Week 9!

Whew this week has been packed. Both yesterday and today I was on campus from 9 am to 9 pm. First class, then class group work, next climbing and sauna, and finally work from 5 to 9 at the rec center. Today has basically been the same, but I cant complain. My project is going great, we have finally finished compiling all the data, running stat tests, and creating the intro, abstract, and methodology... I will show you all the final paper! Some potential interesting results, however due to a small sample size the probability of significance in a correlation between epaulet color and vocalization volume is low with the data we have. Although the five complete individuals did have suggestive data there simply inst enough to conclude and make a statement, but this research opens the door and will aid future studies. There is still a little more work and analysis to do, then on Monday we will present the project and powerpoint to the class. I missed all the snow up here, but hopefully we will get some more, still lots of rain. Well its time to close down the gym... Hope everyone is well, and cant wait to see yall.

Week 6

Time sure flies, everyday something new and exciting happens. Life is great, my studies have been very interesting and challenging. The past week I was in south eastern washington right off the columbia river for a few days. This trip was mostly about spending time in the field observing animal behavior and also getting to know the class and teachers. They wanted to see how responsible and grounded everyone is for the prospect of traveling abroad in spring. We had one nice sunny day during which I went to watch the salmon spawning. These fish were giant, weighing up to 50 pounds, and put up an incredible fight to swim upstream through the crazy white water. We also saw the native people of the Yakima Tribe fishing with nets and heard some intense stories from them about people falling into the rivers... I got to spend a lot of time with my class which is full of amazing people all specializing in some form of biology or ecology. We also got to explore a river by the cabins we were staying in which had many layers of beaver dams. The dams were so strong we could walk out on them and there were multiple ones all over the river because after a few years they need to find a new location for a dam in order to gather food for the winter. I also saw many salamanders (at least 100), tons of different frogs, and a few unique species of snakes. During the trip we had a few lectures from the teachers about the differences between haploid and diploid mating systems, its very complex and if you are curious just check it out here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ploidy . . The trip was a blast and i also got to drive around the cargo van and make stops for huckleberry milk shakes.... This curent week has gone by quick, and I have also been working in the rec center more. This week I worked the front desk and also the basketball game last night. I was in charge of the shot clock which involves resetting the clock during the game. Not bad at all... I have also been doing lots of rock climbing in the gym and still getting lots of bike riding in. I did my first project analysis today which involved extrapolating data out of photos and recordings and inputting it into an excel spreadsheet. Iv already learned a lot and am very excited to continue doing field research and devising my own studies. My credits from NOLS finally got carried over this week, and i now have an additional 11 credits (16 is a full quarter)! Here are some pictures from the trip http://www.flickr.com/photos/23083581@N02/sets/72157625177370117/ . http://www.flickr.com/photos/23083581@N02/sets/72157625177370117/ .

here is a movie of the salmon spawning up the river http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=452196328370&ref=mf

Field Trip

Been extremely busy with many projects recently. Tomorrow I leave for Brooks Memorial which is in the Columbia River Gorge region. A wildlife refuge and environmental learning center are around these locations.... I will be back Thursday!

