Another great subject heading

As you all know, I love subject headings. I hope they never go away. They make me laugh. I came across a great one today -- Appetitive Behavior. In this case, it was referring to "The ethology of predators" -- a book about non-human animals. But it COULD be applied to feminist books about men, or environmentalist books about first world countries. But why stop at entire genders or cultures? Really, it could be applied to just about anything -- the universal subject heading.

Blogging the Biostation

I'm EXHAUSTED. I've been at work basically since 8:30, and now it's 6. Normally, I would take a break between 11:30 and 3:00, but I had to proctor an exam at 1:00 today. I am making an executive decision to cancel my evening hour from 8 - 9. I think I need to go canoeing or swimming...or something not involving books, computers, and copiers.

I think once the anxiety of a new job wears off, I'll enjoy working here more than most of my previous jobs. Since I'm running everything, I have a variety of tasks to do. I can push the monotonous stuff -- like shelving and looking for duplicates -- on my assistant. But right now there is a certain amount of feeling incompetent because I don't know everything. The previous librarian was here for many summers, and I keep hearing "Theresa did this" and "Theresa did that." There are many simple questions I don't know how to answer yet. But I AM throwing stuff away and organizing! Which apparently hasn't been done for a very, very long time.

I also need to sleep. Noise travels around here, and the eerie loon calls, raccoons scratching at my doors, and mice nibbling in the walls of my cabin were keping me awake last night. Not to mention the human conversations.

Welcome to Pellston!

I've been communing with nature. It's nice, actually. I've found no occasion to use the bug spray I brought, since the weather is still pleasantly cool and I've seen mostly spiders. The day we arrived it was also quite windy, making white caps on Lake Douglas and causing the waves to lap on the sandy shore like a tide.

Last night the temperature dropped to 45 degrees. I didn't turn on my space heater, and I think the cold caused me to have nightmares. I had my recurring dream about the crazy woman of Naguabo. I woke myself up just before 7:00 AM saying "Boo!". Evidently, I had been dreaming that she kept coming towards my car and would go away every time I said "Boo." If anyone had been in bed with me, they might have been disconcerted. I guess that's a good reason to sleep alone. The breakfast triangle rang soon after I awoke, since we eat at ungodly hours of the morning.

There is a plethora of chipmunks here. They are brazen, and one came right up and placed his paws on my finger and looked at me with large, liquid eyes. His hand was cool and tiny, like a lizard's. (Sidetrack: Thinking of lizards reminds me of my brother. He used to make them mad, and then they'd bite on to his ear like jewelry. There was a student from the Bahamas at lunch, and he'd studied in the rain forest at Puerto Rico, so we were reminiscing.) There are also many, many varieties of squirrels, including black ones. I've seen several very small ones. I'm not sure if they are juvenile or if they are a certain species. My supervisor's wife saw a fox out on a dune. I'd like to see a bear and a mink. Complete list of mammals at this lat/long available here.

I still need to do some investigating about reptiles. If there are snakes that swim, I won't, no matter how sandy-bottomed and clear Lake Douglas is.

The library has a new PDA with National Geographic birding software. You can search taxonomically, alphabetically, or by characteristics (color, size, etc.). The information includes an audio sample of the call. If we load software on a computer as well, we can synch the birds we record on the PDA with a national list of sightings online. Very nifty. I'm going to keep a close eye on that piece of equipment. Anyone who makes off with it will lose their head. Or at least their library privileges.

Follow-up: My Athleticism

You know, I'm starting to feel really good about my muscle tone. Today I walked into the little Asian grocery store on the ground floor of my apartment (for the last time, sadly), and the owner's daughter (or granddaughter?) was with him.

"Do you play volleyball?", she asked.

"No -- sometimes I play basketball for fun," I replied.

"Do you play for the University of Michigan?"

I guffawed.

"I always wanted to be a gymanist or a dancer, but I was too tall," I confided.

"Maybe you could play hockey!" she suggest brightly.

"I would fall."

Yes, I would indeed fall. Plus I value my teeth. Plus I don't like hitting other girls. But I must at least look like I could be mildly athletic. OK -- stop laughing -- I know it's the height thing.

Adios Ann Arbor

I'm moving tomorrow. When I left Virginia, I was sad about the friends I had to leave, but I was glad to be out of the general atmosphere -- the stifling watchfulness, the inescapable melodrama, the unfounded moral imperatives. Now, I know I will miss the place more than any specific people.

It's not the people's fault. The past two years have been a sabbatical, and I haven't wanted to be close.

