ps

i just found a website about AVOIDING WATERSNAKE CONFRONTATIONS. in all caps.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/watersnakes.htm

deal breakers

sometimes i think it's great to think about deal breakers. like, at what point does this stop or does it go on forever? i try (but fail a lot) to be active when i make a choice and not just do what i always do. but sometimes what i always do is the best ever so why i think about deal breakers?!? regardless, yesterday i was at the river as usual. let me take this opportunity to say i am really scared of water snakes. a lot of times i think i feel them when i'm in water and i freak out and have to get out. and tell everyone i thought i felt it when really it's just me crazy.

late last summer i had heard a rumor that north bank was "notorious for water snakes" but i blocked it. then a few visits ago someone yelled at us that they had just seen a "huge snake and lots of baby copper heads in the water." again, i tried to block it and was convinced they just didn't want us at their spot. however, yesterday i saw not 1 but 2 water snakes in the water. obviously i had to take a picture to identify it (i have yet to be successful). it is hard to tell but the snake is the top branch looking thing and it swirls around the twigs. what is difficult is: is snakes at the river a deal breaker? the river where i have great times and it looks like this:

i'm not sure yet but i'm trying to make it not to be. snakes are just creatures too.

research

my momma keeps calling asking health related questions since she is teaching family life to her 7th graders. here is a sampling:
1. can your penis be broken?
2. do third nipples produce milk?
3. is a mangina real?

i did some research on the subject. turns out 10% of our population has a 3rd nipple! additionally, your penis can indeed be broken, third nipples sometimes produce milk, and a mangina is not something you can be born with - it is a procedure for female to males.

unstructured

when i don't have a set schedule i just do things i want to do, not things i should be doing. i got this new game!!! and i've been playing a lot of it. the sounds are really satisfying.

and how cute are lego people? video games are great.

the color of the planet from far, far away

blue.
headed to the river to celebrate outer space

whoops

lissa,
sorry i didn't call back last night. i was out late. it's ok if you want to look at me like this cat.

i will call you today or you call me. love you.
n

intrepid explorers

a committee of scientists just released the top 10 new species of 2008. i love that there are so many new things in this world. but don't take my word for it:

"Most people do not realize just how incomplete our knowledge of Earth's species is," said Quentin Wheeler, director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, which announced the top 10 new species list.

"We are surrounded by such an exuberance of species diversity that we too often take it for granted," Wheeler added.

preach it.


in 2007 scientists found 18,516 new species! quick break down:

invertebrate animals 75.6 %
vascular plants 11.1 %
vertebrates 6.7%

"It is estimated that the approximately 1.8 million species named since 1758 represent no more than a fraction of the world's species," the report states.

i'm freeeeeeeeeee

my life is in a great period right now that involves waiting on several fronts. mainly those of a professional nature: job and school. so until that gets figured out i'm just chilling out and floating in this sea of freedom.


this sea has predominantly been comprised of biking to parks, biking to the library, mariokart on wii, sitting on the porch and roof, and grilling out. i dig summertime.

voicemail box

i needed my preceptor's cell phone number, which she had a left on a message that i had clearly saved. so i just call the mailbox and i have 19 saved messages and she is the last one. grrrr. i felt pretty upset cause 19 is so many messages to go through and i hate the phone. but i just listened to all the messages and it is the voices of all these people i love so it turned out to be GREAT. keep up the good work team.

CHERRY SEASON

my family loooooves cherries. we buy bags and bags of them whenever they are in season. we eat handfuls all day long. cherry season is the best time because #1 we get fresh cherries to eat #2 it signifies the start of all the other great seasons too. mainly: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry. i love cherries!

bicycle gang!

i'm riding home from friend's house tonight. really sometimes richmond feels like summer camp and i'm the camper AND the counselor. moving on, as i bike home i come across a group of 5 bikers also making their way down the opposite side of the street in the opposite direction. at first we don't say anything but then i'm excited and yell out "HELLO THERE!" since it is pretty cool we're all biking. and all of them yell back "heeey", "hi hi", "hola man". and we were all just super pumped to be together for 4 seconds on the same street on bikes.

i live in a green sea

my hometown is really beautiful. usually i miss the ocean. but i was just at the ocean and i really love it but realized that a green sea might heal me more. yikes! here is some beauty for you, we'll share it.

another creature ventures outside

hidden in the plants.


take 2:
out of focus breakfast bread.

outdoor adventures

i miss having my own pictures to post with so today i put batteries in my camera. this afternoon:


hey foxy roxie!

monsters

this is the cat i'm spending the day with.


and this is a monster bag.

i love blogging.

amazing

i am eating the most delicious toast THIS MINUTE. it has apricots and cranberries and raisins and pears in it. maybe apples too.


toast that image and add butter. best breakfast ever.

my life part 10,293,893,485,734

i get a gumball! at the end of my blockbuster trip cause they have a gumball! machine. and out comes...yellow. my least favorite color. so i'm kinda bummed but then as it slides down to the part where i get it, i realize yellow totally rocks since it looks like a light coming down. sweeeeeeeet. still tastes not great though. heads up.

amen amen amen amen

my mom lost her wedding ring two days ago. since my dad lives in heaven it's not like they could go get new matching rings, plus she's worn it for 35 years, so it was kind of a big deal. she looked every where and asked lots of people about it but no one could find it. i sent some energy out into the universe hoping the ring would come back to her; i'm sure she and my grandma did too. we waited. mom was very zen. then last night she found it at the bottom of a paper bag. say what?!?


i don't know what, if anything, it means. but i am still so thankful she has this symbol of love between her and my dad.

love never ends.

for my cousin

cause i love her so much. CAKE! austin is my code for alissa. it's complex.

hobbitt house

if i could live anywhere this


looks like a great place. these dudes made it themselves and instructions are here:
http://www.simondale.net/house/

veggies

getting through the semester is like making myself eat vegetables for every meal. not fun to do, but so good for you. here are some pretty tomatoes from a garden.



good bye spring semester!

what if we were birds?

Toad NUTS

sometimes the interwebs make me sigh but sometimes they make me really happy too. take, for instance, this lovely article:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/05/04/citizen.science.climate.change/index.html

it's about a lady, who is also a momma, who saves endangered frogs from getting squashed on the road. once scientists found out she was doing this they also asked her to start getting the frogs GPS coordinates, length, and note their behavior. so she made a club of her friends, called toad NUTS, to get even more information for science. i think this is her hand.


this lady is living the good life by just taking nature walks at night. i'm really proud of her and all the backyard secret scientists who are moving up in the world. thanks internet for connecting us to life. toads 4ever.

bike vs car

two nights ago it was raining but i still needed to bike home so i thought: this could suck or be an adventure, you choose. so i chose adventure!! a mere 5 blocks from home my hippy pants with the bell bottoms got caught in my chain and managed to mangle up the bike. needless to say, it was a much longer, wetter ride home than anticipated. last night, the memory of my previous mishap still fresh in my mind, i choose (after riding the bike all day, mind you) to drive to a friends house instead of bike and then drive back again for sleepy time since it was a rainy day. i awoke this morning to my car towed. my bike was clearly punishing me for my infidelity.


this bike is 90% the same as my bike but without a basket and bigger handle bars. adorable or evil? hard to say...

texting world

we all suspected texting was a terrible idea. this site confirms it. and also succeeds at being the FUNNIEST SITE EVER.

http://www.textsfromlastnight.com/

question

where did the expression busy beaver come from? are beavers even busy?