There’s a draft post here in my account on WordPress from the day I took Ender home. I never finished it. He deserved a post in life. He truly was amazing.
Ender was my baby birdie. He was hatched in late March, a yellow-sided green cheek conure (read: colorful little birdie!), and I took him home on May 21st of 2012 at eight weeks old. I named him after the protagonist of Ender’s Game, because I’m that much of a geek.
Ender, the day I took him home.
Conures have notorious personalities, and Ender was no exception. He had to be with me all of the time, constantly exploring whatever it was I was doing or cuddling on me or actively engaging in his surroundings. He was pretty quiet, especially compared to my Quakers, but he loved to make odd little noises and laugh at me. The only word I ever heard him say was “baby”. Continue reading Ender→
My Facebook is updated constantly, both with commentary about life and links to news and things of interest. I wonder if I should start doing that here.
Here’s a few things I posted on Facebook lately. I’m hoping by doing this I’ll start writing more here.
Firstly,
Remember: You haven’t met everyone you’re going to meet in your life. The world is full of people who might mean something to you someday. Just ’cause you haven’t found them yet doesn’t mean they won’t show up.
Secondly,
Some days I look down at my left wrist or my right forearm and I see these beautiful black letters spelling out these words I love so. I catch a glimpse of my shoulders in the mirror. Lines of ink… permanently etched into my skin. I feel this little explosion of emotion in my heart – I see beauty. Not just in the expression, but the realization that there are some things I have complete faith in – faith that these stories matter enough to me in my past, present and future, matter enough to become part of my body. I am a strange canvas, but I hold such joy that I display such art. That I will display more.
Third,
Every morning I take the birds out of their room, set them up in the living room with their travel cage on the floor, feed them what I’m eating and hang out while we watch movies or I play online. Every day Petrie climbs down off the cage and, waddling around on his cute little feet, explores the furthest reaches of my living room. He walks until he can’t see me anymore, then he walks in a different direction. He climbs stuff, he chews on stuff… takes him only about a minute to run across the room if he wants to. Today he took an almond out of the bag next to my futon and carried it to me to eat. I seriously love this bird.
My intention at the beginning of June was to post entries along each step of my journey across country. Obviously I’ve failed at that. But now I’m staying in one place for a little while, so I decided to catch up.
I left Los Angeles on June 3rd and arrived in Las Vegas five hours later. I stayed at my favorite hotel, The Artisan, for ten days. I did some gambling, some work, made a few new friends and realized that I really like Las Vegas – something I hadn’t been expecting. There’s an energy to it that would definitely wear one down over time, but it’s one of the few places that hasn’t managed to bore me at all, despite the amount of time I spend there.
My last few days in Las Vegas I started writing poetry inspired by a new acquaintance, so I think I may start posting that again. Continue reading There & Back Again→
I have two small parrots in the passenger seat of my car for this trip across the country. When I tell people that, they tend to look at me like I’m crazy. Where will I keep them when I stop on the trip? Aren’t they loud? Won’t they fly away? Who the hell brings two parrots on a cross-country drive?
A bird-mama does.
I have given up custody of these dear children of mine once since I’ve had them. A painful nine months where I simply could not have them due to my housing situation. It was hard. I didn’t see them the entire time because I didn’t want to feel guilty saying good-bye every time. They were in good, capable hands.
Since I got them back – fourteen days has been my limit. The longest I will tolerate being away from them.
When I was a kid, I wanted a pet, and my mother told me I was allergic to cats and dogs (not true, different story). So we got me a pair of budgerigars. Small birds, colloquially known as “parakeets”. Two turned into four, and my interest in birds grew, so I slowly acquired more – bigger each time. Continue reading The Birds→
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” – Anais Nin
