copying Wendy

Well, I can't knit Fair Isle to an even tension, and I've never done a steek, and it takes me months (multiple) instead of month (single) to knit a sweater, but here's one way I can copy Wendy

Ten things I have done that you probably have not.

1. Been attacked by a spruce grouse because I stumbled onto his territory. (For those unfamiliar, these are NOT big birds...think bantam chicken. I admire his ballsiness but fear that he probably wouldn't survive long, attacking any large creature that walked through there)

2. Co-authored scientific papers with each of my parents (they are both scientists; on one paper I did the data analysis and on the other I did most of the fieldwork and analysis). Yes, I'm a big geek.

3. Served as editor for my department's annual grad-student-produced humor magazine for three years running. (Once again: yes, I'm a big geek).

4. Had a turkey vulture essentially end its life on my roof.

5. Contemplated working up a pattern for a knitted toy tardigrade. (And I'm still thinking about it. I might actually do it some day if I can figure out how to make the shaping work.)

6. Slid ~ 200 feet down a slick (volcanic-rock-origin soil) trail, on my butt, in front of about 15 other scientists, some of them fairly prominent in their fields.

...dang, this is harder than it looks...the fact that I'm basically antisocial and don't have any good "bar scene" occurrences complicates matters...

7. Had a student answer her cell phone in my class, and say to the person on the other end "I can't talk now; I'm in class."

8. Made a stuffed toy buffalo for my graduate advisor (long story there)

9. Danced the Twist in a church basement

10. Been stiffed to the tune of $7 (this is when I was an unemployed high-school student, and my weekly allowance was $5) when I went out to lunch with my dad's colleagues and they designated me as the person to collect the money for the "no separate checks" ticket. (And I think I know which two people it was that did it...). I was working as a volunteer assistant with a departmental summer program at the time...one thing I learned, is never be the designated money-collector again.

Especially with geologists...

So, okay. My life isn't real exciting. Now I'm kind of depressed, actually, that I can't talk about having been to Kathmandu or turning down a minor European aristocrat's offer of marriage or having puked on Walter Koenig in a bar somewhere, or something like that.