adults are weird

Back in sixth-grade, my class had a substitute teacher one day that I recall in particular. We weren't misbehaving that much - a rubber band was simply being flicked around. When she put a stop to it, she didn't yell at us, or lecture us, or anything of the sort. She simply made an observation that was along the lines of: "A rubber tree gave up its life for that." And I remember thinking at the time ???, what kind of a strange comment is that? Now that I'm older, it sounds like something I would say.

what's happening?

Does anybody remember the old television sitcom "What's Happening?"

Then you might remember when the band "The Doobie Brothers" made an appearance. The one part that sticks out in my mind is when Raj asked one of them "Which Doobie you be?" and laughed quite a bit at his own joke. I can still picture the scene!

Oh by the way, the Doobie Brothers aren't really brothers... ;-)

Barack Obama is the 43rd President of the United States

... and not the 44th.

Strictly speaking, that is. Okay, some of you may be thinking "What are you talking about? Ronald Reagan was the 40th President, George H. W. Bush was the 41st, Bill Clinton was 42nd, George W. Bush was 43rd, and that makes Barack Obama the 44th President - duh!" Well, Ronald Reagan was actually the 39th President of the United States. The 39th different man to serve as president, that is.

For those of you not up on presidential trivia, I present to you two words: Grover Cleveland.

You see, Grover Cleveland served two nonconsecutive terms - he was both the 22nd President and the 24th President (Benjamin Harrison was 23rd). So as far as how many different men (or someday, men or women) have served as president, for now, we're one off. Barack Obama may be recorded as being the 44th President of the United States, but now you know better!

Other presidential trivia:

* Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest man ever to serve as President

* John F. Kennedy was the youngest man ever elected President

* James Buchanan was the only bachelor President

* William Henry Harrison served the shortest term as President (only about a month)

* William Howard Taft served as both President and Chief Justice of the United States

Just some of the trivia I find interesting - which reminds me of a board game I got as a child, back when the current president was Gerald Ford (or was it Jimmy Carter?). It was called 'Meet the Presidents.' The board had pictures of all the presidents which marked the spaces to travel across, so it made it easier to memorize all of them. That's how I did it anyway!

a Beatle birthday

Today is the late George Harrison's birthday. Growing up, I was always curious to see which celebrities I shared my birthday with - in fact, I still like to know. At first when I started reading the celebrity birthdays for February 25th, I recall seeing George's name and picturing Rex Harrison (from 'My Fair Lady') but eventually I realized that it was George, aka 'the quiet Beatle.'

It was neat because George was always my favorite Beatle. I didn't necessarily identify with the more obvious John or Paul, and decided that George was my favorite (kind of like how John Taylor was my favorite football player instead of the more obvious Jerry Rice). Later realizing that George and I shared the same birthday seemed almost fitting.

It was funny reading about people that actually knew him - it seems, according to them, that calling him 'the quiet Beatle' was a misnomer, because once he got going there was no shutting him up! And it's also neat reading about how he was interested in gardening and spiritualism, more to have in common with him.

Other famous celebrities that were born on February 25th: Enrico Caruso (legendary opera singer), Bobby Riggs (tennis player), Sally Jesse Raphael (talk show host - born the same year as George Harrison), John Doe (from the band X), Sean Astin (actor from 'Rudy' and 'Lord of the Rings'), Tea Leoni (actress from 'Fun with Dick and Jane' and 'Spanglish'), Tommy Newsom (former Tonight Show bandleader), Jim Backus (Thurston Howell III on 'Gilligan's Island' and the voice of Mr. Magoo), Chelsea Handler (comedian and talk show host), and Paul O'Neill (baseball player - born the same year as me!).

other beautiful birds

It's the bright, colorful birds that are often considered the most beautiful: American goldfinches, cardinals, blue jays, orioles... and rightly so - they are strikingly beautiful. Hummingbirds of course, what with their iridescence; they truly are flying jewels. And I would love to have the opportunity to see less common birds such as the painted bunting and the green jay. Just gorgeous!

But I would also like to acknowledge the beauty of less colorful birds that make as strong an impression; two that come to mind are the cedar waxwing and the northern flicker. Their earth tones, combined with subtle brushes of color and markings are awe-inspiring too!

shared music

I don't know what it is, but part of the joy of listening to a song on the radio is knowing that countless other people are listening to that very song at the same time. Say, for instance, I have that particular band's CD and can listen to the song being played on the radio at any time - I'll still feel a little bit more connected to the song if I listen to it over the waves along with everyone else. Even if I'm alone in the car or in my room, it still feels like a shared experience.

placebos

One of the books I've been reading lately made a good point: if there is such a thing as a 'placebo effect,' then why isn't more research being put into it? I'm not thinking so much about 'sugar pills' per se, but what is going on mentally that is causing the benefits. If the mind alone is capable of bringing about healing, isn't that what we all want?

