Camino Island

#NatureTwinning Part 61

Purple Orchid in Climatron--Monday, 5/7/18

Another day, another dollar five dollar T-shirt.

*Grey and purple floral T (JCP), $4.99

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $15.00

"The number of orchid species nearly equals the number of bony fishes and is more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species."  Damn.

Missouri Botanical Garden

Diana Monkey--Tuesday, 5/8/18

The neckline on this blouse is a little baffling--I like the keyhole detail, but it is not always obvious what kind of necklace to wear it it, so I went with "none" as the answer here.

OCPW: $11.09

I'm not sure I'd heard of a Diana monkey before seeing them at the zoo in Omaha.  This guy was having a good time investigating the balls o' veggie.

Their common name is inspired by the white "crescent-shaped browband" that you can hardly see in this photo; apparently somebody thought that browband resembled the crescent on the brow of the goddess Diana.  Huh.  Diana has a crescent?  Oh, I guess so!

Henry Doorly Zoo

In other news...What is going on with John Grisham?  I found The Rooster Bar to be an unsuccessful effort, but had higher hopes for Camino Island...which was justified for like 90% of the book.  It's the story of a heist, and a recipient of stolen goods, and a writer who is (ludicrously, but I didn't even care) hired by an insurance company to go undercover to find out more about this guy that they (rightly) suspect of keeping the stolen goods at his store, setting up some potential sting. 

Sure, it's all kind of loose and silly, but entertaining enough.  The first chapters set up a promising plot-line (marred by the old "somebody does something implausibly stupid to advance the plot" problem, but at least Grisham gets it out of the way up front, I guess) and it gets thinner as things go but still, you look forward to the plot twist, you anticipate being surprised, you wait with increasing desperation for something interesting to occur.  Nothing does.  And then the ending happens, and it's like, Whaaaaa?  I'm not sure when I last so wanted to punch a fictional character in the face for apologizing to an asshole criminal about something. 

A non-legal novel by John Grisham sounds weird, but I actually enjoyed Playing for Pizza, about a mediocre US pro football player who makes a major mistake in an important game, is cut from the team, and moves to Italy to play in their (ostensibly) professional league.

Grisham the writer is on track to get cut from my team if he keeps this up.

Never Say Never

#NatureTwinning Part 60: Brought to you by Alice in Wonderland and a new pair of capris

Regal Lion at African Grasslands--Saturday, 5/5/18

When reviewing my clothing prior to the onset of summer and a visit to see my parents and sister's family, I was struck by how thoroughly I had purged my wardrobe of summery skirts/pants for casual situations.  I have a good sized set of knit yoga capri pants for exercising, but was looking for something a bit more "normal" clothing looking (though I recognize that people wear athletic clothes in most casual situations without thinking twice).

So I did some window shopping online and discovered that there is a lot more variety in the "capri" category than I'd previously realized. 

I have historically disliked capri pants, and it was actually difficult for me to buy the yoga type for exercise until I tried them on and realized they would be pretty much perfectly suited to my needs. 

But looking at the capri pants and "skimmers" (which tend to be just below the knee--longer than shorts but shorter than capris) currently available, I realized that what I'd disliked was the type of subtly baggy and flared beige capri pants that I associate with little old ladies wearing in the 1980s with giant white velcro sneakers.  (I wish I could find a good representative sample online but wasn't able to find what I was looking for.)  But the ones with a slimmer leg, in a dark color, look pretty good.

So I bought a few pairs of capris/skimmers for my summer wardrobe, even though I would have said 10 years ago that I'd never wear capri pants.

That said, I did balk at some of the ones I tried, including some knit ones that flared at the end for no reason I could imagine.  They looked stupid as hell on me, even worse than on the models (do they have giant calves or what?  I am not used to the concept of having a thinner calf than a model.)

This first set are called "polished" capris because they look basically like ankle pants you would wear to a business casual office, only shorter.

*Black polished capris (Kohls), $19.99

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $26.41

This lion looks much more imposing than the Cheshire Cat, though ultimately, he's probably a lot less dangerous.

Henry Doorly Zoo

Grevy's Zebras--Sunday, 5/6/18

I liked 'em so well I wore 'em again with a new-to-me striped shirt and some Alice pattern mixing.

