From Electrolite (where there are wonderful comments): the Texas Comptroller has decided that a Denison Unitarian church should not enjoy tax-exempt status, because Unitarians do not necessarily believe in a divine being.
Probably worth pointing out that Denison is about 70 miles north of Dallas; it was in the Dallas metro area that earlier this spring CVS and Eckerd pharmacists made the news for refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control pills and emergency contraception.
Sigh. But the truth is, there are plenty of equally scary places in the middle of this country that just don't make the headlines...
5/19/2004
weddings
The Human Rights Campaign has a "special edition homepage" right now with a slideshow of wedding pictures from same-sex couples married in Massachusetts. I find these images, like the pictures from San Francisco, incredibly moving. I didn't grow up dreaming of a wedding dress, or ever thinking I'd be married -- I think for two reasons: because my parents (good 50s intellectual atheists) had only a civil ceremony, and there were no pictures, no white dress, no wedding ideology; and because I knew pretty early on that I wasn't interested in men, so that ruled out weddings too. The games my friends and I played mostly involved alien invasions, orphanages, and schools -- I can't remember ever playing at getting married, or having dolls that married, or anything like that.
So it's a real shift in my own perceptions to imagine that my partner and I could marry, and have that be significant in a way that isn't just private, and personal, but also institutional, and legal. Commitment ceremonies are absolutely important; there is tremendous symbolic significance in having your friends and relations support and acknowledge your primary relationship. But it would also be really significant to be able to put my partner on my health insurance as my spouse.
Part of what I find so encouraging is that gay and lesbian people are now visible in general American culture in ways that 15 or 20 years ago could never have been imagined. My gf and I watched part of the democratic candidate debates last year and it was surprisingly powerful to hear the candidates talking about gay marriage -- not because of what they said -- since most of them were sort of wishy-washy on the subject -- but that we were being discussed at all. Civil rights are hard to come by if your existence isn't even acknowledged. Same-sex marriage is one way to begin making the existence of lesbian and gay people more commonly recognized and accepted.
So it's a real shift in my own perceptions to imagine that my partner and I could marry, and have that be significant in a way that isn't just private, and personal, but also institutional, and legal. Commitment ceremonies are absolutely important; there is tremendous symbolic significance in having your friends and relations support and acknowledge your primary relationship. But it would also be really significant to be able to put my partner on my health insurance as my spouse.
Part of what I find so encouraging is that gay and lesbian people are now visible in general American culture in ways that 15 or 20 years ago could never have been imagined. My gf and I watched part of the democratic candidate debates last year and it was surprisingly powerful to hear the candidates talking about gay marriage -- not because of what they said -- since most of them were sort of wishy-washy on the subject -- but that we were being discussed at all. Civil rights are hard to come by if your existence isn't even acknowledged. Same-sex marriage is one way to begin making the existence of lesbian and gay people more commonly recognized and accepted.
5/17/2004
fortune cookie log #3
(actually, it ought to be #4 because I lost one...) so it's #3
somebody values your advice
I should hope so, since I spent 12+ hours yesterday grading graduate student essays. Some surprisingly good, some depressingly not so good. Though it's actually much harder for me to comment on the good essays -- same for undergrads -- esp the A- variety -- it's much easier to tell a C student what s/he has to do to improve.
But hey, I'm feeling happy now, because my grades are turned in! after a weekend which involved much procrastinating, and then staying up really late last night. But that's what Red Bull is for. (My college experience would have been so different if we'd that on hand...)
somebody values your advice
I should hope so, since I spent 12+ hours yesterday grading graduate student essays. Some surprisingly good, some depressingly not so good. Though it's actually much harder for me to comment on the good essays -- same for undergrads -- esp the A- variety -- it's much easier to tell a C student what s/he has to do to improve.
But hey, I'm feeling happy now, because my grades are turned in! after a weekend which involved much procrastinating, and then staying up really late last night. But that's what Red Bull is for. (My college experience would have been so different if we'd that on hand...)
