A winter visit to #MadronaMarsh preserve, after some rain finally filled the low-lying areas of the seasonal #wetlands.
#photo #photos #nature #winter #trees #marsh #wigeons #ducks
Also on Flickr:
Archiving my Twitter, Facebook and other social network activity
I went on a hike today, up in the coastal hills near Los Angeles. I took a trail along a (dry) streambed up through a canyon, which is variously known as George F. Canyon or Georgeff Canyon. No one knows who George (or Georgeff) was – they just found it on an old map when they dedicated the nature preserve.
There was SO. MUCH. POISON OAK. You really do not want to stray much from the path here!
#Birds of #MadronaMarsh. There were a zillion red-winged blackbirds, at least one group of goldfinches, some starlings, and of course the usual geese and ducks.
#nature #Blackbird #RedWingedBlackbird #Goldfinch #Starling #Goose #CanadaCoose #Sparrow
Throwback Thursday: Stuck in the ER during last year’s Comic Con after two sips of a coffee drink with undisclosed peanuts put me into anaphylactic shock. Full story:
Going to the ER at Comic-Con: Not the Peanuts I was Expecting
I’m hoping this year will go better!
On that note, I’m doing the FARE Walk for Food Allergy in September to raise funds for research, education & advocacy. You can donate here: [broken link]
Thank you!
Marisa SaamYou’re only allowed to drink black coffee this year. 😉
Jul 24, 2014, 12:28 PM
Kelson Vibber…uh oh, I’m drinking Smithwicks.
Jul 24, 2014, 7:24 PM
Adrian SosaDonation link is not working for me
But I can get there from here:
http://www.foodallergywalk.org/
Jul 24, 2014, 8:40 PM
Kelson VibberThank you, Adrian!
Jul 25, 2014, 4:13 PM
I actually do this with leftover ice at fast food places too. Not house plants of course, but instead of putting the whole paper cup with ice in the trash (where the ice will melt and fill up the bottom of the bag), I'll take it outside and dump it into a planter or onto the lawn where it'll do some good.
Found at https://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/
Obviously not getting fast food would be even better, but a little offsetting is better than none. Yesterday Katie and I were discussing ways that restaurants could cut down on waste, from tightening dishwashing practices to using the dishwater as greywater for plants or toilets to collecting liquids for…well, we weren't too sure what you could do with random liquids, but maybe find a way to dispose of them that replenishes groundwater instead of making the trash bins all nasty. All subject to sanitation / food safety needs of course.
Jul 16, 2014, 8:30 AM
Lee VibberAt home I just pick them up and rinse them off and put them in my drink…. Good idea about fast food ice, though.
Jul 16, 2014, 8:50 AM
Lee VibberJust thinking about what I said….rinsing them off probably wastes more water than was in the cube, doesn't it? D'oh!
Jul 16, 2014, 10:03 AM
Kelson VibberHeh…yeah, it probably does.
Jul 16, 2014, 10:20 AM
Lee Vibber(Truthfully, I'm a 5-second-rule person when it comes to ice on the floor, I usually just pick them up and put them in the glass, but I didn't want to actually admit that….)
Jul 16, 2014, 10:28 AM
Kelson VibberHahaha!
Jul 16, 2014, 10:38 AM
Katie ForemanYou could rub it around in a (clean) napkin or something for a bit–use body heat to melt off the immediate outside and wipe off any crud. Unless it skids under the overhang of the cabinets. Then that sucker's plant nutrition.
Jul 16, 2014, 11:01 AM
Lee VibberDefinitely!
Jul 16, 2014, 11:11 AM
Kelson Vibber*shudder*
Jul 16, 2014, 1:34 PM
Talbot BradyAwwww. All this cleanliness. You gotta give your immune system to chew on from time to time.
Jul 22, 2014, 2:16 PM
Katie ForemanThat's all well and good, but I prefer to do that without also chewing on hair and mummified carrot peels.
Jul 22, 2014, 2:24 PM
David HewittEconomists Rule #1 for saving water: raise the price of water. Done.
Jul 22, 2014, 3:20 PM
This Creepily Beautiful Chapel in Czermna, Poland, Is Constructed Out of Thousands of Human Bones
Shin bones decorate the ceiling, skulls line the walls and over 21,000 bodies are buried in the basementWarning for gruesome photos, natch.
I’ll be honest: if I was in the area I’d defnitely visit, but it would still creep me out a bit. I’ve handled real human bones as part of an osteology course and that didn’t bother me, but the sheer number of these would give me the willies.
When I visited Rome, I visited the crypt of the Capuchin monks. The monks used their order’s bones to create amazing patterns in a series of six rooms. It was creepy and yet fascinating. The motto that stuck in my head, which is listed on the Wikipedia page, is “What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be…”
Those guys definitely had a flair for the dramatic; I’d like to see that too. Also want to see the catacombs in Rome and Paris, but I don’t know if those are open to visitors these days.
Reading up on the Paris catacombs. How did Hugo manage not to include these in Les Miserables somewhere?
Today, I watched a lunar eclipse, sunrise, and sunset. Probably a first.
Venus & Jupiter just popped into view. It would’ve been nice to add Mercury too, but it’s below the horizon.
Also: I really should’ve brought gloves.
If I’d thought about it, I could have gone back to the spot where I watched the sunrise this morning to catch the moonrise for full symmetry. Oh, well.
Lia BrownCool! I don’t think it was visible here…and it was so cold last night I wouldn’t have had much patience anyway…
Dec 10, 2011, 7:38 PM
Kelson VibberYeah, I think you might have been able to see the beginning of it in your area, but not much else.
Dec 10, 2011, 11:06 PM
Wendi HeckathornWhere did you watch it at?
Dec 11, 2011, 2:10 AM
Kelson VibberI watched most of the eclipse from home (well, across the street), then went down to an area of Redondo Beach where a street runs along a bluff above the beach (Esplanade & Avenue A). I tried to watch the moon set while eclipsed, but the sky was too light by then to really see it at that point, so I drove over to an east-facing hill to watch the sunrise. I came back to Esplanade at the end of the day to watch the sunset.
Dec 11, 2011, 11:25 PM
Wendi HeckathornThat’s awesome! I’m bummed I missed it, but I did enjoy seeing the beautiful full moon. Thanks for sharing the gorgeouspics you took. 🙂
Dec 12, 2011, 12:36 AM
Level 2 coffee? Character profiles? Is this a new Coffee-themed RPG?
For the record: The back explains that it's roasting levels.
Katie: I can see coffee having strength, constitution, and charisma, but the rest…not so much.
Wayne: roasting levels themselves are a stat right? ;> Actually, how does one measure charisma on coffee? How sane it ends up making you after you drink it? ;p
Katie: I'd think of coffee charisma as being layperson appeal…how friendly it is to the general public's palate. But tea automatically has a better charisma, being CHA.
Wayne: (forehead slap) groooan TEAed off good there
Kelson: That's a measurement of Total Effective Armor, right?
Wayne:totally 🙂
Katie:Yeah, that stat increases steeply over time. Makes a big difference in whether you take one lump or two.
Wayne:ba-lump-dump!
Glenna:now, do you want Charisma to mean attractiveness of a person or how hyper-bunny that person is thus driving the rest of us insane? lol 😀