tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89434093534505648182024-03-12T23:31:16.408-05:00Trail Blazing After 40<b>Because adventure is better after 40</b>Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.comBlogger412125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-38765605806209554752010-05-02T11:10:00.012-05:002010-05-02T12:19:38.676-05:00Rainy morning breakfastI know there are those of you who are saying to yourselves after reading this, "D, haven't you had enough of the breakfast foods already?"The answer would be "no".I love breakfast. I love breakfast foods. I love getting up in the morning and cooking. It's all so very throwback to an earlier time before I became an academic and before life was so busy that I felt like I was on a dead run Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-56478523309975860752010-04-26T20:46:00.002-05:002010-04-26T21:39:24.140-05:00Dog in motionDaktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-47175336972014482832010-04-26T20:40:00.001-05:002010-04-26T20:42:50.346-05:00It happens every springIt's time to play ball.Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-57787856642733143562010-04-18T22:22:00.002-05:002010-04-18T22:27:39.503-05:00Howdy, ScoutSay hello to the newest member of the D household. Howdy, Scout.Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-75289556498570202252010-04-15T00:41:00.002-05:002010-04-15T00:53:24.622-05:00Human behavior and why it baffles the cluelessSo yesterday, someone told me I shouldn't have been offended by their offensive behavior.So after I had to "get over it", I also had to get beyond the idea that someone who knows nothing of me outside of my professional environment honestly believes they can tell me what I am allowed and not allowed to take offense at. Whenever someone tells me that I should or shouldn't feel a certain way, theyDaktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-21974222950211316052010-04-14T21:04:00.001-05:002010-04-14T21:11:11.864-05:00An untimely endAnd no, I didn't do it. This was a big pig. I think it probably left a pretty significant dent in the car that did it. There were two of these. The horror of the first pig's untimely demise prevents me from showing you what happened. This guy must have been an afterthought.Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-29106813883991159592010-04-09T23:52:00.006-05:002010-04-10T00:29:22.050-05:00Are You a Prairie Chicken?Yesterday, I stopped by the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR. I don't know squat about prairie chickens. I know they gather on leks and compete for mates. Off the top of my head, I'd guess they look a little like a grouse.Hence, I thinking I didn't see a prairie chicken today. Too bad, I couldn't come back tomorrow when they were having their annual hootnanny and were taking people out to the "Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-79674237681412819892010-04-09T23:07:00.006-05:002010-04-09T23:43:27.749-05:00Coincidence? You DecideOnly in Texas do they have to feed the deer to get them to come to your yard.The question rather asks itself, doesn't it?WTF?Is this somehow related to the three signs that preceded it? Disturbing thought.Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-2625806132057521672010-04-08T09:11:00.007-05:002010-04-11T18:52:53.244-05:00What a difference a day makesToday, I have a lot of things I didn't have yesterday.A farmers tan.Two plants I didn't have for my research.A shower.I want to how you some of the plants I've encountered in Texas. Wildflower season is upon them.Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-88070430219598924402010-03-27T11:00:00.006-05:002010-03-27T11:16:40.158-05:00Old FavoritesThis is my all-time favorite picture of Jake.It was taken in my mother's back yard shortly after I joined her and Jake for a year-and-a-half stint of divorce healing, undergraduate work, and getting my life back in order. When I tell you he used to sit in the yard and look proud, this is the look I'm talking about. Interestingly enough, it is also:1) the first picture I ever took of Jake.2) Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-9705023066911558912010-03-26T22:32:00.004-05:002010-03-26T23:02:29.341-05:00Jamie Oliver's Food RevolutionSo tonight was the premiere of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I really enjoyed the two episodes they put on. My sister called me this evening and reminded me to watch because, apparently, we had a relative interviewed for the program. She called my Gram to find out the person's name that we were related to and the nature of our relation. Turns out, it was the DJ who gives Jamie such a hard Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-26326624402382046592010-03-21T13:29:00.024-05:002010-03-21T16:18:37.732-05:00In Search of Good NewsYesterday was a wash, what with my internet security software attacking the very computer it was supposed to protect. In a nutshell, the folks at BitDefender made me regret my 3-year licensing agreement when they released an untested update that quarantined every single file in the operating system. For every single user of their software. Every. Single. User. After that bit of fun, it Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-63304320812928679812010-03-19T22:14:00.002-05:002010-03-19T23:42:43.228-05:00An Empty HouseIt's too quiet around here. I try to knock around the house and revel in my newfound freedom and act like all is as it should be, but it's too quiet. I miss Jake. I really do. He was such a good dog except for the thunder fear, but there was little that could be done about that. Other than that one thing (and sure, maybe it wasn't a LITTLE thing), but other than that, he was a GREAT dog. Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-63234669453133924702010-03-14T01:59:00.005-06:002010-03-14T03:18:28.537-05:00Making a SplashBehold! My new kitchen look.Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-45476399856396517332010-03-10T11:13:00.008-06:002010-03-10T11:32:56.110-06:00I'd like you to meet my little friendMeet Chance. My sister's dog. Aging cocker spaniel. Severe seizure disorder. On regular meds for it.My sister is in Salt Lake this week. Toole to be precise. Chance is in Illinois. With me.Ok. I'm just going to be frank with you. I have never trusted this dog. And can we talk? My sister has never gone overboard on the discipline thing.Shall we say this dog rules the roost? He behaves Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-13281664394725184082010-02-28T11:56:00.013-06:002010-02-28T13:33:23.175-06:00Life is a funny thingFor the past two days, I've been in mourning. My weekend began with a shock when I came home Thursday evening and found my Jake dead. He was a very sweet dog. I didn't even realize how well known and how well loved he was until people came out of the woodwork to comment on my Facebook notification and I realized, nearly all those people had actually known Jake. He was the kind of dog who madeDaktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-40238700796282266172010-02-21T23:33:00.006-06:002010-02-21T23:45:06.803-06:00A Few LoveliesToday, D-friend L and I went to the orchid show at Mobot. Lunch at Schlafly's, a little Crate and Barrel and some Trader Joe's and what a day it was!Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-43593175443078583782010-02-20T18:54:00.006-06:002010-02-21T00:40:58.866-06:00New CameraWelcome to my new world of Canon EOS Rebel XS. I think I got a pretty good price. I like the guys I bought it from. They are a real camera shop, with real knowledge, and real service. That's hard to find these days. Sure, its not the newest model on the market, but it is a solid perfomer. Today, I took it out in the wilderness to take some shots. It is such a shame there are no flowers up, but Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-30076308467246859842010-02-16T08:00:00.003-06:002010-02-16T08:00:10.884-06:00Weekend Culinary Adventures, Daktari-styleThis past weekend, I did some lifestyle rearranging. Starting with my pantry. I had to get the no-no food out of my line of sight so I could actually see what good foods I had to work with. There wasn't much after all was said and done. It appears I've been hoarding an extraordinary amount of jams and jellies, and there was dried fruit in there that I didn't even remember buying. Oh how my Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-26612028090266932482010-02-15T08:00:00.002-06:002010-02-15T11:18:43.559-06:00My Five Year PlanI realize that I'm going to have to graduate eventually. I assume that I will teach eventually on a collegiate level. With any luck, I'll land a tenure track position somewhere and get busy making undergraduates love science.My five year objectives include:1. Developing a course on evolution that moves beyond a presentation of the scientific evidence. The greatest weakness that I see today in Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-21949933408403466682010-02-14T12:04:00.011-06:002010-02-14T12:56:20.589-06:00You Kids Get Off My Lawn: The RemixToday, I ordered a hat from Steep and Cheap. It didn't read the description very well until AFTER I had ordered. If I had read it, I never would have ordered the product.Here's the description Steep and Cheap offered for an Outdoor Research brand fleece hat:Outdoor Research Fleecy Hat - Women'sPull on the Outdoor Research Women’s Fleecy Hat for everything from a chilly stroll through town to a Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-24081443263900761232010-02-14T11:10:00.003-06:002010-02-14T11:18:41.696-06:00Love is in the DetailsIt's Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day celebrates the Feast of St. Valentine on the Catholic calendar (although apparently, it has been removed from the calendar since so little is actually known about St. Valentine). It is not the day St. Valentine died, but rather the day he was buried. One and the same? Who knows? There appears to be no real reason that St. Valentine, whoever he was, was Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-62067469785882316692010-02-13T13:46:00.006-06:002010-02-13T14:30:45.287-06:00YawnIt is amazing to me how going on a diet and starting to work out has turned me into a total hermit. The problem is two-fold. I understand that I can't be eating out and hanging out at the bar all the time. I might as well walk around with a sugar IV hanging out of my arm if I was going to do that. Secondly, most of my free time seems to be involved in working out or tending to my Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-37144428134669221822010-02-12T11:47:00.009-06:002010-02-12T11:52:06.499-06:00That's twoYesterday, a second person told me that I looked like I had lost weight. That's two people, folks, which I think is pretty good if you consider I've only lost 11.5 lbs. Oh sure. I still have cellulite on my ass and no one can see the muscles I'm building under that thick layer of winter fat, but I will take my achievements wherever they present themselves.It makes lunge day so much easier to Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943409353450564818.post-19007639812387666692010-02-06T21:15:00.002-06:002010-02-06T21:18:05.804-06:00Why not?Sometimes, I just need this.Daktarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08291715601733518982noreply@blogger.com0