Monday

[nightdog_barks]

Ugh, slept v. badly last night. The one-a-day drug I take (anastrozole) can have a side effect of hot flashes, and they seem to come and go in cycles. One month I will have almost none; the next month they come in waves. Also, I think that perhaps Chango is becoming afraid of the dark, because when I turn out my light to go to sleep, she comes to my side of the bed, anxious and wanting comfort. She is nine years old, so I guess this is to be expected to some degree. Last night I got up and found an old nightlight we have and plugged it in -- that seemed to help, so it'll be interesting to see what happens tonight. (She's fine during the day, btw.)

May put down the Steinbeck for a while -- it's a decent read, but the biological collection methods of 1940 were horrific, to say the least. As just one example, they caught a sea turtle,

... cut off its head with an axe (and marveled at how it kept flopping around on the deck), sawed it apart to get to its organs (and marveled at how the heart kept beating for hours), tried cooking the meat (and found it inedible and disgusting), tried saving the shell as a ship's ornament (and ended up throwing it away because it never dried/cured properly). Also they shot a shark through the fin (it kept swimming and got away), harpooned rays, and clubbed Sally Lightfoot crabs to death, which you would think would have defeated the whole idea of collecting specimens.

Remember, this is 1940, but YE GODS.



Anyway. Watched the Tony Awards last night and was happy to see Nina Arianda win for lead actress in Venus in Fur. She was in Born Yesterday last year with RSL, and was nominated for that role also. So that's a good thing. :-D

Comments

[damigella]

Good to know Django's aging not going too bad yet - could her eyesight be less sharp than it used to be?

For some reason the story with the turtle didn't upset me that much, I read recently how the heart that goes on beating works and there's nothing sentient there (it's just a cool side effect of how turtles' bodies had to adapt to make it possible to remain really long underwater).

Good to know you get to watch soccer!

[nightdog_barks]

Yep, it's definitely possible her eyesight isn't as sharp, although her eyes are clear and I can't see any cloudiness there.

The turtle thing ... IDK, in the end it just seemed like an unnecessary waste. The researchers pulled out the few things they wanted and threw the rest away because they didn't know how to deal with it. They attempted to make turtle soup, but it was awful and Steinbeck admitted there's a proper way to cook it but they didn't know how. Same with saving the shell. If they'd taken the time to learn how to do these things, they could at least have made more use of the creature. As it was, they come off like real "ugly Americans." I honestly don't know if you've ever heard this term, so here's the Wiki page.

The Sweden/Ukraine game just ended, and Ukraine won, which I think was a huge upset. :-D

[silverjackal]

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble sleeping. Hopefully the hot-flash cycle will ease off! As for Chango, if possible you might want to take her to the vet. It could be nothing, but there are any number of things which could cause a behavioural change like that, from failing eyesight to an infection lurking somewhere.

In re: collecting methods -- I'm not surprised at their barbarity. Some collecting consisted of literally killing and eating the last specimen of something. D: Usually by 1940 methods were considerably more sophisticated, so Steinbeck's experience was obviously with a ham-fisted moron.

[nightdog_barks]

I want to like this book (I'm a Steinbeck fan), but there's just this ... vibe from it that I don't like. The biologist he was with, Ed Ricketts, was apparently a big name in the early ecology field, but the methods of collection leave me aghast.

Chango's eyesight seems all right, and she seems fine otherwise -- it's just the sudden dark that apparently unnerves her. She doesn't need to go out and she doesn't want a treat, and if I get up to see if she really wants out or wants a treat, she gets in her crate. And goes to sleep. Heh.

[silverjackal]

Chango's eyesight seems all right, and she seems fine otherwise

It's still a behavioural change, and since dogs see better in dim light than humans, an odd one. If it were my dog I'd want to rule out potential biological causes if there wasn't a clear behavioural incident (like something having frightened her, or a pattern of attention seeking).

I've heard of Ricketts, and I'm doubly appalled if this is how he conducted his work. I don't retract the "ham-fisted moron". People were collecting far more fragile specimens properly several decades prior. Your anecdote reeks of drunken hubris rather than biology -- not that many eminent scientists aren't fully capable of both.

[bironic]

Whee, drugs. My mom has been on anastrozole as well. The hot flashes evened out after a few months - I hope that is true for you as well. The downside for her has been mild to moderate joint pain. :/

I smiled for Nina too! She was fabulous in Born Yesterday, and the woman we saw down in DC in Venus in Fur, who modeled her performance after Nina's (seems Nina played the role both before and after Born Yesterday), was also excellent, so I can only imagine what Nina herself was like.

[nightdog_barks]

Yeah, I'm in my third month of anastrozole and I'm hoping the hot flashes start to die down. On the other hand, since I know what they're from, it's a little easier to just outlast them. The only other SE I've really noticed is that my skin is oilier (ick). So far I haven't been too troubled by joint pain. \o/

And yes, you're exactly right -- Arianda was in Venus in Fur off-Broadway, then she was in Born Yesterday ON Broadway (and nominated for Best Actress), then she was in Venus in Fur on Broadway (and won for Best Actress). The woman is on fire. :-D

[pwcorgigirl]

Poor Chango! She may just be rattled by the comings and goings in the household, since there's no way she could understand Mr. N's recent schedule.

Rocket turned 12 in March and he does have some age-related opacity in his eyes. We starting noticing he did not want to take a walk after twilight any more because he no longer sees as well in dim light. Neither do I, come to think of it! :D

Steinbeck based the character of Doc in "Sweet Thursday" on Ed Ricketts, so I think I'll skip reading about how he actually did his work. The fictional doc's work is less stomach-turning.

[nightdog_barks]

That's what I was thinking -- her human's erratic schedule, plus the stormy weather, plus getting older -- she gets thrown for a loop.

A few of the reviewers on Amazon mentioned the barbarity of the collecting methods, so I'm not alone, at least. I'm thinking I'll go back to reading Steinbeck's fiction. ;-)

[topaz_eyes]

the biological collection methods of 1940 were horrific, to say the least.

And right here is a philosophical foundation for the animal rights movement. Though I think these particular "scientists" were... just not competent.

I hope Chango's doing better with the night light.

[nightdog_barks]

And you know, I have no problem with biologists/zoologists/scientists gathering live specimens for research ... it's just (like I said to Damigella upstream) this seemed so wasteful. They could have made good turtle soup, if they'd bothered to learn how. They could have saved the shell, if they'd bothered to learn how. It just really struck a nerve and annoyed me. Anyway, I put it down and picked up Jo Walton's Farthing, which is an AU murder mystery, taking place in an England which made peace with Nazi Germany after Rudolf Hess's "peace with honor" negotiations. :-D

Chango stayed in her den through the night -- but I don't know if it was because of the nightlight or the rain we were having. I guess we shall see. I'm going to keep putting the nightlight out because I like it. *g*