Woo for the Zoo!

Today we went to the Seneca Park Zoo, probably the first time I've been there in the winter, which is kind of surprising, considering that I've been in love with the zoo ever since I was little. My grandpa would always take me and I'd make him stand with me in front of the tigers for great stretches of time.

One of my new favorites are the rhinos. I made Deanna stand with me in front of them for great stretches of time. They're neat!

We also learned that around 1:00pm is a really good time to see the animals, as they're all being fed.

And loved.  

happy sea lion is happy

Yay, I still love the tigers.

Whut whut

Aaaaand we went back to the Rhinos. Cause they're awesome.

Also, I want to nap like a lazy snow leopard. Aww, so cute, you're named after an operating system.

Christmas Funtimes

I know it's late to post about Christmas now, but I've been slacking in the blog department and need to recap.

I had an early Christmas with Deanna and she did awesome for me gift-wise. I probably would've been happy with just some bulk candy, haha.

"OMG A BOX," says Bezzie.

Hooray for Legos! These sets are currently battling it out at work.

This is my Mbira, or thumb piano. Deanna got it for me after we saw "Eric Mbira" performing at the MAG for their Psychadelic show a while back. I'll have to make a recording of it soon, as this one has a pickup built in :)

Happytimes had by all!

What is Matt up to... Part Deux

Waiting with bated breath from the previous post? Read on to see what I made!

I got some glass jars, frosting them with glass frosting spray paint. 

I think it's neat how fast it dries. 

And how it smells. 

Mmmm... killing brain cells.

Took apart some super cheap solar LED lights, which ended up being the perfect size for the lids of the jars.

Glued them into the lids (not upside-down like this, they're just resting that way to dry).

Deanna cut the bottoms off of some (translucent) colored plastic party cups.

Then I glued them over the LEDs, which will go inside the jar. 

 I suppose in the long run it'd be a better plan to replace the standard white LED with a colored LED and eliminate the need for the plastic cups and gluing... but whatev.

The result? Sun jars!

They charge in direct sunlight and glow when it gets dark, storing a jar full of sunlight. Neat!

Multiple colored glowy goodness! Wooo!

The red one is a bit darker than the others, which would be another good reason to replace the LED instead of using plastic cups... I'm sure a pure red LED would be pretty bright, even with the relatively low voltage of the solar cell and rechargeable battery. 

I'm planning on making more eventually, I think it'd be really cool to make a whole bunch and put them on an outdoor patio. Or to use LEDs that would cycle between different colors. 

Hope the fam likes 'em!