Yesterday the student who got the lowest grade on the midterm, a D, told me that he had only done half of the reading required by the course for the midterm, but he didn't think his grade would have been any better had he actually done all the reading.

He also told me that he was probably going to drop the course.  Really.  I'll miss you, Chuckles.

[Please re-post the following message to friends if appropriate and help out if you can (more appropriate for Austin folks).  I am horrified that these birds are enduring all of this trauma and would hate to see them auctioned off.]


A little over a month ago, over 100 parrots of all sizes and species were seized from a home in Weatherford, TX, where they had been found in squalid conditions.  These birds were all taken to a local county shelter which has little funding and even less experience with birds.  This shelter is simply not equipped to properly handle and rehome all of these birds.  A nearby avian rescue, Wings of Love Bird Haven, is doing everything they can to help alleviate the burden and provide these birds with proper living conditions, medical attention, and forever homes.  However, their resources are limited as well.  Anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated.

How You Can Help:

*Donate cages, playgyms, and/or toys.  My friend and I [a pet-sitter in Austin] are going up to Bird Haven on February 14, so if you have anything to donate, we can take it up there for you and bring you back a receipt for tax purposes.

*Donate money directly to Bird Haven.

*Sign up to attend Barbara Heidenreich's workshop at Bird Haven in March.

*Apply to Bird Haven to adopt or foster a bird.

*Apply directly to the Parker County Shelter to adopt or foster a bird, (817) 598-4111.

If you do adopt or foster a bird from this situation and need help with any behavioral issues, I will be happy to help you for free.

If they are not able to find suitable homes for these birds through adoption, Weatherford's City Manager has stated that they will probably auction the birds off with minimum bids.  This would be detrimental, as many of those birds would likely end up in unethical breeding situations or in homes similar to the one they came from.  Please help if you can, and spread the word to anyone you know who might be able to help.

This sounds delicious, and it happens to be dairy-free.  I'd try versions with cinnamon and cayenne, too.  I'm convinced that coconut milk is healthy, and I will not listen to claims to the contrary.  See recipe for meringue topping, too.

Learn more this Sunday!

Background here.

Courtesy of lovemonster, this video REWLZ, and I am very much enamored with the wisdom of Joe the Truck Driver. accipiter, note the hassled dog! It's good to see that someone else puts their bird in the passenger seat, though Baby A is either in her carrier or on my shoulder when we travel together. BTW, little Absinthe can quack, too, when she wants a laugh.

So here I am, with a sweet clip of an unlikely animal pairing at some elephant sanctuary here in Tennessee. accipiter, do you know which sanctuary it could be? Anyway, it reminded me of the very sweet odd couple at Memphis Zoo, a porcupine and some kind of lemur critter an aardvark (I has bad memoreez) who were cuddle buddies that had not made it with their own kind.

Anyway, I break my silence to give you Bella and Tara:

Rather than being scared straight, men are scared gay by strong women, according to Michael Savage. Yet again it's All My Fault.

The Logic of a Regular Joe:
Good media is good news;
War is hell;
Ergo, media should not report on war.

from phryday--must see this film!

I fell in love with Thai coconut soups in NorCal, so I was all over this NYT recipe for coconut curry soup. 

( Liquid Love )

12 neat examples of evolution to dazzle all your Intelligent Design friends--with lots of emphasis on birdies.

Hurray for astronomy!  The coolest lab I ever did was finding Venus during the day in astronomy lab. That rawked!

originalkitsune, this is for you!

Coolest link EVAR!

Oh My!

I'm a little meme sheep, just like originalkitsune.  Funny that the acupuncturist has the Healer's Heart, and the medievalist got the Hero's Heart.  NOT that I buy into this!!

Take The Heart Test at HelloQuizzy

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Ganked from mediavixen:

It's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things--nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

What is your name:
Kristin

4 letter word:
Kind

Boy's name:
Kirk

Girl's name:
Katya

Occupation:
Kung-fu fighter

Color:
Khaki

Something to wear:
Knickers

Beverage:
Kirsch

Food:
Kiwi

Something in a bathroom:
kohl pencil