Eternal Sleep Close to Home

I really didn't think I'd be digging a third burial ground any time soon. At least, not this soon, right after burying the goldfishes from the carnival. I decided against burying Firion next to the goldfishes though, since he simply deserved better than the spot I had originally chosen for them. They were buried at the side of the house, behind the fence where you'd have to walk all around the house to get to. No one ever goes there, except a bunch of cats apparently, to use as their litter box because I saw so many cat turds there, which is what deterred me from burying Firion there. Instead, I chose in front of the house, next to a tree that I can see from the window here in this room where Firion and I spent the most time in. I already feel much better knowing that his burial site is where I can see from here.

Changing Trademarks

I've always been known to wear a blue jacket, sort of like a trademark. I wore it regardless of the season, even in Florida's hot, summer days. The reason why I wore it was mostly for my own protection and convenience. I generally dislike sunlight, not that I'm being all vampire or anything, but wearing it protected me against the heat, often times retaining the cooler temperatures from air conditioned rooms, providing better comfort in short terms. During the night, I primarily wear it to protect myself from bugs, mainly mosquitoes. Considering how I always wear a t-shirt, again regardless of the season, the jacket protected my arms from exposure to both threats. Even aside from these protections, I also use my jackets for carrying many items inside its pockets. Everything aside from my cell phone and either another handheld device or a wallet goes in my jacket, while the most handy things go in my pants pocket. Protection, utility convenience, comfort, and fashionably(?) donning my favorite color of blue, I can honestly say that I love this jacket.

The Silent Desk

The past few months have been awfully eventful in my life. Perhaps too eventful. I had barely been able to keep up with this site due to having two jobs, and Herschel has left us late October. It was a horribly short life that it lived, much like the other two goldfish. Despite my experience and confidence in being able to keep the goldfish, the lack of cooperation of the members of this household has had me delay my plans for getting a better living quarter for Herschel until it was too late. It was an unfortunate loss...

However, it didn't occur to me that Herschel wasn't the only one in need of attention...

20k Page Views!

Whoa, that was super quick. It doesn't feel like it's been that long since the site hit 10k page views, which shows how much the site has grown since then. I was planning on getting some artwork for 20k page views, since I saw it coming up, but I certainly didn't make it on time. XD In fact, I was worried about my post count dropping in September due to me having a job now, and a lot of my posts ended up getting delayed until today.

I really don't have much to offer to show my thanks at the moment due to my artist friends being busy lately, but also since I hadn't been able to work on many images as well. I DO have some pictures of Firion however, so enjoy some of the cute positions I've found him in. After all, he DOES want more attention.

As always, thank you for your support, whether if you come here often or just visiting!

Feesh! - Firion 5

So just as I've wanted, here are some more pictures of Firion. This time on a 5 MegaPixel camera as opposed to 3. Not the 8.0 MP I wanted originally, but this should do for now.  

Edit: It seems like uploading pictures directly from the phone using the Blogger App automatically resizes the pictures to the "Medium" size setting it seems. Sounds like a reasonable feature, but not sure if I like it entirely. I will re-upload them in the original size if I get some requests.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Finally, my new phone arrived! I got the Samsung Galaxy Nexus off of Amazon at $49.99 as an existing Verizon member, and it is amazing so far. Glad I didn't get a 8 GB iPhone 4 at the same price at Best Buy, which the rest of my family did.

Feesh! - Firion 4

It certainly has been a long time since I've talked about Firion on the blog. Mostly because I STILL don't have a new cell phone or any device that I can take better quality pictures or videos with. Otherwise, I'd probably be posting a video of him every once in a while, I'm sure. Of course, I still don't have an external hard drive either to save all the footages in either.

Regardless, there are some new, neat things I've noticed about Firion, so I figured why not talk about him some more?

Promo - Solomon Shop

I have a good friend who's been going around buying toys, usually collectibles of some type from stores, and selling them off at Amazon or eBay after a while, especially after they stop manufacturing the goods. Among them were some Resident Evil Archive Series 1 figures, and I managed to get Chris Redfield in-box, and a zombie for Vicki.

