Day 293/365 - World's Coolest Lunchbag

That's my badass, pirate-themed, insulated vinyl lunchbag ($10 at Target) framed inside a gussied up old police call box. I set up this shot today on my way over to the U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory for lunch.

It was pretty cool sitting at tree-top level in the rainforest while I ate my lunch and read my book. A bit on the humid side, however. I really should've gone over there for lunch when I was reading all about the 'green hell' of the Amazonian rainforest in The Lost City of Z. That would have lent it the perfect atmosphere.

Although, come to think of it, there is a desert room at the Conservatory that would go well with the book set in Egypt that I'm reading now. Dang, I should've thought to sit down there today instead of trekking up to the gantry overlooking the jungle section.

I love themed activities.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 55/365 - Arrrhh!

This skull-and-crossbones is tattooed on my upper left arm. I got it done when I was in the Navy. I thought about getting a second tattoo on my right arm to balance things out, but I never got around to it. So now I'm lopsided.

I've wanted to be a pirate ever since I was small (although there was a period around the time that 'Star Wars' came out that I modified that slightly and wished I were a Corellian Space Pirate). My friends and I would play pirate all the time. I always got to be the captain, of course.

We used the jungle gym in their backyard as our pirate ship and got some old costume jewelry from my mom to serve as our loot, which we kept in a cardboard box we painted to resemble a treasure chest. We sailed that jungle gym all over the Caribbean, raided a thousand ships, and pillaged a hundred ports without ever leaving our neighborhood.

Years later when my youngest niece came along I got her into playing pirates (it beat the hell outta playing with Barbies) and she and I made treasure maps out of old paper sacks, spyglasses out of empty paper towel rolls, and a pirate ship out of my sister's couch and I resumed my career as the Scourge of the Seven Seas.

Now I need someone else to hurry up and have kids so I can go back to playing pirate. It's much preferable to playing lawyer. There are rich merchant ships prime for the plucking and wealthy port towns brimming with gold. Time to teach those scurvy dogs to once again fear the name of Captain Kevin.

Arrrhh!

(Taken with my Nikon D80)