Showing posts with label entomology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entomology. Show all posts

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Because of magic


So, that happened. 

Last week we went to Cocoa Beach for a couple days and then to Disney for another four days mainly for dance-related shenanigans. Do you see that smile on my face? That's the real deal and I'm smiling like this in all of the photos I'm in because I am genuinely having a blast. Frankly, I'd forgotten what it felt like to be relaxed and have a nice time. Even when we did the Showcase of Bathrooms with the little bit, we were having a good time. Aside from a few unfortunate potty-training-related difficulties, it was one of our best vacations. 

The best part? Everyone was super nice and not only because it was their job. I saw buckets and buckets of genuine compassion, playfulness, kindness, joy, and general awesomeness. Even guests were uncommonly kind to one another because... of... magic. That's all I can come up with.

I also left my tablet at home for the entire trip, which means my brain got a rest, too, but it also means that I'm short on pictures this week, so here's a gratuitous photo of the Fluffalo hoarding kale chips.


I actually got quite a bit of knitting done this past week, though almost no knitting happened during our four days at Disney. Much of what happened was during the 12+ hour drive. I got about 1 1/4 of Fluffalo's socks done, minus heels, on the way down and I managed about 2 1/2 feet of Trillian on the way back. I'm almost done with the legwarmers, too. It's amazing what you can accomplish if you spend hours doing nothing but sitting and knitting. It's like magic. 

Now that I've started Trillian, the Outfit-a-Long is gaining momentum. I'm focusing this week on getting my shirt cut out and working on my shirt-making skills, including matching plaids. I'm mostly reading and watching videos about matching plaids right now because the fabric is still in the wash, but Miss Lladybird's tutorial looks like it hits the OCD/lazybutt balance just right. So that's this week's technique. (Woo!) I'll let you know how it goes. Right this second, though, I have to go put the fabric in the dryer.

Ummm... because mint

And speaking of being thorough, I just skimmed through my monograph on little (mostly) brown South American butterflies and remembered just how flippin' thorough I can be. I've spent some time away from it while Professor worked on the edits to send it to a journal and I wanted to look through it one more time before sending it out in the world. I'm proud of my work and I hope it will serve to help other scientists learn about these beauties for a very long time. Even as long as it is and as thorough as I was, it's not complete and never will be. It's taken nearly two hundred years to understand even as much as I do about this group and I know I'm only scratching the surface. Anyway, I'll let you know how that goes, too. I'm not sure what the timeline is for publication for this particular journal is, but it shouldn't be too long. 

So, did you miss me? How has your June been going? Did you have a Happy Solstice?

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

No pictures just now, I'm afraid, but I did want to check in and let you know I'm still alive. I'm at the Entomological Society of America meeting in Reno right now and not on my laptop proper. I did manage to get some pictures with Bug Girl, so I hope to post them when I get back. I've also managed to get lots of video of entomologists sending messages to the high school kids I'm working with, so I'm excited to post those as well. I'm wondering, having been inspired by Bug Girl, if it would be a good thing to start an entomologically-themed blog. I'm not sure my attention span is good enough or what my message is, but I do like bugs and I do like science outreach. I'll give it a think anyway. I've connected with so many people at this meeting, not only through entomology, but through knitting as well. I'm working on a pair of socks, as one does at these things, (okay, as I do) and have been able to encourage several people to pick up the craft or pick it up again. I've talked about the benefits of knitting and the devaluing of traditionally female crafts. I didn't want to go to this meeting at first. There's so much I could have gotten done at home, but this really has been valuable for me. All the same, I can't wait to get back.