... Living with Missy & other thoughts I often eat lunch at my desk.

Hitchens on C-SPAN   this video is three hours long, by the way ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ... & apparently, last night, in a dream, I pointed out a "missing link", saying, "That's a missing link" and pointing up at the ceiling ... & apparently, this had Missy in a fit of laughter, which did not wake me up.  I do, indeed, have a habit of sleeping through disturbances, even if, as it were, I am (or was) the one creating it.  I'd also like to point out, for the record, that the missing link I was pointing out was either Archaeopteryx lithographica (which bears a striking similarity to a certain dishonest fundamentalist's attempt to lampoon transitional fossils) or Australopithecus afarensis ... Just to inform:  While I generally think the term "transitional form" or "missing link" is a little elementary (and cetrainly not technical), it's a good way of explaining to people who are not familiar with evolutionary theory how common ancestry works.  Archaeopteryx is a wonderful transitional form between theropod dinosaurs and modern birds.  She has avain features such as flight feathers, long arms, a wishbone and a too-big-for-a-simple-theropod sternum as well as archosaurian features such as a boney long tail, teeth, digits on its forelimbs and even a retractable second digit on her foot (similar to maniraptoran dinosaurs such as Deinonychus) ... Australopithicus afarensis (known famously for the fossil female "Lucy") is considered a "missing link" because, among other traits, she walked upright, unlike her quadrapedal homonid relatives, with the femur tending inward as it meets the knee - a stunningly human trait. Posted by GM G AT 21 September, 2007 12:56 0 comments » post a comment  |  digg it « back home MY PROFILE ------------------------------- Name: GM G Location: Connecticut / NYC Mason jars & brooklyn stars; Warm weather & beach house weekends; Cool weather & New england autumns; My partner & cul-de-sacs; Secular humanism & ethical culture; Science, skepticism & reason; the National pass-time, the Boston Red Sox & americana; the 'long now'/value the future on a timescale longer than your own [life] RECENT POSTS --------------------------- This is were Missy and I live & giggle When is a good time to jump off a sinking ship? University of Florida Student Tased at John Kerry Speech My only comment on "Spygate" How we are