02 March 2003 - 11:10

This week I worked on my thesis. Got serious. Came down on its candy ass. It knows it don't want none o' this. I was in that sweet place that Elvinone spoke of. Not lonely and getting work done. When I took a break from my thesis work, it was to: do homework for biopsych class; bike to the marine lab; intensively, if somewhat unsuccessfully, attempt to edit an article to be submitted to a certain prestigious journal by a certain advisor of mine; discuss dolphin research and methodology with my friend & peer Cetahead.

(And I didn't think overly much about a certain someone, as if some hours and words and kisses provided calm warm comfort instead of longing as the days, nearly even weeks passed. A sort of miracle. Like life giving lights burning unexpectedly for eight days when the oil should have lasted for only one.)

Friday I spent twelve sweeter than buckwheat honey hours with Dr. Gillian Baskin, who drove me up to Epcot where I saw Wendiops and the three living of my research subjects: Bob, Ranier, and Calvin (these are their real names). I (once again) walked around the place that I've spent hours staring at on this tiny computer screen. I met people. We went out to lunch. I got something of a feel for, a tiny glimpse of, what working there is actually like.

And Gillian and I talked. The whole 2.5 hour drive up to Orlando. The whole 3+ hour drive back. And we were still talking while her car idled in my driveway.

So good.

And yesterday, Saturday, I was working dutifully on my thesis when I was called in to a modeling job for the first time. Arcanologist got me to the studio, since it was such short notice and I'd never been before. I spent several hours there. The photographer was really nice and seemed quite competant. The content (girly-girly pin-up style web erotica), I found rather silly, but in a good way. Harmless, I think, and pretty good for me. If there's one thing I can do, it's Cute. Although I had not expected to be particularly good at this, I apparently actually was, and that is always a pleasing thing to discover. And the photographer seemed to really like 'my work' and wants me to come back. Which is good, because the bottom line here is, I made a very solid quantity of money. A goodly amount more than I make all week at the media center.

So while at the time I was more focused than anything else, afterwards I was really happy. I came home and had pasta. And of course, I worked on my thesis.

And I finally reached the interesting parts of the video/audio, and it WAS interesting, and now I know I very probably have data of some kind and something to say, even something that may genuinely be a (small) piece of the dolphin vocalizations puzzle. In a word: Breakthrough!

So I was excited, and also tired of looking at the tapes and wanting to concentrate when I did these interesting ones, and as it was well into the evening, I came out to join everyone who was over (Treehead and some of her roommates, and all of us housemates, and The One's girlfriend). And I had some large glasses of cheap wine and we watched Death to Smoochy on DVD, which I love (I think it and Toys would be a perfect double feature).

And Wheel lulled me to sleep, and here I am working on my thesis and being a tiny bit distracted, because even little miracles have their limits.