Bugs and their bites

I cleaned out lots of weeds growing in a corner of the yard five days ago, but now I'm paying the price. I've got lots of chigger bites on one of my arms, and do the EVER itch! While looking up recommended treatments--there's not much you can do other than wait and use hydrocortisone cream--I decided to find a photo of a chigger. I found a terrific photo, and much more. If you want to see some excellent photos showing what the most common and most dangerous bugs look like, along with photos of what their bites look like, visit this slideshow by WebMD. You'll see chiggers, mosquitos, brown recluse spiders, black widows, scabies, red ants and much more. It's called the "Bad Bugs Slideshow," which stirs in an unnecessary moral dimension to the topic! But, again, the photos are really well done. You might be interested even if you aren't currently covered with bug bites.

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Photos and stories from Lebanon

A friend of mine, a 19-year old man named Johnny Simon, recently returned from a month-long trip to visit his extended family in northern Lebanon. He gave me permission to publish the following photos, all of them taken along the Qadisha Valley. 48-qadisha-valleyBased on Johnny's stories and photos, this area is a magic and peaceful place populated by a highly religous group of people. As I viewed his entire slide show, I couldn't help but notice the lack of commercialization. Johnny described how many of the people obtain significant amounts of their daily food by going out and picking the fruit fresh from trees. 111-mighty-cedars [The five photos included in this post were taken by Johnny, and he has provided the brief comments for each photo] Top, Inset: A view of Bsharre, birthplace of Khalil Gibran. [top right: The Qadisha Valley, or valley of the saints, served as refuge for Lebanese Christians for hundreds of years. Even today, one cannot look upon the valley and still not be in awe. Here it is seen from a surrounding village. ] Johnny indicated that there are approximately 30,000 churches along the Qadisha Valley, many of them small and carved into the cliffs. Above: The mighty cedars of lebanon have stood for thousands of years. This cedar rests in the forest of God near the Qadisha valley. A bit of background: After a long period of peace, Lebanon suffered a terrible civil war from 1975-1990. My friend is a Maronite Catholic--40% of the country is Christian, while 60% is Muslim. Many of the Christians left Lebanon as a result. Then, after another long period of relative peace, Lebanon was the site of the one month long 2006 Lebanon War between the Israeli military and Hezbollah. Johnny was told by his relatives that during this attack, the Israelis intentionally destroyed large sections of the cedar forests, knowing that the cedar tree is a national symbol of Lebanon.

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Extraordinary ordinary things

I've been having fun taking photos with my Canon SD1100SI, as usual. I carry it almost everywhere. I especially enjoy when an ordinary thing looks extraordinary. While driving yesterday, I noticed a beautiful sunset. I handed my camera to my 11-year old daughter JuJu, who was sitting in the back seat, and asked her whether she would be willing to take a photo of the sunset (see below). The shape of the sun is what intrigues me. Now, really. What's going on? Was the sun starting to take the shape of the Virgin Mary? Image by JuJu Vieth I've noticed many other extraordinary ordinary things lately. That was actually my purpose for carrying around a small camera--the camera reminds me to actually look at the many amazing ordinary things surrounding me (and you). Things like this bumble bee at work in my neighbor's yard. bumblebee Insects are especially fun and easy to photograph. All you need is a "macro" feature on your digital camera, and most cameras have that feature. I do love the macro feature, because it reveals things you simply can't see in person. spiderLooking at insects makes me wonder whether they are complicated robots or simple animals. And what are we, for that matter, given that we are confirmed cousins of these insects? To the right is another recent subject: a spider I noticed on a screen on my back porch. To give you an idea, this critter was merely 1/3 of an inch in width. Here are a few more things I'd like to share. First of all, a backyard snail, a gastropod. It snailis a close cousin of cephalopods (mollusks). That's all for now, except for this dragon kite flying high in this exceptionally blue sky over Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri. kite

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On hiring a musician to get your girl back

Maybe the lesson is that you shouldn't hire a prominent musician to get back your girl, even if you originally fell in love while listening to his music. Maybe getting back your girl is one of those things that you just shouldn't delegate. Or maybe I'm saying too much . . . Here' the story in a nutshell, as heard on NPR's This American Life with Ira Glass. It is titled Act Two. "Lonely Hearts Club Band . . . Of One."

Musician David Berkeley has gotten a lot of requests in his life, but none quite like the offer his agent got last year. A fan wanted Berkeley to come to his house and help save his relationship by serenading the troubled couple with a personal concert. Ira Glass talks to Berkeley about why he took the gig, and what happened when he got there.
This strange and awkward concert occurred in the guy's living room, with the woman sitting at the opposite end of the couch from the guy. David Berkeley's job was to serenade the struggling couple in an attempt to get them back together. Berkeley shares his perspective of the events, along with some of his music. If you want to hear the story yourself, here the site of Glass's show, where you can download the entire show--the story is about 12 minutes long, starting at the 33 minute mark.

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Naked Bike Ride (St. Louis) 2009: to protest dependency on oil and to celebrate our bodies

Last year, I reported on the 2008 Naked Bike Ride in St. Louis, the first ever in my home town. The official purposes are twofold: to protest dependency on oil and to celebrate our bodies. It's also a blast riding through town without having to worry about motor vehicles and without having to wonder what one's fellow travelers look like naked (or almost naked). cool-waving-shot This year's St. Louis Naked Bike Ride occurred tonight, with perfect temperatures for not wearing much of anything or not wearing anything at all. I'd make a wild guess and say that there were about 1,000 bike riders tonight, 70% of them male. I'd also guess that about 20 of them were riding completely naked. I saw people from 16 to 70 years of age. Lots of camaraderie--the riders were warning each other of potholes and other road hazards. I only saw a few spills--luckily, those falls involved people with some clothing to protect them. total-nakedness The genius of this event's marketing is that every local media outlet was out there reporting on the event. Imagine having a clothed bike ride to protest oil dependency. You would probably only have the attention of a few eccentric bloggers like me. Speaking of which, I was there tonight (wearing boxers), riding a course that was modified (shortened to about 7 miles) at the last minute, apparently to avoid the outflow of a huge crowd from a Cardinal Baseball game downtown. We wouldn't want those people to be embarrassed were we to ride by and see them dropping exorbitant amounts to amuse themselves--$50 for tickets and $7 for hot dogs. Not while we--the naked and almost naked riders--were out there protesting oil and admiring and celebrating each others' nakedness, all for free. I would like to point out that the aim of this bicycle ride to celebrate our bodies is not a trivial issue. Refusing to celebrate the human body is closely related to our refusal to consider that humans are animals. These two dyfunctions are the cause of constant needless and useless human suffering. See this earlier post on terror management theory and this post on the dysfunction that stems from our failure to accept that humans are animals.

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