Because I'm Awesome

So I spent quite a bit of time today putting together a silly little animation. I'm not sure it will ever be used, but I really enjoyed it. Lately I've been getting in touch with my inner audio-visual nerd, and it's been awesome. Anyways, here's the video, a quick tour of the Bear River, it's choppy, but I'm still proud I made a video (and just a little sad my recorder ran out a batteries just before the end my sentence).

Tragedy Averted

I have a favorite corner in the library, on the 3rd floor in the northwest corner. Its the section with the ecology books. I feel like I know what I'm talking about there, because I'm surrounded by books that I could understand if I read them. There's also big windows facing the mountains, and its a great place to watch storms roll in. But tonight there was someone sitting there. I was irritated, now that everyone is back on campus all my awesome chillaxin' places have been invaded. However, I found an place with the best book titles ever. I should be typing some other stuff up, but I was so excited I decided to share what I've found.

First, "Adventures In Bird Protection." I want to go on those adventures.

Another adventure I would like to have: "Avian Gut Function in Health and Disease." I've had that adventure on a small scale, dissecting pigeons in ornithology, and I feed birds, but what would it be like to do "Inner Space: Avian Adventures."?
Next, a 500 page volume: "Equine Reproduction." I'm scared of it, but at the same time I want to know more.

And a few awesome books looking into the feelings animals have. I love these titles so much. "Social Structure In Farm Animals" reminds me of "Animal Farm" except I don't think it's about socialism. When I have time I'll probably read it.
Next to that one was also "Social Space for Domestic Animals." No one cares about social space for Becka, so I won't read that book, on principle. Having so much social structure is probably what leads people to study "Biology of Stress in Farm Animals."

Finally, a suite of books on pigs: "The Biology of the Domestic Pig" is apparently complex enough to merit a 400 page book. The one next to that is "Controlled Reproduction in Pigs", I think it's a new cause I'm going to oppose. No one should be control the reproduction of another. NO ONE!!!
Sorry for the disjointed post, but I was so tickled to find all these awesome books I had to share them.

How to Make a Boring Day Awesome

I woke up today determined to see something new. I've been given the job (well, half the job) of finding pictures for the case study a bunch of us are presenting in November on the Bear River. Naturally I was psyched because I'm studying the Bear River, and I love any opportunity to get to know my study area better.

Oh, quick side-topic. I live in an old house, I can hear everything that goes on around me, and it's driving me crazy. Every morning something wakes me up, and it's usually this big stupid Dodge truck that doesn't know how to use it's quiet voice, even though it gets up at 7:00 every morning. I figure I have two options, I can get ear plugs or I can put sugar in the trucks engine (or some other form of monkey wrenching). I know which option is the polite and legal option, but wouldn't wearing ear plugs to bed just give a win to big, dumb, early-rising trucks everywhere? And will I still be able to hear my alarm clock?

Back to the matter at hand. After ensuring that I got enough sleep for the days adventure, I tried to map out a way to see everything I wanted to. The Bear River is 500 miles long, and I didn't have time to see all that. I have pictures from the 3 federal wildlife refuges along the river, so I thought I'd focus on seeing something new, namely Cutler Dam, Bear River Bottoms, and Oneida Narrows Dam. Turns out, none of these were easy to see.

My first stop was Cutler Dam. Turns out I've been there before. Me and my old friend the Cockatoo went there 3 years ago, and as I remember it we didn't have any trouble getting right up next to the dam. So you can imagine my surprise when I couldn't find the correct road to turn onto (and the surprise of the residents of Beaver Dam who were out and about that morning and saw me drive by 3 times) and then found two "No Trespassing" signs in between me and the dam. This is all I could see from the other side of the gates, not what I was looking for.

Luckily for me, I only obey No Trespassing signs if I think I could be shot. Seeing as it was 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon, I guessed that there wouldn't anyone from the power company out working on the dam. And if there was someone, I'm pretty sure company policy discourages shooting people.

Anyways, Cutler is one of the places along the river where it's possible to completely dry the river up (there are two others), as two major canals get their water just above the dam and use that to irrigate a good portion of Box Elder County.

The CanalThe River

Then I drove over the world's scariest bridge. It has a 3 ton weight limit, and my truck isn't nearly that heavy, but the noises the bridge made as I drove over it nearly made me pee.

Before I headed back into Cache Valley I took the scenic route around the east end of Box Elder County. It was farmy. The next stop was Cutler Marsh. I've been there a few times, but never with a camera. Unfortunately there wasn't much to take pictures of today (go in the evening and you can get great shots of big, nasty carp). I did see some pelicans, who still make me happy, even if they eat cell phones. I also saw a redhead, a duck I'm sure was named after me. I also tried to get some pictures of agriculture that weren't just pictures of fields, don't really know if I succeeded.

Then I tried to find the Bear River Bottoms. I did find a sign for the Bottoms, but as far as I know it's not managed at all by DNR. There were lots of fences and notices posted, many by hunting clubs. I decided not to trespass there, as I know hunters have guns, and I wasn't wearing my bright yellow don't-hit-me-with-your-car/don't-shoot-me shirt.

This was a little disappointing, but now I know where the Bottoms are. Next I set off for Oneida Dam. It would totally be cool if they made dinner plates and flatware there, but mostly they just make hydro-power. This dam is in southern Idaho, near-ish Preston, and the drive there was wonderful. I drove along the river for like 10 miles through a peaceful canyon, I'll probably go back soon and paddle or tube the river there.

