 invited last Sunday"
2 could be used if you are unable to attend. You have been invited (the action happened) but you don't consider yourself to be in the state "invited" because you are not going to go.
I'm delighted to have been invited to the dinner next Sunday, but I have a prior engagement.
And why not 'I was delighted to receive your invitation.....''?
Am I wrong guys?
Do we say [I am very delighted to accept the invitation]?
Is'very' necessary? Thank you.
It's better not to use "very" with strong adjectives such as "delighted" or "amazing" or "terrible".Scientist says state parks protect rare species
Sites seen as crucial habitat
NEW YORK STATE George Robinson spent his sabbatical as a visiting scientist for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation combing through a comprehensive database on the status and location of the state’s rare plants, animals and ecosystems.
His goal, he said, was to learn more about New York’s rare species, and the role the state’s park system plays in protecting them. What he concluded is that the state parks are “major stewards of biodiversity,” and that even though New York’s parks comprise less than 1 percent of the state’s land area, they provide crucial habitat for rare animals, plants and ecosystems.
According to Robinson’s study, 43 percent of New York’s rare species are found in at least one state park, and 30 species are fully or primarily dependent on the state park system. The parks average 3.57 rare species, the study found.
“I wanted to determine whether the state parks are significant, and the answer is, yes, they’re significant,” Robinson said.
Robinson’s findings were published in the fall issue of Natural Areas Journal, a quarterly publication.
Robin Dropkin, executive director of Parks & Trails New York, an advocacy group for the state parks, said Robinson’s research reinforced the value of preserving state parkland. She said the park system has two missions: to provide recreation and to protect plants, animals and ecosystems.
“The stewardship is just as important as the recreational aspect,” Dropkin said.
The database Robinson used is a project of the New York Natural Heritage Program, a partnership of the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse.
According to DEC, the database monitors 174 natural community types, 727 rare plant species and 432 rare animals species throughout New York, keeping track of more than 11,900 places where these species and communities are found.
Robinson said that the database is a “gold mine of really interesting information.”
The New York Natural Heritage Program’s mission is to facilitate the conservation of rare plants, animals and ecosystems, which are commonly referred to as “natural communities.”
Robinson’s study makes use of a new theory, stewardship responsibility, for assessing the importance of protecting a specific species in a specific place.
According to this theory, if a high percentage of a particular species lives in a particular region, that region has a greater responsibility to protect that species than species that aren’t as well-represented.
In their recent newsletter, Parks & Trails New York provides the following explanation of stewardship responsibility: “If a species has 70 percent of its population in New York, it would merit more conservation efforts here than a species with only 5 percent of its population in the state. Thus, NY would have a higher stewardship responsibility for that species.”
Because New York’s parks play such a significant role in protecting the state’s rare species, the state has a relatively high stewardship responsibility, Robinson said.
Robinson examined rare species populations in New York’s 11 state park regions.
He found that the Capital Region had the second lowest stewardship responsibility, with only New York City ranking lower. The region with the highest stewardship responsibility was the Niagara Frontier.
The Capital Region and New York City have fewer rare species because they’re more urbanized than many of the other regions, Robinson said.
“Once you get to the Catskills and the Adirondacks, you have more unique environments,” Robinson said.
He said that even the most urban places are home to interesting species, however.
“Staten Island, in particular, has really nice habitat that’s still protected,” he said. “But we’ve lost a lot. One hundred and fifty years ago, naturalists would take the ferry to Staten Island to study plants and animals.”
Dropkin said that the stewardship responsibility theory provides an interesting framework for thinking about the value of state parks.
“All of these places have their ecological communities that make them unique,” she said.
New York has 219 state parks and historic sites.I love to play with short "just because I want to write" pieces while I'm working on longer, "required" ones. Not only does it keep me refreshed and juiced, but it gives me a glimpse of what might be next.
I predict we'll be seeing more of Ethiag...at least I really, really hope so. This was fabulous! Truly fabulous. You had me, right from those thieving chopsticks!
How fun was that? I would say a lot of fun. Just imagine.
Oh, that was fun! I really enjoyed that.
Ethiag is going to get a knuckle sandwich if she ever dares to show up at my residence. You know how I abhor practical jokers. Actually, could a ghost even feel a knuckle sandwich? I don't think so. I know theres that weird loophole that allows new ghosts to still taste BLT's and doublestuff oreos but I'm pretty sure thats all they can taste or feel on a physical level. Hmph. I no longer want to come back in my next life as a piece of chocolate that can eat itself all day long. I now want to come back as a ghost just like Ethiag and prank all through the day and night hours.
this is wonderful! i just love this.
This was pure pleasure to read...I could picture this as a beautifully illustrated book -- it was so visual!
I am now afraid to sleep because I have a mustache. But I think I am safe because I am not a gentleman. Is it possible to just get a trim?
Hmmm...Did you base this ghost on anybody you know? Like you BFF if she were a ghost?
Now the word-verification on our blog is Yutsoh. Whatcha think? Wanna crank out another short story? Yutsoh the zombie hunter, perhaps?

Oh, I bet you had fun writing this - I know I had fun reading it!
All except for the part about the 'beetle in the mouth when kissing' business - I was eating pepitas whilst reading this, and almost spit them out, lol.
Beautifully written. I loved the photo too.
What a delightful story. I just enjoyed it so much.
in all of the weeks i have participated in sunday scribblings,, i don't believe i have ever seen you write.. this was quite refreshing....
Delightful! I thought it was an excerpt from a storybook. What an imp she is! We all have a little of her in us. At least I do.
I was in town just now (little rural mountain town) and saw your ladies display! I wanted to pull someone over and say, "I know her. She blogs, you know!"
Never a dull moment. Ethiag's a thousand laughs and spells encouragement for the more staid and waitful. Love her!
I completely enjoyed reading that!
Wonderfully whimsical -- but I don't like Ethiag... a lot!
Great way to come up with a name!
That was a riot! How do you come up with those things? I love it! And it's a treat to read the writing of one of the SS princesses.
I knew those word-verifications were good for something.
Good story - more maybe?
Very playful. Thanks for the read!
Jeremy Lavine said...
I really enjoyed your story, Laini. The ghost girl kinda reminds me of my grandmother, who's a ghost herself now, but after reading this I'm sure she's having alot of fun. Might explain why I ate a fly yesterday when I stuck my head out a bus window. She was always a joker!
Just begging to be illustrated!!
Ah yes, the theraputic hum of scribblings. I miss them. I need to make more time for them. Using Barcode scanner for binary.net vs 2010 Control to read, scan read, scan image in.net vs 2010 applications.
(managed code with the.NET Compact Framework) GPS Handhelds Automotive PDAs Smart Phones Dataloggers Set Top Boxes Portable Media Players Gateways VoIP Phones...
One more point about workflow forms here before we leave them until 7: after you specify the fields for the information you need to collect for either task assignments or initiation forms, SPD automatically generates an ASP.NET form for you. This ASPX file is stored and deployed with your workflow automatically. If you would like to edit this ASPX file before deploying it perhaps to add some user instructions or some other content you can edit it right in SPD and it will be deployed with your workflow. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that if you make changes to one of the ASPX forms manually and then