In California, it sometimes seems to be the case that Nature has a switch: flipped one way, it’s winter outside… cold, drizzly, dark; flipped the other way, it’s summer… warm, clear, and sunny. On Monday, Nature flipped the switch. As a result, I have the itch to be outside, and my wild lilac is blooming… making me and my bee-ish neighbors ecstatic.
Read the rest of this entry »
Attention Neil deGrasse Tyson and the rest of you anti-Plutonians, the New Mexico legislature is fixing to show you what’s what. You may have fancy degrees and all that, but the legislature has the power of the resolution.
Seriously, I’m starting to wonder if the main purpose of a state legislature is to look asinine. I think one of the problems here is that people seem to think that Pluto’s being reclassified somehow makes it a less interesting object… like this reclassification is somehow an insult to Pluto and Clyde Tombaugh. Really, it’s a very strange reaction to have; and it’s an even stranger thing to feel the need to legislate. Don’t these people have real problems to be dealing with?
Over the past couple of months, I’ve been noticing some odd things going on… an accelerated heart rate, general nervousness and irritability (more so than usual, that is), and a lot of anxiety (to the point where I have trouble breathing). I was putting a lot of this down to general work-related stress (and I’m sure some of it is… combined with lack of exercise), but then I did a little monitoring of my behavior and habits and realized something startling: with the exception of morning orange juice, I was drinking only caffeinated beverages. Basically, I’ve been saturating my bloodstream with caffeine; and while it’s really neat to be able to see into the future and be the kwisatch haderach and all, I doubt it’s worth the medical side-effects.
Read the rest of this entry »