HungryBird

I feel bad that I haven’t been updating like I should. Things have been crazy and stressful lately. I do have two cute things to share.

One is that the birds had fresh coconut for the first time ever. I love fresh coconut and my dog does too. I cooked up a nice dish with tiny cubes of coconut and other delicious things. When I feed the birds I always feed Malachite last (I think I’ve mentioned my insistence on feeding them all in a certain way) and I usually pick up a piece of the food and offer it to him to try because he is spoiled and wants me to hand feed him. Sometimes he plays silly games and pretends he isn’t interested in what I am offering. He will nibble a few times before going in for the kill. This time he took a tentative bite and then immediately grabbed the coconut cube from me and ate every scrap. They also had papaya since it is one of the only fruits Romeo and Juliet like. I can’t understand how they could like icky papaya and not like my favorite fruits in the world. I actually gave everyone a raspberry to see what they thought and for a minute it looked like Romeo and Juliet had tried it. Not sure but I will try offering them raspberries again and see what happens.

The other is that Juliet is simply adorable. She decided I wasn’t paying enough attention to her. Hm, I guess I should have said “he” and “her” but my brain rebels. The solution to this is to screech as loudly and obnoxiously as possible. I replied with my best budgie screech and we had a screeching war. My neighbors must avoid me at all costs because everyone knows not to make eye contact with crazy people. Juliet realized she might lose the war so she decided to have a battle with her cuttlebone. She kept slamming her beak into it over and over and then looking to make sure I was watching.

I rearranged their cages recently. Except for Malachite, he is still waiting for his renovation. Squeaky and Iggy have the grapevine perch Iggy loves so much and I also put all the platform perches back in. Only Malachite had his but the other two platform perches were unearthed and put in. Romeo and Juliet are on platform perch strike again but Squeaky and Iggy are very happy. Romeo and Juliet do have their favorite perch again, a big Y-shaped perch that they love to rub their little faces on. In between their epic fights over who gets to sit where.

I have finally left my house and rejoined the human race. My knees were feeling good for a while but they are hurting again. I think I may have stressed them out with all this physical activity. Ugh. I start physical therapy in a week and I am looking forward to it. It will be in a fancy shmancy gym I could never afford in a million years. I feel like a pauper let into a palace. Actually it’s not nearly as nice as I thought it would be. It is a very nice gym of course but it seems pretty small and doesn’t have enough equipment/space/stuff for all the people who go there. I looked at the online reviews and found out the location I am going to is pretty small and it seems other locations have much better reviews.

Gym talk makes me wonder what I will do if I ever get better. In an ideal world I would move to Chelsea and join Chelsea Piers (because if you’re going to spend a lot on a gym that’s the way to do it!) and since I would obviously be rich if both of those things occurred I would also be able to afford cab rides to Chelsea Piers. My gym membership at the gym that shredded my knees is going to be over soon. I only paid for two months and I think the two months will be up at the end of May. I don’t know what to do. I will probably hold off on any gym going until I finish physical therapy.

I’m thinking about just taking a few classes at the gym by my house instead of renewing my membership because most of the gym is machines and I am terrified of machines now. I really don’t ever want to use a stupid workout machine again. They have fighting and yoga classes at my gym so I may pay for those individual classes. Even if I have a membership I have to pay full price for these classes (usually $10) so I’m not losing out on anything by just paying per class. I may end up paying for a membership to the boxing/kickboxing/self defense/awesomeness classes taught by this boxer who is really fun. I had so much fun doing that and I have a few neighbors who want to take the classes with me. Unfortunately I won’t be doing anything like that for a while because even the warmups would hurt my knees.

I’m also thinking of going upstate for a little while. They have to put a new lining in the pool so I think I will wait until that has been done because I would like to go swimming. Probably good for my wimpy knees. I will probably bring everyone with me.

There is one other thing I think I forgot to mention. A few months ago I was walking down the staircase in my building to take my dog for his walk when he stopped dead in his tracks. There was a cat sitting on the staircase. My dog is an embarrassment to his kind because he is terrified of cats. Like he will run away from them. He was not going to pass by this cat because he has experienced how evil and deceptive cats can be courtesy of a deli cat who clawed at him years ago. I picked him up and carried him safely over the tiger loose in the building.

My block has a bunch of feral cats. I see them running around at night and sometimes see people feeding them. This cat was not feral. He was sweet and friendly, his coat was brushed, and he had quite a bit of extra cat flesh on him. No collar though, which is a pet peeve of mine. Cats should always have collars with ID tags on them. I’ve found lost cats before and was able to reunite them with their owners because of the phone number on the tag.

