Spotted: Penguins in Berkeley, CA

Thanks to my sister for this picture of the mother and son duo. 

Taken "at some nerdy game shop in Berkeley"

As noted in the picture's caption, the penguins were spotted at a game shop.  But the more I think about it, why is a game shop selling stuffed animals?

It's kind of like this one video store in downtown San Diego.  Not only is it a video store but also a tanning salon!  Now I'm not sure if the video store/tanning salon is still around but I always thought it was just a really odd business combination.

Baby Penguin Meets the Rest of the Colony

For the first time since she hatched on September 12th, Seaworld San Diego's newest emperor penguin was taken into the penguin encounter exhibit to meet the rest of the colony.

The chick is being gradually introduced to the adult penguins every day.  Once she is big enough, has water proof feathers and is ready to swim, she will be joining the group.

Oh my...that's a lot of penguins

She is being raised in the park's penguin nursery

The penguins waddled over to meet the baby

Seaworld San Diego's Baby Penguin

Look how tiny she is in the second picture. I want one.

Seaworld San Diego's first baby emperor penguin in 8 years

The baby penguin hatched September 12, 2010.  She weighs two pounds

She eats six times a day.  A special diet of ground up fish, vitamins, and minerals

Paulo Pinguino

This "penguin" figurine comes all the way from Chiapas, Mexico.  My boyfriend got it for me while he was there for a week long human rights program.  I guess a kid made it himself and was selling it.  The kid said this clay figurine was a "pinguino", which is penguin in Spanish, but I question whether this little guy really is a penguin.  He has the facial features and ears of a cat but the wings of a penguin.  And what's that hump on his face?  It's not a nose because that red circle is his nose.  I'm not trying to discredit the kid's artistic skills because he made an elephant and it actually looked like an elephant. But I just can't figure out if he really is a penguin and if not, what he is?

Is he?  Or isn't he?

Paul Penguin Impostors

While searching the internet for Paul Penguin, I found two Paul Penguins on Facebook! Just about everyone and apparently, everything has a Facebook page these days.  I remember when we didn't even have internet...heck, I remember the good ol' days when computers were just too expensive for the average family to buy.  I typed my papers on a typewriter, and I'm not even that old.

But I digress.  I'm not going to post the links but here are the profile pictures of the impostor Paul Penguins.

Too small

His beak is too pointy and he has scales

Swagbucks

Times are tough. Search and redeem for prizes or gift cards.

Paul Penguin

Who is Paul Penguin you ask?

Paul Penguin is a stuffed black and orange penguin that I grew very fond of as a child. I don't remember where Paul Penguin came from, but he was always there. Paul Penguin wasn't the nicest stuffed animal in the toy box nor was he the softest. In fact, he had a weird synthetic feel to him and when I squeezed him, he made a crunching sound. Such an odd little guy. As I grew up, I stopped playing with Paul Penguin but never forgot him.

During the summer of 2009, I went home for a visit. My sister told me she went through the closet and donated a lot of the stuffed animals. I immediately went to the box of stuffed animals and checked if Paul Penguin was still there. He was not. I asked my sister if she gave him away but she insisted she didn't; that she would never do such a thing. So we searched for Paul Penguin, even my mom getting in on the search. But we never found him. I still hold hope that one day I'll find Paul Penguin...