A question and a boast

First off, is there something about Ig/Met Pet Question that makes it particularly spam worthy? I've been getting at a Japanese spam comment about one a day for a week now.

Secondly, I went from this (geologist office chic):


to this (over dressed for blind double date):


in 46 minutes last Friday*. Well, slightly less time actually, 46 minutes is the difference between the time stamps on the photos. I was only 10 minutes late and half of that was because I had to stop at the ATM.

I had fun. He, I'm told, had a good time and wants my number (since he didn't ask for it before I left, despite having an entire Uno game's worth of warning. But then it was really late and we were all getting tired.). Also I got to see our big snow falling. (It didn't stick here but did in Birmingham, I'm told.)


*I also went from having a dog excited to have Mom home to one pouting on my bed because Mom was abandoning her for the evening. That's why she's not in the second picture. :)

Ig/Met Pet question.

Callan's post on his new "granite" counter top reminded me of a post I meant to do while in Portland. I didn't have my camera so I had to wait until I got home, and I just drew a quick sketch of the gorgeous "granite" that adorned my bathroom at the Paramount. My petrology class was a while ago and I spend most of my time looking at the electrical properties of sedimentary rocks, so other than metamorphic I didn't get any further with this:


The biotite books in the groundmass (for lack of a better term) weren't that aligned (i.e. no preferred orientation), I was just lazy in Illustrator. The white space in the groundmass was mostly quartz with plag. The ground mass was medium to dark grey overall. The large feldspar clasts were between approximately .5"-1.25" (1 - 3cm, or nickel to Kennedy half-dollar); some had rings of biotite in them and/or inclusions of biotite, quartz, and rarely plag. A couple had rings of quartz inclusions - like an overgrowth of quartz followed by regrowth of feldspar; a few were almost complete overgrown by quartz.

So anyone know what it was?

"It's a terrible thing when gneiss is taken for granite"
-J.C. Pashin (and probably others)*

* Speaking of puns, check out Callan's Halloween costume

All About Dancing!

(I may repeat myself, because I'm too lazy to look at my back posts. Also I started this post a couple weeks ago.)

This week Three weeks ago was the start of intermediate rumba, where we're learning a routine that'll be performed at the October November dance (by those who want to, the rest will just be made to feel really guilty). There were 16 couples and 4 single ladies in class the first week, which is definitely up from WCS and hustle.

I'm torn about the class. I'm not going to do the performance because dancing in a group isn't like being in choir/band/orchestra - it's still too individual. I'm taking the class because we'll learn new moves and dancing is fun. Or it is when you have someone to dance with. But the first week wasn't much fun. I guess I was already having a kind of bad day and then I get to dance class and I'm stuck by myself and the instructors are spending as much time with each of the couples as they spend with me which means I have a partner for about 15 minutes of the hour, at most. I can practice by myself but it's not the same. And I was already feeling a bit crappy... I'll go back next week, we're suppose to switch up partners next week, and we'll see.

The second week they had a helper (new instructor at Tuscaloosa Dance Sport) who danced with me a bunch. And the last week someone's partner wasn't there so I had a partner the whole time! I definitely like it better when I have someone to dance with. We'll see how tonight goes.

Speaking of lacking a partner, what do you call a get together where there are far more women than men? Because that was the first 45 minutes or so of the dance party* (at TDS) a 3 weeks ago. Then for two weeks they had two more guy instructors show up and one kind of adopted me and I hardly sat out a dance. Last week, however, the two "new" guys were out of town and the owner has hurt his foot so he's not suppose to dance, everyone else were couples who mostly danced with their regular partners. At least there weren't 3-4 single girls sitting around just me and the girl instructor there. Then Saturday I went to the TBDC dance and mostly sat. Out of about 5 hours at dances I danced maybe 40 minutes (not counting line and mixer/chair dances at TBDC) and one of those dances was a rumba with Claire. If she weren't almost 2 feet shorter than me we might have done a tango. I had fun talking to Claire and Rita but would have had more fun dancing. Oh well. I'll keep going, maybe I'll just dance by myself next time.

One thing I don't understand - why aren't there more single guys who dance? (Warning: broad generalizations to follow.) Women like to dance. Men like women. Women really like men who dance. Men should want to learn to dance so they can hold the pretty girls close. So why do wives have to drag their husbands to dance lessons? Why aren't frat boys all jumping up and down to learn how to meet girls? WHY?



*I like the dance parties and the studio has great space (and will be real nice when the floor's completely finished); they just need more people to show up. I hope they have lots of people showing up for classes. I'm trying to go to a few.

