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Category Archives: nature
"My Nature Documentary"
“My Nature Documentary” was, to me, one of the funniest “Shouts and Murmurs” I’ve read in a while. (I also have a two month backlog of the [tag]New Yorker[/tag] in the magazine rack so it’s the only [tag]Shouts and Murmurs[/tag] I’ve read in a while). Nevertheless…
Lotus info
“So what are these lotus things?” You’ve asked.
Pretty.
Very pretty.
Still not a good enough answer? If you’re a SuperNerd you can do a GoogleScholar search for “lotus botany. You can get your Dharma on at BuddhaNet by reading an overview of lotus symbolism. The USDA informational site for [tag]Nelumbo nucifera[/tag] is serviceable, but Wikipedia has a decent [tag]lotus[/tag] page. It does fail to mention that you can use roasted lotus seeds as a substitute for coffee. I have no idea if this is something one would actually want to do, or whether it’s something one would ever do twice, but allegedly you can do so.
The bluebird of happiness!
It’s late July and I’m obsessed with the profusion of [tag]lotus blossoms[/tag], water lillies, and crazy seedpods at [tag]Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens[/tag]. This morning I was out in the marsh, drinking coffee and watching the sun burn off the fog when the Bluebird of Happiness paid me a visit!
Okay, so he wasn’t actually the Bluebird of Happiness, but I’d like to think he was. In reality, he was an [tag]Indigo Bunting[/tag]. Details, details.
I'm gonna eat some worms / More on Microsoft Bob / Pug-nappers captured!
One of my coworkers said, with his usual impish grin, “These are for your Husband, so don’t eat them.”
Then he handed me a package of Mexican Spice Flavored Worms.
I assured him I could resist the temptation to snack on them and would make sure that they reached Husband un-opened.
Having said that, curiosity is getting the best of us. He’s given them to a number of people here and we may have to break open a package of the Chedder Cheese flavored worms and try them out.
I love the ingredients list. “Insect Larva, Seasoning.” And only 9 calories per serving (1.4 grams).
Here’s a link to the Food Insects website, a cooperative project with the University of Wisonconsin-Madison. I’m disappointed that they still haven’t published the piece on the nutrient content of the House Cricket, Acheta domesticus, but they do have A Concise Summary of the General Nutritional Value of Insects.
I’m more convinced than ever that this Microsoft Bob thing is an elaborate hoax. Microsoft wants us to think they are powerful enough to have wiped our memories, so we will fear them. It’s an elaborate conspiracy, a vast sleight of hand designed to make us believe that they possess vast and unimaginable technology to induce selective amnesia a la Men in Black.
Or maybe I’m just paranoid and we should move right along to this story in today’s Washington Post. (Don’t let Boris read this one, Faith).
“Pinched Pug Retrieved by Alexandria Police: Molly Is Safely Home After Being Snatched From Her Dog Sitter’s SUV; Suspect Charged”. And they all lived happily ever after. Except for the poor cop who solved the case, because other cops are going to be calling him “Ace Ventura” until the day he dies, and I bet it’s going to get very old very fast.