"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
What a lovely perspective...
Just thought I'd share the giggle! =)
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Six Feet Under and Sinking Fast
A few weeks ago I applied to participate in the Annual Fulton Mentored Research Conference. Basically, you create a 48" poster about research that you have performed with the guidance of a faculty member and, if accepted, they pay to print it and you compete for a few cash scholarships.
Easy, I thought. I'm doing the research anyway, I thought. It'll definitely be done before the April 10th deadline, I thought.
Today I was accepted into the conference and informed that the posters must be printed up to 10 days in advance, following a college-specified print schedule. I haven't exactly even started writing my test model, let alone applying my data to it. Shoot me. I think perhaps Dr. Janetski (my mentor extraordinaire) was correct when he mentioned that this was typically a conference for those who have already completed their research.
So, aside from being the Maid of Honor at a dear friend's wedding on Saturday, the rest of my life will be spent on my bed with my laptop and reference books strewn semi-circularly around me. Thank heaven I bought the full-size mattress!
When I surface, I'll tell you all about the big competency exam which I finally took and am still waiting to hear about. Oh heck, I'll just sum up: it's a 3 hour typed essay exam on every aspect of archaeological theory anyone in our department has even the slightest bit of experience or interest in. I answered three questions: Archaeological trade patterns and research designs, the major contributions of three of the biggest archaeological theorists, and how to determine the difference between an egalitarian and a stratified society using multiple lines of archaeological evidence. Sigh. Now it's just the wait...
See you all on the other side of the moon!
Easy, I thought. I'm doing the research anyway, I thought. It'll definitely be done before the April 10th deadline, I thought.
Today I was accepted into the conference and informed that the posters must be printed up to 10 days in advance, following a college-specified print schedule. I haven't exactly even started writing my test model, let alone applying my data to it. Shoot me. I think perhaps Dr. Janetski (my mentor extraordinaire) was correct when he mentioned that this was typically a conference for those who have already completed their research.
So, aside from being the Maid of Honor at a dear friend's wedding on Saturday, the rest of my life will be spent on my bed with my laptop and reference books strewn semi-circularly around me. Thank heaven I bought the full-size mattress!
When I surface, I'll tell you all about the big competency exam which I finally took and am still waiting to hear about. Oh heck, I'll just sum up: it's a 3 hour typed essay exam on every aspect of archaeological theory anyone in our department has even the slightest bit of experience or interest in. I answered three questions: Archaeological trade patterns and research designs, the major contributions of three of the biggest archaeological theorists, and how to determine the difference between an egalitarian and a stratified society using multiple lines of archaeological evidence. Sigh. Now it's just the wait...
See you all on the other side of the moon!
Monday, March 06, 2006
An end to Nightmares...
For five years now, I have had recurring dreams about Dr. J being disappointed in me. Anyone who knows me has probably hear the tales, but anyone who knows J may understand why. Well, today I met with him about a paper and he began by telling me that he's proud of me and it looks like I'm really passionate and going places in archaeology. I was stunned and more than a little relieved to know it. Wow! I will never fear sleep again =) Now I'll have to develop some sort of psychosomatic issue with Clark, eh? =)
All else goes well, life is just life. I love it, but it's coming up on the competency exam soon, so I'm becoming anxious about getting ready and passing that. And I've seriously got to figure out how to sell my contract so I don't pay rent while I'm at field school. Sigh.
Camille is in Taiwan. Tragic, but so cool! It's sad, though...she is no longer just a free cell phone call away, so I've had move her name down in my phonebook so I won't forget and break the budget calling her...what an empty existence!
All else goes well, life is just life. I love it, but it's coming up on the competency exam soon, so I'm becoming anxious about getting ready and passing that. And I've seriously got to figure out how to sell my contract so I don't pay rent while I'm at field school. Sigh.
Camille is in Taiwan. Tragic, but so cool! It's sad, though...she is no longer just a free cell phone call away, so I've had move her name down in my phonebook so I won't forget and break the budget calling her...what an empty existence!
