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The Urban Pantheist - LiveJournal.com
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Toxo-hodgmania
A number of people have posted a link to this article about a scientist who has shown that the parasitic protist Toxoplasma causes human behavior to change. Men become introverted, while infected women tend to be more outgoing. (He goes as far as to say that the parasite is responsible for thousands of car accidents every year, and may be a cause of schizophrenia.) I am not surprised by this, as I thought it was common knowledge (at least among nature nerds) that the parasite changes the behavior of rats, causing them to be attracted to the scent of cat urine, in order to get eaten by cats and get the parasite into the only place it can reproduce: inside a cat. There is some lay speculation among parasite fans that "crazy cat lady" syndrome is a form of toxoplasmosis.
What I am surprised by is that fact that no one has brought up the prophecies of John Hodgman, in his wise tome, THAT IS ALL. I will rectify that now, with a short excerpt of Hodgman's treatment of the subject:
January 11, 2012: The CDC announces they have now determined that toxoplasmosis has infected a third of the world's population. And what is more--IT IS COMMUNICATING WITH US.
January 12, 2012: The TOXOPLASMOTIC HIVE MIND makes first contact with the human race, sending an elderly woman draped in cats to the White House to deliver a greeting card. It is a Valentine's Day card from 1982 and below the printed message are hand-printed the words "Good morning. We want your planet. Come visit!"
January 13, 2012: The TOXOPLASMOTIC HIVE MIND activates the host organism known as Charlie Rose. On his program, Charlie Rose is seated alone at his desk, which is covered with rats. "We regret our last transmission," he says to the camera morosely. "All we desire is our own land where our moody men and promiscuous women can live and eat cat feces in peace. You have ten days to reply, or we take your planet." Charlie Rose suggests the new land shall be called Toxoplassachusetts.
Reading that alone in a bar caused me to burst out laughing, which made my neighbors shift uncomfortably on their stools. I didn't explain to them what was so funny--the parasites told me to keep it quiet.
Picture is unrelated
Here's a large owl pellet I found in Franklin Park earlier this week. The size of the rodent jawbone and section of cranium are large enough that this was probably a young squirrel. Could have been a flying squirrel, I guess.
On my way to work yesterday my usual view of the ass end of school buses was prettied-up with this glowing sunrise.
3:00 snapshot #908, 909, 910
I was considering putting a stop to doing snapshots while I was at work. Then I hit upon the idea of using the self-timer for them instead. What do you think?
Now you've got some context for that view out the office window.
Just back from an errand, having a driveway moment. (The foreground object is a necklace on my rear view mirror.)
This drain cover is gonna SHINE.
3:00 Snapshot #907
Settin' on the stoop with my dawg. I found some old pictures this weekend, from my first couple years in Boston, and I realized (again) that the pictures with lots of mundane details in the background are the most interesting to look at, years later.
Anyway, on Sunday we took the dogs to Stony Brook.
I don't know why I think frozen swamps are so beautiful. It's a real New England thing, I think that's part of why I like it.
It's just this one little wet area on one of our short walks, and we always stop and take photos there.
Picture time is done, Maggie, let's keep walkin'!
3:00 snapshot #906
On the Mass Pike, coming back from my Dad's house. (Notice the turkey vulture in the top left.)
We went for a walk in a park between my old elementary school and the new high school.
I was kind of surprised to find this old barn nearby. My dad and I both wondered how the high school kids hadn't burned it down yet.
I had to go inside for creepy adventure.
This is view from my dad's hotel room, where he's staying while they repair the fire damage in his house.
Zookeepers at Spot Pond, Stoneham
I took a short hike with some zookeepers (first time I've been in a group of all-male zookeepers since I've been in the business) to birdwatch near Spot Pond (part of the Middlesex Fells). We saw common and hooded mergansers, but not the bald eagle pair that's been seen lately. Apparently the eagles fly over Stone Zoo pretty often these days.
A very small part of the pond is iced over, which is unusual for this time of year.
Five years ago today it was cold enough to...
But we went to Deer Island anyway:
Five years ago today
Five years ago today I posted a bunch of beautiful pictures of snowy Drumlin Farm, while back in the city it was ugly and slushy. I should go back and ogle this sexy tree:
Speaking of those who I miss and am fond of (awkward!) I really miss my friend ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=88.9) rockbalancer, and here she is with the dogs.
3:00 snapshot #905
I moved one foot over to the left to try to make this view a little more interesting.
Gigi, our oldest gorilla (she turns 40 this year) enjoys some romaine lettuce.
3:00 snapshot #904
Had to run an errand in JP. We're looking over toward Olmsted Park in this snap.
The Grevy's zebras are suspicious of me clambering about on the giraffe feeding platform, which is closed for the season.
3:00 snapshot #903
February first was unusually warm, not that you can tell it from this picture.
This one shows it a little better--the prairie dogs spend most of the winter down in their burrows, but on this day there were four of them out enjoying the weather.
Someone recently posted a pic of a very similar plant, blooming in midwinter, who was that--or was it on facebook? This appears to be some kind of groundsel, so far as I can tell. (Senecio sp?)
3:00 snapshot #902
YUM CRICKETS.
