Thursday, August 2, 2018

Napping White Lion

#NatureTwinning Part 71

I bought this open weave cardigan vest at Kohls in Nov. 2015, which doesn't seem like the right time in Minnesota to find and purchase a lightweight vest with ventilation.  I have tried to find other lightweight vests this summer (I am particularly desiring a navy one) and have completely struck out.  Perhaps I need to wait until November again...

Sunday, 6/17/18

When I visited my parents in April, my mom sent me home with this button up shirt.  I've mostly gotten away from wearing this style of shirt, so I didn't have many (any?) in my closet.  This one has a particularly summery feel to it, and I liked it with white and navy.

*Blue and white striped button up shirt (Studio Works)--gift from Mom

OCPW: $16.43


Thursday, 6/21/18

Every time I wear this see-through white vest with a dark top or a boldly patterned top underneath, I realize that it looks a bit weird.  It's really best suited for the very lightest shades of shirt.  This is where a navy or red vest would have been nice to have.  (I could also wear the shirt by itself, of course, but for work, when wearing a T-shirt and capri pants, I kind of like to wear a third piece to seem a little bit less strictly casual.)

*White/navy/pink striped T (Kohls), $9.59

OCPW: $19.31


The white lions at the Cincinnati Zoo were a gift in 1998 from Siegfried and Roy (the German magicians/entertainers who were famous for their acts with white lions and tigers--you may recall that Roy was seriously injured in 2003 when he was bitten on the neck by a white tiger during a show).

These white lions are leucistic, not albino.  Although it's impossible to see the eyes of this sleepy kitty, she actually has bluish-colored eyes, not the pink/red eyes of an albino.  I was a bit surprised to learn that white lions occur naturally in the wild only in the Timbavati region of South Africa, and that the last ones were seen there in 1994.  However, white lions raised in zoos have been successfully released back in the wild there.

Cincinnati Zoo

In other news...I was interested to read this article about army researchers developing an algorithm to maximize performance in sleep-deprived individuals.  Their algorithm recommends caffeine intake quantities and timing to allow people to either improve alertness 64% of on the same total amount of caffeine or to reduce caffeine intake by 65% with the same level of alertness improvement.

Sadly for caffeine drinkers in the general population, the algorithm is not yet available for the general public, though the army is planning to make it available at some point.

My current caffeine intake is pretty low.  About 3-4 days per week, I drink a cup of hot green tea made from 2 tea bags, steeped for 90 seconds.  This is about as much/frequently as I can drink and retain the full benefits without becoming physically dependent on caffeine (i.e., without withdrawal symptoms and without increasing my tolerance such that the caffeine stops having its full effect).

How about you?

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Tufted Puffins in the Wild

#NatureTwinning Part 70

Ever since the first time I wore this "chambray blue" knit top with my chambray blazer, I basically don't want to wear either piece any other way.  They are just a perfect combination.

Wednesday, 5/23/18

Paired with these neutrals, the coral red skirt really pops.

OCPW: $12.19


Tuesday, 7/17/18

I decided to try the Chambray Duo with navy pants for a very understated backdrop for this fancy bit of sparkle I bought at Loft.

OCPW: $12.17


Another perfect pairing--two tufted puffins, looking silly and awesome out of the water.

Although the "Wild" of the post title refers to a section of the St Louis Zoo, it so happens that Robert and I have seen actual wild tufted puffins--on our first pelagic birding trip!  This was the 14 hour trip in the Pacific Ocean that we took out of Westport, WA in August 2003.  Robert struggled rather desperately with seasickness for the entire trip (and I had the time of my life), but we saw SO MANY great sea birds.  When I analyzed the data back in 2011, that pelagic trip was my #3 top site for life birds at 18 species.  Only Hornsby Bend and Town Lake in Austin had gained me more life birds, and that was over a lot of different trips.  18 new species in 14 hours is damn good!

St Louis Zoo

In other news...Speaking of birds, I enjoyed this brief (2.5 minute) video about the haunting call (i.e., "the wail") of common loons on their North Woods summer territories (scroll to the bottom of the post for the video).  I still remember how startled Robert and I were when we heard it for the first time here in Minnesota.  The common loon makes for a very nice state bird.

