Agelaius phoeniceus
Wed Jul 2, 2008

The male, puffing and flashing his epaulets to defend the nest of one if his females.


The female, us usual, doing all the work to build the nest, while the male stands around showing off.

Photography

Comments [2]

Mon Jun 30, 2008

I forgot to mention the email I received last week, on my birthday no less:

Greetings,

I am writing to let you know that you have completed all CBS degree requirements and cleared for graduation. Congratulations! Your academic transcript should now reflect the awarding of your degree. You can expect to receive a diploma in the mail within 6 weeks.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Name
Student Records Coordinator
College of Biological Sciences
University of Minnesota

School

Comments [6]

Salticus scenicus
Fri Jun 27, 2008

The friendly neighborhood zebra spider decided to enjoy his little mosquito while watching me work on my deck (And by "work on my deck" I mean "turn what should be a rather simple home maintenance job into a major ordeal.")

My deck is not all that big, so when it needed to be re-stained I figured I could handle it. I'm not too fussy about things like this, or worried about it being perfect. It just needed to be done. So since all my home-maintenance efforts can best be described as half-assed, this seemed like the perfect job for me to do myself and save a few bucks.

I went down to my friendly (and by "friendly" I mean "stupid and lame") neighborhood home improvement store. The one with the big orange stripe. I was not super fussy about color--just wanted something similar to what was already there which was sort of a reddish-brown (see picture of kid/cats napping on deck below). I picked up two cans of a pre-mixed color that looked close enough, called redwood. I got home, cleaned off the deck and then waited a few weeks until the weather guy forecasted two whole days in a row without rain. I cleaned off the deck again, and put the first coat of stain on. It seemed a little... um... bright. But I figured it would dry more muted and natural-looking. But no. I guess by "redwood" they really meant "orange."

So I took the second can back to the store to exchange it for something in the realm of dark brown to cover the hideous redwood. I grab a can of tintable stain and hand it to the girl at the paint desk and tell her I'd like it dyed "padre brown" from the color palette. Sure, no problem, it will just be a few minutes. So I go browse the sandpaper and return as she's handing me my can from under the counter.

I get home and decide to sand the orange deck a bit, enough to scuff it up so that the new brown will hopefully sink in and cover it a bit more. Did you all know that sanding a deck is like, twice as much work as actually staining a deck? Well it is.

So a week later I finally got the whole thing sanded and cleaned again. I open up my new can of stain and, guess what? It's white. It is a can of tintable base with no dye in it. So once again I bring it back to the store and tell them they seem to have forgotten to put the padre brown in my can. She takes it and I actually watch her punch in the formula and squirt the dye in. After she puts it in the shaker, she hands it to me and apologizes profusely (and by "apologizes profusely" I mean says "here you go").

Now I just get to wait for the rain to stop, again, and see what kind of color you get when you put a coat of padre brown over redwood/orange.

Photography

Comments [2]

Wed Jun 25, 2008

So it's no secret I have a bit of a sweet tooth. It's also no secret that I'm not shy about it. I have no problem taking the first piece of cake at a party, or asking someone "are you going to finish that?" when they leave a giant glob of frosting on their plate. Way back in the late 80's when I was an intern at Honeywell, I would arrive at work around 9:00 a.m., stop in my boss's office, and we'd immediately go scavenging on our regular route through the building, stopping by various areas to see if anyone brought donuts in that day to share with their group, or maybe for a meeting. The boxes were usually left open on a conference table somewhere, and we had no shame. Plus, we figured by 9:00, anyone who really wanted a donut from that group had already gotten one, and we really couldn't stand the thought of the rest going to waste.

So last night, Aaron and I went for a bike ride. On the way back, we stopped at the local ballfield to catch the end of the game. One of the teams playing was the "other" B-team in our organization, and so we know most of the players and families. One of the players was having a birthday and his dad, who I know fairly well but haven't seen for awhile, had brought a large box of cupcakes. When the game ended, Aaron immediately went over to talk with his friends on the team. and of course scammed a cupcake just by virtue of being in the right place at the right time as they were being passed out.

I chatted with a few parents, then finally made my way over to the dad with the cupcakes. I decided I was not going to outright ask him for one, but just figured he'd offer me one sooner or later if I stood there long enough. After all the initial pleasantries, I continued to chat with him. How was his wife doing, how was his son's injury from last year, how are the so-and-so's (mutual friends), how's your kid's team doing this year (already knew the answer), isn't this some nice summer weather we're having, blah blah blah. I continued to chat way beyond any amount of time I normally would have chatted with this man and yet, HE DID NOT OFFER ME A CUPCAKE! I kept glancing down at the box whenever he was speaking, I brought up his son's birthday a couple of times (hard to believe he's 15 already, driver's ed is coming up, boy he's getting tall, etc) and STILL! No offer of a cupcake.

I finally told him it was nice chatting and walked away, defeated and cupcakeless.

On the bike ride home, Aaron--assuming I had scammed one--said "Man, those were really good cupcakes, I'm glad we stopped." I shot him a look and told him I never got one and that he was a rotten kid for not sharing his with me.

Silliness

Comments [1]

Relaxing during a break between games
Mon Jun 23, 2008

You're looking at five members of the currently number one ranked 14-AA baseball team in the state of Minnesota. Although after this weekend's 5th place finish and last weekend's 2nd place finish, that ranking may be in jeopardy.

Offspring

Comments [1]

Ardea herodias
Fri Jun 20, 2008

Great blue heron, taken at Snail Lake Regional Park.

In breaking news, Kylie scored her first goal of the season during her soccer game last night. (And yes, I was awake to see it.)

Photography

Comments [1]

Tue Jun 17, 2008

At first this little pre-game ritual puzzled me. They all line up and a 15-year-old referee inspects the bottoms of their shoes. What the heck was he looking for/at? Apparently it's to make sure they are all wearing "legal" spikes, which in soccer lingo means they can't have a toe spike (like baseball shoes do).



Kylie is often on defense (pesky little thing that she is--interfering with other players' grand plans seems to come quite naturally to her. Who woulda thunk?). If the photo I took immediately after this one would have turned out, you would have seen her pretty much tackle the goalie. At least that's what it looked like--the goalie dove on the ground to stop the ball and Kylie's momentum carried her right into her and they wound up in a pile. The goalie, being about twice her size, thought she might have been attacked by a giant gnat.

I really wish I liked soccer better. It's fabulous exercise and Kylie is in far greater shape (aerobically) than either me or her brother. When we go jogging she can outrun both of us fairly effortlessly. But it's all I can do to make myself pay attention during those games. I am usually able to get a parking spot right at the edge of the field so if I doze off in my truck she doesn't see me.

Offspring

Comments [3]

Fri Jun 13, 2008

The kids and the cats (and this blogger) aren't the only ones that seem to be loafing around here these days.

Photography

Comments [0]

Mon Jun 9, 2008

This was the scene at my house after the last day of school got out on Friday. It foreshadows a seriously exciting summer ahead.

I have been intending to re-stain the above-pictured deck, but as yet can't seem to find two days in a row where there is no forecasted rain. In the mean time, I don't feel like hauling any deck furniture up there just to have to move it again later, so my poor deprived children are being forced to nap on the hard boards. I suggested to Aaron he go lie in the middle of the yard in the soft grass/dandelions like I do, but he thought that was just plain silly. And besides, he didn't want to disturb the cats.

Offspring

Comments [4]

Fri Jun 6, 2008

Stanley, trying to act all nonchalant, like he always takes a big circular route through the backyard to get to the woods.

Birds? What birds? I don't know what you're talking about.

Photography

Comments [2]