{"id":2651,"date":"2016-12-09T17:25:33","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T22:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/?p=2651"},"modified":"2016-12-15T20:06:47","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T01:06:47","slug":"bubbles-the-seal-princess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/2016\/12\/09\/bubbles-the-seal-princess\/","title":{"rendered":"Bubbles the Seal Princess"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"bubbles\"


Bubbles surveying her current domain. As her expression suggests, not everything\u00a0meets with her approval. <\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

(Please note: \u00a0the intended audience for this blog is in the 3rd grade; this narrative\u00a0takes great liberties with the literal truth and absolutely no treaty violations occurred).<\/em><\/h5>\n

My daughter Scout has asked repeatedly that I bring her home a seal from Antarctica. \u00a0She thinks they’re cuddly and the word “cute” often occurs in multiples (cute cute cute!). \u00a0I have repeatedly warned her that it’s not so much cuddling as\u00a0being squished\u00a0when\u00a0a full-grown Weddell weighs about a thousand pounds. \u00a0But being 8 years old, \u00a0she has an authoritative grasp of the world, \u00a0and simply replies “Then find a small one”. \u00a0 I hear, my princess, and obey.<\/p>\n

So I put out the word; \u00a0I may not hold a position of power\u00a0in the “Scoutiverse” but I do have minions of my own, at least here in McMurdo.\u00a0\u00a0Fortunately Minako ran into the\u00a0small white critter pictured above, and encouraged her to talk to me a bit. \u00a0Most of the conversation was in the form of gestures, \u00a0big-eyed glances and disregarded offers of fish, \u00a0but I’ll share the gist of it.<\/p>\n

Me:<\/em> Hello little seal, \u00a0what is your name?<\/p>\n

Bubbles:<\/em> \u00a0 My name is Bubbles. \u00a0Minako told me that you work for the Princess\u00a0of the known universe? \u00a0 I want to be a princess!<\/p>\n

Me\u00a0(measuring my words carefully):<\/em> What a wonderful thing to aspire to! \u00a0Becoming a princess requires carefully choosing your parents, \u00a0something that is very difficult for most. \u00a0I might be able to help you with that.<\/p>\n

Bubbles:<\/em> \u00a0 Hmmmph. \u00a0You don’t look like royalty. \u00a0What’s the catch?<\/p>\n

Me:<\/em>\u00a0My daughter is unquestionably the Princess\u00a0of the Known Universe. \u00a0She has the gowns, the attitude, the servants, \u00a0everything. I am her father, but I dress like common folk so as not to draw attention from her. \u00a0And she’s always willing to adopt suitably haughty and elegant creatures.<\/p>\n

Bubbles (rolling eyes):<\/em> \u00a0Sure, uh huh, \u00a0right. \u00a0How often do you eat fish?<\/p>\n

Me:<\/em> \u00a0I think we have fish a couple times a week on average.<\/p>\n

Bubbles:<\/em> \u00a0Yuck. \u00a0I hate fish. \u00a0How often do you serve\u00a0corn dogs? With the good ketchup, not the horrible kind…..?<\/p>\n

Me:<\/em> \u00a0Wait a minute- \u00a0you hate fish? \u00a0You’re a seal, don’t you eat fish every……<\/p>\n

Bubbles (in a loud exasperated voice):<\/em> \u00a0FISH ARE YUCKY! A PRINCESS HAS THE DIVINE RIGHT TO DECLARE ANY FOOD YUCKY NO MATTER HOW TASTY OR WHOLESOME! WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN?!?<\/p>\n

Me:<\/em> Oooohkay. \u00a0That shows your qualifications for the royal family are above question. \u00a0Should I recommend you to\u00a0Scout?<\/p>\n

Bubbles:<\/em> \u00a0You’re trying to make me angry, aren’t you? \u00a0 Tell Scout her new and best princess is on her way and to prepare for my arrival.<\/p>\n

Me:<\/em> \u00a0Indeed. \u00a0 Let me escort you to your transport, \u00a0your highness……….<\/p>\n

At that point I grabbed the little seal and stuffed her deep into my luggage. Don’t worry, she’s got plenty of things to play with in there, it’s safe and warm. \u00a0I just can’t hear her, thank goodness.<\/p>\n

-posted by rph from McMurdo<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Please note: \u00a0the intended audience for this blog is in the 3rd grade; this narrative\u00a0takes great liberties with the literal truth and absolutely no treaty violations occurred).<\/em>
\nMy daughter Scout has asked repeatedly that I bring her home a seal from Antarctica. \u00a0She thinks they’re cuddly and the word “cute” often occurs in multiples (cute cute cute!). \u00a0I have repeatedly warned her that it’s not so much cuddling as\u00a0being squished\u00a0when\u00a0a full-grown Weddell weighs about a thousand pounds. \u00a0But being 8 years old, \u00a0she has an authoritative grasp of the world, \u00a0and simply replies “Then find a small one”. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Continue reading… Bubbles the Seal Princess<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":2655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[15,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/111\/2016\/12\/09165629\/bubbles.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2651"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2662,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2651\/revisions\/2662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}