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Annual UPAC Presentations
Today was the annual UPAC meeting up at State History. Presentations all morning and then they did the business stuff after we all cut out to head back down to Provo. All told there were four presentations from BYU, including Jim Allison, Rachel Pollock and Mark Bodily, Brad, and I. Topics varied, I'd say Brad's North Creek junk is top list, but I'm still having nightmares from J-in-the-cliff...shudder...
Anyway, one presentation, which I unfortunately didn't really take notes on, was done by a UofU Doctoral student. I'd say it was the most interesting to me, so I wanted to throw out a bit of what I remember for you all.
It dealt with a mass burial in Moab. Six individuals, all male and all between 13-25 years old. Dentition and bone condition suggest that they were all in good health when they died. Three showed similar healed cranial injuries including a segment of bone/incised trauma above the right eye and several blunt trauma episodes to parietal and occipital lobes. Etc, etc, interesting stuff about the bones, but the really intriguing bit is the way the bodies were laid out in the mass grave. Unfortunately I have sucky MS Paint and that's it for graphic edits so I can't crop and rotate it, but the previous post gives you a basic idea.
Each burial was placed face down, with layered bodies having heads placed over the thoracic trunk and down. So they're actually at an angle, which I can't do in Paint, such that the six piled up a bit and then sloped back off.
Has anyone seen anything like this? It's really a bizarre bit of activity.
She didn't say anything about grave goods. She did note that the two common skull shapes for Utah burials (one more spherical/robust typically associated with Fremont/Anasazi culture and one more elongated not consistently identified to any specific culture) were represented in the grave, a good indication that cranial morphology shouldn't be standing alone in our cultural affiliation calls.
Anyway, interesting bit. Wish I had her graphic or better technology on my lappy...but anybody got any thoughts?
Anyway, one presentation, which I unfortunately didn't really take notes on, was done by a UofU Doctoral student. I'd say it was the most interesting to me, so I wanted to throw out a bit of what I remember for you all.
It dealt with a mass burial in Moab. Six individuals, all male and all between 13-25 years old. Dentition and bone condition suggest that they were all in good health when they died. Three showed similar healed cranial injuries including a segment of bone/incised trauma above the right eye and several blunt trauma episodes to parietal and occipital lobes. Etc, etc, interesting stuff about the bones, but the really intriguing bit is the way the bodies were laid out in the mass grave. Unfortunately I have sucky MS Paint and that's it for graphic edits so I can't crop and rotate it, but the previous post gives you a basic idea.
Each burial was placed face down, with layered bodies having heads placed over the thoracic trunk and down. So they're actually at an angle, which I can't do in Paint, such that the six piled up a bit and then sloped back off.
Has anyone seen anything like this? It's really a bizarre bit of activity.
She didn't say anything about grave goods. She did note that the two common skull shapes for Utah burials (one more spherical/robust typically associated with Fremont/Anasazi culture and one more elongated not consistently identified to any specific culture) were represented in the grave, a good indication that cranial morphology shouldn't be standing alone in our cultural affiliation calls.
Anyway, interesting bit. Wish I had her graphic or better technology on my lappy...but anybody got any thoughts?
Friday, February 24, 2006
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Eternal Principle #1
I've been announcing eternal principles to my roommate lately, but I started with #2, reserving the #1 for something truly all-encompassing. Some of the eternal principles include #3--the sink will clog right before the dinner party and #6--a room is only as messy as the archaeologist living in it. But now, behold!! The #1 eternal principle has been identified, nay, revealed!
...drumroll...
The #1 eternal principle is...
The best way to finish everything you need to do in a given day or week is to procrastinate the number one most important thing!
Amazing! Stupendous! Life-altering in more ways than even I realize!
Actually, this simply comes of the fact that I am STILL avoiding writing a paper that is now due in 3 days...I'm 9 pages into a 20-30 pager, but I've registered my car, prepared an elaborate Valentine's Day package for a missionary, finished a book about the Donner Party, nearly finished The Blue Sword again, and worked out more in the last 2 days than I've managed in any given week this entire semester. The list goes on. It's amazing, really. I might just keep avoiding it and do my laundry and, perhaps, a few years worth of scrap-booking...the possibilities are limitless!
