Appalucie

WIP4: Outcasts

2008-03-06T22:57:00.003-05:00

this is the longest part of a painting. I think I'm almost done, but there is so much left to do. Not finished yet. I fixed up the figures a bit and added texture and color to the tree. All that remains is to fix the face of the boy on the left, and add figures in the distance.

WIP3: Outcasts

2008-02-25T22:52:00.003-05:00

This one's almost done. I need to put final refinements on the figures (clothing and faces), as well as the figures off in the distance. The tree needs a little stabilization at the base, too.

WIP2: Outcasts

2008-02-14T08:53:00.001-05:00

Same as before, with more stuff in it.

WIP: Outcasts

2008-02-07T13:21:00.000-05:00

Here's my latest, begun last week in painting class. This is another in my series from cherry blossom season at the Tidal Basin. I've had trouble in the past with how to handle foreground, but this is turning out well so far. The next step will be filling in the background, and fixing up the path. Sorry about the reflection on the left side of the painting; with a canvas this size it's hard to eliminate shine.

I've included the first stage photo as well as the current one. Oil on canvas, 29" x 22".

Finished!

2008-01-31T13:19:00.000-05:00

It's done! I really like how this one turned out, and I think will submit it to the Student Art Show at the Torpedo Factory. Oil on canvas, 20" x 16. It needs a title and I'm taking suggestions. :) I also started a new large format painting in the same series, and will be posting my work so far later today.

in the final stretch

2008-01-17T13:43:00.000-05:00

The cherry blossoms painting is almost done! I glazed the sky so it has a warmer glow, re-balanced the lights and shadows on the grass, and did more work on the figures. All that remains is to finesse the canopy so it looks less flat, and add just a few touches to the figures.

Jefferson last stages

2007-12-06T16:38:00.000-05:00

she is nearing completion! Got in the stairs and the long foreground shadows. The memorial needs just a little tweaking, and the front stairs need a little lightening so they look more like marble. Then I get to redo all the figures. Nearly there!

Must. Stop. Noodling!

2007-11-18T15:35:00.000-05:00

I think the memorial is looking pretty good at this point. Now if only I can stop myself from picking at it. Want to add figures! painting little people is dessert.

Weekly update

2007-11-17T16:17:00.000-05:00

Current state of my two works in progress. The Jefferson Memorial painting is about twice the size of the cherry blossom painting.

getting my groove back

2007-11-04T12:59:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile, but I'm back in painting class, and here's my latest WIP. This is another scene from cherry blossom season in DC. Oil, 20" x 16". Comments welcome.

Remedial still life

2007-07-08T21:14:00.000-04:00

OK, not really remedial. I signed up for a summer painting class at the Art League, and it turns out everyone else in the class is a beginner. I talked to the instructor, and hopefully I'll be able to do some more advanced stuff as time goes on. I guess the main point of this class will be to keep me in practice and work on my still life skills. This is your standard bunch of white objects painted in monochrome, slapped together in about 1.5 hours. Oil on paper, about 12" x 16".

WIP3: Jefferson Sunset

2007-06-26T21:36:00.000-04:00

Jefferson Memorial at sunset, in progress. I added a glaze to adjust the color, and I can't seem to get a photo without a shine on the glaze. Oh well. Comments welcome.

WIP2: Jefferson Sunset

2007-06-14T19:00:00.000-04:00

The current state of Jefferson Sunset. Oil on canvas, 24" x 36". Click for full view

Cherry Blossoms

2007-06-05T08:36:00.000-04:00

it's done! Sunset at the Tidal Basin, spring 2007. Oil, 16" x 20".

Me & Aaron

2007-04-09T20:19:00.000-04:00

Annual Library Garden 2

2007-03-25T15:11:00.000-04:00

This is the Annual Library Garden in Washington, DC, located near the Potomac River and the Tidal Basin (which you can see in the background). This view is from the opposite side of the garden from the other painting I did, which you can see here.

Oil, 12" x 16".

WIP2: Snow Bug

2007-03-22T12:55:00.000-04:00

It's starting to feel like spring so I thought I'd squeeze out a snowscape while I was still in a winter mood. This is a scene from my neighborhood. I thought this painting was finished but decided I want to rework the branches, so it's not done yet. Oil, 10" x 8".

Washington Post Box

2007-03-16T08:58:00.000-04:00

Done. This is a corner in my neighborhood. South Columbus, obviously. Oil, 6" x 8".

Path to Murren 07

2007-03-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

This was an experiment to see the difference between oil and watercolor. I first used this reference photo for Path to Murren, a watercolor I did years ago.

So what did I learn? For one thing, if you do a successful painting, don't do it again -- you won't recapture the magic of the first time!

I took the reference photo in Gimmelwald, Switzerland.

Oil, 16" x 20".

WIP2: Andrea

2007-03-06T16:21:00.000-05:00

update of my final painting for my life drawing class. That class kicked my butt. I still want to do some work on this but it's going really well. Oil, 16" x 20".

Egg in Glass

2007-02-24T11:31:00.000-05:00

I think it's done! Oil on wood panel, 8" x 10".

Egg

2007-02-19T10:04:00.000-05:00

Is my egg done? I think it might be. Oil on canvas, 16"x 20".

Still-etto Life, revised

2007-02-12T00:45:00.000-05:00

I did some additional work on my paper-wrapped stiletto. Satisfied now that it's done. I think this is the painting I will submit to the student show later this month. Also, someone already offered to buy it. :)

A good start makes all the difference

2007-02-06T15:28:00.000-05:00

New model, new pose for the next three weeks (thank goodness). I like this model a lot -- she has a beautiful body and fair skin that picks up color reflections very well. This week Danni gave me hell for painting too thin, like watercolor, which makes my paintings look too uniform and streaky. So now I am attempting to paint thicker and move more slowly. It seems to be working. Oil, 16" x 20".

Better?

2007-02-05T23:11:00.000-05:00

OK, made some changes based on your feedback. Getting better? I'm still wavering over the coffee press, so a ghost of it is still there. And once again, I haven't gotten into all of the detail.

New sketches

2007-01-30T23:30:00.000-05:00

Some quick 15-minute sketches from my figure painting class. Our model was wearing a pair of black pants used for some kind of Japanese martial arts (don't know what they're called). I *think* I'm starting to make progress.

Another week, another try

2007-01-25T21:14:00.000-05:00

My second attempt at the same pose as before. I think this one went a little better. Not finished yet, obviously. Oil on canvas, 16" x 20".

Mired in Muck

2007-01-17T23:58:00.000-05:00

This week's effort. Not as bad as I initially thought, but I'm definitely not happy with it.

New Year, new class

2007-01-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

This week I started my new figure painting class. I'm still struggling, so in this blog I'll (hopefully) be recording my progress. Here are my first attempts.

