I was tagged by Mz. Jillie , who, for some bizarre reason thinks I can come up with 10 things I love which begin with the letter:



Well, better late than never. Here goes.


1.) ZOO
The Zoo, is a place which houses a variety of animals, birds, slithering creatures, fish... all kinds of interesting beings that are held in captivity for the pleasure and amusement of the human race. As a child I loved to go, but became disenchanted when, at the tender age of 5, I became seperated from my parents at the San Diego Zoo in Southern California (as in LOST), fell down in a culvert getting a nasty scrape on the knee, and was finally rescued by a very nice man who resembled Peter Graves. I haven't been to the zoo in many years, the last time being on a free pass to a costume party actually held in the very cramped Lion's Den which smelled strongly of fresh meat, complete with roaring lions at the San Francisco Zoo on Halloween (poor lions). I do have trouble seeing those animals and birds, some of which seem to have no problem with being in an artificial environment. But there are others that are wasting away behind the cage bars. I'll never forget a Toucan I saw in Santa Barbara that looked as though he wished he could die. I think he must have completely and utterly lost his will to live. I had always collected toucan things (cards, pictures, figurines... etc.) up until that point. I never added to my collection after being haunted by that sad bird.

2. ZIG ZAG
Cigarette rolling papers. I refuse to speak of such things, on grounds they may incriminate me, but when in the 9th grade, I had a very cool brown suede leather coat which bore the patch, lovingly handsewn onto my shoulder, of the Zig Zag man.

3. ZEBRA
The zebra is in the horse family, and can be found in Africa. They are stout, round animals, with distinct black and white stripes in fabulous patterns all over their bodies. I always wanted one as a kid, after watching Disney's "The Swiss Family Robinson", but later was disapppointed to learn that they are notoriously difficult to train. For those of you hungering for more information about this pretty little equine, go here.

TIME ZONES

4. ZONE

There are many definitions of the word zone:

- a circumscribed geographical region characterized by some distinctive features
- any of the regions of the surface of the Earth loosely divided according to
latitude or longitude
- regulate housing in; of certain areas of towns an area or region distinguished from adjacent parts by a distinctive feature or characteristic

- any encircling or beltlike structure
partition: separate or apportion into sections; "partition a room off"

Here are some examples of zones:

Rod Serling hung out in the:

Last week Jodes was stuck in the:
When hanging out at the ZOO, beware of standing in the:


Construction workers labor in the:

You might want to visit the:

NO RELIGION ZONE

My plants which are now black and shriveled from last week's cold snap are in direct opposition to this list of plant-hardiness zones

5) ZUCCHINI
Zucchini is a fabulous vegetable, grown in summer that sports enormous yellow blossoms. It is versitile and can be prepared in many ways. This green squash can be successfully disguised in sweet zucchini bread for those (usually men or children) who notoriously scream and run in the other direction at a squash sighting.

One of the most characteristic of Southwest Indian jewelry designs, the squash blossom necklace is thought to be designed from the zucchini squash flower

6. ZEAL:
Intense enthusiasm for cause or person.

I chase after my boyfriend with great ZEAL.

7. ZORRO

Z IS the mark of Zorro. Spanish for Fox, Zorro is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega, a fictional nobleman and master swordsman living in Spanich era California. He defends the people, Robin Hood-style, from the corrupt tyranny of the Spanish governor, proving himself much too cunning and foxlike for the bumbling authorities to catch. He was created by pulp writer Johnston McCulley and first made his appearance in "The Curse of Capistrano, serialized in the pulp magazine "All-Story Weekly" in 1919. I always thought Zorro was cool because he could jump out of second story windows onto his horse below (which always came at a mere whistle) without mortally smashing either himself or his horse!

8. ZINNIA
A plant with bright colored flowers. These are easy to grow, and I love how old fashioned and pretty they make my garden look.

9. ZZ TOP
ZZ Top is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. The group members are Billy Gibbons (guitar and vocals), Dusty Hill (bass guitar and vocals), and Frank Beard (drums). They hold the distinction of being one of the few rock groups still composed of its original members after more than 35 years, and until September 2006, the same manager/producer, Bill Ham.

I've been to several of their concerts, but the best one I ever attended was their Recycler tour in 92 in Oakland, CA. It was fabulously entertaining, including a lazer lightshow (naked cowgirls on the ceiling LOL) and an incredible hydraulic car crusher on stage... It was a biker event, with the vast majority of the audience dressed in black leather and fringe of some sort.

And now, number

10). ZZZZzzzzzzzz

This is a commonly accepted expression used by people when they nod off to sleep.

Hey you over there -

WAKE UP! THIS IS THE END!!