I got the first ripe tomato of the summer out of my garden today! Really good tomatoes are one of my favorite parts of summer. I can't wait to eat it later this evening with some fresh goat cheese and fresh basil. There was another tomato that was turning - it'll probably be ripe by the end of the weekend. Also, my banana peppers are looking full grown and like they may be starting to turn as well.

And in more of a 'what the hell do I do with all of this?' I planted mint earlier this summer, despite everyone's warnings that mint would take over, I thought that it wouldn't be that big a deal because I was planting it in a container, so it would be contained, right? I now have a lot of mint. Spearmint and orange mint. Anyone want some? I'd be happy to start harvesting it in bunches and giving it away right about now.

I'm home from CONvergence, and had a great time. More on that later. Right now I'm going head outside to spend the rest of the afternoon reading and napping in my hammock.

Oh, Michelle Bachmann. Who would we have to be an embarrassment to our state without you.

In case you haven't looked at what the intarwebs is going crazy about today, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has announced that he's switching to the Democratic party. (Aaaand suddenly the intarwebs no longer care about the swine flu..)

I had seen speculation that this would happen starting a few months back. If you look at the numbers for Pennsylvania, party affiliation has been swinging away from Republicans, leaving only the hard core conservatives as registered Republicans. Pennsylvania has closed primaries, meaning that Specter was likely going to lose the primary to the very conservative challenger he would face, Pat Toomey. I mentioned the speculation I'd seen to my parents, and they were skeptical. In addition, my mom mentioned that she would never be able to forgive him for his role in the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings.

Having been in early high school when that all occurred, I hadn't remembered that it was Specter who accused Anita Hill of perjuring herself. I wonder how many Democrats, like my mother, will remember this and hold it against him? This is pretty clearly an opportunistic move on Specter's part, and for all that, I'm still happy it's happening, but I wonder whether he'll really find much acceptance in the Democratic party.

I'm a little bit on the germphobic side to begin with, and the coverage of the flu outbreak is pushing that germphobia higher, even though I do know that most of it is straight up alarmism. Later this week, I'm flying to Califonia for my 10 year college reunion. I'm debating with myself - what is a reasonable precaution to take on the flight and at the airport and what would just be contributing to panic that many people already feel? Where does that line lie? At hand sanitizer? At facemasks? At an iron lung? (That last one is a joke, I'm not *that* germphobic. Yet.)

I saw a fuzzy little owlet earlier this evening! That kind of makes up for not seeing any woodcocks last night. I had seen an adult sized owl on this nest before, with the feathers looking a little patchy. I had initially thought that this might be the baby owl - great horned owls start nesting in January, and I'm not entirely sure how fast the babies grow. In any case, today when I was checking out the nest, there was no adult sized bird there. At first, I didn't think any owls were there at all, and then I noticed the fuzzy little owlet head pop up for a moment from where it was hunkered down.

The other thing I noticed is that the egrets have returned en masse - I saw about 6 of them tonight. As I was driving home at dusk, I saw one that was backlit so I could just see it's profile. Wading around in the water with it's long neck, it made me think of a brontosaurus*. I wonder how many people throughout history have had that exact thought?

*Yes, I know they've been reclassified as apatosaurus. But they'll always be brontosaurus to me - preschool education really sticks, folks.

This morning, you or someone you know may have woken up Canadian..



I do not qualify for dual citizenship. I guess I'll have to wait until Texas secedes to qualify for anything other than American citizenship.

Whose brilliant idea was it to close down one of the few remaining lanes on I-35W this evening right where traffic from I-94 was diverting from due to the overnight closure of the Lowry Tunnel? Do you seriously have no one who works there who actually lives in South Minneapolis, who could maybe give you a hint that this would be a serious traffic nightmare?

I am getting so tired of the "suprise - unannounced lane closure!" game that keeps happening on 35W. I realize it's under construction. I realize that I knew there was a lot of upcoming construction on the freeways nearby when I bought my house. But it's starting to feel like the powers-that-be actually go out of their way to make this even more of a pain to navigate.

I just finished up most of my Passover shopping. There were a couple of things I really don't need but was tempted to buy anyways:

Passover Ten Plagues Finger Puppets.

I love that 'hail' is represented by a puppet that looks like a cross between a troll doll and a creepy clown. With earmuffs.

Apples to Apples Jewish Edition.

