There are certain mishaps that can occur in any career. Some are more dangerous or destructive than others. As a marine biologist, and more specifically, as a diver, I cannot operate in my profession without a healthy respect and sometimes fear of the power of the ocean. I have met several in my field who for inexplicable reasons lack one the above two. It seems like an obvious thing. Wouldn't someone who has studied the ocean or spent any time near it have any idea of how truly terrifying it can be? I find that complacency is what leads us to accidents and desperate situations when it comes to the ocean. How big we feel when the waters are calm yet how wrong we are when the waves pick up.
I guess I could have picked a safer profession. I mean, you never hear about anyone getting hurt or ending up in a perilous situation as an accountant. But after all I could be wrong. Those numbers on a page can be dangerous, I'm sure. And I can't say that I entirely agree with the pressure and expectations that are being placed on myself and my intern. We've worked two weeks straight with some pretty drastic consequences for our health (and maybe sanity?). Personally I've lost 9 pounds despite a more than healthy intake of food, sores on my knuckles from putting on damp wetsuits, sores on my feet from wearing damp booties all day, aching muscles, bruises from falling several times on the rocks and beaches while wearing almost 50 pounds of gear, and exhaustion that no matter how much I sleep and rest does not go away.
Yes, I am complaining. I take full responsibility for it. But sometimes we all need a little moment where we just say that we are not happy doing our job because it's not fun any more. And I've reached one of those times. It will get better, and I will enjoy myself again. But until the insanity that is spring collection ends, I will continue to be miserable.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
A matter of identity
Growing up in America we're taught that our country is a "melting pot" of cultures. But unlike other countries in the world we lack a common historical culture. It's a product of our foundations and our relative youth, so where does that leave us? A lot of times if you ask people born in this country (with several generations of Americans preceding them) what their heritage is they won't say 'American', most often they'll ramble off a list of other nationalities that they think might be included in their background. Or you get the stock "I'm a European mutt" response which is personally annoying. But can we really stop at just saying we're all 'Americans'? Is it really easy enough to classify ourselves based solely on the country we live in? There are different degrees to which we identify with our country of origin. For some people, it comes down to identifying yourself based on the state or region you grew up in. I identify myself as an Oregonian. I was born and raised in Oregon and come from a family that settled parts of the Western Willamette Valley and then moved over across the coast range into the Tillamook County area. Even though I'm technically living in California (a fact I get fussy about if brought up in conversation) I still identify myself as an Oregonian. I dread the day I have to trade in my Oregon drivers license, knowing full well that I will become 'resident' of another state or country. But that doesn't detract from who I am.
So much of who we are is based on where we come from. It's often where we feel most comfortable, where we go to reconnect with ourselves, to sort out our problems, to experience our greatest joys. I'm insanely proud of where I come from and the deep connections my family has to the area. There's a deep running feeling that you are part of a landscape. That the blood of my ancestors who toiled in soil, under the sky, and on the sea connects me to something that runs much deeper than a political line that was drawn over a hundred years ago.
I guess that's what really matter at the end of the day. Having a place that call your own.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
token man picture
Ha. Sometimes you just need a good lookin' man on your blog. Today is one of those days. Okay, weeks. Fine. Months.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
valentine's day
There are few movie moments that move me the same everytime I see them. The following part of Moonstruck is one of those moments. Nicolas Cage giving the greatest speech of love. If you haven't seen the movie, go see it.
"Everything seems like nothing to me now, 'cause I want you in my bed. I don't care if I burn in hell. I don't care if you burn in hell. The past and the future is a joke to me now. I see that they're nothing. I see they ain't here. The only thing that's here is you - and me. Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and *die*. The storybooks are *bullshit*. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and *get* in my bed!"
"Everything seems like nothing to me now, 'cause I want you in my bed. I don't care if I burn in hell. I don't care if you burn in hell. The past and the future is a joke to me now. I see that they're nothing. I see they ain't here. The only thing that's here is you - and me. Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and *die*. The storybooks are *bullshit*. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and *get* in my bed!"
Thursday, February 07, 2008
"cut your hair you hippy!"
This was posted by someone I know on the mainland. I felt it necessary to respond.
"Recently, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors opted out of an aggressive deal that would have imposed strict regulations on the use of plastic shopping bags, with the possibility of an outright ban looming should specifications not be met. Though this might not seem like a large issue, consider this:
L.A. County uses approximately 6 billion plastic bags each year (Source: Los Angeles Times)
430,000 gallons of oil are used to produce 100 million plastic bags (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)
Do the math: L.A. County consumes 25,800,000 gallons of oil each year in plastic bags. At oil prices as of 2:28 p.m. the day I'm posting this, Feb. 6, 2008, according to CNNMoney ($87.14 per barrel, or per 42 gallons), that's $53,528,857.14 that L.A. County consumes each year in plastic bags. 53 and one half MILLION dollars.
