For as long as I can remember, so I'd guess I'd have to say 22 years, I've wanted my own dog. Sure, we had a family dog growing up (and I'd be lying if I said he meant anything less than the world to me), but I always wanted a puppy of my own to take care of. I'm not sure if it's just som sort of maternal instinct, or part of the human condition to want to be loved and needed by something/someone else. Regardless, it's what I wanted.
In college, I knew there was no way I would be able to have a dog. This wasn't due to a lack in funds, or even maturity - it was circumstance. I lived in the dorms my entire 4 years at the University of Arizona (as a freshman resident, and then 3 years as a Resident Assistant), and of course, there was a "No pets (save fish) allowed" policy.
My Junior year (2006-2007) I went to Petco and decided that I NEEDED something to take care of. The result was $150 worth of aquarium supplies, and $100 worth of fish and plants that I special ordered off the internet from a local dealer. I remember getting in the elevator and riding it all the way up to the sixth floor, aquarium in hand (well...arms, it was rather large for my body size). I was smiling for a good 4 hours once I got everything set up (there was less smiling during the set up because of various logistical issues such as where I was going to get the water for the tank from and how I was going to lift it onto the high dresser that was a good foot above my comfortable arm reach for heavy things).
This was my first actual aquarium, and it was a serious upgrade from the .99 cent Beta tanks I had growing up. I was determined to to everything possible to make it work, especially since I had poured so much money into it. I should mention that I bought the fish, after I had the tank up and running (have to let the nitrogen cycle start up), and picking them out was like picking out toys for chirstmas, there were so many to chose from and they were all mine! I decided on dwarf puffer fish (the size of a dime), a few algae eaters, and 4 tiger shrimp (these guys were seriously mini...less than 1" long). I was so excited to have my own little ecosystem in my room, and I went about naming all of my fish. One by one, however, they started to act funny and then (inevitably it felt) die. I went to Petco again to get more water treatment chemicals, litmus sticks, testers, and special fish food. This is because the puffers would only eat the small baby snails (after eating 2/3 of my shrimp and both of my algae eaters) that plague the interior of fishtanks across america, rather than the gourmet (and odiforous) bloodworms the fish guide said to buy them. Petco gladly gave me their pest snails (FO FREE), and I proceeded to feed these to my puffers in the vain hopes they wouldn't die.
They all died. As I said, one by one, as if to taunt me in my lack of fish caring skills. $5 down the drain every day for a week. One little guy, who I had named "Hans" lasted longer than the others. He was the last one left, and he had been the smallest of the bunch. On a side note, I'm not really sure if he was a boy fish or not, I just say "he" because I named the fish "Hans." He lasted around a week and a half longer than anyone else, aside from the one lone shrimp. "Shrimpy" as he affectionatly became to be known, outlasted everything in the tank, and when it came time for me to move out of the dorm (for winter break normally, but this time I was travelling abroad to London for a semester abroad in the Spring of 07), I was able to save him by placing him in a vase with an open rooted pothos plant in it. Shrimpy eventually ended up dying while I was abroad, and I felt an empty place in my heart.
I got back from England in May of 2007, and enjoyed my time with our then 14 year old dachshund Chip. My senior year came and went - I graduated, and moved out of the dorms and into my own apartment with Brendan (oooo it has a kitchen and is bigger than 144 square feet!). It was around this time June 2008 that I really started putting the pressure on Brendan for a doggie of our own, because going to my parents house every Thursday wasn't enough to fill the dog void in my life. ...
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
The scope of my geekiness
Well...right now, I'm watching Voyager - 7th season. I have seasons 1-7 on DVD (a once in a lifetime find on craigslist for $50 in all), and I've nearly complete my Trek (pun intended) through the set of 7. We're on "Body and Soul" and I have to say, that season 6 and 7, have been wonderful.
