In a very rare occurrence, a 70 ft long blue whale washed ashore near Fort Bragg two days ago, with an 8 foot gash on its body. If elements were in my favor I would’ve driven up to see it in all its tragic but beautiful majesty. I just can’t get over how saturated and fake the blue looks. Its eye capsule is so fragile. Such an amazing creature to behold.
photos via AP
PS – I can’t even imagine what it would be like to photograph that
if you're a friend o' mind you'll know i'm batty for bats. so i want to share perhaps one of my alltime favorite images ever. thanks every so much to hell hell for introducing this to me. imagine, a zombie me in bed, rheumy-eyed while i groggily check my phone (it's my routine now), and this being the first thing i get in my email. what a great way to wake me up!
big props to anyone who can track down any information regarding this photo. i've tried a variety of google search terms but with no luck. hellen found it on this site but there's no backstory or context whatsoever.
i wish i were the guy holding this adorable creature.
ps – this picture inspired a silly theme for a series of drawings i’d like to do if i ever get the time
a repost from what i put up at the electric ant blog. just cuz.
by william hundley. he’s a photographer who does interesting things with fabrics and people jumping beneath them, so that the end result looks like ghosts, but with whimsy. you probably saw his work already a year ago when boing boing wrote about it. i’m posting this photo just cuz it has a lovely impact on me. i love burgers, i love dogs. and i ESPECIALLY love wonderful, warm animal expressions. steve buscemi, anyone? for some reason, this photo reminds me of mike.
because for every time something $hitty and unfair happens, there’s a kitten falling asleep — without even knowing it! — on someone’s warm chest.
i swear once i get a moment i’m gonna crack my knuckles and sit down for some serious “writing,” a la the murder she wrote montage. there’s way too much to say.
i read a somewhat-authoritative doc this morning about what a good blog comprises, which made me anxious and angry and annoyed with this dumb thing. it’s not tightly focused, and yes it is too self-referential, and um, it doesn’t have a point. will revisit and re-strategize my approach.
for now, please please please feast your eyes on something fluffy and sweet.
(and even if you hate animals and want to curb stomp every single kitten, you can peep jeff’s beautiful transformers collection)
dunno what it is about this thing that makes me so giddy. it’s oddly adorable, yet a tad bit unnervingly creepy too. kinda looks like how i feel. strange, peculiar, ugly, but keeping its head up in knowing that it must be lovable to someone, somewhere.
sourced from a favorite o’ mine
i was kinda excited about “bullseye” being onsite for our sunday extravaganza, but i had no idea she’d be so convulsions-inducing CUTE. my god, don’t ever underestimate the adorableness of this creature. she can slay you with one look. i’m not exaggerating. i use to feel meh about her breed (the aloof nature, the congenital defected eyes, etc), but oh no, not anymore. i’m thinking google image experienced a spike in “bull terrier” searches on sunday after 6pm. the key is to see her in person. pictures, videos — they don’t do justice.
ps – note the shift of my body language from photo one (beginning of the long day, with ami) to photo two (end of the long day, with karen). my arm was prepped for nabbing. i think you’ll agree that in both pictures, i appear unsettlingly creepy and mischievous.
pps – she worked all day, letting our visitors pose with her for a photo. the pix were then uploaded to some website. i felt bad for her, but she had 40 minutes on, 20 minutes off, throughout the day, and a nice lunch hour. her handlers fly first class with her.
ain’t nothin’ like being greeted by a headless pigeon as you enter a park.
this carnage was found on the top of the steps of alamo square park, corner of steiner and fulton. a bit startling and suspicious. any non-human predator responsible for this wouldn’t have just…left the thing in such obvious, plain sight…right? seems a bit weird. but nature has its moments too.
you know how cats and dogs often bring home vermin corpses as gifts to their masters? maybe the culprit did this as like, an offering to the quaint neighborhood? oh well.
or maybe that’s the exact spot where the incident occurred. maybe a dog pounced right there and then, before its mortified owner snapped it out of its natural, frenzied prey-driven state.
remember that sick creature i alluded to in my NYC #2 post?
