ze zen zoo

yesterday, luke and i randomly decided to go to the san diego zoo, which seemed like a fabulous idea to me because i've never driven myself down to san diego before - and therefore had no idea how long it actually takes to get there.  however, despite being totally exhausted and grumpy on the way home (it had been blazing hot and i don't fare well, emotionally or physically, in blazes), i had a surprisingly awesome time.

i discovered some animals that, in another universe, i would totally make my friends.  for example, the bearded boar (which if you'll notice, has a crazy, wild bristle-y snout):

or, the klipspringer, which, in addition to being totally cute, supports its entire body weight on two thick toenails on each foot:

i also particularly appreciate the attitudes of the following creatures:

(i love the look the orangutan on the right is throwing at the one wearing the coat.)

(this meerkat was way over it.)

(the smile!)

(such disdain for me - unwarranted, obviously.)

kidding aside, i love animals (as if my herd of cats wasn't a gigantic clue) and seeing all those beautiful, soulful mammals was a bit bittersweet.  it was, and always is, amazing to be able to see them so close and to try to read their minds.  however, i hugely dislike having to share my experience with all the other loud obnoxious people.  wherever i go, regardless of whether or not i actually am tourist, i never feel like one.  this may sound a little holier-than-thou (which, believe me, i don't mean to be), but i feel like i'm always learning and trying to understand and just generally being respectful - something i think many, many people in the world usually don't give a damn about.  so, my point is that i feel like my zen zoo experience was ruined by people who were acting like they were at a freak show.

on a completely unrelated note, i'm very proud to announce that we've discovered a proactive and quite satisfying way of dealing with our neighbor's occasional (read: nearly daily) country-musical assaults on greater los angeles: tonight, we practiced our square dancing and then did a shit-ton of vacuuming.  frankly, i'm impressed.