What I know I'm doing wrong:
-Incorrect grip on the brush (which my teacher corrected)
-coming to class with untoned canvases
-mixing paints on a white palette (need a darker palette to mix colors properly)
-no clue how to paint a face
-no sense of emphasis or focal points

What I know I'm doing right:
-showing the mass, proportion, and weight of the figure
-decent job of choosing colors

Danni, the teacher, did say "looks nice" when she saw one of my figures, which was encouraging; and another student told me I looked like I was "holding my own" in spite of being a beginner. Must hang on to these positive comments.

Workshop paintings, part deux

2006-12-04T19:59:00.000-05:00

More paintings from the workshop. Haven't decided yet whether I like the others enough to post them.

Oil Sketch Figure Painting Workshop

2006-12-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

Here's my first painting from this weekend's workshop. The idea was to paint the figure in short poses (15-30 minutes) concentrating on large light and shadow shapes, and rendering warm and cool areas. It was more of an exercise than an opportunity to produce polished work, so they all look a little rough. I'm mostly happy with my anatomy and proportions; the hardest part was finding the warm and cool areas of the flesh tones.

...and a leftover

2006-11-25T14:42:00.000-05:00

This is a drawing from a few weeks ago that I totally forgot about. Charcoal on Strathmore paper, 18" x 24".

The end of life drawing

2006-11-25T14:28:00.000-05:00

Last figure drawing class was today. I'll miss it. Next quarter, I'll be trying figure painting, which will be quite a challenge.

Two drawings from today, both in gouache on Canson paper. Priscilla, my teacher, tried to convince me to like the second one, but I don't know. It's definitely the weaker of the two.

Lotus Flower

2006-11-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

Here's the final product. There's a slightly different picture in my knitting gallery.

Lotus Flower, finished

2006-11-23T11:50:00.000-05:00

My newest knitted object, and my first ever Niebling design. "Lotus Flower" tablecloth, 43" diameter, size 20 DMC Cebelia thread, size 2 needles. Tomorrow when it's dry, I'll take pictures of it on my table.

See my knitting gallery for pictures.

Week 8: warmups

2006-11-18T16:10:00.000-05:00

These are a series of figure drawing exercises, just to show you how I spend a three hour class. All of these are done before the final drawing. All exercises are conte crayon on newsprint.

Week 8

2006-11-18T15:20:00.000-05:00

my latest figure drawing. Gouache on brown Canson paper.

Oh my gouache!

2006-11-11T15:28:00.000-05:00

More life drawings. These were done in black/white gouache on Canson mi-teintes paper.

Life Drawings

2006-11-04T22:20:00.000-05:00

I've been taking Life Drawing for the last couple of months, and, well, I suck. It's been a decade since I last did it, and it shows. The last two weeks, finally, I have a series of gesture drawings I don't totally hate. Here's the first set. Model was Ryan. Black chalk on newsprint, 18" x 24".

WIP: Annual Library pt 2

2006-08-23T01:36:00.000-04:00

This is the same garden, viewed from the opposite side. This time I am including earlier stages of the painting, just for fun, along with the reference photo. 12" x 16, oil on canvas.

Annual Library

2006-08-17T23:47:00.000-04:00

Finished, I think. Oil on canvas, 12" x 16".

WIP2: Annual Library

2006-08-07T02:01:00.000-04:00

We're getting there. I'm working the flowers one color at a time. Comments welcome.

WIP: Annual Library

2006-08-05T19:25:00.000-04:00

This morning I got lost in DC and happened to drive by a gorgeous flower garden between the Tidal Basin and the Washington Monument, which I never noticed before. It's called the Annual Library, which I presume means all the flowers are annuals. Started this painting today in art class and hope to finish it in the next few days. Yes, I've done everything but the flowers. Painting is shown below with the original snapshot I worked from. Oil, 12" x 16".

Green Spring Gardens

2006-08-05T10:27:00.000-04:00

My final effort from my plein air painting class. This is the manor house at Green Spring Gardens park in Annandale, VA.

Oronoco Bay

2006-07-22T14:38:00.000-04:00

I painted this little picture of Oronoco Bay in Old Town Alexandria this morning in my plein air class. It was a gray day and we thought it might rain, but luckily the weather held up. Oil on board, 6" x 8".

Coneflowers

2006-07-21T23:46:00.000-04:00

Another mini painting of a scene in my neighborhood. Oil on board, 6" x 8".

Yellow Lines

2006-07-19T01:30:00.000-04:00

Miniature painting of a traffic island in my neighborhood. Oil on board, 5" x 7".

Walnut Tree (finished)

2006-07-17T22:33:00.000-04:00

Le painting de Walnut Tree, c'est fini. Commentez s'il vous plait!

oil on board, 12" x 16", plein air.

Purple Rain (complete)

2006-07-15T19:09:00.000-04:00

I think it's done. Comments welcome. Oil on board, 12" x 16", plein air.

Gimmelwald pt 8

2006-07-09T17:39:00.000-04:00

OK, I made some minor changes and now I'm done with it.

WIP: Walnut Tree

2006-07-01T13:46:00.000-04:00

At least, I think it's a walnut tree. Started this morning at River Farm in Alexandria (an estate once owned by George Washington). Yeah, it's kind of dark -- I haven't put the lighter colors in yet, and they're definitely needed for the sunny effect. Comments welcomd, along with ideas on how to get the bugs off. Ah, the perils of working outdoors. Note to self: Next time, find a spot where I don't ahve to stand in the sun for three hours. (me: But it was a nice view!)

Here's a picture of the site, with my fellow classmates. As you can see, painting is largely make believe -- sometimes you have to pretend things aren't there at all. :) That's my painting, in its early stages, in the bottom right corner.

Gray day on the Potomac

2006-06-24T14:10:00.000-04:00

Had my first plein air (that's outdoors, for those who don't know) landscape class today. It was almost a disaster. We were supposed to go to the boathouse in Georgetown, but it looked like rain, so we stuck around the art league building. I could see that a lot of the other students were very experienced, which was a bit intimidating. After I got there, I discovered I forgot my white paint, which is the one color you can't paint without; and I use a different type of paint as everyone else, so I couldn't borrow it. Finally, the teacher, Sarah Poly, was nice enough to lend me her entire paintbox, which was wonderful. I ended up having only 1.25 hours to paint, with unfamiliar materials, and I just attacked the canvas without having time to think. There's a lot I didn't know, and for the first 75% of the class, I thought it was going to be a disaster of a painting, but I'm happy with the final result. After all that, I'm proud to say that during the critique, Sarah used my painting as the best example of how to make it work. :)

I can really see my watercolor past coming to haunt me in this one. I'm including a photo of the scene where I was working. The location is a small park in Alexandria at the end of Duke St. Note to self: Even when the sky looks like this, I can still get a heckuva sunburn. Bringing #50 sunblock next time. Oil paint, 9" x 12".

Murren 1

2006-06-20T18:26:00.000-04:00

My latest landscape in progress. If you recognize the image, I did the same image in watercolor a few years ago. This time I want to see how it looks in oil. Painting is included with the original source image, below, which is a photo I took in Switzerland. The location is a path between the towns of Gimmelwald and Murren.

Gimmelwald pt 7

2006-06-06T07:18:00.000-04:00

Is it done? Maybe. This is the time to comment! What do you think?

