Good Little Enviro-Kids Recycle...

...Which is why I'm posting this entry, which was originally meant for my other blog. You know, the one I write for the Nick School. However I wasn't completely happy with it, and ended up doing a complete rewrite (which you can see on the Nick School blog site, hopefully within the next few days). But I also have this disease where I don't like to just scrap anything that I write, so you (my faithful blog readers) will be subjected to my "From the Trenches" blog rejects. Enjoy!

Black Friday – The Most Sinister Day of the Year

If we were to arrange a face-off between Black Friday and Boxing Day, the two most violent-sounding shopping days in North America… who would win?

Now, for all you people who are scratching your heads, wondering “what is Boxing Day?”, let me explain. Boxing Day is our backwards Canadian version of Black Friday, which is celebrated the day after Christmas by most of the British Commonwealth. Opposite to Black Friday, which traditionally marks the opening of the Christmas shopping season in the U.S., December 26th (and usually the full week after) marks the time when Canadians can gather all their gift cards and money from relatives, take stock of what is under the tree, then go out and buy what they really wanted. Reindeer sweaters and pink fuzzy socks get pushed into a corner until the time they can be returned, or maybe passed on to the homeless man on the street who probably doesn’t care that they are “soooo last year…”

Truthfully, the idea of these mass-sale “holidays” has never appealed to me. The sinister names themselves are enough to turn me off, conjuring images of black-eyes and boxing-gloved sale seekers. And then there are the line-ups and the unfriendly crowds… and the environmentalist in me doesn’t even want to think of all the extra waste we’re creating. All those plastic shopping bags, and receipts, and gift boxes… not to mention all the extra heat released into the atmosphere by all those shoppers burning up their credit cards. *Shudder*

The part that I find most disheartening, though, is how selfish these “holidays” have become. Historically, Boxing Day was celebrated as far back as the Middle Ages as a day to give a little something to the less fortunate. The term itself comes from the boxes of food and clothes that would be distributed to the poor of the communities, or the box of tips that would be split amongst hardworking vendors, or the “Christmas Box” or bonus that employers would give to their overworked employees. Yet somehow, this “holiday” has turned into an opportunity for people to get the best deals on junk they don’t actually need. When did everything become so commercial?

Now, I’m not trying to be preachy. I know all about excess (and anybody who’s seen my closet can confirm that fact). All I’m saying is, while you’re out in the crowds, your blood racing at the prospect of how much money you’re saving, take a second to stop and think. Do you really need that V-neck sweater in three colours? Is it necessary or practical to get a second iPod (even if it does match your new “so cute!” red jacket)? And, seriously, are you ever going to wear those blue hounds-tooth knee-high boots?

Maybe, just maybe, your money would be worth saving until something you actually want comes along. Maybe that $50 from Aunt Ida could be put to better use than buying yet another Rockband game (which, admit it, you haven’t had time to play much of anyway…) Maybe it could buy some food and warm clothes for the less fortunate instead. Maybe the homeless man on the corner (yes, the one you gave that hideous reindeer sweater to) could have a warm meal this Christmas. Maybe the girl you passed by on the street with the emaciated puppy could use a coffee and a bag of dog food. Maybe you can help someone who actually needs it. And maybe you’ll even feel good about it.

Just maybe…

Realization of the Day

When you take to discussing with yourself OUT LOUD the pros and cons of taking a nap, then start bargaining with yourself OUT LOUD about what you'll get done later if you take a nap now.... you probably need the nap.

Or a lobotomy.

A Lesson in Commenting

I've had several people mention to me that posting comments on my blog is somewhat confusing... So I decided to post a quick little comment lesson for all my non-blogging friends. Learning to comment is very simple, and takes only four quick and easy steps:

1. Type your comment in the "Leave your comment" box.

2. In the "Word Verification" box, retype the word you see floating above it. (This step is to ensure that I don't get spam in my comments section)

3. Under the "Choose an identity" section, click the little circle next to "Anonymous". No, you don't have to have an account to leave a message... I know most people don't, so I set it so that anyone can comment. Just make sure to leave your name, so I know who's posting!

