mike long day! (*updated)

today is mike's birthday. he ought to be celebrated good and proper on this very special day-- and so, i am dedicating this blog to him and a couple of his *many good qualities*!

happy birthday, mike long!

one of mike's good qualities is his extreme kindness. not only does he make every human being feel important and valuable, but he also shows consideration for the most unusual members of the animal kingdom. in the years that i have known him, he has demonstrated this kindness on beaches festering with 400 million-year old horseshoe crabs (more closely related to spiders than to crabs), under bridges spewing colonies of 1.5 million mexican free-tailed bats (the ones pictured here are members of the largest urban bat colony in north america!), and in zoos containing tanks full of suspiciously dead-looking suriname toads (not actually dead).








another of mike's good qualities is his appreciation for public safety. he makes every effort to practice land and water safety on his own, and he also encourages others' efforts to enforce good safety practices.












mike is a wonderful human being, and i hope he knows what a difference he's made in my life. i'd like to wish him a very happy birthday, and give thanks to the family that brought him into this world and raised him to be such a multi-talented, excellent human being. in honor of mike & his magnificence, here are some very special tributes to this kind, safe, and half-chinese human being. mike, have a wonderful day!

*sheng ri kuai le*
from gaoshu

photos: mike in the catskills; horseshoe crabs on nyc's plumb beach; bats fresh from under austin's congress avenue bridge; suriname toad in central park; danger zones in northern CA; what happened to your face girl; gaoshu serenades mike