Sunbird

Hmm... Do chili or chowder count? If yes, chili. If not, miso soup. What's your favorite flavor of Dum-dum?

@Orlion Determined The photos from my most recent post were taken with a Canon S5IS, with a 1.7x zoom multiplier attached. (The camera without the multiplier has 12x zoom.) Photos I've posted before were taken with a Canon S3IS (a model almost identical to the S5IS) with the same zoom capabilities, but it started malfunctioning a couple of weeks ago after I fell while wearing it around my neck. They're both older cameras that aren't specifically meant for wildlife photography, but they've worked out pretty well for me, an amateur who doesn't have thousands of dollars lying around to spend on top-notch equipment. My parents have better cameras that they use to shoot wildlife: The Nikon D80, D70, and D300 are some of the models they have used. With those, since they're true digital SLRs, you can do more, but you also have to pay more, especially if you want to attach a big zoom lens that wasn't included with the camera. (And taking pictures of little birds that don't come right up close requires significant zoom capabilities; 400 mm at least is ideal.) Then again, those Nikon cameras are also several years old at this point, so if you bought one now you'd end up paying significantly less than my parents did when those models were newer. Picking the best camera depends on what you intend to use it for, how much photography experience you have, and your budget. If you expect to be shooting pictures of birds at a feeder in your yard, one of the Canon models I've been using might be great for your needs, even without a zoom multiplier. But even those are hard to use if you don't have any knowledge or experience with photography because they allow you to manually adjust settings that affect how the picture comes out, which most little point and shoot cameras set automatically and don't let you change yourself. (Things like aperture, ISO, shutter speed, exposure compensation, etc.)

Yeah, the woodpecker was a real treat. Most woodpeckers over here look nothing like the Lewis's. For the most part, they're like newspapers: black and white and red all over. But I am envious of your parrots too. Utah is rather lacking in small, colorful birds in the winter.

I spent most of the day birdwatching, and I am a happy camper about it. =) Found two new life birds plus one other that's new just for the list I'm keeping for my ornithology class. Managed to get some photos too! Some are pretty nice, but others are more just for documentation and memories. Life Bird #1: Lewis's Woodpecker Life bird #2: Ross's Goose The other new bird from today was only new for 2017: Redheads (a type of duck). Later in the day, we had a cool encounter with a Red-tailed Hawk. He was perched in a twiggy bush right next to the side of the road and didn't immediately fly when I slowed the car down to look at him. I even did a U-turn to make a second pass and at one point stopped the car entirely so I could roll down my window and point my camera out at him, and he stuck around through all that! A jogger even ran by, like 8 feet away from the hawk, who didn't seem to care. This is super weird behavior for a hawk. At that distance, they usually fly away as soon as they realize you're even looking at them. But I got some very up-close photos! (None of the ones in the spoiler below are cropped. At all.) Not a bird, but something else fun we saw today was prairie dogs! (At least I think they're prairie dogs; my rodent ID skills are not the best.) They were running all over the place at the reservoir with the Snow Geese, ducking in and out of burrows and generally being adorable. I got some decent photos of the little guys. Okay, I'll stop photo spamming now. XD

Slurp

*attunes to the Song of Angry Men* Listener, y'all.

The Puppy Bowl

Great Depression

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles I was hoping for that type of reaction!

@Silverblade5 You introduced me to Cards Against the Cosmere.

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles This is for you!

Inkhorn

Knowing the names of different intervals (spaces between different pitches) and what they sound like will definitely be helpful. The octave has already been mentioned: C to the next C (or A to A, F to F, etc), either up or down. The other intervals are also helpfully numbered. Handy chart:

True. Just didn't occur to me because I hardly ever ride trains.

I get irritated when I'm on the bus and need to get off at my stop, and the people who are getting on bull their way onto the bus without letting people off first. NO. Common sense dictates that you let the bus empty a bit before filling it more! And it's not like the aisle or stairway are actually wide enough for two people to pass... Same thing with elevators.

Congrats, @Cognizantastic!

I don't think this is spoilery enough to warrant hiding it... Any objections?

Beaker

From The Well of Ascension:

Harold B Lee

@Quiver I consider myself fairly well versed in music theory (though probably not as well versed as Kaymyth). I took piano lessons for several years when I was younger, and I've played both oboe and percussion in concert/symphonic bands, as well as marching snare drum and marching bass drum. I spent a year learning a bit of violin with an orchestra in middle school, too, so I also have a little knowledge of stringed instruments. And I like to sing; I did two years of choir in high school. I would LOVE to talk music and share whatever knowledge I can to help you figure out your magic system.

I confess that I didn't make this, but it made me laugh, so here: A play on this meme:

When you look over at the book your classmate is reading and recognize the interior of The Way of Kings by the graphic and large first capital letter at the beginning of a chapter. (True story!)

@STINK