Poetry by the Iguana, and Other Stories

Many people have unexpected gifts, and the Iguana surprised everyone by telling his view of the galaxy in poetry. Everyone but me, that is. I've always known he speaks in lyrics!

Hi! Zantippy Skiphop here! I tell the tales of my adventures in the galaxy with my friends! Iguana likes to stay in his Earth swamp, so his book got written while I was trapped in an extraterrestrial jail. Don't worry, I escaped, so we are all about to tell you lots more stories!
Love,
Zantippy

Monday, August 27, 2012

Rover Report from Mars!

I've written an update on the rover Curiosity's third week at her new home, Gale Crater, Mars! Please be sure to visit the astronomy zine, Active Astronomy, to keep up with all that's going on at Mars, and really everywhere else in the universe!

The Data from Mars (and Bradbury Landing) Pours In...

by Active Astronomy writer Zantippy Skiphop, Florida, 27 August 2012


Curiosity has finished her prep work and is almost set for her Martian rovings! In the past week, Curiosity has analyzed rocks at two different spots, flexed her arm to get it ready for field geology in the desert, test drove her six wheels, shot neutrons into the ground, and gulped down Martian air.


 Curiosity's landing site has now been officially named Bradbury Landing by NASA after science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who inspired so many Mars explorers...[Read more...]

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Win a Book and Help Rabbits!



Hi! The Bunny's Review, with Alchemy of Scrawl, has a Books for Bunnies event that goes through August 11, to raise money for the House Rabbit Society :) You can donate to the HRS, and if you do, they will send you a thank-you email for you to forward to Books for Bunnies to enter the drawing for a book. If you are an author of a print or ebook, you can donate a book for people to win! They already have over 100 books donated!



The Dumplins, Fawn and Grasshopper <3


Our family loves House Rabbit Society! It helps to teach people what it's like to be a house bunny, and how their humans can take care of them in the way bunnies need. Almost everything you're told in pet stores or have heard about bunny care is really wrong for rabbits and can make them sick or sad. House Rabbit Society really taught us when we adopted our first two rabbits what living with a bunny is like, so we were prepared (we thought :D !)!



April, tasting the new door mat :)


I bought a cage initially, because I thought that's what you do when you get a bunny, but the cage was pretty much left behind very quickly! We kept it around for the rabbits to hop into as a den, and after a while stored it away since the bunnies found plenty of other places in the house that were snug and safe and dark. That was 14 years ago, and since then we have had many bunnies as part of our family, almost all of whom lived to a long, happy age. Our oldest, Cricket, died at 11 years old, and we met a bunny who was 16! This is so much longer than most bunnies get, since most people are understandably naive when they get a rabbit. We sure were, and I am SO glad we had House Rabbit Society! They have a book on rabbit care which will tell you all about food, health, rabbit-trained vets, bunny-proofing the house, and also you can find out a lot on their web site.

So this is my request to please consider donating to House Rabbit Society! ALL donations go only to the HRS, and you can win a book from a variety of genres (see a partial list of books at Bea's Book Nook, link below). If I still can, I'm going to be donating my book. And if you want a bunny as part of your own family, House Rabbit Society can help you learn ways to adopt one, instead of going to a pet store - tons of bunnies need homes because like any other critter, they can be a handful!

Here are the links:





Bea's Book Nook (a good description of the House Rabbit Society and how they are so important to our bunnies!)


Thank you!!!

Love,

Zantippy  =:)

Here are a few pics of our rabbits:


Hefmeister Luvbug chewing on my textbooks.



Max being preened by Baby Duckworth.




Fawn helping herself to lettuce.




Fawn taking a nap. She earned it, chewing on the table.






Max as an old man. You can see his toy cat, Ursala, in the mirror. He always cuddled with her. Max was an unusual rabbit - he LOVED to be held and cuddled. Most rabbits love pats, but with their feet firmly on the ground! :D





Whoops not a rabbit.




April as a baby. We adopted her at 5 weeks (way too young - she was an orphan, and still nursing!).  She still loves to be kissed, as long as I don't pick her up (with April, she isn't scared, she just thinks it's undignified).


Remember to visit Books for Bunnies and House Rabbit Society! Thanks!

Monday, August 6, 2012

New Article on Our Martian Robot!

Last night was just fantastic! I'm so relieved and happy that our robot, Curiosity, is safely on Mars now. Here is my latest article on Active Astronomy, about the time right before and after the landing. :) It was a very good time :)


Photo credit: NASA/JPL
This is a picture of the deployed parachute - it was one of the first signals that let everyone know that the landing sequence of events was happening well! :)