Ladies I Love: C is for Ceratiidae…or “warty sea devils” to you and me

Posted in Animals, Blogging, Events and Courses, Non-cats by Marci

https://www.etsy.com/listing/48878881/a-light-in-the-dark-angler-fish-art

So cute, right?

Ladies and gentlemen…for today’s A to Z Challenge “C”-related post, I give to you our first non-human, but very real, Ladies I Love: the female warty sea devil! Oh, come on – I’m a fish biologist – you can’t tell me you weren’t expecting this, can you??? Well, since it’s my blog, and my Ladies I Love theme, I can do what I like. And what I’d like is for YOU to learn something about the deep-sea anglerfishes of the family Ceratiidae, or the warty sea devils! This is no ordinary family of fish, you understand. Anglerfish on their own are very interesting; surely you’ve seen them before (you know, from your nightmares, or from this scene in Finding Nemo). Their name comes from an appendage that extends from their head to out in front of them, with a bioluminescent bulb dangling from the end, acting very much like a lure (making the fish itself an angler). Smaller fish are attracted to the light (“ooh – what can that be down here in the darkness? I must investigate…”) and then CHOMP! The anglerfish takes its prey (clever girl!).

Triplewart Sea Devil – um, maybe not so cute.

But to be more specific, sea devils, and warty sea devils in particular, are quite interesting for one primary reason and two words: sexual parasitism (ok, I can feel your eyes glazing over, but this gets better – I promise). There’s a great amount of sexual dimorphism in anglerfish – that is, females and males physically vary quite a bit from each other . The female is often quite large compared to the male, and they’re not very common, either. You’d think that these two would never actually even find each other, hook up and create new cute(?!?) little baby warty sea devils, but here’s where it gets interesting. The male has either very good eyes or a strong sense of smell that alerts him to the presence of a female. As soon as he nears her, he grabs onto her with his mouth, at which point enzymes immediately fuse the male’s mouth to the female’s body. Their circulatory systems soon merge, and the male basically lives a parasitic life, with its organs dissolving away until he becomes no more than a sack of gonads that is ready to provide sperm when the female wants to reproduce. Crazy, huh? What’s also unique is that these fish are genetic chimera (one organism having more than one genetically distinct set of cells, in this case, cells from both the male and female), and that the chimera is a required part of its life-cycle.

Want to learn more about the anglerfish? Here’s a “somewhat educational but mostly entertaining” video about the anglerfish, NOT narrated by Morgan Freeman:

And finally, this cartoon lovingly drawn by The Oatmeal (click here for the full strip). Oh, I love the Oatmeal. And he definitely loves my anglerfish lady. And you should too!

2Apr2014

Ladies I Love: B is for Lynda Barry (who gave me permission to doodle during meetings at work)

Posted in Art, Blogging, Books, Entertainment, Events and Courses, Role Models, Women by Marci

Me and Lynda at San Diego Comic-Con in 2008!

Up next in the A to Z Challenge is the letter B! And since my theme is Ladies I Love, I will tell you about one of my all-time favorite artists, Lynda Barry. I read her first book, Girls and Boys (1981), before I was ten years old and it left an immediate impression on me. I had never read comic strips quite like hers – funky people, honest stories, smart humor and a fearlessness and vulnerability that I had never seen anywhere else. While my earlier exposure to Lynda Barry’s work came in the form of comics and drawings, Lynda has diversified her art and interests as her career progresses. She wrote a couple of novels (Cruddy is one of my favorite works of hers), and more recently, a pair of drawing and writing books called “Picture This” and “What It Is“. Her research asks “what is an image?” and examines the connection between drawing and writing with brain function and the resulting physiological responses of doing art. She has done a number of interviews (a couple of good ones are here and here) describing this line of research. Currently, Lynda teaches classes about drawing and writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; you can follow along with her lessons through her tumblr (which I am obsessed with).

Two panels of a comic by Lynda Barry. Child-like and often semi-autobiographical, Lynda tells stories from all of our youth experiences.

