Actually, I am quite flattered. It may not come as a surprise to those of you who know me that I am not a subscriber to the Wall Street Journal On-Line. Those of you who are, however, or who have a copy of the print edition, might wish to read Page One for this day February 26th, 2007 entitled :"Why Birdwatchers Now carry iPods and Laser Pointers" for which I was interviewed and in which an entire paragraph is devoted to why this particular birdwatcher doesn't.
Reporter Andrew LaVallee very kindly contacted me after coming across this blog and my post The Casual Twitcher, which he felt expressed a different take on the technological revolution underway in the hobby which might add to the article he was writing. He thoughtfully provided me with a link to the complete article, in which I was delighted to read the following:
"For me, it's much more about the simple joys of discovery. I appreciate what technology can do, but I don't want the distraction, and I don't want a barrier," says Tim Abbott, a 38-year-old birder in North Canaan, Conn., who confines himself to binoculars. "I don't want to spend all my time wishing I could recharge my computer so I could get the bird atlas going."
Yes, I did say that, and it is a true reflection of one who is not a Luddite but neither a Gearhead and learned to bird in Africa where charging up the laptop, let alone keeping sand out of it or keeping it from being stolen, was a considerable challenge best dispensed with.
I'm not sure how long this link will work, but you can read the whole thing here.
Well, I imagine he had some help... ;-)
Posted by: GreenmanTim | February 28, 2007 at 08:42 PM
You may imagine you're pulling the strings, but everybody knows underneath it's all Bush's fault. :-)
Posted by: Sissy Willis | February 28, 2007 at 07:21 PM
Well done, Tim. :)
Posted by: Genevieve | February 27, 2007 at 11:11 PM
Creepy that I predicted this 24 hrs before it happened...If I have this effect on the DOW, imagine what other latent powers I might possess? Stay tuned for Hurricane Tim, coming to a low-lying coastal area near you!
Posted by: GreenmanTim | February 27, 2007 at 09:40 PM
The reporter tells me he was searching the web for bird blogs and people talking about why they bird. I read at 10,000 Birs that he spoke to that blogger as well but did not end up using her material, but others are mentioned. I am a very casual birder indeed compared to some of these folks but it was my no frills approach to the hobby that atracted the interest, I believe.
Posted by: GreenmanTim | February 27, 2007 at 03:51 PM
Cool. So how did the reporter find your blog?
Posted by: Dan Trabue | February 27, 2007 at 03:41 PM
Yow!!!!!!!!! There goes my nestegg. Make it stop Greenman! Make it Stop!
xxoo
Posted by: Miss Chestnuts | February 27, 2007 at 02:02 PM
Thanks Sissy and Terry. The veil of anonymity is wafer thin, but no matter. I was astonished less by the thought that once interviewed my birdwatching preferences might appear in the WSJ than the fact that the article, good as it was, was front page news. And as Terry knows full well, while it's not the same as a feature in the Lakeville Journal, the Wall Street Journal is still a most honorable mention. ;-)
Posted by: GreenmanTim | February 26, 2007 at 10:41 PM
See, Luddite- and techno-birdwatchers can co-exist (and now everyone knows your age!). You must have had a ball when you were a kid spying on all those avians on the wetlands surrounding the Millbrook campus.
BTW, the WSJ is actually quite a good way to get your news. The wall of separation between the conservative eddy page and the middle-of-the-road news department is as strong as I have ever seen it in a newspaper.
Posted by: Terry Cowgill | February 26, 2007 at 08:45 PM
Totally awesome. I myself AM a subscriber and received a link to the article early morning. Way to go!!!
Posted by: Sissy Willis | February 26, 2007 at 06:57 PM