Poor BHK is feeling a little under the weather, and my headache is fading from the stabbing noggin-ache to a dull oceanic roar in my skull.

Tonight we had veggie-loaf with corn on the cob, potatoes and the last of our garden’s zucchini. Hopefully we’ll get to planting another batch for an autumnal harvest. The in-laws were over to watch the tennis semi-finals, but I wasn’t really into it… so I thumbed through the books BHK grabbed for me at the library.

The World Without Us is pretty neat. (I was first nudged there about this time )

From the Inside Flap
A penetrating, page-turning tour of a post-human Earth

In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity’s impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us.

In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe.

The World Without Us reveals how, just days after humans disappear, floods in New York’s subways would start eroding the city’s foundations, and how, as the world’s cities crumble, asphalt jungles would give way to real ones. It describes the distinct ways that organic and chemically treated farms would revert to wild, how billions more birds would flourish, and how cockroaches in unheated cities would perish without us. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders from rabbis to the Dali Lama, and paleontologists—who describe a prehuman world inhabited by megafauna like giant sloths that stood taller than mammoths—Weisman illustrates what the planet might be like today, if not for us.

From places already devoid of humans (a last fragment of primeval European forest; the Korean DMZ; Chernobyl), Weisman reveals Earth’s tremendous capacity for self-healing. As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman’s narrative ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that needn’t depend on our demise. It is narrative nonfiction at its finest, and in posing an irresistible concept with both gravity and a highly readable touch, it looks deeply at our effects on the planet in a way that no other book has.

via the Science blog & springheeljack –

If you eat the right grains for breakfast, such as whole-grain barley or rye, the regulation of your blood sugar is facilitated after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was previously not known that certain whole-grain products have this effect all day. This is due to a combination of low GI (glycemic index) and certain type of indigestible carbohydrates that occur in certain grain products. The findings are presented in a dissertation from the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University. The dissertation shows that even people who have had a breakfast low in GI find it easier to concentrate for the rest of the morning.

1 year ago – flickr maps, out with TW and saw Pirates, no putt-putt, Rope swing for Danny, It must be love, words that make me laugh, cherry-chocolate milkshake

2 years ago – Katrina new orleans satmaps, on call again, cookies for genetic goodies, big rock candy mountain, elephant prosthesis

3 years ago – More Frances, Dan Snores, Newt Pics, observations.

4 years ago – neurologist, giant lizard in Beirut, grizzlies, Y-chromosome vanishing, work drama, Cathi’s dad gets’ trach, Egyptology, Ft. Laud ghosts, Scientology

5 years ago – freaky temple, edbook’s llamas, Bush behaves a bit, bad dream, Friendly street light.

6 years ago – contretemps , liverish, Rhinestone Cowboy, social lubrication, spiritual/paranormal/xenobiological poll (fascinating results), stopping b/w theft, Anne Heche a loony

7 years ago – No Norton, Supers Gaming, interests, met twinstar & estokes (via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)

Some more Enchanted forest pics –

tiny purple boot in distance

entrance to the forest

Alt entrance, with petco

Follow the king to FUN! Or Groceries… or pet supplies. He’s got a cool halo.

no doubt some more choice ones were available beyond the locked gate.

Opted out of the game convention, as we were slow to rise, and it was shutting down at 2pm. If it had been going until 6 or later, maybe we’d have tagged it. One Car wars game does not a journey validate!

BHK got a new camera, as her old one has pretty much bought the farm. Not bad, $99 Samsung – if it works well for us, I’ll pick up another for myself. I’m just delighted that you can get 2 gig SP cards for about $17, too. about 1200 pictures if taken at 6 mega-pixels… more than enough for casual snaps and fun photos.

Had lunch at Mexico, but we opted out of the road trip to WV… both of us were feeling sort of out of it. Instead, we went to the in-laws for a bit, to review the recently jellied grapes, and just say hi.

After our stop off at the in-laws, to look at jelly, we returned home to eat leftovers from the week (italian, mexican, chinese) and watch The Host. It was a good movie, but not what either of us was expecting. There was certainly a strong amount of allegory there. The CGI was very impressive for the most part, and I liked the basic story, even without the deeper-level tale reflected throughout. I’m pretty impressed with the beastie’s design and acrobatic-style feats. furthermore, I really dug that there was no direct setup for a sequel… it was a self-contained tale, and nothing more has to be done with it… that said, I’m sure that since it’s been so successful that a sequel or two will be made. I wonder that if so, will there be more political type stuf fin the wash, or will it give way to a plain monster movie?

The director, Bong Joon-ho, commented on the issue: “It’s a stretch to simplify The Host as an anti-American film, but there is certainly a metaphor and political commentary about the U.S.”

14780 unique people have taken this test.

Based on these unique user’s answers…

63.1% of test takers are gals,
34.4% are guys,
…the rest are confused.

16.8% of test takers get aroused by “iPhone,” while
39.2% get utterly ill.

41.2% of all test takers would choose the Internet over sex, and
32.5% of married test takers prefer the Internet over sex.

