• Health & Fitness,  Hobbies,  Ramblings

    Blood, Sweat, Tears Make the Pain Taste Sweeter

    I started learning to ride a bicycle in second grade. My first bike looked very similar to this one. I’m not absolutely sure it had rainbow stripes, but I wouldn’t be surprised. My stepdad would hold on to the chrome seat handle and steady me as I went along the bumpy hill of the yard at my grandparent’s farmhouse. Then he’d let go, and I’d travel twenty to thirty magnificent feet before falling over. This kept happening. It was discouraging. I couldn’t balance for anything. I believe they put some training wheels on, and I was able to cruise down the gravel driveway a little easier. Then one day, as…

  • Creatures,  Hobbies,  Ramblings

    I Know You Want to Know But

    Our new aquarium light arrived. It brightens everything up, as it’s supposed to do, you know, being a light. I’m sure the plants love it. However, I do not. It’s pretty. The top is aluminum, and the legs are clear acrylic. The aluminum gets toasty, so it’s best used somewhere that air can circulate around it freely. Don’t shove it into a hutch cubby or something. Or do. I’m not your mother. The light itself sits at a set height of approximately four inches and reflects strongly off the top of the water as multi-colored, making it difficult to view into the top of the aquarium at all, and it…

  • Creatures,  Hobbies,  Ramblings

    A Fresh Chance to Start Right

    Okie doles, as my phone likes to auto-correct. There is now another tank in the house. The ten gallon I may or may not have mentioned ordering is now set up on a relatively unstable shelf in our living room. I am not talented when it comes to aquascaping. Perhaps if I had rooms of rocks and sticks available to choose from, I could do something more elaborate. As it is, we have to choose from what’s on the shelf at our tiny aquarium shop and try to visualize the look without the tank to use for sizing things properly. I do believe if I owned a shop, I’d have…

  • Health & Fitness,  Ramblings

    Better Run, Better Run

    Over a year ago, I mentioned developing an interest in running, and that we didn’t have room for a treadmill, which is why I was sticking to the elliptical as my go-to exercise. I also mentioned using Zombies! Run, which I still recommend for anyone looking for a fun story to move them along during walks, jogs, or runs, so long as you don’t suffer from any level of misophonia. One of the sounds that enrages me to listen to is sloppy kissing noises, as well as licking; they’re kind of the same sticky wet sound, and they infuriate me. Annoyingly, the app had two or three instances of kissing, and…

  • Hobbies,  Ramblings

    Waterbound Nowhere to Go

    So many posts in the same month! A little update on the blackwater tank and other aquarium happenings. Firstly, yeesh. The plants have just taken off in Esme’s tank. The rotala? is now reaching the surface, the frogbit roots have extended, on average, about 1.5-2 inches. This is all since it was done on Thursday. I noticed the growth last night, but photographing this tank is anger-inducing. Speaking of… sorry about the glare. #@! Nevermind that browning on the sword. It’s been going on since we purchased it – you can see bits of it in the last post. I’m not concerned, since it was one of the sickly looking…