accidental networking
So Sally, a past student whose passion is Animal Behavior, copied me in on this email a few days ago, and she says it's okay to share it with you folks.
You will not BELIEVE what happened to me yesterday. I still can’t believe it myself.
So Etsy, right? The site that Krista referenced. It’s this big website where people who make jewelry and clothes and hats and scarves and art and knick-knackery can sign up for an online “store” and sell their stuff direct to buyers. The site takes a cut, but it’s a really good deal for the crafters. I buy tons and tons and tons of jewelry from them because it’s affordable and they’ve got some amazing designers and I love giving my money right to the artist.
There’s a necklace that I’ve been considering buying for about 4 months. After much hemming and hawing, I committed a whopping $25 of my birthday money to it.
My username on Etsy is badger* [NOTE: truncated by Krista to preserve privacy]. The woman who sold me this particular necklace commented that, since she studies badgers, she is always cruising around Etsy looking for badger-related things.
THAT’S RIGHT SHE STUDIES BADGERS. In fact, her study concerns a particular vocalization that ground squirrels make when they see badgers, a badger-specific alarm call. So not only does she study badgers, but she studies animal communication and vocalization … the OTHER topic I’m most interested in.
Long story short: we chatted back and forth a bunch over e-mail and, if she can secure funding, she’s invited me to come out to California and work as a research assistant. This will be in a year or more, I have no idea for how long, and it may never happen. But I am still so ridiculously excited. It would be fantastic for me to get some field work done while doing my undergrad, and for besides … um … badgers!!! And all because I bought a necklace from her. It’s amazing to me that I found a fellow badger-lover, and one who studies them to boot, through Etsy of all places.
Fascinating, no? You never know where these things will happen online.
Comments
So fantastic. I love stuff like this.
Posted by: Jennifer W. | February 6, 2008 03:24 PM
Thanks for sharing this with us, Krista. Yes, it's definitely fascinating. It makes me think that there are more commonalities among people than dissimilarities. I think when you start to talk more and more often to a person, you will find more and more similarities between the two of you. Building on that, I have a friend on Facebook who works with me. It turns out that she has a friend that is friends with one of my sister's friends. My sister and my friend have a mutual friend. It's a small world after all! Going back to Sally, I hope everything turns out well for her. Hopefully, she will be able to study badgers in California. I wonder if she is from Madison, WI and that's why she has an interest in them. Oh well, that's not important. All my best to her! I hope all goes well for Sally.
Posted by: Hoang-Uyen N. | February 8, 2008 12:59 AM