Okay.
I know this post is not the promised, to-be-continued post about Dave (who, if you haven't already noticed, is now my official boyfriend thanks to the social networking powers of Facebook statuses), and I might get poked (verbally and physically) that it isn't... But I really wanted to share briefly about my new fascination with oceanography.
Really.
I like to try new things, and I've gone on and on (in real life, usually in defense of Twitter) about how I follow Powell's Bookstore on twitter so I can go to interesting events all the time (hmm). The beauty of following Powell's Bookstore is that they post upcoming book readings for those who enjoy feeling cultured, like learning new things, and meeting authors. (Having a signed copy of a book makes me feel special.) This morning I spied this tweet:
Powells "Flotsametrics" tonight, 7:30 at Burnside. Expect lots of 'crazy crap found in the ocean' stories.
I know this may surprise some friends of mine, but I immediately decided upon reading the tweet that I had to go. I even tried to round up someone (anyone) to go with me via a Facebook status plea.
But no one bit.
I went alone.
Sometime the past school year, I got really into NPR, especially when they did bits on science. Particularly how technology, science and society effect each other. (Actually, I took that exact class last Spring. It was great!)
One Friday afternoon, I was listening to NPR while driving and the radio person was interviewing this guy, Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who rubber ducks and bottles that fell into the ocean and for years would turn up on coastlines. He talked about garbage islands in the ocean, which actually does life on it, and how body parts would turn up on coastlines, solving cold case missing persons stories. Without sounded too soap-box-ish, he would talk about how humans have impacted the ocean and the natural food chains that depend on the ocean through shipping, increased use of plastics, etc. (My good friend Joy also caught this story on NPR and was equally fascinated.)
I imagined Ebbesmeyer to be a really neat grandpa-type man that would be so wise, humble, interesting, and fun to talk to. So, of course I had to go to the book reading. To not only purchase my own book, Flotsametrics and the Floating World (by Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Eric Scigliano), but to meet this man who so fascinated me so much with his work and passion for the ocean.
(I am actually quite terrified of the ocean and deep water thanks to Titanic and other movies where boats/people drown.)
As I sat in the Pearl room at Powell's, scribbling away in my notebook before the author began (with comments like: "ooh there is a guy down the aisle who is talking with a foreign accent, British? Accents are so cool. I should develop a good accent, like a Canadian or Minnesotian one.") I scanned the room. I was happy to be surrounded by many others intrigued, many I imagine to be professors or fellow oceanographers. Behind me there was a little boy who complained to his mom that the screen never changed. "Mamma, when will the screen change?" Apparently, PowerPoint is not advanced enough for elementary -aged kids.
At 7:30pm, the author was introduced, and he began. And I was struck by Ebbesmeyer's humility. He joked about how "at his age" he can start getting away with telling people things they may not like hearing... like that we shouldn't used oil-based plastics (if we want to lower the dependence on oil, it's a start.) He challenged everyone in the room to ask the questions not on the table. And he talked about the ocean. How the water in the ocean was like a Pointillist painting. Blotching, chunky, uneven. He described how the water in the ocean is like pancake batter, stirred with a wooden spoon. You can't make it totally even and smooth, there's just not enough energy. (He calls the chunks "snarks".) He made the ocean romantic, calling it the great musical instrument ever.
I wondered if he was sad at all that he was getting older and his time to study the ocean was getting limited. Not that he was anywhere done with this work, but I would imagine as you get older there is a certain sadness when you've done something for so long and you've poured your life into it... and you have to trust the legacy you are leaving for others to learn and be as excited.
As he shared, I wondered about global warming and felt convicted to recycle better. I decided I should plan a beach trip to pick up small bits of plastic. And I'd get to see the massive ocean waves, and be reminded that all of this- the Earth, the stars, the ocean was created by an even bigger God. I wondered what Ebbesmeyer thought about God.
Then he showed a picture of a bird picked off live things in the ocean for food. The bird was deformed and its stomach was packed with plastic. It's a wonder it lived as long as it did. As Ebbesmeyer talked about some of the bits of plastic in the bird's stomach- one was from a downed WW2 plane- I was reminded of being a sixth grader at Outdoor School when we were taught how you can study Owl poop to know where its been and how it lived. The contents revealed the life of the Owl.
As I looked at the bits of plastic that was in the bird, I thought about how those bits of plastic show WHERE WE'VE BEEN and HOW WE LIVE.
Anyways. It was all completely fascinating. I got to talk briefly to the author/oceanographer and he was just as I imagined. I told him his work was exciting and that even as a Liberal Arts student, I've been so intrigued by his research and that I looked forward to reading his biography. (Yes, another book to read!)
I also wonder if I had to choose it all over again, I would have chosen to study oceanography.
So, that's one reason no exciting Dave post tonight. I was at a book reading!
So, lesson for all: avoid oil-based plastic (though I am not sure how you can tell if it is or isn't). And, don't forget, admission to the beach is to collect a bag of plastic garbage from the shoreline. If we all do a little, it makes a big difference!
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