Eventually I got to the top of the dam, but then I couldn't drive along it, or even get anywhere with a good view of the spill way. Remember back in the day, before terrorism was a good excuse for making awesome things lame, when you could drive over the tops of earthen dams everywhere? I miss those days (especially because I didn't own a vehicle in those days). I did find a cement wall to climb, but there was nothing cool to see. I really wanted to explore more, but all those dang fences were making it difficult.
The drive back was uneventful, but nice. I like driving. Every tree-hugger instinct in me wants to dislike it, but I love a good road trip. Eh. I figure I drive places maybe twice a week, so I'm good. (I walked myself over to see "Inglorious Basterds" last night, and I liked it)

And that, my friends, is how you turn a potentially boring Saturday into something wonderful.

Adventure Shoes!

I have a philosophy on life that requires heavy adventuring. And for every adventure you really need the right pair of shoes. Here I will share some winning adventure shoes, they've allowed me to see many awesome things.

The first adventure shoes ever: my 2002 Adidas Trail Runners. I bought them in 2002, and they're still the best shoe I've ever owned. Ever. I can't bare to throw them away because I love them so much, and they still have a little sole to them.
They were from an important time in my life, when my foot tan-lines were around my ankles, not my toes.

Next up: my 2008 Tevas. Oh how I loved those tan lines. Unfortunately for these shoes, I walked through the bottom of them in 4 months. They are no longer comfortable to walk outside in, but they make me smile and they don't take up a lot of space, so I keep them around (much like I can tolerate children; young adults, those are another matter).

My current love: the 2009 Chacos. They did take a bit of breaking in, getting my big toes used to being restrained and my heels well-...heeled? I wear them everywhere, just look at my awesome tan lines. They're also good for making friends, everyone loves someone in Chacos.

Finally, my splurge shoe: my 2009 Salomon Trail Runners. I haven't tried a pair of trail runners since my first pair. I didn't think they could be beat, but this pair is a close 2nd. They have Velcro and bungees. No shoe laces! Is there anything better than a pair of hiking shoes you don't need to tie? No, there isn't.


My friends, we live in a rough world, but there are always shoes to make things a little sunnier.

On a similar note, I'm working on making the bottoms of my feet tough so I can try barefoot running. It's supposed to be better for your joints than running in running shoes. I don't have it on good authority that it is indeed true, but I thought I'd try it out.

It's Been One of Those Weeks

It's Week 2 of this semester, and I've already managed to waste time. I'll get back on track, because I have to. But this is more political in tone. I've had trouble with political posts before, so there will be no comment option on this blog. Any unfriendly viewers, please get over anything I say that you don't agree with. I'm not writing to piss you off. Here is my list of things that concern me about the current political/cultural climate.

First off, some terms I feel are misleading or being misused in regular discourse.

• "Creeping Socialism": socialism doesn't creep, it's established by revolution because it's generally distasteful to everyone and does not work. I don't think it can sneak up on people. And there's a Socialist Party in the U.S., they were on the national ballot and everything.
  
• "Grassroots" movements are movements that start from the bottom up, not the top down, and they don't come with corporate/network sponsors.
• The difference between news and editorials. There is a difference, and it's important. I like to read my news because there are sections of the paper labeled "Editorial." There may be some opinions laced into the news section, but they usually have quotations marks around them, and I like that.

Now more cultural things. I can't be sure how widespread these behaviors are, they just concern me.

• Yelling. I don't like yelling. It makes me cry. Beyond that, yelling doesn't make a point more legitimate. It makes it more emphatic, but not more right (or wrong). And it's not nice. Be nice, it's what Jesus would do.
  
• The Internet is allowing people to be more cranky-meany-pants than they would regularly be. I used to think it was just with message boards and stuff, places people could say terrible things and hide behind the anonymity of a pseudonym. Blogging and Facebook have taught me otherwise. Now I think some are just more willing to say mean things to people they know because they don't have to see the look on their face when the statement is delivered. I suppose it has just made it so some feel less need to think about things they say before they say it. I'm excited that the Internet allows for a broader dialogue on so many things, I just wish it was more polite, that everyone remembered they were still dealing with regular people, not icons.
  
• The tone of politics/political discourse. I've seen the 'term' idiot used way too much. It's totally cool to disagree with someone else's opinion, but there's no need to be an asshole about it.
  
• I fear that tone is going to lead to a generation of people disaffected or discouraged out of politics. Of course there will be plenty who just don't care, and that happens. I'm worried about those who will grow up believing politics is simply an arena for venting extreme opinions and withdraw themselves. I was reading about how that happened after the political intensity that was the 1960s and 70s. During the 80s and early 90s politics in certain arenas were able to get away with some pretty serious debauchery because no one was watching. That's bad. My chest tightens every time someone mentions health care, immigration or gay marriage around me because I'm afraid they will yell at me if I disagree. I wish that wasn't the case.
  
• Racism. This is probably the most discouraging thing I'm running into right now. I grew up thinking that racism had been mostly done away with after the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s, that the only racists left were old and crazy or secluded in northern Idaho. I was totally wrong, its out there in young, educated Utahns. I've gotten to the point that I almost prefer people to be out in the open about their views on race, rather than being unpleasantly surprised later. And there's a lot of shaded racism. Some people are just scared, and to that element I quote Yoda (I know, he's fictional, but so wise): "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” I'm no historian, but in my recollection, I can't think of history ever being on the side of racists or super nationalists.
  

Hmm. I feel better now. Hope my venting didn't bring anyone down. Oh, and isn't that GraphJam graph at the top hilarious. I was reading it today in my Cubicle of Broken Dreams.