More Strategizing and About Me

Well, I've been busy with end of semester work - essay - presentation - labs - exam - not to mention filing my own income taxes. Yeah, I do that myself, too - mainly because the fees involved at official tax services like H&R Block - make my tiny miniscule refund a very moot point. It's not like as if I have all kinds of cool and money saving deductions - I can't even write off my tuition and fees - and I don't qualify for any of the other credits either. Maybe someday if and when I have things like income streams, a better job, plus other things to deal with, it will be better for me to just go the official route - but until then...

I have not been idle on my research - though it's mainly still strategizing. I did print out some good resources including a journal article from 1922 via JSTOR - I didn't realize they had articles that old. I attempted to read it but due to it's older language, I'll have to tackle it when I have more time to devote to the reading and interpreting and commenting. That's how I do it - by the way - I get an article or book and write commentary in the margins as I read it. If I get really on a roll then I'll pull out a notebook or some paper and start writing away. I heard some other scientists used to do this way back when - maybe some still do. This is why I prefer to have my own copy of the article or book - instead of borrowing from libraries etc. I have quite the extensive library - on all kinds of science topics. A friend of my brother's once told someone she was reading all these really cool books from a private library - mine. It needs some work - but at the moment my book collecting is on hold until I transport the vast majority of it to my new apartment. How I'm going to store the articles still needs to be determined - I have dozens going back at least ten years - since I started college.

As for the strategizing - it is continuing in fits and starts. I like to have a good workable plan laid out - so I know where I'm going with things. For one thing, I had to determine what my real world obstacles are. Lack of money, credentials, and experience - despite my many many years in college. For one thing, the geology bachelors degree fell through due to unforseen circumstances that I was unable to fix mostly because it was largely out of my hands. So, wanting to have a bachelor's degree in something I'd enjoy learning about and that might even give me an edge - or an interesting perspective - I changed majors to History and Philosophy of Science and being at the University of Pittsburgh - one of the best HPS departments in the world - I think I made an excellent choice. So, that's what my bachelor's degree is actually in - at least my first. Where my education goes from here remains to be seen. You already know my intentions on this. But now I'm trying to finish what I started when I first transferred to Pitt - and why I'm currently finishing up the geomorphology course I have been waiting and wanting to take for several years.

As for those obstacles: I've been figuring a way around them to the best of my ability. For one thing I've been attempting to get my own research projects up and running - hence the purpose for this blog. Yes, I mean independantly - with no help so far from advisors or professors - and I do not want to be talked into becoming a teaching assistant - I really really do not want to teach classes. So, I'm winging it - so to speak - an independant alternative - starting from scratch. I do feel as if fate has forced me to take this path - unforseen circumstances and all. Also, I'm going to look into any field trips I can take - or even maybe later on some volunteering at the Carnegie Museum. They do have field trips in the nicer months - and I bought myself a one year membership in January. So I'll be looking into those trips for the next several weeks. Volunteering later around work will also help build my experience. Hopefully, my independant research will give me the credentials and some alternative experience. I'll be looking into the Carnegie's summer field trips later this week - after my work is done for class. Be back later!