I love Apples to Apples, but I'm not sure the appeal of a Jewish Edition would really carry through enough of my friends to make it worth buying. It did get me curious how many other themed editions were out there though, and there aren't very many. There's a bible edition and a yiddish edition.

With a spring warm-up in full swing, I decided to go spend part of yesterday afternoon searching for a great horned owl nest. Great horned owls start nesting in February, and when they're sitting on eggs is one of the best times to find their nests. There's a trail that's been purported to have an owl's nest in past years, and has a number of old trees with the types of hollows they sometimes like to use. I walked the trail in full without seeing an owl's nest, and I'm heading back the other way when I hear the loud drumming of a very large woodpecker. Looking around, I can't spot the woodpecker but I do spot a number of large holes in a dead tree near the trail. I stood there for about 10 minutes - the woodpecker would drum periodically and I'd look around for signs of movement without spotting anything. It was clearly fairly close, so this was kind of frustrating.

After it had been a long stretch without any drumming, I started moving along the trail again, but turned around when I heard the woodpecker drum again. As I'm slowly walking back towards where I saw the tree full of holes, I saw a pileated woodpecker swoop across the path and off into the forest. Looking toward where the woodpecker had flown from, I spotted a nesting hole high up in a tree. Just then, I heard the drumming again, emanating from the hole. Pileated woodpeckers either deepen an existing hole or make an entirely new one every year, and they lay eggs in April, so my guess is that they're at work on it. I am surprised that a pair of pileated's is nesting that close to a trail, because they're generally pretty shy. I do hope they stay there, because I'd love to be able to get a glimpse of the baby birds poking their heads out of the nesting hole.

One more post, then I'm going to bed..

This morning, when I was on my way back from running some errands, I was almost hit head-on by a car going the wrong way on Portland Avenue - a one-way street near where I live. I have seen people going the wrong way there before, but they're usually in the process of figuring out their mistake - slowing down and looking confused. The little old lady behind the wheel of this car did not appear to be confused, she appeared to be completely fucking oblivious. She was going pretty fast - I'd estimate about 40 mph. Which, it is a 35 mph street, but only if you're going the right direction! I saw her coming about a block away, and started slowing to try to get over. The lady going the wrong way, on the other hand, didn't slow at all. I almost wasn't able to get over in time, but someone in the next lane noticed what was happening and hit their brakes to let me in. Me and at least two other cars blared our horn at her, but she still didn't slow!

I was hepped on adrenaline at that point, and was about to go into a serious anxiety attack, so I pulled over to collect my nerves and watched her speed at least ten blocks without slowing or flinching. I wasn't sure whether to call the cops - on the one hand she was very clearly a danger, on the other hand it's unlikely they'd get there in time to do anything about her. The street goes on about another twenty blocks after that, and at the rate she was going she'd make pretty short work of that if she didn't catch any lights. The street was, fortunately, pretty empty behind me, and I hadn't been able to get her license or really even the make of her car, so I didn't think I'd be able to give the cops much to go on, so I didn't call. But I feel like I didn't do the right thing; I really hope she didn't hit anyone.

I've been meaning to post about this for the last week, but haven't had time.

About a week ago I went to see a touring production of Fiddler on the Roof, featuring Topol in the role of Tevye. My first thought when I heard that Topol was in the production was: wait, he's still alive? The movie version of Fiddler on the Roof came out in 1971, and I had assumed Topol was at least middle aged at that point. But I had assumed wrong - he was only 30 when the movie was shot, which stunned me. He is now 74, so he probably won't be performing that much more. Though, in spite of the fact that this is being touted as "Topol's farewell tour", Topol himself said in an interview that he'll be performing until he's physically incapable of it.

Given Topol's age, I wasn't sure how much to expect from it but was excited to go see him perform nonetheless. And he was fabulous! It occurred to me when I was watching that Tevye really could be pretty much any age from about 45 years old on, and though Topol played him as a pretty old Tevye, he was far more physical in the role than I expected someone in their 70's to be - dancing just as much and as well as the rest of the cast. I was duly impressed, and am really glad I went to see it.

After the show, I started wondering how much Topol's characterization of Tevye has changed over the years. I want to go back and rewatch the movie, which the play is still fresh in my mind, to see. I haven't yet, but I pulled up some clips from youTube. Based on the clips, I was surprised at how much his characterization hasn't changed. Even at the age of 30, Topol played a very old Tevye, and he played an old man really well.

