Citizen Cyborg

I was unexpectedly wrangled by the last few days of classes. The socio-cultural class knocked the wind out of my sail and I'm in some sort of recovery period (a.k.a. funk). Anyway, I forgot to mention this nice, brief interview with Donna Haraway that appeared in The New Scientist. Although she's talking about her favorite new-ish subject, the companion species, I think it relates nicely to the fore mentioned conundrum that continues to wrench my gut.
Eh. Enjoy.

"It's a deep pleasure being one among many living and dying creatures, and to understand that walking away from human exceptionalism is as much a relief from carrying on a kind of impossible fantasy as it is a burden to take on."

School Daze

Last night The Partner was helping The Kid fill out an application for an after school activity. They were discussing the gradation system at The Kid's school because, in good Berkeley hippy fashion, the school has "integrated groups" in lieu of "grades" -- always a real confusion for children when someone asks "So what grade are you in this year?"

"So you're in the upper group.. what grade do you think that is?"
"Well, it would be the 4th grade in a normal school, but my school is not normal."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, I wouldn't call it a school really... it's more like a Peace Sanctuary."

Will Says

"The first song that I remember dealing with death in a pretty direct way was "Ebony Eyes". When I was four or five, I listened to the Everly Brothers over and over again, acting out all the songs with the little plastic figurines I got for my birthday, and that was the last song on the record. I could tell that it was a sad song, but I didn't have any idea how sad. It's still something that I value a lot; music that gets in there. If I'm wondering about death and scared about life, then to find some song that addresses it is like, 'Well, if you feel that way the best thing might be to either obliterate consciousness, or to destroy yourself completely....' That's not the kind of music that I like to listen to. But if someone deals with the end of conscious existence in such a way that they're not just trying to ruin your day with it, then it can be pretty great."

Lions & Bobcats & Lynx

Oh my!
We've been hiking the Tennessee Valley at night in the hope of catching sight of the elusive bobcat that we were lucky enough to spy last year. The crypto black leopard sightings got me thinking that, hey, not everyone knows the difference. Here are a few photos to differentiate. The photograph of the Canadian lynx is a flickr image by David Cartier.

The bobcat picture is actually from Tennessee Valley.











The mountain lions are from the November 7th Daily Interlake, the local newspaper in Kalispell, MT. Apparently there is a bit of a familiar stand-off between the mountain lions and the ranchers (hungry lions eat ponies, the occasional small dog, goats) and so the long arm of the law, aka the 30-30 Winchester, has been at work.

I Am Become Death

The number of nuclear warheads in the US, according to a 2002 report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Weapons Databook Project is 10,600 (7,982 deployed, 2,700 hedge/contingency stockpile). The amount of plutonium still in those weapons is 43 metric tons.

Watch The Day After Trinity and Kuroi Ame and then ask yourself why.

"I remember the line from the Hindu text, The Bhagavad Gita: Now, I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."
- Robert Oppenheimer, The Day After Trinity

Cryptozoology: Bay Area Black Panther

As of late hikers around these parts claim to be seeing a black mountain lion wandering around hills and trails. So reports Berkeley resident, L.S.:

"I was curious about EBMUD's protected watershed off Redwood Road in Castro Valley, so I obtained a permit and checked it out . . . I decided to navigate into the gully, walked maybe 30 or 40 feet to the east and suddenly found myself locked eyes with this big black cat. It was roughly 50 feet from me, through several barriers of logs and overgrowth. The first thought is that it looked like a panther, but the weird thing is that sort of animal should be in Africa, not the East Bay. It was so out of place."

What to make of that? This is why I love cryptozoology, because of the relationship to urban legends where the formulation thereof can so easily be tied to other things going on in the world that are freaking people out. Ever see the Legend of Boggy Creek? Check it out and keep in mind the locale and historical relationship to the civil rights movement.

The skinny from our friends at Cryptomundo is that the black bobcat tale is persistent, particularly in the south. They also provide us with the black lynx crypto quote of the day:
"If you see a big black critter in the woods, it’s probably a Labrador retriever - or maybe a wild hog."

*The photograph is of a black jaguarundi, found in Mexico, Central and South America.

Election Night Recap, Courtesy of The Kid

The Kid's take on election night, part of a weekly homework assignment:

On Election Day I went to school and then after school I went to a poll. Then I went home, got a football and played some football and then at dinner I was watching the election off the computer. And then we were watching the state of red and blue and the blue basically took over the country so I was like, “Obama really won?” in my head. And then my parents told me that it was starting and I was like, “What’s starting?” and they told me that it was the concession speech. And in the concession speech I saw McCain talking and saying that Obama would be a good President to us and then Obama came out on stage and gave a speech and at the beginning of that speech he said that they were bringing a puppy to the Whitehouse. That’s the thing I’ll probably always remember.

I saw a bunch of people crying and cheering. And me and my family were very happy. And then when I went to bed I heard fireworks. And then when I woke up and I was driving to school the next day I heard the front page of the New York Times (we have a subscription to the New York Times) was worth $140.00!

What does Obama need to work on?

1. The economy: It’s not making any money.
2. Manufacturing: We need more jobs.
3. Prop 8: There should be gay marriage.
4. Warfare: They need to stop the war in Iraq.
5. Racism: We have a new race of President but that might change things up a bit.

Who can help Obama?

1. Galen: Because he’s a smart kid.
2. Biden: Because he’s a politician.
3. Weird Al: Because he knows a lot of stuff.
4. Brian Jacques: Because he knows how to stop warfare.
5. Xiao Hong: Because he can get through about anything.

Walking the Cervix

So, have you heard of the posterior cervix that needed a walk...Alright, seriously.
Friday, Dr. M. had to do a pelvic exam on our L&D patient, 2 weeks post dates, to determine whether the cervidil was working to ripen her cervix. The problem? He couldn't find it.
So here we sit, mom with Dr. M's fingers inside, he, looking off in the distance, strangely, like he had been taken over by some alien mind control. After minute three, I'm beginning to feel uncomfortable and start burning holes in the side of his head with my gaze.
"So", says nurse J., also bedside, "feeling anything there Dr. M.?"
"Well, it's a 2... no a 3... maybe a 2," still hypnotized.
Nurse J. waits for maybe another 2 minutes, "So it's a 2/3??"
He withdraws. Talks nervously and red-faced about the amazing disappearing cervix.
The fact is, at this point, how accurate do we need to be?
And hasn't Dr. M. heard of walking the cervix, wherein when a cervix is remarkably far back (especially an issue for a first time mom) one can find the edge of cervix, placing one's finger inside and gently move it forward?
Seems better than mining for it.

Share and Share Alike

"Wouldn't it be neat if when we had a baby we got twins?" asks The Kid.
"Yep, that would be neat."
"Yeah, and when they grow up they could try out each others' boyfriends or girlfriends."

??

Chamois Pants

An expectant mom called L&D this week wanting to know whether or not to come in for admission:

"I think my water has broken."
"What makes you think so?" asks the admitting nurse.
"There was wetness between my legs."
"How much."
"I don't know how much."
"Was it more or less than a teaspoon?"
"What kind of teaspoon?"
"A standard teaspoon."
"Well, all teaspoons are different."
"Um....what?"
"All teaspoons are different!"
"...O---kay. Were your pants wet?"
"Well, I was wearing these special pants."
"Special pants?"
"They're a special material. They're made of a kind of wicking material."
"A wicking material? So are you saying they were or were not wet?"
"I'm saying I don't know because the material wicks away moisture."
Another nurse turns to me an says: "Chamois pants?"