Today my fish died. It was sad to say goodbye. He was a Bolivian Ram and was a little over two years old. I have beautiful pictures of him on my phone, but can't get them onto the site. Here is a pic of what they look like. I lifted it off this site



The female is now left alone with the 3 Sunburst Platy fish and the dwarf frog. I'm not sure how she feels. They must feel something right? They tried multiple times having babies, but each time it was a devastating disaster. I think she may have even hated him for eating her babies all the time. They almost made it once. Now she is alone. When I first got them they were very happy together. Always swimming in unison. It was amazing that I even managed to get a pair. They are very hard to sex as adults, let alone as juveniles and the male female ratio is unbalanced.

It's hard not to want to blame yourself when you are the one in control of their environment. I always felt bad that I didn't have a larger tank. I have a 20 gallon tall, when I at least should have gotten the 20 gallon wide tank. They swim along the bottom and like to roam around. Having fish is sort of sad, you always wonder if they are happy. I mean unless you have some humungo tank. The other fish seem healthy, maybe it was just time to go.

I wish I could show you his pic. He was so beautiful at times. There colors change a lot. Sometimes they have the most beautiful colors other times they look completely washed out. He hasn't shown his colors in a long time. They have these different color bands in their dorsal fins. Red white and blue...so beautiful.

I'm not getting anymore fish. Since I don't know where my life will be in the future, I don't want to acquire anymore.

OK, I know it is strange to name your fish after such a disgusting person, but for some reason it seemed to fit. I kind of like the name and decided not to let some jerk own it.

Today was crazy. Not that I don't have close relationships with my gradparents, but it is extremely rare to get a phone call from any of them, let alone two on the same day. My parents had children very young and luckily I still have all four of my grandparents. While I was attending the first Sunday of every month Kosen-rufu (loosely translated=world peace) Buddhist meeting, my mother called 2x's and then her father called and then my father's mother called. My phone was vibrating nonstop!

Of course I begin to wonder if something is wrong. I'm always a worrier. For example, yesterday I was terrified that my Dad's parents would get flooded out from the cottage. It was in 1972 that hurricane Agnes flooded and the water level reached the top of the 2nd floor of our cottage. The Farmers Almanac predicted flooding in September of this year as it predicted flooding in June when the Susquehanna flooded Binghampton.

Of course, nothing was wrong. My mother's father called just to talk. I can't remeber him ever calling me before. We had a great time when he was 14 and he was 57 and we rode our bikes from Rochester to Binghampton. He just turned 70 last week.

My father's mother called because she had heard I was worried of flooding. The water level is high she says, but they will not have to evacuate. I believe she is 80 now. I'll have to confirm. Anyways, we had a great conversation. I told her I couldn't answer the phone because I was at the Buddhist meeting. My grandmother is Catholic, as I was raised, and we had a wonderful conversation about religion. She told me how she tells her friends that her oldest grandson is a Buddhist. It really made me happy, because I have always worried that they wouldn't accept me for who I am. I think Catholicism gets that rap because of certain people, but she has always accepted me for who I am. I told her that I haven't forgotten my Catholic background and that I still hold a high regard for their faith. She in turn told me that she is happy that I have found something and thinks it is important. My grandparents have always lived a life worth admiring. I'm not sure if they have any regrets, but as far as I see it, they have lived a model life up to this point. They have truly used the Catholic faith to their benefit. We both agreed on the phone, that all of the religions are susceptible to abuse.

I was soo terrified when I was younger that I was gay, because I thought my Grandparents would reject me. I was wrong. They have never once made me feel as if I were going to hell and they are the best Christians I know. How fortunate I am in this regard.

I almost forgot. My mother called because she booked my tickets to see her in Florida for the holidays. I'll be leaving Dec. 28th and coming back on the 4th of the new year.

Happy Birthday to a real star!


It is funny what you come up with on yahoo search.

Love,

Your number one fan

Come see (e:mike) on Friday!

