Did you know...
Tardigrades have tiny retractable claws on the end of their legs?
Tardigrades (well, most of them) have black or red eyes?
Tardigrades can travel in the upper atmosphere from place to place?
Tardigrades could potentially survive in outer space (without a space suit)?

Tardigrades are one of my favorite animals. They are so freaky and cool and almost no one knows about them. (I was reminded of their properties because one of my students did a paper on them).

I'm feeling inspired again; I might try to figure out how to make a tardigrade stuffie this weekend. (not knitted; I've kind of given up on trying to figure out how to get the shaping right). I'd love to do something kind of Jess Hutch-style, maybe a little tardigrade made out of felt with a little parachute (for when he travels from continent to continent on the Jet Stream) or a little canteen and lunch kit for when he goes into outer space. If I were good at illustration, it would be lots of fun to do a comic strip showing the various adventures of a globetrotting tardigrade. (I'm thinking something like "Wilbur the Intrepid Tardigrade." But alas, I can't draw well enough and don't have the time to learn a new skill like using a drawing tablet. But it's still fun to think about.)

Finished the Dreaded Paper that I've been working on for several months, sent it off to co-author. So I feel like I can play a little this weekend. I have plans to run to the nearest fabric purveyor because I've been hired again to make bird bags for my colleague the ornithologist. I have some nifty 40% off coupons that will get me the notions for them fairly cheaply, which will save him some money (he pays me $10 an hour plus cost of supplies). I also feel in a mood for buying buttons..I'm thinking about projects again that require buttons (not talking clothes here, talking critters or wall-hangings or such). I may pop around the antiques shops and see if any of them have some vintage buttons (however, some of them, I've found, charge what seem to me exorbitant prices for anything in that kind of "olde" category. I'm not willing to pay $1 a button unless it's something really incredible and amazing)

I'll probably wind up making bird bags instead of Intrepid Tardigrades, that's the kind of person I am. I'm not good at putting other people's requests off to chase off after wild hares.