It's pretty clear to me how it works. I moved to the US at age 15 and, like Keflezighi, became a US citizen in my early 20s. No one has ever suggested I am only "technically American." I am, however, a WASP, and Keflezighi is not. Coincidence?
Teresa @70:
I have "Monitor and Merrimack" permanently paired in my head, much like "Lewis and Clark" or "Rome and Carthage." I am almost certain that pairing comes from elementary school history books which referred to the Monitor dueling the Merrimack.. Is it (or was it) common for the CSS Virginia to be referred to as the Merrimack? I note that googling "Monitor and Merrimack" brings up lots of web pages.
If so, I'd be willing to forgive that lapse on Keegan's part, particularly since the sentence in question is somewhat ambiguous: he refers both to the original ship and the rebuilt confederate ship.
Confusing it with the Monitor, though, is a big boo-boo. They were so very, very different in general appearance.
Charlie @80 and others:
It occurs to me that one could put together a less expensive SAD light system from aquarium components.
For example, http://www.ahsupply.com sells complete kits (bulb, reflectors, wiring). You just add a wooden box. The 1 x 55 watt bright kit appears to be equivalent to Charlie's Brightspark.
Caroline @15:
My favorite parts of the NC State Fair:
1. The Bunny House
2. The little kids exhibiting their goats. There are few things more adorable than a 5-year old in cowboy boots attempting to deal with a recalcitrant goat.
Darth Paradox @12
My money's on her on-screen title being "Jenna Bush Hager".
That would neither surprise or disturb me. As far as I can tell, it is increasingly common for women to use their original surname that way. Among my married female friends, roughly 1/3 use their husband's surname, 1/3 use their original surname, and 1/3 use the original surname-husband's name combination, with or without hyphenation. A smaller percentage of the men use the combination, and none have adopted their wife's maiden name alone.
Ken @116:
I'd guess that the pain of the break depends to some extent on one's social milieu. I was a young YEC who experienced the standard shock to the system when I studied biology at university. But, at the same time I was also encountering Christians who were politically liberal pacifists (including at least one of my biology professors). As a result, my rejection of YEC and right-wing fundamentalism (Southern Baptist variety) did not become full blown atheism.
I suppose it helps that my current church rents space and meets on Sunday evenings. I can sleep in (toddlers permitting) on Sunday mornings and still go to church.
If you are ever in southwestern Norway, Gloppedal is worth a gander. It's a terminal moraine, and if one house sized boulder is impressive, a valley packed with them must be even better.
Paula@172
Ouch, that's a lot of money for a single plant of a species that usually isn't self-fertile.
Lila @ #166,
I'm in North Carolina. The seeds came from a friend who recently moved to Montana, so I no longer have access to his tree.
I've never tasted a pawpaw either. Not many people around here grow them, and they don't turn up at the local farmers' markets. I'm hoping that I'll like them if/when my trees fruit, but if not, well they're attractive trees and wild animals apparently love the fruit.
I'm thinking about planting some serviceberries and maybe a mayhaw for more wild fruit goodness, but I suspect that I'm too far inland to get good results with a mayhaw. Late frosts would probably blast the flowers.
I'm making a woodland garden, mostly with native plants. It will be a loooong project, since I am starting a lot of the plants from local seed. A couple of two-year old pawpaw trees will be ready to go in the ground this autumn, and I just planted some dogwood and fringe tree seeds. Seeds on my lone red buckeye are almost ready to harvest, and I've got my eye on an American Holly at the back of the property which will provide seed as soon as the berries are ripe. Apparently, I'll be waiting five to nine years for the holly seedlings to flower.
#134:
Why did Lovecraft find rugose things so horrifying, anyway? Tortoises are rugose (and also squamous). Tortoises are cute.
Clifton @72:
Stegosaurus tail spikes
a.k.a. the "thagomizer." This may be the term with the best etymology in all of science.
Can I ask questions about Tor books in an open thread? Well, I guess I can ask them. Will they be answered?
Anyway...How come the availability of US editions of Neal Asher's books published by Tor is so spotty? Amazon seems to be selling the UK hardback of Line War, though they are currently out of stock. I can't find any indication of a US edition on the Tor website (http://us.macmillan.com/TorForge.aspx). As far as I can tell, only the first and third (of five) books of the Cormac series are available in US editions. What's up? When will there be a US edition of Line War?
Fragano:
UK (England).
anatidaeling, #48:
The funniest vegetable name has got to be Mangelwurzel.
Constance Ash, #73:
Rutabagas are excellent peeled, chopped into chunks of approximately 1/2 inch square, and simmered in beef stew together with parsnips and turnips. Also good in Cornish pasties and shepherd's pie.
Mom called them Swedes. I don't know why, but it does provide a snappy comeback to smartass questions about the latter dish:
"Is the shepherds pie made with real shepherds?"
"No, Swedes."
Patrick,
The ARC arrived today. Thank you very much.
I received two copies in separate packaging. I guess there was some sort of glitch when the mailing labels were printed. What would you like me to do with the second copy? Ship it back to you or give it away?
According to that font of all knowledge, Wikipedia, N. American Reds
are slightly smaller than Eurasian reds. It's Fox Squirrels that are
the big ones.
JESR #31:
I haven't had problems with the squirrels ripping down the feeder.
It's mounted securely to the top of a 4" x4" wooden post. I resorted to
that after losing several hanging feeders to raccoons who simply detach
the entire feeder and cart it away.
The raccoons removed the suet cage once, but they haven't repeated
that behavior. I guess they're smarter than squirrels and hot pepper is
a powerful educational tool.
JESR #6:
Hot pepper suet in the suet cage and safflower seed in the bird feeder have solved the squirrel problem for me.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 8 |
| 2008 | 17 |
| 2007 | 10 |
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