Skip to main content

This weekend, while wandering past the cheetah exhibit at the Living Desert, Martin and I learned some valuable life lessons:


1. 'Life is about experiences, not the things you pick up along the way' (spoken by a father to his five year old son).

2. 'Cheetah's don't cheat!' (spoken by the wife of speaker number one, to their three or four year old son).


On top of all this, I have expanded my vocubulary. Almost. That is, I acquired this most fantastic word:


ferruginous


but have no idea what it means. It described a hawk that we saw - caged but happy - during our dusty tour of the L.D. According to their website, they also have a ferruginous pygmy owl, but this I don't remember coming across. I suppose I also ought to clarify that the image above is of a Harris's Hawk which, though may be many wonderful things besides, is not particularly ferruginous.
More to follow.

Comments

  1. Hello, I'm Emily Clare.27 November, 2007 18:39

    You didn't look it up already??
    It's an adjective meaning:
    1. Of, containing, or similar to iron.
    2. Having the color of iron rust; reddish-brown.

    [From Latin ferrūginus, from ferrūgō, ferrūgin-, iron rust, from ferrum, iron.]

    I feel smarter already. I think we need to hang out more. :-P

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous29 November, 2007 00:47

    Oi, achei seu blog pelo google está bem interessante gostei desse post. Gostaria de falar sobre o CresceNet. O CresceNet é um provedor de internet discada que remunera seus usuários pelo tempo conectado. Exatamente isso que você leu, estão pagando para você conectar. O provedor paga 20 centavos por hora de conexão discada com ligação local para mais de 2100 cidades do Brasil. O CresceNet tem um acelerador de conexão, que deixa sua conexão até 10 vezes mais rápida. Quem utiliza banda larga pode lucrar também, basta se cadastrar no CresceNet e quando for dormir conectar por discada, é possível pagar a ADSL só com o dinheiro da discada. Nos horários de minuto único o gasto com telefone é mínimo e a remuneração do CresceNet generosa. Se você quiser linkar o Cresce.Net(www.provedorcrescenet.com) no seu blog eu ficaria agradecido, até mais e sucesso. If is possible add the CresceNet(www.provedorcrescenet.com) in your blogroll, I thank. Good bye friend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown29 November, 2007 10:33

    Oh dear. I wasn't quite able to understand that last comment. Translation, anyone?

    As for you, Ems, thanks for the research. I should hire you as my academic assistant. Next time I'm an academic. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonder Jens29 November, 2007 10:40

    Ha!

    I was going to say something about iron, but apparently Emily beat me.

    But I was still going to say iron, although I don't know what you would do with an iron hawk.

    Ohhh! Ohh. OOh! sounds like a super hero to me.

    Iron Hawk, with her talons of justice.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown29 November, 2007 16:40

    hmm.... i don't think i'd want to be the superhero Iron Hawk. I might rather be Night Hawk or Silver Hawk. something a little more sylph-like. In fact, mebbe I shouldn't be a superhero at all...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello, I'm Emily Clare.29 November, 2007 19:05

    Can you flag a comment? I think you got spammed! In another language, except for that last sentence...
    Iron Hawk is an AWESOME super hero name!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

because you were all wondering what I'm writing my dissertation on, here's a brief synopsis of my 'research context': When James Macpherson published his Fragments of Ancient Poetry in 1760, he went to great lengths to make the Fragments appear to be authentic remains of an ancient, heroic oral tradition. His reasons for this were largely political, and as such, influenced the content of the epics themselves. As an attempt to establish a particularly Scottish identity, the poems were quite effective. However, to do so required both a simplification and a manipulation of traditional mythology. Stripped of anagogical significance, the Ossian epics more or less represented an Enlightenment version of history, tradition, and mythic heritage. The stories themselves were changed by their very purpose and in turn changed the manner of representing myth in future narratives. Moreover, the emphasis on the Ossian epics as authentic tales from the past, as ‘fragments,’ served...
6 comments
Read more

window in the sub

Dear Nathaniel, I am microwaving pie that Mom bought up in Oak Glen this week on her way home from the orthodontist. As I put it in the microwave, I was full of sadness that I was not in Oak Glen with her. Why did I not go? I was working. I want to see the trees turn. I want to wander slowly through autumnal gift shops. Under the water, you cannot sense the approach of the seasons. Even here it is difficult because, after all, it's California. But I can still sense it. After three seasons in Illinois and one in Scotland, it must be with me for good. Or at least for a while. Because I am all abuzz with eagerness for fall and winter, for turkeys and dried leaves and Santa. I should start cooking again this fall. Fall foods are my favorite. Baked squash dripping with melted butter and brown sugar, pumpkin soup... this year, if I have enough money, I will put together a holiday dinner for my friends. And we will drink Scandinavian mulled wine, which is the most wonderful thing I have e...
13 comments
Read more

Book of the Week: The Hunger Games

If Cynthia Voigt had written science fiction, it probably would have looked something like The Hunger Games . In Suzanne Collins's newest novel, we meet a protagonist who seems remarkably familiar. Like Voigt's heroines, we understand her story because she seems so much like ourselves - no matter how strenuous or bizarre the circumstances, we feel certain our story would be the same. We, too, would have those resources, that practicality, that certain sensitivity that separates us from the masses. I don't say this critically - it is the book's strongest feature that it identifies with every one of its readers and says 'this could be your story.' It is not just its portrayal of Katniss Everdeen, the novel's heroine, that is familiar. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic North American nation, Panem. It is a country held together by fear - a fear instilled by the capitol into each of its twelve districts and maintained by a yearly event called the Hunge...
5 comments
Read more