memento1: (OT - RL)
Hmm. Well, Schmoo, the old sea lion at Moorpark finally passed away. Can't say I'm terribly upset. I'm even hoping I can get some reconciliation from it. Emoooooo )

On the TV front, Bones cannot possibly return fast enough, Glee is hopping as always but frustrating with its lack of progress, and Castle is about as I expected - not really that exciting except for the awesomeness that is Nathan Fillion. How genius is it of them to release a book seen on the show? If I was more into the show I'd be all over that. NF even did a real-life book signing. Talk about fantasy meeting reality.
memento1: (DW - tardis)


Playboy Bunnies ;) *LOL*

More random photos under the cut. )

And thus ends the picspam. My second day at the Mansion was much better than the first. Working without somebody watching over my shoulder was much more relaxing. It was a gorgeous day, I felt more comfortable with the other girls, and with meals giving us nice little breaks, the day seemed to go by quickly. I was surprised when I was finished with half an hour to spare! So, it wasn't that bad, and I'm actually kinda eager to go back again (see how long THAT lasts!). Worrying about securing a place to live before January and how I'm going to earn enough to get by, however, is leaving me on-again off-again panicked. For now, I'm going with getting any place I can get on short notice in Thousand Oaks, and seeing how much I can earn between Playboy and pet-sitting. If I can't earn enough, I'll just move back to Minnesota. There. Plan. Sort of.

Today was my day in the X-Files Advent Calendar, and while I'm fairly happy with my collage, I ran out of time to really finish it, and never figured out what text to put on it, so it looks horribly bare and unfinished. Bah.

So, my pet-sitting ends tomorrow, I'm staying with Krista through the weekend, and flying to Minnesota on Monday. I will have sporadic internet access probably for the rest of the month, so...I'll see you when I see you!

Late Addition: RIP Sage )
memento1: (SG-1 - Hide for a while)
Because I am scatter brained, a list!


  • UGH! I left my chicken dinner on my bed while I went to move my clothes from the washer to the dryer, and when I came back *2* minutes later, the effing dogs had gotten it. Now I'm hungry and have no chicken left. ARGH!!!

  • I just asked for June 22 off from work so I can go to the LA film festival for the XF2 screening/talk. Eeeeeeee!!!! I'm trying not to get my hopes up because unless my boss will switch up her days off, I don't know if I have a chance.

  • Uhhh...remember the cell phone I sent through the wash? IT WORKS!!! It acted real funky for a few days but now it's basically back to new and I'm so relieved I could kiss someone. The rice bath worked! *LOL*

  • American Idol finale...I wanted Archuletta to win, but I see why Cook did. He had more personality. But darn it, now I'm bored without anything to watch on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

  • I've had a helluva week. Went up to LA to visit friends and had a grand old time, then ended up literally breaking down in tears at work when a co-worker yelled at me. I'm tired of all the drama. I love the work but sometimes I'm so glad this job ends in September.

  • How does one go about getting into Doctor Who? There's apparently a ridiculous number of seasons and even a movie and...it's all too complicated! Where do I start so I'm not horribly confused?

  • I finished 2 books yesterday. I finished the last few chapters of My Friend Leonard, the Million Little Pieces sequel, then at the library read through all of What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage, because it's by the lady who wrote about my school, and in it she basically explains training terms to newbies, as well as mentioning a few of my animals (including Goblin, Julietta, and the cougar boys). It brought me back.

  • XF viewing marathon on [livejournal.com profile] eyeinfbi next weekend. YES!! I will be looking forward to this all week.

  • [livejournal.com profile] ranee42!! I got your postcard!! Eeeeeeeeee! That was just about the coolest thing ever. I MISS YOU COME HOME SOON!

memento1: (Default)
I was going to devote today to packing, but then I got a call from a friend at the zoo - my dear Goblin died this morning. It took a while for it to sink in but once it did, I was a mess. I went in to the zoo and they had already started her necropsy. It looks like it was congestive heart failure (she was 31 - a ripe old age for a baboon). I talked with some friends, helped them do some hand-prints for her trainers, and did as much as I could. It was cathartic. I'm very thankful they let me be there and participate.

I actually had gone in to the zoo on Saturday and seen Goblin. She looked older and more crotchety than usual, but she grunted and lip-smacked at me, which made me so happy. She was the only animal that really remembered me and greeted me like a friend when I visited. My dear, dear Gobbie. She was old, it was her time, but it's still really tough. I miss her so much. I'd give anything to relax in the sun and groom with her again. It was a gift that she remembered me, and I got to see her before she died, and I got to say goodbye to her. My dear girl.

