Maybe it's just me, but...

...this episode of NOVA I'm watching has this very cool dinosaur, which no one can agree on. Was it really a dino? How did it fly? Did it glide? What where the purpose of the back limb feathers? How awesome.


Microraptor ("small thief") is a genus of small, dromaeosaurid dinosaur. About two dozen well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovered from Liaoning, China. They date from the early Cretaceous Period (Barremian stage), 130-125.5 million years ago. Two species have been named, M. zhaoianus and M. gui. It has recently been suggested that all of the specimens belong to a single species, which is properly called M. zhaoianus. Cryptovolans, another four-winged dromaeosaur, may also be a species of Microraptor.^[1]

Like Archaeopteryx, Microraptor provides important evidence about the evolutionary relationship between birds and dinosaurs. Microraptor had long pennaceous feathers that form wing-like surfaces on the arms and tail but also, surprisingly, on the legs. This led Xu (2003) to describe it as a "four winged dinosaur", and to speculate that it may have glided using all four limbs for lift." - Wikipedia

Lichen and mold and fungus, oh my

This isn't my picture, but this does look exactly like some fungus that my project partner and I found in Day Canyon on Friday. It's supposed to grow from July through November, but it's almost April... Anyway, it grows on dead wood, which is where we found it. It looks like shells kind of. Pretty cool, eh?

I also realized that this indeed was where Jon and I first hiked to that one day. It was our forest. At least, it used to be a forest. Once my partner and I reached the gauging station and sat there, I realized I didn't recognize it initially because of the fires and debris flow that destroyed the area. I saw it when it was still a forest. I think it is very cool how I hiked there as a kid and am now studying there as an adult for my biology class.

Huggable

This is a slow loris, a nocturnal primate that hangs out in trees and lives in Asia. They are cute but endangered because people catch them to trade and sell for pets. We learned about them a little in anthro the week before last, and I Googled this picture because they are so cute.

In My Memory

Things I remember from when I was younger.

Watching Pokemon and looking for Ash and Misty hints
The Pokemon soundtrack
M2M
Hoku
Hey Dude
Legends of the Hidden Temple
Reading Ash and Misty romance fics
Taking that leap off the step with Jon
The Secret World of Alex Mack
Playing States on the giant map in fifth grade
That zoo game I made up that my whole class played
The swings
Spice Girls
Pretending to hate Digimon because it was ripping off Pokemon
Speed Wars at lunch in ninth grade
Drying a giant piece of paper with blow dryers in second year Latin
Sidestepping a bus on the way to school and amazing my friends
Making paper in my seventh grade science elective class
Blink 182
That guy Peter in my 10th grade science class who I had a big crush on
Trun of Flunks
9 lbs of tortilla chips for the Roman Banquet 12th grade
Being part of Honor Guard for the 2003 Senior graduation
Silent Ball
Weird Al
The Now! music series
Thinking pupa was funny (it means doll in Latin)
Zelda Gaiden
Being stuck with assigned the reproductive system in NS II
Complimented with a few others by my English III teacher while she gave the class a lecture in responsibility and how she was disappointed with us
Drunk scootering
Walking home after piano class the day before Thanksgiving and playing with my old Nokia
Ms. Serdan watching me play a song and giving me an A on the spot

Simple Things

"I'm torn between what I know and what I dream." - Armin Van Buuren ft. Justine Suissa, "Simple Things" from Shivers.

I was thinking in the shower this morning about stuff like I usually do because it's such a good place to think as long as you're not rushed. That line popped into my head. Then while I was in the classroom I visit to do fieldwork I was scribbling and thinking as their passing period was in progress. I know I need a real job to get by in this life, and I want to be a teacher more than anything else ever, even going to Hyrule or being with Jon as more than just friends. But I also have always said I wanted to be a published writer someday. Both of those are dreams, but the second is impractical and would not be a way to support myself.

That explains the quote, and I felt like just putting that out there so I can remember what I was thinking today.

Off to See the Wizard

I wish that were true. I have a few things I need to ask for...

Actually, I am just off to do fieldwork in the classroom with the teacher I have been assigned to observe. I tell you, if I was still in high school, she is the kind of teacher I would want to have. I hope to be like that and a few others I can think of someday when I'm a teacher.

So You're Standing on a Ledge

Music from my freshmen and sophomore years in high school.

