I think this thread is in the wrong spot (I believe it should be in Off-Topic Discussion), but it sounds like the beginning of a fun discussion.

I love a lot of different kinds of animals, but I think my favorite would have to be the octopus. The reason I know this is because I've been within touching distance of giraffes, wolves, deer, elephants, vultures (all at zoos, except for the deer and the vulture, which were at a national park), but I've never been as touched or moved by any of those encounters as I was by seeing an octopus at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
She was so huge and so beautiful and so graceful, like an underwater ballroom dancer. She was a deep rusty red color with golden eyes like marbles, and she seemed just as curious about us aquarium-goers as we were about her. I was with my boyfriend at the time, and I just pulled him close and said, "I don't really know why, but I'm crying a little. I'm so happy."
To this day, I still can't fully explain why I was crying, or why I was so moved just by looking at an octopus from behind class, but I know for sure that since then, I've never looked at octopi the same way again. Such beautiful animals.
I'm not really sure if the octopus was a male or a female, but I'd like to think that she was a female.
