Malaclemys terrapin macrospilota

This is an Ornate Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin macrospilota) found on a small island, called Lanark Reef, somewhere off the coast of Carrabelle, Florida. (Warning: if you’re tempted to go to this place, don’t. We received special permission from the Florida FWC to be out there.)

Pseudobranchus striatus and Siren intermedia

These strange little ones here are Dwarf Sirens (Pseudobranchus striatus) and Lesser Sirens (Siren intermedia), two species of aquatic salamanders. Those bushy things near their heads are external gills. We found them in a man-made pond on the side of the road, somewhere north of Carrabelle, Florida.

Necturus alabamensis

This cute little salamander is an Alabama Waterdog (Necturus alabamensis). (I still can’t figure out why they call an aquatic salamander a “waterdog”.) This one was found under a bridge in Big Gully Creek.

Ambystoma opacum

I was really excited to find this salamander. I’d been dying to see it and we found three of them at our final site (Rock Bluff Botanical Area). It’s a Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) and one of the few terrestrial salamanders we found that day.

Acris gryllus

This is a Southern Cricket Frog (Acris gryllus). They were at almost every site we visited on Saturday, which is awesome because frogs are awesome.  (Don’t worry about it being in a plastic baggy. We keep the smaller herps in them while we look at them. It keeps them from drying out in our hands and allows us to look at them without them hopping away or getting hurt. I promise that they were all just fine when we let them go.)

Pseudacris crucifer

This is a Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer). It gets its scientific name from the cross marking present their backs (which you can’t see well from this photo, but it was there). We found this one in Rock Bluff Botanical Area (where I also got a chigger bite… in my bellybutton).

Credit for the photos goes to one of my classmates (my camera failed me). You can view the rest here.

Here’s a start:

I found these two in Lakeland, Florida during a recent conference. They were on the second-story balcony after it had rained one night. They’re Cuban Treefrogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis), which are invasive in Florida. Invasive or not, they were still really cute.

I’m not sure exactly what this little one is. I found it about a month ago while on a short hike not too far from my apartment. My best guesses (from the awful picture I took) is an Oak Toad (Bufo quercicus).

So, that’s what I’ve got for now. But… Good news, everyone! I’m going out this Wednesday and Saturday to look for more reptiles and amphibians!

OMFSM! Doctor Who starts its new season soon and I could not possibly contain my fangirl excitement. Just…. SQUEEEEE! (I’ve been squeeing for a solid 10 minutes; I’ve scared my cats and my new roommate, I’m sure.) Anyway, watch this new trailer. Now. It’s awesome

Edit: I just found this (slightly different) trailer that I hadn’t seen before. Thought I’d share the additional awesomeness.

As a board member and VP of Programs at Secular Woman, I’ve got a lot of projects on my plate. Today I was talking to the other board members about our committees and our volunteers, when I realized that I only have one person on my committee! And this is a pretty big committee for Secular Woman: we oversee most of the projects created by the organization (conference grants, the speakers bureau, and other specific programs).

So, I’m putting the call out to anyone interested in becoming a volunteer for an awesome (IMHO) secular organization. If you’re interested in helping organize and have the time and skills required, please consider joining Secular Woman’s Programs Committee. To be considered for this committee, you must be a member of Secular Woman and submit an application through our website (choose “Programs” in the “Select Committee” category).

I’m looking for people with skills or experience with the following:

• grassroots movements (secular or not)
• organizing local/regional/national groups (secular or not)
• organizing or participating in conferences/conventions/rallies (secular or not)

If you don’t have experience with any of those things, but think you’re capable of helping, feel free to submit an application anyway. I look forward to hearing from some really awesome people!

Just look at this phone porn.

Oh yeah baby.

It feels and works just as good as it looks. It runs Android 4.0, is 4G LTE capability, has an amazing 8 megapixel camera, a beautiful 4.8 inch screen, a dual-core processor, 2GB of ram, 16GB of internal storage plus a micro-SD slot, Near Field Communication capability… and all that doesn’t even begin to describe how awesome it is. This is the sexiest piece of technology that I’ve ever owned. And yeah, I’m probably exceeding acceptable levels of excitement for a cell phone, but damned it, I don’t care. Basically, if you’re looking for a new, kickass phone, I would highly recommend this one (which is available on Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon).

