Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Everybody saw this coming.

All hail the time of the bunny!

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

You would normally have to try pretty hard to self-incriminate this badly.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Sunday Afternoon Open Thread

Sunday Afternoon Open Thread

by | 113 Comments

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It occurs to me that there’s one pet in our household of whom I haven’t shared blurry photos on the Internet — this wee betta fish:

sushi

Poor betta fish have to be among the most abused creatures on earth. They’re kept in tiny plastic cups at pet stores and handed out as winnings at disreputable carnival games. Some deluded people even believe these fish can thrive in a vase with an aquatic plant serving as both habitat and food source.

This poor chap was rescued from such a circumstance. And while his bookshelf tank isn’t as spacious as the Southeast Asian floodplain that should by rights be his home, he’s better off than most captive betta fish. But not grateful enough to hold still for a photo.

Anyway, that’s my betta fish, Sushi. (I didn’t name him, so shut up.) Open thread!

Reader Interactions

113Comments

  4. 4.

    raven

    My old man used to take care of the fish in the learning lab at Paradise Valley CC.He’d bring then home for the holidays and one day he told me they were “good fish”. I never knew how he knew.

  6. 6.

    beth

    When my daughter was small we paid the doorman at our building to feed her goldfish while we were on vacation. We came home to find that miraculously the fish had shrunk in our absence! My daughter didn’t catch on that Ozzie had died and been replaced until she was much older.

  9. 9.

    Gex

    I just want tennis to respect my religious beliefs and put the Williams sisters on opposite sides of the draw for the remainder of their careers. This potential QF matchup is bull.

  10. 10.

    joel hanes

    “good fish”. I never knew how he knew.

    “Good” aquarium fish :
    – are attractive
    – are hardy and long-lived
    – don’t grow too big
    – thrive on readily-available foods
    – don’t dig up the plants
    – seldom jump out of the tank
    – seldom fight with other fish
    – breed readily.
    The guppies, swordtails, platies, zebra danios, dwarf and pearl gouramis, harlequin tetra, coryodoras catfish, black tetras are time-tested favorites for these reasons.

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    @beth: LOL!

    Reminds me of something that happened once in my family. My little brother had two mice, and one died while he was at school. My mom buried the deceased rodent and ran out to the pet store for a replacement before little bro came home. She told me because she was worried that he would notice the switcheroo because the mouse who died was white with black eyes, and she’d only been able to find a white mouse with red eyes to replace it.

    Well, it was more disastrous than we could have guessed: Little bro came home and took the mice out of the cage to play with them, and the new mouse, which apparently wasn’t as tame, bit the crap out of him! I heard his wails, and when I came to his room, he was sitting in Mom’s lap crying. He said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with Snowball, but he has RED DEVIL EYES now!”

    Mom looked over his head at me, and it was all we could do not to burst out laughing. We didn’t tell him the truth for a few years.

  14. 14.

    MattF

    My first job was in a store that sold aquarium fish. And the first thing I did every morning was sweep up the fish that had jumped out of their tanks overnight.

  15. 15.

    raven

    GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida police say computers were among the items stolen from a New Mexico State team personnel bus during Saturday’s game.

    Brad Barber of the university police department said the bus, which carried football staff members, was parked outside the stadium in a secure area.

    “Dozens of police cars were parked near the bus, so it seemingly took some gall to enter the bus where it was parked,” Barber said.

  19. 19.

    MattF

    @Betty Cracker: Also, a mouse-related anecdote– wlhen I was in graduate school, I passed the Psych building every morning. One morning I saw a white mouse dash out the door. Made it out of the big maze!

  22. 22.

    Betty Cracker

    @Elizabelle: My sister and I were teens when he was born (he has a different dad), so he escaped the vermin costume incident. He would have made a fine silverfish though!

  24. 24.

    JCJ

    @raven:

    Damn, pick 6 for the Herd on the 1st play!

    Not an auspicious beginning for my Boilermakers. They are doing somewhat better now. If you like tennis Serena is on ESPN2. I am only watching Purdue since I am a loyal alum!

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    @raven: It’s Baby Kill Bill!

