The Mind of a Scientist

Has it really only been eleven days since I updated this blog? It feels like an eternity. I have been busier than an ant at a picnic - and I've only been doing one thing: School. Of course, that one category can be further broken down into subcategories such as: seminar reading; fellowship coursework; middle school planning and teaching; and most recently, Moss Landing Marine Lab. Once again, I am spending one day a week driving to and from MLML to use their otolith-slicing facilities. Yes, I have officially given up on my thumbnails as otolith breaking tools. However, I'm still using the nail strengthener because I'm curious about whether or not it works.

Occasionally I stop and listen to myself. When I do, I'm amused to discover how much of a scientist I am. For example, I'm doing an experiment on my thumbnails at the moment. No, I don't have a control - other than my past 29 years of experience. Even my above sub-categorization of tasks is scientific. Or really anal - I'll let you be the judge.

Last night, I had a dream about mapping relationships between people so that I could determine the series of events that led to me meeting my future husband. The technique is a little fuzzy, though I do remember that the angle of the line drawn between two names signified the strength and duration of that relationship. The key piece appears to be Cassidy inviting Jon and I to the Plutonic Ideals Picnic in 2000. That was where I met J, who invited me to my first RS event where I met EE. She knew Mo and Bahati, who were the connections to Z. And five years later, here we are. But there are so many more questions that could be asked: who invited Cassidy to the picnic? How did he know that person? Who introduced Mo to EE? And how did Bahati enter the picture? It's probable that the links of connections can be extended back many, many years to create a webbed picture of causality. I'd like to hang that on my wall.

Like I said, I think like a scientist. The good thing to this slightly compulsive scientific reasoning is that I am becoming ever more aware that I am actually a scientist; that I have things to offer the scientific community. When I think about having the chance to move to Mozambique to get hired as a marine biologist, I'm not worried that I won't be able to do the job. In fact, I'm already weighing the pros and cons of various experimental designs. It is a really big change for me to finally feel confidence in my abilities - or rather, to recognize that I have some. And I'm chomping at the bit to get out there and implement all the knowledge that I've gained. I'm ready for something new - not in terms of subject material, but in terms of action. Enough reading - I want to start doing.