Ask Pangaea

[Saft]

Do you have a specific Paleotologist that you like?

[Amaranthine]

Hi, how are things Pangaea?

[Pangaea]

Who are your greatest inspirational idols?

Wow, where to start? There are a lot of people who inspire me.

Sir David Attenborough: Naturalist and broadcaster, who has presented and narrated several of the best nature documentaries ever made. Without a doubt one of my all-time heroes.

Temple Grandin: Animal scientist and autism advocate who is autistic herself. Has written several excellent books on autism and animal behavior and is someone I really look up to.

Aldo Leopold: Ecologist and nature writer (author of A Sand County Almanac) who contributed enormously to wilderness conservation and environmental ethics. Both his writing style and his invaluable contribution to ecology and conservation are hugely inspirational to me.

Merlin Tuttle: Bat researcher and photographer, and founder of Bat Conservation International. Has been described as having done more for the welfare of bats than any single person on the planet.

Robert Bakker: Paleontologist largely responsible for revolutionizing scientific views of dinosaurs. Author of Raptor Red, a xenofiction novel about a Utahraptor (written with the most minimal of anthropomorphism, which you don’t often see), and The Dinosaur Heresies, which helped popularize his theories about dinosaurs, such as that they were “warm-blooded”.

Darren Naish: Paleontologist and science writer who runs one of my favorite science blogs, “Tetrapod Zoology”.

Mark Witton: Artist and palaeobiologist who specializes in pterosaurs; his artwork can be seen here.

Matt Martyniuk: Paleo-artist and self-described “armchair paleontologist”; like me, he’s not a certified paleontologist, but he’s taught himself as much about the subject as he can (keeping up-to-date on new discoveries) and endeavors to deliver that information to other non-paleontologist paleontology fanatics on his blog.

Ed Yong: Science writer who runs the outstanding science blog “Not Exactly Rocket Science”.

Luis V. Rey: Paleo-artist who creates some of the most colorful and dynamic dinosaur illustrations you’ll ever see. (Website here.)

Ray Troll: Often humorous artist who specializes in fish and prehistoric life. (Website here.)

Richard Conniff: Science writer whose style is both informative and fun to read (often downright hilarious); exactly what I aspire to.

Gregory S. Paul: Paleontological author and illustrator.

Paul Sereno: Paleontologist who has made a huge number of significant fossil discoveries all over the world.

Wayne Barlowe: Science fiction and fantasy artist. Wrote and illustrated Expedition, almost surely my favorite book on hypothetical alien life.

The MythBusters (Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman, Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara): I just admire their skill at building things and solving problems, and their commitment to scientifically debunking myths despite not being scientists themselves.

The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Shemp Howard, and “Curly” Joe DeRita): My favorite comic team ever. My brothers and I wanted to be them at one time, and it brought us closer together as a result.

Groucho Marx: Another of my favorite comedians; his wit is what inspires me.

Gary Larson: The Far Side cartoonist.

Jim Davis: Garfield cartoonist.

Certain GOF members: Malte279, Cancerian Tiger, Rat_lady7, Caustizer, and FlipperBoidSkua, just to name a few.

P.S. I'm sure there are people I'm forgetting…

Do you have a specific Paleotologist that you like?

Basically the ones I mentioned in my response to the last question.

Hi, how are things Pangaea?

Pretty good, I guess. I still haven't posted in the RP, because I promised myself that I would get all my major reviewing work out of the way first. (I figure I’ll have a clearer head for writing once I’m done, anyway.) Tomorrow I'll be getting a new batch of recipes to proofread for my cookbook job. Speaking of which, did I ever tell you about the recipe debacle I encountered a while back? I decided to try one of the recipes (Hershey pie; basically a s’more in pie form: a mix of chocolate, marshmallow, and whipped cream in a graham cracker crust), which called for 3 cups of melted butter mixed with 12 crushed graham crackers. However, when I followed those instructions, I ended up with a greasy soup of crumbs in semisolidifying butter; even when I strained out the crumbs and squeezed out the excess butter, it was completely unfit for a pie crust and I had to throw it out. Clearly there was a huge mistake in the amount of butter given in the instructions, so I tried the recipe a few more times, experimenting with the amount of butter, starting with 1/3 cup and adding more until I had a moldable crust. (For the record, these pies turned out delicious). Eventually I concluded that 3/4 cup was a bit too much, but 2/3 cup (especially with unsalted butter) was perfect, and changed the recipe accordingly. I must say I’m glad that I’m the one who discovered the mistake; I don’t know how many people who bought the cookbook would have had the same thng happen to them otherwise.

[ChaoticMistress]

If you were magically conjured up planet like earth for example. Would you panic, look for food, build a shelter, relax and do nothing or look for help first? Why would you pick that first intstead of something else? And why?

Sorry if this question was already asked. I just don't have the time and patience to read all 22 pages.

[Pangaea]

Nope, this question hasn't been asked.

Assuming I'm understanding the question correctly, I think the first thing I would do is explore a bit, looking for other people, sources of food and shelter, potential threats, etc., and work on my emergency survival skills if it looked like I would need them.

