Rain rain go away...

The roofs leaking, my mom's car wont start up (batteries fine, we're towing it to a mechanic), it's been pouring rain for the past week, and my roommates' and my fish is going a bit mental and keeps slamming his head against the walls of his tank.

I'm ready for the sky to stop leaking now.

All my rain gear is sitting comfortably in my closet in Santa Barbara

Home :)

I feel really blessed to get to fall asleep to the sound of waves at night. Once you master the art of blocking out drunk people yells it's really quite nice.

View when I first step outside my apartment

Backyard =]  

Fuzzy bumblebee on a tree right outside my door. I'm lucky it didn't go after my face next.

:)

Zoooooooo!

 I have a love/hate relationship with zoos. I absolutely love animals but it makes me sad to see them pacing around in an environment that's much smaller than the freedom they could have had. The sad reality is though that a lot of their natural environments are diminishing. As a freshman I wanted to switch my major to Ecology and work at a wildlife restoration reserve as a veterinarian. Then my mom pointed out that they're mostly non-profit and I probably wouldn't make much money and how will I live and pay off my loans and blah blah blah. 

Well, on another note I went to the zoo to take pictures and this is what happened (click for bigger size).

Zoo Adventure
November

This way to photos!

 

 

Turns out they only bite other Macaw heads, so they're safe.

    

Flamingos were my favorite as a kid

                                            Vultures weren't allowed to play out in the open like the other birds

  Snow Leopard. He had a giant, fluffy tail and his fellow genetically similar friends are regularly hunted for their coat. Even with the fence I felt threatened when he looked right at me. 

He walked right up to us

 

Santa Cruz fox. They inhabit the channel islands and are about the size of a cat. When Golden Eagles started replacing Bald Eagles on the island, they would swoop up the foxes and eat them. They were almost driven to extinction. 

Golden Eagles must be some scary birds.

 

 

                                            The lions were put next to the giraffes. I wonder if that ever got awkward.
                

 For fun:

 The look of a bird that would gladly mess you up.

I was very excited about the Titi monkeys (note: not pronounced titty, in case you were wondering) but couldn't get a clear picture of their faces. So here's a replacement.









Island fox playing on replica of his natural environment...












Toad butt.

hehe 

:)

I love my roommates. They make home a happy place :)

I can't believe I'm about to graduate soon, it's going to be strange to not be within walking distance of all of my friends anymore. What a sad thought.

However, graduating does mean I won't have to write essays anymore. I hate essays. After this measly 3 page paper I never have to write an analytical essay ever again. ever. YAY! 

That's the look of a leopard who also doesn't like essays (he/she peed shortly after this).

...

Are finals over yet? 

I am sitting on the 5th floor of the library, attempting to spit out a 3 page film analysis on a scene I could care less about and wouldn't have picked given the option, when it hit me that clearly this is the best time to attempt to start a new blog. My first try was kind of a fail, livejournal is a bit outdated on its photo uploading, and I ultimately got too lazy to continue with it. Trying to finish one task (updating a blog) is tough enough, trying to get myself to do two (uploading pictures to an alternate website + blog update) is simply not going to happen.

So here is my try, I really like looking back and reading my old online journals and seeing the pictures. I really hope I actually succeed in maintaining a blog this time around, and that it has the desired effect of encouraging me to take and post photos/ paint/ create more. These are things that make me happy when my life is a busy mess. 

There are 5 and a half months left to my senior year at my university and I'm counting down the days even though I love it here. The thing is, while most other people are enjoying their last few months and concentrating on spending time with friends, doing school work, or putting more effort towards their job I've kind of (read: the definition of) taken on everything in a grandeur effort to be successful once I graduate. I sure hope it works, because I don't know what else to do. 

Anyhow, here's to enjoying my last year despite the abundant amount of responsibilities I've taken on, and to enjoying said responsibilities and amazing opportunities I've been blessed with as well. 

Cheers :)