Gimmelwald pt 6

2006-05-30T17:46:00.000-04:00

Not done yet, but getting there. Colin, I put in your damn fence. ;)

Gimmelwald pt 5

2006-05-23T08:29:00.000-04:00

OK, it's taking longer than I thought, but, it's a good thing to slow down and do it right.

Gimmelwald pt 4

2006-05-20T19:47:00.000-04:00

The current stage of progress. I added green to the mountains and brightened the foreground to give it better dimensionality. Details will be added back to the foreground later. I still need to complete the distant mountains and push them back further. Comments welcome.

Gimmelwald pt 3

2006-05-19T08:34:00.000-04:00

Did more work on the hillside and mountains. I will need to ask my teacher for help on the distant mountains, I think. Not happy with some of the highlights on the trees, but I'll work on that this weekend.

What I did on my Spring Vacation

2006-05-16T16:19:00.000-04:00

Just got back from spending my birthday weekend in Melbourne Beach, FL, with a bunch of friends. Had a wonderful time and a great birthday. I did these two sketches after running out of reading material. The first is the view off the balcony, and the second is a drawing of some small objects I found at low tide. Hope you enjoy.

WIP: Gimmelwald

2006-05-09T13:22:00.000-04:00

This is my first oil landscape. It's still a work in progress, of course. This is my underpainting, which I did in Burnt Umber. I've included the reference photo, which I took in Gimmelwald, Switzerland in 1991. I had to add to the bottom of the image since the aspect ratio of the photo and the canvas aren't the same. Comments welcome, as usual.

Three Amigos - complete

2006-05-05T00:54:00.000-04:00

Finished. I think.

Three Amigos

2006-05-01T22:37:00.000-04:00

This is a work in progress, which gave me huge headaches when I first started it. I think I like it now. Still needs work on the background. Oil, 12" x 16".

Limited palette

2006-04-25T00:48:00.000-04:00

My first art effort in color in about ten years. All of the objects were white. The assignment was to paint with a limited palette (in my case, black, white, ultramarine, and magenta), and concentrate on values and reflected color while disregarding the real color of the objects. Oil, 12" x 16".

2006-04-11T08:16:00.000-04:00

I recently started taking an oil painting class, something I haven't done in twenty years. It's pretty awkward right now, but I love it. This was my first effort, which took about an hour, and my teacher said nice things about it. There is tons to learn about color and so on, but I think I can do this.

I'm a Deviant!

2006-03-24T21:13:00.000-05:00

I just opened an account at DeviantArt.com. Come over there and visit me now and then (please!).

This is a painting from my grad school days. Cornell students will recognize it as a parking lot on Tower Road. You can see the Plant Sciences greenhouses in the background. Watercolor, plein air.

Studies in composition

2006-02-21T01:11:00.000-05:00

These are small (1-3") sketches that we did in class to practice composition. Out of a table full of small objects, we drew picked out compositions and drew thumbnail silhouettes, changing familiar shapes into abstractions.

Angel 1

2006-02-13T22:30:00.000-05:00

My masterpiece from tonight. This plaster angel is a piece of architectural salvage. He is lit from below and drawn on black paper with white pencil. The technique was a lot more enjoyable than I expected. I've looked at this drawing too long to know whether I like it. Yes, he does have an Elvis pompadour. Next week is the deadline for submissions to the student show. This might be the one I submit.

Life Drawing #1

2006-02-11T15:10:00.000-05:00

Went to a life drawing class for the first time in about nine years. It took awhile to warm up, and my old proportion issues are still there, but I think I got something decent. This drawing was done in charcoal and took about 45 minutes. Comments welcome.

Back to the charcoal

2006-01-23T22:39:00.000-05:00

Finally, in my new class, I turned out a drawing that doesn't completely suck. I think. If you saw my hack job from last week, you'd understand.

Happy New Year! and gallery update

2006-01-05T21:38:00.000-05:00

I finally finished my second Springtime shawl, which you can see in my knitting gallery. It's modeled here by my lovely friend Frances.

Happy Holidays!

2005-12-20T00:07:00.000-05:00

Hope Santa brings you everything you asked for.

Name. That. Skull!

2005-12-09T22:56:00.000-05:00

For years I have asked for animal skulls for Christmas. This year, I finally got one! Thanks to colinski for this fantastic specimen. I removed his festive red hair ribbon for this portrait.

who can identify the animal?

Dental formula = I 3/3 C 1/1 Pm 3/3 M 1/2 x 2 = 34
Length = 78mm

The Big Dig pt 1

2005-11-27T23:17:00.000-05:00

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I found some old (old!) artwork at my parents' house. This is from my first drawing class in 1989. The assignment was to take a pen and ink line drawing by an old master (don't ask me who this was), and reinterpret it by shading with black and white chalk. Background is ink wash.

2005-11-22T00:09:00.000-05:00

Final art class tonight. I thought I couldn't do ink drawing, but I can! My teacher sat down and showed me how. It took a couple of attempts, but I got it. I'm so proud. :)

I can't believe the class is over! what will I do?

Fun with chrome and charcoal

2005-11-12T23:13:00.000-05:00

Today's masterpiece. I recently started taking drawing class for the first time in, oh, ten years or so. I'm definitely rusty, but so far I'm doing better than expected. Constructive criticism is invited. Of the ones I've posted, which do you think is the best?

All drawings are charcoal on paper, and each one took about two hours. You can probably pick out where I was in the drawing when time ran out.

In the drawing below, I want to point out that I drew the flower using only my eraser, and I like how that turned out.

Recent sketches

2005-11-10T23:20:00.000-05:00

2005-10-10T22:06:00.000-04:00

That was scary. After doing loads of research and going back and forth a hundred times, I have just bought my very first new car: a 2006 Toyota Matrix. I love it. I also liked the Ford Focus, and if a local dealer had had one on the lot, I probably would have bought it, but no such luck. The Toyota is great. I am still reeling from sticker shock, but I'm sure I'll get over it, eventually.

Check out the odometer. The total mileage is the number on top.

I won!

2005-09-25T23:05:00.000-04:00

I guess I shot pretty high for my first knitting competition ... I entered my blue shawl in the Virginia State Fair. I hoped to do well, but never expected to win the whole damn thing. YEAH!

See me with my ribbons on my other blog.

More distraction

2005-09-12T22:47:00.000-04:00

By popular demand, more cave pictures. For those who asked about the picture that shows a reflection, it's an underground lake inside the cave. Since there's no wind, the surface is perfectly still, like glass. I took several pictures of the lake.

distraction

2005-09-08T21:37:00.000-04:00

I need to think about something other than having to erase the names of several cities and towns in the Gulf from my atlas. Here's the picture I'm using for my current desktop. Two weeks ago I tried to go hiking at Skyline with friends, but we got rained out. We went to Luray Caverns instead. From the outside it looks like a tawdry tourist trap, but the caves were absolutely worth the price of admission. I managed to get a few interesting shots.

