A Grand Day Out

Don't pop the champagne just yet, but do put some on ice! I cleared the last major hurdle between me and the submission of my first paper this morning. As some of you may recall, a project on the quality of the dinosaur fossil record a week or two ago got Emma and I considering publication. It's an almost ridiculously easy project, and as such I'd had nagging doubts about whether or not it would really be very meaningful. Well, we met with Mike this morning, who happens to be one of the leading authorities on the completeness of the fossil record, and he was not only very enthusiastic and encouraging, he even told us what journal would be the best to publish in (Proceedings of the Royal Academy of London). So, with that go-ahead, all that's left is finishing up the research (again, it's almost absurdly simple), writing the paper (not as simple), submitting it, and then hopefully getting it accepted. As if that wasn't enough excitement, Mike suggested that we probably weren't the only ones out there with this idea in mind, so we have a race against the clock now just to make it all more interesting. Maybe you non-academics out there are a little puzzled by my seeming overenthusiasm about this, but really this is a big deal, and I have very high hopes for it.
The rest of the day had a tough act to follow, but it did a remarkably good job. Here are the highlights:
-I got back the grade for my dinosaur/bird presentation of two weeks ago. It was very good in and of itself, and according to my off-the-cuff math it also guarantees that I'll pass that particular class (not that I was overly worried).
-We had possibly the easiest practical ever today. First, we spent an hour at the City Museum looking at fossils. Then we returned to the university to analyze the effectiveness of child-oriented paleontology learning accessories. By that, I of course mean that we played board games. If you're in the market for a good dinosaur game, I advise you to steer clear of the Walking With Dinosaurs product; it has no discernible point, the rules don't make any sense, and they can't even spell "Cretaceous" right. Your efforts would be better spent tracking down the Canadian "Pan-gee-aah." Despite it's bizarre name and questionable educational content, it really was very fun, and they managed to spell everything correctly.
-I was working on my Ice Age presentation when Mary, our senior resident, came to my door to say that she'd just cooked sausage rolls for everyone. Sausage rolls, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of running across them, are among the many excellent meat products that you just don't find in the US but that the British absolutely adore. Without having to cook my own dinner, I had enough time to finish up my presentation a day early. Thanks, British cuisine!

Bonus points to anyone who knows what I'm referencing in my title...