So I was woken up this morning by my house shaking. That’s not so unusual, but it usually involves a garbage truck driving by or a helicopter flying over (they look for pot in the woods pretty regularly). Neither was there. It took me a few minutes to realize I was feeling an earthquake. That’s right–in Indiana! It turns out it was really in southern Illinois, but it was enough to shake the windowpanes and the wine glasses here. Weird. (ETA: there was an aftershock around 11:20 EST, too. That was kind of alarming since I was in the lab at the time. Eeek. ETA again: apparently it wasn’t an aftershock that I felt, but a second quake! This one was a 4.5.)
It was even more surreal to me, since I found out last night that I’ll be spending my summer in Southern California, where they actually have earthquakes.
Wait, what?
I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! It’s a Science Writing internship through AAAS, and I’ll be learning many new and exciting things in Santa Ana this summer. I didn’t say anything about applying for it here, since it’s really competitive and I was sure that I wasn’t going to get it, but I got it! I got a call last night from the paper, to see if I would fit their needs and their philosophy, and it turns out they picked me because they wanted someone with experience on the internet and with blogging. Yup. Can you believe it? Keeping this blog actually did something for me! (Well, besides meeting all the nice people who read it.:) ) So I’ll be helping out with their science blog this summer. And hopefully learning how to surf. It gets really hot in S Cal in the summer, right? Like how hot? Skin melting hot? Center of the sun hot? I guess I need to start knitting myself some cotton socks!
And that brings us to the most important question: Holy crap, what YARN should I take with me?!? I cannot even begin to fathom how I will pack my stash. Nicole, help! How do you pack yarn for an entire summer?
Man. It’s been an interesting last 24 hours. I’m all a twitter! Between the earthquake and the internship, my brain is all over the place. I guess you could say I’m all shook up.
(Oy. Sorry.)
All right, let’s try to come back down to earth. It’s Friday. Here’s what I’ve been
Reading (Yes, after last week I am interested in All Things Jane. I’ve never read this one before.)
and
Watching. Okay. This movie was funny and entertaining, but I had SERIOUS issues with it.
(***Spoiler Alert! If you don’t want to know the plot of this movie, skip to the end!***)
Okay, so movie is about a young bee (Barry B. Benson, played by Jerry Seinfeld) who graduates from bee school and then has to decide what he wants to do with his life. Though a series of adventures, he manages to make friends with a human woman (Rene Zwellinger) and learn all about human ways. In doing this, he discovers that humans collect and sell honey. He gets really mad, and sues the honey company owners. He wins. So then all the bees get to take their honey back, so they don’t need to make it anymore. So they don’t. Work at the hive shuts down, and the bees stop pollinating flowers and such.
So this is the part that really pisses me off. In this movie, the no more pollination means that all of the flowers and trees and plants in the world start dying. Central Park turns brown. Barry’s human friend, who is a florist, has to shut down her business because there are no more flowers. Then she sets off to go to the Rose Parade, since they’ll be showing the last flowers on the planet. Then Barry decides to go with her, steals a float, and takes it back to New York (since there are no bees in California, apparently). They do this, the bees pollinate them, and they all magically spring back to life and turn green and colorful again. Yay, the day is saved. Thanks, bees!
Okay, WTF? The last time I checked, flowers don’t need to be pollinated to survive! They need to be pollinated to reproduce. But will they turn brown and keel over from lack of pollination? To watch this movie, you’d think yes. Also the last time I checked, bees were not the only things that did pollination! Most trees are wind pollinated. There are also other insects that pollinate (flies, wasps, moths, etc.) as well as animals that pollinate. Ever hear of a hummingbird? How about a fruit bat? I’m so angry about this blatant lack of respect for the scientific facts mostly because this movie will be watched by children. Little children who will believe this drivel because they saw it on TV. And probably a lot of parents won’t know any better, so they won’t be able to explain that it’s just make-believe and that stupid Hollywood people have no regard for basic science! Okay, that last line was a bit harsh, but dangit! Why are we mis-educating our children? Because it makes a good story? Bah. Those writers should be bitch-slapped. That’s all. Rant over.
(P.S. I’m totally okay with the bees talking and suing people and stuff. I’m also slightly okay, but a little pissed, that the worker bees and pollinators in the movie are mostly men. Male bees, aka drones, are really only around to mate with the queen. They don’t do anything else. If fact, they usually get kicked out of the hive in the wintertime. So it goes.)
(***I’m done! Start reading again.***)
Anyway. Before I go, I want to say Happy Birthday to Huan-Hua! Go over to her blog and say nice things. She’s a nice person. She deserves them.
And also a very Happy Birthday to my mommy! She’s turning 60 today! I made her a very special something that I hope to show you very soon. But, er, it’s not done yet. But I’m reaaaaal close so maybe by Monday.
Have a great day, both birthday girls! And have a great weekend to the rest of you. :)
19 comments
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April 18, 2008 at 2:02 pm
lilknitter
Congratulations!! That’s unbelievably exciting about your internship!! And yet another example of how knitting is the best thing ever, since your knitting blog helped you get the position.
I hadn’t heard about the pollination issue with Bee Movie; I’d only read rants about it on feminist blogs and fora (because “forums” makes my snobby, liberal arts brain twitch) for it’s disregard of accuracy in demonstrating the roles of the sexes. That pollination thing is pretty whacked!
