No More Animals!

I've now read two articles today alone that discuss the idea that animals have become more human-like, even to the point that some animals have cognitive awareness of self and can identify themselves in a mirror. Not just chimpanzees, which have forever been the only animals to display human-like behavior. Now scientists think that elephants might have the ability to identify themselves (read this article).

Yesterday I read an article about how a honeybees genome sequence is more similar to a humans than any other insect. I know that sounds extremely boring, but this article says "Understanding the bee genome might lead to important insights into common mental and brain disorders, such as depression, schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s disease. The bee genome also might provide an important window into immunity and aging." I suppose it's a bit like mice and the fact that we can use them in studies to see how humans might react to drugs and to diseases like cancer, but it's still pretty amazing that researchers can use the DNA of a bee to determine how illnesses can affect humans. Of course, keep in mind that the only insects to be sequenced so far are the mosquito and the fruit fly.

Is it only a matter of time before we realize that animals are smarter and more useful than we ever imaged? I don't think we're quite there yet, at least I don't want to admit that we might be, since I don't really have a huge affection for animals. But I think it's quite possible that we've underestimated the ability of animals.

Word of the Day: Milestone

Milestone: a significant event or stage in the life, progress, development, or the like of a person, nation, etc.: Her getting the job of supervisor was a milestone in her career.

This is my 201st post. I knew the blog had come full circle when someone I don't know found photos of Michelle and me online and then somehow figured out where we work and tracked us down. All because of this darn blog that I can't even remember why I started. The photo in question is last year's Steve-o-ween photos. Turns out some people were googling Steveoween looking for photos and came across my blog (because I'm popular like that) and then we also learned that someone who helps plan the party every year is from Walla Walla. It's a really small world.

So, this year Steve-o-ween is no more. It was called 1324-o-ween or something not nearly as witty. I couldn't stand the thought of supporting a party that ditched Steve, so I went to some other parties instead. The first, on Friday, was a really large event. The hosts dressed as Motley Crew and spent the latter part of the event throwing waffles to an eager crowd. The second, on Saturday, was the scariest halloween party ever. I went as a Corpse Bride and won 2nd place for best costume. Whoo HOO!!

And here is my favorite photo of all -- a duel between 007 and Rainbow Brite.

More Clouds

As you may remember from previous posts, I once had a major crush on taking photos of clouds. I think I posted a dozen or so on here. Well, here's the king of all cloud photos. This was taken from the plane when we went to Fort Lauderdale earlier this month...

Pumpkin Picking

This post is going to be mostly photos. Last weekend we went on a trip to the Great Pumpkin Patch, where we picked out many lovely future jack-o-lanterns. Homestead Farms is the best place for pumpkin picking in the area. I go there for apples too, but their pumpkin patch is awesome.


Cassie and I agreed, cut-out photo ops are the best!


And here they are, all carved up

Word of the Day: Malcontent

malcontent
1. One who is discontented or dissatisfied

I have for a very long time sung the praises of the best music download site in the world, a site that charges (it professes legally) something like .10 cents per song and $1.28 for an album. I know this sounds ridiculously illegal, and most English sites charge $1 a song. But our IPR rules are must more stringent and less forgiving and, well, basically Napster ruined it for everyone a long time ago.

But now, after years of buying music for next to nothing, the pressure on this site to shut down is so great that they are revamping their website to comply with the rules, though only slightly. They will apparently now offer free albums but you can only use their software to play it -- which means no more downloading to the MP3 player. So what is the point of that? Sure it keeps people from distributing more copies of the music that was once delivered as an mp3. But will people really go for this? We are picky. We are demanding. And we want music for the sole reason of playing it on our way to work on the metro and running on the treadmill.

So, thus, I am really malconent at the idea of my perfect Russian music site changing. Who needs change anyway? Why can't we keep things exactly the same forever? Is that really too much to ask?

Word of the Day: NOTHING

I don't have anything profound to say, but I am forcing myself to find something even horribly mundane to write about because I am forced to sit in my cubical of hell for another 1 hour, 18 minutes before I can escape the miserable boredom that sinks in around 3:28 every single friday afternoon.

I spent a few long minutes playing around with the random insult generator but I got a little annoyed when all it would randomly spit out was "You should find out if your university has a refund policy." I think I started to take it persoanlly. Then I tried to see who my soul mate was after the very same insulting website told me it could pinpoint it with great accuracy. I learned that he will have brown, green or blue eyes and his name with start with a U, Z or F. Yeah. Ok.

