Thursday, July 12, 2007

In which OW!

No poetry to this one. I just had to suppress a sneeze while rinsing with listerine. I unintentionally sucked a hefty swig of the stuff directly into my sinuses, where it sits still, burning holes directly into my brain.

With the possible exception of eyelid surgery, this may be the most painful thing I've ever experienced.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

In which nature confounds me yet again...

I just watched two tiny songbirds, both of which could easily fit in my hand side-by-side, locked in an epic, acrobatic battle that spanned city blocks. While I rode my bicycle to work I saw them collide in midair, pecking and squawking furiously at each other, feathers flying. They disengaged before hitting the ground, and that round's losing combatant fled a hundred feet down the rode. The other bird zoomed after him, Neo-and-Agent-Smith-style, and with shocking precision and brutality, slammed into him again once they'd both gained some altitude. The would-be victim dished out some hurt of his own, and this fascinating process reversed and repeated itself again and again, over at least half a kilometre that just happened to run alongside my bike route. It was like watching two feathered superheroes locked in eternal combat. My main question: just what makes a two-ounce bird that pissed off?

As you've likely figured out, I'm back from my fascinating, educational, expensive trip to New York. I'll be offering up many details and some of the 950 photos I took, as soon as I can process them. I'm slightly occupied at the moment by preparing to leave my job, but I'm back on a regular blogging schedule and you'll hear about my recent travels very soon.