# Fish and Stars II - newly updated with pics



## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

hey girl! whatcha thinking bout? whatcha thinkin bout? are you thinkin bout love? and what if, I took you by the hand, to a little place, by the rocks and the waves? and where do I know you from? a different life? 
or maybe it's just this one, finally getting it right. and this, I swear, is where I'm meant to be. out here with you under the stars. 
out here with you, the fish, and the stars.​
*The Crew:

Unnamed (Spiegel, ?)*
Brown Ghost Knife
Sex unknown (most likely male)
Location: 20 gallon long tank
Came home: Sunday July 27th, 2014
Size: ?


*Unnamed (Igor, ?)*
Indian Dwarf Puffer
Sex unknown (likely female)
Location: 5 gallon Fluval Spec
Came home: Saturday July 12th, 2014
Size: under 1"


*Paisley*
Goldfish (Oranda)
Female

*Paris*
Goldfish (Ryukin)
Female

*Piper*
Goldfish (Fantail)
Male

*Petunia*
Goldfish (Pearlscale at first, plain fantail now)
Male

*Peaches*
Goldfish (Fantail)
Male

*Panda*
Goldfish (Ranchu)
Sex unknown

*Petrie*
Goldfish (Oranda)
Sex unknown

*Pongo*
Goldfish (Ryukin)
Sex unknown


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## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

*subscribed  

SIP Penelope


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## megaredize (May 21, 2012)

I really like your tattoo idea. I think it will look awesome


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Thank you.  Yes I am very excited.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You'll keep this journal going because I'll make you keep it going.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

*;Today:
In my head:*
If the Brakeman Turns my Way -- Bright Eyes

*On my mind:*
Midterms.... really... I swear.

*In my tummy:*
Milk and honey (hehe rhymes).


*And life story time...*
I still feel a little sick today. 
As luck would have it I appear to have fallen for the only guy who is more keen on avoiding relationships than I am. Hmm I don't really ever fall for people, but this one guy just seemed like someone that might be worth my time... Oh well back to work I go.
Lots of chemistry math and physics to do after all.  Every week is a busy week here. -_-

That's all I have to say.. I'm going home on Saturday to visit the pets and see four friends and have Thanksgiving dinner though. Which I am semi excited I guess.  I am very on edge lately and it doesn't take much to get the water works going. Quite annoying really. But I'll be okay, just a temporary disturbance.
That's all for now. Bedtime.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

*hugs* My advice? Settle into university life before getting a boyfriend. Let things take their course and just be his friend. Never know what could develop after that.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I'm so settled though! I've never been so overall happy before. xD Being away from my family has done some crazy good for me. . . sadly. I do think I'm going to relocate there permanently next year. . .
*
;Today:
In my head:*
Seashell Tale -- Bright Eyes

*On my mind:*
Blank.

*In my tummy:*
Milk and honey (it's my passion and the single most comforting food out there).


*And life story time...*
The position I got for College Royal... Cat show assistant. I didn't mention that cats make me a tad bit nervous, I do need to get over that somehow anyway if I want to become a vet... 

He told my I look nice yesterday.

I am very at peace with myself right now.

I have very little expectation of people in my life. Which is probably why I rarely get upset with them.

It's not that I couldn't rely on them if I had to. . . I just prefer to manage things myself. . . Though I know how to ask for help at the same time. . . 



_I am excited to go home and toast bad wine with good friends._


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## megaredize (May 21, 2012)

well it is good that your settled and at peace with yourself. it is nice to have that feeling just to be comfortable with yourself.

Goodluck with the cats. i think that is a neat position


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Cat show? Your university has a cat show? Sheesh. Most US colleges just have Homecoming. 

Being away from family is a good thing for anyone. I wish I could get away from mine for a while, even for vacation. Haven't been on a vacation in over two years and even then, I was with my family. 

Take it easy with the boy. He'll come around. Try giving him pickled milkweed. Tell him it's a Polish love tradition. :shock:


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Yes we have a cat show! 

*;Today:
In my head:*
Bright Lights -- Fine Times

*On my mind:*
FREEDOM! Going home today! But midterms next week. 


