Turtle Power

XKCD

Turtles rock. 'Nuff said. (Time for a more "fun" blog post. Too much philosophizing going on around here....)

Hawaii 2010

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Turtles

1. My favorite TV show as a kid was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My favorite turtle was Donatello. That is the reason why dark purple is my favorite color. And I can honestly say, that is also the reason why my favorite food is pizza.
   
   Donatello was the best turtle in my humble opinion because his weapon was the most realistic: he used a freakin' stick. As I took karate lessons growing up, I wanted to learn skills from the TV that could actually be applied in real life, and I knew I wouldn't be packing nunchucks or swords anytime soon. Also, according to Wikipedia, he was the "brains of the group."
   
   
2. My friend Joanna loves turtles even more than I do. She has approximately twenty stuffed turtles, all with different names and personalities. She is a very smart person, so if she loves turtles, they must be great. And don't even think about making jokes about turtle soup around her.
   
   
3. I saw some really awesome turtles in Hawaii, both swimming around the ponds of the hotel and sunbathing on the beach. They looked peaceful and at one with nature -- something I want to be.
   
   
4. Shell, armor, and hiding place: Turtles have an awesome shell that protects them from predators. Their body is scaly and rough like armor, and anytime they need to hide or go into a dark spot from some R&R, they can just retract their heads into their body. How cool is that?
   
   
5. Sea turtles have a great sense of smell and orientation, better than even dogs. They use this to find food and to retrace their steps when laying eggs and coming back to see them hatch after going out to sea.
   
   
6. Turtles have an undeniably sweet nature. I think this is because they have a human face and a slow, deliberate crawl. (However, I have been notified that there are in fact angry snapping turtles that live in New Orleans, and those are the evil ones that the soup is made from.)
   
   
7. The tortoise is the hero of the fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. Slow and steady wins the race, baby!
   
   
8. There are many amazing varieties of turtles and related species: sea-lubbers, land-lubbers, tortoises, mini turtles, giant turtles/tortoises, etc. There are about 300 species of turtle. All have unique properties and cutenesses.
   
   
9. Turtle candies are awesome. Whoever thought of combining chocolate, almonds, and caramel is genius. If only the caramel didn't get stuck in your teeth, it would be the perfect dessert.
   
   
10. Turtles are the subject of a wonderful Buddhist saying about the preciousness of human life:
    
    Imagine a blind turtle swimming at the bottom of an ocean the size of the universe. On the surface of the water, there floats a wooden ring, tossed around by the waves. Once every hundred years, the turtle rises to the surface. When the turtle's head rises through the wooden ring, a human is born.
    
    This is an extremely special gift we have been given.