RIP Sax Russell

Mr. Sax has died.

Our landlady turned off the heat at night, and we didn't have a heat lamp for him. I was asleep when Don came home and found him hibernating -- a deadly coma-like stage for African hedgehogs like Sax.  He tried to warm him up for an hour and a half, and he looked like he was improving a little bit. But when we woke up the next morning, his body was stiff. Our little hedgehog is dead.

Nowhere in our hedgehog research, nor in the care package provided to us by our breeder, did anyone mention hibernation. Temperature was casually mentioned ("your home's room temperature is typically fine") but no recommendations were made for heat lamps or extra insurance against the cold (i.e., anything under 65° F). No one mentioned that if your hedgehog begins hibernation will he die within hours. We were clueless new hedgehog owners and now our little guy is dead.

We buried him under a tree in his coconut shell home in the backyard. We cried. The Wizard is confused. 

RIP little man -- you were a great pet.

I'm sick

Orange juice
Cinnamon stick
Grated ginger
Honey
1 shot Jack Daniels

Heat. Serve.

Sax getting a bath

Wedding in the Lou

Second and last wedding of the year -- this time in St. Louis: Gateway to the West, home of the arch. I've never been to the Midwest and so was delighted to see a lot of particular Midwest-y things, like the Mississippi, lots of industry, toasted ravioli (a St. Louis specialty), and the St. Louis zoo. The arch was actually pretty amazing. And it's true - there were actually an overwhelming number of obese people!

Don and I flew out there on Friday (he qualified as my "plus one" because we live together hehe) and met up with other UD friends and had a pretty intensely good time. I was even further rejuvenated from the Crystal Castles show on Wednesday and finally feel relaxed enough to go back to work on Monday. Maybe my stress-induced scalp flaking will finally go away!

A few of these pictures are my own, but some are taken from friends' collections and -- yes -- the wedding app. The Wedding Party is an app for guests of the wedding to upload pictures to and so allows everyone to have access to the same photo stream. It's actually pretty useful, but as you can imagine it led to some irrelevant uploads (a Bud Light can, pictures of factories, blurry close-ups, etc.).

 Sarah and the wedding party, before the ceremony

 Looking across the Mississippi to Illinois... yuck

 The arch!

Hippos at the zoo

Toasted ravioli. It was meat-filled, though, so I never tried it...

Sarah and Scott (bride and groom)

Reception -- first dance

Sarah's ridiculously well-designed program schedules

End of the ceremony-- the wedding took place at the Missouri Botanical Gardens

Blurry good times with Don and Bill at the reception

Obligatory photo under the arch

............

I have to admit, as much as I'm personally against the idea of getting married, it is pretty nice to be around your friends in love...

CRYSTAL CASTLES // HEALTH

Went to see Crystal Castles and HEALTH last night at the Roseland Ballroom with Kelly and Charles. That show set me straight!

Photos from deathandtaxesmag.com and pitchfork.com.

This is 100% terrifying.

"Today, whatever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may go, you are a part of atomic warfare -- it involves you, personally."