Month: January 2005 (Page 1 of 2)

This bit of news should be filed under the ridiculous category.  I find it incredible that people would actually believe that watching a cartoon about sea creatures is some sort of recruitment tactic to being gay.  As if being gay is catching. As if being heterosexual means you can switch to being gay.  Or vice versa for that matter.  Bisexualism is another story, of which I understand very little.

Are people really that dumb to believe that watching a cartoon can actually influence children to become gay? I shouldn’t ask that question because I really don’t want to know the answer.  Please, no comments that would actually support my hypothesis that people are that dumb.

Despite my complaints about being a graduate student, the scientist in me just won’t go away: I couldn’t help but research homosexual behavior in mammals other than humans.  Homosexual behavior in mammals is widely documented, although the why, just like for humans, is not understood at all.  From reading a book review in the scientific publication Nature, I’m guessing that most biologists and evolutions still think of sex as only an end to biological reproduction.  The author who wrote the review, Dr. Paul H. Harvey, a zoologist from Oxford, clearly seems to share this view.  Toward the end of the article, he says he cannot follow the logic that in some populations it is advantageous evolutionarily to not reproduce.  He acts as if he’s never heard of social behavior in wolf packs, for instance, where ONLY the alphas mate and produce a littler.  That is the most common example in the animal kingdom that I can think of.  There are more examples from the insect lineage: bees and wasps, for example.  You’ve all heard of the queen bee, right?  That’s high school biology.  The queen bee is the only bee in a colony that reproduces.  All the other bees are workers and/or nannies.  Evolutionists are still trying to figure out why this type of social behavior is evolutionarily advantageous.  Purer genetic strain?  More fit for a particular environment?  More competitive for resources than the neighbors?  There are lots of ideas that may make sense.  However, it may be time for scientists to reconsider our basic assumptions about the role of sex in evolution.

Here’s the article in Nature I referred to — you’ll need Acrobat reader to download it: Download homosexuality_in_mammals.pdf

Four years ago from today, we were returning from our honeymoon in Austria to the inauguration of the same president who has just been sworn in again.  I hope our country survives the next four years.  Undoubtedly there have been worse leaders.  Hitler comes to mind but he wasn’t the prez of our country.  Some oldsters say that Nixon was worse.  I can’t say.  I remember when he resigned but I was only 8 so his presidency didn’t mean much to me.  Maybe Bush’s won’t either after he’s out.  We can only hope.

Speaking of deception, I found an interesting article on cuttle fish from Scientific American.

And finally, the horse I am trying out will be checked out by the vet tomorrow.  So by next week the horse could be mine, if we agree on a price.

And finally (really this time), if you need a laugh on this rather grim occasion, visit JibJab for their animation on the second term.  Or read this news brief  for a twisted take on the inauguration:

Caged Saddam To Be Highlight Of Inaugural Ball
WASHINGTON,
DC—Attendees at the Independence Ball, one of nine officially
sanctioned galas celebrating President George W. Bush’s second
inauguration Thursday, will be treated to a viewing of a caged Saddam
Hussein, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Monday. "What
better way to honor the president than with a physical symbol of his
many first-term triumphs?" McClellan said as Hussein rattled the bars
of a cage already suspended above the ballroom where the event will be
held. "And I must compliment the planning committee. Outfitting Gitmo
detainees with iron collars and forcing them to serve appetizers was an
inspired stroke." Ball attendees will also be awarded door prizes,
including a basket of nuts, 20 yards of cloth, and a barrel of crude
oil.

Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, CA, racetrack of Seabiscuit:

Can I pick the winner?  Heck no!  That’s Gary Stevens, who appeared in the movie "Seabiscuit", on the grey.

Yesterday I rode the horse I have on trial for another 4 days.  He’s very green but kind, interested in learning, and willing.  I’ve been shopping for a horse for about 6 months now.  Finding the right horse for what I want it to do (everything) and for the price I can afford has been a challenge to say the least.  My trainer and I have rejected horses we didn’t even go out and ride.  She’s looked at a number that sounded right but weren’t when she saw them.  This horse is the third one I’ve had on trial at the stable.  My trainer seems enthusiastic about him when she was conspicuously silent about the other horses I tried.  I’m wondering when we start talking about purchase.  Soon I think.