His inventory changes a lot due to the limited quantity of things he finds at the stores, so it might be worth checking out once in a while to see if he gets anything that might interest you. He sold a Bender figure that I thought was pretty neat to have fairly recently as well.

The things usually in stock are Hotwheels cars, Gundam, Transformers, Zoids, other mecha figures, Marvel super hero goods, other action figures, masks, video game accessories, LEGOs, and more.

To see what he has in stock right now, click the link on his site, SolomonShop.org to see his inventory listing on Amazon.com.

Neighboring Foreign Nostalgia

I sure have been keeping myself busy, pumping out reviews and bringing in news that really interests me here on this blog. It certainly feels nice getting things done and being productive, which is one of the goals I've had for myself when I started this blog. Of course, while I am reaching a limit to my capabilities right now with my hard drive being too full to download and start new PC games until I get an external hard drive, and the flea infestation in the house shutting me up in my sanctuary is keeping me away from both the Wii and PS3, I am left with portable games like the DS and PSP games for now. It won't be long before I start talking about older games that I find worth mentioning. Wondering whether if I should attempt to write about them as a review or have a new category, like a Game Spotlight section perhaps. In the meantime, here's the latest poll results.

Pet Mastry +1 - Fish

So I've seen quite a lot of things with pet fish lately, mostly with goldfish. I kind of passed the image on the left off as a possible Photoshop image, but I did feel that I wish I had a little floating plastic ball like that for Firion to play with or something. Good chance he wouldn't be interested, but it'd be something to do other than to make bubble nests all the time.

Then my little brother posted this link on my Facebook, telling me to teach Firion to do tricks like this. For those of you not familiar with Nico Nico Douga videos, to turn off the scrolling comments, click on the icon on the bottom right corner. This isn't on the direct site, so there's also no need to log in to view this video. Anyway, the video shows this person's pet goldfish that can do this pretty interesting trick. When the person drops a ring into the fish tank, the goldfish will swim down to it, stick its head in so that it's sort of wearing the ring around itself, and bring it back up to the surface to the person's finger. Definitely an interesting trick to witness. Of course, Firion is so much sleeker than the goldfish in the video, so I kind of doubt that I could find a ring of the right size for him to attempt that trick. But even more importantly, how do I train a fish to do tricks like that? Well, I happened to stumble across the solution.

Feesh! - Firion 3

Today certainly is a lot of things. My birthday, the release date of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and also Firion's anniversary since he arrived here on my birthday! =D So today's entry will be about Firion, although I still never got that LED light. This post will also double as a guide for keeping betta fish as a pet.

Feesh! - Firion 2

So the results are in for the first poll.

What do you want to see on this blog?
Firion: 3 votes
Vicki's troll posts: 3 votes
More pictures: 1 vote
My life: 0 votes
Girls: 0 votes
Stock market (LoL): 0 votes
Other: 0 votes

Didn't get anywhere near as many votes as I was expecting, sure, but this poll was mostly here for me to learn how these polls work. Anyway, the next poll will be up in a bit, this time regarding how I should handle content that contains spoilers for games, stories, and anything else that should be hidden from some people's eyes that would ruin the experience. Anyway, my readers have spoken, so I'll continue talking about Firion.

The thermometer on the right

It's gotten a lot more chilly compared to a week or two ago now, even here in Florida. And one of the concerns I've had last year was whether if Firion's water is warm enough for him, since apparently bettas' natural habitat is in tropial areas of Asia. Because of this, I decided to get a thermometer for him, although it's mainly for tanks rather than fishbowls. ._. PetSmart didn't have any thermometers for fishbowls, so I got one that floats in the water instead of the colored strip thing where you stick it on the inner surface of the tank.

So during these cold days, I put Firion to my left, which Pugyuu, my laptop, vents out its heat towards. I put something in the way so that it isn't too hot though. Otherwise, the bowl goes to my right where it's a bit further away since I need room for my mouse on my right as well. Doing so has definitely allowed me to maintain a pretty consistent temperature between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm hoping this trick will work throughout the winter, since I didn't have the thermometer last winter, so I don't know how effective it was then.