From dnr.mn.state.us

Sunday, July 29, 2018

Ibis at Simmons Aviary

#NatureTwinning Part 69

Pink and navy are a terrific summer color combination.  Here are two outfits featuring a navy sleeveless blouse and a pink polka dot cardigan.  I like that the sleeveless quality ensures no awkward bunching under the cardigan arm, but the blouse has a bit of a flounce along the edge of the armhole so if you take off the cardigan, you're not wearing a tank top or something at work.  Of course, people at my workplace are quite happy to wear tank tops and worse in the summer, and the HR people we share a floor with really lead the way.  For example, one woman was wearing a sundress (the kind that is basically a strapless dress but with tiny straps over the shoulder) and flip flops.  Sigh.

Tuesday, 5/22/18

Long pants that suit the spring weather and a floral scarf for some pattern mixing.

OCPW: $15.47


Monday, 7/16/18

With capri pants and a necklace for warm weather.  It was 82 freaking degrees in my office when I got to work (it can get quite bad over the weekend while the A/C is turned off, but this is the hottest indoor day yet) so I ended up dumping the cardigan within about 5 minutes.  I'm not sure that I put it on again for the rest of the day.  But it looked nice as I drove to work, walked across the parking lot, and took the elevator up to my office, right?

OCPW: $10.21


This ibis is rocking the bright pink with specks of white very well.  The Simmons Aviary at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha was pretty terrific--an exhibit where you can "see more than 500 birds in the world's second largest free-flight aviary."  This made me curious about where the world's largest free flight aviary is, and came across this discussion.  It appears that Simmons might actually be third (as of 2016), behind the ones at Birds of Eden in South Africa (5.7 acres) and Jurong Bird Park in Singapore (4.9 acres).  Both of those zoos sound like fabulous places to visit.  Maybe someday.

Henry Doorly Zoo

In other news...I enjoyed this (not overly technical) article about What's Going on in Your Child's Brain When You Read to Them based on a recent neuroscience study in which four year old kids' brains were scanned with a functional MRI machine while they were presented with an audio story (no pictures), the illustrated pages of a storybook with an audio voiceover (the condition that mimics a child being read to from a book), or an animated cartoon.  The storybook with voiceover condition led to the highest levels of connectivity among the visual perception, imagery, default mode (used for internal reflection), and language networks of the brain.

The takeaway:

In an ideal world, you would always be there to read to your child. The results of this small, preliminary study also suggest that, when parents do turn to electronic devices for young children, they should gravitate toward the most stripped-down version of a narrated, illustrated ebook, as opposed to either audio-only or animation.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Featherfin Squeaker

#NatureTwinning Part 68

I didn't purchase these two items with the idea that I'd wear them together, but I guess that became an obvious formula--a slightly oversized peplum top and semi-skinny capri pants.  That much volume on top relative to the bottom might not work for some people, but I think it looks fine on me.

*Dark aqua peplum top (Lands End), $16.99
* Black polished capris (Kohls), $19.99

Thursday, 5/24/18

Today's two outfits are a nice demonstration of early summer versus mid summer dressing.  The top and pants are the same, but I've added a blazer to the early summer version (which helps de-puff this rather volumetric shirt)...

OCPW: $23.90


Wednesday, 7/11/18

...and I've added just a scarf (tied low so it's not too warm) to the mid summer version.  A loose, all-cotton shirt is probably the most perfect thing for me to wear to work during the hot season (when it's routinely 76-78 F in my office).

OCPW: $11.57


Is the featherfin squeaker a great name or what?  This is a type of catfish that can swim upside down at will.  It is called squeaker "because they can produce a squeaking sound as a warning to both predators and competitors during spawning time.  The speaking is accomplished by rubbing the spines of its pectoral fins into grooves on its shoulders."  The featherfin part of the name is due to its dorsal fin that "develops lacy extensions on the adults."  Of course, this guy is keeping his featherfin down in an attempt to fool us.

Newport Aquarium

In other news...Tam sent this article on a EQ perennial favorite topic--that "follow your passion" is bad career advice.  This one gets extra points for tying it to new psychological research showing that when people have the idea that their interests are "fixed" (existent from birth, for a person to discover), they more easily lose interest in things and have a more limited view of potentially compatible career areas than people who subscribe to the idea that interests are something that can be developed over time.

If this growth mind-set vs. fixed mind-set contrast sounds familiar, extra points to you--the research comes from the same psychologist who has published so much on growth and fixed intelligence mind-sets.

