THE goodbye (the big date conclusion)

today was not how i pictured things going people of the web wide world...

especially after all the planning and imagining i'd done if i did finally get to see lillian again. nope this was not like that at all. though it could have gone a LOT worse mind you.

professor paradigm, earlier today, had ended lillian's current job, leaving her an unemployed and stranded dinosaur. in australia of all places... rather than leave the girl of my dreams to the harsh whims of fortune i decided to take action!

i had entrusted lillian's future with my special talent agent peter bond, but this was not without its problems. i'm paying for it, and not just lillian's part of it either but peter's too. it also means that lillian will be leaving the far south. the worst thing though is that lillian was furious at me for doing this for her.

i was determined though, to be the one who saved her... especially considering the troubles she'd been having due to the pack of the primordial feather before all this. i needed to make sure someone was going to be watching her back, and it sadly couldn't be me, so peter was the only other person i trusted capable of the task .

still lillian wasn't too happy about it as we walked her towards the airport. she wouldn't even walk near me at first.

everytime i'd try to start up a conversation about something we passed, she'd ignore it or worse growl.

it was as we got halfway through downtown the silence finally broke. we went by one of the many horse drawn carriages that go up and down town. "that's pretty neat don't you think?" i suggested to lillian. i didn't particular think through whether she'd find it neat or not. i sure thought it was though.

suddenly lillian finally spoke, and it was not in a happy tone any way you break it down. "how dare you pretend to know what i think!" she accused, taking my wording a little too literally. "the instant my thoughts are as simple as a pathetic runt like yours, i'd rather be extinct!"

"i don't," i matter of factly corrected her . "i don't pretend to know how anyone else thinks." i sadly mumbled to myself. i'd always wanted to be able to think as well as everyone else. how can you pretend to know what they think, when you can't think that well yourself?

"is that so? you could have fooled me," lillian challenged. "if you don't, than why is that you just presumed i would be willing to fly around the world at the whim of some human you know's?!?"

"because i thought you'd appreciate the help," i angrily grumbled. i was getting really depressed and angry at the same time now. not only had i failed with lillian, but now she was just rubbing my face in it. had she not asked her next question in the way she did i probably would have just stormed off, leaving her to fend for herself in australia.

"why would you do that? why would you care if i appreciated it or not?" lillian demanded.

had she not heard me earlier? was she deliberately trying to get me to embarrass myself out loud again... like i didn't feel bad enough already.

"because," i started but paused. the last time i'd said this to her, she tried to eat me! "because i love you."

"what that again?" she said in an unbelieving tone. "i thought you'd out grown that foolish human-like behaviour after that stupid stunt you pulled at the tyrrell."

"what does that have to do with me acting human?" i demanded.

"humans are the only ones who think mating is for life," she stated. "our ancestors never pretended such nonsense!"

that was it. i wasn't being nice anymore! "oh how stupid of me," i mocked. "you're right i should be more like our ancestors, and oh i don't know, join the pack while i'm at it!"

i pushed my point. "what is so wrong with me trying to catch up with the modern world?" i pleaded. "sure i make a lousy dinosaur, but look around you lillian. the law of the jungle died out a long time ago with our ancestors. you can't make it in this world without adapting. you can try to play life like one of our ancestors, but you'll end up where you are now or worse the humans run the show. if we don't play by their rules than they'll let us fade back into just the past..."

"look at me though. i haven't been playing make belief like larry and his goons that this is still the mesozoic. i'm making it on my own. all because i'm pretending to be human," i concluded. much of my anger was gone. though i was left out of steam. if she tried to be mean again i wasn't in the mood to fight back, and i was just going to leave.

instead lillian stood stunned staring at me. it was the most unusual minute or so of my life. to say it was awkward would be to imply her stare was somehow ill mannered. to say it was a natural pause would imply i hadn't just poured my heart out.

finally she responded. not so much in words, but rather with a...

muzzle nudge. the tyrannosaurian version of a kiss!!!

"i'm sorry," lillian said difficultly. for female of her status (or at least former status) to admit to someone so low as she treated me apologizing must have been really hard to do. "i'd never considered you were serious about any of it. i thought you were just a juvenile pretending to be an adult," she admitted, and quickly added. "it is probably just your height and stature fooling me about your age." ouch. just cause i'm small doesn't mean i don't matter!

"it's also," she continued. "i'm not used to one of our kind trying to help me out. at least not without a major cost," she confessed. "can you forgive me?"

hmmm let's see. forgive the hottest theropod i've ever met... haven't been able to stop thinking about her since i was 3 years old... the only other coelurosaurid not too join the pack... most important just gave me a nose snuggle hmmm

"of course i do," i said with great relief.

she cautioned though. "though, this doesn't mean i love you back." i knew she sort of meant. yet there was twinkle in her eye that didn't quite make me think she completely meant it!

