penn

yay kayaking

a fun picture of me -- I'm just about to paddle off and launch boats for the kids' nature boat race :-)

Olympic musings

I'm watching the Olympic games opening ceremony (whee!). Since China doesn't use a Western alphabet, and since the games are in China, the countries have been introduced in their order in China. This is based on the number of marks in the Chinese character for the country name.

The announcers mentioned this once, that I can tell (maybe more -- I've slept on and off during the opening ceremony because I've got an awful summer cold). Over and over, they've made comments about how "the countries aren't in alphabetical order" without bothering to mention the Chinese character issue again. This really bothers me. One thing -- it's really cool because the intro went from Australia to Zambia. What's not interesting about that?

In other Olympic news, the kid who walked in with Yao Ming is super cute. Apparently, the boy helped save some of his classmates during the recent earthquake. He helped out because he was a hall monitor, and he felt it was his roll to help others. How amazing!

As I get older, I am more and more interested in watching the Olympics. My flip answer is that I love sports, and the Olympics means that we have sports coverage available all day long on interesting sports. Going deeper, I also feel that the Olympics are really important for encouraging international cooperation. I sense that we still have many boundaries between nations even in this day of global travel. I look forward to seeing these boundaries become less important within my lifetime.

At the day camp I work at, we have lots of foreign children -- this week, we had 10 Korea children, 4 Japanese ones, 1 Chinese boy, 2 Jewish children, 1 Russian girl, 5 American kids. A few of the Korean kids barely spoke any English. And you know what? Two of the Korean kids who didn't speak English were my favorite kids. They behaved well, and they let me know when other kids needed a little discipline. They learned how to paddle just by watching me. They couldn't say my name, so they called me "teacher." The language very rarely served as a barrier; we found ways to communicate with just a few words, smiles, and gestures. I wish I could deliver a similar experience to everyone in the US so that our nation could learn that immigrants are nothing to fear; citizens of other nations have much to offer us, just as we have much to offer them. In the Olympic games, I see the seeds of possibility.

Bright orange never looked so good to me

During my first semester of graduate school, several of us took an ecology field course in a local field site. One of the girls in the class -- a friend of mine -- hailed from California, and her mother sent her a hunter-orange bandanna to use in the class. We all had a good laugh; the field site is fenced, private property, and we had no reason to think we might be unsafe. Was the city mom that worried about some twenty-somethings hanging out in the woods doing science?

When I hike, I typically wear one bright piece of clothing, but it's not to keep me safe from hunters. From an outdoor class, I learned see me, save me clothing is an important component of the hiking backpack. That way, you have something bright to wave for the helicopter to see you.

Perhaps it's time to rethink my perception of safety. Over the past weekend, a hiking women was shot and killed by a 14-year old bear hunter while she was hiking in Western Washington. While she was bending over, she was mistaken for a bear and fatally shot.

This is yet another example of improper gun use. According to a separate article, the shooter failed to positively identify his target with binoculars, which is the technique taught in the hunting safety class required to acquire a hunting license in Washington state.

The situation also brings up another concern: there is very little separation of uses in public lands. As we continue our revival of nature, I'm concerned that different land uses will come into conflict. People love to bring out bikes, guns, horses, camping equipment, model planes, dogs, and all other manner of items out of doors. We're decreasing our nature by pushing out with suburbs (tho, strangely, people who have spacious back yards seem to be the same people who feel the need to get out of doors even more to enjoy nature).

Overall, I'm not sure what the solution is. As a stop-gap measure, it is definitely important to be mindful and watchful while enjoying the outdoors. Even though we may feel in the middle of nowhere while tramping around in the woods, we need to remember that other people are there too.

And, of course, the most important part, as printed in the Seattle times:

Sgt. Bill Heinchk, of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said he always tells students in his hunters' safety class: "Once that gun goes off, there is no taking it back; everyone's lives are changed forever."

a little reminder to carpe diem

from our friends over at xkcd, a delightful web comic

Video post!

2 out of 5 for my 101 things

Recipe: Stuffed Squash Blossoms

A few weeks ago, I went over to my friend Kelly's house for lunch before we went to the Shadow Art Fair in Ypsi. She's got this lovely little garden, so we were able to make a gourmet meal of stuffed squash blossoms. I've recorded photographic evidence to share with all you fine folk. Check it out behind the cut:

101 things: month 4

I'm done with month 4 out of 33 total months of my 101 things list.

32. Get gmail inbox under 50 messages

For the past two weeks, I've kept my gmail inbox under 50 messages. quite exciting! I'm working my way down and hoping to go even lower. I typically keep it in the high 30s or low 40s right now.

36. Join a CSA OR go to the farmer’s market once a week for a month

I'm about to head to the Farmer's Market in Ann Arbor (just have to finish the post). I've been going almost weekly for the past two months. In weeks I didn't go, I either had enough produce or ate stuff from friends' gardens, so I am going to consider this goal completed. I would still like to join a CSA (community supported agriculture, where you subscribe to get weekly veggie deliveries) at some point.

54. Pay off my car/be debt free

Yay!

18. Visit three new cities in Michigan 2/3 completed

Ypsilanti, Michigan: I went to the Shadow Art Fair in Ypsi. Ypsi is the next town over, and I've always felt weird that I've never been there. While I didn't get to explore tons of the town, I did see quite a bit after driving around the city to get to the SAF. Highlight of visiting SAF: the weird cat with two guys inside. The guys throw a hairball out the mouth and poop out the back. Very fun!

Hartland, Michigan was the site of Motown Throwdown, the Ultimate frisbee tournament at which I volunteered last weekend. The tournament was a lot of fun, and the polo fields in Hartland are gorgeous.

this photo was taken by my friend Mark

89. go to three movies by myself 1/3 completed: Wall-E on 22 July 2008.

tally:
2 more in progress for 8 total in progress
3 more completed for 18 total completed