and we're back...

so i'm back from my canadian sojourn, a bit behind in classes and with a stuffy, achy head and throat and general fatigue. if it's flu i don't want to know, i just want to keep plodding through this last week of classes without falling further behind.

this is the iconic mountain that is on all the postcards of Banff. it's not the one with the ski area (i was also surprised to learn that the Banff ski area is small and Lake Louise is far preferable to most locals), but right above the iconic Banff hotel. the name escapes me at the moment, but i have to post this picture of it because it is so amazing in person. the canadian rockies are incredible in general, but this particular mountain is especially cool because it is so easy to see how it formed. the whole area is formed of rocks that used to be seafloor in the Cambrian era, pushed up and broken into craggy mountains. see how one side is so smooth, and the other is a jagged series of layers? it's awe-inspiring to imagine what sort of a huge event caused this formation. so, so cool.

this is the view from the gondola from the base of the lake louise ski area. incredible view. amazing powder, good trails... a good day of snowboarding.

left to right: the weiglator (scott weigle, our mentor and professor, and all-around awesome dude), katie (testing her radio) and tim, not realizing i'm taking a picture and hiding behind his skis.

nels, ben and i on the gondola. good times.
as always, there are more photos on my flickr site.
in other news, insert vague reference to some sort of huge development afoot in my life. it turns out persistence, patients and guts pay off, occasionally. more later... maybe.

osashiburi ne.

insert standard been-a-long-time apology, swear to blog more from now on, blah blah. i know, i know, heard it all before. what can i say? i have more important things to do, it seems, than blog. and i've been keeping a paper journal for the majority of the last year, one that's actually consumed one notebook and is doing serious damage to another. i find it cathartic; the fact that none of you out there on the Internets can read it means that i can write whatever the fuck i want without judgement. which is nice. but it doesn't do you, Dear Reader, any good, if you've just thought, "gee, i wonder how kat is doing" and surf over to my blog and i haven't written anything in months.

it's been a wacky year, that's for sure. 2007 has some great stuff in store, though, i am sure. one thing that's weird: i have a crush on someone. like, a giddy, goofy, secret crush that no one knows about but i've had for months. (okay, a few people know, but it's a closely guarded secret.) and i dare not say more than this, but... man! it feels good to actually *feel* something for someone..... even if it's someone i see less than once a week.

graduation: it's finally within my grasp. only 135 days left... until i will no longer be a damn undergrad. fuck! i need to figure out what i'm going to do after that. i have ideas, plans; as of yet, nothing concrete. need to start kissing professor ass.

been reading: lots of biochem. yesterday in lecture, i was the only one who knew the answer to a question the professor asked; i don't think he could see who it was who answered, but i nailed it and no one else was speaking up. that's my M.O. - i know the answer immediately, but i always wait at least a moment or two before i speak up, to let anyone else who knows have a chance. but today, the prof asked the question (what cofactor do amino acid decarboxylases use) and no one answered, he went on to the next slide, then asked if anyone had come up with an answer. so i said fuck it, and in a confident voice, "pyridoxal phosphate." ding! score one for me. yes i am a super lame dorkface, and everyone in all my classes secretly wants me dead.

been listening: the arcade fire. both funeral and the ep. how had i not really heard this band before, despite having heard them tons of times? also, the new shins album. just got it off of itunes, and am on my third or fourth listen... and it's good. it's really good. i really like the track "sea legs" - it's got a killer breakbeat (what?) and makes me wanna dance. and the rest of the album is great as well. obviously the shins are a band we can trust. i need to get my hands on a copy of oh, inverted world... it's the only one i don't have.

been watching: buffy. hardcore. (when i'm not studying.) (god, i'm a doublenerd!) i'm on season 6, and buffy is not so thrilled about being alive. but this is the season where buffy and spike get together, and let's face it: spike is the best damn character on the show. also just started angel - i've watched the first 3 episodes so far. it's pretty good, but my tolerance for david boreanaz angel is low. (i have nothing against the actor per se, just the broody character grates on me after too long.) but i am digging the comic-book-action-hero vibe... it's a different world than buffy's world, and angel has some sweet tricks up his sleeve (literally). and, spike. i love spike.

at risk of sounding even geekier (is that humanly possible?), and while i'm on the subject of television shows, if you're reading this and (BSG SPOILER ALERT) you are NOT on the edge of your seat wondering if a certain* fighter jock is actually one of the final five cylon models, (END SPOILER) you should be watching Battlestar Galactica. i've said it over and over again, but BSG is THE best show on TV right now. start with the miniseries from 2003, then watch the first season and you'll be hooked. it is smart, sexy, action-packed, full of intrigue, and just an all-around awesome show. give in, geeky is sexy anyway.

right-o. back to... microbiology prelab. (lab classes are pain-in-the-ass-y, but they're a necessary component of my education... or something.) leave me comments; it makes me more inclined to blog.

*extremely sexy