Snow Saureses

Can you believe it hasn't snowed, like, at all yet this year? It's kind of a relief. I would only like to see big piles of the white stuff on the condition that somebody makes me an amazing snow sculpture like these:

I would put on my snow pants and ride them! These Dinosaurs are from the Saporro Snow Festival in Japan. They are truly in the tradition of Calvin and Hobbes!

Caturday XXXI - Pet-owner-observational-humor

Cat vs. Human is a great slice of life sort of comic by Yasmine Surovec. She owns many cats and a dog, and provides a viewpoint on pet ownership that isn't sugar coated. Even though she's a self professed crazy cat lady, she's completely honest about the fact that kitties will fukkin rip your face off if they get the chance.

Enjoy one of her comics, complete with dinosaury goodness:

Alphaquest

The magical theme song to this Sesame Street feature sometimes pops into my head randomly. This segment featuring the awesome letter "d" premiered in 1990.



I also agree that Dinosaur = Delightful. Wink!

Last 5 Books I Read

"Hope is the Thing with Feathers" by Christopher Cokinos.

Being as curious about birds and avian life as I am, this book was a really interesting and fun read. The title also references Emily Dickinson, so throw on a few extra cool points for that. The author, a former Audubon council president, takes us through the stories behind the extinction of several vanished North American species. It reveals a lot, not just about the behaviors and history of these long-gone birds, but also about the historical attitudes of humans toward our wildlife. I sent this book on to Tim in Vegas, hoping he'd appreciate the odd humor and great factoids this book carries about birds.

"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

I decided that I wanted to read this book before Robert Pattinson finishes making a movie of it, and it becomes a total fan-girl wasteland. It was actually quite good. You could really tell that the author put a lot of time and energy into researching the traveling train circuses of yore. She also did a good job alternating between the hero in the past and present, keeping his voice consistent. I did find it a little predictable though. A good, quick read with lots of fun scenes, plus the awesomeness of a sassy elephant.

"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

I really really enjoyed this book. The characters are rich and the backdrop of New Orleans is really vibrant. Ignacius Reilly is a really horrible person, but you can't help but be fascinated by his incredibly narrow and self-righteous world view. I laughed out loud more than once reading it, particularly in the scenes with octogenarian secretary Miss Trixie. My favorite read in this batch o' 5.

"A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens

This classic had some really really amazing parts, but also some really really boring parts that I found myself slogging through. Overall though, I'd say it as one of the best Victorian novels that I've read. The scenes depicting the French revolution were especially graphic and engrossing, and Madame Defarge is a memorable, crazy bitch. Also, Lucie was a prime example of this. So hot.

"Jurassic Park" by Michael Crichton

Not to be confused with a novelization of the movie! My book even has a "Soon to be a major motion picture" emblem on the cover. If you like the movie (and who doesn't?), I say reading the book is totally worthwhile, because there's more of everything! Way more scenes with dinos attacking, way more John Hammond being a self-centered jerk, and more exposition around why and how the dinos start to mate. Also, it's revealed that the dinos have already escaped from the park and are wreaking havoc on the mainland within the first 10 pages of the book. Other important differences include; Dr. Grant loves kids, Ellie is way younger and hotter and engaged to somebody else, The little girl doesn't know shit about being a hacker and is actually younger than the boy, and the mathematician is not actually Jeff Goldblum. I read this in like 3 days, it's a good beach read thriller.

I love you!

I know I'm quite a long way off from having a dinosaur as a pet. But I feel like this little fellow takes me a big step forward.




The Jurassic Park Soundtrack is just the icing on the cake. Especially at 2:24!

Marking up

Getting a tattoo is something that I toy with pretty seriously now and then. I like the idea of it a lot,and I'm not sure why. I guess I am kind of enchanted by the idea of an indelible mark of identity for the world to see. And there are definitely a few things that I've considered getting that I know I wouldn't regret:

1. Dinosaurs - I've written before about my devotion to the prehistoric extinct lizard. I think some ink of a saurus would be pretty awesome. As something that has become so culturally iconic, its hard to imaging a tyrannosaurus or a pterodactyl ever going out of style.