*And life story time...
*
Alright... So I do believe I got somewhere between a 60-70% on that math midterm. Which I'm happy with. You're not supposed to expect much in first year. Anyways I'm happy, finished 5 minutes early and all.. My friend not so much, she couldn't finish in time and had to guess a bunch of multiple choice at the end. Looked like she was gonna cry. :/

Going home today for the weekend. Getting my hair done and going shopping. WOOP!

And also going to look at a room on Tuesday morning.  Will be pet friendly so Waffles can come, best part is it's just one street over so I'm still in the middle of downtown!


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## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Cool! 60-70% is actually really good from how you look at it. It is a majority of 100%, so you did a great job


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Where are you living now? In the dorms? 

Math tests. I'm getting a panic attack just thinking about someone else taking a math test, let alone me.

Girl, you were made for college life.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

-writing this a second time- ;-;

*;Today:
In my head:*
Remember the Mountain Bed -- Jeff Tweedy
_and I know why farms and cities are built, by hot, warm, nervous hands_

*On my mind:*
Not much.
Everything sucks but I'm still happy for some reason.
I WANT CRUNCHY LEAVES!

*In my tummy:*
Coooold coffee. Milk and honey after.


*And life story time...*
Okay, so bad week after bad week... I got 45% on my math midterm (worth 22%), a 65% in bio (worth 25%) and a 52% in chem (worth 27%). Which according to the upper year students I've talked to, I'm doing pretty good... And I thought about dropping a course but apparently I'm fine. //sigh. Doesn't look fine to me. But a lot of people I know are doing this bad. My one friend from high school is doing worse than me, and she's already most likely going to drop out of the science program into something easier.  Sad times.
I was one of those kids who would get mid 80's without trying in high school.. University is toughest on us they say. 

I met a few cool people here, but I have also met one super cool person that I get along with really well.  Like best friend material. One super cool person out of so many though, jeez. But whatever haha. I don't need that many friends.

I get to go home again this weekend though! Woo!

Waffles in the fall:
​


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Awwww. University is a different beast but I think you're doing fine. All I can say is maybe study more? *shrugs* Or cheat? :shock:

*hugs* Miss you! 

Waffles!!!!!!!!


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## Illhearted (Sep 23, 2013)

Olympia said:


> *And life story time...*
> Okay, so bad week after bad week... I got 45% on my math midterm (worth 22%), a 65% in bio (worth 25%) and a 52% in chem (worth 27%). Which according to the upper year students I've talked to, I'm doing pretty good... And I thought about dropping a course but apparently I'm fine. //sigh. Doesn't look fine to me. But a lot of people I know are doing this bad. My one friend from high school is doing worse than me, and she's already most likely going to drop out of the science program into something easier.  Sad times.
> I was one of those kids who would get mid 80's without trying in high school.. University is toughest on us they say.


Yeh doesn't look fine to me either. yikes :shock:


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I've been putting off updating this. -_-

*;Today:
In my head:*
Biting Your Tail -- Iron and Wine
_may your mouth betray your wisdom, may you get what they failed to mention, may your love be your only religion; preach it to us all.._

*On my mind:*
Food food food FOOD!

*In my tummy:*
Coconut, persimmons, pomelo, fresh cranberries, dark chocolate, a lot of stuff actually..


*And life story time...*
Alright so a little background, I've sort of wanted to be a vet most of my life, and I'm sort of still into that but I'm starting to think...
Maybe I should be doing something more meaningful in life.. 
I'm in no way trying to brag, but I'm starting to realize that I have something that I am just so passionate about in life, more so than most people seem to be passionate about anything.. And yup people have pointed it out when I start talking to them about my interest.
Namely the slow food movement. 
The slow movement spoke to me, since it is basically everything that I find important, put together. Animal welfare (not rights to clarify), the environment, human rights, human health, the history of agriculture itself (in the form of heritage livestock and heirloom crops); all come together in the slow food movement. 
Which is why I'm switching my major into Organic Agriculture (though again 'organic agriculture' isn't EXACTLY what I am interested in, it's close).