Goblin )
memento1: (XF - bw)
I still don't feel 100% about this job, but I do feel better about the whole thing after a full night's sleep. Sleep always makes problems seem more manageable. But I still don't want to think about it too much. Thus, a post about everything else that's been piling up I've been meaning to write about.


  1. A Meme! Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on yaoi, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.


  2. May I take a chance and just say "Yay Hillary!"? I was thrilled she won Texas and Ohio and will be staying in the race. Logically I know Obama is just as good, but I got emotionally involved against my better judgement and really want to see her win. End politics.


  3. I heard a few days ago that a classmate of mine from the zoo was just hired as a killer whale trainer at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (where we did a project together last year). I am very happy for him, and think he'll be wonderful at the job, but I can't help feeling a little jealous. That was my dream job as a kid and well into adulthood, but I gave up on it as a pipe-dream, so that stung a bit. But I really do wish him the best, and how awesome will it be to be able to discuss that with him?


  4. Finally, an XF press conference? THIS could be interesting. Maybe we'll finally get the official subtitle? I'm going to be waiting with bated breath all day.


  5. ChronX update! Blinded by White Light - Body and Soul )

memento1: (XF - desire)
Lookie! I asked a friend to take a video of the cougar boys at the zoo for me, and she returned with this. For me, it's all about the 5 seconds in the middle where Spirit purrs. The best sound in the world! When both of them get going, rubbing against the fence, vying for your attention, it's like two jet engines - you can feel it in your chest. Awww, I miss them so much. My boys.

Feel the rumble. )

And then of course there's XF! There was the wonder of Wondercon this last weekend (where fandom goes boom) and then there's...all my regular XF squeeage.

Wondercon )

Now, general fannish stuff. First off, everyone must go watch[livejournal.com profile] erock_x's amazing new Mulder video. And then go watch all her other vids. Because they are amazing. And Gillian watched one. ;) Okay, we have no proof of this, but very strong suspicions! Hehe.

And then of course I'm still slowly working my way through ChronX, and loving every minute of it. I'm only on the mid-B's. This should totally last me through July (especially if I don't become distracted and try to read everything by every new author I find, d'oh).

You, my flist, rocketh hard-core. I'm just filled with the random love today, so have a hug. Heck, have two. I love you all. *mwah*
memento1: (CSI - dark and mysterious)
This one from [livejournal.com profile] dana_cz.

Album Cover Meme )

Hee! Photoshop is FUN. When it's not being evil. I tried to make a new header but hated it. I need to rethink my theme. Oh, but GIP!

I visited the zoo today, and it was really nice. I brought food, so everyone was happy to see me. *L* It was so nice to see Friday and Goblin (she lipsmacked at me! After all this time it's good to know she still remembers me) and Oliver (Kera's younger brother - so cute!) and my dear Salsa-bird, but really I went to see the people and I was glad everyone was really welcoming and friendly. Awww, I miss it.

Salsa!

Dec. 9th, 2007 01:18 am
memento1: (Mad World)
OK, I stopped doing my pictures from EATM thing a while ago before I could finish my favorite animals, so thus, here is my dear Salsa-bird.

Picspam ahoy )

In unrelated news, it's snowing up in the mountains north of here and the news is like "OMG, snow! Breaking news, people, it's SNOWING! Close down the highway, the snowplows need to get through!!" *snork*

Goblin

Jun. 11th, 2007 02:58 pm
memento1: (CSI - Kiss)
You guessed it, more zoo pictures. Finally we come to my Gobbie girl.



More pictures )

Friday

May. 29th, 2007 10:40 am
memento1: (SG-1 - Sam suspicious)
The picture updates continue. With video! This time, Friday the raccoon.

Fri-Fri )

Dream job

May. 24th, 2007 11:33 am
memento1: (SG-1 - Dream On)
So, yesterday I found my dream job at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Working with "sea lions, harbor seals, psitticines, birds of prey, and a variety of free-flighted birds". Sign me up NOW. Marine mammals AND parrots. Is there anything more perfect? I want this job SO badly I spent the day writing up a cover letter and sending it off. Had to go to Kinko's to fax it, and WTF, it was $6.50 to fax 4 pages. That's such a rip-off! And then I discovered after I'd sent it that right off the bat I'd SPELLED THE LADY'S NAME WRONG. I'm so pissed at myself for that, and praying that it doesn't affect my chances because otherwise I'm a fairly good candidate for the job and OMG, I want this job SO badly. And I probably won't hear anything at all until June, if I even have a chance. I haven't had much luck applying for these types of jobs.

