Uh. Hey.
Sorry LiveJournal, I was in the shower.
Ah, let's see. What's changed in the last *checks watch*...fuck...almost six years?
Yes, I know the last post left everything hanging in that transition between living in Bend and moving to Hawai`i to start grad school. Back then everything was fresh, but it's all a distant memory now.
I moved to Hawai`i.
I spent a lot of time in the water. In incredible places that I still get teary even thinking about.
I learned how to SCUBA. I became not only really good at it, but a Scientific and Rescue Diver.
I met the love of my life. For real. Not even a question. The night we met, we spent about six hours straight talking about science and science blogging.
We took a trip to Maui after we started dating. Then to Indonesia. We saw actual dragons.
Grad school was rough, and not in the way that undergrad was. In the horrible, disorder-exacerbating, "my advisor is an abusive nightmare" way.
I drank a lot.
I didn't take care of myself.
I got kinda fat.
Turns out getting a PhD was not in the cards for me, and that living in anguish in the most expensive spot in the country with no money, little prospect of surviving the program with my sanity intact, and zero time for anything that made me feel human wasn't a winning way to go. So I cut my losses, switched into a Masters program in late 2015, and got out a year later. It was the right decision. 100%.
Christie wrote a book. It's incredible.
Christie and I got a dog! She's a pit-mix named Arya and she's the sweetest, biggest annoying baby in the world.
I became a soon-to-be dad! Like, of a person this time! Holy shit! The timing was *not* planned! Even holier shit!
But it was ok, Christie and I figured it out. It nearly killed us, but we did it.
Donald Trump was elected president. The next day, I wanted to feel good about something, so I finally asked Christie to marry me. She said it was about fucking time, Buehler.
The islands suck for trying to have a kid, so we bailed for the Northwest, landing in Silverdale, WA where we waited for Bianca to finish incubating.
I couldn't find a job, partially due to the federal lock on new science hires at the start of the Trump administration at the time. So, I started working as a freelance writer, which was terrifying, but absolutely necessary since we had no money. And a kid on the way. Extra scary.
We, uhmm...got married on the DL about a month before Bianca was born. Why? Paperwork. Easier to be married before Bianca came roaring into the world, because laws are weird and suck. Don't worry though, there will be a wedding ceremony someday and everyone is invited. It just has to wait until we have time and money. Easier said than done.
June 11th, 2017...DING...baby time. Bianca Olea Buehler. Olea is the genus for olive trees. Christie and I first met under an olive tree in a campus courtyard.
So we became parents! Wow! To the most perfect, giggling, brilliant being that has ever stood on two legs and looked up at a starry night sky in rapt awe.
I kept writing. The bylines kept coming. Gizmodo, New Scientist, Hakai, Sierra, Earther. I started doing reported pieces. I became a "member of the press." I still have imposter syndrome, but I keep pushing through it waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Christie landed a job at SciShow as a content editor.
During Bianca's first year, I watched her during the weekends and worked on nights and weekends. Super extreme part-time freelancer dad vibes.
I didn't sleep much.
I got kinda fatter. It's temporary. Probably.
I went to a science communication conference solo in Austin. I didn't know what the fuck I was doing.
We moved to Port Angeles about a year ago. Bigger, cheaper place. A house! We have a house! With a fenced backyard for Arya! Space for Bianca to run around when she walks! Closer to my parents (and their babysitting abilities) too.
We enrolled Bianca in a few days of daycare a week. The payoff for my freelancing ability is worth it. And she gets +10 socialization skillz from it theoretically.
I kept writing. Science Magazine, Audubon, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. Still mostly news. I want to write features. Or a book. I have a book idea I've been sitting on since 2016.
I hiked a lot in the Olympic Mountains. I have photos somewhere. I live in an insanely beautiful place.
Christie and I took our first Together Trip since Bianca was born in October--to D.C. for an annual science writer conference. Networking is the hardest thing I've ever done probably.
2019 arrived.
We got snow.
I turned 30. 30! I feel nauseous typing it and it's been a whole month now! Fuck!
Bianca turned 21 months old yesterday. It's cliche but she's amazing. She's so smart, guys. She knows shapes. And colors. And ALL the animals. She says words, and has feelings on things. She sleeps with a mammoth plushie we got at the Smithsonian. She adores Puffin Rock. She says "peas" when she wants things. She runs and dances. She has pigtails and isn't sure about deep snow, but loves leaf piles. She has a bunch of little teeth and a big smile. When she's happy she looks like her mom. When she's mad or sad, she looks like her dad. She likes bubbles and slime and deer and birds. She can howl like a wolf. She can color. She can make a circle with a crayon. She goes apeshit over slides. She likes her friend Aspen. She can kind of use the potty. She asks to go swimming ("simmin"). She thinks fake sneezing is the pinnacle of comedy. She loves her Memere and Papa and her puppy and stickers and making block towers.
So. It's 2019.
Things have changed a little.
I'm not going to lie and promise that I'll be posting more than this. I'm too busy now I think to spend time journaling. Ironic, considering the exhaustive cataloging of my life LJ used to be, particularly between about 2005 and 2012-ish.
To be frank, the only reason I'm in the neighborhood is to grab my things. I'm backing up all the old posts, slowly, one at a time, just in case LJ disappears for some reason. I'm up to 2009 I think. I know there's a way to export the code. I'm not doing that. It's confusing and I'm an old, old man in his thirties.
Anything else?
Uh. I had leftover curry for lunch. I need to call my brother back. It's been a slow writing week, hoping it turns around.