Anyway, I knew this was a pet and not a stray and I had a feeling I knew which apartment the cat belonged to. No one was home. I heard a rumor that they were considering getting the cat out of the building in a cruel fashion and also that they were going send it to the pound. My worst nightmare as a dog owner is losing my dog and having him get (inhumanely) euthanized in the city shelter so there was no way I was letting them take the cat to the pound. The door to the building was also left wide open and I was worried the cat would run outside and get hit by a car.

Because I’m a nut I have a collection of dog crates in my apartment so I grabbed one and chased the cat all over the building. Crate remained empty. Finally we ended up on the top floor, my floor. I figured it would be easier to chase the cat around my tiny apartment than the entire building. I locked my dog in the bedroom and opened my front door. The cat ran right inside. Then I remembered I have pet birds and they might be afraid of the cat. The cat ran right into the room where the birds are and hid under the couch. Then I spent a while chasing the cat around and he is running under the cages. What do you think the birds did?

Absolutely nothing. No reaction. They just watched me run around in circles after the cat. It was hilarious. They are so used to random animals coming in and out that they did not even react to the cat. My dog was barking like a maniac because he knew exactly what I was doing. This cat was a sweet cat except for the whole crate thing. He did not want to go in the crate and once he realized that was the goal he was not very cooperative. He also had all his razor sharp claws and I was very respectful of them because I really did not want to get clawed. I finally managed to get him in the crate with some food and water and then took the extra precaution of putting the crated cat in another room with the door closed so if he magically escaped the crate he wouldn’t be able to get near the dog or the birds. Then I went out and found his owner and gave him a lecture about the importance of ID tags and collars and how the building was about to send the cat to the pound. I have a feeling the next time the cat gets out (because apparently this is not the first or second or third or fourth time) he still won’t have a collar.

Collars and ID tags are useful things people! Your dogs and cats should have collars and ID tags. In New York most dogs have a bunch of tags, usually proof of rabies, NYC dog license tag, and an ID tag. My dog has all of those and he also had a fourth tag that lets people know he has a microchip. Actually, looking at his tags I realize he needs some updating and he also needs new tags. I have to get him another rabies vaccination soon and I also need to get him an official dog tag. A high quality one. The brand I am planning on getting is Red Dingo and I would absolutely recommend them to everyone. I love the quality of the tags and they are extremely durable. And cute, which doesn’t hurt. There are actually a million different options for tags and no reason not to get them. In an emergency you can get a tag made immediately in certain pet stores. I’ve gotten emergency tags made at three different locations and they usually cost $10. They are not the best tags and will fade after a few years but are much better than nothing.

That reminds me of something else. I saw the funniest leashes in the world and I am determined to collect a bunch of them. They are called Max Pawfection leashes and they appeal to my twisted sense of humor. Here is a link:

Max Pawfection Leashes

I don’t know anything about that site and have never ordered from them, just showing you the leashes. I want so many of them. Since most of the leashes have suggestive slogans I will refrain from posting them here but I assure you that some of these leashes are hilarious. I cannot decide which ones are my favorites. I love the balls one, the hairy legs one, the grass one and the stick one. Those are the ones I want! I’m not sure about the stick one though! That’s a bit much even for me! I have a feeling my boyfriend will refuse to use any of these leashes if I get them. Obviously the balls one would be for him though I can only imagine the looks of confusion I would get if I walked my dog using that leash. Something to consider.

And here is a really cute dog bed I want to get for my dog because he loves watermelon more than anything else in the world!

I have bad news. My mom is putting her dog down as I type this. He would have been eight years old this June. They took him to the local vet because he seemed a bit sick and found out he might have advanced cancer of the heart. They were advised to put him down immediately as he was unlikely to live past Saturday. My mom decided to take him to the Animal Medical Center for a second opinion and some more tests. She didn’t want to give up so easily and the Animal Medical Center is an excellent place.

I’m unclear on all the details of what exactly was wrong with his heart so I won’t go into it. I don’t think it was cancer but a problem with his heart. I suppose I will find out more later. My mom initially wanted to take him upstate and have him put down by her favorite vet up there but there wasn’t time since they were told he could drop dead any minute without much warning.

It was a difficult decision and not one that was made lightly. I’m very unhappy and really wish I had gotten a chance to say goodbye to him. And I wish my dog could have gotten a chance to say goodbye too, even though he wouldn’t understand. The next time I bring my dog over to my parents’ house and he runs around looking for his buddy I will probably start to cry hysterically.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of him.

A few pictures from random pet stores over the last few weeks.