Friday, July 20, 2018

Orange Zinnias

#NatureTwinning Part 67

Today's outfits feature my thrifted navy/coral/green floral pleated skirt, which is probably my current Very Favorite Skirt, a new light coral t-shirt, and my big-ass crystal bib necklace.  I'm pretty surprised to find that I had worn these core 3 items together within just over a month from each other, but I clearly thought it was a winning combination.  What do you think?

*Coral short-sleeved T (JCP), $6.80

Friday, 6/1/18

A casual Friday version in calmer colors: a denim shirt/"jacket" in honor of Friday and rather sedate (by my standards) medium blue flats let the bright t-shirt peaking out the front pop.

OCPW: $13.18


Monday, 7/9/18

A full-on, wake-up-it's-Monday version with additional bright colors: an aqua cardigan and orange flats that balance the t-shirt and, to my eye, make the dark patterned skirt stand out by contrast.

OCPW: $6.02


It's nice when I actually know the flowers in the photo and don't have to try my luck with an image search of dubious accuracy.  I love the variety of shades of pink/coral/peach/yellow in this photo.  I have usually seen bright orange or yellow zinnias, but these softer pastels are very lovely.

Missouri Botanical Garden

In other news...Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham is not the usual young adult fiction I gravitate toward.  It's a novel about the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 with dual storylines--one set in the present with a mixed race girl narrator (and her asexual male friend, which you basically never see in fiction) and the other a tale of the events of 1921 as seen by a white teenage guy who gets more caught up by things than he wanted.

I will not state that this book was perfect in its handling of this material (I'm not sure what perfect would look like in any case), but the story was more compelling than I would have expected.

One thing I learned is that the Greenwood area of Tulsa was known as "Black Wall Street" (prior to the race riot) because it had such a high concentration of black-owned businesses and was arguably the most economically prosperous black community in the country.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Maybe Globe Thistle

#NatureTwinning Part 66

This loose sleeveless blouse with a tie-neck and a small peplum at the bottom was hard to resist for $10.  I'd actually ordered it several months before (at a somewhat higher price) but it sold out.  So when I saw it back up on the JCP website, I tried it again.  Sleeveless is perfect for wearing under a long-sleeved cardigan in the warm (not yet hot) season, and also works extremely well with a short-sleeved cardigan later on...as demonstrated in these two outfits.

*Black/aqua/pink floral sleeveless blouse (JCP), $9.79

Wednesday, 5/30/18

My absolute first instinct was to pair it with this dark teal cardigan that has rather tight sleeves (hence it is best suited to a sleeveless shirt) so I don't wear it as much as I'd like these days.  But with a sleeveless bottom layer, it was very comfortable as well as dramatic and took center scene worn with a black knit pencil skirt.

OCPW: $13.18


Wednesday, 6/20/18

This outfit has a bit more going on with the gold/purple medallion necklace and leopard print shoes.  The subtle dark heathered print on the purple skirt was a nice print mix with the bold, watercolor-looking floral pattern.

OCPW: $10.91


"Maybe globe thistle" was as close as I could come to identifying this silky/spiky pom-pom-headed purple-blue flower.

Los Angeles Arboretum

In other news...I had to wait about 2.5 months for my hold on Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman as an e-book from my library to come through, but it was well worth the wait.  When I started reading this book, I really didn't want to put it down...which is actually a very rare experience for me.

It was a pleasure to read a book with a "quirky" female protagonist where quirky means "socially rigid recluse dressed in elderly librarian cast-offs, obsessed with cryptic crosswords and vodka, and with a tendency to make unintentionally hilarious observations" rather than Manic Pixie Dream Girl or some other stereotype.  (I mean, I like Zooey Deschanel in New Girl a lot, but it's nice to have some variety, you know?)

Here is a good review.  I was surprised to learn that the author started writing after turning 40, producing 3 chapters of the book to submit to a competition for unpublished female writers and finishing the book in the evenings and lunch breaks around her office job.

Sunday, July 15, 2018

Orange Flower Close Up

#NatureTwinning Part 65

I have to say, this bright coral orange blazer is not the most obvious color for me to wear, but I like it.  I haven't worn the blazer as much as I should because I wasn't really fond of the orange + black Halloween combination that was my default.  But now that I've added a bunch more navy to my closet, it's a lot easier to wear.  In these outfits, I paired it with leopard print shoes (which is, as they say, functionally a neutral).

