On to tens and ones!

We got odds and evens! We got odds and evens! We got odds and evens hey hey hey hey!

After about four weeks of explaining the same thing, my first grader (Clarification: my tutee. I don't have any kids that I know of) FINALLY got odds and evens. For those of you who care, I drew lines of ants walking two by two. Then we played a variation on the game war. Whoever had the even number won the hand. We verified even numbers by looking at the ant conga-line. I was very giddy.

(Side note: CentroNia is still looking for tutors. Get a first grader of your very own!)

We also read "Olivia saves the circus" and "Duck for President" which I totally recommend along with "Click, Clack, Moo", "Why animals should definitely not wear clothing" and of course anything by Sandra Boynton. I also read "Dinosaurios de Danny."

This whole bilingual thing is fascinating. For example, my first grader speaks Spanish at home and attends a bilingual school. Yesterday his teacher, in Spanish, asked him to do something and then asked that he repeat it back to her. He did but in English. I had an entire conversation with another tutor (in English) who said "pero" instead of "but." She switches back and forth for no apparent reason (unless talking to an obvious gringo like myself) ...even her 3 year old daughter does it!

It seems like a mindset thing to me. Sometimes, I have absolutely no problem speaking, reading, or thinking in Spanish. But if I get distracted I switch back to English. Although, this is a little different because I am by no means bilingual.

I may have to embrace my geekdom and read up on this. Speaking of geekdom, I'm writing another article. What do we think -- California condors or a snail threatened by coal mining?

Iiiiiiiiiii'm

awake, alert, alive, enthusiastic. I'm awake, alert, alive, enthusiastic. I'm awake, alert, alive. I'm alive, alert, awake. I'm awake, alert alive, enthuszzzzzz

Kiss me I'm Irish!

And yes, that is my backside.

fotografias

Hey! I found some photos from my 2003 research trip to the Bahamas! Actually I stole them off of someone else's photo page but whatev.



Our main mode of transportation besides walking. Let me tell you. There's no better way to get extremely sunburnt then by sitting on an open truck. It is also a spectacular way to travel through a hurricane.



Christopher Columbus was here. So were we. I'm the goofball in a yellow tank and white bandana. I mean really what was I thinking?



At the only bar on the island. Two mile walk...each way. I put lots of mileage on my
new shoes.

crushing the writer's spirit

sigh. my editor asked me to write a news story. i did but wasn't entirely pleased with my work. neither was the big bad boss apparently. not only has it been recommended that i talk to some other news writers for advice, through all the red pen scribbles i find that my news story has been pulled, forever to languish unpublished. and right after i mostly fixed it too. so, loyal reader, since the 9,000+ esa members won't get to see it, you're stuck with it. enjoy. really. do.

------
Until recently, direct comparisons of amber faunas were impossible due to sampling variability. Researchers David Penney (University of Manchester, Manchester, UK) and Mark Langan (Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK) set out to resolve this issue.

In the first comprehensive quantitative analysis of spiders preserved in amber during the Cenozoic era (beginning 65 million years ago), the study compared 671 amber fossil assemblages from the Dominican Republic and the Baltic Region. Considering that the two research sites are separated geographically by a great distance and in time by about 20 million years, one might expect a difference in the way that the amber captured the spiders.

The study, as published in Royal Biology Letters (2006; doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0442), characterized the preserved spiders according to family, predation strategies, and body size. Penney and Langan found the same families and methods of hunting represented at both sites. However, web-building spiders were larger in the Baltic while other predatory groups were similar in size between the two sites. The study attributes the difference in size to the structurally complex vegetation in the Baltic. Modern-day web-weaving spiders are larger in amber producing trees where they have adequate space for web support, capture, and retreat. “The fact that we’re not getting any size difference in the non-web-spinners suggests that the resin secretion was operating in the same way”, concludes Penney.

Amber fossils provide a unique insight into the ecology of the past. “The faunal assemblages that you find in the amber can be used to recreate the ecological conditions of the time”, explains Penney. “For example, the relative frequency of spider families in an assemblage will be indicative of particular climatic regimes.” Sampling uniformity will allow future comparisons in an ecological context to address interesting biological problems on a larger scale. Paleoecologists can look at what has happened to communities in the past and make predictions about issues such as climate change or habitat degradation.

Although this is the first time that such an exhaustive study of amber assemblages has been undertaken it won’t be the last. Says Penney, “I think quantitative amber paleobiology is definitely the way forward. Paleontologists have more data in the fossil record over time scales that people working in living faunas can only dream of”.
----

should i tell her that i only got a c in my one and only journalism class and vowed never to write again after that? should i say that my soul has been crushed yet again? that my talent and my parents' hopes and dreams are screaming for expression with the written word? nah. oh, and reader? the quotes are in the wrong place 'cuz we write in british style. obnoxious really. i spent my first month putting them all back in the right place.

if you're interested, I have been published. See my article on the 2006 International Wetland Symposium

Stalkerific

If you are even the slightest bit aware of internet trends you've heard of MySpace. Hell, you're probably one of my 3,000 friends. You've probably also seen the recent press coverage on skeezy older men using the website to attract victims. Several people have been arrested for "using the internet with intent of sexual misconduct." All I'm wondering: whatever happened to "using a lollipop and a panel van"?

(Must find funnier way to phrase that)

Stoopid people

Well yesterday I went to the tax office and told the woman that I'd like to set up an appointment...ten minutes of mouse clicking later (ten!) she asks me when I'd like it. In the meantime, an accountant and her client have also joined our small crowd.
Me: Tuesday or Thursday after work, around 5:30. How long does an appointment take?
Receptionist: (to accountant) How long will an appointment take?
Accountant: How long until you can have an appointment?
Me: no
A: How long is the waiting period when you get here until we see you?
Me: no
A: How long do you have to wait until we set up an appointment?
Me: No! How long does an appointment take!
A: It's different for everyone
Me: ballpark
A: I can't answer that.
Me: An estimate.
A: It depends on a lot of factors.
Me: On average? (to other client) How long did it take you?
Client: Well I had a lot of deductions.
Me: And!?! How long did it take! aaaah!
A: Do you have business income? college loans? earned interest? charitable deductions?
Me: Income, interest, charitable donations, three states!
A: Three states? So I have to file a return for three states? One for each state? Three states?
Me: Aaaaah! yes! yes! three states! how long!?
A: That will take an hour. We can give you an appointment tomorrow.
Me: Tomorrow is Wednesday. I can't do it then.

She also told me to bring my past tax return to make it faster. Unfortunately that's in NY. Upon the advice of my dear old Dad I'm going to say that I lost it when my house burnt down.

-Also-

*crash thunk thunk* UPS! PACKAGES HERE! UPS! UPS!
Me: Yes? UPS? (noticing that he has carried, in one trip, 100 pounds of boxes) Whoa!
UPS: (rolling eyes and huffing) Yeah. heavy. Do you have a hand truck?
Me: No. I'll just carry them one at a time (like you should have done you idiot!)
UPS: No, I mean I want to borrow it. For my next building.
Me: Um no. (signing signature table thingie that NEVER works) Oops sorry that's messy. The last name is Arnstein.
UPS: uhwhahuhuh?
Me: Arnstein
UPS: (rolls eyes and huffs)

-- both stories are better when I act them out with dramatic flair.