No deep thoughts.

What I want to know today (because y'all SO want to know my every thought) is when do I get a script writer?* Because I'm not having much luck creating my own meet-cute^#.



*This is not brought on by watching some stupid romantic comedy. I watched The Blues Brothers last night and that music can't make you depressed. Just a general le sigh and damn even Jake and Elwood get girls, sort of.^

^#for those not in the know


^ Actually Jake had one waiting in celibacy at the back of a cathedral until she decided for the good of humanity that he needed to die; Twiggy was waiting for Elwood at the hotel but he had to get to the Cook Co. Office of the Assessor^&.


^&It was dark and he was wearing sunglasses.

Can We Change the Station?

Silver Fox just put up a post about road songs. This reminded me of field camp. For some reason only one person had brought a Walkman and she only had a couple tapes of local underground bands (at least in the van I was in). Things were OK the first day of driving. From Tuscaloosa to OK City is mostly civilized. From OK to Taos is, as I recall more sparsely populated but radio stations were available. In the wilds of New Mexico radio stations were not so easily found. Unless you want to listen to stock auctions.

Our TA was driving "my" van and our first trip to a Walmart he bought 2 tapes - Best of the Doors and Songs You Know By Heart. These two tapes were on pretty much continuous play for the remaining 4 weeks. I know all those songs, well, by heart.

These wouldn't necessarily count as road songs by SF's rules but those two albums certainly were our road music. I like something singable for the road and/or danceable. I'm a great seat dancer. =)

What do you think of as "road songs"? What are some of your favorites?

IANAL

But that doesn't stop me from having opinions and questions. Anyone out there want to weigh in on the legality of the following. (Identities are vague to protect the possibly guilty from the RIAA.)

Dance Instructor 1 made up some CDs of music to practice with and said that he had to give them away because it was OK to make the copies (for instructional purposes?) but illegal to sell them. Dance Instructor 2 made up some CDs of music to practice with and sold them to students for $5 each.

To my none legally trained mind, DI1's actions sound possibly legal - he wasn't making any money off the copies; DI2's action seem decidedly illegal - he was definitely making money off the deal. I didn't buy DI2's practice CD because $5 is a hell of a lot to charge for something that takes maybe 5 minutes to make with materials maybe a buck. I suppose the safest move, in terms of not violating copyright, would be to prepare a list of songs* appropriate for each dance for the students. But I've been wondering if either dance instructor's actions were legal or if one is "more" legal than the other. Anyone out there have a, legal or lay, opinion?



*Obviously non-comprehensive and it would most likely need to have album/performer info, too, since different recordings may change the rhythm and/or tempo.

Maybe I could even charge.

Several years ago, when my SIL's middle son's girlfriend got pregnant I asked my SIL (jokingly) if she wanted me to do a little sex-ed/birth control refresher course for my nephews and her 2 other kids. (I had taught it earlier that year to kids younger than those 4.) She thought that A having a kid had scared them enough to not do anything stupid. One might think that A and his girlfriend having a second kid (born this winter) would have reminded the other 4 that they don't want to do anything stupid. Apparently not. My nephew's girlfriend is preggers. First of, I don't envy my brother having to tell his mother. Secondly, I wish them the best of luck as they will need it. This nephew hasn't had (AFAIK) the most stable employment record and much of it has been waiting tables. Also, last I heard, he was living with his mother. Boy, wouldn't that be fun?

Maybe his life has taken a turn for the better in the last 6 months or so. Maybe he, and she, have decent jobs with health insurance and sick leave. I can hope.

A couple of questions for my readers: Do you think there is a market for someone to fill in the gaps potentially left by a school's sex-ed? (if school does abstience only) Could the fact that A is a student (and I think his GF too) and they are doing OK be the reason my nephew's GF is expecting? How likely is it that my nephew and GF are the one in one thousand whom the pill fails? (or whatever method) In other words, were they actually taking all appropriate precautions (short of keeping it zipped up) and still got pregnant?

Buffyverse - friend or foe?

A month or two ago Honu-Girl suggested I try watching/listening to Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Hulu, as it was fluffy enough to make it a good distraction while doing boring work. (I was more productive while watching than not, until the IT guy caught me chewing up huge amounts of bandwidth.) I'd watched the first two seasons at work and then Honu-Girl got me the 3rd season for Christmas (delivered in a very pretty box she got from Sarah, so it was like a present from Sarah, too!), so I'm up to episode 8 or 9 now ("Helpless"). I have a question for Buffy fans: What's up with Synder?

