Lizards and Logs

I worked the Forth of July this year. I was supposed to work a seven hour shift, but we ended up closing early. That was fine with me, because there was hardly anyone in the store all day long.

While I was sweeping the aisles, I saw a plastic lizard on the ground. I leaned down to grab it by the tail and move it to the toy aisle, where it belonged. When my fingers touched it, the lizard jumped straight up in the air and landed back down where it had been before, in the same position. I also jumped. ‘Hm,’ I thought to myself, ‘I must have bumped it.’ This time, when I went in to grab the lizard, I got it by the head, and it started to squirm.

The live, baby lizard, made it safely outside.

I put my log in my fish tank a few days ago, and the tannins from the log are leaking into the water, making it look like tea. This delights my fish, because he is from a part of the world where the waters are very murky. He didn’t like having the water be super clear; it made him feel vulnerable and weak. I am going to do some heavy water changes over the next few days, and then I’ll be ready to add new friends. I think I might go with these fat bodied, red-eyed little tetras instead of the glo-lights I was thinking about before.

I also want to buy a large snail.

Logs and Buttons

In my bedroom, I have two fish tanks. One is a ten gallon, and currently houses a minnow, who has lived with two crawfish and three ghost shrimp. The other tank is a fifty-five gallon, which currently has one pearl gourami, who used to have two friends of similar persuasion. Over the long winter, while I was in school, I coasted with the tanks. I fed the fish and I cleaned the tanks (replaced water, kept up the basic maintenance on the filters, that sort of thing) but I didn’t do any heavy renovations. Now that summer break is here, though, I’ve started my spring cleaning. I’m most excited about the lager tank, which I am going to be adding at least ten fish to this summer, once I get The Log into the tank.

Last summer I went hiking with my friend, and we found this epic log of awesome, and brought it back to my house. I had every intention of getting it into my tank straight away, but that hasn’t happened. The log is no longer waterlogged, so I will have to weight it down. To that end, I bought a tube of aquarium safe silicone today, and will be buying some rocks on Friday. Then I will use my dad’s saw to cut the log down to a manageable size, and put it into the tank. I can’t wait. Then I’ll add some more plants, and be on my merry way to a beautiful, healthy home for the fishy friends I will buy shortly.

My parents repainted the den this summer, and then bought new carpet and a new sofa. They have completely redone the room. My mom is going to make curtains, and has fabric samples up in the room right now to make her choices. We have a leather love seat, and my parents moved it from one side of the room to the other. My sister’s cat decided this meant it was a gift to him, and he shredded part of the newly exposed back. My dad is furious. He has decreed that the cat is no longer allowed in the den, and he super-glued those soft-paw deals on the cat’s nails, so he can’t scratch anymore. The cat doesn’t understand why he isn’t allowed in the room, because he has of course forgotten his misdeed. I feel a little bad for him.

My favorite jeans popped the button. It wasn’t the kind that gets sewn on, so the peg thing made the hole in the jeans too big, so it wouldn’t stay in. Since that had the potential to be very embarrassing in public, I haven’t been wearing them. Today, though, I bought new buttons and sewed one on. It works perfectly, and it’s like getting a new pair of pants. I’m most pleased with the results. It is a dashing button, too, if I do say so myself.

180 Degrees of Turkey

I’ve been making cards lately. It’s a lot of fun, and I have, in my head, compiled a list of several reasons why this is.

Firstly, it’s easy. There isn’t a lot of prep work involved, and the possibilities are endless.
Secondly, it’s got all of the compositional elements of creating original artwork, but with a whole lot less pressure. I mean, the goal is to have the whole piece be one flowing work, which is pleasing to the eye, but you don’t have the anxiety of actually creating the elements you’re using.
Thirdly, you get to build new and exciting designs each time. It’s like legos, but for grownups. And girls.

Speaking of girls, I realized that going to Tar-shey and looking at makeup without the intent to buy any is a very silly, and girly, thing to do. My boyfriend is a kind, and patient man, though, and he mm’d and yes’d at all the appropriate times.

I don’t mind this 100-degree-+ weather we’ve been having, but the humidity is making me very upset. I bought the boyfriend a nice pair of running shoes today, and on the way to the mall after we left the sporting goods store, it started to rain. This is not normal activity for my area, and so I was left grumpy.