"The Madding Crowd" - Nine Days
"Sarina Paris" - Sarina Paris
"Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits" - Barenaked Ladies
"Two Worlds" and "Movin Melodies" - ATB
"Toxicity" - System of a Down
"Best of Trance Volume 2" - various
"Warning" - Green Day
Shrek soundtrack
"Be Not Nobody" - Vanessa Carlton
"The Spirit Room" - Michelle Branch

Just a Thought

I was just thinking about the kind of creative person I am. I'm very expressive with my hands when talking and make a lot of gestures. My manager at work pokes fun at me because I flail a lot. I move when I tell a story, and do I love to tell stories. I also love taking pictures. So many times do I see something nice and bust my camera phone out and snap away. I say I don't need a camera, but I don't know what I would do without it. Back in tenth grade I explored drawing, and to my surprise, I wasn't bad. I could be good if I worked on that skill. I can also write a decent poem every once and a while.

Last but not not least, I write stories. I write a lot, so much it amazed me when I looked at my notebook of what I had typed and then printed out. Wow. It amazed me. Most of my poems are dark and depressing, but that is apparently what I know best. I am still way too young. One time my mom told me I was too young to be a serious writer when I was in high school, and it offended me. I told my creative writing teacher, and she agreed with me. But she was right. I still have so much to see and experience that will add to my creative pool and what I draw from. I don't need to be offended. I am young. I have too much to see and do. What I write now is part of who I am and part of my learning process and experience. I will always write in some form because that is part of my being that no one can take from me no matter how busy I get or how life gets in the way. Everyone starts somewhere, and everyone grows and learns. I hope someday to be able to write the way the greats do or at least better than some high school kid who is riddled with angst and unrequited love. That is who I was, and I haven't completely outgrown that yet.

Someday.

"Oh, all that I know
There's nothing here to run from
'Cause yeah everybody here's
Got somebody to lean on."

This Place is a Prison

This place is a prison
Locked behind bars
Chained to the stone wall
Trapped in the cell block
Doors locked, key tossed
Stained stone and cracked floor

This place is a prison
A deep hole dug for each
Dug by society, dug by you
Sides collapse with each grasp
Dirt chokes as it falls
Roots break in the hands

This place is a prison
Dark and empty, cold and alone
Stalagmites sharp and threatening
Hanging from the ceiling
Everyone lost and stumbling
Unable to find the way to light

This place is a prison
Trapped by time, frozen in place
All still move forward
As the river that never ends
As the seasons that always change
As the setting moon and rising sun

This place is a prison
Trapped by civilization’s rules
Forced to conform
Forced to fit the mold
Originality crushed
Under the jackboots of society

This place is a prison
This planet we call home
These lands which we usurped
This country then stolen from us
While no one even noticed
Too caught up in their egocentricity

This place is a prison
And people are the guards
Armed with their ignorance and greed
Not one can be liberated
Until they escape the shells
And from all earthly matters leave

Sick

So...yeah. I've been sick since December with on/off cough, and last Thursday I thought I was getting a cold again. Then it got worse, and when I actually went in, it turned out to maybe be pneumonia. He didn't do any x-rays but just said there was fluid in my right lung. Then I got a five-day dose of antibiotics which are helping, but I still cough, have stuffy nose, and an occasional headache. Periodically my ears will stuff up, and I can't hear well. I worked in the beer cooler tonight, and I was coughing after that. I'm supposed to go to bio tomorrow, and we're going out to Day Canyon. I'm not sure I'll go and will wait to see in the morning. My pants came in the mail on time and everything, and I have that sun hat. I'm all set, but I don't think I'm physically ready for that since I haven't really been able to get much rest between school and work. I need the hours and couldn't call in sick, and I've already missed too many classes and can't afford anymore.

And! I can't do the Copernicus internship at UCR because I have to take summer school. I need Physics 5 so I can take the college physics sequence this next year. The last week of school is the first week of the internship. I am so bummed about this. :O(

But this is cool. It's how my antibiotics are working right now. "Azithromycin prevents bacteria from growing by interfering with their protein synthesis. Azithromycin binds to the 50S subunit of the bacterial ribosome, and thus inhibits translation of mRNA." - Wikipedia

Best part: I understand it completely. :O)

"I only want to do some good
Too dumb to know if I could
And I just wanna feel the days I'm in."

I Regret Tomorrow More Than Yesterday

Music that gave me memories my junior and senior years in high school.

"Addicted to Music" - ATB
"Believe" - 4 Strings
"Fallen" - Evanscence
"Trance Party 3" - various
"Under My Skin" - Avril Lavigne
"Beautiful Things" - Andain
"As the Rush Comes" - Motorcycle
"200 km/h in the Wrong Direction" - tATu

Random Thought

So I'm watching The Suite Life of Zack & Cody when they start talking about how dirty your pillow gets. I do a quick Google search and find some interesting things. Then I look at my pillow sitting all innocently on my bed being six years old and the case having not been washed in a couple of weeks because I'm too lazy on my day off to do so.

I wonder how many germs are living there. Think of the cool little ecosystem going on. It kinda creeps me out, but then I get over it.

