Day 79: Aww Baby

2026-04-26

Hello!

Yesterday, my article on volunteering for Earth Day events was published late. There's a few reasons for that, both technical and personal, but they should be addressed now. I'm preparing for something awesome for Day 100, but my exams are coming up, so my life is yet again thrown into a chaotic mess.

But you know what's more important than all that? Little birds that I got to hold in my hands :-) they're so cute and I really hope my handling of them was gentle.

Remember how yesterday I mentioned that little animals have feelings of their own? The therapy bunnies of an Earth Day event panicked after a swarm of children came down upon them with no restriction. The chicks of today also dealt with a similar problem.

Although they didn't have to deal with the sheer volume of numbers the bunnies did, the chicks were newborns and I assume overstimulation caused them to poop in someone's hand and jump out after a child handling them screamed. Ay. At least their diet only consists of corn and their own yolk.

The photo itself serves as a nice reminder of why I keep my camera with me at all times. Exciting and interesting things happen all the time, and the convenience of a smartphone's camera does not outweigh the quality and creative exercise of a full-body camera.

A friend near me suggested I take a photo, so I ran out, grabbed the camera in my bag, and came back for this shot. I didn't have my phone in my pocket at the time, so if my camera was left at home, there would be no convenient way to capture the memory. I guarantee that, after a year or two, this photo (and possibly this article) will be the only way I remember the twelve chicks that hatched.

They're bright red in the photo because the chicks are lit by an infrared heat lamp, by the way. Physics!

Before I go into today's "finally", I've got a request. A request for comment on my writing. In late March, I tried using a special writing tool to eliminate my unnecessary adverb usage. It worked for one day, and... well, I don't use that tool anymore.

I get that this is a personal website with journal-styled posts, and I get that writing at all must have some improvement day over day, but English has always been one of my weakest subjects, and even I think I'm a bit too rambly. So if you see potential in my writing style, and have constructive feedback on how my ideas and thoughts can better connect with brains (a mental image I pulled straight from CGP Grey), get in touch.

Finally, I was sent way too many Twenty One Pilots songs. I listened to them all :-). I once played ukulele for a musical in high school, and I think the ukulele is an inherently funny instrument. Like, imagine if I performed Lee Ritenour's Rio Funk on a nylon string ukulele! ... Oddly specific.

Anyway, Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots is more known for playing ukulele than guitar, but he turns it into an instrument for good rather than silly like me. TØP's song, Paladin Strait, is dramatic and electronic, and the music video is downright odd, but it has ukulele. This instrument's got range.

(For those not in the know: I did actually record a performance of Rio Funk on the ukulele as a joke. It earned me some heart emojis over text message and some concern from my band teacher. Worth every minute. No, I'm not showing it to you.)

Cheers,
David