*Black and white striped button shoulder top (thrifted, JNY), $5.24

OCPW: $18.78

Black and white stripe triplets for the win!

St Louis Zoo

In other news...One of the topics of conversation with my dad and his friend after they'd picked me up from the SFO airport was...well, the traffic, of course, but also how expensive it is to live in the SF area and the effects that has on the commutes of people who work in lower-wage jobs in the area but can't afford to live nearby.  For example, who the hell is working at the fast food restaurants?  Where do they live?  How do they get there?

The New York Times had an article a few days ago about this problem for restaurants in SF in general, and they highlighted a fix to the problem that some restaurants have discovered--not hiring waiters and having the customers do the job instead, something that we're used to at fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle but not so much at nicer places.

The Path to Leadership

#NatureTwinning Part 59

Black and Pink Butterfly--Thursday, 5/3/18

The overhand knot is still going strong.  I'm liking this one for warmer weather.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $7.60

Google image search, it is hard for me to express how much this butterfly is NOT erebia tyndarus.  That's a pretty butterfly, to be sure, but its resemblance to this one is remarkably non-existent.

St Louis Zoo

Hornbill--Friday, 5/4/18

Polka dots, birds, more polka dots, plus stripes--Friday pattern mixing for the win.

OCPW: $9.22

Better job on this guy, which Google identified correctly as a hornbill.  It didn't attempt to tell me what kind, which of course is what I want to know, but at least it didn't give me incorrect information this time.

However, I was able to use this fantastic site I stumbled across to find it!  I entered Institution = Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo [that was the tricky part to figure out, as I initially just entered Henry Doorly Zoo] and Taxon = Aves.  That brought up a list of birds at the zoo, and I searched for hornbill.  This was the second hornbill species listed.  I need to remember this trick!

It's a silvery-cheeked hornbill...a name whose origin is readily apparent from the feathers on the bird's face.

(Note: I tried the butterfly above also, but no butterfly species are listed on that site for Saint Louis Zoological Park, though beetles and some other insects are listed.)

Henry Doorly Zoo

In other news...The week before last we had final interviews for the new assistant director of my department, who will be my supervisor.  (I missed the first round of interviews because I was on vacation.)  Both candidates were good, but very different--to be extremely simplistic, the external candidate is more clearly a data person, and the internal candidate (not from my department) is more clearly a people person.  Our department head S. had planned to make a decision quickly, but I haven't heard anything, nor has the interim assistant director, so I don't know what's going on.

After the interviews, when the committee was discussing the candidates, S. said that she hopes in the future to be ready to promote from within the department.  After that discussion, she called me into her office, and apparently the person she would like to develop to be that ready successor is me.  So I should be expecting some professional development/mentorship in the future around leadership skills.  Fun times?  Not sure yet, but any indication of (even just intended) job security is welcome at my organization.

One thing I'll note about my organization is that it is more political and high profile than most organizations.  For example, not many companies or non-profits have a journalist on the staff of their local newspaper who exists merely to write articles about them.  (This journalist basically hates us, so it's pretty much a never-ending barrage of criticism.)  The aspect of the assistant manager's role that involves managing projects and direct reports is not the part that's difficult.  It's managing relationships with other organizational departments, external entities, and so on that is the (not-very-fun) challenge.  It's walking on eggshells while trying not to step on landmines.

Another challenge is that the role (as my previous manager the extrovert embodied it, anyway) requires a TON of meetings.  S. knows and acknowledges that this is not my preference.

We'll see what happens.  Right now, I'm looking forward to the new fiscal year arriving on July 1 with me still employed!

Kiss Pokemon

#NatureTwinning Part 58

Pink-Backed Pelican--Tuesday, 5/1/18

I enjoyed wearing this bird blouse with a vest and long necklace.  It gave a subtle 1970s vibe or something.  And of course I'm usually pleased with an outfit that can be described as "black and white with a bright colored skirt or pants," so there's that.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $10.58

Of course, this photo doesn't show the area of its back that gives it the colorful English common name, and I think the scientific name Pelecanus refescens (reddish penguin) is a stretch. But you can see the grey plumage (French: pelican gris).  This is one of the smallest of the 8 pelican species (Afrikaans: klein pelikaan).

