Liquid Trust

I just can't get enough of Topkapi drinking water. She does it every day, but I always find it astounding and also a bit flattering that she trusts me enough to drink, not only when I am around, but when I am actually holding her. Most of my other babies don't let me do this. For the first year I had him, I never saw Barbossa drink. I knew he did because his bowl's water level would go down but I never saw him. One time I almost did but as soon as he felt my footsteps he froze. Now, at least, he lets me watch him while he drinks. I can't get too close, but I can be in the same room. I've seen both Talulah and Damascus drink, but they both get too hyper when I'm holding them. CocoRosie has let me hold her while she drinks a few times. For a few months she's been unusually cranky so it has not been repeated, but I have hopes for the future. I would like to achieve that level of trust with all my snakes.

Yesterday my sister and I went to see Rachael Sage. The concert went really well. She played and sang some great songs and we had a good time. The venue was also cute, kind of a lounge style room, with a buffett and bar, and the audience had tables with tablecloths and everything. I was also surprised at age demographic of the audience. We were the youngest ones there. Rachael Sage must be about 30 so, why is her audience so much older? She is an Indie singer so I expected a room full of mid-20s people. Very strange. I got to talk to her and I got her autograph, which is very cool. Now I just have to meet Tori Amos (my musical obsession).

I have a cake in the oven right now, so I'll share the recipe

Maple Cake

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tdp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 325 F. Mix dry ingredients, set aside. Mix maple syrup and milk, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, then add the egg. Add the wet and dry ingredients alternating, in two parts each. Pour into prepared pan. bake 20-25 minutes.

Spring in the Woods

CocoRosie is looking very active today. Actually, she's been like that for a few days, I wonder if it's the spring. I know she's laid eggs before, usually unfertilized, so I'm sure mating season does affect her. Maybe that's why she didn't eat last Friday. Sorry CocoRosie, I have no mate for you, no beautiful rat snake who deserves to win your heart. Oh, well, maybe next year. What would be cuter than little ferocious CocoRosies running around the house?

Last night I took Tybalt and Talulah out for a little walk around the kitchen table. I hadn't taken Tybalt out at all last week, because I wanted to see if by handling him less he would feel up to eating. He did eat last week. I'm going to take him out moderately this week and see if he still eats when I get home on Sunday from the pagan camp.

Yesterday I was very bored in the afternoon, so I picked up a Stephen King book (not that I need to be bored to read his books, I think they're great). I had recently bought "The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon". It's a relatively small book, about 250 pages, but it is incredible. Briefly, it is about a nine-year old girl who gets lost in the woods in New England and how she tries to find her way back to civilization. I read the whole thing in about three hours. I won't say how it ends, but it is a book that haunts you after you've finished it. I'm obviously still thinking about it today. I'm not sure it was THE best choice of literature to read right before I go on a camping trip, but too late now.

Tonight, my sister and I are going to see Rachael Sage in concert. She is an Indie artist who has her own music label and who is completely independent from the big record companies. Her music is great, and she has beautiful lyrics. Since she is an independent artist, her concerts are not huge, but are usually in a very intimate setting. She talks to the audience and gets requests, so I think we are going to have a good time. She seems like an interesting person.

Serial Killer Wind

It looks like the apocalypse is a wee bit early. I am sitting by a window and the sky looks black. It is pouring outside (well, it wouldn't really be pouring inside) and there is a very strong wind. Of course, since we have satellite TV, it stopped working about 20 minutes ago, so all I hear is one really frightened Basset Hound upstairs. That dog is a coward. It started off as him being only scared of loud noises, thunder, fireworks (my house around the fourth of July or New Year's is a bit like a mental ward) but now he's progressed to being afraid of the wind. Yes that's right, just like in "The Happening", that gem of a movie, (that was said caustically for those who have not seen it) our poor little Dublin thinks the wind is out to get him. We've tried different things to see if anything helps him relax, and no, nothing works. He starts trembling and pacing the room. He stops as soon as the wind, thunder, or fireworks stop.

