GSA-Geek Squad America

As I come to the close of my first experience at a geological conference, I must reflect on the many things I've seen and learned:

1. Soil scientists don't even hold a candle to geologists. There was a soil science technology booth at the expo next to the BYU booth and the guys (but mostly just one specifically) were WEIRD. And considering I'm at a geology conference, that's saying a lot.

2. Denver is host to a veritable cornucopia of diverse multi-cultural cuisines. Although I personally stuck to the traditionals (Hard Rock Cafe, The Cheesecake Factory, Sam's no. 3, Tokyo Joe's, etc.), a few BYU staff members have developed an affinity for Moroccan food. The nightly belly dancing has nothing to do with it... so I hear...

3. The U.S. Mint is cool, and gives out free pennies, and has never been robbed, and has its gift shop in a double-wide trailer a few feet away. Also, in the spirit of capitalism and not Andrew Mellon, the government is encouraging more coin collecting and is coming out with a line of $1 coins of all 37 dead presidents. They must be dead, sorry Bill. Additionally, in a few years will be a new line of pennies depicting four of President Lincoln's finest moments. On behalf of the U.S. Mint and the U.S. government, I would also like to take this time to explain that the phrase "In God We Trust" will still be on the presidential dollars, but on the edge. This will draw more people to look at it and reflect on religiosity because it is a novelty to find the hidden message. That is all.

4. The squirrels at the Colorado capitol building are HUGE!

5. Not a lot of geologists dressed up for Halloween. :(

6. But there was a lot of useless free stuff at the Expo! :)

7. Despite the deficit of victories in the Denver sports scene, fans are still loyal and selling World Series paraphernalia... for 75% off.

8. I met some people from NASA and the Smithsonian and other sundry areas that are researching something that can be coupled with the poster I presented and they were so nice! And people don't care if you don't 100% understand your research, so long as you smile and say things like "Well of course there is still so much more work to be done. These are just our preliminary conclusions, and hopefully as technologies advance, we'll have more accurate data and see more evidenciary support for our work... No, I'm still an undergrad."

9. Staying on the "Fun and Games" floor makes a world of difference. When the elevator is constantly inviting you to "come on down, you're on the fun and games floor!" it's hard not to get excited that you'll be walking away with a free washing machine or something.

10. When I first arrived in Denver, I thought it was pretty cut-and-dry as far as deciphering between the geologists, the baseball fans, and the locals. When someone I shared an elevator with asked if I was here for GSA, I didn't know if I should be mildly offended or relieved.

Overall, I've thoroughly enjoyed Denver. Some of the nicest guys are the ones with ponytails. I have seen more piercings here than I have in potentially the last 21 years of my life, which is all of it. But I definitely see the appeal of the mile-high city. I guess any large city would have similar appeal, but I'm not really familiar with them. But what's not to love? Four major sports teams (baseball, basketball, football and hockey), decent shopping, lots of food, mountains, public transit, and government buildings. Denver and I, we're friends. At the very least, acquaintances for now.

Welcome to Rocktober

Well, here I've found myself in the very heart of downtown Denver, arriving the same day as countless Sox and Rocks fans are flooding the mile-high city. The city is literally shrouded in a purple haze, as buildings are lighting up their facades with the Colorado team color. Thank goodness they're not sell-outs like the D-backs who now don red instead of purple and teal, or else there would be serious loyalty confusion. But I digress.

There is something that is so unique about being in a city while the World Series is going on there. Everyone was wearing purple. Everyone had Rockies paraphernalia. Every street was decked out with signs supporting the humble team. It was a truly beautiful thing. Now, I'm not intrinsically a Rockies fan. I'm going to be perfectly honest when I say I know very little about the National League in general. But the Red Sox swept the Angels and also spend more money than said team, so go Rockies! Also, for the first three years or so of my little brother's Little League career, he played on the Rockies, so I feel completely justified in my support. However, should Boston win, eh, no biggie. I just love the reaction of the home town when their team wins and that would be a fabulous thing to experience here.

