Macaroni Penguins Paulie and Chaos are Parents!

Video of the first penguin egg at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. Paulie and Chaos are being very diligent parents. These macaronis take turns lying on the egg. Paulie has been observed on the nest for over six hours at a time. This video shows a shift change as Paulie gets off of the egg and the mother, Chaos settles in over the egg.

New Sofa in Daylight

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New Sofa

I know I haven't posted in a while...I have about 10 other blogs I'm trying to manage through work on top of the regular day-to-day stuff I have. Anyway, I finally got my new sofa last night and had a spontaneous photo shoot at 1 in the morning...

The Eames Elephant Returns

Designed by Charles & Ray Eames, 1945

Last year saw the release of the Eames Plywood Elephant from Vitra, which was designed in 1945, but never actually commercially issued. Just 1,000 were issued in 2007, all selling (and selling out). If you missed out on that, there's a new Vitra Eames Elephant on the market for 2008.

Almost no other animal enjoys such popularity as the elephant. Admired for its majestic size and loved for its proverbial good-humour, it is part of our everyday experience as a child's cuddly toy, a storybook character and a majestic creature. Charles and Ray Eames also succumbed to their charms and in 1945 designed a toy elephant made of plywood. However, it never made it into mass production. The Eames elephant is now available for the first time in a plastic version for those it was originally intended for: children.

I want one.

{Vitra and Retro To Go}

Cute Kitties!!!

Lucy and Kelvin are adorable...they seem to love having their photo taken...aren't they pretty?

Travels

I just arrived in Addison, IL, a suburb of Chicago for a quick business trip. I'm happy to be at my old stomping grounds, but unfortunately, there just isn't enough time on this trip to drive downtown and hang out with friends. I'll be working all day on Sunday, departing Monday and then I fly to Detroit to catch a shuttle to Woodstock. I'm going home for 10 days! Yippee! I wish I could say I am taking a vacation but I'm not; my visa expires, requiring me to work from home in Canada. My new one starts October 1st.

I haven't had a trip home for this length of time in probably 4 years. It will be a nice change of pace and may help me relax before I close on my condo, which is October 10th. I just tried to check in on my kitties but the kittycam is already down. I miss my babies already! What made me miss them even more was seeing this really cute video, which I will share. Cats are so funny...

modern kitty dwellings

As the closing of my first new home approaches (tentatively October 10th), my yearning for new furnishings is increasingly becoming an obsession. The worst part is, my fixation is finding the perfect dwellings for my pets. Rolling Stone and Peanut Butter are the best kitties ever! I admit, I am being completely biased, but in their defense, they are really, really good cats. They are well-behaved, adorable, fun, sweet, loving kitties. Even with my hectic schedule and spontaneous trips (both business and pleasure), they are still fairly low maintenance creatures. Yes, they have their own kitty feeder. Yes, they have an automatic water reservoir. And yes, they even have their own Cat Genie. Don't even mention the fact that I have a webcam on when I'm away on trips! That's part of the beauty of technology and for my own peace of mind. Even with all these "things", I assure you, though they may not need their mommy to feed and clean up after them, they still need me. I keep them company, play with and give them love. Unlike the stereotypical cat who pays no attention to their owner, my kitties greet me when I come home, respond and come when I call them and always hang out with me when I'm home (both are sleeping on me right now). So why shouldn't they deserve the best? My search for the perfect modern dwellings will hopefully fit under the following basic guidelines:
1- Must look GREAT in my condo
2- Must FIT in my new condo
3- Should be able to accommodate both cats
4- Must be stable and durable
5- Must NOT cost more than a piece of furniture that I would buy for myself.
Pretty simple, right? Not quite. There are a lot of really great products out there and I'm having problems avoiding #5. The trouble is, I really LIKE those ones because they seem purrrfect (except for the fact they cost more than something I'd purchase for myself). It will likely boil down to where something best fits and if I can afford it. We shall see...

Get Built (again)

I participated in another CrossFit today. The website posted the following for the WOD (workout of the day), "Meet at the Box at 9:00. The free WOD will be hosted at GetBuiltChattanoogaCrossFit. We are leaving from the "box" by 9:10. Bring a friend and your running shoes. This is going to be fun for all ages! Total running will be under 3 miles." So I knew what I was getting into, though I'm not a big fan of running. But with the Olympics being my motivation, I figured I could handle it. The workout consisted of running across Market Street Bridge, running up and down the stairway at the Aquarium twice, running up the hill on 1st Street and power walking all the way across the Walnut Street bridge. From there, we ran to Coolidge Park, performed 100 crunches, ran beneath the Market Street Bridge to do 100 squats and then ran up "the boob" - an extremely steep, man-made hill. The last part of this leg was running backwards up the last hill and finishing in Renaissance Park. A quick game of tag with most of the group ended the WOD. The whole thing lasted about 30 minutes and I think it felt better than the last one I did - but we'll see how I feel tomorrow!