Amy, whose blog I read regularly, might have a horse for sale.  A horse that sort of sounds like the kind I’m looking for, except the part where she mentioned visits to ER.  I like Quarter horses specifically because they do everything and often do everything well.  Many of the stock horse types bred these days are bigger and bigger, often taller than the Thorougbreds and Warmbloods I’ve been looking at.  The bad thing about Quarter horses in particular is that they are prone to navicular problems but every breed has its weak point that might keep the rider out of competition or backyard riding for long periods of time.  That’s the risk every horse owner has to take: as soon as the vet approves the pre-purchase exam, the horse stumbles in its stall, falls during a cavort in the paddock, or gets into any number of freak accidents that horses are prone to, and has to be on stall rest for a few months.  And the rider gets to hand walk daily instead of saddling to ride the trails or clear fences in the arena.  Oh the joy.  I can’t wait!

Today I’m going to help pick up a horse that is coming to my barn on trial.  I hope he works out as I’m tired of shopping.

Here’s a link to cartoons about my other favorite animals.

The dreaded first day of the quarter has come and gone.  I’m back in school, teaching, taking 6 units, and working on my research.  My posts will likely become scarce again as all my creative energy gets sucked dry by all this work.  I can’t help but think that there’s more to life than commuting, working, commuting, cooking dinner, then relaxing for an hour or so.  There’s got to be more to life than just the two days we get for weekends.  Thankfully graduate school is terminal and hopefully whatever job I get after graduation will be fulfilling by itself or at the very least won’t absorb all my energy.

One creative outlet I have is cooking.  I enjoy cooking — the methodical prep work of cutting vegetable then scurrying around and assembling at the proper time is often therapeutic, mostly because I know I’m a good cook.  School stresses me out because I don’t particularly feel like I’m a good student.  I’m not a bad student but grad school really is not my forte.  Well now I know for sure.

The other night I made carrot soup.  Let me preface this by saying that I hate cooked carrots.  Always have.  But I typically like certain icky vegetables if they’re made into a creamy soup.  The same is true for winter squash.  Fortunately I like most summer vegetables.  The carrot soup is super easy and very good.

First you make a roasted tomatillo relish to be dolloped on top of the soup.  Roast a pound of husked and washed tomatillos in a 400F oven for about 25 minutes.  Dump those in a blender or food processor with 2 bunches of chopped cilantro, 1 bunch of chopped parsely, 1 seeded and chopped jalapeno, and 2 TBSP of olive oil.  Blend until blended but not completely pureed.

For the soup, saute a large onion in about 3 TBSP olive oil until soft.  Add 10 peeled and sliced carrots and 2 peeled and sliced potatoes.  Add 1 1/2 quarts of chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Simmer until the vegetables are soft — 10-15 minutes.  In batches, blend the soup until it is creamy.  Add salt to taste.  Serve and dollop with relish.  This recipe serves six and is very tasty, even if you’re not a fan of cooked carrots.  I found the recipe in Sunset Magazine recently.

This year is the second year we’ve had a full-sized Christmas tree.  The first couple years we lived here, we’d go on vacation about this time of year so didn’t want to bother with a full-sized Christmas tree.  This year we set up and decorated the tree on Christmas Eve because we had taken a vacation up the coast to Monterey (did I bring my camera?  Unfortunately not.)  Normally we’d take down the tree around New Year’s but since we put up the tree so late, it’s still up.  Plus there are 12 days of Christmas so the tree should be up at least until the end.  And the tree makes the house smell good.

Today is the Epiphany, which is when the magi or wisemen came to see the Baby Jesus.  It also happens to be our wedding anniversary.  We hadn’t planned on getting married on day of Epiphany but it fell on the first Saturday of the year when we did get married four years ago.  Even though getting married on the day of Epiphany was an accidental coincidence, I like to put the two important events together and believe good things will always come as a result of our getting married on this day.

I’m reminded by my favorite blogs that pictures enhance posts.  I do have a cheapo digital camera but often forget to take it anywhere with me.  The last time either Dave or I remembered to take a camera on a trip was when we went to Catalina Island last March.  Okay, not entirely true because I did take the camera to my Grandmother’s 90th birthday party in October.  Have I developed the film?  Of course not!

Today, however, I’ve felt like sharing a bit: my garden and this lovely wall hanging my mother made for us for Christmas!  As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t know how to sew

despite having been raised by a woman who can produce these kinds of masterpieces.  However, notice the crocheted afgan in the background of this photo.  I made it!  Yes, I too, have a craftsy skill I can be proud of!  It’s been at least 10 years since I’ve crocheted and I don’t have any intention of picking it up again soon but when I want to, I have the skills.

