Pretty music and some quick updates

Wow, I have posted a lot this week...Anyway a few things:

1. If you don't already know, now you do, I am a huge dork and I just recently got into anime which has led me to a general facilation with all things Japanese...anyway I also discovered imeem, which is a site which lets you find whatever music you want and then you can put it places...like your blog! So check out the ridiculously pretty songs to the right. They are by a Japanese singer named Aoi Teshima who has the coolest voice ever. My favorite thus far is 'twilight'. Enjoy.

2. The pigeons are gone!! That took about an hour off my day, yay! But I miss my little buddy :( He will be happier with other pigeons though. God speed little guy.

3. we got a HORRIFYING new turkey vulture whose cage I have to climb into to catch. He makes a noise that sounds like...Darth Vader breathing/a dying cat which creeps the hell out of me...and he smells...real bad. Anyway thats all for now. 50 days until spring! (give or take).

COOLEST PACKAGE EVER!!!!

So I finally got my package from Stephie in China! Ironically Stephie is in fact home right now...and I will be thanking her myself this weekend!! Anyway, this package made my day...and my week...here is a list and some pictures of the awesomeness:

The complete package:

Here is a list of what is inside:
- 2 really pretty fans
- Amazing chopsticks
- ANIME
- the anime was in TWO CD CASES ONE OF WHICH IS IN THE SHAPE OF A PIGGY SMILING
- Ridiculously flavored candy...such as: smoked plum, corn, pudding, chocolate burger, milk, and worrisomely, choco...baby?
- Cheese doodles which promise me "delicious family joy"
- a squishy pig ball
- aaand a little notebook which at the top of each page reads "Bergamot pear baby is my good friend, that anybody can enjoy!"

AMAZING. Some close-ups:
This pig is SO HAPPY to be a CD case!!

Lastly, Willow is the funniest kid EVER. Today she came down to hang out in the clinic and this conversation happened -

Willow: Cori come heeeeere and look at my My Little Pony book!
Me: Hold on, Willow, I have to finish this.
Willow: Cori, don't be a Puddle-pus
Me: ....What?!
Willow: Oh...it's an octopus...that hates everyone.
Me: ...did you just make that up?
Willow: yes.

Wow. Here stories make less sense than MINE. That's all for now!

I applied to UVM! Cross your fingers! Also, here is a current list of things the turkeys do which is infuriating or hilarious...or both:

1. Steal mice, dog food, trash bags, and spoons out of my hand
2. Peck holes in the bag of shavings as I am walking around with it (without me noticing so that I leave a trail of shavings behind me)
3. Untie my apron springs by pecking them
4. Eating the following which is not food: trash bags, another turkey's toenail, each other's feathers, tape
5. Getting on the roof of whatever cage I am in and scary the animals I am in the cage with
6. Pecking my butt through the mesh of the cage I am in
7. Chasing Willow
8. Chasing Emily
9. Pooping on my car, my front stoop, the pathway, the cages, and me
10. Pecking the skylight to wake me up
11. Existing

That's all for now!

A few quick stories

The past few weekends/weeks have been quite eventful, so I'm currently all tuckered out and a little bummed because I have to drive back to Connecticut in an hour or so. Anyway, here are the highlights of the past week:

1. Wednesday was quite busy because I have to do a presentation at another school. Very fun, but I still have to take care of all the animals as usual, so also stressful. In addition, I went to pick up Stephie at the airport who is home from China for 2 weeks!! Here the story becomes more complicated; There was some kind of mix up online and her dad saw that her flight was THREE HOURS DELAYED...it was indeed not, but I did not think to check again for about 2 hours after I would have normally left to get her, meanwhile poor Stephie was already at the airport and attempting to reach me by crappy pay phone since her phone only works in China...therefore I got messages that sounded like "MMhhhhhshshshshhs Cori?! sssnnnnnnnppppSHSHHHH?" Buuuut long story short, I did get her and we then immediately went to a Taco Bell which was apparently what she missed most about the U.S. haha and then got to her house in East Hartford at like 2 in the morning....then the next day I went back to work which was tiring BUT Stephie was AWESOME and came with me to help out. This was lucky because I had no other help on Thursday and also some people showed up with a GIANT angry turkey vulture without calling ahead which was silly...

