Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Thursday Thirteen 201: Random

A completely random T13 this week...


1. With all the rain we've had the past month, you wouldn't think a marsh would be dry enough to burn, yet there was such a fire here Tuesday afternoon, shutting down the Beltline Highway during rush hour. Thankfully, only about 100 acres burned and no buildings. Suspected cause: a cigarette tossed out a passing car window.

2. Seen on a recent walk in the Arboretum: two deer, two sandhill cranes, and one wild turkey.

3. I hope the turkey, which was wandering along the outside of the fence as though trying to figure out how to get back in, is the one my coworker hit a few days before. Hey, it wasn't our fault! Stupid bird was playing chicken during rush hour traffic, darting out between two cars.

4. Speaking of stupid birds, the annual goose debate has begun. Local parks are run a-foul of the fowl. Many parks and beaches were closed for weeks last summer due to e. coli outbreaks, plus there is the fear of them hitting aircraft. The problem is how to humanely thin the population. DNR experts say a good start is to stop feeding them bread crumbs.

5. Proving our kids are smarter than the local wildlife, a report out this week ranks Wisconsin as number one in high school graduation rates for a second year in a row, with a rate of 90.7 percent.

6. Of course, this ranking may soon change, as Governor Walker's current budget reduces funding of public education by more than $900 million. Which means fewer teachers and deep cuts in school programs.

7. Protests and rallies against Walker continue at the Capitol in Madison, the longest sustained labor movement in US history. There is another large labor rally scheduled for this Saturday afternoon, directly following the weekly Farmer's Market.

8. Okay, so maybe not all birds are stupid: Bronx Zoo Peacock Now on the Run.


9. Proof that mothers can mess with you from beyond the grave: Sunday afternoon I pulled out an old B&W movie taped off TCM two years ago, only to find that someone's mother had recorded over a clearly marked tape sometime before she passed. The movie in question? I Remember Mama.

10. I did watch two other movies over the weekend: Munster Go Home and Unforgiven.

12. This weekend is the Norwegian celebration of Syttende Mai. To learn more about it, you can read this Thursday Thirteen post I wrote in 2008.

13. A quote from my page-a-day desk calendar for this week:
One of the secrets to a happy life is continuous small treats.
~ Iris Murdoch

Those treats can be anything: a bar of chocolate, a new DVD or CD, or—best of all—a book.







LINKS TO OTHER THURSDAY THIRTEENS:(Please leave your link if this is your first visit!)
Maddy Barone * Janice Seagraves * Alice Audrey
Shelley Munro * Kimberly Menozzi * Xakara
Darla M. Sands * Adelle Laudan * Paige Tyler
Suzanna Medeiros * Harriet * Forgetfulone




18 comments:

Kimberly Menozzi said...

[rant] Your number one item reminds me of one more reason I have such a strong dislike for many smokers - there's an ashtray in your car - USE IT!!!

Ugh! The world is not our wastebasket. Why is that so hard for so many people to understand?

[/rant]

Anyway - it's good to see your random thoughts run the same way mine do. LOL!

Happy TT!

Darla M Sands said...

I enjoyed your list. Happy TT!

Unknown said...

As alway, interesting post.
Happy T13!

Paige Tyler said...

Interesting TT! Love the pic of the crane!

*hugs*
Paige

My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

Heather said...

Kimberly: That is one of the things I have against smokers, too. Our apt. complex has ugly "safety" ashtrays outside each entrance to "encourage" people to dispose of their butts appropriately, yet you'd be surprised how many just flick them at the base of the thing where they ruin the environment and anyone's dog could get at them. Augh!

Darla: Thanks! :)

Adelle: Thanks, hon!

Paige: They're a funny looking bird, yet so interesting, aren't they?

Xakara said...

Continuous small treats, that's a philosophy I can get behind!

Happy TT,

~Xakara
13 Catch Up PointsHappy TT,

Alice Audrey said...

Animal control always starts with not feeding them. I could easily digress into a rant about squirrels here, but I'll refrain.

Jana said...

I live by no. 13. :-D

Suzanna said...

Re #1 - It's scary how such a careless action can wreak such havoc.

And the "logic" politicians employ never ceases to amaze me. "Yay, we're #1 with respect to keeping students in school - now let's slash our budget!" It's sad.

Heather said...

Xakara: And me as well, LOL. I indulged in chocolate and books this past weekend, on a very small scale.

Alice: Very true. Many people don't realize how much they harm certain animals or our environment by feeding them.

Heather said...

Jana: Yes, I thought you might approve of that one, LOL.

Suzanna: Trying to figure out politicians is a hopeless cause. It's like theyd rather throw more money at prisons rather than schools and educational programs to keep people out of trouble.

Forgetfulone said...

A book is definitely one of my favorite treats... and chocolate! Wish we would get some rain here. We haven't had any in months.

Anonymous said...

Haha, I love randomness!
Thanks for stopping by my blog ;]

colleen said...

Too bad the protests aren't in the news as much now. I think the whole country should be up in arms and paying attention.

I loved the Unforgiven.

Janice Seagraves said...

Hi Heather,

Blogger is being a jerk this week, all my comments are gone too.

BTW, I like thirteen, good quote.

Janice~

Alice Audrey said...

Dang! Blogger ate my comment from Thursday. I could swear you had a few others then, too, that are gone now.

Heather said...

Janice: They had some sort of issue crop up after running maintence last week, resulting in the temporary removal of all posts from Wednesday and Thursday. Everything was supposed to be restored over the weekeend.

Alice: Yes, I had about 20 comments before Blogger went to hell Thursday afternoon. According to their status updates, they were supposed to be restoring comments along with all posts that were removed. Apparently that has not happened.

Alice Audrey said...

People think I'm heartless, but the goose issue is one of the reasons I never feed any wild animal intentionally. I've had a few lunches stolen, but that's a different matter. No matter what people have said, you can't convince me that pigeons, squirrels or deer are not wild animal.s