here you can see actual babies popping out of the deep pits in their mom’s back. what’s interesting is that they’re exact miniature versions of her. it’s riveting, but oh-so-deeesgusting, reminiscent of the “honeycomb breast.” and no you definitely should not google image that term. and if you do, don’t blame me for your lifelong post-traumatic stress disorder.
wonder what it feels like for the surinam toad (aka pipa pipa, aka star-fingered frog) baby mama?
ps – here she is as pack mule for her entire stash of eggs. EEEEEEW! double gross! ugh. what is it about seeing a slimy cluster of eggs that makes my skin crawl?
even though it’s strange to be posting this a million years after the fact, i refuse to abandon my commitment to tedious vacation reportage.
in the morning, we traverse central park from the east to the west. it’s relatively quiet and the earth is moist. sadly, christina doesn’t get to see any of the big landmarks, except for like, some castle and the great lawn
after much deliberation the night before on where to have brunch in the upper west side, i settle on sarabeth’s, famous for their baked goods. here i am enjoying quiet possibly the best cream of tomato soup ever. velvety, indeed.
lemon ricotta pancakes (fragrant and sweet), and a boring farmer’s omelette. the ingredients are great, but they don’t coalesce. also, those are excellent homemade english muffins
excitement mounts as we enter the museum of natural history. this is one of the greatest places in the world. plus, it’s romantic, no? i am thrilled for my sister to experience it. we take about a million photos. it’s enough to warrant its own separate entry
scary how their eyes are closed, but they appear to be slightly smiling. a little too moribund
bats! i love bats! again, strange presentation, especially given how everything else is displayed. this is part of the “animals of new york” installation, in some small hallway connecting the galleries
FIERCE. christina loves owls
hilarious how all the lemurs have the meanest, nastiest faces! they’re about to scratch your eyes out
introducing the surinam toad, one of nature’s ugliest, most revolting inventions. i distinctly remember this creature from my first time here years ago. as much as its appearance will make your skin crawl, its brilliant reproductive engineering will also make you marvel. babymama’s eggs get embedded into her back. when the little dudes hatch they emerge from these pits on her back. disgusting. take a close look
god, who DOESN’T LOVE DINOSAURS?!
cynth asks, “why is his pelvis bone so huge?” guess you could say he’s a well-hung chap
cynthia says, “check out the toupee on that schmuck”
leaves….LEEEEEEEEAVES
move along. no sexual innuendo here, none whatsoever
the hall of biodiversity. basically the coolest thing ever constructed. don’t get me started
for all the shark lovers in the house
battle! i like the scars on the sperm whale
we leave the magical land of awesome and stop by zabar’s, a densely packed market / gourmet food shop. the cheese section is astounding. it’s a tiny space, almost impossible to navigate, so you can sense tensions flaring with all the shopping/foot traffic collisions
still on the west side, heading north toward harlem. channeling peter parker/tobey maguire on the steps of columbia university
something the yin sisters are quite adept at: the awkward self-portrait
taking a break in st. nicholas park
i like this
there’s neat architecture in harlem
here’s astor row. note the patios
taking a well-deserved break
we almost make it into amy ruth’s, our dinner destination, but the gravitational pull of a sneaker store (“training camp”) is too powerful. cynth buys two pairs for a great deal. i spy a pair of alifes — usually not my cup of tea — and fall in love. unfortunately, the $150 pricetag aborts all hope
shoe shopping works up a ravenous appetite, and we are ready to take on amy ruth’s
it does not disappoint. fried chicken with a honey glaze, zesty buttery mashed taters, and mac n cheese (good, but there’s a subtly sweet aftertaste that turns me off)
chicken n waffles with pan gravy on the side. the waffle could stand powerfully on its own. same goes for the flavorful crunchy chicken. PERFECT
at this point, we are ready to die happy and bloated from delicious gluttony
every metro station has its own look and feel. this one has a colorful mosaic mural of historical black figures. of course, christina takes a pic with billie holiday, her all-time fave
a handy legend
a scary ECU of me and ella
we end up back in the upper west side at this irish pub called parlour. cynthia’s friend is having a fundraiser in the basement. we meet some of them
i’d say that makes for a pretty eventful day