[ChaoticMistress]

Nope, this question hasn't been asked.

Assuming I'm understanding the question correctly, I think the first thing I would do is explore a bit, looking for other people, sources of food and shelter, potential threats, etc., and work on my emergency survival skills if it looked like I would need them.

Yes but what would you do first, and why?

[Saft]

....I see...

Anyway a question is partly based on how Sasquatch probably felt from knocking over those videos and by what happened to me last week....anyway Have you ever had anything embarrassing happen to you?

[Pangaea]

Nope, this question hasn't been asked.

Assuming I'm understanding the question correctly, I think the first thing I would do is explore a bit, looking for other people, sources of food and shelter, potential threats, etc., and work on my emergency survival skills if it looked like I would need them.

Yes but what would you do first, and why?

Like I said, the first thing I'd do would be to look around, the reason being that I would want to assess my situation; see if there were any people around to help me out, and watching things that could help me survive in case there weren't.

Anyway a question is partly based on how Sasquatch probably felt from knocking over those videos and by what happened to me last week....anyway Have you ever had anything embarrassing happen to you?

Oh, yes, TONS of times. I'm just about the most easily embarrassed person in the world. A lot of the embarrassment I experience comes from conversations with people that turn awkward. I also get embarrassed when I do things that unintentionally annoy other people, such as watching certain movies (the main reason I keep LBT and many of my other fandoms a secret). I prefer not to bring back the embarrassment by talking about such incidents. :unsure: Two other questions in this thread have asked me about my embarrassing moments; this is the answer I gave.

[Saft]

I don't think I've asked this before, but when is it Sasquatch's birthday?   And how old will he be this year?  

Another cat related question (obviously), has Sasquatch taken to hiding in peculiar places and then ambushes?  

00000000000000000000

What do you think about people who use their ASD's as an excuse?  Does it make you angry?  Or do you understand them?  

You also work in an Aquarium right?  Unless I'm confusing you with someone else.  What's it like there?  What do you do there?  It's futile to ask whether you enjoy it or not, obviously...since it'll be 'yes'...but do you have a favourite animal at the aquarium that you frequently visit?  

(I think I have bombarded you with too many questions, sorry. but when one has an , one has an .

I have another question.

Do squirrels eat bats?

[Pangaea]

I don't think I've asked this before, but when is it Sasquatch's birthday?   And how old will he be this year?

 
I think Sasquatch was about eight weeks old when we got him in August 2009, so his birthday would probably be in mid-to-late June, and he'll be two years old.

Another cat related question (obviously), has Sasquatch taken to hiding in peculiar places and then ambushes?

Oh, yes. We got him a special hideout box (a wire frame covered by purple fabric with holes in three of the walls), and lately he's developed a habit of lying in wait inside the box, and as people walk by, he lunges out and attacks their feet. (Mine have the scabs to prove it. ) Also, it wasn't an intentional ambush, but one time Sasquatch was hiding in a bag of recyclable paper and cardboard, and my dad picked up the bag not knowing he was in there, and got a big surprise. Sadly I didn't actually witness the event, but to my knowledge Sasquatch didn't attack my dad or anything; he just jumped out of the bag and gave him a fright. It was pretty amusing for everybody, though.

What do you think about people who use their ASD's as an excuse?  Does it make you angry?  Or do you understand them?

Depends on how exactly they're using them as an excuse. I can imagine there are some people who don't know any better; who are under the impression that they can't do something because of their ASDs. While these kinds of people should learn that this isn't true, I can't really be angry at them for it. On the other hand, people who deliberately use their ASDs to “take the easy way out” of things, get away with crimes, or whatnot, are abusing their “disability privileges” (for want of a better term), and give the rest of us a bad name. -_-

You also work in an Aquarium right?  Unless I'm confusing you with someone else.  What's it like there?  What do you do there?  It's futile to ask whether you enjoy it or not, obviously...since it'll be 'yes'...but do you have a favourite animal at the aquarium that you frequently visit?

Nope, you've got the right person. My station is at a section of the aquarium called “Critter Corner”, where there are two touch tanks (exhibits where you can pet the animals inside) containing Amazon freshwater stingrays (Potamotrygon motoro) and lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), respectively; a magpie (Pica hudsonia) named Pica; a ball python (Python regius) named Bob; an anerythristic motley corn snake (Elaphe guttata) named Cornelius; a fox snake (Elaphe vulpina) named Foxy; a tank full of mudpuppies (Necturus maculosus); and a walk-in aviary (with a wetland/lakeshore theme) containing an assortment of ducks, herons, shorebirds, and turtles. My job chiefly involves instructing visitors on how to properly pet the rays and sturgeon, and answering any questions they might have. (You know I enjoy that! ) It's also my responsibility to call the front desk and inform the staff if a bird gets out of its enclosure in the aviary, and keep it from escaping the aviary itself.

