Batty.

A very clever person gifted me a membership to the Bat Conservation International. Bats are fascinating as animals, art, and lore. Which makes them one of my favorites.

2 a.m. has been kind to me.

The moral of this post is: staying up past my bedtime yields excellent results.

Necromance
So the name of this place makes me think of middle-school D&D players, but they carry a lot of excellent things that peculiar people like.
Some favorites:



Excellent Pairing #2: Puscifer - "The Mission": James Maynard Keenan, feat. Milla Jovovich
I am no doubt late on the boat on this, but the music is decent and I've been known to be fond of both of these artists in the past.
Here's a video:



Excellent Pairing #1: Alexander McQueen and Raymond Watts
This pairing is excellent for two reasons: I really like the aesthetic of Alexander McQueen even though I am in no way a fashionista of any sort;

and my love of Raymond Watts' work should be at this point extremely well documented. Here is a video of a McQueen catwalk, accompanied by Raymond's music:



I love it. It's always comforting to see other art kids with the same aesthetic - especially when they are more brilliant than I am.

Pooch Plunge 2009

Every year the City of Greenbelt allows the dogs of the community to take a swim in the pool before they shut it down for the season. This was the first year Locksley got to participate.

Hermit Crabs

An integral part of the beach experience for me, are hermit crabs.
Technically speaking, it's a tragedy. Hermit Crabs are wild caught, and interred in unsuitable habits in stores until they are purchased by unwitting tourists.

But, there's something about those plastic cages and crazy shells. Any other time of the year I would not want a hermit crab, but being at the beach nearly demands that I get a pair of these fellows.

The first (and arguably the best) hermit crabs I had were named Gin and Tonic. I had a couple hermies in Washington, but they were short lived.

Presenting the newest hermit crabs: Martini and Olive.

Martini (with the orange shell) is smaller and more shy.
Olive (with the green shell) is bigger and more active.


We'll see how this all goes! We leave, Maryland bound, tomorrow.

Beach Essentials

I am not ashamed to say that my beach experiences as a little kid were primarily from Ocean City, MD. If you've ever been there, you know it's a horribly (delightfully?) kitschy place. Complete with pink sand sculpture lighthouses, puppies crafted from small shells, and so on.

Because of think, I consider a beach trip successful when a certain amount of ridiculousness has been acquired. So, behold:A partial assemblage of what I consider beach essentials.

1) Transfer t-shirt with some hilarious graphic. I opted for for a rainbow colored pegasus leaping through the clouds. Please, note it has GLITTERY HAIR. Also acceptable choices - unicorns, horses running through water, etc.

2) Seashells. Lots of Seashells. These may only be acquired by hand via strolls on the beach. I've got quite a few more than pictured, but these are some of my favorites.

3) Mood Ring. This is actually a double-whammy on my part since this mood ring is also glow-in-the-dark. It is required that a beach trip includes the acquisition of a mood ring and/or a glowing items (glow stick bracelet, etc). Mood rings help you monitor how the trip is going (and feel free to update your vacation mates hourly on what color your mood ring is, and what that means).

4) Shell bracelet. I got one that's a million little pieces of shell all piled next to eachother. Another acceptable variation - something with shark teeth, or those white circular shell things.

One thing missing that is essential - hermit crabs. More on that later!