The Penguin Suit To Beat All Penguin Suits

WHAT a little cutie Pierre is.


Pierre first came to my attention this summer, when Sarah shared his story at Cape Cod Club.

Pierre is not just another pretty Penguin Face. He's a 25 year old African Penguin who lives at the California Academy of Arts & Sciences. Yep, that's right, the same CAS that Sarah and I visited back in November.

Well, a few years back the CAS was closed for its big renovations, and Pierre and all his chums were moved to a temporary facility. Sadly, Pierre didn't adjust so well, and his nervousness at the new digs manifested itself with bald patches all over. Now, you may recall from Penguin Class that their waterproof feathers are what keep them warm and buoyont in the pool, so this was more than an aesthetic problem for our buddy - he wouldn't be able to play any of regular Penguin Games, which clearly wouldn't do.

So what happened? Well, some nice lady who worked with him called some nice company, and they created a one-of-a-kind wetsuit for the little buddy!

He used the wet suit for a few months, and lo and behold he calmed down and all his feathers came back!

I just think this is just the sweetest story I've ever heard. God Bless you, little penguin buddy!

CRD & Homecoming Hippos

Oh hai. It's me ALH. I iz guest-blogging fur CRD.

CRD is coming home today. Hooray! Yesterday, he blogged about how much he loves hippos. I had this great idea to decorate his apartment while he was gone with a total hippo-cuteness theme. Diana says CRD's signature style is already cute animals, so why not expand on that theme?

To start, I would replace his fig soap with lilac-scented hippo soap in the bathroom for bathing fun. Hippos love baths!


Next, I would replace his orange backpack with this hippo messenger bag which I find to be both stylish and hippo.


Then, I would crochet him a bunch of amigurumi using this pattern and place them around the house.

Finally, I would buy him this wrist cuff to put on to unwind after his long journey home.


Only, I woke up late and have to go to work. Sorry, CRD.

Yearbookings myself

Am I the last person to discover this website? Hours of fun. Or really, minutes of fun, but several of them.




(that middle one actually looks like me in junior high, and in that last one I look eerily like my father).

Blowin' Yolk

Before they moved to Ireland, Kevin & Diana hosted a Crafts Party. As Amber reported, I used my considerable skills to make Yarn Chicks, and was at one point the resident expert (After Diana) on Yarn Chickanery.

One of the Crafts that I didn't participate in was Yolk Blowing. This was done using one's mouth, an egg, and a bowl.

You poke a hole in the bottom of the egg with your sword, then blow with all your might to get all the pre-chick out of the egg.

I was going to try it, but then was afraid I'd get the dizzies. Also, it looked pretty gross. Like most great art, the beauty of the hollow painted egg is preceded by grossness.

Eggs were invented by the Germans in the 1960s, during the great German Potato Famine (Gross Deutsche Eis-bär Fest). God Bless, German Marketers.