Obey Zolac!

So, about a month ago I mentioned in a very offhand manner that I got into grad school. Yay me! It is exciting that I was accepted, but I used up my excitement over a year ago when I spoke to Dr. Hart and he agreed to be my advisor, because basically that's 95% of getting into the program right there, the rest was obnoxious paperwork. So I was like, "YAY I kinda already knew this was happening, but thanks!"

The exciting thing is this: I just got the email that I've been accepted to the fellowship I applied to! The fellowship was offered by my program "for students dedicated to careers in conservation biology and environmental science in the state of Hawai`i" (that's me), with a "preference for applicants who graduated from a high school in Hawai`i" (also me) "for applicants with a track record of supporting Hawai`i’s environment (e.g., internships, volunteer opportunities, etc.) and demonstrated commitment to pursuing and attaining a long term career in conservation biology and environmental science in Hawai`i" (holy shit it's like they are talking about me). ...Okay so I knew I was an excellent candidate and also I wrote a really fucking excellent application essay if I do say so myself, but the program only offers three of these fellowships per year and I didn't really know what my competition was like (still don't), so I've kind of been chewing my nails off waiting to hear.

But I got it, yay! I mean, REALLY, REALLY YAY, because the fellowship waives my tuition, pays me a salary of $18,000/year, and gives me an extra $5,000 for books, fees, travel to conferences, and supplies. That's right. I'm going to graduate school for free, and getting paid to do it.

FUCKING YES OH MY GOD. *happy dance* *oh, it is the happiest*

So... this is really happening. I'm going to get my Master of Science in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science. And then I'm going to save the world. (Well, some of it.)

I want to dedicate this win to my grandfather and granduncle, because they inspired me and helped make me into the person I am, and also I name-dropped the hell out of them in my essay so they almost definitely helped me get this fellowship in a more direct fashion. I know they're dead and all (so it goes) and I'm not religious, but I hope they're proud of me anyway. I've always been proud of them.

Article on io9: "DC plans to bring a prominent character out of the closet".

\o/

...Okay I swear I'm packing things now.

ETA: Of course, because I live in a hole (in the woods), and also I don't really pay attention to Marvel anyway, I missed this last month: "X-Men Gay Wedding: Northstar To Marry Boyfriend".

...I am packing, shut up.

Let's make a list again, I like lists.

-It's a beautiful day in Volcano. ^_^

-OMG YOU GUYS COUNTING THE HOURS UNTIL I CAN SEE AVENGERS A;SKGHSLKGJASFFSDS I MIGHT ACTUALLY DIE.

-First I have to, you know, make a contribution to my community or something silly like that. Told my Dad I'd help out with timekeeping etc. at the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Track and Field Championships at Kea‘au High School. ...Kinda looking forward to it, actually. Them high school varsity track days, thems were good days. I expect a lot of nostalgia. ...Just so y'all know, we're cheering for Waiākea High School; after all these years, I still bleed blue and white. GO WARRIORS GO!! :DD

-OMG YOU GUYS LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY JOB AS;ALGHSKFJALS;FSFS. So, it's getting to that time, the time where we make our expeditions down to lower Hakalau. So, next week we're not going up to Nauhi (the cabin at mid-elevation Hakalau); we're running a bunch of errands and doing office stuff and prepping for our trip. Then, on the 14th, a bunch of us drive up to the UH Field Station up at Hakalau Forest NWR. Early the next morning, we take backpacks and machetes and bushwhack our way down to the site, and we clear a landing site if necessary. The next day (weather permitting), a helicopter drops our gear and the rest of our crew off at the site. Then, on the 26th, the helicopter comes and picks us all back up and flies us out. That's TWELVE DAYS IN THE FIELD, HOLY CRAP, and all tent-camping except for that first night in the super-plush UH Field Station. A;LSGHKFASJFAKLHSGLSKJF SO EXCITED!! You guys, I am a badass outdoorswoman, but this is going to be my longest uninterrupted stay in the backcountry, and my longest stay in a tent by a lot, and it's in an area that very few people on the planet have ever been to or ever will and it's going to be very very wet and if the weather is bad we will probably all drown and it's going to be the coolest thing ever and oh my god HAVE I MENTIONED I HAVE THE BEST JOB, BY THE WAY, I HAVE THE BEST JOB. TT_TT

-As awesome as this is I am super bummed by the timing; I'd been hoping to make it over to O‘ahu and help out with my family's archaeological excavation of the pā at Pālehua; I was going to be Pat Kirch's surveying assistant! (This guy, he's like the top expert of Polynesian archaeology IN THE WORLD, I was really looking forward to meeting him!) I've been looking forward to it for months and months! But my trip to lower Hakalau pretty much exactly coincides with the dig, b'aaaaawwww. *heartbroken* WHY NOT A TIME-TURNER, I COULD BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE, IT WOULD BE SO AWESOME. TT_TT

-Otherwise, things at work are going pretty well. Week before last was, as I expected, EXCEEDINGLY AWKWARD. But we caught an akepa! :DDDD This is a big deal; akepa are very very endangered. They are also tiny and adorable and day-glo orange. This was the first akepa for all three of us, so we were super excited and happy. (I was the one who found it; oh for a recording of me flipping out on the radio when I called Jackie to come extract it. XD;)

-Now that I'm done with Pō Pouli, I hope to have time very soon for a super über mega picture dump of my various adventures these past few months, including my work up at Nauhi. IT WILL BE AWESOME. It's not gonna happen today though, haha. Probably not tomorrow either. Maybe next week before I leave to die in the woods on my trip?