Here's to eternal principles, "those kinky little devils!!" ;)
...drumroll...
The #1 eternal principle is...
The best way to finish everything you need to do in a given day or week is to procrastinate the number one most important thing!
Amazing! Stupendous! Life-altering in more ways than even I realize!
Actually, this simply comes of the fact that I am STILL avoiding writing a paper that is now due in 3 days...I'm 9 pages into a 20-30 pager, but I've registered my car, prepared an elaborate Valentine's Day package for a missionary, finished a book about the Donner Party, nearly finished The Blue Sword again, and worked out more in the last 2 days than I've managed in any given week this entire semester. The list goes on. It's amazing, really. I might just keep avoiding it and do my laundry and, perhaps, a few years worth of scrap-booking...the possibilities are limitless!
Here's to eternal principles, "those kinky little devils!!" ;)
Friday, February 03, 2006
Musings
Well, I've just watched Big Fish, which came out while I was on my mission. Interesting sort of film. Puts one in a mighty introspective mood, which, in my case, isn't often particularly peppy. But I'm well enough off, I suppose. It occurs to me that between the Jolley clan and my FHE group in my current ward, I'd have something of a major bash were I to go the way of the big catfish any time soon. =) Now if that doesn't make a person genuinely content, I don't know what could.
Went to Howl's Moving Castle at the international cinema early today. It's been a big movie day, I guess. It was absolutely classic anime with all my favorite characteristics--particularly, as with Spirited Away, that there are a number of side characters who have absolutely nothing to do with anything, really, but are completely loveable. I also enjoyed the bits of Russion mythology stuck in here and there...mostly dealing with a particular chicken-legged house. Billy Crystal always has such great roles, doesn't he? The fire was fabulous. And small bits of me are now head over heals for an animated fella who's far too concerned with his hair! =)
It was a good week. I've gotten deeper into Field School prep and have also started working on some stuff dealing with a collection of pots now housed at Harvard in my beloved Massachusetts. If only I could convince Dr. Allison to let me fly out there and look at them...what a lovely thing to combine my two great loves, Boston and archaeology. I've decided being married to my work suits me quite fine. I'm happy as a clam, only I'll be the one digging, not the one being dug up!
There's a small part of me that whispers something about a phD and that's somewhat terrifying...one never knows which voices one might decide to follow someday, but for now, I'm simply trying to be motivated enough to do my research, write my papers, and get myself ready to present something or other on Virgin Anasazi trade patterns at the UPAC meeting end of the month. I'm attaching a view of one of the places we'll be working. Gorgeous region outside St. George! Can't wait!
Went to Howl's Moving Castle at the international cinema early today. It's been a big movie day, I guess. It was absolutely classic anime with all my favorite characteristics--particularly, as with Spirited Away, that there are a number of side characters who have absolutely nothing to do with anything, really, but are completely loveable. I also enjoyed the bits of Russion mythology stuck in here and there...mostly dealing with a particular chicken-legged house. Billy Crystal always has such great roles, doesn't he? The fire was fabulous. And small bits of me are now head over heals for an animated fella who's far too concerned with his hair! =)
It was a good week. I've gotten deeper into Field School prep and have also started working on some stuff dealing with a collection of pots now housed at Harvard in my beloved Massachusetts. If only I could convince Dr. Allison to let me fly out there and look at them...what a lovely thing to combine my two great loves, Boston and archaeology. I've decided being married to my work suits me quite fine. I'm happy as a clam, only I'll be the one digging, not the one being dug up!
There's a small part of me that whispers something about a phD and that's somewhat terrifying...one never knows which voices one might decide to follow someday, but for now, I'm simply trying to be motivated enough to do my research, write my papers, and get myself ready to present something or other on Virgin Anasazi trade patterns at the UPAC meeting end of the month. I'm attaching a view of one of the places we'll be working. Gorgeous region outside St. George! Can't wait!