Monday, 5/21/18

Color Coordination 101: Wear a blouse with a print, then pull out two of the colors from the print to wear for your bottoms and topper.  Add simple jewelry and you're done.

OCPW: $14.42


Friday, 7/6/18

This outfit was dead simple, but I like how the blazer stands out against a backdrop of navy, and the gold necklace really shines.

OCPW: 10.19


Google Images returned the appallingly incorrect identification for this flower--calendula (marigold).  It doesn't look anything like that, with multiple layers of narrow leaves.

Indianapolis Zoo

In other news...I wore the second outfit above on the Friday that we celebrated/mourned the last day in our office for our (hugely over-qualified) admin, who is moving with his fiancee to new jobs in North Carolina.  It's been weeks since our assistant director (my manager) left, and it's been hard without him at times, but to function for any length of time without an admin will be really hard!  I hope that our department head will be able to get the job posted soon.  We've been lucky to have someone recently who was able to do all the admin tasks plus help out with other tasks, so it's going to take some effort on our part of recalibrate our expectations.

But the good news is that we finally have a start date for the new assistant director, August 13!

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Mysterious Little Blue Bird

#NatureTwinning Part 64: Denim shirt

I see blog posts that suggest wearing a denim jacket in all kinds of summer situations that make me wonder, Where the hell do you people live?  Because after May, a denim jacket is just too warm for me.  (Of course, it doesn't help that my office is routinely 76+ degrees in the summer.)  But this 3/4 sleeve denim shirt (with pearl buttons that always remind me of my Granddad's western-style dress shirts that he wore square dancing, in a good way) is light-weight enough to be a great substitute.  I'm so committed to it as functionally a denim jacket that I've moved it to the Jackets/Blazers section of my wardrobe Excel file, people.

Friday, 5/18/18

I wasn't crazy about the (high) crew neck Ts compared to the V necks that I ordered from Kohls and ended up returning all of them, I think, except this one.  I just loved the large but delicate looking floral design on a chambray blue background.

(Confession: I haven't actually returned them yet.  They are in a box, along with two other boxes, in my hallway, waiting to be returned.  I suck.)

*Light blue/pink floral T (Kohls), $4.99

OCPW: $8.70


Friday, 6/22/18

I would have paid quite a bit more than $3 for this top.  It's sleeveless, so it works well as a summer layering piece for work, but it's also sufficiently non-skimpy to be a stand-alone piece on the weekend.  The rest of it is long and loose without looking totally shapeless.  Plus it's got stripes and a cute peplum.  I would have bought one in every color for $3 each...I mean, if that were how thrift stores worked.

*Light blue and white striped sleeveless peplum top (thrifted, Target), $2.99

OCPW: $9.36


Another little bird that has defied identification.  It's such an unusual soft blue-green-grey color.

Cincinnati Zoo

In other news...So I've discovered...well, *realized*...that my computer is ancient.  Too ancient to play Fallout 4.  My video card is 1k, but Fallout 4 requires 2k and recommends 4k.  Oops.  But I have determined that Fallout: New Vegas is sufficiently old (2010) that it will play on my machine.  I was very disappointed at first that I couldn't play Fallout 4--which I've been kind of watching Robert play for a couple weeks.

But then I decided that since I do want to play Fallout NV (which I've owned since February 2016!) at some point because it the consensus is that it is the best storyline in the Fallout series (and more on the role-playing-game end of the role-playing-game vs. first-person-shooter continuum), it's probably better to play it first, then the more visually-sophisticated Fallout 4, rather than the other way around.  But it's going to take me another week or so of not seeing Fallout 4's graphics to start playing Fallout NV and not find it visually undesirable.

I'm probably going to need to buy another computer in a bit, but I'm OK with waiting until after I finish Fallout NV (which will take months).

And if I find the older graphics difficult to handle, I can play it on Robert's 2 year old gaming laptop with a mod that brings it up to 4k graphics.  I have no idea how they do these things, but it looks pretty good!

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Spotted Hyena at Rivers Edge

#NatureTwinning Part 63--Beige Cardigan and Brown Jeans

For my own amusement, and because I am so far behind on my outfits, I am going to try posting outfits that share items together for a while, rather than continuing to post chronologically.  I like it when other people post "3 Outfits with a Red Sweater" or whatever, and although they are often purposely attempting to show the versatility of a single item, I'm curious to see how different (or similar) my outfits are, and which iterations worked best.