Zoo Pics!

May. 19th, 2007 11:02 am
memento1: (XF - desire)
OK, I really need to upload some pics from the zoo, for my own memories if nothing else. Sooo, I'm gonna start small, with some of the miscellaneous animals.

Animal Pictures! )

OK, that's all for today. Coming up soon: Projects, Salsa, Goblin, and the baaaaby.

Well blah.

Apr. 2nd, 2007 08:32 pm
memento1: (SG-1 - Dream On)
Took swim test. Failed spectacularly. Don't want to talk about it. How about I work with dogs? You have to be an athlete to work with marine mammals, and an athlete I am not.

Somehow, Donna is still alive. She looks like death and can hardly move, but she's still holding on. I took her out to warm her up today, and washed off some of her eye crusties and fur. I helped her eat some pasta and gave her some pedialyte, but I don't really know whether I should keep trying. I don't think it's something she can turn around from.

*sigh* I gotta have something positive to report. Dogsitting this weekend! That sounds fun. And I've got the baby on Saturday, yay! God I'm happy to be home again.

Oh God.

Mar. 31st, 2007 10:05 pm
memento1: (V-Day)
Donna's sick. I don't know what it is. But she's really lethargic, discoordinated...she can't walk, she can't seem to move one of her back legs that much. And she's got eye-boogers, which all sick rats get. Really, I don't think she'll make it through the night. Oh God. This is tough. I didn't know what I was going to do with her once I had to move, and was almost thinking her time would come before I had to decide, but it's still painful. Donna was my sweet sweet girl who never bit, never ran away - she was always nice and gentle and shy. She ran her maze like a pro and got me a 100 in Behavior lab. And she's my little TV star, being on an episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine in the short time it was on. And just quiet evenings when she'd sit on my shoulder and grate her teeth in happiness. Oh, my poor Donna. I'm sorry I didn't take better care of you. I'm sorry I didn't notice you were sick earlier.

I snuggled with her a bit, gave her more food than she'll know what to do with, and put her lixit down lower so she can reach it. She probably won't ever get to most of it, but maybe she'll go happy. My dear Donna.
memento1: (SG-1 - Dream On)
So. This weekend is Spring Spectacular and next week is Spring Break but I still gotta write a paper, study for finals, finish turnovers, take pictures of all my animals (bought nice new digital camera, yay!), go to SeaWorld San Diego swim test (which they STILL haven't verified and I'm starting to get antsy), and verify final project (hopefully Point Definace Zoo and Aquarium in Washington, although that would be an expensive trip). Oh! And I've got to do some overnight dogsitting next weekend.

As for the job search, have only heard back from SeaWorld and Six Flags New Jersey, which both want swim tests and I'm only going to SeaWorld's because it's close. I have to apply for another job I saw a posting for, too. And then the other day, my teacher faxed my application to the wrong company, and totally freaked me out when they called. I only figured out afterwards that they may actually have been offering the job. *L* I was just so embarrassed that I'd sent it to the wrong company. Anyways, so that's the job search.

As for now, the cutest little picture of Friday. )

Vet Visit

Feb. 20th, 2007 07:25 pm
memento1: (SG-1 - Dream On)
We brought Friday (the raccoon) to the vet today, as she's had blood in her urine lately and she needed a full check-up. So the 4 of us (2 current trainers and 2 past trainers) piled in the school van and drove to a nice little clinic in Thousand Oaks. The staff there was just wonderful - they let us watch everything and patiently answered all our questions. First off we transfered Friday to a smaller crate which they then wrapped in plastic bags in order to anaesthetize her. The pumped in the gas and soon enough she was out like a light. Theypulled her out, put a mask on her, and then intubated her. They weighed her (20.5 lbs!), did X-rays, and put a heart monitor on her tongue. It was actually kind of creepy - hearing the constant beep-beep-beep increase and descrease, and jumping when it suddenly goes silent. But she was fine. They wanted a sterile urine sample, but her bladder was empty. They tried several times to pull out some urine with a long needle, but they never got any. Since she was under anyways, they then did some dentistry work. We watched the basic teeth cleaning and when that was done, we cleaned out her ears (they were nasty!) and I clipped her nails. One of her canines was rotten and half gone, so the vet then came in to remove it. It was fascinating to watch - he cut a slice of the gum open and went to town on the tooth, ripping away all the connective tissue deep under the gum. It started rocking back and forth and finally came loose. It was actually much less bloody than I feared - I was fascinated! I watched him suture up the gum, and try one last time to get some urine. They put her back in her crate and covered her with a heating pad while they removed the gas. When she started coughing on the air tube, they removed it and gave her a subcutaneous injection of a pain-killer. By then it was too late for us to bring her back to the zoo, so she's staying there overnight. The poor girl was just waking up as we left.

