Sadly, August is coming to a close and with it, Elephant Awareness Month. :( However, I am very excited to share my review of The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson with you all! I really, really enjoyed this book. I was a little nervous about choosing a fictional story about elephants for my Elephant Awareness Month pick, but it turned out to be so wonderful - heartbreaking, but wonderful. I'm not going to spoil anything about this book in this review so if you're hoping to read it you can read this review safely!
Synopsis The Elephant Keeper is about a stable boy named Tom. Set in the 1700s, Tom's rich employer buys two elephants in the exotic animal trade. Tom is charged with caring for these two elephants, despite the fact that no one in Europe has really studied these animals in any capacity. Throughout his time caring for these two elephants, he creates a history of elephants from his own observations and develops a magnificent relationship with both of these creatures.
Review
This book, as I said, was wonderful, yet sometimes painful to read as an animal lover. As much as I hate to know that the exotic animal trade was as wide spread as it was for hundreds of years, it is needed to be recognized in order be invested in this story. And you do get very invested in this story and the characters that are in it (mainly, Tom and the two elephants which Tom names Timothy and Jenny). There are turns in this story that leave a sinking pit in your stomach and your heart in pieces (may or may not be tearing up just thinking about the story!) which really makes it a great story.
As a heads up - there is a scene involving sexual assault in this book and the repercussions of this assault are quite severe. I did not see this coming at all which was an interesting curve ball, but I believe it was handled well for the time period that it is set in.
The chapter structure of this book is a bit strange - the first third of this book is the History of the Elephant, and then the rest of the book is Tom's journal, which was a very strange choice, I thought. I think that if this book was structured a bit better it would have really enhanced an already great story, and it leaves me wondering about the true potential of this book overall. I think that the plot and story was enough to save the book despite its structure, but if other books were structured in a similar fashion I don't think they would do quite as well.
Overall, I thought this story was so lovely and was written in a language that I connected with easily but did not make me fall out of the time period it was set in. I think Nicholson did a really nice job with this book and I would love to hear what his process was in researching for it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a lover of animals, is interested in stories regarding the understanding of exotic (for the time period) animals, with sprinkles of the human story scattered throughout.
We are already somehow halfway through August and I've been loving immersing myself in elephant videos, books, charities, and just overall awesomeness - I hope you all have been as well! Today I'm going to share a small handful of elephant facts and videos so we can all learn a little bit about these amazing animals and also bask in how adorable they are!
FACT #1
Elephants love the water and are actually very skilled swimmers! Seeing videos of elephants swimming and playing in water is always such a joy for me. Their happiness is so apparent when you see them splashing around! Here's an adorable video of two Asian elephants bathing in Cambodia:
FACT #2
Elephants express emotion similar to humans and can come very attached to the elephants in their herd. They can express distress, happiness, and they even cry. They can remember and mourn lost loved ones many years after their death, and they can remember elephants and even people if they are reunited with them after many years. Daphne Sheldrick (of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust) has many stories of reuniting with elephants after they return to the wild and it is so heartwarming! Here's a little behind the scenes video of the DSWT Nursery:
FACT #3
Elephants can feed up to 16 hours a day and can consume up to 600lbs of food! That is super epic and makes me feel like Ron Burgundy commending Baxter on eating a whole wheel of cheese in Anchorman. The DSWT posts videos of feeding time for their elephants all the time, and some of the older elephants even know how to hold bottles with the trunks and feed themselves - SO CUTE! Click play on the next video to see!
And then, just for fun and because Elephant Awareness Month is the best day ever, here is an adorable video of a little baby elephant playing with birds. It almost makes you want to cry of happiness! I hope you all are enjoying these elephant posts and I will be sharing more with you over on my YouTube channel next week! <3
Today is WORLD ELEPHANT DAY! So to celebrate, I'm sharing with you all three wonderful organizations that dedicate themselves to the conservation of wildlife and especially elephants! Reading about these organizations brought such joy to my heart that these awesome people are doing such amazing things for elephants and other animals that aren't able to speak for themselves. Hopefully you'll discover some awesome organizations through this video and maybe you'll want to support in some way in the future!
