Stove

Isn't this the cutest little pot belly stove. I rescued it from my dad's shed, and plan to fix it up, paint it and use it some day. It might take a while before its up and running, but I had to share my good find. 

Chain Saw Carving Pictures

Today my mother and I went to the Chain Saw Carving Festival in Reedsport Oregon. I took a ton of pictures and thought I would share most of them here. There was some amazing artwork on display! All in all it was a great time. 

I really enjoyed all the fish themed carvings. I guess we get a lot of that on the coast because there were many fish carvings and I liked  most of them a lot. This was actually a bench in Reedsport, and not even part of the festival at all. 

Here is my mom with a sea dragon and  seaman! 

Me with an adorable cougar carving! I really like this big cat, his eyes turned out so well. 

A bigger picture of the cat. 

And a picture of the entire carving. I wasn't so crazy about the random heads part. 

Pelican with fish - I liked the use of colors on this piece. His beak especially stood out from the crowd and was pretty eye grabbing. 

I thought the use of color was very well done on this fish too. I think it was in the same booth as the Pelican above. I should have got that guys card so I could link to him! 

Mom next to some mountain men. 

This guy was actually pretty freaky looking!

These whales were so gorgeous up close! Maybe I just thought so because I am such a big fan of the sea-life ones.  

This was just a wall that a guy had set up for his booth. I loved the way all the fish looked though. This picture is currently my Facebook background. It just feels like "me" to me. 

More totally nifty, awesome colors! This one caught your eye from a long way away, the blue was so bright! 

Yeah! Helping the economy! 

It's probably pretty obvious that I got tired of adding captions to all of them. The pictures speak for them selves though. Just amazing artwork!

Anna

I guess it's time to have another post devoted to how adorable I find my dog. I've been spending a lot of time  with her lately. I love being able to take her along on road trips and when I'm out of town for classes. I think having her around is good for my psychology. It's really nice to have something else to focus on, and I don't feel as lonely in my nomadic lifestyle when I have a dog there for company. 

What is...

What is...

What is something you dislike about yourself? - I dislike it when I judge myself too harshly, I know I am holding myself up to impossible standards but I can't stop. I dislike when I am moody, or pessimistic, especaly when I act on those feelings. I dislike when I judgmental or presumptive thoughts about other people before I know their stories. 

What is something you do well? - I'm good at learning, at critical thinking, at working hard, at nose to the grind stone kind of work. I'm good at being independent, at surviving, and at adapting to new situations.
What is your favourite room in your home and why? - My bedroom, because it's where I relax, where I read, I have it organized JUST the way I want, and it's usually the cleanest room in the house.

What is a good neighbor? - Someone who believes in community, in shared interest in a common space. Someone who knows when to leave well enough alone, but can be approached in a crises. Someone you can lookout for, team up with, and face the world with in a unique relationship that, in my opinion, is neglected in society today. 

What is the worst thing parents can do to their children? - Given recent events I kind of want to say "eat them." Short of abuse or neglect I want to say be indifferent to them. Loving parents raise well adjusted children. Children form horrible backgrounds have the opportunity to overcome that adversity and become great (although I would by no means indolence horrible parenting. But indifferent parents always raise indifferent children, and that is unforgivable. 

What is your favorite time of day? - Early morning, hands down is wonderful. Watching the sun come up in the middle of summer camping by a lake drinking coffee is the most spiritual feeling I'm ever likely to have. 

What is your idea of a dull evening? - I answered this already in this blog once.. I said clubbing. I stand by that answer. 

What is the best way to treat meddlesome people? - Ignore them. Avoid them. 

What is something you are optimistic about? - Life in general. The future of our planet. My future. I have to be, you can't live life in a pessimistic shadow. You only get one, why spend it in that state of mine.

What is something you are pessimistic about? - Human nature, the generosity of strangers. The fate of society. 

What is your most indispensable possession and why? - Currently my cell phone, it keeps me connected to people when I want to be, it's my avenue to the world, and a great wealth of knowledge, entertainment, and maps. 

What is the meaning of "He laughs best who laughs last"? - The last one laughing enjoyed the joke the most...?


What is your favorite song and why? - Not a great music fan, but I'll go with the Eagles "Already Gone" for the lyrics "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key" - I love those lyrics.

What is the best birthday present you ever received? - My dad left me a voice mail once singing the happy birthday song when he was working out of town on my birthday. I kept a recording of that song for years, but eventually lost it. I also had a friend give me a Meglandon shark tooth... that's a very close second. 