In fact, I like the population of Ann Arbor. I like that you can ask what someone's favorite book is, and they don't say The DaVinci Code; that women are respected in the north - and if that means the men are colder, then I like cold men; that I haven't been whistled at in two years, and that boys don't ostentatiously usher me through a door, but unobtrusively hold it open after they've gone through; that there are graduate students who are much, much smarter than I am; that, even though the undergraduates may dress the same, they think of interesting topics for their papers, and don't all write about the gay marriage amendment; that people are interested in different things, and that they come from different countries; that crazy people are allowed to wander the town freely, and that we pay them and call them "professors."

I like being part of a large university town. I like walking by the carillon tower and the nuclear reactor; the opportunities to hear Lessig and Zizek lecture, and Joshua Bell and the Vienna Philharmonic play; being within walking distance of a Botanical Gardens, the original Borders, and three Indian restaurants; taking a break between classes to examine the first extant Pauline manuscript (under glass, of course), and an Egyptian mummy.

I like the freedom of Ann Arbor: that there are sidewalks everywhere, and that people walk on them, and restaurants put chairs on them and serve meals on them; that I feel safe walking on them late at night; that people can do modern dance or smoke pot in the middle of the lawn and no one cares; that sidewalks are built where people walk, and people don't have to walk where the sidewalks are built; that sometimes funny graffiti doesn't get painted over and that we can drink champagne on the last day of class.

There are a lot of other things I like about Ann Arbor, but this is getting dull. Anyway, I'll be sad to go. Somehow it seems like I've lived under glass for the past two years -- well, under glass in a different way than I was under glass in THC. Not under a microscope slide for everyone to inspect. Under glass in the sense that I haven't had even a bad cold, let alone a chronic disease. In a funny way, I've felt safer here. It's been good, but I guess it couldn't really last.

Am I Built?

I was going to write a newsy post about house-hunting in Cape G., but I decided I probably wouldn't be interested if someone else wrote it. Not vapid enough. So here is something more vapid: my physique.

I've never thought of myself as built. But, as I walked out of a bookstore today, the owner made a comment. I thought he said "do you want a job?", but mother distinctly heard "you should join the rowing club." This is a strange deviation from the usual "you should play basketball and/or volleyball." What do we think?

Should I join the rowing club?
	No! Are you kidding? You'd tip over the boat!
	No! You lack any capacity for teamwork.
	Yes! Your arms are Stallone-esque.
	Yes! Your tan is very nautical.
	No! Your arms are like limp sausages.
pollcode.com free polls

The summer always makes me lazy(er). It's a shame, really. I create grandiose plans for my free time during the frigid months, and they languish in the heat come June.

I enjoyed my trip, although I've begun to like flying less and less. I feel violated by the security precautions -- being forced to stand in a line, take my shoes off, and unpack my luggage. One machine in Detroit even allows the guards to see through one's clothes! On my way back (my flight was in the morning), the security guard told me to bring a smaller bottle of saline solution next time. I looked at him wearily, "I thought that was a medical supply and that I wasn't limited to size for medical supplies" (I had checked the website). I don't understand why, if it's prohibited, he let me bring it through and, if it's not prohibited, why he gave me a hard time.

So, yeah, my actual visit. I spent time with the people I like, and stayed far away from the Place That Shall Not Be Mentioned. The trip was short, but we had some quality discussions about prenuptials (THAT nearly came to blows, actually), wolf packs (hilarity ensued), future plans, and people we used to know. Emily insulted my capitalism when I said something positive about Starbuck's health plan.

Emma made me eggs with herbes de provence that nearly persuaded me to become a vegetarian (if it weren't for Arby's roast beef sandwiches...). We got tickets for Love's Labors Lost in an outdoor amphitheater. Shakespeare is always funny, but the play was actually enhanced by the addition of rock music to the choruses. Em and I went berry picking with Brooks and Dana -- 50 lbs in less than an hour! We could hire ourselves out as migrant laborers. We spent Sunday with the always-hospitable Alexandria girls, and had fun introducing Emma to Cranium. Sarah and I would have won if she'd only known who Justin Timberlake is!

Sadly, I don't think I could ever move back. Given my views on the federal government, I find the National Mall repulsive. The Washington Monument rapes the sky, and the Lincoln Memorial houses the carcass of the United States before martial law was ever declared, and habeas corpus suspended. Even in the less offensive enclaves of College Park and Alexandria, traffic is ridiculous. Cheap housing is often unsafe, and there is greater socio-economic disparity than in the Midwest. The general atmosphere is, forgive the pun, ungoverned. If I want to live in a city, it'll be somewhere that is a city for a reason -- somewhere temperate and civilized -- like San Francisco, or somewhere unusual, like Cairo.