What's striking to me about this bird?  The aging rocker eye-liner.  Hence, the Jagger pelican.

Henry Doorly Zoo

Angel Wing Begonia--Wednesday, 5/2/18

I've become fond of this burgundy jeans + burgundy suede flats combination.  These shoes had languished a bit after I bought them, but the addition of these jeans to my wardrobe has put the shoes more strongly into the rotation.

A woman from the HR department declared, "I need your shoes.  They match my dress perfectly.  [True.] Where did you get them?"  And I had to let her down that they are old.

OCPW: $12.60

Sometimes plants are so well labeled that no half-assed Internet detective work is necessary to identify them.  The angel wing begonia (named for the shape of the leaves) was developed when an amateur breeder crossed a Brazilian begonia and a privately-owned Swiss begonia in 1926.  It is mind-boggling to consider that there are 1,500 begonia species and 10,000 hybrids.

Missouri Botanical Garden

In other news...Yesterday was another Community Day for Pokemon Go, so we joined the throngs of people playing at the fairgrounds from 1-4.  There were several other events there, including an antique motorcycle show and a horse show.

We encountered a visitor to the motorcycle show on our peregrinations who asked us, "Why are there so many people walking around looking at their phones?"  This time we did not have to explain what Pokemon Go is.

We also were passed at high speed by a group of 3 Pokemon-playing boys who were accompanied by some 1980s-sounding music, which was confusing until Robert said (unprompted), "That's the music from the Pokemon TV show."  How Robert knows these things...well, that's one of the great mysteries.

I was reminded that even 80 F can be unpleasantly warm when you're walking around in the afternoon right after the rain stops and the sun comes out at max brightness.  That extremely high humidity + full sun combination is bad.  After about an hour, I was very thirsty and discovered that we had left our drinks in the car...oops.  Luckily there was a functional (if not cold) water fountain visible about half a block away when I realized this.  (If you're wondering why I waited an hour until desperate for a drink to look for one, then you've not experienced the intense Pokemon-catching of a Community Day first-hand.)

Every Community Day has a featured Pokemon, and this time it was Larvitar...who appropriately in this post with the Jagger pelican above wears some rock-star eyeliner of his own. Let's call him the Kiss Pokemon.

From rankedboost.com

Aunt Sally is Tired

#NatureTwinning Part 57

Purple-Blue Berries--Friday, 4/27/18

The small novelty of this basic outfit was the choice of bright blue shoes, to pick up on the traces of bright blue in the flowers on the top.

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $8.34

One of my recent hobbies is seeing exactly how bad Google is at identifying plants from photos.  It called this one "blueberries," which...well, they are berries, I think, and they're kind of blue, but thanks for playing, Google, but no dice.

Los Angeles Arboretum

Put A Rabbit On It--Sunday, 4/29/18

I'm trying to hold the apron so you can see it in all its crazy bunny glory.

The Takin Family--Monday, 4/30/18

Ye olde denim shirt as jacket trick.  Hee haw.

OCPW: $11.63

The takin family consists of Sally, Harry, and baby Meg.

Cincinnati Zoo

In other news...I just got back from a great trip to California visiting my parents and my sister's family.  And I already miss those boys.  But now I'm tired and maybe coming down with a cold (it's pretty much impossible for me to fly somewhere and not get sick but I'm hoping that zinc will fight it off) and need a vacation where all I do is lie around and read books.  Instead it's back to work tomorrow.  Bah.

I did get to read some books on my vacation, though--There's No Place Like Space was a big favorite and Darth Vader and Son, aka "the funny book," got pulled out again because my nephew P. remembered that it was from me.  Well, actually, it's not much of an exaggeration to say that P. remembers absolutely everything.  I mean, he remembered from Christmas that "Aunt Sally has a bunny on her watch" as just one example.

Strangely, I think I actually lost a few pounds on this vacation, which is probably the first time that has happened to me in my adult life.  The "Play with an Energetic 2 1/2 Year Old Boy" exercise plan is a good one!