Last summer mr. ambrosia and I did the Subway hike in Zion National Park. I'm a newbie at slot canyons, but that hike was awesome, and I see more in my future.
They looked like they were having an absurd amount of fun in that video.
*waves to squidranch, tries to erase mental image of naked goo-covered squid in a dumpster*
I live near The Spite House in Alameda
Okay, when did I miss out on yentruoc moving to this side of the Bay?
::pages es el queso and medusa for another meetup::
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned LibraryThing yet.
Found it through languagehat. Check out his library. Da-yumn. Makes my library feel a little inadequate. Even if I know I'm not done entering titles.
Hey kittenhead, we faced this question last year when we got married. Like you, we're in our late thirties, had all the household stuff we needed, so we designated a couple of favored charities for donations instead.
In the end, we decided that spending on food and booze at the reception was a better use of money than buying a bunch of crappy tchotchkes for people to take home.
I've not heard a single whimper from anyone about not getting a guest gift. But we got lots of compliments on the reception, so I think it was the right call.
Besides, as the date approaches, you will have so many damn details to think about, so simplify where you can. Really.
and congratulations!
I suck so terribly bad at bowling that it is funny for others to watch. Even so, I'm always up for bowling. Sadly, I'll be away at a family wedding that weekend, so have happy bowlingness without me.
::looks around at the other East Bay Monkeys::
What caution live frogs and jb have said.
Many years ago as a fledgling attorney I worked at a small biotech company. They didn't have the resources to do their own testing, so they had to contract the work to a lab in the Netherlands, and I had to handle the contract end. Reading the research protocol, what was going to happen to those poor rhesus monkeys, was hard. It was very disturbing. But I also learned that the process included ethical review panels where the researchers had to explain why they needed to use primates to get the data they were looking for, and justify the number of primates that they wanted to use, to ascertain that they used only as many animals as absolutely necessary to get statistically relevant data and no more.
Animal research, on primates in particular, is astonishingly expensive (and rightly so.) It is not something that scientists take on casually. If drug researchers had a viable alternative in computer modeling or cell cultures, they would much prefer that instead. Hopefully some day such an alternative will be available. In the meantime, however, animal testing is the only avenue open to scientific researchers.
That being said, animal research for cosmetics is dumb and I avoid buying products from companies that do animal research for that purpose. I also have no problem with animal rights groups going after KFC and other aspects of the food industry. We can, and should, do better in terms of how we treat the animals raised for food production.
When it comes to medical research, however, it serves a purpose, even if I am uneasy about it. That compound the little biotech company was researching held promise for treating MS and Lupus. Within my extended family and circle of friends, people I love are battling MS, lupus, HIV and couple of different kinds of cancer. Do I put them first? Yes I do.
Siena! Siena is *gorgeous*.
In addition to Barcelona, do check out southern Spain- Seville, Granada.
Mont St. Michel in Normandy is also a favorite.
Oh yeah, and another vote for the ATM strategy.
thank you for destroying any hopes I had of being productive today. I close my eyes and see little green blobs.
*shakes fist at petebest*
oh, and level 13, baby.
One of our favorite charities is Smile Train which does free reconstructive surgeries for little kids with cleft palates. They do work both here in the US and internationally, and the surgery dramatically changes the kids' lives in a tremendous way. Bonus: their operating expenses are covered by a private grant, so 100% of the money they receive goes to their work.
Look, chimaera, the woman always has to deal with the outcome of getting pregnant. IMHO both parties need to take responsiblity for their actions, and if one party abdicates and places *all* the responsibility for contraception on the other party, I'm not terribly sympathetic to ex post facto whining. But at the end of the day, it's the woman who is carrying that baby to term. It's the woman who has to deal with hormonal changes, morning sickness, not to mention the multitude of serious complications that can accompany a pregnancy. The consequences are not evenly balanced between men and women on this issue, so just swapping the genders of my original statement is simply disingenuous.
It seems fair in light of the fact that the father has no say whatsoever as to whether the child is taken to term or not.
A man that does not want children can use a condom. If he doesn't, and the woman gets pregnant, I'm not terribly sympathetic to his situation.
I'm just sayin'.
Last summer mr. ambrosia and I did the Subway hike in Zion National Park. I'm a newbie at slot canyons, but that hike was awesome, and I see more in my future.
posted by ambrosia 17 years ago
In "Curious George: Tokyo Meetup 24/25/26 January?"
Mother's Ruin! Mother's Ruin! having had the privilege of a meetup with our fair gomichild, I envy you, quidnunc.
posted by ambrosia 17 years ago
In "Language podcasts."
Yeah, chinesepod is great. For the moment, mandarin is all I can tackle. The Greek will have to wait.
posted by ambrosia 17 years ago
In "Yay cornstarch!"
They looked like they were having an absurd amount of fun in that video. *waves to squidranch, tries to erase mental image of naked goo-covered squid in a dumpster*
posted by ambrosia 17 years ago
In "Curious George curious of local history."
