Cross-Country Connections: Treasure

Cross-Country Connections is a Biodork weekly blog entry dedicated to telling stories in pictures of three family members – me, my sister and Mom – living in very different locations across the country. Every week we choose a different theme and then take or contribute a personal photo that fits the theme. This week’s theme is Treasure.

From me in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

CCC Treasure Brianne
I picked up a boardgame called Dread Pirate at at a garage sale for $1. When I got it home I discovered that a) it was unopened, b) it had a wooden box to contain the game inside of the crappy cardboard outer box and c) many of the pieces were made of heavy metal and wood. Treasure indeed!

From Erin in Takoma Park, Maryland:

CCC Treasure Erin
On the left side of the photo is a Mars meteorite and the right is a meteorite from the moon! Just a few more treasures of the United States. From the National Meteorite Collection at the National Museum of Natural History.

From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois:

CCC Treasure Mom
My antique books and favorite bookcase.

Cross-Country Connections: Treasure
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Blind Faith Leads To…Measles

*hums to self* Let’s see what’s going on in Texas today. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised or…

texas

Image shows the Rage Guy rage face screaming “Fuuuuuuu-” overlapping an outline of Texas.

Or maybe not.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting “Health alert issued as measles suddenly spreads near Dallas“.

Fucking measles. You know what prevents measles? A super easy, minimally invasive medical procedure called the fucking measles vaccine. But some people don’t want to give their kiddos the measles vaccine because fucking Andrew Wakefield fucking lied about his fucked up research and made all these fucking vaccine conspiracy nuts think that the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine causes autism. And now there’s all this misinformation out in the public mind about potential links between autism and vaccines.

And do you know what’s even more frightening than reading scare stories from wackaloons in anti-vax internet forums and listening to Jenny McCarthy spout fucking rumors and beliefs about how vaccines might cause your baby to develop autism? When your fucking pastor – your religious and spiritual leader – is a firm believer in this anti-science crapola and encourages you not to vaccinate your kids. It’s your holy, wise pastor – your link to the omnipotent guy in the sky. Surely your pastor surely knows what’s best, right?

From Gawker:

Terri Pearsons, the daughter of prominent televangelist Kenneth Copeland, and the leader of Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, Texas, has long warned followers to stay away from vaccines, promoting the idea that they cause autism. The un-vaccinated congregation was recently put in danger when a member left the country and came in contact with measles. They then returned to Texas, where they interacted with the congregation, as well as handled children in the church’s on-site day-care center.

Nine children and six adults have been infected with the disease, twelve of whom were not fully vaccinated.

Fuck.

Well hey – at least the non-vaccinated masses are standing by their convictions. That’s worth something even if a few kids get sick, right? Again, from Gawker:

Following the outbreak, Pearsons has called on all congregants to become vaccinated.

“Our children and even adults of all ages need to be immunized now to stop the spread of measles and prevent those potential complications,” She said. “The disease is only shut down when all are immunized.”

*headdesk*

Blind Faith Leads To…Measles

Don't Feed the Wolves

I grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Not a lot of natural wildlife down there. My parents did take me to the Little Red Schoolhouse on a fairly regular basis, and I used to love chasing frogs and turtles in Vogt Woods near my house, but I gotta tell you: Nothing in Tinley Park can compare with the nature and wildlife that I’ve seen in Minnesota. The bluffs in Winona, the woods up North, the lakes in every direction you turn, the raptors, the fishing birds, the small mammals, the deer. And every spring and summer the migrations bring new birds through the state that I’d never seen (or noticed) in Illinois. Minnesota is an amazing place to explore.

I know a lot of people who have cabins in Northern Minnesota, because apparently that’s a thing here. Everybody seems to have A Cabin Up North, or knows someone who has a cabin. What a cool way to spend a long weekend! There’s camping, fishing, hiking, birdwatching, hunting, water skiing and tubing, and all sorts of things to do and see throughout the state. But there’s a problem in some parts of Minnesota right now – people are seeing too much nature. Specifically, too many wolf pups.

