Penny squishing lends evidence to the fact that life's myriad peculiarities are not all born modern. It is rumored that the earliest edition of the "elongated coin" was produced in Chicago, Illinois during the 1892-1983 World's Columbian Exposition, which served to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's "discovery" of America. Also rumored is the emphatic ebb and flow of the popularity of this idiosyncratic hobby. Following an extensive period of unexplained penny squishing doldrums (1892-1983), the craze was again thrust into a period of fervency and, today, it is proposed that no collector can keep up with production. Thaddaeus and I learned quite a bit about the principles of supply and demand when we took ECON 200 and we see this prophecy as both a threat and a promise.
During our holiday, penny squishing brought us to places we never would have thought to visit. Or else, if we had thought to visit them, the thrill of the hunt allowed us to view each port of call in a different, more adventurous, light. What might have become a perfunctory visit to the local zoo became a expedition of kinetic excitement; sweating as we struggled and strained our necks to be the first one who got to shriek out "THERE IT IS! THERE'S THE PENNY SQUISHER!" We rushed to the powerful steel rollers, holding each other's sweaty hands tight, fumbling in our pockets for two quarters and one magnificent, shiny penny. This feeling was infectious.
A list of our penny squishing destinations:
(in the order they were visited, accompanied by noteworthy memories of that location)
LA County Natural History Museum
- preserved megamouth shark and oarfish
- Thaddaeus' first new mug from the gift store
- fully articulated fin whale
Morro Bay Carousel Taffy (failed attempt)
- broken machine
- the largest variety of taffy on planet earth
Morro Bay Aquarium (squished token, not coin)
- murky tanks due to the intense wind, zero visibility
- sad, depressed, hungry seals
- a housewarming gift for Noelle: furry ox
Santa Barbara Natural History Museum
- 93 foot long blue whale
- extensive collection of birds; particularly shore birds, which forced Thaddaeus to become
severely impassioned
- the best museum gift shop on record
- another mug purchased by Thaddaeus
- extensive collection of birds; particularly shore birds, which forced Thaddaeus to become
severely impassioned
- the best museum gift shop on record
- another mug purchased by Thaddaeus
Stearn's Wharf
- stormy, rocking pier; VERY scary
- visited the Ty Warner Sea Center to get our parking validated
Santa Monica pier
- acrobats in training
- tried to sneak in to access additional penny squishers; failed
- creepy little kid getting too excited about shooting a gun
- Thaddaeus impressed me on Muscle Beach...
Santa Barbara Zoo
- unbelievably cute otter family eating dinner
- stood on top of growling lions
- lured out a rare, tiny cat
- watched a Channel Island fox forage
- got escorted out of the zoo because the zoo was closed and it "wasn't safe to be
in the area" aka lions on the prowl.
Hearst Castle visitor's center
- my birthday!
- escorted to the machine by mom and pop
- dolphins at the cove
- Thaddaeus touched a ground squirrel (good job Thaddaeus, high five.)
the Madonna Inn
- sat by an elaborate fireplace
- Thaddaeus urinated in the waterfall toilet
And just like that, life became more magical.
I would hereby like to congratulate you on three things:
ReplyDelete1) an excellent and very captivating recount of our adventures in penny-pursuit (which, btw, could also be the title of my daily activities... GET IT?!?!)
2) the proper use of the word, "myriad"
3) the muscle beach photos really highlight the unbelievable physical strength of your incredibly good-looking boyfriend
i never knew about all of these penny-squishing adventures! i love penny squishing. i'm learning to do it with my own teeth. so, pretty soon, you and thaddaeus can just give me a quarter and a penny and be all set. perfect.
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