Feeling a bit neglected, Jojo the Dinosaur laid an egg

OK, so I suspect a bit of sibling'ish rivalry is at play here. I think, because I've been spending so much time photographing the baby hummingbirds and their nest, Jojo the dinosaur has been feeling overlooked.

I'd noticed he'd been missing for a few days so I went out looking for him in the backyard and this is what I found. .

LOL!

I guess he decided to get a little attention for himself he would have to build a nest and lay an egg. Don't worry Jojo. In another week those pesky baby hummingbirds will be gone and you'll get plenty of attention and photo sessions. I promise!

August 1st is National Wide Angle Lens Day!

I just recently discovered some people aren't aware August 1st is National Wide Angle Lens Day. It's a gift giving holiday like Christmas and Birthdays! And just like Christmas has a storybook of its own, "Twas the Night Before Christmas," National Wide Angle Lens Day has its own storybook too:

This was one of my favorite bedtime stories as a child. 

I remember loving the story of Lumix the magical ocelot when I was a kid. He had a pair of wide angle lenses for eyes and could see the whole world all at once. My mom would bake special ocelot decorated cupcakes and my dad would read the story to me every August Eve. In the book Lumix stealthily creeps around the world delivering wide angle lenses to all of the deserving grown ups who didn't own them yet. As the story goes, he only delivered gifts beneath the light of the full moon. He didn't give them to kids because most kids don't want wide angle lenses plus they're really expensive. I couldn't wait to grow up so that he'd leave me a wide angle lens someday.

Oh, and I just saw a holiday greeting card at the drug store yesterday:

If I'm not mistaken that's a Lumix® G VARIO 7-14mm/F4.0 ASPH. lens.

Of course if you already own a wide angle lens you should go out and shoot with it on August 1st. Find something really close up or really wide to photograph and have at it!

A banana slug adventure with Jojo the dinosaur

What could be more cool than photographing spotted banana slugs with my Photojojo, iPhone, magnetic, fisheye lens?

Why photographing Jojo the dinosaur taking on a giant slug. That's what! Here it looks as if Jojo is holding his own doesn't it?

When in reality he wasn't. Turns out perspective can really make things appear better, or worse, than they are. So if you're photographing giant slugs and plastic dinosaurs (because who doesn't?) be sure to try a few different perspectives. It's not that hard. As it turns out, banana slugs aren't very fast.

I'm not sure if the property owners are aware of their presence so I am not disclosing the location of these slugs because Jojo doesn't want any harm to come to them. He want's a rematch. LOL

BTW you can follow Jojo on Twitter now. Just CLICK HERE

My Superbowl Pity Party... For one

As the rest of the country gathers together today to watch the Superbowl, I will be watching it home alone *sniff, sniff* because I wasn't invited to anyone else's Superbowl Party.

I guess I could have invited other people to my house to watch the Superbowl but the last time we did that back in 2009 only one person came. And the only one who wore their 3D glasses during the commercials was. . .

Truth be told I'm not really bummed to not be watching the Superbowl. I don't even like football. I do like seeing the commercials though so I may watch it after all but my party will be a Superbowl commercial watching party. So I guess calling it a pity party was a bit of an overstatement. Kitai and I will be chilling out in front of the tv eating popcorn, pretzels and Cheetos.

I might even crack open that bottle of caffeine free root beer to celebrate if my team wins. Wait. I don't have a team. Come to think of it I don't even know who's playing. LOL

If you see a Yeti walking towards you, it might be me

Remember the picture below from last year? I'd found this really cute knitted hat with knitted deer antlers at American Eagle Outfitters while I was at the mall with my girlfriend Judy. I thought "Hey that's really cute and it would be funny if hubby and I were both wearing them in our Christmas photo." I bought one, took it home and asked hubby if he'd wear one. He said no way.

Winter 2010

So I thought I'd keep it and wear it when I'm out walking the dog because I have weird ears and get ear aches if it's too windy outside. I usually stuff some cotton or wadded up Kleenex® down my ear holes to keep the wind out. Once I didn't have either so I put Ricola gumdrop shaped mints in my ears to block the wind. My hearing was minty fresh.

Then a month later, hubby signed up for a night time photography course at Aperature Academy. It was in San Francisco in January and hubby figured it would be really cold so he asked if he could borrow my antler hat. I said sure and guess what? I never got it back. He got so many compliments on it he kept it for himself! He even told me it was his hat now.

He tried to go back to the store to buy himself one but they were sold out so that was that. I was once again hatless.

Winter 2011

Until just the other day, almost a year later, I was at the mall and finally found a new hat to call my very own at Chapel Hats. It's a "Yuki the Yeti" hat. I had to look up what a Yeti was on Wikipedia:

"The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet."

Turns out Yuki has lots of friends so if you're on the lookout for a funny, warm, ear flap hat the collection of Knitwits on their official website may have just what you're looking for.

