Some kind of nature girl: PVC, Dancing and Fields of Algae

Another 3-day post, due to leaving my card reader in the lab the past two days. And the Olympics.

Monday, I helped Anna-Mai prepare her experiment most of the day. She had 90 feet (if I remember correctly) of PVC pipe that needed holes drilled all along it. We marked each segment and drilled 5' sections of pipe, and got pretty fast at it by the end. I was operating the drill press and she was moving the pipe in small increments. It was a long, loud day, even with the earplugs I found in the marine chem lab.

Sarah helped us clean the plastic bits out of the holes with screws - another long process. We got less than a third of them done, but Anna-Mai got some new recruits for the next day.

In the evening, Kailey and I helped Anna-Mai put out traps for juvenile crabs at the docks across the street. It's essentially a milk jug with mesh funnels pointing inward and a flashlight duct taped on top, but they were very pretty in the water. I'd totally swim in there if I were a baby crab.

Pipes for days.

How to catch a baby crab.

They seem like a landing strip for late night boating.

Yesterday, I got three cyanotypes done! We had to redo Umi and Shad's because of my lack of glass to hold their objects flat, but Joyce (our amazing maintenance woman and all around lovely person) brought me a tabletop she had at home. It's just the right size, if my coating on the paper has a good border.

Grocery day again and Olympics all evening. Tonight was Phelps's 19th medal, which had the room squealing and jumping, some more than others (see video, below). Women's gymnastics also dominated. It's amazing to see such power and ability from all the world athletes. And so many expensive cameras and lenses to shoot them with.

There are so many deer and bunnies here, all totally indifferent to humans.

Today I helped Umi with algae collection at low tide. Their was a full moon tonight so it was a very good tide, even if the algae we were looking for was very elusive. Umi filled one of his boots trying to reach some - he was just at his limit when a ferry pulled into the terminal, pummeling us with its wake.

He brought out his medium format slr to shoot the roll of black and white that's currently in it and move to Velvia slide film from Glazers. I'd never shot with one before, but the feel was wonderful. I especially like the top down view, since it's a lot less obtrusive than looking at someone right through your camera. I might have to invest. Hey, it'd be easier than shooting color 4x5 next year but maintains a good size negative. It was nice to shoot with someone and we traded off taking portraits. The light on the beach is great - with the beach behind the subject, there's great side lighting from both directions.

Went to the Wednesday farmer's market with Kailey and Umi. It was somewhat small but lively. Their beer garden is quite popular, but what else can you do on a Wednesday in Anacortes. We saw an amazing Futurama themed truck with Zoidberg Jesus on the hood and other scenes all around. The tailgate read: "Futurama: Now with liability insurance!"

In the evening, Shad taught a swing dance lesson. I'd done a bit in high school and at Western, but its tricky to get moving that quickly. We all had a blast and we're doing another lesson tomorrow!