On Friday I became passionately worked up about the teaching of science, which led to the consumption of interviews and articles by Richard Feynman, topped off by a jaunt into his physics lectures. That man was a genius, not only as a scientist, but also as a philosopher!—so reasonable and sane (and unfortunately dead). If only he’d been alive today to comment on teaching standards and the crumbling CA education system!
The next day I went on a coastal geology field trip, which was informative, but also financial rewarding. In teaching, professional development is often coupled with a stipend, which is pretty awesome. The field trip reminded me of being in college, and going on field trips and goofing around--so many memories of laughing and doing ridiculous things with Paulina, Natan, Shalini and Eric (well, he went once). I went with Peng this time around, and was pleased to learn that he's totally game for silliness and irreverence. The major difference between now and then would be the fact that I paid attention as an adult, and did not as a young adult, and thus actually learned a thing or two this time around. It was so neat to actually learn something about deposition along the coast and the tectonic history of said coast. Youth really is wasted on the young, I tell you. By the time we’re adults there aren’t many people around to teach us new stuff, unless we go back to school or enter a profession that is focused on research or education, and how many people do that?
Sunday was probably the best day of all, though, as I jumped back on the gardening train with my friend. We built a box and filled it with dirt. Next weekend we’re going to plant some winter vegetables, like beets and chard. It was exhausting, but in a good way, which reminded me that I haven’t had that kind of exhaustion in a while.
Today was kind of a waste, as I spent a lot of time battling my ipod (through an error in box checking, I managed to delete all of the songs from my ipod, which then required me to re-sync to get them back on) and napping. I did watch a rather fantastic episode of wife swap and make macaroni and cheese without milk (just add tons of extra butter!), which made me feel like I am not beholden to work, despite it all.
Peng on the bus
Natural Bridges state park
foggy, near ano nuevo
geologic textbook (younger stuff to the left, older stuff to the right)
