Gimme MOPACA!
Today, because we're all about the culture, the Fluid Pudding family attended the MOPACA Invitational Alpaca Show at the National Equestrian Center.
And let me take a quick time out to tell you just how much I wanted to buy a t-shirt that simply said MOPACA.
Alas, there were none to be had.
If MOPACA t-shirts would have been available, I would have been willing to spend twenty dollars for one.
If "MOPACA Smack Attacka" shirts were available? I would have cried
with joy, raised a fist, and written a check for fifty bucks.
Back to the story.
I have never seen an alpaca in person before. And today I was surrounded by them. Hundreds of them! And not all in cages!
Look at these things:
They're adorable, soft, friendly enough, and I want one even more than I want another child.
(I don't really want another child. But I DO want an alpaca!!!)
Seriously, how much fun would it be to wake up with one of these beasts licking your face?
Let me answer that for you. It would be fun!
The alpacas we saw today cost right around $6,500. And that sucks, because it's $6,500 more than what I make in a year.
I liked this one the best. Because he reminded me of the Bay City Rollers.
Alpaca: Hey, girlie! Remember the Bay City Rollers?!
Me: Holy! I do now! Thanks for reminding me!
Anyway, we walked around for an hour
or so, Jeff made love to four alpacas, Meredith ate a juicy alpaca
burrito, and I scored some yarn.
And don't it make my brown eyes blue?!
For the record: Jeff didn't really
make love to alpacas, and to my knowledge, there is no such thing as an
alpaca burrito. And it's not even funny to joke around like that, is
it? I know! Sometimes I go too far. And for that, I am very very sorry.
Submitted by
Robin
at 3/26/2006 3:26:35 PM- What I want to know is, did anyone who deserved an alpaca-biting get bitten?
There's a story in my family regarding my grandfather and a llama that really, really liked him in a way that llamas aren't supposed to like middle-aged truckers. A love story for the ages. I have photos to prove it.
I'm just telling you this so that Jeff won't feel bad about any alpaca lovin' that went down.
Submitted by
jamie
at 3/26/2006 3:48:50 PM- You know, I think you and your family would greatly enjoy the llama song!
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/llama.php
Submitted by
blackbird
at 3/26/2006 6:49:25 PM- nine times out of ten?
I go too far.
BTW, how's that vacation going?
Submitted by
Mega Mom
at 3/26/2006 8:03:48 PM- I really don't know what to say. Now I've heard of everything. As I live in the Midwest, I will surely head to MOPACA next time it is in my town.
I highly suggest you go to Customized World and create the "Attacka" shirt and sell them on your site. I'd buy one!
Submitted by
EverydaySuperGoddess
at 3/26/2006 9:06:53 PMI have been pining for an alpaca for years and years. Last fall I went on several farm tours and even got to hold a baby one, which did not help with the pining.
You can buy alpacas that are not show or breeding quality for much less than $6,500. The real challenge, for me, is where to keep one since I live in the city, but it turns out that farms will board them for you, and usually the fees are very affordable (like, around $150 a month), because they're such easy animals to take care of.
One of these days I'm gettin me one...
Submitted by
SterlingStars
at 3/26/2006 9:30:17 PM- I second the shirts! I'd pick one up in a heart beat! If you haven't gone to that llama song website yet, i urge you to go. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! My eyes were watering and I almost fell off my chair!
You made my sunday!:)
Submitted by
tyn
at 3/27/2006 1:17:16 AM- Anyone who links the Bay City Rollers to their blog is A-o.k. by me. That makes two of us who ever listened to them.
Submitted by
Nichole
at 3/27/2006 9:23:14 AM- We went to an apple orchard a few years ago in Mexico, Mo., and they had surprise alpacas! I thought I'd slipped into an ultra-cute cartoon dimension. They're too adorable to be real!
Submitted by
Liz
at 3/27/2006 10:44:24 AM- For some reason, I have an urge to put smart little wire rim glasses on those alpacas. Don't they look like they should be wearing glasses?
Submitted by
Nothing But Bonfires
at 3/27/2006 11:50:54 AM- Does that alpaca remind you of Napoleon Dynamite or is it just me?
(Apologies to the entire species if it's more than one; I didn't mean to imply that all apacas look the same.)
Submitted by
Scribbles & Bits
at 3/27/2006 12:09:21 PM- I also long for an alpaca! And a miniature cow.
Submitted by
Julie
at 3/27/2006 12:31:05 PM- Just wanted to make sure we were still reading carefully, huh?
There was a llama farm in rural DE that we used to drive past on occasion, sparking a debate as to how "llama" should be pronounced. Your alpacas look much cuddlier than the llamas we used to see.
Submitted by
redheadeditor
at 3/27/2006 1:15:58 PM- Boy, does the FP family know how to party or what?
Submitted by
surcie
at 3/27/2006 1:39:01 PM- "And don't it make my brown eyes blue?"
