Entry #6--HankPlants

Where to begin...
There's this team of awesome nerdy brothers on youtube, see? And in the year 2007, they wanted to see if they could go a year without communicating textually with each other. They would only communicate through videos, Hank Green posting one day, John Green the next, for the entirety of the year. This project was a success, gained quite a following, and the Green brothers kept doing the project (now allowing themselves to textually communicate) through this day.
Now, to the present.
Hank Green's birthday just happens to fall on Cinco De Mayo. SO, John got all of his viewers, also known as "nerdfighters", to plant trees and plants for Hank's birthday. Hank, being a geeky environmentalist, would really appreciate this gift of oxygen.
Weeks later, this video was born.



In this post is my own video, in which I plant my Hankplants (sunflowers).



And a picture of my HankPlants later...


Best community ever? Oh yeah. I think so.
As we like to say in nerdfighteria, DFTBA (don't forget to be awesome)!

Entry #4--"Nature"

Today, while walking to class at the AFC, I walked past the pond. Off the path, something caught my eye…



See anything off about this?
Here’s a closer look…



See that? That is NOT a real rock. That is plastic. I just found something so completely jarring about the idea of plasticized “nature”. Google to the rescue! Why would someone decide to use such a strange device?

From Brookstone Gifts:
“Faux rocks beautify your yard as they cover unsightly pumps, utility boxes, vents and other devices. Our lightweight decorative hollow artificial rocks are easy to use and versatile. Place one of these mock rocks over wells, pumps, septic system outtake pipes, valves, vents, utility boxes and other unsightly objects in your yard. Surround your artificial rocks with grass or shrubs for natural camouflage that blends into your landscaping.”

There is so much wrong with the above paragraph.
“Beautify”? REALLY? I’m finding nothing beautiful or natural about a plastic rock in an outdoor setting.
As the paragraph itself states, one can easily accomplish the same goal using grass, shrubs, etc to hide whatever it is that one wants hidden. This is all just so strange.

Along those same lines, something that has bothered me all year long is the amount of effort Chatham and surrounding houses (particularly those on Woodland Road and its various branches) put into their "beautification". We all love to see our beautiful campus, but really, does the grass need to be mowed weekly? How much energy is this wasting on our supposedly environmentally-friendly campus?

Entry #3--Animals Around Chatham

I am done with The Secret Garden and Watership Down. I enjoyed both, which is so surreal! Watership Down is a book I have actually read in the past, but I think all the analysis and slow, fragmented reading in the 9th grade made it a really dull, unenjoyable read, whereas here, I got to read the bulk of the book in one day, in one sitting, which makes for a much better read. Anyways, so all these books, and this class in general have just made me want to go outside and enjoy the natural world around me, especially at such a gorgeous campus like Chatham. I’ve been taking pictures of the animals I’ve encountered since the start of the class.


A rabbit! I have to say, as horrible as it sounds, before living at Chatham, I’d never seen a rabbit in real life before! They are such exciting creatures to observe…if you don’t scare them away, that is.


Weird fact about me: I LOVE worms. Ever since a 5th grade science class where our teacher brought in worms, and I decided to be a brave little 11 year old and ohmygoodness, actually touch the worm, I’ve loved them so much. People don’t give worms enough credit ;)
There was one day on campus, right after it had rained, around 10PM, I was walking back to my dorm and the ground…oh, it was so amazing, you couldn’t step a foot without encountering a worm. They were all over the streets and sidewalks. By morning, there were just a few dead worm fragments, but certainly no massive indication that they had all been there. Wow. Just wow.


While I love sitting by Chatham’s pond and just observing the ducks, I’ve noticed that they are not very nice ducks. Maybe that’s just how ducks are? I doubt they go through an actual thinking process, coming to the conclusion that they are feeling grumpy today and are just going to be mean to all those humans. They’re still great to watch. I keep meaning to bring bread for them. That was definitely one of my childhood highlights, going over to my dad’s lab, which was near a pond, and feeding the ducks with my mom and brother. I loved doing that…that is, until I was nipped by a Canadian goose and my little self was traumatized. :D


I had to take a picture of the robin, since I had just read The Secret Garden.
I also saw a chipmunk the other day, and I think they are the most fascinating little creatures (another one that I hadn’t seen before coming to Chatham). I wish they weren’t so hard to observe!
What kind of a weird picture gallery thingy is this without a picture of a Chatham squirrel? Wow, I fail at being a Chatham student. I’ll be sure to snap a squirrel picture sometime soon!