4. Click the bright orange "Publish your comment" button. Doing this will post your comment to my blog, and allow me to read it.

Thanks for your time, and happy commenting!

You Know You Need A Break When...

1. You get halfway through doing something and forget what exactly it is you’re trying to get done. Then 10 minutes later you realize you’re not wearing any pants.

2. The thought of checking your school email account in the mornings causes your whole body to slow down, your stomach to tie itself into a knot and drop about a foot, and a sinister organ-solo reminiscent of Beethoven’s 5th to start playing in your brain.

3. Your “break” during the day is to go to the coffee shop, grab a latte, and settle in with your pile of homework that needs to get done before the next class, so you can spend the time after that class finishing off the homework they just assigned.

4. You get great satisfaction out of planning your week and realizing that if you stay up half an hour later each night, you may actually get everything done.

5. You get even greater satisfaction out of crossing things off your list… and sometimes throw in a few things you’ve already done, just to make yourself feel better.

6. You get completely frustrated with your homework after spending literally an entire day doing GIS, and vow at 9:00 pm to go to bed. Instead, you end up at a friend’s house working on an assignment until after 12:30.

7. You get halfway through writing a list of reasons you need a break (while you should be working on your GIS lab and printing off notes for the class that starts in an hour and a half) and you realize that you forgot to put on a shirt. Damn.

8. Grocery shopping becomes a luxury instead of a necessity.

9. You wake up to your alarm clock beeping, and your fuzzy mind decides it doesn’t want to hit the button, just in case it erases the horribly long equation you accidentally deleted three times already the night before… when in fact you entered the equation into an excel spreadsheet, and NOT into your alarm clock.

10. You take the time to write a list about how you need a break, laugh hysterically because you think you’re so witty (when, in fact, it’s not all that funny…), and then cry a little because it’s all true.

Playing Catch-up

Alright folks, just a few house-keeping type tidbits that I've been meaning to post but just haven't had the chance to (however right now I'm sitting in the library, waiting for a royalty-free music file to download so I can finish working on my video for the communications department, so I figured it would be a good time). Here goes:

1. I have a new blog. Yes, you heard me right... I'm now getting paid to blog for the Nicholas School (the environmental school at Duke) to attract prospective students. If you really feel like you just can't get enough of me, and want to read my somewhat propaganda-ish attempts to attract new students, you can find it here . As always, comments are welcome... however, since it's a school-based blog, and it's meant for incoming students, please keep any personal comments confined to this site! (I want to keep that one relatively professional)

2. I've decided to give the Flickr thing another try... (originally I wasn't fond of the monthly upload limit, so I didn't bother adding any photos). I've just got random stuff up right now, but I'll try to post any of my new/exciting pictures there for folks to see, since many of you probably have accounts (or at least a lot of the family does, as far as I know). Find me here! (And friend me, too... so far I only have one friend, and that makes me le sad.)

3. I'm hoping to make it home Dec. 10th or so, and will be sticking around the Ottawa area until Jan. 5th or 6th I think, so hopefully I'll get to see a lot of you fine people (or at least those who are still in the area...) Give me a shout and we'll set something up!

4. My recent mind-blowing realization: In the past 3 weeks, I have seen the sun set over the Pacific ocean, and over the Atlantic ocean. I've decided to provide some evidence, firstly because I barely believe it myself, and secondly because it's just plain purty.

Pacific Sunset:


Atlantic Sunsets:




Compare and Contrast.

That's all for now!

Pictures - Round 1

Alright, I was going to post my photos to Flickr to share with everyone, but as it turns out they have a monthly limit on how much you can upload.... and I have too many pictures. So, for your viewing pleasure, I'm including links to my already-posted Facebook albums (and don't worry, you don't need facebook to actually see these. Or so it tells me.)

