Rise Up, Oh Heart, For There is Another Battle to Win

Geology field shenanigans

akamine-chan:

theneuroknight:

suchprettypride:

camwyn:

elodieunderglass:

naamahdarling:

rj-abacura:

pasiphile:

wiwaxia:

wiwaxia:

All true. All witnessed. No regrets.

• Respected professor shakes fist at mountain and dares it to erupt
  
• 17 inappropriate ways to wear a hi-vis vest
  
• Everything is 20% muscovite
  
• The double-backwards hammer flip
  
• Putting a fawn in a backpack and carrying it round all day
  
• Food tastes of dirt because too much actual dirt in mouth
  
• Spontaneous outdoors group nudity with sheep skulls to protect modesty
  
• Reversing sheep out of canyons
  
• Doing makeup in the mirror on your compass
  
• Bandaging an arterial bleed with a handkerchief
  
• If I can take it up a 4wd track, then it must be a 4wd!
  
• Puppies ate my rockhammer and the house-cow ate my bra
  
• Where’s [phd student]? *everyone just silently points up*
  
• Killing a stoat with a rockhammer in front of fifteen second years and scarring them for life
  
• Transit van mosh pits
  
• “Why are you yelling? I burned my pubes, isn’t that punishment enough?”
  
• The underwater naked strike and dip
  
• Tent flooding ending in six people sharing one double bed
  
• Dessert sandwiches
  
• Unexpected bulls in unexpected places
  
• Spontaneous a capella outbreak of “Wonderwall” followed by “… *tiny voice* but I hate that song?”
  
• Butt-shuffling down hills that are too steep
  
• Being the *second* person across the wasp-infested log
  
• Back-rub circles
  
• Handlens unscrewing and falling apart in the middle of a river
  
• Field selfies #geology4lyfe
  
• Fault gouge smeared over face
  
• “That’s not yoga, THIS is yoga!” *falls on face*
  
• Accidentally mapping river gravels for two hours and getting lost
  
• *rock falls out of cliff* *twenty people silently take one step left in unison*
  
• I AM THE GOD OF STRATIGRAPHY!
  
• Duct-taping your boots back together every morning
  
• Not enough coloured pencils
  
• Sharing water bottles
  
• If I throw my rockhammer at this, will it stick?
  
• “I swear, I can SEE Milankovitch cycles!” “Okay I’m cutting you off.”
  
• Cross-sections: kink or busk?
  
• “You know when you’ve got to The Knob because you don’t see any action for three hours.“ 
  

katie this is importantwhen you say fawn … like a deer? really? COOL

Yes, a deer. A three-day-old baby deer. It was a terrible idea. When the students rocked back up to the field station with it, we told them off for stock rustling, took it to the farmer who was like, what the fuck am I going with that, I’ll have to cut its throat and use it for dog meat, and we were like, uh, no, so we took it to the SPCA, who were DELIGHTED. 

I THOUGHT A “FAWN” WAS SOME KIND OF OBSCURE GEOLOGICAL TERM I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND

YOU PUT A BABY DEER IN A BACKPACK

More geology field shenanigans!

• Respected professor claims our hydrochloric acid solution is less acidic than coca cola. We dare him to drink it. HE DOES.
  
• Hiking up a mountain on crutches. “YOLO!”
• Painting Cambrian-age trilobite fossils with nail polish.
• Creepy abandoned fishing villages. So many creepy abandoned fishing villages.
• Student finds brachiopod fossils in an outcrop behind said creepy abandoned fishing village. Respected professor gasps and squeaks “Brachiopods??!?” and goes tearing off up a hill to find them.
• Students collect so many rock samples that we can no longer see the floor of the 15 passenger van. The van floor begins to develop its own stratigraphy.
• Racing the roadside moose in the 15 passenger van.
• Respected professor takes both hands off of the wheel of the moving van to get a picture of the moose. Panic ensues.
• Mapping an island with nothing but a Brunton compass, a field notebook, and the largest bottle of fireball whiskey money can buy.
• Respected Professor singing along to “Man-Eating Trilobite”
• Entire class goes to local bar and won’t stop singing local drinking song for about a week.
• That one vegan student that survives off of french fries for a month.
• Stealing rock samples from National Parks
• Straddling the moho
• Licking the moho
• Peeing on mantle peridotite just to see if it fizzes
• Using the same pocket knife for everything. Eating. Scratching rocks. Removing splinters. Seriously, it’s gross.
  