Summer is flyyyyying by (as it does every year) and it's making me super anxious to know that in a matter of weeks we will be back in the thick of yet another academic year. (Which always makes me wonder - how do people who don't work in a school system think about the year? I still think of the year running September-August, as I have since I was 5 years old.) But coming towards the end of the summer means coming up onAugust, aka ELEPHANT AWARENESS MONTH! I'm going to be doing a few Elephant themed posts throughout the month on both my blog and YouTube channel, and I thought to kick off the excitement with my posting schedule so you don't miss out on anything!
(Blog) Elephant Awareness Month Book Club Selection
Friday, August 12th- World Elephant Day!
(YouTube) Three Awesome Elephant Conservation Organizations
Tuesday, August 16th
(Blog) My Favorite Elephant Videos & Facts
Friday, August 26th
(YouTube) My Elephant Collection
Tuesday, August 30th
(Blog) Elephant Awareness Month Book Club Review
I won't get into too much detail on what these posts will entail (though you can get the gist of these posts through the titles - haha!) but there will be a post either here or over on my YouTube channel at least once a week to celebrate the awesomeness of elephants! I'm excited to celebrate this month with you all and I'm looking forward to sharing these posts with you! <3
It's been a big dream of mine for a while now to travel to Kenya. I don't think that this country is the top of most people's bucket lists, but Kenya is beautiful. It has so much wildlife, beautiful landscapes, amazing beaches, and most important of all, ELEPHANTS. I would absolutely love to stay a few nights at Giraffe Manor, spend a day visiting the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and tell them how amazing they are (though to be honest they probably already know), lie on the beach and swim in the Indian Ocean, and go on a sunrise safari or two to see amazing creatures in their natural habitats. If you do a quick Google search you can find so many cool things about Kenya and it's my dream to be able to travel there one day!
This is the 20th installation of my favorite links posts which is crazy! I really have been enjoying throwing these lists together as posts to share with you all. As I look back at my older favorite links posts it gives me an insight of what I was into at that point in time. I hope you all enjoy them as well!
In the last few favorite links posts, I've been giving a bit of a life update at the beginning to let you all know what I've been up to if you don't watch my weekly vlogs, but I've recently posted two entries about my travels to Fort Lauderdale and to Montréal and those are really the big things that have happened in my life recently so I figured instead of repeating myself here, you can go check those entires out instead! As for now, I'm going to hop right into the links I've been loving lately! Everything You Should Know Before Trying to Cut Down on Sugar
I'll be the first to admit that my sugar addiction is out of control. I've had the biggest sweet tooth my entire life, and I know it's a huge problem as an adult. I've been trying to cut down on my sugar intake here and there (though admittedly, stopping by Dunkies every morning does not help!) but it is tough. Sugar intake IS an addiction, and I was delighted to stumble upon this article which provides insight on how to prepare to reduce the sugar you add to your diet. If you're like me and have a sugar addiction, I would highly recommend reading this quick article to better understand on how you can cut back in a safe/sane way.
Mac Miller Unloads on Donald Trump
This is awesome. Mac Miller, a multi-platinum rap artist who is particularly famous for a song he wrote a few years ago called Donald Trump, basically unleashes hell on Donald Trump and it. is. incredible. He uses his privilege as a white man to say what basically all of us are thinking. There's really no words to describe how amazing not only his speech is, but the pure joy that Miller gets from ripping Trump to shreds is written all over his face. I love it and could literally spend all day just replaying this video.
These pieces of art are equal parts beautiful and awesome. I have no idea how you make stained glass, let along manipulate to pattern to make amazing replicas of video game characters and items, so needless to say I'm thoroughly impressed. The best part - all of the ones displayed on this post are Nintendo-themed which, in my humble opinion, is the best gaming company ever. Of course, my favorite ones were the Pokémon stained glass pieces, but I can definitely appreciate all of the other designs as well!
Elephants That Think They're Lap Dogs
I think there's really no reason for me to explain why I love this so much. My friend Cullen put this on my wall with the comment "Is this your dream come true?" ...Uhmmmm OBVIOUSLY. I basically cried tears of joy and jealousy watching this video. So cayuuuttteee. Someone get me to a baby elephant sanctuary pronto so I can live there forever, please and thank you!
