Personal Log: TJ Dragonblade

To the makers of Zicam: 'Virtually Tasteless', my ass. -_-x

And memes, for the hell of it.

( As seen...around )

I need a haircut. I need someone who knows what they're doing to cut it into the shape I'm after. But I can't for the life of me convince myself that it's worth paying someone to do. I've never had a pro haircut in my life. ^_^;

Also. The latest Gaiden cliffhanger. *vibrates* Gods. Oh. Just...oh.

Elsewise, less randomly. AJ is more excited about Thanksgiving and the 'feast' tomorrow than he's been about christmas or his birthday all the years up 'til now. It's awesome what school does for him. ^_^

And I'm afraid that Nataku is dying. Husband thinks I should put him out of his misery, but I...I'm not willing to write him off yet. I don't know what else to do for him, but I'm not just going to give up on my little fighter. *determined*

Zakuro is having swim bladder issues. He's bloated and buoyant and quite clearly miserable. Goujun's had this same issue before, several times, but it's always passed within a couple days. Zakuro's going on a week. I've posted to the betta comm in hopes of getting some advice, and if anyone's got ideas, I'd love to hear. I don't want to lose him to this, if it can become that serious. Even if not, I still want him comfortable and normal again, the poor baby. He struggles so hard to get himself down from the surface and wedged under the leaves of his plant, but he always slips out eventually and bounces back up to the surface. *sigh*

Nataku has, by now, chewed off bits of all of his fins at one point or another. They even out quickly, but they're just shorter. And most of the blue in them is gone, having been on the outer edges where he decided to trim. -_- I gave him a new plant about a month ago, one that can actually hide him completely from view. He was pissed with me the first couple days, but eventually started checking it out and now I find him tunneled into it every morning, and several times throughout the day. Hee. ^_^

Kougaiji-sama also has shorter fins than he used to, but if he's biting, he's doing it in tidy careful little bits so it's not immediately obvious and it takes a little while to realize that no, his lovely finnage is not quite so magnificent as it used to be. No signs of rot or anything amiss with him, so I'm not worried.

Goujun spent most of the winter rather still and quiet, but has livened up a bit with the onset of spring, apparently. He postures at himself quite regularly, now, where he rarely would before. Also. He likes to stalk bubbles on the surface. He'll find a bubble, glide in carefully beneath it, follow it if it drifts, and then snap up and 'eat' it once he's done 'toying' with it. ^_^ Amuses the dickens out of me to watch him.

SexyMinion has acquired a betta, now, and so (since SexyMinion and I now share cubicle-slash-office space separate of the rest of the accounting department) I'm also keeping company with fishies at work. She house-sat for the office handyman/delivery guy while he was on vacation, and that involved babysitting his new office-betta, too. She fell in love with him, and joked about not giving him back, and the guy shrugged it off and said she can keep him, in thanks for the house-sitting. He's a dark blue crowntail, just gorgeous, and...apparently, his name is George. I've been sharing my own limited knowledge with her, since she's a complete newbie to fish and I'm only a partial-newbie, by now. I hope. ^_^; He blew her a bubble nest. A big one. Neither she nor the guy knew what it was, so when I told them, the guy goes out and buys her a female. >_< Uhm. I have done all in my power to discourage the idea of breeding them, thankyouverymuch, when neither she nor he's got any real idea what they'd be doing and no clue what to do with the babies in the end. It's a very pretty little female, though, white that frosts out onto red fins. SexyMinion named her Betsy. Currently the two of them are in adjacent bowls, and flirt with one another quite adorably. And George just keeps building and building away at his nest. ^_^ SexyMinion is totally enamoured with him/them, though, and it's very cool to have that point of commonality between us.

Anyway. Hopefully Zakuro will recover soon. I'm getting worried.

...They're all due for a cleaning tomorrow, too. Must make certain to work that in amongst all the Mother's Day obligations.

...Also. It's funny as hell, only sometimes not, to keep losing my spot at MY new compy here to either the husband or the kid, both of whom are rather dreadfully obsessed with the chess game. -_- Ah well.

Took my jeep into the shop early this week, too, damn the expense. There's still more to be done, but he'll have to go back next month. At least he's no longer leaving little green puddles wherever he parks, and he doesn't vibrate quite so badly when I brake.

Work is work; there are so many things that need doing that just don't get done. We've got two new people starting in the department in a couple weeks (that's why SexyMinion and I got re-located, officially. Unofficially it's got to do with her penchant for drama and my 'grouding' influence and the hope that quasi-isolation blended with my 'talent' for not engaging/fueling her drama will help her mature and grow and harness her potential and all; making room for two additional staff just happens to work out too), so hopefully everyone's plates will grow more manageable as they come on board and start absorbing overflow. Handling six companies with a seventh on the way demands more staff to keep up, thank you.