• Hiking down a river only to discover the water level is MUCH HIGHER than anticipated
• Nearly drowning in said river but damn it you kept your electronics DRY
• “It’s not safe to drink the water. So everyone gets 2 beers per meal”.
  
• Fitting the entire class into a single hot tub
• Every lobster is named Jack Daniels. It is known.
• That one “Chinese Canadian Fusion” restaurant

*DID* IT FIZZ?

my husband was once Responsible Adult on a geology field course and the highlight was when I was calling him and it was like

Dr Glass: Oh, an undergrad’s just thrown his compass into the sea.

Me: is that… part of the exercise?

Dr Glass: *nonjudgmentally* well…

(an unearthly, animal roar is heard over the phone)

Dr Glass: Ah, now he’s going into the sea.

Me: …To get the compass?

Dr Glass: I think he just wants the sea to take him.

(a peaceable, nonjudgmental silence follows, with distant splashing)

Dr Glass: Well, I think I’ll go get him now.

I wanna know the lyrics to “Man-Eating Trilobite”.

@theneuroknight

Oh god, geo field camp…

-Leaping away from rattlesnakes you can only hear, not see.

-Playing “hide the rock”

-Loosing your compass because it flipped out of your holster while you were peeing on the outcrop, which was actually a win, because it’s so hot out that usually you don’t pee all day.

-Flinging your rock hammer (i.e. lightning rod) and running like mad because a thunderstorm suddenly hits.

-redrawing cross-sections at night while the tent bows inward from the force of all the insects trying to get in.

-finding dead things and getting unreasonably excited because it’s something other than a rock.

-Listening to a professor sing WWII german army songs…

-Trying to keep up when drinking with a European and regretting it one hour later.

-Climbing up an outcrop and then realizing there is no reasonable way to get down.

-Eating at the last restaurant open in town because it’s 9 pm and camp is still not set up.

-Losing half your caravan when there was only one time the road split. 

-Inspirational night pees out under the milky way.

Oh, god, this post keeps bringing back all my repressed college memories.

-Running away from angry cows

-Running away from suspicious, armed ranchers who think you’re from the govt

-Squatting to pee and falling over into a cactus

-Losing parts of your tent as you raft down the Green River; by the end of the trip, your tent no longer stands

-Having to ground your raft repeatedly in stands of seriously thorny salt cedars

-Trying to buy alcohol in UTAH.

(via johanirae)

PSA regarding my absence

I have a thesis due in 17 days (I don’t know what day of the week it is, but I can tell you down to the minute how long I have to finish my thesis) and am therefore p much offline. I do like five minutes of Tumblr a day and I do not always remember messenging is a thing, I am Sorry.

Point​ is, @everyone who has tried to contact me and gotten either NO response or a super perfunctory one, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONAL, I forgot lunch two days this week, I’m a mess and ily I just haven’t answered you, okay, take care of yourselves drink water etc etc, I’m fine I’m just also dying.

I’ll let you all know when I’m Done and also it will be obvious because I’ll start putting out fic again. @everyone who has asked about this or that fic or series, it’s not abandoned, I WILL finish it, just not atm because see above re: death and also dying.

royalslayer asked: help i just finished a psych analysis of a dogme 95 movie i didnt watch and im gonna give it back today for 15% of my final grade why am i like this

If it makes you feel any better, I have to research and write three chapters of my thesis in the next month, so…like, at least you’re not the only one who’s like this.

College Gothic

technicolorhousecat:

• You are learning addition. You blink. There is differential calculus written on the whiteboard. The longer you stare, the less it looks like numbers. The sky is a different color than when you closed your eyes.
  
