j.c. chasez.

this post is a sad one. and as no member of nsync is stereotypically sad, i simply bing searched "sad nsync" and chose the first member i saw looking sad. even with such a primitive approach, it took quite a while to find one. but in the end, i did.

you've got that right, joshua. it is a time for sadness.

this week, my dear friend and pet, zatch, the blue beta, died in his fishbowl. he was a good little fish. he spent most of his days (after coming home with me) in a fishbowl with yellow and pink dancehall bottom with his good friend skeletor and some floating pods that were supposed to be plants, but instead wound up floating on the top of the water as a sort of misshapen brown beach balls. he enjoyed freeze dried blood shrimp and having his bowl cleaned as needed.

this experience reminds me greatly of when my dog, sadie, died. the situations are very different, of course. but just the same, very similar. it's not quite as emotionally draining for a twenty-two year old to lose a beta fish as it is for a twelve year old to have his dog put down, but the feeling is the same in principle. the level of emotions just aren't nearly as high.

anyway, i'll miss the little fella. he was a worthy member of the apartment and represented his namesake well. i still can't decide why i got all that attached to my late, aquatic friend. he swam around, i fed him and cleaned his tank. somehow in these seemingly impersonal interactions, though, it seems i did. this makes me wonder how i'd take it if i had a plant that died. i can't imagine it would be the same--i'm guessing because plants don't eat. but if i had a venus flytrap, i guess i might.

so, this morning, after cleaning the kitchen and finding a tang lid that i could use to transport him, i took him outside and buried him in the garden in front of my apartment. complete with tombstone to boot. (note: 'stone' was actually a sort of luggage tag)

and so, rest in peace, zatch. you were a good little friend. hopefully your grave will remain at peace at least for a little while. i can't imagine too many people go rummaging through the woodchips in front of my apartment, so it should be safe for now.

fin.

sats.

autumn and i had the grand opportunity this last saturday to go to utah lake's finer areas and enjoy half a day reading dune and eating little debbies. it was great.

if you'd like photos of the day or to read autumn's side of the story, you can find what your looking for here.

for the braver bunch, you're welcome to stick around.

waste out weekends aren't really satisfying if you stay around the house. sure, you can find satisfaction in watching humorous youtube videos and never actually changing out of your pyjamas--but it's all a bit hollow. you need to go somewhere and do something. and what something is to be done? here i quote ferris bueller and say, "how can i possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this?" in addition to that, the last week was a nightmare, and after finishing another string of exams, i proved my generation and felt entitled to a day out.
and it was pretty awesome.

besides, we were reading. surely that counts for something.

in addition to read, we also had a grand time skipping stones, tasting the dirt from unpaved roads as one of us accidentally kicked up a pocket, and having a dog named bobo follow us in the car (we eventually had to drive back to where his owner was to get him to return).

it was a nice time. i felt very tom sawyer as we boarded the somewhat neglected dock on the edge of one part of the lake. any time losing your balance means falling into a batch of cattails you know you're living a life worth the living.

the cattails bring me to the next point.
i had no idea a spot like this even existed in utah. if you look at the photos (again, found here) you'll find a somewhat odd combination of ecosystems present. it's like this.


anyway, it was a grand time in an unexpectedly pleasant environment. good day all and all.

and now back to school.

the apple portal.

disaster has struck, and i'm now a "blogger." or, you could take the immature route and think that i'm a "booger." i personally think that's the funnier option.

and on that note, my first blog post is complete.