I've got fics to write that aren't getting worked on, either; my GouTens and my TenKen and my NiiKou and my DokuKou and the Hakuryuu/Hakkais and the 85s and... *sigh* I need to go to bed.

Okay. So. Yes, I lost my little Konzen a couple of days ago, and the betta-brood now numbers only three. Thank you, everyone, for the condolences. It's helped. Yes, dammit I am very attached to my fish.

Mordred is still alive, and still appears quite healthy. Still very put-out with his 'hospital stay', but I wanted him quarantined long enough to be sure he's okay. Tomorrow I'm going to move him into his new quarters; the old split-tank is trashed. I've replaced the plants, too, but the rocks should be alright if I boil them.

Goujun and Nataku are also doing well, for the record. But I do miss having Konzen alongside them. T_T

In other news, we spent a good half the day today moving father-in-law's stuff out of the unfinished utility/laundry room into a storage shed in the backyard. So god-awfully damn much junk, but heaven forbid we should throw any of it away, oh no. -_-x Feh. So. Despite wearing a filter-mask throughout the entire operation, it seems I couldn't help inhaling a bit of dust regardless. Consequently, I feel like crap. And give small thanks that it's only this bad instead of how utterly incapacitated I'd be had I not had that mask. I feel like I may be running a fever, and my lungs...feh. I need to go talk to my doctor about asthma, I think. But at least we've got the beginnings of what will eventually be More Usable Space.

Aaaaanyway. I did manage to make it over to Value Village in search of Tenpou clothes. I'll be returning again tomorrow, now that I'm a little more certain of my size in men's clothing eheh. Good thing to know before shopping for clothes, yes? ^_^; Though I may have to go with the Chibi-Tenpou design as far as shirt color, since I've got one near that reddish shade already and haven't had any luck getting my paws on a more traditional Tenpou shade. I mean...his shirt's not the same color in every single pic I've referenced, so maybe I can get away with it. And I've got a few other things that need doing to be ready for yaoi-con. Procrastination, thou art the bane of my existence. Yea, verily. Forsooth.

Ahem. ^_^;

Music to be posted shortly.

'Kay. So. I had mentioned the bitten tail a couple days ago. There's more missing by now. I don't see any signs of rot, no reddening at the base of fins, no darkening edges, no damage to any of his other fins. I'm still thinking biting, but I'm not quite sure how to convince him to stop if he is tearing it off in bits and pieces. Eck.

( Pics for reference )

*sigh* I suppose it's natural he'd trim it back if it's so long that it bothers him/weighs him down; I do the same thing to my hair, after all. But...still.

And I do hope I'm not wrong about the rot, truly. *keeps a close eye on him*

I had the boys in their little cups lined up while I cleaned their apartments - Nataku, then Goujun, then Konzen, then Mordred. Now, Nataku and Goujun pretty well ignored each other, and Konzen and Mordred did the same. Konzen and Goujun, though. Hee. They were ready to throw down. In turns.

See, Konzen went nuts first, flaring and billowing up against the side of his little cup, and Goujun just kind of stared, then turned away. A little later, though, when Goujun came back and flared up in turn? Konzen decided he couldn't be bothered. They went back and forth this way the whole time they were out of the tanks, and only once were they actually displaying at each other properly.

Hee.

*is amused*

Aahhh. As it turns out? I totally fail at disposable photography. The flash didn't reach the stage, the pics all just look dark and bad and...well. Sorry, if anyone was actually interested in my con pics. I'm afraid all you get is Hakkai.

Oh, and a pic of Sakura that I stole from found on the local newspaper's website. I mean, no article or anything about the con, no, but at least this pic was plastered on the front page. *shrug*

I'll take what I can get.

This failing-at-disposable-photography? Also means that there are still no fish pics. I finished out the roll on them, but...sh*t. I can't even find my babies among the blotchy unfocused results when I look at the pics. *grumbles* And I had to pay to get the damned things developed, too. F*ck.

Soo. That con? That I was positive was this Sunday? Is actually this Friday. -_-x And apparently has been all along, as I can't find one whiff of info about a change in dates when scouring the website. Yet I swear, when I first found out, it was Sunday the 16th.

Feh.

Guess I'll be catching what's left of it after work tomorrow.

PearlyBlack dude still has no name. Still won't do more than play with the food pellet, or he'll ignore it all together. Spends less time lurking under his plant, but still glares daggers at me when I look in on him . Stubborn little bastard. ^_^ He has silver lipstick, too. I'ma go ask the Betta-comm about the not-eating thing, though. I'm really not worried yet, but I want to know how long is long enough to acclimate to new environment/new food before it starts becoming unhealthy.