I love Lynda Barry. She has been a creative influence on me since I was a young kid. I tried to emulate her spirit in my own cartoons. I met her at Comic-Con. I’ve bought a couple of her paintings. I WISH I could take one of her courses. But because I am not a total stalker, I will, for now, have to settle for taking some of her advice about doodling to a practical level. Doodling, according to Lynda, can increase concentration and rescue us from tedium. This advice has resulted in, for you, a small collection of some of my favorite doodles that I’ve done during meetings at work. You can click on the images to make them bigger, and for a short description of the meetings during which they were yaawwwwnnn…oops…I mean drawn.

There is a kind of monkeying around with our hands that changes our sense of time in a tiny way that can make a big difference. Like doodling in the margins during a very boring meeting. It can make time feel like less of a cheese grater and more like sandpaper. That’s a small but critical difference. People employ doodling all the time, even those who are certain they never draw will make a complicated pattern of marks with their thumbnail on a Styrofoam cup when someone very boring is speaking at length. Nearly everyone does this. — Lynda Barry

Lynda Barry-inspired work doodles drawn by me:

Office-wide project prioritization meeting

Bull trout recovery unit meeting

Bull trout tech team meeting

Office funding meeting

Budget reduction meeting

Deer Island project meeting

Recovery Assessment Program meeting

NCTC class name placard

NatureServe meeting

Bull trout recovery planning meeting

1Apr2014

Ladies I Love: A is for Anya Marina

Posted in Blogging, Entertainment, Events and Courses, Music and Dance by Marci

It’s the start of the A to Z Challenge – hurray!!! And that means that today, April 1, starts off with the letter A. My theme is Ladies I Love, which will feature individuals, or groups of women, a type of woman, non-human women, fictional women, and who knows what else (but still women)! Today’s featured Lady I Love is Anya Marina, a Portland-based singer-songwriter that I actually learned about when I was living in San Diego. She has such a sweet, smooth voice and her music is simple, which I appreciate in a world full of noise. My absolute favorite album of hers is called “Slow and Steady Seduction: Phase II”. It is my favorite because it reminds me so much of the time that me and my husband were dating back in 2010. In fact, Christopher played “Vertigo” from that album on his phone while he was waiting for me to get done prettying myself up in the bathroom so that he could propose to me! I took so long that I finally noticed that the song had played like three times in a row, so I came out to see what was going on, and there he was with the ring, with “Vertigo” still playing in the background. Here’s the song for you to listen to and enjoy!

Every time I hear Anya Marina’s “Vertigo”, I think of my Christopher and that perfect day. And just fyi, if you’ve made it this far, I’m proud of you. This is my mushiest, sappiest post in April, so thanks for reading and make sure to come back again! I’m excited about the other ladies that I’m featuring this month!

21Mar2014

And my theme for the 2014 A to Z Challenge is…(drum roll, please)…

Posted in Blogging, Events and Courses, Women by Marci

Ladies I Love!

I am a great admirer of many ladies, and I hope that after the month of April when the A to Z Challenge ends, you will be too (if you aren’t already). Actually, the phrase “Ladies I Love” is a bit misleading, because really, I’m talking about females in general; for example, I am female, but I don’t consider myself to be a lady*. I don’t spend my days swooning about in taffeta frocks and meandering about the garden with a parasol and pair of gloves, no, and there are few females that I know who do. However, I didn’t quite connect with the phrases “Females I Favor” and “Women who are Wonderful” and “XX Chromosomes that XXCite me”. So, I went with “Ladies I Love”. Short, sweet, simple. But deceptive! For, as you shall see during the month of April, these “Ladies” may (or may not?) include the following sorts:

Actual human females who could be artists, scientists, writers, innovators, or role models
Non-human females who are interesting or unique in one way or another
Non-existent females who have contributed to the feminine mystique through time, history and space

And your mind just exploded! Keep visiting Fuzzy Undertones to find out from which of these three categories my daily Lady I Love comes from. And if you have a Lady You Love and you want me to know (or maybe even feature), feel free to drop me a comment!

Fritz Zuber-Buhler: A Reclining Beauty with Her Cat

* Lounging around loosely clothed in bed with at least one cat? Maybe I am a lady. Shit.

Zero to Hero: Done and Done!