Dry Falls, Sun Lakes

Time sure flies, this past week from Monday to Friday I went on a class trip to Sun Lakes State Park. It was about a 5 hour drive to eastern Washington and was very pretty. We spent the week getting to know each other, doing lots of hiking/surveys, and creating research projects for the quarter. The first and last night I slept inside cabins, however in-between the weather was great so I slept outside with many classmates. The stars were incredible and we could see a large amount of the milky way galaxy along with a few different planets. We did some group hikes up a few plateaus and had lots of independent time to hike out to lakes and survey bird behavior and also do some swimming. The reason we went here is because this place is unique to the world and was actually the worlds largest waterfall. Most of Washington was covered in glaciers however eastern w.a. didn't have any and was more lush. There was basically a large ice-wall, which on a few occasions erupted releasing the largest amount of water ever. This happened a few times within a few hundred years and around 12000 years ago. Consequently it washed all the fertile soil into Oregon, and dropped huge erratics(large rocks placed in flat land) all over the prairies. It also created a very harsh environment with almost nothing surviving. Now there are more species living there including lots of birds, snakes, and fish. A few of the animals I saw were rattle snakes, scorpions, quail, preying mantis, and many other insects and birds. I ended up creating a project group and am very excited for this research study and to collect data! I'm researching Red-winged Blackbirds and am specifically looking for a correlation between the colorful wing coverts males have and the vocalizations they make. The coverts on the wings of the males in this species have been chosen through sexual selection(a form of adaptation) and basically are a signal to the female about the health of an individual. The brighter the color the more nutrients and better genes is the constant. My question is if birds with lesser coverts compensate with higher vocalizations. I intend on taking pictures(in RAW format) and analyzing the spectrum's of color using photoshop to determine the intensity of color. I'm going to also take sound recordings at the same time and analyze the amplitude of each individual. Eventually once all the data is collected I will process it all and try to find patterns using statistics and excel. The methodology of this study is pretty complex and to inspect the amplitude of vocalizations I will have to use a sound format to adjust for the range in distance from the recorder to the subject.... Its very exciting and I am beginning to feel very self sufficient in carrying out my own studies. Also I not only got my job back, but now have FOUR JOBS! I went into the rec center today and after lots of persistence they hired me back as gym staff, concessions, sports, and general req. This means I will be working in the gym, sport games, selling food, and also helping with school non-competitive games(ultimate Frisbee)! I'm starting again on Friday and will be working as "ball shagger" for both a soccer game on Fri and sat! Its great here, the new house rock, and class is great in every aspect! Hope all is well everyone.....o yeah here are the photos from the trip http://www.flickr.com/photos/23083581@N02/sets/72157625145896234/

LEMON HOUSE

Well my first week in Olympia has flown by and has been amazing so far. My new house consists of Mackenzie, Mirise, Mollie, Draco(python), and Avatar(cat). It took a while to settle in because the house was rented for the month of sept. so there were a few people in transition here however its almost all set for us now! Its a beautiful house about 4 miles from campus and now that im equipped with my road bike I can make it there in 12 mins(fastest time yet, but im only going to get faster....). The house is situated almost directly in between campus and downtown which makes it extremely easy to travel. I have been taking care of many different tasks and there is always something to do... The weather has been decent and we have had a little sun and rain, but nothing too cold. We have been cooking very tasty house dinners at night and also have started brewing a bunch of kombucha and kiefer. We have a few other projects also and have been making sprouts and chips/bread(using a dehydrator to dry kale chips and raw seed breads!). We have a lot of big plans in the works and this environment has felt very productive and amazing so far. I had my first day of class(Animal Behavior and Zoology) on Monday and it seems great from my first impression. On Tuesday our class went to Point Defiance(its a zoo) and studied how captivity effects animal behavior. This class is very fast paced and since every member was hand selected it has a very academic approach and not much down time...Ill be gone all next week on a trip to Sun Lakes with the class, not quite sure what it will entail yet... I have been working on getting my job back at the Rec Center, but a lot is still up in the air. There is a whole new administration at the gym and parts of it such as the climbing gym and equipment check out are still closed. Iv talked with the new boss a few times and I feel i still have a decent chance at being hired back.... I have today off to get work done and am extremely happy with the way everything has been moving!

More Backpacking

This summer sure has been great, a nice pace of life with lots of adventures. This past week I went backpacking with a few good friends from childhood to desolation wilderness which is in the northern sierra nevada mountains! It was a great time and felt great to be outside again, I have grown very comfortable living outside and its almost a second home now.... We climbed a few mountains and swam in some huge snow melt lakes surrounded by giant peaks. check out some photos here .. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=202448&id=631538370&l=6caada177c . So far my plan is to drive north to Olympia around the 17or18th so i can bring up a bed and road bike for my new house! Im also going on another backpacking trip with my sister next weekend to Pt. Reyes for two nights... Most of my friends are leaving for school so things here are starting to really slow down, however I still seem to have endless activities to keep myself busy with. Well im going to try to get back into blogging as things begin to pick up soon. I have almost all my books for class and it seem like it will be a very exciting year!

Everythings flying by...check out photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/23083581@N02/4887549274/

and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197492&id=631538370&l=2a2d5f00f5

ill add more once i have time to sort everything out

Sweet Summer

Well the time is finally arriving for my departure to the Rocky Mountains!!! These past few days have been very busy with packing and double checking I have all the necessities. I also had an amazing week with my grandma and grandpa in LA... 3 of my friends and me also went to Electric Daisy Carnival which was insane...There were 180,000 people there this year, with tons of good music and art(the pictures are both of the coliseum which was only 1 of the 4 stages)! Staying in LA was a nice break and I got lots of relaxing in and saw even more cool art at the Getty museum. Well this may be my last post for a while...I will return August 11! Have a good summer everyone!

