Tag Archives: pets

Personal Blog

Bittersweet Homecoming

Sorry for the downer of an I’m-back post, but this is important.

Many of you knew that my beloved Fish has been ill for about the past month. He’d seemed to have stabilized when I left for my trip, but according to my mom, it was only today that he took a turn for the worse.

It was like he was holding out for me; waiting for me. His breathing was labored, he’d lost all his color, and the tell-tale pineconing scales of dropsy indicated he’d finally lost function of his kidneys. Tonight I had to euthanize Fish.

I put him down the best method I knew how with what I had available. I made him a coffin out of a box and tissue, taped it shut, then trekked out to the backyard. With a stick and my hands and a flashlight in my mouth, I clawed out a grave for him in a special spot, and there he is buried. His coffin reads “To Fish: I love you. Thank you.”

I remember when I first brought Fish home. It was a lonely winter term, and I needed a companion in a maddening, desperate sort of fashion. I did all my research and plucked him away from the Danville Family Pet store, choosing him for his purplish hue. It was a significant event, to get a pet, because I had finally begun to get over the loss of my cat, Max, who had died a year before. I was ready for my own pet again.

He was a fine companion in a lonely time, and gave me someone to care for and to pour out my love upon. He played with me. He danced when I came in the room. His favorite screensaver was Bezier curves. He held a fierce grudge against any camera.

Fish was tough. During his 2+ years of life, he got ich, fungus, velvet, and beat them all. He drove to Connecticut and back. He grew to nearly 4 inches in body length, making me think he had a bit of the giant gene in him. He was fierce, and didn’t hesitate to flare at any stranger who approached the tank.

He was a fine and beloved pet, and had a good life. I only hope I gave as much to him as he did to me. I loved him. I miss him. He was a good fish.

Thank you Wheeler, Will, and Ken for enduring me.

Personal Blog

New Friends

What can warrant a third update in one day?? New roommates!

Terzy, upon moving into a new apartment, needed to find a new home for her two ratties. She asked me and of course I said yes, remembering the not-too-long-ago visit with Steph where I discovered rats make awesome pets, and that I would like to have some someday. So now I am the owner of two new pets, Leviathan and Narco.

Yeah, I think we’re gonna get along just fine 🙂

Personal Blog

Neighbors

So our next door neighbors visited us the other night to let us know that they were moving, because they didn’t want us to be surprised by seeing a For Sale sign going up suddenly in their yard. It’s just a typical move: their kids are growing up, they need some more space, and the house they have bought connects backyards with another family members’ house, allowing optimum running space for their still-growing dog.

It will be a strange feeling, though, watching them leave. I mean, although we are not super-close, we still got along very well with our neighbors. We watched their children growing up. They often came over to help us in our annual scare-the-little-kids haunted yard for halloween. Plus, there was a lot of casual, over-the-fence chatting.

They have a great big Yellow Lab, named Cleo, who has sort of become just as much our dog as theirs (the perfect dog ownership, all the perks and none of the responsibility, hehe!). It never failed that I would be away from home forever at school, but as soon as I came home and Cleo caught sight of me, she’d run around the yard all crazy-go-nuts, and I’d go throw sticks for her.

I dunno, I suppose having good next-door-neighbors that you get along with is something you can very easily take for granted. I’ll miss them, in a vague sort of way.

Games and Game Development, Personal Blog

Massachusetts Visit

I just got back from a weekend visit with Steph and it was a blast and a half! Or no, make that 2 whole blasts.

After a tasty lunch, we went to this awesome candy store. You can pick out your own assorted chocolates, so it’s like getting a box of chocolates, only just with the kinds you like, and no scary surprises. I also got a sucker in the shape of a lobster (don’t worry, it was not lobster flavored)

Steph showed me around Salem, MA, and we went to some dinky-but-fun history museums about the witch trials. We also hit up a comic store, where I *finally* indulged myself in snagging the last volume of Bone, only to see the new color reprints! Now I want the whole set all over again. We also rooted through a secondhand bookstore, snagging children’s books with inspiring illustrations out of the 50% off box.

We spent the rest of the evening playing various video games, with a brief break for sushi. After a bit of gaming the next morning, we went out for lunch, and then adventured on the shore (we did not find any critters, only a shoe-full of cold water, oh well!)

I’m really glad I got to visit! It was good fun, and I also got to see a bunch of Steph’s art up close, including her in-progress raven thief sculpture. I also got to meet her sweet little rat, Oreo, who is adorable and has inspired me to add rats to my “potential pets” list Yay for visits!

Personal Blog

NYC

I could talk about Singing Forest right now, but I don’t think I’m ready to talk about that yet, so instead I’ll give a simple weekend review.

I went with Carleton to New York to visit his friend, Mike. I hadn’t been to the city since the 6th grade, and that trip mostly involved me scurrying to keep up with my dad and uncle, occasionally gazing at the tall buildings because that’s what I figured tourists were supposed to do.

It was a nice train ride from Milford (which is just near where I work, and has free parking on the weekends for their station, woo!). Mike’s apartment is in the Upper West side of Manhattan and is quite nice. Friday night we went to the planetarium for some music-and-show-off-computer-rendering deal. ‘Twas nice.

The next day we went to get bagels, at some place that Carleton spouts is the best bagel place in the WORLD!!! (Just tasted like normal bagels to me, perhaps my palette for bagels is just not sophisticated). The main mission of the day was to help Mike buy a betta. I wish I’d brought my camera so I can add Rocky’s picture to the growing list of “Friend’s Bettas”.

