Into and Out of the Wild

So I went to the National Zoo this past weekend. It was pretty cool. My favorite animals are, of course, the big cats - lions, tigers, cheetahs. There were these cute little free-roaming tamarins running around all over the place, too. I took a video of one of them running across this rope between a couple of trees. I go pretty crazy about all of the animals... I have a tendency of finding everything cute. I was disappointed that there were no kiwis to be found in the kiwi exhibit :( I love those birds. I find them hilarious. ("They forgot to evolve!") Hopefully I will have zoo pictures uploaded for my next entry.

Simplistic writing. You can tell I'm really not in the mood to put forth any effort to make this a fun and exciting entry.

Oh, here's some exciting news. I will be COMPETING for the first time in a West Coast Swing Dance competition here in Tysons Corner, VA. The event is called Swing Fling - BEHOLD its website in all of its crappiness! I will be doing a Novice Pro/Am (Strictly/Unchoreographed) with my private teacher. He thinks I will place, but I'll believe it when I see it. I honestly don't care about winning. This is all just for fun, and my teacher really wanted to compete with me. I'll also be competing against Shag and Hand dancers in the Swing division, which will further diminish my chances of winning. I'd prefer to just think of this as an "exhibition" of sorts. Anyway, I'm rambling now. Brian, Delaina, and her husband (also Brian) are flying up for this event, too! I can't wait! Brian (not her husband) and Delaina will be doing their routine to Summertime in the Advanced Classic Swing Division. It's going to be HOT. :) I love their routine. I guess I'll write more about this event as the date grows nearer... nearer? Is that a word? August 4th through 7th - only a week and a half away! I've got to get in some more practices/lessons with my teacher before then. I'm shooting for tomorrow afternoon.

I stayed up until 11 PM last night, having spent about 4-5 hours helping Mat edit his technical manual for an ultrasonic fuel cleaning system. I feel so enlightened in the domain of nuclear fuel cleaning. It was boring as anything, but somehow I remained focused. (Speaking of focus... I ought to get back to work soon. I've been supremely unproductive as of late.)

Let's see. Oh, it would seem that now I am either going to buy a used Mazda6 OR!! a brand new Scion tC. BEHOLD!!!! (that's my word for the day):

If I can get this car at around the invoice price, it will cost just about the same as a 2003 or 2004 Mazda6. It will be a little tough, considering tCs are selling like hotcakes at the moment. We'll see what I can do...

So yeah. blah blah blah, that's enough for one entry :)