Fear the Crab

There’s a new EP out. Listen and learn! And buy. You dare not trifle with the divine retribution of the bunny!

http://www.coincidencetheory.com/

There’s a link to where you can purchase the EP online through CDBaby. Read the stellar review about this debut album and wonder at the wonderfully wistfully writing skills.

One of the cories died, so now I have 3. Maile gave me her two sterbai cories to up my total to 5, and now everyone seems a bit more active. Perhaps the similar markings lead each to believe there’s more than what really exist.

Argento is getting big. He also seems to have a gap in his gill cover, which from what I’ve read online, seems to be a minor genetic defect. Most reports indicate that the fish can still live to a ripe old age, so I’m not too worried.

I have approximately two more weeks of school left, and if all my grades are of passing level, I should receive my diploma in a couple of months. During that time I’ll have to find a job. I’ve only had one interview so far, with a private firm, but I’ve sent apps and resumes to many places.

Maile and I expect to be in Las Vegas late May, for vacation. My family is flying there, too, so it’ll be a nice outing.

Seems many people I know are living in or moving to the San Francisco area.

Titan von Longhaus
April 5, 1995 – January 30, 2006

Due to a rapid infestation of pond snails, and the untimely deaths of a few panda cories, I decided to donate the remaining pandas and pygmies and completely break down the 10 gallon tank. No more Poppy⁵ and Fezzik⁶, and I was sad to see them go, but I don’t think they were getting any happiness in a tank that crowded with snails.

I instead bought a 20 gallon tank, and this time I used a thin layer of sand as a substrate. I threw away the undergravel filter because it just kept giving me problems (likely because I wasn’t doing anything to get the most out of it). I added some taller plants, attached some healthy java fern to my old driftwood, and bought one of those big bell decorations, the kind that acts as a large cave, with plants attached.

I just added a new angelfish, and four of what they call Agassiz’s Cories. Maile helped to pick them out. Agassiz’s cories look like julii or sterbae cories, with lots of small dots peppered on their bodies. I don’t know the different variations of angelfish color patterns, but this one is semi-striped.

I’m trying to come up with names. So far I have Raya for the angelfish, and Estrella⁴ for the cories. Any suggestions are welcome!

EDIT: I have decided to name the angelfish Argento. At least, that’s now the new front-runner until I hear something better. The angelfish looks more silver than it does striped, though it does have some stripes.

‘Nudder EDIT: In keeping with the Italian theme, the cories are known as Pepe⁴, since their many dots make them look like peppered cories.

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0

You scored as Captain Jack Sparrow. Roguish,quick-witted, and incredibly lucky, Jack Sparrow is a pirate who sometimes ends up being a hero, against his better judgement. Captain Jack looks out for #1, but he can be counted on (usually) to do the right thing. He has an incredibly persuasive tongue, a mind that borders on genius or insanity, and an incredible talent for getting into trouble and getting out of it. Maybe its brains, maybe its genius, or maybe its just plain luck. Or maybe a mixture of all three.

Some of the CheesyMUD staffers were in this huge room. The room was entirely white, with blue furniture scattered around; the whole thing looked like it belonged in an Apple commercial. There were bean-bag chairs off-center in an open space that were very comfortable.

Kyrol was doing a radio show, and he was speaking with Walrus who was calling in from some remote location. The general consensus was that Walrus was co-broadcaster.

Limey was looking over the board, but he wasn’t really doing anything besides looking. Perhaps everything was already poifect. Tinker was handling the phones.

Bog and Galbraith were off in a corner watching a television monitor (sound muted, of course). Don’t know what program it was, but I believe it was a news program because there was a talking head.

Mindslider was there, ready to pimp his new band. He was the next guest up after Walrus.

I was there, too, except I had brought my CDs and felt pretty useless when I discovered it was a talk show. So I literally laid down on the bean-bag chairs (that’s how I knew they were comfortable) and loitered.

I have decided that my fish will receive names (again). The 5 pandas will all be known as Poppy⁵ because I like the name Poppy. The 6 pygmys will all be known as Fezzik⁶. Done.

After one panda decided to stick itself into the driftwood and die, another panda got fin rot. I bought some medicine that specifically treats fin rot, but after three days it (the fish) was gone. Its tail fin was completely missing. I’ve lost two fish, one to unfortunate circumstances, another to high stress and disease. It makes me sad.

I had just gotten through a super happy fun time, too, on inklink, where me and the staffers from CheesyMUD played pictionary. Pictionary online is uber fun, especially when we all play for sheer amusement. Kyrol managed to get a few answers correct on luck, because he was being sarcastic and it just so happened to be the word the game was looking for. I mean, how can you guess “derringer” when someone draws a walther-ppk? He even got “africa” because he was making fun of my crappy drawing of that continent. Too bad I can’t play when I’m at work; I’d laugh too loud.

I had these thoughts during a chat session. I was at work, which is why I was chatting in the first place. Mind you, this is an abridged version, not an actual transcript of the conversation, but I think the gist of it still comes across. The statements in parentheses are those issued by other people. Mine are in quotation marks.

(maybe a little exaggerated with the US, coz the media is constantly broadcasting everything that’s happening, and giving it its own flavour, I did honestly think the govt responses were slower than my own hometown, and the shooting was just plain ridiculous.)

“Sometimes people just have to realize that the rest of the world is watching what you do and judging you.
The hypocrisy of the US is that we judge everybody, even our own, yet we hate being judged.”

(hmm.. oh well, isnt that wat everybody does?)

“Not to the extent that the US does it. We judge other nations, tell them they’re evil, or poor, but we say “screw you” to the UN when it tells us we’re doing something wrong.
The govt response was horrid, the shootings were insane, but the relief workers who were there instantly deserve credit.
In any crisis, when we look to the actions of the “little people” we see tremendous courage. They’re not doing it for political gain or global status.
The good people attempt to work with what they have left and provide as much as they can. They don’t say “We don’t have helicopters because so-and-so used ’em in another country”
They don’t announce the shortcoming and blame it on someone else. They just act.
The govt response was slow, I think, because people were trying to explain why things failed, instead of just “doing” things.
Just once I wish I could see someone in power say to reporters, “I can’t talk now I have to go rescue people!”
Or turn to the camera crew/reporter and say, “Instead of filming me, why don’t you lend a hand?”
I’m sure if we all saw that clip on tv, we would think that guy is pretty serious about the situation.”

I dunno. It was just something I was saying, and I felt I should write it down.

One of my pandas died yesterday. When it didn’t show up for feeding time, I started to look behind the driftwood and plants, where the fish are usually wont to hide. I didn’t see it, and it took me a while to confirm the locations of everyone else (fish don’t conveniently stay still, you know). Then a thought struck me out of the blue, and I grabbed my mag-lite and started shining the light into the nooks and crannies of the driftwood.

There was the missing panda, stuck between the gravel and the driftwood. I thought I might have a chance, but when I lifted the driftwood, the panda was quite dead. Rigor mortis had probably set in, because when it was finally dislodged from its location, it remained in a curled up position, the way I found it.

I’m thinking that curiosity killed the panda. It explored the nook and maybe got stuck somehow. It’s a depressing thought to think about, though.

After work today I might head over to that store by Maile’s mom’s office. I hear they sometimes carry pandas. If not there, I’ll try the place where I got my first two. If not there, I’ll try by The Lab. I might get two pandas, should there be enough. I don’t think it’ll overload the tank, and hopefully the remaining 4 pandas will appreciate the extra company.

It still makes me sad. I can understand a fish dying of stress, of old age, of disease (which is usually brought on by stress), but not by something accidental like that. Sad.