Sep 09 2011
Went over to my brother Ozzie’s house with my mom to be there for a feeding of the kittens. Man, these little kitties are growing fast. Still amazingly cute, even if they do pee on your shirt when you hold them. I’d probably do the same.
Sep 09 2011
Came across a finch chick when I was refilling the feeder this morning. All the adults flew away to a nearby bush and this little guy stayed on the ground munching away on fallen seeds. It even looked up at me a few times but never considered me a threat. Wish the adults could learn from this brave little kid.
Sep 07 2011
Day two of taking care of my brother Ozzie’s newborn kittens, Ron Burgundy, Mr. Blue and Mr. Pink, while he is at work.
Sep 06 2011
Kitten-sat three abandoned kitties that my brother found in his backyard. Fed them each twice and otherwise they just slept until Ozzie and my niece Kimi came to pick them up for the night. Tomorrow will be the same with the possibility of one extra feeding.
Sep 05 2011
Went over to my brother Ozzie’s house to learn how to feed the three remaining abandoned kittens they found in their backyard. I need to know so I can feed them during the day for the next three days. Their names are Mr. Blue, Mr. Pink (both from “Reservoir Dogs”) and Ron Burgundy. Also had to learn how to get them to pee.
Sep 05 2011
Spent a few hours over at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park for Insect Mania Family Day. Watched a presentation (geared mainly toward little children, but I attended anyway) by Dr. Mike Wall, Curator of the Entomology Department, and chatted with both field entomologist, Jim Berrian, who specializes in spiders and who I’ve contacted in the past and have met before during an open house, as well as Pamela Horsley, Entomology Collection Manager who talked to me about some of the specimens in cases. Also had, at least for a few minutes before late arrivers joined in, a personal guided tour of the Fossil Mysteries exhibit by one of the docents. She got the name of the artist wrong who painted all the museums murals. Poor William Stout became Robert Stroud.
Sep 04 2011
After spending the day at the Zoo, I lead the Rossmans down to Chula Vista where we had dinner at the Tapias’ house. Sylvia and Alex also made cookies and brownies. After dinner, and while having the baked desserts, we all watched the photos that Alex, Cathy and I took during the day as well as video that Fabi had recorded. Good end to a great day.
Sep 04 2011
Was at the San Diego Zoo for most of the day with Fabi, Stephanie, Alex, Cathy and Nathan. The visit was made all the more special when my friend Rick, the Zoo’s Ambassador, took us to a backstage presentation area and gave us a personal educational show with Priscilla, the fifteen-year old porcupine. We even got to feed her. Had lunch at the Zoo’s Sandwich Company and saw most of the Zoo except for Polar Bear Plunge and Elephant Odyssey.
( f a u n a p i c s a n d v i d e o s )
Sep 03 2011
Attended a dual birthday bash for father and daughter Holden in Imperial Beach. It was good to hang out with friends, eat some pretty good food, enjoy some cake and take a few pictures. Enjoyed a terrific chocolate milkshake from McDonald’s after leaving the party and later split a delicious carne asada burrito with Sylvia for dinner. All around a good day of consumption.
( p a r t y p i c s )
Sep 02 2011
Witnessed this amazing showdown this morning between an orb-weaving spider and a yellowjacket wasp. Didn’t take long for the spider to quickly get the upper hand, even though at one point it was actually dive bombed by another yellowjacket. My guess is the trapped yellowjacket gave off some kind of “help me” pheromone. At first the spider ran up its web a few inches, then returned and took an attack position when the second yellowjacket came back. The spider definitely kept the wasp at a distance and very quickly started wrapping it up in sheets of webbing as opposed to strands. It ended up leaving the still-struggling wasp hanging upside down, never coming back.
Sep 01 2011
Went to the San Diego Zoo for about an hour with my mom this morning to find a two-day old baby giraffe walking around with the other giraffes. Really disappointed that I missed yet another giraffe birth (the third one I’ve missed by at least one day) but so thrilled that I still got to see it when it was so brand-spankin’ new.
( c a l f p i c s )
Sep 01 2011
Changed all twenty-two of my calendars to September because it’s not August any more.
13/22 of my calendars
Aug 30 2011
Strong evidence against the United States being the greatest country on Earth.
Aug 29 2011
Took my mom for some coffee and lemon loaf at a nearby Starbucks. Also wanted to pick up the first free, weekly iPhone App that they were giving away. I heard it was the “Shazam” app for figuring out what song you might be hearing somewhere. Good news is they still had cards for the app. Bad news it wasn’t the app I was told it would be. Turned out to be a game called “Spy Mouse.” At least the coffee was good.
Aug 29 2011
Spent my final morning with the neighbors’ cats making their total of 72 lives a little bit better. Satiating their hungers, satisfying their thirsts, pushing their butt-raising back buttons, and most importantly, no more massive clumps in the three litter boxes.
So badly wanting to play with the feathered friends outside
Nope. Nothing creepy about these cats.
