So much for blogging entries more regularly. This eve of Remembrance Day gives me pause to reflect… Interesting how it’s called “Veteran’s Day” here in the USA, the emphasis being on those who have survived wars, rather than those who have not. Some may point out that the US has Memorial Day, though myself I’ve seen little if any memorializing on or around that day, and nary a poppy to be seen on either days. Maybe it’s this collective amnesia on the cost of war that explains why so many in this country seem so eager to embark upon another one…

Anyway, that’s enough soapbox time for me. I’ve hardly had time to stay current with world events—or anything else for that matter—for the past month, as we’ve been insanely busy here at work. When I put in for a two-and-a-half week Christmas vacation last week my manager knew that it wasn’t negociable. Nevertheless I’ve managed to do a some non-work-related things these past few weeks:

• Saw Baz Luhman’s (of Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet (1996) fame… or notoriety, as the case may be) production of Puccini’s La Bohème last week. This is first opera I’ve ever been to, though being a Baz Luhrmann production it had to it more of a feel of a modern-day musical. It was an excellent show though I’m left with the feeling of not “really” having been to an opera; I’ll have to make a point of going to an opera of the more conventional sort sometime…

• My friend Jae has been trying to introduce me to a friend of hers for the past couple weeks. I say “trying” because due to illness (hers and her friend’s) the date has been postponed thrice now. So I remain hopeful and patient, though the latter may simply be a side effect of the week going by in a blur—one of the benefits of being constantly busy is that you don’t have any time left for boredom or impatience.

• Got some ghost shrimp for my office aquarium, about four weeks ago. Originally had 11, now only two remain. It’s unclear why they are dying off at such a high rate. Occasionally one just “disappears”; ghost shrimp hide well and are difficult to spot at best, so this observation is only conclusive after one has been missing for a few days. One possibility is that my fish are eating them. Rather, there’s no question that the fish eat them—the first few that died simply didn’t survive the handling and trip from the store, and I did manage to see their remains shortly before they were scavenged by the fish—but the question is if the fish are killing off the shrimp. I’ve observed some of my serpae tetra intimidating some of the shrimp in order to get the latter to drop their food, but I’ve never actually seen any fish attack a shrimp. It’s possible the water conditions are simply inhospitable and that the shrimp are dying off as a result. Now I’m looking for hardier shrimp that will survive the somewhat-high temperatures in my aquarium.