So where’s the ‘donate’ button

I really appreciate people being interested in helping me (which I’ve experienced a lot of within the secular community; it seems to be full of kind, generous people, even if there are a few assholes). But this does bring me to my next sucky thing about being poor: accepting help.

Another thing that really sucks about being poor is accepting help when you need it. I grew up in modern American culture, which tells people that everyone can become rich, if only they try hard enough. So when you come to a point in your life where you’re barely even surviving, it’s hard not to blame yourself. I know I do. Any time people offer me help, specifically financial help, I have an overwhelming sense of failure. I’m very aware how stupid and unreasonable it is to feel that way, but when you’ve been feed the “bootstraps theory” (aka: pull yourself up by your bootstraps) your whole life, it’s hard not to internalize it. I even have a hard time with friends buying me a snack (there have been more than a few times that I was very hungry because I’d been away from my apartment all day but didn’t have the money to buy anything and a friend offered to buy me a snack only to have me turn the offer down).

Despite my feeling of failure, I’m beginning to learn to accept help when I need it. I’ve know for a long time that “anyone can become rich in America” is a myth, and others have begun to realize this too (as illustrated not too long ago by the 99% movement). I feel like I’ve come a long way on this issue of mine in a short time. I’ve even added a “donate” button to this blog (as you can see in the sidebar). But it’ll take more time for me to unlearn some of the things ingrained in me by a lifetime of being poor (even if it’s been a short lifetime so far). And until these things stop being a problem, I’ll keep talking about them

I’m a full time student, so that kind of puts some difficulty in finding a job. But I’m also very involved in the freethought community: I’m currently president of Freethinkers FSU, director of the conference committee for the Humanists of Florida Association, and now I’m one of four board members for Secular Woman. All of that doesn’t leave much time for a job (although I do try to make a bit of money by selling crocheted items). I know what some people will say (because that’s pretty much all I hear from my mother these days): “Stop doing all of that extra stuff and find a job!” I have a few responses to that: (1) It’s a little late for that. I can’t just stop being involved in these organizations. I can’t just say, “Yeah, I know I said I’d help organize this group and I know you all kind of need me to do these things, but… I’m out of here. Have fun cleaning up after me. kthxbye.” (2) These “extra” things I do are what make life worth living. My life would be rather dull without these organizations. My life would kind of suck without doing these things that make me feel like I’m actually making some small difference in the world (or maybe just in the lives of a few people, but that’s enough). And most of my friends are involved in the freethought community, too. Basically, activism and organizing are my recreational activities. (3) Even if I wasn’t doing all this “extra” stuff, I would still have a hard time finding a job. It took me six months last time I was looking to find anyone willing to hire me (and I pretty much just got lucky that time: I ended up working for the US Census). I guess my skills aren’t exactly marketable and my schedule isn’t exactly flexible.

But even thought I know all these things, I still feel guilty; lazy. And that’s one of the suckiest things about being poor. Everyone telling you that you’re poor because you’re lazy; because you’re not trying hard enough. And I’ve internalized that, even as I try to fight against those ideas. I’m aware enough to know this isn’t true. I don’t blame other people for their poverty. But I can’t help but blame myself for mine.

I guess that’s all I care to write about this at the moment. But I will write about this topic again in the future. There’s lots to be said about poverty, guilt, and class privilege.

Yes, you read that title correctly. That’s what we’re talking about here. Why, you ask? Well, because one has just launched and I helped create it! It’s called Secular Woman and we plan to do big things! Our mission is to amplify the voice, presence, and influence of non-religious women. You can read our values and more about us here.

This logo is based on the radium atom, an element discovered by Marie Curie (a kickass secular woman).

This group has taken a lot of work and love to put together, especially since there are only four board members (including me) at the moment! If you want to know more, visit our website, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter, and read our press release!

Recently, as some of you may know, there has been a lot of talk about sexual harassment at conferences [see 1, 2, 3]. One of the ways suggested to make conferences safer and more comfortable for women is to introduce an anti-harassment policy at conferences. So, that’s what I’ve done for this upcoming HFA conference. This policy will be in every packet handed out to attendees and it will also be given to speakers. I cannot describe how happy I am to be in a position to effect some real change in our community and I hope that every participant at our conference feels safe and welcome.