Death of Kitty
So I got the aquarium so that I could watch the fish and relax, right? Well apparently, it’s not working out as I thought it would.
Kitty died. After taking down notes from my Filipino readings, I went to check on the fish. I saw Kitty lying at the side of the aquarium. I thought it was just sleeping, but when I rapped at the glass several times and it didn’t move, I knew something was wrong. I then poked at it with a stick and to my horror, it just kind of moved and plopped down on the rocks. 
Okay, I know it’s just a fish, and it’s only been with me for one freaking day, but I haven’t felt this kind of loss since I was a kid. I just can’t believe it’s dead. After using a plastic spoon to get it out of the aquarium, I held a funeral for Kitty. I put it in a small box and buried it somewhere in front of the house.
Something tells me that by the end of the week, I’ll only have two fish left. Shere Khan and Confucious are picking on Tutankhamen now. And it sucks because Tutankhamen is the prettiest fish in my aquarium. I know it’s useless to scream, “hey stop!” everytime they gang up on it, but still. Now I don’t want to look at the aquarium because all I see are the two fish biting at poor Tut and I don’t want to watch its slow demise. Looks like I’ll be planning another funeral and making another trip to the pet store this weekend. *sigh*
I’m starting to love pet fish. My sister and I got my dad a Crown Tail, which is a type of Thai fighter fish, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Its fins look more like feathers than fins and its colors are so vibrant. What I love about it is that no two fish look exactly like the other; one had this beautiful deep blue, another looked like a phoenix. And apparently my dad is no stranger to fighter fish because his roommate in college owned one and he used it to compete with other fighter fish. Maybe I’ll just get one if all my fish die.
Something I could stare at for hours on end
Say hello to the new occupants who share my living quarters with me.
Clockwise from top left: Shere Khan, Confucious, Kitty, and Tutankhamen.
The sudden inspiration for me to get an aquarium came after my visit to the shrink this morning. I noticed how I always stare at her fish tank of goldfish whenever I talk, and it occured to me how relaxing and therapeutic it is to just watch them swim in circles. Plus, I felt the sudden need to have a living, growing thing in my room (and no, my sister doesn’t count because she’s not a pet). We’ve never owned an aquarium at the house because my mom insists that according to Feng Shui, everyone in the family except my dad are Fire people, and it’s apparently bad luck for a Fire person to own an aquarium. I don’t believe that bad luck or good luck run the course of our lives, so upon my insistence (and my reluctant agreement to pay for everything with my own money), I eagerly traipsed over to the pet store to choose my fish.
Putting together an aquarium was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. It’s a lot more than just water and a fish bowl; you need pebbles, plastic seaweed to make the whole thing look pretty, a filter, and anti-chlorine. It took me a while to do the landscaping of the aquarium. I got dark gray pebbles, which I regretted at first because it made the whole place look horribly dull. But then I added white seashells all over, which stood out amongst the darkness, making everything look pretty. Still, it looked empty without flora, so I looked at every single accessory the pet store had to offer just so I could find the most authentic, non-tacky-looking plants in there. Add the filter to a corner of the tank, some anti-chlorined water, and voila! My aquarium is ready to be inhabited by finned little beings.
Choosing the fish took a while too. I could only get four because of the size of my tank, and I couldn’t get the really colorful ones that I like because they’re really fierce and will end up killing or maiming the other fish in the aquarium. I got two rainbow fish, a catfish, and a goldust molly. (Later on, I learned from my sister’s friend that mollies are little bullies. So much for peace and order in my tiny ecosystem.)
I picked out my fishes’ names based on what I observed about their personality (or lack thereof).
Shere Khan is the easiest to name. It’s the fish with angst. It keeps attacking the filter and all the other fish.
The logic behind Confucious’ name is stupid. I picked it because it keeps ramming itself against the glass, like it wants to get out of the tank and can’t remember why it’s trapped inside in the first place. I couldn’t think of any other name that meant “confused”. So Confucious it was.
Kitty is a catfish. Enough said.
Tutankhamen just lies amongst the plants or bubbles and doesn’t do much, like the child king of Egypt who is already dead.
My sister upon learning I gave one of the fish the name “Shere Khan”:
“Ooh! Shere Khan! Isn’t that the panther from Bambi?”
Giving out Gmail invites for nimrodel visitors
If you don’t have a google mail (gmail) address, you might be interested to get an invite from me.
okay, send me an EMAIL with a valid email address ( you can add@REMOVE) and you will get 1 gmail invite from me . Make sure you never created a gmail account cos Google will invalidate your account if you have multiple accounts . Include first and last name (can be initials) . Star members of the Protagonist community are not qualified. (They should post here.)
Valid until supply lasts…haha. But even if I ran out, just post your email address and I’ll give you once I get more invites.
*EDIT (June 26) : Starting today, I’ve been getting only 1 invite a day so it easily gets taken. I’m sorry to say that I won’t be able to give all of you an invite. Just in case, you can still email me at lauryn@REMOVEgmail.com. It’s a matter of luck and timing.
REQUEST GMAIL INVITE USING THIS EMAIL ADDRESS:
