Licking things. Also, equality.
A singular feeling I’d like to share with the internet: that moment right after you’ve licked a rock, and you realize it doesn’t taste like anything.
Geologists are rather used to licking rocks, of course, so this isn’t as weird as it sounds. It’s a good way to recognize halite and sylvite, for example. One tastes like salt (because it is, actually, the same as table salt), and the other tastes salty but bitter. But there’s a particular embarrassment that comes from having licked a rock and then realizing that it was not, in fact, a rock that is socially acceptable to a geologist to lick.
We also occasionally bite/chew on them, but that’s another story.
In completely different news, I was reading a news article about gay marriage things, and there was a picture of someone decrying civil unions, holding a sign that said “separate is not equal.” While I do agree with this stance as regards gay marriage, I have been wondering whether that is always true. I have the sneaking suspicion that it may be, and it makes me rather uncomfortable about MHC being a woman’s college. I really appreciate the fact that it is, but where do we draw the line between trying to create a good environment for an underprivileged group (women in this case) and discrimination? I haven't come to any conclusions, but it is something that occasionally worries me. Thoughts, anyone?
Geologists are rather used to licking rocks, of course, so this isn’t as weird as it sounds. It’s a good way to recognize halite and sylvite, for example. One tastes like salt (because it is, actually, the same as table salt), and the other tastes salty but bitter. But there’s a particular embarrassment that comes from having licked a rock and then realizing that it was not, in fact, a rock that is socially acceptable to a geologist to lick.
We also occasionally bite/chew on them, but that’s another story.
In completely different news, I was reading a news article about gay marriage things, and there was a picture of someone decrying civil unions, holding a sign that said “separate is not equal.” While I do agree with this stance as regards gay marriage, I have been wondering whether that is always true. I have the sneaking suspicion that it may be, and it makes me rather uncomfortable about MHC being a woman’s college. I really appreciate the fact that it is, but where do we draw the line between trying to create a good environment for an underprivileged group (women in this case) and discrimination? I haven't come to any conclusions, but it is something that occasionally worries me. Thoughts, anyone?