Wednesday, 22 July 2015
Monday, 20 July 2015
who wants more sunsets?
I was rather productive today so I rewarded myself with a trip to Rock Harbor for the hour before sunset. The tide was outbound when we arrived there was still water up to the regular beach. But if you went around the back way and waded through 4 inches of water there was a little island sand bar. Louis had no interested in 4 inches of water. "Oh my god mom don't make me get my paws wet!!!!!" (Trust me, I speak dog.) So I picked him up and carried him out there because then I could let him run all he wanted. He made lots of friends and I took lots of pictures.
Monday, 6 July 2015
What does the fox say?
You can't really google that phrase because you get that idiot song or whatever that was. I don't have any photos even though I've seen them almost daily. They are elusive and quick. But it's kind of cool having them. They don't seem to be hurting anything. They eat rabbits and squirrels and chipmunks, and all are plentiful as far as I can tell.
One passed through the yard the other week when Louis and I were sitting outside. The fox was crossing over from Jan and Joanie's house toward us and Louis went running out to the end of his lead to play. The fox was having none of that and veered across to Connie's house. Sadly for him Connie's dog was out in their front yard on the far side of the house. He barked so then the fox just took off down Depot street, fed up with all of us. So I don't leave Louis out at night by himself, but I doesn't seem like a fox is going to try to get into anything with him generally.
Tonight however they were hanging in the neighborhood. There was one very close calling so I stuck my shotgun mic out the front door. The neighbors were a bit freaked, I don't think they knew what it was. And then at one point a car came around the corner onto Smith street and stopped in front of Elizabeth's house and I could see the fox standing in front of Russel's. Then the car moved on. And then a minute later it came trotting out from our side lawn. And there's me standing in the dark on my front step really happy that Louis was inside. It came right across our yard and over into Jan and Joanie's. When it got under the street light I got a good look and it seemed bigger than the ones I've seen recently.
What does the fox say? Take a listen.
(I wish I knew how to embed that so you could listen while you read.)
Ooh, definitely a male and a female calling to each other. When I made the recording and one went through the yard it was big (15-20 pounds). But just now there was one close and I was a little worried that the neighbors might do something stupid to hurt them or chase them away. I flipped on my front light and there was a smaller one (10 pounds) right in front of the house. She ran off when Louis barked, but she hasn't left the yard. I can hear her right next to the house.
One passed through the yard the other week when Louis and I were sitting outside. The fox was crossing over from Jan and Joanie's house toward us and Louis went running out to the end of his lead to play. The fox was having none of that and veered across to Connie's house. Sadly for him Connie's dog was out in their front yard on the far side of the house. He barked so then the fox just took off down Depot street, fed up with all of us. So I don't leave Louis out at night by himself, but I doesn't seem like a fox is going to try to get into anything with him generally.
Tonight however they were hanging in the neighborhood. There was one very close calling so I stuck my shotgun mic out the front door. The neighbors were a bit freaked, I don't think they knew what it was. And then at one point a car came around the corner onto Smith street and stopped in front of Elizabeth's house and I could see the fox standing in front of Russel's. Then the car moved on. And then a minute later it came trotting out from our side lawn. And there's me standing in the dark on my front step really happy that Louis was inside. It came right across our yard and over into Jan and Joanie's. When it got under the street light I got a good look and it seemed bigger than the ones I've seen recently.
(I wish I knew how to embed that so you could listen while you read.)
Ooh, definitely a male and a female calling to each other. When I made the recording and one went through the yard it was big (15-20 pounds). But just now there was one close and I was a little worried that the neighbors might do something stupid to hurt them or chase them away. I flipped on my front light and there was a smaller one (10 pounds) right in front of the house. She ran off when Louis barked, but she hasn't left the yard. I can hear her right next to the house.
Friday, 26 June 2015
Why marriage equality is better for everyone
As I drove up to Provincetown this afternoon to join in the celebrations I thought a lot about why it matters. To me specifically, how is this possibly relevant? Because of course there is Katie and Brenda and Lori and Ellen and Arlie and Julie and really the list is too long of people I know and love for whom this has a direct and immediate impact. Those people all happen to live in states where their marriages (or potential marriages) were already legal, but it's not like they never went on vacation. Do you really want to have to keep track of which states you can visit so that if you get in a car accident you can assume you'll be granted medical decision making for your spouse? Of course you don't want to, so why should you force them to?
All of that is second hand though, isn't it? Why should I, as someone with no interest in marriage for myself, care how the rest of society defines marriage? Because when society only has one very narrowly defined - if widely conformed to - idea of what an appropriate relationship should be then everyone who doesn't fit that definition is being told their relationships are less valuable. So if marriage is only "one man and one woman for the purposes of procreation" then there are a whole lot of people who are less than ideal. The gays were so non-conformist that their relationships couldn't be legally recognized at all. But what about all the M/F couples who couldn't have/didn't want/got married too late for kids? They spent the last 11+ years listening to people make arguments that boiled down to "we'll let you get married, but until you pop out a few kids we think you're faking it."
And if the epitome of the socially acceptable relationship is children then where does that leave me? I'm never having kids. I have no interest in the kind of relationship that could lead to kids. That's not who I am. As a result none of my relationships could ever be deemed valid. I do not fit the narrow definition of what society says we should all be striving for. How sad for society. How sad and stilted and unimaginative for a community to think there can only be one way to love a person, one kind of person to love, one way to have sex. That's not a society I wanted to live in, and today because of the supreme court decision that is not a society I have to live in.
