Liz's Bloglet

Be it in Paris or in Lansing,
It doesn't matter when we're dancing.
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09:09:05 AM, Wednesday 5 March 2003

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Charlayne Hunter-Gault, head of CNN's Africa branch and long time NPR and PBS correspondent as well as one of the first African-American's enrolled at UGA, spoke here recently. I did not hear her speech, but I'm impressed by the message. One of her main points is that nobody in the US has a clue about what's going on in Africa, which is absolutely ridiculous. She, an employee of CNN, remember, want sot start a movement "to fight against the crass crap being served up as information." _
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12:07:06 PM, Monday 3 March 2003

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I recently read two very good books, both of which were gifts, and so I feel I ought to, as part of giving thanks to the givers, say how much I enjoyed both of them.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a very fun sci-fi/fantasy/kids book. It has a lot of whimsy, especially in the imagining of animals, and a very subtle message that we probably don't really want the things we wish for. It reminded me of Alice and of Narnia and of Harlan Ellison or some other very disturbed science fiction writer (possibly even of Neil Gaiman). Thank you, Julia, for adding another book to my list of things that kids should read.

by Barbara Kingsolver is a fabulous mingling of ecology, natural history, three plots, and beautiful characters, set in that most fabulous of places, the Southern Appalachians. I always shy away from books with "National Bestseller" across the cover, which is stupid, especially if the author is a biologist. To top it off, the end pages have beautiful pictures of moths, including the plot-important luna. Thanks to Katrina for getting me the ideal fiction book for an ecologist. _
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12:02:23 AM, Sunday 2 March 2003

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I personally can't wait for Dave's politics page. _
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11:57:00 AM, Friday 28 February 2003

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Other things I saw in Santa Barbara:

A dog just like the one from Amores Perros, down to the extremely intelligent expression, tied up outside of a bar.
A loquat.
Birds of Paradise flowers absolutely everywhere.
World Market--a cross between Bed Bath and Beyond, Pier One, and Ten Thousand Villages, right on State Street.
Hats and gloves for sale, and lots of people buying, because it kept getting below 60 at night.
A couple of crazy Australians, some people from Idaho, even some Michiganders, all talking about stream restoration. _
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09:33:57 AM, Friday 28 February 2003

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Our last working session in Santa Barbara ended at noon Tuesday. We were on the red-eye and so I had a few hours to relax and wander. One of the last things I saw was the perfect postcard scene: It was sunny on land and I could see every detail of tree and rock on the mountains, but there were large, angry, dark grey clouds over the green ocean. As I walked from downtown to the beach I came upon the perfect angle and there was a tremendous rainbow out over the ocean, with a pretty clear echo rainbow next to it. By the time I was on the sand, the angle wasn't right anymore and all I could see were the clouds. Lots of folks there were in hats and coats (it was 60 degrees, after all), but I had left my sweatshirt at NCEAS and I took off my sandals and walked in the very warm sand. Then I headed back up State Street, bought organic tangerines at the farmers market, and got in the taxi. _
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11:41:43 AM, Thursday 27 February 2003

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I'm off to sunny Santa Barbara. _
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01:48:35 PM, Thursday 20 February 2003

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There have been a rash of bomb threats on campus lately. Presumably, frat boys who think it's fun to take advantage of Ashcroft-induced paranoia. There was a bomb threat at the athletic center this morning. I know this because the director of the Institute is wandering around in shorts and a t-shirt, having been evacuated in the middle of a workout and not allowed back in to change back into his clothes. He said he felt sorry for the people who had been swimming. It was chilly this morning. _
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01:48:04 PM, Thursday 20 February 2003

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Air Force has plans for nuclear powered unmanned aircraft able to stay in the air for long periods of time and attack whenever. Can you say "Not the best idea ever"? _
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04:20:04 PM, Wednesday 19 February 2003

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The weather in Santa Barbara is very consistent. _
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01:12:08 PM, Wednesday 19 February 2003

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Rep. Kucinich rocks, and he's running for president. We watched him on CSPAN yesterday at the Iowa AFL-CIO meeting. It was like listening to President Bartlett. Howard Dean was pretty cool, too. John Edwards was late, and didn't have much to say except that his parents were both union members. Senator Lieberman did not seem to have been invited (thank goodness). _
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04:56:35 PM, Tuesday 18 February 2003

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Had a long talk with a childhood friend last night. She's been sober for a year and is finally doing pretty good. She caught me up on who's rich, who's drunk, and who's gay. It was pretty interesting. _
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09:14:02 AM, Tuesday 18 February 2003

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"I always think there's a band, kid." _
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09:23:28 AM, Monday 17 February 2003

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I've spent the day searching through Water Resources Development Acts for restoration projects. It has finally been brought home to me just what mind-numbingly bad writers legislators are. _
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04:26:40 PM, Friday 14 February 2003

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Just got an email that said the "security alert" status will go to red tonight and we need to make sure our labs are secure at all times. ::sigh:: _
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02:05:35 PM, Thursday 13 February 2003

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Oh no! They've captured a Space-Diva! _
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09:11:35 AM, Wednesday 12 February 2003

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total and complete head explodee _
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01:59:38 PM, Tuesday 11 February 2003

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When we were at North Dekalb mall for lunch on Saturday, in between urban streams, we went to EB, as is our habit. Remi found that silly game being discussed on his blog, and an even stranger Dreamcast game involving dancing to frighten away aliens. I got Civ II for 10 bucks and....The Meaning of Life game for 5. I've been looking at it in the discount bin for months, but it's thanks to Martin that I finally bought it. Now I too have put linseed oil on the cormorant so I could fill the bottle with holy water from the cherub-peeing fountain. _
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10:51:06 AM, Monday 10 February 2003

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Spring soccer starts today! I get exercise that is not urban stream related! _
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11:54:24 AM, Sunday 9 February 2003

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Dear Mr. Lieberman,

I would like to propose to you that, to better further your own political ambitions and for the good of the country, you should switch your party registration. If you look around, you might notice that you're the only Democrat in the country who believes most of the things that you believe. You might think that you are going to get a lot of votes in the primary from people who liked Gore, but other Democrats are going to do their best to publicize your right-wing positions and to make it clear that you, Senator, are no Al Gore. It is clear that you would be able to garner even less liberal support than your former running-mate and, even if you somehow manage to get the nomination, you have absolutely no chance of beating the current president in November, 2004.

