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hookem2010

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by hookem2010

  1. Migration has been weird this year, in the Austin area anyway. Black-throated blue warbler is a fantastic bird.
  2. That's awesome! I saw that a small flock reported recently down there and a lone bird has been hanging out in Port A for a while now. A ton showed up all over the place after one of the recent hurricanes and some seem to have hung out, or at least returned regularly. I need t8 make an excuse to go see them. Nice ID on the scoter. Even on the coast they're not all that common.
  3. Migration FINALLY picking up, just as it's supposed to wind down. I had a nice 9-warbler morning, including golden-winged, bay-breasted and multiple blackburnian. Also turned up my county-first Ash-throated flycatcher, which are tough to come by east of 35. Just another week or two, and everything will have passed through, and we will all be attempting to stave off heat stroke.
  4. Like you actually know any of that, scalpel jockey!
  5. At least others can learn from our mistakes.
  6. Currently posted outside the ER of Dell Children's. We are fucking evil.
  7. Hey man, I've got two young kids under 3 who don't sleep and I'm studying for a board exam. Reading an entire article is a big deal for me right now and this is where I come to share my big-brained conclusions. I'm not reading that entire book right now but I'll try to educate myself further about Klein.
  8. I may not know every liberal podcaster/author/journalist, but I do know that David Sirota hates literally everything. And I've heard his name, but not much of what he has to say until he started popping up everywhere recently.
  9. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/abundance-discourse-ezra-klein-trump-musk-democrats-1235310224/ Someone had mentioned recently that they didn't have Rolling Stone as the journalistic entity with the greatest integrity and strongest reporting during Trump 2.0, but damn if it ain't true. I don't know much about this Klein guy, other than hearing some NPR host embarrassingly gush over his ideas during an interview, but it seems like he might suck. Haven't heard the Pod Save interview, but it's disappointing that NPR and Jon Stewart apparently didn't poke any holes in their book's flawed arguments.
  10. This is the natural history knowledge 98% of people lack, and probably why AI is so fucking dumb about it, and anything else requiring specialized knowledge. Great call-out.
  11. These have all been along the trail between Kenney Fort and Redbud.
  12. Some solid snakes along Brushy Creek the last few months.
  13. We caught the foreskin of that weather dick here in R², maybe 0.1". Not enough to provide sustenance to plants, but just enough to muddy up the bare strip adjacent to my patio so my dog can bring it inside.
  14. Spring migration has been a total dud thus far with these constant south winds blowing everything past us. I did, however, learn that there is a place in California where Peregrines attack Pelicans.
  15. Radar now predicts nothing for my house. We had our 2nd not too long ago so this hits extra close to home.
  16. I'm about as close to the storm in Round Rock as I can be without getting anything.
  17. https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5380816/climate-assessment-authors-released
  18. Thanks, man. Nature has always been my jam, and after school, I thought backpacking was going to be my thing. I was obsessed with looking at the map of wilderness areas once I learned about them, got some tent camping in with my now wife, and had a trip planned to the Pecos Wilderness, before it ended up falling on the same week as her grad school interview. Between school and now kids, I've only ever squeezed in a weekend of backpacking in Lassen. But as I was learning what Houston didn't have to offer in terms of hiking and megafauna, I discovered how insanely diverse birdlife was, even within city limits. Despite being stuck in the suburbs, birding gives me the connection to nature, and especially seasons, that I otherwise wouldn't feel without traveling somewhere more wild. I've now been at it for 9 years and recorded 531 species, mostly staying fairly local, or at least domestic. Hopefully that changes as the kids get older, but it has definitely helped keep me sane this last decade.
  19. This picture of military macaws was taken in Big Bend NP this week. Unbelievable sighting of a species only reported in the US once before (AZ following a hurricane in '92, and not "accepted" as likely wild). While provenance will be debated, the birds apparently have a "wild" appearance (no broken flight feathers and I guess appropriate bill wear?) The nearest established population is a couple hundred miles south into Mexico. Not too far for a species that can range a decent distance while searching for food, but that is a lot of desert to cross to make it to BBNP. Regardless, I can't imagine encountering these birds in the US.
  20. Where's the Trump Truth calling on teams to draft our boy, Quinn?
  21. So my wife and I had our long-awaited sit-down with my parents this weekend. It went... not bad? My mother actually apologized for her vote. My dad admitted he should have at least left president blank if nothing else, and has finally realized Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton are clowns who he has vowed not to support. There was some defensiveness from my dad about immigration that remains pretty nonsensical, but they agreed with things like deportation being out of control, January 6th and pardons being a really bad thing (still don't see how they overlooked this in November), healtchare and education gutting being scary, foreign policy being absurd. It doesn't absolve them of their votes, but I have hope that they have been nursing the kool-aid slow enough that they may be salvagable. Somehow we didnt even really touch on the economy, which would usually be a place they'd want to direct the conversation, so I'm guessing they're none too thrilled about that. How much of this was them capitulating so they can see their grandkids more? Perhaps a little. But they didn't roll over entirely or immediately, and my mother is not able to mask or manipulate her emotions, so I think there was real sincerity with much of what they said.
  22. How quickly you forgot about the self-cut JD sported to the donut shop.
  23. I get it, man. As a guy who grew up Christian but quickly found my way out of religion as an adult, I don't know how much I can speak to your current struggles if you're wanting to remain connected to the church. But a decade ago, I would have thought it very strange to share personal difficulties on here, but now I find it therapeutic. (Mostly) strangers who share at least some common background that brought them to this site are able to air greivances, but there is also a wide range of experience and beliefs (yes, even in CR). There was a time, as a younger man working through depression, when I found speaking to a therapist incredibly helpful, moreso than any meds. This was a Christian dude who I didn't know personally, but he didn't pass any judgement and he listened and responded as a total outsider to my immediate experience. I am still grateful. Obviously this is not a judgement-free zone, or a treatment center for depression, but sharing personal shit with people who aren't intimately involved, and who may have some understanding of your general background, while also offering differing opinions, can be a useful resource. I have recently shared family drama on here that is difficult to discuss even with my spouse and siblings, who are generally on my side. But getting the perspective of others who aren't entangled in it daily, or simply venting, has helped me work through a lot of my shit.
  24. Not cruel enough, bro. Gotta make the mother have a baby that is not viable unless attached to a vent for the entirety of their torturous existence, so they can "live" as a vegetable while the mother and any potential partner or other children also become emotionally and financially destroyed. That's when you know you've done the Lord's work, and so long as you've dutifully hated the gays and browns, you may be admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven and/or elected to the highest offices in the country as a Republican.
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