the Octopus goes to the wild west!

This weekend I went back up to central British Columbia for my sister's wedding. It was held on a horse ranch, so the octopus decided to don his ten gallon hat and get country!

We stayed at the AP guest ranch. The Wandering Octopus saw lots of horses, got some good riding lessons, chilled with the locals, operated heavy machinery, set up camp for the night, spent the night drinking instead, decided to wrassle a bear (not a good idea)... wrassled a bison instead, and then he rode off into the sunset in one of the old carrige things.

WOW! What an adventure! And we didn't even mention the Car Cephalopod being kidnapped and held for ransom!

Octopus in the news

So, since my life is currently boring, and I am not travelling anywhere exciting... the car cephalopod decided it was his duty to update all his readers on a wonderful celebrity cephalopod making headlines!

If you have NOT heard of Paul the Psychic Octopus, you need to hear about him!



Originally making his leap to stardome during the world cup, Paul predicted the correct outcome of all the soccer matches. He was born in England, but now resides in a Germany aquarium. He has been gifted with his own Spanish soccer jersey (the number 8 for his correct number of predictions... and the number of arms he has!)

Paul is now using his fame to bring attention other endagered species. He is the new spokes animal for "Earth, Sea, and Sky", which is working to set up a rescue station for endagered turtles on the Greek Isle of Zakynthos. (Paul even has an agent).

He will also be appearing on the Silver screen. "The Murder of Paul the Octopus" is set to be released in August... but unfortunately does not feature the psychic cephalopod. (A stunt octopus was used for any scenes including the character of "Paul".)

We hope to see more of Paul in the future!

It's my party, I'll bring a Ceph if I want to!

So, it was recently my birthday! (I'm 23). My family went out to a local pasta house called the "Old Speghetti Factory" for dinner. I had tortellini and it was delish! Of course, I felt obligated to share this wonderful day with my cephalopod companion (doning his brand new party hat!) A good time was had by all!

(yeah, this is me and my family. Arn't we a smiley bunch!))
We then went home for present opening, (which involved a mushy card from my parents), and cake eating.


My family got me an AWESOME octopus ice cream cake... however, if someone can please explain to me why he's holding a phone... please comment below!

The Octopus and the Graduate

I have finally graduated from University! (It's taken five years, so beleive me, to a perpetual student this feels like a big deal!) I now have a BSc in Biology from the University of Victoria (also known as bunnyland). My ceremony was very exciting. (I got a cold the day before, so I was a bit dozy the whole day) We were paraded into the auditorium, and everyone in the audience claps, and waves and takes pictures of you... you feel a bit like a celebrity. Then you sit for an hour until they call your name. You walk across the stage with a big grin on your face, the chancellor bops you on the head with a hat (it's true), and then you go back to your seat!
It's over! Just like that! You have a degree! (well, maybe there was a bit more pomp and ceremony than that)
I am so thankful for my family and friends for their support over the past five years.

What's next for me? Well, there's always a Master's Degree program down in New Zealand...BRING ON THE SQUID!

The Octopus goes camping!

I will start by saying that I am not a camper! However, I thought I would give it a chance.
We journeyed into the Mountains, and found our campsite. From there we put up our tarps and tents (this took several hours... in pouring rain). The octopus helped us chop wood so we could get a fire going, at which point we cooked hot dogs and marshmellows. I found out that during camping you spend alot of time sitting on your butt under a tarp, or playing cards (under a tarp), or eating dry cereal (this is also done under a tarp!)
I didn't even last 24 hours before calling it quits. I'm told by avid campers that it was just a bad weekend to go, and I shouldn't let it ruin my opinion of sleeping in the great outdoors. I actually don't think it did, because I always start laughing when I think back on my sad attempt at camping!

The Octopus travels to Kamloops!

The octopus and I travelled up to Kamloops to watch my friends convocation ceremony. (Congrats again, Katie). The morning, of course, started with Timbits, and then a three and a half hour drive from Maple Ridge to Kamloops. The drive is extremely scenic; moving from the coasts temperate rainforests, to glacier covered mountaintops (we saw snow by the side of the road... in June!), and finally to the deserts of the BC interior!
The ceremony was held outdoors at Thomson Rivers University, and consisted of approximately 120-150 grads. It was really exciting for me personally, because I will be crossing the stage at my own convocation in a little over a week! (Fingers crossed I don't trip!)
And of course, my faithful cephalopod will be joining me at the due!

The Octopus moves to Maple Ridge

After leaving Victoria behind, the Car Cephalopod turned his gaze to the community of Maple Ridge, British Columbia! It's my home town, and I have moved back in with my parents while I find an awesome job, and save up some money! Maple Ridge is known for... um... probably nothing, but we have alot of HORSES! Here is the Car Cephalopod with some of the locals!

In fact, here in Maple Ridge we LOVE horses so much, we put a giant metal horse on top of our town clock! (It used to be our biggest tourist attraction because it moved... but then it broke, and we never fixed it).