Cheers.
Ah, let's see. What's changed in the last *checks watch*...fuck...almost six years?
Yes, I know the last post left everything hanging in that transition between living in Bend and moving to Hawai`i to start grad school. Back then everything was fresh, but it's all a distant memory now.
I moved to Hawai`i.
I spent a lot of time in the water. In incredible places that I still get teary even thinking about.
I learned how to SCUBA. I became not only really good at it, but a Scientific and Rescue Diver.
I met the love of my life. For real. Not even a question. The night we met, we spent about six hours straight talking about science and science blogging.
We took a trip to Maui after we started dating. Then to Indonesia. We saw actual dragons.
Grad school was rough, and not in the way that undergrad was. In the horrible, disorder-exacerbating, "my advisor is an abusive nightmare" way.
I drank a lot.
I didn't take care of myself.
I got kinda fat.
Turns out getting a PhD was not in the cards for me, and that living in anguish in the most expensive spot in the country with no money, little prospect of surviving the program with my sanity intact, and zero time for anything that made me feel human wasn't a winning way to go. So I cut my losses, switched into a Masters program in late 2015, and got out a year later. It was the right decision. 100%.
Christie wrote a book. It's incredible.
Christie and I got a dog! She's a pit-mix named Arya and she's the sweetest, biggest annoying baby in the world.
I became a soon-to-be dad! Like, of a person this time! Holy shit! The timing was *not* planned! Even holier shit!
But it was ok, Christie and I figured it out. It nearly killed us, but we did it.
Donald Trump was elected president. The next day, I wanted to feel good about something, so I finally asked Christie to marry me. She said it was about fucking time, Buehler.
The islands suck for trying to have a kid, so we bailed for the Northwest, landing in Silverdale, WA where we waited for Bianca to finish incubating.
I couldn't find a job, partially due to the federal lock on new science hires at the start of the Trump administration at the time. So, I started working as a freelance writer, which was terrifying, but absolutely necessary since we had no money. And a kid on the way. Extra scary.
We, uhmm...got married on the DL about a month before Bianca was born. Why? Paperwork. Easier to be married before Bianca came roaring into the world, because laws are weird and suck. Don't worry though, there will be a wedding ceremony someday and everyone is invited. It just has to wait until we have time and money. Easier said than done.
June 11th, 2017...DING...baby time. Bianca Olea Buehler. Olea is the genus for olive trees. Christie and I first met under an olive tree in a campus courtyard.
So we became parents! Wow! To the most perfect, giggling, brilliant being that has ever stood on two legs and looked up at a starry night sky in rapt awe.
I kept writing. The bylines kept coming. Gizmodo, New Scientist, Hakai, Sierra, Earther. I started doing reported pieces. I became a "member of the press." I still have imposter syndrome, but I keep pushing through it waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Christie landed a job at SciShow as a content editor.
During Bianca's first year, I watched her during the weekends and worked on nights and weekends. Super extreme part-time freelancer dad vibes.
I didn't sleep much.
I got kinda fatter. It's temporary. Probably.
I went to a science communication conference solo in Austin. I didn't know what the fuck I was doing.
We moved to Port Angeles about a year ago. Bigger, cheaper place. A house! We have a house! With a fenced backyard for Arya! Space for Bianca to run around when she walks! Closer to my parents (and their babysitting abilities) too.
We enrolled Bianca in a few days of daycare a week. The payoff for my freelancing ability is worth it. And she gets +10 socialization skillz from it theoretically.
I kept writing. Science Magazine, Audubon, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. Still mostly news. I want to write features. Or a book. I have a book idea I've been sitting on since 2016.
I hiked a lot in the Olympic Mountains. I have photos somewhere. I live in an insanely beautiful place.
Christie and I took our first Together Trip since Bianca was born in October--to D.C. for an annual science writer conference. Networking is the hardest thing I've ever done probably.
2019 arrived.
We got snow.
I turned 30. 30! I feel nauseous typing it and it's been a whole month now! Fuck!
Bianca turned 21 months old yesterday. It's cliche but she's amazing. She's so smart, guys. She knows shapes. And colors. And ALL the animals. She says words, and has feelings on things. She sleeps with a mammoth plushie we got at the Smithsonian. She adores Puffin Rock. She says "peas" when she wants things. She runs and dances. She has pigtails and isn't sure about deep snow, but loves leaf piles. She has a bunch of little teeth and a big smile. When she's happy she looks like her mom. When she's mad or sad, she looks like her dad. She likes bubbles and slime and deer and birds. She can howl like a wolf. She can color. She can make a circle with a crayon. She goes apeshit over slides. She likes her friend Aspen. She can kind of use the potty. She asks to go swimming ("simmin"). She thinks fake sneezing is the pinnacle of comedy. She loves her Memere and Papa and her puppy and stickers and making block towers.
So. It's 2019.
Things have changed a little.
I'm not going to lie and promise that I'll be posting more than this. I'm too busy now I think to spend time journaling. Ironic, considering the exhaustive cataloging of my life LJ used to be, particularly between about 2005 and 2012-ish.
To be frank, the only reason I'm in the neighborhood is to grab my things. I'm backing up all the old posts, slowly, one at a time, just in case LJ disappears for some reason. I'm up to 2009 I think. I know there's a way to export the code. I'm not doing that. It's confusing and I'm an old, old man in his thirties.
Anything else?
Uh. I had leftover curry for lunch. I need to call my brother back. It's been a slow writing week, hoping it turns around.
Cheers.