kcaw with 2 "**** you"s tonight. Damn.

In before the 3rd

If I were visiting DC for 2 or 3 days, what should I do?

(I've already done this, just wanna know if I did it right)

Ah that's awesome. Feel like professional geologists are sort of a rare breed.

I went to school at UMD, so the whole school was maybe 25-30k people. In my four years there, there was maybe ~35 people in the major at any given time. Our academic advisor had everyone in the major written on a chalkboard in his office and he would keep track of our stuff there lol. So it was a very small department. Which was awesome because you actually get to know your professors and can have more intimate discussions and attention. My major-specific classes were in small classrooms and averaged about 10-12 people per class? My required honors colloquium was me and one other kid because i think only three or four of us were in the departmental honors program. Not sure who went into mining. Most i think would go into oil and gas.

I loved geology so i think i had an edge with respect to coursework. Most classes and the accompanying concepts just came naturally to me. Geophysics kicked my ass though, that was a tough class. Groundwater (hydrology) was also heavily math based, but the course had a steep curve so i ended up doing well. I had trouble visualizing things three-dimensionally so i had to put a bit more effort into structural geology.

Also what are the 3 best Smithsonian museums?

would you feel safe walking around in a predominantly black neighborhood at night?

I can say that to Mb. we're friends!

I mean, i've been on many sports teams throughout my life and for me that's just not a sexual environment. Even if my teammates were to fully undress in front me (they didn't), i don't think i would get sexually aroused in that setting. I always had sort of a professional? attitude when i played team sports (baseball / basketball). Like, ya i'm gay, everyone knows, but this has no relevance to my performance. Although i did have a huge crush on one of my baseball teammates in college..

Like eb said, its analogous to telling straight guys to have sex with other men. It's just illogical if that's not what you're attracted to.

This is probably going to be a long response so i'll try to come back to it

Yeah I looked up my grandfather's University - it is very old (as far as Geology dept's go - 1890s). Unfortunately, its merged with geography and has become geoscience department.

suq

and i just gotta say the funniest **** in here is batm saying "bad beat not having sex with a girl brah"

like. you don't want to.

you should tell him "bad beat not having sex with a brah, brah"

I would recommend coming when it's warm out, since there's a bit more to do and see and its not miserable walking everywhere. However, this doesn't necessarily mean in the summertime, since that's the peak tourist season (some days there are literally droves of people downtown and its pain to be a part of) and it can get quite humid (historically DC was built on wetlands)

I would recommend seeing the monuments and memorials downtown. Start with Capital Building and go west. Washington monument. WWII memorial, reflecting pool, Lincoln Memorial. Then go toward the tidal basin and see MLK, then FDR, and keep making your way around to the Jefferson Memorial. The tidal basin area is beautiful in summer evenings, and is one of my favorite 'getaway' spots in the city.

You can of course see museums on your way. My top three are Natural History (ldo), Botanical Gardens (not affiliated with Smithsonian), and Air and Space. American History is a close fourth. The National Zoo would be in the top three if i wasn't restricting the museums to being located on the mall. In nice weather you can totally walk there if you're not too lazy. I highly recommend visiting the Newseum, but unfortunately its not free. I think its well worth the admission price to at least see once. I've heard the spy museum and crime and punishment museums (which you also have to pay for) are not really worth it. American Indian is an awful museum (imo). Hirshhorn is ok if youre into weird art. Portrait Gallery is up there in my list, but thats over in Chinatown, which is close but not on the mall exactly. The Holocaust Museum is also high on my list, and is near the tidal basin.

If youre into drinking and going out, i would recommend going out one of the nights just to see some of the night life. U st. is my favorite place to go out. Tons of bars and restaurants and just a really eclectic mix. Also two of the major gay bars/clubs are there Dupont has a good night scene (there's a really cool bar called Board Room, which has a huge collection of board games that you can play while drinking), as well as H st. and Adams Morgan.