The running shoes have suction cup sort of things on the bottom (in imitation of mountain goats, I’d imagine) and so they make funny sounds on the tile in the kitchen. The boyfriend is most pleased. He is going to be running with his dog and a mutual friend of ours. The dog is one of those squishy faced ones, so he doesn’t do too well on longer jogs. We’ll see how long this arrangement lasts. I wonder if the dog will end up being carried along instead.

Also at Target today, we had a pita thing with turkey, and it actually ended up being quite tasty. Though it does not feel classy to have lunch there, I probably will again.

Screamin' Clean

So I started a twitter today. I'm probably not going to use it so much to broadcast things about my life as I am going to use it to tweet things that I hear around me. So they aren't coming from me, they're being given to me by the world. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to credit all of them or not. It's a work in progress.

In other news, it was really warm today. I'm so delighted. I love the heat. It feels so good, and my skin flourishes.

I'm really into Screamin' Jay Hawkins right this second. He was this blues artist who... screamed. He was pretty neat. I'd recommend giving him an ear. He's got this way of using his whole mouth to make noise that is wildly impressive. He sang I Put A Spell On You, which was in that Disney movie about the witches, although they didn't use his version. Little Demon, though, is way more interesting. I'd defiantly give it a listen. They even have it on youtube, here. According to a commenter on a video on youtube, Screamin' Jay Hawkins had 80 children. I don't know how accurate that is, though.

I was at work, and a regular customer came in. She asked if I had another job yet, and I said no. She then asked what I planned to do. Normally I'd have been a little irritated, because honestly that isn't any of her business. I think, though, that she was just being friendly. Anyway, I told her that I am going to school, and so will simply continue to do that. She asked what I was going to school for, and I told her biology, and she laughed as though this was hysterical. Then she asked if I had a focus, and I said that eventually I'd like it to be evolution and ecology, and she laughed even harder. I suppose I ought to be a little offended, but I'm more nonplussed than anything.

Also strange at work; today I had a lady complement me on how clean the store is. She told me it was neat and tidy. At first I thought this was very strange. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized it made my day. Someone actually noticed all the hard work that we've put in, and they actually gave us some recognition for it. Those shelves don't just sort themselves, and she knew that. I wish I'd realized how awesome the compliment had been when it was given, so that I could have thanked her more enthusiastically.

MJ all day long.

Michael Jackson is dead. Normally I wouldn’t care, but I work at a store which plays a pop-oldies station at all times. I was there when the news broke, too, so I got to hear the DJ lose his mind. This still wouldn’t have affected me very much, but they decided to have a tribute to him. Which I still wouldn’t have cared about, but this particular radio station only had about four songs by Michael Jackson.

Did they play them through once?

No.

They played that same group of songs for three hours, and kept breaking announcements... about how Michael Jackson is still dead.

Then something happened and they either bought an album online or someone ran home and grabbed a CD, and they started playing a variety of songs again.

Kid's and Pimples

I was trying to figure out a way to really relax and enjoy my summer recently. I felt like I was still stressing, and I wasn’t in the moment enough. Then it hit me.

The sinus infection, that is. Being uncomfortably ill for five days really made me feel a lot better about the summer, and I’m starting to really chill out. I’m really looking foreword to work tomorrow.

I like working retail. As much as I might whine about it, there are parts that are fun. For example, yesterday, when I was sick and unhappy and in pain (like a balloon inflating in my face) a lady asked for help in aisle six.

She asked me if I had children.

I look fourteen.

I didn’t respond with as much incredulity as I would have liked, given that I was in pain and at work, but looking back on it, it was pretty funny.

I want to get rid of the pimples on my chin.

Lions and rabbits and bears-- oh my!

Today, I bought dog biscuits for my dogs. They didn’t have the ones I usually buy, so I got this other brand. I didn’t realize it until I got home, but they came in animal shapes. Like those cookies for kindergarteners.

I opened the plastic bag inside the cardboard box thinking, “Oh, cool, I bet they’re like pigs and cows and stuff.”

I was wrong. One dog got a lion. The wimpy dog got a rabbit. I looked at the back of the box, and it also comes with bears.

In other news, I’m done with my classes, and my feet hurt from work.