NMSU Astro II: Day 18

Sunday Bliss

I groggily rolled over, glancing down at my phone screen with a vision still blurred from sleepiness. 8:04 – surprisingly early given the streaks of sunshine streaming in, scattered about the room. A quick shower, morning yoga and Maisie Peters music blasted through Airpods is my perfect morning recipe, and today, I finally had time to savor its glory. My next few hours trickled by, slipping through the scratching of pen on paper – shading, hatching, perfecting outlines (see the image attached below for a sneak peek :)). Immersed in the calmness, nothing before me but the cathedral slowly rising out of the blankness of my notebook, 11AM sneaked up on me with an unexpected stealth. It was time for brunch.

Delightful would be a gross understatement; glorious would barely do it justice – Brunch of July 14th, 2024 would perhaps go down in history as one of the best meals I’ve enjoyed in the NMSU dining hall. Italian baked pasta, drizzled chocolate cake and a bowl filled to the brim with 90% Lucky Charms and 10% milk (by an unfortunate incident at the cereal dispenser – but I’m not complaining). Afterwards, Neva and I ran, breathless, to the NMSU Aggie Lounge to collect some abandoned magazines. It was a good find, a loot to be cherished – outdated Vanity Fair, the New York Times and a scrap of illustrated newsletter seemed like the dream concoction for a scrapbooking night. This reverie, however, was abruptly punctured when we realized that there was no glue (or tape) available. I guess it’s time to bid that particular fancy farewell.

My dashed hopes were quickly forgotten as I stepped foot back into my dorm. Friendship bracelets! My friends and I had been planning this day since countless nights ago, probably tracing back to the legendary Target Run when we first spotted the kit consisting of colorful chunky beads, letter beads, and embroidery floss. Courtesy to Tonalli, we also enjoyed an ethereal, mouth-watering mix of peach rings, gummy worms and Nerds gummy clusters (see photo below). I tried, wholeheartedly and increasingly more desperately by every passing second of vain attempt, to braid a friendship bracelet with repeating heart patterns. After making two bracelets (both beaded – NOT braided) and a beaded ring, I decided to embark on yet another adventure – understanding the hidden intricacies my vintage digicam dating back to the 2000s (AKA finally learning how to properly use it). That, was far from being a triumph. Nearly every single photo came back either with a flash (that made it absolutely impossible to make out anything in the photo) or an overly-exposed, extremely-blurry and even more befuddling image. I guess digicam calibration will have to be a quest I re-embark on some other day.

After dinner (featuring my glorious self-assembled hamburger), our whole cohort trooped to the General Science building for a screening of Iron Man. Goshes, I wish I could be Tony Stark. Still soaked in fantasies of designing my own iron man suit, my observing team and I wandered to the Astronomy Building for TMO observing of our asteroid 2011 UL21. The skies were clear – a treasured rarity in the variable New Mexico weather. We had a successful session, interlaced with “Astronomy” by Conan Gray and “Running up that Hill” by Kate Bush, with enough time remaining to photograph the Ring Nebula, M57. Right now I’m back in the Bio Annex (our lecture hall) and I have a vague suspicion that after finishing this blog, I’ll either be fully immersed in Orbital Determination Code #4 (“locked in”) or stuck in an infinite loop of scrolling on Pinterest. I guess we’ll have to find out. 🙂

Intro:
Hey! My name is Marie and I’m from Toronto, Canada. I absolutely adore astrophysics and you can often find me solving cool problems, peering through a telescope, or organizing the next activity in my school’s Astro Society. Beyond astrophysics, I love writing stories, making jewelry, shopping and blasting music with my friends. Let’s be friends! 🙂