Tampa Nightlife

On a crisp night a few weeks back I ventured out on my new bike to try some night photography. My brother and sister-in-law had just given me a really cool birthday gift (thanks!), a remote control for my camera. I was hoping to try some long-exposure night photography from Bayshore Blvd across the bay. The remote control comes in handy because you can step away from the camera and push the button to begin the long exposure without shaking the camera as your pushing the button. Well, since I'm still in the experimental phases with the camera, I've got a lot to learn. According to the fine print on the remote control, you can only use it when the camera is on auto focus. Unfortunately, the photos I was trying to take would only work on manual focus, so I had to scrap the remote control at least for these pictures (don't worry! I'll use it again soon and I'm still really psyched about it!). So instead I put the camera on a delay so it would take a photo after 10 seconds and I put it on 15 second shutter speed. Here's what happened:
What do you think for my first try?

Naked but Green

In what I think was an attempt to clear the Swiss people of their naked reputation (see previous post below), my mom recently sent me a link to another report about the Swiss people. Based on the 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Switzerland is the greenest country out of the 128 countries that were ranked. Woohooo for the cleanly swiss! So I guess that means that even though we go naked hiking, we're clean in the process. Well, that's probably the best thing you can wish for naked people, squeeky cleanliness!

Streetcleaner in the streets of Locarno, Switzerland (Jan. 2009)

Basically, the Environmental Performance Index is a set of criteria that rates each nation on things like environmental health, ecosystem vitality, environmental politics, and lots of related quantitative indicators. It was developed in a collaboration between Yale and Columbia University. You can see the results in on an interactive map at the EPI website. Switzerland came out on top with a score of 95.5 out of 100!! Sadly the USA sits at #39 with a score of 81.0. The US lost points big points in all of the following categories

• Ecosystem Vitality (reducing the loss or degredation of ecosystems and natural resources)
  
• Climate Change
• Air Pollution (effects on the ecosystem)
  
• Fisheries
• Emissions per Capita
• Emmisions per Electricity Generation (greenhouse gas emissions vs. electricity output)
  
• Agricultural Subsidies
• Critical Habitat
• Marine Protected Areas

Come on USA, we can do better than this! Stop being so greedy!

If you want to read what other people had to say about the EPI take a look at these blogs too:

1. biofuelshub.com
2. ecofriendlydaily.com

P.S. Thanks Mom for pointing this out. It's actually much more meaningful than the naked post. Thanks for keeping me on track!

Funny News

I'm a first generation American and my entire family (mom and dad's side) are Swiss. Since I was a little kid, we've taken a trip every year to see the extended family (only my Mom and brother live in the USA). I am so so proud of my heritage! The Swiss people are awesome and the country is extremely beautiful, clean, and breathtaking. I just found a very odd, yet hilarious, piece of news from Switzerland...

Naked hikers face fines in Switzerland

Can you believe that stuff? I find it funny that they blame the Germans too, that's not very nice!

Charlotte County Pine Flatwoods

I had the privilege of going in the field last week to a site in Charlotte County, Florida. It was a beautiful day which started out quite cold, but by afternoon I was stripping off my jacket and scarf and basking in the sun while looking for endangered species on the site. These are not endangered species, but they were part of the beauty I found on the site.Swamp fern - Blechnum serrulatum

Largeflower Rosegentian - Sabatia grandiflora

New Direction

When I think about this blog I get excited and I feel like I want to write about everything. But then, that kind of screws up the "environmental" theme of the blog. But, let's be honest, I've never been good with sticking to that theme anyway. So I've decided that I'm going to open up this blog a bit and go in a new direction. I still want to write about things that make me passionate, like the environment. My dilemma is that some days it's not nature or the environment that got me excited, it's something else. Some days it's music, a photograph, a new gadget I never knew existed, or something in the news. I want to be able to blog about those types of things. I'm still going to put up lots of pictures and cool things I find in the outdoors, but unfortunately it's not everyday that I get to be outside and enjoying the beauty of the more wild places.

Oh, and another reason, life is short. Even though some days aren't the greatest and some days I get blue, I want to be able to find something beautiful or exhilerating about every day. Now, that's a really hard thing to do when you're having one of "those days," but I'll do my best. I live without regrets...and not enjoying at least a moment of every single day is something I would regret, looking back on all this.

Ok, enough of the seriousity (new word)!

In the gym today I put my iPod on shuffle and came up with this really fantastic song that kind of describes how I'm feeling (but in a good way!):

Justin Townes Earle - I don't care

(P.S. sorry I can't post music here, or at least, I don't know how to legally, so I'll send you to another site where you can listen to the song and even download it if you want to.)

And here's some info about the guy - I really like his other songs as well. He's only 25 years old (doh!, that means I'm already a year older than him!), and he has an interesting history of troubled days.

Finally!

Although former President Bush did everything in his power to stall science and refused to admit that climate change was actually happening, we're finally making some progress! President Obama appointed Steven Chu, a nobel prize winner in physics, as our new Secretary of Energy. Let's just say, he's a pretty bright guy. On Tuesday (my birthday!), he had his first interview since he took office. He not only admitted that climate change is a real thing, but he also says it's something that is really going to affect us very very quickly. Within this century, of which there are only 91 years left, he predicts major water shortages in agricultural areas such as the Mid West and California. That's scary considering we get pretty much all of our food from those places. He estimates that 90% of the Sierra snowpack will disappear. Not only is that bad news for tourists and the skiing industry, but, even worse, it's bad news for the major water source for California farms. Now where will we get our lettuce? Either way, I'm really excited that our government is planning to address an issue that I consider to be one of our most important, rather than sweeping it under the rug (eh-hem, Mr. Bush!).Read the whole article here.

Hilarious

So I'm pretty darn excited about our new president. We all have high hopes for him, considering how we're on our knees crying about the economy at the moment, we're still in a war, and our policies and values are all scrambled. I try not to watch too much TV (although it's so darn tempting now that my roommate got us cable), but if you've ever seen MTV shows, you'll find this to be an entertaining and somewhat accurate portrayal of President Obama's first month as a president. Watch this video over at I*Heart*You (a really cute blog I read regularly).

Superbowl Steeler Success!

After graduating high school, I had a loose connection to football and had learned the rules of the game from some very patient friends from Fallston High School and C. Milton Wright High School, but I couldn't pledge my allegiance to any one team. Of course once I started school at Penn State, they became my college football team (and what an awesome team to claim as my own!). As a student at Penn State you had an obligation to pretty much choose between the two major Pennsylvania rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles. And my choice...the Steelers! This came about for several reasons:

1. some of my friends were big fans and took the time to acquaint me with the players and the amazing defensive line
2. I really like Pittsburgh as a town and the people are super friendly and hard working
   
3. and there were too many nights when really inebriated Eagles fans were up at 4am shouting the annoying Eagles chant "E.A.G.L.E.S, EAGLES" at the top of their lungs just under my bedroom window (that's just uncalled for!)

And thus, the Steelers became my NFL team. And boy did I pick right! The Steelers won the Superbowl this weekend which was coincidentally held in Tampa. Now, although there was no way I was getting tickets to the game itself, I decided that this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity. When would I ever have this kind of luck again...not only was the Superbowl in the same town I was living in, but my favorite team was playing in it. I had to go out and support them. So with a little help from my landlady and a lot of help from my boyfriend and his friend, Rebecca, I made it to a Tampa Superbowl tailgate!! Woohoo!!

The sign speaks for itself

How great is this?

Apparently Camp Wingmann is really a summer church camp in Highlands County, FL. Is it just me, or is there something fundamentally wrong with that as a name for a religious retreat?

I saw the sign on the side of the road when I was heading home from a field project recently. I had to do a U-turn to grab this photo...priceless! And oddly enough I didn't realize the billboard in the background until I downloaded the photo. It just adds to the awesomeness!

Stealth Bombs!

I had the pleasure of going back to Troy's house last night to see how far along his furry friends are. They haven't gotten much bigger, but they are now fully grown and flying all over the place! Yes, I'm talking about his flying squirrel duo again. The sweetest things you have ever seen have now become not only sweet but lightning fast. They climb up your jeans, hesitant of any newcomers, and leap from your shoulders to anything they think they can cling to, including the wall, which doesn't work out for them so well! I was standing about 4 feet from Troy as he was talking about the little boy squirrel, when suddenly it sprung from his hand to my shirt, in the blink of an eye. Woah, I didn't see that one coming and it kind of surprises you when it first happens! They barely sat still while I was there because it was about 10pm, their prime activity time. But when they do stop to take a breath and you can see their eyes and baby fine fur, it is truly exciting to have the privilege of seeing such a creature up close!