More than anything though my heart goes out to the small farmers, the ones who are still trying to do things right, to keep their crops free of pesticides and their animals comfortable. Farmers who are interested in HUMAN HEALTH as opposed to profits. Because, the way things are going here in Canada and the US, soon it will be near impossible for small farmers to do what they are doing. Laws are changing to make things easier for factory farmers and harder for small farmers. Concepts such as "bio-security" that make us think it is safer to eat a chicken that was kept indoors in a crowded factory farm than it is to eat a chicken that wandered freely outdoors for its life.

Traditional agriculture is under threat right now in so many ways.

Getting to the point, my rant about GMOs, genetically modified organism. You are most likely eating them. Especially those of you who partake in the joys of soy and corn products, a large majority of which is GMO.
Now, as someone who used to have a lot of faith in science (and I still do, depending on how you look at it), I never had anything against GMOs. And I know some people rant about how they are bad for us but this never made sense to me from a scientific stand point (though there was a recent study which found that female pigs fed GMO soy had on average a 25% heavier uterus. Odd.)
Anyways, my real hatred of GMOs stems from the injustice of these companies. The way they are tearing apart agriculture as we know it. The small farmers they are suing and putting out of business. 

I am very opposed to GM crops.
They are trying to allow a GM alfalfa variety to grow in Canada. Here is a cute video about that that summarizes my main concern about GM crops. 
Take Action to Stop GM Alfalfa.

--> As an aside I was never as opposed to GM animals as they are much easier to contain. But my university developed a GM pig that produced less pollution, and people were so upset about it and no one wanted to eat them so they were all euthanized two summers ago. We're currently developing a GM turkey variety because apparently we have nothing better to spend our money on other than dead end projects.


Coming to an interesting point, a very thought provoking debate occurred two nights ago, between two very well respected food activists. One of which was my person farming idol, Joel Salatin. The debate was, *should we require government controlled labels on GMOs on our food?*
I was shocked to find that Joel's stance was NO.
By the end of this debate, I understood his stance perfectly, and I am now unsure of which side to take (though I lean towards Joel, probably out of bias). 

My favourite part of the debate came from Joel's side as well. To paraphrase,
_If I have a field of crop, and my neighbours cattle come onto my land and trample everything, I have every right to sue my neighbour for destroying my property with their cattle.
But if I have a field of crop, and some corporations genetically modified plants come onto my property, they have every right to sue ME. Why can't I sue the company for destroying my land with their patents?_
Which makes PERFECT sense in that view point, but of course our beautiful government and such tend to do whatever makes it hardest on the small farmer.

If anyone is interested in the debate, here it is (skip to 50 mins ahead):
Joe VS Joel GMO Debate
(again if you watch this you will see why I am such a fan of Joel's, he's such a beautifully passionate person and I love his, madness, and rants about liberty and such. Joe is a lot more calm but he also has beautiful points that I agree with fully, which is why I am not sure of my stance on this anymore.) The point against Joel is the Certified Organic labels, which while Joel seems to support, these can be just as dangerous to a farmer (eg if accidental contamination occurs).


_someday we may all want nothing, and all together we'll get what's coming,
someday say that the world was something, that we just couldn't change.._

I will stop there for now, though I may continue to discuss this later on, maybe someone has some interesting comments.

Another point, I've decided that in two years I will start raising rabbits in the method of Joel's brother, on pasture. Just a small fur and meat project using heritage rabbits (Giant chinchillas and probably silver fox). Raised on rotating pasture in the warmer months and comfy sheds in the cooler months. 
_Please no debates about eating rabbits or meat or rabbit fur here, I will remove._

As a final note I picked up this cute little saying printed on a card today;
*this is what you shall do;
love the earth and the sun and the animals, despise riches,
give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and 
crazy, devote your income and labour to others, hate tyrants, 
argue not concerning god, have patience and indulgence 
toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or 
unknown or to any men or number of men, go freely 
with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and 
with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open 
air every season of every year of your life, reexamine all you 
have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss 
whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be 
a great poem.​*


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Amen, Oli. Also, what bothers me a lot is that organizations like Monsanto (no words to describe how much I dislike them) have sued small scale farmers making themselves a modest living for saving seeds from their own corn (not even Monsanto stock) that was pollinated by pollen from a field of Monsanto corn. Ridiculous. 

What do you think? Should GMO foods be labled as such? 

