Well then.  It seems that the purpose of this journal was not particularly fulfilled during my time here at Purdue, which is where I have been since I started this thing two years ago.  And that sort of sums up said two years as well, the whole “not really paying attention to things I always meant to do, would be good for me, and would benefit mostly me alone”.  Graduate school is an interesting thing.  It is an extension of the regular undergraduate class-study-test cycle with the added bonus of independent projects that you alone are responsible and accountable for.  My reaction to this wonderful combination has so far been to put everything I physically can into the completion of all those tasks, regardless of how many hours that means I spend away from home.  Weather it is spent outside kayaking through a marsh or at this very computer in a lab with questionable smells and no windows, that time goes towards the completion of goals agreed upon by myself and my committee (and whatever further great “side projects” they think of and shove off on me in chance encounters in the hallway).

No more.

This is me putting my virtual foot down and saying that I will make time to do tangible things for me, myself, and I.  I’ve written it, you’ve read it, so shall it be done.

Now, it’s not like I have been a complete slave to the Man here.  I have sneaked a few fun things in using the guise of work, such as the two awesome kayaks that I get to play with during the summer while sampling and the plants that I “have to” draw so I can study for my spring ephemeral class right now.  And Friday Seminar.  Ahhhhhh Friday Seminar.  The perfect excuse to go have a pint and some fantastically good (but ever so unhealthy) pub food with lab mates and good friends in an attempt to have real conversations that don’t involve school.  That never works, by the way, we always and forever will talk about professors, research, and classes until the wee hours of the morning.

Point is, I’ve done some cool stuff both for school and for not school. And to prove it, I will post (and will continue to post) pictures of drawings, outings, innings, and other general creativeness to prove both to myself and to the world that I am more than a grade, a huge amount of seemingly meaningless numbers, and a few (hopefully) published papers.  I am the sum of what I produce, and things I do beyond school are just as important contributions to who I am as my GPA and thesis are.

I am determined.  I have goals.  And I will enjoy everything I do at least a little, and at most a lot.  Well, except stats.  No one ever actually enjoys stats.

Now it begins.  Um, again.