Zoo

The Milwaukee County Zoo is open every single day of the year (they say 365 days, but I think they are actually open on leap year days, too). So, since the weather on Christmas day was as nice as can be in Milwaukee in late December, with sunshine, clear sky, temperature just above freezing, and with a pretty layer of snow still covering the ground, I went to the zoo. Free admission for county residents, too. There were enough other people there to avoid the creepily-empty feeling, but certainly not crowds. I took lots of photos, most of them not yet up, but I have a few done:

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The Pirate Primer

Today at the library I found The Pirate Primer: Mastering the Language of Swashbucklers & Rogues, by George Choundas. This is a book about how to talk like a pirate. A 470 page book. With excruciating detail. Citations of the books and movies the phrases were found in. And, as an added bonus, printed on paper with printed-on browned edges and fake tears and bound with faux-aged cover, for the ancient text look. The mind boggles at the effort that went into this. It's not entirely clear who needs this book. I suppose you'll appreciate it if you are one of those people who takes Talk Like A Pirate Day really, really seriously. (You know who you are.) Also, it might be handy if you LARP aboard a pirate ship, though less so if you speak German on your vessel, unless you can convince the rest of the scurvy ignorants swashbucklers to learn English. (According to my plan, at this point jaelle_n_gilla should be laughing really hard. I'm sure she'll let us know if my plan is a success.)

Good luck to you and a fair wind!