The Optimistic Pessimist

Naturalism Notes 6/23/2011

2011-06-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

If anyone is reading this blog, I think you might know that I am an amateur naturalist and biologist, so I will be publishing some notes on my activities from time to time.

Went on a short walk today, it was raining so I couldn't see much, but I did collect some specimens.

-Collected some Dryopteris affinis to examine under the microscope.

-Collected some small Fungi that I have yet to identify.

-Found an abandoned Robin nest on my drainpipe.

-Collected a little bit of Vinca to examine under the microscope.

On an Island; Silence; Radiohead.

2011-06-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

So, I am awake at 11:30 PM (late for a crazy morning person like me). The house is rather deserted and most other people who normally live in it either are out or in bed. When I'm stuck alone at night, I get this weird feeling of isolation, like I'm on some weird desert island. Anyway, enough of that. I also have been thinking a bit lately about silence. I think silence is even more valuable than conversation in most situations; much can be learned by being silent whereas much can be missed if you only speak (a big thanks to my friend for teaching me how to craft "Chinese proverbs" like that). It also seems to me like the people who abhor silence are the ones who cannot stand to be without their own voices for any period of time.

However, I do love music a lot, which brings me to the next item on the "agenda". I like the British band Radiohead quite a bit. While many find their music kind of dark and depressing, I find it nice. I like that they use their emotion to craft some rather beautiful music on some of their records. It is very refreshing to have someone address other topics in a music culture that only really seems to care about getting wasted in a club.

I apologize for all the incoherence contained in this post.

New Topic

2011-06-10T20:16:00.001-07:00

So I decided to ditch the whole "news digest" blog thing because, honestly, I felt it was rather useless. So this blog will now contain my disjointed, often distressingly bizarre thoughts.