This week I am leaving for a pagan gathering. I leave on Thursday and I return Sunday. It is a primitive camp site so I will not be posting anything during those days unless I do it by carrier pigeon, and even in a pagan festival it's not looking likely. We are celebrating Beltane, the coming of spring. This festival is where the May pole comes from in all it's phallic glory. The theme for this year's festival in this particular camp is a Native American one, which will be really interesting. We will be learning different dances and chants. Throughout the four days, we get to go to varied lectures and workshops, with many famous pagan authors and performers. One I am really interested in seeing this year is a workshop on past life regressions. We will be doing some meditations to see if we can pick up any memories from previous lifetimes. It sounds so exciting. The main ritual is on Saturday night, followed by hours of drumming (primitive drums, not electric or modern). Then we have a final ritual on Sunday morning before we leave to send us off with good energies and recharged until the next one.
This camp does these kinds of festival twice a year, at Beltane and at Samhain (pronounced Sow-in, with emphasis on the first syllable). This is the first time I go to this one so we'll see how everything works out. If the posts stop it's because I was mauled by bears, so no worries.

Ranting

So much for posting the recipe and pictures yesterday. I got hooked watching LA Ink with my sister and forgot all about it.
Today Barbossa ate his two mice. I was supposed to get him three but they didn't have anymore at the store. That's something I just don't understand. Don't they do inventory? Can't they tell they're running out of mice? Someone in the store has to have enough brains to think "we're almost out of mice, maybe I should order more". It's not rocket science, guys.
I just get irritated when one of the only stores that carries feeder mice is full of incompetents. Do your jobs people!

Topkapi is sleeping behind me, on my pillows, in my bed. My mom saw her today after not having seen her in about two weeks and she was amazed at how big she is. I don't notice because I see her every day, twice a day, so it's too gradual a change, but she is looking bigger and chunky. Good chunky, not obese.

Today officially started the summer season for me. I know it doesn't actually start until June, but today I was able to use the pool for the first time in months. Plus, Miami is not known for it's wonderful, distinctive seasons. We're lucky if we get anything besides "surface-of-the-sun" hot.
The water was wonderful, so refreshing. I'll have a tan in no time, which I hate, by the way. I go to the beach and while everyone puts on suntan lotion, I pile on the sunscreen like my life depends on it. I HATE tans.

Here is the late recipe with the pictures. I made Cocoa Meringues.

3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I didn't have any so I used almond extract and a splash of vodka)

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Gradually add the sugar and beat on high until glossy. In another bowl, mix the cocoa powder and the vanilla extract. Slowly add to the egg whites, beat some more. Place in prepared baking sheet by the spoonful. Bake at 275 F. for 25 minutes.

Birthday Girl

Today is CocoRosie's birthday!!! Since I also don't know the exact day she ferociously cracked her way out of her egg, I count the day I got her as her birthday. I've had her for a year, and she is my little "red mamba". Too bad she didn't eat yesterday, it's like she did it on purpose, just to screw with me. I can hear her laughing evilly, in the best villain style, "Mwahahahaha! I have once more thwarted her plans! Snake 1, human 0."
I swear that's what she's thinking.
Well, no matter, she is my baby and I love her and I wish her many, many more birthdays.
Later on I'll be baking, so I'll post the recipe and hopefully a picture of the finished product.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 6