Tuesday, 5/15/18

Loved the red/brown/beige combination, and this scarf makes me happy.

*Beige short-sleeved open weave cardigan (thrifted, Target), $3.74

OCPW: $13.71


Thursday, 6/26/18

I liked the brown top + brown jeans pseudo-jumpsuit combination here, but (1) I'm not always happy with the lighter cardigan on a darker base (whereas in the previous outfit, the red shirt functioned more like a "bright" than a "dark") and (2) I decided at the last minute to wear this scarf that I haven't worn a lot and seeing the photo, I can understand why--I just flat do not like this scarf.  It's too skimpy and the colors are just not great to work with.  I'm tired of trying to find some magical combination that makes me enjoy it.  (I had such a magical combination like 6 years ago, but I do not see that happening again.)  Adios, scarf!

OCPW: 13.28


A hyena gives a master class in wearing brown and beige.

St Louis Zoo

In other news...On the subject of hyenas, I just finished reading the first book in the new Philip Pullman Book of Dust trilogy, La Belle Sauvage.  It's been so long ago that I read the Dark Materials trilogy (apparently there was a 17 year gap between the end of that series and the start of this one!) that I basically don't remember who Lyra (who appears in this book as a baby) even was.  So although I was already familiar with some aspects of the world--daemons, alethiometers, Mrs. Coulter--it wasn't like everything was ringing the bells like it would for someone with a better memory for the previous books.

But even standing sorta alone, the book was enjoyable, if perhaps not as enjoyable as I recall His Dark Materials being...even though a lot of the action took place on a boat (canoe) and I of course found the protagonist (an 11 year old boy) very likable.  That said, I'll still be looking for the next one in the series.

What do hyenas have to do with anything?  One of the characters has a (very disturbing) hyena daemon.

One moment that I absolutely adored, however, was when the boy hero's sidekick asks him "What's that?" and (recognizing it from a book he's read or something) he responds "A mausoleum."  But because he's never heard that word said aloud, he's only read it, he pronounces it to rhyme with linoleum.

I asked Robert if he remembers any words he mispronounced as a child from encountering it first in books and he offered up two fabulous examples:
(1) Chaos pronounced to rhyme with mouse
(2) Misled pronounced like "mizzled"

I know I must have done this too, but I don't have any specific ones I remember.  However, I do know that as an adult I have mispronounced Russian names from literary titles--both Karenina and Karamazov, I'm sure of.

How about you?

Monday, July 9, 2018

It Feels Wrong

...to be a month behind on posting outfits.  Do I persevere?  OK

#NatureTwinning Part 62

Chilean Wine Palm--Thursday, 5/10/18

The idea was that the aqua pants would pick up the subtle lighter blue color in the center of the flowers.  Maybe that was too subtle.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $11.54



There was nothing subtle about the myriad palm trees we encountered in Los Angeles, though.

Los Angeles Arboretum

In other news...The findings of a recent study on the effectiveness of PreK programs surprised me and the economist conducting the research, as reported here.  (Caveat: I was unable to get the link to the entire paper to work for me, so I'm going with what was reported.)

A lot of people favor using PreK money to target the most needy (low income) students, as that group of kids enters kindergarten with an academic deficit compared to higher income students that is extremely difficult to make up.  (A lot of these kids just fall farther and farther behind their higher income peers as the years go on.)  Universal PreK programs don't seem to be necessary because students from the middle class and up don't need the boost academically, and extending paid PreK to all these students would be very expensive.  This logic makes sense to me.

But a new study that compares the outcomes for low income students in states with targeted programs to low income students in states with universal programs suggests that the universal approach might be better.  Controlling for the other demographic factors that you expect, etc., she finds that universal programs increase reading ability for low income kids but targeted programs do not.  (Universal programs have a positive but not statistically significant effect for math ability while targeted programs show no effect.)  Critically, she finds that the universal programs are also more cost effective than targeted programs, even though they are much more expensive, because the academic gains for low income students are so much greater in the universal programs.

These outcomes surprise me--especially the cost-benefit analysis--but they are in keeping with other things I've read about the beneficial effects for black students attending non-segregated schools.  In both cases, disadvantaged students do better when they are in programs with a significant number of more advantaged students than when they are in programs with only/mostly other disadvantaged students.

