Our Quest

From Hero to Rat-Bit Crack-Up 2

 in Colorado / Our Quest / Wildlife/animals  tagged book launch party / Colorado / hero / lab cart / Mile High Lab Rat / Pueblo Community College / rats by

After my Mile High Lab Rat book launch, we wheeled the scientist photo props back toward the van. Unfortunately, one of the cart wheels hung up on a sidewalk crack and upset the load. The crash was gentle, thank goodness. Nothing broke, but one of the live rats in the terrarium bailed. The rats were breeders on loan from a raptor center and highly replaceable—I’d guess, but I didn’t want to find out. Also, the college staff had been so accommodating in hosting my book launch party. Introducing a rat infestation to their campus seemed seriously shabby. I’d tried not […]

How Pueblo Community College Metamorphed a Lab Rat into an Author

 in Colorado / Our Quest / Wildlife/animals  tagged college safety / CSU-Pueblo Chemistry Day / Dr. Mike Davis / Kids Chemistry Kits / mentors / Mile High Lab Rat / Packard Foundation / Pueblo Community College / reaching for stars / Rocky Mountain Walkabout / science lab coordinator by

Not long after becoming Pueblo Community College’s science lab coordinator, I saw a notice that the Packard Foundation was offering small grants to boost preschool learning programs. I’d just left a preschool teaching job, and I’d been admiring the lab gizmos and thinking how much kids could get out of experiencing them, so I had a brainwave: wouldn’t it be cool if we could check kits out to teachers, so every kid in class could have a set of bottles full of magical but harmless chemicals to explore? I talked to my bosses Regis Opferman, who approved the project, and […]

Great Read Coming Your Way 2

 in Colorado / Our Quest / Travel media / Wildlife/animals  tagged book launch team / Denver Colorado / free book / Mystery novel / Rocky Mountains / science lab by

In 2002, I started a mystery novel set in the science lab where I worked. I wrote and rewrote so long and hard, it got stuck in my computer and wouldn’t even try to find its way out. Finally, lockdown gave me time to coax it through the maze, and Mile High Lab Rat will launch on March 31st. After all my efforts to make it thrilling, it needs readers to thrill, so I hope you’ll try it, love it, and spread the word. 

What’s to be Grateful For?

 in Gratitude / Our Quest / Spain  tagged Celebrity cruise line / challenges / cruise / Infinity cruise ship / support / Thanksgiving / travel by

For over 10 years I’ve been pushing, pulling, pleading, and praying to get a gig lecturing on cruise ships. With a whole lot of help from some priceless folks, THE day finally arrived. Except, thanks to an ice storm/flight delay, I missed the boat. I stood at the Denver airport customer service desk and watched my dream go Titanic. I couldn’t rebook a ticket to the next port without approval from the cruise line. I couldn’t hold up the crazy-long line while I tried to contact my agent, and she tried to contact her contact. I couldn’t even get my […]

Psyching Up with Songs

 in Our Quest  tagged dream chasing / inspiration / music / songs by

How to keep enthusiasm up for a long-term dream chase? Here are ten songs to rekindle your fire: Uptown Funk–Bruno Mars Can’t Stop Me Now–Rod Stewart This is My Fight Song–Rachel Platten The River–Garth Brooks I Believe I Can Fly–R. Kelly Say Geronimo–Sheppard Firework–Katy Perry Gonna Fly Now–Bill Conti I, Don Quixote–Irving Jacobson and Richard Kiley Good Riddance–Green Day Enjoy, and then go get ’em!

Crustacean Liberation Cruise 2

 in Our Quest / Snowbirding / Texas / Wildlife/animals  tagged ALDFG / Anahauc / crab trap cleanup / Emily Ford / Galveston Bay Foundation / game warden / Lone Star Law / NRG Energy / Patricia Vannoy / Texas / travel by

“See the lady in the pink shirt? I think she’s from Colorado. She’s got a blog and everything.” I was actually wearing green, so I overheard Emily Ford, the event organizer, pointing a faux me out to her setup team. A retired Water Resources Director and lobbyist from Houston, was also awed that I’d come 1000 miles to the Texas gulf to rescue crabs from derelict traps. Well, excuse me, but Abandoned Lost and Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG) kills countless sea creatures every year including dolphins, whales, turtles, seals, and yeah, crabs. Why wouldn’t I want to help? An unexpected bonus came in my being assigned […]

R.E.M. Wisdom

 in Gratitude / Our Quest  tagged dream writing / Maggie Honton / motivation / Oracle / poetry / resolutions / wisdom by

In a dream, an oracle counsels: When you believe in your beliefs and doubt your doubts, you will forge forgiveness and find relief. But be wary… If you doubt your beliefs and believe your doubts, That is the path of grief. This jewel is by Maggie Honton who has been hosting our writing group for over ten years.  If only I could write like this in my sleep!

Bowhead Blessing 1

 in Alaska / Gratitude / Our Quest / Wildlife/animals  tagged Alaska / Anchorage / baleen / Education / Native Alaskan tribes / NOAA / protected species / travel / whales by

I wanted baleen bad, but I didn’t want to go to jail over it — especially in the middle of giving a whale lecture. So when Steve and I set out for Anchorage, I called NOAA and asked how I could carry a piece of a protected species around the world without risking handcuffs. No problem, actually. If a member of a Native Alaskan tribe inscribes the baleen with artwork, it is no longer taboo. Better yet, the agent I talked to, had a few illegal pieces that were cluttering up the NOAA office, and he was happy to gift […]