So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish: Bon Voyage, Patiodog

Tornadoes are great.

Next time a storm is coming, go to the lake -- Mendota -- and watch it approach. The storms come from the North-Northwest, and you can see the curtain of rain coming from the opposite shore. It's great.

Er, I believe I have mentioned that Madison is hippie central. 'Specially over where you are. (Willy St. Co-op is the absolute epicenter.)

Cool about dogs!

Cool. Good to know about the lake. The best T-storm I've ever seen was actually a freakish one over Monterey Bay. That one even beat out the high desert ones...

He's posting live!!!!! yay!

I love big weather, too - but a TORNADO!!!!!

Yeah. I've seen a funnel cloud over Mendota -- sucked up some water, then dissapated. (Good thing, since I was sitting out on the dock saying "Ooh, look at the funnel cloud!")

Wow. A Patiodog sighting! Glad you managed your trip 'cross country without mishap. Classes starting soon?

Classes start on Tuesday. An exciting lineup.

"Physiology of Domestic and Laboratory Animals"
"Calculus and Analytic Geometry"
"Introduction to Wildlife Ecology"
"Agricultural and Applied Economics"
"General Biochemistry"

It used to be more like, "Acting Studio III," "Studies in Contemporary Performance," "Play Development Workshop," and "20th Century Italian Literature."

Ah, well. Without change we die, right?





Yeah, this is my response, too. "Hey, this is a cool earthquake!"

Intrdoduction to Wildlife Ecology! Introduction to Wildlife Ecology! I took it! ("Big Fierce Animals" was a textbook.)

Good class.

That all DOES look really exciting to me, truth be told. Well, maybe not Calculus and Analytic Geometry...

Did the earth move for you, darlin'?


Last one I felt, I was with a client - chairs dancin' round the room - me a little awestruck - she wailed right through it- seemed rude to comment on the earth trembling all round us, so I just kept trying to listen...

Yeah, cool earthquake. Why'd it stop?

Those classes -- five of 'em? And not an art or humanities in sight. Whew. Three credits each or are you taking an extra big load? Intro to Wildlife Ecology sounds interesting. The first one -- physiology of domestic & lab animals -- err, that's not going to involve cutting them up, is it?

Rude?

I experienced one biggie and a couple of smallies in L.A. The biggie (relatively speaking... was around a 5 or something, far away) came in the middle of the night and turned our bed into a boat. Whee, riding the waves. It was awesome.

The smallies did little more than rattle windows.

Um, it might involve some cuting, Piff, I dunno. I'll have to do this slicing thing sooner or later, though. And it can't be more upsetting than, say, meeting people at the King County Humane Society whose cat has leukemia as a result of contact with the neighbor's horde of infected, unaltered cats, who have likely infected an entire neighborhood of perfectly innocent and well-taken-care-of indoor/outdoor kitties, or meeting the hordes of Renton stray pit bulls for whom every encounter is a life-or-death confrontation (an attitude that turns out to be prophetic in the self-fulfilling manner).




Last one I felt was with a bunch of people who'd never been in one before -- virgins, as 'twere. They were absolutely spooked by the whole thing. One guy (the chair of the dept., actually) went running out the door yelling, "Everybody outside!" as soon as the shaking started. One woman wouldn't come out from underneath her desk for half an our. A number of people down at the hospital huddled together on a footbridge over a busy road -- and over the high voltage lines that power the electric buses. The news that night had accounts of people going out on the fire escapes of high rises. Genius types, these were...

Cool. That'll put me a step ahead, if it's still on the list. Not only did have I read it -- I took notes...

I saw the Penske truck and car tower last night on the way home and Patio came straight to mind

Really, great company. I was impressed. I even understand why they put that thing in there that wouldn't let the truck go over 70, though it did piss me off on those long, straight, flat bits...

You're right... you've got to learn to cut them sooner or later for your chosen profession. There's a Taoist story about that... I could dig it up... something about cutting between the spaces and your knife will always stay sharp.

I'm trying to remember Big, Fierce Animals, but I think I have it mixed up with another book about why they are rare. *I* didn't take notes.

That's it -- "Why Big Fierce Animals Are Rare" by Paul (?) Colinvaux.

Oh? Cool! They're rare (thank god) because, damn, can't remember -- they need too many feeder species to keep them healthy or something. Mr.P got the book for me because I had such a fear of grizzly bears as we started our trip to Yellowstone in '94. Isn't it great that Pdog took notes? I should have.

Hippies? Hippies??? What decade have you moved back to, Dawg? Here in the East we might see the occasional (rare) person with extra long hair and some unusual accoutrements, but these folk are in no sense the flower people of the '60s and '70s. You still got hippies back there in the midlands? Gosh, the Place that Time Forgot.

Oh, there are lots and lots and lots of hippies in Madison, M.A. Some genuine article gray-ponytail oldsters, lots of nouveau flower children.

Oh, yeah. The old guy hacking away on his ventilator on the porch next door is definitely the genuine article, at least for what little time he's got left. (As a recovering hippie-child myself, I can't poke too much fun. The cable guy comes tomorrow, though, so there will be no mistaking us for children of the gross consumeristic culture, nosirreebob. But hippies are fun to have around, for a number of reasons, so long as you don't mind the patchouli stink and the occasional self-righteous outburst.)