October Tuesday

DINOSAURS!!

I am a kid who never grew out of the dinosaur stage. I love them. In my late teens I was seriously considering becoming a paleantologist. But then I realized I would have to go to school in the desert and I lost my zeal. At WWU the best class I ever took was Geology 430 with Professor Thor Hanson. (Yes, he looked like a viking.) It was all about dinosaurs. The best part was I took the class at the time the sequel to Jurassic Park (The Lost World) hit the theaters and our entire class went to see the movie as a field trip. Film and science together...bliss! It was so much fun to analyze what the filmmakers got right and what was ridiculous (based on the scientific, historical evidence and theory). You might find this strange coming from a Creative Writing Major but I must admit...I also love science. What a paradox! I have a secret dream of being an archaeologist or paleantologist, searching through clay and dust for ancient bones or remnants of civilizations swallowed up by earth and time. When I was a girl I was obsessed for a time with ancient Egypt, the pyramids, Nefertiti, hieroglyphics. I invented my own hieroglyphic language and imagined that if reincarnation existed at all then I was certainly once a Nile Princess. Even now when I see characters in movies like Etheline Tenenbaum (Anjelica Huston) a little bubble of desire rises in my heart to be that focused, intelligent, studious, adventurous in a bookish way.

Anyway. All this to say that last night I found out the Pacific Science Center currently has a huge exibit on "Colossal Fossils!" as well as a 3D IMAX film on dinosaurs. How did I not know?! I've got to get over there and see it all.