Tybalt ate!!! Sound the trumpets, ring the church bells and start the parade! I am so relieved. When I first put the pinkie in front of him, he did not seem to want it, and I prepared myself to worry some more, but I kept at it and finally he opened his mouth and took it. It's the best thing in the world when you see a reluctant eater push his nose against the mouse and then open it and start swallowing. Well, maybe not THE best thing in the world, but close.
CocoRosie did not eat today. She was laying away from her usual spot, I'm not quite sure why (I checked for poop and there was none). She was curled up in plain view, which is not her usual behavior. She always wants to stay hidden, so I guess she was feeling more ferocious than usual. I put the frozen/thawed mouse in front of her and she struck. She usually starts to eat immediately, she doesn't waste time constricting a very dead mouse, but today she dropped it. I maneuvered around her coils, (obviously avoiding the end with teeth), picked the food up and offered it again. She struck but did not hold on. She was quite pissed, but not really hungry. She reared up and hissed once. She got in the feared S position but with almost half of her body suspended in the air, which makes her a pretty impressive sight. I love her spunk.
I left her alone. She's probably shedding because she never misses a meal except before her eyes turn blue.

Topkapi just yawned. I love to see that, it is just so freaking cute. I never have a camera when I need one! I have her on my lap and she has half her body inside my shirt, her belly against my side. Too adorable.

Household Dragons

People just don't believe me. They don't believe me when I tell them about Topkapi and her bossy ways. That is, of course, Her Majesty there with her head on my covers, enjoying the warmth and softness that I get to sleep on. She must wonder why she is not allowed a pillow to rest her weary head on each night. Because you're a snake, Topkapi, that's why.
I have Barbossa here next to me while I'm typing, and he keeps flicking out his tongue at each movement my hand makes. He is also laying on my bed, but somehow he always gives the impression of not wanting to be a bother. He never wants to annoy. I guess it's from being, not mistreated per se, but ignored in his first home. I'm trying really hard to break him of all those fears and insecurities he has, and he IS better, which is great. He is naturally shyer than, say, CocoRosie, who is known for her bullying ways, but I still want him to get to the point when moving his water bowl does not send him into a panic. I have hope.

I am feeling somewhat better today, thanks for asking, so I was able to go to my acting class. Today was the last one and we all performed our monologues. I think we all did a remarkable job. No one forgot too many words, although I did see little brains in overdrive trying to ad lib after a screw up, and there wasn't too much over-acting. For a beginning acting class, I think that has merit.

I seem to be doing a lot of recommending, shows, movies, and now books, but I feel that when there is something great out there (or bad out there) that people may not be aware of, something must be said. Years ago, when I was starting my second year in high school, my sister and I made a deal. She would read the Harry Potter series (which I'd been trying to force on her for a while) if I read the Dragonlance series. I'd heard her talk about them for months, but I was skeptical. I am not a big fantasy reader, I wasn't then and I'm still not really. So I prepared myself for maybe a pleasant read but nothing else. My sister started me off with the Chronicles, specifically Dragons of Autumn Twilight (yeah I know, underlined)...and I was hooked. I mean hooked. These books are incredible, sometimes you forget that you are reading a fantasy book because the relationships, the characters are so real.
When I finished Chronicles I moved on to Legends, which is the logical order to read these books in. Then I stopped, I was too busy and did not have too much time. Sadly the next time I picked any Dragonlance book up was in the past few days. I had to kill some time before a class, and I went to the main library. I wanted to read something that would help me pass the time quickly, so I remembered that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (these are the authors) had recently, well, in 2006, written sort of lost adventures of the main character that happened during the Chronicle era (these are called the Lost Chronicles). I found the first one in the library and I sat down. Damn it if I wasn't hooked again from the first chapter. All the old characters came to life and it really transported me to that summer before my sophomore year.
There is no way I can really share these books with you, just go and read them. I promise you will not be disappointed. My sister did not get really hooked with Harry Potter, but who cares? I fell in love with the world of Dragonlance, and whose blog is this anyway?

Slayers

I seem to find myself quite sick. This damn fever won't go away and it is seriously becoming a nuisance. I was not able to go to acting class yesterday. Actually, I was not able to do much of anything yesterday, and I stayed in bed with my trusty bottle of aspirin by my side. I had my sister take care of my snakes and I just lay in bed covered up to my chin in blankets. Today at least I am sitting with Topkapi who truly does not look too concerned about my well being, but who is a ball of sunshine nonetheless.

