So what do Americans do for fun at Haloween? They drive out into the middle of a corn fields and have people scare the living sh*t out of them by running at them going 'yarrrghh' while brandishing chain saws. We went to a haunted corn maze with a bunch of international students. It was fun, but I think Andy had more fun laughing at the way I screamed and cowered. We had to walk through dark buildings where people lurked in the shadows. My least favorite was walking through narrow lanes with strobe lights flashing, being horribly disorientated then having the ubiquetous chainsaw people leap out. We went through a brightly lit 'autopsy room' with more than it's fair share of guts and gore. Everytime someone approached us, I'd push Andy in front for protection. This made me feel guilty, but aren't boys supposed to be the protectors?
So Haloween is here, but my pumpkin lantern is going mouldy :-(
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Yellowstone
You can only spend so long stuck indoors, writing a thesis and eating your boyfriends secret stash of sweet food before you need to get out. So we got out. We headed to Yellowstone for a long weekend (ok dad, Jellystone if you prefer). We had an amazing time- it's just beautiful, ethereal even. I saw a black bear, deer and baby bison (Andy wouldn't let me have one, how unfair).
The hydrothermal features are just awsome. In the morning, the steam condenses and drapes the roads with a heavy mist. We drive through it and the skeletons of trees emerge as silhouttes. The dead trees are everywhere, victims of the 1988 fires but still resolutely refusing to obey gravity. In places, the slopes are carpeted with trees a few feet high, and the bare dead poles of the fire victims poke up between them, dwarfing them. We went to Old Faithful, and I laughed at the tourists who expected it to go off on time, like some orchestrated Disney attraction. I wondered if they even realised that there were walking around in the caldera of an active volcano. Old Faithful is impressive, but it seems bizarre to have a bunch of tourists sitting around in a 'viewing area', RVs parked in a tarmacced parking area, watching the guts of an active volcanic system spewing out steam.
The mudpots are hypnotic. I wanted a bunch for ages, just captivated by the hands of clay pushing up from beneath the ground. The plumbing gurgled like a hungry tummy the whole time, and misbehaved by flinging lumps of pale clay out of the small crators. The whole park is captivating, amde more so by the stark unpredictability and violence that produces these surface effets. Andy and I would stand for ages in clouds of sulphuric steam trying to capture the image we could see in our mind's eye, and emerge with drippin hair, nausea and hopefully a few good photos.
My favorite geyser (sounds like a big-up for a cockeny bloke) is called Grand Fountain. Layers of ejecta have been sculpted by the acidic water to form flat platforms that fill with water. The effect is stacked mirrors that capture the white clouds of steam thrown out by the cone. It's stunning. Similar features form in the north of the park, where the hot waters erode the limestone into something like an overimaginative geologist's description of a karstic landscape. The platforms that build up from the dissolved minerals are coloured in red, purple, blue, green- a combination of dissolved minerals reprecipitating, and the mats of crazy thermophile bacteria. This is the most active part of the park, and so the most stinky, even though it's outside of the caldera.
We camped, and I've never been so cold in my life. My sleeping bag is four season but I'd had to leave my thermarest at home because my case was full (of scientific papers, grr!). I don't know if it would have made much differnece. The days were hot, but as soon as the sun went down it began to get cold. Lying on my sleeping mt it felt like someone hat turned on a tap and was steadily draining the heat and life out of my body. At least it forced Andy to learn how to build a fire. We settled into a routine on getting back for the day of him building a fire, and me starting to boil water and prepare things for dinner. This routine was broken on sunday when, several miles from the campsite, the car stopped making it's 'I'm going to die at any moment' noises, started to run smoothly, and then promptly died. The fan belt had snapped, and the water pump given up it's long and vocal life. We ended up stranded, and a friendly park ranger took us out of the park to spend the night in Gardiner, Montana. The next day I bought books to read while Andy arranged to have the car towed. The garage was busy, so we ended up shipping out to Livingston since they could fix it sooner. All in all, it was a bit of a strange end to a trip, but it seemed like an adventure. Hopefully we will go to Utah for Christmas; we are hoping to go climbing but Andy's ankle is still a problem. Whatever, there seems to be plenty o help me get through writing up. America definately has it's good points :-)
The hydrothermal features are just awsome. In the morning, the steam condenses and drapes the roads with a heavy mist. We drive through it and the skeletons of trees emerge as silhouttes. The dead trees are everywhere, victims of the 1988 fires but still resolutely refusing to obey gravity. In places, the slopes are carpeted with trees a few feet high, and the bare dead poles of the fire victims poke up between them, dwarfing them. We went to Old Faithful, and I laughed at the tourists who expected it to go off on time, like some orchestrated Disney attraction. I wondered if they even realised that there were walking around in the caldera of an active volcano. Old Faithful is impressive, but it seems bizarre to have a bunch of tourists sitting around in a 'viewing area', RVs parked in a tarmacced parking area, watching the guts of an active volcanic system spewing out steam.