You're rabbit operation sounds awesome.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

//shrugs. I don't know. I sort of agree with Joel that should we really be putting so much faith in the government with what we eat? A GMO free label as controlled by the government is quite dangerous to farmers. Then Joe is arguing that yes in an ideal world everyone would know their farmer by name and such, but that's not realistic.
I guess it's the idea of the government babying us and putting all our faith into them, versus thinking for ourselves and making our own choices about what we are buying. Maybe we've already been too conditioned into trusting the government to be able to handle making our own choices.
GMO labelling is required in many European countries but they also don't have a lot of (if any?) GM crops growing there so they regulate things much better.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

*hugs* Oli. I'm really happy you have something you believe in so much. It makes all the difference in the world to have a cause and a belief that is worth fighting for.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

-digs this up- I WILL UPDATE. :| Tomorrow. When I get my new computer.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

^I lie again.. My 'new' computer ended being something I dug up out of my family's laptop graveyard haha.. but it will due.. more money to spend on fish I say. 

My pride and joy (minus the goldies..) is my knew brown ghost knife.. such a sweet and shy fish.. 



Well he wasn't being cooperative today so I decided to photograph his tankmates instead. . 

My last threadfin rainbow.  I think these are one of my favourite fish I've kept.. I'm not sure if I should get a group once they become available or just stick to SA fish in this tank. :/



Cory photos 





My knife was hiding somewhere in this pile... so he is in this photo technically.. 



One of my pretty black dwarf shrimp;



My assistant.. He's decided he is very interested in the behaviours of freshwater fishes. He has taken his research as far as diving headfirst into the fish tank from the top of his cage. 




And my dwarf puffer.  He's still a bit nervous when I'm around, especially with camera, but he is getting more bold every day. The second photo he was hunting a snail, but also keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't do anything horrible to him. :roll:







I was originally planning on setting up my two 2.5 gallons for some betta... but I am thinking I'm going to put my old 15 gallon in it's place. I've taken a fancy to the puffers so I would like to try my hand at a figure 8 puffer in brackish. I'm still debating between that and something else... but right now the puffer is looking the most attractive option. I'm a bit bored with schooling fish so something with a personality is more appealing right now.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Very nice! Love seeing some pics of your fish and tanks, it's been a while! The ferret is adorable too.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

It's not been that long... D:


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Well today I bred my first rabbits... Tomorrow I'm gonna breed my other girl... Hopefully all goes well and in a month we have some babies.. Apparently first time moms suck though so we may end up with a few deaths in the litter. Diligence. Also cleaned out the rabbit shed.. My rearing books have given me the splendid idea of growing bait worms in the poop trays. Less flies, better compost, and worms sell for $4/12 here and apparently worms breed really fast. Don't think I'll get there this year but next year hopefully it'll bring in a little bit of profit. LOTS of people fish here, good tourism and everything. Would just need to find a way to market them. Or sell them cheaper to a shop to make my life easier. 

I'm realizing my list of projects for "next year" is getting incredibly long though.. 


So besides my figure 8 puffer idea, I stumbled across these guys:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/20-Eggs-of-O...39345?pt=Live_Fish&hash=item1e8e734ad1&_uhb=1
I'm guessing they hatch like regular annual killies? I dunno it seems a bit weird... But being from Lake Poso means super high pH and super soft water, which I'm not sure I could do that mix very easily. So the puffer is looking like a better idea. :/


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## taquitos (Jun 27, 2013)

Olympia said:


> It's not been that long... D:


So cute!!

I hope to one day be able to keep a goldie tank!


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Thanks. 
They are a lot of maintenance that is for sure... Even with the tank planted.. It's been a bit of a learning curve with them. Sad to admit but with a few months I had lost interest in them and lost some of my lovely old stock, and my oldest (and first) lady I do think I've stunted in the process. :/
They're also quite unhealthy in stores, I've lost a lot of babies to internal parasites, dropsy, within the first week or two. I know a lot of keepers deworm their entire stock once a year, which I've been meaning to get around to doing.. 
Their dietary needs also change as they age.. the first three years they need high protein, after that they turn a bit more herbivorous and need more plant material. 


