An update: Good news! The Mexican wolf, a critically endangered subspecies of the gray wolf, got a break when the US Fish and Wildlife Service settled a lawsuit with 6 conservation organizations. FWS (not the same as the Wildlife Services I refer to below) has agreed to stop their "three strikes" rule that removes Mexican wolves from the wild (either lethally or non-lethally) if they kill three or more head of livestock a year. There are only about 52 Mexican wolves left in the wild.

Press release from the Center for Biological Diversity

Also, I submitted my Wildlife Services writeup as a news article.

_______

Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. By land is meant all of the things on, over, or in the earth. Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators; you cannot conserve the waters and waste the ranges; you cannot build the forest and mine the farm. The land is one organism. Its parts, like our own parts, compete with each other and co-operate with each other. The competitions are as much a part of the inner workings as the co-operations. You can regulate them—cautiously—but not abolish them.

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it. The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: "What good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering. — Aldo Leopold

With that in mind, here are a few recent news stories affecting wildlife:

Air pollution in Denver impacts lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park

Airborne nitrogen from vehicle exhaust, agricultural practices, and power production is having a much greater effect on high-altitude lakes than previously reported. The nitrogen – in the form of ammonium and nitrogen oxide – is accumulated by algae in lakes, reducing levels of phosphorous and other nutrients. This effectively turns the algae into junk food microorganisms, moving up the food web and eventually impacting fish. There has also been a documented increase in sedges (a type of grass) and a decrease in other plants. Similar effects have been documented in Norway and Sweden.

Colorado is currently working to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, but ammonium is not regulated. The is bad news for RMNP, which was created largely to protect sensitive alpine tundra habitat.

(Full story here.)

Virginia considers reintroducing elk

Elk were extirpated from Virginia over a century and a half ago, but the state is now considering introducing Rocky Mountain elk. This would follow a similar program in Kentucky, which has been lauded as a success. Around 150 elk have already crossed the state line from Kentucky into Virginia. Virginia game officials think an elk reintroduction would draw hunters and tourists. Farmers have raised concern about competition with livestock and disease transmission. However, the Kentucky population has so far been free of disease and had very little if any impact on farmers.

(Full story here.)

M-44s, Compound 1080, and Wildlife Services

Finally, this isn’t “news” per se, but I’m pretty sure a good chunk of American taxpayers don’t realize they’re footing a $100 million bill to poison hundreds of thousands of mammals and millions of birds each year on public land.

Wildlife Services, a branch of the USDA, oversees these programs. They operate more or less autonomously and with very little accountability. WS is authorized to kill animals regardless of their conservation status; in 2007 they killed 4 Mexican wolves, the most endangered mammal in North America. The data they provide do not explain why an animal is killed, just how many and how it was done. Their methods include scores of poisons, aerial shooting, and trapping. Two of the most egregious poisons are M-44s and Compound 1080.

M-44s are spring-loaded capsules filled with sodium cyanide. The capsules are placed inside pipes with an ejector and the pipes are drilled into the ground. The ejector is then covered with a smelly substance that attracts canines. When an animal bites or pulls on the baited ejector, enough force is released to launch the cyanide particles five feet into the air. Death typically occurs anywhere from ten seconds to two minutes.

Millions of M-44s have been placed on public land in an attempt to control coyotes and, to a lesser extent, foxes. However, these devices are indiscriminate, and they also kill wolves, black bears (and a grizzly in at least one case), bald eagles, deer, and domestic dogs (source). In fact, from 2003-2008, 573 domestic dogs were killed by M-44s. WS has illegally placed M-44s in multiple cases, either on private property, too close to public roads and trails, or by leaving them unmarked. After years of mishandling M-44s they were issued a warning by the EPA in 2008.

There is an antidote to sodium cyanide, but it must be administered immediately. In Australia officials who handle them are required to have special clothing, a respirator, and the antidote as a precaution. Despite this, the EPA describes them as an "environmentally sound tool" and "safe to use". In the U.S. officials are merely required to carry the antidote and are advised not to keep M-44s in the glovebox of their vehicles.

Another widely used poison is Compound 1080. It was first manufactured as a rat poison, but it was banned in 1972 after it killed 13 people. However, the poison was never recalled, and it is still used illegally; in recent years its illegal use came to light when several wolves in Idaho were found poisoned. It was reintroduced during the Reagan administration, and now is manufactured by one company in Alabama.

