The Secret Sits... Whispering Latency

We dance round in a ring and suppose / But the secret sits in the middle and knows.

-Robert Frost, The Secret Sits

Probably a poem in progress. Just committing thoughts into words at the moment. 

Anyway:

Whispering Latency

The day this story's told,

voice shall be lent.

A spirited youth.

Muffled.

Crippling inhibition.

メリー・クリスマス! :D

I know I've a lot to update on since I haven't been posting lately--at least not here. But it's the holidays and things have been quite busy. Perhaps I'd find time tomorrow? Maybe. Haha.

Anyway, for now, as the Japanese say it: メリー・クリスマス! :D

JGI: Applying Technology to Inform Tanzania’s Forest Carbon Strategy | the Jane Goodall Institute

JGI: Applying Technology to Inform Tanzania’s Forest Carbon Strategy | the Jane Goodall Institute

TreeHugger Readers Select Jane Goodall as Person of the Year : TreeHugger

TreeHugger Readers Select Jane Goodall as Person of the Year : TreeHugger

Random Thoughts Keep Me Entertained

Feeling sick from overworking myself this week... Not exactly feeling the Christmas spirit...

I suppose sickness renders the mind vulnerable to flying off and greeting ideas of meager value to anyone else. hahaha

Just a few random thoughts lately. One that got me thinking: I wonder how life might be for me if I had the ability to turn invisible on a whim. 

Hmm. Invisibility would be so cool! :D

Then perhaps that coolness would compensate for all of this -__-

Concluding a Very Special Year

This year, marking the 50th anniversary of Jane's pioneering research (which coincidentally happens to be the International Year of Biodiversity as well), is about to end :(

Well, wildlife and biodiversity in general remain threatened by ever-growing challenges, but so long as we have inspiring figures like Jane, I suppose we all have good reason to keep hopeful for the future :)

In spite of the vast scale of threats to the planet, environmental leaders allow us to conclude such a special year with hope!


Gombe: 50 Years of Research and Inspiration from the Jane Goodall Institute on Vimeo.

Tipping Point

Nice video :)

Mentioned here are the different environmental problems we face, ranging from the increasingly tangible water crisis to the currently vast scale of biodiversity loss.

ps I remember the topic I suggested for our environment project in religion, 3rd year HS. I suggested we work on the water crisis, but no. Can you believe it? Our teacher rejected the topic, saying it might not be so relevant anymore given that the rainy season was already beginning... If it were that simple, it wouldn't even be called a CRISIS -__-

bracing myself for another exhausting week...

I just hope my sanity remains intact after the week/s ahead.

Hmm. Perhaps something to look forward to might help?

Christmas.

*hits head on desk*

Oh, right.

I forgot about the deadlines and exams sinisterly waiting to greet me after the "break."

no chemistry :|

I recognize that a fundamental understanding of the chemistry behind the workings of life is necessary for a firm foundation in the study of life itself.

But...

Upon receiving my result for my first exam in organic chemistry...

I'm reminded of my reason for taking up biology in the first place: admittedly, I just wanted to study the life sciences to one day study animals in the wild and figure out ways to contribute to the saving of ecosystems along with everything that inhabits them, not to understand the chemical/molecular explanations for various phenomena.

Ugh.

It's so difficult trying to study something I'm remotely interested in -_-

They are Going to Get Us in the End Because They Have All the Money | BuzzFlash.org

They are Going to Get Us in the End Because They Have All the Money | BuzzFlash.org

The Tarzan and Jane of the animal world - Telegraph

The Tarzan and Jane of the animal world - Telegraph

The two people that inspire me the most interviewed together! :D
I just learned they're actually referred to as "Tarzan and Jane" by their colleagues. It's a really small world, isn't it? :)

Nice article!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Came across this quote. Can't really recall when where or from whom i first read this.

Fairly straightforward, right? 

And the message. 

Strikingly simple.

A minute fragment of insight bereft of the appreciation it justifiably deserves, yet warmly embraced by the familiar human soul.

