream. It was really fun. We had a new flavor almost every night, and everyone got to pitch in both with ideas for flavors and actually making it. Here are a couple of them:

Avacado Lime with toasted coconut (vegan)

Cucumber mint chocolate chip (vegan)

OK,OK, so they aren't really what springs to mind when you're thinking of Yuletide desserts. But what makes them Christmassy is not their flavor. It the fact that we ate them while watching National Lampoons Christmas Vacation on Christmas Eve!

A Walk in the Woods

I just read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (he also wrote a Brief History of Everything), and it was awesome. It was pretty hilarious, especially the beginning and I appreciated his novice take on hiking and the wilderness in general.
The book is non-fiction and about his attempt to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail. His hiking companion is a recovering alcoholic/drug addict high school buddy he hadn't seen in years. Katz (as his friend is called) was the last person in the world you'd want to go hiking with, but that made for a funny story.
He goes expounds upon the many dangers associated with leaving the suburbs and heading off into the wilderness, and contemplates all the ways he could die, from bears to serial killers, to exposure. I totally reccommend this book to anyone who has a sense of humor, and enjoys the irony of humans trying to adapt back into the wild.

The Blind Watchmaker

We just read The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins in book club this week. Well, actually we had all month to read it and then we discussed it last night at our January meeting.
I can't say it was my favorite evolution  book ever, but it had some really good points, especially for "beginners" who don't have a lot of background in evolutionary biology. The thing that made it a little less than great for me was that it was so thorough. Normally that's a good thing (and for those with no previous knowledge on the subject it is a good thing) but for me he got very...long winded in parts and so I found it to be a less than easy read.
But I do recommend it for anyone who has ever wondered how evolutionists explain the complexity of the human eye, that is so often cited by Creationists as proof that god must exist. It's basically a discussion of the difference between single step (which is what most Creationists believe evolution to be based on) and cumulative selection, which is the way it actually works.
There is also a really interesting chapter on how bats use sonar to see. It turns out it is a pretty complicated process on account of the fact that the noise they make is so loud (to them) that it would burst their ear drums so they have developed a way to close their ears when they chirp, and then open them quickly to pick up the returning sound. They can do this up to 100 times per second. There is a bunch more to it, but that was the gist of it. Super cool.
So if you are interested, REALLY interested in understanding why you don't need to invoke the supernatural to to create the human eye, or explain life on earth, than I highly recommend this book. He doesn't cut any corners, and explains pretty much everything right down to the last atom. I found a free pdf of the book online and you can too if you do a search for The Blind Watchmaker pdf in Google.

Yay Lions!

Gasp! Did I just say that? Sure did! I know it's a little late this season, but I just wanted to take a quick second to applaud the Lions on an amazing season! I was rooting for them (except when they were playing the Pack) and was really hoping they could pull off a New Orleans upset this past weekend. While they didn't win, they played an awesome (almost penalty free) game, and I really think they should be proud of themselves. I just cannot believe half the plays Calvin Johnson made!  But everyone, Stafford, the defense, the coaches, really made a turn around this year, and I can't wait to see them play again next season! It's been a long time coming for Detroit and the Lions, and I for one am glad for them:)

You Go Matt Flynn, You Go

I know I know, I've been a horrible blogger as of late. Like I've said a few times now, I ve been busy. And like with just about everything, once you get out of the habit and mindset, it's tough to get the ball rolling again. But I'm going to try.
Anyway, after skipping almost the entire football season I thought I should at least comment on the last game of the season. We missed the first couple plays of the game, so I was surprised to see the Lions up by seven and Matt Flynn in as QB early in the first quarter.
I guess it was Mccarthys call to keep Rodgers out, and as it turns out it was a great call. Why? Because the Packers are fortunate enough to have a backup quarterback who happens to be better than most starting quarterbacks in the league!
Matt Flynn had an incredible game! He's been the topic of much conversation this week on the sports networks, and they keep saying how surprised they are that he played so well. That caught me off guard for a moment, but then I remembered that not all folks are as familiar with the Packers as I am. Flynns performance doesn't surprise me at all. Here is why. First of all, remember his first starting game? It was last year against the Patriots when AR had a concussion. It was a great game. Almost as good as this one, and I only say almost because we ended up loosing that one at the very last second, due to what I think was a coaching error. Anyway, after that amazing start, who wouldn't think he would perform awesomely last Sunday?
Besides he trains daily with the same as AR and has acces to the same coaching and coaches, and is held to the same standards, so again, why would we expect anything less than really awesome?
But my reason for writing this blog is not to convince the world that Matt Flynn is a first class quarterback. My reason for writing is to express how happy for him I am. I think it has to be rough being a back up, and I would imagine it can be frustrating as well, to spend years of a somewhat limited (unless your Favre) career on the sidelines. It doesnt matter that almost everyone has to do it, it still sucks. So for Flynn to take his second starting opportunity to break the two biggest quarterback records in franchise history, well....I think it's freaking AWESOME!!! And he totally deserves it. I'm not saying anything against Rodgers, I'm just saying that Flynn in finally going to get the recognition for his accomplishments that he should have gotten all along. Its unfortunate that no one pays attention to the backups, even though they work just as hard as the starters. But not for Flynn, not anymore. Good for him!
Unfortunately he will be a free agent next year, and as such will probably leave Green Bay in search of a starting position. It bums me out, but at the same it dim happy for him...as long as he doesn't go to the Bears. Some are saying he could go to the Jets I'd Sanches gets the boot, but my secret dream is that Indianapolis would use their first round pick to draft a QB to trade and then pick up Flynn. That's probably a long shot especially if Payton Manning comes back, but I can always hope.
I was going to end, but I couldn't in good conscious without pointing out what an amazing season Matthew Stafford has had with the Lions, the whole team actually. They made it to the playoffs for the first time in like 20 years despite being the most penalized team in the NFL. Stafford survived the whole season without injury, Calvin Johnson had an a record breaking season, and the defense ( although somewhat unruly) has been very good as well. Stafford broke e same franchise records as Flynn did, including most passing yards, and most TD's.
And the game itself broke the NFL record for yards in a game with over a thousand. The regular season is over, but what a way to ring in the new year!
Now it's playoff time! GO PACK!!!