berries soon!

The GLP-1 experiment dramatically reduced my vegetable and fruit consumption; I didn't have room for them in my stomach if I wanted to get in close to enough calories. I'm making up for lost time and am sure my microbiome is happy. I jumped the gun on getting excited for fresh local produce; I was out there foraging garlic mustard at the first opportunity, letting its bitterness become my bitterness at our short growing season.

tweet!

Here's an illustration of how animal population size is important for them to pass on social necessities as well as to have enough genetic diversity. These birds didn't learn enough of the song they needed to get laid. Scientists tried playing recordings of the songs but that didn't work; they needed to bring in bird tutors.

https://www.biographic.com/singing-teachers-for-honeyeaters/

southbound train

During a rousing round of bed karaoke (i.e. getting in bed with a drink and a friend and belting out songs at the tops of our lungs) I got hung up on the lyrics of "Wagon Wheel," because he seemed think that taking 17 hours to get down the coast to North Carolina was good time, which didn't seem right unless he started in Nova Scotia and I wasn't getting the vibe that this was a man with a passport. It soon becomes clear that he's hitchhiking and fair enough, getting anywhere you want to go while hitchhiking is a win, but I didn't work that out before going through a bunch of options to try to make it make sense. I eventually landed on Amtrak as the reason for the delay. (More careful listening to the lyrics introduces much greater geographic anomalies, as well as establishing that this is not a man to date or start a band with.)

amphibian time

The kids and I started recording the dates of various signs of spring (geese flying north, robins appearing, etc.) in 2011. This year was the latest date to hear spring peepers so far (April 16th in my neighborhood). I was starting to worry about them! (I'm always a little worried because their ponds here are at risk of lawn chemical contamination and drainage changes.) It's a big year for a couple different kinds of tree toads; they've been serenading me for a while now.

(Earliest peeper date: February 21st, 2018.)

eggwiches and sundaes, all day long

A new Stewart's convenience store is being built with a condo on the second floor. I like to imagine the condo will also have "Did you know?" signs scattered about, and the residents will not need a kitchen because they solely eat Stewart's offerings.

what could possibly go wrong

My dog got very sick last night, and because of his other medical issues I thought it might be the end for him. I stayed up petting him until 2am, at which point he seemed annoyed with me so I left him alone. Luckily he seemed fine in the morning! I didn't take him to the emergency vet because I didn't want to subject him to even more stress on his possible deathbed. It did however make me wish I could get a "home euthanasia kit" for him if he ended up having an emergency. (There are vets who make house calls for that which we plan to use when the time comes; hopefully his decline will not be too sudden for that.)

refreshingly incest free!

I enjoy uncomplicated and corny 80s-90s fantasy as audiobooks, but audiobook narration on average was pretty bad in that era. Luckily some have been recorded more recently, like this Mercedes Lackey trilogy about magical psychic horses. There are also llama-ish animals called "chirras," which the narrator pronounces as "churros," which makes them even cuter. (They do not seem to be magical but they sing and have XL furry feet.) I would have adored these if I'd found the series when I was 11. 

the danger of raising standards

I started watching Yellowjackets and realized how spoiled I've been by prestige TV. The writing and production is very good from a pre-2010 standard, but a large percentage of what I watch has insane budgets, so I was expecting these teenagers to actually look like they were starving and was occasionally distracted by the sorts of plot problems which should be ignored in TV world. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying it, but it was funny to notice how my expectations have changed and how I needed to change my mindset.

NOT prestige TV

I accidentally ended up simultaneously watching three shows about grifters simultaneously and it's been tricky to keep their plots straight. 

With a partner, Black Rabbit, in which Jason Bateman continues doing his darnedest to play less and less redeemable characters in every role after his start on Little House on the Prairie

After a sleepless night and too tired to do anything other than zone out, Sneaky Pete, which I think is going to be a con man redemption arc

While falling asleep, Leverage, the A-Team of the Aughts

gasholder building ahead

Apparently France does not allow billboards, but has neat roadside signs promoting its cultural institutions. Can we do that too please?

Aqua Zumba update

I've learned that even water aerobics messes with my hips, and the chlorine worsens my headache instantly. Which is a bummer, but I'm seeing the class through.

I discovered at the first class that my current swimsuits are inadequate for containing my luscious breasts during vigorous activity, but I'm not up for shopping right now so they'll have to do. I find post-swim suit management annoying even in lakes (they stick to you when you try to take them off! They're dripping wet!) but it's even worse when chlorine is involved and they have to be rinsed or laundered every time, making them even MORE dripping wet and needing a place to go. Unfortunately I don't think the Parks and Rec department will be running a naked water aerobics class in my lifetime.