rmmcdonald's blog

I pulled a strange leaf out of my salad today. The leaf has lost its stiff, crunchy texture became soft, wilted. This altered appearance makes the leaf hard to identify. In this brand of salad, iceberg lettuce is traditionally used. Iceberg lettuce has the appearance of an even light green color with some mild discoloration around the edges of the leaf. The stem of an iceberg lettuce leaf is also quite large and stiff. The leaf specimen I extracted from the salad has a thin, light green stem. The whole leaf is also discolored so that it is a mixture of dark purple and green. The dressing seems to be obstructing important characteristics about the leaf that could have led to an easier identification. From the stem to the opposite end of leaf it appears to be approximately 3 inches long. Again this seems like a strange length for a piece of iceberg lettuce. Perhaps this leaf was trimmed or it has no relation to iceberg lettuce and is instead a smaller leaf.

I entered the John W. Olver Design Building at UMass Amherst located at 551 N. Pleasant St. Amherst, MA 01003-2901. Upon entering through the front entrance, I used the wooden, exposed stairs on the left side of the first floor to reach the third floor. After reaching the third floor, I walked straight until the hallway splits to left and right. I took that left and a rooftop garden became visible through windows on my left. A few steps down the hall, I used a door to access the garden. Once inside the rooftop patio, I walked to the back of the left side of the patio till I reached the bench located in the back. After turning around, I spotted a small tree in the planter that is flush to the right side of a garden wall that shows signs of phytophagy. With feet against the bench, I captured the first picture of the figure to display the size of the small tree. Walking directly towards the small tree, a leaf the bares extreme signs of phytophagy becomes evident. This leaf composes the second photo of the figure.

Figure 1, Photograph of Acetabularia. Up close photo of acetabularia reveals the complex nature of the large, single cell organism. Note the shallow, cup shape of the plant for which it is named after.

"Acetabularia" flickr photo by CameliaTWU https://flickr.com/photos/cameliatwu/4420468633 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

I think Roman Imperialism took an interesting and slightly unexpected approach towards annexing new territories. Rome emphasized idea of “empire of fides” (Potter, 62), where the territories were given a certain amount of respect if they followed the outlined treaties. However, these territories were held under military threat so the empire seemed more based on threat of destruction rather than fidelity to Rome. In addition, "’citizenship without the vote’ (civitas sine suffragio)” (Potter, 61) offered a way to make territories feel part of the Roman empire. I doubt that this sentiment really altered the feelings of the newly acquired territories because they had no authority to change it. With the perspective of contemporary imperialism in mind, Rome might have taken a more humane approach to annexing new territories. I wonder how Roman imperialism would compare and contrast to British imperialism. I think that the story about how the Etruscans defeated the Gauls by violating the law of nations is a good example about how Roman and British imperialism are similar. The Roman senate reacted to this violation, “here personal popularity and influence had so much more weight that the very men whose punishment was under discussion were elected consular tribunes” (Potter, 169). Even though these soldiers violated laws of war, they still were rewarded which strikes a strong similarity to British officers that abused their power and still were promoted.

Potter, D. S. (2018). Ancient Rome: a new history. NY, NY: Thames & Hudson.

I think Roman Imperialism took an interesting and slightly unexpected approach towards annexing new territories. Rome emphasized idea of “empire of fides” (Potter, 62) where the territories were given a certain amount of respect if they followed the outlined treaties. However, these territories were held under military threat so the empire seems more based on threat of destruction rather than desire not to break trust. In addition, "’citizenship without the vote’ (civitas sine suffragio)” (Potter, 61) offered a way to make territories feel part of the Roman empire. I doubt that this sentiment really altered the feelings of the newly acquired territories because they had no authority to change it. With the perspective of contemporary imperialism in mind, Rome might have taken a more humane approach to annexing new territories. I wonder how Roman imperialism would compare and contrast to British imperialism. I think that the story about how the Etruscans defeated the Gauls by violating the law of nations is a good example about how Roman and British imperialism are similar. The Roman senate reacted to this violation, “here personal popularity and influence had so much more weight that the very men whose punishment was under discussion were elected consular tribunes” (Potter, 169). Even though these soldiers violated laws of war, they still were rewarded which strikes a strong similarity to British officers that abused their power and still were promoted.

Potter, D. S. (2018). Ancient Rome: a new history. NY, NY: Thames & Hudson.

 The selected plant is approximately 3’ 2” tall and bushed out towards the top of the plant. The leaves are small and pointed with purple discoloration on most of the leaves. The stem of the plant is mostly brown with some hints of scarlet where new branches grow out of the stem. Berries represent another unique characteristics of this plant. The dark purple berries grow off the end of the branches. The smooth coat of the berries and the leaves readily reflect the sun. The plant holds some dried berries that hang from the plant, ready to fall off. These berries are crucial to discovering the identity of this plant. The patio of the architecture building contains two different types of plants that can grow berries: huckleberry and shadberry. Due to the pointed structure of the leaves and the scarlet coloration of the stem, the plant could be identified as a shadberry plant. The berries of a shadberry plant have the same distinct, protruding calyx  that are not as present on huckleberries.

