Monday, December 31, 2012
Got my chills knocked off...
Y'all just don't even know how anti "celebrating this day" I am.
I've been having too much caffeine at night.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Target has some pretty polishes on clearance.
Nails I did last night.
Blegh. Just tried some coconut milk ice cream.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
2 a.m. spaghetti. It's a sign.
Friday, December 28, 2012
So it's bedtime for the dogs.
Casper just finished eating his dinner in his crate and...
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Dang.
Did anyone not see the nail piercing coming?
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
I am, quite surprisingly, in the mood for people.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Today wasn't terrible.
I might actually quit holidays after today.
Bah, humbug. Going through the motions yet again...
Monday, December 24, 2012
28 muddy paws. 😳
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Ate dinner at Baja with Jonathon and Leslie.
I just picked up an ass-ton...
More holiday nails! 🙂
Saturday, December 22, 2012
"What's going on, Blu?" says FB.
"How are you feeling, Blu?" asks FB.
SAKS AREA:
Oh my gosh - my bedroom is an ice box.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Girling it up a little bit tonight.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Oh my gosh, my cat is making the weirdest sounds right now.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
I'm off to do my nails.
Monday, December 17, 2012
I'm not really into holidays, but...
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Apologies to my Christian friends, but...
Friday, December 14, 2012
Shadow is entirely too cool for me.
Just watched The Hobbit with Shaun.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Funny photos of me and Em.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Happy Fall! 🙂
Heading to Wal-Mart to get a tie-out for Maya.
Monday, December 10, 2012
It's raining so now I'm not gonna get to wear any of my new shoes.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
I tried to bring Maya home today and that didn't go over so well.
I tried to bring Maya home today and that didn't go over so well. None of my dogs (or even Casper) seemed to like her. (For what it's worth, she was really good, even when my dogs were being asshats.) So, she's back at Shaun's, in the fence, with only a dog house, food and water. I feel pretty shitty about that. It's going to get really cold soon. She's got a nice, thick coat, but I just don't think that's a good life. He doesn't have time for a dog, and I'm doing good to take care of mine - there's no way I can split time between my house and his to spend time with her.
I've been keeping my eyes peeled for someone missing her, but I really think she was just dumped out. All of my friends, please keep your eyes and ears out for a good home for her. The vet tech I took her to see said that she looked like an Anatolian Shepherd mix, about 9 months old. From her energy level, I would think she would do best with some space. Linked below is what the AKC has to say about the breed:
https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/anatolian-shepherd-dog/
We spent hours today shopping.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Pomona just tried to eat me.
I am so disenchanted with everything.
I have poked these guys in the butt before with grass...
From the Evolution Facebook page:
Tiger Beetles: Part 2
Previously we covered how tiger beetle larvae live in burrows, waiting for prey to come by. But what if they need to quickly escape? Being in a hole in the ground is suddenly not such a good move - so they turn to wind and wheels.
The larvae of the Southeastern Beach Tiger Beetle (Cicindela dorsalis media), like all Tiger Beetle grubs, are not built for speed. If a threat approaches their head, they duck down or move their jaws, but when their back half is stimulated they call upon a different strategy - they leap into the air, coil themselves up and spin away to safety. Slow-motion videos showed that the larvae actually co-ordinate their jumps with a gust of wind so they can roll - the first example of wind-powered wheel locomotion.
This wind-powered movement is very effective. In some cases grubs could roll more than 60 metres, at speeds of 3 metres per second - the fastest recorded movement for an insect on the ground. In strong winds, they could roll faster than the research team could run. Wind-powered wheel locomotion avoids the pitfalls standard wheel-locomotion has - other animals that turn themselves into wheels (such as the wheel spider) rely on gravity. Using wind power gives a tiger beetle larva the ability to roll uphill.
It's thought this escape tactic developed to escape parasitic wasps like Methoca, which can slip out of the grub's jaws and dive into the burrow. Rolling is confounded by rough beaches, rocks and ridges, and foot traffic appears to have an disastrous effect on Tiger Beetle populations.
To read the paper on this unique behaviour: http://bit.ly/ev3YeN
Photo credit: Harvey & Zukoff, 2011.
https://phys.org/news/2011-03-scientists-wind-powered-wheel-locomotion-tiger.html
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/03/25/beetle-turns-itself-into-a-wheel
Friday, December 7, 2012
My MaMaw called them "Chicken Chokers"
Tiger Beetles: Part 1
Picture this: you're a caterpillar, looking for new vegetation to eat. You spy some leaves just past a hole in the ground and make your way over to them. Next thing you know you're being eaten by something so fast you didn't even see it strike.
Tiger beetle larvae have an intimidating appearance, particularly due to their powerful sickle-shape mandibles. After eggs are buried by the female Tiger beetle, the newly-hatched larva begins to extend and improve its burrow. It digs towards the surface, using its mandibles to loosen the soil and its flat head to push soil out of the burrow when it reaches the surface. Each larval stage the larva goes through (3 in total) is accompanied by increasing the burrow. Their flat armoured head helps them blend in with the soil (though they sometimes hide deep out of sight) and hooks on a dorsal hump keep them anchored in the soil. Powerful mandibular muscles give their bite its strength and their eyesight, unlike many grubs, is sharp and accurate.
When something does come near the burrow, the larva launches itself towards it at incredible speed - interestingly, usually throwing its head backwards at its victim. The sickle-shaped mandibles sink in and its prey (sometimes as big as it) is dragged down into the burrow. Larvae have a similar digestive method to spiders, secreting enzymes to break down food before actually eating it. When the liquidized prey has been consumed, any indigestible remains are ejected from the burrow.
Photo credits: Ted C. MacRae (left), Ingo Arndt/naturepl.com (right).
To see larvae attacking caterpillars, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMkEaIZSNDg
http://drshigley.com/lgh/netigers/tiger_biology.htm
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg129.html
http://beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com/.../anatomy-of-a.../
http://www.buglife.org.uk/.../bugofthe.../Green+tiger+beetle
David Attenborough's Life in the Undergrowth, Episode 4: Intimate Relations.