I went to Roosevelt Island this past summer and i think that's an awesome place to see. Its located inbetween Georgetown and Rosslyn areas, so its not really a typical 'tourist' destination. One of my favorite places to go was the Old Post Office Building. It has an observation tower that you can take an elevator to the top of and have a view of the entire city. Its awesome and not many people know it exists, so its never really super crowded. Unfortunately Donald Trump bought the building recently and is converting it into hotels. **** him. However, the city deemed the tower itself a historical landmark that he can't touch, but due to the renovations its closed for the next two years.

There's obviously a ton of other things to do and many awesome restaurants to eat at, but that's just a cursory description of things i'd do if you were here for a few days. Also depends on the season and really what you're into. There's stuff for everyone.

It depends on the neighborhood. One of my friends lives in Shaw area (Shaw Howard University, which is a historically black college) and i routinely walk around there at night. Its adjacent to U st, so its not terribly unsafe. However, places like Anacostia in SE might be predominantly black but no, i would not feel safe there. That is more of a result of socioeconomic disparity rather than a pure consequence of ethnicity

In terms of quadrant safety, i think it goes NW>NE>>SW>SE

Lol. Must be my English I guess.
I said bad beat not having sex with a girl Cuz I know that feeling.
Then I said BUT I understand since that's not what u are in to. Meaning im putting myself in his shooes and also trying to block that answer given right back at me.
Therefore e cannot say why u haven't tried a dude? Cuz I'm not into them.
But whatever im always misunderstood lol even whn it's pretty clear.

What's ur tattoo of? Assuming that's a tattoo on ur arm

And I saw you wrote a letter to come out to ur mom, do you recommend something like that? All my friends know, just not my family, and I feel like anytime I think about trying to tell them it will feel forced and like I'm making a big deal of it even tho I doubt they'd care and I don't care either

I've seen you post in HSPLO too, you still play ever?

I KNEW IT!

i'm ever more happy you randed THE BLACKFISH now stylez

suq, are you listening to me?

what do you wanna be?

last book you read?

last book you that made you change your mind about something important?

goat book?

Apologies for not having questions, suq, but to you and thanks for doing this.

Oh okay. How much to kill a kitten? How much extra to do it barehanded? Either way, you have to look it in the eye.

Murderer.
Kittens will eat ur flesh

Are you in academia/museums 4life or are you going to work for the resource extracting industry at some point?

What's your view on "religious" exemptions to generally-applicable laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation?

What's been your favorite vacation so far?

What's your dream vacation?

How did your dad die? How old were you? How do you think it has affected your life? (I ask b/c my dad died just after I turned 17).

Lots of east coast in your life, would you ever consider living on the west coast?

Ya, some programs still do this. When i was at UNLV, the geoscience department was affiliated with geography as well. Some of the geol students (most of us were teaching assistants) in my cohort had to teach geography courses instead of geology lab. I felt bad for them.



The tattoo on my arm is the infinity symbol. Black outline, green fill. I got it when i turned 18; it's nothing terribly significant, i just thought the concept of infinity was pretty neat back then (still do). I have two other tattoos. One's an hourglass on my calf, and i have four rune symbols from Diablo 2 on my thigh.

Hmm. The thing with coming out is that its sort of a different experience for everyone. I think the ultimate way to go about it is to do it in a way that you're most comfortable. I know some people have no problem just saying to others 'I'm gay', and others might be more subtle and drop clues like 'oh that guy is cute' or 'i'm into guys' sort of thing. I was sort of in the latter group when telling people because being more direct made me anxious. It was easier for me to write a letter because i knew she'd understand, and it relieved a lot of social pressure to have a one on one talk with her about something that would've made me a bit uncomfortable to talk about at the time.

I play plo every now and then. Last year i played for 3-4 months to support myself and then variance had its way with me (i was severely underrolled to begin with so it was a miracle i lasted that long).

Wat

I've been reading a bunch of fiction lately, specifically books by Ian McEwan. He's my favorite author (he wrote Atonement). The last two i read by him were The Children Act and Sweet Tooth. I loved both of them. I think he has a very authentic and captivating way of writing.

