Aminals

#NatureTwinning Part 24

Black Rhino Eating at Rivers Edge--Thursday, 1/11/18

Yes, I'm continuing to wear all shades of grey together with complete abandon.  I should write a book about it, called Five Shades of Grey or something.  Or maybe the whole concept is just too provocative.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $29.47

Mama black rhino Kati Rain and (the back half of) her calf Moyo (Swahili for "heart"), who was born on May 17, 2017.  He weighed 130 pounds at one week old!  Zoo babies are the best--it was fun watching these two together.

I thought it was odd that this species is called the "black" rhino given that it looks grey (in the case of these rhinos, a very dusty grey), but apparently the name is a distinction from the white rhino (itself a probably a misinterpretation of the Afrikaans word "wyd" meaning wide) and/or from the dark-colored mud it gets covered in when it wallows.

St Louis Zoo

Humphead Cichlid--Friday, 1/12/18

Something about wearing a silk scarf on Friday feels instantly classy, even when it's with jeans and a knit blazer.  The pattern mixing of the striped shirt and paisley scarf was subtle but awesome.

OCPW: $28.59

I love how this fish has a "nobody fucks with me" look in the photo.  I had never heard of the Humphead Cichlid, but apparently it's a very popular aquarium fish from Africa.

Here's a bit about its background: "Cichlids from Lake Tanganyika were first collected by German hobbyists during the 1930's. However, it was during the 1970s and 80s that the cichlids from lakes Tanganyika and Malawi began to become popular aquarium fishes. This trend continues to the present unabated."

So what's a cichlid?  It's a family of freshwater fish with over 1,650 species scientifically described (overall estimates of 2,000 - 3,000 species), one of the largest vertebrate families.  Africa alone probably has 1,600 species!  The thing all cichlids have in common is "the fusion of the lower pharyngeal bones into a single tooth-bearing structure."

Newport Aquarium

Preppy Failings

#NatureTwinning Part 23

Unknown Duck at Simmons Aviary--Friday, 12/15/17

Double scarf action, quilted vest, cashmere sweater, and denim skirt has the fall/winter casual Friday thing written all over it.  These are NOT the shoes I wore in the office, though--I wore these navy all weather mocs to work and changed into my navy suede ankle boots once I got there.  But looking at this outfit as photographed, I seem quite ready for a Colorado winter Friday.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $15.22

Keeping with the bird (if not owl) theme suggested by my scarf, here is a mysterious duck we encountered at the zoo in Omaha.  But wait!  A Google reverse image search actually worked!  Is this totally a bar-headed goose or what?  Excellent.

Henry Doorly Zoo

Shrub Rose at Gladney Rose Garden--Wednesday, 1/10/18

After a much longer than expected time away from the office, I finally returned to work in another pink-floral-in-winter outfit.  I loved how this dark green blazer with black accents looked with the skirt, and it was fun to add in a subdued pop of color with the maroon ankle boots.

*Black long-sleeved T (thrifted, JCP), $4.49

OCPW: $16.65

After seeing a few roses that were labeled "shrub roses" show up in my photos, I got curious about what a shrub rose is.  I couldn't find a great definitive source, but I get the impression that "shrub rose" is a general catch-all category for roses not otherwise defined so it's a very diverse group, that they were originally created by crossing classic roses with modern roses and hence are generally easier to grow and maintain than classic roses, and that they are used for creating hedges and mass planting.  Plus, they're pretty!

Missouri Botanical Garden

In other news...A short article I've been sitting on since last summer and have been meaning to share: Why J. Crew's Vision of Preppy America Failed.

One of my favorite lines refers to the author visiting a J. Crew store and finding the clothes didn't look as good hanging on the rack as they did online worn by models:

(It's unfair to fault them for existing in physical reality, but that's 2017 for you.)

Toxic

#NatureTwinning Part 22

Bunch of Pink Flowers--Wednesday, 12/13/17

I bought this new blazer on a bit of a lark because it was on sale.  I was unsure which size to keep, so I decided to go with the bigger one for a comfortable over-sized style.  It looks rather funny in these top-down photos in which the upper body is exaggerated.  I guess I'll just call it my 1980's throwback blazer.

*Navy knit blazer (JCP), $20.99

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $30.34

Another astonishingly vibrant, healthy group of flowers from winter in Los Angeles.  I could not live in Southern California at all, but I admit to enjoying the strange time machine trip to late spring/early summer some of the floral displays evoked.

