Doggie Paddle

My boyfriend's dog, Leo is quite the swimmer... 

... even when there is no water. I can't get enough of this video. Enjoy!!

Gentle Giants

Here’s a confession, I have a strange love for elephants. It’s not an obnoxious obsession- It’s a slight tug on my heartstrings every time I see one. I attribute it partly to the Serrano side of the family. My dad played college football at Tufts. Tufts’ mascot happens to be an adorable elephant, named Jumbo. Throughout my childhood, I remember attending sporting events at Tufts and seeing the elephants on the jerseys and one specific time, the athletic director gifted me a beautiful elephant statue he claimed he would, “Never give to just anyone.”

But the love does not come solely from Tufts. It is deeper than that. My dad’s father, my grandfather Grampy, was from the city of Catania, Sicily. And guess what the symbol of Catania is? 5 points to those of you who guessed an elephant. It wasn’t until I was walking around downtown Catania a few years ago that I even realized the significance of the elephant. When I saw the huge elephant statues in Catania I thought back and realized there are small elephant statues scattered in my grandparent’s house. And my dad went to Tufts, where their mascot is an elephant. Elephants seem to be woven throughout my Serrano family history.

In keeping with the elephant theme of this blog post, I want to share some elephant related news with you. One of my amazing friends Emily Max recently traveled to Africa (how awesome is that?), where she kept a blog of her travels and adventures. One of my favorite posts was about her experience at an elephant orphanage.  Here is an excerpt from Emily’s blog about what she learned at the elephant orphanage:

"First, Linus, our driver, takes us to theThe David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: A Haven for Elephants and Rhinos. We pull into the long, gravel drive to be greeted by a family of friendly monkeys hanging out in the trees. Once we pull into the parking lot we find small tribes of mzungu each escorted by their appointed Kenya leader. The feeding of the baby orphans started at 11:00. We were just in time to file in with the rest of the small groups and find a place along a roped off viewing area. In came six baby elephants. None taller than Katie and I. They were fed by their keepers, 24-48 pints of imported human baby formula from Great Britain. The elephant keepers then recited their information about elephant orphans, life in the wild, and unique features of elephant care. 

Elephants can become orphaned for many reasons, but the causes boil down to three main issues. Elephant poaching is still a problem and becoming an increasing issue as ivory and game mean has become more and more valuable. Therefore, as poachers kill off the adults for their tusks and meat, typically snaring them with trip wire, the children elephants become orphaned. Secondly, elephants have become endangered (as Simon Hoffer could likely tell you) because of the drought that Kenya has seen over the last years. In particular, a few of the orphaned elephants we saw were found at the bottom of dried up wells! Quite sad. Lastly, elephants have become orphaned due to trouble interaction with humans, fighting over land and resources. The Sheldrick Trust is then established to take these orphaned animals in and reintroduce them to the wild. 

However, this reintroduction can be very hard and takes a couple years due to the wild life of elephants and their unique features. Elephants are hard to reintroduce into the wild because they are very emotional and highly social animals. Firstly, becoming an orphan can be traumatic, and many orphans have been known to die in the first few days of coming to the orphanage due to the stress they have undergone in becoming orphaned. One elephant we saw was much greyer than the rest and had a blanket tied around it. We learned that this elephant was one of the newest and was very sad to be an orphan. He needed extra warmth to encourage him to stay well; the other elephants were also aware of his sadness and often huddled around him to bring him friendship. 

We also learned that these elephants have a hard time being reintroduced because of the strong, maternal connection that they have lost in becoming orphans. They develop much like humans. The females mature in their early teens and then begin to have babies. However, much like we do, elephants look to their family to find out how to act and how to raise their young. They have a very strong familial connection. Unlike humans, it is the females who establish leadership in the herd because the men leave the herd to establish dominance among the other males to determine who is the best to mate. Talk about natural selection! To find out who is the strongest, the males will play games that look aggressive, but the weaker elephant is quickly revealed and backs down. We also learned that, in keeping with the emotional nature of elephants, they are among a hand full of mammals that bury their dead and can often be found tracking back to those burial sites. 

