Maurice and various accoutrements

Today I put a castle in Maurice's tank and while it seems a little massive for his little appartement, he seems to really like it! He's been swimming around and under it, coming over to check it out, having a grand old time. What a smart fish. And what a sad, sad life.

Pets are like their people

Ergo, Maurice is weird.

I just watched him swim around and around, lalala, and then settle so that his head is under one of the leaves of the plastic plant and then — I swear! — fall asleep. Instantly.

Witness:



And, 5 minutes later:




My fish is awesome! And possibly narcoleptic.

HOORAY IT'S OVER!

I have done my oral argument and it is over and it is done and I am done and HOORAY!

Say it with me now: IT'S OVER!

Reflections on long car rides, new shoes, and summer jobs

Back from Easter weekend, spent in Alpena with Tom and his family. Mostly, I did nothing but sleep, eat raspberry cobbler, and work on a puzzle. We also paid a visit to the Alpena mall (always an exciting venture) where there are even fewer stores than the first time I visited (which I thought was an impossibility, seeing as the last time there were maybe 11 stores and now there are...oh...9?) Claire's is still a happening hotspot though. It's good to know that the tweens of Alpena aren't suffering from lack of Day-glo plastic jewelry and fake tattoos.

I also bought new shoes this week (something that hasn't happened in a while, so pat me on the back)—gold shoes to go with my dress for Barrister's Ball and nice black pumps. I'm excited!

I have also managed to procure summer employment, and I am excited beyond belief. Amazing! And here I thought I was going to have to put on the $5 dollar large pizza sandwich board and dance around outside of Little Caesar's. Pluses: I get to live at home (save $$, be around family, play with doggies all summer). Minuses: No Guns Allowed in the McDonald's playplace.

(No) Maurice, Day 2

Due to many commitments (brief, class, brief, homework, brief) I have not been at home all day. Normally this would be fine (actually, it is fine) but I'm actually starting to worry about Maurice, which is either a sign of great caring or great insanity on my part. I know he's a fish, and hardy, and all that blah blah, but I am worried that he is too cold because it's been cloudy today, or that he's hungry and I'm not there to feed him his permitted single flake of food, or GOD FORBID what if he's somehow worked out a way to open the lid of his tank and jumped out and is flopping around on the coffee table, helpless? OR WHAT IF A CAT GOT IN AND ATE HIM?

I realize that the likelihood of any of these things happening is about the same chance that he'll somehow work out an effective plan for world domination, but it could happen. I saw Pinky and the Brain. I know all about small animals and big plans.

Maurice, day 1

I've spent half an hour today just making sure Maurice is ok—checked and changed his water, watched him wiggled around the plant, trying to encourage him to eat. I think I'm becoming unhealthily attached to something that doesn't remember me for longer than 20 seconds (as L. pointed out yesterday). But I don't get it! WHY DOESN'T HE EAT!? IS HE OK!?


I'm losing it.

Also introducing...

For the first time on this website, despite her cuddly presence in my life for the last 6 months or so:



Toby Suzannatolian Shepherd Doggie

She lives down the block in L.'s apartment and is just the sweetest, most peach-like girl you will ever meet. Unfortunately the first time Honeycomb and Lucky met her they were macho bad boys and scared her off. However, now that they're gone, the Tobe is free to roam the wilds of my apartment. I think that for her, it's sort of like visiting a fun neighbor's house. Who has lots of cookies. And will let you jump on her couch.

Introducing...

Maurice Delgado Murphy

So named for the following reasons:
1. Maurice, because I think he could be a Frenchman
2. Delgado, because he looks like a flamenco dancer
3. Murphy, because I get the sense that he's down to earth.

I'm glad to bring him home because it'll be nice to have something else around, even if that something is just a scaly, inscrutable Betta Splendens that can't talk back or even perk its ears (do fish have ears?). However, I'm pretty sure that when he flicks his fin like that, he means "I completely agree with you," and when he swishes his tail like this, he means "I know. What were they thinking!?"

Unlocking the solution

The key, I've decided, is organization. I suffer from a massive problem right now, which is complete and utter overload — I'm constantly surrounded by piles and piles of mail, stacks of books and papers, mountains of clothes that need to be washed and dried, towers of clothes that have already been washed and dried but still need to be put away, etc. I can never find anything when I need it, and am always tearing the cabinets apart and throwing things everywhere in a frenzied search for something that ends up being right in front of me.

It's all finally come to a head. I can't stand it anymore. I'm making a conscious effort to be more organized — today I sorted the mail, filed it, and bought a shredder to get rid of the junk that's been clogging my apartment (and my life, come to think of it) since I moved in. I'm going to try and work out a laundry system to keep things going efficiently. Most importantly, I really want to do this for myself, because I just feel so much better when things are neat and I can find what I'm looking for. I'm not quite there yet, but acceptance is half the battle, right?

Hopefully that's true, and my body won't be found buried under a landslide of circulars and credit card applications at the end of the semester.

Peer pressure, or They Made Me Do It

L. and J., merciless and hard of heart, have forced me to empty my trash.

While I do feel a faint, Zen-like sense of emptiness, I also have some latent terror that one day, not so far in the future, I will miss that map of the University of Wisconsin campus that I downloaded a year ago and deleted. Not that I can just go back to the website and redownload it, or anything.

The problem of the trash

I've had my computer now for over 2 years, and in that entire time I have never been able to bring myself to empty the trash can. I've gone through the dozens (possibly hundreds) of files several times, reconfirming that yes, this is trash, and no, I will not miss any of these things. Since moving things to the trash I have never, not once, restored a file. And yet, I cannot just empty the trash!

Something about the finality of clicking that button, and then clicking the button that says "Are you sure you would like to empty the trash? This cannot be undone." just scares the crap out of me.

I feel sure that on the day I can empty the trash, I will have achieved a whole new level of personal growth. I'm just not sure when that day will come.

Back, and not looking back

I'm back from Spring Break, and while the relaxation and (tons! of shopping!) other refreshing activities helped get me up and running for the next long haul to finals, I've also done a little bit of evaluation. To wit: changing up my diet a little bit. Eating regular home-cooked meals made by Mom, including vegetables and fruit, etc., made me realize how much better I feel when I eat instead of continually snack. So I'm trying to make it work, and also incorporating more green, plant-type-stuff into my daily food schedule. Also, I've taken the first step to feeling more energetic and cutting down some of the weight I've gained from the first semester—swimming! L. and I went swimming this morning, just for 15 or 20 minutes, and while it was by no means an intense workout, it was a baby step to what hopefully will become a healthy routine.

I read an article while I was at home that was about New Year's Resolutions, but it did strike a chord with me. The crux of the argument was that if you want to make something different in your life—whether it's your weight, or just your diet, or if you want to get a promotion, etc., the most important thing to realize is that you have to change. You can't stay the same and expect a different result.

I think I've wasted a lot of time trying to achieve goals that require me to make a change by thinking I could stay the same, or even accomplish them while altering my life only minimally. So I'm not looking back anymore—change is good. And I'm on my way.