what you've missed...

so next week is finals week and last week was another test week, so in the lul this weekend i wanted to post.

to catch y'all up on the goings on: this is the beetle that meg helped me catch in utah (fiery searcher) and that my professor helped me pin and dress (none of the ones i did myself look anywhere near as good) it is the jewel of my collection.

then i made a lungs shirt for a co-worker of mine (my first comissioned piece)

then on wed of this week it was shaving time again and so i went to work with a mohawk. i got mixed reviews from customers and coworkers, i only did it for work anyway. and went home and shaved it off. i think i will do something odd every few weeks (when its time to shave again), so look for that in the future. it was very travis bickle, and i kept walking by mirrors going "are you talkin' to me?!", so i had to get rid of it.

mark is in town, we hung out on monday and saw "the bank job" a pretty good heist flick if you're into that sort of thing. its good to have somebody to hang out with.

oh, and if you haven't heard yet, i am going to have a(nother) niece.
cory and annie are having a girl (i blame their fru-fru diet)
her name will be Bee (i don't know what to blame for that)
but i can't wait to meet her.

bug fair (my new beetle)

Today, as per my zoology assignment, i went to a bug fair at the LA county museum of natural history. it was surprisingly crowded. you could buy bugs (alive or dead), and bug paraphernalia. it was pretty amazing, the colors and variations in structure are incredible. i have grown a minor fascination with beetles over the period of this class, and am considering continuing a collection. one native california beetle that i saw in a book and wanted for my own was the desert ironclad beetle. he is actually blacker than he appears in the photos but he does have a gunmetal finish that makes the rows of bumps on his carapace really stand out. he's about an inch and a half, and i'm calling him erwin (after erwin rommel "the desert fox" who was a tank commander on the wrong side of WWII-this should not indicate nazi sympathy, just well thought out naming).

in non bug related news, the museum has an incredible bird collection, and a large area devoted to the peculiarities of bird life (flight, sight, feathers, songs, eggs, hollow bones, etc.) as a bird fancier i was very impressed (take that new york natural history museum).

this summer (After i barely pass calculus with the lowest "c" possible) i have no summer school, for the first time in 6 years. so to celebrate, i applied for a new job, or rather another job. the zoo i volunteer at has a zoo camp in the summer, and i applied for a job at it. it should be good experience working with kids, plus all the camp songs i can sing-does the marine corps hymn count?!- and the pay is pretty good, but i believe that it is only for six weeks. although i am told by other employees at the zoo that it is a good way to get your foot in the door for a full time "regular" job there. that's all well and good, but for now i think it would be a nice way to fill my summer (and potentially my bank account) and keep me out of youth gangs and the like.

Goodbye to a Good Lady

My grandmas (Lois and Darlene)

My (step)grandma Darlene passed away last friday. She was an incredible woman, a real firecracker (keep in mind she was in her 70's when i met her). she married my grandfather 11 years ago, and probably saved his life after the loss of his first wife (my grandma colleen)put him in a bad place. they were meant to be together, having both lost their spouses in the same year, (and having cemetery plots one away from each other), they met at their church and she quickly brought a new vitality to my grandfather. she was a dear lady, and i will miss her a lot. she and meg had a special connection over their love of birds and i know that meg feels a similar loss. She went quickly and painlessly to be with her savior, and that is all that we could ask for. Our thoughts and prayers are with her (very large) family, and we share in their grief.