A story ran on MPR yesterday about the “Hugo Wolves” – a population of wolf pups that has been showing up along the roads near Hugo, MN. Apparently the pups are left in nearby woods by adult wolves to learn how to hunt. People passing through see them and think they look abandoned and try to Do Good by leaving them food, or they leave food out to attract the pups so they can be seen and photographed.

The DNR says:

NO - BAD HUMAN

Image is from Sakarri on Flickr and is shared by a NC-SA 2.0 creative commons license. Image shows three wolves – the Ambassador pack at the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN – with the words “NO! BAD HUMAN!” along the bottom of the photo.

Many people, especially in this area of the country, are aware of the fragile balance between humans and wildlife. We are well-versed in why it’s a bad idea to mess with natural habitats and wildlife. Feeding wolf pups can have unintended consequences such as:

  • Desensitizing wolves to humans – this means they’re willing to venture into towns or places with human traffic. When they lose their fear of humans and cities they’re more likely to get hurt (traffic accidents, humans hurting them out of fear or cruelty), or to hurt us or our pets.
  • Wolf pups are cute, but they turn into adult wolves, which are wild animals and predators. See “hurt us or our pets” in the previous note.
  • Giving pups food means they can become reliant on being fed by humans, and they don’t learn to hunt. This makes them less able to survive on their own in the wild.

So most of us are aware of why it’s a bad idea to feed wolf pups, but did you know that merely stopping on the side of the road to photograph them is a bad idea? Trust me, I understand the sad you get when you hear that. I would LOVE to photograph da wittle wolf puppies ZOMGCUTE! But when people stop and stare, wolf pups have no incentive to run away and avoid the human looking at them with big ol’ besotted eyes. The International Wolf Center in Ely, MN suggests yelling and honking at wolf pups, shooing them away. This helps encourages what they describe as a healthy fear avoidance of humans.

So, my Minnesota friends, the next time you head up to your Cabin Up North, be a friend to the wolves and leave them alone. We and the wolves will be better for it.

Don't Feed the Wolves

Don’t Feed the Wolves

I grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Not a lot of natural wildlife down there. My parents did take me to the Little Red Schoolhouse on a fairly regular basis, and I used to love chasing frogs and turtles in Vogt Woods near my house, but I gotta tell you: Nothing in Tinley Park can compare with the nature and wildlife that I’ve seen in Minnesota. The bluffs in Winona, the woods up North, the lakes in every direction you turn, the raptors, the fishing birds, the small mammals, the deer. And every spring and summer the migrations bring new birds through the state that I’d never seen (or noticed) in Illinois. Minnesota is an amazing place to explore.

I know a lot of people who have cabins in Northern Minnesota, because apparently that’s a thing here. Everybody seems to have A Cabin Up North, or knows someone who has a cabin. What a cool way to spend a long weekend! There’s camping, fishing, hiking, birdwatching, hunting, water skiing and tubing, and all sorts of things to do and see throughout the state. But there’s a problem in some parts of Minnesota right now – people are seeing too much nature. Specifically, too many wolf pups.

A story ran on MPR yesterday about the “Hugo Wolves” – a population of wolf pups that has been showing up along the roads near Hugo, MN. Apparently the pups are left in nearby woods by adult wolves to learn how to hunt. People passing through see them and think they look abandoned and try to Do Good by leaving them food, or they leave food out to attract the pups so they can be seen and photographed.

The DNR says:

NO - BAD HUMAN

Image is from Sakarri on Flickr and is shared by a NC-SA 2.0 creative commons license. Image shows three wolves – the Ambassador pack at the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN – with the words “NO! BAD HUMAN!” along the bottom of the photo.

Many people, especially in this area of the country, are aware of the fragile balance between humans and wildlife. We are well-versed in why it’s a bad idea to mess with natural habitats and wildlife. Feeding wolf pups can have unintended consequences such as:

  • Desensitizing wolves to humans – this means they’re willing to venture into towns or places with human traffic. When they lose their fear of humans and cities they’re more likely to get hurt (traffic accidents, humans hurting them out of fear or cruelty), or to hurt us or our pets.
  • Wolf pups are cute, but they turn into adult wolves, which are wild animals and predators. See “hurt us or our pets” in the previous note.
  • Giving pups food means they can become reliant on being fed by humans, and they don’t learn to hunt. This makes them less able to survive on their own in the wild.