Baby bearded dragons! And really lively ones! This is the only picture I was able to get where they weren’t completely blurred. They are very cute and remind me of raptors. Not sure why I am using those two words in the same sentence because nothing about raptors is cute but that’s what comes to mind. And yes I do mean velociraptors, not birds of prey. Let’s be realistic here.

Huge crayfish! I’ve never seen one this big. Makes me hungry.

Hunger instantly gone. There is nothing appealing about these frogs. Disgusting. Pet store employees that sell them when they are tiny babies always fail to mention that they will grow up to eat every other living thing in the tank. I used to have one named Jabba the Hutt. The albino ones are even more disgusting to me. Like lumps of pale dough. Ugh. Mine was not an albino but brown.

Lionfish! I think. I like this guy. He lives in a big tank and sometimes was fed live fish and his belly is translucent and you can see the poor little fish inside his belly and I don’t really care for that part too much. I feel bad for the poor fish. But this guy is very interesting and I wouldn’t mind having one someday if I was rich enough to pay someone to maintain a huge saltwater aquarium for me. And rich enough to buy the tank and other items needed and to have a place to keep such a huge heavy tank and all that other stuff. Though to be honest I would probably prefer to have a pufferfish! They are pretty cool. This lionfish is very majestic though and I do enjoy watching him move around so delicately. He is dangerous though. Dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee!

This is an adorable baby day gecko. So cute and small.

Three posts in a row should buy me some time.

I’m looking at bird stores and wishing. Especially Avian Organics and Things For Wings. Squeaky and Iggy LOVED their Busy Basket. I must get more! And if I had $200 worth of Avian Organics food (don’t all posts start this way?) it would be a lot easier for my boyfriend to feed the birds. So I’ve been using my phone to fill up shopping carts and pretend I’m ordering them.

So things are not going as planned. I was very pleased with myself for becoming a gym goer and doing all sorts of disgustingly healthy things and possibly even risking my reputation and becoming a civilized and productive person. Luckily fate decided to backhand me into a wall of misery. I almost forgot my place.

I’m feeling sorry for myself because I injured my legs and am having trouble walking. It’s been like this for a while. I stressed my knees and they feel like they have shattered into a million pieces. That clang together all the time and then explode. I am taking anti-inflammatories and I have to have lots of bed rest. Which is the most boring thing ever. And no painkillers of course, because then I might be able to tolerate this existence.

So I can’t really walk. Sometimes a little. I’m getting better very slowly. This has been a humbling experience. I have never felt anything like this and I hope I never feel anything like this ever again. I will cherish my knees forever. I never realized how important they were until they stopped working.

I also never realized how much I hate this city until I had this problem. I was obviously barely able to walk. Walking hunched over and extremely slowly. With my angry face on, which is usually enough to deter everyone but the special few. People would not move out of my way or they would bump into me and try to smash bags/dogs/baby strollers into my knees. A kid almost ran into my knees on a scooter. I probably would have gone to jail if he had hit me. I gave the mother a death glare that would have made Medusa proud and she quickly regained control of her little mischief maker. I absolutely hate it when people allow their kids to ride scooters or bikes on sidewalks and have always taken issue with it. It’s incredibly rude. Don’t let your kids ride their stupid bikes on the sidewalk. Ever. There should be a $1,000 fine. And possibly another $1,000 fine for blocking the subway doors. Especially when you see someone having mobility issues is trying to get on. Ugh. I still love this city but only when I’m healthy.

That brings me to another point about this city. I have never felt so vulnerable. I was afraid to walk around when it was so obvious I could barely move. I was totally unable to defend myself (not much different from normal me but we’re working on that, or we were) and also unable to get away from any threat. My only option would be waiting and hoping nothing too terrible happens. Just take my stupid phone and leave me alone. I felt a few people watching me with less than honorable intentions and I was much more uncomfortable than ever before since I was the equivalent of a jellyfish out of water.

And my birthday passed and I couldn’t walk. So I couldn’t do anything on my birthday. Or the next day. Or the weekend. Couldn’t even go out to eat. My birthdays are never enjoyable but this one is definitely the worst one so far. I have not had a birthday party in years and years but I am considering having one next year. Maybe renting out a restaurant or something. A small gathering of people. I would be quite entertained watching my friends mingle. Some of them know each other and some of them don’t. Some of them get along and some of them don’t. Nothing too bad though and definitely nothing that can’t be put aside for one night. It would just be oh so very interesting to see them all in one room. And pictures. Must take pictures if this happens. The only other time I would expect to get all these people in a room together again would be on the day of my wedding. Or my funeral, but then I won’t get to observe with hidden glee.