Los Angeles Arboretum

African Penguin--Thursday, 12/14/18

I saved my Christmas kitty scarf to wear at my sister's house and went with a more work-appropriate Christmas ornament style for my penultimate day in the office before my vacation.

OCPW: $9.58

I was surprised to see this penguin out in the open air on an unseasonably warm early fall day in Ohio, but it's an African penguin (a species I was previously unaware of).  African penguins are adapted to live in an environment where the land has subtropical temperatures but the ocean waters are about 41-68 F.  They have special glands above the eyes that they use for thermoregulation--when the temperature increases, more blood is sent to these glands to be cooled by the surrounding air.  The glands turn a darker shade of pink when this happens, so based on the pale pink glands on this guy, I guess it wasn't all that warm by his standards.

Cincinnati Zoo

In other news...These examples of toxic femininity in the workplace just about sum it up, folks.

Olive Rich Neutrals

#NatureTwinning Part 20: Brought to you by the color olive worn with other neutrals

Otter--Thursday, 12/7/17

I'm clearly doubling down on fall colors in these last days before my birthday, which is the final day before the official start of the Christmas season (i.e., the start of the Christmas season according to my mom, the source of all holiday wisdom).

This vest + skirt + tights + shoes block could be worn with about a million different sweaters and scarves to yield an unfathomable number of distinct outfits.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $7.74

This river otter is so sassy, I love it!

Henry Doorly Zoo

Tawny Frogmouths Looking Like the Beatles in the Bird House and Garden--Friday, 12/8/17

Olive and navy are such a great color combination, and since I've added more items to my wardrobe in these colors, there are a lot of new outfits to build based on them.  I also like an excuse to pull out these cognac boots, which definitely add to the "rich neutrals" feel.  Note that I'm still rocking the Debbie-inspired two-scarf technique here, which has become my default way of wearing this fall-colored-but-too-lightweight-for-fall-actually owl scarf.

OCPW: $14.41

I'm surprised that I didn't manage to get any owl photos on the Zoo Tour, but I hope this funny set of birds will suffice.  Oh-ho, apparently frogmouths are often mistaken for owls!  And indeed, a Google reverse image search comes up with "Owl."  So they're a more appropriate companion to my owl (or is it frogmouth??) scarf than I realized.

It's driving me a little crazy that I can't figure out whether there is a specific Beatles image that the frogmouths are reminding me of or if they are just giving me that general impression.  Ideas?  If it's the latter, I now wish I could use my Reverse Inspirational abilities to make the Beatles take a photo in these poses.  It would be awesome!  Four guys who look alike, staring in different directions with grim expressions.  Come on, let the frogmouths be your guide!

St Louis Zoo

In other news...Let's close out 2017 (a bit belatedly, to be sure) with this round-up of Instagram's favorite New Yorker cartoons.  Predictably, I laughed out loud at "clever but devastating."  Many people need to be advised in this way, but for some of us, it just comes naturally.

Baader-Meinhoff Osteopaths

#NatureTwinning Part 19

East African Crowned Crane--Tuesday, 12/5/17

Heading into the fall/winter season, I also made an order at Loft for a couple of bird items that I could not resist.  #1 was this gorgeous crane sweater.  I like that it's very lightweight so it layers well under blazers, but of course I had to let it stand alone for its debut.  My office mate, who is not very into fashion and doesn't often say anything about what I wear, noticed this sweater with high approval.

*Bright pink crane sweater (Loft), $29.75

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $33.50

Cranes are popular birds in zoos, so I saw them on several of our stops, but the best crane photo was this one from Cincinnati.  It's not often I've seen them in this spread-wing stance, but it really shows you what beautiful birds they are...and it more closely mirrors the pose on the sweater than I had any business hoping for.

Cincinnati Zoo

Double Lorikeet--Wednesday, 12/6/17

Bird item #2 is this blouse with white lovebirds on it.  Of course I LOVE how well it works with the piped blazer in the same colors.

*Black and white birds blouse (Loft), $29.75

OCPW: $42.52

I was not so lucky as to have any lovebird photos, but I did get a shot of a pair of lorikeets hanging out together on a branch.  Works for me!  They seem to have a quizzical (left bird) / challenging (right bird) look about them, as though they are thinking "Good grief, why are the birds on your blouse in black and white?  This isn't 1950's television, people!"