I just got into Star Trek around a year ago. My boyfriend Brendan got me hooked. He knew that I enjoyed Sci-Fi (sorry...just had to pull a band-aid out of my puppy's mouth...more on him later) and introduced me to the wonderful world of Gene Roddenberry. *DAMMIT ROGER* (I had to take one of my work shoes out of his mouth just now). I've seen nearly episode of Enterprise (the other half of the amazing $50 per series find), and now we're working our way through Voyager. Every night, we watch between 2-4 episodes. It's something Brendan and I do to spend time together because it's so special to us. This is because Trek offers so many cinematic qualities most episodic television series lacks. It's a lens through which we can examine our society, and ultimately ourselves. I know I'm not alone when I say that part of me wishes it were real (emphasis on the *PART* because SHIT those Borg are scary!). *and the dog just peed on the floor....nicccccccccccce*
Brendan and I watch other shows together too. We enjoy normal sitcoms like House, How I met your Mother, Friends, anything on Comedy Central etc. but we also watch nerdy shows too, like Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, and (you guessed it) Star Trek. Brendan also introduced me to the world of Science Fiction literature (I'm reading Foundation right now). Hopefully this gives you a good background from where I'm coming from, but honestly, it's going to take more than a few posts to get you up to speed on where I am on the geek'o'meter. Well I'm off to clean up puppy pee and to play some FFIV on my nintendo DS.
I just got into Star Trek around a year ago. My boyfriend Brendan got me hooked. He knew that I enjoyed Sci-Fi (sorry...just had to pull a band-aid out of my puppy's mouth...more on him later) and introduced me to the wonderful world of Gene Roddenberry. *DAMMIT ROGER* (I had to take one of my work shoes out of his mouth just now). I've seen nearly episode of Enterprise (the other half of the amazing $50 per series find), and now we're working our way through Voyager. Every night, we watch between 2-4 episodes. It's something Brendan and I do to spend time together because it's so special to us. This is because Trek offers so many cinematic qualities most episodic television series lacks. It's a lens through which we can examine our society, and ultimately ourselves. I know I'm not alone when I say that part of me wishes it were real (emphasis on the *PART* because SHIT those Borg are scary!). *and the dog just peed on the floor....nicccccccccccce*
Brendan and I watch other shows together too. We enjoy normal sitcoms like House, How I met your Mother, Friends, anything on Comedy Central etc. but we also watch nerdy shows too, like Battlestar Galactica, Stargate, and (you guessed it) Star Trek. Brendan also introduced me to the world of Science Fiction literature (I'm reading Foundation right now). Hopefully this gives you a good background from where I'm coming from, but honestly, it's going to take more than a few posts to get you up to speed on where I am on the geek'o'meter. Well I'm off to clean up puppy pee and to play some FFIV on my nintendo DS.
Let there be Write - Creation of my blog
I created this blog after being inspired by another person who has found happiness and success in blogging/writing about their life. Wil Wheaton has a very interesting life, and after reading his self-narrative "Just A Geek" I created by own blog.
I had the pleasure of meeting Wil this past weekend at the Phoenix Cactus Comicon. There I said it. I went to a Comic Book/Sci-Fi/Nerdfest convention. It was my first one, and I have to say, my first time was definitely special ;) There were a lot of memorable moments, of which I will recall in later posts, but for me the most special was meeting Wil. I bought his newest book "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" on Thursday night (the preview night) when not many people were at the convention because it was only open to those with a full event pass (yep, I bought one!). I stayed up until 1130PM reading it. You have to understand that sleep, for me, has become a premium luxury ever since my boyfriend and I got a puppy. Since December 28th, I've not gotten more than 4 hours in a row of uninterrupted sleep, and on top of the daily work schedule, life is leaving me with 5-6 hours of broken sleep every night. While I was able to do this successfully in college, less than a year later, I find myself struggling with it. So staying up 'til 1130Pm on a work night is no small change for me. Anyway, I found myself laughing out loud, smiling, crying, and reminiscing in the 3 hours it took me to finish the 140 page book (a nice easy read).