Slowly I am getting my life back on track. As of like 2 minutes ago, I have reached full-time status and got into the Art History course that I needed for my degree in History. Registration closes tonight at 8pm, so this new development is a great relief. Money will be coming shortly which is most welcome.

As for a dual degree, the other being Spanish, I will have to wait and see. I need to meet with the Chair of Modern and Classical Languages to discuss my options.

In a health scare, I have learned that I do not have testicular cancer. The ultra-sound showed that I have a cyst (quite normal), and it does not have to be removed. I am advised to wear tighty whities. My health insurance was reinstated just in time to go to my appointment.

And lastly, with my job from hell, I have made some progress. I'm working on removing all of what I have allready painted from the metal railings with a paint stripper attached to my dad's drill. It is the most grueling process I could imagine. After it is to be removed I need to clean the railing with paint thinner and let it dry overnight. After that I have a mini roller, which will apply the paint at the correct thickness. I have bought a new paint to use; black satin from Rustoleum (Spelling?). Getting the time in to complete the job from hell is going to be difficult, but not impossible.

Just taking it all one step at a time. I am looking forward to my studies which include:

Art History (beginning with the Stone Age)

Advanced grammar and compostion (SPA)

The Civilization of Spain

Survey of Spanish American Literature

I love my courses being taught in Spanish. It is rapidly making me think in Spanish again. Art History is in english, but my professor's accent keeps me on my toes.

Bueno. Esta canción de Ricky Martin, me parece a mí, la una más apropriada para mi vida en este momento. No I did not change my user sound.

La Copa de la Vida


La vida es
Pura pasion
Hay que llenar
Copa de amor
Para vivir hay
Que luchar
Un Corazon
Para ganar

Como Cain Y Abel
Es un partido cruel
Tienes que pelear por una estrella
Consigue Con Honor
La Copa Del Amor
Para Sobrevivir Y Luchar Por Ella
Luchar Por Ella (SI!)
Luchar Por Ella (SI!)

Tu Y Yo!! Ale, Ale, Ale
Go, Go, Gol! Ale, Ale, Allez
Ariba va!! El Mundo Esta De pie
Go, Go, Gol!! Ale, Ale, Ale

La vida es competicion
Hay que Sonar ser campeon
La copa es la bendicion
La ganaras Go, Go, Go!

Tu instincto natural
Vencer a tu rival
Tienes que pelear por una estrella
Consigue con honor
La copa del amor
Para sobrevivir y luchar por ella
Luchar por ella (SI!)
Luchar por ella (SI!)

Tu Y Yo!! Ale, Ale, Ale
Go, Go, Gol! Ale, Ale, Allez
Ariba va!! El Mundo Esta De pie
Go, Go, Gol!! Ale, Ale, Ale

I'll try and make a long story short. I'm not registered for classes yet and classes for Buffalo State began yesterday. My insurance is gone, the loan companies are poised to collect and finances are iffy (As if they were ever fine!).

Buffalo State has been sooo slow in transferring my credits over to my degrees. Part of it is my fault, but part of it lies on broken promises from a particular administrator. Because I didn't know how my credits awarded in Cuba will apply to my degree, I have been unable to register for the apropriate classes. Today I met with the Chair of the History Dept. He sat with me for a full hour and a half trying to put together the puzzle of where to put credits so that I could graduate now. I'm so greatful to him for doing his job without ever complaining. The puzzle is missing a tiny piece. Thou shall not double dip more than once. I need an art class!

I can't afford to shell out cash for only one class. My options are 1) Appeal to the college to drop the art requirement or 2) Instead of a minor in Spanish, go for a major, thus being registered full time. I'm going for option 2. This is what I originally wanted and there are more positives in option 2 rather than option 1.

This is far from over. Now I have to try and register for what I need before Friday when registration closes. I already have one professor who has vowed to force me in as necessary. ¡Gracias Profe!