On New Things and Sea Monsters

Ok...ok...so...I forgot about blogging for awhile.  But I promise I had legitimate reasons!  Although that doesn't mean much coming from me.  Judge for yourselves:

A) I moved.

B) I started a new job.

C) I gained a boyfriend (Google-suggested synonyms include "beau," "heartthrob," and "honeybunch." Awkward.)

All of the above are marvelous.  Fantastic.  Splendid.  Terrific.  You name it.  But that's not why I'm writing tonight.  While I'm sure they will be expounded upon later, tonight I want to talk about something important.  Historic, if you will.  Drumroll please....


THE KRAKEN.


Yeah.  I bet you didn't see that coming.  Ha.

On the way back from tonight's spontaneous journey from work to Pinkberry (rush hour + Friday night = poor planning; don't try this at home, folks...), I took a break from the classical station and turned on NPR.  I learned that there are fossils of nine ichthyosaurs, each about 45 feet long, lying in a Nevada valley, bones arranged in a peculiar order, with no particular explanation.

[source]

The paleontologist on the radio came up with a hypothesis, based on the bones' positions, that these fish-like dinosaurs were killed by what could have presumably been the Kraken, evidently an ancient ancestor of the modern-day octopus.  (Side note: in Britain, it's pronounced KRAAAY-ken instead of KRAAAH-ken.  Who knew?)  If you're really curious, you can read all about it or listen to the entire broadcast here.

I, of course, being the nerd that I am, sat in my car for an extra five minutes after I got home to hear the end of it, and then ran inside the new house to research it for the next half hour.  Let's be serious.  What else would I do with my Friday night?