Ode to Kaja or video roulette
Just a picture of a baby orangutan and some musings
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Hello Sternal Journalists!
Short one this week as I was away this weekend, visiting the baby orangutan at the San Diego Zoo and trying a lazy river for the first time at Harrah’s Casino SoCal. I recognize that zoos are ethically questionable and casinos are questionably reprehensible, but I am not perfect.
Here is a picture of Kaja, the two-and-a-half-year-old orangutan:
Kaja is the reason my partner and I went to San Diego in the first place, and he is therefore the reason I got to have the blissfully American experience of drinking a seventeen-dollar strawberry Mai Tai while a current pulled and knocked my inner tube into children and the infirm, the latter of whom were also enjoying rum slushies of some sort.
Kaja is also the reason I won eighty dollars on video roulette. I am not a gambler. I am not a casino or resort person. I am not here to pass judgment on those who are. I am not here to validate those who aren’t.
But when I was down to my last five dollars (not of all time, but of the hundred I had told myself I could lose gambling), and I put that five dollars on my birthdate (the twenty-eighth of JULY ahem ahem), and the (video) roulette wheel HIT my birthday and I won one hundred and eighty dollars in an instant? In a moment? I went from losing a hundred dollars to winning eighty dollars???
I have never had that feeling of bliss or success or luck or things just working, and ultimately I decided it was a dangerous feeling to have in such an unearned way. I do not know if this is true. I do know that Kaja probably doesn’t think about those things and that is probably net good. But I thank him for the experiences regardless:
Anyway, here is a video of him:
Also, other than orangutans, here is my new favorite animal. It is fun, at almost thirty-six, to be learning new animals:
But now!
Recommendations!
How Sad Are The Monkeys In the Zoo? Podcast Episode. I know that, even at their best, zoos are not always the best for animals so I thought I should share this episode of Search Engine, which actually has practical advice about ethically visiting zoos.
Stone World Bistro & Gardens. Brewery / Restaurant. This was my second visit to the brewery who put west coast IPAs on the map (or one of them—don’t come for me, beer nerds!) and it’s a truly beautiful place. Even if you aren’t a beer person, the food is great and the garden is something out of a cult, but you don’t have to join a cult. If you’re ever driving from LA to San Diego, stop by!
Texting your friends when you want to do something. Accountability. I’m really trying to get my mileage back up for running. Last week, when I only ran once, I texted two friends to tell them and (recreationally) shame myself into hitting my mileage this week. I did it! Thank you to you two friends who I would name, but you’re private people and I don’t want to put you on blast like that!
Verbatim Books. Bookstore. This is another San Diego-specific rec, but this place was badass. They had all the classic sections (Mystery, fiction, biography, etc.), but then they also had random sections like “things you should have learned but don’t know yet,” and then they also had randomly and absurdly robust collections of like Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books. There was also a life-size cutout of Stephen King.
Alrighty, that’s all this week! I hope your week is as playful as Kaja’s and as lucky as my video roulette stint without the icky casino feelings!
Love!
Julian!
Normally, I use this area to say that you can upgrade to paid if you’re rich. I hugely appreciate those of you who have, but nobody should ever feel pressured to! (Although huge thanks to my recent new paid subscribers! You have made it slightly easier to do this!) AAAAALSO though, if you’re the type to hit a like or leave a comment and you just haven’t thought of doing it on the SternJourn yet, come on in! Lemme know if you love or hate the recs! All engagement unfortunately is good engagement. But if you do not have time, get outta here and don’t worry about it! I’ll see ya next week!