2. 42 - The great answer to life, the universe, and everything. I think that a tattoo of this simple number could encompass a lot of things. First, my love of the late great Douglas Adams, who wrote the surrealist manifest that is "A Hitchhikers Guide." Second my love of "Lost", whose notorious numbers include and complete with the number 42. Third, and somewhat more seriously, my point of view on religion and life. I was raised protestant, but now see my self more as a quantumist, believing more in science and technology as an answer to life, the universe and everything. Much like the "hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings" who appealed for an answer from the great computer "Deep thought."

3. Illuminations - My love of books has drawn me to the idea of getting an illuminated letter, in the style of old manuscripts on me. However, I'm not entirely sure what letter would best suit this idea....

Perhaps a B for Barba?

On the other hard though, I have some pretty strong mental inclinations against getting a tattoo too. Whenever I see a poorly done tattoo, it makes me wince a little for the unfortunate-ness of it. I also tend to turn toward my negative, judgmental side when I see faded, poorly aged tattoos too..


Not to mention the fact that all my parents, in law or otherwise, have been very anti tattoo as long as I've known them. "Thank god you never got a tattoo" is a phrase that has passed their lips. I almost hate to disappoint them now!

Plus, and perhaps more pressingly, I am very, very afraid of needles...

Amherst Adventures

Earlier today, Paul and I had a nice little date in Amherst center. It was kind of gloomy out (lousy Smarch weather), but it was nice to walk around town all the same, get some fresh air and the like.

We got lunch a Tomi, which is one of the newer additions to the downtown restaurant scene. It's a spin off of the chain "Moby Dick's House of Kabob", and serves Persian Mediterranean food. It's taken up shop in a space with notoriously high turn over, the storefront next to Antonio's. Former home of Rolando's Roast Beef (which also served falafel) and Fatso's burgers before that. They've really transformed the place into a classy, modern sit-down place though. Gone are the shiny metal diner style counters and self-serve soda machine. Instead there are nice wood tables and exposed brick walls...they really made it look nice. The food was great too, and the prices reasonable. They have delicious persian tea that they serve in beautiful glass mugs with a big bowl of sugar cubes. I really enjoyed eating there, so I hope they have better luck than all the other places that preceded it. I give it all my stars and thumbs up!

Afterwards, we took a walk into the Amherst College campus to see the Natural History museum. It was awesome! They have a really impressive collection of fossils. Plus, it was free!



The other cool part is that the classrooms and labs of Amherst College are strangely combined into the museum space. So you can examine all these massive quartz crystals, and then turn around and peek at the mysterious machinery behind the door with a radioactivity warning. It's neat too because a lot of their collection was acquired by students on school sponsored expeditions. Jawsome!

Sauropods in my Yard

I'm cursing winter weather right now. Looking forward to the end of this nasty cold stuff. The somewhat milder weather had got me thinking about the yard, and the outdoor projects pending for the house. First and foremost, we are going to rip up the weird fence in the back. I also want to put in a fire pit for summer bonfires! Yeah!

I think our landscaping would be much improved too by the addition of these sweet prehistoric-themed lawn sculptures:

I want this tiny 2 -foot t-rex to prowl my tomato plants!


Benches o'bones!
This 11 foot tall t-rex is $7,500 worth of magic! How amazing would it be to own this? I bet you I'd be more popular than the Nash Dinosaur Tracks down the street.

Dinosaur Progeny

Cassowaries are 5.5 foot tall flightless birds. They are native to Australia and New Guinea. They have 5 inch long dagger-like claws on their middle toes, and are known for their powerful kick. Cassowaries also communicate with low frequency calls, barely on the edge of human hearing. This is believed to be related to the large, spongy crests on the tops of their heads. In the wild, Cassowaries live to be 40-50 years old. They are also basically monsters.