• Your final grade has not been posted yet. It has been two days. Your final grade has not been posted yet. It has been a month. Your final grade has not been posted yet. It has been a year. Your final grade has not been posted yet.
• You look at the posted list of required math credits for your major. It is not written in english. It is not written in any language you know. It is not written in any language you don’t know. You close the list of required math credits before it can look back.
• You cannot remember a time before your 8 AM. You leave the auditorium only to find yourself back in the auditorium. It is time for class. 
• You have had the same advisor your entire college career. Every time you see him, he has more teeth. Eventually, you stop seeing your academic advisor. He still sees you.
• Students that go to look through the reference section of the library return different. The unlucky ones don’t return at all.
• You go to a school of 20,000 students. You see the same 10 individuals at random points on campus every day. There are 19,989 other students. You’re not sure if you want to know where they are.
• People are screaming in your dorm. People are always screaming in your dorm. “Somebody must be going out partying,” your roommate says. You both know that isn’t true. 
• You have a paper due in four days. You never finish it. The deadline never draws any closer. You have a paper due in four days. 
• A man sitting alone on the snowy, empty quad tells you that you will die in exactly 47 minutes. You walk away. You glance back, from a distance, and see only your footprints. You walk faster.
• The squirrels fear no one. You do not make eye contact with the squirrels. They grow bolder every year, graduating from stealing trash to stealing food off of your plate. You shudder to think what they will steal next. 
• There is always someone in the study room. You have never seen them leave. It is always the same person. You have never seen them anywhere else.
• Greek Town gets larger every time you pass it. There are houses with letters that aren’t in any alphabet you know. The residents have hollow eyes. A baby emerald sleeps here. You don’t know what it means. You don’t think you want to know.

(via elsewhereuniversity)

things ive heard people say in class:

cafetivity:

• “what if i just straight up break down in class and scare the shit out of ms neo so that she’ll postpone the test?”

• “is it too early if i have a breakdown in january?” “its the second week, man.” “i know.” 

• “let’s all just collectively skip the national exams, fuck the system!” *aggressive cheering*

• in a really choked up voice, “i have rights.”

• “what if i become a monk? do monks have to take exams?”

• “in this context, what does ‘rapid’ mean?” “FAST AND FURIOUS”

• “did y’all do the chem homework?” *collective ‘no’s* “alright, good. nobody be a wimp and do their homework, alright? if we’re fucked, we’re all fucked together.”

• “wait, you mean to say that this school still teach fun stuff like music??”

• *scandalised gasp* “you stole my circle template’s virginity!” “all i did was hook a finger through one of the holes!” “exactly!” 

• “i bought this $2 knee guard just because i want to pretend that i’m injured so that i can sit out of PE.” [slides knee guard on] “i have three consecutive tests after this and lord knows i need all the extra study time that i can get.”

• in an increasingly panicked voice, “i can’t just do my lit homework in 30mins!” “well, i did.” “what did you put for characterisation and further analysis?” “i said the protagonist was a fuckboy, and then proceeded to write 3 paragraphs and a conclusion consisting of utter bullshit on why he’s a fuckboy.”

• “don’t they call people from Germany, germanese?” said by a top student.

• “i think i’m a hermaphrodite.”

• “fuck, i hate this. can i just be an escort? or have like 67 sugar daddies?”

• in the middle of physics class: “i’m leaving, i’m fucking leaving. i’m going down to the canteen to buy takeouts of 3 fishball noodles. y’all want anything?”

• “i want the saddest pepe the frog meme you can find as our class logo.”

• “i found a salsa dip in my bag, anyone have some chips?” [a girl sighs, puts down her calculator and reaches into her sports bag] “i do.”
  

(via clockwork-mockingbird)

PSA for any high schoolers who’re going to college soon or  are just worried about it

make-hell-great-again:

animentality:

your high school teachers are LIARS.

Most college professors accept late assignments.

Some of them are so chill that you can ditch most of class so long as you can handle the final. 

It’s all about playing it by ear.

YOU DON’T ASK TO GO TO THE BATHROOM PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF THE EMBARRASSMENT. 

It is NOT harder than high school. You’re more or less ready for it if you do ok in high school, ok?

Seriously. I got A’s in AP classes yet was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to handle college.

Surprise surprise?

AP classes are harder than college classes. 

No joke. 

College professors are a lot more liberal on what counts as a “right” answer. 