Because of these emotional and familial features of elephants, the Center is careful to phase the elephants from human and individualized care to allow them build relations with other orphaned and wild elephants until they choose to become wild. This process takes from two to five years. However, they center has seen some great success! "

--Taken from Emily's Blog

 Seriously guys, how interesting is that!? It made me fall in love with elephants even more, and want to go out and rescue them. The fact that elephants not only bury their dead, but also track back to those burial sites is beyond amazing to me. It breaks my heart that orphaned elephants initially have a tough time in the orphanage, but I am glad that with a little love and support they eventually can get back out into the wild. One day, I want to volunteer at an elephant orphanage. Anyone want to come with me?

Click here for a CNN story on an elephant orphanage

I hope you learned a little about elephants. If you’re interested in learning more about Emily’s African Adventure, please check out her blog. It is a very interesting, entertaining and eye opening account of everything she went through.  

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything on my blog, but now that the summer is coming to a close I will make more of an effort to post regularly! So check in often and leave your comments! And as always, stay curious, Actualists!

Small Tribute to HP

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"  

J.K. Rowling, "King's Cross," Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 2007, spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore

The Hunger Games

I just finished The Hunger Games series, and in the words of the legendary news anchor Ron Burgandy, “I’m in a glass case of emotions!” Seriously guys, I do not know what to do with my emotions. The first thought to run through my mind was, “How are these books classifies as ‘Young Adult?’” Young adult, correct me if I am wrong, leads me to believe these books are for 12-16 year olds. Can someone fill me in on the “Young Adult” age? These books deal with a lot of mature, deep themes. As a 23 year old (well, almost anyways), I am having trouble sorting out my feelings for these books. Let me try to put into words what I mean, without giving anything away from the series, which I highly recommend you read. Yes you! It doesn’t matter if you are a girl or a boy, young or old, there is something to be taken away from The Hunger Games.

The main themes, I believe, of the series are war as well as peace. Is war productive or counter-productive? Does it really solve anything? Can there ever be peace in a war torn country? Can one ever really be at peace? These are interesting topics, considering as much as we might not realize it, the United States is currently involved in quite a few wars. The author, Suzanne Collins attributes her interest in the topic of war to her late father, Michael Collins. In the acknowledgments section of the last book of the series, Mockingjay, Ms. Collins shares that her father laid the foundation of the series for her growing up, “With his deep commitment to educating his children on war, and peace…” I thought the author must have some connection, or must have been deeply intrigued with war. I wonder if she hunts or shoots a bow and arrow, like the main character Katniss Everdeen. I would bet she does.

I would love to sit down with Suzanne Collins and pick her brain. The whole time I was reading this series I was wondering what she was thinking about as she was writing. Was she thinking about reality television and trying to warn us of the dangers? Was she trying to comment on the way we glamorize celebrities? Are we all just pieces of a game? There are so many different topics this series touches upon… I can’t even begin to write them all down. For fear of coming across as a complete nerd, I will end my post here. But I do have a few questions for you. Have you read The Hunger Games? What do you think about the series? Did you think the same things as me or do I have too much time on my hands? Let me know!!

PS- I purposely did not mention The Hunger Games being turned into a movie in this post. Look for a new post about the casting choices (specifically Peeta and Gale) coming soon!

Royal Style

Simple, understated, elegant, classy. This is a gorgeous dress, that I can bet you is going to be copied a thousand times over. 

And that is all I am going to say about the royal wedding.

Oh, and that I did some research because I was extremely curious, and Prince William's last name is Mountbatten-Windsor. Isn't it weird how that is such an unknown fact? Well now you know! 

