Previous | Memories | Tell a Friend | Next
 
Kirsten
xfkirsten
14 December 2006 @ 12:02 am
 
So, Seattle, how are we enjoying our fall so far? I think by my count, we're up to:
-A minor windstorm
-A massive rainstorm (accompanied by massive flooding)
-A snow/ice storm (which pushed us over Seattle's one-month rainfall total record that's stood since 1933)
-Another minor windstorm
-Yet another minor windstorm today
-A major windstorm on track for tomorrow night

...and that, my friends, is only since mid-November. Welcome to Washington!

We're back in the house now, and the floors are all pretty and shiny! Latte literally ran laps around the house when she arrived back home, but I think she's just glad to be away from the vet! (we boarded her there) Poor thing had scratches on the end of her nose from pressing her face against the bars on her kennel for four days. *huggles her* But she promptly jumped up on her favorite chair and went right back to sleep.

I got lots of reading done while I was away! I read Robin McKinley's "Beauty" in less than 24 hours - I couldn't put it down! That one has joined the ranks of my favorite books. I'm reading the original novel of "The Princess Bride" now, and almost finished with that, too. I love it - it's like reading the movie almost word-for-word at times! I guess that's what you get when the novel's author wrote the screenplay as well. And it makes me think of Cary Elwes all the time. Mmmmm... I'm on a fantasy reading binge at the moment. :P Still waiting to move up the holds list for "Eragon" at the library, 'cause I really wanna actually read that one before I go see the movie. They have 150 copies of it now and I'm jumping up about 5-10 spots per day (#42 at the moment!), though, so hopefully they'll get down to my name in the next week or so.

And as many of you whale geeks know, they announced today that, in all likelihood, the baiji is now extinct. Not one sighting since 2004, and if there are any left out there, there aren't enough for a genetically viable population. :( That's just... I can't even wrap my brain around that. Extinct due to habitat destruction - the first whale species to go extinct because of human habitat destruction. But there's so many others on the brink, I can only hope this is a wake-up call to the world. But the cynic in me keeps thinking that not enough people out there truly care...
Tags: ,
 
 
Current Music: Pocahontas - The Virginia Company
 
24 wishes | rub the lamp
 
( Post a new comment )
Fi: life[info]muldy on December 14th, 2006 09:25 am (UTC)
Sad bout the whales :(
Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 14th, 2006 08:36 pm (UTC)
Very sad. :(
spacegirlnz[info]spacegirlnz on December 14th, 2006 09:40 am (UTC)
Seattle! I love Seattle! That's one place I would love to live! I didn't want to leave when I visted last year. (only for 4 or 5 days though :()

Very sad about the dolphins :(
Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 14th, 2006 08:37 pm (UTC)
I've lived here for most of my life, except for being in California for college and one year in Orlando. It's a nice place, but it really does rain all the freakin' time. :P

:(
spacegirlnz: Elphie laugh[info]spacegirlnz on December 14th, 2006 11:10 pm (UTC)
It must suck if you don't like rain. Personally, I love it :) I prefer it to wind, and Wellington is called "Windy Wellington" for a reason ;)
Rebecca: Science - Go Slow[info]ryf on December 14th, 2006 10:13 am (UTC)
Very sad about the species extinction. If they die out because of natural causes, hey, that's evolution and the niche will be filles again, but because of human intervention? That's so unnecessary and pointless...
Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 14th, 2006 08:38 pm (UTC)
It's incredibly pointless. And it's not going to stop with one species, either. Countless species go extinct each year, but it's only when a big mammal goes extinct that anyone ever takes notice. :(
snoggingpicard: Starbuck/Tigh TwoFace![info]snoggingpicard on December 14th, 2006 12:01 pm (UTC)
Species extinction is so sobering. I wish more people would pay attention to stuff like that, because this is certainly not the last species that we're going to lose. :(
Sally[info]mizz_magenta on December 14th, 2006 06:29 pm (UTC)
Sobering. That's the word I'm feeling! Been driving me nuts not being able to put a proper emotion to it, lol, so thx. :)
Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 14th, 2006 08:39 pm (UTC)
Exactly. But people don't want to pay attention. They want to remain lost in their own self-absorbed world, never thinking or caring that their actions are destroying lives. :(
joesmom92[info]joesmom92 on December 14th, 2006 03:13 pm (UTC)
People don't realize that man is part of nature and everything is linked together for survival. Start removing links from the chain and everything will collapse. Stupid humans.
Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 14th, 2006 08:40 pm (UTC)
Exactly. And people will say, "oh, we lost the dolphins, so sad" and move on, never realizing that losing the baiji was a symptom, not an end in itself. The baiji was lost because of the damage to the river, and anyone who thinks that ecological damage won't come back to haunt them in the future is a moron.
miss inthia: x*mas//flicker[info]garbagepixie on December 14th, 2006 03:57 pm (UTC)
man what a bummer. :/
Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 14th, 2006 08:40 pm (UTC)
Big time. :(
[info]keetorca on December 14th, 2006 05:08 pm (UTC)
sorry I'm missing out on your lovely weather.
I'm kind of dissapointed, I never heard back from one place there :p
Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 14th, 2006 08:41 pm (UTC)
Aww, you never heard back from them? Sad!
Sally[info]mizz_magenta on December 14th, 2006 06:27 pm (UTC)
Aww, poor Latte. But yay for being back with the home comfort, even if it is surrounded by crazy weather. :p