I have only left my house one day since last Friday. To go to the doctor. I live on the top floor of a walkup (of course) so I can’t leave my house. Not that I could even if I lived on the ground floor. I could at least sit on the stoop though. I have barely left my bed and it’s driving me nuts. I can’t walk my dog of course and I can’t do anything else. Can’t give the birds food and water. Can’t cook for them. Can’t change their papers. Boyfriend has been doing everything for me and I am so grateful. Malachite seems to have decided not to bite him and to allow him to change his food and water bowls without losing a finger. Good decision on his part otherwise he would be one dead birdie by now. Boyfriend even learned to cook simple bird meals. Boyfriend cannot cook and I don’t usually risk my life by letting him near a stove but we had no choice. I haven’t even seen the birds in days. Only Squeaky and Iggy from far away when I passed by the hallway.

My dog keeps staring at me trying to figure out what’s wrong. When I try to hobble around the apartment he follows me and stares at me silently the entire time. I’d like to think it is a sign of his devotion and not his instincts telling him to kill the weakest herd member. He is also not getting much attention from me because any movements on the bed send shooting pains up my knees so he is banned from the bed except for the few times when he is willing to just lie still and not move around. He woke me up last night to let me know there was a thunderstorm and I let him snuggle next to me and he was more affectionate than he has ever been. I feel bad for shooing him away from me all the time but he has accidentally caused me a fair amount of pain and I really just want to get better quickly. I want to be able to leave my house and walk around. I want to be able to go to the grocery store and pick out the exact fruits and veggies I want. I want to be able to go the chocolate store and get some chocolate covered strawberries.

So this is a post all about me feeling sorry for myself. I was worried I had caused permanent damage to myself and was thinking that I’m not even 30 or 40 or 50 and how can I live all those years without being able to walk? I guess I would end up dealing with it but it seemed like the saddest thing to me. Made me really appreciate being able to walk and having good health. This is the worst injury I have ever had. I’ve never been seriously sick, never been hospitalized, never broken or fractured anything. It’s quite a shock to me and gives me plenty of time to reflect. After my bed rest is up I will probably do physical therapy. It’s so crazy. I still can’t really comprehend it in a way.

I haven’t really been doing anything since Friday. Lots of eating and sleeping so hopefully I will gain some weight or at least not lose any. I don’t have a scale in my apartment though and even if I did I don’t feel like standing up straight without bracing myself on something. I’ve been trying to sleep as much as possible because I can’t feel anything when I’m sleeping and hopefully when I wake up it will be next week and I will be a young foal again.

I haven’t even been doing anything on the computer either. Or reading books. Or watching TV. Or drawing. Or writing. Just clutching my knees and moaning in agony while trying to knock myself unconscious. I had a lot of plans and things to do and they are all on hold. I started a new job and now can’t work.

This is the end of my self pity post. Next post is going to contain pictures of cute frogs.

I’m still alive. My computer barely works. I may need to get a new one but that is not looking very likely. Summer is coming. The birds and the dog are fine. I’ve been busy and when I have free time I am either sleeping or at the gym. But to be honest I’ve been too busy to go to the gym as often as I wanted to. I am enjoying becoming a gym-goer though and am going to make attempts to force my schedule to allow gym time. But not for the next two weeks!

My sister told me she was reading my site so now I feel obligated to post a meager update so I’m not such a bum.

A wonderful friend of mine is coming back to NYC for a few months and I am so excited. I’ve missed her. My brother and I have been playing pool at a bar by my house and I pretend to be cool by sipping water through a straw because I hate alcohol. Yes, I am aware of my oddities. They don’t end there, trust me. I made the mistake of drinking a few real drinks a few weeks ago and my brother felt bad afterwards. Now I have one tiny girly light drink just to give the bartender money and tip and all that and then I drink water and eat and play pool. No dancing on tables for me. I have a feeling my brother might object.

Super cute fire salamander. I wish I could make him my own (Asmodeus! Is that how it was spelled? Do you guys know what I’m talking about?) but I think he may need a bigger terrarium than the one I have. I’m not sure. He is a cutie though.

This is the most depressed lizard I have ever seen in my entire life. I would name him Eeyore. No idea what he is but he looks like a gargoyle. Maybe I could name him Brooklyn. That’s the only name of The Gargoyles I can remember.

And this may be the cutest picture I’ve ever taken! That is a poison dart frog looking straight at the camera. I was trying to keep back so I don’t bother them but this little guy refused to be ignored. He should consider moving to the other side of the country, I’m sure he would do well.

