I'm still here, I promise

And I actually have no excuse for not updating. Except that I'm kind of a jerk.

I just got home from dinner with John after seeing Oceans in the East Village. And while I'm exhausted (it's been a long, long, allergy-ridden week, and one in which Charlie the cat broke his leg again), I figured I ought to check in, at least.

While I was an utter failure (or at least a not-insignificant failure) as an oceanographer, seeing stuff like the Oceans footage reminds me why I tried to do it in the first place (well, part of why, at least). Man, I was a third-rate scientist but the ocean is an almost-religious experience for me, and seeing that kind of film, it's like my heart is getting torn from my chest. The almost mechanical-looking mackerel bait balls, the celebratory sea nettles , oh man oh man oh man. I seriously can't take it. I get teary-eyed, just about. (I actually find myself thinking things like "wow, I would love to be a jellyfish." This is an insane-person thought.)

Also, I'm a big old wimp and had to actually leave the room during the (brief) section addressing water pollution but really, are we surprised?