    You surprise me, raven. I’ve been channel surfing and Kill Bill 2 is on the CW channel. Dropped in on the Elle Driver gargantuan speech (re black mamba) and was amused to hear characters later discussing the Pussy “Party Wagon.” I guess the CW channel has standards.

    Commercial now, but they just put BB to bed and the final confrontation up soon. (I have to get back to cooking, though.)

    For a moment, I thought: how did raven know?

  27. 27.

    Elizabelle

    In moderation for using a kitty cat word. My bad.

    ETA: Apparently FYWP and the CW have the same standards.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    @raven: Oh. You probably meant the dragon costume.

    I focused in immediately on tiny Kill Bill. But comment in moderation because [kitty cat].

  31. 31.

    benw

    @Gex: Tennis has been crapping on the Williams sisters since the very beginning. I hope Serena keeps winning ’til she’s 50 and takes all their base.

  32. 32.

    Bex

    Speaking of shelter, Pope Francis has announced that the Vatican will take in two refugee families and house them in apartments that are inside its walls for some employees, including families with children. The Pope called on “every parish, monastery, religious community and sanctuary in Europe” to take in refugees. I knew I liked this guy.

  34. 34.

    Central Planning

    In college my roommate and I had an oscar. Every time we fed him we would tap the tank twice. We eventually got to the point where we could put food in the tank and he (she?) wouldn’t eat it until we tapped the tank.

    One day, the fish committed suicide by jumping out of the tank. Maybe he was trying to get somewhere, because I don’t remember him being anywhere near the tank.

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    @Bex: The thing I loved is that Pope Francis called on Europe, and left the US out of it.

    Not to say we shouldn’t take in our share of refugees — we should — but a point for Francis’s realism.

    He realizes our country is full of Pharisees in office, who call themselves Christians.

    Look forward to his visit and to his making some peeps very, very uncomfortable.

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    @raven:

    taking my comment out of moderation:

    @raven: It’s Baby Kill Bill!

    You surprise me, raven. I’ve been channel surfing and Kill Bill 2 is on the CW channel. Dropped in on the Elle Driver gargantuan speech (re black mamba) and was amused to hear characters later discussing the [kitty cat] “Party Wagon.” I guess the CW channel has standards.

    Commercial now, but they just put BB to bed and the final confrontation up soon. (I have to get back to cooking, though.)

    For a moment, I thought: how did raven know I was watching Kill Bill?

    [Now it’s the Clark Kent vs. Superman speech; I like the dialogue better than the swordfights in this movie.]

  38. 38.

    Roger Moore

    @Elizabelle:
    I don’t think it’s so much a matter of Francis disregarding the US as that Europe is where the refugees are already heading. Europe really can’t duck the issue; they either have to accept the refugees or turn them away, so talking to them about the necessity of taking them in is more likely to do some good.

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    Speaking of TV, does anyone know anything about the upcoming Masterpiece Mystery? Tonight: Arthur & George: Part 1

    I can see that Arthur is Arthur Conan Doyle, but who is George? And why does the first show have to be about animal mutilation??? grrr

  43. 43.

    Gex

    @benw: indeed! I laugh or get angry alternately when I listen to commenters who spent years being critical now slobber over them. I knew their criticisms were bull back then, and I’m glad the sisters didn’t listen.

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: Ah, I see the distinction. SPORTS channels and PBS, I would say. You might be able to answer my TV question right above this comment.

    No, I did not see her obit. I should go look for it. I assume you are not going to be able to come in for whatever service they have? Maybe your old group can have something of your own some other time when you are all in town.

  47. 47.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: This fall is shot as far as travel. I have to go to LA the first week in October and already have our usual beach joint rented for Thanksgiving. We’ll have to see what they do. I know the daughter was about to move out west when this all went down.

  51. 51.

    gogol's wife

    @WaterGirl:

    I have the same problem. I’m hoping that will be a fleeting shot, with not much discussion. I like the actor who’s playing the sidekick (Mr. Gregson from Downton).

  52. 52.

    gogol's wife

    @raven:

    As I recall, you didn’t watch Wolf Hall. She had a fabulous role in that. Not too many scenes, but she was brilliant.