I stayed up really late last night... which means bad things happen.. I was looking at videos on lungfish, which are my ultimate fishy goal. <3 I'm thinking even a 125 would be enough to keep one for a long time. They are pretty lazy and dopey. I'd be fine with an Australian, South American, West African, or spotted African.. Just not the marbled with can get 6'. O_O The others are all 3-5'. Meaning they grow like rockets to 3', and after that their decades long lifespans they slowly get huge.
The Aussie ones are flipping adorable with their paddle feet..


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Post 1 is going to be used to keep a list of stock.. working on it..

In other news I found out the slightly aggressive chihuahua, Goliath, I was helping out back in Guelph has been adopted into his forever home... How nice for a dog who to have found his 7th and final home in his 5 years of life...


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

More knife pics! Came out to eat his stuff tonight after not eating yesterday..


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

The LFS said they will try to get the figure 8 puffers in, even though they are harder to find than regular green spotted puffers... Hopefully on the 15th I will be able to go pick my next puffer up! <3 I'm so excited.. 

I bought some of the Nat Geo black sand today as well.. and like, the heck with all these bubbles? This stuff is way more difficult than natural sand... there are air bubbles all along the bottom with sand around them.. I just gave up, maybe they'll go away eventually.
I don't really have any driftwood or stones.. especially since petsmart stopped carrying real driftwood. >_< And every time I'm about to place an order online I'm just like "noo the shipping price." I'll probably pick something up eventually.. just grr. >_>

So this is the 15 now.. 




And since there is nothing but red and blue fish right now, I decided to just play betta lottery. I took him this feisty red VT and the very last CT Petsmart had.. I'm probably gonna regret it when they get halfmoons in again, but oh well. :-D They are in a 2.5 right now.. the blue one gets 1/3 of it. I'm still working on setting up the other 2.5 and such, I'm just so tired tonight. -_- I did have to run with that 25lb bag of sand on my back to make the bus...


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Well Mr Waffles passed away last night.... Love pet bunnies but I think I will maintain a professional relationship with my current ones.

If anyone doesn't know... I took Waffles from a friend.. He had been living in a basement for 5 or so years, and I had him for 2 years. At least his last days were in the summer where he got to spend all day roaming our (safe) backyard freely. Digging holes and eating my strawberries.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I'm so sorry, Oli. I'm sad to hear.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

My condolences for your loss. He was awfully cute and sweet looking, and it sounds like he had the best last two years a bunny could have.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Thanks guys. I can still imagine the day I found him sitting on the coffee table eating cake crumbs off my plate.  He was quite assertive with himself. 


In other crap news, I finally confirmed the 3 buns I bought for starting my herd up have pasteurella symptoms. I saw the buck with the nasty white snot this morning. Just the sneezing alone was making me suspicious but now... 
It's a real shame, the animals have such nice coats. :/ The ladies are both pregnant I'm hoping though, I would like to get 2 litters out of each of them before culling the trio. It doesn't affect the meat or anything... 
But then I have to sterilize the whole barn and cages before I can find some proper rabbits. :/ There's a big show in September that I'm going to, but I definitely won't be ready to bring anything home at that point in time... Hoping to just meet a few breeders and maybe find one of the breeds I'm interested in.

I know it's disrespectful to play the blame game but my journal my rules aha... my father of course rushed me to get something in the cages.. Since we spent so much money he didn't want to see them all empty.. He laughed at me when I said that proper stock costs $50-75 a head at least and said there is no way he is driving 5 hours to pick up rabbits... And now I'm just stressed out about these guys we have now.


On another note I started watching Fairy Tail last weekend.. I'm already on episode 97. ^-^ This is why I am not supposed to watch long series of things...


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I need to spend less time with the goldfish... They are surprisingly good at begging for extra food.. The fact that they're still looking for pellets at the bottom half an hour after being fed just makes me feel bad for them. Pulled out a ton of sword leaves from their tank.. It bothers me to take out healthy leaves but the swimming space is really compromised by the giant plants..

Mr Knife Fish also started eating NLS small fish formula, which is awesome.