Day 30 of Zero to Hero is complete! A lot of the program was “behind the scenes”; i.e., not actual blog posts, which I enjoyed. It made me think a lot about how my blog and brand is presented, and helped me solidify what I want my blog to be. I’ve got some great ideas in the works, which I’m very excited about. But now on to the next blogging adventure: April’s A to Z Challenge! I’ll be blogging every day in April (except for Sundays), with each day corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. I even have a theme, which shall be revealed on March 21. Stay tuned!

9Mar2014

Round Two: Another Post about Bras – Let’s Get Ready to Grumble!

Posted in Blogging, Complainments, Events and Courses, Healthy Perspectives, Humor, Me Me Me!, Women by Marci

Wow – we ladies certainly love our boobs, and have strong, loud and opinionated voices when it comes to protecting our options. Whether it’s breast-feeding in public or the injustices brought about by ill-fitting and unflattering breast support, it seems that, when it comes to boobs, we’re ready to rumble. Or grumble, more like. In fact, the post I wrote about a month ago called “Bra Shopping: Not as Titillating as I Had Hoped” was my most commented-upon post ever, since starting this blog back in 2005. I received a lot of comments through Facebook, and was even offered custom assistance from a personal shopper who works in the lingerie department at Nordstrom’s. Thank you so much for reading my rant and telling me how you feel regarding your own bra-shopping experiences!

Looks like I’m not the only one confused.

When it comes down to it, bras are pretty confusing. Not the concept, of course – just give us something comfortable and pretty that can help stabilize our ta-tas. Where this becomes troublesome is in the details. For example: Why the awkwardness – why is the clasp in the back? Why so few sizes that are either pretty or sexy; do the physics of bra construction prevent the use of color, sparkles or texture? And why the discomfort? Why, oh for the love of god, WHY is METAL WIRE with STABBY ENDS a component of ANYTHING that comes near our boobs? Where did we go wrong???

In addition to the problems I outlined in my previous post, a number of you wrote about issues that seem to be common when we go to the lingerie department. Here are a few of your comments:

Linda wrote: “besides color and poor construction, why does almost every bra out there in larger sizes have padding in the cup???” I know, right? It seems like most “every day” bras now come standard with padding or are push-ups. That’s not my idea of every-day comfort.
Amy echoed the above sentiment and added “I need a strap that doesn’t roll but hopefully doesn’t look like something out of a 1940s Sears catalog”, and I agree!
And Jessica also made a very good point about cost: “I take great issue with the fact that all the cute, frilly bras in the smaller sizes are always so much cheaper. I realize that it takes sturdier construction to hold up a larger chest, but come on. When they are three or four times the cost of all the other bras out there and still plain black, neutral or white that is just absurd. It is not that much extra fabric.”
But it’s not only the more curvy girls among us who have complaints; I heard quite a bit from the smaller ladies as well. Susan wrote, “Try shopping for 36A, also known as the 36nipple. I do not want an underwire, I want comfort…is that too much to ask?” Yes, yes it is, Susan. Just. Too. Much.
And it’s not even just the women, the men have something to say too. Ken passionately stated, “This injustice will not stand! I want everyone to have fun underthingies that fit. Seriously, why aren’t the manufacturers responding to the market that clearly needs a product? Do it for the boobies!” Thank you, Ken, for your (ahem) support!

The fact is, we women like to think that every single one of us has broken the mold in some respect. We like being individuals, unique, interesting, different from everyone else. And when someone tells us that we have to force our boobs into something that is, well, molded to a few specific shapes and sizes, that rankles us to the core. Truly, when I look back upon the history of the bra, I can’t say I’m excited for the future. If they haven’t listened to us by now, when will they?

Well, I guess we’ve got priorities. At least it’s pretty!

8Mar2014

New Roller Derby Rules Roundup: WTF???