  54. 54.

    raven

    @gogol’s wife: I tried but I was lost.

    I loved this “In her final year at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Jessica Raine was told by a teacher that she had a modern face and should expect to be cast in modern roles. And sure enough, after graduation Ms. Raine portrayed a defiant goth and a drugged-out politician’s daughter in quick succession at the National Theater.

  55. 55.

    gogol's wife

    @WaterGirl:

    George is the guy who supposedly mutilated the animals. But apparently his role isn’t very big. They kept the title from the novel it’s based on.

  56. 56.

    gogol's wife

    @raven:

    She has a very versatile face, I think. In Call the Midwife she looks sweet and very 1950s, but she was totally sneery and Tudor in Wolf Hall. I didn’t even recognize her at first.

  57. 57.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    LOLGOP ‏@ LOLGOP 15m15 minutes ago
    Trump has rescued Palin and Coulter from complete irrelevancy. He’s like the Love Boat, but the complete opposite of that.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: Oh, sure, post the link after I spent 5 minutes googling! :-) Looks like it debuted last week, but maybe in the UK and not here. Looks like it might be on in the summer for us.

    @raven: I feel for her daughter, such a hard thing to lose your mother. My mom had 18 months of misery. At least Mel had a good stretch there in the middle, maybe they can hold on to that.

  59. 59.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    Might just have been a bunch of empty police cars, parked in the same lot. Cars have gotten a lot better over the years but cars capturing criminals still seems a bit futuristic.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle: Treatment of translators in Iraq – our eternal shame. As far as I can tell, in most cases we used them and threw them away. Just more of “I’ve got mine, fuck you”.

  61. 61.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: Yea, you know I was taken aback when folks thought she head beaten it. I guess losing another friend who had an awful, extended battle made me wonder. That specific kind is generally pretty fast moving and by the time is is diagnosed it’s too late too do anything effective. I am really glad she had a bit of time that seemed fairly normal.

    The daughter seems to be handling it as well as possible. Facebook has lit up.

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    @gogol’s wife: That’s how I feel about the male actor in The Americans. He looks and acts like so many different people in that show, it’s kind of like Orphan Black in that way. Both phenomenal actors.

  64. 64.

    MattF

    Via Daring Fireball, of interest to Safari users:

    This Safari extension circumvents certain techniques used by Google and Facebook to track link clicks.

    When you click a link in Google search results, Google uses JavaScript to replace the actual link with an indirect one, which they use for click tracking. Google then redirects the browser to the actual destination after logging the click. DirectLinks disables the JavaScript that replaces real links with indirect ones, so that when you click a search result link, Safari goes straight to the destination.

  66. 66.

    A guy

    Had a fish in college 31 years ago. We used to do bong hits and blow the smoke thru the aerator tube into the water thinking the fish would get high. Never got the munchies bad enough to make the fish sushi.

  69. 69.

    Another Holocene Human

    @raven:

    GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida police say computers were among the items stolen from a New Mexico State team personnel bus during Saturday’s game.

    Brad Barber of the university police department said the bus, which carried football staff members, was parked outside the stadium in a secure area.

    “Dozens of police cars were parked near the bus, so it seemingly took some gall to enter the bus where it was parked,” Barber said.

    Okay, you gotta admit, all of this is utterly HI-larious, unless you’re the Aggies.

    Remember, these Keystone Kops wannabes are sworn state police officers.

    I’m wondering where this area outside the stadium was. Also, if the cars were parked with nobody in them…. *

    People were swarming all over during the game. It was one-sided; I guess the Gators fans were bored. Just thousands of people walking all over the place in the dark. It was warm and not rainy.

    *-eta: of course cops in this town have been known to be utterly distracted by Gator football games to the point of neglecting their duties

  70. 70.

    Tommy

    There is a running joke in my brother’s house about fish. Fish has lived in the house longer than him. Jokes he can’t wait for it to die. Could put a chair where his tank is. He says this as he feeds and cares for it.

  72. 72.

    Another Holocene Human

    @efgoldman:

    Or they could just have been napping, or over at the Krispy Kreme, or looking for some random black guy to shoot….

