I've posted a couple new pictures on my LOMO page. Click on "public albums" and then "Session5" to see them. To be honest, I'm getting sick of the format of this website, even though they give me free unlimited webspace for pictures. It takes me forever and it won't even show vertical pictures the right way. I like the ease of that software that Kelly uses for her pictures, even though I can't quite figure out how it works (The pictures just magically appear on the internet without uploading them anywhere!).

Edit: Added "Session6" too. It's technically not LOMO images, but it is taken with an expired disposable camera, which is well within the philosophy of LOMO.

Sounds like Tracy's Worst Nightmare. It's real too. I found their published journal articles on the technique.

Turns out I am a mutant. It doesn't really change my life in any way, though. I just have to remember to get up and go to the bathroom during long airplane flights instead of sitting still and holding it. To me, it's more of just being aware so that in the unlikely event that something does go wrong, I'll know what to do about it.

Kelly and I saw a commercial about the new Hyundai Tucson last night. The name just sounds silly to us, so we came up with some more car models:

• Honda Phoenix
• Ford Flagstaff
• Kia Ajo
• Saturn Buckeye

Can you think of any more good ones?

I did lots of stuff this weekend. I finally saw Episode III with Kelly and her brother. It was definitely better than Episodes I & II, but I wouldn't call it a great movie. There were some really good parts in it, but also a lot of cheesy parts too.

I also got to play croquet for real for the first time. I suck at it, but that actually helped me because I wasn't a threat or I was too far away from the other players. It was kind of fun, and there's a little bit of strategy involved.

I just finished reading Quicksilver. That book is a fucking monster. 916 pages long, and it's only the first volume of a trilogy!

As many of you already know, I had a bad/humorous fall during Field Camp. Well, my scrapes and bruises are healing nicely, but I still have that strange pain in my chest. So I went to the ASU Student Health Center to check it out. Fortunately, the x-rays were clear. My ribs are all healthy and strong, so it must be muscle pain, which makes the most sense to me. I also had them take some blood to check for the prothrombin 20210 mutation that my dad has. My late uncle died on the operating table because of it, so it's about time I got checked for it. My brother got checked and he doesn't have it, so hopefully I don't either. I go back to see the doctor for my results in a week.

Walking down to Student Services and back is unpleasant during the summer, but it pisses me off when I have to do it and end up accomplishing nothing. That happened yesterday when I tried to register for my one research credit. ASU decided that any grad student getting TA/RA money must be registered for at least one credit during that semester, even summer sessions. Unfortunately, they didn't get the new summer session tuition wavers into the computer system until after Field Camp began. So now I'm trying to register for my one credit late. I had to fill out this special form and get Jim Tyburczy (the dept. chair) to sign it. Then the academic advisor told me to take it to the registrar in Student Services. When I finally got there the registrar told me no way; I needed a CLAS dean's signature. So I had to walk there and back for nothing.

Turns out, I do need a dean's signature. But stupid Carol Comito (who is now on my Do Not Trust Because of Incompetence List) didn't know that. So I today I walked to the new Foundation building, which is north of University, to get that done. Then I had to walk all the way to south campus to Student Services again. Now I'm back in F-wing, where I have to call Sun-Dial to hold my classes with financial aid. That's one hell of a trip.

Field Camp is over now. I took the class in 2002, and I've TA'd it for the past three years. I will probably/hopefully be graduated by the time next summer comes around, so I should not be teaching a fourth year. This has got me thinking about my legacy with Field Camp. What improvements have I made to the class that will last and make it better?

For one, I've redrawn most of the sector boundaries. The purpose of this was first to make them smaller and more manageable and second to include/exclude parts. For example, I got rid of the "snork" on the sector with Access Ridge and Doubtful Canyon because it was a big time waster. Besides, that sector was very hard to map as it was. This summer I mapped the sector south of Camp Tontozona, and ended up reducing its size by about 1/3. The geology isn't all that complicated, but it takes 1-2 hours just to get back there, so students have less time to map. My only regret was that I wasn't able to map every sector to redraw them all. There are two extra large sectors to the west now that I've convinced Tom to split into three in the future when the highway construction is finished out there.

Secondly, I've convinced all the instructors that mapping on a double-scale map is helpful for making a key. I take the topo map the students use, scan it, and double the size. Then you can map more carefully and fit more on it, like small quartz veins and bits of travertine. This also makes us map more carefully and get the geology right. By having these more accurate double-scale map keys, we can get rid of most of those old student maps we've been using for keys, which may not even be right.