ALL DONE!!!!!

Its official, second year of college down, and very successful at that! This week was my last one and I only had class on Wednesday along with work at the crc on Tuesday. That morning we had a two hour quiz with short essays about birds, and later in the day we had the field portion of the quiz. This consisted of identifying species, aging, then sexing the bird. Additionally we also went in small groups with the teacher into the field during which we performed point counts and identified as many birds as possible in 15mins. All of this went very well and I received my first grade in years.... After class a friend invited us all over to her house downtown, during which we had bbq and played badminton.... On Thursday I had my evaluation with my professor. The evaluation went really well and she wrote a great professional paper about me.... I received all my 16 credits, and my extra work paid off, for two of the credits were upper division which brings me closer to all the necessary credits for a science deg. Thursday night my friend Maya had her Indian performance, The Warrior Queen, which was an amazing dance about the struggles between India and the British. This morning I went out to breakfast with friends and have finally been relaxing, a lot of sauna also as usual. Iv got a week left here and will just be packing and doing lots of cleaning along with spending time with friends. Overall its been a very successful year and I have been introduced to many wonderful fields which I will continue exploring in the future.

Science Carnival

Its been a very busy week and I have spent tons of time in the library. On Monday i got up at 4am and drove with my room-mate, Eric, to some wild diverse property where we banded birds for a few hours. I did my first complete banding experience which involved setting up nets, checking them every 10 or 15mins, untangling the birds from the nets, putting them in proper grips, checking many areas on the bird for data(sex, weight, plumage, brood patch, molting....) and record all of this. Next i placed a unique metal bracelet on the birds leg to allow future study of the individual. The two birds i banded were song sparrow and common yellow throat. I also spent a good amount of time in the bike shop this week and ended up having to replace my front derailuer due to a tiny part breaking. I found a free replacement piece and it now shift in fiction rather than index.... I have been working hard on a paper about sexual selections effect on breeding in sexual dimorphic birds. This morning i presented, with my work group, about these dimorphic birds at Evergreens Science Carnival. We also had the kids make hummingbird feeders. Tonight im biking downtown with a friend and will be going to a small show with some local artists. Tomorrow im heading to Seattle for the day to check out the Folk Life festival.... Monday im going backpacking with my room-mate Eric probably to the Cascade Rage...So many fun things are happening and class has been great! I have one more day which is my final exam on Wednesday! Cant wait for summer!!!

2 MORE WEEKS!

This quarter has been the fastest by far! On Friday at 6am we completed the territory maps and compiled all our data together which formed a map that somewhat showed the dominate species and the territories they hold. This weekend has been pretty relaxing and a bit gray and rainy. I have been working on my final paper for my class which is about the effects sexual selection through breeding have on reverse dimorphic birds. Basically this deals with the differences between males and females and how it came to be that way. Almost all birds in the Falconiformes family have smaller males than females which is the opposite for almost all other birds. There are many theories to why this variation occurs and some of them consist that smaller birds eat smaller things which are more abundant. When a female is carrying eggs and protecting the nest the male must provide food and it would be harder to catch the same quantity of food as a larger bird. This is just one theory and there still needs to be many more studies to find something conclusive. My work group will be making a presentation about sexual dimorphism and presenting it next week at the science carnival. Now im just preparing for the end and starting to get everything cleaned up.

Early Mornings....

This weekend was very nice and some of the things i did were go mountain biking, swimming at the beach, watch a break dancing competition, and go to a fun party with a few djs. On Sunday my class work group met up and cook delicious waffles then brought are computers outside where we analyzed sound recording that we captured in Louisiana. This morning i woke up at 430am got ready very quick and met a classmate outside. We then drove to the organic farm and proceeded to set up a bird banding site with nets and analysis tools. I helped gather birds and take data and had a very nice sleepy morning. This afternoon i worked from 11 to 530 and now will be going to the computer center to complete more sound analysis with my work group. I was also accepted into Animal Behavior and Zoology, which is a very competitive upper division science class, after submitting a long essay and application. Im very excited for this program because it is right on the course for all my necessary science credits along with providing a lot of field time and travel opportunities.