5/16/2004
space, and what to do with it
I've been thinking recently about how very few people have been talking about Google's Gmail's generous gig of storage (how's that for alliteration) and then tonight Curtis posts about Yahoo's decision to increase email storage for its subscribers to 100 Mb. As a Yahoo user I'm totally psyched, since I prefer to file away emails rather than delete things I may someday need.
According to Matthew Kirschenbaum (and follow his link to Mark Bernstein's blog) we're on the threshold of not needing to ever delete files to make space -- storage costs are decreasing so rapidly, and the technology for compacting storage is improving so rapidly.
A somewhat related note: I was thrilled when I first read Bernstein's blog a week or two ago, via the link above -- Tinderbox sounds like just what I'm looking for. But so far it's only for Mac. Sigh. (and no, I'm not converting.)
I'm in the process of looking at notetaking/bibliographic/idea sorting software -- my copy of Endnote is way out of date, and it doesn't really do everything I want it to anyway. I'm considering Citation or Biblioscape. (There's also Noteworthy). What I miss is the old SquareNote (link is to the current version which doesn't work under XP). It was a really fabulous DOS program which I used from 1991 until 1999 or so, and even then sporadically until I got my XP machine. It was compact (fit on a 3 1/4" floppy), intuitive (index card-like design), and did a fabulous job of keeping track of references, notes, ideas, quotes, bibliography, etc. It didn't generate works cited lists etc like Endnote -- but it did a much better job of managing project ideas etc. I just hate the idea of needing to use two or three different systems to keep track of my stuff: bibliographic software to manage sources, notetaking software for ideas/notes, perhaps something separate on my Palm. If anyone else could possibly care about all this, here's a good page with links to reviews of different things useful to writers & researchers.
According to Matthew Kirschenbaum (and follow his link to Mark Bernstein's blog) we're on the threshold of not needing to ever delete files to make space -- storage costs are decreasing so rapidly, and the technology for compacting storage is improving so rapidly.
A somewhat related note: I was thrilled when I first read Bernstein's blog a week or two ago, via the link above -- Tinderbox sounds like just what I'm looking for. But so far it's only for Mac. Sigh. (and no, I'm not converting.)
I'm in the process of looking at notetaking/bibliographic/idea sorting software -- my copy of Endnote is way out of date, and it doesn't really do everything I want it to anyway. I'm considering Citation or Biblioscape. (There's also Noteworthy). What I miss is the old SquareNote (link is to the current version which doesn't work under XP). It was a really fabulous DOS program which I used from 1991 until 1999 or so, and even then sporadically until I got my XP machine. It was compact (fit on a 3 1/4" floppy), intuitive (index card-like design), and did a fabulous job of keeping track of references, notes, ideas, quotes, bibliography, etc. It didn't generate works cited lists etc like Endnote -- but it did a much better job of managing project ideas etc. I just hate the idea of needing to use two or three different systems to keep track of my stuff: bibliographic software to manage sources, notetaking software for ideas/notes, perhaps something separate on my Palm. If anyone else could possibly care about all this, here's a good page with links to reviews of different things useful to writers & researchers.
grrr. sigh.
why is it that people with the worst taste in music always feel the need to play it the loudest?
I mean, I try to keep an open mind. And I have no desire to censor other people. However, we have these hippie neighbors at the end of our block who have Grateful Dead wanna-be bands playing in their yard every Sunday afternoon/evening. Loudly. Violating all the noise laws, filling the street with parked cars, and generally annoying the heck out of me.
Grrr. You don't see me inflicting my music on everyone down the block.
I mean, I try to keep an open mind. And I have no desire to censor other people. However, we have these hippie neighbors at the end of our block who have Grateful Dead wanna-be bands playing in their yard every Sunday afternoon/evening. Loudly. Violating all the noise laws, filling the street with parked cars, and generally annoying the heck out of me.
Grrr. You don't see me inflicting my music on everyone down the block.
5/14/2004
summer reading
well, technically speaking, my summer hasn't truly begun -- I gave my last final exam yesterday, and so my grades won't be finished and turned in until Monday. But the sun came out after days of rain, and I'm feeling optimistic that I will actually see the semester end, as it has every other year...
