On geology

Ok so I consumed caffeine this morning for the first time in a long time, and I am WIRED. I already finished grading papers, did one run-through of my presentation, and have read a zillion articles and blogs, all in 2 1/2 hours. That's a record for me [that's also why I weaned myself off of caffeine--now when I need  it, it really REALLY works]. And right now I just feel like I need to write. It's a weird feeling, but if I don't I might EXPLODE!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I was in the structure lab this morning and something caught my eye. It was a hand-written note on the white board by one of the undergrads who also uses the lab. It said:

I love rocks, chocolate and Katie

That's it. But reading it brought back some strong (albeit weird) emotions. Mostly from my undergrad. When I really really loved geology. Like, I loved it a lot. I loved learning about it, I loved telling people about it, I loved field trips, I loved fantasizing about grad school and my life as a Geo professor. I just loved it. I loved how it made sense. How it combined my love for the outdoors with my desire to learn. I loved that it encompassed everything from volcanoes to landslides to glaciers to diamonds. I just found it so loveable.

But reading that thing on the board reminded me that I no longer have that passion. And before you stop reading because you think this is going to digress into a "woe is me, I should have done something different, my life sucks and I'm only in my twenties, I'll never find a career" don't. Because it won't. Don't get me wrong I have those thoughts all the time, but there's still a glimmer of hope.  And sometimes I need to remind myself of that.

Like when I go out into the field with the class I TA for. I love showing those kids how to map and I love learning more about the Wasatch Mountains. Those four hours on a Friday are some of my best all week.

Or when I'm making maps with Ron. Granted, it just started, but yesterday I had so. much. fun. doing it. Really!

Or when I'm hanging out with professionals that have cool jobs. It reminds me that there will be something out there for me that doesn't revolve around oil or academia.

But a lot of times I forget about that glimmer, and I get down on myself and I wonder what happened? What happened to the passion and the desire to learn as much as I could? I come to school each day now because I have to, not because I want to. I get all sorts of anxiety thinking about a future career. I ask myself pointless questions such as why I didn't become a doctor or a journalist?

But I guess I just need to remember those glimmers. They're there. And I still love geology. It's just not as strong or in my face as it was when I was an undergrad. I know this is sort of a pointless post, but I just needed to air it out. That's how I get through things. So, sorry if you feel like you've wasted your time. I just re-read it and realized I solved my own problem, but I guess that's why I write, you know? It's my own form of therapy.

That is all.

Now, let me tell you how to think

I don't often get political on here, but I really should. I have quite strong opinions and I refrain from posting them on the 'book because there are people I am friends with that I don't want to offend. I often feel like I am being a coward because these are things I feel strongly about, but apparently not strongly enough because I don't get the word out.

But here? Here I can do and say whatever I damn well please. This is because I have never told anyone to come and read this blog. And if you are reading it right now, it's because you came here on your own free will. So if liberal tenancies make you squirm you should probably leave now. Just sayin...

Let's start with the bad news. Mostly because it's not that bad after all! Susan G. Komen for the Cure (you know, the Pepto pink everything...?) just announced they're cutting their funding for Planned Parenthood. At first, I was devastated. I mean, it frustrates me to no end that people continue to think that Planned Parenthood is all about abortions, when in fact most of their services are not abortion-related at all, just affordable health care for women and men.

Source

So to have a bunch of funding taken away because they happen to provide abortions didn't seem right to me (well, it still doesn't but read further and you'll see why I'm "ok" with it). Especially because the Cure's money went to breast cancer screenings and prevention. Nothing to do with abortion at all. Needless to say, I was pissed. But then I read this article from my favorite lesbian shitasses. In summary, it talks about how the Cure is mostly run by right-wing, Bush-supporting, tea-partying nut bags people. Therefore, I really had to ask myself why they just didn't do it sooner? Also, since this sparked such outrage, the donations to Planned Parenthood have sky rocketed and they are being cast in the light of the victim right now, which is great. Because they're not a bad organization at all. And hopefully people who thought that PP was all about abortions will learn something new with all this media attention. So there's that.

In GREAT news, Washington is quickly becoming the newest state to legalize same-sex marriage! Yeeeeeehaaawwwwww. Congrats, Washington, for standing up for what is right! I'm not going to go into too much here because I honestly could go on and on and on and on and on and on and on about gay rights issues (especially living in such a homophobic state as Utah) but I won't. I'm just so glad to see our country making progress in the right direction! Hopefully when Obama gets elected again next fall, he'll just come out and say he's for same sex marriage (pun intended).

And lastly I am going to tell you where to eat next. If you live in Salt Lake City that is. Last night my friend Nate introduced me to one of the best Indian/Nepali restaurants I have been to in a while. Kathmandu located on seventh east and second south (in the same parking lot as Sunflower Market). Now, I guess their other location has been opened for some time, but this was my first time eating at either location and it was fabulous. The service was excellent--they brought us some free appetizers, were very knowledgeable about the menu, joked around with us some but not too much and were more than happy to split the check. (I always take servers' attitudes into account on this one because as someone who had to split checks, it's honestly not that hard. Don't let anyone ANYONE tell you otherwise, they're trying to make you feel bad for them so that you'll give them a bigger tip. I give a bigger tip if they don't complain--that being said, I try to tell the server right off if possible, but sometimes I just forget.) The food was pretty good. I can't say it was hands down the best Indian food I've ever had, but there isn't a place in Salt Lake that's better than it to my knowledge. I can't emphasize enough though, it's not that it's bad, it's really really good, I just wasn't blown away. I had the Malai Kofta (duh) and Tommy had the Mattar Mushroom (the other two we were with had meat dishes, so I can't really speak for them). Mmmmmmmmmm sooo good. The vegetable balls in mine were sweeter than I'm used to, but I was ok with it. Next to Tommy's salty mushroom dish, they made a good pair. Both of us asked for "medium" spice levels (they have mild, mild plus, medium, medium plus, hot and Kathmandu hot) but easily could have gone spicier. Our server even told us at the end that for cream-based dishes--like ours--you really should go up to a medium plus or a hot to taste the heat. Best part is that it is cheap. Ok, it's slightly (like one or two dollars) more than other southeastern vegetarian fare in the city, but each entree comes with rice and naan. And they bring you extra rice free of charge if you run out (unlike that STUPID place in Chicago that not only charged for rice and naan, but charged again for extra rice!!!!!). The quality of food and service, combined with the price and location makes it hands down my new favorite Indian spot in the valley. Check it out yo!