Greetings from Columbus

2005-08-20T00:00:00.000-04:00

Actually, Dublin, Ohio, home of corporate headquarters of Wendy's. And technically, I'm home in VA now, so, whatever.

I drove by the concrete ears of corn every day. Sadly, I was not able to get my own photos because I was chained to the hotel and the Beightler Armory the whole time I was in Ohio. So I stole this from another site. You can go look at it. How dearly I wanted a picture of myself frolicking among a field of six foot tall ears of corn. My co-workers didn't understand. I need to find co-workers who understand the necessity of stopping and looking at these things.

Tiny Tracks

2005-07-29T23:43:00.000-04:00

I spotted them on the second day -- light marks in the sand about two inches wide. At first I assumed they were sand crabs, and wondered why so many sand crabs had been out overnight and why they had all run in the same direction. Later that day I was inside, writing an email about how bummed I was that I wouldn't see hatchlings, when it suddenly hit me what the marks were. I ran outside with a camera and had a closer look. Sure enough, they weren't crab tracks. They were miniature versions of the big tracks. Hatching started about three weeks before our arrival, according to one of the turtle patrol guys.

I've used my flip flop (size 8) for size reference. Here's a newly hatched nest from the night before.

This photo shows a single track of a baby that ran along a tire mark. You can see the little alternating flipper marks. Notice that this tire track is the same size as the tire marks in the previous blog entry.

And here's a shot that shows baby tracks with adult tracks, for size contrast.

It was obvious the babies were tinier than I realized. After the second night I spent a lot of time trying to see hatchlings. Apparently they are much harder to spot than adults. They're tiny and have cryptic coloring, and they move pretty quick. I read that baby turtles have about 45 minutes to make it to the sea before they get dehydrated. For three nights I looked, wandering over the dry sand where the high nests were, as well as by the waterline. No luck. On the last night I stayed out longer than I intended, and walked several miles along the beach. I thought, I'll just go along this dark stretch of sand here and then I'll go home and throw in the towel. A loggerhead had come up and was cresting the dune. I walked slowly behind her. And that's when I saw them. Several dozen tiny little disks, all the same size, scattered on the hard sand, pausing then skedaddling toward the water. It took me a minute to realize what they were, and when I did, I gasped out loud. "Oh my God! You guys are so cute!!" This apparently startled the big turtle behind me, who heaved her massive carapace back over the dune and slipped back into the water. I felt bad for a moment, then turned my attention back to the little ones. They were disappearing quick. Those little guys can move. Each little turtle had a shell about the size of a Nilla wafer, tiny yet disproportionately large flippers, and a tiny head with big black dots for eyes. All the better to see in the dark. I picked up one tiny turtle between my thumb and forefinger just to prove to myself that it was real. The underbelly was brown, like the top. Loggerhead. The turtle twisted its little head and flippers. I gently turned it back over and set it down, then watched it run to the water's edge. A few laps of seafoam and the baby floated away like a tiny leaf. In five minutes, all the babies were gone. I decided to look for the opening of the nest to see if anyone was still there, but I couldn't find it. There didn't seem to be any lost hatchlings either. Seeing those tiny turtles make it into the water was the highlight of the whole trip.

I couldn't take pictures of hatchlings at night, but some people are lucky enough to get daytime photos. Check out these hatchling photos taken by a turtle patrol volunteer in South Carolina.

From looking at tracks, it seemed as if hatchlings that had emerged close to the water were better off in terms of navigation. These little guys all went the right way.

Further from the water, I saw a lot more of this: tracks going every which way. These little guys were lost. I wonder if apartment lights left on by careless residents screwed them up.

If you're interested in seeing the turtles for yourself, you should think about taking a guided walk. There are many organizations offering these walks along both coasts of Florida, as well as other coastal areas of the Southeastern US. I joined a walk led by the Sea Turtle Preservation Society, which is based in Melbourne Beach. The volunteers were knowledgeable and well trained, and they teach people how to observe turtles while disturbing them as little as possible. The tour guides also have permission to open a loggerhead nest while she is laying eggs, so that visitors can watch the eggs being deposited. It was an amazing experience and I highly recommend it.

Finally, I leave you with a photo of the turtle hunter herself, who was coaxed and cajoled to actually go out on the beach in daylight hours every now and then.

Big Tracks

2005-07-22T00:18:00.000-04:00

Every morning during nesting season, there are dozens of new tracks in the sand. I got up early and went for a walk every morning to see who had come to visit the night before. It was fun to get a close look at the tracks left by turtles I saw on shore. After a few days without rain, the beach starts to look like someone's been doing construction work with heavy machinery.

Click on this or any other image to see a larger view. The tire tracks you see in many of the photos were made by the ATV used by the Turtle Patrol.

Scientists refer to the tracks as "crawls." The classic crawl has a horseshoe shape. The turtle exits the water, crawls up the slope of the beach, chooses a spot above the high tide line, then starts to dig her nest, which is a couple of feet deep. She deposits her eggs in the egg chamber, then carefully covers the nest with sand and packs it down. Once satisfied with her work, she turns around and crawls back down the beach to the water, sometimes resting on the way. Once she reaches the water, a few waves break over her, she pushes off, and disappears. Although most turtles crawl straight up and down the beach, some seem to wander a bit, perhaps to find sand to their liking. And there are numerous "false crawls", or tracks left by turtles who emerged from the water and went back in without having laid any eggs. This could be a sign that the turtle was spooked. One Turtle Patrol volunteer told me he thought some of the false crawls this year might be due to changes in the sand from recent dredging. Some turtles are very particular about the sand they choose, apparently.

Most of the tracks are left by loggerheads. Loggerheads walk on land by using an alternating diagonal gait, which some would call the default quadruped gait. The marks they leave in the sand are characterized by a wavy portion left by the belly, and alternating scooped marks left by the front flippers. Occasionally, a loggerhead also leaves what looks like a wavy tail mark in the middle of the track, but this is left by the cloaca.

How do you tell which direction the turtle was going? Flipper marks always point backwards.

Different views of loggerhead tracks are shown here:

Green turtle tracks are less common, but I still saw some every morning. Green turtles use a completely different method of locomotion. Instead of crawling, these turtles use a gait I don't even know the name of. Using all four flippers at once, they lift the flippers, bring them down, and drag themselves a few inches forward. The difference was very noticeable when I finally got the chance to see a green crawl down the beach. There is no lateral movement, and this leaves a wide, smooth track with symmetrical flipper marks. "They" say that you can tell a green's track because there is a tail drag mark. I think a lot of people see the cloaca mark in a loggerhead track and think it's a tail mark. From observation, it appears that the loggerhead cloaca mark tends to be wavy, whereas the green's tail leaves a thin, straight mark down the middle of the track. I also noticed that when the turtle drops its body in the sand and briefly rests after every step, the body backslides a bit and the tail leaves a little divot in the sand. This is visible in both pictures, below. Notice also that the turtle that left this track doubled over her incoming track when she reentered the water.