It's no secret (especially after this month!) that I love elephants. I know that I mentioned it in my The Elephant Pants unboxing video that I've always loved elephants, ever since I was a little kid. I can't remember having any other favorite animal (although dogs are a top contender!). I remember being really little and seeing elephants on a cover of a ZooBook and instantly falling in love. I remember doing multiple research projects and papers on elephants throughout elementary and middle school. I have so many memories of being fond of these animals throughout my entire life, and the more I read about them the more I love them. I thought I'd share a few reasons why I love elephants so much, and maybe you'll fall in love with them too!
Elephants are empathetic. There have been countless reports of elephants sensing distress in other elephants and comforting them. When I read Love, Life, and Elephants, Dame Daphne Sheldrick spoke of the elephants she reared caring for not only other elephants, but other animals as well who were grieving the loss of their families. Like humans, elephants can feel the pain of others and offer help in dealing with that pain, and that's a beautiful thing. Elephants have a strong memory. No matter what happens to them, whether it's something good or something bad, elephants remember. There is a reason why wild elephants do not trust humans - because there is a long standing history of poaching and other forms of violence against elephants by humans. It's a fact that aside from lions who occasionally prey on weak elephants in the wild, elephants have no natural predators, so it really is a shame that humans are almost exclusively wiping elephants off the face of the earth.
On a happier note, elephants can remember other elephants or even people after years and years of separation. Though males tend to leave their herds in their teenage years to live in solitude, they can always remember which herd is theirs, and they are always welcomed back with open arms (open trunks?). It's really, really awesome to think that there are many other creatures out there that have memories that are as good, if not better, than ours. Elephant herds are strongly matriarchal. The eldest females in the herd tend to be the highest regarded elephants, and the females are the ones that tend to keep the herd - numbers ranging from the low teens to over 100 elephants - together and functioning as a community. Any community - whether animal or human - that values its women is always a plus in my book! ;) Elephants rely on one another and form deep emotional relationships. This is probably my favorite thing about elephants. The bonds that elephants form are everlasting. They rely on one another and are always there for each other. They thrive on being able to provide care for each other which is so amazing. They know that in order to survive they must be able to create long lasting and trusting relationships, putting the herd in front of their own interests. So awesome.
So those are just a few of the reasons why I love elephants. Elephant Awareness Month has really brought my love for elephants to a new level and I hope one day to visit organizations that work to rehabilitate and save elephants. Until then, I will continue to do as much as I can from the comfort of my small town in the US to raise awareness and contribute to the efforts others are putting forth. I'm really happy to have had the opportunity to blog about elephants so much this month, and I hope that it shed some light onto how important the fight to conserve the species really is!
Two weeks ago I mentioned The Elephant Pants in my Favorite Elephant Saving Organizations post, and shortly after I made my very first purchase! As I mentioned, this company gives a portion of the profits from your order to various wildlife conservation organizations, mostly to those that focus on the conservation of elephants. Basically, they're awesome. I thought that I'd do a little unboxing and review for you all to show you what I bought!
Classic Prints
I ordered 3 items outright - two pairs of pants ($18 each) and a pair of shorts ($16 each), all in classic prints (TEP donates $1 per item for classic prints). The cool thing about each design is that each is named after a famous elephant in history. When I first discovered this website I spent a solid half hour just clicking onto each design and reading the story of so many elephants. Not every story is easy to read, but it does help you remember why it's important to make an effort - no matter how small - to save these animals from harm. I wanted to share with you the stories of the elephants behind the prints that I bought.
Left to Right: Tyke pants, Billie shorts, and Black Diamond pants
"Tyke was a circus elephant who on August 20, 1994 in Honolulu, Hawaii, killed her trainerAllen Campbell and gored her groom Dallas Beckwith, causing severe injuries during a Circus International performance before hundreds of horrified spectators. Tyke then bolted from the arena and ran through downtown streets of Kakaako for more than 30 minutes. Police fired 86 shots at Tyke, who eventually collapsed from the wounds and died."
"Billiewas a circus elephant who was known for rebelling against trainers and their abuse. She was rescued along with fifteen other elephants by the USDA from a barn where she had been retired to after attacking a trainer. Her life is documented in the book 'Last Chain On Billie'."
"Black Diamondwas an Indian elephant with Al G. Barnes Circus."
