I mentioned briefly that I visited Petsmart in my post on January 17, 2010. When I was younger, I always wondering how you should pronounce Petsmart. Is it Pets Mart, or Pet Smart? I still am not sure. (I should probably wait for a TV commercial, if there is one, so I can hear how it should be said.)

While I was there, I noticed that there was one koi in a tank full of a different kind of fish. The koi looked very stressed and was trying to swim away, but it couldn't because it was only in a small tank, and it's impossible for it to break through tank walls to get to other tanks and back to safety among its own kind.

Since I'm on the subject of fish, I recently bought two fish from Petsmart - a greyish koi with a weird yellowish splotch on him, and an algae eater (my dad wants one, probably because he hopes it'll clean the tank for him, and anyways, since we have a "Petperks" card - it's like a store membership - we get a discount). The algae eater, as is their nature, found a place to stick on the tank, and didn't move until later, while I wasn't looking. He moved to the underside of this fake rock decoration we have and I didn't see him until I took a closer look. And the grey koi seems to be doing fine. It's my original fish that were troubling.

I have two fish tanks. In the bigger tank, I have a big white koi (used to have orangey-red parts, but it faded with time...Really weird) and a red and black koi. Yesterday, I noticed the big white koi (I did name him/her - I actually still have trouble telling the genders apart - Pumpkinflash, but we don't really use the name) was acting funny. It kept swimming around frantically and it would sometimes go up to the water's surface and seemed to be making nibbling motions. The red and black fish eventually did that too, but I think it's more likely that it was just imitating its friend. I suspected that the white koi must have choked on a pebble, because koi try to glean food from pebbles. I tried to scare it by flicking my finger against the tank, thinking it would spit out the rock if it got frightened (I used this technique for a fish I used to have, to save its life, since it was really and truly seeming like it would die, except I used a net to chase it) but it didn't work. At least the fish seem better today, maybe the white one digested the rock...Wait...Then that would be really weird. o_O;;

My mother read in her Chinese newspaper that an old lady, apparently a doctor of some sort, recommended eating meat for breakfast, fish for lunch, and something light for dinner (like rice soup). Not eating much for dinner makes sense, I suppose, seeing as you shouldn't eat much before you go to bed. But I tend to eat something light or sugary for breakfast, meat for lunch, and fish for dinner. Guess I have everything reversed. I wonder whether the lady in the newspaper's suggestions would really work, though, or if it only benefits the health of some people. My mother always reads that newspaper, and probably has for a long time. She also reads books about fitness and cooking and such things. My dad says that she keeps reading cookbooks and never really cooks the foods in them. XD

I'd like to make something based on a recipe. I really haven't cooked in a long time; barely at all ever since I moved on from Cooking class in 7th grade. I wonder if I should use one of my recipes that I obtained from that very same class. We made a coffee cake once and it was pretty good (it doesn't taste like coffee at all, it's just called coffee cake). I don't know if we have the cake pans and ingredients, though. I guess I'll have to find out sometime.

Today in debate club, the topic kind of changed until it was about how unhealthy America is, what with so many obese people, while in other countries peoples are reduced to making mud pies. There were more people than usual in debate club since it's been raining hard nowadays and students just want shelter from the rain. One boy said that people keep looking for a perfect, easy way to lose weight. But he said that if you're not rich, it won't happen. (Because then you could afford to have that surgery to remove some of your fat and skin) If you run out of your Nutrisystem food your eating habits aren't going to change. He said that you must simply eat less and exercise. And other students suggested vegetarianism but then there were people who protested saying they couldn't live without their meat. (And I can't, either, sadly) Besides, meat does have its benefits, like protein. Even eating other protein foods or supplements isn't quite the same as the real thing.

That reminds me, my mom said that one of the possible reasons why my skin is sensitive and tends to get itchy or infected easily is because I don't get enough zinc. She said that peanuts might have zinc, but since I'm allergic to peanuts, I can't get much zinc. There's only a limited variety of nuts I can eat - almonds and pistachios are the only ones I've confirmed to be "safe". I wonder if I'm destined to have skin problems forever.

Labels: choke, coffee cake, cooking, debate club, eating, fish, food, koi, meal, meat, newspaper, nuts, peanuts, petsmart, protein, recipe, rocks, skin, weight, zinc

A few days ago, when my mom was driving me to my summer classes, we saw a yellow school bus parked by the side of the road. I wondered if it was a field trip that a summer camp was doing (because school ought to be out unless you take "year-long" school) but then I saw that the people getting off the bus had golf clubs. So it must've been a group of kids who were taking golf classes. (The bus was not far from the Blackberry Farms Golf Course) Then, of course, my mom had to remind me that she wanted me to learn golf, and especially so since my dad wants me to take the classes so he can learn too.

Recently, I went to Petsmart. I usually go there to pass the time if my mom is going to the grocery store or something. (My dad accompanies me) We wanted to get another pet koi for our fish tank, but it's not a good time to seeing as I will be leaving for vacation soon. I mean, I heard there was a family that had a lot of fish in a big koi pond and they don't even go on long vacations because they don't want to leave the fish alone. So maybe we'll be getting a new fish after I return, in August. My dad wanted to get a greyish-colored koi. What do you think?

While I'm at Petsmart, I often look at the other animals, especially the cats. They take a few cats in and you can adopt them. There were two cats that looked very alike (I guess they were siblings) who were quite energetic and if you put your finger on the glass, then they'd seem to be trying to bite you. o_O;; And there was a Siamese cat. I really like Siamese cats because of their blue eyes and how their paws and ears are dark while the rest of their bodies are light. But seeing as my mom is unwilling to adopt a cat or dog, I'm stuck only looking.

My parents say the main reason why I can't be entrusted with such a pet is because children will often beg and beg for a pet until their parents give it to them, and they will promise to take care of the animal. But after a few weeks they won't take care of the pet, just play with it when they feel like it. And the parents are stuck taking care of the animal since you can't just "get rid of it" - It's a living being (this is sort of like the debate over whether abortion is humane). So my parents don't want that to happen if they do get me a dog or cat.

Still, I can't help wanting one because I'd rather find out for myself than just hear what other people already have to say about it. It's kind of like how everyone believed Aristotle's writings even though he assumed a lot of them since he didn't have time to discover everything himself. It wasn't until later that scientists proved him wrong, finding out the Earth was not the center of the universe, and things like that. My dad says it'd be nice if there was a "Rent-a-Pet" kind of business so I could have a trial run and if I'm responsible enough, then I could adopt a dog or cat. (That sure would be nice, but as far as I know there is no such business...)

I recently discovered how hard it is to draw umbrellas. I was doodling and decided to make the person hold an umbrella. However, it would turn out lopsided or it would be too high or too small or something. I had to keep adjusting it and finally I gave up and decided I would just leave it as is. Maybe I should get out one of my umbrellas and look at it to draw one. (It's easier for me to draw things I can see with my own two eyes.)

Labels: animals, broken promise, bus, cat, difficult, drawing, golf, koi, pet, petsmart, responsibility, siamese, umbrella

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