I had a coffee last night with my Botanist friend from grad school. I bought a reuseable mug. She asked, "Do you have any issue with the Christmas scene on the mug?" I said no, and acutally, it was a reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh. A decidedly Pagan scene from Germany.
We laughed. It was perfect for the Winter Solstice! .This time of year people get all sensitive about the word "Holiday". I like it because it's inclusive. Wiccans taught me that freedom of belief is to be cherished.
Running at the Lake today I saw two people in the woods, collecting berry branches for a wreath. This time of year I also like to smell conifer needles. I was taught how to identify them just by their smell. Mammal snow tracking and looking for bobcat dens is fun.
Of course indoor crafts or painting is nice. And learning new cider recipes. Can't have enough warm meals. I plan on making wreaths and cranberry recipes, but I'd like to do projects I've never tried before. I'm learning multimedia art so that may surprise my family.
I'm also looking for suggestions for Winter reading. I have a list but hardly any snow-themed books. I'm especially looking for fiction. Any suggestions?
When I write posts on coffee growers' threats to rainforest birds, I usually start out by reading the concerns of conservation groups. They make certain claims about how birds are losing habitat to sun-grown plantations. Afterwards, it's easy enough for me to download studies from ornithologists who have actually been to South America and observed what's going on. I then critique the methods to see if the study is legit.
Is that the end? No. I then try to read about all this from the perspective of people whose livelihoods depend on the farms. One of my favorite authors, an animal rights activist, reads hunting books all the time. A good scientist will tell both sides of the story.
Ellen Goodman wrote a Boston Globe Editorial called Facts and Figures: Myths and Mantras. It's about how lying in the media has become mainstream. She mentioned Factcheckers. I think the smart people in our society should make them the new heroes of 2010. If we want the truth, that is. But where do Factcheckers get sources? Like my approach, it should be from a variety of sources. And evidence that can't be denied: videos, photographs. Trials and evidence. From Goodman's article:
It’s now possible to find a group somewhere in Googleland that will agree with anything. Any outlier can find a tribe and a “fact’’ - Global warming is a hoax! Evolution is a fraud! - that reinforces his own belief.
There is a sense that we don’t need science or editing or fact-checking as long as we have crowd-sourcing. I’m not suggesting that newspapers - once defined as the first rough draft of history - are without errors. But there are prices to pay and corrections to be made and standards to be met. When was the last time an Internet birther ran a correction or lost his job?
We did more house hunting online last night. For fun we looked up modern architecture in Switzerland. Most of them were eco friendly and the designs are out of this world. We're probably staying in New England but the vast spaces gave me some ideas.
We're getting really sick of our neighborhood. The people are rude and neighbors have had 4 break-ins within 6 months. Neighbors who hid keys or left windows unlocked. Either way our street is unbearable. At least one person is starting a crime watch, so that's good.
That's why I'm so wrapped up in moving. We want to keep trespassers off our land but I love stone walls. That means we'd really have to find somewhere with a lot of land. Maybe adjacent to conservation area or a campus. Those places are less likely to get developed but neighbors can still connect to each other.
I'm thinking the Study could be an interior room, like a dark cafe. We found some huge bookshelves online. I also picture tapestries in the Study and a place to watch films. Or even to edit films! Sketches, footage and prose go well together.
Wouldn't it be great to have a sturdy, cozy home base. Stone walls, a nice barn, and simple rooms. Then we could have a moderate amount of belongings but still travel easily. Being an author even part time is sounding better.
I still don't know the name of that interior design style (thank you to MT for creating the name of this post)! I like but I'm sure we'll have fun planning the home ourselves.
So many thanks to my neighbors for the book ideas. Feel free to add more. I'm using my vet tech notes as a reminder of skeletons and the phylogenies of different species.
I read about an artist who used to keep dozens of separate journals. One day she decided to merge all her ideas, plans, sketches and such into one large sketchbook. I imagine my carnivore book this way.
Entries are interesting because you get to hear the author’s thoughts at that moment, unedited. Sometimes those are the most intuitive and interesting. The best books I’ve read have had that spark of raw ideas right as they appear.
I like to sketch spontaneously. Those kinds of artworks can be the most dynamic. Sitting on the branch of a shade tree in the forest, among the leaves. Small ground dwellers foraging on the forest floor. Me with my notebook, sketching the leaf litter and hopefully watching my subject.
Can I ask a question?
Let's suppose you're in your favorite coffeehouse, or in your lovely candle-lit study (Thanks, GOF). You grab a hot drink and sit down to absorb a good wildlife book. Which one would you find most compelling?
A journal-style book about a researcher's adventure travels in the temperate forests of China and red panda observations
A fun, accessible where the researcher did intensive study on a group of pandas in the mountains of Nepal, including their behavior and biology
A small scale story about a panda sanctuary where the critters are rehabbed and the challenges the species faces
All 3? A combination of different styles? Feel free to add in your thoughts.
Yehaw! Raucous climate change scientists. We love it. I found a few more snippets from the Climategate emails. It sounds like the East Anglia scientists may have been speaking their minds about the mind-numbing stupidity they have to tolerate from ours truly day in and day out.