So much

There are three weeks left in this final quarter and its unbelievable how fast time flew by. Im now figuring out class and living plans for next year along with some of my ideas for summer. My class has been going very well and on Friday I had a 5am class session at the Organic Farm on campus. The first things we did was help set up a bird banding station which involved going around to various locations and setting up very precise nets to catch birds. The nets to not harm the birds and they fly into them and roll into a little pocket. Once the birds are removed from the net we take many measurements including fat levels, molting, plumage, size of wings, number of primary/secondary/tracery feathers, check gender, and then band the leg with a small bracelet containing an id number issued from the government to track/catalog birds. This data is collected and posted online were other people can track the id number to see the migration patterns. I have been working everyday this past week at the rec center and have also been dealing with lots of statistics on excel... Today was the academic fair and im filling out an application to hopefully get into Animal Behavior and Zoology. Things have been speeding up and so much is going on.....Those cell phone pics consist of jazz fest, cafe du mond, the cemetery pic is from new orleans and the forest/beach is at evergreen. Those jars are my kombucha iv been brewing. I figured out how to load pics from my phone now...I have created some very interesting tasty flavors and really enjoying brewing/fermenting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha

pics finally

there will be more to come....these are all from classmates since my camera stopped reading my flash card. this week has included
-giving blood
-volunteering with us fish and wildlife at ft. lewis to take bird/habitat surveys
-going to grays harbor to observe shore birds and saw a falcon swoop in.
-create many excel files using regression statistics and deviations....its been a while since iv used this much math!
and many other things ill fill you in on eventually

Louisiana

Its been an amazing past few week which flew by so fast. Way to much happened to even describe with words or completely recollect, but ill do my best. The first night I arrived in Lafayette, Louisiana and was picked up by some class mates and headed to a local hostel. I spent the night hanging out with classmates and waiting for everyone to arrive. By the next day the whole class had gathered and we departed to Cypress Island Preserve where we began birding. It was a very marshy area with water snakes, gators, and many birds. Some of the birds I saw there included roseate spoonbill, a few types of ibis, and a few species of egrets. We had lunch in Lafayette and went to a small restaurant with southern food.... After we drove to Cypremort Point State Park and stayed in cabins there for two nights. Upon arrive some classmates and I went for a swim in the gulf. The cabins were very nice and it was a very beautiful location. We spent a lot of time driving around to bird coastal hotspots and learning new species along with new habitats. On day four we went to Louisiana State University and learned about current studies there and the significance of understanding species and the environment in order to preserve habitats which can effect human populations. Louisiana relies on its wetlands to act as a buffer from storms, however to keep these places intact there must be heavy sedimentary flow. We also learned about hydrology and the efforts to control the Mississippi river which wants to be flowing in different paths. Everday we also preformed dawn(430-5am) and dusk surveys of birds which involved keeping an "x" list of species/individuals along with recording/identifying calls and chorus(before the trip we got proficient in using flash recorders, shotgun mics, and audio software). At LSU we also toured the Natural History Collections and then later departed for Tunica Hills, which is where our professors friend lived, and we camped on her property which was hundreds or wild acres.
On day 5 we went to LaFitte National Park which is where we then camped the next three nights. After setting up camp we left to go hiking and airboating. The hike consisted of off-trail bush waking in a very dense forest with many unique places such as cypress swamps. By the end of the hike we were in mud up to our knees and had explored many research sites studying species and invasive plants. Next we for airboat rides out to a floating marsh. Its impossible to really describe this place, but basically it was a floating island of swampy plants which produced enough gases(methane.....) to float, kinda like a bog. Once the boats arrived we walked around on the island(which is bouncy and you can fall in loose areas) and looked at how all the plants and animals on this small island survive and hold each other together. The next day we went to the Atchafalaya river and learned about wildlife management and natural history. The next day was similar and filled with many surveys including point-count(measure tree heights, volumes, areas, and species richness....). On day 8 we went to a field research facility and learned about bird banding and migration details. They would catch birds in nets to study fat levels, dna, and any ticks or other foreign creatures being brought in.
After those few days of camping we went o Lake Fausse Pointe State Park during which we compiled species lists for the park and explored the area. The next day my survey group took a canoe out and did a 6 mile loop around the park while doing bird surveys. We saw many gators(14ft....) and huge snakes... It was an amazing time and I really got a feel for the rugged environment there. The last day we had a bbq and the whole class celebrated together. The next day everyone was dropped off at the airport. Four other classmates and I rented a car for the day and headed to New Orleans. My friend new somebody down there so we had a very nice house to stay in right off of canal st. The first day in the city was pretty relaxed and we got some beignets and just walked around and later settled into the house. The next day my friend and I had breakfast downtown and then rode the street car to jazz fest. We were able to scalp cheep tickets and saw many jazz/blues bands and ended with Simon and Garfunkel. It was an amazing show despite huge muddy fields... The final day I just walked around town and some old cemeteries. Unfortunately my old digital camera failed on the last day and it appears my memory card is unreadable.. However many other folks took pics and ill upload them when i get a chance......time to relax and unwind