Plus they give you points for caring. 

Some classes give you points just for showing up. 

There’s an atmosphere of controlled panic, and you are not the only one. 

You can pretty much go up to anyone and say god life is a nightmare and finals are gonna kick my ass, and they’ll go saaaaame, regardless of how genius they’re supposed to be. 

Seriously. 

College student here.

High school teachers are the WORST of liars.

They’ll tell you college is a “whole nother level” but that’s such horse shit. 

High school is a standardized sheep counting facility. 

College is a research lab full of cats that may or may not do what you expect. 

Honestly my parents have been talking to me about college for years, and I’m legitimately drowning in anxiety. This is the single most helpful, relieving, beneficial thing I have ever fucking heard, and it’s off a shady website where we go to rant about our fandoms and political views. And I am 100% okay with that.

(via cthulhu-with-a-fez)

supervillainesses:

halbarry:

going to college/university in gotham city would be so wild???

• a student who forgets to sort out their accommodation until the last minute and ends up moving into mr freeze’s hideout because everywhere else in town is full. still beats dorms i guess.
  
• the welcome assembly is 6 hours long and most of it is what to do if you encounter the joker or batman or some other hero or villain and how the police are essentially useless.
• non-gothamite students being freaked out over why the gothamite students aren’t panicking when their campus coffee shop gets held up by harley quinn and poison ivy.
• city-wide catastrophes are not an excuse for getting out of finals week.
  
• the black market is incredibly easy to access in gotham and ends up getting used by students wanting to make a quick buck by writing other people’s essays or stealing answers off tests. beware ex-psychology professors who do not take kindly to cheaters.
• not being sure whether the sound you’re hearing is an explosion somewhere in town or just your neighbor’s music at 3AM. 
• did you just see nightwing pass by your window or are you hallucinating from lack of sleep? 
• riddler crashes the university’s servers, causing untold fear and panic to the students who had left their essays to the very last minute to turn in.
• iceberg lounge is to be avoided, the drinks are so damn expensive and the nightlife is usually lousy unless batman’s doing a raid on the place.  
• any drunk student could easily be taken in as a new batman villain. one minute you’re at a fancy dress party having a good time, the next thing you know you’re waking up in a jail cell with a suspicious, batarang shaped scar and the tabloids calling you Donkey Girl. 
• every student thinks they can be robin within the first two weeks of moving to gotham. this usually does not end well. 
• seeing two-face chilling at mcdonald’s on your friend’s snapchat story and not even being surprised at this point. 
• no need to set an alarm for a 14 minute nap, batgirl will probably come crashing through your window anyway. 
• most people want to bang either someone from the batfam or the rogues gallery. some have even attempted it.
• fear toxin is put in the vents one time but almost no one is affected. everybody is already terrified for exams. 
• most dorm rooms have an “adopt me batman” sign hanging from the windows, or variations of that (”adopt me catwoman” is a pretty popular one too)

• Getting a new professor or a class being canceled because the professor decided to put on a costume and rob a bank under a gimmicky name

(via cthulhu-with-a-fez)

Anonymous asked: SAY, WHAT IS YOUR THESIS ABOUT? IF YOU DONT MIND.

FOR ALL MY BITCHING, I REALLY DO LOVE MY THESIS, SO.

I’m a pre-med major, but I discovered over the summer that I really, really hate research.  Which I pretty much knew already but now I have proof, so.  But the point is that when I picked my thesis topic I said flat out that I would do an experimental thesis when Satan built a snow fort, and the guy in charge of the pre-medical studies division was my Orgo teacher so he knew not to fuck with me.  (Teachers tend to fall into one of two categories with me: they get angry about butting heads with me nonstop OR they come to terms with the fact that it’s kind of like trying to corral a hurricane and thereupon give up.)

So I thought about what I could stand doing for a full year and decided that things I like include:

• Medicine
  
• History
• Military history
• Weird facts about old battle tactics
• Things that make other people’s eyes bug out when I tell them
• The Princess Bride
• Being a fucking smart-ass

And subsequently I am writing my thesis on the development of battlefield medicine through American history and I’m gonna title that bitch Only Mostly Dead.