Red Breasted Nuthatch - Desire
oil and mixed media on panel
Caroline James, 2006
One bird species learns another’s lingo (MSNBC.com)
When we lived in the woods, we had our own flock of nuthatches. They were our favorite birds. The chickadees, finches, grosbeaks - all the other small, flocking birds - were amusing; the pileated woodpecker was way too vain; the jays were flipping obnoxious; but the nuthatches were smart. (Which was kind of surprising, considering the amount of time they spent banging their heads on hard surfaces to crack seeds).
Although it was fairly routine for the other small birds to smash into windows or be eaten by hawks, I don’t remember ever seeing such an accident befall a nuthatch. A new study in PNAS suggests that nuthatches are able to understand other birds’ warning calls and use the information encoded in them to avoid predators. This is one of those rather unsurprising findings - if you know nuthatches. But still pretty cool.
Caroline James is a Canadian artist based in British Columbia - where there are a lot of red-breasted nuthatches (Sitta canadensis).
You can listen to the nuthatch call here - they sound like they’re laughing nasally at you, and who knows, maybe they are. . .
March 20th, 2007
This blog will probably skew a little personal for a week or two, because I’m in the midst of a major career change. The distressing thing is, I’m getting hammered by friends right and left, because I seem “insufficiently excited” about my options. They all expect more “rah rah rah.” I do have some excellent options before me, and I am thankful. But I’m also hesitant to invest any unexplored avenue with the advance baggage of being the “perfect” thing for me. Is there even one “perfect” career direction? And would bubbly mania be the best indication I had found it?
I have no objective way to ascertain what is “perfect” for me, except to look at what aspects of my career failed to satisfy me in the past, and extrapolate. I’m basing my decision to move forward on dissatisfaction. Everyone seems to feel that’s big negative. But is it? What other source of objective evidence is there? Isn’t recognizing and acting on your dissatisfaction a healthy thing? After all, dissatisfaction is America’s Greatest Asset!
I found these classic ads at Modern Mechanix. I love the one with the housewife, who doesn’t look “dissatisfied” with her sofa-cleaning strategies anymore. In fact, she looks rabidly Stepfordian! That’s something I want to avoid: faking enthusiasm. Because I’m not good at it. I don’t love easily. But when I do love something, I throw myself into it violently. I’m not ready to throw myself violently one way or the other yet - not without evidence. I’m still too much of a scientist for that sort of impetuosity. And I’m too old for the bruises.
On the other hand, if anyone has any helpful advice on how to decide between law schools, specifically those in Cambridge and New Haven, email me.
March 20th, 2007