New Man

Two days ago I went out into the field with few friends and they helped me cut off my dreads out in the sun... Later we buzzed it even and it feels amazing....Shortly after I went running and had an amazing time without hair hitting me in the face. This will be nice for camping in Louisiana and its funny how few people recognize me now.

Travels

Its been a great week full of non-stop action and adventures. My friend from back home, Barzin, flew up here on Saturday and hung out for the night at Evergreen with friends. The next morning we drove up to Canada(borrowed a friends car....) and drove to his friends apartment in downtown Vancouver. While in Vancouver our friends at the apartment showed us many cool places such as stanley park, UBC, and some great restaurants... Barzin and me had a great time wandering around the city and met many interesting people. We returned to Evergreen on Tuesday and introduced Barzin to many of my friends. The next three days I had class which consisted of field trip planning and seminars. I have been doing a lot of planning for the trip and figured out my plans to stay in New Orleans after my class trip ends. Yesterday I dropped my friend off at the airport and wandered around Seattle with Maya. I was accepted in a NOLS course this summer!!! Im now laying out in the field, (with a shaved head!) and figuring out more logistics for the next few days. Im departing on Tuesday for Louisiana and will be there till the 26th.... Everything has been great and the Spring quarter is really amazing so far!

First Week of Field Ornithology

Wow my first week of class has been amazing and also exhausting, thus i must be brief. Im enrolled in field ornithology(study of birds) and have been learning so much every day. This week I have had class everyday at 7am and one day at 10am... So far i have learned how to use a gps unit, clinometer, compass, along with techniques to perform habitat and mammal surveys. Im using math again and have been using trigonometric functions to find tree height and volume. By finding this I am able calculate the carbon offset a tree produces and its relationship to the environment and animals. I have also been using Excel to create tables and scatter plots to find correlations with data collected in the field. We have been doing many field studies and im learning how to recognize birds and plants. So far i have seen many different species including a barred owl in the forest... Im also doing extra work, for upper division credit, which involves making bird specimens for the college collection. Today I started working on a salvaged western meadowlark and will hopefully have a complete specimen in a week or so....Ill spare you the gruesome dissection details.... I have also booked my trip to Louisiana with the class and will also stay later with friends in New Orleans after the class trip ends(Jazz Fest will be going on!!!). This weekend my friend Barzin is visiting and we are planing on taking a few days to travel through Canada and Vancouver! All is well and iv been keeping myself very busy and having a great time throughout it all!

Ocean

Its been a great past few days. So on Saturday night I saw Blue Scholars and Zion I which was amazing.. Many people showed up and it was really rocking!! The next morning I had a work meeting and after that decided to go to the ocean for a day and drove out there. We hung out in the Olympic Forest and also on the beaches!!! It was great and really helped relax me. My apartment has also gone through ALOT of cleaning and is spotless now, we will have two other people moving in i think. Today i had my evaluation with my teacher which went great. He said very nice things and really enjoyed my presence in the class. After this helped clean more, hung out in the sun, went into the forest and sauna, and lastly I'm at work now from 5 to 9. I plan to go backpacking for a few days on Wednesday, and will probably drive back to the bay for a week or so with some friends!!! Its so great to have time to do other things now and everything has been going great!!!

