i'm a fish person. i'm fascinated by marine life, aquatic species, you name it. i interned in an aquarium in santa monica, i took an amazing ichthyology field class, and i'm responsible for all of the non-salmonid fish projects in my current work capacity. i've been meaning to get scuba certified for years so that i can actually be in the marine environment in a job setting (that's still in the works). to date, though, i have to be content with my current involvement in marine issues through work and with the office aquarium. yesterday, though, i was tempted handily to add to my marine involvement.

what happened, you ask? don't get too excited, it's not as profound as i'm setting it up to be. i was at the pet store to buy crickets for my frog... the person who gets the crickets at the pet store is also responsible for the fish section. i usually look at the various fish in the aquaria while i'm waiting to be helped or for the person to fetch my crickets. i was looking at some lovely silvery cattail sharks in one tank, when i noticed the label stated that there were other fish in that particular tank. the label indicated that the sharks were accompanied by dwarf pufferfish. i absolutely love pufferfish, they are my favorite fish species. they're like sharpeis, so ugly that they're adorable. anyway, so i couldn't find any of the pufferfish in the tank, so i figured that they were just out. lo and behold, this tiny tiny tiny yellow pufferfish comes shooting out from behind a rock. he was so cute! he was about the size of a small jelly bean. i found another puffer in one of the plants, after knowing what i was looking for. i stood in front of the tank for 20 minutes debating about whether i wanted to start an aquarium then and there so i could buy these adorable fish. and they were only $1.99 each! so amazingly precious, i can't say enough how cute these things were. i may have to take another trip back there and debate the purchase again. the fish/cricket sales lady says that it costs about $60 for a start-up aquarium, which i can't really justify.... so maybe if i can find a cheaper tank system? hmmmmm....

i think i know why i like this guy so much! one of his alternate common names is "sea frog"! it's fate, i tell you.

i can't wait for valentine's day to be over. it's such a media-frenzied "holiday" that forces people to buy loads of candy, flowers, jewelry, and gifts... why do we need a specific day to tell the people we love how much we love them? no, i'm not bitter, i'm just anti-valentine. it's such a worthless holiday. i appreciate the people in my life so much every day... maybe i don't tell them every day, but i try to let them know more often than once a year. i'm just ready for the valentine's junk to be out of the stores so they can all restock with cadbury creme eggs. yum! now *those* they could have around all year and i wouldn't mind (although that might take away the novelty of only having them at eastertime).

speaking of easter, i have to figure out travel plans for easter weekend. usually i head down to SoCal to spend easter with the cousins, but this year easter weekend also happens to be the home opener for the san jose earthquakes... AND the home opener happens to be a doubleheader with the san jose cyberrays! augh! so i can't miss that. i think my parents and i will plan to fly down to SoCal sunday morning early-ish, and then i can fly back sunday or monday night. my mom has that week off for spring break, so my parents will probably stay down there longer than i will. who was the genius who planned *that* schedule, though? *sigh*