blivet 2.0

• Great Old Broads for Wilderness
  is a national, grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing, preserving and protecting America’s roadless public lands. Today there are Broads of all ages and both genders in every state in the union making their voices heard to protect Ameri
  (tags: advocacy activism wilderness)

Check out these beautiful images of electrical discharge within the Chaitén eruption.

Thanks to Jeff Plaut at JPL for this. [via Audrey]

One of our favorites, he is 70 today…

• World’s oldest living tree discovered in Sweden - Press Release from Umeå University
  The world’s oldest recorded tree is a 9,550 year old spruce in the Dalarna province of Sweden. The spruce tree has shown to be a tenacious survivor that has endured by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.
  (tags: Climate)

I got phone call about 3:30 today at work. The young girl (8 or 9 I’m guessing) told me, “We found your cat!” I got the particulars from her, it seems they noticed him hanging around several days ago, but didn’t think much about it since he looked well cared for. I excitedly called Audrey who said she would pick Bruce up on her way home.

I was really psyched because I have really missed him — we all have. So when I got home (I’ve been doing some consulting North of town) I was ready to kill the fatted can of tuna and hoped that I wouldn’t cry when he was glad to see me.

Duh! What was I thinking? I’ve had cats all my life…

He was on the back of the couch looking a bit thinner (not hard at 15+ pounds) but no worse for wear and tear. It must help to be the biggest S.O.B. in the valley, claws or no claws. But was he glad to see me? You already know the answer to that, don’t you?

I got about three beats of disinterested stare followed by a resumption of unfocused disinterested stare out the window. ba-dum. That’s how much you were missed hu-man.

Oh yeah, he’s a cat. What was I expecting?

Anyway, we’re all happy again and Bruce even came over later and made bread on my lap while giving me squinty eyes. So maybe he is glad to be back. In a cat sort of way.

Thank you for the good thoughts and messages, everybody!

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.
The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.
The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to.
–Chuang Tzu

• Fire Products - Satellite Services Division
  Real Time Satellite Fire Monitoring - Southwest US [via Susan at 20/20 Hindsight]
  (tags: fire NOAA MODIS wildfire via:susan)

Our big beautiful Bruce has been missing since Sunday. He is declawed (he came that way from the shelter) and very docile and trusting. He must have slipped out of the back door. I fear I will not see him again, despite his ID chip.

It hasn’t really sunk in with Ian yet, largely because Bruce is fairly reclusive. His idea of being social is sitting on the other end of the couch while ignoring you. Sigh.

• A Terrible and Silent Crisis: The Destruction of the American Working Class: How to Save the World
  Dave Pollard reviews Joe Bageant’s Deer Hunting With Jesus which explains through personal stories his brutal assessment of just how strong the class system in the US really is, why the classes are and always have been at war, and why that plays perfectly into the hands of the right-wing political and economic interests there. [via Mark at wood s lot]
  (tags: via:mark sociology politics middle+class bush)

A very happy birthday to Mark, who does wood s lot. Still sáns apostrophe.