That's What (S)he said: Weekly Round-Up

I didn't get around to posting a weekly round-up last weekend, because I was out doing some awesome things. In real life! Away from the computer! I know, it's weird. I thought my skin would burst into flames from the shock of the sunlight hitting it.

I was hanging out with this little guy:



And on Saturday I went to the Brazos Writers workshop on "The Art and Science of Investigation." How often have you been at a workshop and said, "No, keep talking! Lunch will wait!" Never, right? Four speakers, and I could've listened to each one all day long. Do forensic entomologists have groupies? 'Cause that might be my new hobby. And I was inspired to try my hand at forensic artistry in the creation of the shot-up nutria picture shown in my invasive species post. (It would be inappropriate to show his "morgue photo," you know.) Seriously, I think I missed my calling.

Back in computerland, here are some favorite things from this week:

Bookavore posted a fabulous five-part series about organization for the disorganized-- really simple, easy-to-follow stuff. Here's part one about how the plan got started, and you'll want to follow through with the whole series. It's helped me a lot already, and my brain is made of hamsters running on those squeaky metal wheels, so it's hard for me to keep track of stuff. I'll do a post next week about things that have helped me be better organized. (And yes, that task is on my list!)

For some great advice about how to promote yourself without being an annoying jerk, see these posts by Nathan Bransford and Livia Blackburne.

Need some motivation to get off the couch and start exercising? How about adding zombies to your run?

This is the largest audience these musicians have had. Who cares that they're cows, just look at how rapt with attention they are:

But is there anything cuter than an orphaned baby elephant wearing a raincoat?

Speaking of elephants, here's an update on my Elephants: The New Vampires post. Look what was waiting on my front porch for me when I got home from work on Tuesday, from Susan The Lovely Assistant Editor:

Isn't it pretty? It's such a fun read, too. How can you not love a book about a boy who's raised by an elephant?

And I saw a newly-released elephant picture book I didn't know about before:

Wendy Henrichs' WHEN ANJU LOVED BEING AN ELEPHANT (Sleeping Bear Press) is about an elephant who's taken from the wild in Sumatra and sold to a circus, then a zoo. Now she's riding on a truck to someplace new, after fifty years of captivity. And I love the name-- CHAINED has a backstory about a circus elephant named Anju!

Writerly types, be sure stop by the Read For Relief auction if you haven't yet. Lots of items like critiques from authors, editors, and agents, signed books, and other fun things up for bid to benefit The Red Cross. Bidding on items posted on Friday will end Sunday, and new items will be announced on Monday.

Have a great week, everyone!

Invasive Animals That Most Deserve a Punch In the Face

Last week I wrote a little about a new law to help deal with the feral hog problem in Texas. But there are plenty of other invasive species running around like unruly leash kids who've broken free of their harnesses. Here are just a few that are especially annoying:

1. Nutria
Nutria are huge rodents from South America that have invaded wetlands in the U.S. and eaten all the plants in sight.

Here's what a nutria looks like, in case you haven't had the pleasure of meeting one:

Hey, you gonna eat that?

With their voracious appetites, rat-like tails, and sharp Cheetos-like teeth, they're like beavers, only hideous-looking and jobless.

One day my brother Mike and his family came home to see their dog in a fight with a nutria. They tried to pull their dog away, but the nutria kept running after it again. They hadn't seen one before and didn't know what it was, but my nephew Luke said, "Hey, that's a nutria! It's an invasive species from South America!" Then he ran and got his science textbook to show his parents a picture. My brother had a less academic approach--he ran to his car, drove up to the canine/giant rodent smackdown, "took steady aim at the teeth that shone like beacons of evil, or Cheetos," and shot the nutria twice in the head. (Do not try this at home. Unless you're a really, really good shot.) He didn't get a picture, because it was "shot in the head and kinda bug-eyed lookin' when it was all over," but here's a crappy artist's* rendering:

It's just a flesh wound! Get back here! I'll bite your leg off!

So in this case, the animal did get a punch in the face, but it was with a couple of .40 caliber bullets instead of a fist.

*"crappy artist" = me

2. Snakehead fish

Thanks a pantload, Evolution

...and any other fish who eats everything in a lake, then gets out and walks to another lake to eat everything over there. Look, you guys need to slow it down a bit. If there's nothing good in the fridge, I don't run around pillaging my neighbor's kitchens. They hate that. I know someone released you in a strange lake, but just hang out, pace yourself, and stay in the water like the fish you're supposed to be. Yeah, we're impressed--you can walk. Very cool. Now give it a rest and quit showing off.

3. The brown tree snake of Guam


This is a snake that probably hitched a ride on a plane from Australia back in the 1940s, on a flight that unfortunately didn't have Samuel L. Jackson as a passenger.

About every three days there's a power outage somewhere on Guam, caused by snakes who thought it might be fun to play with electrical wires. Thankfully they aren't highly venomous, but their bites do cause a lot of ER visits.

Before the brown tree snake barged in, the only other snake on Guam was the blind snake. You know what it eats? Termites. Which makes the blind snake really cool.

Not so cool: ridding the island of birds and small mammals. The birds of Guam weren't used to predators, so didn't know they should fly away from something with sharp teeth opening its mouth
to eat them. They were just sitting there, minding their own business on a branch next to the newly-arrived brown tree snake, saying, "Oh, hi, I don't think we've met. Um, why am I in your mouth?" You'd think the next birds would've flown away then, but no, they just looked into the snake's mouth going, "Hey, where'd our friend go? Can we play?"

And I get it--when you're at an all-you-can-eat buffet, you want to get your money's worth. But you know what happens when you eat all the birds, Brownie? ALL THE BIRDS ARE EATEN. Kind of screwed yourself over there, didn't you? Enjoy the lizards, jerk.

I don't need to put in a disclaimer, do I? Then again, we need warnings on lawn mowers so people will know not to trim their hedges with them. Sigh. Okay, then.

People: It's not the animals' fault that they're in the wrong place. They're just doing what they know, after being plunked in a ridiculously inconvenient place. DO NOT GO AROUND PUNCHING ANIMALS IN THE FACE. It's not nice, and some of them are bitey.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see what my neighbors have in the pantry. I've run out of Cheetos.