November update

Pirates vs. Tsunamis has been the theme of my life lately, culminating in a presentation of the same name last week. School work is keeping my time occupied, but I've still found time to hike with my friends Lauren and Trevor (he's Lauren's bf, visits a lot from his school in california) and hit various bars with buddies. Mark and I broke up recently, sort of a mutual thing. We realized that after nearly six months of dating, we've gotten to a place where we're great friends, but not like we're soul mates and perfect for each other, and like it just wasn't going anywhere. We still hang out, but with a lot less of the sleeping together thing, lol. He's the best friend I have in Austin, and this is the best thing to do for now.

I just got back from Tuscon AZ, where I met up with my whole family for my grandpa's memorial service. It was an upsetting couple days (I learned that he killed himself, three years to the day my grandma died, in the canyon we scattered her ashes). But it was wonderful to see all my cousins, and to have everyone there, remembering him together. We stayed in cabins in Madera Canyon (Jess,your parents have been there for the great birding) and had a great time hiking, catching up, playing cards, drinking the remainder of my grandpa's liquor and beer stash (the aunts and uncles took all the good wine!) and having spirited discussions about eugenics, human evolution, science ethics, vegetarianism, crochet vs knitting, and many other things. My cousins are pretty much the coolest people I know. It was a hard weekend, but also came with a sense of rejuvenation and a clearer sense of what is important to me right now.