Let them eat cake............
You know, I gave Barbara Bush the benefit of the doubt. I went and listened to the Marketplace story myself, just to make sure she had actually uttered those words. Turns out (I don't know why I'm surprised), she did. Even the "-- and this is scary --," which many news sites cleaned up for her.

Well, this just goes to prove mothers ARE a great influence on their children, I guess.

Labor Day Weekend
Now Playing: Launchcast
Topic: exposition
Aaaaahhhhh..........three day weekend! But where did it go? Grad school is rapidly approaching. I need to enjoy these half-days while I can.

On Saturday, Josh and I went with my mom and the dogs up to Sheridan, where my mom's family lived when she was a little girl. Our first stop was a small family cemetery (not ours) on what was once my grandparents' property. We wondered how many of these tiny cemeteries exist all over the country that nobody knows about. This one was heavy on the ground cover and weeds, but it looks like they're still burying people there. As we were leaving, we met one of the people who lives on the property, and she said she and the others there participate in an annual graveyard cleanup.

The property has been subdivided, and now contains several houses that seem to form a small artists' colony or some kind of communal (or at least tightly-knit) living arrangement. It's still quite rural, though. Just beyond the graveyard is a cliff with a beautiful view of authentic Oregon farm land. My mom said this was the area they called "over the hill," where her dad used to take animals he had to shoot: dogs that chased sheep, etc.

I've always wanted to live on a large piece of land, possibly with other families in a sort of hippie/yuppie/whatever arrangement. I tend to retreat into myself when I'm not forced to be social, but I really enjoy being social and feel more productive and alive when I am. One of my favorite places I visited in Denmark was a communal farm. They went a little farther than I would want to (lots of farmwork and they had to give their salaries to the commune) but the way they lived was so peaceful and content.

Plus, with some more land, Josh would be able to set up herp traps to his little heart's content!

Yesterday we went up near Olympia to photograph the Puget Sound garter snake (It's the one in the upper left with the blue stripe.)

And now, whaddya know, it's Tuesday, back to work!

So "get on top of it," already!
Topic: dramatic tension
I've been watching as much of the coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as I can stand. The lack of response and aid to the victims is appalling. Bloggers more eloquent than I have expressed their frustrations, and I have to add my own two cents.

Just because people are poor and black does not mean they aren't entitled to things like water, food and protection from violence. Just because a small minority of people at the Superdome and the New Orleans convention center are violent doesn't mean the babies, senior citizens, parents and everyone else there deserve to die of dehydration. Not helping them for any reason is unconscionable, and not helping them because of the gangs sounds an awful lot like, "We're afraid of poor black people" to me. Just imagine the uproar if all those faces on TV were white, and the bodies of the dead were clothed in Gucci rather than Walmart. I know (well, I hope) it's more complicated than that, but that's my gut reaction.

CNN.com quoted one eyewitness as saying little kids are being raped and murdered. I pray (hard) that this isn't true, but that's not a thing anyone would lie about. I am glad that the news media are actually daring to ask the tough questions of the government this time around. Joshua watches the Today Show every morning, so I heard it while I was getting ready for work, and even Katie Couric was grilling (relatively speaking) the FEMA representative.

He said he hopes to see a great improvement "in the next several days" and that they hope to have 30,000 National Guardsmen *cough*dowehavethatmanyIthoughttheywereallinIraq*cough* on the ground "by Sunday." So, as good old W is saying, "Be patient, dehydrated people, we're on top of it. There's no use getting frustrated, just hold out for 48 more hours with no food or water. This is hard work, you know."

/rant

Trek to the Metolius
Topic: visual aids

           
Metolius

test....test.....test.....
Topic: exposition
Dear internet (okay, nobody),

This is my first blog entry and something of a test project. Wow, I feel kind of self-conscious. I don't really have anything to say at the moment, so I guess I'll just mention a few things for the sake of getting something out there and seeing how it looks:

1. I am soooo looking forward to starting grad school this month. I've been working full-time in jobs totally unrelated to my goals (whatever those are) for the past few years, and life had been taking a decidedly boooring turn, professionally at least.

2. My new iBook is pretty sweet. I love the wi-fi on campus.

3. If you can, please make a donation to the Red Cross for the victims of the hurricane.

Okay, let's see if this works....