Over the course of our five week summer session I noticed my compositional ability to expand. More than ever I found that early organization can be hugely beneficial in constructing just about every writing type. Free writing in blog posts, in class exercises, and even to some degree in reading responses allows a person to purge all thoughts and then a bit of arranging produces a thorough work product. Marc made sure to emphasize the finer points of argumentation, it really does not matter what you are attempting to argue, or even where you stand on the issue, if you argue the matter efficiently, you will never be wrong. Sentence composition, word usage, proper punctuation were all areas I noticed some improvement as well. It seems that a semi-broad instructional course is about the only way to diagnose areas needing improvement for early college level students. Again, Marc used this type of structure to assist students in their general composition abilities and also focused much on refining particular aspects of each students writing. If a student were unable to construct a proper paragraph about why they consider a university education to be important, after taking Marc's English 111 course they sure would hard pressed still lack the ability, (given that the student attended class regularly and actually participated, I think this was the case with most). I will continue to further my education, but now I have gathered many useful tools which will help tremendously in just about every area of instruction. I feel confident in my writing abilities, more so now than at the beginning of the summer indefinitely. What I would really like is to have some time this summer to do a bit of reading for pleasure, it's not likely but I can still hope right? It is very random and quite out of place here, but my favoritist favorite author is Larry McMurtry, I will always cherish his abilities as a writer and be thankful for the education I've gained through reading his works. This also goes for what I've learned this summer in Marc's Eng. 111 course--valuable stuff I say!

Stupid like a fox

Have you ever thought you had something all worked out and then come to find your calculations were completely off? Have you ever been overly skeptical about something or worried to a frazzle and then learn how your concerns and fretting were completely unnecessary? Neither one of these scenarios is quite how I've been feeling about my documented argument. I've been thinking about it, working with it, collaborating, living, and in consideration of the project now--I have been nearer both of those scenarios than one would consider ideal. Seems to me that things are pretty under control now, the outline, the plan, they've been giving me a hard time but no more! Today I was provided with some needed direction and I do believe my argument is gonna come out looking a worthy bet. What I must now be certain of is that indeed it is! The rough draft composition gave me a good chance to see what kind of construction materials were really at hand. I've amassed a
great-deal of valuable scientific research, experimental data, news happenings, and some key policy information. This wealth of mine is what led me to believe everything was peachy keen early on. Well, it's all fine and well, but without a worthy plan of attack how might one avoid incapacitation? Tomorrow after work my sister and I are going on a little adventure, we are to spend some time in the vicinity of Nogal peak. (North and a tad west of Sierra Blanca/and or Ruidoso, similarly high peak but pointy, can't miss it if you head to Carrizozo or Lincoln county.) You see lately sister has been whining and whining about not having gone on an excursion this summer, why she doesn't be more proactive or just come along more often puzzles me, but anyway we're gonna get some outdoor time. Saturday evening when we return I'm gonna sleep and sleep. Then on Sunday, as if it were wintertime, it shall be game day. My plan is to get a complete-rough-draft, completed. All relevant information will be used and cited, all key topics and arguments will be addressed, once this is so I can rewrite and organize the whole dern' thing! A plan followed by action, stalked by intent, and carried out by a cool and collected writer. Creepy but effective_yeah

Didn't summer begin yesterday?

I don't know, maybe I'm just really partial to the warm climate, but I've always considered May-Septemberish summer, then until february winter, and March and April to be windy as F. But that's just me, and my vida de Nuevo Mexico perhaps.
What's in store for summer is more school, super fantastic awesome school as a matter of fact. Lately during daytime hours, when I'm not in class, I've been dutifully working as a research assistant/lab tech/errand boy at my school, the Dept of Fishery and Wildlife Science. The job is basically ideal, I have been enjoying it very much, but holy geez I'd much prefer getting in 4-6 hours of good recliner time during the average day. Since that has never happened, and isn't likely to here in the near future, I will continue working and attending super fantastic awesome second session. Besides all those normal what have you's I spend a decent amount of time most weeks attending Wildlife Society events, meetings, and fundraisers.
All of these things take up considerable amounts of my time, though perhaps more importantly for me and my salvation comes the time of leisure. Once in a while I'll saunter off to one of the local watering holes for entertainment, but more often I'm making my way out through the wilderness somewhere. Quite possibly the greatest attribute of nature is its' endless opportunity for enjoyment. If the appreciation for and connection to nature is within, you really needn't a particular reason to find yourself out in the vast stretches. For now, I shall pursue some homework related tasks and jam out a little, it's a southern rock opera night, and tomorrow we begin again!

Our little research project has turned into quite the info journey. I've been able to gather a wealth of diverse topic related info lately, plenty really, though now I'm beginning to question direction somewhat. In choosing prairie dog relocation, population control etc, my original plan was to bolster opinion and seek statistics for prairie dog relocation costs here in the state. Many research studies related to prairie dog colonization have been conducted over the last 20 years, much of this information, including techniques useful in capturing small mammals, has provided insightful detail into the role of prairie dogs and their communities. My personal knowledge of prairie dogs has been somewhat skewed in retrospect, for most prairie dog colonies or towns I have observed were black-tailed prairie dogs in ideal habitat conditions. The common occurrence of prairie dogs in metropolitan areas of New Mexico is where my argument gains virtually all of its' relevance. Certainly much of the information I've gathered has given my proposed argument far deeper roots. More scientific information, more public and private interest than I ever guessed surround the areas of these varmints! Things have really expanded, shifted with regards to my argument, in the realm of prairie dog colonization and it's potential benefits. Many other species are thought to benefit from, if not depend on prairie dog colonies. The implications of such findings will likely guide my argument further away from "prairie dogs are silly and fun to shoot!", kinda direction. The new plan is to focus on valid info regarding prairie dogs, I wish to provoke a consensus between all interested parties dealing with prairie dog policy and management. So stay tuned, I can assure it won't all be nearly as bad as it sounds-

