waiting

countdown: approximately 6 weeks

i'm spending this summer on campus, at lawrence university, doing research under my professor, bart de stasio. i'm measuring the amount of microcystin, a cyanobacterial hepatotoxin, in green bay.

also, reading a lot, surfing the web for hours, and going out to eat with the few friends who are still around. bart is busy all the time with the bazillion other projects he's heading, so i have a ridiculous amount of downtime. that's okay, though. summer is a time for regeneration and contemplation of the universe...right?

i've really started to understand, in the last week or so, that i'm not going to see most of my friends for six months. half a year! it seems like such a long time.

nevertheless, i'm super stoked to start the oak ridge program. i get to do real research, in a real lab, around real scientists. i'm going to figure out if my intended career path is right for me.

i'm also pretty pumped about living in an apartment. no more of this sharing-a-tiny-kitchen-with-tons-of-dirty-college-students thing. i might actually learn how to cook! or not! we'll see.

actually, all i've really been thinking about these past few days is backpacking and going to shows. thankfully, both activities will be happening in tennessee!

oak ridge is like an hour and a half from the great smoky mountains section of the appalachian trail. this is fabulous luck for me. after graduating from lawrence, i'm planning on thru-hiking the AT, so i'm definitely planning on taking advantage of some solo weekend backpacking on the trail this fall. woot!

some sweet shows are happening near oak ridge while i'll be there too. i had been fearing that my summer concert kick would have to end abruptly with a change in location...no way!

shows:

august 31-explosions in the sky in louisville

september 7-this will destroy you AND the deftones in knoxville

september 13-the ascent of everest in nashville

september 28-backdiamondskye tour (deftones, mastodon and alice in chains) in atlanta

see? no worries, plenty of options already! granted, i have no idea what my schedule is going to be like. i'll probably be pretty busy, and i won't be able to go to shows willy nilly, but i'll do what i can.