So I went ahead and indulged in what is one of my very few cherished memories/rituals from childhood. At the spring semester's end, my parents (both of whom were academics) would take us to the public library (we went there all the time anyway) and we would all get big stacks of fun reading. As kids, of course, all reading was fun. But I remember the delight my parents would have in picking up new novels to read. We'd all go home and spend the next few days busy with our new books.
(Yup, I'm a nerd born and bred. There was really no hope for me.)
But anyway, I've got a great stack of books from the public library and after 12 noon on Monday I can just sit in the cafe and read for fun. No pen in hand, no computer nearby. I do a fair amount of personal reading anyway during the year -- I need to spend at least the last 30 minutes of the day NOT thinking about work -- but that's different from plunging in with abandon the way I used to read as a kid. (though I don't seem to have the long attention span I did as a kid, which is kind of disturbing...)
In grade school the teacher would sometimes allow us to do "free reading" once we were done with our math or whatever -- I still kind of like that term -- since so much of my reading is at least partially constrained by deadlines or duty, it's nice to have space for something free and freeing.
Go support your public library.
So I went ahead and indulged in what is one of my very few cherished memories/rituals from childhood. At the spring semester's end, my parents (both of whom were academics) would take us to the public library (we went there all the time anyway) and we would all get big stacks of fun reading. As kids, of course, all reading was fun. But I remember the delight my parents would have in picking up new novels to read. We'd all go home and spend the next few days busy with our new books.
(Yup, I'm a nerd born and bred. There was really no hope for me.)
But anyway, I've got a great stack of books from the public library and after 12 noon on Monday I can just sit in the cafe and read for fun. No pen in hand, no computer nearby. I do a fair amount of personal reading anyway during the year -- I need to spend at least the last 30 minutes of the day NOT thinking about work -- but that's different from plunging in with abandon the way I used to read as a kid. (though I don't seem to have the long attention span I did as a kid, which is kind of disturbing...)
In grade school the teacher would sometimes allow us to do "free reading" once we were done with our math or whatever -- I still kind of like that term -- since so much of my reading is at least partially constrained by deadlines or duty, it's nice to have space for something free and freeing.
Go support your public library.
5/13/2004
the current state of the English language
Some thoughts about English, prompted by having read a lot of student writing over the past few days.
I like the apostrophe -- and I sense that it probably will no longer exist in 50-80 years (except in the memories of English teachers like yours truly). Even my good students are routinely missing the apostrophe in possessives. And forget about the distinction between its and it's , which seems to slip by advertisers and newspaper proofreaders, too.
Suddenly this semester I got a lot of cases of "compliment" instead of "complement." Although this could be due to spelling or typo error, or an overzealous use of spell check (does Word know "complement"?), I suspect that many of my students would be hard pressed to give separate definitions for the two words. But it's not a word that they used to use --maybe it's on the SAT list, or the state high school graduation exam?
"Relay" -- as in, "as relayed by the author, the nineteenth century was a time of social change" or "Browning relayed the speaker's feelings through his punctuation". My students are using "relay" as a verb instead of almost any verb that's a synonym for say, speak, transmit, teach, convey, present, etc. (Frequently without the direct object that relay as a verb requires -- and, I think, without the meaning of "passed along as in a relay race" -- unless they think dead poets just slip batons of imagery to the reader and run off.) I'd love to know where this comes from -- I've been seeing it for several years.
on the horizon: conversate (v., to converse) -- I've been hearing it in heavy rotation hip-hop songs on the radio, so it's just a matter of time.
I like the apostrophe -- and I sense that it probably will no longer exist in 50-80 years (except in the memories of English teachers like yours truly). Even my good students are routinely missing the apostrophe in possessives. And forget about the distinction between its and it's , which seems to slip by advertisers and newspaper proofreaders, too.
