“Put it in English!” My campaign against jargon
At a recent meeting for Metro Parks, the Director of the Zoo mentioned something about the zoo's "charismatic mega-vertebrates." As in walruses and polar bears and tigers. Charismatic mega-vertebrates, if you are a zookeeper, is a very useful classification. It describes a certain kind of animal that crosses biological distinctions of taxonomy: ie, big animals people want to see. But outside of that particular setting, the jargon makes absolutely no sense. I wouldn't tell you in normal conversation that you should get to the zoo to see the baby charismatic mega-vertebrates. They're baby tigers. Calling them anything else would be Read more…
Domestic Conflict, Explained By Stock Photos, from @knguyen at the Bygone Bureau
 Conflicts are even more difficult when more than two people involved. Here, Ellen and Andrew argue about what to do with the small girl that wandered in their home. via bygonebureau.com These descriptions of what’s going on in stock photographs are hilarious.
This Park’s For People
I was recommended Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" before our trip to Utah in June. It's a memoir of Abbey's time as a ranger at Arches National Park. Mary read it before the trip, and everywhere we went at Arches she'd mention something about Abbey. I read it after the trip and really loved it. The experience of the park in the 1960s was very different than the park today. Abbey's vision of a National Park is that all visitors should be greeted by a 50 foot tall statue of Smokey the Bear that says this: A noble vision, to be Read more…
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