The mudpots are hypnotic. I wanted a bunch for ages, just captivated by the hands of clay pushing up from beneath the ground. The plumbing gurgled like a hungry tummy the whole time, and misbehaved by flinging lumps of pale clay out of the small crators. The whole park is captivating, amde more so by the stark unpredictability and violence that produces these surface effets. Andy and I would stand for ages in clouds of sulphuric steam trying to capture the image we could see in our mind's eye, and emerge with drippin hair, nausea and hopefully a few good photos.
My favorite geyser (sounds like a big-up for a cockeny bloke) is called Grand Fountain. Layers of ejecta have been sculpted by the acidic water to form flat platforms that fill with water. The effect is stacked mirrors that capture the white clouds of steam thrown out by the cone. It's stunning. Similar features form in the north of the park, where the hot waters erode the limestone into something like an overimaginative geologist's description of a karstic landscape. The platforms that build up from the dissolved minerals are coloured in red, purple, blue, green- a combination of dissolved minerals reprecipitating, and the mats of crazy thermophile bacteria. This is the most active part of the park, and so the most stinky, even though it's outside of the caldera.
We camped, and I've never been so cold in my life. My sleeping bag is four season but I'd had to leave my thermarest at home because my case was full (of scientific papers, grr!). I don't know if it would have made much differnece. The days were hot, but as soon as the sun went down it began to get cold. Lying on my sleeping mt it felt like someone hat turned on a tap and was steadily draining the heat and life out of my body. At least it forced Andy to learn how to build a fire. We settled into a routine on getting back for the day of him building a fire, and me starting to boil water and prepare things for dinner. This routine was broken on sunday when, several miles from the campsite, the car stopped making it's 'I'm going to die at any moment' noises, started to run smoothly, and then promptly died. The fan belt had snapped, and the water pump given up it's long and vocal life. We ended up stranded, and a friendly park ranger took us out of the park to spend the night in Gardiner, Montana. The next day I bought books to read while Andy arranged to have the car towed. The garage was busy, so we ended up shipping out to Livingston since they could fix it sooner. All in all, it was a bit of a strange end to a trip, but it seemed like an adventure. Hopefully we will go to Utah for Christmas; we are hoping to go climbing but Andy's ankle is still a problem. Whatever, there seems to be plenty o help me get through writing up. America definately has it's good points :-)
Laramie...
...so much more than the cigarettes smoked by Marge Simpson's sisters. I like it here; last visit I was in some wierd culture shock, but now I'm used to it it feels like home. I spend a lot of time inside, sat at the desk (I built it, yay flatpack!) trying to squeeze sensible words into my thesis, but it's when I leave that I'm happiest. The roads are wide and quiet, and running on them feels like freedom (slightly dangerous freedom- the pavements seem to have been constructed by someone who wanted the town to be an extensive skate park). The people are friendly, and the language is mostly understandable with a few minor exceptions. I still get confused, like when the tills at the supermarket put your change in a litlle cup instead of trusting a human to count it out, and when people ask how you are but don't expect an answer. But generally it's nice. We have the luxuary of a car (when it works- there is a large dent from Andy's 'deerstrike' incident, and the small catalogue of worying noises is ever varying), and there are lots of places we can get to reasonably quickly. By American standards anyway: we drove over 1000 miles in our Yellowstone trip, and most of the time we were still in Wyoming. As well as Yellowstone, we have been into Fort Collins and to Vedawoo, 'fat crack county' (stop sniggering at the back). I'm hoping that we can go skiing at some point too; it's a great place to enjoy the outdoors. Americans sure do open spaces well... But then my priority while I'm here has to be the thesis... talking of which, tenuous arguments for the provenance of magmatic underplate don't write themselves... back to it!
