This Doesn't Suck II: Jellyfish Edition.

[pen_grunt]

Yesterday I went for a walk along the beach:

(That's the view from my hotel room: don't hate me.)

Now when you're walking along this beach, you always want to look down--because you never know what you're going to step on. There are things along the coast of southern Florida that you really don't want to step on. Aside from sharp shells or live things, there are also these:

Dead things. If you've ever stepped on a dead crab, you'll know that it's an unpleasant experience. The beach was littered with dead crab parts in one particular area--I took a picture, but it was kinda gross. There are also these:

That's the head of some kind of stinging thing. Stinging things have hard, sharp bodies, and Steve Irwin's ghost would be the first to tell you that you don't want to mess with stinging things--even if it's only a stinger through the foot.

I don't know what these are, really, but they're kinda gross and spongy. It occurred to me that they might actually be a recently-dead sea sponge:

Anyone know?

But then, there were also these, littered along the beach:

That, folks, is a dead jellyfish. Now I know enough to stay away from touching jellyfish on the beach--at the very least, their stings hurt. At the most, they're deadly. I was a little freaked, but I didn't see any tentacles...and no one else seemed to mind them. It took every ounce of strength I possessed not to poke and dissect the jellyfish. Because really...look at that thing! It's clear, and you can see its organs. How cool is that?

In case you're wondering, this is what an inside-out jellyfish looks like:



And if you think it's hard to resist poking at a dead jellyfish on the beach, you can imagine how hard it was to resist poking at an INSIDE-OUT dead jellyfish.

I have no respect for the dead. Additionally:

Comments

[irishinmn.livejournal.com]

I've had a realization .....

Over the past few months - you've been complaining a lot and 'wintering' in San Diego, Arizona & Florida.

You're on the fast track to becoming a "crabby old snowbird".

Next thing you know ... you'll be driving an old Cadillac.

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

You know, you're awfully mean sometimes.

And the complaining has been unrelated to the weather--so I think I'm exempt.

And the wintering is also unrelated to the weather and out of my control, so I'm also exempt from that too.

[irishinmn.livejournal.com]

didn't mean to be mean ...

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

Well, I was ribbing you a bit back. But I hate complaining...and I hate that I'm complaining (and I have been complaining a lot lately.

[damm-im-good.livejournal.com]

Hey...I drive an old Cadillac...

[pointedthings.livejournal.com]

Ewww, dead things. There were tons of dead jelly fish on the beach when I was in Wales. I poked them with a stick. I'm that mean.

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

I wish I had had a stick. I only had my flip-flop, and I had to put it back on, so I didn't want to use it to dissect a jellyfish.

[llythefaerye.livejournal.com]

You couldn't find yourself a stick?! Where has your ambition gone?! ;p

Yes. Jealous. But it's starting to look like Spring just might come again this year, even if not for a little while. And that teasing and hope is sometimes more delicious than the 80 degrees and sunshine. . . sometimes . . .

Glad you're at least able to find *something* enjoyable in your travels & work!

[llythefaerye.livejournal.com]

For the record, I prolly would've disected at least one of them. *nods*

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

The beach was *amazingly* free of pokey things. I mean, I suppose I could have picked up a dead crab leg or something, but that didn't seem appetizing. I was also leery of hidden tentacles in the sand, thinking they might sting bare feet if I got too-too close.

And yeah, I'd feel a lot worse about "bragging" about this trip if the past, like, 4 hadn't been such horrible, stressful shows, and we didn't just get put through the ringer on a bad script review. As it were, it feels deserved.

[llythefaerye.livejournal.com]

That'll teach you to go anywhere w/o your own Pokey Stick! ;p

[llythefaerye.livejournal.com]

Totally more than deserved. (Although that doesn't mean we can't hate you for it . . . just a little . . . )

[irishsbuffy.livejournal.com]

The beach is beautiful! Are you effected by the massive power outage?

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

Nopers, it's from Orlando to Miami--and it's from a rainstorm. Marco is sort of on the opposite side of Miami and is a little farther south (I think).

[gwangi.livejournal.com]

That "stinging thing" is actually the head carapace from a horseshoe crab, which doesn't actually sting you. And it's the closest living relative to the trilobite, which means it's extra awesome.

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

That does make it extra awesome. Whilst on strange beaches, I always assume stinging if I don't know what something is. I'm glad that I now have clearance to pick these up and play with them on my morning walk on the beach tomorrow.