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As another week draws to a close, I turn once again to Kristine for interesting ideas for things to photograph. This week's Stuff Portrait Friday is about muses.

Something that that inspires you to do what you do

I dunno if it's cheating that I took this picture in 2005, but is honestly one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken, and it really gets to the heart of the matter. I am a college student at Virginia Tech. While this is a fantastic experience all by itself, there are days that I question why I'm here. I could be working less and for the same grades in another degree, or at another school. The thing is, I love animals. I want them to be happy. I may not think highly of every individual at every moment, but in general I want to improve their situation.

Something you don't like to read about in blogs

I'll get it up here eventually.

I hate reading politics in blogs. This doesn't just mean governmental politics. I don't like reading about company or institutional politics, and I certainly don't like interpersonal politics. Eric Meyer recently wrote a very well thought out and articulated series on reforms he would like to see in the W3C. I think his discussion was very reasonable, and to my (admittedly limited) understanding the ideas he suggests would be helpful. Still, it's not the type of thing I choose to read most of the time.

Something that inspires you to write on your blog

I like to blog about everyday things that I find amusing. This blog is about my everyday life. I am pretty easily amused (I mean, come on, I blogged about my iron) so almost anything is fair game. This picture is a mailbox I saw in Brooklyn. I try to keep my camera on me and take photos so I can remember amusing things to blog. I saw a girl eating corn-on-the-cob on the bus yesterday, but I completely forgot to mention it because it would've been rude to take a picture of her. Yeah, pretty strange, but I was amused.

Did you play? I try to comment back within a day.

It's storming pretty nicely here in Blacksburg. Luckily I need not fear for cold, nor wet, nor loss of internet (*gasp*) because I can just sit here and chill in the student center. Their power and wireless serve me just as well as my own, and they have generators to back it up.

On a related note, I think our wireless router is dying. For the past couple days I've had to leech off some unsuspecting neighbor with an unsecured network. One of these days I should really replace it, though.

There was a dense fog over Blacksburg when I woke up this morning. That's one of my favorite things about this area. We get some really good fog. Some people don't appreciate it, but I think fog is very romantic. This is a picture taken from the front of War Memorial Hall, trying to see Burruss Hall across the drillfield. In the full-size version you can sort of make out the tops of busses letting off in front of Burruss.

I also took a picture of a spider web with the morning dew still on it. That's the only way I can ever capture them, my hand isn't steady enough and I don't have a big enough tripod to capture them when they're dry. Any pointers?

SPF this week was about challenges. At least that's how I perceived it.

Something I Have Outgrown

My license is expired. It also says I'm under 21. I really have to work on getting a new one. I have to get a eye test to do that.

Something I Have Overcome

I used to consume amounts of Mt. Dew that even I would admit are unhealthy. I now consume considerably less, though some would consume that it is still a bit excessive

I need help with...

I'll get it up eventually

...the cutest pup in the world. He is oversubmissive towards me, and it makes me sad. I just want him to be my friendpup.

Yesterday I missed the bus to go back to campus in the afternoon. I had to drop off a lab report and get to class in twenty minutes. That's not a terrible proposition. All down hill from here to campus, I thought I'd have time to spare.

Unfortunately, the building where I have lab is down the hill from my class. Ok, I was like two minutes late to class, that's not too bad. I don't take that class particularly seriously.

All the BT busses have bike racks on the front, so you can theoretically ride your bike down the hill and take the bus back (or vice versa if you live downhill from campus). I was in no rush to be anywhere though, so I figured I'd just ride home. Bad Idea™. In low gear up the hill, I took nearly half an hour to get home. I thought I was going to die. I am so out of shape.

I woke up this morning and my chest and legs are still sore. I'm still trying to figure out why my chest is sore.

When I moved to Virginia, I was told that Blacksburg doesn't get much rain. They said "The clouds sit over top of us a lot, but they move on." Apparently this does not apply to approaching tropical storms. We got five days of near-constant rain, ranging from drizzle to downpour. I thought it was rather ironic that the crew team picked this week to set up on the drillfield. It looked like they were preparing for 40 days and nights. I guess if there was another flood, the drillfield would be where it starts.

My mom (who, incidentally, rocks all day and night) bought me an iron the day before graduation from Cobleskill, because she wanted to make sure I wasn't wrinkly. Mothers, for some reason, busy themselves with what seem to be the most trivial things. In any case, I brought this iron to Indiana over the summer because I thought we might need it. Steve did end up needing it, and I ironed all his shirts for him for work. When I left Indiana it was sitting in his closet, and that's probably where it is now.

I went to Wal Mart and bought this iron. I chose this one of the myriad irons available because it is the iron I remember from my childhood. It's "The Classic." Now that I have this my clothes can be smooth and wrinkle free. I feel so mature and grown up.

I stumbled upon a neat little meme that I think I'll try for a while. Every week Kristie of Random and Odd gives three items to photograph and post in your blog. I'm hoping that it will help me to take more pictures, and to blog more regularly.

This week's subjects are:

1. Your Freedom
2. Your Hope
3. Your Wish

For your appproval I submit:

My Freedom

There are two rights guaranteed to you when you join an open source project: the right to fork, and the right to leave. I love that concept.

My Hope

I hope I never lose my wonder for the nature right in my own back yard.

My Wish

I wish I had a herd that wasn't made of plastic and plush.

I think the summer is really really bad for blogging. I got barely any of it done, and I noticed a number of other blogs were pretty slow too. I just don't have the organization or the motivation to do anything regularly when I'm not in school.

I spent the summer with Steve in Bloomington. On Monday he'll take his first class towards a PhD in folklore at Indiana University. While I was there, I interned with a vet clinic in a neighboring town, and at a wildlife rehabilitation clinic called WildCare Inc. Steve meanwhile worked with wonderful people doing the terrible job of telemarketing. Please remember that if a telemarketer calls you on behalf of a large company, you consented to being called and gave them the appropriate information to do so. You may not remember it, but it's illegal for them to call you if you didn't agree, and they probably have the documentation. File suit if you like, but don't kill the messenger.

I worked four days a week at the vet clinic, doing just about anything they'd let me. I did a lot of drawing up vaccines and holding animals for blood draws. I picked up a lot of poop. It was really a great experience. I loved the staff, and I learned so much. Anyone who is considering vet school should do at least a little bit of work in a clinic. It doesn't make any sense not to!

WildCare was an adventure. Almost every day when I left I was exhausted. I worked with a wide variety of naitive Indiana wildlife, including raccoons, oppossums, rabbits, squirrels, deer, and a variety of birds. I was even bitten by a racoon! Luckily it wasn't rabid. The experience didn't inspire me to go into wildlife medicine, but it didn't scare me away either. I think it's a great organization and I'll help out again if I have a chance.

Other than working, Steve and i played a lot of Guild Wars. We like it because you don't have to pay a subscription fee. We also watched Charmed and Naruto in unhealthy quantities (which raises the question of whether there is a healthy quantity of Charmed.) Now that I'm back to school I'll hopefully be more regular in my updates. No promises though.