Lots to say this week. It's been a busy one. I finished my one thousand word theoretical analysis of Just Words: Law, Language and Legal Power and did another for the book Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior. I will be one of the facilitators for this book in class.
The facilitator makes sure the discussion keeps moving and stays on track. Staying on track can be difficult because Dr. Bob Marshall has so darn many interesting stories that it's fun to let him go on a tangent and talk for over an hour of class instead of discussing the book. He knows he is doing it too, but has to tell us "one more story."
We finished a unit on faunal analysis in Archaeology. We had a lab write up for that which took me and Nambi three hours to finish. The pie chart in Excel kicked our asses. The end of this unit included a test on shell fragments. I did better than I thought I would, but not as well as I would have liked. I had flashbacks to Keller's bone quiz in Physical Anthropology. I panicked a little in the middle of the timed test and my answers got out of order.
Now, we are studying raw materials (rocks, minerals etc.) and flakes. There will be a timed quiz on that too. We also have a group research project and presentation due at the end of the quarter that we need to get started on.
My other class is Essentials of Grad School. It's a really helpful class. We discuss how to use the research sources on campus, thesis topics and what classes we should be taking to graduate. All the stuff that is nice to know! Our advisor created the class so she doesn't have to keep repeating herself to every grad student and there are no surprises when it gets closer to graduation and someone realizes they needed a class that only happens once a year and now they can't graduate until next year.
I still don't have a thesis topic, but I am working on it. Jared suggested that I research the femur's use as a weapon and literally defend my thesis. Kelly suggested I watch CSI and pick something from one of their cases. Lovely suggestions, but not quite what I am looking for.
Fall is beautiful here in Bellingham. The leaves are all changing and it's getting cooler. A nice sunny day is about 60*F.
This is on my way to class.
Lots of people bike to class and all over town.
A sculpture from the south campus...this one is is called Stone Enclosure: Rock Rings 1977-78 by Nancy Holt. Its placement is mapped on Earth according to the North Star.
These circular holes are the compass directions.
It's still so green here. It has only rained off and on, but I noticed that on most days the weather reports say there's a 50% chance of rain. I guess that means that most days it might rain or it might not.
More trails to my dorm. I have been exploring.
That last hill before the dorms.
Covered bridge walkway
View from the bridge
My car is the gray one in the first spot on the left. I lost that spot on Friday night when I went to the store. That's okay though, I needed to park my car in facing the other direction to keep the sun off the interior. I found another spot in the same lot. I just don't want to park in that lot across the street.
12/11ths?
We share a door with stack 12.
New addition to our room. (Thanks Crystal!)
Draw me like one of your French girls.
One of my classmates said she thought I was only 30 at most this week after I snorted when she (twenty-something) said she felt old. I also got carded for apple ale at the grocery store and the cashier told me "good job" for not looking my age. No makeup+college hoody=kid? Yay!
I have a meal plan and eat most meals in the cafeteria. Everything is made with local/organic ingredients. Most of the time it's pretty good. Tonight I had chicken pot pie, salad and yellow cake with a glass of milk. I like that the servings (except for salad) are portion controlled. I don't like that I have to play roulette with my food allergies. They list major ingredients on cards near the food, but sometimes they sneak something in that I cannot eat--like peppers or beans or the banana pancakes I accidently sampled. Fun times!
It looks like I won't be able to go home until Thanksgiving. That's a bummer. I miss my people.
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