Next: Tiny Tracks

On the Beach

2005-07-20T23:33:00.000-04:00

First things first: That beach is dark. Because sea turtles use light to navigate, artificial lights are illegal on the beach. This means no flashlights, camera flashes, spotlights, or indoor lights in buildings that face the beach. Loggerhead turtles are threatened, and Green turtles are endangered, which means that interrupting their nesting is a felony. Therefore, I could not take pictures of nesting or hatching, which take place at night. I was fortunate enough to be visiting while the moon was in its waxing phase, so there was enough light for me to walk on the beach without tripping on an adult turtle, stepping on a baby, breaking my neck or accidentally drowning. It's still a little spooky, though. There are always other people on that stretch of beach, and there's no way to know whether those dark figures in the distance are nice people or not.

I walked along the water's edge for two reasons: It's the best way to spot fresh tracks, and it's the least disturbing to females that are already nesting on the beach. Fresh tracks were very easy to spot as I was walking at low tide. Incoming turtles are harder to see. They first look like a dark shape in the surf which could be a trough of a wave. If the shape is persistent, chances are it's an incoming turtle. When turtles first come ashore, they are quite skittish and prone to turning around and getting back in the water if they are the least bit spooked. I was told that when I spot a turtle in the surf, I should stand very still and wait for the turtle to come ashore until she feels secure. In the case of loggerheads, once they are over the high tide line, they seem to commit to the nesting process, and it's ok to keep walking and eventually even approach the animal. Green turtles, on the other hand, are extremely skittish and will abandon egg laying at any time if they feel threatened. Most of the turtles coming ashore are loggerheads, but this year there is a large number of greens nesting. I saw several each night I went out. They were, indeed, very skittish. I saw two of them walk over the high tide embankment and go halfway up the beach before getting spooked and turning around. On the flip side, I saw a drunk guy stumble right behind a loggerhead coming out of the surf and it didn't seem to bother her in the least.

Speaking of the drunk guy, it turns out that most people on the beach are nice people who are interested in the turtles, and don't want to hurt or bother them. But there are also a whole lot of jerks out there carrying flashlights, taking flash pictures, making noise, and even poking the animals. Since I was alone on the beach in the dark, I didn't think it was safe to approach people who were doing bad stuff. But man, I wish I could have given them an earful. And that doesn't even include people leaving lights on in their beachside houses.

Getting out of the water and up the bank seems to take five or ten minutes for the average turtle. An uninterrupted walk along the beach at night is pretty much out of the question at this time of year, if you're into walking beaches in the dark. When I was visiting, on a mile long stretch of beach, there would usually be half a dozen turtles in various stages of egg laying. I could only walk a few minutes at a time without having to stop for a crossing or nesting turtle. All in all, in my four nights in Melbourne Beach, I saw about 40 adult turtles on the beach.

Next: Big Tracks

Chelonia Mobile: The Turtle Moves

2005-07-16T11:36:00.000-04:00

Back in Melbourne Beach, Florida for a much needed summer vacation. It's turtle nesting season!

From the Archie Carr Refuge site:

The twenty mile section of coastline from Melbourne Beach to Wabasso Beach in Florida is the most important nesting area for loggerhead sea turtles in the western hemisphere and the second most important nesting beach in the world. Twenty-five percent of all loggerhead sea turtle and 35% of all green sea turtle nests in the United States occur in this twenty mile zone. Nesting densities of 1,000 nests per mile have been recorded. Approximately half of this area is available for acquisition and four parcels totaling 9.3 miles make up the core area.

I spent the last two nights on the beach, and unlike last year, there was no shortage of turtles. Green sea turtles are on a biennial nesting schedule. Although they were previously laying eggs in even numbered years, last year saw few nests. This year they are back, suggesting that the greens may have altered their cycle.

Thursday night, I walked about 3/4 mile up the beach and back, and confirmed 10 turtles. I assumed they were all loggerheads, but after going to the Sea Turtle Preservation Society headquarters and talking to a representative, I learned about the difference between loggerhead and green turtle tracks. Loggerheads have asymmetrical tracks, and tend to wiggle from side to side as they pull themselves up with alternate flippers. Green turtles tend to have wider tracks which are relatively straight, as they drag themselves up the shore with both flippers together. After learning this, I walked along the beach and was able to identify a number of green turtle tracks. Years ago, at Cornell Vet School, I was lucky enough to dissect a juvenile green turtle that had died accidentally. The turtle's unusual skeletal anatomy and elegant form made it one of my favorite dissections of all time; so I have a bit of a soft spot for green turtles.

I met quite a few people on the beach who were also looking for turtles. Unlike certain MTV reality shows, I try to follow proper turtle etiquette. This means no lights, no flashlights, walk along the waterline, and no disturbing a turtle as she is emerging from the water.

Turtle images are from the STPS website. My own pictures of tracks will follow when I return to Virginia.

My Ice Cream Flavor of the Week: Caramel Turtle, at Moo's in Melbourne Beach
My Beach Reading: Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett

Knitting gallery addition

2005-06-28T00:11:00.000-04:00

Photos of knitted lace spheres have been posted.

More than Zero

2005-06-26T16:34:00.000-04:00

Today I spotted a strange new variety of Coke at the 7-11: Coke Zero. Calorie free, carb free. So, we've already got regular Diet Coke, Diet Coke with multiple flavors, Diet Coke with Splenda, and now this. What the heck, I tried it. Whoa, I had to reread the ingredients label three times before I was convinced it had no real sugar in it. This is diet Coke even my mother would like, though for my taste it's a bit too sweet. How did they make this? According to a press release I found, Coke Zero has the same ingredients as regular Diet Coke, except it has less aspartame and more acesulfame potassium.

My verdict: If you are counting calories or carbs but hate diet cola, this one is for you. If you're a Diet Coke lover, you might find it too sweet.

The Coke Zero website doesn't have much now, but I'm guessing we'll see a marketing campaign aimed at men. That's what this product is aimed at, right? People who want a diet drink that isn't called "diet."

This cries out for a taste test. Diet Coke, Diet Coke with Splenda, Coke Zero, and Tab.

Menthal health

2005-06-20T22:59:00.000-04:00

Obsession of the summer: Mint chocolate chip. I give you today's serving suggestion: the Mintarita. (click picture for larger image)

Rocking in the Garden State

2005-06-13T23:47:00.000-04:00

Friday night I caught the last show of Hanson's Underneath tour at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ, hometown of Jon Bon Jovi. They've been on the road pretty much constantly for the last two years, and now they're headed for the studio to record the next album. Do you have something snotty to say about Hanson? Go right ahead. I have heard it all. I used to make snotty jokes too, then I became a fan against my will, which then turned into a crusade, but that is a whole other story. The show was fantastic, one of the best Hanson shows I have ever seen. Since it was the last show I guess they just poured themselves into it, and it showed.

A fellow fan whose username is mmmtwin17el took fantastic pictures. Click on this image to see the rest. God bless those devious fans for sneaking in the cameras!

