On Art

I finally had a bit of time to sit down and scan the stencils in that i've been working on in the past weeks. My poor computer seems to overheat whenever i use photoshop and the tablet, and even sometimes if i just load too many pages at once... so it's been hindering the editing and uploading. i'd really like to edit the stencils so they're easy for others to cut... most are designed for t-shirts or patches rather than spraying. they lack structural integrity so not quite suitable for that.

On Climateer-ing

Last saturday i got back from my first major field trip as a 'Climateer' . The sites were absolutely amazing. We work in the Australian wet tropics world heritage area, and have sites every 200m from lowlands to highlands (up to 1600m) across a range of latitudes. This means i spent a week in the forest, which i just loved

The first day i was a little stressed and unsure of whether i was doing stuff right. My role was to download data on soil moisture, soil temperature, air temperature and humidity, leaf wetness and log temperatures from these crazy little weather stations. There was a lot to remember, but i was fine once i'd done it a few times

The first two nights we stayed at this amazing camp ground in the middle of the rainforest, with a creek running right by it. Cold (by tropical standards) early-morning swims are one of my favourite things . Then the following nights we set up base at a private campground run by crazy (lovely) birdos. It was so nice... one morning a spotted catbird breakfasted not 5m from me while i drank tea.

[Wow i'm having dejavu sitting here writing about birds, eating pizza and snotting everywhere (horrible hayfever) while trying to ignore a toothache ]

I also got to know the other climateers a little better and it seems like a great research group There were two entomologists, someone studying nutrient-cycling of leaves, and a batgirl I've mostly worked as a herpetologist/community ecologist, so i was learning so much!

On Life

omg this toothache is hurting i've been poor for too long, so my teeth are in terrible condition. the first big purchase i will have to make with my earnings will be a bunch of fillings -_-

i've been discovering i have some form of dairy intolerance lately, or so i believe, so i've been enjoying a mostly vegan diet these past few weeks... though sometimes i cave in and eat cheese (on pizza, but i usually regret it). i'm not opposed to eating meat, but i don't like to eat it unless my body is craving it.

lol, so i have a doctor's appointment for the dairy thing, a possible asthma thing, and what seems to be a hernia I mostly want it all checked out because i will have to do a bit of crusing around a mountain next week (read: hiking from elevation 1600m to 1000m and back all in one day with a big pack. most of the fieldwork i've done so far isn't anywhere near as intense, and i struggled to hike from elevation 100m to 200m the other day

apart from some odd health stuff, my mood has been great despite dealing with some of the more difficult aspects of life this past week. i wonder if i'm only so happy because i still have the comparison to feeling so not-happy early this year.

hmm...

time for sleep i think! tomorrow i go to brisbane for my aunt's wedding