The Geology of Things
I was assigned my new support department today, Geological Sciences, which will henceforth be referred to as Geomancy. It seems like a nice place, with lots of cool rocks everywhere, sitting not only in display cases but sort of randomly about the office. In that sense, it seems rather homey-- I tend to collect rocks, crystals, wood boles, and other strange objects from hikes, and place them around my house. It's a sort of eclectic, nostalgic clutter.

The people seem nice, also eclectic, and the building/ facilities rather new. In fact, I've even been given my own office!! With windows!! In the bloody Volcanology building!!

There's an interesting irony in my departmental assignment. My first department was math. Now, I'm no mathematician... but my dad is. He'd always ask me, "So, what are those grad students working on when you go into their offices?" and I'd reply, "I don't know. Some kind of crazy, differential equations with weird... stuff."

Now I'm in Geomancy... and I'm no rock-nazi, but I did grow up around rocks. A lot of them. If I correctly recall, several closets in our basement were filled with them. My mother LOVED rocks. She came in to my elementary classrooms to present on basic rock identification. She took us on "fossil hunt" outings. Although she never finished it, her graduate degree was in Geological Sciences.

So, in a sort of roundabout peripheral way, I'm covering both of my parents' chosen professions. But this time, I'm a little more fond of and connected to my department's curriculum. Geomancy seems fairly relevant in a time when Mt. Saint Helens is threatening to spew again.

Huttah!