We had quite the crisis on the East Nashville list-serve last week. Someone posted that A BLIND PUPPY HAD BEEN REPORTED MISSING!!! OMG PONIES!!!1!!!11!
There were offers of help pouring in from all quarters. At least once person offered to take time off work to find the blind puppy.
Lest you think I am mocking these kind hearts, let me assure you that the puppy's plight would have reduced me to tears had I not already seen the e-mail heralding the puppy's rescue.
Yes, someone saw the puppy wandering in the middle of Shelby Street and took him to safety.
Fast forward a few days...
My friend Ariana met the puppy rescuer at the dog park. She found out that the rescuer contacted the puppy's owners, but the owners decided they could no longer take care of a special needs dog.
When I was a little kid, I had a collection of collections.
At various times (and sometimes all at once) I had collections of keychains, stickers, erasers, stuffed animals, stamps, coins, and plastic bags.
That's right, you heard me. Plastic bags.
I've been thinking about my collections this week as I've been going through a box of stuffed animals that had been languishing in my parents' attic.
In addition to the usual assortment of plush bears, dogs, and cats, I have a goose, a mountain goat, a gorilla, a seal, a tiger, and a donkey (okay, it's Eeyore) (okay, maybe 5 Eeyores). If we're counting Beanie Babies and vegetables, I have a raccoon, a tomato, and a cucumber. I even have a saber-toothed tiger (Gnash, from the early years of the Preds). I don't know where my plush tamarin monkey is, or the stuffed koala.
I think it may be time to part with a few of my inanimate furry friends. I'm having a garage sale in a few weeks, so a few of them may find new homes. Gnash gets to stay. Most of the Eeyores can stay. The very oldest and dearest stuffed animals definitely have a home with me. But the rest can go to another little kid who needs some extra friends.
Now if only I can find that sticker book. I wonder if the scratch-and-sniff stickers still work?
A year and a half after we added an aquarium to our home, the cat has finally discovered the fish. It's their own fault, really.
The first 18 months of fish ownership passed mostly without incident. We started the tank with black tetras, added some bala sharks, and threw in some algae sharks to keep the tank clean. We lost one algae shark, but other than that, everyone seems to be pretty happy.
Oh, except when the bala sharks have psychotic episodes.
Several months after we bought them, the bala sharks started splashing around the tank, zooming from one side to the other and bumping into things. We think they are startled by people moving near the tank -- they tend to spaz while they are being fed, although it can happen at any time.
We had some friends house sit for us while we were on the cruise, and we figured we should warn them about our crazy fish. We told them that the fish occasionally freak out, but they worst they could do is knock over the heater in the tank. No big deal, just put the heater back in its place.
So Friend #1 is sitting by the fish tank, working on the computer. Friend #2 walks in the room, and the fish start to spaz. Friend #1 leaves the room for a moment, then hears Friend #2 yelling, "Oh, Crap! Oh, Crap! OH, CRAP!"
Apparently, one of our bala sharks had decided that this was the day to make a bid for freedom and JUMP OUT OF THE TANK. Friend #1 frantically found a net and returned the bala shark to the tank.
Friend #2, in the meantime, got the job of restraining the cat, who was experiencing a new awareness about her household companions.
One of the bala sharks made another leap after we got home from the cruise, although it was returned safely to the aquarium after flopping around the floor for a bit.
And now, this is how Loa the cat spends most of her days:
Loa watching the aquarium.
Better yet, not content to simply sit and watch the fish, she has started trying to catch them. Every 10 minutes or so she will leap up the side of the tank and try to swipe one. She doesn't seem to mind the fact that she hits smooth glass every single time.
I won't be surprised if one day she figures out how to knock the cover off the top of the aquarium.
Fish, your days are numbered. Just thought you should know.
Yes, I have been tagged for the "seven random facts" meme by nashbabe and My Time Wandering. Here goes:
Rules:Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog. Tag 7 people and link to them. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.
1. I used to be deathly afraid of thunderstorms. It probably qualified as a phobia. I'm doing better with that now, though.
2. I have watched ridiculous amounts of television in my life. If you have a question about MacGyver, The Dick van Dyke Show, Stargate, or Get Smart, there's a good chance I can answer it for you.
3. I loooooooooooooooooove hockey. That is so weird to me, because I've never been a big sports fan. Last year I made "play-off packs" for all the Predator players, including candy and notes of encouragement. Considering the result of the 2007 play-offs, I'm not doing that this year.
4. I had pneumonia several times as a child. I remember one Halloween when my parents discovered I had a really high fever after I had been out trick or treating, and it turned out to be another round of pneumonia.
5. I really like copyediting. It's fun for me; it's like playing a game or sculpting a work of art.
6. I have never seen Titanic.
7. When I was in middle school, I wished I was British. I wanted to live in the land of Sherlock Holmes and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Sometimes I hoped someone would discover I was an Irish princess and restore my family to our castle and lands (my dad's family is Irish).
