3 crows x-stitch

 
Carlos and I are in Redmond, WA now with my parents and tomorrow morning we are all off to Lancaster, CA to see my sister and her husband. We had a full (and fast) few days here visiting with friends and seeing our usual WA haunts (the Root Beer Store, Uwajimaya, and REI top that list).

A couple of nights ago we visited with our friends Judy and Terry for dinner at my parents' house. As a gift for Judy, I made a cross stitch of three crows in the Charley Harper art style (Judy likes crows). I really like how it turned out -- it is pretty simple but looks cool. I have more arty things to post about (gifts, X-mas cards), but I can't put those up until later (after people receive them).

Posting might be a little more sparse than usual while we are out and about in the Mojave!

Visiting the anthopology pod at MSC

Last week, Carlos and I were able to take a private tour (with a few other Smithsonian staff) of the anthropology pod (or the anthro-pod as I like to call it) at the Museum Support Center. This pod contains lots of really neat artifacts and collections. We first looked at the Terry Collection: human remains that comprise one of the most studied collections in the world (for pathology, forensics, history, etc.). We examined many old Peruvian skulls, learning about what different facial traumas and diseases look like on crania, then we looked at more really neat stuff in the mummy room. We saw a mummy from Peru and shrunken heads from the Amazon (while learning about different levels of shrunken head fakery -- some heads were sloths but most were human). We even were able to see a mummified bull -- one of only three known to exist!  This was a very unique opportunity to see more of the treasures housed in Smithsonian storage~

 

 

On another note, Carlos and I leave for Washington state and California tomorrow. We will be gone for about two weeks. I still have some things to blog about (like my Dad visiting DC for a couple of days) so I should have more adventures up soon!

Cephaloleia horvitzae painting

Yesterday, I completed a  project that I had been working on for a while: a scientific illustration of a new beetle species, Cephaloleia horvitzae. This genus is the group that Carlos works with and he decided to name one of the new species after his Ph.D. advisor and our friend, Carol Horvitz. As a present, I illustrated this little beetle (it is only 4 mm long!) and thought I would post some photos of the process and end product. The work involved in creating a scientific illustration is more intense than just creating illustrations with no scale specifications.

I am really pleased with how this illustration turned out and I hope Carol likes it!

Zoo Lights

A couple of weeks ago, Carlos and I visited the National Zoo to see the collection of lights put up for the holidays -- Zoo Lights! We have never seen these before, but it was a real treat to be able to visit the animals at the zoo after nightfall (the zoo usually closes every day around 6 pm). It was pretty cold when we visited so we bundled up and brought a little picnic dinner of Morningstar burgers, satsuma oranges, and hot apple cider.

This event was pretty popular and we really enjoyed seeing all the lights, hearing Christmas music, and seeing the sleepy animals in the ape, small mammal, and reptile houses. We also looked at some of the special Christmas exhibits: a clouded leopard-themed tree, edible dioramas of North American animals, and train sets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

We wandered all over the zoo, ate dinner, got a free glowstick, and had a nice time -- we will probably be back soon to see it again before we start our holiday travels in a week!