Of course, it's easy to see why the pharmaceutical companies aren't putting anything into studying the efficacy of placebos, after all, their billions of dollars are made from the sale of their drugs. But for the people that have come to rely upon taking those drugs, there is the expense, the possible side effects, perhaps more drugs to deal with those side effects, more side effects from those drugs, and so on. I'm not against drugs, but the reliance on them, and the lack of attention given to other alternatives. After all, I have my prescriptions too.

My point is, let's not look at the power of the mind to heal as just some sort of quackery to be discarded by 'serious' science. If as much effort was put into the power of the mind to heal as has been put into chemical studies over the last, say, 50 years, where would we be? I've grown up with the idea of looking at native American medicine men and women as being just so much pomp and circumstance, but I can hardly believe that they wouldn't have been such a significant part of those cultures if they weren't effective. There's an old adage about how we're only using 10% of our brains - I think what's being referred to is the capacity of more than our ability to learn facts, figures, and how to solve equations, but rather our ability to use our imaginations and our beliefs.

30 is young (it's all relative)

I remember many years ago, one of my older cousins was about the same age that I am now. I was lamenting how I was about to turn 30 years old and my life wasn't where I hoped it would be, and he told me that he wished he could be 30 again. Now I know what he meant.

is it 'guber' or 'goober'?

Does anybody else think of 'goober-natorial' whenever they hear the word 'gubernatorial'? Election time must be coming up!

expectations

Let's say a Winter Olympic athlete earns a silver medal and another gets the bronze. Both are incredible achievements, and yet oftentimes the recipient of the silver medal can be made to feel like a failure and have to answer for coming up short while the bronze medalist can be built up like having had the moment of a lifetime. It's a shame that anyone should feel like a failure - geez, just to compete at such a level...

This is a scenario I've thought about for awhile, but was reminded of now that the Winter Games are happening in Vancouver. It could really happen in any competition though. The point I'm trying to make is say, for instance, an athlete has been the presumed next Olympic champion, having won the World Championships for several years in a row. Yet, for whatever reason, ended up just short and won the Silver medal instead at the Olympics. Oh, how the media grinds the story down and asks the athlete the same line of questioning over and over again, "What happened? Are you disappointed? Does this put a stain on your career?" and so on. On the other hand, let's say another athlete wasn't expected to medal at all, and somehow defies the odds and comes away with a bronze - "How does it feel? You must be on Cloud Nine! An Olympic medal... WOW!" All wonderful and deserved sentiments, and yet the silver medalist in this example has been made to feel like they failed.

It reminds me of professional sports teams. I've experienced how wonderful it was to have been a 49er fan during their championship years. It was quite a run where they ended up winning multiple Super Bowls. Yet the years when they went deep into the playoffs but fell short of the Super Bowl were seen as failed seasons. Compare that to teams that hadn't been to the playoffs for years but finally making it - I've never seen such happy fans! It will happen when the current 49er team qualifies for the playoffs after such a long drought - such joy and excitement! All because of expectations. In that way, it will have been a better season than those where the team was expected to win it all, but came up just short.

Another example that comes to mind is the most recent Warriors run in the playoffs where they beat a heavily favored Dallas team in the first round. Even though the Warriors were eliminated by their next opponents, they were the toast of the league. As a Warrior fan, it was maybe even more emotionally satisfying than it was for the eventual NBA champions that year! It's interesting to have experienced that season with the Warriors, and also the years with the 49ers where making the playoffs was ho-hum and anything short of winning the Super Bowl was considered a failure.

I guess that's part of being human: expectations. And particularly difficult for Olympic athletes.

dancing with the winter olympians

One of the reality competitions that I enjoy watching is 'Dancing With the Stars.' I never imagined that I would get into it when it first came on the air, but somehow I did. It's like watching 'American Idol' for me - it's easy to get caught up in the drama, the personalities, and the talent. And because of DWTS, which Olympic athletes immediately come to mind? Apolo Anton Ohno and Louie Vito!