Indianapolis Zoo

In other news...I had a Baader-Meinhoff moment recently when I started watching season 2 of The Crown on Netflix one evening.  You see, that morning I had read the obituary in The Economist for a woman involved in something called "The Porfumo Affair" in 1960s Britain.  One of the lines from the article was: "But Stephen took her back to his flat in Bayswater, not to sleep with her, but to offer her round to rich patients of his osteopathy practice."  During the episode of The Crown, set in 1957, the Queen's sister mentions a "sinister osteopath."  It's got to be the same person, right?  How many of these bad-guy osteopaths can be operating in Britain during this time period?

A Knight

#NatureTwinning Part ... I don't know, I've gotten them out of order now

Heart Shaped Rose--Wednesday, 11/29/17

I admit that this blouse was not the most versatile item I added to my closet this fall.  But since I also bought new navy pants, a navy cardigan, and a navy blazer, the fact the blouse mostly goes with navy (and white, eventually, when the weather warms up) is not a bad thing.

*Light pink/navy floral blouse (Loft), $35.70

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $65.67

A lovely rose in the same very pale pink shade as my blouse is still in astonishingly good condition for the end of December, no?  It was amazing how many roses were still blooming in southern California, where not only do they not have winter, it doesn't seem like they even have fall.

Los Angeles Arboretum

Adult and Immature Flamingos--Thursday, 11/30/17

I'm still really enjoying this sweater that I bought last winter, and I haven't come close to exhausting its possibilities in new outfits.  But pink + grey is a favorite, and the addition of the mary janes lends an extra dose of librarian chic.

OCPW: $8.78

Flamingos are some of the silliest-looking birds on the planet.  It's no wonder that when Alice was trying to use one as a croquet mallet in a life-or-death match against the Queen of Hearts, the flamingo's puzzled expression made her laugh despite her danger.

Cincinnati Zoo

In other news...Over Christmas break, I read A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R. R. Martin.  It's a set of 3 novellas set in the same universe as A Game of Thrones, 100 years earlier, when the Targaryens are still ruling the land and the last dragon remains within living memory of the older citizens.  For those who found the Game of Thrones books overwhelming with the 15,296 different characters across 16 continents, 198 years, and 47 changes in political alliances, this one stays with one point of view character, Dunk the freelancing hedge knight, and follows Dunk and his squire Egg's adventures in a straightforward way.  I found it a light-hearted counterpoint to Martin's big (never-to-be-completed?) Game of Thrones saga.  I'm not entirely sure it isn't a book for kids/teens, though I recall some language that suggests perhaps not.  It's nothing like the Game of Thrones books, for good and bad.  But I enjoyed zipping through it.

Out of Office

#NatureTwinning Part 18

Impala at African Grasslands--Friday, 12/1/17

I loved how this combination of scarf and boots turned out.  It's fun sometimes to wear the "Friday denim" in something other than jeans.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $15.28

These elegant ungulates were some of the first animals we saw on our Zoo Tour (after the meerkats and klipspringers).  I have to admit that generally speaking, hoofstock are not among my favorite exhibits at the zoo, but on this trip, I found myself enjoying them more than usual.  This is a case where I think the extra challenge of attempting to photograph the beasts enhanced rather than distracted from my appreciation of the experience.

Henry Doorly Zoo

Epiphyte Close Up in Climatron--Monday, 12/4/17

Yep, I couldn't resist the opportunity to wear this new short-sleeved top one more time before the weather got ferociously cold.  I highlighted the subtle maroon/burgundy color in the flowers with coordinating blazer and kick-ass boots.  I like how the white piping on the jacket echoes the white outlines on the flowers.

OCPW: $15.84

Epiphytes are cool things that grow on the surface of plants and get their nutrients from the air.  Some of the common types include mosses, lichens, algae, and orchids.  The specimen below is a bromeliad...which may seem totally unfamiliar until you realize that pineapples are bromeliads!  The botanical gardens had a large array of bromeliads in their conservatory.  The more you learn about it, the weirder than natural world gets.

Missouri Botanical Gardens

In other news...At work a few months ago, we were emailed with a new template for our automatic out-of-office messages that includes the phrase "please know that I have received your message," which generated considerable consternation and controversy.  (I mean, come on, *I* haven't received this message at all; my email server did.)  My office mate and I have handled this differently, with her leaving out the offensively inaccurate phrase altogether and with me combining it with the following sentence so it reads "please know that I will respond to your message when I return" in the hopes that it will give an impression to people inside the organization who care about this template the sense that the right words are there while not stating something untrue to people outside the organization (who don't realize that we are using a template and might find the original phrase stupid/weird).

