Life, Science, Creative Media and Intellectual Miscellany
In Nerdfighteria, a virtual land where nerds that have taken a liking to John and Hank Green's vlog community, essentially a land of socially-conscientious nerds, come together and refer to angry, YouTube comments as angry--squids? Octopuses? Octopi? Am I remembering this right? The important factor to keep in mind that even if I go back …
Continue reading Dictionaries and Eternal Nuances of Pluralization: Octopus
Growing up I had a large collection of Marguerite Henry's horse books: Misty of Chincoteague; Sea Star; Stormy, Misty's Foal; Black Gold; Justin Morgan Had a Horse; Twilight and others. They, among my Animal Arc and The Saddle Club books, were meant to be stored and never given away because I knew I would love …
Ordinarily winter in northwest Arkansas is a time of sleet, ice, and bitter wind. Lots of bitter wind and wet air, which cold sinks deeper than the dry cold in the West—yet they get snow, go figure. This year we have had only a few nights below freezing and plenty more days over 60 degrees …
It was great; then it wasn't. I have mixed feelings about On Writing Well by William Zinsser. I love the first 94 pages, but the rest far less so. That's a 28 percent good book, and that makes my final three star ratings more than generous. What Zinsser writes in the first 94 pages cater …
One of BBC Earth's TV miniseries, Africa features the staples of intensive camera work and David Attenborough. The six-episode series released in 2013 travels between the Kalahari Desert, eastern savanna, Congo rainforest, southern Cape, Sahara, and a thematic episode focused on conservation and Africa's future. African wildlife and wilderness are full of jungle and safari …
Few entities in the universe have perpetual growth. Ecology and economics are not immune to destruction and depression. The beauty of sustainable tourism and development is that humans make the choice to not plunge into a dystopian future and instead take logical and ethical steps to balance highs and lows in the future. In 2015 …
Continue reading Introduction to the International Year of Sustainable Tourism and Development
Hundreds and perhaps thousands of unidentified plant photos lurk in my hard drive. I've always intended to manage and catalogue them, maybe make blogging an excuse to learn the botany world one species at a time. I daresay I've failed and should try harder. One of my earliest photos back in March 2012 includes this …
Continue reading Stigma Stigma: Misadventure in Identifying Plants