It just caught my attention since I feel it aptly describes the situation I incontrovertibly find myself in: I'm badly missing someone :>

Anyway, the quote means that the lack of something increases the desire for it. In the context of lovers, the time one spends away from his loved one, makes him love that person even more.

An early form of the same saying is provided by the Roman poet Sextus Propertius in Elegies:

Always toward absent lovers love's tide stronger flows.

And a more contemporary version appears in a piece written by Miss Stickland in The Pocket Magazine of Classic and Polite Literature on 1832:

'Tis absence, however, that makes the heart grow fonder.

-sigh-

I've great difficulty keeping myself from thinking about you, or whether we'd see each other...

Your absence unbearably heightens my already painful longing for your company...

Jane Goodall for the Governors' Global Climate Summit 3 from The Jane Goodall Institute on Vimeo.

Scientists farther along the autism spectrum compared to humanities and socsci students

I happened to stumble across this blog entry while searching for some informed comparison between wordpress and blogger: http://robothink.blogspot.com/2005/10/empathy-deficit.html.

The entry questions how well suited scientists--particularly biomedical and psychological--are to the task of understanding human emotions and feelings. What actually caught my attention was the apparent connection that was being demonstrated between the scientific mind and autism. It then mentions a study conducted by Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and co-director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge. The report, entitled "The Autism-Spectrum Quotient: Evidence from Asperger Syndrome/High Functioning Autism, Males and Females, Scientists and Mathematicians" states that

[a]mong [a] group of 840 students, scientists scored significantly higher in autism spectrum traits than humanities and social science students, confirming an earlier study which showed that autistic traits are associated with scientific skills.

I then came across a BBC article that linked the scientific brain to autism.

It's weird how far I've strayed from the original purpose of my google search. Hmm. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, at least not at the moment. But this certainly got me thinking.

maya eating our dogs' food

It's interesting seeing these tiny birds (maya/eurasian tree sparrows/Passer montanus) eat our dogs' leftovers :)
Hope I could record a better video soon though. Had to edit this one a bit. The resolution's quite crappy from rotating the clip -_- HAHA

odd prey for the praying mantis

Sphodromantis viridis impales a
 hummingbird through the
chest with its spiny forelegs

I've just recently seen an episode of Animal Planet's new series Predation, and learned quite a few things that really surprised me.This episode was on the praying mantis. I was surprised because I'd always thought these skinny insects preyed exclusively on other insects.

Apparently, I was wrong. These voracious alien-looking bugs take on small birds, snakes, and even tiny mammals! It was certainly an unusual sight for me to watch an insect overpower and devour these vertebrates. I suppose protein is protein wherever it comes from...And it's all part of the whole eternal cycle of eating and being eaten.

I searched for a number of videos on youtube about this and realized that this feeding behavior isn't new. Nevertheless, we still understand very little about these bizarre bugs.

Here:

flash fiction: Murder

Bones crushed and breathing ceased with a final effort. Blood bathed the violent scene. Breaking his neck had hastened his death. She then ripped off a fleshy piece to compensate for the exhaustion the struggle cost her.

It’s been weeks.  Now the setting sun was giving way to the approaching night, and she knew she had to return with the carcass soon.

The remainder of her emaciated pups await in the distant burrow.

Thank You!

I've recently treated out some friends for lunch and a movie (we saw The Town starring Ben Affleck).

We had so much fun! Anyway, thanks to those who came.

And thanks especially to Den Den, Lyka, and Ace for the cake! HAHA

the Jane Goodall part got me into some trouble. hahaha

back from hiatus! (and an exhausting loaded semester)

It's been awhile. I haven't written in some time, and am REALLY desperate to catch up with some things.

-sigh- I'm just glad I'm taking a break from school for a while to take back several hours of sleep (and sanity!) haha!

Anyway, this is the first time I'm using this blog, and I hope I could make the most of it. School hasn't really been too forgiving, so I've had so much trouble finding some time to write and pick up on a few books I began reading lately...and I seriously owe my dogs some long walks. I promise I'm going to make it up to them :D

So here are my books for the break I hope to finish:

managed reading halfway
through this

great book! Dawkins'
"missing link" so to speak

really close to finishing this
one.another inspiring one, Jane!