Tis the season, etc.
Only a week until Christmas! Eeeee! Actually, make that AIIIEEEEEEEE! I still have the bulk of my shopping left to do. Round 1 was yesterday, and in the true Christmas spirit, I bought as much stuff for myself as I did for others. D'oh! PLUS they just put a goddamn Hot Topic in our mall, and since I'm so weak-minded, I went in. And bought this shirt because that was the coolest show ever and I always wished my family could be on it, rolling around in whipped cream and neon-colored goo.
How to explain the last two weeks? There is no time to 'splain. Let me sum up:
Last week I went out of town to a Monarch Butterfly Symposium, where I met many interesting people. I am constantly surprised (though I shouldn't be) at the way people can hold lifelong grudges for the slightest things. It's fascinating to watch how scientists behave when forced to interact with bitter professional rivals. It's also interesting to watch yourself as you try to interact with people who are just so different than you, despite the fact that you have common goals. Case in point, one of the women at our table for dinner was against any sort of animal handling for tracking purposes (i.e. butterfly tagging, bird banding, radio collaring), because in her words, "if we were more in tune with nature and living in harmony with the Earth, we would already know where they go". Riiiight. We don't need to band birds, or collar wolves! We just need to live in harmony with Mother Nature, which will enable us to COMMUNE PSYCHICALLY with all her creatures so we can just ASK them where they go in the winter and how big their territories are! And we'll be able to look at a tree containing 35,000 butterflies and know EXACTLY where each one came from and where it's going to go! Why didn't I think of that before?
Then last weekend, we went up to San Francisco to see The Nutcracker! It was so awesome. And this time, we got to see the first half! See, last year, I stupidly thought the ballet started at 8 when it started at *7* (HESSICA NO BAKA!) and we missed the first act. This year, we got to our seats right after the lights went down and the overture started playing. Whew! And oh, it was so wonderful. The costumes! The glitter! The music! The little girls in the audience all dressed up in their fanciest dresses because they're seeing a REAL LIVE BALLET OMG! We spent the night at a little hotel in SF and then the next day Nellie & I went to Golden Gate Park and the botanical garden therein, which was lovely. We wandered over to the Japanese Tea Garden, but were miffed when we found out you have to pay to get in. Bah! So we went to the Rose Garden instead and, well, smelled the roses.
This week was All Things Christmas. Went with the gang to see "A Christmas Story" at the Golden State, which was ever so much fun. Had our annual BSOL Christmas party, where we continued the fine traditions of years past by playing bird-nerd party games, decorating cookies and then gorging ourselves on them, and exchanging horrible white elephant gifts. I got actual white elephants (a cheesy fake ivory statue Brett bought in SF), which now reside on top of the TV. Last night was the company Christmas party, with lots more food and ANOTHER white elephant gift exchange, where I scored the most ridiculous Christmas album ever. Thank god nobody stole it from me, because it's hilarious. How many times have I wished I could hear a chorus of birds chirping out "Jingle Bells"? The answer...is never. But now I can, thanks to "Carol of the Birds"!
And lastly, today was the Big Sur Christmas Bird Count. And naturally today was the first day in like 2 weeks that it's rained. And my God, did it rain. And the wind, good LORD. All the other BSOL counters chickened out (WUSSES) except me & Nellie, so we braved the elements and drove up this crazy winding dirt road, which was our assigned route. We kept having to stop and get out of the car to clear away rockslides & fallen branches. It was nuts. All in the name of science! And birding! Now I'm at home, finally dry, contemplating which movie to see today. Narnia or King Kong? Tough choice. OH! I went and saw Brokeback Mountain the other night and OMG SO GOOD. Augh, the angst! The sacrifice! So sad! Poor Marlboro Mens, kept apart by Society and their own fears. But it was gooood.
How to explain the last two weeks? There is no time to 'splain. Let me sum up:
Last week I went out of town to a Monarch Butterfly Symposium, where I met many interesting people. I am constantly surprised (though I shouldn't be) at the way people can hold lifelong grudges for the slightest things. It's fascinating to watch how scientists behave when forced to interact with bitter professional rivals. It's also interesting to watch yourself as you try to interact with people who are just so different than you, despite the fact that you have common goals. Case in point, one of the women at our table for dinner was against any sort of animal handling for tracking purposes (i.e. butterfly tagging, bird banding, radio collaring), because in her words, "if we were more in tune with nature and living in harmony with the Earth, we would already know where they go". Riiiight. We don't need to band birds, or collar wolves! We just need to live in harmony with Mother Nature, which will enable us to COMMUNE PSYCHICALLY with all her creatures so we can just ASK them where they go in the winter and how big their territories are! And we'll be able to look at a tree containing 35,000 butterflies and know EXACTLY where each one came from and where it's going to go! Why didn't I think of that before?
Then last weekend, we went up to San Francisco to see The Nutcracker! It was so awesome. And this time, we got to see the first half! See, last year, I stupidly thought the ballet started at 8 when it started at *7* (HESSICA NO BAKA!) and we missed the first act. This year, we got to our seats right after the lights went down and the overture started playing. Whew! And oh, it was so wonderful. The costumes! The glitter! The music! The little girls in the audience all dressed up in their fanciest dresses because they're seeing a REAL LIVE BALLET OMG! We spent the night at a little hotel in SF and then the next day Nellie & I went to Golden Gate Park and the botanical garden therein, which was lovely. We wandered over to the Japanese Tea Garden, but were miffed when we found out you have to pay to get in. Bah! So we went to the Rose Garden instead and, well, smelled the roses.
This week was All Things Christmas. Went with the gang to see "A Christmas Story" at the Golden State, which was ever so much fun. Had our annual BSOL Christmas party, where we continued the fine traditions of years past by playing bird-nerd party games, decorating cookies and then gorging ourselves on them, and exchanging horrible white elephant gifts. I got actual white elephants (a cheesy fake ivory statue Brett bought in SF), which now reside on top of the TV. Last night was the company Christmas party, with lots more food and ANOTHER white elephant gift exchange, where I scored the most ridiculous Christmas album ever. Thank god nobody stole it from me, because it's hilarious. How many times have I wished I could hear a chorus of birds chirping out "Jingle Bells"? The answer...is never. But now I can, thanks to "Carol of the Birds"!
And lastly, today was the Big Sur Christmas Bird Count. And naturally today was the first day in like 2 weeks that it's rained. And my God, did it rain. And the wind, good LORD. All the other BSOL counters chickened out (WUSSES) except me & Nellie, so we braved the elements and drove up this crazy winding dirt road, which was our assigned route. We kept having to stop and get out of the car to clear away rockslides & fallen branches. It was nuts. All in the name of science! And birding! Now I'm at home, finally dry, contemplating which movie to see today. Narnia or King Kong? Tough choice. OH! I went and saw Brokeback Mountain the other night and OMG SO GOOD. Augh, the angst! The sacrifice! So sad! Poor Marlboro Mens, kept apart by Society and their own fears. But it was gooood.