On Monday, after hearing that I was sick, my sister went out and bought the first season of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. We have already seen the episodes, but we did not own the first season, only the second and third ones (you can shove the college years, they're a load of crap). Sorry to all the Twilight fans, in my household we are hardcore Buffy fans, no snivelling teenage vampires for us. Anyway, if there are any people out there who have not seen this series, watch it. It is hilarious, dramatic, and most of all entertaining. You will not be bored for one second, Oh, and the special effects and monster makeup are really astoundingly well done, especially for a mid-90's tv show. The acting might not be the best (except for Sarah Michelle Gellar's apparently limitless ability to cry on cue), but it doesn't really get in the way of enjoying the show.

Ok, it's time to drag myself back to bed, so hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of something, anything, soon. Or I could be dead by tomorrow, really it's a toss-up. No, I kid, I'll probably last until at least Friday.

Feverish

I'm going to keep it short today because I'm feeling quite sick. I seem to be running a pretty high fever and I am typing this in my laptop in bed. This sucks!
The thing of keeping cold blooded animals is that when you are running a fever they feel like slithering ice cubes to the touch. Not fun. I'm sure when I held Topkapi this morning she was not too comfortable with MY body heat either. Sorry guys.
Hopefully I'll feel better later on, because tomorrow I have the dress rehearsal for the monologues for my acting class, so I have to be there. Of course, if I am still loopy from the fever I don't think it will go quite as planned and I might embarrass myself in front of a class of young people (listen to me, as if I were 100 years old). I don't really want that either. We'll see.

Soap Bubbles

Happy Sunday! I know there's nothing special today, no holiday or celebration but it's such a gloomy day, it looks like it's going to rain the whole afternoon, that I need to put a little pep in my step (or blog), artificially if needed be. The old grin and bear it. I do see my gardenias in full bloom, so that is a huge boost.
Yesterday Barbossa ate his two mice. When I put the first one in he refused to even flick his tongue out. He was still as a stone and gave no indication of being hungry. I didn't understand why...until I lifted his basket out of the way. He had pooped, and he refused to eat in a dirty cage. Granted, who would? So I scooped up his waste and within minutes he had killed and eaten his two mice. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Those Christians are a funny lot.

Speaking of cleaning, this morning I scrubbed Talulah's and Tybalt's cage. My sister was in charge of babysitting the two boas while I put their cage in hot, soapy water. It wasn't filthy, but I still feel better when cages look super sparkly. When I was sure there was no soapy residue or smell, I dried it and placed fresh paper towels inside. I made sure there were a lot of pockets for the babies to hide in. I also scrubbed their water bowl, because in the Miami humidity, I see algae every few days growing on the bowl. I know that algae is what started life on this planet, and I am very thankful for that, but I don't want it growing on my snake's bowls.

Last night I finished reading Fortunata y Jacinta. It was a very good book with a sad ending. I borrowed it from the library and when I first picked it up, it looked sparkling white. I don't think anyone had ever read it. The spine was intact, and when a book is as fat as this one is, that usually means no one has even opened it. If you see the poor book now, you would think it's been through the apocalypse. I do not kid. At least it looks well read. I actually fixed it up a bit yesterday because I don't want to be banned from the library, branded as the "Book Slaughterer". Let's see if I get away with book murder.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 5

Tybalt refused to eat again today. I am in code orange, a mild state of panic. I don't know why he hasn't eaten. There is no reason: he's not shedding, he is not sick (that I know of), the temperature in his cage is the same as always, etc. I paid special attention this whole week to the light/dark schedule because I know he is very sensitive to that, and yet...nothing. Snakes can spend a lot of time without food, but he is still very young and he needs all the nutrients he can get. This coming week I'm going to abstain from handling him, just in case I'm stressing him out a bit. I don't think that's the reason because he always seems to enjoy walking around. We'll see next week. Arrrrrghhhh!
All the other snakes ate without problem, which is good for my nerves. Talulah actually ate two mice since Tybalt refused his. Usually I give the extras to Damascus, but today feisty Talulah was eying the pinkie, so why not? She seemed very happy and full when I checked up on her before turning off the lights.

