“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” “In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” (Walden, 351-352)

This passage resonates with the themes of many modern day motivational speeches. Nonetheless, I think that this thought is pretty inspiring and exemplifies the emotions that I would expect Thoreau to have after spending so long at Walden Pond. This passage ties back to the concept of getting of the beaten path. Thoreau went to Walden pond to live differently then the commoner. He went to find the meaning of his own life and learned that his solitude wasn’t actually solitude. He developed new values and learned that life should be experienced from moment to moment, savoring some story from every second. In the conclusion, Thoreau sounds like a new man with a refreshed sense of life, a sense that he wishes to share with the rest of the world.

As a kid, I was always afraid of the dark. I would ask my parents to leave the hallway lights on at night and I would shy away from stargazing that required walking 50 yards through the dark New Hampshire woods from my house to the lake. However, as I grew up, I learned to love the night sky and the stars. Living in the suburbs of Boston, I rarely see that many stars. I long for trips to the Lake or to Martha’s Vineyard, where light pollution is minimal and the stars shine bright. Looking at the stars gives me a sense of freedom and relaxation. Bogard talks about how the sky above Times Square is an empty blackness that shows few signs of life. In contrast, the rural night sky reminds us of how small we are. It dominates all of human life in a completely natural and awe inspiring way.

A shaky image that I took of the night sky over Martha’s Vineyard, MA.

Vegas from space.

I thought it was interesting that these images happened to pop up in my Facebook timeline after our discussions on bears and hunting. I see the portrayal of fuzzy, cuddly bears in the form of the sleeping bag, and I feel like the first image could have been an advertisement on display in Cabela’s. I was wondering what your thoughts might be on these images after the discussions we have had in class?

Uber and Lyft have become popular methods of transport. Due to the popularity of these services there are claims they have led to a decrease in personal car ownership, but there are also claims these services are being used instead of walking, biking, or transit. In order to explore these claims an environmental impact assessment of these services is being done by The Natural Resources Defense Council and the University of California-Berkeley. This study will be done over the course of a year and will evaluate these services across the nation to determine whether there are environmental benefits or consequences to the growing popularity of these services.

I have attached the article discussing this below:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/13/9730458/uber-lyft-environment-impact-cost-NRDC-Berkeley-study

I am curious to hear what are you guys think about the environmental impact of Uber and Lyft. Beneficial? Detrimental?

I don’t precisely recall how I stumbled upon this site but I imagine it was a video I found somewhere linked on Facebook. I have had this page open as a tab on my computer for about a week and I decided today to see what it was about. I was immediately dramatically surprised and dismayed to find that “www.environmentalpolicyalliance.org” is not an environmentally friendly website at all. It leads off with aggressive statements like, “If you think environmentalists are overzealous today when they (falsely) link fracking to serious health and environmental problems, take a look at their long track record of silly doomsday predictions,” and continues to correlate decreased fossil fuel use with increased environmental well-being.

I find it discouraging that this site clearly masquerades as a positive source of policy news and environmental awareness when it is clearly propaganda for the fossil fuel industry.

This is why we can’t have nice things. UGH.

http://environmentalpolicyalliance.org/the-environment-is-improving/

Before today’s Eagles football game, the NFL brought in a special guest to fly around the stadium. Turns out that Challenger the eagle is actually a pretty big celebrity in the sports world. Here is an article about him.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/sports/football/star-of-world-series-final-four-pro-bowls-and-olympics-a-bald-eagle.html?_r=0

A little while ago I got lunchables as a late night snack. I didn’t realize it when I was purchasing the Lunchables, but when I sat down to eat I realized there was a platypus on the front of the box. I didn’t think too much of it until I opened the box and realized there was a little cartoon on the inside of a platypus and a rabbit sharing a pun. Seeing this reminded me of Sterba’s book, Nature Wars.

In the bear chapter, as well as a few other chapters, Sterba warns against this type of anthropomorphism. He explains how it causes a false relationship with animals which can be dangerous. Sterba states, “Children grow up surrounded by images of wild animals presented as furry or feathery little people like them. We learn from our pets how some animals live and then mistakenly project that knowledge onto wild creatures living a much different reality . . . Today’s denatured adults often continue to see bears and other wilds animals the way they did as children without the corrective lens of different experience” (Sterba 184-185). Although I do not believe a rabbit or platypus will cause any true harm to a child or adult, the idea still holds. A food intended for children has images of animals acting like humans. These images will, most likely, stick with children throughout their life without an experience teaching them otherwise.