Most of the Compound 1080 produced is sent to New Zealand, which accounts for some 90% of the total 1080 used globally in an attempt to control invasive mammals. In the U.S. the only legal way to use 1080 is in "livestock protection collars". LPCs contain sacs filled with 1080 and are placed around the neck of a sheep or goat. When a predator attempts to grab prey by the neck it pierces the sac and ingests the toxin. Each collar contains enough 1080 to kill 5 people. The sacs rupture easily and can poison livestock as well as their intended targets. In arid areas most punctured collars are actually ripped on cacti and other vegetation.

There is no known antidote to Compound 1080, and death typically occurs from hours to days. It causes heart arrhythmias, seizures, convulsions, and intense pain. Carcasses containing 1080 remain toxic for months, so the incidence of secondary poisoning is high. Because death is not instantaneous, it is difficult to assess how many animals it kills each year.

Wildlife Services has mishandled LPCs on multiple occasions. In one instance, 156 out of 1,787 were reported missing. In two more cases, more collars were returned than WS reported had been used.

A bill to ban M-44s and Compound 1080 was introduced in Congress in April 2008. Unfortunately as of April 2009 the bill had failed (source).

These poisons are two of many that are used by Wildlife Services, and they are part of a much wider problem: predator control. No amount of poison, trapping, or aerial gunning is going to eliminate coyotes and other predators. WS kills about 1,000 coyotes a day, yet populations remain high. The reason behind this is simple: coyotes have density-dependent reproduction, so if the population drops, they have more babies.

It costs taxpayers literally hundreds of dollars per animal killed, yet predators kill relatively few livestock. Aerial gunning kills thousands of animals, but WS have had a number of accidents in recent years — 52 since 1979 — which resulted in the deaths of 10 federal agents. So why are we spending hundreds of millions of dollars on ineffective, inhumane, indiscriminate, dangerous, lethal control methods? Pressure from ranchers and, to a lesser extent, hunters.

It's true that predators will kill livestock; they've evolved for millions of years to hunt and kill prey — but you can't take that fact out of a larger context: when you look at livestock production numbers and mortality rates you realize that relatively few animals succumb to predation.

In 2004, 7,650,000 sheep were raised in the U.S. About 224,200 were killed by predators, representing 2.9% of total production. However, 376,100 were killed by other causes. That’s 4.9% of sheep production killed by things like weather, old age, starvation, and falling on their backs.

Yes, 3,800 sheep died because they rolled onto their backs and got stuck.

The numbers for cattle are even lower. In 2005, 104,500,000 cattle were raised in the U.S., and 190,000 were killed by predators, representing 0.18% of total production. In contrast, 1,110,000 cattle died of respiratory problems, 648,000 died from digestive problems, 39,000 were poisoned, and 275,000 were killed by weather events. In all, 4.9% of total cattle production was lost due to causes that had nothing to do with predators.

Predators like coyotes, wolves, and mountain lions provide valuable ecosystem services that should not be underestimated. For instance, coyotes prey on medium-sized carnivores and omnivores like foxes and raccoons, which helps ground-nesting birds like the endangered sage grouse. Cougars increase biodiversity by preying on deer that would otherwise overgraze sensitive habitat; in arid areas, riparian zones improve greatly with the presence of cougars.

After some 70 years of extirpation in Yellowstone, the reintroduction of wolves has already had substantial effects on the ecosystem. Willow and aspen stands have become healthier as elk are forced to move instead of becoming sedentary (source). Despite wolves’ terrible reputation, they kill very few livestock; vultures kill more cattle and sheep than wolves do. In Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana there was a lot of concern that wolves would decimate the elk population. Well, from 2008 to 2009, the population increased by 10,000 animals in Wyoming, stayed exactly the same in Montana, and dropped by 8,000 animals in Idaho (source).

It's worth noting that reintroducing wolves drastically reduced coyote populations; they have dropped some 50% since wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone and Idaho in 1995 and up to 90% locally. There were also no coyotes in the eastern U.S. until wolves were eradicated, but they moved opportunistically eastward. On the way, they bred with the few remaining wolves, creating hybrids that are significantly larger than their purebred relatives. Coyotes have tripled their range in the past century, while wolves occupy a mere 5% of their former range. There is a logical conclusion to be made here: If there is a niche for a predator, it will be filled.