Back once more...
Well it's sure been a while... I guess life just took over and I got busy. I'm STILL busy but it's funny how important little things suddenly become when you have a thesis to write. Ahh the thesis, it's going ok, thanks for asking. I'll get there eventually. And in the meantime I'm not getting paid and I'm trying to work out if ice climbing in the Alps is a sensible use of half my savings. Of course it is :-). It's something I've dreamed of for years.. but now the reality is here, and it's kinda expensive.
So what has happened since my last post? Well I haven't quit my phd, and I ran a half marathon, and a few friends got married. Thats my brief history!
Anyway the purpose of blogging is to keep a journal for my use, but I'll point some friends here too so they can see what I've been up to. Take it easy one and all xxx
So what has happened since my last post? Well I haven't quit my phd, and I ran a half marathon, and a few friends got married. Thats my brief history!
Anyway the purpose of blogging is to keep a journal for my use, but I'll point some friends here too so they can see what I've been up to. Take it easy one and all xxx
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Hobbling goblins
Not posted for a while for several reasons- I've had my head reasonable straight, so I've not needed the therapy, I've been really busy.. and,well.. I couldn't be arsed. I think I'm the only person who reads my blog anyway, which is probably a good thing. I'm off to Costa Rica tomorrow :). I can't believe I'm actually going to see Andy. It feels like he's been away for forever, but in reality its only a month I guess. It will be nice to be able to share that kind of normality we have again. It's funny how wehn you love someone, doing exciting stuff becomes less of a priority, and you just want to share the normal simple things. It gives me hope for the future, because I don't think you can really know if you want someone around in the long-term unbless you have lived with them. You have to learn the anoying things they do, so you can either reprogram them, or learn to be a wonderful, tolerant human being :o>.
Waffling on about nothing in particular- must be knackered.. I am, and I have to get up at 4...
My main reason for posting is to have a bitch about my knee. I've developed something nasty called illiotibial band syndrom, casue by my spaky running, and running on pavements ratehr than nice, squishy grass. It bloody hurts, and google wisdome suggests that rest and physio are required, and running on it will only excabate things. Yes I know I just made that word up, but I think it's close to a real one. So I'm resting.. well, apart from a teeny 5k race today. Oops. I ran 8 and a bit minutes of it, then gave up and walked the rest. It hurt like hell, but after a hot bath it's calmed down. It was incerdible frustrating to be walking when I had bags of energy and plenty of strength left, appart from this annoying niggle. It gave me a chance to look around though, and it was stunning- we were in Arundel, running through the wildlife and wetlands trust grounds. The race was a nice course, appart from abloody big hiss near the start. I have to be honest- I probably would have walked a bit of it anyway cos it was knackering! The wether was perfect- blue skies but chilly... until we started running, at which point it began to piss icy rain all over us, then hail. The snow held off until we started up the hill. Nice. I always overheat if I wear too much to un in, but I was coveting jac's lovely florescent ron hill gloves- I don't think I've had so much pain in my hands before! We had a well deserved cake and hot drink afterwards, so it was all good- apart from the limping and complaining bviously. I'll go see a physio whne I get back- that won't be cheap. I'm still quietly optimistic about the totton 10 in april, but I might have to face the reality that trining is going to make me worse. I'm not sure how I'll handle climbing either- I certainly can't support my body weight on my right leg and push up, it's too weak- so I don't think I'll managed climbing. That sucks- I was supposed o be climbing last weekend, but I pulled out- too busy. But then it's not every day you get the chance to go to Costa Rica :o)
Waffling on about nothing in particular- must be knackered.. I am, and I have to get up at 4..
