@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

CurtAdams

@CurtAdams@urbanists.social

Semi-retired biologist with interests in speciation models, urbanism, liberal/left politics, economics, quartertone music theory, boardgames, ambient music, house rabbits, and yoga.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

cra1g, to maps
@cra1g@sciences.social avatar

Saw this map posted on another network and it helped me realize some things I'd never appreciated before, which is just how whopping huge the agricultural part of California is, and, related, just how bowl-like the topography is. Really fascinating.

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@cra1g Yep, the Central Valley is huge. Driving the length of the Central Valley is as grim as driving across Texas (I've done both), other than if the smog is good you at least get some scenery.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Today's theme is Normal!

You can take this test to see how "Normal" you are, and also how radically left wing you are! LOL Please share the results if you feel like it, or do nothing at all, because it really doesn't matter!

https://www.idrlabs.com/4-axes/test.php

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@FeralRobots @RickiTarr The questions on liking cooking, sports, fashion, etc., interpreted in a painfully stereotypical way. Makes me wonder who cooked up this test and why. "Wokeism" as a lifestyle choice also makes my Spock eyebrow go up.

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@RickiTarr I came out less left wing than most would say because I favor economic growth.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

What are your true opinions and thoughts on marriage?

Just for fun, this is a photo from my wedding day (ignore the reflection of my phone lol) I was all of 21.

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@RickiTarr I'm gay. I cried like a baby when I finally could get married, after over 20 year together.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

The most ridiculous thing about cop procedural shows is when they ask where a person was, and what they were doing at a specific time the person always has perfect and immediate recall. I'd be desperately trying to remember what day of the week that was, and trying to open my phone calendar. If I was the cop, I'd immediately be suspicious of the person who remembered exactly where they were and what they were doing.

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@RickiTarr I was in an accident once and an insurance investigator asked me to describe the person I had had an accident with. I described him as well as I could, and then he showed me a pic. I recognized him immediately, but was embarrassed that half my description was wrong. Real memories are messy.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Would half chicken half ducks be called Chucks or Dickens?

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@RickiTarr A common convention in naming hybrids is that the first part of the name comes from the male parent and the second from the female parent. So a Rooster-duck hybrid would be a Chuck and a Drake-chicken hybrid would be a Dickens.

But it's probably moot because the evolutionary distance is about 90 million year. I think the record evolutionary distance for a live bird hybrid was 55 million years, and it was a really messed up bird. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2907691/

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@RickiTarr And, incidentally, if they could survive, a Chunk and a Dickens would probably be very different. Where there are sex chromosome, hybrids are typically very different depending on which parent is which sex. Ligers and Tigons, for example, are very different: https://a-z-animals.com/blog/liger-vs-tigon-6-key-differences-explained/

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

If you were a straight girl or gay boy in the 80's & 90's, and you try all tell me you didn't have at least a little crush on Rufio, I will assume you are a liar, unless, borrowing from my trans friends, you wanted to be Rufio.

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@RickiTarr I was really taken aback when Rufio died; not just because I too really liked the character but also because up to that point the violence had been cartoonish - lots of threat but no real danger. And then suddenly, blam.

GreenFire, to TeslaMotors
@GreenFire@mstdn.social avatar

I have gotten the impression over the last year that the fossil fools are expending a lot of effort towards turning Americans away from EVs towards ICEVs so-called hybrid vehicles.

I'll let y'all in on a secret that they want to keep from you. We have to stop burning fossil fuels just as quickly as we possibly can and putting a fossil fuel burning engine into new vehicles is not helping towards that necessary goal to address the existential crisis we're facing.

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@LaNaehForaday @GreenFire

Bah on disasterbating. What's required is to stop emitting CO2. That's very possible with electric cars, electric appliances, solar, wind, batteries, and industrial green hydrogen. We've got what's needed.

