Electrofishing...Zap, zap..FISH!!!

So I ditched the office on Friday to go electrofishing with the aquatic research section at work. Then I went out again on Saturday because I am nuts like that.

Essentially, electrofishing involves rigging boats each with a positive charge on the front and a negative charge on the back. Then you place two people with nets on long poles at the front of each boats and as fish are stunned by the electric current, they scoop them up and put them in a tub on the boat.

After a half mile or so, the boats pull over to give the netters a break from hauling in fish, and the haul is processed. You measure, weigh, tag, and record the fish so that the population and community distribution can be estimated.

We were really hoping to see a pikeminnow, but no such luck. I was lucky enough to catch a few razorback suckers and one bonytail chub. Those are endangered fish by the way.

For my part, I was a netter on river right the first day and river center the second day. I also did the record keeping when we stopped to process a haul. Day two we had an extra small crew, so I also did some of the fin clipping to mark fish we'd captured so that we knew that we'd already captured them if we caught them again later.

My back and arms have been sooooooo sore from netting and hauling in fish. It was, however, one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. It was awesome, and I got to see a bonytail chub up close and personal. Absolutely amazing.

Reading Instead of Writing

So I keep just starting at my writing project. I set aside all homework on Thursday so that I could just finish my project and stop worrying about it. Come Friday, I had revised 7 pages and 1 new one, and I still had a lot of work today.

I need to turn this project back into a conversation I enjoy having and make it less of a nightmare where I can't find the words I want and don't know where to start. So I'm doing some quick research about Pullman's work so that I can get into some more conversation. I'm also going to reread Naomi's articles. Hopefully this works and by this evening I will be writing new material at a regular pace.

I am so ready for summer and novel writing.

Playing it Upbeat

My last post displays a certain degree of whininess, so let's throw that out the window, and reflect on what's been accomplished.

1. I found a line of research inquiry for Indian Children's Literature that is not only resulting in a source list, but I'm excited about my paper. What poor English graduate student wouldn't love to be perusing articles on ecology and paleogeography, escaping the world of literary criticism? Well most, but I'm excited because I tend to be more sciencey than a lot of my peers. Last spring I looked at linguistic research, last semester I worked with articles from sociology, this time I get to talk about the environment. Win, win, win.

2. My major professor cornered me in the copy room to ask about my project (which I have been working on). While I am embarrassed that she needed to do so, it's the scary motivation I needed. Today is officially project day. She will have a draft tomorrow. I like having a motivating deadline. This was a great kick in the rear.

3. I organized all my teaching materials and class materials the other day and am operating at full efficiency.

4. The first major assignment for technical communications is done.

5. I am a third of the way through my book review book, and the book review isn't due for weeks. Take that usual habits of procrastination. Take note, while I am kicking my own procrastination in the rear right now, I still produce very good work at the last minute. This is more a question of sanity and flexibility.

6. My sister called to share with me a posting she thought "sounded like me." Boy was she right. It's the job of my dreams--tech writing nerdism at its best, and the company has totally charmed me with the About section on their website. I'm preparing materials to submit.

7. My other sister emailed me a post this morning that is also quite good. It's not as perfect, but I think it sounds like fun too. Her miraculous find post-undergrad is what got me my first real job where I had no connection to the company. I have awesome siblings.

Well, I would love to keep chatting, but I've been wordy enough. Also, I'm supposed to follow Chris to a mechanic so that he can drop off his car for some brake work. He'll be here in 35 minutes, and I haven't showered. Never fear, if I can get home and prep for our anniversary dinner in 10 minutes. This is cake.