My main reason for posting is to have a bitch about my knee. I've developed something nasty called illiotibial band syndrom, casue by my spaky running, and running on pavements ratehr than nice, squishy grass. It bloody hurts, and google wisdome suggests that rest and physio are required, and running on it will only excabate things. Yes I know I just made that word up, but I think it's close to a real one. So I'm resting.. well, apart from a teeny 5k race today. Oops. I ran 8 and a bit minutes of it, then gave up and walked the rest. It hurt like hell, but after a hot bath it's calmed down. It was incerdible frustrating to be walking when I had bags of energy and plenty of strength left, appart from this annoying niggle. It gave me a chance to look around though, and it was stunning- we were in Arundel, running through the wildlife and wetlands trust grounds. The race was a nice course, appart from abloody big hiss near the start. I have to be honest- I probably would have walked a bit of it anyway cos it was knackering! The wether was perfect- blue skies but chilly... until we started running, at which point it began to piss icy rain all over us, then hail. The snow held off until we started up the hill. Nice. I always overheat if I wear too much to un in, but I was coveting jac's lovely florescent ron hill gloves- I don't think I've had so much pain in my hands before! We had a well deserved cake and hot drink afterwards, so it was all good- apart from the limping and complaining bviously. I'll go see a physio whne I get back- that won't be cheap. I'm still quietly optimistic about the totton 10 in april, but I might have to face the reality that trining is going to make me worse. I'm not sure how I'll handle climbing either- I certainly can't support my body weight on my right leg and push up, it's too weak- so I don't think I'll managed climbing. That sucks- I was supposed o be climbing last weekend, but I pulled out- too busy. But then it's not every day you get the chance to go to Costa Rica :o)
Friday, December 17, 2004
Where's you head at?
I had a great night. It was the soc ball, which was, somewhat pointlessly, held on a boat. (So it was just like a normal disco, but it was more expensive, and occasionally the dance floor would lurch sideways). It was good fun, and I looked classy until I got under the UV light and my white bra started glowing through my red dress. I solved this by taking it off, and waving it around my head, thus squeezing the last few drops of class out of my act. The music was pretty good- starting with some motown while we were sober, moving to chart cheeze when we were all trollied, and winding up with some xmas tunes. I had a nice dance with Alex- when he's not throwing wild shapes, the boy can move! He's a very good lead. Me and Steph had to walk home becasue we couldn't find a taxi, and Steph got sick of me hobblign pathetically in bare feet, so she gave me her boots and walked in my toe pinching stilletoes. I fell into bed, and forgot to take my pill, oops. I woke at 5, and couldn't get back to sleep. Eventually I slipped back into a doze, and had the most amazing dream. It really affected me, the imagery was obscure, but it seemed to have hidden meaning, and it has been troubling me. I woke feeling confused, and pretty out of it. The dream has been preying on my mind and distracting me. I won't describe it in detail, since it wouldn't sound sensible or particularly interesting, but there was a part where a handsome bloke was trying to teach me to fly; we were trapped and he was trying to give me the confidence to escape. I leaned close to kiss him, but slowly and hesitantly, just like any sober first kiss. He started to laugh, and told me basically to get on with it! I kissed him, and it was tender and comforting. I've had the same dream before, some time ago.
Guess I should go and get some lunch, and maybe play with my 'peekaboo poledancing kit'- I REALLY appreciated Andy sendign this particular gift to me via work stores. I've not done anything today, but I feel like getting out of here, there's some ghosts I can't quite see lingering in my head still.
Guess I should go and get some lunch, and maybe play with my 'peekaboo poledancing kit'- I REALLY appreciated Andy sendign this particular gift to me via work stores. I've not done anything today, but I feel like getting out of here, there's some ghosts I can't quite see lingering in my head still.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Heavy gravity
One day, maybe when I'm about 65, I might actually finish my velocity model/ gravity model, and have something worth writing a thesis on. Its going alright, I just want it done, I feel like putting my foot through the monitor every time something doesn't look right (every 5 mins then).
I have yet another cold, and I'm feeling pretty crappy, but I'm goign to go out wed/thurs/fri, so that should kill/cure me. I'll try not to get hammered and tell Naoise what 'lovely eyes' she has this time! Poor girl!!
Andy gets home a week tomorrow, hurray! And I have to pick him up at 0620, boo!
Back to the modelling...
I have yet another cold, and I'm feeling pretty crappy, but I'm goign to go out wed/thurs/fri, so that should kill/cure me. I'll try not to get hammered and tell Naoise what 'lovely eyes' she has this time! Poor girl!!
Andy gets home a week tomorrow, hurray! And I have to pick him up at 0620, boo!
Back to the modelling...
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