The big smoke

Currently I’m in Sydney enjoying the AFAC (Australian fire authority council) conference. I went for a walk early yesterday morning only to be amused by the sights. So many people were walking around in suits. I loved this window display- just image handbags having legs like that. Actually if you could afford handbags like that you should have amazing legs to go with them. Shame the photo is fairly average.  Give me a practical backpack anyday over these simple hand bags. 

Another great sight was this welcoming sign in front of the botanic gardens. I love that they encourage people to walk on the grass. I have so many fond memories of visiting the gardens. I even came home with a stray duck from the gardens many years ago. This duck was so tame it would follow us everywhere in the back yard. Dad had to stick it in the wheelbarrow at one stage to stop it exploring his shorts every time he bent over to garden.  

We glammed it up last night and put on our frocks for a huge dinner party. There are over 1300 conference delegates so you can imagine it's a big night out. Due to my limited purchases of makeup over the past 10 years I snuck into Myers and got my makeup done. What a treat, came away poorer but in the possession of a new lipstick and some cream. 

Tomorrow I present my research. Rather nervous of course. The slides look gorgeous to me. My big concern is how to make 30 slides of erosion interesting for the normal audience whilst still sounding intelligent. I love the slides but maybe not everyone else thinks soil erosion post-fire is a beautiful sight… Tomorrow night I get to see my family again. As lovely as it is to escape the normal daily routine I really do miss my hubby, the little men and Alex the dog.

New Dress

Retail therapy has been a theme this holiday. I escaped to the camping shop one afternoon to purchase hiking boots, a new backpack and a polar fleece. My sister in-law enjoyed pointing out my warped view on retail therapy compared to lipsticks, handbags or jewellery. My boots were at the end of their life. Last time my boots died was during field work in Adelaide tramping up and down the burnt loose slopes. I'm missing the field work component of study. Conferences are bringing on a new dimension to shopping requirements.  Its not OK to attend a conference in ugg boots and an old sloppy jo. Actually the annual fire conference has been a great incentive to actually buy some new clothes. The last conference was with a bunch of geographers. Slightly simpler dress requirements. Sandals with socks were fine ; )

Its the last day of school holidays today so I need to find a new procrastination excuse. Actually the scholarship funding runs out in a week, I'm really fed up with the whole PhD so hopefully this will encourage me to get a MOVE ALONG! and finish. A great job came up a few weeks ago. I weighed up the choice between balancing work family versus the cram as much into life as possible approach. I decided for a blend of the two. I did not apply for the job. So many PhD advice books suggest not starting a new  job until the PhD is finished.  So back to the old mantra

Family, self-care, thesis, friends
  

Prezi

Last week I was at the Institute of Geography conference. In an experimental mood, I tried a newish sofware package called Prezi. It's a bit like powerpoint but involves zooming. I'm guessing its what Hungry Beast used in their TV show. Prezi has real potential to give the audience sea sickness. In case I stuffed up with the software I also wrote my talk out. A written talk is not my style and resulted in a nervous delivery. I'm going back to the safe one page dot points accompanied with simple, photo rich, reliable powerpoint. I'll  leave the zooming and whirling for motivational speakers.  

You are welcomed to have a look at the prezi I made. Its shows various photos and computer modelling I do as part of the PhD research
http://prezi.com/laxmcc1masxj/post-fire-erosion-monitoring/

Prezi was easier for uploading videos compared to powerpoint. This video below is a model of the eroded slope after the Mount Bold wildfire. We captured this data using terrestrial laser scanners in Feb then again in May. Red is erosion, blue is deposition.

There is a chicken at my back door demanding to be fed. Better get on with the day. Hanging out washing, feeding the chooks, writing a thesis, a bit of stats, home-cooking and lots of mothering.

PhD Survey and TED

For the past 12 months I've been participating in a survey about PhDs and how I felt about it. As part of the follow up survey they sent me a graph today that showed my survey response. The graph looks like this

The graph is about right for an average monthly view.  If you asked my hubby, who kindly listens each night about my studies, he might argue differently. Just like raising a child a PhD has so many highs and lows. Even on a daily, minute by minute  time-scale my feelings towards my studies alters. The graph really should look more like the one below. This graph has been inspired by the TED talk given by Rufus Griscom and Alisa Volkman on Let's talk parenting taboos. Any parent will understand the ups and downs, just like any third year PhD student. Should we really be talking more about it. Would you really tell someone how hard parenting is and expect them to try it. It's just the same as telling a potential PhD candidate that the PhD will leave you crying in the gutter. I like the truth but sometime ignorance is bliss allowing people to step outside their comfort zone.

Maybe I should combine both the parenting graph and my Phd graph. Hmmm scary concept, the graph would look like chaos.

Wombat knocking

A wombat came to say hi this morning. He curled up and went to sleep at our back door for six hours. Very cute. Maybe we are doing something right towards creating a natural habitat in the backyard for Australian natives.

He reminded me of the worst talk I ever gave. My boss asked me to do a presentation for him about wombats and erosion to a group of farmers. Slightly hung over from too much partying after a birthday I foolishly said of course I would present. Hey I knew about erosion I just had to learn about wombats. Well I was introduced as Rowena from National Parks who was going to talk about rabbits. I knew nothing about rabbits so I prattled on about wombats and erosion regardless. The nerves won resulting in a thumb down presentation. You’ll be glad to know presenting for the PhD has been much more successful.