James Gurney and the Art of Dinosaurs

I never read Dinotopia as a kid: I only came to it in high school and college.  But, the experience has stayed with me in a very profound way.  I suppose lots of boys like dinosaurs, and especially drawing them, but that love of the fantastical and the well-drawn never left me.  As I flipped through the pages of James Gurney's amazing story, I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing.  Gurney not only drew some of the best illustrations of dinosaurs I have ever seen.  He also took the time to create a written dinosaur language, in which footprints are the basis of an alphabet.  He envisioned innovative ways in which dinosaurs and humans might live together, and drew those collaborations in convincing, realistic detail.  To me, he was like Norman Rockwell, but instead of drawing a family gathered at a Thanksgiving table, he drew mosasaurs pulling rudimentary submarines.

Now, some of his work in on view in the Woodson Art Museum, in Wausau, Wisconsin.  Anyone who has a chance to see this show absolutely should.  I wish I could go.

The Exploratorium recently won yet another design award. Its Tinkering Studio was recognized by Core77, an online design magazine. The Exploratorium is one of my favorite places in the entire world, fusing science, art, design, and the humanities into a breathtaking amalgam of interesting, cool stuff. You can read more about the design award here. To watch some cool Tinkering Studio goodness, click on the embedded video below:

What Am I Doing?

Well, I am now thinking about what I might want to do if I leave the Exploratorium. I love the Exploratorium's staff, programming, and general atmosphere, but I have been thinking more and more lately about my financial future, and how I will most likely have to earn more money soon. There aren't many opportunities to advance at the Exploratorium, so I will probably have to leave (though I would like to return at some point). So, what am I going do? I like the idea of applying for a science writing masters program: I enjoy writing, science, and explaining complicated topics. I also recently began considering an MBA program, which would be widely applicable, and most likely allow me to have more opportunities to work at nonprofits, including museums like the Exploratorium. And, I am still thinking about applying to law schools. On the one hand, I keep hearing horror stories about how current lawyers are depressed, don't like their work, and wouldn't recommend their jobs to other people. On the other, I think I might enjoy studying and working in the field of law anyway. I like that style of thinking, and I like logic, argumentation, and especially constitutional law. Plus, for all I know, most of the lawyers in the surveys I have read only become lawyers for prestige, or job security, or family pressure, and were never really interested in law in the first place. Thus, they are unhappy. Those statistics can be interpreted in many ways. Arrrrgh!