Comments | underwaterharfe: I am a chronic non-poster.

underwaterharfe

I am a chronic non-poster.

Jul 18, 2006 18:09

In the last couple of months, I've noticed that I have a lot of interesting little events in my life that I'd love to report on using this blog. At the same time, I realize that I don't particularly care to invest the energy to tell it through text posted online; that I'd rather use the experiences as fun stories in person or something to relate ( Read more... )

Comments 7

thelamington July 19 2006, 05:33:41 UTC

what's zoomazium?

underwaterharfe July 19 2006, 05:41:38 UTC

Put simply, it's this year's new item at the zoo that they hope will bring more visitors back for the summer. They blew $9.6 million to have an indooor nature-themed playground, a stage, and a Nature Exchange program. The Nature Exchange essentially amounts to offering kids points in return for doing more-or-less self-guided learning about nature, and then trading those points in for prize items from nature. The particular prizes offered at Woodland Park Zoo are currently sea shells of various types, minerals, fossils, and some living potted plants.

I could explain more about my mixed feelings for Zoomazium, but I think this is probably enough for one LJ comment.

thelamington July 19 2006, 05:54:54 UTC

hmmm ... interesting. I like the concept of getting kids to explore "nature" (I hate the term "nature" but that's a whole different rant) and in return get a plant or something to further explore the natural world. It must be a drag, though, at times. Working with kids is phenomonally exchausting.

underwaterharfe July 19 2006, 06:12:51 UTC

No kidding! I was so pooped at the end of today you wouldn't believe it! It's especially hard since you have to pull out the full enthusiasm for saying exactly the same thing to different kids all day or else you lose them.

I agree entirely about the whole "nature" idea. It's very Hallmark-ized and forced to sound like a completely benign and passive entity that we can easily define and separate from ourselves. People rarely realize that nature has its highly competitive sides that drive most of its [biological] processes and don't tend to remember that they are also a part of the natural world.

I'm largely in support of the Nature Exchange concept myself, but I do have a couple of issues with it. First, it encourages collection from nature. While the collecting is broken into responsible and irresponsible categories, I'm just waiting for the day that some kid comes in after flagrantly abusing the intended interpretation of collecting responsible items ( ... )

Thread 6

slimey_limey July 21 2006, 04:30:57 UTC

I haven't cut my head hair since ... uh ... 2003.