![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Oct. 13th, 2008
The New England Herpetological Society's Annual Fall Show and Sale was a modest, comfortable affair in a small room at the New England Wildlife Center in South Weymouth. Friendly vendors stood behind fold-up tables stacked with snakes, lizards, geckos, frogs, and tortoises in disposable clear plastic bins. Children of various ages zoomed, bounced, and howled across the room, high on soda, overstimulated by all the brightly-colored animals. There were lots of new-metal fans.
Most of the Real Estate was dedicated to snakes, especially little baby snakes. Second in frequency, I think, were the lizards; and third, the geckos. Lizards and geckos do nothing for me. I like snakes all right, and there were many beautiful, docile specimens to admire, in and out of boxes, draped around people, tongue-sniffing the air; but I had only come for the cryptodires.
There were two tables of interest to me. One had a couple of toddler-aged Chinese box turtles (Cuora flavomarginata), waddling over damp moss and trying their darnedest to escape -- slowly -- over their Tupperware walls. The other had a mated pair of red-footed tortoises (Geochelone carbonaria),
along with three of their children, and four eggs. The parent tortoises were enduring the terrible indignity of wearing modified baby diapers, to prevent soiling their un-furnished holding tub. (The kids had some absorbent bedding to poop on.) I witnessed a diaper change on Momma Tortoise, and although she only protested meekly, withdrawing piteously into her shell (especially when she felt the cold baby-wipe on her delicates), I know the humiliation must have been nearly unbearable.
Most of the Real Estate was dedicated to snakes, especially little baby snakes. Second in frequency, I think, were the lizards; and third, the geckos. Lizards and geckos do nothing for me. I like snakes all right, and there were many beautiful, docile specimens to admire, in and out of boxes, draped around people, tongue-sniffing the air; but I had only come for the cryptodires.
There were two tables of interest to me. One had a couple of toddler-aged Chinese box turtles (Cuora flavomarginata), waddling over damp moss and trying their darnedest to escape -- slowly -- over their Tupperware walls. The other had a mated pair of red-footed tortoises (Geochelone carbonaria),
along with three of their children, and four eggs. The parent tortoises were enduring the terrible indignity of wearing modified baby diapers, to prevent soiling their un-furnished holding tub. (The kids had some absorbent bedding to poop on.) I witnessed a diaper change on Momma Tortoise, and although she only protested meekly, withdrawing piteously into her shell (especially when she felt the cold baby-wipe on her delicates), I know the humiliation must have been nearly unbearable.
DEADLY KUNG FU
Oct. 13th, 2008 11:53 pmToday I went to my first Wing Chun class. Quick impressions:
1. Wait, what did you just do?
NO I CANNOT DO THAT NO
2. Sure, I can hold this stance.
FOR AN HOUR NOT SO MUCH
3. I learned six blocks today.
ALL LOOK SAME
4. The Seven Elbows, huh? Seven.
I'M FIVE SHORT MY GOOD MAN
I'll try again on Thursday.
1. Wait, what did you just do?
NO I CANNOT DO THAT NO
2. Sure, I can hold this stance.
FOR AN HOUR NOT SO MUCH
3. I learned six blocks today.
ALL LOOK SAME
4. The Seven Elbows, huh? Seven.
I'M FIVE SHORT MY GOOD MAN
I'll try again on Thursday.