I think i would say the last book that enlightened me as opposed to changed my mind would be What Money Can't Buy by Michael Sandel. I thought he did a good job at articulating how nearly everything in life nowadays is effectively for sale, and the implications and ethics behind it all. He doesn't delve too deep analytically, but presents a wide array of examples and touches on the moral dilemmas of each. I'm currently reading More Sex Is Safer Sex by Steven Landsburg, which is basically an economics book about unconventional wisdom and (seemingly) fallacious logic.

Goat book at the moment would probably be Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. I've had the book for a while and haven't even finished it, but i think its brilliant. I know that its sort of 'pop psychology' book, but i still think its a must read (even Hoya made a huge post/thread about how it relates to werewolf a little while back). I love learning about the psychology of the mind, and the amount of specific concepts and case studies that he provides throughout the book is astounding.

What type of TV do you watch? What are your thoughts on the portrayal of gay men on television? Specifically I'm thinking of Mitch/Cam from Modern Family, but I'm sure there are others.

Bleh. I saw this in bloo's thread and was hoping i wouldn't have to answer. I think i'll take the humanitarian approach (like he did in the button killing question) and i would probably kill a kitten for a couple thousand dollars and give most of the money to an animal shelter. This is actually pretty similar to a real life bargain that some big game hunters make with local governments. They are allowed to shoot and kill endangered animals for a price that very much offsets the loss of the single animal and benefits the conservation of the species as a whole

With my bare hands? Probably 100k. Somewhere around there. I dont think 25k would be worth the psychological trauma. I really value life, so putting a price on extinguishing an innocent life is tough for me. I also love cats.

Right now i'm trying to create a career in the museum. Specifically collections management in the minerals sciences department, but i wouldn't be opposed to a permanent position as a specialist in another department such as entomology. I've never had too much interest in going into the resource extraction industry (whether it be O&G or mining); my interests presided in mineralogy/petrology and environmental science (specifically ecology). A career at the EPA or a similar agency would also be cool.

I find it ridiculous and glad it's not a very common occurrence. I am very areligious (if one can be considered 'very' areligious... you get my point). I think its absurd that sometimes a group's beliefs can trump basic civil rights. I don't think religion should ever be used as a weapon or leverage for these types of situations.

Hmm. That's a tough one. I wouldn't really consider it a 'vacation' but in 2010 i went to Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles. One of my professors was doing field work on the metamorphic complexes around the island, and she specifically asked me to go with her because i was doing well in her class (i was a sophomore taking her senior-level course). The island has a little harbor town that anyone can take a ferry to from LA, and basically the rest of the island (besides another port) was owned by a conservancy. Because we were doing research, we had permits that allowed us to access the entire island. It was beautiful and also humbling because i knew how privileged i was to be able to roam the island in its entirety.









I've always been a huge fan of tropical destinations. I think going to the Maldives to see the bioluminescent plankton would be amazing. Or Australia to see the Great Barrier Reef. Or to see Belize's Great Blue Hole. I would also really love to go to Alaska to see the glaciers and aurora.

My father died from cancer (melanoma) when i was 9. I think he had just one little mole on his back that became aberrant and it was too late to fix. Because i was so young i dont think it affected my psyche as much as it should have. I didn't really have a firm grasp on what was going on at the time. My brother was much closer to my dad than i was, and because he was ten years older he took the loss much harder than i did. It created an interesting living dynamic though. My brother and sister were 10 and 13 years older than me, respectively, and so they were out of the house when this occurred. It was just my mother and i from elementary school until high school when she remarried. I cant express how thankful i am for her stoicism throughout that period. A lot of people might've just self destructed, but she made sure to keep things together at home for me and just kept on going with life. I respect her so much for that.

I've thought about living on the west coast. I haven't visited too many places in CA but i think that's where i would go if not the east coast.

Ever go out to Ethiopian restaurants?