See that? That right there is why I keep coming back here.
Submitted by
surfingfree
at 3/27/2006 6:01:33 PM- Yes, they are cuties. We once followed a whole truck load of alpaca's for about 50kms (not on purpose, they just happened to be going our way) and they stared at us with their big eyes, letting a slight breeze play in their wool(?) in a beguiling way. Our faces hurt from smiling at them :D
BTW - how could you eat an alpaca burrito in front of them!??!
Submitted by
Marian
at 3/28/2006 7:59:16 AM- Never too far! No such thing! Although I did gasp a bit at the burrito thing. But gasping is GOOD!
Submitted by
Joan
at 3/28/2006 9:46:48 AM- The Alpaca, look like a horse that someone sat on, and scrunched him up. I'm not sure how I feel about a disheveled horse by another name.
Submitted by
littlehoney
at 3/28/2006 5:52:16 PM- omg, I'm cracking up. going to far, indeed. I found you by way of fussy, because the "stay golden, pony boy" comment made me spit go girl out my nose. pretty? no. But funny!
Submitted by
David Rees Thomas
at 3/29/2006 12:01:29 AM- After laying me off a couple years ago, my work tried to lure me back with a raise and a llama. They actually bought one for me from a Hare Krishna compound and paid for 6 months’ room and board. We visited it once. When I asked the krishna llama lady its name, she said “We named it Lakshman, but you’ll probably just call it Fluffy or Bob.” The ‘tude on that one.
Anyway, the llama seemed nice but didn’t do any tricks, and we never went back. Never paid any more rent, either. I expect eventually the krishnas just ate him. Buttholes.
Submitted by
Jessica
at 3/29/2006 12:33:26 AM- All I have to say is, "Marge, what's in your purse?" For some reason I kept thinking about this today and snorking every time! Clever, clever child!
Submitted by
Contrary
at 3/29/2006 2:13:23 AM- As God as my witness, I will have an Alpaca one day! Oh, and I'll never go hungry again. Even if it means turning the alpaca into burritos. Which is unlikely.
(Sorry, I was channeling Scarlet there for a minute)
Submitted by
angela marie
at 3/29/2006 8:47:28 AM- I should have known it was you, but I didn't. I laughed so hard at your "The Outsiders" reference at Mrs. Kennedy's that I had to find the blog of the person that wrote it. And landed here. Like I do many times from my own blogroll. Ah. Love me some PonyBoy.
Submitted by
doggerelblogger
at 3/29/2006 8:58:58 AM- Am I the only one with "buckethead" as my word verification, or is it the same for everyone? I think I'm starting to get a complex.
Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I think you should make and sell alpaca T-shirts to finance your live alpaca dreams. Just think, at $10 profit a pop, that's only 650 shirts. But maybe you should think about doubling it so you can buy two alpacas. You don't want them to be lonely...
Submitted by
Sarahlynn
at 3/29/2006 2:39:10 PM- My younger sister is getting married in September. Outside. On an Alpaca farm. I can't wait.
Submitted by
Mandy
at 3/29/2006 4:34:46 PM- Doggerelblogger, I'm a buckethead too, apparently.
Wasn't it Mimi Smartypants who had a link not long ago to an article about how male llamas win a fight by biting the other llama's testicles off? The article that referenced that factoid was about a man who'd been bitten pretty severely by a llama. I used to think they were adorable; now I'm a little skeered of 'em.
Submitted by
ginger
at 3/31/2006 3:30:09 PM- I'm sorry, but I can't read the rest of this entry because I'm now singing the alpaca part from They Might Be Giants' "F Is for Fun."
Submitted by
Patty
at 4/8/2006 11:56:57 PM- Fluid Pudding, meet Mrs. Figby.
http://mrsfigby.typepad.com/lettersfromthezoo/2006/04/self_portrait_t.html
And Tyn, I've also heard of the Bay City Rollers, so that makes three of us. I remember some girls in junior high who were obsessed with them, had their "boyfriends" in the band all picked out, and went around telling everyone about it.
Submitted by
Patty
at 4/8/2006 11:57:34 PM- Fluid Pudding, meet Mrs. Figby.
http://mrsfigby.typepad.com/lettersfromthezoo/2006/04/self_portrait_t.html
And Tyn, I've also heard of the Bay City Rollers, so that makes three of us. I remember some girls in junior high who were obsessed with them, had their "boyfriends" in the band all picked out, and went around telling everyone about it.
Submitted by
retrostella
at 4/12/2006 8:18:51 PM- FP, you are the damn funniest blogger out there. I literally have tears in my eyes from laughing at this entry. Thanks for adding much needed comedy to my otherwise dreary day.
Alpacas and llamas are completely adorable creatures. I love their sweet faces and long fringy eyelashes. I've always wanted one too, so I feel your 'paca pain. :)