My Truth and Thoughts

Humans are arguably the most advanced animal on this planet in terms of cognitive awareness. We are the only creatures who look in the mirror, see ourselves, and realize this. We have this thing called self-awareness that other animals do not. Yet we are still animals. Richard Dawkins said, “The main purpose of all biological life is to make copies of itself.” That is what DNA does, that is what single-cell bacteria do, that is what goldfish do, that is what humans do. Because of that “higher level” we all think we have in terms of perception and thought, this is much too simple for most to handle. If I had been raised differently, then I may be inclined in that school of thought. Even in the middle of the HR phase, that would have been such a simple answer. We crave more. We want a higher truth to exist because we have this need for it. In fact, that is what religion does, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. We also attach feelings of love to the main purpose. Many animals care for their offspring but not to the extent that we do. After all of the hard work to make a copy of yourself, you’d be sure to watch it and nurture it. At least, the female in the species has that need. This is not to say that males are not capable of this because that is not true. However, biologically speaking, males in most species are programmed to go out and make as many babies as possible. Monogamy is rare within the animal kingdom. I propose that our higher level of reasoning and thinking has led us to develop what we deem morals and emotions. Even still, all of that is relative at best. What I perceive as right someone else may just as easily condemn, which is unfortunate. This leads to misunderstanding, fear, hatred, and violence. We are the only animals who kill just because. Something as simple as skin color divides us when all it really means is your ancestors came from a certain part of the world. Skin color is an adaptation, and the variants were favored by natural selection depending on the climate and proximity to the equator. The ability to think makes us separate ourselves into categories based on things such as these. It also has allowed us to advance our technology, including the way we heal people. Natural selection is a main device in evolution. The traits that work best in an environment among a population are favored and become more frequent. They are passed on to following generations because the parents were able to survive and make babies. However, with our leaps forward, we have interfered with this process. The gene pool does not get to purge itself, and what we have going on is a lot of artificial stuff. Survival of the fittest does not mean as much for humans. Because of this, we are taking over the planet, using up its resources, and probably exceeding or coming close to mother Earth’s carrying capacity for us. Some argue the planet has combated worse, and we may very well cause our own demise. The planet will heal and come up with something else. This does not mean that I am advocating killing sick, disabled, and old people. Those moral instilled in me prevent me from thinking that is a viable option, even if makes sense from a biological standpoint. What we need to do is find harmony with the environment and the other animals and plants living here. And yes, bacteria count. They are not only beneficial but vital to all life. Put that Purell away and let your kids build up immunities. If they cannot, this is only making the survival thing worse. I do not want to see any child suffering, but there comes a point when a parent, especially in this country lately, is going overboard. Despite having this higher ability to think and make sense of things, so many do not look past the present, let alone what we are leaving future generations of all life. This is why I say forget what afterlife there might not even be. We need to make this place the best it can be for everyone now and later on. I don’t care what or how many gods you believe in as long as this is still important. If they watch what is going on at all, then they would reward more so the people who think and act on this. I am not a religious or superstitous person, but even I could subscribe to that

no title

Things to do in the near future

1. Take and pass the CBEST (first try is in April)
2. Go out into nature, observe, and think of questions
3. Get my granddad's old camera working (top of the line in the 70s)
4. Return the Xbox to my store
5. Get camping stuff for my bio weekend trips

Yeah. I have goals, man. :-D

When the Rain Comes

A dismal sky rolling with thunder
As cold rain falls heavily on the earth
It drenches and floods
It provides and rejuvenates
The wet sidewalk reflects light
Cast down from the lamp above
Like all else in this world
The storm will pass on
Sol returns to the sky
But that light though gone
Shines beyond this
Reminding us that its presence
Will always shine when the rain comes

2/27/08, 7:09pm in my Ed 10 class

Playlist

"Life is a Boat" - Bleach ending theme
"Love Taught Me" - Blue Gender end theme
"1234" - Feist
"New Soul" - Yael Naim
"Justify" - ATB
"Baby Love Child" - Pizzicato Five
"Labyrinth" - Vendetta
"Weather Girl" - Shiny Toy Guns
"Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex" - CSS
"Harder Better Faster Stronger (Alive Radio Edit 2007)" - Daft Punk
"Read My Mind" - The Killers
"If I Am" - Nine Days
"Girl on the Wing" - The Shins
"What I Like About You" - The Romantics
"Dance Inside" - The All-American Rejects
"Be Still My Heart" - The Postal Service
"Seconds Away" - Amy Studt
"Wonderland" - Rubikon
"Let It Rain" - 4 Strings
"Circular Symmetry" - ATB
"Beautiful Worlds" - ATB