Enter the Newbie

I've been poking around the geoblogosphere for a while, first as a silent reader, then as a sparse commenter describing myself as a "blogless newbie." I've enjoyed watching this internet discourse, and I have definitely learned a lot about both the science and the academic profession from reading all these different perspectives. The more I read online and the more I learn both here and in class, the more I've felt I wanted to say and the more I've wanted to talk geo-nerdy with people rather than just reading, so I'm making good on a New Year's resolution to do away with the "blogless" part of my self-description and engage a little more. Sure, I'm technically nine days late for a proper resolution, but the fact that today's the anniversary of the Fort Tejon earthquake has to count for something, right?

The "newbie" part of the description, however, is definitely still in place. I'm not just new to blogging, but new to studying the earth sciences as well. Despite the fact that I've been interested in earthquakes and volcanoes since I was very little (and safely away from those things, living on the east coast of the US), I didn't entertain the idea of professionally studying them until fairly recently. I moved to California to work on a Master's in music composition, and that persistent interest in things geological prompted me to start reading more seriously about earthquakes and faults, as I felt I should know about them if I was to be living near them. The more I read - in the popular science realm though it was - the more my interest was reinforced and the more I wanted to know. I want to understand things well beyond those popular science books, and I'm finding those unanswered questions to be far more compelling and interesting than just reading what people already do know. At the same time, I'm growing increasingly disenchanted with music academia and don't see myself as continuing to enjoy the music itself if I continue to study it in the way I have been. I've therefore started taking geology classes while working on my music thesis, and have applied to formally study seismology after finishing my MA this spring. I'm getting good impressions about admissions from the department where I currently go to school - they've been inviting me to participate in all sorts of department events since I expressed interest - though I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high because of my unusual background. At the time being, I'm particularly interested in the interactions between faults, though I'm still too early into my studies to narrow it down to a specific focus or methodology within that. (I realize that's not in line with the decidedly volcanic title of this blog, but it seemed like the obvious term for a wannabe seismologist with a music background to use!)

And so here's my blog. I'm looking forward to getting more involved in the geoblogosphere, and I can hope that I'll eventually be posting things on par with the insightful, original, and exciting discourse I've been reading thus far.