Fish talk

Cuba is doing very well now. His popeye was fixed in a matter of days, and after his tail-eating incident I gave him a Mela Fix treatment and his tail grew back (mostly). I'm still giving him a lower dose of Mela Fix, and hopefully the tail will get even bigger and more beautiful than before.

Holly was an excellent betta buy. She has an amazing personality. Despite being female, and supposedly therefore less aggressive, she's 100x more active and aggressive than Cuba. That's saying a lot, because Cuba is not a passive guy. At first I worried that all that activity may be because she came from the pet store with Ick, but she's definitely healthy. She just enjoys swimming up and down the height of her tank all the time, nipping at her reflection, and dancing with Cuba through the glass while showing her vertical "egg stripes." He loves dancing with her too, and his color has brightened up quite a bit since she's been around. He seems like a completely different fish. No more hiding in the plants when someone presents a finger -- he tries to nip at it now.

That's something cute that Holly started, I think. The first time I tried to feed her, she didn't seem to notice the pellets hovering on top of the water. So, I stuck my finger in the lid, about an inch above the water level, to guide her over. Instead of noticing the pellets, she jumped out of the water and bit my finger! This has became a game for us: I wiggle my finger above the water level, she jumps and latches on and hangs that way for a few seconds before letting me go. I suspect that if I switched to slightly larger pellets I could teach her to eat them out of my hand.

A lot of people seem to think that I'm not at all a caring, maternal person simply because I'm choosing (rightly so, considering my health issues) not to give live birth. As though adoption is such a less responsible and nurturing option. (Yes, because taking on an unwanted child of another person is SO MUCH LESS caring than having my own child and thus passing down a multitude of health problems, endangering the life of the child and myself during the pregnancy and birth, and contributing to the already too large population. That's logic, right there.) But the few of those people who have seen the way I obsess over the health and happiness of my fish are having a hard time keeping up that opinion. My fish might as well be my babies. I spend money I don't even really have to buy medication for them, when other people say, "Eh, it's just a fish, they just drop dead all the time anyway, so why treat it?" I spend at least two hours a week cleaning and maintaining their tanks, and countless hours just watching them and checking them for signs of distress. When I bought Cuba on October 29 of last year, I didn't expect that he'd become my little fish friend rather than just an on-a-whim pet. I didn't really expect to love Holly as much as I do either. They're such amazing little animals... And I'm glad I have them in my life.

Good bye, Angel

Angel is over. I dedicated so many Wednesday nights to that show, loyally. I didn't start watching until the beginning of season four, and so I missed 3/5 of the series... But it was still very important to me. Like how some people obsess about reality television, Angel was my favorite television program in the world. After the craptastic last season of Buffy (which I also got into late in the game), I began to favor Angel far more.

Spoilers ahead.

Spike and his poetry reading: Adorable. Spike has had so much more character development while on Angel than he did on Buffy. I kind of wish Angel had told him that he had signed away his rights to Shanshu... It would have been nice for Spike to know that if either of them was going to do it, it was going to be him.

Gunn: I've never been a big Gunn fan, because I probably missed anything good he did in seasons 1-3. He irritated me last season when he bumped heads with Wesley over Fred, and he really bothered me this season when he sold himself to Wolfram and Hart. But for some reason I liked him in the last two episodes. It was nice to see him take care of Senator Bitch and her vampires. That axe through the forehead was priceless.

Illyria, Fred, and Wesley: I've loved all three of these characters for as long as I've watched the show/Illyria's been around. Their scenes in this last episode were quite powerful. Unfortunately, I missed "The Girl in Question," so I never saw the original Illyria-Fred morph. But this time it was devastating. I knew Wesley would die, I'd been spoiled. But seeing it happen was dreadful. And Illyria caring... I don't think even she knew she did, but it was there. Fred started the punch that shattered Vail's head, and Illyria followed it through. Very appropriate when matched up to their shared feelings for Wes.

Lorne and Lindsey: When I read the spoilers, I was under the impression that Lorne killed Lindsey of his own free will. But for some reason I got the impression in the episode that Angel had him do it. I don't believe it was explicitly stated, and I'd really like to know because it would make a big difference in my final impression of Lorne. I've always liked Lorne, but if he killed Lindsey without being told to I don't think I'm going to walk away from the whole series liking him. I don't believe Lindsey had any ulterior motive -- I think he genuinely wanted to help Angel and was enjoying being part of "the good fight" and a team. Lorne's misgivings about that were not enough to murder him. Even if he was acting on orders, I still don't like the way he just left. I understand that he was very upset after losing Fred -- after all, he later admitted that she was "the woman (he) loves." But that's really no excuse.

Angel: I've never known what to think of Angel. Not during the first season of Buffy, not after his return from Hell, not after he left her, not on his own show... He's erratic and unpredictable. He's like a hero and an anti-hero combined, but not like Spike. Spike's far more enjoyable for me. In utilitarian terms, what Angel spent this last half-season doing was justified, but I don't think I would forgive it. The only good thing about Angel this season has been his relationship with Connor -- I'm so happy to see that Connor is aware of his past and is still a normal, adjusted kid who just happens to have vampire lineage and super powers. "They'll destroy you!" "As long as you're safe, they can't." Wonderful.

If only I could afford to buy all of the Angel DVD sets...

Regarding Troy

(Beware spoilers)

The good:

The acting: I couldn't pick out a bad actor in the bunch, and some definitely stood out as fantastic: Brad Pitt as Achilles, Sean Bean as Odysseus, Eric Bana as Hector, and Peter O'Toole as Priam. Peter O'Toole was especially impressive in the scene where he goes to Achilles to get Hector's body back.

The credits: Why the credits, you ask? Because Josh Groban sang the closing song! Holy crap, how could I have not known about this ahead of time? Now I need to go buy the soundtrack, dammit.

The battles: Fantastic choreography.

The special effects: I don't think there was any point where the special effects looked especially... Effect-y. Everything blended pretty seamlessly.

The bad:

Plot changes: Now correct me if I'm wrong, but in The Illiad, didn't:

• Paris die near the end
• Achilles was killed by Paris' arrow before Priam asked for Hector's body (hence giving him a bargaining chip)
• Ajax killed himself after Achilles died
• Hector took Achilles' armor from Patroclus, and so
• Achilles had to get new armor from Hephaestus through his mother Thetis
• Menalaus survived to take Helon back
• Agamemnon survived and was later killed by Klytemnestra

? Those are the plot points I recall (though not in that order), but those are not the things that happened in the movie. I can forgive changing the story around for the sake of the movie, but then it shouldn't claim to be based on The Illiad...

I'd give it an A-. Not perfect, but very good. Definitely worth seeing at the cinema.

Facing reality

The reality of my future cohabitation is settling in, and now I'm wondering: Just how easy is it to compromise on everything? I've never been in that position before. I've always compromised on some things, but never everything.

I mean, we'll have to compromise on the color of our bedding. We'll have to compromise on what to have for dinner every single night. We'll have to compromise on who uses the bathroom first in the morning. The list goes on and on and on and on...

Huh. I know we can do it, but man... It's a strange thing to think about. Even though it's two years away, it feels like it's hovering right at the horizon. Time has been flying since I graduated. Before I know it, I'll be moving out of a room on campus and into Andrew's new apartment.

Three years ago I knew it would happen, but it didn't seem as real as it does now. And in two years, it'll be completely real. It's frightening and exciting at the same time. For now, I can't say which feeling is dominant.