Suddenly this semester I got a lot of cases of "compliment" instead of "complement." Although this could be due to spelling or typo error, or an overzealous use of spell check (does Word know "complement"?), I suspect that many of my students would be hard pressed to give separate definitions for the two words. But it's not a word that they used to use --maybe it's on the SAT list, or the state high school graduation exam?
"Relay" -- as in, "as relayed by the author, the nineteenth century was a time of social change" or "Browning relayed the speaker's feelings through his punctuation". My students are using "relay" as a verb instead of almost any verb that's a synonym for say, speak, transmit, teach, convey, present, etc. (Frequently without the direct object that relay as a verb requires -- and, I think, without the meaning of "passed along as in a relay race" -- unless they think dead poets just slip batons of imagery to the reader and run off.) I'd love to know where this comes from -- I've been seeing it for several years.
on the horizon: conversate (v., to converse) -- I've been hearing it in heavy rotation hip-hop songs on the radio, so it's just a matter of time.
5/12/2004
I'm in awe
this was going to just be a post gathering up interesting links I've seen over the past few days -- but then I got caught up in the amazing thing that is musicplasma. I'd seen lots of blogs referencing it but hadn't actually seen it for myself until now. Type in a few band names and see your tastes mapped out in space like planets. It's fascinating -- in part because it shows how your disparate tastes connect up -- through genre or individual band members or other things that the programmer has decided form links.
the other link worth posting: Mr Picassohead .
the other link worth posting: Mr Picassohead .
it's fun, legal, and makes you smarter
Via Singing Loudly , justification for my way of drinking coffee: small frequent doses throughout the day to keep the amount of caffeine in my bloodstream at a constant, carefully monitored level.
On an only somewhat related note: ever notice that Starbucks cups are basically toddler's sippy cups for adults? filled with soothing sweet drinks that calm us down and make us happy.
On an only somewhat related note: ever notice that Starbucks cups are basically toddler's sippy cups for adults? filled with soothing sweet drinks that calm us down and make us happy.
5/11/2004
INTJ = Green?
Saw a link to this quiz from the also-green Frogs and Ravens . It seems to basically be a simple personality type quiz, a watered-down and colorful Myers-Briggs. (the full Myers-Briggs is not free-- but versions of the Keirsey sorter, which is a derivative, are on the web.
What Color is Your Brain?
brought to you by Quizilla
So in this, I'm green. In MB terms, I'm an INTJ. According to some sources, INTJs make up only 1% of the general population, and female INTJs are especially rare. That probably is because many INTJ traits are culturally coded in Western/US culture as "masculine" so some women probably hide or underdevelop those aspects of their personality in order to conform. But in my experience, I've met a number of female INTJs in academia. Just more proof of how our world is actually not at all the same world as that of the general population...
For all that the Myers-Briggs can be critized for cultural bias, etc -- and some temperament types just basically hate such tests, while others love them -- I've found it incredibly helpful over the years. (Had the opportunity at a job many years ago to take the full MB test and workshop.) Instead of simply thinking "he's so stupid" in a meeting I try to gently remind myself that "different people process information in different ways." No, really. It does help you learn to try to get along with people who have different ways of being in the world.
What Color is Your Brain?
brought to you by Quizilla
So in this, I'm green. In MB terms, I'm an INTJ. According to some sources, INTJs make up only 1% of the general population, and female INTJs are especially rare. That probably is because many INTJ traits are culturally coded in Western/US culture as "masculine" so some women probably hide or underdevelop those aspects of their personality in order to conform. But in my experience, I've met a number of female INTJs in academia. Just more proof of how our world is actually not at all the same world as that of the general population...
For all that the Myers-Briggs can be critized for cultural bias, etc -- and some temperament types just basically hate such tests, while others love them -- I've found it incredibly helpful over the years. (Had the opportunity at a job many years ago to take the full MB test and workshop.) Instead of simply thinking "he's so stupid" in a meeting I try to gently remind myself that "different people process information in different ways." No, really. It does help you learn to try to get along with people who have different ways of being in the world.
