Inspiration - The London Aquarium.

Sea anemones. Just love the colours on these!

My youngest turned four on Saturday, so the whole family took a trip to the London Aquarium as his treat (although I can't deny we were all excited about it). Frankly I dislike London - it's too loud, too crowded and too expensive. But the children enjoyed the train journey up (apart from a long wait for the right Circle line train) and we arrived just before the aquarium opened to hear Big Ben strike ten o'clock (which impressed them). We've been to a couple of Sealife centres before and I didn't expect a huge amount different at the aquarium, but somehow we spent just over two hours inside.

The Houses of Parliment.

The London Eye

Most of my friends know I'm a fan of the weird and the wonderful, and this was too good an opportunity to miss for finding some odd inspiration among the tanks of rays, crabs and guppies (of all things! I can see those in my local pet shop any time). The first surprise when we went in was a glass floor looking down into a huge tank below. Sadly there isn't space to stop and enjoy the view as it's a narrow corridor and the only way in, which was a bit of a disappointment.

Brittlestars

I wish I'd recorded some video of these - their waving arms seemed rather sinister. However I DID record the pretty anemones doing their dance, and some baby fish wriggling inside their egg sacs - did I mention I'm a bit weird? :)

 

The biggest hit for my children was the shark tank and the big, open pool full of rays, flat fish and a mixture of other fish.

Ray tank.

Easter Island shark tank

We got to touch a starfish - for those interested, it feels rather soft and squidgy but the skin itself is kind of scaly/spiny. The underside with all the feet - well, I couldn't feel anything of the feet but the edges of the arms feel quite rough. Youngest got to hold a crab - which was very well behaved and didn't nip - but after weekends spent crabbing at Mersea he wasn't that impressed!

replica(?)whale bones

I do not have a thing for skeletons. Seriously! Although I'm finding it hard to deny considering the number I'm posting in various places. However, having a scifi story out called The Bones of the Sea, it seemed only fitting that I post this, from the largest tank at the aquarium.

Turtle

Cleaner shrimps

Bat stars. Seriously creepy-looking!

I could post pictures from the trip all day long, but that might turn this into a rather long post. So I'll leave you with one final video from the aquarium of Upside Down Jellyfish - yes, they really are called that and it isn't just a description. Enjoy!

Weird Wednesday #2

Dragon's Skull

Don't believe that's what it is? Then what do you think it is? My husband found this on the beach at Frinton-on-Sea and we were stumped. It looks, for all the world, like a dragon. I thought perhaps an eel or maybe a fish like a gunard. I posted it to my Facebook profile (so some of my friends now know the answer to this mystery) but snakes, rays, even dogs were suggested.

The wonderful about the internet is that the answer was relative easy to find. But shocking nonetheless. This, in fact, is the pelvis of a sea bird. Yes, really! You can go here and see for yourself - this is obviously from a different species to ours (and we haven't been able to pinpoint exactly which ours came from) but the draconian appearance of it is amazing!

It's also incredibly light and fragile. How it survived at all, I don't know. I'm not really into bones and skeletons, but I can appreciate the beauty and delicacy in this, and the speculation over it's true identity.

So there you go. Dragon skulls on the beaches of the UK, there for the finding, to entertain your kids and friends. Weird enough for ya? :-P

It seems fitting with presenting this piece of weirdness to comment on the sad passing of the Dragonlady herself, Anne McCaffrey. As so many authors have said on the internet since the news was announced, a great loss and an inspiration to so many, myself included. Much sorrow.

Weird Wednesday #1

A few days ago, my good friend posted this to my Facebook profile, with the note 'this made me think of you. It is the you-est you that ever youed. And you will undoubtedly think it's devastatingly beautiful.'

That told me two things. One, that my friend knows me extremely well. Two, that I am indeed a fan of the weird and wonderful - not a bad thing for a writer. The weird and the wonderful are great inspiration, although the mundane works just as well for me as often.
I have no idea what this is - a type of praying mantis at a guess. But it reminded me of a post on Google+ (yes, I'm there as well) also posted by an author as a piece of inspiration.






So, over the next couple of weeks I'm going to post some of the weird and wonderful things that I've come across, and maybe you'll find some inspiration in them too. Or maybe, you'll just realize what a total weirdo I am and never come back. :-P