Methinks the L.A. County Board of Directors needs to stop listening to the grocery lobbyists, especially since China just banned plastic bags altogether."
Things to consider in this debate:
1. What is the alternative to plastic bags?
2. What is the cost (monetary and environmentally) of the alternative.
3. What are the economic impacts of the implementation of the alternative?
4. What are the ecological impacts of the alternative?
5. What are the societal impacts of the alternative?
Obviously there's a lot of questions to be answered in response to what looks like a simple solution. Yes, we reduce oil consumption if we eliminate plastic bags. But are they really the only bad guy in this debate? So we eliminate plastic bags. Ok, what now? Do we use paper bags? Sounds like a good idea right? Well let's answer some of our questions from above.
1. Let's assume that the elimination of plastic bags forces paper as the only alternative to be found. For the sake of example of complexity, let's assume (a nasty thing I know), that no one is bringing their own shopping bag to the store.
2. The production of paper bags comes at a double whammy cost. We all know (at least we should by now) that paper comes from trees. And trees come from forests. So, to make paper bags we need to cut down a forest. But that forest wasn't just sitting there before we needed our paper bags. It was a dynamic system. For one, it was absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it to oxygen. Another cool thing trees do (if you didn't know by now).
So now that we've cut down a forest we need to actually make our paper bags. Which means transporting our trees to our factory. Which is going to produce some more gases and use up more oil. But the consumption doesn't stop there. Our paper bag factory doesn't run on good intentions. It runs on good old fashioned oil. Producing more green house gases. The amount of pollutants produced by the production of paper bags is astounding. Consider this: "Paper sacks generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags."
Source: "Comparison of the Effects on the Environment of Polyethylene and Paper Carrier Bags," Federal Office of the Environment, August 1988.
That's a lot to digest, I know. But let's continue with our questions.
3. Economically let's consider how often we are recycling paper bags. According to the Wall Street Journal, an estimated 10 to 15% of paper bags are recycled. That's a pretty low number. At this point, and I could be wrong, I don't know of any campaigns or drives to recycle paper bags. Again, I could be wrong. So we have to spend more money to cut down more trees, drive them to a plant, and run that plant to produce more bags.
4. As for ecological impacts, let me be frank. We're cutting down forests to make paper bags. Forests. Like I said before it's not like those forests were just sitting there waiting to be made into a bag. They were actively participating in the atmospheric exchange. And doing a fine job of it I'm sure. So why would we want to cut them down?
5. This is a question that can only be speculative. What do we as a society stand to gain from setting aside forests to be made into bags that we will use once a week. Do people who were formerly using plastic bags take it upon themselves to suddenly start recycling paper ones? My guess is no. I try to see the upside to most things, but frankly, if someone doesn't care enough now to recycle, then taking away plastic bags isn't going to make them care. That's a bigger problem to be addressed.
So, I guess my whole point is this: Is it getting rid of plastic bags the only answer? Or there something else that needs to be done?
Once again, education is a key component to a successful campaign to reducing the impact of plastic bags. Did you know that if you re-use paper bags at the grocery store you will often get a discount? At Vons they take 5 cents off per bag. (6 cents at WinCo for those of you living in Oregon.) If you were to use the same paper, or even plastic, bags two weeks in a row for an entire year, you've reduced your impact that year by a half.
Or better yet, dig around your house and see if you have any canvas bags. Use those for shopping. They work just as well and last for years. Head to a GoodWill or Salvation Army and pick up a couple for cheap. I have three bags that I've used going on three years and they may be ugly but it's helped reduce at least my impact.
"Recently, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors opted out of an aggressive deal that would have imposed strict regulations on the use of plastic shopping bags, with the possibility of an outright ban looming should specifications not be met. Though this might not seem like a large issue, consider this:
L.A. County uses approximately 6 billion plastic bags each year (Source: Los Angeles Times)
430,000 gallons of oil are used to produce 100 million plastic bags (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)
Do the math: L.A. County consumes 25,800,000 gallons of oil each year in plastic bags. At oil prices as of 2:28 p.m. the day I'm posting this, Feb. 6, 2008, according to CNNMoney ($87.14 per barrel, or per 42 gallons), that's $53,528,857.14 that L.A. County consumes each year in plastic bags. 53 and one half MILLION dollars.
