These are the people in my neighborhood

Some shots from the today. The light was awesome because there were massive thunderstorms all around our neighborhood making a moody surreal sky, but they all skirted around us.

You're "Adorable"

Mike1071 left this comment on the post where I uploaded a picture of myself with Dawkins in the background at the American Atheists conference:

Mike1071 said...
"I've got to attend one of those. By the way, you're adorable!"

Guys, please refrain from posting any kinds of comments about a gals physical appearance unless your surfing a special kind of site, ehem...

It causes me, and I suspect other women bloggers, a particular kind of mental anguish that reads kinda like this:

"Who is this creep-o; why did I post a picture of myself anyway; now I have to worry about a stalker; wait, I'm being absurd, this guy was probably just trying to be nice; trying to be nice? really? ticks me off that being nice is telling me my photo is cute and not that my blog is smart; dick; hmmm... maybe I shouldn't be so hard on him, he probably didn't intend to piss me off; but that doesn't make it any less infuriating..."

This pendulatic thought guillotine just keeps swinging like a perpetual motion machine fueled by my feminist fury and my paranoid empathy.

Those who may be wondering why my feminist hackles would be raised by such a seemingly innocent comment should read up on sexual objectification and male privilege. I also wholeheartedly suggest reading the classic article Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack because it does a good job highlighting the subtly of discrimination that is almost ubiquitously overlooked by the privileged.

On a related note, this phenomenal letter to the editor was published in the June 2008 National Geographic:

"Robert Kunzig's otherwise excellent article was marred by one jarring description that added nothing to his narrative and was remarkable only for its incongruousness. I refer to the description of the Southern Nevada Water Authority's Pat Mulory as a 'crisp, tanned, fiftysomething blonde with a tailored look and a forceful personality.' It is notable that no other human being in the article is described by his or her appearance. At least one-half of your readership could live without the disappointing experience of being reminded, yet again, that its most notable attributes are cosmetic. For your information, what you probably want to know about me is that I am a petite, bespectacled brunette who would really appreciate being able to pick up your magazine without preparing for a possible gratuitous insult."

June Lehrman
Culver City, California"

LOL Bible

LOL Cats Version, Genesis, Chapter 3.



What an inane yet amusing project.

(Thanks for the link Where We Make Our Stand blog!)

The Birds and the Bees

Yesterday I went to Westwood Hills Nature Center to begin volunteer training to work with their red-tailed hawk, but the birding was so great we decided to reschedule the training and spend the afternoon outside bird watching.

Right now in Minnesota many of the northern lakes are still iced over so lots of the migrants are hanging out here, in the Twin Cities, until they melt. Yesterday I saw a yellow-rumped warbler, a ruby-crowned kinglet, and some sort of fly catcher - all in about 20 minutes of half-assed looking without binocs. For more interesting and accurate Minnesota birding information check out my new friend's Bird Chick Blog. 

Westwood Hills also has a growing bee keeping program and I snapped some photos as they checked for eggs.