That's, kinda sad. Yeah, I don't really like it when things go extinct. I think that's the first extinction I've really been aware of in my life time. What with that and the new Ripper, I'm starting to feel old and experianced, and not in a good way. :( *clings to the good things in life*

Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 14th, 2006 08:44 pm (UTC)
It's not often that large mammal ("charismatic megafauna," by the lingo of the trade) species go extinct. Every several years we hear about it. But we lose thousands of species per year, and the general public just doesn't care. :( There's a great PBS article about it here that shows just what we're going through.
Fin: Nature[info]finmark on December 14th, 2006 07:29 pm (UTC)
This is such a terrible tragedy, and such a waste. I don't really have the words. And it looks like the finless porpoise will be going the same way if nothing is going to be done.

But the cynic in me keeps thinking that not enough people out there truly care...
And you're not alone in your cynicism - unfortunately I don't think people will change their views/actions because of this.  They'll probably think that it's sad, but that in the end it's just a dolphin, not realising the ramifications.  It's hard enough to get some people to recycle... *shakes head*
Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 14th, 2006 08:49 pm (UTC)
I'm really afraid for the finless porpoise. With the economy being what it is in China, I don't think that researchers are going to have much luck drumming up support to save it. People there aren't just going to care. It's like they've already signed the death warrant.

People don't stop to think that the loss of a species isn't an end in itself, that it's a symptom of a larger problem. They don't stop to think that the problems that killed the baiji may someday come back to haunt them, too. As much as I'd like to think people will see this as a wake-up call, it won't. The human species is too egocentric to see what they're destroying - they only see the dollar signs in their immediate future, not the devastation that lies beyond.
Leah[info]ulisesgirl on December 14th, 2006 08:55 pm (UTC)
Dude, it's so sad about the baiji. I'd always wanted to see one in the wild, but no chance of that now... Sadness.

But yeah... crap-tacular weather. That's fun-times with the whole... El Nino phenomenon. It's nice and warm here... so I can't really complain.
Unspokenlonging: not happy[info]unspokenlonging on December 15th, 2006 04:01 am (UTC)
God the Baji extinction has me pissed. I printed out the article to show my former science and future environmental studies teacher so she could show her class and I wrote a letter rant at the end to the people reading it. Your right though, I could seriously show this to the whole school and maybe a handful if were lucky will actually care. Everyone looks out for themselves, endangered species be damned and they won't care until it hits home and everyone is essentially screwed. People especially my age now are only concerned with trivial HS drama "leik omg who am I gonna go 2 prom with!!1" and what sort of big ass car their daddys can by them to make them seemingly more poular. I pretty much said that in my letter rant.

Argh!
Major Fischer[info]freifraufischer on December 15th, 2006 11:14 am (UTC)
You make me regret that I applied to the University of Washington.
Kirsten[info]xfkirsten on December 18th, 2006 10:06 am (UTC)
Heee... you should see what the city looks like now. We still have trees... they're just all over the roads, instead. :P