Not Squirrel Related, Sadly

The final season of Lost premiered tonight, and we celebrated in a fine fashion.

Yes, that's right, I made Dharma Initiative beer! Who says I'm not crafty? Our Lost-obsessed guests certainly seemed to enjoy it.

More squirrel news coming soon, I promise!

Found Squirrels: HP Printer Squirrel

Today is a special day for HP; you know why? Because today HP is getting free advertising on this, my very special squirrel blog.

What did HP do to deserve this honor? Well, friends, HP decided to use my favorite rodent in their most recent advertising campaign. Behold!

This was in the New York Times yesterday, and to be honest I didn't even read the copy, just shrieked with excitement, which caused Brandon to come running because last time I shrieked it was because I sliced open my thumb with the apple cutter and it took almost 12 hours to stop bleeding. But I digress.

I love this squirrel. He's got a great shape with a cute little white belly and a big nose and and a perfectly curled tail. He's BLUE, which is a seemingly crazy choice but it really works here. I mean, this squirrel is using an HP printer, he's clearly cutting edge in many ways. I love the happy little way in which he lifts his legs to dance/walk, and how he's staring lovingly into my eyes. And the best part is really the stack of papers with color pictures of acorns. Genius, I tell you! There are days when advertising just works!

So, loyal squirrel blog readers, I beg you, if you're in the market for a new printer (or laptop, I hear they make decent ones), please consider HP. Companies need to be rewarded for using rodents in their advertising like this, and if we start small now maybe the whole world will be using squirrels in their ads in the next few years. One can dream.

I'm also hoping for a kickback from HP.

Because I clearly have a huge fan base.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: The World of the Gray Squirrel

I received this beautiful vintage book (copyright 1973) from my friend M on New Year's Eve at around 9 PM. It was a wonderful way to end 2009 and ring in 2010! As M had predicted, I pretty much stopped paying attention to my friends the moment he handed this over.

Not only is this book about squirrels, it's also OLD. And I adore old books. I love the black-and-white pictures, the old-fashioned vocabulary, the strange diction. Sure, this book is only 37 years old, it's not exactly an antique. But the world was a different place in 1973, and so was our study of squirrels. The introductory chapter in this book brings up squirrel hunting multiple times, and the authors themselves appear to have hunted squirrels for fun. There is also a large section devoted to distinguishing an adolescent squirrel from a fully-grown adult. I certainly learned some new things about a squirrel's pelage as it matures.

While this book is not nearly as useful as my other squirrel book, I'm still a big fan. This is my bedtime reading for the next few weeks, as I'm working my way through the chapters about squirrels in the different seasons.

Thanks, M!

Found Rodents: Jerboas At The Met

Went to the Met the other day with my friend S. I brought my camera, hoping to find some squirrels, but was sadly disappointed. It may have something to do with the fact that we spent all our time in the ancient art sections, and squirrels apparently were not a big part of Greek mythology.

We did spot a different kind of rodent in the Egyptian section...

Jerboas! Three jerboas, in fact, and from the 12th Dynasty! They're from a tomb, but the little sign didn't explain exactly why someone chose to have these little rodents in their tomb. Not that I'm judging; I would totally have rodents in my tomb.

Later we found another jerboa in the Greek and Roman Study Collection! So... while we failed in our mission to find squirrels, I did acquiant myself with a new rodent friend.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: 2010 Squirrel Calendar

Well, this is a timely post!

My wonderful B has once again purchased a squirrel calendar for me.

Please realize that this purchase is very meaningful. When he buys me a squirrel calendar, not only does he shell out money for a bunch of squirrel pictures, he also commits to looking at them every day for the rest of the coming year. Because he lives with me, poor thing. Nobody is as affected by my squirrel habit as he is, and I appreciate his undying love and support.

And I just want to note that I noticed that every single picture in this calendar was taken by the same person. There is somebody out there who is making a living by taking pictures of squirrels. I must become his protege.

Should old squirrels be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should old squirrels be forgot,

and auld lang syne?

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Knit Squirrel

I know I mentioned before that I recently learned how to knit (this is not a knitting blog!) and that I learned this new skill from my friend L, who has been knitting for years and makes some really fantastic stuff. I asked her to knit me a squirrel friend, and this is what recently appeared in my arms.

Please note his adorable fatness! The stuffing has settled near his hips, giving him delightful little love handles and he is just oh so squirrely! I am also a fan of his perfectly white little belly! He was in our living room for a while, but had to be moved to make way for my nativity set. Now he perches atop our dresser, snuggling with the Haverford black squirrel, and watches us as we sleep. Sigh... he is just the cutest thing.

Thanks, L!

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Haverford Arboretum Squirrel Shirt

My friend E's family is very supportive of my squirrel habit. In fact, they're responsible for supplying two of my favorite squirrel items in my collection, and now have added one more to the pile.

You may recall Haverford being mentioned on this blog previously. Their mascot is the black squirrel, and I already have a beautiful plush black squirrel from their store. Well, E's father was at Haverford the other day and saw this awesome shirt with a cartoon squirrel and acorn. (Side note: Nothing tickles me like when a squirrel is depicted with an acorn. It's adorable, and reminds me that it isn't exactly normal for all squirrels to carry around bits of moldy pizza, which is what most squirrels around here seem to eat.)

This shirt is now a beloved part of my collection, and I intend to wear it around the house and to bed (because nothing screams "sexy!" like a squirrel shirt, and I know B will agree).

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Ornament

This is a good time of year for my squirrel collection. People have been paying attention, and my collection has grown quite a bit. I have at least four new items to highlight in my Squirrel Stuff I Own series! Quite amazing. This year's first gift, a squirrel Christmas ornament.

This is from our nieces M and H. You may recall that I lived with some of our nieces over the summer, and they were all quite supportive of my little squirrel obsession. Nevertheless, I was surprised to open a squirrel Christmas ornament on Christmas morning. Surprised, and thrilled! I stuck him as close to the top of the tree as I possibly could (we still don't have a tree topper) and he sits there now and observes my every move. I sure do love that little rodent.

Thanks, M and H!

Squirrel Stuff I Don't Own: Child's Play Laptop

Sometimes squirrels can be found in the most random places.

B and I have several nieces, and this year B went to Target to pick out their gifts. For the 2-year-old he picked out a little play laptop with all sorts of educational games, and, most importantly, lots of buttons to push (her favorite). While I was wrapping I decided to turn it on and play with it a bit (you know, just to make sure it worked).

B came running into the bedroom when he heard my screaming; he probably thought I had accidentally stabbed myself with the scissors, but in fact I was screaming with joy. The host of this tiny, masterful little laptop program? A squirrel. I was so excited I turned it off and on a couple of times just to see him come in and out of his tree and greet me and say goodnight.

I had great difficulty wrapping the present and sending it to the 2-year-old.

I am the wrapping paper industry's bitch.

Something I've discovered about myself in the past few years spent as an adult is that I have terribly expensive taste in wrapping paper. It's not really a good thing... after all, wrapping paper just gets thrown away at the end of the day.

But I wrapped a bunch of presents last night and placed them under the tree, and wow, they do look special with my fancy wrapping paper.