April 18, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Kalani
ZOMG!!! Yay for the internship you wanted!!! You’ll be wearing flip-flops and a wetsuit to work, so what do you care what the weather is like? :-)
April 18, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Macoco
Congratulations! I’m envious of your upcoming time in Southern California – it’s a place I’ve always wanted to visit. Happy birthday to your mum!
April 18, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Norma
Yeee-haw!!!! You got the internship! Congratulations! That’s too funny about thinking about packing yarn for the summer… that was the first thing I considered once we decided I’d be gone for 7 weeks this summer.
April 18, 2008 at 2:29 pm
LaurieM
Hooray! Congratulations!!!!!
You need to knit a silk shawl this summer. Or maybe a cotton lace tablecloth. Something in a yarn that doesn’t stick or cling in the heat, that is lightweight to carry, with an interesting pattern that will keep you going a long time so you don’t every have to decide, what am I going to knit next? Honestly, I’m thinking of doing an oval table cloth from Modern Lace knitting this summer.
Hooray once more!
April 18, 2008 at 3:01 pm
LizKnits
Big congrats on the internship … Santa Ana’s just a hop, skip, and jump from where I am (Pomona). Keep me on your radar when you get here.
Don’t worry you won’t get too much melt the sidewalk hot during the summer… a little of it, but not the whole time. The best thing is that it always cools down at night and in the morning even if the day is hot. And what may suprise you more, you probably just felt the biggest earthquake you’ll feel. I’ve been here in Southern Calif for almost 3 years and haven’t felt anything as big as what you just did.
Don’t worry to much about the stash either… we have lots of LYSs here; plenty of opportunities for Stash Enhancement!
April 18, 2008 at 5:00 pm
orata
YAAAAY! Congratulations! I can already tell from your bee rant that you are going to make an awesome Official Science Blogger. And you’ll have fun in Santa Ana, even if you’re in the WRONG HALF OF THE STATE. Ahem.
I think what you really need to knit for Southern CA weather is OLPP’s fong.
http://www.islandofmisfitpatterns.com/2007/11/02/the-fong-its-a-foot-thong/
Thanks for the happy b-day link, and happy birthday to your mom! It’s a good birthday!
April 18, 2008 at 6:18 pm
weezalana
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! What great news! I tip my hat off to you for the intended surf lessons. I love to watch, but actual surfing scares me. Or maybe I’m just lazy. That could be it, too…
April 18, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Nell
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! That’s wonderful! Don’t sell yourself short, smartie pants! They’re lucky to have you!
April 19, 2008 at 6:01 am
silencepainter
OMG I wasn’t crazy. See Friday morning I woke up because things were shaking. At first I thought it was just our bed, maybe Danny fidgeting or being cold or something. Then I realized it was the HOUSE that was shaking. When I woke up again later in the morning I decided it was a dream for sure. We don’t get earthquakes around here after all. Then I read this and I thought “surely I didn’t feel it all the way in KY”. But then I read it actually caused stuff to fall down in Louisville, so feeling it in Lexington isn’t too crazy. WOW.
Congrats on the internship! That is awesome! I suggest those space saver bags that suck all the air out. You could cram yarn into one of those and then it wouldn’t take up any room in your suitcase…. hehe
April 19, 2008 at 8:00 am
Nichole D.
WOOT! Congrats! What a cool opportunity!
About the bee movie- yeah, never saw it, but that kind of crap pisses me off, too. Boo on Hollywood!
April 19, 2008 at 1:02 pm
sunni
squeeee is right! that’s awesome! (the internship, not the earthquake…although i’m a little jealous, because there’s this weird part of me that’s always wondered what an earthquake feels like. of course, i know full well that if i did ever experience one, i’d probably wet my pants.)
double squeeee, actually….not only a congratulatory squeal, but also a squeal because santa ana is only 5 hours from phoenix! which isn’t super close, but it’s superer closer than bloomington – phoenix….
April 19, 2008 at 3:43 pm
danielle
Congrats on your internship! That’s fantastic news!
April 19, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Jennifer
WOO HOO!!! Super congrats!! I know how exciting that can be!
BTW, rented both Becoming Jane and Atonement and, just so you know, you can’t have James McIvoy……
…….’cause he’s mine.
April 19, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Nicole
Yay!!! On the internship! That’s so awesome!
We’ll have to talk more about packing on Thursday – but basically, you have to have an honest converstion with yourself about what you actually will have time knit/want to knit – and also, keep in mind that you’ll have plenty of yarn stores in that area for new project inspirations :)
April 20, 2008 at 10:41 am
turtlegirl76
CONGRATULATIONS! That’s excellent news! Yay! (sock yarn doesn’t take up much room. Knit socks all summer. Or lace.)
April 20, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Rachel
Wow, congrats on the internship!!! That’s awesome news. Go you! I remember you talked about applying on KB (I’m testarossa over there, another scientist-turned-science writer), and then I think you said something about an internship you hadn’t gotten, which I assumed was AAAS. So I was extra surprised and pleased to see you had gotten it after all!
And yay for blogging helping you on your career path! I have never mentioned my knitting blog to anyone in the science writing world, I don’t know why, partly because I don’t think very much about the writing I do there and don’t want to worry about editors or whoever coming over and scrutinizing it.
SoCal isn’t really any hotter than the rest of the country in the summer, I don’t think. And it has the added benefit of lots of awesome beaches for cooling down.
April 21, 2008 at 4:00 am
Yvonne
Congratulations, it sounds like you’ve got a great opportunity there!
April 21, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Lien
Congratulations! You totally deserve it, and it’ll be awesome to have some science experience that’s not lab-based.