The tour is going to be hitting a bunch of cities. So if you were a fan of the movie version of Fiddler, I highly recommend this stage production if it comes to your area.

Well, I suppose that I managed to get this far into the winter without getting sick is a testament to my immune system. My body finally succumbed to something eysterday - woke up with the feeling that I was getting sick, and in spite of my attempts to derail the bug with tea, juice, echinacea, zinc lozenges, and extra sleep I woke up sicker this morning and ended up staying home. I really can't afford the day off right now - I'm smack in the middle of some stuff at work that I'm already stretched for time on, but I also just couldn't foresee being able to get anything done if I had gone in. I've got a very sore throat, congestion and general achiness. I've managed to do a few low key bits of housework, but have had to stretch them out with naps in between because even a little bit of exertion is wearing me out a lot right now. I'm feeling better right now than I have all day though - I really hope this is the worst this cold gets, and that I'll be on my way back to health tomorrow.

One of my friend's companies, Interbots, is hiring. Copied verbatim from what my friend wrote:

Interbots is currently looking to add three Software Engineers to our team:

* Software Architect
* UI Programmer
* Web Architect

If you’re interested in the challenges and rewards of working for a young entertainment robotics startup in a close-knit team environment, please send your resume to jobs AT interbots DOT com

(Abi here)
I don't usually pimp out other people's job openings when I know very few people who are local to the company (Interbots is in Pittsburgh). But Interbots has an awesome end product - animatronic robots! I've been following its progress through my friend's blog pretty much since its inception, and have always been really impressed with what they've been able to do, even with limited resources. I'm totally looking forward to seeing what they'll be doing with more resources, and figured that I might have friends who are looking for an opportunity to move east, friends with friends out that direction, or friends who are interested enough in robotics that they'd be willing to relocate.

And even if you're not interested in or qualifed to work for them, you should go check out their youTube channel, because their robots are adorable.

And finally, as long as I'm talking about jobs, it's probably worth mentioning that my company is hiring for an analytical chemist position and for several formulation chemist/scientist positions. So if any of you know anyone who is job searching in those areas, I'd be happy to send them more information.

The parrot rescue I volunteer at is moving! The organization (www.maars.org) is closing on the new building next week (iirc), and will be moving out of the rental propeerty the birds have inhabited since 2000.

They could use help! I've listed below the dates that they will be packing and moving stuff. If you're able to help on any of those dates, let me know and I will hook you up with more information. The current (old) building is in St. Louis Park, and the new building is in Saint Paul, near the munction of 94 and 35E.

Friday, January 23, 2 - 9 PM Pack and prep for Saturday move.
Saturday, January 24, 9 AM - 6 PM Load, move and unload non-essential flock care items.
Sunday, January 25, 10 AM - 6 PM Unpack and set up new space.

Friday, January 30, 2 - 9 PM Prep flock for move.
Saturday, January 31, 9 AM - 6 PM Move flock and clean old space.

Last night on my way to a dinner I swung by the Kowalski's near me to pick up a can of cool whip to go with the chocolate icebox cake I'd made. That was all I needed, so it was the only thing I bought. When I went to pay, I realized that the teenaged clerk in check-out was blushing, a lot. I expect my evening was interesting in his head in ways that it wasn't in actuality.

I go to that Kowalski's often, and I've seen that clerk before. I wonder if he'll blush everytime I go in there now. I don't know how much to be amused and how much to feel sorry for the kid.

Since a vacation probably wouldn't really be complete without going somewhere, this afternoon I drove to Wabasha. My destination was the National Eagle Center, and the 5 mile stretch of the Mississippi that it's on that stays open during the winter. Typically, several hundred eagles winter along that stretch of the river.

I don't think I have ever driven through that part of Southeastern Minnesota and it's much prettier than I had anticipated. Lots of incredible bluffs and sweeping views of the Mississippi from hilltop descents. I've driven along the Wisconsin side, and while it was pretty I don't remember it being all that. I expect it's even prettier when the landscape isn't primarily brown and white, and I will have to drive it in a more colour-laden season at some point.