Wildlife Services currently kills about 1,000 coyotes a day when nonlethal means of reducing predation exist and are effective. In Marin County, California, county commissioners revoked their funding of lethal methods like poison and leg-hold traps and instead invested $40,000 in alternatives like guard animals, bells, and fences. After five years, predation on sheep was cut in half.

Hunters often want to keep ungulates (hoofed animals) like deer and elk at artificially high populations, and predator control is often their solution. Aside from the devastating impacts that grazers have on the ecosystem, studies have shown that reducing predator populations only helps ungulate populations for a short time. Predators keep herds healthier by preferentially preying on sick or old individuals.

It's also time to re-consider what livestock are doing to public lands in the U.S. The fact is that they've existed in extremely high densities for too long and drastically altered the landscape. They've passed diseases to native animals, decimating their populations. Currently only about 30,000 bighorn sheep remain, down from 1.5 to 2 million two centuries ago. Should a tiny minority of people have the right to do that to land and wildlife that belong to everyone? We are long overdue for a paradigm shift in land and wildlife management.

Send a message to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to stop poisoning wildlife on public land

Sources:
AGRO – A National Coalition to End Aerial Gunning of Wildlife
Congressman Peter DeFazio’s statement on M-44s
The Leopold Report, headed by A. Starker Leopold (Aldo Leopold's son)
The Natural Resource Defense Council’s statement on Compound 1080

Wild Earth Guardians “War on Wildlife: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ‘Wildlife Services’”
Wolf predation on Livestock by Defenders of Wildlife

...Oh my!

I'm nearing the end of my trip around the UK.

Salisbury

After London I headed to Salisbury to spend the better part of two days. I absolutely loved the town. I saw Stonehenge, although oddly enough my first impression was that's really not THAT big. This is of course an idiotic thought, especially when one considers that a third of the stones are underground. Salisbury cathedral was incredible, and I visited multiple times. I visited the Magna Carta twice and climbed the cathedral's tower. The guide for our climb started with a general overview of the architecture of the cathedral, which included a description of the Jurassic limestone it was built from. She then pointed out fossils in said limestone. How awesome is the Church of England? Ha.


(The west facade of Salisbury Cathedral.)

On my way to the Salisbury train station I ran into Alex. Yeah. Thousands of miles from home, quite a distance from the conference we were both attending, and I run into my ex-boyfriend. He looked at me in shock as I said, "Hey asshole, how's it going?" and went on my way. Luckily he was soon forgotten as I continued my travels.

Conferring in Bristol

Bristol was okay. Not my favorite city of the trip, but that probably had a lot to do with the location of my hotel. The conference itself was great. I got there half expecting to give up on paleontology as a career, but right off the bat I had a great conversation with a paleontologist I know. He was so nice (and helpful) that I walked to my first seminar with my eyes brimming with tears. It was mostly uphill from there - lots of great conversation with potential graduate advisors. I think I have a better handle on grad programs for next year.

Attenborough and Me


(No, I'm not a frog.)

By far the highlight of my time in Bristol was seeing David Attenborough speak. I've long been a fan of his, and to be honest I was a little worried that my admiration for him would be shattered by seeing him in person. Too often TV hosts are just talking heads. Not so with Sir David; he is every bit as brilliant as he might seem, perhaps even more so. He was also humble, kind, and genuine. His lecture was brilliant (on Alfred Russel Wallace and birds of paradise, two of my favorite things ever) but where he really shined was in the Q&A section. One of his first questions was about whether governments should intervene and stop population growth. My only thought was that that was such an annoying, inappropriate question for the lecture we'd just seen, but before I'd even formed a cogent thought, Attenborough said:

"Since I started making television programs, the population of the world has increased three times. It's an extraordinary notion. Now can it increase four times? Can it increase five times? The earth is a finite size, so a point will eventually come when we run out of food, when we run out of space, and when we will have destroyed most of the natural world. Ought we to do something about it before that happens? There are people who will say that it is not right to dictate to anybody how many children they should have, and I understand that point of view. But the one hopeful sign that I see is that I know of no instance where women have education, literacy, and the medical ability to control the numbers of their children where the birthrate has not fallen. And thus it seems to me that if we wish the numbers of human beings not to go on increasing indefinitely, one of the first ways to go about that is to spread prosperity and education universally."