In the PreK case, it also makes sense that the greater benefit of higher income peers would occur for reading, since students in a class together would interact using language (not math), and it's well-known that students from low income households have less exposure to words overall and advanced vocabulary in particular than higher income students.

I think it's also worth considering whether higher income/white parents are more effective at placing pressure on teachers/schools to do their jobs well and ensuring that schools/classrooms are well resourced (e.g., through PTA organizations that supplement public funds, through political pressure, or more informally).  There are probably other effects I'm not thinking of right now.

Do the results of this study sound reasonable to you?  Any thoughts on what might driving the results?

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Camino Island

#NatureTwinning Part 61

Purple Orchid in Climatron--Monday, 5/7/18

Another day, another dollar five dollar T-shirt.

*Grey and purple floral T (JCP), $4.99

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $15.00


"The number of orchid species nearly equals the number of bony fishes and is more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species."  Damn.

Missouri Botanical Garden

Diana Monkey--Tuesday, 5/8/18

The neckline on this blouse is a little baffling--I like the keyhole detail, but it is not always obvious what kind of necklace to wear it it, so I went with "none" as the answer here.

OCPW: $11.09


I'm not sure I'd heard of a Diana monkey before seeing them at the zoo in Omaha.  This guy was having a good time investigating the balls o' veggie.

Their common name is inspired by the white "crescent-shaped browband" that you can hardly see in this photo; apparently somebody thought that browband resembled the crescent on the brow of the goddess Diana.  Huh.  Diana has a crescent?  Oh, I guess so!

Henry Doorly Zoo

In other news...What is going on with John Grisham?  I found The Rooster Bar to be an unsuccessful effort, but had higher hopes for Camino Island...which was justified for like 90% of the book.  It's the story of a heist, and a recipient of stolen goods, and a writer who is (ludicrously, but I didn't even care) hired by an insurance company to go undercover to find out more about this guy that they (rightly) suspect of keeping the stolen goods at his store, setting up some potential sting. 

Sure, it's all kind of loose and silly, but entertaining enough.  The first chapters set up a promising plot-line (marred by the old "somebody does something implausibly stupid to advance the plot" problem, but at least Grisham gets it out of the way up front, I guess) and it gets thinner as things go but still, you look forward to the plot twist, you anticipate being surprised, you wait with increasing desperation for something interesting to occur.  Nothing does.  And then the ending happens, and it's like, Whaaaaa?  I'm not sure when I last so wanted to punch a fictional character in the face for apologizing to an asshole criminal about something. 

A non-legal novel by John Grisham sounds weird, but I actually enjoyed Playing for Pizza, about a mediocre US pro football player who makes a major mistake in an important game, is cut from the team, and moves to Italy to play in their (ostensibly) professional league.

Grisham the writer is on track to get cut from my team if he keeps this up.

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Never Say Never

#NatureTwinning Part 60: Brought to you by Alice in Wonderland and a new pair of capris

Regal Lion at African Grasslands--Saturday, 5/5/18

When reviewing my clothing prior to the onset of summer and a visit to see my parents and sister's family, I was struck by how thoroughly I had purged my wardrobe of summery skirts/pants for casual situations.  I have a good sized set of knit yoga capri pants for exercising, but was looking for something a bit more "normal" clothing looking (though I recognize that people wear athletic clothes in most casual situations without thinking twice).

So I did some window shopping online and discovered that there is a lot more variety in the "capri" category than I'd previously realized. 

I have historically disliked capri pants, and it was actually difficult for me to buy the yoga type for exercise until I tried them on and realized they would be pretty much perfectly suited to my needs. 

But looking at the capri pants and "skimmers" (which tend to be just below the knee--longer than shorts but shorter than capris) currently available, I realized that what I'd disliked was the type of subtly baggy and flared beige capri pants that I associate with little old ladies wearing in the 1980s with giant white velcro sneakers.  (I wish I could find a good representative sample online but wasn't able to find what I was looking for.)  But the ones with a slimmer leg, in a dark color, look pretty good.

So I bought a few pairs of capris/skimmers for my summer wardrobe, even though I would have said 10 years ago that I'd never wear capri pants.

That said, I did balk at some of the ones I tried, including some knit ones that flared at the end for no reason I could imagine.  They looked stupid as hell on me, even worse than on the models (do they have giant calves or what?  I am not used to the concept of having a thinner calf than a model.)