It was really, really fascinating, though. We got to look at the X-rays and help keep the breathing tube in place. I saw how they varied her depth of anaesthesia - they tried to keep it as low as possible, but if she started coughing on the tube, they raised the gas level and pumped it in quickly by squeezing a little inflating bag. We got to get a good look at her teeth and feel her soft paw pads. The vets AND the vet techs were all wonderful, kind people, and I was so glad they let us be as involved as we were. It was a great experience.

I also learned during the trip that Laura, one of my classmates and a fellow Kera feeder, got a marine mammal job. She did a project at a dolphin center in Florida, and was hired. She's moving out there as soon as we graduate to start her job as a dolphin trainer. It did make me very envious - I've been looking at a few jobs but none as nice as that one. Why do some people have all the luck? In any case, it incited me to get off my @ss and write a cover letter I've been meaning to write. I'm going to send in some applications this week - no more excuses.

Huh.

Feb. 13th, 2007 09:42 pm
memento1: (V-Day)
You know what? I've got to learn to be more positive about stuff. I've not been great recently - haven't been sleeping well, been frustrated with people at the zoo, worried about my training, etc. But this evening I was writing an e-mail to an old friend and I realized...today alone I walked a dog, trained a macaw, groomed with a baboon, and snuggled with a baby gibbon. Back in the day I never would have believed I'd be here, doing what I'm doing. This was my dream. It made me think - we never actually reach our dream. We reach what we wanted, and there's always something more, something else to want. And I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. But I do know I am going to miss this when it's gone.

Anyways, HAPPY V-Day, people! Especially all the singletons out there - big red chocolate hearts for us!

Awwwww!

Jan. 7th, 2007 07:10 pm
memento1: (SANTA!)
My sister is just too sweet. She's been telling me forever that I need to watch Firefly, and having heard about it on LJ, I agreed. Today I received a package from her which includes the entire series! There's also The Neverending Story 1 and 2, two scifi books, and a bunch of old sentimental family pictures. It was a great belated christmas present. Having also recently received Miss Congeniality and The 40-Year Old Virgin that I ordered off Amazon, I have plenty to keep me busy! Woohoo!

The zoo has been busy busy busy...classes start again tomorrow, though next week I'm doing a project (read: internship) with a local dog trainer. I'm looking forward to it! I also had a good session today with the new zoo dog, Jade. She's a young boxer mix and HYPER, so I've mainly been just exercising her, working on staying calm, and not biting at everything. It will definately be a project. Anything else to say? No, guess not. Now on to your regularly scheduled flist.

Back!

Dec. 15th, 2006 10:52 pm
memento1: (WW - dance smile)
Well, I am back! And just in time to leave again. My internet is finally back up, but I'll be gone Sunday through Wednesday in San Diego. We're going to visit Sea World, San Diego Wild Animal Park, the Navy dolphin program, and much more. I'm excited!

Anyways, guess it's time for the big news - that thing at the zoo that ate up all my time. For almost the last two months I've been helping raise a baby gibbon. A Siamang, to be more precise. Out of nowhere, the zoo was called by another facility about hand-raising an infant siamang since its mother was not taking adequate care of it. The baby arrived at 9 days old, and I was one of 4 students chosen to be a primary caretaker. That was a thrill beyond imagining. So, my time since has been a lot more active. We transformed a room at the zoo into a nursery and I spend a lot of my time in there with the baby and various other caretakers. Along with holding her and playing with her, I keep up on cleaning bottles, pacifiers, and toys, keeping records, changing her diaper, and feeding.

I could talk a lot more about her, but you'd probably rather see pictures. )

Anyways, there's a lot more I need to catch up on - the fire, Hawaii trip, MadTV taping, spring animal assignments, and other zoo things, but for now, I need to go to sleep! *L* I'll update more later. For now, good night! Love you all.
memento1: (SG-1 - Sunbathing)
Brought Friday (the raccoon) out on leash today so she could sniff around and have some enrichment, and while we were out, I tested my training on her. I've been training her since September to target to a laser pointer, and lately it's turned into targeting her onto a wooden disk and doing behaviors (wave, worry, think). So I placed her mark several feet away and sent her to it. She went right there, stood up and looked at me, and waited for her next command. It was awesome, as I've only started training her on the mark a few feet away. She caught on so fast! I'm really proud of her.

Anyways, took out Malaika as well, and got a picture.

Me and my birdy )

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