I can imagine the voiceover of a sports announcer saying about Apolo that "No U.S. ballroom dancer has ever won more medals in the Winter Olympics" and I can't help but watch him compete, hoping to catch a glimpse of Julianne Hough in the crowd. Or last night, watching the snowboarding competition with Louie and looking for Chelsie Hightower in the stands.

Maybe I shouldn't be admitting all this, so I'll end by saying in a low, yelling from the 50-yard line kind of voice "Go Niners!" Then again, no U.S. ballroom dancer has ever scored more touchdowns than Jerry Rice...

lucky shot

Okay, I'll wrap up my 'ladybug' series for now with today's photograph. I took it in my native plant garden almost two years ago during the springtime. The flowers, which were abuzz with activity, are from the Coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica). As you can imagine by the scale provided by the ladybug, the flowers are tiny and will become berries. I especially like how the spots near its head come together to form a heart-shape.

two young ladybugs

Here's a photograph showing yesterday's ladybug with its wings still sticking out from under its shell, and another one that has tucked them away.

young ladybug with wings

From what I observed, when the adult form first emerges from the pupa, it lets its wings harden and extend before 'tucking' them under its shell. Here you can also see the spent and dried pupa.

ladybug emerging

Yeah, I guess I spent a lot of time that season studying what was happening on my trellis. Again, I got lucky with timing as I caught what was happening with today's photograph. It's the earliest I was able to see a ladybug emerging in its adult form.

pupa movement

I had a classmate that was kind of grossed out when I showed him my 'nature' photos of ladybugs changing into adults. I hope you, dear reader, are able to stomach them! Admittedly, it's not quite as charming as seeing the chrysalis of a butterfly, but I think it's valuable in case you see something like it in your garden.

Today's photo shows a ladybug pupa sticking straight out. One day as I was observing the various stages they go through (I had many to look at on my trellis, only days if not just hours apart in timing), and this one was actively moving! I know that sounds redundant, but it took only about 2-3 seconds to go from sticking straight out to pointing down again. This went on back-and-forth for a little while. It was really cool to stand there and watch; I was lucky to happen upon it at the right time.

ladybug pupa

Over the next several days, I'm going to go ahead and take you through a series of photographs showing ladybugs going through various stages of their life cycles. A few years ago, I got a welcome visit from ladybugs to my trellis. They used it and the vines to 'be fruitful and multiply.' I looked forward to more such visits, but unfortunately, that was the only year (so far). The vines which grow next to the trellis are California (or Hairy, or Pink) Honeysuckles (Lonicera hispidula). Each year they get aphids, which supply the ladybugs, both as larva and as adults, with plenty of food.

This photograph shows two stages: the one below is a larva, trailing not long in time to the one above which has entered its pupa stage. I can't get over the metamorphosis, already and to come!

ladybug larva

This is the first photograph I've tried posting on this blog, so please bear with me. Many of you may not know what ladybugs (or ladybird beetles, if you prefer) look like in the larval stage. Much like butterflies look completely different than they do as caterpillars, ladybugs don't look at all the same as their corresponding larvae. I hate to think that people take one look at them as larvae and reach for a can of bug spray, and even wonder later 'where are all the ladybugs?' Also, it's nice to know that ladybug larvae also consume pesky aphids.

weeds

There is a cliche that goes something like: That which doesn't kill me only makes me stronger. I think it applies especially to weeds.

I pulled weeds this morning, trying to be mindful to pull them completely out, roots and all. Even though I might get most of a plant out, it's not enough if I don't get it in its entirety. And if I don't, it feels more like I've just somehow pruned it, that it will grow back stronger and bushier.

By paying attention, I can tell what part of the year it is by which weeds are coming up. And it's important to make sure they get removed before they go to seed. It's disheartening to read that some seeds are viable for years, if not decades. So miss one year or get to them too late, and the unfortunate gardener may pay with a fresh crop of weeds indefinitely.

I learned years ago that a weed was simply a plant that grew where it was not wanted, that an orchid could even be a weed. Too bad they all couldn't be so beautiful! And let's be honest, some weeds are so ugly, where could they possibly grow where they were wanted? When it comes to weeds, the words scourge and bane come to mind. Which is unfortunate for some perfectly nice plants which were given names with the word -weed in them, such as the one that monarch butterflies depend on, the milkweed. It should be called something like 'monarch manna' instead.

It's worth mentioning too that most of these weeds are coming up in the part of the garden that hasn't been converted yet to native plants. Messing with Mother Nature and the environment has opened up a Pandora's box of problems, and yes, even if they were as beautiful as orchids, they'd upset the balance of the Earth.

lovely Rona and the Lakers

I once worked with a beautiful woman named Rona - and she was a Laker fan. Although she was from the Bay Area, I guess that's the team her family and friends liked.