How eloquent. Afterward I walked to the front of the lecture hall to find him sitting at a table signing autographs. I stood on line and had him sign my ticket, and exchanged a few words with him.

Me: "I'm sorry this is all I have for you to sign, but I've come a long way - from the U.S."
Attenborough: "The United States, did you say? Extraordinary."
Me: "Yes. And I won't lie: I want your job!"
Attenborough: "Ohhahahaha."

Wow. I made David Attenborough guffaw. Highlight of my life. Seriously, I'm not sure that can be topped.

Watch the lecture in its entirety: [link]

Scotland Rocks

From Bristol I flew up to Glasgow. After a long story I won't bore anyone with (it does involve Barney the dinosaur, though), I met up with my tour group and we headed up to Fort William by bus. A few members of the group had gone up the night before, so we all met at the train station and boarded a steam locomotive to Mallaig. I ended up sitting across from a paleontologist from Utah and we spent most of our ride discussing wildlife management, the wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone, and Ken Salazer. Oh boy, do I ever have a one-track mind? After a quick lunch the group (bus included) boarded the ferry to Skye, where we went on our first fossil-hunting expedition.

There's a hole in the bottom of the peat

This is a long story, but it explains 1) How I ended up in a hole up to my waist covered in sheep poo, 2) How I ended up barefoot and in shorts on a rainy day on the Isle of Skye at the end of September, and 3) Why a Scotsman thinks I'm dumber than a sheep.

What can I say about that first field trip? It was everything a trek through the Scottish bogs should be. Fortunately I was prepared (oooh, foreshadowing). I had borrowed a pair of wellies from our tour guide and I have a set of rain gear, both a jacket and pants. Underneath that I had a pair of zip-off pants (see to admire their awesomeness). Other than that, I had my LowePro backpack with my camera and tripod.

I was warm and dry in my fancy gear, and had a grand old time squishing around in the bog.

The day was incredibly overcast, with the clouds so low they brushed the tops of the crags around us. The ground was saturated, and I commented that I loved the sound the peat made as I stepped on it. Famous last words, right?

I was walking along innocently enough when I stepped on a mound of grass that, unbeknownst to me, was hovering over a pool of water/mud/sheep poo. With very little time to contemplate what was happening, I tipped forward and ended up in a hole up to my waist. Completely covered in water/mud/sheep poo. So much for staying dry! I'm pretty sure I was laughing before I'd even sunk all the way into the hole. Of course, for comedic effect, the bog made a lovely slurping noise as it tried to suck me in.

I'd just taken a few shots, so I was holding my tripod with camera attached. I apparently held it above my head as I fell, much to the amazement of standers-by. One must do what one has to do to protect one's gear, I suppose.

One woman immediately ran over, and I had her pull my backpack off and take my tripod so I could heave myself out of said hole. Amazingly, my rain pants kept me pretty dry, although my wellies were soaked through and I had a band of water/mud/sheep poo around my waist. I was able to zip off the wet legs of the pants I had on under my rain gear, so on the whole I wasn't too wet. Hiking over hills in wet wellies is awful though.


(The view just before I fell in a hole.)

We got to a beach, where I promptly found a fantastic fossil that was virtually impossible to extract from the boulder it was in. After taking a few photos and sniffling a bit, I turned around and trudged back to our vehicles. I immediately pulled off the wellies and wrung out my socks, then peeled off the wet/muddy/sheep-pooey rain pants, leaving me barefoot and in shorts - and MUCH warmer.

Our van driver for the day (the roads were too narrow for our big bus) was a local sheep farmer. On the drive back I looked at a herd of sheep and wondered aloud, "I wonder how many sheep get sucked into these bogs every year."

The driver looked in the rearview mirror and exclaimed, "Oh no, they don't go near it! THEY know better!"

So apparently I'm dumber than a sheep.

Fossils and the Highlands, then on to Edinburgh

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, in the sense that I didn't fall into any more holes. Lots of whisky and wonderful fossils. I found a fossil that was good enough that the National Museum of Scotland will be adding it to their collection, which makes me happy. I met fantastic people, one of whom I ended up rooming with in Edinburgh. It was great to have people to explore Edinburgh with.

Edinburgh is a gorgeous city. There really isn't a bad view to be had. I've loved wandering around. And while I'd like to spend more time here, it feel like forever since I haven't had to live out of a suitcase. I miss my little budgie and my silly terriers, and I’ve never been so excited to do laundry. It will be good to be home again.