Mystery Box
As I was shopping around the site, I noticed that they had Mystery Boxes available. These tend to sell out quickly, so I knew I had to scoop one up. For $25 (promting a $1 donation), you receive a pair of classic pants as well as two mystery gifts (one that usually is in the $10/$15 range and one that is a bit smaller) - not too shabby! I was very eager to receive this mystery box to see what kind of items were coming my way, and I definitely wasn't disappointed.
I received a beautiful pink and maroon pair of pants (which I later found out were the Ruby pants), a canvas tote, and a TEP Sharpie! (I can only assume that the Sharpie is intended to fill in the blank on the tote design!) I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved the design of the pants I received. I don't think I would have ever picked out the Ruby design for myself (for whatever reason I tend to go for cooler colors when I shop for clothes) and I'm so happy that these were the ones I received. I was also PUMPED about the canvas tote! I was really considering buying the "This Bag Helped Save and Elephant" canvas tote and ultimately decided to wait 'til next time, so when I saw the tote in my Mystery Box I was VERY excited! (Oh, and who doesn't love a good Sharpie?!)
"Ruby was an elephant artist, resided at the Phoenix Zoo; at least one painting was sold for $100,000."
And since this is a haul post of sorts, I figured I'd also try on the items I bought for you, to show you how they look. (Please forget the lighting and the down angles that are inevitable when taking a mirror selfie of your legs!) For reference, my pant size can range between 7-10 depending on the pair of pants (amirite ladies?), and the elastic waist accommodates shapes between 0 and 12! My runner butt and thighs fit super comfortably in each pair of bottoms, and each item is super light, airy, and COMFY AF. I'm SUPER excited to start creating some outfits with these beauties!
Clockwise from top left: Billie shorts, Ruby pants, Tyke pants, Black Diamond Pants
I spent a total of $77 dollars and got a decent amount of gear that I know I'll be wearing regularly. The shipping is free after $75 and my order got to me relatively fast (I ordered late on a Tuesday Night and I received my package on Monday). The pants themselves are made in Thailand (information on how the pants are made and how the employees that make these pants are treated is available on their website, if that is an area of concern of yours) but they ship from NYC, so if you're in the US I'm assuming you'd have a similar shipping timeline (though I live in MA - not far from NY - so maybe it will take longer).
I am thrilled with this company and the products I bought and I'm so excited to be sharing this awesome company with you all. I would strongly encourage you to consider making a purchase at The Elephant Pants, and if the pants aren't your style, consider donating to one of the organizations that this company supports!
If you would like to see my unboxing & review video, check it out below!
I bought this book in late February to take along for my family vacation, but I never got around to reading it until this summer. It just so happens that I finished up reading this book smack dab in the middle of Elephant Awareness Month, which made reading this memoir all the more special. I learned about this memoir at the same time I first learned about the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and I knew I had to read it. I was definitely not disappointed. This story chronicles the life of Dame Daphne Sheldrick, the founder of the DSWT, from her childhood growing up in Kenya, to her marriages and children, and - most importantly - her many relationships she developed with orphaned animals while rehabilitating them and reintegrating them back into the wild. This is a story of great love and (sadly) many great losses in her life.
While there are many funny anecdotes about the animals she and the Trust reared, it is not without deeply disturbing stories of poachers and violence against wild animals and the mistreatment of those held in captivity. Being a lover of animals, especially elephants, there were definitely parts of this book that were very hard for me to read. Unfortunately, the sad stuff is the reality of the situation for wild animals in many countries and it has been for years. As hard as those stories are to read, it does have the ability to spark your inner activist and make you want to do all you can to protect the gentle and empathetic animals that this memoir focuses in on.
If you're an animal lover like me, especially if you're a big fan of elephants, I would highly recommend this book. Learning about Dame Daphne Sheldrick, an outstanding conservationist who has quite literally given her life to helping animals, has been one of my favorite things I've done this summer. She has lead an extraordinary life that is nothing short of inspiring.
For those of you that might not know, August is Elephant Awareness Month! (Don't feel too bad if you didn't know. My elephant-loving self only just found this out this year. There seems to be an awareness month for everything, so it's hard to keep up!) We all know by now that I LOVE elephants, so I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to talk about a few of my favorite organizations whose aim it is to help save elephants from poaching, abuse, and captivity. I highly encourage you to check these organizations out - all of them are fairly active on social media and all do very cool things!