"fair enough," i allowed as not to push the subject.

how's that people of the web wide world? my whole first date with lillian the albertosaur didn't end in total disaster. granted it was no ubber success either. i'm not sure what this is.

getting her to the airport, security had a little bit of a problem with a full grown tyrannosaurid showing up unannounced. i'd blog about it, but due to their insistence i not in exchange for lillian's processing onto a flight, i of course can't.

needless to say lillian has left my life once again... only this time i have a feeling i will see her again. than... than people of the innerweb... i swear i'll do all that i can to make her mine!

THE call (world tour part 0)

the fairy tale is over people of the innerweb...

true love didn't prevail... why do movies and TV always lie to me?!? with a brain the size of mine, and my lack of instincts for this modern human world the only place i have to take my cue from is the media, and they always get it wrong!

at the same time its not all bad.

in the immediate aftermath of professor paradigm ending lillian's current job (which he did 5 minutes before my second date with the tyrannosaurid of my dreams! jerk!!!) she has no one for support other than me...

the problem being i wasn't prepared for this at all... i did as i'd planned and took her to the zoo this afternoon which took her mind off things for a little while, but of course reality crept back in right after.

i have this really far fetched (and no doubt stupid, but with only a peanut glop of grey matter what am i too do) plan that could help her. it bums me out though. it'll mean that i probably won't see her for a long time...

granted i'm not sure why i have myself so worked up about this. we were both going to be leaving australia anyways (in my case soon!). its not like lillian would have left the show to come with me (though i guess i could have left new zealand to be with her... hmmm why didn't i think of that sooner!!!)...

oh well i guess with that in mind i got to be the knight in shiny armour (or is that hunter in thick scales?).

my plan went down something like this (it wasn't really a complicated plan):



i got out my "cell"phone and made a call.

who did i call?

can you guess?

none other than my special talent agent peter bond!

he was as usual very pleased to hear from. "traumador, my main saurian how have you been doing?" he asked.

"funny you should ask!" i forewarned him. i quickly relayed the whole tale of lillian's current woes.

"that is quite the problem isn't it..." peter said as he was clearly digesting what i'd told him. though for what purpose i'm not sure. i hadn't got to the plan. simply the back story.

"this professor guy actually told annex corp. to back off, and he's still in one piece?" peter asked in an unbelieving voice. "i really need to get him in my talent pool!"

"i guess so, but who cares!" i answered a little annoyed. the professor's well being was the least of my concern. especially after what he did to lillian! "look peter there is something i need you to do for me."

"of course, traum, that's what i'm here for as your agent," he assured me. funny him saying that though. he keeps saying nice things, but peter hasn't always been there for me sadly.

i was possibly taking a big gamble i felt, with what i was about to say. "i need you to take lillian on as your client, and i want you to find her a place worthy of her talents."

"you what?" i could hear peter sit up with notice.

beside me lillian (in tyrannosaurese) "you what?"

right i hadn't told her the plan either... i'd been spending all day trying to have a real date. "this is the only way," i tried to reassure lillian.

lillian's self importance kicked back in. "you have some nerve! a tiny thing like you telling me what do!!!" she bellowed.

two years ago i'd never have stood up to this saurian babe. today i managed to. just in a really nice way... "lillian do you seriously have anywhere else to go?" i reminded her. "you've tried doing it on your own. this last show, you said it yourself, was the last hope you had. it didn't work out. now its time to let someone else try for you."

she eyed me with suspicion. "why would you want to help me this much?"

oh man she had me in a corner. i thought she knew, but clearly she hadn't caught the clues. i was going to have to make the biggest admission of my life. "because i love you," i said it out loud. i couldn't take it back... lillian simply blinked her eyes in astonishment.

interrupting my concentration on this slightly awkward moment was peter's repeated screaming from the phone still in my hand. "traumador?!? are you okay??? TRAUMADOR?!?"

"what? i'm right here and fine," i asked him like he was dumb.

"oh thank the budget!" peter sighed in relief. "i was thinking the worst, what with that growling and snarling... where in the blazes are you, and more to the point what beast is after you?!?"

"what?" i complained not understanding what he was on about... that was till it hit me. "oh sorry peter. that was me talking to lillian. she doesn't speak english like me."

"oh well, that is a relief," peter sighed. "so based on the sound she's producing this lillian is a fully grown tyrannosaurus than?"

"albertosaur," i corrected (to see the difference between an albertosaur and t-rex click here). "yeah she's fully grown. you only really have to worry about me and my lack of height. i'm the only midget tyrannosaurid alive today."

"so let me get this straight. you want me to market a fully grown tyrannosaur," peter started.

though he quickly self corrected himself when he detected my nearly correcting him. "sorry albertosaur. market a full grown albertosaur, which if is basically just a slightly smaller t-rex?" i could almost hear the gears in peter's agenty brain. "i think could swing something."

