So he wants someone that has contributed greatly to science but isn’t popular. Does that sound weird to you? Its like how my boyfriend describes the worst Starbucks customer ever: he wants his coffee piping hot but with ice cubes added to it and he doesn’t want them to get “all little.”

So basically I’m going to lose marks because I can’t find something that interests him (because he’s heard it all already). How is that MY fault?

“ His experiments gave no support to the evolutionary idea that the first life arose from non-living matter—a belief still held today by evolutionists.”

Bah hah hah! Nobody believes in spontaneous generation. THAT is very different from evolution in that evolution simply describes how currently living species evolve over time through natural selection. Evolution doesn’t actually describe where living beings come from – that is a different area of science.

Why is it that for me to become a school teacher I must learn how to be the best teacher out there by understanding and meeting my students needs but the professors and teachers at university generally don’t give a flying fuck (save for my psych prof that I just mentioned)? My geometry teacher expects us to memorize over 30 theorems (and prove them) AND another 15 axioms on top of those for our midterm. So much for attempting to reduce test anxiety. Instead of giving us some practice for the midterm she posted a ‘sample midterm’ that informed us only of the spacing of the questions and her ‘review’ in class was simply making a list of the theorems covered in previous classes (something I had done on my own time earlier). I don’t think she understands how people learn and how she is causing about 40-50 people to have panic attacks tonight.

I’ve always wanted to be able to say that. Unfortunately most people referred to Gustav as Jacob. Who remembers the Loop of Henle? Well it was this guy that discovered and described it in the nineteenth century. He also described a plethora of other itty bitty things and has been described as one who did to microscopic anatomy what Vesalius did to gross anatomy. For those who don’t know who Vesalius is, that statement means Henle did a big and awesome job. We’ll talk about Vesalius another time as he is also a truly interesting individual. I’m supposed to be doing research on Jacob Henle right now for my history of biology paper but I got a reminder from my email to blog. I’m trying to do this at least once every two weeks and also post some pictures whilst I’m at it. The topic today is obviously biological history. Anywho, Jacob was apparently a great musician and was popular due to his charm, modesty and innate integrity. I would like to meet him – unfortunately he is no longer with us but his work will never be forgotten (especially as part of the kidney is named after him)!

I am taking a library course on comics and graphic novels for my education option course this term. I’ve read quite a few comics and will probably post my reviews once I have some breathing room (probably at christmas). Also I don’t want my teacher to think I’m stealing off myself for the reviews. That would be awkward.

Otherwise work at the cafe is going swell, I’m becoming a better barista slowly, and I’m starting to get the hang of the daily tasks (well.. I’ve got sweeping and mopping down-pat). I’m also trying to find “my special drink” that I make and enjoy every shift – and it has to be low fat/sugar because I’m bloody overweight. I guess I don’t really look fat but if I wear something tight I definitely am chubby around the midriff.

I would also like to state that I have currently accomplished one big task that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I am living not just in the same province or city, but in the same apartment as my boyfriend! So exciting! AND as a bonus – my kitty is with us. These are my two prerequesites to being happy. Having Josh and Hiero – my two favourites – with me at the same time. We still have a few kinks to work out however (like the fact that he is allergic to her) but we’ll work it out. For now it is being handled with allergy pills, vacuuming and cat bathing. I am happy to wake up and always look forward to going home after school and work.

What if shit happens and you blow it due to unforeseen circumstances?

Also, I feel super blown away by the multitude of things I have to do – assignments, essays, oral presentations, seminars… gah. How did I ever pull off 5 full classes AND labs?

Ah well – I’m going to give it a shot. And I’ll be working p/t this time too, so my GPA outcome should be interesting.

I got a free pen the other day from the Edmonton Transit System tent and it works pretty well! I’m pretty happy with it because give-aways are usually shit.

I’ve been making different lunches and breakfasts and while doing that I give a taste to the cat (a lick off the finger). She has decided that she fancies mild curry and rice, peanut butter, blueberry jam and tomato sauce from lasagne. She’s got quite the broad pallet.

South Africa was pretty rad. The work we did and the sights we saw were very rewarding. I helped to dig some pretty big holes (big for me anyway), mix concrete with a shovel/spade, and make a foundation for a small, three-bedroom house. Those were the activities my group concentrated on but other volunteers also worked on making the garden (with special netting around and above it to protect it from the harsh rains), the walls for the toilet and house and the reservoir for the toilet. After two days of construction we moved onto the education portion of the volunteer work. We visited the pre-school/kindergarten in the morning and played with the kids and taught them songs and English words to the older kids. In the afternoon we went to the elementary/secondary school and taught different concepts to different grades. I taught with my partner, Eva, in the grade 3 class. We taught them how to tell time and rewarded them with pencils that Eva brought. Once the kids figured out that correct answers got them a prize everyone was eager to participate. The teacher seemed pleased with our progress as well.

Again, after two days of education we switched to the last volunteer activity – conservation. One day we visited the Crocodile sanctuary and helped out there and the other day we went to a Cheetah Centre and worked there as well. We all had the opportunity to hold a small crocodile as well a pet a cheetah. I worked with the group that worked inside the Cheetah’s enclosure and dug holes for posts to make a smaller enclosure for vet treatment for the cats. While we were digging one of the cheetah’s decided that our sweaters, hung on the fence, were chew toys. How many people in Canada can say they have a sweater chewed up by a cheetah?

The first week for me was backbreaking and tiring but it was the most rewarding. It was also the best weather of the trip. The second week was colder and wetter but we still got to see some cool things like Rhino, Giraffe and Zebras. We did see Elephant and Lions but they were way off in the distance and you needed binoculars to see them. We also saw some hippo on our river cruise, in the town of St. Lucia and at a game reserve in Swaziland (grazing with the cattle).

The absolute best part? The Cheetahs. Hands down.

Pictures will be added to Flickr soon – I’m finally through getting rid of the crappy pictures and now I have to find the gems. Looking back on my photos – I didn’t take as good pictures as I usually do so I apologize in advance of the crappy quality.

So, until August 21st – ciao ciao!

I’ll be back with some pictures and hopefully some thrilling stories!