Hanging with the Sea Lions at the Saint Louis Zoo

I like going to the Saint Louis Zoo when it's cold out because then there aren't any humans around ruining my animal time. Sure it limits which animals are out and about but I'm willing to make that sacrifice.

I knew the penguins would be partying so we headed there first. Their enclosure is fun because there are lots of them playing around and doing penguin things. Unfortunately it also encloses their smell.

We popped into the birdhouse right when they were being fed. It was a hoot watching all the weird things the birds did while impatiently waiting for their lunch.

This guy's bill was so giant he had to turn his head sideways just to get the food out of his bowl.

The great hornbill has a weird lookin' horn indeed. It looked sort of like a fake papier mache thing up close.

The sea lions are by far my favorite. I think maybe they feel neglected or bored or something due to the lack of people around so they are super excited to play. I wish I could throw treats over the side.

These two were really funny, they were biting each other's tails and spinning around in a circle. After watching them and playing with them for a while they felt a lot like dogs that just happen to live underwater.

United We Brunch

I did a little side job with the Riverfront Times. United We Brunch was a fun little event at the Chase Park Plaza. Mimosas were had.

I helped with a little of the break down after the event was over. I was strongly considering taking an ice sculpture home with me and putting it in the bathtub. They were pretty heavy and I parked pretty far away... so I settled for watching the ice men murder them.

Warhol Meets Lichtenstein at the Saint Louis Art Museum

The whole crew popped over to the Saint Louis Art Museum to see some arts. This time the special exhibit was entitled Graphic Revolution: American Prints 1960 to Now.

I must've been startled by how lifelike Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup II felt in my soul.

Jenna was there.

Lydia gathering behavioral inspiration from Crying Girl by Roy Lichtenstein.

Flowers, Andy Warhol, 1970

Headsplody guy, didn't read the sign

Expressionist Woodcuts, Roy Lichtenstein, 1980

Soulard Onesie Bar Crawl Strikes Back

We had so much fun at last year's Soulard Onesie Bar Crawl, also we bought onesies and so need to use them as many times as possible, in accounting that's known as a fixed cost and so the more times we wear them the "per wear cost" goes down on average, as opposed to say beer which in this case is more of a variable cost in that we buy it every time we go out, anyway we went to the bar crawl again. Fun was had.

Left Maui for New Years in Oakland

We pretty thoroughly crushed Hawaii so when the day came to return home I was content. We talked about the possibility of living here. I really like the Asian/US fusion going on here and if I lived in Hawaii I could get a taste of Japan which I've been missing while still, you know, doing American things like humming the Star Spangled Banner while eating a jumbo hotdog in the back of a pickup truck.

We said our goodbyes to our pretty sweet ocean view room.

I needed to get back to the mainland to make more of America's favorite full bodied lager.

The Hawaiian Airlines lounge at the airport was an embarrassment. Maybe the worst I've ever been in actually, and I've been to some real.. situations.

I opened a fridge hoping to find some beer but it was stocked with these awful little water cups. For shame!

The terrible things I did to JetBlue's mileage program meant that our return trip was also via business class. No big deal. I don't like to brag but I bring the business like a tax abatement.

Signature mai tai welcome dranks!

Today I realized that Hawaiian Airlines First Class Lunch/Dinner is pretty meh.

For my first course I went with the "grilled Mediterranean chicken, quinoa tabbouleh and tzatziki salad." The other choice was a Nicoise salad but I generally avoid those. Most people haven't internalized the je ne sais quoi of the Promenade des Anglais and it shows.

Main course was "soy braised beef short rib with bok choy and wasabi mashed potatoes." Lydia did worse with the "Okinawan sweet potato, kabocha, mushroom, quinoa and provolone cheese burger". We agreed that the sweet potato was pretty much just taro and tasted "taroble".

The food onboard was pretty meh but luckily the drinks were still wet. Dessert was a chilled mini orange cream pie.

When we go on adventures around Christmas time our custom is to return home on New Year's Eve because that's when the tickets are cheapest. We kept that beautiful tradition alive.

We stayed at a hotel in Cupertino, California which was cool. Just knowing that we were close to Apple's headquarters was a little bit exciting, I'm embarrassed to report. There were a few Apple office buildings around which was fun.

The hotel was very aware that this was nerdville, and the room's curtains were decorated with binary. I assume it just says "we didn't change the pillowcases" on repeat.

I was pretty tired after a long journey but I didn't want to just go to bed on New Years Eve. That'd be real lame. So I buzzed my cousin Brendan who lives in Oakland and inquired about the hippy hap. Fortune smiled. He was having a New Year's party at his house and we were invited. Three huzzahs.

In what I think we can all agree was a sign of awesomeness we rented a car just so that we could drive to the party.

All of the fun was had. I got to meet a few of Brendan and Alice's friends and see their house. These guys are people I wish I could see more often. We left the party at like 12:02 because we were having issues keeping our eyes open.

I was forced to return to the grind of making delicious beers but I'd like to think I brought a little bit of aloha back with me.