fancy poulty parts sold here, breasts and thighs and hearts.

A new class starts tomorrow: History of Rock Music.  If this isn't going to be interesting, I don't know what will.

We got a new futon off Craigslist.  It's funny how something so small (well, it's physically quite heavy and huge, but still) can make both of us so much happier.

Mishti may or may not be getting sick again.  I really hope she doesn't.  Poor little baby chinchilla.

I have old Suzanne Vega stuck in my head most of the time now.

My projects for now: redecorate and reorganize living room, learn JavaScript, and start drawing again.  

the places a chinchilla will go...

Well. I don't know where to begin. I don't even know if I should really begin. She's alive, and not just barely. She's almost her old self again. I owe so much to Chins & Quills. I really, really do.

We managed the bloat pretty well with the help of the second animal hospital we took her to. We had to get her out of there after a couple days, though, because it was not a chinchilla-friendly environment. Even though the bloat was much less pronounced, her breathing was in tatters. It was really painful to watch. We took her to another vet, who thought that Mishti probably had an upper respiratory infection and needed antibiotics. We didn't like the idea because she'd been on three the week before, which is what caused her massive near-fatal bloating. But when we brought her home it became more and more apparent that we needed to give it a shot. We had chloramphenicol on hand, so we gave her a dose, went to bed, and hoped for the best.

When we woke up, her breathing was normal.

And since then, it's been steady progress. We still have to feed her with a syringe because she has no appetite (probably an antibiotic side-effect), but she's gaining weight steadily and gaining energy. You have no idea how happy Kaiser and I are about this. I think elated would be an understatement. She's our baby girl, and she's going to be ok.

This whole ordeal, as well as Proud-Feather's death a few weeks ago, has been really bad for me academically. It's been much harder to concentrate and keep on-task. I already have ADD, and huge emotional ordeals on top of that make me sort of scattered. Hopefully I can get myself organized for the next two weeks, because this class is almost over and I really want to do decently in it.

I promise more future updates for my 2 readers!

priorities, priorities

Ending an emotional week, starting fresh.

I still have to study for music theory, but here's a rough list of what my priorities are right now:

> Spending time with my family (including two newly adopted parakeets, Moon and Featherbert).

> Studying for music theory and making sure that I understand the concepts well.

> Cleaning the apartment little by little without getting distracted.

> Simplifying our possessions and finances with the ultimate goal of saving up for a down payment on a house.

> Speaking of home, slowly phasing out toxic cleaning materials and substances in our home and replacing them with natural, less polluting, and less irritating substitutes.

> Being physically active every day and taking time to combat negative body image.

> Art, maybe drawing or painting (which I stopped doing in 2002, for many reasons).

I wish I could cut down that list to be even shorter, but to me these are the essentials.

What is the deal with all barbeque sauce in the normal grocery store having high fructose corn syrup as the first ingredient? That's completely unnecessary. I seriously don't know if I could live in an area without a Trader Joe's.

Also, our second wedding anniversary is coming up! I still want a re-do for our wedding to be more about us and less about everyone else, but that's not a priority right now (ooh, I'm getting good at this!)