Some people have online journals that they update daily but that's just not for me. I don't have enough to say to even fill up a week. So I'm going to try to keep up a monthly recap right here on my own little website. I usually have something to rant about for a few pages and I might even have new pictures once monthly. We'll see how things go. At least for now, I've got things to say and pictures to show...
I did an update at the beginning of the month, so most of this may be old news to anyone who actually checks that page. I guess in order for you to have found this new page, you probably linked from there. But here are the long-winded captions for anything you might see and just general rants about whatever's on my mind at the moment.
I think during the month of September I logged a good 1800 miles over the course of three weekends. The first 700 were from a trip inland to go shopping. Yes, I know you think that's insane to drive that far just to go shopping, but you don't live in Arcata. There's nothing here. Ooo...Sears, Gottchalks, Mervyns, Old Navy Outlet, Gap and Ross at the Bayshore Mall in Eureka and then nothing for 300 miles! And a girl can't just wear anything to her friend's wedding! (See following paragraph). So I decided to make the most of the trip and really make a HUGE circle. I went east across highway 299 to Redding and went to their mall and the huge Ross we stopped at on our Senior Trip to Ashland. Amazingly, I actually found my whole outfit in Redding! But since I was so "close" I drove down to Davis to visit Dom. On Saturday she and her roommates planned to go to Ikea so I went ahead on my own and had lunch with Louise then we met Dom later at Ikea. Rather than going back the way I came, I decided to leave from the Bay Area so I stayed with Louise and left Berkeley on Sunday morning. I totally lucked out that weekend. The weather was fantastic and I got everything I needed.
The next 200 miles came when I went on the field trip to Laytonville with my Lichens and Bryophytes class and got to climb a big Quercus lobata (Valley Oak) tree. I even brought my digital camera up into the tree and have a picture of me all rigged up in the crown. I admit that I was on a lower plot and only got to climb like 40 feet, but it was fun nonetheless. We got to sleep in ginormous teepees and had fantastic meals since we had access to a full kitchen with walk-in fridge and freezer! It was a really fun trip!
The week following the field trip was exciting as well. My cousin Amy was due to have her baby sometime in mid-September and on the 17th I got a call from the Aunt-to-be that that was the day and the baby was coming. So now I have a new cousin Tyler. That weekend was also Beth's Wedding weekend. I logged ~900 miles on that trip home but it was well worth all of them. Bethy was gorgous and just beaming from ear to ear the whole day. They coudn't have chosen a better weekend to get married. The weather was perfect and we made sure to make the most of the time between the ceremony and reception by getting ice cream and going to the beach. Well, not really going to the beach; more like going to the picnic tables just above the beach. But there was sand and beautiful blue ocean. So naturally I brought my digital and took the requisite group photo. Then it was off to the reception at the Salinas Golf and Country Club. It was another one of those "good friends, good food, good fun" times. So just before we left, Beth promised us a picture.
After all of that driving (and rather outragous gas prices) I haven't left the Arcata area since and I'm getting a bit restless. Only one more month until Thanksgiving Break! But there's much more for me to rant about. Take the recall election on the 7th. How in the world does a foreign-born-body-building-Mr. Universe-action-flick-actor manage to become the head of one of the largest economies in the world? HOW??? I understand that Gray Davis may have not been the greatest governor, but couldn't we have gotten someone a bit more qualified?? It's almost embarassing. But I'll hold my tongue for now and let him show us what he's got. But come on...Governor Schwarzenegger? I'll bet 3/4 of the state can't even spell his name! (Did I get it right?)
The rest of this month has been pretty uneventful. I've had at least one exam every week this month and finally, I have one week with nothing. You may think, "psha...one exam is nothing!" But three of them were sight-ID heavy lab practicals. Do you know how hard it is to keep lichen, bird and mammal taxa straight? All the -idae, -inae, -iformes, and some holdover -aceae from Plant Tax even worked it's way into my already overflowing memory. Unfortunately, a lot of it goes in for the exam and gets purged out onto paper and I lose a good 70% of what I supposedly learned.
I felt like playing with Photoshop so I made this picture of Mike and Me. It may look like any other normal picture, but that's what it's supposed to look like, right? Really, it came from a picture similar to the group shot we took after Bethy's wedding ceremony.
I guess all there's left to say is HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I still haven't gotten a punkin. I don't know if I actually will. I'm just not in the mood to carve a big squash this year. I got decorative gourds last week and I have some luminaires I made last year. Guess I'll see if I get the carving bug later this week. All the good ones are probably gone already. And I don't think they have real punkin patches around here. Maybe I'll check the garden stores and nurseries. I just can't take myself to buy a carving punkin at the grocery store. It totally kills the image of childhood punkin carving. And yes, PUNKIN.
Since this applies to next month, I'll only mention it, but I can't wait until Thanksgiving week. I get to go home and get good eats and the best thing is that I'll be 385 miles closer to a certain someone! 
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