We were in Los Gatos the other night so I asked hubby to pose with me for a picture in front of the giant Christmas tree! LOL It wasn't perfect but our hats looked great :)

Cutest Kid Video on Youtube, EVER!

There are a LOT of videos of cute kids floating around on Youtube but, for me, this one takes the cake. I've watched it over a dozen times and every time I tear up because the expression of joy and appreciation this little girl has for her parents is so pure and rises so high I can't not be affected.

If you watch this and don't tear up (even a little or at the very least smile) I suspect you may be a robot.

A New Trend? Multiple Parking Options in Santa Cruz, California

I was recently at a grocery store here in Northern California and couldn't help but notice that rather than the standard three parking options I usually see, this particular lot had five:

There was the Classic anyone-can-park-here kind of space...

We all recognize a Handicapped spot...

And narrow slots for Compact cars...

But there were two more options that caught my eye.

The Low Emission option I'm assuming for electric and hybrid vehicles...

And this was the first time I've ever seen Carpool Only spaces.

I wonder if these are signs of things to come? I didn't notice any parking police counting carpool occupants or checking makes and models for low emissions so I think their concept is based on the honor system. But I found it kind of cool a store is so actively promoting eco-consciousness and a little amusing that there were so many choices that I couldn't help but take a few pictures to share with you here on The Blog.

Before I saw this lot the only other time I've ever felt amused in a parking lot, so much so I laughed out loud, was when I saw this sign in a lot in Burlingame, California. Keep in mind that just down the highway in San Francisco it costs 25¢ for 6 or 7 minutes at parking meters and it's not at all uncommon to be paying between $2.50 to $6.00 (or more) for every 20 minutes in a parking garage... But in Burlingame you have this option:

OK, so you can't get change. But at 10¢ per hour, I can live with that! Even if I only had a $5 bill it would be worth it to overpay than try my luck at the heavily patrolled parking meters.

Perhaps I'm too easily amused but I think you have to allow yourself to be amused whenever and wherever the opportunity presents itself. Laughing is good :D

Hyperbole and a Half is Hilarious!

The other day my friend Katherine posted a link to Hyperbole and a Half and said "If you do not currently read this blog, you should start this absolute minute." So I did.

I was literally laughing out loud. The writing is superb. Allie Brosh, the blog's author, is an amazing storyteller who shares random tales from her past and present illustrated with hilarious, badly drawn cartoons (because she thinks badly drawn ones are funnier than good ones). Her sense of humor sometimes borders between demented and twisted, but the good kind of twisted, not the bad creepy kind. For instance I don't care to read about vomit in people's blogs, Facebook updates or in their tweets. But she somehow made her dog's bout of motion sickness hilarious!

Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving

There is a smidge of profanity, un-PC moments and what some may consider blasphemy so if these things offend you consider yourself warned that Hyperbole may not be for you. Normally I don't care for any of those things but I love this blog. I'm not gong to over analyze why. I'm chalking it up to a guilty pleasure. That works for me.

So, last night hubby and I were sitting on the couch and I commented about the Hyperbole website meaning I said the word "hyperbole" out loud, like with my real voice. Hubby looked at me and said "What did you just call it?" I said it the way I thought the word (which I basically had put no thought into whatsoever) was pronounced meaning I said "hyperbowl." Hubby couldn't stop laughing at me. Turns out it's pronounced "Hi-per-bo-lee" which is a word I've heard on tv once or twice but I've never had an occasion to spell it, read it or even hear it used in casual conversation so I knew it was a word but I didn't make the connection. To be honest I didn't even know what it meant.

Turns out hyperbole means "exaggerated claims or statements not meant to be taken literally." Ah ha! That explained everything. Hubby is no stranger to hyperbole. It's no wonder he knew how to spell and pronounce it.

He thought it was so funny that I mispronounced the word that he immediately went on FB and posted the status update above. Never mind that what he means when he says he pronounces things "the Canadian way" means pronouncing words like "epoch" as "e-pok." When I asked do you mean epoch/epic?  His immediate reply was that's how they say it in Canada. Or when he calls skinny emaciated dogs on Animal Cops "emancipated." He says that's Canadian too. LOL The thing is he does this on an almost constant basis but you don't see me making fun of him on Facebook. Not that I'm making fun of him here on my blog. I'm just responding to his FB update here instead of there :)

One day we were driving in the car giving each other super hero names and I named him "The Exaggerator" because he can be very over dramatic most of the time. He loves to exaggerate something I've just said to him. Like I'll say something in a calm and civil voice/tone and he'll repeat it back to me adding in a shrieking voice, some profanity and accusations for dramatic effect. He thinks he's being hilarious. He's "The Exaggerator" who posses "hyperbolic" super powers!

Back to Hyperbole and a Half.... Here are some of my favorite posts:

The God of Cake

Texas

How a Fish Almost Destroyed My Childhood

If you want to know more about Allie skip her "About" pages and go straight to the Hyperbole FAQ page. Her about pages do tell you something about her, just probably not what you were you were looking for.