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402 days. 402 (plus or minus… mostly minus) posts.

Tag: Brian Boitano

December 23, 2013

Day 394: Things I Learned from My Fish

Brian Boitano passed away yesterday (the fish, not the human). I have yet to confirm his passing with my own eyes, but after responding affirmatively to my are-you-sure-he-isn’t-just-playing-dead questions, his trusted fish sitter has convinced me he is gone.

I feel sad about this. It’s easy for humans to feel attached to warm, furry things that remind us of cute little babies – but we do develop love and affection for the slimier species as well. Brian was a good fish and I miss him.

In his honor, here’s a list of four things I learned from the sometimes aggressive, sometimes lethargic, but always-graceful Brian Boitano.

Everybody feels better around plants. I couldn’t put real plants in Brian’s water (mold and the like – you know how it is), but when I moved his bowl to sit right next to my ivy plant, he recognized the green leaves and snuggled right up to them. Nature soothes, and is an important and often absent element to city life (or giant pickle-jar life, in Brian’s case).

Never underestimate the power of clean water. It probably sounds trite for me to say that watching my fish enjoy his monthly clean-water exchange gave me a higher sense of purpose when it comes to global water issues, but it’s true. Clean water is a precious resource and an absolute necessity that one in nine people do not currently have access to. For information on seven organizations committed to clean water access, water education and/or sustainable water use, check out this list from goodnet.org.

Lying around all the time is never a good thing. If you find yourself too tired to exercise, explore your world or eat, you’re in trouble. Mix it up and adjust your life before it’s too late.

Pink can be pretty and strong at the same time. Brian’s wavy fins would make beautiful sweeps and flourishes around the bowl (before he started lying around all the time), but he could probably bite your finger off if he really tried. He moved his marbles around, no problem. So the next time your little kid wants to wear a pink dress and climb a tree, just think of Brian. It’s totally cool.

YoungBrian(That’s Brian.)

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March 27, 2013

Day 123: Sheer Joy

It’s crazy warm in the middle north today! As I write this, it’s 43° F. 43! Spring! Everyone is smiling. We live for this. And although our slightly crazed feelings of glee may have more to do with vitamin D than actual happiness, we don’t mind.

In that vein, here are some delightful things that happened today:

  • The Easter bunny mailed me an Easter basket. It’s an enormous glass jar filled with jelly beans and M&Ms. I can’t wait to hide from myself and then find it on Sunday. I have the best Easter bunny ever.
  • One of my smart and funny co-workers tweeted this: “This is 40 (Degrees): Two lonely Minnesotans with cabin fever wear T-shirts outside prematurely … and find love.” Good stuff.
  • I ate an entire tub of hummus by myself. It was delicious. All of it.
  • Brian Boitano nearly died (again) and then revived himself (spring miracle?). I don’t know what happened, but a couple of good shakes to the ol’ fish bowl seemed to do the trick. I’ll keep an eye on him, but he seems as spry as ever.
  • The snow audibly melted. Everywhere I turned, the sound of water dripping, trickling and sloshing filled the air.
  • I thought it was Thursday, realized it was Wednesday and didn’t care one bit. I like my weekdays as much as my weekends (especially in the SPRING!).

pink fish

Brian B., looking good.

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