The world isn't going to be destroyed, even on the comparatively bad paths. 3C is now looking like the worst case and while that's very bad and I don't want to minimize it civilization will still be here. The name of the game now is minimizing the damage.

BlackAzizAnansi, to random
@BlackAzizAnansi@mas.to avatar

I feel like even the people who I considered to be rational voices on Twitter have gone off the deep end when it comes to lapping up misinformation and it's just really depressing.

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@Stoneycase @BlackAzizAnansi Exactly. When you are drowned in misinformation you're eventually going to inhale some.

augieray, (edited ) to random
@augieray@mastodon.social avatar

If you follow me, you know I take #COVID19 seriously. People tell me they cannot vote for Biden because of his COVID policies. Although I agree with the sentiment, I vehemently disagree with the decision. Even if you set aside Trump's evident desire to be above the law and ignore the Constitution (and you shouldn't), if you want vaccine research, Long COVID action and safe air laws in the future, help Democrats win. The anti-vax, COVID-denying, anti-science GOP would only cause more death. (1/2)

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@augieray A more philosophical take is: Everybody is wrong about something. Including you. And me. Demanding somebody agree with you in everything is demanding they do something wrong - even though you can't know what it is.

In a society, we have to work with and help people we disagree with - and that's a good thing, because it creates the possibility of growth.

CurtAdams, to random
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

Xavier seems to not know his size when he hides under the coffee table.

Satori, to random
@Satori@mastodon.thirring.org avatar

BunMum and BunDad are busy working today (although honestly 99% of their attention is on me as it should be 😏) but the quick update is very happy - I woke up still feeling great! Eating, pooping, hopping, and grooming.

This critical care business is the pits for getting out of my white fur. I’m glad BunMum is easing back on the frequency of those feedings now that I’m eating!

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@Satori Keep eating that nommy hay, Skye, so you won't have to keep eating that Critical Care!

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Okay I'm going to describe something, that I'm thinking that some other people have too:

So, when I'm feeling very sad, emotional, and overwhelmed, and I just feel like I can't keep going. I have this sort of other hyper rational part of myself. I call it Outside Man, mostly because it feels like it hovers over the top of my ocean of my emotions, and can see things from outside of where I am. Outside Man is the one who tells me that emotions change and this intensity of feeling won't last forever, and I need to do the things I know will help my mental state.

Is this or something like this, something other people experience?

And yes, I know that it's probably inherently sexist that I call what I consider my more rational self by a male moniker, but I've called it that since I was a kid, and it's stuck. Hubs said Outside Man sounds like a horror movie!

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@RickiTarr I feel like my Outside Man is always with me.

CurtAdams, to random
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

Worldwide groundwater measurements indicate PFAS "forever chemicals" may be even more of a hazard than previously thought : https://phys.org/news/2024-04-underestimating-future-impact-pfas-environment.html

CurtAdams, to random
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

Xavier asked to go out into the backyard today and had a good time munching on the grass.

A sandy Flemish Giant enjoying eating grass next to some tree roots.

anubis2814, to random

I'm the cusp between Gen X and Millennial and realized over the past few weeks that I never say please. I will profusely say thank you and sorry but please sounds weird and almost childishly simplistic and awkward.
I never ask for things, I tend to ask if something is possible. After that I thank them if that is possible. Even at a restaurant I couch it in "Could I have.." never a "Please give me...".
I don't know what this means. Do I feel like directly asking is imposing and I shouldn't presume to be a burden in the first place, and please in this case feels like it applies pressure to me, and I want to give them the easier option to say no. Please feels like a magic word that's harder to say no to.
Still more to think about in this case, because I don't know what this means. I'm a terrible saleman and terrible at asking people for things. I've been on youtube for 13 years now with 800+ videos with a book to sell for 3 and my patreon has only seen a max of $50 and my book has sold maybe 150 copies max. I know Amanda Palmer wrote "The art of Asking that I should probably read some day, but blunt or pressured asking feels like I think I deserve more than I do. It feels gross to do. I don't think I'm as bad as The boomer women mentioned here but it appears to be a thing with our society and the only people who seem to do well are the people who are good at both bluntly asking and selling themselves, which feels so cringe and arrogant to me. But then again people like doing things for other people and are drawn to people with confidence, either arrogance or not.
Still lots to ponder and reflect on here. Is this a US thing? Is this a generation thing? or is this just a type of person thing? I have no idea.
♲ beige.party/

