EERRRRRGGGGG

Amanda: why is it called "barnacle goose"?

oh ok i see the post

* * C * A * OP * !

Adrea: F*CK

Amanda: oh im so good

woof!

Went to the dog meet and greet today in Catonsville... eeeeeeeeeeee we might get a pet!

A greeeyyyhounnddddddd!!!!!!!

New project!!

Helen, one of my oldest friends, has commissioned a painting! I'm raising $ for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training AKA the Marine Corps Marathon, so I'm going to make her pay me for it!! :) She likes bunnies, but I'm not going to paint her a bunny. It's going to be a surprise, but if someone can guess what it is, I'll be impressed. We can play Wheel of Fortune without the money and the letters and the spinning wheel:

_ _ C _ A _ OP_

I can only tolerate so much pain at 7AM

It's amazing how things that would normally be easy at any other time of day become rather difficult when you have woken up only 45 minutes prior.

Today's run:
time of day: 7!!!
miles: 3
minutes: 24
weather: cool
gummy bears eaten while stretching: 5

Yesterday's run:
time of day: 5PM
miles:5
minutes: 43
weather: hotter than I would have expected at 5PM
number of people walking around the inner harbor: too many
pregnant mothers seen smoking: 1

P.S. How awesome is my iPod armband tan?

Blogging binge! Last one, I swear

This is Kingfisher. He was my first commissioned painting for my friend. He is officially a patron for the arts! Oil.



Here are some more birds. They don't have any names, but they live at my boyfriend's house. Oil

Pictures!!!

This is a banana bread muffin with two pecans and a bird named Black Bird.

Let me tell you what a barnacle goose is:

A barnacle goose is a type of bird - Branta leucopsis. Well, you might think it was a mildly amusing coincidence that there are crustaceans called goose barnacles - genus Lepas. Haha! However, it turns out that these two animals share a very interesting history, because many years ago, people used to think that barnacle geese came from goose barnacles! European monks used to see barnacle geese while they were in Britain for the winter, but didn't know where exactly they went during the spring (a.k.a. migration). Their explanation for the missing birds in the spring was that they were in fact busy developing inside of the "eggs" attached to logs by the ocean. Conveniently, these barnacles had little feathery appendages for feeding, as well as a little beak-like foot they used to attach to the logs. The thought was that birds would develop inside the barnacles, be released into the sea to mature, and make it to Britain by winter. According to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, there was a surgeon (!) and botanist named John Gerarde who examined L. anatifera barnacles and wrote about the stages of developing birds he saw inside the little crustaceans. And here's the really funny part: the Smithsonian says that, "During fast times, the Catholic church forbade meat consumption, but monks made an exception of barnacle geese because they were of the sea and therefore fish, not fowl."

Here's the article from the Smithsonian about how geese=fish: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Whats_in_a_name/default.cfm?id=3

Ok. That's it for now!

The picture above is from Wikipedia. I figured out how to post a picture!!!

First blog post ever!

Hi All (probably about the, oh, I don't know.... five people I know),

My first post! This is my first blog, so this is a very exciting event for me. I'm still not sure the extent or exact direction of what I'll be putting here, but the main reason I wanted to start a blog was so I can share some of the things that I like with my friends. Since I like lists, here is a

List of Reasons for Starting a Blog:

1. Posting pictures of food I make
2. Posting pictures of food someone else has made (and I've eaten)
3. Posting pictures of crafty things I've made
4. Keeping people (i.e. my mom and dad) updated on my marathon training (because they think I'm going to hurt myself)
5. Ben made fun of me for wanting to start a blog

OK! I think that was pretty good. I'll be putting up pictures retroactively in the next couple days, once I figure out how to do it!