For some reason my fish tank was chock full �o algae within a week of getting three swordtails. I�m not blaming the swords. But it was so weird. We�re talking radioactive green. I was turning the light off at night hoping it would inhibit the growth of my nemesis but then I read the darkness spurs it to emit CO2 and will easily suffocate the fish. Great! Anyway, I used this crazy stuff, Acurel F, at the suggestion of Mr. Petco Trinidadian Fish Know-It-All. I told him I had Tank Buddies, a fizzing tablet that�s supposed to get rid of algae. He said, �That eez a peeece of kerapppp.� Ironic, considering Petco has a little colorforms-like sticker on every tank that says, �We use and recommend Tank Buddies!� Yay! I was glad Mr. Aquarium shunned the Tank Buddies as it killed my iridescent shark within five minutes of dropping it into the tank. The other fish were fine. Mrs. Petco Aquarium Moustache at the other Petco shrugged it off with, �Ahh� sounds like a swim bladder problem.� I was pissed! This is Mr. Chix� swim bladder we�re talking about. Anyway, I think Ziggy (pictured above), my angelfish, is happy the water is getting clearer. I swear he wags his tail at me. I named him after David Bowie because he has two different colored eyes. Beautiful! I think we share a special bond. And I�m not even on cold medicine. Yet.

�The source of all humor is sorrow. There is no laughing in Heaven.� �Mark Twain

Sam Clemens called himself Mark Twain because it was a term meaning a depth of twelve feet, therefore safe water, to the riverboat crews in Missouri where he grew up (and everywhere there were riverboats, I would venture to guess). It was his childhood dream to be a riverboat captain and when he finally got the chance to work on one he realized how terribly difficult it was. His hometown of Hannibal was on the river and represents a sort of Eden to Americans to this day but was also victim to many a drowning. His brother died from complications due to almost drowning. The river was a source of joy and pain. Sam Clemens thought he would die a riverboat captain.

Jeff Buckley�s death in the Mississippi reminds me of this. He has got to be hanging out with Nick Drake as we speak. Water is funny. No matter how hard we try there is this (as far as we know) brainless mass of H2O that can take us over at anytime. Hell� we�re mostly water. It�s amazing. It�s humbling really. We need water. We used to laugh about it (ah, still do) but what Bruce Lee said was really true, �Put water in cup, water become cup. Put water in teapot, water become teapot. Water crash, water flow. Be water, my friend.�

I don�t have too much to say right now� I haven�t felt like writing over the last few days with this damn cold. I�ve been coughing up a monsoon. I was planning on doing an expos� on women who pee on toilet seats at bars and don�t bother to clean it up but I guess that will have to wait until next time. Oh don�t worry�I�ll cover as many bases of pee as I can. Informative, it will be� I just don�t have the zippitteedooda it takes right now.

I�m dying to get one of these crystal flutes. I�ve been after it for a long time� since I was little. I used to play the flute and the piccolo. Of course my embouchure is completely out of shape. What lovely sound it must have! This company, Hall, makes flutes out of pyrex and they have pan flutes too.

The snow is so pretty here. If I actually feel better tomorrow maybe I�ll take some pictures and upload them.