Giants DO exist.

Today is "On a Whim, On a Wednesday."

And today my whimsy is elated.. Here's why:

For a really big chunk of my childhood, I was solidly determined that I would become a marinebiologist.

As in... I really really believed it with all my heart. 

Even into my teenage years.

So, naturally, I was a big fan of things like the DISCOVERY CHANNEL and ANIMAL PLANET and NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.

The occasional documentaries centered on the SEARCH FOR THE GIANT SQUID were basically my Superbowl.

It was well known to me at a young age that the Giant Squid had NEVER BEFORE BEEN RECORDED IN ITS NATURAL HABITAT.

There was the occasional washed up carcass.
And sometimes they would even be found
moments before death.
And that was enough to know bits and pieces about their existence.

But to my adventurous little heart, 
that was all just sushi to me.

I wanted to SEE it.

Alive and free and beautiful.

(yes... yes, I realize I was a strange child.)

And then... on September 27th, 2005,

THIS photo (among many others in a series) was released:

(source)

First photographs EVER taken of the beast in its natural habitat!!!

Thank you, National Science Museum of Japan.

But seriously... couldn't you have invited me along?

Ah well.

Oh, and to give you a little bit of perspective, one of its tentacles got hooked on the line (sorry, buddy) and was roped into the boat along with the camera. The tentacle was 18 feet long.

Eventually, my excitement over the event overcame my grudge that I was not a part of the discovery team.

And for nearly a decade, that was it.


Until....

(source)

Well hello there, Mr. Squid.

Isn't he beautiful???

The Discovery Channel will be broadcasting the full documentary on January, 27th.

Which happens to be the two-year anniversary of our wedding.

And as proof that my husband was fully aware of the strangeness of this girl he got himself hitched to......

....he agreed without opposition to watch it with me.

(source: me!)

Happy Anniversary and Squid Day!
Monica.