This first set are called "polished" capris because they look basically like ankle pants you would wear to a business casual office, only shorter.

*Black polished capris (Kohls), $19.99

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $26.41


This lion looks much more imposing than the Cheshire Cat, though ultimately, he's probably a lot less dangerous.

Henry Doorly Zoo

Grevy's Zebras--Sunday, 5/6/18

I liked 'em so well I wore 'em again with a new-to-me striped shirt and some Alice pattern mixing.

*Black and white striped button shoulder top (thrifted, JNY), $5.24

OCPW: $18.78


Black and white stripe triplets for the win!

St Louis Zoo

In other news...One of the topics of conversation with my dad and his friend after they'd picked me up from the SFO airport was...well, the traffic, of course, but also how expensive it is to live in the SF area and the effects that has on the commutes of people who work in lower-wage jobs in the area but can't afford to live nearby.  For example, who the hell is working at the fast food restaurants?  Where do they live?  How do they get there?

The New York Times had an article a few days ago about this problem for restaurants in SF in general, and they highlighted a fix to the problem that some restaurants have discovered--not hiring waiters and having the customers do the job instead, something that we're used to at fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle but not so much at nicer places.

Sunday, June 24, 2018

The Path to Leadership

#NatureTwinning Part 59

Black and Pink Butterfly--Thursday, 5/3/18

The overhand knot is still going strong.  I'm liking this one for warmer weather.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $7.60


Google image search, it is hard for me to express how much this butterfly is NOT erebia tyndarus.  That's a pretty butterfly, to be sure, but its resemblance to this one is remarkably non-existent.

St Louis Zoo

Hornbill--Friday, 5/4/18

Polka dots, birds, more polka dots, plus stripes--Friday pattern mixing for the win.

OCPW: $9.22


Better job on this guy, which Google identified correctly as a hornbill.  It didn't attempt to tell me what kind, which of course is what I want to know, but at least it didn't give me incorrect information this time.

However, I was able to use this fantastic site I stumbled across to find it!  I entered Institution = Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo [that was the tricky part to figure out, as I initially just entered Henry Doorly Zoo] and Taxon = Aves.  That brought up a list of birds at the zoo, and I searched for hornbill.  This was the second hornbill species listed.  I need to remember this trick!

It's a silvery-cheeked hornbill...a name whose origin is readily apparent from the feathers on the bird's face.

(Note: I tried the butterfly above also, but no butterfly species are listed on that site for Saint Louis Zoological Park, though beetles and some other insects are listed.)

Henry Doorly Zoo

In other news...The week before last we had final interviews for the new assistant director of my department, who will be my supervisor.  (I missed the first round of interviews because I was on vacation.)  Both candidates were good, but very different--to be extremely simplistic, the external candidate is more clearly a data person, and the internal candidate (not from my department) is more clearly a people person.  Our department head S. had planned to make a decision quickly, but I haven't heard anything, nor has the interim assistant director, so I don't know what's going on.

After the interviews, when the committee was discussing the candidates, S. said that she hopes in the future to be ready to promote from within the department.  After that discussion, she called me into her office, and apparently the person she would like to develop to be that ready successor is me.  So I should be expecting some professional development/mentorship in the future around leadership skills.  Fun times?  Not sure yet, but any indication of (even just intended) job security is welcome at my organization.

One thing I'll note about my organization is that it is more political and high profile than most organizations.  For example, not many companies or non-profits have a journalist on the staff of their local newspaper who exists merely to write articles about them.  (This journalist basically hates us, so it's pretty much a never-ending barrage of criticism.)  The aspect of the assistant manager's role that involves managing projects and direct reports is not the part that's difficult.  It's managing relationships with other organizational departments, external entities, and so on that is the (not-very-fun) challenge.  It's walking on eggshells while trying not to step on landmines.

Another challenge is that the role (as my previous manager the extrovert embodied it, anyway) requires a TON of meetings.  S. knows and acknowledges that this is not my preference.

We'll see what happens.  Right now, I'm looking forward to the new fiscal year arriving on July 1 with me still employed!