Tagged

Alright, Emily, since I haven't posted for awhile I will play your game. I'm not tagging other people; I'm feeling non-aggressive.

Random Facts about Asparagus

1. When I had my Criollo horse, I first rode him bareback, and then got a Colombian saddle (see below). I fell off a lot less after that!


2. Stray dogs were a problem in PR. We once were feeding 6 dogs -- 3 were pets and 3 were strays that adopted us. One intelligent mutt kept coming back even after we dropped him off 20 miles away. Some missionary friends owned a gas chamber for stray animals that could be hooked up to a car exhaust. I don't have a dog now, and never intend to get another one.

3. I don't speak Spanish fluently, but I am enough of a Puerto Rican snob that Mexican accents still bother me.

4. Ann and I kept bottles of wine under our beds senior year at PHU. We didn't want it in the kitchen in case conscientious friends came over.

5. I've been to one football game at the Big House. We sat behind drunk dentists. UM lost.

6. I hate asparagus.

7. I've been through the eye of two major (category 3 - 4) hurricanes. The house never blew down, but the water and power were off for weeks. We took rain showers at night under the eaves. In one smaller hurricane, we had to drive to the hospital to get medical supplies. In the last hurricane (Georges), we brought the horse inside so he wouldn't get hit by debris.

I Heart Capitalism

It's hard being a capitalist in Ann Arbor. Most people here have socialist assumptions. I share their lifestyle preference for shopping locally, walking when I can, and avoiding mega-stores like Walmart. Yet I was pleased as punch to find a Belle Tire in the Arborland strip mall last week. They replaced the valve on my flat, re-inflated it, and put it back on my car within half an hour. The coolest part is that they charged me NOTHING. In the meantime, I was able to walk over to my bank, where they happily notarized an immigration form for me (n.b. guess who was making me go through the meaningless ritual of having a form notarized? The FEDERAL GOVERNMENT -- bah).

Do some businesses "exploit" their customers? Define exploitation (exploiting workers is another topic). Do they want to make a profit? Of course. Considering that there are at least four tire stores in Ann Arbor, though, Belle Tire would probably not make a profit by taking advantage of their customers. Their business strategy is more complex. By taking care of a quick repair for me, they count on the fact that I will return for larger repairs, and that I will recommend them to friends -- which I certainly will. My bank, on the other hand, will do what it can to keep me happy and my money in their account. If I don't like the service they provide, I can go next door. What's not to like about that?

Sorry for the Inconvenience...

But I decided it was time to change my URL. I'm a grown-up now, and that means drawing a distinction between me and my professional persona. My professional persona is also named "M------ W---," which is confusing. Professionally, I make small talk, don't put my feet on the table, and smile more. Personally, I sit on countertops, grimace at people I don't like, and borrow unattributed images from other websites.

Etymologically, Emily began calling me Asparagus back in our sophomore year. I am evidently a vegetable of limited appeal.

Feel free to update links, bookmarks, etc., but please don't use my full name.


Here's to the uninhibited proliferation of multiple personalities!

Copyright Primer Using Disney Cartoons

Disney has been kinda evil about exploiting government force to protect its "original" creations.

Back from the Wild

I'm back from bug camp. It was fairly nippy up there. I didn't see too many noxious insects, but there were rather a lot of animal bones and skulls lying around the classrooms and outside the cabins. In my spare time, I sat and watched the chartered hydroplane land and take off, bringing in faculty members wearing gaiters (we mortals have to drive). There are bikes with baskets for check-out. The cafeteria has fresh, local greens and fair trade coffee -- the Ann Arbor influence? I ate rather a lot of ice cream, and carried rather a lot of boxes.

The library -- the cement keeps it cold. There was a dead flying squirrel in the wood stove when we got there. LC call numbers are on the top floor, Dewey is on the ground floor and in the annex (to the right).

My list of personal necessaries so far:

• Hammock
• Binoculars (for the stars and the birds)
• Laptop (it may be rural, but it isn't so COMPLETELY uncivilized that there is no wireless).
• NetFlix subscription
• Clothes line
• Football and frisbee
  

What will be my cabin (hey -- at least it's not tin like the student cabins).


View from my cabin window.



Douglas Lake at sunset.


Little chipmunk. He sat there while I took his picture, but he is well-camouflaged.

Yes, mother, they do have life vests. No, I will not wear one.

So...I can't say there are no churches in C.G.

At least not of the Baptist variety :-p *Sigh* I think I will start a Church of Michaela. It will be a microchurch and have one member. We will worship very casually in our pajamas.

Advice for Better Living

Don't try to dissassemble a wire drying rack while eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.