5/10/2004
dogs and their humans
From the Chronicle of 4/16/04: "Nicholas J.S. Christenfeld, a professor of psychology at the University of California at San Diego, sent two undergraduate assistants to local parks to take photos of 45 dog owners and their pets. Back on the campus, 28 other undergraduate students then had to pick which of two dog photos matched a given owner. In most cases, the judges matched the owners of purebred dogs with their pooches, but had no such luck matching owners of mutts. Mr. Christenfeld's results will appear in the May 2004 issue of the journal Psychological Science."
Now, the writer of the article claimed it has to do with the presumed resemblance between people and their animals. But it also has everything to do with social class and the desire (or lack of it) for perceived social status: people who will spend thousands of dollars on a purebred French bulldog tend to look a bit different from those of us who rescue dogs from the pound.
As the proud companion of 2 wonderful mixed breeds rescued from the pound and from the street, I'm glad we're not as typecast as the companions of purebreds. Yet my gf and I fancy that our dogs resemble us -- if not in their physical appearance (if only I could have such great muscle definition!), then in their personalities. Wendell's a great communicator, understands a large English vocabulary, and likes to watch movies (especially if they include horses, cattle, or monkeys). Gracie is shy with strangers, sulky if you disturb her sleep, and very anxious about change.
Or perhaps we're just beginning to resemble them...There are days when I feel like jumping up and down and barking when someone bugs me too much...
Now, the writer of the article claimed it has to do with the presumed resemblance between people and their animals. But it also has everything to do with social class and the desire (or lack of it) for perceived social status: people who will spend thousands of dollars on a purebred French bulldog tend to look a bit different from those of us who rescue dogs from the pound.
As the proud companion of 2 wonderful mixed breeds rescued from the pound and from the street, I'm glad we're not as typecast as the companions of purebreds. Yet my gf and I fancy that our dogs resemble us -- if not in their physical appearance (if only I could have such great muscle definition!), then in their personalities. Wendell's a great communicator, understands a large English vocabulary, and likes to watch movies (especially if they include horses, cattle, or monkeys). Gracie is shy with strangers, sulky if you disturb her sleep, and very anxious about change.
Or perhaps we're just beginning to resemble them...There are days when I feel like jumping up and down and barking when someone bugs me too much...
googlology
Is there a word used to specifically describe the hopelessly addictive activity of looking up former acquaintances on Google? It certainly seems as though there ought to be one.
5/08/2004
the best place for you
thanks to my friend at No Fancy Name, here's an enjoyable little quiz to take that purports to tell you the best places for you to live, based on your answers to questions about the weather, recreation, etc.
My top results: San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, DC, San Diego. But, none of the places in my top ten had any category scores over 27% -- and the top result, SF, had very low individual scores in most areas, but I guess their algorithm deduced that I'd be generally satisfied there. (And I think they're right -- who wouldn't want to live in the Bay Area?)
Taking the quiz reminds me actually how adaptable we all are -- sure, we have these wish lists of features (I'd like to order NYC, with San Diego weather, with a dash of San Francisco for seasoning) but once you're in a place you learn to accept its good things and overlook the others. My actual location came in far down the list, at 37, but I'm far happier here than I think I would be in Boston. Or many of the others.
Of course, working in academia encourages adapatability-- to think about such a question as "where do you want to live" separate from work issues is pure fantasy.
My top results: San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, DC, San Diego. But, none of the places in my top ten had any category scores over 27% -- and the top result, SF, had very low individual scores in most areas, but I guess their algorithm deduced that I'd be generally satisfied there. (And I think they're right -- who wouldn't want to live in the Bay Area?)
Taking the quiz reminds me actually how adaptable we all are -- sure, we have these wish lists of features (I'd like to order NYC, with San Diego weather, with a dash of San Francisco for seasoning) but once you're in a place you learn to accept its good things and overlook the others. My actual location came in far down the list, at 37, but I'm far happier here than I think I would be in Boston. Or many of the others.
Of course, working in academia encourages adapatability-- to think about such a question as "where do you want to live" separate from work issues is pure fantasy.
fortune cookie log #2
Your life will be happy and peaceful.