Comprehensive Precautionary Health Ed Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgiL3RFDai0
This is the video i made for a health project in class... Im registered for Field Ornithology next quarter which should be interesting. I have my evaluation on Monday and after that i will done for a while. Going to a friends show tonight downtown. Im also planing a backing packing to happen around Tuesday for a few days. O yeah on Saturday night there is a huge hiphop show at Evergreen with Zion i, Blue Scholars, and Gabriel Teodros... Cant wait!!!

Wrap Up

Wow a lot of time has passed by and its already almost spring quarter. Today i presented my health movie to the class and it went very well. Ill upload it eventually... This next week im just watching other students present projects. It feels very good to be done with this and i ended up putting a lot more time into it than i planned for and last night had to stay up very late to get the final version to burn correctly. It all worked out in the end and i still got some zzz's before class. After class i went on a run through the forest then hopped into the sauna, and am now at work. The only thing left to do is my evaluation and also find a class to register for nest quarter. Im also trying to figure my summer plans out right now. So i may not be moving out of my apartment, but a good friend might actually move in so it would be alright. Its nice to finally have some time on my hands and now i can get to a few projects iv been trying to start(making shoes! http://www.invisibleshoe.com/#ecwid:category=135066&entryPage=Y&mode=category&offset=0&sort=normal)... I went to an antique store a few days ago and got some leather cord and sheets of leather.

Almost the end of Winter

Wow its already week nine and this quarter is wrapping up. I have been very busy and im finishing up all my projects and papers. This weekend was nice and it was even sunny part of the time. I saw some friends, did some biking all over town, and longboarded around the capital. I also had a group meeting at a friends house during which my health project group all critiqued each others and planed our presentations out further. Im devoting most of my time this week to finishing the movie and i am excited to see the final product. I think i will also be moving out this month if all works out and switching to an apartment across from campus, but still within minutes from my current residence.

Suuuny Sky

Wow this week has been fun and also really busy. I had a great time seeing my parents and sister and the weather was beautiful while they were here. My sister stayed with me from Wednesday to Saturday and during those days she helped me at work, went to class with me, hiked through the woods and also went to a potluck at Maya's house. Iv been trying to catch up on all the school work and our final health projects will be due soon so im working hard every day to get some editing done. Today i had a very interesting class about genetics and epigentics. Today mainly focused on senescence (aging) and how its a product of selection and is adaptive. Our teacher in his past did a big study about aging and found that many tumors and cancer are actually the product of old age and the same mechanism which causes them, actually keeps us healthy when we are young and natural selection ignores these effects in old age. Basically most tumors and cancer are cells which keep repairing and dont receive a message to turn off. This is the same with moles except they stop growing. My teacher discussed how telomeres repair cells but eventually hit a point were they cease to do this in old age. Genetics still have lots to uncover and certain theories such as, antagonistic pleiotropy, state that genes have good effects early in life and later in life will consequently have bad effects after a human being enters sexual maturation. Also throughout the past years the average life span has risen, but the maximum life span has not. Our class still has a lot to learn about this area of study, but society's perception of health is obviously skewed and there are many other dimensions to investigate.

Family

This weekend was great and i was able to see my family briefly. On Saturday i had a very early work meeting from 8 to 10 and once we finished i went back to my room and slept for a while. Once awake i cleaned a little bit, did some reading for my class, and got a quick workout in at the CRC. My parents and sister later met me at my dorm and got to see my amazing/colorful living conditions. Although my mom was a bit shocked they took it pretty well.... That night we went out for Thai food and had some amazing meals downtown. They dropped me off back at my apartment after dinner and i spent the night with friends. I met up with my family in the morning and they took me shopping at the food co-op and stocked me up for a long time. We then ate a late breakfast at QB(Quality Burrito) which is one of my favorite places! After the meal we walked around downtown and then headed back to campus. I had no class or work yesterday and had a nice rest day with lots of reading and laundry. The weather has been getting very nice and spring will be here soon!

