grisly is right

today i went to the mission and met a couple friends, one from high school and one from college. this happens a lot. i forget that these two groups of people don't know each other, or really any of the same people but me, and i plan to hang out with a bunch of them. you would think i would love being the center of attention, but i actually get really anxious trying to make sure that everyone has a good time. it's going to get worse with grad school mixed in. in fact, it already has. we had a great time today though. i got some really super burnt coffee from a muslim lesbian who runs her own coffee shop on valencia. regular coffee, not with a bunch of chocolate - i'm going for a purist/cheapest thing, although i usually end up dumping about a pound of sugar in as well as a bunch of milk. as much as i would like to drink it black (like jordan catalano) i am just not that cool. we finished a crossword in the guardian, which is a lot less reputable than i thought it was. i almost got a burrito, but i was too full of coffee, although i really could have used it because after visiting a CRAZY fish store and discussing everything we knew about ichthyology (very little, mostly made up except for what i know from youtube), we went to a bar with a patio and got drunk at 2:30 in the afternoon, in the sunshine (which led to a bunch of texting - sorry, everyone). i made it home by 5:30 (on time) and my mom took me out to ride my horse in the pitch dark, which was exhilarating. when i went in to the pasture to get him, i couldn't see ANYthing (also he is black), so i just stood there (still a little drunk) yelling his name and rattling some cookies around in my pocket. he thundered up to me like this big hole cut out of the sky and all i could do was look at the stars and giggle, so we ran around together giggling for a little bit and then i fed him. it was terrific. it is so incredible to have a horse. girls who want ponies know what i mean.

also i saw my friend dan wilson. he was on a bike. this also happens a lot, with dan and with dave h the original. that is a whole nother story.

tomorrow i am going to go to the zoo if it's not raining. i actually have a whole series of adventures planned out to do by myself this week. the zoo is first because it's not supposed to rain tomorrow and i have this sudden urge to support the san francisco zoo after the whole tiger thing. i know a little bit of gossip about that which i will share later. today i was walking around looking for coffee and there were all these hopeful banners up advertising the sf zoo's new "grizzly gulch." it really depressed me. i also just want to see animals, but that's pretty much all the time.

i miss jake. our visit to the zoo last year was probably both the best valentine's day and visit to the zoo i will ever have. i'm not saying i'm going to try and do better tomorrow. i mean, we saved a toucan, so i don't think that's even possible. i'm just saying i want to go, is all.

here are some of the videos that have taught me about ichthyology and the ocean's mysteries:
shark v. octopus
pistol crab [this is insane and i completely did not believe it the first time around (the SUN!!!)]
jellyfish
obligatory hippo clip