I'm in my room and I have a gardenia flower on my altar, and I can smell that erfume all the way across the room. The gardenia plant in our backyard is in full bloom and it is just gorgeous. There is nothing like the smell of these flowers.

Today I also baked some yummy Sticky Lemon Rolls. They are a bit like cinnamon rolls, but flavored with lots of lemon except cinnamon.
Here is the recipe:

For dough:

1 envelope dry active yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 ts. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 lemon

For filling:
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1/2 lemon
3 tbsp. butter

For glaze:
4 ounces cream cheese
juice of one lemon
1 cup powdered sugar

Place yeast with warm milk. Let rise a few minutes, then add sugar, butter, vanilla extract, 1 cup of flour. Mix well, then add salt, nutmeg, lemon zest of 1/2 lemon, eggs, and the rest of the flour. Knead well, cover and let rise an hour.

For filling, mix sugar, nutmeg, powdered ginger, zest of 1 lemon, and juice of 1/2 a lemon.

Stretch dough out into a rectangle, brush with 3 tbsp. butter, pour filling inside and roll dough u tightly. Cut into slices, place in baking pan and let rise again 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Bake 35 minutes.

For glaze cream the cream cheesem add juice of 1/2 a lemon and powdered sugar.

Slithering Lightning

Before I left for my acting class this morning I decided to take Coral out. I only take her out during the day because she is diurnal, so she does go to sleep at night. Well, she also sleeps during the day, but that's just because she's lazy. She had her whole body against one of the sliding glass doors, and I had to really maneuver to get her out of the way so I could slide it open. She was not too happy with that. I mean, it was a bit early, so I did disturb her beauty sleep. But being the thoughtless human I am, I took her out anyway. Seriously, this snake is on some type of drug. Trying to hold on to her is like trying to hold on to a lightning bolt. She squirms, bounces, slithers, whatever she can do to get out of my hands. I'm really not that bad! It's actually pretty silly of her, because if I do happen to let go, she'll go crashing to the floor. Surely my company is better than a flat skull.

I only have one more week of acting class. I've really enjoyed it and I am a bit disappointed there won't be another one until next spring. I am planning on registering for an acting workshop though, so that should fill the void until I'm able to take that class. Today the people who had not done their monologues got up there and reviewed them. Some of them are really bad memories. Even the teacher commented that our class is one that's had the most terrible experiences. I guess we are a bunch of really screwed up kids.



This is Vincent. Isn't he just adorable! He has learned to drink water from a bowl, which is a great relief on all of us. He eats pretty much anything you put in front of him. That includes grapes, granola bars, pop tarts, cranberries, rice, ham, cheese, cereal, strawberries, yeah pretty much anything. Now that we have a healthy rat we see the difference between his behavior and poor little Gustav's. He was obviously quite sick.

Birthday Boy

Today is Barbossa's birthday!!! I don't know exactly when he came out of his mother's belly (boas are viviparous, which means they give birth to live young, not eggs), but today is the day that I got him two years ago. So this is the day I celebrate for him. It really doesn't feel like two years. He is such a good animal, such a joy to have, that time has flown by. I can't really give him anything as a gift, I'm pretty sure he would freak if I put, for example, a stuffed bear in his cage, or God forbid, balloons, so I'll take him out for a longer walk outside this afternoon. He will really enjoy that. So for now, I raise my glass to salute the gentlest snake in the world, may he live many, many years more.