Highlights that didn't fit elsewhere in this ridiculously long narrative

- Officials at Westminster Abbey tried to give me an audio tour in Italian.
- I overslept one day in Scotland, only to be awakened by our tour guide ten minutes after I was supposed to meet the bus. Someone (and those who know me know how miraculous this is) I managed to get myself and my bags out the door and on the bus in five minutes. The act of oversleeping was hereby referred to as “nestling” (which is only funny if you know my last name ).
- On the way to the Palace of the Holyrood I mistook a stylized thistle (a symbol of Scotland, see: Order of the Thistle) for a pineapple (a symbol of…something that isn’t Scotland). Of course, being the absolute idiot that I am, I didn't figure it out on my own and then have a little chuckle. Oh no. I loudly said, “IS THAT A PINEAPPLE?” This naturally led to the establishment of the Order of the Pineapple. The requirements to join are quite stringent, and I’m pretty sure the ceremony to join will require lots of whisky.

Well, after a long bout of travelling, I'm finally in the UK. It actually wasn't too bad; I realized halfway through that it's not usual for it to take me about the same time to get to Colorado. Despite having hopped on planes for faraway places multiple times, the few days leading up to a trip always make me nervous. I know it and I ignore it and it bugs me, but it happens every time. I have that why the hell am I flying 5000 miles to wander around a city of 10,000,000 people all by myself?" moment. Once I get on the plane and have a blast the entire trip.

The UK Border is helpfully proclaimed by a giant sign and some tens-a-barriers in the airport. I had a momentary scare that I wasn't cool enough to make it to the other side of said barriers. Immigrations officials are often quite nice and ask innocent questions in hopes that you'll reveal more about your plans in the country. At least that's my experience. However, when I handed my passport and entry card to the official he looked at it and said (insert drawn-out English accent here), "Now tell me what exactly you are doing in the UK for TWENTY-TWO DAYS?" His speech was so punctuated it almost sounded like there was a period after every word. Did he think I was some kind of miscreant? I gave him my itinerary, which apparently was disappointingly satisfactory. He stamped my passport, quite grumpily I might add, and I went on my way.

I ended up taking the most expensive cab ride of my life from Heathrow to my hotel. My parents always nag me to take a cab instead of other public transport, and had even given me money to do so (because I don't) - but I really wanted to take the train in. I love trains. We don't use them enough in the US. They're nifty.

Anyway, upon retrieving my bags I discovered that the zipper on my duffel had burst open. I fiddled with it and got it closed again, only to have it pop apart as soon as I picked it up. That really won't work for changing trains in crowded stations by myself in London. I had visions of trying to "Mind the gap" and ending up with my underwear scattered all over the Tube... No, that won't do.

So I took my parents' advice and hopped in a London cab, which I must say are the snazziest I've ever seen. I was in a new generation LTI cab. It was so nice I've recommended *Iamidaho get one for Yellowstone. Heck, we could start a trend. *Nzeman, you in? =Dalberti? I would love to see the national parks in a London cab!

It was quite nice to see a bit of the city and remind myself about that whole left-side-of-the-road dealy before I'm a pedestrian trying to cross streets. Heh. It's cool how quickly that instinct comes back.

I'm in the City of Westminster. The hotel totally works - cheap and great location. I'm in love with this tiny, tiny room. Minuscule even by European standards; the ceiling is higher than the room is wide. There is a huge upside to this: I can't make a mess because there's no room to. There is literally not enough floor space. Of course it's a little tragic to have to put hangars in sideways to get the closet door to close, but I sure got a good chuckle out of it.

Upon disembarking the exorbitantly expensive cab, I dropped my bags off and intentionally got myself lost. When I've got the time to do that (and I know the neighborhood is safe) it's such a great way to discover little hidden gems. I found the nearby main drag with restaurants, shops, and a pharmacy. Then I found the nearest Underground station, and eventually a couple not-so-near ones. I ended up wandering Notting Hill, which I knew was Notting Hill because all of a sudden there were Maseratis, Aston Martins, and other ridiculously fancy cars. Saw some shops there. I like walking around and looking at stuff.

There are a few beautiful little churches nearby. I love old churches. I love seeing reverence and awe and sanctity translated into architecture, even if I don't necessarily believe in the institutions behind them. A couple were obviously quite old; one had burned up most of its facade and had black bricks extending 2/3 of the way up the building. I came across another red brick building with beautiful stained glass and a big, gorgeous rose window. Wow. Then I look at the sign - it's a synagogue! Cool!

