I am NOT!

You Are 31 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

joyeux jour de la bastille!

"em, mais, quel est le jour de la bastille?"




and let's not forget this guy...

where are all the coastal fireflies?

I grew up in an area where summer was synonymous with cicada and cricket song and firefly light shows every evening. Where are they? Why aren't there any in Boston? I have seen them farther inland, near the Berkshires, but not near the coast. In the case of cicadas, one does hear them from time to time near Boston, though their songs are limited to occasional hot August days. Sadly there are none at night, nor are there crickets. I am convinced that it has something to do with the fact that it is neither hot nor humid enough here in the north. But fireflies--what is the reasoning for their absence? Lack of uncut grass? The salt air?
I swear I saw two tonight while I was out watering the garden this evening...

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"For whatever reason, the greater Washington [D.C.] area is a major epicenter of firefly activity. There are many, many species," says Jonathan Copeland, a biology professor at Georgia Southern University and one of the country's top firefly authorities. "It probably has something to do with how humid, how hot, how moist it is."

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He thinks light pollution at night may be one reason. "That's noise to them, and might be affecting successful mating."

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Decoding the Flash of Fireflies from All Things Considered, July 10, 2005

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fellow firefly country ex-pats reminisce and commiserate together...

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World Champion

Happy 4th of July!

unrequitedmusicloverant

despite the fact that i adore the music (and presence) of certain singer/surfer/guitarists from hawaii, i sadly must refuse to see them perform live on tour anymore as for some reason most of the paying ticketholders at said concerts would be better suited for club mtv, body shots and coors light drinking in the narsty parts of cancun
why oh why did this happen? why? especially if one listens to his lyrics...

nest

look at this hummingbird nest!

additionally...

American Cities That Best Fit You:

60% Philadelphia

55% Chicago

55% New York City

50% Atlanta

50% Boston

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

apparently

Your Linguistic Profile:

45% Yankee

35% General American English

15% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Your Japanese Name Is...

Shina Sato

What's your Japanese Name?

still here, but

this has been more my thing lately:

elfchicken on flickr

non-verbal

haven't been feeling very verbal lately as i have been typing a 56 page paper for work.

snow duck

does anyone know what kind of duck this is?

is it an eider, by any chance? I saw it a few weeks ago in Duxbury,MA.

That last post was a bit ironic, since I was down for the count beginning Super Bowl night and lasting through until the following Monday! Well, if there's anyone out there still reading, I made it through my first week back at work after being sicker than I have ever been, inundated with the flu and a bacterial infection. It was a horrible, surreal eight days that both made me at once sick of my house and appreciative of it and of life in general. I am now in the process of rebuilding, and it's going pretty well so far, but slow. I saw a bunch of films, most on DVD, and most of which were ones I had already seen. Some excellent films I must recommend that I have seen of late: Dogtown and Z-Boys, Open Water and Million Dollar Baby (there were a bunch of others that weren't as impressive). There are so many I want to see right now but that's as far as I have gotten, only one in the theater. I am also trying really hard not to bake lots of sweets, but it's gotten cold again so it's not easy. That's my update for now, I will try to be more dedicated to updating this thing from now on, as I know there are some of you who do read it. Ciao~

p.s. I re-linked both videos from my Feb. 4 post, hopefully they will stay live for a little while anyway.

yo he creado... la mamba

en una racha iridiscente mágica de mohair, la mamba nace.

land of clay and yarn

after almost a four year hiatus, i have started making things out of clay again. partly out of practical need and partly out of spiritual need. it is so good to throw again. so now i must try to keep my knitting clean! being that i was so out of practice, i threw cylinders for the first few hours of studio time. and i can only get in there monday nights and weekends, so i have thrown two nice mugs so far--one heavy, rough-carved, and the other big but light and delicate with a handle. i may wander into abstract land at some point, but i may only have a month so i need to crank out some stuff for the kitchen first. both mugs are white stoneware, i am hoping to bring in some porcelain if i continue working in this studio. they have limited resources (and space) there, so anything besides what they have there needs to be schlepped in and packed out. unless you are special, and i am not yet. i miss the wood kiln! do i need to go back to grad school and run away from the working world for awhile? or do i need to keep working for a living so i can save to have my own studio and kiln.....and farm, and goats, and vegetable oil powered vehicles, and PV system to power the house that i am going to build....

warmth of the sun
sand hot under my feet
barbecue
corn roasted in a pit
cool drink with lime
floating on the water surface
watching fish swim below
sea birds calling
warm breeze

it's only the beginning of january. gonna be a long time.

feliz año nuevo con las reinas de nueva york

this weekend we welcomed 2005 (good riddance '04, as seze says) with many friends, sharing in glee and then solitude (after a considerable lack thereof until 5 am)
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new year's eve began like this, with a lovely salsera and some delicious potion

y seguió, con diosas en brooklyn....





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it was a peaceful new year's day, which we spent con queridas amigas nancy and raquel at tom's diner and subsequently, some time in one of my favorite places on earth, the cathedral of saint john the divine.
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then there was a screening of a fine historical film called tuff turf, in order to replenish the energies lost the previous eve. two members of our expedition were able to revitalize enough to drink vodka and crank out some heavy renditions of bon jovi songs in chinatown, then crawl home to more solitude. the next day was primarily taken up with eating delicious foods of wonder cooked by miss seze and then riding in the carriage home to bostonia, where we will share a respite until the next leg of our journey...