Formication, n. The sensation of insects crawling on or under one's skin. c. 1700, from Latin formica (ant). Altogether not a pleasant sensation. I think insects are pretty cool. I am fascinated by the variety of forms life takes (it's the reason I studied biology) and few, if any, terrestrial life forms are as varied…Read more Formication
Month: September 2015
Books, baboons, and animal behavior
My preparations for a trip typically go something like this: I read books and books and more books. History, fiction, memoir, science, if it's about the area I'm traveling, or anywhere remotely in the vicinity, I'll read it. This, of course, takes up most of my preparation time, but everything will be fine when I…Read more Books, baboons, and animal behavior
The “Yes Man” philosophy and other things
I have no pictures today, only a lot of words. And a link to a map. Perhaps you have heard of the "Yes Man" philosophy, a practice of unhesitatingly saying "yes" to whatever comes your way. The term, named from the book and movie adaptation Yes Man, was not one I had heard until recently,…Read more The “Yes Man” philosophy and other things
Where I’ve Been Lately
Dear Readers, I have been terrible about writing. Hostels, for all their benefits, are not the most ideal places to find the quiet I need to focus. Also, I'm lazy. For the last three weeks I've been hostel-jumping up the coast from Cape Town to Durban, then inland to my current location of Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu…Read more Where I’ve Been Lately
Not What I Expected…
If you had asked me what I expected before I flew into Cape Town, I would truthfully have said "I don't know." But arriving in blouse and hiking boots still imbued with the red dust of the Zambian bush, I was definitely not prepared for the cosmopolitan city that met me, closer in many ways…Read more Not What I Expected…