I got myself sufficiently lost that I had only a vague idea of which direction to head to get back to my hotel. Upon deciding I probably should go lay down and get some sleep I discovered all these streets are way too similar. Turn left at the row of Victorian townhouses with white columns? What?

And the accents... Oh, the accents. I'm beside myself with glee.

Now I'm studying the money so I can pay for things without looking too stupid. I already hate the two pound coin. It's kind of small, and it's worth ~$3.20. It's way too easy to spend/lose coins!

Tomorrow I'm going to put some serious miles on my...feet. Between that and the tube I'm in great shape. I kind of wish I had my bike! However, I'm quite fortunate enough to be close enough that I can walk to Westminster Abbey. I almost can't believe I can go see where Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton are buried. And Mary Queen of Scots. And Geoffrey Chaucer, David Livingston, geologist Charles Lyell, William Gladstone, Lord Kelvin, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy (minus his heart), Georg Friedrich Handel, abolitionist William Wilberforce, and so many others. Although Alexander Pope is not ("To one who would not be buried in Westminster Abbey").

Abbey Road Studios are around here somewhere. So is Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, and Hyde Park. Baker Street isn't too far (the fictional home of the fictional Sherlock Holmes). I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. His address is 221b Baker Street, which didn't actually exist. Conan Doyle made it up. However, so many people went looking for it that the city eventually renumbered the street. Maybe I'll even pop over to Fenchurch Street Station, after which I named my bird in a roundabout sort of way.

All these places and people I've been reading about my entire life. London is so iconic. And I'm here.

Anyway, this is long and rambling, but I'm so excited! In a very tired, jetlagged sort of way. Hooray!

PS - Lari still has the password to my account. How long before she posts another journal? I give her a week, or however long it takes me to get myself in a pickle that she can relate in a humorous manner. So probably less than a week.

this is =Tar-Vanimelde again. jenn never changed her password, silly girl.

just writing to say she's out in the middle of the country (not the exact center, but closer to the center than she usually is) hopefully getting some kickass photos. it's very rude of her to abandon me yet again in her jet-setting, travel-bug way, but that's just jealousy talking.

leave her some love for when she returns to civilization and is confused that people are commenting on a journal she didn't know she had

hello, people. this is actually =Tar-Vanimelde (jenn was temporarily insane and gave me her password). jenn just got back into town today, so of course i had to invade her house. her sister was here for a bit as well, so it was a party for a while there. after michelle left, i didn't take the hint and leave jenn alone after her long day. i plopped myself on her couch, accepted her offer of opening a bottle of wine, and proceeded to make a nuisance of myself. par for us.

then, randomly, in the middle of a conversation about her time in the bahamas and crazy people, she goes "OH! My goggles!" and runs over to the pile of luggage sitting by the front door, rooting around madly. when she turned back around, she was wearing her goggles, and the happiest out-and-out GRIN i have seen on her in the 5 years we've known each other. with her new hair cut, her striped long sleeve shirt, the goggles and that expression, she looked like an excited, elated 4 year old.

my reaction? to laugh my ass off and try to get a picture of it that actually captured the intensity of her joy. i failed, of course, but the resulting photoshoot did come up with a couple of stellar shots (and by that i mean her looking retarded and/or crosseyed, usually because she was laughing at my laughing at her). i doubt she'll let me share, sadly.


Edit: Yes I will!

it turns out, the whole point of pulling out the goggles was to show me how, when you take them off, it feels like "sneezing with your eyes open". which, on trying it for myself, i can agree with. the suction is incredible. on off. on off. on off. wheeee! who knew goggles could be so much fun??


=Tar-Vanimelde does look like she's having a lot of fun...

but by this point, i had the camera, and her macro lens really is as fun as it sounded when i read her journal. there are now random pictures on there of her dog, her butt, her bird, the couch, the take-out box from dinner, the wine bottle, her luggage... in short, nothing interesting, but it was still fun as all get out. i love the click!


I'm so glad Lari likes my new lens


I really am quite obnoxious.

THIS PARAGRAPH HAS BEEN DELETED, LARI. YOU ARE A TERRIBLE PERSON.

Apologies to anyone who watches my scraps.