But perhaps I should reconsider this compromise and go full-out existential with my message.

Warm and Colds

#NatureTwinning Part 17

White River Gardens - Inside Hilbert Conservatory--Monday, 12/11/17

Um, didn't I just wear this scarf the previous Thursday?  (It's just so useful for wearing with these dark fall neutrals.)  Ah well, there was an intervening weekend so everything gets re-set, right?  Everybody's brain is erased and we all start afresh with no memory of our current work project, let alone our co-workers' fashion choices, from that distant country called Last Workweek.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $10.93

Though dark florals are a popular sartorial choice, they are apparently exceedingly rare in botanical gardens.  But I thought this hothouse fauna from the arboretum adjoining the Indianapolis Zoo caught the feel of the outfit pretty well.  (Though my outfit really wasn't this damp.)

Indianapolis Zoo

California Sheephead--Tuesday, 12/12/17

I thought this outfit had a jaunty, festive look to it, appropriate to the whole "2 weeks until Christmas" thing.  Because a scarf with fish on it...nothing says Christmas like a scarf with fish on it.

OCPW: $10.43

If only I had heeded the silent warning of this California Christmas fish and not spent the holidays in the state with such a terrible flu season.  I mean, I guess I got off easy, only being very sick for two weeks and not, you know, actually dying.

Newport Aquarium

In other news...Now a bunch of people in my office have colds.  I'm still tired from the flu / sinus infection and am really hoping to avoid getting sick again (or do I mean still?  I'm confused).

It's especially incongruous because we are having unseasonably warm weather right now...like "unexpected patches of liquid water on the parking lot" warm.  Robert reports that the melt from the roof running down the building was so loud today it sounded like rain. Whaaaaaaat?

Black Mirror

#NatureTwinning Part 16

Ah yes, temperatures in the 40s and 50s means a single layer of blouse.  Hard to remember that was a thing.

Ferny Palms--Monday, 11/27/17

I was pretty excited to add a green skirt to my line-up, so I went about as simple as it gets with the rest of the outfit.

*Green skirt (JCP), $17.49

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $25.47

More green and dark colors in the Tropical Forest of the Los Angeles Arboretum.

Los Angeles Arboretum

A Shrub Rose and Friend--Tuesday, 11/28/17

Another fall version of the pink floral skirt outfit.  Wearing the below-the-knee skirt with tall cognac boots and a blouse with a feminine shape gave the outfit an unexpected "Romantic Country" look.  A departure from my more usual "Cool-ish Nerd," "Trying for Badass," "Crayon Box," "Semi-Matron," and "1990s Basic Normcore" styles.

OCPW: $22.86

I'm not sure what the little guy adorning this pink rose is.  He looks a bit like a yellow ladybug, but I don't think that's right.  Spotted cucumber beetle is the closest match I could find--I really don't know even the most common types of bugs.

In other news...Have you been watching Black Mirror on Netflix?  During the part of my flu when all I could do was sit in my chair and watch TV, I caught up on Seasons 4 and 3 (because each episode is a stand-alone SF story in the Twilight Zone tradition, this worked fine).  My favorites so far:

#1 S4E5: Metalhead
#2 S4E1: USS Callister
#3 S3E6: Hated in the Nation

Metalhead...man.  I had no idea it was going to be so good.

Mimicry

#NatureTwinning Part 15

A stroll down memory lane to that short week before Thanksgiving, with high temperatures of 29 to 49 F.

Monarch on White Flowers--Monday, 11/20/17

One of the simplest work outfit formulas for late fall: black top, solid skirt, black tights + shoes/boots, colorful scarf.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $13.18

Is it just me or is the monarch butterfly the prototypical representation of the order Lepidoptera?

I had always thought that there were a lot of butterflies that look like monarchs because they were all free riding on the monarch's unpalatability--that they had developed the appearance of nasty-tasting butterflies that predators would avoid even though they actually OK to eat.  But I was surprised to learn that the very similar-looking viceroy butterfly is NOT a mimic in that sense (i.e., not a Batesian mimic)!  It is also an unpalatable butterfly.  When multiple similar species share predators, they can mimic each other's legit warning signals (e.g., appearance) so that predators will learn to avoid them after fewer negative experiences--this is called Mullerian mimicry.  Fascinating!