Last night, my geology buddies and I tried to hit up a rustic-looking, authentic pub (because oh yeah, I'm 21 and I could go to one of those now). It was packed to the gills with Rockies fans, so we found a Denny's-esque diner instead. The good news is that sports pub or not, everyone everywhere is showing the game. I love baseball. If the Rockies can just win tonight to take it to a 5-game series, I will be so happy, because let's face it, no right-minded BYU student is going to go to a sports bar on a Sunday, regardless of choice of food. And there's an ESPNzone that would make an excellent choice for a Monday night game-viewing location... So go CO!

Perhaps I'm just nostalgic of that wonderful 2002 postseason, when the Angels took it all the way and sent Barry home crying, to take more steroids and regain the spotlight 4 and a half years later as home run king*. But there is nothing like the World Series, and although Denver is certainly no OC, it's a pretty decent city, and they've brought their A-game in supporting this miracle of a late-bloomer team. What better time to have to go to a rock conference than when the Rockies are strutting their stuff? I can think of none.

It's my birthday!

Well, today is my birthday and I am officially 21. I feel so old now. I don't really feel old, I just feel old saying I'm 21. But thus far today has been good. My friend from Hawaii, Li Li, sent me a text at 1 in the morning, but I slept through it. It was, however, an unexpected way to kick off the birthday wishes. I got up extra early so I could go into the geology computer lab and throw together some form of a figure on Adobe Illustrator for my paper, but first, my roommates all woke up to sing to me and eat some birthday Entemann's. So nice. Then I went and spit out a decent enough figure right in time to head off to Chemistry. Then back to the geology computer lab to print out my Illustrator figure and stereographs. I stayed long enough to hear the beginnings of the 230 class, hehe, and then home to finish up my paper. I did! Which is like a birthday gift because I didn't have to stress at the last minute, even if it wasn't great. Then dance, then field trip. Seven peaks fault scarp, can't go wrong. It rained a little, but never enough to stop us. And there were random bones of something, also gypsum crystals. Then birthday. Tyler came over and I opened presents from him and my parents. They're all so thoughtful. Then Tyler and my roommates and I went out to dinner, Ottavio's. It was pretty good, and Tyler asked to have the accordian man play Happy Birthday for me. So the accordian man came and played. And some other guys sang too, in Italian. And gave me something that I think was meant to be gelato but was probably closer to ice cream. Afterward, Tyler and I went to his place to watch a movie/the Angels game. The game went long, and dang that Manny Ramirez, but Angels will do much better at home. So that's my 21st birthday. It was very nice. And a lot of people told me "happy birthday" on campus. I even ran into a girl from my ward last year that I never see and in passing we said "hey" and she said "Isn't it your birthday?" How nice, and random, of her to remember. And I don't feel as sick as I did a few days ago. I think I only blew my nose 3 times today. All in all, a very successful birthday. I am pleased. And tired. It's conference weekend so I think I'll get to bed. I need to wake up early so I can make pancakes or something.

All work and no play...

Well, it's been awhile since my last post, but the only thing to really happen in that time is that school has become significantly more hectic. I started work again officially last week, and it's kind of difficult figuring out exactly the things Dr. C wants me to do before GSA (which is in 3 weeks!!! Holy cow!). I can't believe it, but I think I have more writing assignments than any of my roommates, including an English major. The new thing in the Geology department these days is to try to improve our scientific writing skills. I guess it's a good thing because I definitely need to improve, but man, is it a lot of work. My structural geology class goes on lots of fun field trips, but then we have to write a paper after each one. That's basically a paper a week until it gets too cold for even the craziest of geologists to do field work (i.e. the rocks are completely covered by snow). And all my midterms are the week of the 15th, so that will be interesting. I'm actually enjoying my Chem 107 lab class. I feel like a real chemist, even though I refuse to buy a pair of scientific goggles. I think it'll get a lot harder though, at least that's what everyone says. In all this work, I've also managed to get myself sick. Just a head cold, nothing serious, but it is slowing me down just a bit.
On a different, brighter note, Friday's my birthday! And I'm getting old. I'll be 21. This is the last year people keep track of their age. From here on out, it's just old jokes. I have a field trip to Seven Peaks on my birthday. Apparently, my teacher didn't mean the water park and we're actually going to the literal seven peaks for which the park is named.
I think the water park would have been a nice gesture though.