Swamp monkey baby!

A healthy baby Allen's swamp monkey was born early in the morning of March 9. Both mother and baby are doing great and went on public exhibit for the first time yesterday. Baby's sex and name TBD.

An Idiot Abroad

In the mood for some good British comedy? Doesn't get better than "An Idiot Abroad". I binge watched Seasons 2&3 last weekend on Netflix.

3D Printing

I find the technology of 3D printing fascinating. 3D printers can now make body parts and are being used to correct gene mutations. And, it turns out, to make replicas of World of Warcraft characters. So, I joined the ranks of the super nerdy and had a 3D Figureprints replica made of one of my 4 characters, a druid troll named "Drpongo".

Below: my WoW character "Drpongo" as he appears in-game & Figureprints Drpongo replica:
                      

                              

  

Pandamania

As the curator of a different area, I often find myself wondering why more of the giant panda excitement doesn't spill over into other areas. Then again, I grew up in a suburb of DC and remember being part of the city's Pandamania. So the other day when I had a chance to spend a little quality time with Bei Bei before the visitors arrived, I immediately reverted to a younger version of myself.

Bitmoji Fun

Back when I was still on Facebook over 2 years ago, I came across an app called "Bitstrip" and made an avatar of myself, which interacted with the avatars of some of my friends. I recently discovered a phone app called "Bitmoji" that allowed me to re-create my avatar, even though I am now Facebook-less. My avatar is no longer social since I have no way of connecting my avatar to my former virtual friends, but she can still be texted to others through the phone. Pretty nifty and a little creepy how much my avatar looks like the real me. Though this photo of me is a little dated, taken in Zurich in 2007 (how is that nearly a decade ago?!) when I wasn't wearing my glasses, check out the uncanny resemblance! 

Snowmageddon 2016

Wow. Looks like we may end up with up to 3 feet of snow here in Washington, DC. It is 3pm on Saturday and the snow has been falling steadily since yesterday afternoon, heavier than ever at the moment and not forecasted to stop until midnight.

As the curator of a different area at the Zoo, I do not typically post about the pandas, but I must admit that the panda snow video shown in this news footage is pretty great: Tian Tian in the Snow

...Update: it is now the Monday after the weekend blizzard and the federal government and zoo both closed. We spent the day shoveling/snow blowing. So much snow!

Etsy, Oh Etsy, How Do I Love Thee?!

While I am also a big fan of Amazon.com and Amazon.uk, I absolutely love Etsy.com, which I discovered just over 2 years ago when I moved back to DC. I have bought all sorts of creative things, many customized.

Here are some of my favorite past purchases - a unique oak table and two spectacular customized orders:

My most recent orders:

Realizing that this will be the third wood spirit carving I have purchased, two from Etsy.com and one from the MD Ren Faire, I have decided to take up a new hobby...currently reading books on the subject of wood carving to figure out what supplies I need and I have ordered some wood blanks so I can start making carvings myself. I have attempted whittling projects before, but will need to get some proper knives if this is to become a real hobby!