Dinosaurs

There's an age where no one asks you what your favorite dinosaur is anymore.  And, truly, that is a great tragedy.

I had a conversation with a kiddo the other day that I had never met before that day about velociraptors for about ten minutes, learning about how they hunted in packs and how big and fast they were.  It was one of the highest points of my week.  I brought up that one of my siblings was a pachycephalosaurus for Halloween one year, and this kiddo knew immediately that that particular dinosaur had a thick skull, presumably used as a weapon, like rams smashing into one another.  Well, I had to mention my favorite dinosaur, then, and sure enough this kiddo knew immediately that the parasaurolophus has a fancy crest on its head.  

Picture from Wikipedia, used without permission

It seems that many folks I know went through some kind of dinosaur phase at some point, particularly with the timing of the release of Jurassic Park--for some, it was a couple of books and for others it was bedspread, school supplies, wallpaper, toys, etc.  I would say that I fall somewhere middle-ish; I can still remember a couple of songs from second grade, one about T-Rex and another about pterodactyl, though.  I spent more time on Egyptian culture, probably, but I do enjoy learning things regardless.  

There is something truly beautiful in listening to someone talk about something they're excited about.  And yet, we forget to give each other space to do that, to be excited about things.  

In any case, what's your favorite dinosaur?  What are your random areas of interest you don't get to talk about often?