That's about all I can think of right now. Maybe there's other little things I've done to make Field Camp better.

I'm back in town for the weekend, but I have to go back up to Field Camp tonight. I missed Kelly, so it's nice to be able to spend at least a little time with her.

Man, just two days of mapping and I'm already exhausted. It's nice to see Kelly, even if its only for a little while. I'm driving back up to Camp Tontozona late tonight after the Dresden Dolls show. Speaking of Field Camp, it's not the same anymore. No more barracks for the students and no more crappy trailer for the teachers. There are new dorms now that have cable TV and (soon) internet. What a rip! No suffering at all. What's the fun in that?

I'm off to Field Camp soon. Wish me luck! Also, wish Kelly luck with her job in Kingman.

I'm gonna be heading up to Field Camp tomorrow. Don't know what to expect. I don't really know any of the students except for the bad one's. But I'll be back this weekend for the Dresden Dolls show.

w.bloggar

Because I'm sick of logging into the blogger website, I'm trying out a new blogging software program. Aside from the misspelled name, w.bloggar is a pretty good program. I can edit or delete old posts, and I can even edit the template (which is a total pain on the website). Hello is another good program for uploading pictures for your blog.

In other news, I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamed that my family and I moved to a small town in North Dakota. I was freaked out. Then I saw a cute French Bulldog puppy, but then I realized it was an ugly frenchy/golden retriever mix. The rest of the puppies were revoltingly ugly.

I promised details and I haven't delivered on that yet. I don't really have time to write about everything--it was such an action-packed week--but I'll summarize the highlights.

Friday - begin the all-night drive at 3 in the afternoon
Saturday - have been driving for 12 hours, through New Mexico in the pitch black night; Kelly finally takes over at 4AM in Colorado Springs; reach Grand Forks by 7PM; have an awesome burger at The Blue Moose as a reward.
Sunday - family stuff; Taco John's is awesome!
Monday - more family stuff; found a bunch of woods ticks around Devil's Lake that we find on ourselves for days to come; make it to Minot
Tuesday - visit awesome mineral collection in Parshall, ND; pissed that so many unique specimens have been ground into polished spheres; visit both North and South Units of Teddy Roosevelt National Park; see lignite in place for the first time; tons of buffalo; stay in Medora, the North Dakota equivalent of Tombstone
Wednesday - visit Devil's Tower; see a bunch of active coal mines along the highway; stay in Cheyenne
Thursday - go to Sierra Trading Post store in Cheyenne; eat lunch at Casa Bonita in downtown Denver, as featured in a South Park episode; can't believe that place actually exists; enjoy awesome mountain views along I-70; reach Moab, but can't find an empty campsite or motel room; end up in a handicapped room at fourth hotel checked; Kelly totally pissed at me
Friday - see Valley of the Gods and Goosenecks of the San Juan River; drive home

Kelly and I are back from vacation. More details later... 

Kelly and I are heading off for North Dakota today. I'll drive the first shift, after Kelly gets off work at noon. We'll probably begin driving between 2-3 PM. Hopefully, I can make it to Colorado by 2AM.

Here's something that's both scary and cool. ZabaSearch.com. There seems to be some problems with accuracy, however. It says I was born in September 1974 (not true) and that I lived in Phoenix (not true). It also says my parents were born in 1981 and 1957. How can my dad be younger than me? And I can't even find myself under "De Gregorio" (I have to search without the space, even though that is technically incorrect). But the bigger question is if I should be relieved that it doesn't know the real information about me?

So many things have been happening recently, it's hard to keep up. The important point is that many events are conspiring to keep Kelly and I from going to North Dakota next week. From my potential trip to Australia, to Kelly's tiny fender bender, to unnamed family issues, to thinking about home buying, and many more, it's definitely been stressfull. And the main issue is being able to afford it. With the high price of gas, food, and hotels, a road trip to ND and back will run somewhere around $1000. But we'll figure it out somehow.

I had a great weekend with Kelly. We went up to Strawberry and hiked down to Fossil Springs with the fam. Ed was so sore afterwards. He looks like such a tough doggy, but he's so pitiful and wimpy sometimes it's funny. The rest of the family tried out the new tent trailer nearby. We found a great camping spot among the junipers just off the forest road to Fossil Springs. Kelly and I got to stay at the awsome Windmill Inn in Strawberry. One of the best things about this weekend was that the weather was awesome, but there was still nobody around because it's not "the season" yet.

In other news, I think I'll try submitting my paper one last time (after revision, of course). Tom thinks American Mineralogist letters may be a good bet. I hope so.