georion23

Warning: this will be very picture-heavy.

Graduation started with my parents coming into town and meeting me up at work so they could take a look around LPI and meet everyone. Then we got some lunch and headed up to my department's graduation reception at Rice. I got to see Janne and Francis before they headed back to France and one of my favorite students, Jordan.

Francis, me, and Janne (Mom's camera)


Janne and me (iPhone)


Jordan and me (Mom's camera)


It started pouring down rain as we were leaving Rice. In the case of rain during graduation the next morning, it would have been moved from the lawn inside, and only two people per student would be allowed to attend. This was a problem as I had my parents, my brother, my aunt, uncle, and cousin Erin. And since I would have been up most of the night preparing for the party at my apartment and then had to have gotten up at 5am to be up at Rice in time (not to mention my parents have seen me graduate three times prior to this one), we decided to skip the ceremony and get some breakfast and just hang out at my place. It was a hard decision for me, since it will most likely be my last graduation, and I solicited opinions from Em, Sara, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Steph... pretty much anyone who would talk to me. I think it ended up being the right decision, though. We actually ended up getting to spend more time together than if we had gone to the ceremony.

The actual party was lovely. Mom and Andy helped me quite a bit with the food. Dad even ironed my shirt because I was too busy cooking to do it. And Matthew got the plates and silverware out and lit candles around the apartment and didn't burn down the place. Erin came in and helped make spinach artichoke dip, Steph and Christi helped set up the drinks, and Justin corralled the cats into the guest room. Once all that insanity settled down, it was fantastic. We had enough food to feed a small army: puff pastry breadsticks (sesame seed and parmesan cheese), asparagus spears wrapped in puff pastry strips and baked, cantaloupe balls wrapped in prosciutto, cherry tomato-marinated mozzarella ball-basil skewers, chocolate-covered walnut cream (semi-sweet, milk, and white chocolate varieties), the aforementioned spinach artichoke dip with pita chips, an assortment of olives, some grapes, wine, soda, and beer. Most of the recipes were from a cookbook Steph lent me, and she helped me come up with some good wine choices. Juliane and Justin brought over several desserts, including a sea turtle cake (awesome!!). It was quite the successful event. Pictures are below.

some of the food










Justin and Juliane


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i've been having a lot of fun lately with my iphone camera. here are some of my favorite recent pictures.

em came to visit me at rice one afternoon when the weather was great. we played catch with a softball for awhile and just hung out on the grass.






a shadow of the open sign on the window of whataburger cast onto a table inside


the light rail train between reliant stadium and rice university


a few sunset panoramas, one from my apartment patio, one from the stadium parking lot at rice, and one near the rice rec center

i am running for geounion (the geology organization at rice) president.  i had to give a speech yesterday and brian decided to help.  he was feeding me lines to use in the speech for about 45 minutes while i was writing mine.  i didn't actually use any of his material, but i thought i'd post it here, as it really does need to be shared with the world.  brian enjoys turtles, the fact that i can pull on a thick texas accent if the situation calls for it, and austin powers.  and he calls geounion geo-onion.

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<Texan>HI!!</Texan> I'm Heather, and I approved this message.

Four score and seven years ago, turtles. We have nothing to fear but...turtles. I have a dream that one day, the sons of former turtles and the sons of former turtle owners shall be able to sit down together at a table of turtlehood.

Y'all bitches vote for me or you can suck it. We plead allignance, to the flakes, of the untitled snakes, of a merry cow. And to the republicans, for which they scam, one nacho, underpants, with licorice, and jugs of wine for owls. amen.

The details of my life are quite inconsequential.... Very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize; he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament... My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon... luge lessons... In the spring, we'd make meat helmets... When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds — pretty standard, really. At the age of 12, I received my first scribe. At the age of 14, a Zoroastrian named Wilma ritualistically shaved my testicles — there really is nothing like a shorn scrotum — it's breathtaking... I suggest you try it.

In order to have a more perfect Geo Onion, I feel we must first focus on the Onion.  And, later, worry about the Geo.  For without the Onion, we cannot have, the Geo. Ergo, I will therefore, henceforth pontificate on the importance...of said Onion.

Oh Onion, how I love thee, let me count the ways...1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.  My Onion-fu is far superior to her Onion-fu, and I am willing to take this to the streets!  I will rain down blows upon anyone who doesn't bear witness to my formidable onion-ocity!

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closing remarks may or may not come later.  

i wish i had a popsicle. it's 80 degrees and sunny outside. i want to sit out on the patio and read my paper and eat a popsicle. an orange one. yes.

I PASSED MY PRELIMS!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i got satisfactory in my two seminars, an a in isotope geochemistry, and a b+ in tectonics! gpa at rice = 3.71!!! emily got me tulips and a balloon, and we had sparkling white grape juice to celebrate.







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someday i'll do better than posting to this thing once a month. in the meantime, check out georion365, where i'm posting a picture a day. most of the time.

anyway, classes started at rice. going well so far. i'm taking trace elements/isotope geochemistry, global tectonics, and two seminars, as well as attended two reading groups and group meeting every week. so i'm busy. schedule here. and i'm working on two projects, one collaborating with al and anne down at nasa. fun stuff. i'll be presenting a talk at the lpi workshop on water in planetary basalts in november and a poster at agu in san fransisco in december. have my preliminary exam in january. presenting a talk to the rice earth science dept in february. will be presenting something at lpsc in march about this nasa project i'm working on. lots to do. but it's good. i'm liking the way things work here a lot better. it's a much better fit.

emily, christi, and johnny got scuba certified over labor day weekend in nacogdoches, and i got four more dives under my belt. i hadn't gotten to dive since may 2005 so it was great to get wet. last weekend emily and i went up to dallas for regan's wedding, which was fun except for the 9 hour of driving in one day, with helping brian move to his new place the next day. i finally got some sleep this weekend so i've recovered. i'll have separate posts for pictures soon.

next weekend i'll be heading to austin for sara's birthday. and then the following weekend is the new grad field trip to galveston. should be good fun.

i got to visit rice on friday afternoon of lpsc week. i spent an hour and a half talking with my adviser, cin-ty lee. i went to lunch with several students, met with other professors, and got to see some of the campus. it looks like a castle. it's going to be nice going somewhere so gorgeous and green.









( more fun at rice )