Just for Fun: In Case of Emergency (Cute Therapy)

I talk about this occasionally on Twitter, but I have an entire tag on my Pinboard account that is just cute/funny things: InCaseofEmergency. I've tried to label all the animals, because I don't want there to be any surprises like a snake I think is cute but you're an ophidiophobe. I offer this up because this is a crazy-inducing time in politics, and I think we could all use some gratuitous cuteness today. Here are some of my favorites, but please @ me on Twitter or comment here with others and I'll add them to my files... to my little mental health public service.

If you don't know about the adorableness that is the fossa, time to learn:

Then there's this ridiculously cute creature:

https://library-graffiti.tumblr.com/post/150225890147/trashgnomesanonymous-thenimbus-charmera

A squeaky baby fruit bat (not sure why there's no image here, but the video does work):



And perhaps my favorite of all my saved links, an argumentative ibex:

So how about you? What makes you laugh no matter what? What helps you calm down? Please share!

Just For Fun: Bugs!

I love insects and spiders. Really, I do. I talk to moths that land near me, telling them how pretty they are. No, I don't get or expect answers. I'm careful to step over ant processions. They have as much right to exist as I do. I capture jumping spiders in my bare hands to escort them out, and anything bigger gets removed with a cup and a piece of cardboard. I think they're fascinating and a lot of them are adorable to me.

Don't get me wrong: I'll still swat a mosquito or spray a wasp nest if it's being built on my porch, which both my cats and I use. But really, I love bugs. And thanks to a friend, I recently found out that there's an insect museum just up the road from me in Philadelphia. So of course I took myself there. Here's some of what I saw:

That's a White Spotted Assassin Bug. They're native to West and Southwest Africa. Bonus for those of you who don't like bugs: they prey on cockroaches!

Lubber Grasshoppers are native to parts of the United States, so if they look familiar that's why. According to the sign at the Insectarium, they are named for the weird way they walk.

This Orchid Mantis was playing peekaboo with me. They're from Southeast Asia. Doesn't it look like it could be part of the plant?

The tank with the Macleay's Spectre Stick Insects caught my attention for a while. They come from Australia, and can grow up to EIGHT INCHES LONG!

I fell a little in love with the Giant Black African Millipedes. I like cucumbers a lot, too. They are native to a large part of Africa. They have a life expectancy of 5-7 years and are often kept as pets!

This was the best part of the day. These are Tanzanian Giant Tailless Whipscorpions. You'll find them both in Tanzania and in Kenya. They're harmless to humans, and I got to HOLD ONE! It was delicate and light and completely unfazed by me.


I left out most of the insects that I knew would really bother people, like the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (although I did get to pet one!). I find insects and arachnids, like my friend the whipscorpion, fascinating. Yes, I even like wasps unless they insist on building in spaces where my cats go. I figure if you've made it this far in the post that you like 'em, too, so share yours in the comments?

Just for Fun: The Squirrel of my Dreams

@olinj Oh! I meant to tell you. I saw a squirrel stop mid-run to scratch his (her?) armpit and, uh, thought of you. Jeez. That sounds bad.

— carolyn ciesla (@papersquared) August 26, 2013

How can it be that I've been writing this blog for almost four years now, and yet I've never written a post about squirrels? I recently counted, and something like 15% of my favorites on Twitter are about squirrels - the above from Carolyn is just one example.

And I've got to be honest: I'm not exactly sure what it is about squirrels that makes me love them so. I mean, I know they are solidly pests when it comes to gardening, children, and even city living. Also, I acknowledge that they really are rodents. Or, as Carrie Bradshaw would put it, "A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit."

But also, they are badass:

Sweet: 

And hilarious:

Finally, there's the fact that they are so much among us as "a morally significant member of the urban community." According to a recent-ish article, squirrels were intended to help Americans gain an appreciation of nature. 

Really, when you think about it, I'm not weird for liking squirrels. Anybody who doesn't like squirrels is the weird one.

Just for Fun: Batty

I've loved bats for a long time now. What's not to love, right? Okay, I know my love of bats and rats and snakes and other animals that are traditionally abhorred seems strange to some, especially when you consider my fear of monkeys. It's precisely because I've realized that not everyone appreciates bats the way that I do that I've put my chiropterophilia into action lately. Sometimes I tweet with the hashtag #probatagenda, but other times I just find super cute pictures to share:

Close the internets. I've found the cutest picture ever, so y'all can go home. http://t.co/V7k7MinmRC (Remind me how these guys are scary?)
— Jessica Olin (@olinj) January 17, 2014

But, in the interests of possibly converting some of you to my way of seeing things, here are some important facts about bats:

1. Bats are responsible for a lot of pollination, including some of my favorite fruits like bananas, guavas, and mangoes.
2. Bats do an amazing job at pest control. Especially mosquitoes.
3. Bats are suffering from a deadly plague right now, called White Nose Syndrome.
4. Heck, even BuzzFeed knows that bats are cool.

But really, my love of bats is because I think they are cute cute CUTE. Look at these guys!

Source

Source

I want to leave you with one not so cute (well, partially cute) YouTube, but it's a zefrank so it's also incredibly not safe for work in parts:

How about you? Do you like bats?

Puppy Power!: Therapy Dogs in an Academic Library

I ran a therapy dog event last week. It went so well that this blog post will probably sound much more gushy happy than I've ever sounded, but really - I knocked it out of the park with that event.

In case you aren't aware of this idea, there are lots of college and university libraries that bring trained, certified therapy dogs during stressful times of semester (for my school, the event happened during the week before exams). The point of these events is basically for students to pet and play with the dogs.

How did it go at my library?

IT! WAS! AWESOME!

1. The dogs themselves were fantastic. Some were lap dogs, others wanted to play. All were sweet and gave boatloads of love to the attendees.
2. The volunteers who brought their dogs were wonderful, too. All of them talked to the students - asking their names, majors, where they grew up, etc.
3. The turn out was astonishing. When the dust and dog hair had been cleared, and all the counts counted, I realized that over 10% of the student body had come one or both nights. I was especially happy to realize that most of them were freshmen.
4. I saw, and got to talk to, many students who I've never seen in the library before that event. One student was telling me about his dogs at home, another talked about possibly changing majors. They were in the library and relaxing.
5. The best part? Student reactions. I overheard one student say, "This is the most fun I've had at college." Another clapped her hands, danced a little, and said, "yay!" when she got into the room where we held the event. One student wrote "DOGE" on the sign in sheet as her reason for attending.

I could cite research and talk procedures of running these events all day, but there are others better sources for that kind of information than my blog. If you're trying to get an event like this started at your library, let this post serve as the answer to why these events should be done.

My biggest bias in my work is towards the needs of the students, and bringing therapy dogs in served their needs in spades. Puppy power!

First Thursday's Just For Fun: Owl Always Have Eyes for You

When Waterstones made their announcement about their new delivery service, I felt like they had me in mind as a target audience.

Who needs drones when you've got OWLS? A brand new delivery method from Waterstones. http://t.co/lJdfBFB2Td
— WaterstonesOxfordSt (@WstonesOxfordSt) December 2, 2013

It's worth clicking the link in that embedded tweet to see the Q & A about this new "service" of theirs, but here's the important bit:

If I didn't recognize this announcement for the joke it is, I'd move to within delivery range lickety-split, that's how much I love owls. Let me repeat that: I. LOVE. OWLS.

I love the small ones:

Saw-whet Owl

The ginormerous ones:

Eurasian Eagle-Owl

Fictional ones:

And ones that only seem fictional:

I love them OWL! How about you?