busy

There’s a number of stories to tell but I’m quite busy. Sorry, guys.

life

I have decided to use my dear readers as a source of inspiration. As most of you probably know, I am an environmental engineer in the making (quite close to completion, actually) and my current work is related to biodiversity. I was wondering about the understanding of this term in the general public. Also, at this point I could use some inspiration. So here’s my task for you: I would like you to complete the following questionnaire and leave the answer as a comment. Please do not conduct any research before answering the questions, just go ahead and write what you think. Ideal would be to not even read the other comments before leaving your own.

0. For the record: Describe your relation to environmental topics. Are you (a) an environmental professional, (b) a scholar of environmental science, engineering or management, (c) an interested citizen, (d) a common citizen with no special interest in the environment, or (e) an annoyed citizen who can’t stand the hype about environmental topics anymore.

1. List the first two or three keywords that come to your mind when thinking about “biodiversity”.

2. What is biodiversity for you?

3. What aspect of biodiversity do you consider most precious?

4. What aspect of biodiversity do you consider most crucial to human survival?

5. What aspect of biodiversity do you consider most threatened?

6. What aspect of biodiversity do you consider expendable?

7. How much does the biodiversity in a region that is not your own matter to you?

8. How much are you aware of your own impact on biodiversity?

9. What would nature look like if biodiversity was in a state that you consider its optimum?

10. How important is biodiversity compared to other environmental issues to you?

11. How important is biodiversity compared to other political/social issues to you?

12. What is the best way to preserve biodiversity, if it needs preservation at all?

I appreciate your individual answers. Thank you.

noise, eventually

Eventually I found some decent noise in this seemingly metal-free place. There was a concert in Isla Vista, the part of Goleta where most of the undergraduate students from UCSB live. On the weekend, Isla Vista turns into one big party. Saturday night I had the pleasure to watch the punk band Screwdrive Suicide, the death metal band Mouth of the Serpent and the power metal band Nekrogoblikon perform in the backyard of a house beautifully situated on the cliff above the Pacific Ocean. There was no club, no bar, no nothing. They had simply set up their equipment in the open. I’ve never seen a gig more underground than this before.

Check out the bands’ MySpace profiles. I particularly liked Mouth of the Serpent but that’s just me with my death metal addiction. It was a pity that I had kissed the asphalt the other day and didn’t want to risk moving too much.

bad luck #2

Advice to cyclists: Never hit anything harder than your body.

But good luck for you, my dear readers. I have uploaded the video from the whale watching tour on YouTube. Cliquez içi.