Konzen has settled in nicely. Swims about among his lily-pad-type plants, hides among the stems when it suits him, stares back at me with this kind of 'So? And?' impassive disinterest, eats as well as the other two, and...oddly enough, I don't think I've ever caught him flaring at himself. Huh. His eyes are kinda droopy, too. ^_^

Nataku and Goujun, though...I think they're a little bit jealous. 'Cause they both go spastic-active when I'm near the tanks but not paying attention to them. ^_^ Goujun runs these lovely graceful looping laps along the side of his tank, and makes adoring...well, puppy-dog eyes at me (and if I stick two fingers in the water, he curls and swims around them like a cat ♥ ^_^). Nataku wriggles and darts in the corner closest to me, very much a 'Look at me, damn you!' sort of display.

*cuddles fish-babies*

*metaphorically, of course* ^_^

...con on a Friday, phoo. Of all the--not all the attendees are high school or college kids, y'know. -_-x

Aaaaand Sexy!Minion spoilers me (and the entire department) for the very end of Pirates2.

Whoops. >_<;

Don't think she quite realized what she was doing, but.

Ah, well. I'll not hold it against her. I've still got the whole rest of the movie to look forward to. Eventually. ^_^

I hear it broke box office records; I know it was sold out all weekend here in town.

Maybe we can hope for a Best Actor win this year. Depp is an incredible character man, is remarkably good at what he does, and it'd be nice to see that recognized.

In other news, both new fishies are thus far still alive. PearlyBlack dude seems pretty healthy; Golden boy seems...not really un-healthy, per se, so much as less active than the other. Or perhaps he might just be a little cold, damn the climate. *sticks him under a lamp* We shall see...

I know Goujun could stand to be a litte warmer. His lamp burnt out last night; I've got to get him another. In the meantime, though, he's beautifully white without the incandescent bulb turning him fleshy-colored and translucent. I wish there was a way to keep the temp up in these little tanks without having them under a spotlight 24/7.

At least all the boys are in clean water, and Goujun's plant got a manicure while it was out of the tank so as to be less of a hazard to his fins - I'm still not sure if he tore his tail on the plant or by some other means but I clipped back all the pointy ends as a precaution. And Nataku has a new plant (all green! and silk!) that brightens him up even more. He's a great big beefy little chunk of fish by now, too, especially in comparison. Both the crowntails are relatively small. Goujun is a slender, lithe, agile little thing. Nataku is a sleek, fearsome little warrior, all compact muscle and fishy bad-ass-ery. ^_^ I do love my little boys, I do. Hee.

And. As my calendar tells me that today/tonight is a full moon (not that I see a whole lot of the moon during the summers, here), I bring you a little lycanthropic love. Of a musical variety.

Sonata Arctica - Full Moon
Awesome Finnish power/speed metal. Machine-gun rhythms under soaring melodies and blended harmonies and liquid-crystalline primal vocals. Very classical. Happy ears, happy ears. ^_^

Type O Negative - Wolf Moon
Slow, dark gothy stuff. It's...it's Type O. I'm not quite sure how else to describe it. ^_^;

Fishy-pics! As previously mentioned. ^_^

( Cut for pics )

I needed to post about the rain and the sea from today, too, but it would take far too long to gather all the thoughts into the proper words and it's past my bedtime already. Tomorrow, perhaps.

I fear for my soul; I think it somehow got turned over the gods of fishly-ness without my knowledge. We were in Petco today for aquarium supplies, and I was trying so hard not to go look at all the bettas for fear of finding someone else to steal my heart, and also to avoid the indignant anger that the lack of care given them incites in me. But. Damn them, they've moved their stuff around again and while Jeff was picking up filter cartridges for AJ's goldfish, I turned around and BAM! Here's a whole new display rack full of the beautiful little boys. *headdesks* And there was a gorgeous Red, one healthy-acting fish among the lethargic and ailing masses, that deep solid velvety red with the faint hints of robin's egg blue along the scales to either side of his spine, so much like my first baby may-he-rest-in-peace. Alas, I did not bring him home. I've got to wait until space and finances are more solidified before I indulge this new habit any further. Especially since I just got Goujun less than a week ago under circumstances very like todays already. *sigh* But I was tempted. *wibbles* Mightily tempted.

Agh. Tomorrow's my last day of vacation. I think Jeff and I will go see Xmen. *siigh* I really, really don't want to go back to work. Not for any dread of what's to come, no, but just because it's so nice to be off. Ah well. All good things, and all that.