So most of us are aware of why it’s a bad idea to feed wolf pups, but did you know that merely stopping on the side of the road to photograph them is a bad idea? Trust me, I understand the sad you get when you hear that. I would LOVE to photograph da wittle wolf puppies ZOMGCUTE! But when people stop and stare, wolf pups have no incentive to run away and avoid the human looking at them with big ol’ besotted eyes. The International Wolf Center in Ely, MN suggests yelling and honking at wolf pups, shooing them away. This helps encourages what they describe as a healthy fear avoidance of humans.

So, my Minnesota friends, the next time you head up to your Cabin Up North, be a friend to the wolves and leave them alone. We and the wolves will be better for it.

Don’t Feed the Wolves

Cross-Country Connections: Dragon

Cross-Country Connections is a Biodork weekly blog entry dedicated to telling stories in pictures of three family members – me, my sister and Mom – living in very different locations across the country. Every week we choose a different theme and then take or contribute a personal photo that fits the theme. This week’s theme is Dragon.

From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois: 

CCC Dragon Mom (1024x762)

Coolest trinket box ever. Steampunk. 

From me in Minneapolis, Minnesota: 

CCC Dragon Brianne (1024x683)
The Hubby made a friend at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival this weekend!

From Erin in Takoma Park, Maryland: 

CCC Dragon Erin (1024x765)
Found in the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail, a real live dragon disguised as a tree trunk. 

Cross-Country Connections: Dragon

Lab Life is Rough

Busy lab, limited resources. Everyone wants to use the same equipment. Jeepers. Some days.

Mine2

Image shows the scene from “Finding Nemo” where the crab fends off the seagulls (the ones who yell “MINE! MINE!). Text says: “C’mon guys – I got here FIRST!”. The crab is labeled “me”. The seagulls are labeled “The coworkers, they want my instruments!”

Lab Life is Rough

Cross-Country Connections: Angles

Cross-Country Connections is a Biodork weekly blog entry dedicated to telling stories in pictures of three family members – me, my sister and Mom – living in very different locations across the country. Every week we choose a different theme and then take or contribute a personal photo that fits the theme. This week’s theme is Angles.

From Erin in Takoma Park, Maryland:

CCC Angles Erin (765x1024)
My latest Finished Object, something to keep me warm in climate controlled offices.

From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois:

CCC Angles Mom (832x1024)

90° x 3

From me in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

CCC Angles Brianne (1024x679)
Angles of a baseball field – Midway Stadium last Friday: the Mr. Paul Aints take on the Sioux City Explorers!

Cross-Country Connections: Angles

Cross-Country Connections: East

Sorry everyone – the three Bilyeu gals had very odd-ball schedules and priorities this week, so CCC is waaaaay late. Therefore – and I do apologize – we’re going to have to do this whole week over. C’mon. Everyone pretend that it’s 6am on Monday morning. Close your eyes. Hum or chant or whatever you gotta do. Let’s go!

Ha! No way and I re-doing this week. Happy Friday, all.

Cross-Country Connections is a Biodork weekly blog entry dedicated to telling stories in pictures of three family members – me, my sister and Mom – living in very different locations across the country. Every week we choose a different theme and then take or contribute a personal photo that fits the theme. This week’s theme is East.

From me in Minneapolis, Minnesota: 

CCC East Brianne
Facing East across the Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, Minnesota. A 150-acre park and wildlife haven with three miles of dirt hiking trails and bridges in the heart of the city.

From Erin in Takoma Park, Maryland:

CCC East Erin
Washington, D.C. Is split into quadrants , NE, NW, SW, and SE, the center point of which is the Capitol Building. This is a view of a random landscape of SE Washington.

From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois:

CCC East Mom
Our Nation’s Capitol on the East side of the Mall.

