[ and now, a story in three acts ]

[Act I]

[Act II]



[Intermission]



[Act III]



[Fin]

Yes, two Saturday mornings ago found me awake and in the shower at 8:40 a.m. (unprecedented! I haven't been awake that early in quite literally years) in no small part due to some stolen blankets and a healthy smack on the ass from strict-yet-loving matron/celebration mastermind Anne Major. By 9:30, a troupe of four (myself, Anne, Josh-to-the-Carp, and the cause of belated celebration himself, pictured above) were in the parking lot of Cosí, waiting Anne’s return with morning coffee. Given that I’d caught a typical less-than-three hours of sleep, I requested an upscale-milkshake with 3 shots of espresso, which wound up costing our gracious hostess more than $6.

Our not-so-secret destination was the Philadelphia Zoo (which I had let slip, but which Keith had guessed at anyway, so no real harm done, right? ::sighs:: Sorry, Annie). In a regional quirk similar to New Jersey residents being unable to pump their own gas, those of us from DC are relatively unfamiliar with the idea of zoos, museums, and other such glorious pursuits of nerdery requiring payment. Needless to say, tons of pictures were taken, with Keith doing the actual photography, and myself managing to take upwards of 70 boring pictures of amazing, fascinating animals (I may post a few worthwhile ones at a later point).

A snake had made itself prominent, possibly in the hopes that a charmingly-nebbish British schoolboy would temporarily disapparate the glass that contained it (dear reader). Bred in captivity, indeed.

Music: The spectacular Boards of Canada remix of Beck's "Broken Drum," which is quite the amazing song in its own right.