Now I'm a Bay Area fan, meaning I root for the sports teams that represent the Bay Area. In basketball, that would be the Warriors. It hasn't been easy; in that way, it's like rooting for the Cubs in baseball. But they're my team.

I remember one day I was at work and noticed that Rona was upset. I found out that she was upset because the Lakers had lost their most recent game. Being a Warriors fan, I was used to losing so I couldn't relate to her emotions. I tried to be empathetic but I guess I wasn't doing a very good job. And I can still picture it now, how she turned her lovely face towards me and said, "But Arthur, the Lakers haven't won the championship in years."

Because it was Rona, why start something? But she was talking to a Warriors fan - the one championship they've won while in the Bay Area was back in 1975!

Congratulations, Saints!

I don't like making predictions about sports outcomes (it's a good thing I'm not a sportswriter), but I am perfectly willing to root for one team over another. And after Hurricane Katrina, it was just so perfect that the Saints won the Super Bowl yesterday. It's going to be one heck of a Mardi Gras this year!

Congratulations, Jerry!

Congratulations to Jerry Rice for his selection to the NFL Hall of Fame.

It's funny how he's been called the G.O.A.T. Which brings to mind the old phrase of how one can be either the hero or the goat, usually applied to sports competition. Of course in this case, Jerry is the G.O.A.T. as in the Greatest Of All Time among wide receivers. His career stats are rather garish, aren't they?

it's in the stars

Today is the great Babe Ruth's birthday. He is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time.

Jim Brown's birthday is February 17th. He is considered the greatest football player ever.

Coincidentally (or not), Michael Jordan's birthday is also February 17th. He is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time.

And finally, Wayne Gretzsky's birthday is January 26th. He is known as the greatest hockey player of all time.

Now I'm not going to argue whether or not these four athletes are, in fact, the greatest to ever play their respective sports. But as names go, I'd say they are as solid a group as can be chosen. And what do they all have in common? They were all born under the sign of Aquarius!

And I'd also like to mention that Hank Aaron's birthday was yesterday, Feb. 5th.

This is something I've noticed for awhile now - what is it about Aquarius? Am I Aquarius? Heck no! I'm a Pisces. A February-born Pisces at that. There's been talk about February-born Pisces (Pisces males? February-born Pisces males?). But I digress... how 'bout that Aquarius?

rain dance

There's a quote that I have seen used while reading book reviews. I can't recall exactly what it is, but it's used as an alternative to another often used quote. That's what I really appreciate about websites such as Amazon.com - people's opinions. I may not always agree with them, but I almost always find them helpful.

The original quote goes something like: "If it can't be proven by science, then it doesn't exist." The alternative (and better, in my opinion) quote would be: "If it can't be proven by science, then it may or may not exist."

I believe that there's a lot more out there than what can be proven through Newtonian physics - maybe there really is something to the Native American Rain Dance and the idea that 'thoughts are things.'

the inexact science

The Super Bowl is coming up, but since the 49ers aren't playing in it I'm looking more forward to the NFL Draft. And the combine. And free agency. So really, for football fans, there is no offseason!

Our cable package includes getting the NFL Network, which has coverage of the little things that I can't see anywhere else. Recently, it showed practice for the Senior Bowl, as well as the game itself. And currently when I watch, it shows a stream along the bottom of the screen of Mike Mayock's top 5 prospects at each position. I'm just one of many that finds the draft fascinating.

As the well-worn cliche goes, hindsight is 20-20. And the draft and the discussion leading up to it that really sticks in my mind is the year that Peyton Manning was selected first overall. Given that he is now considered one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game, it seems obvious that he must have been the obvious choice that year. But back then, no one knew for sure whether the best quarterback available was Peyton... or Ryan Leaf. Seriously! It was a toss-up - people were arguing back and forth. Another example that still has people scratching their heads is how could Tom Brady have lasted until pick #199 the year he was drafted? We can safely say now that he should have been picked higher, to put it mildly. So here we are looking at another draft. No one knows. People may think they know (even Mr. Mayock, whom is considered one of the very best evaluators of talent), but they don't know.