I actually have a million more pictures of the lizards and frogs at Fauna. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that these animals are all at Fauna. They are. Go there and be amazed. I may do another Virtual Tour of Fauna because now I can just use my handy dandy phone to take pictures of everything so I look slightly less insane. I may also use my phone to update this site but I’m not sure yet. I may try it later today on the train or something. Or something. I’m still super paranoid about getting mugged. Someone was just shot and killed for their phone. A phone exactly the same as mine. Exactly the same. And this person was shot and killed very close to my house, in the nicer and more upscale neighborhood in fact. So I am taking this into consideration as I go about my day. Obviously I won’t argue about giving up my phone but I heard the person who got shot wasn’t arguing either so I’d rather not risk it. I also heard there was an attempted rape in the middle of the day in my old neighborhood. Things like this remind me that even though New York is getting nicer you should always watch your back. The attempted rape was stopped by other people who ran over to chase the guy away. On behalf of women everywhere I thank the people who helped her.

Here are some pictures! Finally! And my site is back where it is supposed to be!

I’ve learned that it really is true when they say good and bad things happen all at once. This doesn’t really have anything to do with my site at all but in general.

Here are some pictures from Fauna first. Taken with my phone. I keep meaning to take more pictures but I have a cup of tea in my hands every time I go and I really don’t want to spill anything.

I believe these are called monkey frogs but I may not be remembering correctly. They are amazing. I spent a few minutes staring at one trying to figure out if it was real or not. Silly me, Fauna never sticks fake animals in their tanks, but still! It looks like it is made out of plastic or rubber. Very cool frogs. They are in a huge terrarium, one I would love to have. It’s almost as wide as my flights.

This is a bad picture of OJ. I think I’ve mentioned him before. He has been at the store for as long as I can remember (he is not for sale) and I always say hi to him. I used to pet the top of his head until signs appeared by the cage saying something like “please don’t touch”. I guess someone got a piece of finger removed but he has always been very sweet and friendly when I’ve seen him. He’s a nice little guy and I enjoy seeing him every time I come.

This is one of the mynah birds. Not sure exactly what kind but they are really beautiful and such interesting looking birds as well. I love their little feather head tufts (probably technically called crests right? Or is that only for adorable cockatiels?) and they remind me of those elaborate feathered decorations knights used to wear on their helmets. I wasn’t going to take pictures of the mynahs because I thought they were shy but this guy flew right over to me and was very curious.

This is one of their tiny little poison dart frogs. They are very cute and appeal to the inner kid in me. A lot. This one is yellow but they have a bunch of different ones. They are hard to take pictures of because when they aren’t hiding they are moving along rapidly and my phone camera is not nearly as quick as my actual camera. This one was very small but they have some larger ones up front.

I also saw baby day geckos. I think that’s what they were called. Maybe baby crested day geckos? But I don’t think they were crested, just regular. I really have no idea. They were definitely day geckos and they were really, really cute. Possibly the cutest baby lizards I’ve ever seen. Then I moved a tank down and saw the adult size and was pleasantly surprised to see they are still cute when they grow up (I have my priorities straight!) but they do look a bit different as they age. They also don’t seem to get too big.

Obviously I haven’t decided what I want to get. I also didn’t mention the terrarium. I may receive a terrarium from someone and then I need to decide what will go in it. Something small and interesting. And not something that eats live mice because I like mice. This is not happening for a while anyway but I like to think things over for months.

Last thing from Fauna is this card about the Wild Bird Fund. I wrote a million posts about this but somehow never got around to publishing any of them. Here is a summary of my thoughts:

- The first ever wildlife rehabilitation center is coming to NYC soon and the first annual gala is taking place on April 3rd. At the Vanderbilt Mansion on East 93rd. The cost is $100 per person.

- I first heard about this from someone I know who thought I would be interested but also knew it was way out of my budget. She suggested I check out Fauna and ask them about it. Went to Fauna and got this flyer. Going to see if I run into the owner to ask him about it.

- Volunteering opportunities abound. I already called them up to see about it and I sent over an e-mail. We will see what happens. I’m excited about it.

- I don’t know if I will go to the gala. It’s $100 I don’t have and there will be tons of very rich people there. I am assuming there will be. I don’t own any rich people clothes and I’m not the kind of person to even attempt to fake the funk because I just don’t care to put in all that effort. Plus, nothing makes me more uncomfortable than dressing up. I reject gender stereotypes. I just want to wear jeans, a tank top, and some sneakers or Timberland boots. I do own the required black dress though. I bought it last winter for the wedding I attended.

And here are some pictures of my plants. I know you all care so much.

Here is the pink flower in the bromeliad on the day I brought it home.

And here it is the day after. I feel like it grew overnight.

Here is my money tree. Just a little baby. Hopefully it will grow and thrive.