Whirlwind

The summer has flown by yet again. In May I could see it all outstretched in front of me, but now feels like it passed in an instant. Why does summer seem particularly fleeting? I have been making some moves since my last post 3 weeks ago. I took the train to L.A. to visit an old friend. The train ride sports spectacular views...















... and is reasonably priced compared to Northeast counterparts. The first stop off the train? World-famous Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, naturally! What's that you say? Never heard of this combination? Well... neither had I, to be honest. But man, it goes together like scrapple and eggs!















We visited the Venice Beach an Santa Monica farmer's markets, both funky scenes. I avoided Hollywood as much as possible (OK, we drove by...). The San Fernando Spanish Mission and Griffith Observatory/Planetarium were both cool and educational. The Mission had some very old maps of the west coast, some suggesting that the entirety of California was actually an island. Fascinating!

















Back to San Diego and off to D.C. for a wild weekend with Rucas! I visited the Air and Space Museum and Smithsonian Natural History Museum, places I haven't been since I was a kid. I continue to be amazed. I joined my cousins at Comet Ping Pong, where they specialize in sustainable ingredients, novel pizzas (soft-shell crab, clam, eggplant...), and, um, ping pong? Nothing like losing to someone who's age is in the single digits... dang. My trip wasn't complete without a visit to Ben's Chili Bowl for artery-clogging goodness (the chili half-smoke is out of this world!). Mmm, I can feel my right arm getting numb just thinking about it.
















I've had some very good friends from high school visit San Diego. We cruised up to Del Mar for horse racing and free live music (reggae legend Steel Pulse). They went to the zoo, SeaWorld, and San Diego's beautiful beaches. Of course before, they left, I had to take them to In-N-Out Burger for some serious West Coast eats.















In other news, I finally started some of my own field work in the late summer. I've got a small pilot study started, which is good because I'll be land-locked for 9-12 months. Lets hope for some good data. I'll be leaving for Davis early next week. Between traveling and showing friends around town, I'm starting to realize that I will miss San Diego. Davis should be very, very cool, but I think I'll be happy to come back in 2010.

Urchins in the LJER and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Been diving a bit in the La Jolla Ecological Reserve. Some of the lab's current research is looking at predation on urchins, both during the day and at night (which comes with a different suite of predators). Here are some cool pics!

















































In other news, I am leaving San Diego in just over 3 weeks! Ahh!!! I have a lot of my own research to get done before then, but I am looking forward to UC Davis.

Finally, my friend, office-mate, and future roomie is on a UCSD New Horizon cruise, on her way to the "Garbage Patch" in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean. Perhaps you have heard about this place on such shows as Oprah?

Due to our propensity to construct and litter non-biodegradable waste, and concentric ocean currents, there is a concentration of garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is estimated to be from the twice the size of Texas to that of the entire continental United States! Hopefully she'll find lots of trash (her passion) although it makes me sad to think about all that waste that will be here for, in practical terms, forever. You can read about her very interesting research on marine debris and bioaccumulation of plastics here and the blog on the Garbage Patch cruise here.

Live music, baseball, and carnitas

I checked out some live music a few weeks ago. Stay Classy hosted a concert, street festival, and tickets to the Padres game for only $20! Not a bad deal. Cage the Elephant opened for Del the Funkee Homosapien of Hieroglyphics and Souls of Mischief. What a sweet outdoor venue... both artists brought the house down! And the Padres won! I need to cruise downtown more often, it has a lot to offer.









































Scruffy celebrated his birthday last week with home-made carnitas and smoked ribs. Mmmm.... :) That's all for now!