_____ Average “dork percentile” for ______
Mac lovers: 51%
Windows users: 63%
*NIX lovers: 51%

bhk got –

1 year ago – yub nub, Manger scenes with skittles, Godzilla and baby-llama Jesus on the brain, old time radio, silly quizzes,

2 years ago – had to take call, dan and I gabbed, missing kids, color/citizen test, suzy bday, walkabout map plan, wetlands commercial well before hurricane

3 years ago – evac to Danny’s

4 years ago – bad toon rising, international supers, Turkish accidents

5 years ago – flock of seagulls, speed racer custom cars, newt steals sabretooth, Plato, custom clix

6 years ago – location quiz, feelings, dead picture links

7 years ago – Norman and the walnut, old school observational junk
(via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)

Still in a Rennie sort of mood, we plopped Gamerz into the DVD player, and started with a movie. I think the film was good, but the shadowplay gaming sequences and the fact that they all had actual Scottish accents probably raised it up from three and a half to four stars out of five. I think that they fairly pegged a few of the internal workings of a game group pretty darn well – Perhaps more like EMAGE [the group with AP, RI, HI, BG, and RobbC more than the 90’s group with GP, Kat, PM or alternates DougW, KathyW & DanC – with short termers of Kelly, DonM, Ed, RikL, RickC and Tony.]

HI (or now HG, I guess since she divorced RI married BG after becoming preggo with BG’s kid *DRaaaahmaaaah*) –

The elf chick in the movie was a pretty entertaining blend of the more negative sides of H’s flittery “look at me, I’m full of BS” and KathyW’s “Look at my Character! It’s me! I’m full of insanity” personality-wise. I could draw pretty solid connective lines to the others in that group, too, including myself.

Went on a fun drive hither and yon today… Went no place in particular, but discovered some new lands North and West of Baltimore. Nice time tooling around the Enchanted forest, where we took some photos (to follow later ) and I got a haircut at the Enchanted forest haircuttery… followed by a grilled cheese and pancakes for BHK and me at the Enchanted forest diner. Interesting place… I look forward to our follow up road trip to Elioak Farm, to see the refurbished elements. The food was good, but I suspect the grill hadn’t been scraped since opening in 1957.

If you look carefully, you can see the sugar-cone cottage deep in the middle of kudzu forest.

We forgot to hit the DC game night – And they were playing Apples to Apples, Lunch Money and Zendo! I would really like to go to the next one, if it fits into our work / play schedule. It’s a bit of a journey… Maybe 90 minutes or so – But for a Saturday of games and meeting a few new folks, it could be good!

I still need to swing by and check out the Maryland Gamers Annapolis location, too.

Swung by the in-laws and watched Hot Fuzz, and started Night at the Museum .. Bhk and I lost steam about 20 minutes into it, and headed home.

1 year ago – iguana mob pics, saw Accepted, impersonating liberace, nice weather for ducks

2 years ago – holiday countdown, teensy manatees, npr podcasts, disney quiz, underdog, trammel , new orleans psa, “I Don’t Wanna See Anybody Give Any More Goddamn Press Conferences”

3 years ago – hurricane frances, CoH, sweet revenge, strange brew, superhero costumes, sequels, Syncretism, retreat to Danny’s, newtcam pic, second thoughts, twinkie sushi, evil genius, zim and gaimajin, DCL’s bday.(HAPPY B’day!)

4 years ago – nostalgia central, general upkeep, nice chatty

5 years ago – John Walker Lindh, Old Maid, debian, red flags, my tarot card, underdog

6 years ago – Reading location poll, start page, bat-music, Amazon dreams, JH Noir

7 years ago – Empathy Rating, me, and the bionic woman (via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)

Rennfest was a hoot! Much larger venue than South Florida’s, and more professionally done.

Highlights –

• Kadon’s Game Tent (I lost two games of Quint, and BHK picked up a deck of Fluxx 3.0) – they’re the guys that make Volcano boards!
• Hack & Slash – I got a long-sleeved Action Hero t-shirt, autographed by the guys.
• (Good fellows and funny as all get out – They’ll be there all weekends except 10/20-21)
• Swami Yohmahmi
• Museum of Unnatural History
• Coin Mashing Stand… Thinking of a Hare and a Bear for either side of one.

Not to mention soft pretzels, saw assorted foods on a stick (but only ate aforementioned pretzel and a lot of water) and a beautiful wooded location.

I think I especially liked it because it was just BHK and me, having fun. No herding cats, no phone calls, nothing… just grabbed a bagel and go!

After, we hit Susquido’s for white pizza, extra garlic with a Caesar salad and fried Zucchini. Yum. (Zukes were not nearly as good as BHK’s homemade recipe)

assorted recent kitty cuteness

Renfest pics – taken with BHK’s rapidly expiring camera.

Most from Hack & Slash
note beat rennie behind BHK and me on the bench.

1 year ago – the tick / pajama police, Zoom, car projections

2 years ago – Got fresh paid links, July 2002 Lumbee Entry (Active just 2 days ago!), Palm doodles, head photos and newt, foamy, Mind controlling death parasites, help Katrina critter

3 years ago – dream cartoon linker, The Forgotten, sample email from a stranger,Mountain Dew: Pitch Black, First Grade, Reiger resigning as chief of DCF, Stream of thought alphabet

4 years ago – Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang, Red Haired Barbarians, Aunt Jemima, $100K fart, esteem meme, dynamite magazine, Newt pic, flex points, cookie puss, annoying or not, bro stuff, blogshares, earthquakes, toontown, Frankie bugs me

5 years ago – heroclix, art fair, jellybath, skyscrapers (here’s Maryland), Ambient Findability, web hits, bike in the meter room

6 years ago – adultery, lj, rollercoaster

7 years ago – playing with html, long day at work, September b’days, Sacrifice to the Horned Goat, pesky work poop, coffee, bearded sadness, road trip, headache (via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)