It's something of a miracle we got there at all. The drive to Sayreville, NJ, was horrendous. We ran into heavy traffic EVERYWHERE. Additionally, I now have a personal vendetta against Yahoo maps for repeatedly giving me bum directions. I mean, I can follow instructions, but when the directions don't match the actual signs, I get testy. And when bum directions lead me to take the wrong exit in heavy traffic, and I have a show to get to, I get way beyond testy. Do not say the words "Garden State Parkway" to me, or things will get ugly. Like I said, it is a miracle we made it to the venue in time ... well, a miracle, plus the fact that the doors opened an hour late. We got into a line of at least 2,000 people, which went around the building and the parking lot twice. I still do not know how all of those people fit into the building. I still think they hid bodies in the basement. There were so many people ahead of us I started thinking the venue oversold and we wouldn't get in, even with tickets. But no such thing happened. Then, somehow, in spite of being at the end of the line, we found a spot by the bar at the right of the stage that had a great view. It was about 30 feet from the stage and was mostly unobstructed. And best of all, we were nowhere near the mosh pit. For those who have never been to a Hanson show (I assume that's you), the girls on the floor push to get to the stage. I don't mean delicate nudging. It's a full on crush against the barrier that might kill someone one day. At this show I saw security pull out four girls in front who passed out. I won't go anywhere near that madness, so I hang out on the sides or the back with the rest of the old people. It is at the point where I usually know half a dozen old people at the back of the venue at every show. We old fans are tight. I love how this band attracts such a wide variety of fans.

The show was excellent, one of the best I have ever seen. The band was tight tight tight, the vocals were great, and Taylor had the crowd completely eating out of his hand. The energy in the audience was fantastic. Some people think I'm weird to say this, but I love how the audience goes completely crazy. The sheer volume and intensity of the screaming is hard to believe, and it is like that every single show without exception. It is great to see fans get so excited about a show. The opening act was a local NJ band called Gibbler. The Hansons are on a crusade to promote independent bands, and for this show they held a contest in which fans could vote for a local band to open the show. The Gibbler guys seemed stunned by the size and intensity of the audience, but took it in stride. I saw them several times after their set, and they looked totally dazed. Very nice guys, and they did a great job opening the show. I especially liked their new single Hannah, and they also did a kick ass cover of Hard Day's Night. Check out Gibbler's website to find out about them.

The setlist was very similar to the Australia shows last week.

Optimistic (Radiohead cover)
Dancin' in the Wind
A Minute Without You
Strong Enough to Break
Rock 'n Roll Razorblade
Look At You
Broken Angel (Zac solo)
Being Me (Ike solo)
Underneath
Every Word I Say
Hand in Hand
Crazy Beautiful
Penny and Me
Deeper
In A Little While (U2 cover)
You Never Know
MMMBop
Where's the Love
Gimme Some Lovin'
Lost Without Each Other

Encore: Hey

Steamy

2005-06-09T00:38:00.000-04:00

The heat has finally arrived in DC, and I decided this morning that I have a new goal: While wearing work clothes, I will attempt to never allow outside air to touch my skin. I think I have a good chance of doing it. This week I started working on the BRAC Commission contract at Crystal City; and if you're familiar Crystal City, you know it's totally doable. When I leave my apartment, I get into the elevator, head down to the parking garage, and get into my air conditioned car. Then I drive to Crystal City, enter another parking garage, then go directly into the building. No need to leave for lunch or any pesky errands. At the end of the day, I go back to the parking garage, get into my car, drive home, and return to my apartment without once leaving air conditioned comfort. I wonder how many days in a row I can do this? Once I'm out of my work clothes, the rules don't apply. I can sweat myself silly on my bike, go to the supermarket, go out, or whatever. But I think I can successfully lead my life without ever venturing outdoors before 5:30 pm.

Deep Throat revealed!

2005-06-03T11:44:00.000-04:00

Haven't posted this week due to travel to Kentucky, followed by an attack of acute muscle spasms in my neck and shoulder. Apparently this is called acute wryneck, aka torticollis, which makes it sound much more interesting than it really is. It was excruciatingly painful, and I will never complain about a stiff neck again. "They" say it will take 1-2 weeks to clear up.

In the meantime, this week in the nation's capital has been all about the revelation of Deep Throat. I found this tidbit in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A small act of courtesy loaded with irony.

The revelation that W. Mark Felt was the anonymous source who kept Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein on track in their Watergate reporting is not without its ironies.

Felt, now 91, was the No. 2 official at the FBI -- a prime position for a leaker. He was also convicted in 1980 of having approved illegal break-ins of his own, violating the civil rights of friends and relatives of fugitive members of the Weather Underground in the early 1970s.

He and Edward Miller, former head of the FBI's intelligence division, were fined $8,500 after a trial that included testimony by Nixon and five former attorneys general.

Both men were pardoned in 1981 by Ronald Reagan, who said at the time they had acted "on high principle to bring an end to the terrorism that was threatening our nation." At which time Nixon sent Felt champagne and a note reading, "Justice ultimately prevails. Congratulations for sticking with it and thanks for your service to the nation." -- from "This nation needs another Deep Throat" by Sally Kalson

and furthermore

2005-05-26T01:35:00.000-04:00

My friend Joel posted a response to my previous post in his blog. I am pleased to note that we mostly agree. Rock on.

Ten Questions to Ask Your Biology Teacher

2005-05-26T01:17:00.000-04:00

The Ten questions were written by Jonathan Wells, author of the creationist book Icons of Evolution. These questions have been going around for awhile and many people have responded. So here's my attempt.

• The origins of life. Why do textbooks claim that the 1953 Miller-Urey experiment shows how life's building blocks may have formed on Earth - when conditions on the early Earth were probably nothing like those used in the experiment, and the origin of life remains a mystery?

The origin of life may be hotly debated, but it has nothing to do with evolution, or with Darwin's theory of natural selection. Go ahead and argue that one all you want.

• Darwin's tree of life. Why don't textbooks discuss the "Cambrian explosion," in which all major animal groups appear together in the fossil record fully formed instead of branching from a common ancestor - thus contradicting the evolutionary tree of life?

*poking around in bookshelves*
Did I really get rid of my biology textbooks? oh well, they were old editions anyway. So, Wells has bad textbooks or has a reading comprehension problem. The major vertebrate groups as we know them, just as an example, are all post Cambrian. Sorry!

• Why do textbooks define homology as similarity due to common ancestry, then claim that it is evidence for common ancestry -- a circular argument masquerading as scientific evidence?

Easy one. They don't. Similarity of structure can be due to common ancestry or convergence, so there is no assumption that similar structure implies common ancestry. Also, Mr. Wells, you have to update your terms a little. The word you want is synapomorphies. Synapomorphies are shared derived traits, which in cladistic analysis are used to define taxonomic groups. Deciding which traits are to be defined as synapomorphies is part of a detailed and methodical process. The traits must be derived (meaning, different from what would be found in a hypothetical ancestor) and it helps if they are complex and specialized, such as a feather. Taxonomists collect many types of evidence, including morphology and genetic evidence, and conduct a complex analysis that yields a diagram of the most likely phylogenetic relationships.

