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[vr_trakowski]

 Well, tomorrow begins NaNoWriMo.  I'm going to try it again this year; I attempted it last year under a different pen name, but didn't get beyond 32,000 words or so, or something like that.  (And still haven't finished the thing, drat it.)

I had a handful of different ideas for this year, but I think this one will be fanfic.  I've had a plot idea floating around for a while that I'd like to try; it remains to be seen if first, I can make it work, and second, that it will actually go as long as 50,000 words. 

I think...I'll have to start carting the laptop along on the bus! 

Comments

[plkphoto.livejournal.com]

Thanks! *blushes*

(BS in bio or not, your fiction writing is still much better than mine!)

For the two weeks I'll be in the field this month, I'm helping out with some botany research -- identifying and counting plants. I'm mostly doing this so that I can learn the plants out here since I just recently moved from the U.S. My PhD is actually in behavioural ecology - which is the study of the factors influencing animal behaviour in the wild, basically. For my PhD, I actually studied (I know this will freak you out, so take a deep breath now) fighting behaviour in spiders... yep, spiders... these were cute little, can't bite me 'cause their fangs are too small, mosquito eating spiders, but... still spiders. I can definitely relate to Grissom! In fact, he once quoted one of my advisor's studies (Hunger Artist discussion on scorpionfly females preferring symmetrical mates). I think that's what got me hooked on CSI even before I fell in love with GSR.

In Australia, I'm hoping to go into conservation, so we can keep all those fascinating critters alive and happy! Behavioural ecology is a great medium for designing conservation projects and actually motivating people to carry out the conservation action. I'm also into wildlife photography as a way of expressing animal behaviour in a way that people can relate to. You can check out my photography website HERE (http://www.betterphoto.com?plkphoto).

Probably a way longer response that you were expecting, but... :-)

PLK

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Oh, believe me, I can appreciate spider study (from a distance). I wanted to be a cetacean linguist myself, so... *shrug* Everywhere you look there is further intricacy in nature! Though frankly counting plants sounds a touch boring. ;P Thanks for the compliment; I have a gift for writing, but none for science, alas.

I went to your site and wow, those are amazing! Absolutely gorgeous, I loved the crazy look on the heron closeups. One can see a certain dinosaurish resemblance. *grin* I stopped short of the spiders, though. The ladybug is just adorable, trundling along all business among all those spines.

[plkphoto.livejournal.com]

OOOH! Cetaceans! My senior (high school) term paper for English was on dolphin communication as well as a couple of my research review papers in college... My mom always said she could picture me rowing after dolphins in a tiny boat (it being a given that I would have no money) talking to them in their own language... Alas, I seem to be drawn to deserts, though, which may not be too bad since I get seasick pretty easily...

Counting plants definitely will be relatively boring, but I need to learn them and this way I get paid for it... Also good travel opportunity! And I can handle boring for two weeks, right???

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed my photos! I love herons (as if you couldn't tell).

:-)
PLK

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Definitely a good travel opportunity! Just make sure to wear plenty of sunscreen. *grin* And watch out for poisonous critters...they do seem to have a lot of them.

I still would rather like to be a cetacean linguist, which is too bad, really. That or an astronaut. Maybe I can save up for one of those space tour tickets...

[plkphoto.livejournal.com]

Yep, sunscreen is a must around here... smack dab under that annoying hole in the ozone. Had to renew my First Aid/CPR certification just to go on this trip... it included a who's who of the poisonous critters and what to do if you happen to get a little too close...

Good luck with space tour thing! I think I'll stick to earth for now... :-)

PLK