It’s Been Awhile

Yikes! It’s been… over 5 months since my last update. I have an excuse. I just launched a new website for the Paleontology Club at the South Dakota School of Mines (where I attend.) You should check it out.

A Night to Remember

Yesterday I helped out at the Museum of Geology’s Night at the Museum event. Here are a few photos:

New Adentures

Saturday I went on an excursion with the museum here at School of Mines to the School of Mines Canyon in Badlands National Park.

Tabula Rasa

I’ve traveled more than 1500 miles, here to Rapid City. After a tearful goodbye my mom boarded her flight back to Santa Maria, and I returned to my car to begin my new life in South Dakota.

I climbed in, inserted the key, turned it and – nothing. I tried again but It still would not start; my battery was dead.

After a jump start from a tow truck and a new battery from Sears I got back in my car to drive to the hotel when I noticed something: The clock was blank, and all my radio presets had been erased. If you’ve ever had your car’s battery die you’ve probably experienced this yourself, disconnecting the power to the radio blanks out it’s memory. None of this really mattered though, as all the radio stations were different here anyway, and since Rapid city is on Mountain Time I would have to reset the clock as well.

It dawned on me that coming here was the same as blanking out the presets on my radio. I still had the same car with all it’s dents and imperfections; but part of my life had been reset and left blank and it was up to me to fill it back in.

Incredible Journey

In the last 24 hours I’ve driven nearly 1000 miles. I find myself exausted in Laramie, Wyoming. My mom and I will rest here tonight before completing my journey to Rapid City, South Dakota.

Inundation

 

As part of my project for my GIS class (that’s Geographic Information Systems, or computerized mapping) I’ve made a map of Santa Barbara if sea levels were to increase by 2 meters, that’s about 6 and a half feet. Something must be done! Some of my favorite restaurants are now under water. 😦

The Persistence of Digital Memory

I visited the campus at UC Berkeley this Sunday and took a few pictures with my swanky new digital camera.

This sculpture greets you as you enter from the western gate. It seems to inspect with an unblinking eye, however signs of decay and imperfection have crept up on this sentinel.

Badlands, Good Times.

I spent last weekend in the field with SBCC’s Summer Field Geological Mapping class. I’ve updated my flickr site with some new photos. Scroll down and look to the right to see some, click on one to get to my collection and see some more. I had a real blast!

Surreal Landscapes: Photoshopping Death Valley

The desert is a magical place. It takes a skilled photographer to properly convey the awe and majesty and epic scale of its timeless beauty. I am not a skilled photographer. I’ve digitally manipulated some of the pictures I’ve taken on my trip to try to give them more expression and emotion.

The Divine Comedy: Death Valley Part 2

“Hell is empty, and all the devils are here”
-William Shakespeare, The Tempest: Act I. Scene I.

Inferno

The desert is full of devils. They’ve left their mark all over the American West. Their tower is in Wyoming, they have a postpile near Yosemite. But their principal domain is clearly Death Valley. Devils’ Golf Course, Devils’ Hole and Devil’s Corn Field are just a few of the features the denizens of Hades have stamped their name upon.

From the appropriately named Dante’s View overlooking Death Valley