Cue the Funeral Dirge

Dexter Timothy Fish died at home on Friday, March 27 of causes incident to age. Dexter was born in fall of 2007. He began his life as an experiment fish in the science department of Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland. Over Thanksgiving vacation, 2007, Dexter met his owner, Meredith. She moved him from his beaker to a bowl, complete with a fake plastic plant and shiny blue rocks. Due to the experiments performed on him (allegedly, he was switched to different home sizes to see if it would increase his aggressiveness. It did.), he had a rocky start with Meredith. He didn't trust her at first, and would hide behind his plant when she came to feed him, only eating when he thought she wasn't looking. In spite of this, Dexter had a very affectionate nature, and eventually he would swim to the top of the bowl, hoping for food whenever he saw Meredith come near.

After several months together, Meredith moved him to a tank, which was quite a bit larger than his original bowl. It had blue and purple rocks and two plastic plants. It also had an air pump which he really liked. He would often swim through the bubbles in a playful manner. Several months before his death, Dexter moved to his final home in Suffolk Virginia. He suffered a brief reversion to his earlier disposition after this move, but at the time of his passing, he and Meredith were once again on good terms.

Dexter had a burial at sea, attended by his owner, Meredith, and the person who brought them together, Maren. He was placed on a tiny raft, surrounded by treasure. After a lovely service, the raft was set on fire and dropped into the great porcelain beyond. Those in attendance were extremely moved.

Dexter is survived by his owner of sixteen months, Meredith. In lieu of flowers, she requests that mourners send cash. It's what he would have wanted.

In honor of Dexter, please take some time to contemplate his life while enjoying these two songs, which he specifically requested to be played at his wake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEX1dYyvmig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgA2xo0HYrE

Rest in peace, Dexter T. Fish. You were a loyal companion and fishy friend. You will be missed.

We fear change

One of the things that has been a big change for me since moving away from Maryland is not having roommates anymore. Let me tell you, it's a bummer! Especially after the fun weekend I just had up in grand old Maryland (thanks, guys!! Miss ya!), I really miss having roommates. But there are several compensations. I get my own bathroom. It's actually the biggest one in the house. Good times. I have a working washer/dryer right in the house! No more air-drying for me! Sometimes I dry stuff that I would normally air-dry just because I can!! I also have a very nice, big room. Pictures follow:

Here's the view from the door looking over to my window seat.


And this one was taken from the other side of the bed looking towards the closet:


And the whole house is just generally a lot nicer than Carol's house ever was (goodness, I hope she never reads this blog! Although if she doesn't know that her house is a trash heap already, I'm not sure reading it here would enlighten her). Here's the outside:


The top right is one of my windows. That's right, I have two! Actually, I had that in Maryland too, so it's not that exciting. But these ones have blinds! Huzzah!

But perhaps best of all are the animals. Don't get me wrong, sometimes they drive me crazy. Donna, I don't like feeling your cold nose on my arm when I'm trying to eat breakfast. It's very rude to try to make me spill my cereal! Also, please stop jumping on me. And Baby, I don't like being licked! But thanks for not being a barker, and especially for not throwing up when I was here by myself that weekend. Here are the dogs:


The one lying down is Donna and the one in front is Baby. Considering how much they love attention, it was sure hard to get them to hold still for a picture.

The other pet is Sedona, the cat. I have never liked cats much. But boy howdy, she sure likes me. I go into the living room, not having seen the cat in hours. But about 30 seconds after I sit down, here comes from Sedona, seemingly out of midair, to sit on my lap. Sometimes she'll pat my shoulder with her little paws. It's very sweet. It's not as sweet when she head-butts me. Well, I think she means it to be affectionate, but it mostly just drives me crazy. Sedona was even harder to get on camera. I think this might be because Baby was chasing her as I was trying to take this.


There you go, folks, the world's most affectionate cat. If she likes you.

So, anywho, I am obviously employing the time honored technique of trying to get over feeling down about change. Remind yourself the things you like better about where you are now, and what you really didn't like about where you left. I like my big bathroom, dang it! I actually really like always being covered in pet hair! I guess I'm just really lucky that I loved where I was and who I was with so much that I still really miss it and them after a couple of months. Although I don't miss the house at all. Sorry Carol!

Freaks Part Deux: The Enabling; or, How I learned to stop worrying and love High School Musical

I have come to a conclusion. It's not my fault. People feed my sickness. Yes, as you can see, it's not an illusion. No, it's my life-size cardboard cutout of Troy Bolton in his prom tux! And no, I didn't buy it myself. It was a gift, as was almost every other HSM thing I own. So who's more of a freak-the people who bought me this, or me, for being freakishly excited? It's hard to say. But I will just say, I'm grateful. I love all my HSM stuff, and it brings joy to my sad, shriveled little soul. Plus, doesn't he just look swell in my room? He's guarding the window seat! And he's only freaked me out 4 or 5 times! After that, I got used to having a strange man standing in my room. He looks dashing and probably scares off intruders. So thanks, lovely former roomies! And thanks to everyone else who has ever fed my obsession. In closing, I'd like to mention two other HSM things that were left out of my last post--my HSM Uno (how could I forget you? The mind reels); and my newest acquisition--my HSM watch. In my defense, my old watch died a tragic death last week, and this watch was by far the cheapest one at the Wally World. Also, it was cute. Good times.