Cross-Country Connections: East

Realizations

Every once in a while I will experience something that causes a shift in my perception of the world around me. These thoughts or sentiments or realizations tend to stick around for a very long time. Some of these things are cruel and have seared into my memory, some have been freeing, and some are realizations about myself or my behavior. All of these experiences have felt huge, accompanied by some sort of inspiration, awe or groking.

Here are a few examples:

Cruelty: As someone who has struggled with body image for my entire life, I will never forget that horrible phrase “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, fuckyouverymuchKateMoss. When I heard this bullshit statement I truly understood that there are people in the world who will never ever EVER understand what it’s like to be overweight in this society, and that they would never accept or respect people who are overweight – that they would never accept or respect me.

Freeing: When I was young I wanted to rollerblade down a huge steep hill in our neighborhood. I stood at the top, paralyzed with fear. I knew that if I tripped, it would hurt a lot, or I could bust my skull open, or I might fall into traffic (it was a neighborhood street without much traffic, but still!). As I was staring down that hill I suddenly had this feeling that it was going to be okay. I unclenched my muscles and took deep breathes and was amazed to feel a calm come over me. I pushed off and sailed triumphantly down three blocks of pavement, gently coasting to a stop at the bottom of the hill. In that moment I realized that – in some situations – it is possible to control my fear, that it is an emotion that can sometimes be tempered by consciously trying to relax my body, and that I perform so much better when I’m not gripped by fear.

Self-Awareness: When I first learned about microaggressions, and especially when I learned that I was subconsciously perpetrating some of the behaviors that can be characterized as microagression, I was floored. I began to try to recognize these behaviors – in myself and others – and was floored again when I realized how ingrained they are in so many aspects of my life.

So yeah…life-changing moments.

Here’s the newest one:

I recently read an article that came my way via a Facebook group. The group is closed, so I won’t elaborate – but I am grateful to the person who posted it. Thank you. The article is called How to Talk to Little Girls, and it’s from a group blog called LatinaFatale. The blog doesn’t have much in the way of new content, sadly (sadly because it is written by “progressive Latina feminists (and their allies)”, which is definitely a blog I’d love to read). How to Talk to Little Girls was written back in 2011. But discovering new old content is part of the beauty of the internet, right?

Here are a few excerpts:

Little Maya was all curly brown hair, doe-like dark eyes, and adorable in her shiny pink nightgown. I wanted to squeal, “Maya, you’re so cute! Look at you! Turn around and model that pretty ruffled gown, you gorgeous thing!”

But I didn’t. I squelched myself. As I always bite my tongue when I meet little girls, restraining myself from my first impulse, which is to tell them how darn cute/ pretty/ beautiful/ well-dressed/ well-manicured/ well-coiffed they are.

[…]

Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything. It sets them up for dieting at age 5 and foundation at age 11 and boob jobs at 17 and Botox at 23.

[…]

What’s missing? A life of meaning, a life of ideas and reading books and being valued for our thoughts and accomplishments.

That’s why I force myself to talk to little girls as follows.

“Maya,” I said, crouching down at her level, looking into her eyes, “very nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” she said, in that trained, polite, talking-to-adults good girl voice.

“Hey, what are you reading?” I asked, a twinkle in my eyes. I love books. I’m nuts for them. I let that show.

Her eyes got bigger, and the practiced, polite facial expression gave way to genuine excitement over this topic.

[…]

Not once did we discuss clothes or hair or bodies or who was pretty. It’s surprising how hard it is to stay away from those topics with little girls, but I’m stubborn.

[…]

So, one tiny bit of opposition to a culture that sends all the wrong messages to our girls. One tiny nudge towards valuing female brains. One brief moment of intentional role modeling. Will my few minutes with Maya change our multibillion dollar beauty industry, reality shows that demean women, our celebrity-manic culture? No. But I did change Maya’s perspective for at least that evening.

The entire article made me realize that this cute overload response is EXACTLY the way that I usually say hello to young girls. There’s absolutely no good reason for this in the course of normal introductions. Every situation is unique, of course, and I don’t advocate never telling someone that they look pretty in their dress. But maybe I’ll start waiting to bring that up until after we have a chance to talk about more important issues, like books and drawings and other “intelligent conversation that respects her brain”, as LatinaFatale puts it.

Realizations