A day of sadness
Mali the tiger cub Mali, the female Sumatran tiger cub at Point Defiance Zoo, died Friday night. It was under almost exactly the same circumstances as the health crisis that nearly killed her last autumn: she had a blockage in her digestive system, they did emergency surgery to clear it, but she went into cardiac arrest afterwards. This time, sadly, she couldn't be revived. The circumstances lead me to think that this might have been a fundamental problem with her digestive tract that would likely have done her in sooner or later. (They're doing a necropsy and hopefully some answers might come from that.) But it doesn't make the loss any less sad. One less tiger in the world, even in captivity, is one more little tragedy of attrition for a species that's critically endangered.
We saw Mali and her brother (along with their mom) twice, and both times were wonders. Here she is at the end of July last year, when she was about two months old; they'd only been on exhibit for a week.
And here she is snuggled against her mother on a bitterly cold New Year's morning at the start of this year, when she was about seven months old.
Norway I heard some brief news about the bomb and some shootings in mid-afternoon and was troubled, but went offline for several hours and focused on other things. Then, just before bed, I saw the updated casualty numbers and the specifics, and I am sickened beyond words. This is what hatred and fear and depersonalization will achieve. It's disgusting. And I wish I knew how to end it.
Amy Winehouse As many others have said, it's sad, but ultimately not surprising. Addiction is a horrible thing, and some addicts, sadly, simply can't live with it or be brought out of it. I have some thoughts about addiction and our reactions to it and the nature of public life, but I don't think they're clear enough to articulate. It's just all part of the sadness.
We saw Mali and her brother (along with their mom) twice, and both times were wonders. Here she is at the end of July last year, when she was about two months old; they'd only been on exhibit for a week.
And here she is snuggled against her mother on a bitterly cold New Year's morning at the start of this year, when she was about seven months old.
Norway I heard some brief news about the bomb and some shootings in mid-afternoon and was troubled, but went offline for several hours and focused on other things. Then, just before bed, I saw the updated casualty numbers and the specifics, and I am sickened beyond words. This is what hatred and fear and depersonalization will achieve. It's disgusting. And I wish I knew how to end it.
Amy Winehouse As many others have said, it's sad, but ultimately not surprising. Addiction is a horrible thing, and some addicts, sadly, simply can't live with it or be brought out of it. I have some thoughts about addiction and our reactions to it and the nature of public life, but I don't think they're clear enough to articulate. It's just all part of the sadness.