Methinks the L.A. County Board of Directors needs to stop listening to the grocery lobbyists, especially since China just banned plastic bags altogether."
Things to consider in this debate:
1. What is the alternative to plastic bags?
2. What is the cost (monetary and environmentally) of the alternative.
3. What are the economic impacts of the implementation of the alternative?
4. What are the ecological impacts of the alternative?
5. What are the societal impacts of the alternative?
Obviously there's a lot of questions to be answered in response to what looks like a simple solution. Yes, we reduce oil consumption if we eliminate plastic bags. But are they really the only bad guy in this debate? So we eliminate plastic bags. Ok, what now? Do we use paper bags? Sounds like a good idea right? Well let's answer some of our questions from above.
1. Let's assume that the elimination of plastic bags forces paper as the only alternative to be found. For the sake of example of complexity, let's assume (a nasty thing I know), that no one is bringing their own shopping bag to the store.
2. The production of paper bags comes at a double whammy cost. We all know (at least we should by now) that paper comes from trees. And trees come from forests. So, to make paper bags we need to cut down a forest. But that forest wasn't just sitting there before we needed our paper bags. It was a dynamic system. For one, it was absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it to oxygen. Another cool thing trees do (if you didn't know by now).
So now that we've cut down a forest we need to actually make our paper bags. Which means transporting our trees to our factory. Which is going to produce some more gases and use up more oil. But the consumption doesn't stop there. Our paper bag factory doesn't run on good intentions. It runs on good old fashioned oil. Producing more green house gases. The amount of pollutants produced by the production of paper bags is astounding. Consider this: "Paper sacks generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags."
Source: "Comparison of the Effects on the Environment of Polyethylene and Paper Carrier Bags," Federal Office of the Environment, August 1988.
That's a lot to digest, I know. But let's continue with our questions.
3. Economically let's consider how often we are recycling paper bags. According to the Wall Street Journal, an estimated 10 to 15% of paper bags are recycled. That's a pretty low number. At this point, and I could be wrong, I don't know of any campaigns or drives to recycle paper bags. Again, I could be wrong. So we have to spend more money to cut down more trees, drive them to a plant, and run that plant to produce more bags.
4. As for ecological impacts, let me be frank. We're cutting down forests to make paper bags. Forests. Like I said before it's not like those forests were just sitting there waiting to be made into a bag. They were actively participating in the atmospheric exchange. And doing a fine job of it I'm sure. So why would we want to cut them down?
5. This is a question that can only be speculative. What do we as a society stand to gain from setting aside forests to be made into bags that we will use once a week. Do people who were formerly using plastic bags take it upon themselves to suddenly start recycling paper ones? My guess is no. I try to see the upside to most things, but frankly, if someone doesn't care enough now to recycle, then taking away plastic bags isn't going to make them care. That's a bigger problem to be addressed.
So, I guess my whole point is this: Is it getting rid of plastic bags the only answer? Or there something else that needs to be done?
Once again, education is a key component to a successful campaign to reducing the impact of plastic bags. Did you know that if you re-use paper bags at the grocery store you will often get a discount? At Vons they take 5 cents off per bag. (6 cents at WinCo for those of you living in Oregon.) If you were to use the same paper, or even plastic, bags two weeks in a row for an entire year, you've reduced your impact that year by a half.
Or better yet, dig around your house and see if you have any canvas bags. Use those for shopping. They work just as well and last for years. Head to a GoodWill or Salvation Army and pick up a couple for cheap. I have three bags that I've used going on three years and they may be ugly but it's helped reduce at least my impact.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
I guess we're in for a wild ride.
Normally I refrain from commenting on anything political. Mostly because I was raised knowing that there are certain things you don't talk about in polite conversation. Politics being one of those things. And frankly I'm not going to pretend that I know enough to spout any kind of convictions to anyone. So there you go. With that disclaimer out of the way, after watching (partly) and reading (mostly) about the results from Super Tuesday, it's going to be an interesting year in terms of the election.
I know that this morning across the channel some folks are particularly stung that California went the way it did, and frankly I'm glad the island is giving me some insulation from it all. The last thing I need is to hear one more person say, "How could someone have voted for them?", as if the 'them' were infected with some kind of plague.
All I can say is that's some mighty fine democracy we've got ourselves. Sure thing!
Just for fun, check this out.
I know that this morning across the channel some folks are particularly stung that California went the way it did, and frankly I'm glad the island is giving me some insulation from it all. The last thing I need is to hear one more person say, "How could someone have voted for them?", as if the 'them' were infected with some kind of plague.
All I can say is that's some mighty fine democracy we've got ourselves. Sure thing!
Just for fun, check this out.
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