Beautiful, interesting, and unfortunate

I was in DC this weekend and on Sunday went to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. We came in the back door, so one of the first things I saw was this:

This is part of the hyperbolic reef project. You can see more about it at the Smithsonian's site, including a video of the project's founder giving a presentation for TED.

It's hard to tell since I went in tight with the photos, but this installation rises well over my head.

Absolutely gorgeous. Also visited the Human Reunion exhibit. It was a wonderful exhibit, and despite a few occasions of theory being presented as fact, I learned lots of new things I didn't know before, and got to visit a gallery of reproduction prehistoric art,

This looks like a study to me, with the artist working progressively on form and detail.

I love the abstractness of this one, but I'm going to do what all abstract novices do and say that if I let my brain relax it looks a little like the prehistoric Venus form.

  

Not my favorite, probably simply because the poor kangaroo's been shot in the bum.

The signage said this was swimming elk or deer (don't remember which),  but again, this looks more like a study to me.

And rendered myself as a Neanderthal.

I'm warning you, it's not pretty--although maybe another Neanderthal might thing otherwise.

Oh, and don't mind the glasses.

They did get the grey hairs right, though. :-)

You know you're in East TN when . . .

. . . you're sitting in a Japanese restaurant and suddenly realize you're listening to country music.

Observation by my DH at dinner tonight.

The Fly People

While working today I was listening to the BBC and there was a delightful story about the traditions of naming genes. It's a fun look into the creative and quirky lives of geneticists, and the reporter did a nice job of going with the fun. And for you artist folks, check out the image that goes with the article on the BBC. It's beautiful!

Tree Down

One of the things I find awesome (in the old-fashioned sense of the word) around here is the weather. Last week we had a doozy of a storm. The rain came sideways in sheets, or maybe blankets. We were at a lesson in a third (and top) floor office and decided to go down a couple of flights for a while because the storm was that violent. Didn't last for long, though, went back up the stairs, finished our lessons, and went home.

To find this:For scale, the girl standing near the tree is approximately 50 inches tall, so say about four feet. And this enormous Southern White Pine just tipped over in the storm, roots rent from the ground. So now we're waiting for the ground to dry enough that the tree guys can bring their trucks to the bottom of the hill (where the tree is) without tearing up our yard.

The most ironic part of all is that we have two enormous pines--and this is the one we were going to keep! Can't argue with Mother Nature, though.

And the best part? Well, there's just so much interesting stuff to see--in the roots, among the branches, along the trunk. I've been taking loads of photos for inspiration!

Nearly a year in Tennessee

Well, we've been here nearly a year and feel very at home. We've made the transition pretty well, the kids are thriving, DH loves his job, and I am in heaven in my studio. The weather is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, there's almost always a little wind, and the clouds (and thunderstorms) are way more impressive.

One of the hardest things to get used to is that things like pita bread are considered exotic here and only show up seasonally in most grocery stores. I haven't really figured out what the pita season is, but that's what the lady at the deli counter told me.

The other unexpected oddities are a couple of expressions.

A friend of ours is a physician's assistant (also a transplant to the area). When he first moved to the area he'd ask a nurse or an orderly to do something and they'd reply, "No, I don't care to." He, of course, was a little taken aback at this challenge to his authority, but figured he just had to earn his wings as the new guy and do it himself. But when he went to do it he'd find it already done. Turns out that in NE TN, "No, I don't care to," means, "Sure, I don't mind."

Folks also use this expression in a statement, not merely as a reply. For example, DH got a message asking him to "Please give me a call back if you don't care to."

And then there's "Bless his heart." You can say anything and add that at the end to make it all right, like, "That whole family has enormous heads, bless their hearts," or "He just can't hold a woman or a job, bless his heart." Now if anyone blesses my heart I wonder what they really mean. :-)

Northeast TN doesn't have a lock on strange expressions, though. Took us years to get used to the dual meaning of "Are you all set" in Western MA. If you're in line at a sandwich counter in western MA and the wait person asks "Are you all set?" . . . it's not a yes or no question.

If you answer "yes," chances are good the waiter will walk away thinking you have already ordered.

If you answer "no," chances are good the waiter will walk away thinking you need more time to decide.

And in Pittsburgh "City Chicken" is pork or veal. Go figure.

Unauthorized Substance Tax--Hmmmmm

So since I'm new to Tennessee I was researching the various means of filing the various taxes I have to pay here and among the list of taxes I could read about was:

Unauthorized Substance Tax

You can imagine how that might pique one's curiosity, so I clicked on the link and found out that taxable items in this category include:

• Marijuana
• Cocaine
• Crack
• Methamphetamine
• Untaxed liquors and spirits (AKA moonshine)

Seriously!

So you can order tax stamps anonymously to put them on your packages of illicit drugs and alcohol so that when you're arrested they can only charge you with possession and sale, not tax evasion.

The information says that paying the tax does NOT make it legal to possess these goods. Duh!

Who owes the tax? Dealers, specifically defined as "any person who possesses one or more marijuana plants or more than 42.5 (not 42 or 43) grams of marijuana, seven or more grams of any other unauthorized substance that is sold by weight, or any illicit alcoholic beverage."

If I think about it, now the songs about revenue or excise men make more sense, but really? Anyhow, found it interesting, ridiculous, and, due to my fairly prudish past, unusual, so thought I'd share. Really has nothing to do with dancing or threads, but this is my News of the Weird of the day.