ZooBorns had a post about a pack birthed at a zoo. Their mom died and the zoo found a domestic dog at a shelter to nurse them. I learned that their social structure is one of submission. I was intrigued. So I did some searching at work and now here I continue:

they are cute when puppies, but kind of ugly as grown ups. here are puppies: http://wilkinae.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/ewt-wild-dog-pups2.jpg



This site has some awesome photos. They're following packs of wild dogs. One of the photos has a few dogs starting at a giant wart hog.
http://zimbabwewilddogs.wildlifedirect.org/tag/african-wild-dogs/

do you get to follow animals in the peace corps?!

dude nevermind. all those dogs are cute.


Here is wikipedia info. I really can't help but think about these dogs:

They have a submission-based hierarchy, instead of a dominance based one. Submission and nonaggression is emphasised heavily, even over food they will beg energetically instead of fight. This is likely because of their manner of raising huge litters of dependant pups, so if one individual is injured the entire pack would not be able to provide as much.

After a successful hunt, hunters regurgitate meat for those that remained at the den during the hunt, such as the dominant female and the pups. They will also feed other pack members, such as the sick, injured, or very old that cannot keep up.[Citation required]
Remarkably, this large-animal hunting tactic appears to be a learned behavior, passed on from generation to generation within specific hunting packs, rather than an instinctive behaviour found commonly within the species. Some studies have also shown that other information, such as the location of watering holes, may be passed on in a similar fashion

DMX.

i am up way too late. i already wrote off working out in 5 hours (although, a part of me thinks it is "possible").

i am intoxicated, courtesy of my favorite bar and all the excitement that happens there late weeknight. it's been so long i forgot.

i ate beans & muffins cooked in a toaster oven minutes ago.

mcginn won the election. constantine won. holmes won. here is seattle done right. i'm going to move when all this is done right. pelosi was here, in my neighborhood, today. i'm jetting off to the canada. i'm sad. wondering if this timing is just cruel. hugeasscity introduced me to mayor-elect mcginn way before the people in the know considered him a person to know. i liked mike who bikes back then. know what else, though?

i also liked believing america had a president who stood for equality. look at how well that got me. one year later and if i'm not crying about the assholicness of it all, i'm angry. fuck politics. fuck the money i gave in that campaign. fuck someone who dares brings up the adversity his parents experienced as two different races. fuck someone who recalls that story on the campaign trail and doesn't feel an urgency for equality now. you don't get to own a story when it makes you stand straight in front of millions, only to throw it dark in the back of a closet when it exposes you to hundreds of millions. it isn't right.

all the things i don't battle enough for - i am to blame and can only hope i make it up in some portion in my life. i do what i can. i don't ask for money. i can only judge by the balance of my left hand. that's all i can do. but if it was 16 months ago? that man, now President, would only have some of my money - and not all of it. no way.

http://gay.americablog.com/2009/11/dont-ask-dont-give.html

i'm pouting.

shortpants romance sent me their ep & cassette. i got a special pressing "Jane's Special White & Green Pressing 1 of 1".

hooray! maybe i will visit montreal in the spring and i will see one of their shows.

i dropped the title "chief of staff" to my boss today. i told him i looked it up on wikipedia after reading an article about the Obamas. those people have high level assistants. now i just have to devise a scholarly/research title to correspond to chief of staff. look at what wikipedia says the position does (that I think I could do/would justify my moving up there):

- a senior aide
- responsible for overseeing the actions of the White House staff, managing the president's schedule, and deciding who is allowed to meet with the president.
The roles of the Chief of Staff are both managerial and advisory and can include the following

* Select key White House staff and supervise them
* Structure the White House staff system
* Control the flow of people into the Oval Office
* Manage the flow of information
* Protect the interests of the President
* Negotiate with Congress, other members of the executive branch, and extragovernmental political groups to implement the President's agenda

except it wouldn't be for the president. but change the details of who the work is for and there you have it.

man, i do not like halloween. my friends' party is starting RIGHT NOW and i can't go if i don't have a costume. trust me. i am not making it up.

i of course do not have a costume. because i hate dressing up. on the bus home i thought i would dress up as my favorite modes mouse song ("convenient parking"), but there were no cars to be had at walgreen's. yes, i know this is what happens when you wait until the last minute. but i hate dressing up. i hate halloween (i like 1 november for cheap candy).

anyways, i'm drinking vodka and i figure that will help me find something in my closet to make a costume out of. i was searching online and came across a site for "Last-minute Quick Costume Ideas". I laughed at a few of them because they were pretty clever. It reminded me of my mom. one year for some church party she came up with ideas like these and then i think she hosted a game show. she had stuff like 10-carat necklaces (with 10 cardboard carrots hanging off of string) and a diamond pin (a dime glued to a safety pin). i wish i appreciated more at the time how clever my mom was and participated in such things.

anyways, here are my favorite ones from this site (http://www.halloween.com/halloween-costume-quick-ideas.php)

