Animal Planet

So I saw on animal planet that an ultrasound of a pregnant tiger shark will reveal that a mother can carry as many as twenty baby sharks at once, yet at the time of birth, a litter of only a few (sometimes even one!) emerges. It is survival of the fittest at its best, ladies and gentlemen, for the remaining sharks actually EAT their brothers and sisters. It reminds me of that Office episode where Dwight talks about reabsorbing his twin while in the womb. While Dwight has the strength of a "grown man and a little baby," the sole surviving sharks are born with the strength and might of 19 other baby tiger sharks and the "guilty conscience"(not!) of familial cannibalism. It's Charles Darwin meets the Donner party. What I want to know is how animal experts get close enough to the second largest predatory shark to get an ultrasound in the first place.
It's a shark-eat-shark world out there,
R-

A Caffeinated Collection of Thoughts

So...the novelty of blog writing has died off a bit, but I've been keeping a mental list of things worth noting over the last few weeks and am finally sitting back to tie the loose ends that are clattering around in my head. First of all, my cousin returned from studying abroad in the Netherlands. Having grown up together (we're two weeks apart), the adjustment to separation with college and then a whole quarter in another country was pretty hard. I'm not good, nor do I enjoy phone communication AT ALL, so the need to catch up was pretty great by the time she rolled back into town. We met at the Global Bean Coffee Shop, which is a new joint in the 'dale. I have to say, my time in the emerald city has redefined my definition of good coffee but this Global Bean place did it right. It has that slightly pretentious vibe that invites Heidegger into the conversation over a nonfat sugarfree vanilla latte; however, the brooding intellectual expectation is watered down with its bright decor and obvious appreciation of community art and talent. Not to say that the two don't go together, but the pretentiousness is definitely curbed by the bright orange walls. It successfully bridges the city coffee world with a small town jive. I'll definitely be back.

One Nonfat Sugar-free Vanilla Latte later,
R-

For a Smile:

This is worth four minutes and twenty nine seconds of your time.

Dancing along,
R-