post pour wren (and everyone else)

Dear Wren, loyal reader,
Thanks for the nudge. I have attempted to post a few times this month and ran into some technical difficulties that pissed me off, and made me storm off yelling "forget it!" at my computer. Hence, few posts. Also new dog and new graduate school have taken up more time than anticipated. Shockingly you can't play with a puppy and read "The Creation of the American Republic" by Gordon Wood, at the same time. (BTW...name the movie where they reference this book, and yes I am currently reading it and it is really really long.) So my leisurely life as a student isn't a. leisurely or b. restful. But I think I am learning stuff and I do love my puppy...see shameless picture posting below. In other news I am now driving an SUV (boooo....hisssss) its a long story and I am a little shameful, but basically the car was cheap enough that my thriftiness overruled my environmentalism and our dog is getting big. Anyway there you go and thanks for caring.
David
PS- The link to your website when someone searched for runts, probably came through my website.

Zoology continued

Saw a manatee today. Pretty cool, like a big floating cow. Just saw it for a minute.

Environment

Great intermittent series by the New York times on climate change. Click the link.

Commuting

Since for the past five years I have lived across the street from work I have not had to commute at all. This is great from an environmental standpoint and from a saving time and stress standpoint. Now that I am heading back to school at Maryland and living in Hampden this will all change. I now face a brutal commute three times a week. I am trying to figure out the best way to do it. My current plan is to bike or get dropped off at Penn station Baltimore, take the MARC train to Union station DC and then take the subway to College Park. I am guessing about 1.5-2 hrs for this trip. My other option is an hr car ride, but this wastes gas and I can't read in the car. (not to mention Honda blew up last time I tried to ride her to DC) With the first option I am using public transportation and hopefully can get lots of reading done. If anyone has experience with this commute and wants to share some tips feel free. The other drawback to taking the train, other than time, is the cost. Taking this trip twice a day three times a week aint cheap.

Too many kids

Recently I read about a family who just had their 17th child. They are the Duggar family and you can check out their website. I don't fancy myself a judgmental person, nor am I a fan of the government interfering in people's personal lives. In this case it seems the Duggar's have not been shy about sharing their own beliefs and philosophies, so I don't feel too bad commenting on their life choices. As our country/world grapples with global warming and other environmental catastrophes it seems incredibly irresponsible to have 17 children. While it seems seldom talked about, over population is probably the preeminent cause of our environmental problems. I don't advocate any sort of legal recourse, but simply wish people would practice personal responsibility in their lives. We can reduce, reuse, and recycle to a fault, but as long as our planet continues to be overpopulated we won't begin to address the real problems we face. Seriously, check out the website...Nuuuutty.