Later that night the zookeepers watched Tremors! We watch movies in the Hippo Theater, which has a huge fish tank along the back wall. We had cookies and hot chocolate, not crickets.
3:00 snapshot #901
Very different from the day before, this snapshot is brought to you by Pepsi, Apple, and @IamEnidColeslaw.
Fowl Meadow? No, it's pretty nice!
On Sunday I finally got off my sedentary suburban backside and took Charlie to a new hiking place. We ended up at Fowl Meadow, part of the Blue Hills Reservation.
There's two and a half miles of this in there, a straight shot wide enough to drive a truck on, because they occasionally have to drive a truck on it. The local water and sewer authority does some kind of work here.
On either side of the raise path there was water, some frozen some not.
Invasive phragmites to the left, native cattail to the right.
I took the first opportunity to get off the wide path onto a more narrow one that followed the Neponset River. Here is one of the four improvised bridges that cross the little streams that feed the river. I had to take Charlie off leash for the crossings, or else we'd both have ended up in the drink.
Eventually even found some fowl (and yes a meadow later on too).
I found two places where some animal had rubbed the bark off a small tree. Anyone know what does this? Is it deer rubbing the velvet off their antlers or something? Also found a pile of feathers where a duck was eaten, and a pile of coyote scat.
Just before I closed the loop, I found Paul's Bridge. Across Paul's Bridge (across the river, that is) is the southernmost part of Hyde Park, the southernmost neighborhood of Boston. I think I might go back and try to puzzle out exactly where that point is.
3:00 snapshot #900
Hard at work, I think.
Five years ago today I posted about having a pack of girl scouts help me move a whole bunch of brush and dead wood. Also I posted this picture:
3:00 snapshot #899
The dogs enjoy their unfettered access to the kitchen, now that foster dog Cammie is with her permanent home.
Five years ago today I stumbled across a parody video and it took me all day to verify that it was a parody. Also I took a 3:00 snapshot in a public bathroom.
Today I plan to take Charlie some place to walk around in the sunshine. The January funk has me hard, I can only hope that some time in the woods and the fresh air can make me feel a little more like life is worth living. It is, right? That's why so many of us are doing it?
January Funk
I was so deep into my January funk this week (Everybody, now: "BOO f**kING HOO") that I missed the 5 year anniversary of my little snapshot project! I wouldn't have been able to tell you when I started that except for the even sillier "five years ago" project. Apparently I started January 25th, 2007 with this snapshot:
That's Mollie, our old cat who died in 2010 I think. The computer is still alive, which is shocking.
Five years ago today
Five years ago today I posted about the Democratic field for president, and how their positions on the Iraq war were not helpful for distinguishing them. One candidate spoke my mind: "Bring home the troops NOW." Remember Bill Richardson? I didn't until I re-read that post. He was going to be part of the Obama administration but some minor tax scandal scrubbed him out early. The important part of this post was my remark "Man, we're going to be paying for this f**king war for a long time."
I also posted this snapshot, number three.
And, of course, I followed up on the mysterious mass bird death in Austin. It wasn't the Joker, after all.
or was it?
Five years ago today
Five years ago today I posted a picture of the lower half of a Broad-winged hawk:
3:00 snapshot #898
Internetting to hide from the snow.
Laying on the kitchen counter to see the birds on the suet cage.
The view from the kitchen counter. (All starlings.)
Eventually you gotta leave the house. You know: dogs.
Squirrel appreciation day
So I'm hearing from many on twitter that it's "Squirrel Appreciation Day." It's hard for me to think past the brush-tailed tree rats that chew through wood and plastic building materials and make my life more difficult, but I will try. Sciuridae is big successful family within the big successful Rodentia order. Here are some highlights from this blog:
Golden-mantled ground squirrel, Callospermophilus lateralis, Crater Lake, Oregon.
California ground squirrel Otospermophilus beecheyi, Devil's Punch Bowl, Oregon.
Eastern chipmunk Tamias striatus, Brookline Massachusetts.
Woodchuck Marmota monax, Lincoln Massachusetts.
Hoary Marmot, Marmota caligata, Stanley Park, Vancouver British Colubia.
Eastern gray squirrel Sciurus carolinensis, Franklin Park, Boston Massachusetts.
I highly recommend clicking my eastern gray squirrel tag for maximum squirrel enjoyment.
Also I'm still happy about these comics:
Goin' around Facebook, probably old but still funny
Bagworm in motion!
Remember the bagworms I posted about back in May? These are moth caterpillars covered in little cases of sticks bound in silk. Until today I'd never seen the actual insect moving about, but here we are. The caterpillar above is clambering onto our moss bowl in our bathroom. A few hours later I checked it, and it was on one of the ferns in the bowl--do bagworm larvae eat ferns?
3:00 snapshot #897
Hey look! This time I looked out the window at 3 o'clock and there was snow out there.
Here's what it looked like a little after 7 in the morning when I first got there.
3:00 snapshot #896
Oh my god it's the shit in my desk drawer. This journal is now officially a self-parody.
Five years ago today I posted a bunch of pictures of frozen partially eaten rats.
Five years ago today
Five years ago today I pondered undead breakfast cereals. Pretty awesome comments section in that post.
I also posted some pictures of a building I was a little obsessed with. Now that it's been completed it's not nearly as interesting to me.
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