That night we went and saw Carleton’s Cousin play a set at some club/bar place. His music is very good, and we’d seen him play at a coffee shop in CT last weekend. This time he was with a band, and it was a very lively set.

We then retired to Mike’s apartment and watched City of God, a very powerful and awesome movie. Mike’s mom is from Brazil, and used to teach in the City of God, and apparently said that the movie is quite accurate as far as how things are there. The individual story is very uplifting, but the truthfulness of the situation is rather depressing.

Overall, a very nice visit. It’s much more pleasant to visit the city when you are with people who know how to get around.

Personal Blog

CRRRACK!

Today at work, as a special event arranged by Company Management, my boss’s chiropractor came in to give a free crank to the run crew and the interns. He told my boss later that he was totally shocked at how many young people’s bodies were totally busted, and named me off as one of the busticated. It comes from slouching all my life, I think, and after my adjustment I was thrilled to find that trying to stand up straight no longer was a painful activity!

I’m going to try and force myself to stand up straight as much as possible until the usual pain returns (as a quick chiropractic adjustment surely won’t undo 10+ years of bad posture). All that whining I did when I was little and my parents told me to stand up straight, what was I thinking?

In other news, I moved my betta and his one-eyed catfish companion to a 10 gallon tank the other day. Fish is loving it. He’s grown to be so large that even his old 5 gallon was starting to feel cramped. Once I get the tank cycled, I think I may add some docile tetras to the mix, as I’ve heard the non-nipping ones make good additions to a community tank with a betta.

I may even give Fish’s old 5 gallon to Mr. Laguna (my office betta).

I noticed that although I’m a regular poster to the community, I don’t often show off my fishies in my own journal. So here they are! Fish:
Around when I first got him–

Now under fluorescent lighting!–

The New tank:

Mr. Laguna (the crowntail I keep at the prop shop)

Spaz, the one-eyed Cory Cat (good side then bad)

Personal Blog

Moving here and there and everywhere

It’s been a busy week on my gas tank! I drove up to UConn yesterday to see a show that Carleton designed lights for at Eastern. The lights were quite awesome and there were some kick-ass masks in the show. It was actually the first time I’ve ever seen his lighting before (not counting photos, which look pretty, but you miss out on a lot if you don’t see it in person).

I woke up early this morning to transport his fish, Ivory, back home so that he doesn’t have to worry about it when he frantically packs to come home for Thanksgiving. I’m also going to bring Mr. Laguna home from work for the holiday. Fish is very excited about flaring at his new tank neighbor 🙂

I can’t believe next week is Thanksgiving! The year is rushing by, but I don’t mind the holiday getting closer, as I am ready to go home for a visit. I hope I can arrange visits with everyone in that short of time, but I’ll be satisfied with a bit of Halo 2 and a trip to the Pie Kitchen. And to Guadi’s. I’m going to the Guad, and no one can stop me! But they may accompany me if they wish ^_^ If I do that I may try and visit Sheldon, since no one will be on campus due to the holiday and all.

Well, Ivory seems to have settled in nicely from his move, off to work with me!

Personal Blog

Part 2

I’m moved in and mostly settled, and all is well. Today I went and had lunch with the props shop, and they were all very nice and welcoming. They took me around the theater and introduced me to everybody there. It is very exciting, I get my own desk, mail slot, and my name is even on the staff list on the website! It’s like the real world or something!

Otherwise, things are good. Fish survived the journey with little more than hunger and grumpiness, and he’s settled in enough to have built a bubble nest today. Yay!

Now I have a few more things to do to get settled with the idea of living in Connecticut, namely registering to vote and finding out what needs to happen to establish educational residency, in case I end up going to grad school at UConn.

Personal Blog

Part 1

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Well, the first leg of my trip is complete. Carleton and I left early this morning and arrived at my aunt’s house in Virginia at around 4. The fish seem to be just fine, if not a little grumpy for being cooped up in a shipping cooler all day. I think that once Fish gets into his 5 gallon when we get to Connecticut and a nice meal with extra bloodworms, he’ll be back to his old cheerful self.

I’m glad to be traveling, the sadness and worry and anxiety leading up to the big move was starting to get heavy, but once I got on the road things were much better. Having a nice place to take a break and spend the night helped too ^_^

We’ll set out early again tomorrow morning and be in Connecticut by evening, which will give me plenty of days to settle in before starting work on Monday. Yay excitement!

Personal Blog

Buildin a puppet for fun

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I have now constructed a dragon puppet head that opens its mouth and blinks. I am in the process of building flapping wings for its body. I would take pictures, but it looks like a mutilated cyborg right now, due to being mostly upholstery foam, wood, fishing wire, coathangers, and electrical tape (don’t worry, I’ll take a photo once I get his head all prettied up).

It’s ended up being a lot bigger than I was planning on, but that’s okay. Hopefully I’ll have it finished by Conglomeration, so I can carry it about and have it steal baby carrots from the Con Suite. Woo!

In other news, the squirrels have realized that my cats can’t get them through the window, so they have taken to running right up to the window sill and teasing my cats on the other side, saying things like “Oh oh, lookit me! You could totally swipe me if that glass weren’t there, but it IS, and you CAN’T. HAHAHAHAHAHHA!” Silly squirrels.