scyphozoa: cnidaria

earlier this month, i made a visit with a friend to the shedd aquarium in chicago. despite having lived in chicago for 8 years, this was my first trip to the aquarium.

near the top of the list of cutest animals must be the sea otters - although i still cannot believe that their fur can grow as thick as 1 million strands of hair per square inch. and the jellyfish were marvelous:

we did not, however, see the (purportedly) immortal jellyfish. 

holiday travels: family and friends

i am back in boston for the spring semester, after several weeks of travels and visits with family and friends. here are a few pictures from those visits. the first two are of my grandmother, who lives in vaucluse, SC.