* Put a pot on your head. What are you? A pot head.
* Dress nicely with a fake noose around your neck. What are you? Well hung.
* Wear extra-large bra over your clothes. Stuff with spices. What are you? A spice rack.
* If you are "big-boned" then throw a white sheet (or large pillowcase) on. What are you? Antarctica!

riding a bike to work out seemed like it was probably ok. i had some misgivings, considering i have always been afraid to ride in the rain. this morning, though, i have decided that riding a bike to workout is not ideal. i'd rather walk. 50 degrees & in the rain, not for me. walking i can use an umbrella. so that's just how it has to be.

i just chatted with a scientist i have a "fan crush" on. he gave me the thumbs up about something specific today. but he likes me anyways, i think.

fan crush! fan crush! that guy is just awesome. it's not just his work. it's his demeanor. he is polite, respectful to everyone, and really nice. he is the epitome of, "you can play in this science game and reach a top level & not have to be a jerk." of course i have a fan crush!

man, i should probably finish what i'm working on. or look like i'm actually working. i think john is going to call me into meeting with him and that guy. maybe. i hope not.

i think it may have been 3 hours. i lost track.

i just chatted, continuously, for over 2.5 hours with kyle. that guy is so awesome and i can't wait until thanksgiving for he, me, and pulu to hang out for days. freaking days!!


xoxoxoxoxoxo. i am really excited for kyle to meet pulu's wife, stella, too.

ONE MONTH. also, look at this video. one of the pigeons on the wire is tapping its foot. it is.

so.....

being a state employee & because the state is poor, my health insurance costs are changing in 2010.

the good news: i think my monthly premium went down a couple bucks

bad news: my deductible increased by $250/year
prescriptions doubled in price (increase $40/3 months)
office visit fee increased (up $15)

sooooooooooo. there's that. it's ok, really. it's understandable. plus, i have awesome insurance where doctors will call me and i don't have to pay. or, if the dr. checks the email (or i write in the subject line something like "message at the request of physician" then the doctor emails me directly. if i don't write that then i get stuck dealing with stupid admin people... but well, i've learned how to work the email system. and my providers are really nice.

i guess, though, i may not want to see changes to other aspects of the plan... the info i got today is just basic from the state. i guess i should look at the full coverage papers. no rush for that because it wouldn't matter. i love group health.

i was thinking of scheduling an appointment with one of my awesome doctors. i think i will do that before year end (which is probably what a lot of people are doing!).

oh. and besides how great group health is - it's the cheapest monthly plan. prescriptions might be slightly cheaper through another plan, but then they play that whole "x% of costs" for doctor visits. screw that. i like knowing exactly how much i have to pay. plus, i like the comfort of being able to call one place for any specialty. and how all my medical records are stored in the same place (the pcp i saw when i was sick for a ridiculous amount of time saw a medication i was taking based on rx from another doctor. she added a test related to that drug to the blood work she was ordering. i don't think that would have happened without my records right there. i wouldn't have thought of asking.) i like that everything except fitting for contacts is available within a 7 minute walk of my house. i like that there's free 24 hour nursing advice. i like that i don't think they'd ever drop me if i got cancer or something like that. they would take care of me and coordinate my care. yes, that's on signs and in their magazines, but i believe it. i really do.

wow. i really like my insurance plan. there's my story.

So i volunteered at Equal Rights Washington tonight as part of the Approve 71 campaign. It was a phone bank and I was nervous because I imagined having to call people out of the blue to talk about 71. but i needed to do something.

fortunately for me, and the guy i ended up "hanging out" with while calling people, it wasn't cold calling. it was to recruit volunteers to come out for other events. these were all people who had in some way showed interest in approving 71 (or, i suspect equal rights in general). it was a good first time introduction to phone banking. i knew i couldn't do it tomorrow night, but maybe thursday. i don't know. i wanted to ask if we would ever call people who weren't "in the know" because i think that's more important. maybe when the list of known supportive people is exhausted. i'm not sure. i think i will send an email and ask.

there's a couple other things i am interested in, too. one is this saturday so i can't make it (canvassing). the other one involves a halloween costume, so i don't *want* to make it. stupid halloween!

AGAIN!

publicola had a screen shot of protect marriage washington's new commercial. it's fucking mormon art!! seriously. i had to go watch the entire stupid commercial to confirm. and then googled, just in case, you know i'm getting all worked up about nothing. it's the painting of adam & eve walking all happy and with animals & shit. the creepy (or cool, artistically) thing about this painting is that if you're staring at it adam's eyes follow you everywhere you go. seriously. if you move to the left he is watching you. move to the right, his eyes are on you - directly at you. at least that's what i remember. or maybe it was another one of the paintings in the series. i don't think i'm making it up/remembering wrong. i think some tour guide brought that up. argh.

anyways, sure enough it's mormon owned shit. AND in the commercial there's another piece of mormon art.

A commenter on publicola pointed this out:

10. CCSea says:

BTW, this picture is copyrighted by the Mormon Church. This means that the Mormons must be behind this ad.