What is the best birthday present you could receive? - Something very specific to me, my tastes, goals, and predispositions. Not anything expensive. Experiences more than possessions. 

What is something that makes you feel sad? - Politics in the United States, indifference, human greed, animal cruelty, the future of the younger generation. 

What is your favourite book and why? - There are so many reason that I can not even begin to answer this question. I have so many favorite books that I could never choose just one. I have many books setting on my shelves that I read over and over again depending on my mood. I could sooner choose a favorite star in the heavens. 

What is something that really bugs you? - People in general tend to bug me. Most of them have serious personality flaws or opinions that I can only handle in short quantities. This makes me a bit of a loner, but makes the people that I do like all the more appreciated. 

What is something that really makes you angry? - Child abuse, Animal abuse, Human rights violations, people that don't recycle. 

What is the best advice you ever received? -   The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people! - Randy Pausch 

What is your favourite holiday? What makes this holiday special? - New Years. Growing up we always spend the New Year with family friends. I have the fondest memories of these times. I looked forward to it more than Christmas. 

What is your favourite day of the week? - Lately, Tuesday... free beer the Rouge brewery and I usually got to hang out with a friend.  Good times. 

What is your favourite month? Why? September. My birthday, it's a month for reelections. Also, Indian summers! The start of Fall is also my most favorite time of the year. 

Kat Stats

Today is the last day of this crazy term and I'm doing a little reflecting on the past three months.
Since I had to spend two days a week in Corvallis (three hours away from home) for class, and some time in Newport (two hours away from home) for lab work, and work the remaining days (Friday-Monday) in Coos Bay (home) for work, my plan for the week was to camp in Newport and drive to Corvallis for class (one hour), then complete lab and library research with the remainder of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Good plan, right?

Camping mostly took place in the bed of my canopy covered pickup. This was not a perfect solution as it seems to drip pretty badly when the rain hits it just right. A couple times all my stuff ended up soaked, but eventually the rain turned to spring drizzle and the leak wasn't problematic.

This is my home away from home during the week. I had Anna  (seen hogging the bed) with me a couple weeks , but mostly she was babysat by my mom and my sister.

This is the bones of the back of the truck before it got all filled with stuff.  Note the house plants, they added the nice homey touch. 

I camped at The Newport Marine RV park which has dry camping for $17 a night. Bonus, you get to camp in the parking lot of the brewery! Also, they have night security (an important consideration, since I haven't installed locks on my canopy and usually was without Anna).

Another bonus! This was my view most nights! 

I was able to cut down on the total number of nights I camped by getting up at 4:15 am and driving to Corvallis for class. All total, I camped in Newport 16 nights ($270). I managed to squeeze a couple free nights of camping in at Quartzville Recreation areas during a couple of days I took off work to hang with Eric. Also, Hope was a trouper of a friend and let me stay on her recliner for a few nights, and even provided me with a dryer on one of the rainy days with a bad leak.

One of the nights camping around Quartzville, it was raining pretty hard this time, and we had to devise a way to keep the fire from flooding out, since cooking food and eating food was about the only thing we did. 

The total amount of drive time I dedicated to this venture was a solid 10 hours a week. This is 10 hours that I never counted as work time, but if I would have got paid, I would have made a total of $1,395 over the course of the term.

My truck gets a decent 26 mpg, but I spent a total of $365.45 on gas (this excludes gas used for personal transportation or miles incurred during field work; I get reimbursed for field work miles).

You might get the impression that I am a little obsessed with time and money and you would be right. The main reason I keep track of this stuff is so I can console myself when I don't get as much done as I plan to do (I never get as much done as I plan to) or have any money in the bank before I get my next paycheck (I never have any money in the bank before I  get paid). And so I know I'm working hard,  but also remember that I had a lot of fun while doing it!

Seriously, how fun is Anna to hang out with!? She loves to climb on stuff.

One of my favorite pictures of Anna during one of our adventures. 

 And this view never ever got old.

How can you not love that bridge!?

Since I'm so obsessed with money in this post, I should point out that I got a $1,000 scholarship this term too! Ultimately I accomplished a lot, and finished the last class I had to take toward my degree. Just a thesis and a defense and I am done... ETA of graduation... loosely sometime this fall.

Field work

This was the view when I started my field work this morning. Days don't get much better than this. 

Seal Rock, Oregon

Just some pictures I took toady at Seal Rock. I wanted to share, but don't feel like writing right now. 

Anthopleura xanthogrammica - say it, its fun.