He shows up as a principal with a grudge against Buffy. At first he just seems to be a hard ass. Then we learn that he knows about the vampires, etc. in Sunnydale* and I started to wonder which side he's on - does he think Buffy's on the vamp side or does he suspect she's the Slayer (or at least on the human's side) and why doesn't he like her/what does his dislike potentially say about where he stands. He clearly has connections in local politics and the police chief and the mayor are in on the Home of the Hellmouth bit. The mayor clearly has no particular problem with the local demon population (as long as he keeps his job - "Band Candy") but we don't know about the police chief (very minor character, "School Hard" I think). Now, after "Band Candy"**, he knows for sure she's the Slayer but I hadn't seen him since.

So, is he pro- or anti- demon? Is he pro- or anti-Slayer?
(I'm ok with minor spoilers)

* Was the name a ploy by the founders to hide the demonic presence?
**Seeing your Mom and Watcher make out - ewww, as bad as realizing your parents have sex.

Ladies, can we talk?

So no one had an opinion about voter registration fraud, huh? Well, I have another question and PSA for teh interweebs today: Why don't women wear appropriately supportive undergarments while exercising?

Many mornings I pass a group of city cops jogging. Twice now I've passed one youngish woman who could really use a more supportive bra. Both times I've thought 'ow ow ow' with each step I witness. Then last night CBS 42 did a segment on a woman who has lost 105 pounds over the last two years by taking up running (and some other exercise) and eating right. And that's awesome and inspiring and all but OMG does she need better sports bras. They had several shots of her jogging and I thought it looked a little painful. Then they had her finishing a 5k and that bounce was even worse. It looked like she was wearing reasonably supportive bras in the shots of her in everyday/work clothes. Why was she running in a bra that left her boobs near her waist? Does it not hurt to bounce that much? Is it just the cost of a good bra? I don't understand. I can't trot down the stairs in my pjs without an arm across my chest, I can't imagine running five kilometers (approx. 3 miles) like that.

Where I taught, there were several students who needed more than a Walmart sports bra could offer. (This was obvious during volleyball, never mind basketball.) I brought it up one day with several and I happened to have an equestrian catalog* with me and showed them a bra that is designed for high impact activities for all (offered) cup sizes. They choked on the $50 price. I mentioned some other catalogs/websites that have a wide selection of sports bras, with no takers. It probably didn't help that the English teacher/assistant coach simply suggested wear up to 3 bras at once which is what she sometimes did**.

Part of the problem is that some woman aren't wearing the right cup size to begin with. Part of the problem is that one style bra may be appropriate for high impact for an A or B cup but only good for moderate impact for a C or D and light impact for Es and above. So if you go to the store and they have a bra marked high impact and think you're good or that that is as good as it gets for a D - but it's not. I get a couple of catalogs that rate sports bras and if a style's bounce minimizing isn't as effective at larger sizes the description will say that. Also some sports bras are designed for larger woman and the different engineering problems posed by large mammaries. (I'm sure there are more catalogs/websites than those linked here.)

So here's the question to y'all: Is it not as painful for some woman as for others? Do some woman think there is no alternative? Can I set up a fund for well-endowed athletes?


* If you don't want your boobs to move, relative to your shoulders, look for a bra that lists horseback riding as one of the activities it's good for.
**In case you are math adverse: 3 $15 bras cost $45, which will buy you one good bra that will probably last longer than the 3 together.

Have you voted?

If not, go vote, then you can come back and read.
If/when yes, I have a question for you - does this appall you?

When I was working in Andalusia (LA*, not Spain), one of my co-workers was telling us, almost proudly, that when she'd changed her voter registration after getting married she used the office address because it'd be so convenient to vote. Our office was, I believe, within the city limits; the young lady in question lived two towns over. This means that she could vote for mayor, city council member, etc. for a city she didn't live in and couldn't vote for her county council member, mayor, school board... for where she DID live. I have no idea where the state legislative district boundaries are/were, but she may have been voting in the wrong ones for that, too. She seemed to only look at the convenience factor of voting closer to work. (BTW, she worked 7-4 and lived at most 45 minutes from work.) I was horrified, but not so much that I thought to contact the registrar.

*Lower Alabama for those not in the know.

Why?

Can some one please explain why anyone thought that "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" needed a chorus? Those 4 verses, by Issac Watts, served just fine for 300 years. Did Chris Tomlin really need to add this bit?

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and bless Your name
(from here)

Just wondering.

Update: This dovetails (1 word or two?) nicely with something I read the other day. First a comment from Cosmic Variance: "...Actually [Christian Rock] mostly sucks because the lyrics are so lame." And linked in another comment there, a (partial) explanation of why it is so.