I have yet to see a complete email that puts the comments in context. Maybe they're guilty as sin! But how can anyone know without the information? Scientists, like the ones in East Anglia, are frustrated because the Conservatives are being so ignorant. Scientists have in the past, readily discussed the shortcomings of global warming theory.
As I said on WT's blog:
The problem is that conservatives are saying "It's over, global warming is a scam" when that's no more true than saying "we know everything about global warming and we're 100 percent right". Neither is true!!
And regarding the petition doubting global warming, that was signed by nearly 32,000 scientists: that petition is a joke. The vast majority of signatories are people with bachelor's degrees who have never published a thing and so far as I can tell are not active scientists. The rest are veterinarians and MDs, who don't take a single class on global warming. (Oh, let me give Fido his vaccine and then I'll go out and collect some ice core samples...)
Global warming is still being researched. Want to know how much is certain and how much has as many holes as swiss cheese? Read the studies. I'm nearly blue in the face from saying this. Saying that more research is needed is not the same as saying the science is a conspiracy. Almost all science is imperfect. It's a matter of degrees and a matter of judgement.
I'd prefer to be discussing O8 and O16 levels, tree ring data, and other fun stuff. Not to mention the dozens of fun science debates we could have about pesticides in cranberry bogs, migratory birds and wind farms, have mentioned the ozone layer....let's move on! Ask quesitons or watch lectures if you're seeking answers.
Opinoins are welcomed. :)
I need coffee, my brain is not working this morning! Since we're looking for new homes I'm trying to plan what kinds of rooms we want. I'm now thinking I need a study / library. The cats would love it, they could hang out on the bookshelves while I work.
My boyfriend thinks that if I do research abroad, I should write a book. I don't enjoy writing and I thought I had nothing to discuss, until yesterday!
I read a BBC article about "Confused Carnivores" - species which are challenging to fit into the Tree of Life on the basis of evolution. Here's what's striking: 4 out of the 6 species listed were ones I write about on this blog: red pandas, binturongs, otters, and wild cats.
Apparently I've hit on all the oddball creatures. And wouldn't it be fun to travel to Asia, hang out in Cybercafes and write about creatures I'm studying in the mountains. Red pandas live in the mountains of China, and from Nepal to Myanmar, in the temperate forests of the Himalayas. They spend most of their time in trees and sunbathe in the canopy. They eat bamboo, berries, eggs, fungi and blossoms.
I'm posting a picture of Pinju again and I don't care if it's redundant.
Pinju: Male. I love to curl around the branches of oak trees and eat sorbus fruits. I hope you can come an visit me in Nepal soon
I ran the Lake today. My clothing has the most wonderful smell of pine sap. The run is 3 or 4 miles but it's going to get a lot trickier in winter. I need to stay in shape. We're doing a Yogi gift theme this year. The items are really expensive, especially at Gaiam. I prefer Prana, although yoga mats are never cheap.
It works though with my new desire to travel to Nepal and study red pandas. It's my new thing. Maybe I'll find a Himalayan mountain village and just stay there. It sure would be quieter than our neighborhood!
Peace is elusive these days. When I ran this morning I watched the pine cones and needles as my feet ran over them. The Lake is a very calm place.
I think my new years resolution will be to never argue with people who think that they don't have to read scientific evidence to understand science.
Recent headlines about the supposedly hidden global warming data have been a huge blessing.The American public wants transparency? Here it is. This information has always been available. But the deniers have chosen to ignore it.
No one can complain any longer about scientists hiding information. It's all here.
From Treehugger:
The scientists who run the extensive climate resource RealClimate have put together a sort of one-stop homepage linking out to climate data around the world. See for yourself. The ever-evolving RealClimate Data Sources page is stuffed with transparent, accessible, accurate data on climate. And it's curated by scientists themselves, who'd be happy to hear your suggestions. It's enough to make a climate change denier weep.
From Real Climate:
RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists. We aim to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary.
Here it is, the data from Real Climate Sources. Isn't it exciting? And ps, David Archer, a Computational Ocean Chemist on RC has posted his UC lecture series on global warming for anyone interested in the basics. Warning: if you watch this series you might actually learn something. Oooh...
Discuss! Is there any data you think is especially important or that is missing from general knowledge?
If you get into a debate with someone about global warming, or any environmental issue, keep politics out of it. Force them to justify their answer based on actual data. If people want to then discuss the politics based on the solid findings, that's fine! But don't let the extremists tell you they understand the science better than the scientists do. .
I'm conflicted about Winter Solstice. This year I'd love to have some nice things. We're supposed to be making lists for each other. I mostly want things that aren't really gifts: clothing and boots, a work bag, money for travel and a new home.
We really should just save the money. But it just doesn't seem like the holiday without that tradition of presents. Sigh. We go on our annual trip to New York City to see the Christmas tree, shop in the Village and eat chocolate crepes at this amazing cafe.
I'm even having a hard time deciding which charity I want to give to this year. There's so many great ones. I found some amazing small charities like the Carnivore Trust and the Mangrove Action Project. It sure would be nice if people could buy each other simplicity, or reduced clutter. Maybe the soul of a Yogi. But those things aren't purchaseable. They have to be earned.
Update: I'm asking someone to adopt a red panda named Pinju for me!
Pinju: Male. I love to curl around the branches of oak trees and eat sorbus fruits. I hope you can come an visit me in Nepal soon.
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