"do you think you can pull it off," i demanded.

"traumador, as we speak i'm at a way over crowded beach party where anyone who is anyone is at," peter boasted, but coughed for some reason... "the world knows no limit to my connections."

whatever, i was impressed. i could just picture him rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, and putting the idea in their head that they could hire the most spectacular theropod in the world. just think what one of them could do for lillian?!?

"there's only one thing," peter warned me. "i'm going to need to be able to 'handle' lillian's affairs for the first while," he quickly added. "if what you tell me about the pack harassing her is true. we can't be too careful."

i took a deep breath. i saw this coming. peter was right. the pack of the pack of the primordial feather had been trying at nothing else to ruin lillian's life. what was going to stop them from trying again. at least with peter using his connections and influence someone would be watching her back.

"i had the same thought too," i agreed. "i'm totally prepared to pay for both of your expenses with my own money. so long as you promise me peter, that she'll be your top priority. i want nothing more than for her to be happy."

there i'd done it. it had taken me over 2 years to get some money. the one thing that can give a dinosaur power and freedom in the human world, and i was just handing it away. it was going to be worth it i told myself. it's not like i was really going to be happy anyway with lillian miserable.

"both of us you say," peter repeated enthusiastically. i'm not sure why. "it's a deal traum!"

we quickly discussed the terms of the payment, which was easy as peter has some control over my bank account anyway.

"alright traumador you tell this lillian lady of yours we're taking her back to the top!" peter declared. "i have just the gig in mind to get things rolling. you need to book her a flight to new york as soon as possible!"

with that we concluded our phone call. there i'd done it.

not that lillian was happy yet. if anything she just starred at me coldly, clearly angry at me... i don't get it? shouldn't she be really happy with me for what i was about to give up for her...

i had until the airport to change things around. otherwise i was going to be the one forever miserable. why was it the girl of my dreams was furious with me?

what's that saying my legal guardian used to say? "no good deed goes unpunished."

to be concluded...

we're going to the zoo. how about you? you can come too!

well my second date with lillian albertosaur (so hot!) didn't exactly start on the best note. in fact it started on one of the worst notes a date can start on i would think (though come to think of it are dates songs? how do you start a date on a note?!?).

professor paradigm has canned lillian from her current job, not only leaving her unemployed, but stranded her down under...

now, not to fret people of the web wide world. i think i have a workable plan to save lillian and her career... i hope! it can wait though.

a dates a date, and i don't want to waste it. cause this might be the last time i see lillian in a long time!

so in order to take her mind off all that's currently troubling her, i've brought her to a place that always cheers me up...

the ZOO!

the melbourne zoo to be precise. even though i haven't been to this zoo personally, i've heard good things about it.

_

lillian was intrigued by my choice. she hadn't really been to a zoo for fun ever (apparently she'd been to a couple for travelling exhibits, but of course that makes it a work thing).

_

so i had a unique chance to hopefully impress and entertain the girl of my dreams!

first thing we saw once inside the zoo gate was a bunch of swamp hens!

they looked like duller versions of a new zealand pūkeko, but are still neat. pūkekos are among my favourite of new zealand birds.

unlike a pūkeko you could get real close to these guys though!

i think it was cause living in the zoo they were really used to visitors coming up close to them. a fact i took advantage of for my photos!

well since we were in an australian zoo it made sense to hit the australian animal section first, and check out the locals as it were.

one of the first critters you see is an emu.

_

emus crack me up. they're just so scruffy!

_

this was a chance for me to really show off for lillian. i've of course been learning bird speak, and one type of bird i can actually carry on a bit of a conversation with are ratites. this is the family of modern birds most famous large flightless birds are a part of (like ostriches, moas, and kiwis). i think due to their being a more primitive set of birds their language hasn't evolved or changed as much in 65 million years from my coelurosaurian language as other birds' have.

lucky for me, my conversation with the ostrich camelus in invercargill wasn't a fluke! the emus here could understand me, and a couple were in a chatty mood.

i was thrilled. seems i have a new language to put under my belt (i already speak 6)!!!

now of course as i was on a date i didn't want to waste too much time chatting to anyone (or is that anything?) other than lillian. so i didn't get into any topics as... well interesting i guess would be the word for it... as with camelus the ostrich (rather than retell that whole confusing tale just click here for the back link). just some simple greetings and how do you does.