I've hit one of those introvert slumps where imagination far surpasses reality... which translates to a lot more sleeping (12 hours plus naps) or just sitting around doing nothing but daydreaming.. don't have the willpower to channel my energy into something productive.. eventually my imagination will run dry and I'll snap out of it but my parents still think I'm acting depressed even though I am quite blissfully happy in my fantasy world.. I'm even sick of most music at this point, all I can tolerate is a Counting Crows album that's older than I am at this point... hmm hmmmm.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

So sorry to hear about Mr Waffles  He sure was a handsome bunny and it sounds like the last two years of his life were spent in bunny heaven.

Hugs ((()))


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Thank you Ro! I made him a little grave and buried him in the garden. 

Gonna have to start working on a breeding plan after the first batch makes it to freezer camp... 

In other news, I am appalled.. I've always supported the House Rabbit Society but this is getting ridiculous. Only have hope that this super small minority group really won't have a powerful impact.. 
https://www.thedodo.com/community/margobun/why-the-rabbit-groups-action-a-672430978.html


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

Sorry about Mr. Waffles. He was beautiful rabbit and sounded like he got pretty spoiled. 

I understand the part about wanting to push for more humane conditions for meat rabbits, but what is wrong with making rabbit meat mainstream? Raising rabbits for meat is a way more environmentally friendly option than, say, raising cows for meat.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I know I know.... and honestly if you're a vegan I totally get it and good for you for showing your beliefs and such (cause I totally believe everyone should pursue their ideals in a non violent manner). I've met a lot of vegans lacking in the logic department (flashback to a "I think my cat wants to become a vegan" conversation), but then again I haven't met a lot of non-vegans with a decent amount of logic either. But I feel like most of the people are just "ohh bunnies are so cute don't eat them!" Which annoys me. -_-

Rabbits are pretty good for meat! They have a 4:1 feed conversion ratio (4lbs feed = 1lb of rabbit weight). Chickens are winning at 2:1, beef is probably 6-9:1. If you're especially curious, it takes 10lbs of feed to produce 9lbs of grasshopper, which is probably the best feed conversion we can get. ;p Though it does depend on what's being fed. There is so much nitty gritty with animal production though, I am sure the output for alfalfa/timothy hay (main part of a rabbit's diet) is higher per acre than for wheat grain (main part of a chicken's diet). Just a guess though... 

Rabbit meat is also about twice as AWESOME as chicken meat... Compared to the common meat animals (chicken, pork, beef, lamb, veal, turkey) rabbit is the lowest calorie, lowest fat, highest protein meat per pound.. Also easily digestible for people with sensitive tummies. The US Navy would portion a soldier 170g of rabbit meat vs 340g of chicken meat. With all that in mind those feed conversion ratios just seem basic and useless... 

But rabbits are quiet and clean, they are perfect for city folk looking to be more self sufficient, maybe those who want a cheap way to get more humanely raised meats as opposed to expensive "artisan" farm meats... Which I expect may become extremely popular in higher density areas of the world, such as China or India, where an increase in wealth is causing people to consume WAY more meat than they did traditionally. Like, China's meat consumption is growing so exponentially that beef prices in the west are being affected due to the demand, such a huge thing right now... 

Sadly this whole "global village" thing of everyone imitating the west is no good for us... I strongly believe that different parts of the world are better off producing different types of food... A huge amount of desert land (Africa, the Middle East, even Western America) is ONLY suitable to meat production, as meat has legs to get up and move when times are tough (and minus America many of the pastoralists are still nomadic). A tiny crowded island like Japan has a mild climate and is well suited to growing crops for most of the year, alongside small meat sources such as chicken... while for American ranchers it is easier to raise large amounts of beef on large amounts of land... the traditional white Western (and probably native as well) diet was pretty much nothing but dried beef, very little veg, probably a good amount of bread though, and also heart disease wasn't a thing back then.. xD

I know a lot of people have been scared into believing beef is the devil on hooves... but not the case... beef spends most of its life on huge grasslands. These grasslands receive a lot of protection and can provide a lot more biodiversity than a soy field. The grasslands that beef graze store water. Having beef on your land (properly managed) won't cause a drought, while constantly tilling your soy fields quickly destroys the land... it is a very complex relationship that often isn't done completely right, but beef can in fact, be better environmentally than crops, to the point where it has a positive impact rather than a negative one (in our wild wild west). If you think about it, it makes sense, consider how many bison covered this continent before we nearly wiped them out... cattle have the ability to replace the missing bison in the ecosystem.... if we can encourage our ranchers to be more accepting of predators and other large game on the land... sadly a lot of ranchers are very rich people who hire very poor people to protect the herds, and very rich people tend to not share a lot...