For Christmas Dave got me the boxed set of Little House on the Prairie books.  I enjoyed reading that series when I was a kid and also the television program with Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon.  In some ways, the Little House books remind me of my own childhood, when we had the farm.  There was always work feeding and cleaning up after the pigs and cows, tending the vegetable garden, trimming the fruit trees, canning and freezing fruits and vegetables, hauling and chopping wood, and so on.  It was a lot of work but I didn’t mind because I felt secure in my family and having nearly everything we needed on our little farm.  We didn’t have to churn our own butter or preserve the meat like the Ingalls did in Little House but I’ll bet we could have if necessary.  There is security in knowing how to provide for all your needs.

Now that I live in a suburb of Los Angeles, I feel disconnected from taking care of myself, removed from those activities that directly benefit my well-being.  It’s hard to grow a garden here because it’s so hot and the topsoil is only about 6” deep above the bedrock.  A couple years ago I planted carrots.  At harvest time, I pulled a few up and observed how they had grown down to the bedrock, turned back to the surface, then turned once again toward the bedrock.  The carrots had folded themselves into a strange shape.  While I admire their persistance, I gave up on gardening at that point.  Well, not altogether since I do have a container garden. I’m experimenting with carrots, beets, kohlrabi, and lettuce in deep containers.  I also have a couple of unhappy tomato seedlings in a container (not in this picture).  They’re unhappy with all the rain we’ve received in the last two weeks.  Still, while I can grow some things in containers, I get only a fraction of the satisfaction as having a large bountiful garden in the soil.  Most of our produce and all our meat and fish come from the grocery store instead of from our garden, pasture, local beaches and rivers.  Disconnect.  Yes, I can take care of myself by earning a living, paying the mortgage to keep a roof over my head and buying groceries at the supermarket but I feel two or three times removed from providing for myself from actual gardening and raising animals.  Then I wonder where do I draw the line?  Do I want to raise cotton, harvest, process, weave, and sew for my own clothing?  No but I wouldn’t mind knowing how to sew besides sewing replacement buttons on shirts.

In some ways I see myself devolving back to the farm girl I was 20 years ago.  In 20 years I’ve completely rejected farming and happily had the supermarket provide so I could do other things with my time, like get an education for example.  While I worked for the park service it was easy to feel connected to the land because I was working in it every day.  Then I was promoted to a management position and “moved indoors”.  That was seven years ago.  It felt really good to be able to provide for myself with money – the mortgage, gas, groceries.  But lately it seems silly to work at something for money so I can trade that money for a roof over my head and food on my table.  Disconnect.  I thought I had escaped my farm girl persona and evolved into a sophisticated, modern, urban woman with oodles of time on my hands to do whatever I want.  What do I want to do?  Can some apricot and peach preserves to put on the shelves for winter.  Pick beans, lettuce, and radishes from the garden.  Check the corn to see when it is ready for harvest.  Shell peas, make pickles and tomato sauce.  De-evolution from sophisticated urban woman with time and money on her hands to humble, honest-dirt farm wife whose husband goes to the city to work in an office.

One good thing about de-evolution is that I will always carry the knowledge I gained during evolution.  I know more about the world than I ever would have if I had stayed a farm girl.  I am no longer afraid of cities and strangers, ways of life that aren’t my own, different cultures, flying on airplanes, meeting the gaze of a homeless person and smiling.  I am still afraid of the dark and the few strange men who give me the creeps.  I am less comfortable with change than during my 20-year evolution away from being a farm girl.  Neither of my personas help me there, not even the blending of personas.  However, I do feel prepared to cope with most situations, the farm life and spending time in the big city, which feels like true connection.  When I was a farm girl, I was afraid of the city, afraid of city people who seemed much more sophisticated and could trick and harm a naïve farm girl.  Now I can have both the farm and the city.  Both are necessary and unavoidable.  It’s good to be if not at home then at least comfortable being a farm girl in the city when I have to.

Only 3.5 vacation days left. Sigh. Today I’m trying to clean up my blog a bit but am waiting on some answers from someone who knows how to use Bloglines and from some Typepad folks. I want to update the list of blogs I visit regularly and understand there’s a way to post a link from Bloglines. Recently I changed browswers to Netscape because I was having a lot problems with Internet Explorer. One thing I can’t seem to do on Typepad any more is insert links into the text. I don’t know if that is a Netscape problem or just a coincidence. There have been some changes with Typepad recently. Also, when I edit a post, the line goes on and on and on but wraps around when I publish the post. The endless lines while I’m editing are distracting and annoying, plus difficult to go back and change things because they’re hard to find. Hopefully I’ll get some answers soon and my blog will be beeyootiful again!