Monthly Archives: August 2007

Juxtaposition: Icy chiasma

Posted on August 31, 2007 by cicada

Y and X cubosomes? Last night while drinking some water, I noticed that two ice cubes had fused, forming a complex that resembled an X chromosome in metaphase: two chromatids joined by a wee little centromere! I realized at that … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Frivolity | 3 Comments

A Different Kind of Asperger’s

Posted on August 31, 2007 by cicada

Tim Page has a remarkable essay in the August 20 New Yorker about his personal experience with Asperger’s syndrome: In the fall of 2000, in the course of what had become a protracted effort to identify—and, if possible, alleviate—my lifelong … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Department of the Drama | 3 Comments

Poem of the Week: set upon a golden bough and sing

Posted on August 31, 2007 by cicada

Judith Fegerl Via the Athanasius Kircher Society: artist Judith Fegerl has created a sculpture that mechanically replicates the song of a nightingale. It may sound like a nightingale, but to me it looks more like the viscera of several giant … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Poetry | Comments Off

Our minds and the universe – what else is there?

Posted on August 30, 2007 by cicada

From one of the most personally resonant essays I’ve read lately, by Mary Ruefle: I had recently one of the most astonishing experiences of my reading life. On page 248 in The Rings of Saturn, W. C. Sebald is recounting … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Department of the Drama, Poetry | 1 Comment

There might be some internal conflict here

Posted on August 29, 2007 by cicada

Apparently Karl Rove considers himself both Beowulf and Grendel. How strange. And to think I always thought he was the smartest of the bunch. . . Via In the Middle

Posted in Frivolity, Littademia | 2 Comments

Flip that rock!

Posted on August 29, 2007 by cicada

Remember when you were a kid, and you’d flip over a rock just to enjoy being grossed out by all the many-legged photosensitive beasties suddenly scurrying out at you? Miss that skin-crawling thrill of discovery? You’re in luck! Via Negativa … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Blogs and Blogging | 3 Comments

Let’s play some more!

Posted on August 28, 2007 by cicada

I was a little distracted, and completely missed my blogiversary on August 24. Bioephemera is one year (and four days) old! If you haven’t been around that long, you might be interested to see my very first post. Looking back, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Department of the Drama | 7 Comments

Comparative shmoonatomy

Posted on August 28, 2007 by cicada

Shmoo Michael Paulus Wait – I don’t believe that a Shmoo even HAS a skeleton. Isn’t it entirely cytoplasmic? Or am I thinking of yeast? I do like the little vestigial arms – kind of like the rudimentary, internal “hindlimbs” … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Frivolity | 1 Comment

Praying Mantis of Death!

Posted on August 28, 2007 by cicada

Praying mantises are cool. If you don’t have them around already, consider buying an egg case – hundreds of ghostly miniature mantises hatch out and, if not dispersed soon enough, voraciously eat each other. The surviving siblings grow to remarkable … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology | 12 Comments

Poem of the Week: Grace, in passing

Posted on August 25, 2007 by cicada

Once, years ago, I tore a photo of Grace Paley out of a magazine. The photo was something like this one, from the cover of her Collected Poems. I had no idea who she was at the time, but something … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Comments Off