Battle of Triceratops Run

Why not take a trip to Virginia this year? After all Virginia is for lovers!


Lovers of Dinosaurs killin' Yankees, that is.


Velociraptors want the South to rise again!

I wish there were more alternate reality sculpture parks like this one in Natural Bridge, where Union soldiers learn the hard way not to try to harness the wild native dinosaurs as a weapon against the confederacy. War of Northern Aggression indeed...

Stella the Steggo

This is my most favorite project yet, I think. I made this knit stegosaurus for Addison, my maid of honor and fellow dino enthusiast.

This was a going away present, as Addison is moving to LA for 1 whole year. I'm going to miss her a lot! I hope she has an awesome year though, and that this little guy (or girl I guess? Addie has since informed me that she named her Stella, which I think is perfect. The dusky blue color of the yarn matches the evening sky.) is a reminder of the people who miss her on the other coast.

I made this prehistoric pal from this wonderfully detailed pattern. It has many helpful pictures. Since I used a significantly smaller needle size, I didn't bother doubling up the back plates and sewing them together, as they stood up stiffly pretty well on their own. I also used buttons for eyes instead of embroidering on a face, which I think gives it a classic toy look.


Have fun in LA Addison! Enjoy that California weather for the rest of us!

My Prehistoric Predilection

I've been a dinosaur fan since I was little kid. I wasn't allowed to watch Jurassic Park (like some people), but that didn't stop me from becoming a total dino expert. My mom really likes to tell the story of when I was in some gift shop, and the cashier saw me playing with these little dino figurines. I was like, 4 or 5 I guess. The cashier asks me if I liked the t-rex, and I apparently heaved a huge sigh and said "That's just a Brachyceratops."

Though my ability to identify every species of dino ever is long gone, the vestiges of my childhood obsession are still really visible around the the house. I have a lot of dinosaur stuff!

Dinosaur Pencil kit and rubber stamp set. A believe this was a birthday gift from Meredith.



"Dinosaur Plots". I picked up this book at the LWV book sale this year. Someday I'll get around to reading up on the intrigues of Natural History. Someday...

Kitchen Helper Dinosaur (pictured helping with last week's minestrone). I bought this guy at that stationary store in downtown Amherst, sophomore or freshman year. I was shopping there with Mike and Pete, and Pete said if I didn't buy this awesome guy, he would. He's been sitting next to the spice rack, gaurding the coffee maker every since we moved to the Manor.


Dinosaur postcard book. Paul bought this for me at Acme Surplus. There are lots of neat pictures in here, but I don't think I'll ever mail them to anyone. Many of them depict extinction, and I feel like that might be a downer to open your mailbox and see.



Fire breathing Dinosaur. This guy winds up and shoots sparks out of his mouth, which is like a bad ass super power. I think I got this as a present for Paul when we were dating.

Pink Dinosaur. I've had him since my childhood days of studying his kind. He's made out of a really hard plastic that you don't really see kid's toys made out of anymore. He has a really good judemental facial expression.

Stuffed Dinosaur. I got this guy at Christmas tree shops for $1! He had a tag on him that said "Eyes light up and Makes sounds!" I tried pressing the hard plastic box in his leg, but nothing happened. His eyes are also embroidered on, so there's no way they could light up.
One time though, I was going to wash him. I grabbed him by the leg to throw into the basket, and he let out a mighty roar! I squeezed him again, and he made another roaring sound. He convinced me not to put him in the washer, which was specifically against his care instructions on the tag. I've tried on many occasions to try and get him to make sound again, but he only vocalizes when he feels he is in danger, I think.
He gets the award for "most likely to need braces". Dental Hygeine is not a dinosaurs top priority...