I found out about this organization earlier in the year and instantly fell in love. This wonderful organization takes in orphaned animals - primarily elephants and rhinos - and raises them to the point where the animal can live in the wild once again. Coincidentally, I am right in the middle of reading Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story - perfect timing for this month! - and am learning all about the story of how this organization came to be (look out for the book review next week). They also offer a program where you can donate to foster an elephant, which I think is the coolest thing EVER. I definitely plan to participate in the foster program sometime in the near future, and would LOVE to visit the trust in Nairobi one day. They're doing such wonderful things! Elephant Parade
Elephant Parade is a really cool art project that raises awareness of elephant endangerment and donates 20% of their proceeds to various organizations that work to prevent the poaching of elephants and improve the welfare of the species. The organization has artists from around the world paint large elephant statues in their own unique way and displays them in cities around the globe to raise awareness. You can even buy smaller statues on their online store - each one unique so you just have to collect them all!
This style is so in right now, so why not buy a pair that supports a wonderful cause? The Elephant Pants donates $1-$2 dollars per item to various elephant conservation organizations, and during the month of August, a few select items will donate $5! I love how each print tells a story about a famous elephant in history. I could click through each item just to rad the story that goes along with it. It really reminds you why these causes are so important. They sell pants (my favorite designs are above!), shorts, bags, tapestries, and even a cute little charm bracelet. I can't wait to get my hands on my next paycheck so I can buy a handful of these beauties! :)
Do you have any favorite wildlife conservation organizations?
Let me know in the comments because I would love to check each and every one of them out!
Happy Tuesday everyone! Several snow days and impromptu days off the past couple of weeks have allowed me to roam around the interwebs and accumulate quite the list of links to share with you all today. From the Patriots to puppies to adopting elephants (you read that right), I'm really excited to show you all my favorite things on the net as of late! Patriots Win Super Bowl XLIX!
THEY FREAKING PULLED IT OFF! The Patriots won their fourth Super Bowl Sunday night and what a game it was! I don't think I ever went through so many emotions while watching a football game in my entire life. I was happy, I was sad, I was angry, I wanted to hide and turn off the game all together. Seriously, you should have seen the room I was in on that final Seattle drive. We were all SO depressed! I did not think we were going to be able to pull off a win. I thought for sure that we had lost a third Super Bowl in a row. Then BOOM, our undrafted rookie makes the play of the freaking century. WOW. What an ending. We are the champions once again!
It seemed like this year's Super Bowl commercials erred on the depressing side (check out my thoughts on that here... #COMmajorprobz), but Budweiser stole my heart once again by continuing their #BestBuds legacy and claiming my #1 pick for Best Commercial of Super Bowl XLIX. Their 2014 commercial was also my favorite of last year's Super Bowl, so if you missed and are a puppy lover like myself, I definitely recommend checking it out here!
I'm definitely a snacker. I prefer eating many smaller meals throughout the day instead of sticking to the big three (though I'm a huge fan of breakfast), and I'm always at a loss for what to grab when my tummy is rumbling. I know I should snag an apple or banana, but when I'm hungry, having just a piece of fruit or a salad does not fill me up and leaves me a little frustrated. This list gives you extremely healthy options for snacks which also keep you satisfied for a few hours! (I especially love mashed avocado on wheat toast! YUM)
How to Be Productive Every Day
This is a cute little post from one of my favorite blogs, Lemon Freckles, that gives you a few handy tips on how to stay productive. Even though this post is aimed at students or those who are self-employed and tend to work without someone peering over their shoulder, I think these tips can really apply to anyone. Being productive can seem elusive on some days, and we all know what happens when we're not productive - we get stressed. Try out a couple of these tips to help stay on top of your mountains of to-dos!
#CowArt
A friend of mine posted this on her wall and I couldn't stop watching/laughing. A couple of farmers in the Mid-West decided to get a bit creative when feeding their cows and tried to see if they could get the herd to create some aerial designs! Click play to see what they create - so funny! :)
30 Day Push-Up Calendar
I just completed this 30 Day Push-Up Challenge that I found on Pinterest! My upper body strength is pretty low, so I knew that I wanted to challenge myself to do more with it. I decided to kick off the year with this challenge and I actually got all the way through! The thing I liked most about doing a challenge is that I had an opportunity to exercise each day, even if my day was busy. I also really enjoyed that with this challenge, you're given rest days every 2 days so your muscles can grow and adjust. I really felt a difference in my upper body strength and will very likely be doing this challenge over again!