Posted in Blogging, Events and Courses, How to Play Derby, Roller Derby by Marci

Oh, duuuuude! Just when I thought everything was getting squared away – I’m checking off my Minimum Skill Requirements (I leveled up from red to yellow!), got 24 laps in 5 minutes (on my way to 27 in 5!), and missed only ONE answer on my WFTDA written test (and that’s up for debate, really) – they had to do it. Starting April 1, the new WFTDA rules go into effect. Wait?!? What new rules??? Well, unlike me, YOU’RE not going to worry about it too much, because I’ve been doing some homework for you. I’ve scoured the Interwebs and found some resources for you to help answer all the necessary questions you’re sure to be asking yourselves right now (e.g., 30-second penalties? Flopping? Single point of transfer for star passes?). So are you ready to put your learning panties on over your helmet? Good! Head on over to these sites to get all the details about the new rules:

WFTDA’s New Rules Site: Get the summary of new rules from WFTDA here.
You Should Be Watching More Roller Derby Footage: The major WFTDA/MRDA rules changes in gifs. There’s a link for each rule change!!! Awesome site!

But if you want to know what people are saying about the rules changes – whether they like them or not and how they are changing the game, check out these blogs:

Derby Life: Top 10 impacts of WFTDA’s New 30-Second Penalties
Little Anecdote: Frisky Sour gives her opinion of the new WFTDA rules.
Great Call, Ref!: Thoughts on the new rules by a roller derby referee.
Roller Derby Jesus: The confessions of a promoter and life observer.

Ahhhhh. Now that my panic attack about the new rules is over, I hope that we can just all calm down a bit. It’s not really that big a deal, right? Cool. I’m going to grab a white Russian and watch The Big Lebowski. Again. And while I’m at it, why don’t YOU leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the new rules? Thanks!

3Mar2014

Gallery post format: no photo glue or decorative scissors required!

Posted in Blogging, Entertainment, Events and Courses, Hobbies, Tips and Tricks by Marci

The other day, as part of the Zero to Hero program, I published a post in a “new to me” format. The new format was a gallery post, which arranges a bunch of pictures that you specify in a grid that is attractively laid out to highlight your photos. Today’s post is a follow-up to that post, which (if you remember) was called Kitty Derps, starring my cats in their most candid moments. Awwww! So cute! I really liked the gallery format, so much so that I used it on my new page, My Fuzzy Family, to feature my pets that are gone but not forgotten (in addition to the presently living ones, of course).

The reason that I chose to explore the gallery format is because I’ve always been drawn to layouts and organization in print media. I used to be a cartoonist, and after that, I had my own ‘zine (the Goyal Talk Times). I LOVED arranging panels and pages to make eye-pleasing visual arrangements featuring both text and illustrations. More recently (oh, the last fifteen years or so), I ventured into scrapbooking, and then went all-digital the past several years. I use Photoshop Elements to design my pages, then get a hard-bound book of my pages for each year printed through Shutterfly. Everything is organized and arranged just so! I go through phases of digital scrapbooking mania (it takes a lot of creative energy), but I’m always happy with the product. Want to see a few of my favorite pages? Well shucks…here you go, then!

So there – you’ve learned another little nugget about my anal-retentive personality – graphics have to be done just so, and when things aren’t arranged perfectly, it really bugs me. That’s why the gallery format post is so wonderful – you don’t have to line anything up yourself! Just pick out your photos and they are all sized, spaced and placed just how you want them. Just like magic!

And you don’t even have to lug around a big craft tote full of paper, templates, scissors, glue, stickers, glitter and all the other madness that scrapbooking entails (unless you’ve gone digital, of course)!

Kitty Derps

You might not believe this, but my cats are not always completely photogenic. I’d say, that on average, it requires about 10 derpy photos to get one good photo of any one of my cats. So here’s my gift to you: a gallery of my kitty derps. Don’t tell Jesse, Sam, Momo, Oliver or Abbey, because 1) they will be very embarrassed; 2) they might exact revenge by posting a gallery of Marci derps (and there are many, I tell you); and 3) they might kill me in my sleep. They have tried before; I am lucky to be here.

Abbey says grrrrr…

Sam’s letting all her nips show!

Oliver sniffing my camera.

Wink, wink, Momo!

Jesse’s letting it all hang out!

Fuzzy Undertones Blogroll Linkies

Just finished putting together my new blogroll for Fuzzy Undertones (i.e., links to blogs and webpages that I follow)! It’s pretty big, so I gave it its own page. If you’d like your blog to be listed, let me know and I’ll take a look! 🙂