So it's fun wondering which players are going to be picked high, and which of them should. I look at Mr. Mayock's Top 5 and wonder which names that aren't even on the list will turn out to be superstars, maybe even players that go undrafted entirely (we'll know years from now). Which highly touted players will end up as disappointments? He may end up being more accurate than anybody else, but no one knows for sure what the outcomes will be for any of these players. And in the end, I can only hope that the 49ers end up getting it right!

vinyl records

A friend has been posting album covers on Facebook, perhaps what I miss most about getting vinyl records. Like a 'Kindle' could never replicate the feeling of holding an actual book, a lot of my memories are tied to having an album sleeve to look at and admire while listening to music at the same time.

While I could get all nostalgic about vinyl records, they did have their drawbacks. What was most frustrating had to be when I got home with a new record, and listened to it for the first time. Besides enjoying the music, I was always aware and a little tentative of the idea that it might have scratches or some other kind of defect, in which case, it was back to the store to exchange it. And as the years went by with vinyl records, I noticed that they were getting thinner and thinner and more likely to be warped.

As for the sound, my hearing isn't sharp enough to notice whether or not there was more warmth in records compared to listening to CD's. I've read that there are audiophiles that insist that CD's are missing a special something that vinyl provided - I can't tell. And if there is, I prefer having the many advantages that CD's provide: remote control convenience; having the choice to 'repeat,' 'shuffle,' skip past songs, etc.; much less chance of having defects and in turn, less likely to be damaged from mishandling - these are just the ones that come to mind first.

But back to the way they're packaged... albums by a landslide!

The cover artwork could have as much meaning as the album itself. As time goes on, where MP3's and digital music render having any artwork at all unnecessary, even CD's are getting outdated, let alone album covers. It's kind of sad to have to even describe what it was like - the 'old' days keep coming up faster and faster, don't they?

It's not like a lot of time was put into the artwork of every album what was released, but some albums had covers that were iconic. The Beatles first come to mind, with the cover for Sgt. Pepper's. One of my favorites was the kind-of-package/cover that came with the 'Magical Mystery Tour' album, with a series of pages in a sleeve that opened up. And how much meaning would have been given to Paul being barefoot while walking across Abbey Road had the artwork only been CD size, or even worse, only bought online for an iPod?

One of my favorite records is Chicago VI, particularly because of the cover. Besides the beautiful artwork, the sleeve has texture and opens up too, where there is another photo of the band, this one shot in the same style as the cover, but with the band members standing in a field. Another favorite album is Heart's 'Little Queen' with Anne and Nancy Wilson dressed in medieval/gypsy outfits - I remember being a teenager and having these two lovelies to be smitten with as I stared at the cover and listened to the record. I realize that album covers must seem archaic compared to what's available on the web... oh well, lots to remember and wonder about.

Australian stuff

Wait a minute, I should watch my language! If I was in Australia, that is.

I once worked with a woman many years ago that got a kick out of the word 'stuff.' According to her, in Australia the word stuff is akin to the f-word. You know, f-yoo-c-k. Which I'll refrain from using here. On the other hand, stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff!

It's funny to think how a word that is so otherwise innocuous over here can mean something totally different somewhere else. So if you hear an Australian say "What the stuff?" you'll have a better idea of what they're really expressing. As opposed to here in America where you might hear someone innocently say "I am so stuffed!" while patting their belly after a big meal, or maybe "Would you like some stuffing?" while serving food at a holiday dinner. How awful (-ly funny)! Looking online though, I can't find anything that says that stuff is quite the same as using the f-word. Although according to the dictionary, it can be used as an expression of contempt. I guess you'd have to ask someone from Australia!

the county gremlin

As I've mentioned before, I'm not much into driving - I've just never cared for it. And I especially paid the price for not knowing yet how to drive stick when I worked a sort of internship in my early twenties.

During my college years, I applied to work in the university's 'co-op' work-study program after my junior year. It was a job with the Sacramento County public works department. Although it ultimately wasn't that applicable to my engineering studies, it was still a valuable experience. Occasionally, I'd have to run errands which required some driving around the city. Instead of having to drive my own car, the city had a car pool with a variety of vehicles to sign out with. And as you can imagine, the fleet was comprised of the more affordable vehicles that were available at the time. I seem to recall Chevettes perhaps? Which wouldn't have been so bad if only I knew how to drive stick shift. No, the model that was available for automatic-only drivers like me was the AMC Gremlin.

Not a big car, yet it drove like a tank. That was really my greatest concern, the handling (or lack thereof); good thing, seriously, I wasn't embarrassed being seen driving one of those things - come to think of it, I'm more embarrassed now. What a sight! This was sometime in the mid-eighties.