The real problem with beef is that the last months of life are spent on a small, crowded, condensed feedlot, where the animals are packed with corn to get to that extra "finished" weight... Which is where ALL the pollution due to beef comes from... beef fed only grasses, in large traditional grasslands where wastes do not concentrate and become fertilizer instead of toxin, is no threat to us... 

A TED talk on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66pI

I also have a book titled "Cows Save the Planet" with the same concepts.... like anything this poor guy and this field of belief has received a bit of criticism.. maybe he exaggerates a bit, but he has good points nonetheless.. and so far in all my readings it does make the most sense to me.. 

Sorry for picking up a point but I am just crazed with food production... it's probably the most complicated thing ever and most people don't even pay attention to it, even if it is vital to every human alive...


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

And grass-fed beef tastes better, to boot!

(I know that's not much to say after such a long and interesting post, but for the life of me...)


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

True true xD

Well Mocha is off at dog camp for the week. I never thought it would be helpful but apparently it is helping.. For anyone that doesn't know Mocha is a fear dog and has only ever wanted to live in a bubble... Over two years with us she has come a long way, eventually adjusting to people (with us around) but her dog fear was still pretty bad...

Last time in the park this off leash (friendly) lab ran up to us... Well I got spun around on the leash, Mocha peed all over herself, and eventually backed up against a fence and just barked really loudly in this dogs face until the owner finally took him away... so yea dogs are scary to her...

Well she'd been there two days and this guy already had her running around with 5 dogs... Still a bit nervous but getting better. It's a nice thing, we would never have the resources and skills to get her past her fears so this guy is being pretty helpful (for almost $1000  ). For anyone that doesn't know it's a bit nerve wracking trying to find a trainer who understands how anxious dogs work... but Mocha is doing very well with him...

It was pretty funny watching (from the house) him try and get her into the car when he came to pick her up.. It took him about an hour to convince her, had to do a lap around the neighborhood with her... It was very similar to methods I've seen to get spooked horses to board into trailers.... the whole once they start to have a slight interest in going inside to back them up until they REALLY want to get in... Mocha has always reminded me of a spooked horse, so... 

Here's a lil FB video of her as well...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=646416662121198 



















Her other fear was leaving our house/yard... She knows how to walk on leash, and does so great for the first half of the walk, but once we'd reach a way to get home, she'd just pull like crazy until she got home... So just imagine a doberman that makes it impossible for herself to get enough exercise...


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Well my figure 8 puffer will arrive who knows when.. so of course my mind is already drifting to different things.. -__-
Right now I was thinking to just get a pair of 40 breeders for the shelf.. upgrade the 20 gallon on top to a South American biotope type thing... and then a blue tongue skink on the bottom shelf... Or a tentacled snake. :3 









I've seen them at reptile shows for like... $30... and they seem pretty simple to care for... fully aquatic snake. The skink is a lot more interactive.. but I'd only be able to take him out on weekends when I go home during school so I dunno if he'd be okay with that.. They seem like such sweet lizards though, closest thing to my dream tegu I could get for now.  My parents think lizards are gross aha. They'd feed him and stuff just not take him out... The snake would be cool though, could have a nice planted tank for him. Either way that'd be more of a Christmas thing. Still tempted to just upgrade the 20 long to a 40B right now. >_> I have 15 cories, 2 hatchet fish, the one threadfin rainbow, and the knife fish in there at the moment.. plus a bunch of black rilli shrimp.

My mind is always like "must have less pets" but then I just want everything. @[email protected]


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

In other news Zara is going to the vet tomorrow.. which has me worried. My parents already said no surgeries... normally it'd be okay but since Zara is 7, no... they think expensive vet care is a waste on an older dog who might only live another year or has a low chance of recovery.. so I dunno what's gonna happen.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Mm so Zara is at the vet getting blood work and x-rays today. . The vet said she thinks it may be pyometra or pancreatitus. . Maybe diabetes..
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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