Indianapolis Zoo

Cape Plumbago--Tuesday, 11/21/17

This sweater is a flattering color on me, so even though it was just a boring cable pullover sweater of the standard, not particularly great silhouette, for $12 I decided to give it a shot.  It's a bit oversized, but it's terrifically comfy (it's cotton, so it's not overly warm--other than relatively thin cashmere, I have given up on wool because it's always so hot to wear, even here in Coldville).  I wore it with navy and floral accents for its debut.

*Dark aqua pullover sweater (JCP), $11.91

OCPW: $42.74

Hey, a straight-up blue flower!  I tentatively identified it through a reverse Google image search (hat tip: Robert), and confirmed it when I read that it grows at the entrance of the Los Angeles Arboretum, which is exactly where I took this photo three days before Christmas.  (Yes, LA has blooming flowers 3 days before Christmas.  What the hell, right?)  It's a beauty.

Los Angeles Arboretum

Pool Outside the Linnean House--Wednesday, 11/22/17

When I made my most recent JCP online order, I couldn't resist this top, even though it's short-sleeved so not really aligned with the current weather.  I liked the drapey fabric, the subtly interesting neckline, and the fact that it has a gazillion colors to match half the things in my wardrobe.  I made it fall-appropriate by wearing it with an olive corduroy jacket, which screams autumn to me.  And I can I just say that the plaid socks made me happy every time I looked down at my feet (which I did a lot more than I usually would because of the socks)?

*Black/olive/red floral top (JCP), $13.99

OCPW: $23.62

For some green/red/blue action, a shot of the edge of the pool outside the Linnean House at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  Have I mentioned that the Linnean House, built in 1882, is the oldest continuously operated public greenhouse west of the Mississippi?  Now you know.

Missouri Botanical Gardens

California Life Birds

I know it's been radio silence around here lately, but after spending two weeks in California, I came home with that horrible flu that everyone is getting.  I missed work the first week of 2018, then last week I went to work and crashed immediately upon getting home.  Today's the first day I have sat down at my computer longer than it takes to write an email to work telling them I'm home sick.  I'm still on the mend, but I have made some good improvement in the last 48 hours.  I'm hoping to be at least 80% of normal strength by the time I go to work again on Tuesday.

We had two goals for our trip to California:
(1) See birds
(2) Play with my sister's awesome kid and their dog
...OK, and (3) Spend time with my family in general ;)

While seeing birds of all kinds, we hoped specifically that we would see some new birds.  And we did.  Here are the new additions to my ABA life list, bringing my total to 527 species.

1.  Lawrence's goldfinch
2.  Gambel's quail
3.  Golden-crowned sparrow
4.  Oak titmouse
5.  White-headed woodpecker
6.  Red-breasted sapsucker
7.  Lilac-crowned parrot
8.  Yellow-headed parrot
9.  Costa's hummingbird
10.  Red-whiskered bulbul
11.  California thrasher

I managed to get photographs of two of these species.

We saw the Gambel's quail at the (I'm not making this up) Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge, where they hung out in good numbers around the front of the visitor's center, mixing it up with desert cottontail rabbits on occasion.

The red-whiskered bulbul...this is insane.  The bird wasn't even on our radar as a possibility because, well, see the page in Sibley for yourself...

The only place it's shown on the map is a tiny dot in Florida.  But if you read the range description, it does say "some also in Los Angeles area."  And apparently one of those places is the Los Angeles Arboretum.  When we saw it, we didn't even know where to begin with identifying it because it doesn't look anything like any bird we know.  But I got the idea to look at the bird check list for the site, and when I saw red-whiskered bulbul, I knew that had to be it.  The briefest look at the bird in Sibley confirmed it.

Um, seriously, I can't believe I got such a decent photo of the bulbul with my little camera.

The Bird of the Week for the northern California part of our trip was a Cooper's hawk that landed in a tree outside the dining room windows at my sister's house.  Later, he made a dive for dinner but missed.

So even though birding in Southern California had its frustrating aspects--including the day that we spent at Big Morongo being so ferociously windy that we saw literally about half a dozen individual birds there...and locations at the Salton Sea being so abandoned that the sign-in sheet at one of them collapsed into dust when Robert touched it--we did manage to come out of our visit with some very nice additions to our list.

The bulbul was the highlight of the trip for me.  The worst part was that despite spending hours trying to relocate the red-breasted sapsucker in the San Jacinto Mountains, we never found it again, so even though I got a good look at the bird, Robert didn't see it at all.  Oh well, we will be back and will try again!