-Speaking of Pō Pouli, I have just been in this glow of happiness all week. Now that the exhaustion has worn off and I am able to think properly... I think... I think it might be my best work to date? T_T I'm really really happy with it. And everyone has been leaving such lovely feedback, and I've even made a few awesome new friends. HI NEW FRIENDS, HI~!! :DD *waves*

TL,DR; my life is awesome and I am happy. Expect a lot of incoherent flailing in capslock re: Avengers later tonight. (Omgomgomg~!!)

Okay, so in case anyone hadn't already figured it out, my internet presence is going to be somewhat diminished for the next several months. I will only have the possibility of internet when I'm not in the field, which, as I go further into my internship, will not be a lot of the time; when I'm not in the field I will only really have internet when I make the time and effort to go seek it out (only one of the volunteer houses has wireless, and it's not mine), or when I come down to Hilo for a bit. I will have internet on my Droid when I'm not in the field, so emails and LJ comment alerts will still get to me on weekends and office days, and who knows, I may even have time to respond. :P

I am going to give up all attempts at actually keeping up with my Friends list. I'll check in occasionally but I'm realistically only going to catch like 10% of what goes on there. I'll make posts when I can to keep you guys abreast (haha I said breast) of what I'm up to, and I'll really make an effort to post pictures occasionally, so you guys can see my beautiful forest and gorgeous adorable birdies.

...So yeah, anyway, this is me just squeezing in a quick update while I devour some breakfast. First week of the internship is going great. The other intern is this guy named Sean from North Carolina; he's quiet and somewhat shy and totally pleasant and amiable and we're getting along great. We live with Matt from Ohio who does insect stuff, and he's cool and friendly and we like him and I think we're all going to be great housemates. I think there's supposed to be a couple of Eban's bird demography volunteers moving in with us this weekend, but there's this whole big drama right now with Eban's crew and who's going to live where and whether or not his techs will get housing even though it's against the rules and blah blah blah, so I don't really know what the situation will be like when I get back on Monday.

Matt and Sean and I usually all start work at the same time in the morning, except for when Sean and I are going into the field and therefore have to wake up at ass o'clock (we have to be at the office at six a.m. on Tuesday. SIX A.M.), so most mornings we walk to work together. Guys, this is fantastic; I've gone from a 45-minutes-by-car one-way commute, to a 15-minutes-by-foot one-way commute. And also it's the nicest commute ever, a pleasant stroll on a path through the rainforest with the birds waking up all around us. T_T It's a great way to start the morning.

We spent a few days doing office stuff, thrilling work like disentangling mist nets and checking them for holes, and disinfecting mist nets and bird bags, and aliquoting lysis buffer into tiny vials, and getting First Aid/CPR/AED certified. We did go up to Hakalau on Wednesday to check out Nauhi Cabin, which is where we'll be staying when we're in the field for the next... a lot of time, and set up a bunch of poles and played tour guide for a visiting malaria expert from Penn State, a dude named Andrew with an awesome New Zealand accent.

Life at housing is neat. Thursday was pizza night, so we all went over to where Caitlin and Keola are living and contributed pizza ingredients. We had a vegetarian pizza with white sauce (spinach and mushrooms and garlic and onions), and a pepperoni, spaghetti squash, garlic, onions, and basil pizza with red sauce (I contributed the spaghetti squash and the Italian-style stewed tomatoes for the sauce), and I brought tortilla chips and Matt brought salsa and Caitlin busted out the SCARY INTENSE hot sauce Laurèen sent from Réunion and Brent brought cheesy bread (AMAZING) and Keola made some intensely delicious shoyu chicken and Caitilin busted out the kim chee and someone brought wine and Matt brought spiced rum and there was a lot of beer floating around. It was super fun. And I had a lot of stuff to take care of that evening, but I had a beer and some wine and a swig of the rum and then I took a hot shower and all of a sudden my head was REALLY HEAVY, so I went to sleep at like 9 and woke up early to do stuff instead. XD;

I am at home in Hilo at the moment, and for at least like another couple of hours, and then Don and Mom and I are headed up to Kapa‘a, which is a beach campground in Kohala, a little ways north of Kawaihae. We're getting together with a bunch of friends for the weekend and there will be music and singing and whale-watching and soooooo much potluck food and I had planned to invite Alex but he broke up with me so he doesn't get to come, nyahh~. And it's a three-day weekend in this great nation, so Sunday night we're sneaking away and going to the Blue Dragon and the Olliephonics are playing and like at least fifteen Hepcats are showing up and we're basically going to take over the whole place and dance dance dance.