Wilderness Ethics

Oh one other thing i forgot to mention is that on thursday night i attended The Willi Unsoeld Seminar which was in honor of an old teacher who died on Mt. Rainier. This lecture was pretty much all done by Dan Mazur who is an amazing climber and has been up Everest 15 times and has also climbed 8 other highest mountains. His stories were incredible and the first time he climbed up Everest he had to leave his partner behind and ended up climbing down at night. His partner ended up surviving after another group found him and brought him back down the mountain. He discussed how during such intense acts people discover their ethics and morals and how saving a persons life is more important than reaching the top of the mountain. In recent years Everest has become more commercialized and is loosing its sacredness. Dan told a story about a rescue he performed on Everest and how passing groups simply said they didnt speak English(they did) and walked by without offering any help. This is increasingly happening and people are left on the mountain and climbers will literally walk by instead of trying to save the failed climber. Also during part of the climb after camp three and before the top he was ascending an ice wall which he could see through ice pick holes Tibet on one side and Nepal on the other. It was very inspiring and he has also worked with remote regions in Nepal. This lecture spiked many interests and i learned about some interesting programs im investigating.

Kayaking

What a great past few days! On Thursday i woke up early and my teacher picked me up on campus and we drove to the motor pool to check out a van. I picked up a nice twelve passenger van and drove back to campus where the class was waiting. Once loaded up we headed to the Body Exhibit in Seattle. This place was amazing and it consisted of two floors with various unidentified bodies and parts that had been plasticized so they would not deteriorate. We also got little audio hand helds which spoke about various presentations. It was very amazing to see all the muscles and bones and the different complex layers. Something which particularly stunned me was a case showing a brain with all the tiny wires in our body which is the nervous system. It was a bit strange to view all these detailed parts and networks of cells within our body but it gives a great idea of how everything in our bodies are connected and designed with such complexity. After walking through the museum we then went downtown to Pikes Places and wandered the streets for a while snacking on the best food! After we left and drove back to campus. That night was Mollys birthday so we had a little celebration at my friends apartment. The next day/morning i was awoke to a knock on my door and my Curtis was there with big plans for the day. After fully waking up and eating we biked over to his house five miles north right next to water. Once there we prepared for a long kayak trip across the inlet to Hope Island State park/Squaxin Island. It was about a 1o mile paddle there and back and it was very beautiful. On the ride over we had seals following us and once there we saw huge crabs, large trees, and very colorful starfish. After exploring the island for a while we then paddled back during sunset. Once back i hung out at Curtis's cottage for a while then biked back to campus. On Saturday i did lots of cleaning and also went grocery shopping at the co-op. That night there was a little party downtown and i also wandered around with a group of friends. Today is going to be a work day and i have almost three minutes done with the movie but still much more editing and reading to do....

Seattle

I had a great weekend with friends and things have been moving very smoothly. Class this week has been great and im really enjoying all the lectures and seminars. Tomorrow i will be driving a van to Seattle with our class to visit the body museum. Its contains many cadavers and is supposed to show how various human functions(nervous system, muscles, sight....) work. We also get a lunch break during which we will be going to Pikes Place! Class today was great and i got a very nice mid-quarter review from my professor. After class and had a quick snack and did a quick workout at the rec center. Now im back at the gym and am working from 215 to 830. Its a long day but the place is very quiet and i brought my computer so i can get more work done on my movie.

Bowling

Its been a great week and iv been enjoying everything that im doing. Class was very interesting and we turned in a mid-quarter portfolio yesterday. Im starting to enjoy and get to know the teachers way better and have had some great conversations with them. Im also still compiling massive amounts of scientific journals and studies for my video project and am slowly making progress. Iv been getting lots of work in at the rec center and covered an additional two shifts this week. This week has been pretty warm and the sun has even shown itself a few times. Yesterday after class my friend Curtis and me went biking on some trails down to the beach and around campus. Later a large group of 15 or so friends rode the bus out to the bowling ally and played a few games. Im currently at work and will be off in an hour, im planning on ridding downtown today and depositing paychecks and picking up food. I met with my academic advisor this week and am trying to figure out plans to study abroad!

PICTURES!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144810&id=631538370&l=45e7c9eddc
Thats all for tonight but i will update more once im rested

Olympic National Forest!!!!!!