• Vertebrate embryos. Why do textbooks use drawings of similarities in vertebrate embryos as evidence for common ancestry - even though biologists have known for over a century that vertebrate embryos are not most similar in their early stages, and the drawings are faked?

Well, now I know for sure he has crappy textbooks. Maybe the textbooks wouldn't be so crappy if school boards weren't forced to select books with creationist crap in them. Call me crazy. I believe he is referring to Haeckel's drawings of embryos, which were used to teach the idea that "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." His drawings weren't "faked", they were just misinterpreted. Even when I was in high school in a much crappier biology course than you can find even in Kansas, I learned that the ontogeny-recapitulates-phylogeny thing was crap. It wasn't in my high school textbooks twenty years ago. I hope it's not in any textbooks now. All of that being said, I've taken graduate courses in developmental biology, and yes ... the more closely related vertebrates are, the more closely they resemble each other in their early developmental stages.

• The archaeopteryx. Why do textbooks portray this fossil as the missing link between dinosaurs and modern birds - even though modern birds are probably not descended from it, and its supposed ancestors do not appear until millions of years after it?

The idea of the missing link is no longer seriously discussed in evolutionary circles, partly due to the influence of cladistics. To put it in simple terms, the likelihood of finding the fossil of the actual individual that was the common ancestor of different species is infinitesimally small. The "missing link" is now referred to as the "hypothetical ancestor," and we now assume that it is impossible to identify any given fossil as this ancestor. Therefore, you can point to any fossil and claim that it has no living descendants, and no scientist will be able to dispute it. This does not in any way weaken the case for evolution.

As for Archeopteryx, it's a damn beautiful fossil and everyone should look at it and marvel at it.

• Peppered moths. Why do textbooks use pictures of peppered moths camouflaged on tree trunks as evidence for natural selection - when biologists have known since the 1980s that the moths don't normally rest on tree trunks, and all the pictures have been staged?

Did you expect scientists to be out with cameras photographing the event as it happened? Of course the photos were posed. And even creationists admit that evolution happens on this scale. I'll alert the ER that Wells will be arriving with a gunshot wound to his foot.

• Darwin's finches. Why do textbooks claim that beak changes in Galapagos finches during a severe drought can explain the origin of species by natural selection - even though the changes were reversed after the drought ended, and no net evolution occurred?

So what you're saying is, environmental pressures caused beaks to change, then when the environmental pressures changed, the beaks changed back, and this is evidence against evolution because ... why exactly? I think Mr. Wells will be needing a wheelchair.

• Mutant fruit flies. Why do textbooks use fruit flies with an extra pair of wings as evidence that DNA mutations can supply raw materials for evolution - even though the extra wings have no muscles and these disabled mutants cannot survive outside the laboratory?

Because the majority of mutations are either neutral or detrimental. next?

• Human origins. Why are artists' drawings of apelike humans used to justify materialistic claims that we are just animals and our existence is a mere accident - when fossil experts cannot even agree on who our supposed ancestors were or what they looked like?

Once again, Mr Wells has either been paging through textbooks from either the 1950s or from the new batch being ordered for Kansas public schools. In fact, I am not even sure what he is asking. There is a very strong fossil record of early humans. The scientists who discover these fossils fight tooth and nail over ancestry, because of academic politics. However, all agree that in the past, many different hominids wandered the earth, who looked similar to us but were clearly a different species. They also agree that we are descended from creatures like this. They may not agree whether we descended from A. afarensis or another line, but that's splitting hairs. Biologically, we are animals. We are not plants, we are not rocks, we are not fungi. We have brains, hearts, lungs, bones, and muscles, like every other vertebrate on the planet. If you want to put humans in a special category of animal, that's up to you, but to deny we are animals is ludicrous.

• Evolution as a fact. Why are students told that Darwin's theory of evolution is a scientific fact - even though many of its claims are based on misrepresentations of the facts?

The theory of evolution isn't all about Darwin, and hasn't been for many decades. Darwin gave us a mountain of evidence in favor of evolution, and in the following century, additional information, especially from genetics, has turned the mountain into a mountain range. Our job as scientists is to look at the evidence and explain it in the simplest, most logical way. Evolution is far and away the best explanation for the evidence we have. Nitpicking at a stone here and there can't take down the mountain.

So there you are. I think it's great if students want to discuss ideas about evolution in class. It is too bad someone could not come up with better questions. These aren't meant to stimulate honest debate. They're written under the assumption that there is a conspiracy by biologists to dupe naive students with fake evidence. They're written so that students can antagonize teachers, not to help them learn. Then again, if teachers are prepared, maybe they can seize the opportunity to teach actual critical thinking.

Creationists strike back ... in the classroom

2005-05-24T01:13:00.000-04:00

I ran across this article in the Christian Science Monitor.

Now evolving in biology classes: a testier climate

To sum up: Some biology teachers report that a challenge to evolution is coming ... from their students. This is exactly what I have seen happening for years. Proponents of creationism have been systematically getting smarter, coming up with arguments against evolution, and spreading their teachings in churches, books, videos, CDs, websites, you name it. All this time, evolutionists have either been blissfully unaware of the rising organized resistance, or have discounted its power.

Now, science teachers are reporting that students are coming in to class armed with specific ways to challenge the teacher and the curriculum. They're armed with "Ten Questions to Ask Your Biology Teacher." And teachers are saying that their job is getting tougher and tougher.

Personally, I think it's great that students are challenging teachers. Although I am a hardcore evolutionist, I have no problem with creationism being discussed in schools. Creationist teachings are being promulgated in churches across the country. The majority of evolutionists I know seem to be opposed to any mention of creationism in school. But if creationism isn't critically discussed in schools -- where will it be discussed? Where will it be seriously challenged? Some of these kids are receiving a steady diet of crap science and bad logic, and they're being told that the secular world is their enemy. But if no one ever points out the problems with creationist teachings to them, then what? Then we have set up an us vs. them scenario, where good Christians learn everythign about evolution in the pulpit, and secular scientists are the enemy.

One of the greatest lessons I learned from the Jesuits at Georgetown was that ideas are nothing to fear. The way to the truth is to question and examine ideas critically. False ideas collapse under scrutiny. I don't find the idea of creationism a threat at all. In fact, if after carefully examining the evidence, someone concludes that the creatures of the earth were created as they are in seven days, more power to them. But I hope they get there after carefully examining the facts ... not Darwin's interpretation of the facts, or a teacher's interpretation, or a pastor's interpretation, or a creation scientist's interpretation. In my view, the facts lead inevitably to the conclusion that evolution happened. Whether you like that idea or not doesn't change its truth.

As for how science should be taught in school, I think it has to be based in evolutionary theory. There is no way around it. Evolution and natural selection provide the underlying logic for our modern understanding of biological processes. Of course, in Kansas, they are trying to redefine what science is, so any number of alternative theories can be taught in school as legitimate science. ReluctantCynic wrote an interesting reflection on this debate in his blog.

Tomorrow: How would you respond to the Ten Questions To Ask Your Biology Teacher? I'm going to give it a shot.

Knitting gallery update

2005-05-21T11:39:00.000-04:00

Pictures of the Springtime shawl are posted in my knitting gallery.