The taste of an exceptional tomato sauce must contain subtle hints of flavory as to not overpower the main showrunner of a meal. To achieve the proper flavor, proper ingredients must first be obtained. Cento brand canned tomatoes and fresh basil are the most essential ingredients. The rest of the ingredients, garlic, olive oil, and italian seasoning, do not require a specific brand or level of freshness to create a decadent sauce. Start by adding 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 pieces of garlic chopped up to a medium sized saucepan. Once the garlic appears slightly caramelized, pour in the can of tomatoes and fill the empty can halfway with water then add that as well to the saucepan. After mixing, add one or two fresh basil leaves. Let the sauce simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes. The longer the sauce has to simmer the better it will turn out. Salt and season 

Enter the John W. Olver Design Building at UMass Amherst located at 551 N. Pleasant St.

Amherst, MA 01003-2901. Upon entering the front entrance use the wooden, exposed stairs on the left side of the first floor to reach the third floor. After reaching the third floor, walk straight until the hallway splits to left and right. Take that left and a rooftop garden should be visible through windows on your left. A few steps down the hall will be a door to access the garden. Once inside the rooftop patio, walk over to the left side of the patio and look between the two glass pyramid windows. There, approximately 10 inches from the edge of where the wood meets soil is the chosen plant.

I woke up to my roommate's alarm. 

I climbed out of bed to make coffee. 

I reached under the kitchen sink to remove my metal tub of coffee grounds and coffee filters. 

I disposed of the coffee grounds left in the machine from yesterday and set up a new pot of coffee.

 While that brews I prepare myself for the day by getting dressed and brushing teeth. 

I bring up the daily new podcasts on my phone to listen to the recap of the presidential debates as I eat my pumpkin pie and drink my orange juice.

 I dumped my coffee into my coffee mug with some milk.

 I head to my civil war discussion section. 

I walk to shade tree labs for my pre med advising with wilmore webley.

 I walk to Durfey so that I can do work outside. 

I walk to blue wall to get food. 

I order a sandwich from the Deli. 

I took the sandwich to the geology lounge in order to consume it. 

I completed an assignment for my Roman history class.

 I walked to the BCRC to attend Writing and Biology. 

Categories:

Walking: walking between buildings 

Preparing: preparing the coffee, the podcast, and myself

Eating: I ate the pumpkin pie and the sandwich 

Drinking: I drank the coffee and the orange juice

Working: I did work for class

Walking acts as my primary mode of transportation around campus. I spend approximately most of my time ambling between Morrill and the Honors College. This 7-10 minute stroll accommodates the largest distance I must walk, therefore taking the most time. Once I am on the other side of campus, where Morrill is located, most of my walks will not take longer than 5 minutes. The walk between Morrill and Blue Wall falls in the middle of the day and marks the time where I purchase lunch. I will then walk with my lunch to various locations to consume it. Today I again walked for 5 minutes from Blue Wall to Morrill so that I can eat my lunch in the geology lounge. Sometimes I get ambitious and walk around Morrill without a map when I need to find a professor’s office. In that case I spend an extra 15 minutes lost in Morrill until I give up and look at a map. At the end of the day, after walking around to all my classes, I amble back to my dorm to eat a snack. From there I walk three minutes to the gym where I walk up the stair climber for approximately 15 minutes. After I walk back to my dorm, my strolls cease for the day unless I go to visit a friend.

Monophagous Leaf-Mining Larvae of Stigmella (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) on Birch and Behavior of True Slime Mold in a Labyrinth share relatively similar level 1 headings. Although Monophagous Leaf-Mining Larvae of Stigmella gives a more descriptive title than the other document. In addition,  Monophagous Leaf-Mining Larvae of Stigmella (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) on Birch has more traditional level 2 headings, outlining the introduction, methods, results, and discussion. Smart Behavior of True Slime Mold in a Labyrinth, however, has level 2 headings that reflect the progression of thought rather than following the traditional scientific paper set up.

The first paragraph in each section plays a key role in setting up what is about to be discussed in the coming section. As for the structure of Monophagous Leaf-Mining Larvae of Stigmella (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) on Birch each section had varying lengths. The results section of that article seems significantly longer than other sections, suggesting the importance of detail and explanation needed when reporting results. In contrast, every section of Smart Behavior of True Slime Mold in a Labyrinth is uniform in length and level of detail. Each paragraph appears to have some form of a topic sentence that helps transition the flow of ideas to a new topic. For instance, in the slime mold paper Nakagaki states, “The plasmodium is interesting in terms of the size of the organism and its individuality.” (798). This topic sentence gives a broad statement in order to invoke interest in the following section while also informing the reader about the switch in topic. In general, each of these papers organize their ideas in slightly different ways but essentially follow the same central idea of discussing similar ideas in a logical progression. Both authors make sure that the ideas flow into each other and continually support their overall argument.