Bun or Bob?

My hair has reached, once again, the point where no reasonable amount of conditioner will prevent knotting. (This time it has reached this point while still looking decent, usually the last 2 inches of hair are just raggedy split ends.) This means that by the end of the day I want to shave my head. So my choices are:

• Get a couple inches off (possibly making my hair the really annoying length)
• Get a bob, just long enough to tuck behind the ear (yes I want to get my hair cut just as the weather starts to make long hair bearable again)
• Wear my hair in a bun everyday (ponytails don't cut it)
  

What are your suggestions?

300 Meters

Or yards, I'm not sure which that pool is.

Yes, I swam last night, just not very far. Nettie swam 75 yards (without stopping to rest half way!) in the lane and who knows how much diving for pennies. (diving for pennies without bright over head light (i.e. the sun) is much more difficult, especially ungoggled as I usually swim.)

There are some definite disadvantages to swimming laps with Nettie. If she is in front of me I have to either kick only or do a catch-up drill* so I don't run her over. And one of my 25s was towing her back to the other end of the pool. (Where else is a girl going to get an extra 50 lbs to pull?) She, obviously, bored with lap swimming quickly but seemed relatively happy diving for pennies while I continued. One problem with the pool, and our timing, is that lots (relatively) of people come to swim after work and don't seem too keen on asking strangers to share a lane.

Allow me to review the evening, then ask you a question:They keep two lanes up in the "lap" pool (oddly the put a lane rope in against the wall, too) and the rest is open and from 10 to close the pool is open for "lap/open swim" (at least in August, could we maybe get a schedule for 2 months at a time??). When Nettie and I arrived there was a person in one lane (lane '2' for reference) and a young couple swimming/flirting just outside the lane (I think the girl was using the lane rope as a guide; they were not flirting/hanging one to each other obnoxiously as the students often do at UA's outdoor pool.) so Nettie and I had a lane to ourselves, which is good because she is slow, splashy, and rest a lot, and if I'm on my back I need lane ropes or a wall to keep me from wandering across the pool. After I finished swimming laps we got out of the lane and moved over to the open area, there was a guy swimming about in what would be the 4th lane over and the young couple mostly just hanging out at the shallow end of lane 3 she occasionally swam down and back. A guy showed up and moved into the lane I'd been swimming in (lane 1). Then two other ladies showed up to swim (in lane 3.5?) and I had Nettie move to the shallow end of lane 5, next to the ramp for chasing pennies. When lane 2 guy left, one of the lane 4 girls was using a kick board so she certainly could have seen that the roped lane was empty but she didn't move. (I know that while one is swimming laps one often doesn't notice when someone in the next lane gets out/in, particularly several lanes over, but when I swim I want to be in a roped lane (see backstroke comment above so if I'm using a kick board and can see what's going on (or paused at the wall), I'd be watching for these things.) Then someone else arrived and took lane 2 and a couple arrived and swam in lane 5 and Nettie was stuck diving for pennies basically right against the ramp (several times my throws actually landed on the ramp) and the shallow part at the end of the ramp. Three feet isn't much of a practice of ones underwater swimming. I did manage one more lap (for a total of 350 yards) right along the wall/ramp but lane 5 guy kind of gave me a bad look. Hey, he and his wife were staying on the line and to the other side of it, I had room. I did my best to keep us out of the way of the lap swimmers (unlike the other kids who were going back and forth between the pools and randomly jumping (but not on people) into the lap pool. BTW, I don't want to do anything but float in the "therapy" pool; 93° water is too warm to even think about moving in.) I just found the unwillingness to share a roped lane, odd.

Did my years (all 4 of them) give me a different view on sharing a lane? Or just give me a high preference for roped lanes even when room exists elsewhere?

We were there about an hour total. Nettie had tons of fun. (Hello, she was with her favorite sister, how could she not?)


*While swimming "freestyle" one are is stationary, always extended forward while the other does a stroke. When the stroking arm completes it's recovery (catches up), they trade places/jobs. To stay behind Nettie I didn't kick.

Normal?