California Album 1

California Album 2

California Album 3

California Academy of Sciences (yes, it gets its own album)

And, just for kicks, check out when I went to the North Carolina State Fair

Finally Presenting...California! (The Lazy Girl's Solution)

Alright, I've been back from California for a couple of weeks now, and haven't bothered posting about my adventures. Forgive me, kind readers, I was far too busy trying to catch up with all my work. And with only 3 weeks or so left of classes, I'm going to remain busy pretty much until the end. So, not being one to break a promise, I decided to post one long/long overdue synopsis of the trip. However I'm also not one who will do extra work when she doesn't have to... which means you are getting the "field journal" version of things, which I had to hand in to my prof. Basically the trip was a huge roadtrip from L.A. to San Francisco, and these excerpts represent some key stops along the way. This post will be long, so feel free to stop reading at any point. You can always come back and read at your leisure! (Deep breath...) here goes!

Impressions of Los Angeles
Nothing could have prepared me for the endless expanse of concrete called L.A. Flying in from St. Louis, all I could do was stare in wonder at urban sprawl at its worst. After today’s tour of the city, the one thing that struck me was the lack of anything natural. The “nature” part of L.A. seems to have been long-since paved over, replaced with swaths of concrete, fake rivers and industrialized or commercialized areas. Even the parts of L.A. that were meant to showcase its natural beauty were either constructed, or were choc-full of introduced or invasive species. The palm trees lining the streets, they symbol of L.A. itself? Non-native. The eucalyptus trees found throughout the park? Introduced. The ice plant and grasses covering the newly-restored wetland? Invasive.



Everywhere you look, pieces of other countries and other cultures are melted together to form the body of L.A. Don’t get me wrong, L.A. in its entirety is an impressive and strangely beautiful place. But for me, coming from a country that has more empty space than full, and where the cities devote large areas to “green space”, it’s just a different kind of beauty.
The other thing that struck me is how the downtowns of any big cities look so similar. The downtown core of L.A. could have been Toronto, minus the C.N. Tower, plus a few palm trees, and substituting Lake Ontario with the Pacific. It almost made me feel a little homesick. The thing that will stick with me the most, however, is the L.A. river. Hardly even a river, in the traditional sense… more of a completely paved canal. Even the more natural areas had paved banks.



In areas, however, the pavement was completely overgrown with both native and invasive vegetation, giving a whole new meeting to the term “concrete jungle”. Ducks and other shore birds gathered here, however, confirming that life will adapt to its surroundings.



Walking on the concrete river bed was a cultural experience all on its own, and it was impressive to look around at all the graffiti and discarded debris, and to look up at the railways, highways and overpasses and realize how many people walked those channels before us, and how many are bound to walk there in the future.




The whole day was one long, exhausting, eye-opening and intensely interesting experience, and I hope that someday I’ll be able to spend more time learning about the natural history of L.A. and seeing what the city has to offer besides palm trees, concrete and celebrity homes.

Impressions of Catalina
After L.A., Catalina was almost a shock with its seemingly pure nature and clear, unpaved waters. The landscape dominated by scrubby bushes and cacti was not at all what I was expecting, but lent to the exotic and faraway feel.



Its relatively empty expanse of land almost made a mockery of the hustle and bustle that is L.A., and dinner neighbours included bison and (if you’re lucky, which we weren’t) the somewhat elusive Catalina island fox, instead of noisy people on cell phones.
Snorkeling in the waters surrounding Catalina was a surreal experience in itself. After spending my life swimming in freshwater lakes or the North Atlantic, the colourful and diverse darting fish were a euphoria for the eyes. The bright orange girabaldis could be seen peeking through the kelp, the small electric rays lay silently buried in the sand, only to dart away when disturbed by the kick of a flipper, and the schooling fish swirled around in circles, catching the light and shooting it back in a million different directions. I hovered above a guitar fish who sat completely still and tried to blend with his surroundings. I watched an octopus the size of my fist walk across the rocks under a sheet of kelp. I slid through schools of small fish who moved like mercury through the water, laughing as they slipped through my fingers.
The wildlife while kayaking offered the same sort of thrill. Looking down through the kelp, the abnormally clear water offered a window through which I could see the same bright-coloured fish I saw while snorkelling. Above me, pelicans, gulls and cormorants glided low, sometimes seeming to skim the waves. A sea lion porpoised alongside our group for a short while, and later a curious seal bobbed between our kayaks, disappearing into the water, only to pop up somewhere else.
Even the purity of Catalina couldn’t be completely untouched, though. We pulled garbage from the waves, ranging from candy wrappers and bits of rope, to an entire bouquet of balloons and an unopened bottle of hand soap (which we later set up in our “kitchen” to take care of our cleansing needs). I guess it just goes to show that even parts of the world that seem relatively unaffected by the world around them can still show evidence of pollution and human negligence.