2. I came home this weekend and actually got most of my application for UVM's Natural Resources program finished, wish me luck! Also I went out with Sarah and Meghan to Finale as a late Christmas present from Sarah and it was AMAZING. It is a place in Boston that sells primarily desserts which are all ridiculously good. Sarah got a sampler plate, I got tiramisu, and Meghan got a Boston creme cake and we ALSO all got dessert drinks which all seemed to have the same things in them (Kahlua, Bailey's, deliciousness) but were all named different things. Anyway we then took some amazing pictures of use being rowdy walking back to the car which I'm sure Meg will put up soon. Today (Sunday) we went to the Frog Pond in Boston to go skating which was fun because I had never gone so I felt like a bad Bostonian...however it was QUITE chilly today at about 5 degrees and the rental skates felt like bear traps on my ankles...so it was brief but still worth it.

Anyway, now I am about to go back to CT for the weekend...next up in my life: Jacob and Stacy's apartment party!! Then the next weekend I have been promised a kiss from a sea lion via a friend of Emily's at the aquarium in New York. Good times. Oh, also, because everyone keeps asking; Henry is doing pretty well although he is getting a lot more...well...deerish, meaning that he gets startled and scared by everything. This is inconvenient since he thrashes around and is now probably around 65 lbs with mini-antlers. Currently we also have SEVEN gulls and FIVE pigeons in side which is a lot, but I have been promised that they will be gone when I return (they are going to our pigeon and gull ladies, respectively). This is good because we have no more free cages inside...yet more animals keep arriving...hmm. Bye for now!

A gross story sandwiched between 2 cute stories:

So I have a gross story to tell. No seriously. REALLY GROSS. Like....if you don't like gross things, skip story 2 and just read the cute stuff. You have been warned.
Ok so take a seat, it's Cori Story time:

1. This is actually more of a hilarious dialogue. We have intercoms so I can reach Dara from the clinic and from my apartment, which occasionally will be commandeered by Willow for ridiculous reasons. For example -

(Intercom buzzy noise randomly as I'm working in the clinic) then -
Willow:......MAAAAAA?
Dara from somewhere else in the house other than the clinic: Willow get OFF the intercom!!!
Willow:....but MAAAAAA it's IMPORTAAAAANT!!
Dara: WILLOW GET OFF NOW!
Willow: MAAAAAA
Dara: Fine, what?!
Willow:........
Dara: Oh my God, Willow what?!
Willow: Have you seen my sparkle pen?
(Sounds of Dara walking around the house in search of Willow)
(sounds of Willow quickly walking away from the sound of the sounds of Dara walking)

HILARIOUS. I love that kid.

2. Seriously do NOT read this if you are easily gross out...but now you will...cause you're curious...come on you know you are going to, just read it:

So there is a possum here that has been dubbed the Gross Possum because she is very very gross. She is also pretty pathetic :( She was hit by a car and is quite old, and due to one or the other of those things she is blind, neurologically challenged, and a little narcoleptic (hilarious but pathetic). Anyway, she is gross because she walks in her food and poop and then walks in circles and wipes it all over her face and everything else in her cage...she also wips her tail around when you take her out to bathe her and it is covered in poop so soon YOU are covered in poop. This is, unfortunately, not the grossest part. She also has worms. A few weeks ago they started appearing in her cage. They are round worms and they are QUITE LARGE. Probably an average of an inch long. This has been going for a few weeks as we are worming her with Panacure aaaaand a few days ago Dara says, "you know...they are awefully pink...and never covered in poop" and I was like...."yyeaaaah" and she was like "I think they might actually be lung worms that he is coughing up" and I was like "nooooooo! :(" and that is indeed what they are. He coughs up like 10 a days and they come in all sizes and are the GROSSEST THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEEEEEEEN. Anyway, now that's off my chest....here's another cute story!!

