BAMBOO DECORATIVE WINDOW FILM

In the Company of Moose

"At the western end of the Denali Park road, there are moose living on the tundra in September. . . . This area is special mainly because the moose live in the shadow of Mount McKinley, the tallest peak in North America. From the north side it is awe inspiring, rising up from the lowlands, snow covered yearlong for two-thirds of its height. In September on clear, blue-sky days, when the tundra is red and Mount McKinley forms the backdrop, this moose country has no equal." --Victor Van Ballenberghe
Moose, the giant deer of the northern forests of Europe, Asia, and North America, can grow up to seven feet tall at the shoulder and exceed sixteen hundred pounds. Author and wildlife biologist Victor Van Ballenberghe has studied wild moose in the field for thirty-five years. The author gives insights into the species, their habitat, and predators and shares intimate stories about the moose he has studied for extensive periods. The beauty of these creatures, their strange grace and gentle nature, and their personalities are captured in lively text and dramatic full-color photos.

This cow moose and her calf from last year caused a bit of a ruckus on a local highway. They were grazing along the side of the road, and she became agitated when more vehicles pulled over to look at her and her calf. Eventually, they ran across the highway, into the safety of the bush.

The matted look of her fur is a result of a bad case of winter ticks. These ticks attach themselves in the fall to moose when they brush against branches where the ticks wait for a host. They overwinter on the moose, and in February and March start to feed on the hosts. They then drop off the moose when they are engorged in blood, mate, and the nymphs make their way back to the tree branches to repeat the cycle. They can draw so much blood from the moose, that the moose become emaciated and perish ( especially the calves)

This one was at our back fence but you can't see her babies here. She was mad at my dogs because they were barking and sticking their little heads under the fence. She would charge and nip at them a little. They did not care.

*starts to ramble again*
My dogs make me laugh. They are not afraid of a mommy moose that could crush them but the slightest change in their environment sets them off.

Yesterday, I was cleaning our living room and decided to clean the cushions and pillows. One of the dogs shook for hours because she was freaked out, only to return to normal when the living room was put back together. =)

Summer 2008 *12

Stephanie Klein was an eighth grader with a weight problem. It was a problem at school, where the boys called her "Moose," and it was a problem at home, where her father reminded her, "No one likes fat girls." After many frustrating sessions with a nutritionist known as the fat doctor of Roslyn Heights, Long Island, Klein's parents enrolled her for a summer at fat camp. Determined to return to school thin and popular, without her "lard arms" and "puckered ham," Stephanie embarked on a memorable journey that would shape more than just her body. It would shape her life.

With her signature acerbic wit and captivating insight, the author of the wildly popular Straight Up and Dirty offers a powerful and beautifully stark portrait of adolescence
While she is pregnant with twins, one sentence uttered by her doctor sends Stephanie Klein reeling: "You need to gain fifty pounds." Instantly, an adolescence filled with insecurity and embarrassment comes flooding back. Though she is determined to gain the weight for the health of her babies--even if it means she'll "weigh more than a Honda"--she can only express her deep fear by telling her doctor simply, "I used to be fat."
Klein was an eighth grader with a weight problem. It was a problem at school, where the boys called her "Moose," and it was a problem at home, where her father reminded her, "No one likes fat girls." After many frustrating sessions with a nutritionist known as the fat doctor of Roslyn Heights, Long Island, Klein's parents enrolled her for a summer at fat camp. Determined to return to school thin and popular, without her "lard arms" and "puckered ham," Stephanie embarked on a memorable journey that would shape more than just her body. It would shape her life.
In the ever-shifting terrain between fat and thin, adulthood and childhood, cellulite and starvation, Klein shares the cutting details of what it truly feels like to be an overweight child, from the stinging taunts of classmates, to the off-color remarks of her own father, to her thin mother's compulsive dissatisfaction with her own body. Calling upon her childhood diary entries, Klein reveals her deepest thoughts and feelings from that turbulent, hopeful time, baring her soul and making her heartache palpable.
Whether Klein is describing her life as a chubby adolescent camper--getting weighed on a meat scale, petting past curfew, and "chunky dunking" in the lake--or what it's like now as a fit mother, having one-sided conversations with her newborn twins about the therapy they'll one day need, this hilarious yet grippingly vulnerable book will remind you what it was like to feel like an outsider, to desperately seek the right outfit, the right slang, the best comeback, or whatever that unattainable something was that would finally make you fit in.
Marie Claire, for Straight Up and Dirty
"Stephanie Klein’s raw account of divorce at age 29 is refreshingly honest and funny, without delving into cheesy chick-lit territory. You’ll easily relate to Klein--even if you don’t have a 'wasband.'"
USA Today
"Klein is a talented writer who tells the story of her love life with boldness and irreverence."
Publishers Weekly
"Klein’s sense of humor is downright wicked . . . a great, fun read."
New York Times
"Nothing, it seems, is too private not to share with . . . Ms. Klein’s legions of followers. And that is exactly how they like it."
People
"You could call her ‘a real-life Carrie Bradshaw,’ but it wouldn’t do Klein justice. With a fearless voice, the blogger weaves a memoir filled with heartbreak and humor . . . a compelling writer."
Kirkus Reviews
"Candid . . . inspiring . . . With vivid characterizations, spot-on locale descriptions and sly jokes at her own expense, Klein offers an original and touching take on the all-too-common problem of childhood obesity."
Elle, for Straight Up and Dirty
"Klein’s appeal comes not just from her nocturnal wonderings, but from her relentless plumbing of what went wrong in her twenties and how those mistakes inform her present."
Daily News, for Straight Up and Dirty
"[Stephanie Klein’s] confessional, intimate writing style has a magnetic and often voyeuristic appeal that transcends the gloss of her Sex and the City-style escapades."
Susan Shapiro, author of Lighting Up, for Straight Up and Dirty
"A kooky, heartfelt, and ultimately triumphant chronicle of young divorce and the importance of family, friends, and a good shrink."
Marie Claire (UK), for Straight Up and Dirty
"Beneath the wisecracking tales of solo supermarket shopping, phone therapy and Hamptons houseshares, the raw emotion about her divorce and nightmare mother-in-law rings true."