Quasi-cryptozoology of the Day

White and Black Squirrel 2006 roundup - "quasi-cryptozoological" because this article appears in a cryptozoology blog but the little guys definitely exist - my locale fairly crawls (scampers?) with black squirrels (more appropriately called melanistic grey squirrels - damn, I love Wikipedia!).

A zoologist laments, Will writing about sasquatch negatively affect my career prospects?. I hope not. Blind belief would call his professionalism into question, but considering what (admittedly blurry, controversial) evidence there is shouldn't.

on being Southern

As mentioned earlier, I visited with my family down in Atlanta for Thanksgiving. Much bird and much talking, on matters great and small. And in the course of discussion, I came to a kind of realization.

I don't identify as "Southern" anymore, if I ever really did.

( navelgazing, rambling pondering )

I realized I was never going to "get it" when my sister started going off about "outsiders" who come in and try to tell Southerners "how to do things". Outsiders? Aren't we all Americans?

And yeah, I've heard people who try and trot out the stereotype of ignorant hicks who marry their cousins, but it's fairly easy to point out that the South hasn't cornered the market on stupid, and I know they can't be talking about me.

Maybe it's just that I've never had very many people put me on the defensive about it, or maybe it's just that I never quite fit in the first place.