    GPD spent the whole night avoiding their duty to man the traffic signals for post game traffic. At 13th and University there was a huge phalanx of officers at the Kangaroo because Negroes because a rap concert let out. Meanwhile the traffic signal was malfunctioning and they did fuck all. One officer was standing next to the traffic controller box as if he didn’t know what it was, hearing cars beep each other in frustration.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    @Debbie:
    “Israel is not indifferent to the human tragedy of the refugees from Syria and Africa,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of his Sunday Cabinet meeting, “but Jewish suffering is the only suffering that actually matters”.

    I fixed that for Bibi.

  76. 76.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @MattF:

    I used to work in an office that was in a mini-mall, the main attraction of which was a pet store. Over the years I made friends with the store owner (really with the umbrella cockatoo), and eventually offered to give him a hand with normal daily chores if it was convenient for me — he often didn’t have any other staff. All was fine until the day he asked me to feed live newborn mice to the piranhas. Just could not bring myself to do that. Still makes me shudder to think about, although I suppose piranhas have to eat too.

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: I have to hope that it is possible to recover from Bibi, but they need to do a drastic about face and I just don’t see that happening. What Israel has become is appalling.

  79. 79.

    debbie

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    A boyfriend’s roommate kept oscars and sticklebacks in a huge aquarium. He fed them goldfish and they used to play with the goldfish before finishing them off, half-eating and spitting out what was left and then grabbing them again. One day, I walked by the roommate’s room and saw that he’d once again forgotten to close the lid after feeding his fish. I heard a flip-flop and saw an oscar was flopping around on the floor. I don’t remember what the 1970s equivalent of “Karma’s a bitch” was, but that was my thought as I walked on.

  81. 81.

    Brachiator

    @Elizabelle: The migrant and refugee issue is a global problem. The family of the toddler whose photo appeared in the news was ultimately headed to Canada (and an immigration official there is complicit in the tragedy). Australia is behaving despicably with respect to refugees trying to reach that country.

    And oddly, politicians, the media and bloggers and others are pretending that none of this has anything to do with the US, which magically is seen as not being a part of planet Earth.

  82. 82.

    JCJ

    @Felonius Monk: I graduated in May of ’84 but then took more classes in the fall to do some prerequisites for applying to medical school. West Lafayette is my hometown so going to Purdue was not very adventurous. I did spend the ’81 – ’82 school year in Hamburg Germany.

  83. 83.

    cckids

    I’m watching The Producers (2005 version), and it strikes me that if no-one does a Trump parody version of “Springtime for Hitler/Heil Myself” this campaign season, there is no justice in the world.

    “Germany was having trouble
    What a sad, sad story
    Needed a new leader to restore
    Its former glory
    Where, oh, where was he?
    Where could that man be?
    We looked around and then we found
    The man for you and me”

    Works amazingly well, doesn’t it?

  84. 84.

    Brachiator

    @raven: I wrote earlier that I thought this reboot of Partners in Crime was terrible. The first episode was available for free streaming on Acorn TV. Might still be there. David Walliams just seems miscast and there is no chemistry between the two. Worse, they appear to be more idiots than amateurs.

    My admiration (and slight crush) for Jessica Raine can’t save it. I’m not a regular viewer, but I like her and the other actors in Call the Midwife.

    Ah, I see that Raine just got married, to Tom Goodman-Hill, who appears in Mr Selfridge.

    A modern face? She was great as Verity Lambert, the first producer of Doctor Who in An Adventure in Space and Time.

  86. 86.

    MattF

    @SiubhanDuinne: Another grad school story– a guy I knew was involved in what-was-then the gray market for tropical reptiles. He would advertise his wares by walking into a dorm with a huge snake wrapped around his shoulders. Anyhow. And the snakes had to be fed live meat. ‘Nuff said.

    Another story about this guy– I was walking in his apartment building one day and was passed in the hallway by a giant albino iguana. I thought, “Hmm.”

  87. 87.

    CaseyL

    @WaterGirl: It’s utterly appalling.
    Bibi (along with the rest of the Israeli Right) has turned me against Israel, something I once thought would never, could never, happen.

