79 and still going

Chelsea sent me this (i think, trite, and mis-representative) nytimes article about E.O. Wilson, a biologist/activist/writer i admire tremendously. having established himself in the scientific community as a leading expert in the fields of evolution, ecology, myrmecology, and "sociobiology," a branch of biology conceived and established by wilson, he has proceeded to become a self-proclaimed spokesperson for biodiversity and conservation. lately, he has also spearheaded a project of staggering scale: the encyclopedia of life.

you'd think that one person couldn't rack up any more life accomplishments, but lo and behold: wilson delves into fiction-writing and plans to apply his hypothesis of group-selection for eusocial insects to human behavior and evolution of human societies. topics like morality, religion, and altruism are almost never easily and satisfactorily tackled, and for a biologist to do it, the process may be be equally cumbersome. however, new angles are always worthy considerations, and if not plausible or convincing, they are certainly intriguing. i see both group-selection and the individual, selfish gene at play. i think morality and altruism are outcomes of individual selection, but have proliferated and rooted itself in societies as a result of group-selection. i see it as positive feedback that can only loop in a sort of proto-"society."

a part of me wishes that he'd stop trying to churn out Pulitzer prize winners at his age. however, though senile and a bit looney, e.o. wilson is still my hero.

just too cute to pass up

whadda adorable beetle! (Chrysomelidae, perhaps? too bad insects don't wear little ID tags)

just the sort of people to have dinner with

Monday, July 7th: dinner at the mirage with the Wright lab--former and present members.

caitlin, george, and i had dinner with Dr. Wright, Joanne, and Jeremy at the same restaurant for the first time last summer. on both occasions we gorged on middle eastern appetizers. i love how things come full circle.

Afterwards, Jeremy entertained us with his fortune-writing abilities. I had the best and most apropos fortune, of course: "You will meet a mega MITE. lucky numbers 7 18 10,421 21." yes, it's just oozing with cuteness. =)

(photo: clockwise from left: joanne, jeremy, george, me, prof. wright, anne, caitlin)

the stale taste of tourism

July 5th at Catalina island, off the coast near Long Beach: an infestation of the bored and wealthy

my family and i puttered around in a golf cart that was actually called a "Catalina Limo." while the vista overlooking Avalon was clearly gorgeous, the tourism was definitely stale, particularly in the eyes of a cynic. my brother and i shared a ginormous ice cream waffle cone dubbed the "big olaf." there were people packed on sandboxes (built to resemble a sandy shore) overlooking an equally packed dock. toddlers in lifesavers, middle aged tourists in open air bars at noon, disgruntled employees selling 5 minute showers for 2 dollars. i like people, but it's difficult to celebrate the glory of human civilization when observations of my surroundings only inspire the desire to snub out cigarettes of callous tourists, toss out the 1000 calorie desert i'm engorging, and swim home.

so there is a healthy population of bison on the island--about 200 of them. fourteen were introduced in 1924 to film some western movie and left there to procreate and wreak ecological disaster. but scientists always know how to take advantage of a crisis: the bison have not been eradicated so that they may serve as the premise for a long term ecological study.

I also swam around in the dive zone in the immensely frigid and salty water that was not at all pleasant to have going down the throat. that's too bad because open water swimming is amazing. i was able to catch glimpses of brilliant orange streaks intermingled with flashes of silver and copper. garibaldi are surprisingly difficult to catch with bare hands and nudibranchs equally difficult to spot without proper scuba gear. a scuba diver also asked me to retrieve a camera entangled in a bed of kelp. the rescue mission was a success!

redux

June 28th- gloria and vincent visit! oh, delicious bowl of daikokuya ramen, we meet again! how delightful a reunion of good friends and gustatory sensations. the last time the three of us had a meal there was June 16th, 2007: a little over a year ago. it's bizarre how these little things seem to come full circle.

______________________

July 2nd- vinita leaves and mini-pomona reunion at le pan quotidian

it's always pleasant--nay, uplifting--to see pomona friends again, even if only a mere month and a half after graduation.

on a completely different note: i want to attend a wedding. i've never been! someone get married, please.

a pondering

I am pondering hope, fortune, Sisyphus, and energizer bunnies. what keeps people chugging along, towards the vast unknown or the daily grind?

like in most situations in my life when i am at a lost for words, i seek those of an authority recognized as wiser than oneself:

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

- emily dickinson