A Wandering WeyrCat...

Florida Atlantic University's College of Science Research Day is hosted by the College of Science Graduate Association. Staffed by the CSGA volunteers and a very dedicated staff member, the day highlights both the graduate and undergraduate research of FAU's science students! There were 58 graduate posters and 13 undergraduate posters registered, in disciplines ranging from mathematics to environmental science. We had 11 first year graduate students presenting posters! This was my second year as Volunteer Captain and the volunteer turnout was amazing! I had a great time working with all the volunteers, meeting the presenters, talking to judges, and even got interviewed about Graduate Research Day! It was our first year in the new venue, air conditioned and a little larger it allowed for a little more comfort. Still, with the popularity of Research Day, we might already be outgrowing the space! My only regret is that I didn't get to read more of the posters this...

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin My rating: 4 of 5 stars Holy crow. Though I'm starting to get used to the weird overtone of rape-for-all-the-women in the book, it did die down a bit and give itself back to the awesome battles and weird overarching theme. Enticingly written, intriguing characters, real character development. I really like it. View all my reviews

This post requires no working knowledge of the Lord of the Rings series, but does make mention of names and places. Mainly, it's about walking. A lot. I closed out the April PT log and found I had completed my 912 mile goal (running, waking, biking) to walk "Fellowship of the Ring". I started this journey 2013 July 21. It's the second "Hobbit walk" I've completed, having done "The Hobbit" in 2012-2013. At this point in the story, the Fellowship has broken,  Boromir is slain, Pippin and Merry are captured by orcs, and Aragorn, Legless Lego Legolas and Gimli return to Parth Gelen. (Note, I did not "rewalk" the trip from Hobbiton to Rivendell. It would have been too boring. The 912 includes the 629 from Hobbit plus 61 miles unaccounted for by the people who originally compiled the miles for the Walks I'm basing my mileage on.) The trek is broken down into shorter goals, usually bookmarked by events in the book (443 miles...

About the Blog : I know I don't post very much, really, at all, anymore. But I finished all the classes I need for my bachelors and that took a lot of time. I'll make a WooHoo post about that too when the grades are finalized. Until then, I'll be posting the writings for Anthropology of Nature, and as always, my short book reviews cross-posted from GoodReads. Finished Torchwood (sans Miracle Day ). FEELS. I was so busy watching it, and the omigod-long TBC-set that was the last season, that I didn't even realize it was the last season. I really loved the first two seasons, even when they were over the top, but the season 3 mini-season "Children of the Earth" really didn't do it for me. I was already upset over some events in the end of season 2 that didn't jive with my vision of the show, particularly that a couple episodes felt like the writers were asleep, not fact-checking, or didn't have a female on staff to tell them that something was not p...

Hey FitBit Users (and other Pedometer Users)! (TLDR? Link to badges at the bottom!) Now that we, in the Northern Hemisphere, are getting a little squishy with warm comfort food and hiding from cooler temperatures, I think some of us are finding it harder and harder to get out the door for that walk. Well guess what? I will if you will! (For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, consider this a Better Bikini Body walk!) For the month of December I'm challenging you to 100,000 STEPS! Sometimes I'm lucky if I get 2,000 steps a day, and all of those are between classes! It's going to take a little work to get to 100,000 steps, but think of all the eggnog that burns off! (wink)

November Summary (aka TLDR) Finished the classes for my bachelors in teaching; should get all As. Hard, exhausting, satisfying. My 3-yr old black scaredy cat ran away, and is not home yet. :( Made a SparkPeople Turkey Track pedometer challenge, and made 212,000 steps. People loved it! Initiated into two honor societies: Kappa Delta Pi, and Omicron Delta Kappa. Spent one evening with a homeless veteran. Thanksgiving with Husband's family. Blog after the Break!

November Summary (aka TLDR) Finished the classes for my bachelors in teaching; should get all As. Hard, exhausting, satisfying. My 3-yr old black scaredy cat ran away, and is not home yet. :( Made a SparkPeople Turkey Track pedometer challenge, and made 212,000 steps. People loved it! Initiated into two honor societies: Kappa Delta Pi, and Omicron Delta Kappa. Spent one evening with a homeless veteran.  Thanksgiving with Husband's family.  Blog after the Break! This month (basically) concludes one of the most exhausting and satisfying semesters of college I have ever endured. I finished my curriculum for my bachelors degree in secondary education of biology (read as: High School Biology Teacher). Next semester I'll do my student teaching, and then graduate. I'm not sure how much I slept, but it was very worth it. I have three finals left, and according to my calculations, failing them means dropping my grade only to an A- in the courses. Of course, I'm ...