Road Trip 2012: Victoria Bug Zoo

One of the weird/cool/neat-o things Raimund and I did on our trip was check out the Bug Zoo.  Raimund finds entomology pretty fascinating and I'm completely creeped out by bugs, so this pit stop was a must.

Did you know that scorpions glow under a black light?  I had no idea.  Also, I just wanted to throw this out there...I was braver than Raimund and held a tarantula.  The only way I could describe the feeling was that it reminded me of a hamster.  I'm weird, I know.  Keep in mind I have a horrible fear of spiders too.

Later gators!

~E

Six Things I Can't Live Without

Hey guys!  I did a guest post for Lindsay over on Shrimp Salad Circus all about six things I can't live without. 

That leads me to the question...what are six things YOU can't live without?  I'm always curious about who reads my blog, so it'd be neat to get to know you better!

Later gators!

~E

May Long in Black and White.

Up here in Canada we had a long weekend...I had a long weekend.  Initially my work asked if I wanted to come in on Monday, and of course I said no.  Rarely are we given that option, so I took full advantage of it.

I picked up some black and white film during a quick trip to the drug store.  I keep telling myself that "one day" I'd have a reason to use B&W film, and I finally decided this "day" was here.

Here's a few snaps from what happened this weekend.

I don't think I could've found a better excuse to use black and white film.

Later gators!

~E

Needles In The Foot Suck A Lot.

Guess what I did last Saturday.   Just guess.

HUZZAH!  Foot tattoo!

I'd been wanting to get something on my foot for a while.  About a month ago my tattoo artist friend posted a tattoo flash he drew up on Facebook that I loved -- a poppy.  Sadly that got snatched up pretty damn quick but he offered to draw up something he felt would look good on my wee foot.

I'm not going to lie, I was scared the morning of the tattoo.  Not for the pain, but in my mind I was worried about bleeding.  Yeah, bleeding.  I don't do well with blood, and seeing as there are so many veins that run along the top of the foot, I began dreaming up worst case scenarios.  I'm awesome like that.

The pain was horrible.  For me, it was a close second to child birth.  I couldn't believe how bad it hurt, and that was just the line work.  I kept clenching my fists and teeth, looking around the shoppe at something to distract me.  Another dude who was getting his arm done regaled the tale of when his fiance was getting her foot done -- he could hear her screaming from the bottom of the stairs.  I can believe it.

An hour and a half later I was up walking around with this beauty.  I love what my artist did and how he coloured it.  Initally I wanted green leaves, but I'm super happy with just shading.  Looks damn purdy if you ask me.

I'll eventually get around to posting real photos.  My foot is currently at that itchy flaky stage.  Awesome, right?  I'm guessing macro shots probably wouldn't be so cool right now.  (Or maybe they would be?  What the hell do I know?!)

Anyone else there had their foot tattooed?  What was it like for you?  Tell me!

Later gators!

~E 

Road Trip 2012: Nanaimo to Victoria

As you may remember from a previous post, as soon as Raimund and I got on Vancouver Island we opted to stay at a hostel that sounded like it was having a rave below us.  Needless to say we didn't get much sleep that night.

Day 3 of our trip consisted of playing with crabs and starfish in Ladysmith, checking out a farmer's market in Duncan, and finally, FINALLY making it to Victoria.

Like the back alley?  It was pretty unique, but kinda creepy when we pulled up in the dark.  Raimund had a fear that someone was going to break into his car and steal all of our stuff, so we ended up packing a lot of things into the hostel.  I told him it wouldn't happen, and of course I was right, because I'm always right.  Right?  ;)

After breakfast we headed down to Ladysmith and we basically fell in love with the town.  Oh, and all of the sea life there.

I made a video of Raimund playing with a little crab.  Initially we were both slightly creeped out because it reminded us too much of spiders, but then we sorta warmed up to them.  

  

The rest of the day was spent in Duncan admiring totem poles and buying farmers market goodies.  I love these island towns.

So that was our 3rd day.  I'll try to be more diligent with getting these photos up!  You know how it is with work and a kid.  Free time is zilch.

Later gators!

~E