I was telling Honu-Girl about a "small world" kind of conversation I had the other day at the hairdressers. Since I've been working here at the Survey, the "do you know...?" questions often involve people who work here, or used to work here (I swear I've been asked about people who retired 10 years ago.), or, occasionally, some random geologist that the individual happens to know. This got me thinking about how often people ask me if I'm related to other people in town with my last name. This question often follows asking about where I live. I wondered why the askers assume I'm a local and would have family here. I don't sound much like a native (thank you for confirmation, H-G), in fact I would think my accent (or lack of, depending on how you look at it) would signal that I'm not a native Tuscaloosian. (I do admit it is a bit confusing that my parents live here, but often the asker doesn't know that.) Obviously not everyone makes that assumption, but I wonder if the people who seem to assume that I'm a native with family around*, think of Tuscaloosa as a small enough place that people don't move here from far away. This made me think that in northern Virginia, where I grew up, people would ask you where you were from, where the underlying assumption is that you didn't grow up in the DC area. Honu-Girl so correctly pointed out that the population in the DC area was very transient, making the assumption different.

Anyway all of this got me to thinking about how much of what I assume about the world, people I meet, etc. is based on my childhood. The neighborhood I grew up in is how 'most' neighborhoods are; my blended family isn't so odd (quite true now); having siblings old enough to be your parent is normal (or young enough to be your child); minorities come in many skin colors, countries of origin, and socio-economic classes, and speak many different languages; families are all spread out across the country (or world);...I could go on all day. It's not that there is anything wrong with Tuscaloosa per se, it's just not my default 'normal'.

What do you think? How strongly is your view of the world and what is "normal" colored by where you grew up?

Oh, yeah, I'm pretty happy with my childhood. That probably helps.


*My parents, two brothers with families, and two sisters do live here but the one whose ever shared my last name was born here (littlest sister). Mom's oldest has lived here most of his life but has a different last name. Also, one of my brother's in Birmingham has lived there most of his life and shares my last name, but no one ever asks me if I'm related to him.

4-Door, Sedan, 2-Door, SUV?

Yesterday I went to register my NEW CAR(!). When the lady asked me what kind of car it was - a sedan, SUV, 2-Door? I said station wagon because that's what it is. It isn't an SUV; it isn't a hatchback; it is a station wagon. A small one (Impreza) and one called a "sport wagon" (jumbo shrimp, anyone?) by Subaru but not an SUV. It is listed on the registration as a 4-door because "wagon" is no longer a choice. What? Two cars ago (register 1st time in 1997) I had a wagon. I'm not sure if it was listed as "wagon" or "5-door" on the form but certainly not as a 4-door.

I think my friend's Outback Sport might qualify as a "crossover SUV" (even though it is older than the term) and could qualify as SUV for the form. It is the same vehicle as mine but has 2" more clearance and different trim (making it, oddly, 0.5" wider). But really it's a small wagon, too. I will have to ask her how it is described since she moved to AL '03ish.

Why do so few car makers make station wagons now? Besides America's love of the SUV. They are far more practical and safer (in general), never mind more fuel efficient on average. An Expedition screams "soccer mom" as much as any Taurus wagon ever did!

Land of Milk and Honey (maybe)

I've now read a couple of things about Colony Collapse Disorder in bees. (hereand here) I think the Independent went a little overboard and forgot that correlation does not equal causation but I still have a couple of questions. Maybe you readers out there can help me out.

I guess I never thought about how crops get pollinated. Corn gets helped out by teenagers (who are taking the place of wind). I've hand fertilized a couple of bell peppers. But on the whole I just figured that the natural insect population took care of most of my fruits, nuts, and seed (and "vegetables" that are really fruits). From the articles I gather that there are large hives that are rented by farmers to come pollinate their crops? WOW! Is that right? How exactly does that work? Do bees not get disoriented when the hive gets moved like that?

Why honey bees? One article noted that honey bees are not native to North America. Do they mean the ones we use for honey production or are there no native honey producers? If so, why do so many crops rely on honey bees? Are there no native insects that would do as well (albeit without the fringe benefit of honey production)? All plants native to North America would have adapted to native pollinators here(although NA is a big place). I've got to tell you that I'm not sure I've every seen a honey bee in my yard but I have lots of other bees and wasps. My holly bushes will have a bumper crop this year (hopefully so will my garden!). The bugs I've got work out pretty well.

One interesting suggestion in a comment on the green-living blog I read was that part of the problem was lack of genetic diversity. I gathered that the honey bees are artificially inseminated and lack diversity. The commenter said her bees were wild pollinated and seemed to be doing better than some neighbors. If the industry is using AI, why are they not insuring genetic diversity? Dog breeders have learned but bee keepers haven't? (not sure that's the best analogy, but...) Or is the bee breeding industry just waking up to the problems of inbreeding? in that case, maybe they should read some history (Egyptian pharaohs or European noble families in the 19th century) or diseases and disorders common in pure breed dogs

Just a few questions.

Be kind to your 6-legged neighbors - they are your friends!