The next day, I found myself leaving work as early as possible (which turned out to be a whole 13 minutes early) to head down to the Mesa Convention Center for day 2. The first booth I visited was Wil's. We exchanged thoughts about the book I had read less than 24 hours before, and then I exuberantly put my finger down on "Just A Geek" and proclaimed that now I wanted "this one." Wil signed this book for me as well, along with a TNG poster, and I skipped away like a little school girl (which for me isn't too far of a stretch given the fact that I'm a 5'1, 22 year old (girl? woman? female? XX? damn 22 is an awkward age...more of a fledgeling state progressing into adulthood, but not quite totally there yet....ok, we'll just settle on young woman). When I got home, I opened the book. It had that nice freshly printed smell (unlike the old person smell you get from reading books with yellow pages that were printed over 20 years ago) to it, and I found myself once again laughing out loud, smiling, cry....well you get the point.
This is what has brought me to you. Albeit, Wil's life is a tad more interesting (given his experiences in the entertainment industry), we have a lot in common. I think if most people read any of his books (he has three right now), they'd find that they too have a lot in common with Wil. This is because he writes about growing up, life, love, loss--running the entire gamut of emotions that most (and I say most because there are some people out there who are like Vulcans - committed to suppressing emotions) people deal with on an everyday basis. He writes in such a way that makes you able to relate his storries to your own life, and it's even easier to relate with if you are also a geek.
More to come...I'm at work now and feel a tad uneasy that I'm using work time for a personal project. SHHHHH, don't tell ;)
I had the pleasure of meeting Wil this past weekend at the Phoenix Cactus Comicon. There I said it. I went to a Comic Book/Sci-Fi/Nerdfest convention. It was my first one, and I have to say, my first time was definitely special ;) There were a lot of memorable moments, of which I will recall in later posts, but for me the most special was meeting Wil. I bought his newest book "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" on Thursday night (the preview night) when not many people were at the convention because it was only open to those with a full event pass (yep, I bought one!). I stayed up until 1130PM reading it. You have to understand that sleep, for me, has become a premium luxury ever since my boyfriend and I got a puppy. Since December 28th, I've not gotten more than 4 hours in a row of uninterrupted sleep, and on top of the daily work schedule, life is leaving me with 5-6 hours of broken sleep every night. While I was able to do this successfully in college, less than a year later, I find myself struggling with it. So staying up 'til 1130Pm on a work night is no small change for me. Anyway, I found myself laughing out loud, smiling, crying, and reminiscing in the 3 hours it took me to finish the 140 page book (a nice easy read).
The next day, I found myself leaving work as early as possible (which turned out to be a whole 13 minutes early) to head down to the Mesa Convention Center for day 2. The first booth I visited was Wil's. We exchanged thoughts about the book I had read less than 24 hours before, and then I exuberantly put my finger down on "Just A Geek" and proclaimed that now I wanted "this one." Wil signed this book for me as well, along with a TNG poster, and I skipped away like a little school girl (which for me isn't too far of a stretch given the fact that I'm a 5'1, 22 year old (girl? woman? female? XX? damn 22 is an awkward age...more of a fledgeling state progressing into adulthood, but not quite totally there yet....ok, we'll just settle on young woman). When I got home, I opened the book. It had that nice freshly printed smell (unlike the old person smell you get from reading books with yellow pages that were printed over 20 years ago) to it, and I found myself once again laughing out loud, smiling, cry....well you get the point.
This is what has brought me to you. Albeit, Wil's life is a tad more interesting (given his experiences in the entertainment industry), we have a lot in common. I think if most people read any of his books (he has three right now), they'd find that they too have a lot in common with Wil. This is because he writes about growing up, life, love, loss--running the entire gamut of emotions that most (and I say most because there are some people out there who are like Vulcans - committed to suppressing emotions) people deal with on an everyday basis. He writes in such a way that makes you able to relate his storries to your own life, and it's even easier to relate with if you are also a geek.
More to come...I'm at work now and feel a tad uneasy that I'm using work time for a personal project. SHHHHH, don't tell ;)
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