Frog Spawn Sad Song

As a follow up to my micro story post yesterday, I present an illustrated story.

Micro Stories from My Life

I’ve lived in two different countries, eight different states, and have moved twenty times and I’ve attended thirteen different schools.  It was really hard at times, but I’ve made some really great memories, good and bad.  So I’ve started to write them down, my micro stories about childhood adventures and growing pains.  Eventually I want to illustrate them, but for now here are a few of my favorites: 

Once, in Germany, my dad chased my sister around with a frozen squid.  She was scared.  It wasn’t until he “accidentally” dropped it on her that she went into hysterics. *

*When I told my sister this story we had this exchange:

 “It was in Wyoming.”

“No, it was in Germany, because I remember the glass background of the balcony and you were in a pink robe, or am I crazy?”

“It was in Wyoming and I was screaming in the living room huddled in a ball.  There was another time he chased me with cooked squid tentacles hanging out of his mouth.  Similar ending.  That might’ve been in Germany.” 

Once in Alabama, the second time, it was during the Gulf War and my mom was deployed to Saudi Arabia.  While she was gone my sister and I got chicken pox, I only had it on my belly while she had it all over.  She got extra attention and an oatmeal bath.  I wish I got an oatmeal bath. 

When I lived in Wyoming I was obsessed with hatching eggs.  I think it started when we hatched chicken eggs in class.  I tried to hatch my own egg from one I stole from the fridge.  My mom caught me and we had to have another version of “the talk” and I learned what fertilized meant.

Leo Carillo Tidepools

A piece of kelp brought in by the tide

I must say that I tend to form a bubble around where I live in Los Angeles.  I never venture too far from my home and the Museum, where I work.  If anything happens outside of a 15 minute driving radius, I seriously question if it’s worth it.  And Los Angeles is great in that way, I have all the food options, grocery stores, shopping and entertainment right where I am.  For me, Los Angeles is exactly between the Page Museum in Miracle Mile and Downtown LA, south of Wilshire and North of MLK.  And while I personally feel this is the “authentic” and “real” Los Angeles, I do feel like I miss out on places and activities that happen outside my bubble – in areas where I think most people imagine “Los Angeles” happens.

 

The point is, since I’ve been in LA, I’ve probably gone to the beach/west side maybe(?) 10 times.  Which isn’t nearly enough. In my defense I am rather particular about my beaches and my ocean side experiences.  I’m not a long stretch of white sandy beach lounger all day kind of person.  If the defining feature of a beach is just it’s sand, I’m frankly not that interested.  If the beach has some particularly interesting natural features like cliffs or pebbles that is more of a draw for me.  And the Leo Carillo Tide Pools in Malibu are exactly that!

With all that being said one of my favorite ecosystems are tidal pools!  I think what I like most about is is that they are in a way a miniature of an ocean – and miniatures might be one of my favorite things ever.  I also like how the animals and plants in the tidal pools have to be so adaptable.  In any given day they are subjected to varying temperatures, salinity and oxygen levels in their living spaces and many of the animals have very impressive variations to adapt to their constantly changing environment.

Well, without any further ado, the beauties!

See the hermit crab in the middle left side?  There were so many at the pools!  Some were even battling it out.




Some interesting specimens - looks like some type of mussle mixed in with dinosaur scales!  I asked the collection manager at the museum what the scaley ones are and he figured they're most likely Goose Neck Barnacles (Lepas anatifera)!



An anenome underwater trying to get some tasties as the waves come in and out.



A closed anenome.  It's important to protect it's tendrles from the sun!  I wonder why it has all that debris attached to it.



Sea Star!

Some urchins!  They used to freak me out with their pointies... still kind of do.

Christmas on the Farm

Barn on Phoenix Hill Farm



Holly berries on a holly bush



Cows feeding on summer hay



Fireplace with stockings and a hand painted fire (by my dad)



Gingerbread houses made by the cousins.



Peach moonshine!

Conjoined Pumpkin-Head

I really love doing craft swaps – for those of you unaware of this super amazing thing, it is when you and a partner make a crafty object around a theme and personal interests.  There are set guidelines on how much time and money is spent on a project and how long you should take.  At the end of the crafting period you and your partner swap (usually by mail)!  It’s a good way to get a handcrafted, custom made item that you couldn't make yourself. 

Anyway, the theme for this swap was “Vintage/Retro Halloween” although in retrospect I went for a more antique-y look.  My craft partner really made it easy for me when she said she loved pumpkin heads and skeletons and physical anomalies.  It was like BAM! Conjoined Pumpkin-Head!



The Front

Wire armature with blue tape to fill it out a bit

My initial plan was to make a wire armature and cover it with paper mache, but the armature was a bit too small and slippery for paper mache (or I lacked the finesse) so I switched to covering the body with sculpy.  For the pumpkin heads I ended up ditching the wire armatures in favor of plain ol balled up newspaper.  After baking, I sanded them down a bit and painted it with acrylics. The heads were attached by a rod and E6000. I’m really pleased how it turned out, especially since my experience with sculpy is limited.



The back

I feel like a scientist...

Pests are a huge problem for a museum and employees are encouraged to be ever vigilant to keep an eye out for potential problems.  That was the case a couple weeks ago when Brian Brown, the Entomology curator, sent out an email to keep everyone on the lookout for a pest that keeps popping up, the Stout's Hardwood Borer.  As the name suggests, it is a beetle that has an affinity for eating up hardwoods such as oak, maple and eucalyptus and can cause a lot of structural damage as well as damaging artifacts.  Anyway, I took the email as an interesting anecdote to my job at a museum, but I didn't think I'd actually find one.

Photo Brian Brown sent out

But I did!!!  I spotted it on my way to lunch hanging out above the doorway to a stairwell.  I got really excited and started to panic (as I am wont to do when I'm excited).  I really wanted to capture it alive and give it to the Entomology people, but just as I grabbed a cup to capture it, someone tried to smash it!  Yes, it is a pest; yes, it should die, but it should be kept whole so it is easier to identify!  Luckily, the ham-fisted, would-be smasher missed and I caught it and promptly gave it to Giar-Ann Kung, Entomology Curatorial Assistant.

My little insect!

I thought that was that until Giar-Ann sent me a photo of my little Stout's Hardwood Borer all pretty and pinned in the Entomology collection!  It even has my name on it!  So. Proud.

Bees - My Totem

Honey Bees.  I really love honey bees.  If I were to have some sort of spirit animal or witch’s familiar I’m pretty sure it would be a honey bee.  Why?  I love how they all work cooperatively and so hard for their community, I love their symbiotic relationship with flowers, I love how beautiful they are, I love them as symbols of fertility, I love honey, I love how most of the hive is female, I love the hexagonal honeycomb, I love their translucent wings, I love how intent and focused they are on their task of collecting nectar and pollen, I love the sound they make, I love how they are producers of their own food and make wax.  I think they’re great.