In searching for a February fitness challenge to attempt, I stumbled across DoYouYoga.com. (True Life: I just typed "DoYouToga" and almost didn't catch it...) This website is an awesome community of individuals learning and practicing yoga and features blog posts, a message board, and even video courses! I'm currently participating in a 30 Day Yoga Challenge video course which has been awesome so far! (I will be posting a full review when I am done!) If you're interested in trying out yoga for the first time or learning more about this form of exercise, I highly recommend joining! (You should also add me as a friend here!)
WHY AM I JUST FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS FOUNDATION?! I heard about this organization through a monthly favorites video on YouTube. It is a wonderful organization committed to the rescue and preservation of Wildlife in Africa, especially orphaned elephants and rhinos. The best part? You can donate and foster an elephant or rhino! The program works by receiving donations from foster "parents" or families, and you can then receive updates and photos on how your fostered animal is progressing! SO AMAZING! I know for a fact that when I am more financially stable I am 1,000,000% going to participate. Take a look at their website and read up on the organization. It is wonderful! (P.S. Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story by Daphne Sheldrick has shot right to the top of my to-read list upon discovery of this organization! #newrolemodel)
It's been a while since my last favorite links post! Over winter break, I spent most of my time on the internet re-watching my favorite YouTube videos, binging on my favorite shows on Netflix, and really just rotting my brain in general. I hadn't been paying too much attention to any new links that I found interesting, so I never gathered enough internet goodies to share with you all. Realizing this, I have finally pulled together enough awesomeness over the past two weeks to share with you my first batch of favorite links for 2015! Hope you enjoy. :)
As I was scrolling through my feed of blogs, this Geekologie post stopped me right in my tracks. This beautifully awesome piece was done by a software engineer, and as incredible as this is, it was only the first stained glass piece he had ever made! I showed this to Brett and he agreed... We would both love to have something this nerdy and beautiful in our future home!
This post displays one of the main reasons I love Tumblr - it points out things in popular culture that I had never realized before, and Disney is not immune. This Buzzfeed article pulls some of the most mind-blowing posts deconstructing Disney movies and some of their hidden meanings (with a few posts poking fun of the franchise thrown in there).
Let's be honest - would it really be a Favorite Links post without an article on Elephants? This is a story of a wild male elephant who saw a captive female from outside of a zoo's fence and broke in to mate with her. A pretty adorable yet bizarre story. It mostly makes me wonder: why there is a zoo and an elephant sanctuary so close together? How do they decide which animals are captive and which are wild? SO MANY QUESTIONS.
This. Looks. AWESOME. For a girl who has grown up playing outside in the snow in the middle of the woods, this would have been so fun to tear around on with my dad and sister! As soon as I saw this video, I forwarded it to my dad as an idea for his next big project. ;)
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's 2015 Golden Globes Monologue
Reason 126,835 why the internet is awesome: I didn't get to watch the Golden Globes on Sunday evening, but the internet was sure to upload Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's monologue and have it ready for me to watch Monday morning. Perfect! Tina and Amy are for sure the two women in Hollywood that I idolize the most. Definitely have huge girl crushes on both of them!
I just finished up reading Yes Please this weekend (it took me about a week to read which is FAST for me) and I read Bossypantsin the fall of 2012 (took me about the same amount of time to finish this one) and just learning about how hard these women worked to get to where they are and how great of a friendship they have is so inspiring and empowering. These women are fantastic role models, and as Parks and Rec comes to an end this winter (NOOOOOO), I'm really interested to see what these two will get up to next!
I don't think the title of this post could be more accurate. I recommend grabbing a mug of hot cocoa, wrapping yourself in a blanket, and scrolling through this gallery to cheer you up about how disgustingly cold it is outside!
My parents came to visit me yesterday for Dean's Family Day, and they brought so many goodies with them! I mean, they usually do (because they're awesome like that), but I felt like a few of these items would make for some good back story from my life, so why not put it in a blog post? Kcoolherewego.