Shenandoah

2005-05-17T10:25:00.000-04:00

Taken in Shenandoah National Park, Saturday 14 May.

They don't make kevlar like they used to

2005-05-14T00:45:00.000-04:00

...Or else, someone lied about my bike tires having a layer of kevlar. Here, see for yourself. Here's my bike. Click on the specifications button and scroll down to "tires." SEE?? I didn't make it up! They promised me Kevlar!

You will have already guessed, I got me a flat this evening during my bike ride. Whoops, I didn't have a spare tube with me. Now I know why my dad always carries several. Luckily, I was just 2 miles from home, so I walked it, while the metal nuts on my bike shoes crunched on the asphalt the whole way. Some people are such jerks, I tell you. Half a dozen bikers blew right by me without even asking if I was ok. One very nice man stopped to see what was wrong and offered me a tube. Since I had only a short walk, I thanked him and declined. Whoever you are, if you're reading this, you rock.

When I first noticed the tire making the dreaded wubwubwub sound, my first thought was, CRAP! someone dropped tacks on the trail! Or else I ran over glass and didn't notice! or maybe it was a titanium razor blade! Because, these tires arent' supposed to pop. Kevlar. see? So, I got off, and had a look to see what the evil culprit was. Want to see? here it is.

Yep. It's an itty bitty rock. It's the size of an apple seed. Apparently I have to start going around guys like these now, becauase my nonkevlar tires can't handle it. So, I will have to see if I still know how to change a tire. Liisa suggested that I try Slime Tire Liners, which promise to guarantee against punctures. I think I'll be doing that.

Breaking news

2005-05-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

This just in: Texas is a big state.

Right now I’m working on a project that involves an unnamed government funded entity in the great state of Texas. One of my co-workers just pointed out that they use “Texas is a big state” as a reason for everything. Why do they need federal funding for this program? “Texas is a big state.” Why are these plans so complicated? “Texas is a big state.” Where is the inventory we requested? When will we get this document approved? Why haven’t they made a decision yet about this or that? Well, these things take time, because… you know.

So, consider my error to be your example. Should you, in the future, find yourself dealing with the State of Texas in some capacity, you would do well to always keep in mind that Texas Is A Big State.

Westerberg at the 9:30 Club, 4/29/05, w/Andrew

2005-05-03T00:25:00.000-04:00

At first I thought he was the bassist and I just hadn't looked at him before, then I realized someone else was playing bass on the other side of the stage. I turned to John and said, "Is that just some random dude from the audience?" Apparently, it was. Andrew, whoever he is, was having the time of his life singing the last two songs in Paul Westerberg's set Friday night. Oddly enough, the guy behind me had nothing to say about Andrew, which was strange, since he had been screaming insults at Westerberg for the last two hours. Maybe he was hoarse, or maybe he was finally happy that Paul had done I.O.U., which is what the guy had spent the whole night screaming for, sometimes during other songs, when he wasn't screaming "It's 2005, you bastard!" or "That song sucked, you bastard!" He liked that phrase a lot.

I never saw the Replacements back in the day, but now I think I have an idea what the shows must have been like. Westerberg is, shall we say, full of himself. He has perfected the art of simultaneously of lapping up the adoration of his fan, while flipping the proverbial bird to the audience. Several times he played the intro to a song then stopped, saying "Ha, I was just fucking with you." About two thirds into the set, he seemed to abandon whatever set list he might have put together and spent a lot of time just messing around on stage. I went to the restroom during one of the lulls, and when I came back, he hadn't played any actual music. At the end of the show, he just disappeared. I assumed he'd gone off stage, but apparently he was lying down behind his amp, still playing guitar, while the intrepid Andrew got to sing some pretty good songs. He did a better job remembering the lyrics than Westerberg did, actually.

What, you wanted a set list? Here it is, from Google groups.

> Stain Yer Blood/AAA/I'll Be You/Kiss Me On the Bus/If I Had A
> Hammer/Knockin' on Mine/Merry Go Round/Live Forever (Billy Joe
> Shaver)/Someone Take the Wheel/Makin' Me Go/Let the Bad Times
> Roll/Now I
> Wonder(played "on his knees")/As Far As I Know/Born For Me/High
> Time/Valentine/Love Untold/Different Drum/Anyways All Right (1st half
> only)
> segue into Vampires & Failures (beginning only) segue into Mr. Rabbit
> (done
> to V&F's tempo, then uptempo for last half)/Breathe Some New Life
> segue into
> Like A Rolling Stone/Little Mascara/Psycopharmecology/ ? (song i
> can't read
> my writing or remember)/How Can You Like Him/Sadly Beautiful
> (beginning
> only) segue into Lookin' Up In Heaven/What A Day For A Night/ Achin’
> To Be/I
> Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (Ramones)/If Only You Were Lonely (request
> from
> girls at front of stage)/Can't Hardly Wait/several aborted songs
> (Whippin
> Post/Free Bird/ Round & Round/Voodoo Child/etc.)/Folker (with Jingle
> incorporated in middle)/Nevermind/I.O.U. (Paul goes behind amps to
> lay down
> and play, a fan "Andrew" jumps up to sing and is escorted off, Jim
> and Kevin
> ad vox at end of song)/ Alex Chilton and Left of the Dial (with
> "Andrew"
> invited back to sing both and Paul still behind his amp playing on
> his back)
>
> encores:23 Years Ago/Skyway/Borstal Breakout

It was, as the reviewer in the Washington Times said, a train wreck. But it was vintage Westerberg, and I'm glad I finally got to see him.

Oh, and then there was the jumping guy. He showed up in our vicinity about an hour into the show. He may have been there there the whole time. That would be impressive. He was an older guy -- well, older than me. His hair, his face, and his clothes were all graying and slightly worn, as if he'd been crumpled in the of the back of someone's closet with the dirty Doc Martens. For the entire hour and a half he was in front of me, he pogoed. Violently. I did not know anyone could jump up and down so enthusiastically for such a long stretch at a time. He wasn't completely in control of his bounce, either, because he was jumping forward, backward, and to the side, occasionally smacking into someone. I was worried he was going to break my nose with his elbow. I was even more worried that the jumping guy in front of me, the screaming guy was behind me, I was in the middle, and I was much smaller than both of them. Praise the gods, the jumping guy did not jump on the screaming guy, and I made it out of there in one piece.

Adventures in apartment hunting

2005-05-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

My current project: You may have seen Paul Rademacher's site where Craig's List real estate listings are hooked up to Google maps. It's a great little application, and I'm using it right now for my apartment hunt. I just wish I could customize it further. What I want to do is superimpose that map on WABA's map of bike paths. I don't care how close I am to the Metro, restaurants, fitness clubs, whatever. I just want to be within a couple of blocks from the main bike paths. One of my favorite local rides is the Arlington Triangle. I've been living right next to the W&OD section of this loop for the last three years. It's perfect for bike rides after work during the summer, and ski runs in the winter. If any of you DC people know of an apartment building somewhere on this trail, I'm all ears.