So i know its been a while, but man this week has been super busy and iv had too catch up on some work due to an amazing weekend of BACKPACKING!!!! So i left with my good friend, Anna, on Saturday morning(my roommate zeph let us borrow his car) and we headed up towards the Olympic National Forest. Unfortunately that morning i woke up and went to turn off my alarm and spilled water all over my phone....(however it turned on again after 5 days of not working...). We had some vague plans set but ended up figuring out most of it at the ranger station in Port Angeles. Most of the park is snowed out/flooded, but we found one of the few places which was still accessible. We had a short 3 mile hike to boulder creek campground and had to cross and few streams. Once there we rushed to the Olympic hot springs which were a minute away and ate lunch while soaking our feet. Later we found a great campsite unpacked and started dinner. It was a rainy night and luckily we were prepared with a tent and heavy tarp. The next morning we took down our food(we had to put it in a bear box and hang it in a tree) and cooked some oatmeal and tea. We then went and relaxed in the most amazing hot springs pool. There were about 10 pools and the one we went to was at the top of a hill and had a sulfur waterfall flowing into it. Many birds came and joined us and literally walked around a foot away from us... Later that day we went hiking up Appleton pass and ended up ascending around 4000 feet. We eventually stopped on a snowy mountain side, snaked for a bit, and then had to turn back to beat the night. At night we cooked up some delicious kinwa and veggies and also decided to pack up all our gear and hike back that night(to beat the storm and have time to readjust to school). After packing everything we proceeded to trek back to the amazing springs and soaked there for at least an hour. Once we absorbed all the heat and sulfur we could went loaded up and hiked back while carrying lots of light. We made it back around midnight and then drove back to Olympia. This is a very short story of the trip and it really helped to put many things in perspective. It was somewhat depressing to have to leave the incredible temperate rain forest with thousand year old trees. This week of class has been good and i have also been working a lot at the rec center. Today i had a FERPA training about releasing personal info.... it was pretty redundant but i got paid for it so wooop. I have sooo many pictures to post and once i have the time i will share them. Well thats all for now, i must get back to reading, In Defense of Food, now(awesome so far) and have an early class/seminar tomorrow. Night

Backpacking!!!

Its been a great week and despite the business im really enjoying what im doing currently. Class has been very interesting and im starting to compile sources for my video project. Our books have also been very enjoyable and i find myself very drawn into all the texts. The book, Betwixt and Between, talks about lack of initiations and sense of self in the current generation and how it relates to depression and suicide. During long newspaper strikes a drop in suicide rates occur and the media is a large factor of the current depression. Our current book, Weapons of Mass Instruction, talks about the corruption of the school system and how we are conditioned in many subtle ways to become consumers, without creativity or the ability to question. It also talks about how not that long ago people did not need forced education and were much more active in the community as producers. I have a new work schedule now and am working monday, tuesday, and wednesday, which is nice because it somewhat correlates with my classes so i can get school work done right after class... Its been pretty gray here, but not too cold or rainy. I had my first successful brew of water kefir. Water kefir is a culture of various strains of healthy bacteria and yeasts which are held together in a polysaccharide matrix created by the bacteria. Some of the benefits are for nervous disorders, internal ulcers, bronchial catarrh, sclerosis,myocardial infarction, liver and gall bladder disorders, kidney problems, stomach and intestinal diseases, diarrhea or constipation, anemia, allergies, dermatitis and other skin problems such as eczema. It also tastes great and is slightly sweet and carbonated. I have been working out almost daily and still play lots of racket ball and sauna. This weekend i will be going backpacking with a good friend into the olympic national forest. we will probably also drive to the coast and see some cool sights over the weekend. I have monday off so i intend on having some fun and hiking in some thousand year old temperate rain forests!!!

Back

Im back at school now and am still adjusting to this fast paced place. I had a surprisingly relaxing and fast, yet cramped, ride to Washington and celebrated my birthday with a group of close friends up here. There are many birthdays this month and my roommate, Ed, had his yesterday. Iv had two classes so far and am really looking forward to this quarter. We switched seminar leaders so im with the other teacher now who is very interesting. This quarter we are doing another health project and i decided im going to make a comprehensive educational health video dealing with the precautionary principle. Im going to be focusing on muscular/bone structure, diet, existing hazardous materials/ingredients, and radiation. These are the topics iv chosen so far and the video will most likely be around 10 minutes which should be enough length to convey lots of information. My goal is to promote longevity because are current generation needs a wake up call. The leading cause of deaths in the U.S. is from cardiac arrest and factors such as unhealthy diets are killing us and heavily taxing the medical system. I have also picked up a few shifts at the rec center this week and will be starting a new permanent schedule next week. I have also been working on some painting and lots of reading. Hope everyone is well... off to more work now