I care a great deal for cuisine, often times I attempt to duplicate fantastic dishes or create meals from elaborate recipe. Quite possibly my most favoritist' afternoon or evening meal is baked-bird casserole.
The dinner is based on roasted or seared game-bird breasts with tasty vegetables and generally wild rice. Initial preparations allow for the preparer to ready poultry and vegetables in the roasting dish. As with most poultry, common game-birds pair very well with fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, maybe sage and perhaps oregano. Garlic is an absolute here, much as you like, if you don't like, you are a bland eater and will not be interested in this dish. Fresh vegetables I recommend to accompany the entree include, but are not limited to, new potatoes (the small roundish red guys), mushrooms- sauteed with olive oil and garlic preferably, green beans, carrots, and some people like cabbage, but eh.
Typically I sear the bird breasts in olive oil, adding rosemary and garlic as the birds cook lightly for 2-3 minutes. The birds are then laid over cut vegetables and herbs in a roasting dish, additional seasonings can always be added. I especially like to include hot roasted green chile.
Bake birds and vegetables for 15 minutes at 350ish and then remove to include part two.
Part 2: Add mushrooms and sour cream, return the dish to the oven for 10-15 more minutes.
Birds, vegetables and sauce is now spread over steamed wild rice. Additional vegetables, bread, tortillas, or salad can also be served. So yeah, this is some tremendously fair eating, the key really is poultry selection and garlic. Hope some have the opportunity to try a dish like this someday<
Tyler

And it stoned me to my soul....

Recently something was brought to my attention, rather forthright. It would likely have smacked me around some had it not been an inanimate object. This simple poster stared me down and reminded me of some things I knew but had yet to consider, and a thing or two in which I had not given much thought and really didn't know. This insightful and somewhat intimidating poster contained real photos of five different animals, each being closely connected to the other, but all somewhat dependent on just one-- none other than the black-tailed prairie dog. The arguable little critter is what we consider a keystone animal; but what the heck is that? Keystone species, often predatory, though not in this case, are animals who have a tremendous impact on the reproduction rates and overall fitness of more than one other organism. The black-tailed prairie dog typically inhabits an area around the size of one acre, sharing this area with multiple colony members, sometimes upwards of fifty. Such an inhabited area is commonly known as a town, cute right? Those are all things I've been well aware of since I was knee high to a grasshopper, right on. The keystone species status of prairie dogs though, now why might that be? In many personal experiences I have observed burrowing owls, which are seriously cute little critters, (really, they're fantastic) residing in and around prairie dog towns. Prairie dogs are very skilled tunnelers, they might actually have the potential to dig to China, unlike myself who often tried to when I was a wee lad. Anyhew, I have also observed black-footed ferrets in and around dog-towns. Black-footed ferrets are endangered and love spending time in prairie dog towns because they are mostly carnivorous and PD's are tasty (so they say). I'm betting you can hardly wait to find out who else was depicted on the poster I was nearly wooped by... no, well read on. Desert snakes and lizards find PD towns to be greatly useful too! Shelter and food are abundant for such herp' species. My tied for favorite creature on this poster was a kit fox, poor little fella is also endangered. You see, at one time all predators were considered the worst of ill creatures, regardless of size or state. Golden eagles were exterminated by gov't employees. Today, many people still have similar sentiments in regard to predators; but they're retarded so no biggy. The point I'm perhaps, somehow making is that many species, 2 already endangered, benefit from the mere existence of prairie dog colonization. This certainly does not change my stance or proposed topic but, it is tremendously interesting stuff. The fuzzy wuzzy little prairie dogs definately have there place(s) here in the world, but those places needn't be our places- if nothing else think of it this way: All the aforementioned species interacting with PD's are at far greater risk the nearer they are to human settlement.

Algae is super!

A fantastically interesting development was brought to my attention a couple of months back, just recently I did a bit of research and was surprised by what I learned about algae as a source of fuel.
This new technology has several word forms, my personal favorite being oilgae, followed closely by algaeoleum, lol. Anyhow, the process of creating alternative fuel, primarily for use in combustion engines is as one could imagine quite complex. For the sake of not wasting more words or silly sounding research statements than is neccessary, we'll break it down like this: biofuels have tremendous potential to supplement and even replace fossil fuels which are basically being depleted in front of us daily and in turn depleting the atmospheric conditions we have come to enjoy. Secondly, biofuels are costly to produce, but give me one example how oil is not...? Sustainibility is the main point here, imagine producing a fuel that is created through photosynthesis, they did and they continue exploring these fantastic concepts. Algae bio-fuel is lower on the totem pole just yet but increasing interest and funding have allowed several companies to develop more efficient strains of algae, also refining the refining process. Algae if given appropriate consideration, has the potential to be far more efficient in terms of production and usefullness than ethanol or battery cell power. I'm on board, let us all be interested in waste water farming shall we?