    The new TV season is not exciting to me. I haven’t found any new shows. I tried to watch Zoo because I think “Animals in Revolt Against Humans” is a great idea. Maybe I just picked the wrong episode, where our intrepid researchers are captured by a drug lord and there was a fight to get them out. Based on that, the show is basically just like any other “Special Agent” series, heavy on action and not so much on ideas.

    I’m hoping Defiance is renewed for a 4th(?) season, though I’m not sure where it would go from the season finale.

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tommy:

    Yeah. I get the whole “nature-red-in-tooth-and-claw” thing — I just didn’t care to be a participant. But the pet store owner guy would just, every morning, scoop up a bunch of newborn mice that had literally been born overnight — just scoop ’em up out of their cage, shake off the mother (so she could breed again), walk a few steps over to the fish section and dump ’em in the piranha tank.

    Those piranhas are fast, though. One second the mice are there and then the next second they’re not.

  89. 89.

    Roger Moore

    @Debbie:

    “Israel is a small country, a very small country, that lacks demographic and geographic depth,” he said. “Therefore, we must control our borders, against both illegal migrants and terrorism.”

    Shorter Bibi: we can’t let any Arabs in, or Jim Crow will break down.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @CaseyL:

    It’s utterly appalling.
    Bibi (along with the rest of the Israeli Right) has turned me against Israel, something I once thought would never, could never, happen.

    Same here. I spent a couple of weeks in Israel in the early Spring of 1980 and I remember so clearly the first moment of stepping off the plane at Ben Gurion Airport and experiencing that odd feeling of “I’m home.” The entire trip was remarkable and wonderful, and I loved the land and the people and the history — but for the past 20 years or so, that love has been sorely tested and severely tempered by my revulsion at Bibi, the Likud generally, and Israel’s intransigence re Palestinians. And then his unwarranted meddling in U.S. domestic affairs. And now his revolting stance on Syrian refugees.

  92. 92.

    J R in WV

    @raven:

    As a Marshall Grad, I’m happy you’re getting a crowd to show up for the game. Also hoping that the Alma Mater provides a great game for everyone, which would surely have been the case last year.

    Do you mean at your house, full, or the arena where the game is played? Seriously, MU has come a long way with Coach Doc Holliday, who was an Assistant Coach for years at WVU – he was a great recruiter for the U in the deep south.

    So it should be a good game. Probably on TV too. Hope Hope Hope it isn’t too embarrassing for we MU grads.

    I must admit that having been inoculated with Gold and Blue as a tiny child, I am more of a WVU fan than a MU fan, since my wife and all my relatives went to WVU, while I went to MU because it was drivable to as an adult with a farm/dwelling/wife/livestock. WVU was over 2 hours away, so not really possible for me as an adult Vet on the GI bill.

    But I always root for The Herd, which is inexpensive. And they should be able to play even with Perdue from what I’ve read the past few days.

  93. 93.

    dance around in your bones

    We had a beta fish for YEARS that was ‘gifted’ to us by a neighbor kid whose mom had an aversion (to the fish, not the kid).
    When the time came for us to vacate the house, I agonized over what to do with “Jihad” – it seemed cruel to flush such a quiet and beautiful companion! Imagine my gratitude on the day we had to leave to find Jihad floating quietly belly up – such a considerate fellow. He got a nice little burial ceremony in the backyard, joining our 13 yr old German Shepard/Rottie mix and two of our best beloved gatos in eternal repose. Liberally watered with tears.

  94. 94.

    J R in WV

    As the only MU Graduate on this thread, if not on the whole B-J Blog, let me just add, to close this thread, Marshall University beat the Perdue Boilermakers, 41-31, closing out the game with a third interception with seconds left on the clock.

    So the Mountaineer state is 2-0 on this year’s season, both schools open their season with a win. And I will be the first to say that MU’s win over a Big-10 school means more than WVU’s 44-0 win over Georgia Southern. Not that it means that much in a 11 or 12 game season, but still.

    Go Herd!!

