Things I Found in the Twitterverse

I woke up to a slew of interesting links on Twitter this - um, well, afternoon.  Look, I work nights, all right?  The crack o' noon is my version of other peoples' 6 ay-em.  I once had to explain this to a scheduling manager at a former job who didn't understand why we night folk screamed whenever she scheduled us for an early morning shift due to "business needs."  I'm not sure she quite got it, but the requests to drag ourselves in at what amounted to 3 in the morning for us dropped off precipitously afterward.

Anyway.  On to the fun and interesting bits.

Via Ron Schott, we've got a fascinating NYT article on idiocy in our national parks.  Let me just go over a few things that came to mind as I was reading this:

1.  Parents who put their kids on wild animals in order to get a cute vacation shot should not have bred in the first place.  Now, those parents may be thinking, "But it's an herbivore!  What harm can it do?"  Take it from someone who grew up with horses: lots.  Being kicked, stomped, head-butted, bitten, thrown from, and rolled on by something that weighs over 2,000 pounds is no joke.

2.  People who use their little emergency beacon to summon search and rescue helicopters because their water tastes salty deserve to be charged for the cost of the rescue flight.  People who do it three fucking times in less than 48 hours deserve to be left out in the wilderness permanently. 

3.  Yes, you may want to get a good angle for your photograph.  Yes, backing up to get everyone in the shot seems like a good idea.  No, you shouldn't do it when standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon. 

4.  If you're one of those people who will ignore the signs regarding scalding hot water at Yellowstone and decide to take a dip in a geyser anyway, please be sure to cook your reproductive organs thoroughly, preferably before breeding, and do not ever adopt.  Thank you.

Yeesh.

Let's move on to happier subjects, shall we?  Also via Ron, I discovered the Arizona State Geologist's blog, in which I discovered that we still have a week to ensure Kartchner Caverns gets some much-deserved largess from Coke.  Go here to cast your votes!  Bonus - you can vote as many times as you like.  Now, Arizona's leadership is hideously stupid at the moment, but a national treasure like Kartchner shouldn't have to suffer for it.

Here's some incentive:

I've been there, and no photograph I've found is a patch on the real thing, but it's incredibly beautiful, supremely fragile, and wholly worth preserving.

I also learned a geologist has been appointed as deputy supervisor of the Coconino National Forest.  Considering how much geology there is in the Coconino National Forest, this strikes me as a very wise idea.

Speaking of much geology, Silver Fox has more delicious pictures up from her Oregon trip here, here and here.  I have three items on my agenda now: visit the Petersen Rock Garden, the Dee-Wright Observatory, and get adopted by Silver Fox.

If that proves impossible, I'll settle for being adopted by Erik Klemetti, who also visits some of the most beautiful geology on earth - in this case, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, plus a few others. 

Look, I'm proud to be an engineer's daughter, but the field trips aren't half as lovely!  Sorry, Dad.

And, practically in my backyard, Brian Romans of Clastic Detritus has found an undersea volcano going boom, complete with live feed!  Living in the Ring of Fire has its compensations.  Oh, yes it does!