Friday, November 28, 2008

dedly snake bai

Well, we found another labaria today. This one was big.

All the guys said it was the biggest one they've seen.

Did I mention that I leave camp tomorrow...for good?

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

nerd alert

I read more books this year than I've read in my past or future combined!

in particular order:
  1. Ages in Chaos: James Hutton and the Discovery of Deep Time (Stephen Baxter) nf
  2. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) f
  3. Animal Farm (George Orwell) f
  4. Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller) nf
  5. The Case for a Creator (Lee Strobel) nf
  6. The Chomsky / Foucault Debate – On Human Nature (Noam Chomsky and Michael Foucault) nf (you're boring me, stop boring me!)
  7. A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess) f
  8. Deep Jungle: Travel to the Heart of the Rainforest (Fred Pearce) nf
  9. Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why (Laurence Gonzales) nf
  10. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness (Edward Abbey) nf
  11. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Phillip K. Dick) f
  12. DUNE (Frank Herbert) f
  13. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (Hunter S. Thompson) f?
  14. The Fencing Master (Arturo Perz-Reverte) f
  15. The Flanders Panel (Arturo Perz-Reverte) f
  16. Frost at Christmas (R.D. Wingfield) f
  17. I love you, Beth Cooper (Larry Doyle) f
  18. The Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for Peking Man (Amir Aczel) nf
  19. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) f (holy crap depressing)
  20. Krakatau: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 (Simon Winchester) nf
  21. Lord of the Flies (William Golding) f
  22. The Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology (Simon Winchester) nf
  23. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis) nf
  24. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey) f
  25. Plato: The Last Days of Socrates (Plato) nf
  26. The Portrait of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde) f
  27. The Road (Cormac McCarthy) f (holy crap depressing)
  28. The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis) f
  29. The Seville Communion (Arturo Perz-Reverte) f
  30. The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafón) f
  31. Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp (C.D. Payne) f
  32. Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea (Charles Seife) nf
  33. 1984 (George Orwell) f
didn’t get around to:
The Phenomenon of Man (Pierre Teilhard De Chardin) nf
The Art of War (Sun Tzu) nf
Annals of the Former World (John McPhee) nf ~700pg (see ya)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

here you go, conor

(excerpt from e-mail to glenda)

How are you today? If I were you, I would sleep through the construction and wake up at about, oh, 11:30, shower until 12:30. After drying off, I would make myself some toast and then walk to a coffee shop close by, or not so close. Sipping, I would stare out the window and decide whether I should keep walking in the opposite direction of Margene's apt. At the last sip, I would violently crush the cup in hand and run out the door, not stopping until I came to the nearest pet store. Knowing that pet stores often sell live animals to almost anyone with money, I would emerge victorious with a plastic bag full of fish and a gerbil in a ball. At this point, it would be wise to transfer the fish to a clear plastic cup (w/straw), and board the "L" with socialite aplomb. Departing at the loop, the natural choice would be to visit the Art Institute and enjoy the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit. People would stare, but don't worry, they're ignorant. Explain to them that they're the ones who have been depriving "inferior" species of culture and fine art (take sip of water). Shameful. This blatant disregard (will it ever end? one can only hope) would make anyone grumpy, and hungry. Fortunately there would be a hotdog stand right out side where you could collect some ketchup packets...

can you find my thesaurus word?

Sunday, November 9, 2008

good morning

Well, I now know what the deadliest snake in Guyana looks like:

(baby labaria - found in the core shed)

It's head was squashed with a 2x4 (not pictured)

Also, army mens

practice repelling

Camp isn't usually this exciting.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

on the lighter side

The dogs chased a little deer away from her mama and now she's a pet.
I touched it.










So did this guy.

search and rescue

I hesitate to let you all in on the gloomy news but hey, this is what the blog is for. Um, a plane crashed. Our company contracted a company to do an airborne geophysical survey over an area that we are curious about and we haven't heard from them since Nov 1st (full story - find press release). The pilot and co-pilot are American and the airborne geophysical operator is Canadian. We have two helicopters and two planes buzzing around, but they are having trouble picking up the plane's distress signal.
The big difference between this flight and the planes I fly in is that these guys fly "slow and low" in order operate the equipment. Totally sucks and there is a real somber attitude here. Also, six guys got sent home last week because they had malaria. The equipment I use keeps breaking down and about 30% of the local staff has been laid off. I'm glad this is my last trip.
Hope I didn't harsh your mellow.

Helicopters are cool though...



that's right, picture and video (so this is rock and roll? dun-dun dun, de-de de)

Thursday, November 6, 2008

thanks to conor

Welcome, I started a blog. I've been in Guyana all year and I'm moving to Chicago so the idea of blessing you all with my deepest and most thoughtfully thoughtful thoughts seems appropriate. This is just a short note to get it started. Conor suggested this name along with chileanlikeavillian and thebronzefonze (flattering), approval unnecessary. Y'all come back real soon.

who is this

where am i