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Kiss Pokemon

#NatureTwinning Part 58

Pink-Backed Pelican--Tuesday, 5/1/18

I enjoyed wearing this bird blouse with a vest and long necklace.  It gave a subtle 1970s vibe or something.  And of course I'm usually pleased with an outfit that can be described as "black and white with a bright colored skirt or pants," so there's that.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $10.58


Of course, this photo doesn't show the area of its back that gives it the colorful English common name, and I think the scientific name Pelecanus refescens (reddish penguin) is a stretch. But you can see the grey plumage (French: pelican gris).  This is one of the smallest of the 8 pelican species (Afrikaans: klein pelikaan).

What's striking to me about this bird?  The aging rocker eye-liner.  Hence, the Jagger pelican.

Henry Doorly Zoo

Angel Wing Begonia--Wednesday, 5/2/18

I've become fond of this burgundy jeans + burgundy suede flats combination.  These shoes had languished a bit after I bought them, but the addition of these jeans to my wardrobe has put the shoes more strongly into the rotation.

A woman from the HR department declared, "I need your shoes.  They match my dress perfectly.  [True.] Where did you get them?"  And I had to let her down that they are old.

OCPW: $12.60


Sometimes plants are so well labeled that no half-assed Internet detective work is necessary to identify them.  The angel wing begonia (named for the shape of the leaves) was developed when an amateur breeder crossed a Brazilian begonia and a privately-owned Swiss begonia in 1926.  It is mind-boggling to consider that there are 1,500 begonia species and 10,000 hybrids.

Missouri Botanical Garden

In other news...Yesterday was another Community Day for Pokemon Go, so we joined the throngs of people playing at the fairgrounds from 1-4.  There were several other events there, including an antique motorcycle show and a horse show.

We encountered a visitor to the motorcycle show on our peregrinations who asked us, "Why are there so many people walking around looking at their phones?"  This time we did not have to explain what Pokemon Go is.

We also were passed at high speed by a group of 3 Pokemon-playing boys who were accompanied by some 1980s-sounding music, which was confusing until Robert said (unprompted), "That's the music from the Pokemon TV show."  How Robert knows these things...well, that's one of the great mysteries.

I was reminded that even 80 F can be unpleasantly warm when you're walking around in the afternoon right after the rain stops and the sun comes out at max brightness.  That extremely high humidity + full sun combination is bad.  After about an hour, I was very thirsty and discovered that we had left our drinks in the car...oops.  Luckily there was a functional (if not cold) water fountain visible about half a block away when I realized this.  (If you're wondering why I waited an hour until desperate for a drink to look for one, then you've not experienced the intense Pokemon-catching of a Community Day first-hand.)

Every Community Day has a featured Pokemon, and this time it was Larvitar...who appropriately in this post with the Jagger pelican above wears some rock-star eyeliner of his own. Let's call him the Kiss Pokemon.

From rankedboost.com



Sunday, June 10, 2018

Aunt Sally is Tired

#NatureTwinning Part 57

Purple-Blue Berries--Friday, 4/27/18

The small novelty of this basic outfit was the choice of bright blue shoes, to pick up on the traces of bright blue in the flowers on the top.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $8.34


One of my recent hobbies is seeing exactly how bad Google is at identifying plants from photos.  It called this one "blueberries," which...well, they are berries, I think, and they're kind of blue, but thanks for playing, Google, but no dice.

Los Angeles Arboretum

Put A Rabbit On It--Sunday, 4/29/18

I'm trying to hold the apron so you can see it in all its crazy bunny glory.


The Takin Family--Monday, 4/30/18

Ye olde denim shirt as jacket trick.  Hee haw.

OCPW: $11.63


The takin family consists of Sally, Harry, and baby Meg.

Cincinnati Zoo

In other news...I just got back from a great trip to California visiting my parents and my sister's family.  And I already miss those boys.  But now I'm tired and maybe coming down with a cold (it's pretty much impossible for me to fly somewhere and not get sick but I'm hoping that zinc will fight it off) and need a vacation where all I do is lie around and read books.  Instead it's back to work tomorrow.  Bah.

I did get to read some books on my vacation, though--There's No Place Like Space was a big favorite and Darth Vader and Son, aka "the funny book," got pulled out again because my nephew P. remembered that it was from me.  Well, actually, it's not much of an exaggeration to say that P. remembers absolutely everything.  I mean, he remembered from Christmas that "Aunt Sally has a bunny on her watch" as just one example.

Strangely, I think I actually lost a few pounds on this vacation, which is probably the first time that has happened to me in my adult life.  The "Play with an Energetic 2 1/2 Year Old Boy" exercise plan is a good one!