Mynah Adventures 6: Home Free
Published June 21, 2011
Sad to say, most times a wild bird is “rescued”, imprinted on humans and returned to the wild… they just don’t live long. Bird rehabilitators are very, very careful not to allow the birds to imprint on humans because that just tends to make them friendly, loving, human-centered cat treats when they are released.
That was the danger all along with Lele. But she made her choices.
My Hawaiian Name
Published June 21, 2011You may know that I’m an Anthropologist. One of the key things that I learned in that study is how utterly futile it is trying to “objectively” understand another culture. The same is even more true of trying to “become” a “member” of a different culture.
So when I was asked if I had a Hawaiian name I had to think very carefully how to answer.
Father’s Day
Published June 19, 2011In my 20′s we’d have long conversations in the kitchen when my dad would ask me about what I was doing and thinking. After I wound down he’d say “This is what your 20′s are all about: smashing your ideals against the world until they break. Then what you have left over is real.”
He died before I turned 30 and I never asked him what was coming next.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad.
“It’s only a model.”
Published June 18, 2011I’ve spent many years studying, working with and even helping teach and develop the 8 Shields Model with Jon Young and OWLink Media.
It has been several years since I moved to Hawaii and stopped working directly with the model and it has been interesting to see how the model applies to life, work and vision outside the relatively small circles of programs related to it.
First, the “road map” of human meta-cultural DNA that the model attempts to clarify and codify is always applicable to the individual. The core routines, shields, and cultural principles always hold valuable insight for me. If I’m stuck in one or more aspects of life there is always a way to flank the blockage and shake it loose. As a personal reflection and growth tool, the 8 Shields Model is pretty darned handy.
Beyond that it gets much trickier to integrate. And to a point, the better you are at using the model personally, the more your internal language reflects it… the harder it is to express both yourself and the model in mixed company.
Cue Monty Python voice:
Mynah Adventures 5: Letting Go
Published June 16, 2011Yes, Lele had been living 2 doors down. The way I figured it, when she was attacked she flew up and away in panic – as she should – but flew so far she didn’t know where she was. The husband 2 doors down, who was just getting ready to mow the lawn, happens to have a goatee like me and found himself being “mobbed” by a young Mynah looking for a comforting shoulder.
He and his wife figured out that it must be a lost, tame Mynah and eventually heard through the neighbor in between that we had a tame Mynah, too. A call and a short walk later Lele was once again in her cage in my room. Thanks to Meadow and Jesse she was alive, healthy and well fed.
You can imagine how relieved and happy I was.
Mynah Adventures 4: Gone
Published June 14, 2011She needed to learn how to live outside and the best way to learn that was from other birds. I checked on her every 10 minutes the first day, later every 15. The second day she was hanging out with the other birds but would always fly to me when I came out.
Then she was gone.
Mynah Adventures: Part 3 – The Miracle of Flight
Published June 11, 2011One of the most wonderful things about birds is that they fly and can go just about anywhere. It truly is amazing.
One of the most annoying things about indoor birds is that they poop and they can go just about anywhere. It truly is messy.
Lele has was rapidly reaching the point where her ability to fly and explore was exceeding my patience for covering up anything that couldn’t get pooped on – like my pillow. Soon it would be time for her to move outside. Where the cats live.
Mynah Adventures: Part 2
Published June 11, 2011If you ever have the opportunity to google what to do when rescuing a baby bird, be prepared to be surprised.
Did you know that its illegal? One moment that little bird was one among millions of young birds doomed to die horribly that spring, and the next it is a federally protected individual with rights and you could be breaking the law by helping it.
Silly, isn’t it?
The Digital Devolution
Published June 10, 2011We received something interesting in the mail recently. A young couple that my roommate performed the marriage ceremony for recently had their first baby and sent us a family photo.
You know, a photo? Taken on film, developed with chemicals and printed on photo paper? One of those.
I haven’t seen an in-the-flesh photo for a while but seeing the gorgeous young family in print reminded me of finding a box full of old, faded B & W and sepia ancestral photos in my dad’s closet when he passed on. There was a picture of my grandfather who I had never met. I sat for a few moments looking at the tenuous connection with my unknown past and thanked my father’s obsession with photography that brought it down through the ages to my hands.
As much as I love the convenience and power of digital photography I’m pretty certain that my grandchildren aren’t going to stumble across a box full of 50 year old backup hard drives and be able to view my photo collection.
Adam, Part II: Basking in the Sun
Published June 10, 2011I have what is called a “Wifi PQi” Adam, meaning that its a wifi only (no 3g) device with a Pixel Qi screen. Its the Pixel Qi screen that really makes the device shine, so to speak.
What you have to know is that its not a great screen. I’ll be quite honest: compared to just about any LCD screen of comparable size that you are likely to find anywhere today… the Pixel Qi screen really sucks. Its low res (only 1024 × 600,) grainy (due to the touch overlay added by Notion Ink) and has pretty wretched viewing angles with the backlight both on and off.
But its the only device currently on the market that lets you sip a cocktail on a sunny Hawaiian beach while updating your blog. And in my case it might even be solar powered.
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