3. The baby pigeon is now ADORABLE and flies around the room and lands on my head and shoulder. He also adorably grooms my hair and ears. Also also, he has hit puberty! In like a single day he stopped cheaping and now makes this awkward lower sound almost like the adult make pigeon we have. It's SO FUNNY. He sounds just like a kid whose voice has just changed....aaaand he is leaving this weekend. I am really tempted to ask to keep him because he is just so funny and so easy to take care of...Mom...if you are reading this...ignore the previous :)

Anyway here is a photo comparison of my little-man pigeon from pre and post cute:

Brief and to the point

IT'S FREAKIN' COLD OUT! I know most of the nation is experiencing ridiculous arctic weather right now, and it is actually warmer here than back at home in MA, however....I WORK OUTSIDE ALL DAY :( This morning it was 5 with a wind chill of -5. There are 4 animals inside that are usually outside due to the cold, including a reeeeeally nasty tempered possum. Also we just got ANOTHER pigeon and ANOTHER gull, bringing it up to a total of 5 pigeons and 6 gulls inside...and there are still like...100 other animals chillaxin here too. But actually this week went pretty well. We were on survival mode so no scrubbing of the cages since it freezes immediately. Once it gets warmer again it's going to be heck to scrub out the cummulative shit from like 2 weeks of below zero temperatures, but oh well. And Sarah and Meghan are coming tonight!!! That's all for now. I have some fun stories for later though. Stay tuned!

Halfway...ish

So it's about halfway through my internship and I have to admit, I'm pretty tired...and pretty ready to go home. I'm in the middle of applying to UVM and thinking about what I'm going to do this summer and...you know...for the rest of my life, so my mind is a bit elsewhere as I'm shoveling shit these days (David if you are reading this, please change the word in the last sentence to BLEEP!) Anyway, not a lot has happened at the clinic. We got a new mouse and two new flying squirrels but they are Dara only because they are bitey and tend to get away easily. I am currently waiting for a new gull to come in and hoping that the guy bringing it isn't actually out there right now stuck halfway up the driveway. Our driveway (for those who have not seen it) is basically a cliffside with some pavement on it at about a 90 degree angle. It makes my Toyota Yaris cry. Anyway, fun things:

This past week Emily came down on Thursday night and helped me out with the animals on Friday which was very nice of her :) It was fun having a friend here to work with and, as always, awesome to have some help with shoveling of the BLEEP. We also got to be huge dorks and finish watching Life of Birds which we never did finish when we sneakily borrowed it from the Drew library under the guise of needing it for Dr. Fox (scandal!) We then of course wrote her seperate emails blaming the other one for it. Oh, the good old days...Anyway, Meghan then drove down on Friday night and I forced them both to watch anime which EMILY ADMITED SHE ENJOYED A LITTLE SO HAH! and then watched Friends to make them happy again. Saturday we all drove down to Jersey to see Jacob and Stacy and went to the movies. We saw Benjamin Button which was pretty good, although not as earth shattering as I thought it would be. However, it was fun to watch Brad Pitt morphing backwards through how he will look and how he used to look. My favorite part was the lighting guy (who Meghan decided was me) and the musical old ladies (both of whom I decided were Meghan). Anyway, then we hung out for a bit and stayed up WAY past my bedtime. Jacob, Meghan and I had girl talk time since Stacy and Emily were sharing the actual bed, so it was just us gals in the living room. At one point I woke up and Jacob was sleeping in a very artistic position...which I might have to draw on his facebook wall now that I think of it...anyway. Sunday, Meg and I came back here and watched Friends all day and then dug her car out of the snow. I'm excited to see her and Sarah this coming weekend. I miss Drew where I saw people pretty much all day every day, and ate dinner in the commons for like an hour and a half because there were so many of us telling so many random pointless stories. Oh well. The next few weeks will be busy with various visitors and then STEPHIE COMING HOME FROM CHINA!! There will definitely be a post about my attempt to find her at JFK...Aaaaand for my finale here is a video of raccoons destroying some stuff:

Appologies to my dad who gets motion sickness. My video taking skills are apparently lacking...

A Somewhat Serious Note

So after watching some of Life of Mammals, which I awesomely got for Christmas :) I wanted to make a post about why I am doing what I am doing. But in Cori Style I will tell it with an extensive Douglas Adams quote. This is from my favorite book, the only non-fiction written by my favorite author Adams, and a good part of why I want to go into conservation. The book is called Last Chance to See, and details his adventure with a friend who is a field biologist to see some of the animals that are disappearing rapidly from this world. It's of note that since writing the book 4 of the animals he saw have wild populations of less than 100 and will be extinct within the next few years. He will probably literally be one of the last people on earth to see them in the wild. I think everyone should know this story, because it is something that concerns us all:

Sifting Through the Embers
(From Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams)

There’s a story I heard when I was young that bothered me because I couldn’t understand it. It was many years before I discovered it to be the story of the Sybilline books. By that time all the details of the story had rewritten themselves in my mind, but the essentials were still the same. After a year of exploring some of the endangered environments of the world, I think I finally understand it.

