Proteus says he goes to Elysium

Menelaus, my Betta fish, finally died. I've been expecting it, he's been lingering for weeks, picking at food and only occasionally moving. 'Twas a lovely Viking funeral, mostly because thankfully no one else in the bathroom realized what I was doing, so I didn't get a lot of "EWWWWW"s.

I'll scour the tank and get new ones (two of them) soon. I might pick a different source of Classical rivals for the next two.

Viking Funerals

The ghost [of Deiphobus] replied: "Your piety has paid all necessary rites to rest my wandering ghost; but cruel fate, and my more cruel wife, betrayed my sleeping life to Grecian swords. These are the monuments of Helen's love: the shame I bear below, the marks I bore above. You know in what deluding joys we passed the night that was by Heaven decreed our last: for when the fatal horse, descending down, filled with arms, overwhelmed the unhappy town, she feigned nocturnal orgies; left my bed, and led the dances mixed with Trojan women. Then, waving her torch high, she made the signal which called out the Greeks from their ambuscade. Overworn with watching, I had lain down to rest unhappy, with my cares oppressed, and my weary limbs possessed heavy sleep. Meanwhile my worthy wife mislaid our arms, and carried my sword from beneath my head; she unlatched the door, and with repeated calls invited her former lord within my walls. Thus she placed confidence in her crime, that she would redeem the past with new treasons. What more must I say? They ran into the room, and cruelly murdered a defenseless man. Low-born Odysseus led the way first." ~Aeneid, Book VI

Deiphobus died last night; found him this morning. I had a feeling this was coming; he was very sluggish and not really eating anything, and he used to be a real glutton. At least he died here at school and not like, mid-route home or anything.

At last

"Ajax, now, went down with his long-oared fleet. First Poseidon drove him onto the cliffs of Gyrae, looming cliffs, then saved him from the breakers-- he'd have escaped his doom, too, despite Athena's hate, if he hadn't flung that brazen boast, the mad blind fool. 'In the teeth of the gods,' he bragged, 'I have escaped the ocean's sheer abyss!' Poseidon heard that frantic vaunt and the god grasped his trident in both his massive hands and struck the Gyraen headland, hacked the rock in two, and the giant stump stood fast but the jagged spur where Ajax perched at first, the raving madman-- toppling into the sea, it plunged him down, down in the vast seething depths. And so he died, having drunk his fill of brine." ~The Odyssey, IV. 560

My Betta fish Ajax finally died last night. He was at least nine months old and had had both his eyes popped out, a flesh-eating fungus consume his face, and a hole in his lip that made it difficult for him to eat. He was past his time; I've been expecting him to die for quite some time now. I'm just glad I didn't have to euthanize him.

I thought the quote appropriate, especially that last line. It wasn't brine, but I'd say Ajax has drunk his fill.

"You have a strong and sensitive personal nature."*

You ever get into that mood where you don't really want to think of anything? Like, everything you can think of to think about is something you'd rather not ponder, so you try to think of something else, but there's nothing that's neutral enough that you can think about it without getting worked up and distracted and accidentally like, running into a brick wall or something...

I've decided to just give up and list all the stuff that I'm Trying Not To Think About, since that's all I can think about.

1. Meeting him tomorrow (You'd best know who I'm talking about. If not, you clearly haven't been paying attention. Or you're new, in which case, Welcome! And read the previous posts).

2. The hole in Ajax's lip. Because today I saw my Betta go to eat a piece of food, and it escaped from his mouth... through a hole in his lip. Which I hadn't seen before. So either he's been out getting lip piercings without my knowledge or he's missing parts of his face, and I don't think that will grow back. I wish I could tell if he was in pain, or if it was just an annoyance and he was eating sometimes (He must be, or he'd be dead. Right?).

3. My height, which was unusually apparent today because of my boots with 3-inch heels that I was wearing because it's too cold for my dress flats and it was laundry day, so I had to wear a skirt. My height always depresses me.

4. If Metaphor Guy (he speaks in metaphors because he has trouble conveying what he sees in his head, which means he sounds pretty freakin' cool when he talks) is saying hi to me when he sees me because he pities me after I broke down and cried in Group, or because he actually genuinely wants to acknowledge that he knows me.

5. The fact that it took me so damn long to attempt to start a conversation on AIM with a kid with whom I've been having 5-hour-long conversations all weekend. As in, I was freaking out about sending him an IM with a simple greeting.

6. My lipstick. Because it makes my lips look enormous and I can't decide if that's good or not.

7. Just a general sense of having no freakin' idea where my life is headed right now...

My Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

I am excellent with words and language. I explain yourself well. An elegant speaker *snort*, I can converse well with anyone on the fly. I am also good at remembering information and convincing someone of my point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, I enjoy expanding my vocabulary. I would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

*Sorry Closer, I couldn't remember your quote.

"Tomatoes, Tomato puree (water, tomato paste), peppers..."*

I skipped yoga today. Because I need a second pair of exercise-suitable pants. Adding that to my shopping list...

Okay, so my pants aren't that dirty and I was being lazy. I think it's allowed, sometimes. Besides, I translated Themistocles instead.

This morning Ajax, the Betta fish who nearly died a few months back but who has recovered nicely, was floating perpendicular to the bottom of the tank. Like...his head was pointing down. I was understandably confused, since I'm pretty sure Bettas aren't supposed to sleep with such radically changed directionals, but I poked the glass and he moved so I figure he's just weird. I can't imagine wanting to sleep with my butt over my head like that. Maybe the extra blood to the brain makes it easier to think?

Of course, in the words of Ann M. Martin, author of The Baby-Sitter's Club and related titles, "I've been sitting down all day. I must have the smartest..."

I can't believe I can quote a line from The Baby-Sitter's Club... and it's that line.

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This post is early because I'm going home at 3:00 today and I don't know if I'll feel like writing at home...The internet appears to be down all over campus. This lack of net access is why I ate veggie tortilla chips and mild salsa for lunch instead of something with actual nutritional value and, y'know, a plate.

It was annoying.

But my dorm has internet access and electricity, unlike Stoke Hall, where Mistake was regaled with the sounds of many young women screaming in shock as the hot water died. Wow... so glad I'm not them.

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Off to Latin, then home to retrieve all the stuff I was supposed to bring last time...

*No fortune cookie. This is the label of my salsa container.