Also, I still haven't gotten the LED light for Firion yet, since I don't think I've been to PetSmart since I posted about it. Kind of surprising, considering how often I got dragged there before, but Vicki's schedule has been ridiculously filled lately too. I'm not sure if she's even reading my blog either because of the amount of work she's getting swamped with, which is sort of disappointing. She did print out a coupon for small pet stuff, but it's for purchases of over $30 something I believe, and the light I want is only $16. >_>; Might be just better to just wait for the light itself to go on sale rather than to force myself to use a coupon.

Also, while writing this, it dawned upon me that I haven't talked about Pugyuu on here yet. There's quite a story with this laptop too, along with my previous one, so it'll be another topic to post about for sure.

Wishlist - October 2011

Just a quick list of things that I am looking into buying at the moment. Of course, knowing me, these things will sit in my wishlist for the next half a year or more

1. Marina Micro LED Lights, Light Set, & Hub

Firion needs more light. Read previous post for more details.


2. Nintendo 3DS

I mean, really. If this wasn't in the list here, what's wrong with me?

3. Plain Head Sweatband (Blue)

This is kind of an impulse listing, since I really don't have much NEED for a sweatband, but was wondering how effective it would be in keeping my long hair in place. Figured it's better than a girly headband, and always wearing it in a ponytail is kind of boring, but there are no other alternative way of wearing my hair that isn't stupid looking for me. If not, I was also wondering whether if it could double as an eye mask at night. >_>; ... Not its intended purpose, but I'm just a resourceful kind of guy who makes use of whatever I have available to use in a way that would get more things done, without harming anything... unless the item is just disposable or something.

4. Sony Playstation 3

This isn't really for me so much as it is for my girlfriend. Partially because my dad has a PS3 back at my house in New Jersey, and partially because the DVD player here is so crappy, it barely even plays DVDs. -_- What use does a DVD player have if it doesn't play DVDs properly? So I thought a PS3 would be a great replacement for that, as well as allowing me to play my copy of Star Ocean: The Last Hope - International - finally, which I had bought like... over a year ago. I believe I got it some time in February 2010, which was soon after I came down here to Florida. No one else we know seems to have a working PS3 around, and all this time, despite how badly I wanted to play the game, I haven't been able to play it. @_@

Okay, so maybe the PS3 IS partially for me, but it will be for my girlfriend to keep. I would have bought this a long time ago had I found a job like I had planned since I came here. =/ Even before fixing the economy, the corruption in Florida needs to be ironed out because things are quite messed up over here. Not going into politics though. Not my favorite topic, and neither is it for most of my readers anyway.

I'm trying to find more things that would go on this list, but I'm drawing a blank right now. Maybe there just isn't too much that I really want.. or that maybe I won't have much to want until I reach the door of playing more games with the 3DS and PS3 first. >_> Cause I could list the games that I want for them, but.. that'll have to wait until when I get the consoles, I guess.

Edit: After thinking some more, I realized there were two things that I've also had in mind.

5. Car

Don't care what brand, the features, and other luxury details. As long as it gets me to places safely, the cheapest car will do. Transportation is one of the things that are keeping me from getting a job right now, since the bus stops around here are ... stupidly lacking. The closest bus stop for me will probably be well over a mile or two, and waking up early enough to even fast walk over a mile to get to a BUS STOP to get to a job seems ridiculous to me. Maybe I'm spoiled to think that, but having my own car will definitely help increase my chances of landing a job. The only problem this isn't on top of the list though is because of auto insurance that I obviously can't afford to pay right now, even though my driving record is absolutely clean. Not even being stopped by a police officer for speeding and such. The roads in Florida are just.. ridiculous to me. The many drivers on the road don't communicate with the other drivers very much, the traffic lights are designed to CAUSE an accident with a $200+ fine hovering over each intersection with their red-light-runner capture cameras and their ridiculously short yellow lights, and tailgators everywhere. @_@ Second, there's no room in the driveway here for another car, unfortunately. I'm not sure where I would park my car if I were to get one at this house.

