As anyone who has browsed this blog enough or has known me in the last, oh, 15 years might remember, I like to take pictures and, more recently, draw birds.  See exhibits A and B for a refresher course.  These things make me happy.  They may make me happy for one or a combination of a number of reasons, I don’t really care about the exact mechanisms of contentment.  I like pictures, and I really like pictures that have come from my own hands.

And now we come to the point of my post.  Would I still like photography and drawing if they were actually my job?  I am currently being paid (well enough to live but not as much as I should be) to  sit at a computer and write about things I’ve already done, research I’ve already finished, and data I’ve already analyzed.  That is better than having to analyze the data (which I did last semester) but not as fun as collecting it in the first place (and by collecting it, I mean playing in a greenhouse and paddling a kayak).  But maybe those two other activities were fun because I was getting to take pictures and look at living things at the time as opposed to word smithing said biology into numbers and letters on the virtual page.

Well, there’s nothing I can do about my current career choice.  I am a graduate student, and I need to graduate.  So enough stalling, back to the thesis.

Don’t worry, I’ve got some Trini birds to draw later.  Pictures to follow.