States n' Stuff

Last night, Paul and I went out for a beer with some fellow blogging friends (Addison and Tim). I had a Mayflower Pale Ale and a Greenflash Imperial IPA. I used to detest IPAs, couldn't even fathom drinking them. Much to my surprise, they have grown on me. This was one of the hoppiest IPAs I've ever had. Intense hoppy flavors used to taste bitter and harsh to me, but now I really like them. They remind me of grapefruit juice.

Anyways. The sad part of this bar jaunt was that it was the last time we got to hang out with Tim before he takes a magical journey to the cowboy state. Tim is moving to Wyoming to help count toads. This shouldn't be confused with that summer job he had, where he was counting fish. Actually, this new job sounds much, much more dangerous. Tim is packing a snake bite kit!

Other than poisonous snakes, Wyoming has a lot to be proud of. The whole state has population smaller than Amherst (when the students are in town). I think this is pretty neat, sparsely populated space is an amazing rarity. Wyoming was also the first state to let women vote. Which is pretty darn cool.

I had no idea just how cool Wyoming was until I uncovered this amazing truth :

Wyoming has an official state dinosaur: and that dinosaur is the Triceratops.

I was totally blown away by the awesomeness of this. A state dinosaur! I immediately went to the Massachusetts state fact list to see what ours was. Guess what? We don't have one!

We have an official state bird, a state game bird, a state marine mammal, a state horse, a state cat, a state bean, a state soil, a state insect, a state fish, a state muffin, a state cookie, and a state folk dance but NO state dinosaur.

I'm pretty saddened by this. I really feel like I have no choice but to declare Massachusetts uncool. How can we have an official state beverage, but not a dinosaur? It's basically terrible.

Here are the rest of the states that have now surpassed us in cool points, on the Caroline Scale.

1. Colorado - The Stegosaurus
Colorado gets the best mountains, and the stegosaurus. It really doesn't seem fair. Although, Paul and I were talking about this particular dinosaur the other day. It has a wicked tiny brain mass- we're talking about a walnut sized node fueling a 6,800 lb animal. They were probably so gullible! I bet you could trick them into anything.

2. Washington DC - The Capitalsaurus.

Ok. So Washington DC isn't really a state, but our nations capitol gets a dino too. Kind of. I actually haven't been able to find any sort of artists rendering of the "Capitalsaurus". Also, the only specimen they have of this species is a single vertebrate that was uncovered digging sewers in DC. So, it's probably just some other theropod...but don't tell the senators.

3. New Jersey - Hadrosaurus Foulkii

This actually pains me to write. I can't believe New Jersey gets a dinosaur. Stupid New Jersey! It was really really hard for me to give up the cool points to my least favorite state...but I guess they earned it...*grumble grumble*

4. Missouri - Hypsibema

This little guy used to roam the lush jungles of Missouri (assuming that this area was A. jungle and B. lush) in the late Cretaceous period. At least, according to Edward Drinker Cope, who claimed to discover him 1869. Evidence of this being a unique species is considered "dubious"- and we're talking about a discovery from a dude who used to self medicate with formaldehyde. Seriously. Way to go MO!

5. Maryland - Astrodon Johnstoni
This was the second dinosaur discovered in the United States. Well, not technically, because the guy who discovered it didn't give it a proper scientific name. WHATEVER!

6. Texas - Pleurocoelus

Texas picked this guy to be their official state dino because its 60 foot long frame embodied the size and strength of Texas. I was totally going to call Texas out on this one. According to Wikipedia, the Pleurocoelus is actually believed to be an Astrodon. AKA THE STATE DINO OF MARYLAND. But it turns out that Texas picked this mascot 1 year before Maryland picked theirs. Fascinating stuff, right?

SO

I think MA should make their state dino the pterodactyl. Nobody has called dibbs on any of the flying sauruses yet! Now is our chance!

Also: Tim, have an awesome time on your wild west adventure. We love you and will miss you much! Have fun frolicking in the western wheatgrass (state grass) and eat lots of cutthroat trout (state fish)!