It appears that the Mormon Church is conducting a stealth campaign against Ref 71. They are being very quiet about it, though. Despicable.

54 minutes with a certain Alex A. (nephew)

I am sponsoring his monthly ddr. he will wear a shirt, designed by me & hopefully arc (because i cannot draw). he is excited about my ideas for his game gear. not just because i told him i would sponsor him, but because for how much he loves that game he doesn't have a shirt.

Trying to track someone down on ms, I read a bulletin from shortpants romance.

there are 10 copies left of their latest ep (i.e., the first print). the first print includes a CASSETTE COPY. my xoxo for them increases.

their opening for that show, which ever one of them runs their ms account, posted a comment about how it was too bad i wasn't in montreal anymore. i guess between walking up to each of them, apologizing for not speaking french (their show rocked so much it knew no language boundaries - except i later learned upon listening to the ep that they sang in english!), spilling their beer, etc. i made quite the impression. ha! i'm too old for that. they are young.

but, in addition to their amazing set there were also zines on our tables from them. now a cassette?


i called someone to see zombieland with me. it is not happening tonight. there have been so many good movies lately!

Heading home from an awesome afternoon...

walking to the bus tunnel from Elliot Bay Book Co. I saw a really cool park (it reminded me of something like a Japanese Garden). It was behind a locked gate, but there was a placard that read something like: "This park maintained by UPS for the people of Seattle. Here is the first location of UPS." It also had a placard reading its summer hours.

I had no idea that UPS started in Seattle! Wikipedia confirmed it.

i really love this place.

but there's a difference between a blanket with sleeves and a jacket that is made of the same material as a snuggie.

the last christmas ryan and i lived together his grandma sent me this blue "old woman fashion" jacket. i loved it. it just didn't fit all that well, so i never wore it. it also definitely is old woman fashion, so it was perfect coming from her. anyways, i pulled it out tonight. i had pulled it out at other times, but it still wasn't a fit. today there was no problem. that's a nice thing. but more importantly, i get to wear this comfy, grandma-sanctioned fuzzy light blue jacket. i will be so warm this winter. and i will feel snug. when i put it on earlier tonight that's the first thought i had - that this could be like what a snuggie feels like (the word snug is totally not related to snuggie)*. this thing is so cozy! that christmas was before the snuggie craze. my "new" house jacket has me looking forward even more to winter.

oh, yeah, i just spent like an hour watching the PS22 chorus. those kids *are* amazing. i'm glad they were slog's feature video topic in news of the day this week.

sonja brought me a 2 liter of alcoholic cider from vancouver tonight (yay liking something similar to beer...). the awesome & Canadian thing about it - it's in a plastic 2 liter container.

*Speaking of words that are not related -
UW joins other leading research universities to launch site (Futurity.org) - 2009
Jane makes zine titled Futurity - 2002

yesterday - 2 hours on the phone catching up with pulu
tonight - 1 hour and 38 minutes on the phone catching up with the penas (gabriel, ralph, cristina). all for about the same amount of time.


at one point, before i said i was interested in pursuing montreal - when someone was just showing me rental apartments on google - i said, "you know. just in the past few years i have really, really, really missed my family. i don't know why. if i could live in phoenix, i would. montreal is really far away from phoenix." person said, "yeah. it is really far. plane tickets aren't cheap from montreal."

anyways... early next week i will catch up with the other sets of family.

Even though my neighborhood is "small" & practically everyone I know lives in it...

I get happy & feel cozy when i see people I know.

Also, I like that I think to myself, "I love my neighborhood!!!!!" about 3 -4 times each month, on average.


I got a new rain/cold coat yesterday. it's red. i'm going to go put it on now because i can.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-mind-of-kalebu/Content?oid=2302453#comments

i feel something towards this article, but cannot name it. i don't need to, anyways.

something i can name -

the doctor on friday told me no "strenuous" exercise for another 2 weeks. she asked me when the last time i exercised was. i reported it, without thinking - it was the thursday before labor day. (i had forgotten about the drunken dancing that happened 2 days following).

anyways, it had been so long. when she told me she recommended 2 weeks with no "strenuous" exercise, there were tears behind my eyeballs. stupid & childish, i know. but i was so disappointed. another session of bootcamp started monday and i couldn't go. and i wasn't able to ride to work. and the weather was staying so nice. and i like doing those things now. and i already had missed the last week of the previous bootcamp session because i was sick. i was truly disappointed.

my arms hurt (body aches in illness, you know) hurt very badly Friday afternoon. I was sads. but i felt a lot better than i had one week previous. monday i felt a lot better. today i went to the gym. the doctor had to think about it when i asked her if an elliptical machine would be ok. it was tiring, the machine today. i can tell it is not because i am out of shape, like really out of shape. the machine was on the most ridiculous level (1 - 2) and i could only do 30 minutes. it was really. it was really a lot, but not exhausting.

ha! i guess i don't have words to describe it.