Anyway, done with the rants. Whew, that feels good. Now I can go back to good ol FB and pretend I don't have opinions. Wish me luck!

A list of sorts

There is nothing in particular I want to write about today, but I still want to write. Why? Because it's the end of the month and to get four posts in in one month is pretty good for me. Also, I have nothing to do (well, that's a lie, I have about one hour's worth of things to do). Also, there are things that I'm doing (and not doing) in my life that I feel need attention.

• I am not going to write a review of The Hunger Games as previously promised. If you haven't read it already you're an idiot. And if you have read it already--ohmygod did you hate the ending as much as I did?!?!?!?!?!? And are you going to the midnight showing of the movie???!?!?!?
• I am no longer training for the half marathon. I know. Quitters suck. I was getting to the seven mile point and two things happened. One, I was extremely bored. Tommy stopped running with me and I couldn't do an hour and half alone so I could only do it on my parents' treadmill while watching Mad Men. Two, after those long runs I would be sore for the ENTIRE week. I never recovered. And then I would have to do it again. The way I see it, quitting was probably for the best. I HATE failing at something. And there was no way I was going to be able to run that thing alone. There was no sense in beating myself up about it. So the only logical thing to do was quit. Maybe next year...
• On the wedding front: we've gotten the tux's--off-white dinner jackets by RL paired with black pants--for a steal. Let me tell you. A local company, Tuxedo Junction had a one week offer: for $70 you could get any tux in the store. We jumped on it. We didn't have to get the tux's right then, we just had to pay up front and we'll get them in August. Wheeeeee! 

This is kind of a stupid picture, but whatevs. Source

• Also on the wedding front: we almost have a florist! I say almost because I'm pretty sure we're going to make the decision today. We've spoken to a couple of vendors, and both really understood my "vision" (hahahahahahaha my "vision" is not too fancy, no roses, no red, casual, wildflowers but absolutely NO rustic elements--mason jars, etc. This isn't Little House on the Prairie people). The one we picked is mostly based on price. They came in about $500 below the other, and had a better selection of flowers--not too shabby.
• Last night I made this version of French Onion Soup. It was...ok. It was easy to make (albeit time consuming) and it tasted fine, it was just a bit vinegar-y to me. I like my FOS to be a bit more savory. But if you like vinegar and not a lot of hassle, this soup's for you!
• I haven't walked to school at all this week because I suck. Sorry, earth.

And that's it! I guess for now. I really should do that bit o work I do have so I can just go home. Tommy's really sick, and I think I'm starting to get it. My nose is runny and itchy as hach ee double hocky sticks and my throat is getting a tickle. I downed some vitamin C but I've also been hanging with Tommy for about 65 of the last 72 hours....whoops!

A Fierce Green Fire

Last night Tommy and I went up to Park City to watch the world premier of A Fierce Green Fire at the Sundance Film Festival.



It was sooooooo fracking good! (geology joke there HA).

The movie was marketed as a documentary about the environmental movement. It spanned five "acts", each with a different theme like conservation, pollution, etc. It was kind of long, but it truly was amazing. I am an environmentalist. I'd love to save the planet, but since I didn't study it in school, I really don't know much about the history of the "movement". This film not only taught me a lot, but since it focused on individuals standing up for the planet, it really got me excited to do my part. The people this film focused on are heroes.

I'm not going to go into too much more of a review because I'm just not that good at that kind of thing, but you can watch all five acts yourself and learn more about the movie on this website.

What I will talk about a little bit are the reactions I had to it.

As I stated earlier, this documentary really inspired me to make a change. Now, I don't have the time (or the focus, let's get serious people) to start my own campaign, but one of the most important lessons this film taught me was that it takes an individual to start a movement, but it takes many people to make it happen.

The first thing I want to do is find one or two organizations that are crusading for the environment and help them out. There are a few I have in mind--350.org, the Sierra Club, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance--but I still want to research them, and others and really commit. Commit time, money and service. And since I put it on the internet, it must be true!

The second thing I want to do is live more green-ly. I am going to try to make more of an effort to walk to school and the grocery store, and buy local when possible, and buy American when there are no local options. The walking, I'm sure, makes sense to most of you, but the reason why I want to buy local is for a few reasons. The first is because the closer the source, the less energy it takes to get to the store. The second is because America has environmental regulations in place--though admittedly not great--while places like China definitely do not. Therefore, the goods I buy from this country were probably made with more environmentally friendly materials and practices. The third is less environmental, but still a good reason: I just want to help our economy and my fellow Utahards/Americans.

The third thing I want to do can't really happen until I have a real job that pays real money, but I want to have a garden and use renewable energy when we finally get a home.

Since this is a blog, and I resolved to write more, I'll try to keep yall updated on how this green project goes.

(and while we're talking about that sort of stuff, I'll try to write more about the food I'm cooking--I cooked so much last week!--and the books I'm reading, and the workouts I'm doing. Really, I'll try....)