NatureJunkie's Page

“I can’t explain or defend the criteria I use for grading student art,” one of my art professors confided to me once over coffee. “One student does something that’s technically proficient, another one has no natural ability but struggles very hard. Another one knows how to tap into trendiness… All I know for sure is that some works move a great many people, and other works move very few. If a work seems to move people, I use that as an indicator of quality.”

I do too, even though I know that ya… Continue

Today is the day that the campus I work at will be billowing with caps and gowns. I feel a compulsion to greet every student wearing a gown with heartfelt congratulations, even though most of them are self-absorbed on this day and don't even make eye contact. Their parents follow them around toting floral arrangements that probably cost what I spend on groceries in a month. I love this day, because I love my job as an academic advisor and seeing those gowns makes me feel like what I do counts to… Continue

As an update to the blog and video I posted on March 4, I want to share some good news about Gemma, the German shepherd I’ve been working to find a home for.

A dog trainer in Marin County (just north of San Francisco) saw the video of Gemma and has volunteered to provide her with a foster home until she finds a permanent home. The trainer has several acres of property and four large dogs. She feels confident that she can socialize Gemma to other dogs and Gemma will receive some great training a… Continue

I cursed the man in the parking lot from behind my steering wheel, the one who opened his car door, emptied his trash onto the ground, and then kicked it under his car to hide what he’d done. It’s difficult for me not to extend my contempt to the whole of our species when I see a single one of us taking a shit on the world.

I’m in a foul mood a lot these days. Most of my spare time is split between two volunteer activities: monitoring a Cooper’s hawk nest for a research project, and walking and… Continue

[I apologize to those who have read this blog previously on another site. I will most likely be posting some blogs soon that have to do with the new work I am doing with dogs, and I realized that some of them will bear direct relationship to this one. And yes, there will be more about Tiger later.]

“There will be some days when you leave this place in tears,” said John, the trainer at my dog-walking orientation when I decided at the beginning of this year to volunteer at my local… Continue