And then on Tuesday it's out to the field for a couple of days, catching birdies whee~!

So yeah. I'll, uh. Be in touch when I can.

I LOVE YOU ALL!! ♥♥♥

Laulau and fresh coconut for breakfast.

I WIN BREAKFAST.

Today was PERFECT. The weather was glorious even in Hilo, and the whole drive up the Hamakua coast was stunning, sun shining and ocean the deepest, bluest blue. Hapuna was, predictably, hella crowded, but not to a bothersome degree aside from the parking. I ate a gigantic motherfucking plate of food, poke and bbq chicken and vegetable shishkabob and coleslaw and green papaya salad and sushi and watermelon and lychee and banana, and then I was full to bursting with food and then I ate a steak. And then I got in the water that was glass-clear and as warm as my skin, and I horsed around with family and friends and played keepaway and bodysurfed even though the surf was pathetic and I didn't come out again for two and a half hours and ohmigod I was so relaaaaaaaxed~!

And then, since we were already in South Kohala and it was a first Sunday, we abducted half the party and went to the Blue Dragon to hear The Olliephonics and dance. I had myself a drink called the Tequila Dragon which had tequila and Grand Marnier and lime juice and mango puree in it; it was basically a mango smoothie with tequila in and it was DELICIOUS. Since I still felt full from the gigantic motherfucking plate of food + steak from three and a half hours earlier I avoided the entrees and ordered the seared ahi and spinach salad, which was also delicious; these little batter-fried slices of eggplant were especially amazing. And as usual The Olliephonics were motherfucking spectacular, and as usual we had a freaking amazing good time dancing, and as usual members of the band and random other patrons came up to our table to tell us how amazing we look on the dance floor, and I think we hooked someone for the blues dance workshop in August, so that's cool. And I danced with my brother to "A-Train", which is his favorite ever swing song (he used to play it when he played alto saxophone for a couple of big band/swing/jazz bands back in high school), and I led sister-to-be Nova more-or-less successfully in a cha-cha to "Oye Como Va", which was hilarious but hella fun, and they played "Mack the Knife" and "Jump Jive and Wail" and "In The Mood" and ALL OF THE GOOD SONGS, ALL OF THEM, and it was sooooooooo fun. ^_^

And my friend Eric (from high school... and middle school... and elementary school) somehow discovered that I was on the island and texted me, so I'm going to have to find time to hang out with him, yaaaaaaaaay Eric! I don't know WHEN, because my schedule for the next MONTH looks like this: wedding prep, partying, working full-time, folk dance, partying, working full-time, wedding prep, WEDDING, wedding clean-up, working full-time, traveling to O‘ahu, traveling to Kaua‘i, working full-time, blues workshop. @_@ But I dunno, fuck it, maybe sometime next week after the WEDDING is over with we can meet up after work for dinner and/or a movie or something.

What is my liiiiiiiiife. ...It is wonderful, that's what.

I'm awake at godawful o'clock and I haven't had anything near enough sleep and, you know, I couldn't be happier. Today is my first day of work at my internship in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and I'm really excited about it. Never mind that I've been to the Park three times in as many weeks. Never mind that I was just there two days ago. I never get sick of that place, and I am just really looking forward to my job. When's the last time I've been able to say that?

Fuck you very much Previous Job, with your drudgery and second-class treatment of temps and giant fucking people warehouse with no windows. I am going to go hang out in the forest and save the motherfucking world, kthxbai.

Just because.



Feel free to imagine it as a hug from me. ♥

Also, I played Portal last night. Whoo!

*ahem* Headline:

JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT WILL APPEAR IN THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

IT MUST BE MY BIRTHDAY OR SOMETHING. :DDDDDDDD

No news on his role, yet. RiddlerRiddlerRiddlerohmygodpleasebeRiddlerohmygodRiddlerbeRiddlerpleasepleaseplease!!! Article is here, for proof that I'm not hallucinating.

OH MY GOD, look_alive, DID WE TOTALLY CALL THIS SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, OR DID WE TOTALLY CALL THIS SEVERAL MONTHS AGO?! :DDDDD

adsfjkl;ghfds JGL and Tom Hardy in the same Nolan movie, AGAIN. Christopher Nolan, I may be willing to have sex with you.

DECEMBERISTS CONCERT IN EUGENE ON MAY 21!!!!

Oh man, I am so there. If I still have my job in May I am totally calling in sick.

HELLS YES.