We are ALL better off when all of us are allowed to be who we are. Statistically speaking the vast majority of marriages are M/F+kid(s), and this is better for all of them as well. Because those people might conform in that way on this issue, but I do not believe there is nothing about them that makes them unique. Today uniqueness got a boost.
So I went to Provincetown to be part of the historic occasion. I knew it would be a happy place. 11 years ago this town hall was the first in the nation to issue same sex marriage licenses. I was 45 minutes away, I couldn't miss it.
Here, have some photos of the celebrations.
All of that is second hand though, isn't it? Why should I, as someone with no interest in marriage for myself, care how the rest of society defines marriage? Because when society only has one very narrowly defined - if widely conformed to - idea of what an appropriate relationship should be then everyone who doesn't fit that definition is being told their relationships are less valuable. So if marriage is only "one man and one woman for the purposes of procreation" then there are a whole lot of people who are less than ideal. The gays were so non-conformist that their relationships couldn't be legally recognized at all. But what about all the M/F couples who couldn't have/didn't want/got married too late for kids? They spent the last 11+ years listening to people make arguments that boiled down to "we'll let you get married, but until you pop out a few kids we think you're faking it."
And if the epitome of the socially acceptable relationship is children then where does that leave me? I'm never having kids. I have no interest in the kind of relationship that could lead to kids. That's not who I am. As a result none of my relationships could ever be deemed valid. I do not fit the narrow definition of what society says we should all be striving for. How sad for society. How sad and stilted and unimaginative for a community to think there can only be one way to love a person, one kind of person to love, one way to have sex. That's not a society I wanted to live in, and today because of the supreme court decision that is not a society I have to live in.
We are ALL better off when all of us are allowed to be who we are. Statistically speaking the vast majority of marriages are M/F+kid(s), and this is better for all of them as well. Because those people might conform in that way on this issue, but I do not believe there is nothing about them that makes them unique. Today uniqueness got a boost.
So I went to Provincetown to be part of the historic occasion. I knew it would be a happy place. 11 years ago this town hall was the first in the nation to issue same sex marriage licenses. I was 45 minutes away, I couldn't miss it.
Here, have some photos of the celebrations.
Thursday, 25 June 2015
I just got interviewed by the Chronicle of Higher Education
The interview only lasted 5 minutes. The woman is doing a story on the new trend in Skype interviews for first rounds of education job hunting. Mostly she wanted to know if it went well or badly (well), if I had any technical difficulties (no), and why my opinion of it was (way better than phone). So that was interesting.
The rest of my day, and most of this week, has been spend on the back deck alternating between working on Enid, and working through Avid tutorials on Lynda.com. I broke down and paid for a year of premium membership. If I'm going to be mostly unemployed I should use the time to become expert in all the relevant things. And I'm teaching Avid this fall at Fitchburg, so that's first up. As I tell my students, you need to know all three well enough to talk your way into a job, and then cram cram cram until you're actually as good as you need to be. I had 3 different professors cover Avid at BU and none of them were good at software instruction. So I never used it well, so I never liked it, so I used it as rarely as I could get away with, and now here we are. I'm starting at the basics even though most of what she's saying I already know just so that I'm sure I don't miss anything.
The rest of my day, and most of this week, has been spend on the back deck alternating between working on Enid, and working through Avid tutorials on Lynda.com. I broke down and paid for a year of premium membership. If I'm going to be mostly unemployed I should use the time to become expert in all the relevant things. And I'm teaching Avid this fall at Fitchburg, so that's first up. As I tell my students, you need to know all three well enough to talk your way into a job, and then cram cram cram until you're actually as good as you need to be. I had 3 different professors cover Avid at BU and none of them were good at software instruction. So I never used it well, so I never liked it, so I used it as rarely as I could get away with, and now here we are. I'm starting at the basics even though most of what she's saying I already know just so that I'm sure I don't miss anything.
Friday, 19 June 2015
Wednesday, 20 May 2015
I'm easily entertained
Louis and I were completely alone on Cold Storage Beach for tonight's sunset. It was cool with the breeze, but still it was lovely. I should savor that while I can. Soon enough we'll be overrun.
I also have been spending time lately working on Enid's Wall. I have an index card for every scene - ish. Well, that's the point of the cards. I can lay them out and see it all at once and see if anything is missing. It's easier to find gaps and rearrange scenes or take things out. So I probably don't have a card for every scene right now, but I do at least loosely have the whole story plotted out. Now I can start filling in. I had hoped to have draft 1 finished by the end of the semester, but in hindsight that was unrealistic. End of summer should be do-able though.
Anyway, have some sunset photos.
I also have been spending time lately working on Enid's Wall. I have an index card for every scene - ish. Well, that's the point of the cards. I can lay them out and see it all at once and see if anything is missing. It's easier to find gaps and rearrange scenes or take things out. So I probably don't have a card for every scene right now, but I do at least loosely have the whole story plotted out. Now I can start filling in. I had hoped to have draft 1 finished by the end of the semester, but in hindsight that was unrealistic. End of summer should be do-able though.
Anyway, have some sunset photos.
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