I live near The Spite House in Alameda Okay, when did I miss out on yentruoc moving to this side of the Bay? ::pages es el queso and medusa for another meetup::
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "A personal library is an X-ray of the owner's soul."
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned LibraryThing yet. Found it through languagehat. Check out his library. Da-yumn. Makes my library feel a little inadequate. Even if I know I'm not done entering titles.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Bay Area (Berkeley?) Meetup"
It was lovely to see everyone, despite my photo-cursedness. *shakes fist at digital photo gods*
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Curious George: Need gift ideas!"
Hey kittenhead, we faced this question last year when we got married. Like you, we're in our late thirties, had all the household stuff we needed, so we designated a couple of favored charities for donations instead. In the end, we decided that spending on food and booze at the reception was a better use of money than buying a bunch of crappy tchotchkes for people to take home. I've not heard a single whimper from anyone about not getting a guest gift. But we got lots of compliments on the reception, so I think it was the right call. Besides, as the date approaches, you will have so many damn details to think about, so simplify where you can. Really. and congratulations!
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "East Bay Bowl-Up"
I suck so terribly bad at bowling that it is funny for others to watch. Even so, I'm always up for bowling. Sadly, I'll be away at a family wedding that weekend, so have happy bowlingness without me. ::looks around at the other East Bay Monkeys::
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Animal researchers start petition to allow 'silent majority' to support them."
What caution live frogs and jb have said. Many years ago as a fledgling attorney I worked at a small biotech company. They didn't have the resources to do their own testing, so they had to contract the work to a lab in the Netherlands, and I had to handle the contract end. Reading the research protocol, what was going to happen to those poor rhesus monkeys, was hard. It was very disturbing. But I also learned that the process included ethical review panels where the researchers had to explain why they needed to use primates to get the data they were looking for, and justify the number of primates that they wanted to use, to ascertain that they used only as many animals as absolutely necessary to get statistically relevant data and no more. Animal research, on primates in particular, is astonishingly expensive (and rightly so.) It is not something that scientists take on casually. If drug researchers had a viable alternative in computer modeling or cell cultures, they would much prefer that instead. Hopefully some day such an alternative will be available. In the meantime, however, animal testing is the only avenue open to scientific researchers. That being said, animal research for cosmetics is dumb and I avoid buying products from companies that do animal research for that purpose. I also have no problem with animal rights groups going after KFC and other aspects of the food industry. We can, and should, do better in terms of how we treat the animals raised for food production. When it comes to medical research, however, it serves a purpose, even if I am uneasy about it. That compound the little biotech company was researching held promise for treating MS and Lupus. Within my extended family and circle of friends, people I love are battling MS, lupus, HIV and couple of different kinds of cancer. Do I put them first? Yes I do.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Water Bottle Jet Pack"
I think the Mythbusters tried to replicate this and couldn't. At least, their human guinea pig wasn't willing to break her neck trying.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "MoFiCDX:VI"
yay! I'm in.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "European George"
Siena! Siena is *gorgeous*. In addition to Barcelona, do check out southern Spain- Seville, Granada. Mont St. Michel in Normandy is also a favorite. Oh yeah, and another vote for the ATM strategy.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Quote from Honda Civic driver: "She hit ME"."
Wow, yentruoc, so glad to hear that you made it through unscathed!
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Take A Whiff!"
What I want to know is, do they make this for dogs? It would make picking up after him on walks so much less offensive...
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Political George - How do I get past the gate keepers in DC?"
Patita makes a good point. Fax or email is much better- snail mail goes through a lengthy security process nowadays.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Friday Flash Fun - Splash Back"
thank you for destroying any hopes I had of being productive today. I close my eyes and see little green blobs. *shakes fist at petebest* oh, and level 13, baby.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Curious, George: Charity"
One of our favorite charities is Smile Train which does free reconstructive surgeries for little kids with cleft palates. They do work both here in the US and internationally, and the surgery dramatically changes the kids' lives in a tremendous way. Bonus: their operating expenses are covered by a private grant, so 100% of the money they receive goes to their work.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
In "Child Support!"
Look, chimaera, the woman always has to deal with the outcome of getting pregnant. IMHO both parties need to take responsiblity for their actions, and if one party abdicates and places *all* the responsibility for contraception on the other party, I'm not terribly sympathetic to ex post facto whining. But at the end of the day, it's the woman who is carrying that baby to term. It's the woman who has to deal with hormonal changes, morning sickness, not to mention the multitude of serious complications that can accompany a pregnancy. The consequences are not evenly balanced between men and women on this issue, so just swapping the genders of my original statement is simply disingenuous.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
It seems fair in light of the fact that the father has no say whatsoever as to whether the child is taken to term or not. A man that does not want children can use a condom. If he doesn't, and the woman gets pregnant, I'm not terribly sympathetic to his situation. I'm just sayin'.
posted by ambrosia 18 years ago
(limited to the most recent 20 comments)