It concerns an ancient city - it doesn’t matter where it was or what it was called. It was a thriving, prosperous city set in the middle of a large plain. One summer, while people of the city were busy thriving and prospering away, a strange old beggar woman arrived at the gates carrying twelve large books, which she offered to sell to them. She said that the books contained all the knowledge and all the wisdom of the world, and that she would let the city have all twelve of them in return for a single sack of gold.

The people of the city thought this was a very funny idea. They said she obviously had no conception of the value of gold and that probably the best thing was for her to go away again.

This she agreed to do, but first she said that she was going to destroy half of the books in front of them. She built a small bonfire, burnt six of the books of all knowledge and all wisdom in the sight of the people of the city, and then went on her way.

Winter came and went, a hard winter, but the city just managed to flourish through it and then, the following summer, the old woman was back.

“Oh, you again,” said the people of the city. “How’s the knowledge and wisdom going?”

“Six books,” she said, “just six left. Half of all the knowledge and wisdom in the world. Once again I am offering to sell them to you.”

“Oh yes?” sniggered the people of the city.

“Only the price has changed.”

“Not surprised.”

“Two sacks of gold.”

“What?”

“Two sacks of gold for the six remaining books of knowledge and wisdom. Take it or leave it.”

“It seems to us,” said the people of the city, “that you can’t be very wise or knowledgeable yourself or you would realize that you can’t just go around quadrupling an already outrageous price in a buyer’s market. If that’s the sort of knowledge and wisdom you’re peddling, then, frankly, you can keep it at any price.”

“Do you want them or not?”

“No.”

“Very well. I will trouble you for a little firewood.”

She built another bonfire and burnt three of the remaining books in front of them and then set off back across the plain.

That night one or two curious people from the city sneaked out and sifted through the embers to see if they could salvage the odd page or two, but the fire had burnt very thoroughly and the old woman had raked the ashes. There was nothing.

Another hard winter took its toll on the city and they had a little trouble with famine and disease, but trade was good and they were in reasonably good shape again by the following summer when, once again, the old woman appeared.

“You’re early this year,” they said to her.

“Less to carry,” she explained, showing them the three books she was still carrying. “A quarter of all the knowledge and wisdom in the world. Do you want it?”

“What’s the price?”

“Four sacks of gold.”

“You’re completely mad, old woman. Apart from anything else, our economy’s going through a bit of a sticky patch at the moment. Sacks of gold are completely out of the question.”

“Firewood, please.”

“Now wait a minute,” said the people of the city, “this isn’t doing anybody any good. We’ve been thinking about all this and we’ve put together a small committee to have a look at these books of yours. Let us evaluate them for a few months, see if they’re worth anything to us, and when you come back next year, perhaps we can put in some kind of a reasonable offer. We are not talking sacks of gold here, though.”

The old woman shook her head. “No,” she said. “Bring me the firewood.”

“It’ll cost you.”

“No matter,” said the woman, with a shrug. “The books will burn quite well by themselves.”

So saying, she set about shredding two of the books into pieces which then burnt easily. She set off swiftly across the plain and left the people of the city to face another year.

She was back in the late spring.

“Just one left,” she said, putting it down on the ground in front of her. “So I was able to bring my own firewood.”

“How much?” said the people of the city.

“Sixteen sacks of gold.”

“We’d only budgeted for eight.”

“Take it or leave it.”

“Wait here.”

The people of the city went off into a huddle and returned half an hour later.

“Sixteen sacks is all we’ve got left,” they pleaded, “times are hard. You must leave us with something.”

The old woman just hummed to herself as she started to pile the kindling together.

“All right!” they cried at last, opened up the gates of the city, and let out two ox carts , each laden with eight sacks of gold. “But it had better be good.”

“Thank you,” said the old woman, “it is. And you should have seen the rest of it.”

She led the two ox carts away across the plain with her, and left the people of the city to survive as best they could with the one remaining twelfth of all the knowledge and wisdom that had been in the world.

Anyway, more fun animal posts to come. Happy New Year, let's make it count.