Art for the Geoscientist?

Callan at Mountain Beltway posted about some "dream courses" he'd like to teach. The post came from the call for posts by Shawn at Vi-Carious in the Accretionary Wedge blog carnival - which I've not had the time to participate in this semester. But Callan's idea about "Art for Geologists" struck a chord with me.

Having double-majored in Studio Art and Geology means that this idea is close to my own personal interests. And I've been thinking of creating a series of posts related to discussing techniques and practices that would highlight techniques and methods of visual communication/representation - particularly photography, but perhaps also some ideas on illustration. Judging from Callan's cartoons and sketches, I'm not the only one who thinks this way. So I'm just tossing out a thought and informal poll regarding interests and ideas.

Would other bloggers find it interesting? Would this be something that might find interest outside the geoblogosphere? Leave a comment, post ideas on your own blog, send emails, whatever - I've got things I want to write about, but I'll give preference to things that others would find interesting, too.

Frost

Because sometimes water vapor goes directly to the solid phase, does not pass Go, and does not collect $200.

Volcano Webcam Photobombing

About two years ago, I was checking the Kamoamoa webcam near the Pu'u O'o vent in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and I happened to see this:

It's an amusing reminder that for those of us far away from the volcano, there are teams of dedicated professionals working hard every day to learn more about these fascinating systems. As an educator, it's a great reminder that there are people directly involved in bringing into our living room these real-time views of the world around us. Thanks!

Baking some Dirt

It's Time for another BOOK RELEASE!

My pal Kelly McCullough has another book in the "Broken Blade" series coming out today. It's amazing to think about how fast time has flown by since I first drew maps for his upcoming series. Go buy a copy! If you're in western Wisconsin, or the Twin Cities area be sure and check out the signing events! He'll be at Har Mar this thursday evening and at Uncle Hugo's on Saturday. Or go grab a copy from your local bookseller. They don't have it? Ask them to get copies. Live far away? There's a Kindle version, too!

How many fantasy books can you name that contain maps drafted by an actual geologist? I'm glad to say that Kelly's use of geology and geography avoids many of the irritating geologic pitfalls that this genre is prone to. Besides, you know you want to read a story about an ex-assassin who has a dragon familiar that is literally a shadow.

Who knows - if enough people buy his books I might need to revisit and update/expand the maps I drew. And that would make both of us happy.

Random Tuesday Thots

I had many things I wanted to do today. The student projects in my soil science class are starting to ramp up and the drying oven is on just about 24/7 (actually only about 20/7, because there's a 12-hr timer on the oven). But of all the things that I want/need to do the day before Thanksgiving break, dealing with a broken sink is not one of them. The connecting nut between the downspout/trap assembly and the sink basin has sheared off. It's a good thing I had put a bin underneath the trap last year when I noticed a few drips - otherwise I'd have about half a gallon of mud, water, and methylene blue all over my floor. Sigh. Being in charge of a lab is hard work - I hope the students get something valuable from the opportunity to work on semi-independent projects for half a semester. Now I just need to get the sink fixed so that they can do the washing up...

My sister's birthday was yesterday. She's six years younger than I am and is a high school english teacher. Her husband is a college chemistry prof. Our mom is a K-12 Librarian/Learning Technology Specialist, our dad is a high school chemistry/biology teacher, our maternal grandpa was a high school chemistry teacher, and our grandmother was an elementary school special education teacher. I think my sister and I were doomed to a career in education from the get-go. Makes me wonder what her 9-month old daughter is going to do. Is she pre-disposed to the kinds of activities that favor education? Is being raised by educators giving her the kinds of experiences that foster being a good teacher? I don't know, but she is getting to be quite the cute kid (here's a photo my sister took the other day).

Looks like blogging is in the family, too. My sister has her own blog - go over and say hi if you'd like. And don't ask her why I'm so weird - she doesn't know either.