That's Nikhil and me about 10 feet below ground in a pit filled with flesh-slicing Texas leaf-cutting ants. We were attempting to extract some fungus gardens as large as my torso in order to rear them in the lab. Lately we've been excavating these enormous underground nests in pursuit of a more accurate description of leaf-cutter ecology. Also, Nikhil has been pioneering techniques for using ground penetrating radar in order to map out these chambers.
It's great to have a job that takes me outside. I dare say it helps me out a lot with what I do here with Shizentai. The bright fields I get to romp through fill me with motivation to do all thinks I love in life. ...though technically the field above was the underside of a giant buzzing power line straightaway. Regardless, it's good to get some vitamin d every now and then considering that each one of these pages I make takes about 7 hours from start to completion. Though I will admit, there is also a lot I do at the lab which takes place indoors as well
Well, we all know I'd sneak some photoshop time in there somehow right? Yeah, my boss has been kind enough to allow me to draw a great deal on the job. What more could I ask for? Bugs? Check. Outside time? Check. Drawing, photography, and a shot at a higher degree? Triple check. Though this is not exactly supposed to be a permanent job, it's in a lot of ways my childhood dream come true. Therefore, this entry goes out to all the beautiful children in my elementary school who used to shake my desk and call me "animal freak." There isn't a week that goes by when I don't wonder... what do you do for a living?
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This one goes out to my currently most frequented dojo. After I left Purdue in January 2006 I found myself in lovely Baton Rouge attending my third college: Louisiana State University. Since then whenever I'm in town I trained more here. LSU's sensei, Ricky Pampo (center) is a New Orleanian like myself, and has been training for years. I enjoy his and Jon's (right) classes very much. KNUCKLE PUSHUPS!!!! AAA!!!
Another thing I always enjoy about LSU karate is their sense of community. Every week the whole lot of us descend upon some poor unsuspecting local sushi restaurant and attempt to deplete their entire stock of food stuffs. Even when people leave the club and move to another city we still keep in contact and will often visit with one another. This in addition to the new people that join every semester makes this dojo feel like my extended family... which is also big and enjoying of massive food-involving parties. :)
If anyone would like to join this club, especially if you go to LSU, I would highly recommend it. We meet in the student Rec center on Tuesdays and Thursdays and would love to see anyone interested in some training. Please see the Karate Club's official website for more information.
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