Monthly Archives: April 2010
best cat on the internet
The internet has a lot of cats. But Maru, a Japanese cat who loves boxes, is really the best one. Just watch this one video – I think you’ll agree. Many more Maru videos here. And thanks to CuteOverload (who … Continue reading
museum tourist: national aquarium
I have an embarrassing admission to make: I love fish, I love aquariums, I grew up in the Washington area, and I had never been to the National Aquarium in D.C. Until today. In my defense, the National Aquarium is basically one big room in the basement of the Commerce department, it doesn’t have a very good reputation, and it is dwarfed by the ginormous, beautiful National Aquarium in Baltimore. But I happened to have a pass for free admission that expired tomorrow, so this afternoon I finally stopped in. Continue reading
the truth about cats and dogs
I’ve written two pieces about household pets in the last week – one about how personality and longevity relate in dogs, and the other about how your pets are trying to kill you. Yes, your pets are trying to kill … Continue reading
I’m a winner!
Or an Honorable-Mention-er, anyway. I entered a story in the D.C. Science Writers’ Association’s first annual Science Newsbrief Award and, hey, they liked it! I write a lot of short pieces. They’re pretty tough. Explaining science is hard enough without … Continue reading
caterpillars talk with their butts
Skip over to ScienceNOW to see an amusing piece I wrote about caterpillars talking with their butts. The species I wrote about has a modified hair-like structure, called an anal oar, that it drags across a leaf to make sounds … Continue reading
Verizon troubles, explained
I got my Verizon troubles sorted out, finally, after many angry phone calls (and if you know me, you know angry is not something I do a lot of) and multiple visits by Verizon techs to disconnect and reconnect my … Continue reading
notice: phone problems
If you’re trying to reach me on my 202 number and nobody answers, that means my epic Verizon problems are continuing. Send me an e-mail and I’ll get it eventually – I’m borrowing various other people’s wifi and can call … Continue reading
DotW: Jim Breen’s WWWJDIC
When I lived in Japan, in the late 90′s, the internet was still a relatively new thing. I actually had a kind of proto-blog, on Geocities, and I did something Skype-like to call home for free…but my dictionaries were on … Continue reading
birds don’t like rain
You’d think rainforest birds would be ok with rain – and you’d be right, to a point. But when the rain really comes down hard, the birds stop flying around. Today I wrote a story for ScienceNOW about a study … Continue reading
cherry blossom time
Washington’s famous cherry trees peaked this week. I woke up early Thursday to beautiful sun, and happened to be at a point where I needed to think about something other than the book chapter I’m writing, so I went down … Continue reading