Varmint on an Old Orchid Bloom (iPhone)

This bloom is at least ten weeks old and already had a few brown spots when I bought it, for five dollars. While fertilizing today, I found this white, furry larva with antennae. I'm waiting for my mom to respond to her email before I start consulting entomology reference sites. Let's hope for the best...

Update on Monday, April 12, 2010 at 11:27 by k

Okay, these are definitely longtailed mealy bugs. I am going to start by hitting them and the brown spots, which are recent hatchlings, with some rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip, and then I am going to sprinkle some ground cinnamon in the folds and crotches. I'll stay vigilant with my rubbing alcohol until the pest control solution arrives from rePotme.

Karma is at Equilibrium

And life is, once again, great - but only because of how productive I was today:

1. I woke up.
2. I ate half of a frozen pizza.
3. I went back to sleep.
4. I woke up.
5. I ate the other half of the frozen pizza.
6. I went back to sleep.
7. I woke up.
8. I took a shower.
9. I talked to both of my parents on the phone.
10. My mom told me I should go to church to fix my karma.
11. I bought a new pair of jeans.
12. I got a philly cheese steak, fries, and a Diet Dr. Pepper to-go.
13. And I ate all of it while watching Office Space.




I guess when you don't have time to relax, it's best to just do it anyway.













The hummingbird lives at my house. The bug lives down the street at the Fairfax Flea Market.

Do this Johari Quiz about me, and then make your own.

My Tribute to Steve Irwin

I watched a few of his shows today on the Animal Planet channel and got inspired.

Given my recent environment, I have had a few opportunities to capture "wild" animals digitally. The racoon was the most difficult, it took the teamwork of the whole family turning lights on and off for two evenings. Hopefully I will be able to get a clear shot of the mate and baby soon.

This little Asian Tiger Mosquito didn't make it through my skin to give me West Nile Virus, I think. The species has had 9 years to mutate since its first appearance in Virginia and the United States.

And my mom almost ran over this one on the road in front of her house. It sat in a box on the front porch for a couple of hours while I coaxed it out of its shell.

Next attempt: snakes.

I Love My Reflex (SLR) Camera

One day, I took this picture.

The fly that was missing a forearm segment had been through a tough life. With no nutrients to fuel its wings, it let me get close, so close that my breath moved the thin tips of its little sensory hairs.

The next morning, I woke up with a sore throat. By 8 pm, I was in the emergency room clutching one of the most intimidating pieces of porcelain I had ever met, and in the blink of an eye I was passed out on the floor. A very pleasant nurse dragged me across the tiles to a wheelchair, and I began to learn exactly why our health care system has room for improvement.

My dad waited on me hand and foot for seven days, four of which I spent with a fever, sinking further and further into a soft mattress that will never recover from my full body imprint. On the clear night of the seventh day, I was out on the patio taking this picture. Even though I was still sick and had to wake up early the next morning to catch a plane, I defied my dad's beseeching tones because I was worried that the approaching fog would remain a blanket over his house until next summer. He succeeded in getting me inside, but as soon as I return to California,

wait, here's where I get extremely dorky

I will find fog-permitting time to better understand telescope stabilization for focusing on craters. I can't wait to find Jupiter's Galilean satellites!