The eagle center itself was very nice but a little underwhelming for me. I have seen both golden and bald eagles up close more times than I can remember, so seeing their education birds was fun but not novel. They had four education eagles - 3 bald eagles and one golden eagle. It was a particularly beautiful golden, and among the bald eagles was Harriet - who has met Stephen Colbert and who has modeled for a Minnesota license plate. I watched one of their education programs on eagles, which was a great overview on bald eagle maturation, the history of the decline and rehabilition of the bald eagle population in the continental US, and the threats to eagles that still exist today (lead shot and and lead sinkers being the biggest threat to them). Then they brought in and fed three of the four education eagles, one at a time. The two bald eagles got sheepshead fish, and the golden got rabbit. When they held up the hunks of fish to show us what they'd be feeding the birds, the presenter asked us to guess what kind of fish it was. Among the guesses was walleye, which got a big laugh from the presenter. He said that the bulk of the fish they feed the birds is donated, mostly by local fishermen, and that they have never received a donation of walleye. On special occasions, the birds will get live fish, which are placed in their water bowls for them to 'catch'.

Looking out from the eagle center, I saw about 4 bald eagles close in. Most of the kids there were way more excited by a raccoon that was running around on the ice shelf edging the river. Farther away, I counted about fifteen eagles sitting in trees, visible with a spotting scope but not with binoculars. Driving back north along the river, I stopped at a number of pullouts in the stretch that was open, and saw at least 20 more bald eagles, including one that flew low over my car. I had really been hoping to see some golden eagles in the wild, as I've only ever seen them in captivity, but one of the pieces of information gleaned from the eagle center is that they don't tend to range close to water, and are found in the area farther back into the bluff country. From their website, I discovered that they're leading some training sessions for the golden eagle survey in early January, and I am tempted to go. I would probably be obligated to help with the survey then though, so I should probably figure out if that's something I'd actually be able to do (timewise and distance-wise) before I go take the training course.

This trip did make me think of the first time I ever saw bald eagles in the wild. I was about 12 or 13, and my fascination with birds was well underway. I'd done a report on bald eagles when I was in 6th grade, and I was so amazed by photos of 3 or 4 eagles sitting in one tree. I wasn't sure I would ever get to see an eagle in the wild, let alone that many at a shot. There was a town about half an hour away from Madison, Sauk City, where the Wisconsin River stayed open during the winter, and thus attracted eagles. We went once or twice and didn't see any eagles, then on our second or third try we saw two eagles sitting in two separate trees on a sandbar in the middle of the river. We went back about once every winter after that, and I think the most eagles we ever saw there was 3. Throughout my time in high school and college is when the bald eagle rehabilitation must have started to hit a critical number, and really underwent drastic improvement. Minnesota has the highest number of bald eagles of any state in the lower 48, and consequentially I see them often here, so seeing them has ceased to be that big a deal to me. I have never seen them in the concentration I saw them at today, even in Alaska, and that was pretty neat. I think the most I saw in one tree was 6. Thinking back on the 13 year old I was that was all agog over seeing two eagles at a distance, I feel a sense of keen pride in our country that we were able to bring this bird back from the brink.

While Black Friday might be a shitty day to go shopping, it seems that it is a great day to go to the DMV. I had to renew my driver's license, and get new tabs (well, new plates, as it turned out). I went to the one in the Sears in Saint Paul, figuring that it had a big enough parking lot that Black Friday shoppers wouldn't completely fill it up, and I was right. I found a parking spot immediately, walked past all the people waiting in absurd lines, up the escalator and to the nearly empty (but fully staffed) DMV. I was in and out of there in 15 minutes.

As it turned out, I did end up buying a few things. All of the long lines were downstairs, there were no lines at all in the upstairs "homestore" section next to the DMV. I have long needed to replace the horrible lime green and orange edged, kind of dirty kitchen curtains that were original to the house. But I've never found kitchen curtains that I really liked in the configuration that I need (2 sets of valance plus 24" long tiers, one set of 36" long tiers), and I couldn't bring myself to spend upwards of $100 to outfit my kitchen with curtains that I was lukewa rm about. But all of the kitchen curtains were 50% off, so I got some innocuous white ones for less than $50 for the complete set. I plan to remodel my kitchen in a few years - or at least start a remodel, as I might do it in phases. Once I have a kitchen I'm truly happy with, in colors that I've picked out, I can find some fabric I really like and make my own curtains.

Now to go try to get the rusty bolts off of my car so I can get my new license plates on.

The bar I'm in erupted in cheering. Not as much as they did in Chicago I'm sure, but wow.