It's kind of hard to describe what my shifts are like; if there aren't a lot of visitors around, it can get a little boring, but at least then I can always walk around and see what all the animals are up to. Often I bring my camera along in case they're doing something interesting or are being particularly photogenic. (One of these days I'm going to start a thread for zoo and aquarium photos, and I'll post some of these.) I definitely enjoy the job, though. I spend most of my time looking at the rays (though currently there's only one, named Lilypad) and magpie (who occasionally talks to me; he can say “hello”, “ëmorning”, and “quack!” ), followed by the sturgeon and the aviary animals.

Do squirrels eat bats?

I don't know for certain, but I'm pretty sure they typically don't. I did find this article about a Svynnerton's bush squirrel attacking and fatally wounding a Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat, though apparently not to eat it. However, North American red and gray squirrels are known to eat small animals such as bird nestlings, so I wouldn't put it past them to eat a bat if they had the chance and were quick enough to catch one.

(I think I have bombarded you with too many questions, sorry. but when one has an , one has an .

That's okay, but as a very emphatically friendly request, do you think you could please possibly spread out your questions a little more (as in asking just one or two at a time; more is okay if they're all closely related)? If you come up with several questions at once, you could try writing them down or putting them on a word document. (It works for me. ) Not only is it easier on me to answer fewer questions in any one post, but I'm less likely to procrastinate on responding if I don't have to answer a bunch of different ones at once, and I often spend more time answering single questions, so the quality of the answers you get may be better.

[Amaranthine]

What did you do today?

[Pangaea]

Nothing particularly exciting, I'm afraid. Let's see…I got up at about 4-or-5-something AM and visited the GOF. At around 7:40, right after I posted in the RP, I joined my dad when he drove my sister to school, so that we could run some errands. We visited the grocery store, the department store where I get my meds, the at&t store (where I bought a memory card and adapter so that I could transfer photos from my cell phone to the computer), and finally a bakery. After we got home, I put away the groceries, went back on the GOF for a while, then took a nap (because I'd only had about four hours of sleep that morning). I woke up around dinnertime; my brother and I made macaroni and cheese with some Cheddar cheese sauce mix I had picked up at the bakery. (It was too sharp for me, though, so I added some different cheeses to make it less Cheddary.) After that I went back on the GOF, visited Dragon Cave, and eventually started feeling tired again and took another nap.

[Saft]

Oh, right...sorry...I won't anymore. :unsure:

[Pangaea]

^ No, no, please don't stop asking questions! In fact, disregard what I said before; if asking several questions at once is what works best for you, then by all means do that.

[The Chronicler]

This question is related to my fanfic. You said in a review for an earlier chapter that you liked the way Velika spoke, so I was wondering: What did you think of that story he told in chapter 7 and of the gang's reaction to it?

[Pangaea]

Looking back at the review I believe you are talking about, what I actually said was that I specifically liked his line “Of what use is the roof against the rains if there are no walls to stem the floods?” because I thought it was a good analogy. Most of his lines confuse me as much as they do the other characters.

As for Velika's story, I, like the characters, was stumped on where he was going with it for the most part, and the ending (though amusing in a dark sort of wayómostly because of the way he delivered it) threw me for a loop. After Garan explained it, it made sense to me, though. I thought the gang's reactions (mild horror and disgust for most of them; irritation and indifference for Cera) seemed appropriate. Although, considering what it almost cost them when they followed Velika's advice (albeit misinterpreting it a bit), perhaps it would have been better for them if he hadn't shared it at all.

[Amaranthine]

If you were to be completely honest, were you (or are you) ever sensitive towards critique?

[Pangaea]

I'll admit it: I am just a little bit sensitive when it comes to my work being critiqued. It's because I'm absolutely obsessed with being as close to perfect as I can possibly be (though most of the time I am to some extent dissatisfied with the end product anyway), so I can't help but feel a twinge of disappointment when I am told that I need improvement in a particular area. At the same time, however, I really do want feedback on my work, and I want it to be honest and not sugarcoated; I'd rather someone tell me that I'm doing something wrong so that I can work on improving it than not mention it and allow me to continue making that mistake. My reviewing style reflects the kind of feedback I'd like to receive on my own work: honest and supportive with comments on what is good and what can be improved.

[Nick22]

if you could meet anyoner famous living or dead, who would you like to meet?

[Pangaea]

Oh gosh, I don't know. :blink: I'm so shy and awkward when it comes to meeting people for the first time (especially reputable individuals for whom I have a lot of respect), that more likely than not I'd make a fool of myself in front of them, and in many cases I just wouldn't know what to say to them. :unsure:

It would probably be someone contemporary; I can imagine running into all kinds of linguistic, cultural, and philosophical barriers talking to someone who lived a hundred years ago; my inherent social discomfiture would be the source of enough awkwardness in such a meeting.

There's also the issue of the definition of “famous”. I'd really like to meet certain people with high levels of expertise in certain fields (paleontology, for instance), so I could ask them questions and learn more about those subjects, but I don't know whether they would be considered “famous”.

Some of the people I listed in my response to the question on inspirational idols might be likely picks, but I honestly can't imagine myself meeting any one specific person I can think of right now.

For some reason I'm getting dÈj‡ vu here. Have I been asked this question before?