maybe someday i'll write something

Like for the majority it really is "oh i'm hungrier and moodier than usual"

If, before you get your period, you feel furiously angry, suicidal, irritated by every tiny thing to the point you want to murder someone, stuck in a black hole you'll never escape from. If you are experiencing extreme emotions for what seems like no good reason, especially if you get your period and those extreme emotions just go away. You're probably not just PMSing , you may have PMS's feral big sister PMDD and it's treatable.

I want to know which native plants have specialist bee species that depend on them. I have wanted to know this for a while. A year ago, I found this massive list of all the pollen specialist bees of the western US:

I am going through this list, first identifying which ones actually have record in Washington (and removing the rest), then which have a record in western Washington, or at least west of the Cascades but in B.C. or Oregon, and then copying the list from their specific page about the plants that they use.

I kinda have a suspicion that this has already been done somewhere by someone, but I wasn't able to find it.

The step after determining which species are native to west of the Cascades and which species they use is then to make a sheet, organized by plant, of which bee species use what plants.

Then, I'm gonna take that list to my bosses and be like, yo, we should plant all of these and make little educational signs about native plants and native bees and native peoples and how they were traditionally cared for pre-colonization and how settlers came in and took over and changed how the land was treated and how we can help the plants, bees, and peoples survive and thrive going into the future.

Though this species list also brings up a concern of mine. It lists Helianthus gracilentus put into the cashew family, while properly listing the other Helianthus species in the Asteraceae family. I also saw a bee named after Berberis, aka the genus Oregon grape was moved into, but the host genus was listed as Vitis, aka, actual grapes. Which I'm pretty sure don't grow anywhere throughout that bee's range. I'm not actually stopping and reading all the plant species at this point, but still, definitely some errors in this data set.

The list of sources is long:

Records of native pollen specialist bees captured or observed foraging flowers of host plants were compiled from Discover Life (Ascher & Pickering 2020), peer reviewed articles (Bouseman & LaBerge 1978; Brooks & Griswold 1988; Cane 2018; Cockerell 1916, 1919; Cresson 1878; Daly 1973; Danforth 1994; Donovan 1977; Griswold 1993; Griswold & Miller 2010; Hurd et al. 1980; LaBerge 1963, 1967, 1969, 1971a, 1971b, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1989; LaBerge & Bouseman 1970; LaBerge & Ribble 1972, 1975; Lanham, 1981; Linsley & MacSwain 1958; McGinley 2003; Michener 1939; Michez & Eardley 2007; Minckley et al. 1994, 2000; Moldenke 1976, 1979; Parys et al. 2018; Portman, Neff, & Griswold 2016; Pow 2019; Provancher, 1895; Ribble 1974; Robertson 1926, 1928, 1929; Rozen 1958, 1992; Snelling 1983; Thorp 1969; Timberlake 1951, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1968, 1975, 1980; Wright 2018), technical bulletins (Danforth 1996; Grigarick & Stange 1968; Hurd & Michener 1955; Krombein et al. 1979; LaBerge 1967; Mitchell 1960, 1962; Ribble 1968; Stephen 1954; Thorp & LaBerge 2005; Timberlake 1953), and personal communications.

Because I think my goal with this is to identify the bees that are the most specialist, that have the narrowest range of host plants and thus, to my mind, are at greatest risk of decline/extinction.

One the other hand, just because a bee uses white clover, doesn't mean that that is a great choice nutritionally speaking, for that bee. It may be something it's been forced to do because other plants have become unavailable.

I have decided though, that if the plant doesn't occur west of the Cascades, I will not include it. I'm gonna use iNaturalist to determine that (I mean, if it's one I don't recognize), and double check with the Washington Wildflower Search map.

List of hosts: Nope, not even one.

Me: Ah. Well at least you're cute

The non-kosher and non-halal paintings are a smash hit! After much, much debate between religious scholars, we have come to the conclusion that there is simply no consensus on whether our enchanted meals break kosher/halal or not. Therefore, we have decided to simply supply guests with a pamphlet written by our focus group of religious scholars, and guests can decide for themselves whether shellfish counts as shellfish if it's technically made out of oil paint.

Next week we will be unveiling our newest masterpiece: the Butcher's Picnic! For this painting, we commissioned a local environmentalist and animal rights activist, who assures us that all of the materials in this piece are 100% plant and mineral based. Indulge in a gorgeous array of barbeque, roasts, burgers, fried meat, stews, steaks, and tartare while confident in the knowledge that absolutely no animals were harmed in the making of this feast.

Ever wanted to eat a food that will kill you? Well, now you can! Come visit our Poison Table, which boasts a carefully curated array of deadly mushrooms, berries, and vegetables. Patrons may not spend more than 10 minutes at the Poison Table per day. ABSOLUTELY NO CHILDREN ALLOWED.

Starting this week, patrons must sign a waiver agreeing that any negative results from their own allergies are entirely their responsibility. That said, we have updated our allergy protocol! All patrons here to circumvent a serious allergy must alert gallery staff to said allergy before indulging, so that we can yank them out if things get too serious. Please also alert us if you have a Fantasy EpiPen. We have also explained the signs of anaphylactic shock to all of the figures who live in our paintings and they've agreed to be on the lookout.

part 3

Grace going “oh!! But!” and teaching them about starfish, to their absolute delight

“Ulysses Grant Dietz grew up in Syracuse, New York, where his Leave it to Beaver life was enlivened by his fascination with vampires, from Bela Lugosi to Barnabas Collins. He studied French at Yale (BA, 1977), and was trained to be a museum curator in the University of Delaware’s Winterthur Program in American Material Culture (MA, 1980). A decorative arts curator at the Newark Museum for thirty-seven years before he retired, Ulysses has never stopped writing for the sheer pleasure of it. Aside from books on Victorian furniture, art pottery, studio ceramics, jewelry, and the White House, Ulysses created the character of Desmond Beckwith in 1988 as his personal response to Anne Rice’s landmark novels. Alyson Books released his first novel, Desmond, in 1998. Vampire in Suburbia, the sequel, appeared in 2012. His most recent novel, Cliffhanger, was released by JMS Books in December 2020.

“Ulysses lives in suburban New Jersey with his husband of 45 years. They have two grown children, adopted in 1996.