Random

[urbpan]

Yesterday's tree was Japanese Pagodatree or Chinese Scholar Tree (Sophora japonica or, I think the new scientific name is Styphnolobium japonicum--sources list both scientific names with one or the other set in parentheses) a hardy Asian ornamental legume tree used as an urban accent. Much thanks to bezigebij for the identification.

purplebunnie, I haven't forgotten about you! Your t-shirts are in a box in the trunk of my car, waiting for an opportune trip to the post office.

If anyone here is a comics fan, there's a great interview with Shannon Wheeler (of Too Much Coffee Man fame) here. Shannon is one of the few cartoonists that I was into back when I was involved in comics whose career I've kept up with. Mostly because he has a livejournal: tmcm.

Speaking of which, my brother brush_rat has another page up of his webcomic, Waiting for the End of the World. It's got Satan and a minion talking of disembowelment and puppetry. What's not to love?

In science news that's wholly unsurprising, but probably of interest if you read my journal, barred owls and moose are two of the species that have been discovered deliberately associating with human created habitat for ecological reasons. The barred owl article coins the phrase "uber-forest," which I take to be a meaningless attempt at a grabby headline. Why would the post urban forest be any more "uber" than the pre urban forest?

My Aunt replied to an email of mine with an actual paper letter. It was kind and conversational and wise and great to receive. My mother's mortality and my father's reaction to it, and me and my brother's role in things are nicely and simply explained. My mom was lucky to have an older sister who is so smart and solid. This weekend my brother is coming back east for about 48 hours and I'll meet him at my dad's house tomorrow afternoon. It will be the first time in over a decade that the three of us will be in the same place, without other friends and family members there.

Of course, just before that meeting I will have taken the Massachusetts Pesticide Applicators License Exam, a test that doesn't seem to be too difficult, but Friday is going to be a stress sandwich no matter what I do: Work from 7 to 11 AM, exam from 12 to 2:30, drive to Connecticut, face mother's mortality in a family setting. That last part will probably be relaxing in an odd way.

Egads, I'm going to be late unless I close the thing now. See you this afternoon!

Comments

Rom Ding Überdy, Rom Ding Doo! Neek Neek Neek, Yahoo!

[frith]

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there was a king named Auto. Now Auto wasn't particularly bright, but he was the busy sort, trundling about on slick byways, visiting big cubic rocks, setting up altars on which to sacrifice grain and animal fat to the heavens and dropping the occasional acorn. Although Auto was somewhat smelly and noisy and had a propensity to bump into things and catch fire, his Kingdom prospered and grew, attracting wild things that scurried and fluttered through the flowers, bushes and trees and cavorted in the acres and acres of grass that was everywhere. While Auto didn't seem to pay the bushes, flowers and trees much heed, he had a great appetite for grass, maintaining huge tracts of the green and grazing noisily on weekends, and taking discreet dumps in the bushes when no one was looking.

Over the years, the acorns scattered by Auto sprouted and grew frightfully big, towering huge above the patchwork of grass, flowers, shimmering blue puddles and cube-shaped monoliths. The forest had come to Auto's kingdom. And with the forest came the barred owls. To the owls, Auto's Über Forest was like the Olde Growthe Woode, but even better so, because not only did the owls find big holey acorn trees to nest in, but what would normally be nigh sterile undergrowth in a climax forest community had been replaced with the exuberant growth and trophic feeding frenzy of a secondary successional sere boosted by optimum water and nutrient availability. Basically, it's like Auto had created an old growth forest with a fully catered wedding spread. Unlike many well catered events, this one has no annoying leeches or malcontents for Wise King Auto had them all put to death along with the fisher martins and golden eagles a Long Time Ago.

And so it went, to this day and forevermore, King Auto munching contentedly on grass amongst the boulders and pools, riotous vegetation and hordes of small animals feasting happily on the King's waste and offerings, and the barred owls trawling through it all, carefree and aloof, except for those that smack into Auto's windshield at 50 miles an hour, which only goes to show.

The End.

Portland

[frith]

tmcm, another bright light from Portland, Ore. Makes me want to go back and look over that city with greater attention. So many books, so many artists, bicycle culture and a great zoo too. Shame that my grandparents have kicked and I don't know if any of my cousins (or aunt) still live there.

[says-bomb.livejournal.com]

I'm a little late with this, but the Big Dig planted a lot of Scholar Trees in the Bulfinch Triangle, along Beverly St, North Washington St, and New Chardon St. They were the main street tree in that neighborhood.

Your mom/ My mom

[(Anonymous)]

Mom has spent quite a bit of time in thought about you and Andy and what she could possibly do for you right now, and I think she wrote to you as much for herself and the baby sister she loves so much, as for the two of you. My mom was lucky to have a sister who gave her a chance to be silly and impulsive and goofy.

love
joanna