Hmm. A bit bland for a random bit of wisdom, though pleasant enough. Kind of like the cookie part of fortune cookies. (Which half the time I don't eat because they have egg in them.)
I'd say I'm up on the happy score, but I don't think peaceful is in the cards, if the past few years are any indication.
Hmm. A bit bland for a random bit of wisdom, though pleasant enough. Kind of like the cookie part of fortune cookies. (Which half the time I don't eat because they have egg in them.)
I'd say I'm up on the happy score, but I don't think peaceful is in the cards, if the past few years are any indication.
5/07/2004
end of term irritation
Email from student who took my class 3 years ago:
"Dear Professor M, I know we haven't discussed this or anything, but will you please send a letter of recommendation to Northern School for me? They've lost the letters from one of my other recommenders and I can't get in touch with that person at this time. Thank you."
This is only one version of such irritating requests. Now, I'm happy to write a letter for any of my good students, and even some of the fair -to-middling ones. Provided that they ask me appropriately -- not just assume that I will do it for them. And that they provide me with some information about where they're applying and why. I have a routine checklist of information that I demand from any student who asks for a rec letter -- which both gives me enough information to write a decent letter, and scares off the trivial requests. But this sort of request is especially irritating:. Partly because of the assumption that I will automatically do it; partly because (and this causes more sadness than irritation I suppose) our students at Large Urban University just don't know any better. They don't know how to write a good application unless someone shows them. We try to do some of that education in our dept, but it's not always successful. And, in this particular instance: she wasn't an especially strong student and I really wouldn't have much positive to say about her. ("when she attended class and did the readings, which was maybe 60% of the time, her comments were good" ) So given that -- how sad is it that she's asking me for a letter? and basically b/c someone else screwed up and didn't send one.
OK, rant over. my excuse: I've got a horrible chest cold and fever makes me especially cranky. Now, back to grading those essays...
"Dear Professor M, I know we haven't discussed this or anything, but will you please send a letter of recommendation to Northern School for me? They've lost the letters from one of my other recommenders and I can't get in touch with that person at this time. Thank you."
This is only one version of such irritating requests. Now, I'm happy to write a letter for any of my good students, and even some of the fair -to-middling ones. Provided that they ask me appropriately -- not just assume that I will do it for them. And that they provide me with some information about where they're applying and why. I have a routine checklist of information that I demand from any student who asks for a rec letter -- which both gives me enough information to write a decent letter, and scares off the trivial requests. But this sort of request is especially irritating:. Partly because of the assumption that I will automatically do it; partly because (and this causes more sadness than irritation I suppose) our students at Large Urban University just don't know any better. They don't know how to write a good application unless someone shows them. We try to do some of that education in our dept, but it's not always successful. And, in this particular instance: she wasn't an especially strong student and I really wouldn't have much positive to say about her. ("when she attended class and did the readings, which was maybe 60% of the time, her comments were good" ) So given that -- how sad is it that she's asking me for a letter? and basically b/c someone else screwed up and didn't send one.
OK, rant over. my excuse: I've got a horrible chest cold and fever makes me especially cranky. Now, back to grading those essays...
it just doesn't look good
Yesterday, on the freeway driving to the university, I saw a man walking along the left shoulder -- really, more like clinging to the concrete barrier at the left side of the elevated freeway, which only has a full shoulder on the right side -- with what looked like a rifle case slung over his shoulder.
5/05/2004
5/04/2004
fortune cookie log
You'll accomplish more if you start now.
How appropriate for this season of grading. Once I actually sit down and start reading the papers, it's not so bad. But the problem is making myself sit down to them. At least I know that others also go to great lengths to put off grading. I even vacuumed up the dog hair for an hour last night. It's almost worse because I have over a week before I have to have the papers graded (to hand back at the final exam). From the viewpoint of today, sure, doing 5 or 6 papers a day doesn't seem so bad. But will I have the discipline? or will I wind up staying up late the night before the exam growling under my breath at myself and my students? tune in later and see...