6.  Sword

Well, this has been on my mind since I picked up the way of the Sword Named Truth. But at the same time, it's been hard finding a good sword that matched my basic, standard image of the Sword. Generally, a long sword or a claymore would work well, as long as it is a double-edged sword, because many truths have two sides that can harm both the target and the user if not used correctly. This whole symbolism has had a strong impact on me, and I thought it would be nice to have as an ornament, as well as to pose with for pictures or something. Heck, if I ever do get a sword, I will post pictures of myself with the sword on here. Perhaps with the sweatband and some other stuff too. >_> Cause there's plenty of cool characters in video games that wear some type of headband.

Vincent from Final Fantasy VII

Dart from Legend of Dragoon

Sol from Guilty Gear

Although Sol's isn't really a sweatband, but it's still a band he wears on his head. ... Also, why are they all red.. ? >_> I can't think of any characters that wear blue headbands for some reason..

Feesh! - Firion 1

 It was on my birthday last year, when I got my own pet again. It's been several years since I've had my 4 goldfish; 2 of which I had won from a carnival that lived for about a decade, the other two from petstores after that, which only lived for about 5 to 7 years at most. I was rather young, unoriginal, and not-as-creative with names at the time, so I ended up naming them Gold and Silver, due to them being colored that way when I won them from the ping pong toss game. I hadn't given the game much thought at the time either. I just tossed the balls at the jars, and out of three balls, two of them somehow fell in the same jar after bouncing off the rims of many in the middle. When I got the two, little goldfish in the plastic bags, I was in awe of what I had happened to win. They were sleek and simple looking fish, but gave me the impression that they were fast swimmers. As I watched them swim around in the water in the plastic bags, they sparkled with their bright, shiny scales as the sunlight brightly lit their colors.

After getting home, we put them in a traditional fishbowl that we had after keeping several other fish I had, although they didn't live for very long. At the time, I hadn't really understood why. After several days, they would be floating at the top, lifeless, which even now makes me sad to think about them. =( But when we learned that they needed oxygen in their water, we decided to get them an air pump, then a bigger fish tank, then decorations. We eventually had a fairly complete set of an aquarium and was happy to see that Gold and Silver were living healthy in the tank. Feeding them every day brought a smile on my face as they swam up to eat the flakes that I would drop in the water.

After a few years, my parents decided to get some more fish for the aquarium, and brought home two goldfish, of different variety. I can't name what type of fish they were at the moment, but they were definitely fatter. One was large, bulky, and had a big head. The other was one of those goldfish that have bulging eyes. I ended up naming them Platinum and Copper, just because it went together with Gold and Silver to some extent. >_> Mom was worried that Gold and Silver might fight with them since they were in the tank longer and such, but they never did anything of the sort. They all went about with their fishy business and kept to themselves, which is good.

Anyway, this post was supposed to be about Firion, my current pet, which also happens to be my first betta fish. After thinking about all that what my parents have done and said about my goldfish though, I guess they were thinking more about betta fish than goldfish, since bettas don't need oxygenated water, fight each other, and thus better kept in a traditional fishbowl.

Two of my friends I met through Vicki, Rachel and Nebby, came to my birthday party, although I hadn't planned any sort of fun event aside from getting together and having fun playing video games, it was what worked best for most of us, especially me. I don't care much for rides and attractions as much as more interactive activities like bowling and video games. However, I'm still unemployed, and so are several others around me. Even if some people do have some form of income, some are rather hesitant about spending money at events as well, much like myself. I hate being as stingy as I am, but without income, what can I say? Just because I have some cash on me at the time, doesn't mean that it's money that I can mindlessly spend immediately without considering the consequences in the future. I constantly wait for sales and other money saving opportunities for anything I spend on. Even now, I'm waiting for a LED light to light up your fishbowl to go on sale at PetSmart so that I can see Firion better, as well as take better photos of him.

Firion lit by a flashlight

Anyway, back to my birthday, Rachel and Nebby arrived with the capped, plastic cup with a Crowntail Betta inside. Now, he's staring at me from inside his dark fishbowl. ._. A slightly crowded fishbowl with a floating, hollow log for him to sit in, a plastic plant, a thermometer, and a rock inside. Good thing the light that I plan on getting for him can be placed outside of the bowl to light it up.

It's also nearing my 25th birthday as well as the first anniversary since Firion and I became buddies. o_o I'll be posting more about him another time, I'm sure. Maybe I'll have the light for him by then.