  96. 96.

    dance around in your bones

    Oh PS – Hi all y’all Juicers! I’ve been in Lurkistan for a while due to the horror show that became my life for the last 9-10 months. Some day I’ll write about it and make it funny haha but not yet.
    Really, y’all don’t wanna know yet.

  100. 100.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “To me nature is…spiders and bugs, and big fish eating little fish, and plants eating plants, and animals eating…It’s like an enormous restaurant”

  101. 101.

    dance around in your bones

    @Steeplejack (phone): Thanks, Steep … Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer, but sometimes it’s warranted.

    Oh, by the way there are some amazing photos of Betta fish on Pinterest. Try looking @noneofyrbeeswax ‘so long, and thanks for all the fish’ and then branch out.
    I’d link if it wasn’t too dang complicated.

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    @dance around in your bones: Really great to see you, and I’m glad to hear that your reference to the long nightmare was in the past tense!

    Nice timing, I guess you had to show yourself now in time for the great website re-do that is coming next week-ish.
    :-)

    Welcome back!

  104. 104.

    dance around in your bones

    @WaterGirl: OMGah, the redesign …. That rarely goes as one hopes. I’d be happy if they brought back the jaunty man-in-the-striped-pants who shouted at clouds so expressively for us all, but the chance of that is mighty slim-to-zippo as our blog-overlord has informed us rather firmly . Also I’d get rid of the striped candy masquerading as a balloon, if I were Queen of Things.
    I miss that retro old-timey vibe we used to rock around here. Timey-wimey doncha know!

  105. 105.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    I just flushed a fish. It was sad. I keep a tank of ‘rescue’ goldfish (long story) and one of the six survivors succumbed today. They get a lot of care and attention, but this fellow just went belly up. The rest look pretty healthy.
    Time to toss an earthworm to our second-eldest pet, the 27 year old turtle Barney and turn out the lights on Sonny the 35 year old parrot for the day. He’s been saying ‘good night!’ for the last hour and probably wants us to leave him alone to doze.
    A good evening to all of you and your companion animals.

  107. 107.

    redshirt

    Sad memory, but two events made me lose faith in my mother at the tender age of 10 years old: She sewed up some ripped pants but I questioned the quality of her work, but she insisted I wear them. They then dissolved off me during a kickball game and I had to run through the entire playground in my underwear with everyone laughing at me; and 2. I had a parakeet named Peter Parker who was pretty swell, but one day I can home from school and he was no longer the cool bird I knew. After a few days of lying to me, she admitted Pete escaped and she bought another bird.

    I learned my Mother would lie to me. And she didn’t know how to sew but insisted she did. All kinds of innocence lost.

  108. 108.

    Ken

    And while his bookshelf tank isn’t as spacious as the Southeast Asian floodplain that should by rights be his home…

    … it also lacks the otters, cats, turtles, rays, catfish, and carp that would normally make his life expectancy a matter of months, so maybe it’s not so bad.

  109. 109.

    dance around in your bones

    @Gin & Tonic: your faith in my story telling powers is uplifting . I need to let it percolate for a bit to extract the humor.
    Feels nice to be back and somewhat vocal….
    PS – what’s this “your comment has been submitted” bull hockey? I guess I HAVE been in Lurkistan too long.

  110. 110.

    joel hanes

    @MattF:

    the fish that had jumped out of their tanks overnight.

    At the aquarium store in which I “worked”, the hatchetfish typically experienced 25% or greater mortality from jumping.
    They’re essentially a miniature fresh-water flying fish with a deep keep, and they love to jump.

  111. 111.

    SWMBO

    Many years ago my son had a vivid red betta that he named Raptor Red after the dinosaur book. Raptor started off in a small bowl. They only last 1-2 years usually. We cleaned his tank faithfully every week and cleaned the glass marbles and washed his “toys” in scalding hot water. He lived over 4 years with us. We put him in gradually bigger bowls until it took a gallon of water to refill his tank each week. He kept growing bigger with each tank . He was as long as your hand when he died. And over the last year he started turning a brilliant silver starting at his nose. When he died he was silver 2/3 of the way down his body but his tail was still a vivid red.

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