However, I think you would find that many Republicans would find you a refreshing change from their current guy--you're intelligent and your opinions seem to be well thought out and to be your own, even if they are virtually indistinguishable from Bush's. With a well run campaign, I think there's a good chance you could give the president a run for his money in the Republican Primary. And then, obviously, any one of the already declared Democratic candidates or any candidate not yet declared, would have no problem beating you in the final election, thus paving the way for the country to begin to recover from the huge mess Bush has made. So, as you can clearly see, your own and the country's best interests would be served by your switching parties; you will have been the presidential nominee of a major political party, which seems to be your life's goal, and the country might still be salvageable at that point. I hope that you will take my modest proposal into consideration. Thanks so much for your time. _
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09:45:11 AM, Friday 7 February 2003

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NC Congresspeople are racist idiots.

Link courtesy of the ever-on-top-of-these things Laura Juliano. _
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01:23:11 PM, Thursday 6 February 2003

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Not to beat the Title IX horse to death, but I'm so glad there are opportunities like this for women "in athletics". _
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10:53:02 AM, Monday 3 February 2003

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The Sunlight on the Garden

The sunlight on the garden
Hardens and grows cold,
We cannot cage the minute
Within its nets of gold;
When all is told
We cannot beg for pardon.

Our freedom as free lances
Advances towards its end;
The earth compels, upon it
Sonnets and birds descend;
And soon, my friend,
We shall have no time for dances.

The sky was good for flying
Defying the church bells
And every evil iron
Siren and what it tells:
The earth compels,
We are dying, Egypt, dying

And not expecting pardon,
Hardened in heart anew,
But glad to have sat under
Thunder and rain with you,
And grateful too
For sunlight on the garden.

-- Louis MacNeice
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10:10:40 AM, Monday 3 February 2003

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If I had the opportunity tomorrow, I still would become an astronaut. _
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10:08:00 AM, Monday 3 February 2003

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My employees are listening to Rush and heckling. _
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02:30:11 PM, Friday 31 January 2003

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You be the manager It's Stream Restoration--The Game! _
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12:14:51 PM, Friday 31 January 2003

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Word is spreading that Douglas Allanbrook died today. Mr. Allanbrook was brilliant and brash. He loved language and poetry and shocking people. Most of the world has no taste for twelve-tone music and I think that was one of the things he loved about creating it. My sophomore and senior language classes were like no one else's. My St. John's experiences were infinitely better for conversations about music and religion with him. One time he returned a paper to me with only the word "facile" written across the top, and I had to go look the word up to figure out that he expected more of me. He had us memorize poetry because he insisted we had never listened to it properly and he had us read Macbeth because he insisted we had never read it properly. He told me to study literature in grad school, and when I told him what I was doing, he said, "Oh, I'll write you a recommendation for that, too." And he did. _
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01:59:02 PM, Thursday 30 January 2003

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The backlash against Title IX still has me puzzled. Then I read this and I can't help but wonder if the bad feelings towards women's athletics are at least partially homophobic. The article didn't mention Title IX, and I wonder if it should have. _
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02:16:53 PM, Monday 27 January 2003

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Slap this on your SUV you hypocrite! Because I'm already grumpy and I know I'll nearly get run over by on SUV on the walk home. _
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01:58:33 PM, Monday 27 January 2003

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Instead of eating chips and watching the superbowl we ate chocolate fondue and watched Being John Malkovich. _
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01:45:56 PM, Monday 27 January 2003

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The past couple of days have been the Institute of Ecology Graduate Student Symposium, where we all present our research to each other. It's a good chance to practice presentation skills and get feedback on our work, and it's pretty cool to find out what other people are doing. One guy, who does research in Ecuador, has developed orchid fever (if you haven't read the book The Orchid Thief or seen the movie Adaptation, you should do both, immediately, in that order). When I talked to him before he left for Ecuador last summer he was interested in watershed conservation and the effects of the new Andean pipeline. He came back with a project on the life histories of rare orchids in the area and a bunch of micro-propagated bromeliads. So, yes, I bought one. But it was just to donate to the Maquipuquna Research Preserve and this is the only one, I swear. I don't have the time or money for orchid fever. _
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08:58:01 AM, Sunday 26 January 2003

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he felt that bush should attack iraq because degrees were invented by the babylonians. See, that's logic I could get behind. _
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12:51:39 PM, Friday 24 January 2003

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I don't really see the problems with the current set-up. Some days I don't have any free time at all, then other days I have an hour to kill so I go through everybody's blogs. Some people read my blog and some people don't. _
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12:14:04 PM, Friday 24 January 2003

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In honor of the 30th anniversary of Roe, a depressing look at the state of things in Athens-Clarke County. _
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10:41:15 AM, Wednesday 22 January 2003

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The wonders of the internet: I'm listening to WNCW through streaming video and they're playing David Wilcox's Waffle House song. It seems to rule. _
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12:10:56 PM, Monday 20 January 2003

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So apparently I'm really not part of the blogmass anymore. I no longer appear on blt. _
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11:14:26 AM, Monday 20 January 2003

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