This one is kinda fun -- you are presented with two bad things and you have to determine which of them is the worst.

It rains every day of your beach vacation.
The weather is perfect, but your hotel room smells like sour feet.

Your boss gives you a 10% pay cut.
Your boss advises you to work 10 extra hours per week.

Here's one I just made up myself:
You work in an office the size of a small bedroom but there are no windows.
You work in a very small cube situated along a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows.

I'm taking Michelle out to dinner and a movie for her birthday tonight in Dupont Circle. Maybe that's why I'm so bored today -- there's something really fun to look forward to.

Word of the Day: Inscrutable

inscrutable:
Difficult to fathom or understand; difficult to be explained or accounted for satisfactorily; obscure; incomprehensible; impenetrable.

Finally, after many days and nights of wonderment, I have discovered what those three incredibly vexing steel spears are that stick up into the sky near Arlington National Cemetary and the Pentagon. I have literally spent hours in dazed confusion over the seemingly random "art" that someone must think is worthy of displaying so prominently along 395 for everyone to see. As this Washington Post article puts it, "From a distance they look like the ribs of a crown roast, or a metallic flower or the graceful ends of a scallion sliced for the crudites platter."

It is none other than the new Air Force Memorial.

I am reminded again of a game in the Mole when I see these spears. The game was for half the team to create a work of art that would be displayed in a gallery opening alongside actual works of professional artists. They created this fabulous treasure chest with a boxing glove on a chain coming out of it -- I think you have to see it to appreciate it. Anyway, they ruined it by putting jewels just out of reach of the glove, which complicated it too much and destroyed the vision. This memorial does that to me. It might have been an interesting concept if it didn't include all these extra elements that complicate it (read the article for more detail). And for the fact that driving by on the freeway, there's no earthly way to tell what it is, and believe me, it's not apparent. To me it looks like a student art project gone wrong.

Word of the Day: Chocolate

I was devastated to learn just now that I am missing the 23rd Annual Chocolate Festival in Lexington market in Baltimore this weekend. I was wondering if such a festival existed, after nearly consuming an entire Caramello (not the regular small size, I admit). Of all the chocolate in the world, I might have the biggest weakness for Caramello. With exception of the insanely delicious caramels I found in a small shop in Brussels (where I learned the true meaning of "to die for").

The festival claims to offer lots of chocolate samples, but the best part, by far, is the chocolate eating contest. Imagine the stomachache that would produce! I mean hotdog eating is bad enough, but stuffing multiple chocolates in your mouth at one time invokes scary memories of the time on Amazing Race when they had to consume hundreds of truffles in search of one that had a white chocolate center.

And speaking of white chocolate, I took a survey to find out what kind of chocolate I was and as it turns out, I am...

You are White Chocolate

You have a strong feminine side with a good bit of innocence thrown in. Whether your girlish ways are an act or not, men like to take care of you. You are an understated beauty, and your power is often underestimated!

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

Word of the Day: Incompetence

in‧com‧pe‧tence 
1. the quality or condition of being incompetent; lack of ability.

Finally we have an explanation for why all those terrible singers go on the American Idol tryouts even though they can't carry a note. Can they not hear for themselves just how awful they are? I've always wondered, and now we have an answer...

People who do things badly, Dunning has found in studies conducted with a graduate student, Justin Kruger, are usually supremely confident of their abilities -- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well.

So now I can imagine why people who really can't paint keep on doing it, and why there are so many horrible writers trying to get their novels published. The problem this poses, particularly in terms of writing, is that it's possible that my writing sucks too and I just don't know it. I can be assured by one thing -- I don't think my writing is all that good, and if I was incompetent I would think it was wonderful. So I don't think I'm afflicted by this.

"Incompetent individuals were less able to recognize competence in others," the researchers concluded.

My Space? Are you serious?

At least eight people in the past few months have asked me if I have a My Space page. Seriously, wasn't My Space a thing like 10 years ago, and shouldn't we be over it by now? According to a friend of mine, also a staunch participater in the My Space movement, this is a great way to get to know people. He suggests I add random people we know, but who do not know me. I don't know about that. Sounds sketchy.

So apparently it's a social hotbed for all the "cool" people who attend my church, McLean Bible's Frontline. And if I don't get on it, I'm going to be left in the dust of special society. Should I, or shouldn't I? That is the question.

Where to find me on MySpace