More Bus Adventures

I had almost forgotten what a joy it is to ride the bus... almost. My car recently sputtered to a stop, smoke coming from under the hood, slowly coughing out its last, dying breath (I know that's redundant, but it sounds more dramatic). My poor Harold. Well, as a consequence of these events, I have been reduced to using the bus for transportation once again.

My morning began at 7, and I finally arrived on campus at 10. The first bus ride ended in a rather confusing manner. Before getting on to the highway to cross over to the other side of the island, the bus driver pulled over and began to mumble something incoherent and requested that we disembark. While we were waiting for another bus to come and take us all over, four cop cars pulled up inexplicably. I overheard a woman on her cellphone tell her colleague that she was going to be late because a truck hit the bus. That confused me further because if we had been hit by a truck, I would think I would have noticed. The mystery was never solved unfortunately, because I had to get on the next bus (that arrived a prompt twenty minutes later...). When I finally made it into town, I comically (and unsuccessfully) chased down the bus I needed to transfer to in order to get to campus. I then waited, beaten by public transportation, for the next bus. Ultimately, I made it to campus and I promptly went to my office, put my head down and took a fifteen-minute nap. Thankfully, my ride home was less eventful, but I did manage to get off the bus prematurely and added ten minutes to my already thirty-minute walk back to the island. Needless to say, it was a long day.

I also rediscovered some of the familiar characters that seem to be ubiquitous on any public transportation. Since I have such a small readership, I'm not going to worry too much about offending people, but if you are offended, sorry. Today there was a particularly large population of mean, small, elderly Asian women (Acronym: MSEAW). When we were all forced to disembark the first bus, there was one especially MSEAW who decided to elbow her way to the door to ensure her departure before anyone else. Then, while boarding our replacement bus, she again aggressively made her way to the front of the pack with no regard for the victims of her pointy elbowed attack along the way. I may be overly bitter given that I was one of those said victims.
Another interesting, although quite unpleasant, bus companion is the chain-smoker who gets on and immediately fills the entire bus with an impossibly thick fog of nicotine smell. He or she then proceeds to spend the entire bus ride hacking away, apparently attempting to dislodge a lung and leave it as a present on the bus floor. Today, our unfortunate chain smoker was especially smelly and I was unable to politely mask my reaction as I quickly grabbed for my sweater and pressed it violently to my nose to filter the air.

On another note, I took some fantabulous pictures the other day of some of my baby octopus. I won't put them all up here, and I am even a bit hesitant to put one up since I don't want some sneaky scientist stealing my babies. Those scientists, always stealing babies... But, here is one for your enjoyment:

Delightful Weirdness

Here is a description from Coilhouse, where I found the vid:

Described as “a David Lynchian fever dream on Beatrix Potter terrain”, Christiane Cegavske’s exquisitely-crafted stop motion tale Blood Tea and Red String is a macabre delight and a labor of love that was 13 years in the making. The film, a dialogue-free, avant garde “fairy tale for adults” follows two groups of anthropomorphic creatures in fancy costumes -the aristocratic White Mice and the rustic Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak – and the “struggle over the doll of their heart’s desire.” This struggle, notes one critic, is so fascinating because the actions and emotions of these bizarre creatures “so uncannily resemble warts-and-all human behavior”. We find a “disturbing comfort” in these unconventional characters, and we see ourselves in this magic world that Cegavske creates.

Happy New Year!

It has been quite a while since I updated. My eggs did eventually hatch, however, they didn't last long. There were thousands of tiny octopuses that looked more like squid (without the tentacles of course) swimming around the tank. I collected a lot of them for genetics research and some to raise. They weren't feeding well, so I am taking a different approach with the next batch of eggs. They will probably hatch next week, so I am trying to get everything ready for them.

I had a lovely, much needed break at home with family, friends, and falafel. When I returned, Hawai'i was rainy and grey. I was on boats on New Years day, and it was the most perfect day. Here is a picture... Jealous yet?



On Thursday, as I was driving home, I tried to take a picture of the beautiful sunset (only at the stop light, Mom). When I put my camera back in my bag, I thought I was turning the camera off, but I ended up taking a picture, and this was the result.



Here are some pics of my babies. You can see the little guys in their tube and the bucket I used the transfer them. There is also a picture of their mama--you can see some empty egg cases and some behind her that haven't hatched yet.





I had planned on posting a lot earlier, but the internet has been out for the past week! Also, I am going to try to start a podcast--maybe Music and Malacology, Tunes and Teuthology, Indie and Inverts? I really miss having a radio show and I refuse to go through the ridiculousness at the University of Hawaii. I'm thinking of doing a segment on science (likely sexual selection) every show and play some classic rock, old indie, new indie, mashups, math rock, etc. So, pretty much an eclectic mix. I'm figuring out the copyright laws and make sure I don't screw up. I looked into streaming a radio show, but that seems to require more licensing.

Also, I've started a journal with sketches of invertebrates from around the island. I'll try to scan some in and add them when I finish one.

Alright, that's all for this post!