The Birds and the Bees...

...Attacked me today. Not half an hour after I recieved a wicked sting from a hornet did I then get set upon by a maladapted lorikeet. Sigh, the joys of my job. The bee sting no longer hurts but the some 15 bites I recieved from the bird are lovely and swollen. Looks like he needs some more training... No worries, I really don't mind being bit, I'm really upset simply because I know I'm doing something wrong in his training that hasn't fixed this aggressive streak yet. I really have so much to learn about behavior.

On the up side, apparently they are taking the suggestion I put forth for one of our rebellious fliers... I suggested training him to target so he had a more set place to land on then simply going to a person when they called and maybe he would be more inclined not to fly off. They ignored me when I made the suggestion but then accepted it when the new head trainer Deanna said the same thing. So though I didn't get recognition for it, at least I know I'm thinking along the lines that I should be as a trainer. Maybe there is hope for me yet.

I had a blast at the seasonal party last night by the way! Even though it poured on us I still enjoyed the heck out of the evening. Won an orange monkey in carnival games, played tug of war, ran around with friends, listened to people singing bad kareoke, danced, laughed, clapped, screamed, then sang some bad kareoke myself. I even managed to flirt with a co-worker that I'm somewhat interested in but can't bring myself to tell... He seems like such a great guy and I'm really attracted to him. However, I'm uneasy about the fact that we work at the same place since bosses can get funny about that kind of thing. But I don't think it would matter so long as we didn't make it an issue. Besides, I don't know why I'm even thinking about it because he probably has no interest in me. Hell might freeze over if I actually managed to date someone with the same interest in animals as me. I've never dated anyone who wasn't in Dagorhir. No wonder my relationships have always been a mess! I wouldn't know the first thing about approaching a normal guy. But even short of anything else, I adore being his friend. He is a lot of fun just to talk to. Ok I'm rambling...

I'm off to go for a jog. I've made the decision that a.) if I want to do field work someday and b.) if I want to attract cute animal minded people I need to get into a little better shape. I don't really care if I lose weight (well I kinda do because then I could wear my fav. clothes again but anyway)... The most important thing is that I be in decent shape so I can truly meet the physical demands I meet during my career. Wish me luck! I hate jogging by the way =)

Soon to be sweaty Huggles!
~me!

Slo Mo!

This is one of my favorite animals to work with on show staff. She is a two toed sloth born at the Cleveland Zoo. They are generally found in South America and are herbivorous (vegetarian) and arboreal (tree dwelling). She is one of the stars of the Dr. Zoolittle show that I perform in. The audience learns things about her like she only goes to the bathroom about once every week.


In the wild when they go the bathroom is the only time they would climb down from the trees (though Slo Mo is getting more gutsy and exploring on the ground quite often). She looks like some sort of strange alien when she walks as you can see above.

I love my job!

Rock Me Baby!

Sometimes listening to good music is better than sex. =) I love the way I can feel the music inside me, like a second heartbeat. It just pushes me and pulls me with the harmonies and vibrations. Makes me want to sing and dance and scream. I miss performing.

I went to hear my Dad's band play last night, they just rock. Last night he played with Neece, Bill, and Jefferson in their new group that they call Witch Hazel. It was at the Underground Theatre in Akron which is basically a counter culture hangout spot. It was pretty laidback, cool group of people... If not a little strange, but hey who have I ever met that isn't.

I'm very much looking forward to my one day off tomorrow since I only managed to sleep about 3 hours last night after the gig. I'll enjoy the slight allotment of sleeping in before I have to go to the eye doctors to get enough contacts to last through Africa. Less than three weeks now! Mom is starting to panic a bit knowing how close it is getting. I am so thrilled and can barely wait!

Well I'm off to soak away the wear and tear of the last week of work. Hopefully by Tuesday things will have settled down a bit and the work day won't be such a stressful undertaking. We've gotten a lot accomplished though and I'm proud of how well everyone handled this last week despite the insanity. I love my co-workers!

Huggles
~me!