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Uh oh.

Point Reyes

My mom and dad are up visiting for the weekend so we all went to Point Reyes National Seashore for the day. It's only about an hour and a half from Berkeley, so it was the perfect day trip. The weather was much better than we had expected and we had a great day outside in the sun. So beautiful.

We saw gray whales migrating off the coast beyond the lighthouse, which was pretty cool... especially if you like squinting and/or momentary puffs of mist.

Scouting the elephant seal pups on the beach below.

Pay a Dog to Burn Down a Hospital

I can not stop looking at you. What is the deal your that haircut? Are you made out of Koosh Balls? What are you smiling for? You're funny, sloth.

Also, there's this.

Image via Erin Everett

Take that, chipmunk.

Cougartown

I love Berkeley because when a mountain lion is shot, we put up a memorial and several notes protesting the police's use of lethal force. I love you, Berkeley. I love you so much.

(The corner of Shattuck Avenue and Cedar Street)

Absolutely Not.

Via Criggo, a site at which I would recommend wasting several hours.

2nd Year is the Monkey Anniversary

Tomorrow is our two year anniversary (yay!). For the occasion, my mom, an expert seamstress and avid fan of sock monkeys, made Tom and I customized sock monkeys.

Tom's monkey is wearing a replica of real Tom's tan vest and a pair of slippers which are tied together. That's kind of a long story, but let's just say Tom did an endearing maneuver a couple of Christmases ago as the result of an unnoticed tie on his new slippers. It also has extra long eyelashes (just like Tom!).

Mine has a sun-dress made of the fabric we used for table runners at our wedding reception and an owl necklace and a nose ring (on the correct nostril, even!). Such a sweet idea. Thanks, Mom!

Dock Dock

Eagles Are All About Efficiency

This is the funniest grammatical commentary I've read in a while.

Image via Hyperbole and a Half.

Guiness and Miller

Tom Rickeman, whose favorite show is Deadwood (true) and whose favorite movie is Blazing Saddles (not true, but let's let it go for the sake of illustration) had never ridden a horse before last week. Luckily he got Miller, a trusty old loper of a horse who was not as interested in illegally munching the new spring growth as my horse Guiness was.

Tom, mounting his trusty steed.

Guiness, as I mentioned, was a muncher. So much so that the lady who was leading our horse ride cautioned me to keep him back at least a foot behind her horse because mine liked to bite hers on the ass (you can say that when the topic is horses, right?) and then hers would kick mine in the face resulting, no doubt, in my death. Thankfully this did not happen.

Aerodynamics Would Be Compromised...

So, my friend Kiran came across this article (via The Daily Beast via USA Today) and there's just so much to talk about. Let's begin with the article in question:

Attack of the Deadly Hot Dogs: The American Academy of Pediatrics wants a warning label on hot dogs, not because they’re unhealthy, but because their shape, size, and texture poses a huge choking hazard to kids and babies. The doctors want to go even further if possible, redesigning the food and others like it to lower the risk, according to a new policy statement published on the Pediatrics Web site Monday. Every year more than 10,000 children under 14 go to the emergency room after choking on food, and 17 percent of the incidents are caused by hot dogs. Warnings have long been required on toys that could pose a choking hazard. "If you were to take the best engineers in the world and try to design the perfect plug for a child's airway, it would be a hot dog," the statement’s author says. The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council supports a call for more education, but says that choking-prevention tips are already on the back of labels. The FDA plans to review the statement.

First question that comes to mind is this: Are you telling me that people are finally objecting to hot dogs and the concern is NOT that they're composed from raccoon tails, pig feet, llama livers and sundry horse giblets? Really? The only thing questionable about hot dogs is their shape?

Second question: What is the new redesigned shape they are proposing? Hamburger patty shaped? Wendy's hamburger patty shaped? For some reason, until I hear different, I'm going to imagine a sphere.

Thirdly, this pandemic of choking children should hardly be new news, right? I mean, Field of Dreams came out in '89!

Lastly, how does one become a member of The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council?

Chick it Out

Via Married to the Sea.

Tilden Park

Today, Thomas and I went to Tilden Park. It's only about 5 minutes from our house, but it's so different that it felt like we went on a little vacation. There's a little zoo and a vintage merry-go-round and so many beautiful trails. I am really, really looking forward to the summer, when we can go swimming in Lake Anza. There's even a sandy beach! I can't wait.

"Oh, hey!"

Goat, chillaxing.

Bovine bouffant.

Super unhelpful sign. Tom and I assume it meant that if you are a cluster of trees or a bird, you go forward. If you are a single tree or a bushy single tree tree, go to the right.

Eucalyptus trees have such lovely bark.

Jewel Lake.