Fast-forward a number of years.  I had moved out to California and was, at that point, roomming with another Penguin Room person.  He was at one of the Nature Company stores, and a 5-foot-tall plastic penguin caught his eye.  He bought it and brought it home with him.  We decided that it was funny to take lots of pictures of the penguin doing various "California" things--hanging out by the swimming pool, riding in a convertible, and so on.  We also posed the penguin doing lots of other stuff.  We wound up with quite a lot of penguin pictures.  We were wondering what to do with all of them, when someone hit upon the idea of turning them into Christmas cards.

And so began a tradition.  After a couple of years, the roommate moved out and left the penguin behind.  I kept figuring out different interesting pictures for the penguin to be in, with the specific aim of making new penguin cards.  Eventually, I found Photoshop, which allowed me a lot more creativity.  (I have since moved on to use the GIMP, which is free-ware.)

Somewhere along the line, my friends and family decided to get even with me by giving me penguin kitsch.  So now I have little stuffed penguins, penguin ornaments for the christmas tree, little plastic penguins in cars, singing penguin beer mugs, and quite a lot of other penguin chachkies.  One year, some friends even got me six more of the five-foot-tall inflatable penguins!!!

Later, I started running into other Penguin references.  I think it's a conspiracy.  My high school buddy, Bill, was playing for a band called Penguin Jazz.  Penguins in ads seem to jump out at me.  A good friend of my grandparents' collects Penguin stuff as well...  And, of course, there's Tux.  But he's a late-comer to the Penguin party, I was there first...

So now you know the penguin story.