_

lillian though not understanding most of it, was indeed a little surprised i had such a talent. i think the only thing about lillian that bothers me at moment is how much she looks down on me.

next up was the classic australian animal. the kangaroo...

i was really happy i snapped this action shot!

there were a lot of kangaroos, and i can't complain now about not seeing any in australia. though it would have been cool to see some in the wild, but maybe later...

i can't get over how solid an animal the hairy nose wombat is. the thing is like a walking brickwall!

next up was one of my favourite aussie critters. the monitor lizard... well okay they have lots of different types of them down here (and monitors do live in lots of other places throughout the world).

monitor lizards are just cool. their among the most intelligent of lizards and are very well adapted predators. that's not even taking into account their being direct ancestors of mosasaurs or snakes!

of course it wouldn't be an aussie animal stop without a mandatory koala bear shot. have to say despite the cuteness, these guys seriously stink... man it was a few meters up the tree and i could still smell him!

next up was a really cool enclosure. a giant bird cage! (sorta like the one in jurassic park 3... only not lame or unrealistic)

so apart from lillian barely fitting inside this was an ubber neat experience. there was a ton of space just filled with bird that you could walk around.

among these were several types of herons.

i got real close to this rosella.

there were lots of parrot looking fellows around too.

again lots of parrot looking (or possibly actual parrots... i shoulda read the signs more carefully!) this time hanging out with a galah.

this was one of my favs. some random lizard that for some reason had been in one of the water ponds, and was now climbing out as of this photo. he wasn't supposed to be in the enclosure as i couldn't find him on any of the signs (which i concentrated so much on i forgot some of the birds!)... so i'll call him spider lizard, and i'll tell you he can do whatever a spider lizard does.

from here we entered the "normal" part of the zoo. that is to say the rest of the animals came from elsewhere in the world.

though this tank of water was supposed to have an otter in it, none showed up while i was here. boo!

at the same time with all the fish it felt like an aquarium, and i do love those.

they were big fish too!

now how much more zoo can you get than this photo? really?!?

i can't believe i saw zoboomafoo... or his cousin. not sure which.

this little shrew like guy wigged me out. not only wouldn't he sit still (hence the blurriness of the photo), but he reminded me of the mammals my ancestors would have had to put up with 65 million years ago...

next we wandered into the rather done up and flash elephant section. it was HUGE considering how few elephants they had (though it is good really. the elephants had tons of space to live in compared to most other zoos i've seen).

here one is. among the largest of current living land animals. their alright (okay actually i think elephants are cool), but their kinda average for to us mesozoic alumni. lillian herself is about the same weight as one.

they had a whole pond full of pelicans. which is awesome cause i love pelicans!

their such graceful yet silly looking birds. that and their big. way bigger than they should be. yet there they are!

on the other end of the ackward yet graceful size scale was a family of blue penguins. their such cute little things! and man can they move in the water...

onward and upward through the zoo we crusied. past this giant pond, which the sign said should be full of turtles. i thought the sign was lying as there were no turtles at all till...

we came almost full circle around the pond, and there were ALL the turtles!!!

i made a stop off to check the king of the modern jungle, mr. lion. he should be glad he is living these days. i have to say my ancestors being the king of their day woulda made short work of this puddy cat...

of course lillian loved the meerkats. which are cute as...

or in the case of this reflection cute as squared!

for some reason the platypus house was not in the australian animal section of the zoo... but it was cool. though as platypuses are night time critters they keep their enclosure completely dark, and none of my photos turned out. so you'll just have to enjoy this statue outside the house instead.

the giant tortises outside the reptile house were awesome. i've never seen one except on TV!

by the time of the reptile house we'd been at the zoo a couple hours, and we were both kinda zooed out. so as we wandered through i took pics of the reptiles but forgot to really check the signs.

so i'll have a game of name that reptile. if you can tell me the name of any of these guys i'll edit the post and give you credit for IDing the critter!

unknown lizard

definately an iguana of the sort they used to have play us dinosaurs in those awful 60's movies.

so i thought i'd grab a shot with me and some potential movie stars... even if their movies were among the worst dinosaur movies ever!

a really cool, but now nameless snake.

so in the end my second date was salvaged. lillian had a good time, and her mind was taken off her current troubles for the afternoon. sadly after the reptile house her worries began creeping back, and she got very sad/grumpy/angry. if there is one thing you don't want to be near when it is upset like this its a female tyrannosaurid (the bigger and scarier of the tyrannosaurid genders).

sadly my time of make beliefing i was going to successful court lillian here in australia was over...

the reality was if i was going to be truely there for lillian like a mate should be, than i was going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice and let her go... hows the saying go if you love something let it go and it'll return if it loves you... which i don't get. unless that thing is a boomrang (good thing i'm in australia?) it'll just fall to the ground won't it? unless it is a bouncy ball too i guess... lillian being the in shape goddess that she is, doesn't have an ounce of fat on her...

i was going to have to make the most costly phone call of my life (well at least costly for me... lillian would hopefully gain everything from it, and that was the point)

to be continued with: the call...