entry: 6890

weather: unseasonably warm....again.

i awoke today to find that there was a baby mouse stuck in a glue trap in the hallway.
naturally. i broke into tears.
i always take it upon myself to toss the torture traps in the garbage
however. the girl next door apparently has them in her room.
there are humane ways to trap mice.
my point? be a friend to animals big and small.

but today is not the day to dwell.
today happens to be one of my best friends birthdays.
lets call her Lady. (you can find her blog in my links)
Lady's favorite animal is the penguin.
so today will be dedicated to the projectile pooper. the penguin.


There are many different types of penguins
some enjoy the frigid temperatures while others prefer climates a bit warmer,
penguins have a layer of blubber, a layer of down feathers and finally the outer feathers.
and if that isnt enough to keep them warm then they snuggle!
for the penguins in the warmer weather spreading their wings
and spreading their feathers will provide a cool down.

and did you know that penguins bond by touching necks
and/or slapping eachothers backs with their flippers.
kind of like Secretary with cute little birds.
and penguins- unlike koala's -stick with their mate for years
and therefore do NOT spread chlamydia around like wildfire.
(sorry koala's i just think you should be more safe.)

and of course, my favorite penguin fact.
they can projectile poop up to 16 inches away from themselves.
keeping their nest and feathers clean.

entry: 5111

weather: crisp yet unseasonably warm

ah, back in Queens, in the sleeping quarters of my co-captain.
It was an excellent mini break from my education.
I enjoyed rendezvous' with some of my favorite crew members
got lots of sewing done
and took lots of naps with Big Big Mees, who also has adventures at sea.

My current project is making stuffed animal squid
pictures will be up once a few are completed.
as usual, i have many in the process but only one actually finished.
maybe my new years resolution will be to finish what i start before i begin something new....
but who really keeps their resolutions anyway.

In my continuing quest to further my knowledge about giant squid
i found myself at barnes and noble with 2 of my crew members.
luckily for me i managed to find an entire book devoted to Steven Jenkins and his mysterious kind.
(sidenote:- for those who dont know who jenkins is i will write a detailed biography soon.)

besides the new squid book, i purchased an italian workbook
in hopes of improving my fading language skils
only 3 months left til Roma!
I also found a book of animal facts, i should have bought the book
but money is tight on the SS Chambs and with the holiday season here already
money cant be spent on just anything.
Since i have focused this post on me rather than the creatures of the oceans
i'll throw in some random animal facts that i can remember.

enjoy!


FACTS!

-rats and rabbits cannot vomit.

-there is a kind of lizard who uses debris in the ocean to travel from one island to another

-pigs have corkscrew penises and ejaculate a pint of semen

-if need be, lobsters can find their way home

-chlamydia is common among koala bears

-certain spiders have their penises in their mouths

-it would take 30 minutes to boil an ostrich egg



no wonder they have the clap.....crazy koalas.

entry: 1234

weather: dreary and not enticing.


Ah New Jersey. The state of gardens. and of wawa.
I've sailed my ship home
and it feels great to be here.
It is hard to believe that it is thanksgiving already
this year is just flying by!

life is good right now on the SS Chambs.
no complaints.
but life will be hectic with the ending of the semester...
more on that another day.
today is a day for turkey.

obviously turkey's are not the sea faring type.
but i thought this might come in handy for those so inclined.
enjoy sailors.
happy thanksgiving!

Making a Turtle Shell Turkey Call

A novel, yet effective, friction-type caller you can build is the box turtle or terrapin shell call. The sounding chamber is an empty, dry terrapin shell
topped with a sheet of slate or red cedar. The striker is a red cedar or
hardwood peg topped with a corncob.

Materials:

* One empty and dried terrapin shell.
* One piece of 1/8-inch red cedar or slate for the sounding board (approximately 3" x 6", depending on length and width of shell).
* One five-inch long piece of 3/8-inch hardwood or red cedar dowel rod for a striker.
* One dried corn cob.

Procedure:

* Cut and sand the sounding board into a shape that fits the length
and width of the shell. Round or oval shapes work well and look good.
* Lay the sounding board across the open underside of the shell and mark
the points where the sounding board rests against the shell
- the contact points.
* Dab epoxy at three of these contact points and press the sounding board
to the shell long enough for the epoxy to set.
* Taper the corn cob with sander or sharp knife.
* Trim the cob length to about 4 1/2 inches.
* Drill the center of the cob and drive the dowel rod peg
into length of the cob, leaving about 2 1/2 inches of peg exposed.
The fit must be snug.

Note: Length and weight of peg and cob can be altered, resulting in tone variation. Try several lengths and weights.

If you plan to use this call for hunting, painting the shell in dark colors and making sure not to leave any exposed white will reduce the risk of another hunter mistaking your call for a turkey's head.

Operate your call like any slate and peg caller. Make sure to utilize the forward part of the call for the best sound.

entry: 3764

weather: dreary but warm


i awoke at the crack of dawn today to sail back to brooklyn
only to find that class had been cancelled.
i would have rather stayed in the cabin with co-captain.

On the bright side, only 4 weeks remain in the semester.
magic i tell you, magic.
I look forward to a mini vacation
where i can work, and go on adventures with friends and lover. singular.

Normally around this time of year the weather begins to turn cold
I can even remember a few November's where it even snowed.
but thanks to global warming all that has changed.
It's a nice mix of spring summer and fall. lets call it spraller.
Spraller may feel nice. But just think of what it is doing to our friends in the freezing seas.


FACTS!

~~Rising temperatures have a dramatic impact on Arctic ice,
which serves as a kind of "air conditioner" at the top of the world.
Since 1978 Arctic sea ice area has shrunk by some 9 percent per decade, and thinned as well.


~~In the Arctic the impacts of a warming climate are being felt already.
Coastal Indigenous communities report shorter periods of sea ice,
which fails to temper ocean storms and their destructive coastal erosion.
Increased snow and ice melt have caused higher rivers
while thawing permafrost has wreaked havoc with roads and other infrastructure.
Some communities have had to move from historic coastline locations.
Sea ice loss is devastating for species that have adapted to the environment,
such as polar bears and ringed seals in the Arctic and Antarctic penguins.
(facts courtesy of national geographic online)



for more not so fun facts on global warming
check out:
globalwarming.org
epa.gov/climatechange/
stopglobalwarming.org

entry: 4886

weather: dreary and cold




recently i have become obssessed with the marine life in the coldest parts of the world.
and if i wasn't so terrified of getting eaten by a mystery sea creature
i think i'd throw on some diving gear and go.

at any rate. i've been doing some reading and animal planet watching
about the creatures that thrive in these freezing temperatures.
and i came across a photographer named Norbert Wu
a nature photographer extraordinaire- these are some of his shots from Antarctica.


urchins. the pin cushions of the sea.


i want to hug this weddell seal.

i have the blue planet episode of the frozen seas on my netflix list.
i can't wait to get it.

entry: 1855

weather: crisp and glorious

Last week someone may as well have put a hole in the bottom of my boat.
I felt like i was sinking to the bottom of the abyss.
It is so easy to forget that there is no clear definition of art.
and its also easy to forget that there will always be people that support what you do.

in the coming weeks i am hoping to really improve my time management
and spend any extra time working on shirts, bags, etc to sell on etsy.com
i have 7 months left.
it is time to really get it together.