Making a Lizard's Eye View of the world

One of my favourite aspects of studying the set of fields we call [evolutionarybiologyandecology] today is the rising importance of thinking about complexity, interactions and multidimensionality in biological research. This is something I wrote about briefly for an essay based on the 2010 Biodiversity Decennium Assessment that our class attended in Amsterdam (24 September). Within a few years - really, since the late 1990s at the earliest - we've launched within the biological sciences from studying at the singular or organismal ("reductionist") level to beginning to formulate a concept of biological complexity at a more systemic, integrative ("integrative" or "systematic") level. In essence, I find it refreshing that we're setting aside the magnifying glasses in exchange for our fish eye lenses (so to speak).

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So there's a thought. Today, I've been working on my ability to stay in bed for as long as possible (it took some coaching); went for breakfast coffee at 4 pm; played with a few sketches for some painting ideas I've been pushing around for awhile; am shuffling towards reading some papers and a book chapter for discussion on Monday; and keeping as backgroundsound some drum & bass lists I hadn't listened to (either at all, or in a good long time), while periodically getting sidetracked into local music faves from home:

www.myspace.com/rachelvanzanten

www.myspace.com/mamaguroove

Also search Amy Thiessen, a good friend from Calgary AB (think folky Feist with some serious vocal caterwauling to back her up) and Shiloh Lindsey, a good and long-time (back to elementary school) friend from Vancouver BC. Powergrrls both.

What I *should* be doing...

- researching research options for Munich (semester starts 2 May 2011, but I could start a research project as early as mid-February, when the semester here in Groningen ends)

- working on my old undergrad thesis to re-submit for publication --> sort of an exercise in futility, but also... just good practice

- working on some short notes for submission to the Coleopterists Bulletin about some beetle species we found way out of range on Haida Gwaii/the Queen Charlotte Islands while doing fieldwork in 2009

- reading papers for a paper I'm working on with a PhD student here in Groningen on invasive species ecology...

- reading papers for a presentation I have next week, on microbial interactions with eukaryotes (specifically, a really *really* cool glowing bacteria-nematode worm-insect larva symbiosis/parasitic interaction... Okay. Lost ya already. Sorry. :)

... And then for fun, the paintings, some knitting/crocheting, a laundry list of movies to watch, photos to take of the beautiful fall leaves before they're all gone, articles for a friend's online magazine, phone calls to make... What am I doing here again, besides letting you (two) know what I'm up to?

Anyway, I also realized I can't post my favourite PDFs on here, because that would violate all sorts of copyright laws. Bummer, because there are some damn cool ones. You'll just have to ask.

Besitos; back soon; like Allie on Hyperbole-and-a-half: if you lower your standards by a whole bunch, then the next crap will seem really awesome. Or something like that. Hold on to your lugnuts, then, because... I promise, next post will be awesome.

!

SV

By the way: the lizard's eye view of the world was in reference to something said in class, which I forget now. It does, however, sort of refer to KS's ability to move her eyes independently, which is weird.

ideas
- podcasts for going to sleep, art work, ... - how to learn about octopuses/octopi while you sleep
- 20% time rule (from Freakonomics podcast)
- papers that didn't go into the newsletter
- Utne reader: 25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World:
http://www.utne.com/Politics/25-visionaries-changing-your-world-2010.aspx?utm_content=10.29.10+Politics&utm_campaign=Emerging+Ideas-Every+Day&utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email
- birthday and turning 30

Update II: An About ("Aboot") Face on Blogging

Two months after moving to Europe, I've failed on the upkeep of the blog (a fact of which I've been reminded repeatedly by my two followers).

** [[Never mind failed on learning Dutch: after 2 months in Argentina, I was at least conversational. Here, I stumble when the clerk at the grocery store asks me if I want my receipt. ]]

I sort of feel guilty about this, and mostly don't. I keep thinking of the xkcd(www.xkcd.com) cartoon:

(Note Frame 3).

So I suck at keeping a blog; big deal. Shoot me. I'm busy. I write in my journal daily; I put together the biweekly newsletter for our programme; and meanwhile trying to maintain some semblance of a social life (which I largely abandoned during my undergraduate studies), romantic life (no details here, sorry), and still be the over-achieving workaholic grad student I'd always dreamed of being.

But at the end of the day there are still interesting papers that I want to tell *someone* about; weird newsclips, funny cartoons, intriguing (and/or useless) factoids, and random ideas that need to go somewhere. Facebook doesn't cut it; sorry. Ergh, not.

As such becomes the blog: repository of things unfileable, unfiled, or simply too numerous for other venues. I'm not about to start jotting websites in my journal, complete with underlines and blue text for future reference; nor clutter my minimalistic FB wall with every pedantic morsel of eruditic factual deliciousness I come across; nor inundate my classmates with all the fascinating papers I stumble across in a day's procrastination. (For starters, it will also save me from punching the FB time clock every time I add something... in contrast, here I can conveniently select "Save as...", stuff everything into my Blog folder and patchwork it all together at my delectable future leisure.)

There. Get used to it, both of you. I hope it'll be fun. At the very least, it will be for me, and for now, that's enough.

Xiao!

SV