Rancho Marino
Even though we didn’t spend much time in Rancho Marino, it was a place I’ll never forget. Tidepooling was such a new experience for me there. In the past, most of the tidepools I’ve encountered were in the North Atlantic, so they offered very little in terms of diversity or colour. These tidopools, on the other hand, were a virtual rainbow of organisms, bright orange sea stars, dark green algae and kelp, neon-green anemones, fluorescent nudibranchs, and colour-changing octopi (2 of which I caught!) Being able to watch the otters playing in the waves, the seals bobbing alongside them, and mistaking the giant bull kelp bulbs as both of them was both amusing and distracting. Watching the giant orange globe of the sun sinking into the Pacific was a beautiful end to the day. Watching two pods of dolphins (bottlenose and what I assume were common dolphins) swim by as I drank my morning coffee on a cliff was an even better start to the next one. Rancho Marino is a place that I could be quite happy waking up to on a daily basis…

Hopkins Marine Station
Seeing Hopkins Marine Station makes me wish that I had looked into studying there. Not only is Monterey Bay beautiful, the facilities at Hopkins looked incredible, and the tidepools and wildlife just outside the door offered the perfect place to learn about west coast inter-tidal communities. The seals, sea lions and sea otters were fun to watch as well, as we clambered across algae-covered rocks.




It was also interesting to hear about some of the research going on there. I’ve read a bit about bluefin tunas, but it was really fascinating to learn more about how far they migrate and conservation issues they’re facing. I would have loved to spend more than just a couple hours there, but the short time we stayed was well worth it.

San Francisco – The California Academy of Sciences
I’m kind of at a loss about what to say about the Cal Academy, because I know all my words would fall short. Simply saying that this building is amazing is an understatement. I could try to describe the incredible architecture, but my words would sound flat, and the Academy is anything but. The sheer volume of their collection makes describing any part of it nearly impossible. I’ll just say that it is by far the most incredible museum I’ve ever visited, and getting the chance to see behind the scenes and handle specimens that famous ecologists collected was an experience I’ll never forget. I’m a firm believer in the saying “a picture’s worth a thousand words,” and in this case I’m going to shut up and let my pictures do all the talking.







Looking Back on the Trip
This trip was jam-packed, and exhausting, and the best possible way to see California. I know that if I had gone on my own, I would have never done as much nor seen as much as I did over this past week. Already people are asking me what my favourite part of the trip was, and I’d be hard pressed to pick just one moment or activity. Snorkelling and kayaking were definitely up there. Seeing the octopus “walking” underwater was incredible, especially since the only octopus I’ve ever seen was in a tank. Catching the two baby octopi at Rancho Marino (and not getting bitten!) was insane, and I’ll probably never forget the way their tentacles felt wrapping around my fingers. The Big Sur coast was beautiful, the redwoods were beyond impressive, and the Cal Academy was mind-blowing. I learned more during this one week than I would have spending months in a classroom, and the people we met along the way couldn’t have been better teachers. I loved our time getting to know California, the issues pertaining to the Pacific coast, and each other. I really couldn’t have asked for a better fall break.

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Phew, that was long. And the writing is not so great... kind of lame, but that's what forced travel journals will do to a girl! So I hope you enjoyed it... more pics and *hopefully* a couple of videos will be coming later (although I haven't actually had a chance to check the videos yet to see how they turned out... however if they worked properly, I've got a stellar one of the sunset at Rancho Marino coming up!)

Anyways, I just want to remind you all that I love comments, (which nobody seems to love posting), and I'm curious to see who's actually reading... leave me a message and let me know who you are, my dear readers!

Tis all for now...