Have a great weekend : )

Things I'm Excited About

Bossypants by Tina Fey: By now, I think it’s universally known (at least to Actualists) that I am a big fan of comedy. That is why I am beyond excited to read Tina Fey’s new book, Bossypants, which came out April 5th. Tina Fey is a pioneer in comedy. The self-proclaimed “supernerd” was the first female head writer in Saturday Night Live history. As a line from the book reads, “Only in comedy does an obedient white girl from the suburbs count as diversity.” She was also a co-anchor of Weekend Update, along side Jimmy Fallon. She created the smart and hilarious 30-minute situation comedy 30 Rock, which is part of NBC’s Thursday night comedy line up. She also wrote and starred in a little movie called “Mean Girls,” which grossed over an estimated $86,049,418 in the United States alone. Oh yeah, and she has a husband and daughter and is pregnant with her second child. Tina Fey has become a household name but she comes from humble beginnings. She leaves a trail of laughter everywhere she goes, which is why I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of Bossypants and possibly pretend Tina herself is reading it to me.  

I could do without the creepy hands

Will Ferrell on The Office: Bare with me, Actualists- I realize my love for Saturday Night Live alumni is shining through a bit in this post. I feel as though this season, despite being Steve Carell’s last, has been missing something. I’ve found myself bored and slightly annoyed with the Michael/Holly storyline, as cute as it is… or rather, as it’s supposed to be. The old, goofy, daffy, self proclaimed world’s best boss has been missing from the recent episodes and I believe Will Ferrell will bring all of the old Michael Scott energy back to the office. I guess we’ll have to tune in on Thursday night to find out!    

Yes please!

Return of Glee: Two words for you- Jonathan Groff. I heard he’ll be back for at least one episode this season (probably the last) but that one episode will make this ridiculously long hiatus worth it.

Too cute for words

Adele in Concert at the House of Blues, Boston: …Oh wait… I’m not going! The tickets sold out in approximately two minutes, which I was not expecting at all. Can you imagine though- Adele and her amazingly beautiful voice in such an intimate setting? It sounds too good to be true, so I guess I will continue to pretend she’s not really coming to Boston and just keep listening to 21 non stop.

Sigh

“Bridesmaids”: Sorry, the SNL love fest continues. Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, along with Rose Byrne, the always funny Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Wendi McLendon-Covey, oh and JON HAMM round out the cast for this comedy, out May 13^th. I am beyond excited about it, so take a look at the trailer below. Let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint! Who wants to see it with me?

Emma Stone in “The Help”: Emma Stone is one of my favorite actresses, and someone I would love to be friends with. I think we would get along famously, don’t you agree? I am also beyond jealous she can rock any color hair, and make it look good. But back to her acting skills- so far we have seen her in mostly comedic roles. The Help is an extremely good book, and playing Skeeter Phelan will be no small task. She will be the main character and the whole movie’s success will be based on Emma’s performance. Hoewever, I believe Emma is the right girl for the job. She definitely has what it takes to carry the movie. I can’t wait to see it!

Emma as Skeeter 

“I Hate You, Dad”: Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg playing a father, son duo. With Leighton Meester, James Caan and Vanilla Ice attached to the project so far. Out next summer (2012). I will leave you with that. You’re welcome.

Dreams do come true

Why I Love Amy Poehler

It’s Hump Day everyone, so I thought I would treat you to an oldie but a goodie. I don’t know that there is anything better than this rap Amy Poehler performed back in 2008 on Weekend Update. I’ve been meaning to post this for a while because it is one of my favorite things. It never fails to make me laugh. Amy Poehler is incredible in it. First of all, I’m pretty sure she was 9 months pregnant. Yes, you read that correctly! She was about to pop a baby, yet she agreed to perform this hysterical rap written for Sarah Palin. And Amy performed the heck out of it. She was such a gangster! She executed everything perfectly, with such intensity and passion I felt like I was watching a real rapper, but then I remembered I was watching a 9-month pregnant, white woman. I had liked Amy Poehler before, but after this rap I knew she would forever be one of my favorite comedians. Check out the clip below. The rap starts around the 1 minute mark, and I apologize for the poor quality. For a better quality clip, head over to Hulu or NBC.com! Enjoy! And, if you don't watch Parks and Recreation, be sure to check it out on Thursdays!