How appropriate for this season of grading. Once I actually sit down and start reading the papers, it's not so bad. But the problem is making myself sit down to them. At least I know that others also go to great lengths to put off grading. I even vacuumed up the dog hair for an hour last night. It's almost worse because I have over a week before I have to have the papers graded (to hand back at the final exam). From the viewpoint of today, sure, doing 5 or 6 papers a day doesn't seem so bad. But will I have the discipline? or will I wind up staying up late the night before the exam growling under my breath at myself and my students? tune in later and see...
5/02/2004
standpoint
When I first stumbled into reading blogs, I was delighted to discover that there were other academics blogging -- this seemed like one way "in" for me as a reader -- looking for my tribe's discourse and then eventually branching out to other communities. (I've seen the research on this somewhere recently, about internet usage and people's tendency to deal with information overload by searching for sameness.) But over the past few weeks, I've become increasingly less sanguine about finding such a virtual community. Maybe I just haven't found the right link list yet. But here are a few first impressions from a newbie. (1) I've been struck by the preponderance of socially conservative academic bloggers (is there something about the act of voicing one's opinions in this medium that might encourage voices from one end of the spectrum rather than the other?) (2) where are all the literature/cultural studies folks? are we too busy writing in other formats to visit this one? (3) the strongest / most visible voices are from those excluded: the whole Invisible Adjunct saga, graduate students, and so forth. I have learned a lot from reading IA and others -- but would be interested in finding others within the system who are reflective about its workings.
zoo bunnies
We (my gf and I) went to the zoo last week, as a spontaneous cloudy day thing to do. It was the end of the afternoon, and so many of the zoo occupants were sleeping out of sight. Plus they seem to be in the process of shifting some of the primates to different quarters, so some of my favorites weren't visible. Some highlights: beautiful weird fish in the aquarium section; the male lion actually awake and moving; a pissed-off looking jaguar; the flock of flamingoes. The zoo always makes me kind of sad -- ours isn't the worst, but it isn't the best, either, in terms of habitat space and so forth. Yet there is something wonderful about being so close to them, so different from tv or books. Smell is a big part of that -- I've heard about some museums trying to add smells into historical exhibits but the audience couldn't take it (imagine, the smells of the Vikings! etc) -- walking near the lions, tigers, jaguars, panthers, ocelots, your monkey brain suddenly says "ack! smells like big dangerous cat!" at some deep biological level, very different from your eyes which say "here are the lions safely separated from us by plexiglass".
But the other thing about our visit that keeps coming back to my thoughts was that we saw lots and lots of rabbits. They were out in the pedestrian areas, inside all sorts of different animal habitats, basically everywhere. They're small enough to squeeze in and out of the animal enclosures -- I'm sure that more than a few wind up as a big cat snack. But since many of the zoo occupants are mostly vegetarian, it's sort of like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the rabbits -- some vegetables here, hay or grass somewhere else. Watching them hanging out with the orangutans and elephants made me wonder about how each pereceives the other, these species that otherwise wouldn't be coexisting. I'm sure when the zoo bunnies meet up with regular city bunnies they have plenty of tales to tell: "Yeah, you think dodging cars and dogs is tough? try outrunning an okapi."
But the other thing about our visit that keeps coming back to my thoughts was that we saw lots and lots of rabbits. They were out in the pedestrian areas, inside all sorts of different animal habitats, basically everywhere. They're small enough to squeeze in and out of the animal enclosures -- I'm sure that more than a few wind up as a big cat snack. But since many of the zoo occupants are mostly vegetarian, it's sort of like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the rabbits -- some vegetables here, hay or grass somewhere else. Watching them hanging out with the orangutans and elephants made me wonder about how each pereceives the other, these species that otherwise wouldn't be coexisting. I'm sure when the zoo bunnies meet up with regular city bunnies they have plenty of tales to tell: "Yeah, you think dodging cars and dogs is tough? try outrunning an okapi."
Subscribe to:
Comment Feed (RSS)