Have you seen this yet?

These are a few of the winning entries in Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which asked readers to take any word from the dictionary and then alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and then providing a new definition. I laughed outloud to many of them, so I thought you might enjoy them to. Thanks to Silverbox photographers for the smile of the day!

Intaxication : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

Caterpallor ( n): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I don't have any images to illustrate any of the above definitions, so here is one of Miss S in the reflected glow of a snow covered back yard.



Have a great Wednesday!

Black and white, or colour?

As we shoot primarily in digital format here, many images are available with and without colour. Do you have a preference?

The Seattle Woodland Park Zoo is amazing!

A tip: the exhibits are almost all outside, so dress for the weather. It was COLD on Sunday, but still well worth the effort.

The tiger - we saw him as a newborn a few years ago. Definitely adult-sized now.


They have something new since our last visit: the Willawong station, where they have literally hundreds of budgies (Budgerigar-Melopsittacus undulatus) in a large enclosed area that you can hand feed.

The kids were thrilled - but if you don't like birds, or are a Hitchcock fan, I don't think this is the exhibit for you.





Correction: hundreds of budgies and two other parrots (Eastern Rosella - Platycercus eximius) . The latin is for my ornithologist sister-inlaw. Did I spell it correctly, K?


Other highlights include the komodo dragons, the birds of prey display, the giraffes, the African village, the penguins, the sound of the roaring lion (we never did see him), zeebras, and the tapir. Definitely a must-see if you are visiting the Seattle area!

We love science at our house, so predictably a visit to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle was a total hit.

We caught the last day of their special dinosaur exhibit. They had a temporary exhibit of many fossils and models, from tiny


to huge.




There was a special section on dinosaur eggs, complete with models of baby dinosaurs.





Some other highlights included the gigantic table and chairs,


the news broadcasting exhibit,


a great toddler/preschool play area,


a music section,





and an amazing bug exhibit



complete with a butterfly pavillion.











No butterflies were touched in the making of this photo.


We also took an exciting ride on the Monorail from our hotel to the center.

A member of our party was underwhelmed until he realized the one-mile monorail dated back to the 1962 Seattle World's Fair and is the only self-funding transit system in the US.

Did you know that if you your local science center belongs to the Association of Science-Technology centers, you have free or reduced entry fees to member science centers?