Dealing With Death: R.I.P Fishie

Yesterday something terrible happened. Something horribly terribly awful.
I, Fatima Berry... committed murder. OH YES. I AM A MONSTER!

I decided to clean my fish, Bill-shido Neil Diamonscales Gustav Hagen Kaulitz Rouge's tank. For funsies I put him in my bath tub. He zipped around, happy as a clam. He was a humble betta from Wal-Mart and had probably never seen so much water all to himself!

I cleaned his tank and played with him a bit, getting him to swim through a hoop.
I finally got him back into his own area with a bit of chasing. (He really liked the tub).

However, after a few minutes in his new water he began to look pale. I tapped the plastic bowl, worried. I figured he was just sleeping. Betta fish do need sleep you know, as well as fresh air. (Yes!  A fish that breathes air. How about that?)

I fretted and watched him for an hour but there was no change. He became lethargic and slow, floating around like a lump. I tried to feed him but he wouldn't eat.

At 11:27 pm I had to pronounce him dead.

Guilt washed over me like rain. Cold, painful, shameful rain. As I lay his tank in white, as is procedure for a proper Victorian funeral (for he was a true Victorian gentleman. He wouldn't even fight his own reflection!) I felt myself tear up. I had taken a life. A small harmless creature that looked to me to care for him and keep him safe and I had failed.

I forgot to set out his water for a night to let the chemicals in the tap water settle out. He had gotten toxic shock in addition to temperature shock from being in the tub. I can't help but think that if I had just put him in his usual hiatus cup for cleaning none of this would have happened. He would still be in his tank blowing bubbles and sleeping under his plastic plants.

This morning I took his tank out to our dock and held a small ceremony for him. My dog and a crowd of fiddler crabs were in attendance. I said a few kind words and tossed him into the water where he sort of stayed until the tide came in enough to wash him away.

I'd like to say I've learned from this mistake and will be ready for a new fish soon but I doubt it. Unless I gain the means to properly care for and house, a great white shark, I can say that I will never own another fish as long as I live. I know he was just a $5 fish from the back of Wal-Mart but in a way he was family. He will be missed dearly

R.I.P Bill-shido Neil Diamonscales Gustav Hagen Kaulitz Rouge

Media Survey: Everything was the internet and nothing hurt.

Take a look at this here handy dandy chart to view my weekly media use.

What does my media use say about me? Well for one I may have a small internet addiction. But that's beside the point and nothing I can't handle.... It also shows that I don't read us much as I would like or use to before I had my own personal computer. (I still think watching anime subtitled online counts as reading.) I don't listen to the radio very often unless it's to catch a quick traffic report or weather update in the morning on my way to school. Billboards are EVERYWHERE. That's five percent of my life I'll never get back, amaright? (*crickets chirping* ahem...moving on.)  The only magazines I encounter are the AARP and Bon Appetit magazines that get sent to our house. Although I do wish they hadn't discontinued Gourmet. Sigh, such lovely pie recipes but alas, c'est la vie. I would love to say I read the newspaper for information on the things happening in my area but no. I do not. I skip right to the comics and cross words, then on to the ads in the back for listings of adorable kittens and puppies. How I wish I could adopt them all. Television is rare for me as well. Unless a new episode of one of my favorite television shows is on (Especially Spongebob Squarepants, RuPaul's Drag Race or Glee) I rarely watch television. As I said before, most of my time is spent on the internet. I would say it's a shame but who am I kidding? I love it.

The media I trust most is, wait for it...The internet! I know what you're thinking, "Don't trust everything on the internet." Well, I can't trust Fox News now can I? I kid, I kid. (Not really.) If one knows where to look legitimate news stories and coverages of news stories can be found online. On sites like the Huffington Post, or WTOC's website. The Onion is a great place for snarky but true news articles. Blogs or websites run by individuals I find to be rarely helpful when looking for anything truthful or accurate. Opinions vary and news travels like a game of telephone. Personal news sources are all based on he-said-she-said. Every now and then one might find something true and accurate. It's all in where you look.

Obviously I hate the internet. *rolls eyes*. I'm in love with the internet okay? If the internet asked me to marry it I would. I so would. I'm honestly sure that fifty-eight percent is nowhere near accurate. I spend most of my internet time on tumblr, a blogging website, screaming over the newest pictures of Tokio Hotel of Tom Hiddleston being adorable and apologizing for chewing gum.

 The I also take part in very important internet debates including the following:

• What's cuter, kittens or puppies? (The answer if obvious. Baby two-toed sloths of course)

• Tom Hiddleston of Robert Downey Jr. (To which I answered ever so eloquently: ASDFGHJK DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE OH GOD PLEASE NO I CAN'T)
• 90's or 80's (Don't even get me started.)

A lot of time is also spent watching movies and old episodes of 30 Rock and Arrested Development on Netflix. My remaining waking hours are spent eating, breathing, and going to school. Don't I have a life you ask? Why yes. It's called the internet.

I am constantly broadening my horizons to new forms of media and styles of entertainment. I find myself becoming more enraptured by older films and television shows. Whereas I used abhor black and white films, I find myself watching more and more of them (Might I recommend the original Day the Earth Stood Still, or The Bad Seed?) I can't see myself getting onto sports (I just don't understand. Who needs fresh air and exercise when there's so much nothing to be done inside?) I am also exploring new music and art styles. I am constantly amazed by the vast world of media growing more and more around us every day. It's a wonder we aren't drowning in it.

Until next time! (Enjoy some more pictures brought to you by the internet!)

 (Why yes that is Robert Downey Jesus.)

 (Mind. Blown)