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@anubis2814 @RickiTarr That sounds like a linguistic shift to me. I'm substantially older than you, and now that I think about it, I rarely say "please" anymore. "Could I have..." or similar conditionals is probably just the way to ask for something politely now. Maybe a real linguist could weigh in.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Boba Tea Shop run by Science Nerds, I'm home!

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@RickiTarr I wanna buy Boba Tea there!

ai6yr, to random

Remarkable how out-of-the-mainstream utilitarian cycling seems to be in my neighborhood. Strong car-centric culture in Southern California, for sure. (yes, I was, until recently, part of that). 🤔

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@John @ai6yr Even before I became a bicycling advocate, I felt I should cycle to the gym rather than drive there and use a cycling machine. That's just - ridiculous.

CurtAdams, to random
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

An Arctic Sea Angel, one of the organisms endangered by the warming Arctic

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/03/spoon-worms-lick-the-seabed-with-a-metre-long-tongue-a-voyage-into-a-vanishing-arctic-world?utm_source=press.coop

atomicpoet, to random
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

Maybe webcomics are just really hard to make but almost all of them are terrible.

The only exception is Perry Bible Fellowship. But I guess that’s not technically a webcomic since it appeared in a university paper.

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@atomicpoet I find that strange; to me its newspaper comics that are usually stale.. I'm currently following 29 webcomics; I only have about a dozen print ones on my GoComics. Most are drama strips, but I do follow the comedy strips XKCD, Dumbing of Age, St. Beals, Something Positive, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Existential Comics, Cyanide and Happiness, and Evil Inc., plus the Hugo award winning dramedy Girl Genius.

FAIR, to california
@FAIR@mastodon.world avatar

"The more conservative a county, the more it suffers – by far – from the very problems Fox News, the Washington Examiner, New York Post, Atlantic Magazine and national media herd blame on Golden State liberalism."
--Mike Males, LA Progressive

https://www.laprogressive.com/law-and-the-justice-system/murder-shootings-drugs-shoplifting

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@FAIR Virtually all these problems are far worse in Republican run states: murder rate in Cali 6.4; murder rate in Alabama 15.9

shoq, to random
@shoq@mastodon.social avatar

Indeed. Unfortunately, they often point to what they occasionally do right as cover for what they more often do wrong.

In reply to…
https://mastodon.social/@dangillmor/112412042267276156

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@big_louse @shoq Putting out the occasional decent piece is an important part of the Times propaganda system. They have to keep people reading it in order to have people read their clouds-and-shadows coverage trying to make it seem like Democratic candidates have done something wrong when they haven't.

shoq, to random
@shoq@mastodon.social avatar

I mention D iscord once yesterday, and suddenly my notifies are drowning spam, or whatever this is. Related or coincidence?

image/png

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@shoq I love my instance. I see almost no racism, fascism, or spam. I don't know how they do it but they do a great job.

shoq, to random
@shoq@mastodon.social avatar

Women stars can get such shit from other women. I will never understand why so many I've met dislike Pink. I think she's another world class pop diva who, despite her massive success, has always been underrated. And you can see her influence in so many others. Is there something about her I never heard that puts so many off?

CurtAdams,
@CurtAdams@urbanists.social avatar

@shoq The sound is too loud at her concerts, maybe? I lost some cochleal hairs when I saw her. But yeah, Pink is a great songwriter, great performer, openhearted, and a good person as far as I can tell. I would really wonder about anybody who would hate her.

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