Last night I finished reading a great book called "The Pillars of the Earth" (I know it's supposed to be underlined, but I'm too lazy) by Ken Follett. He wrote it a while ago, and I've always heard great things about it, but I just had the chance to start reading it. I bought it in a little, stuffed-to-the-gills, bookshop in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
If you haven't read this book, do so! It is so well written, so well thought out, and so entertaining that it is completely worth it. The premise could dissuade some people, since it does take place in Medieval Times, but trust me, you will NOT be bored one second.
They're making it into a mini-series soon, so I am looking forward to seeing that. The cast looks good, maybe not quite what the book described, but I'll try to be open-minded.
Follett recently wrote a continuation of Pillars, called "World Without End" which I am going to start reading as soon as I get through the pile of library books in my room.

Water-Works

CocoRosie was hilarious today. She has a huge water bowl in her cage, but I'm never sure if she drinks enough, since I never see her, so I've resorted to using a syringe (without the needle) to give her water drop by drop. I do this mainly to ease my worries and banish the image of finding a raisin-like snake one morning, dead from thirst. I am NOT overly dramatic.
Anyways, today I went with my glass of water to give CocoRosie her liquids. I opened her cage, lifted her knitted shawl, and stuck my syringe-wielding hand inside. She usually has no problem with this, she willingly comes forward and starts drinking eagerly, drop by drop. Today, however, she most emphatically DID NOT want water. She flicked out her tongue twice and then lunged at the syringe, ready to tear it apart. I was a bit surprised, but it is CocoRosie we are talking about-the snake bully, so I gave it another shot. She did the same thing and added a hiss into the mix for good measure. Fair enough. I retreated and left her to her sinister plotting, or whatever it is she spends her days doing.

Today I went to my acting class. We have been woring on our monologues, and today we had to go through them in front on the class. I went first. My monologue is pretty dramatic, and since we are working on method acting, the whole point was to let a personal memory (although what other kind of memory is there?) push it's emotions into the words I was saying. It was surprisingly easier to do than I had thought. I had no problem in bringing tears to my eyes. The majority of us was able to do it; it's incredible how much we have all improved. Next week we have a "dress rehearsal" on Tuesday and then the performance of the monologue on Thursday. It's going to be fun.

Wincing Snake

I was able to take Barbossa walking around my room today. He was disappointed that we didn't go outside but it was a little too chilly for him. It has been really warm for the past few days, so the change of weather today took me by surprise.
Barbossa is looking gorgeous, with his fabulous new scales and he seems quite proud of them. New scales do not equal new courage, he is still a little coward. While I was sitting with him on the floor, I was working on my monologue (which is due tomorrow, by the way) and I kept picking up the notebook to check on my memorization skills, and every time I moved he would wince. As if I took a broom to him on a usual basis. Come on Barbossa, I have never and will never purposely hurt you!

Yesterday my mom and I discovered that Vincent, our new rat, doesn't drink water. He is so used to the dropper that he had in the pet store, that he doesn't know how to drink from a bowl. I was flabbergasted. He looks at the water, touches the water, but he doesn't drink it! So, for the past day and a half, I have been giving him water from a syringe. I am his own personal dropper. It's amazing the way that their mind works, because he kept licking one of the bowls that have a metal edge. He thought that, since the droppers are usually made with a metal top, this particular piece of metal would also give him water. Poor thing.

I said I was going to bake today, but I actually baked yesterday. I made chocolate croissants and hazelnut-orange croissants. It was very easy. I copped out and bought frozen puff pastry (give me a break, last week was a long one) which I defrosted and stretched out. I cut into rectangles, then triangles and put a piece of chocolate in the widest part of each triangle. I rolled them up, brushed them with egg yolk, and baked them for about 20 minutes in 375 F. oven.
For the other version I just substituted the chocolate with a 140 g. bag of hazelnuts (I put them in the blender and hit the pulse button) and half a cup of orange marmalade. Mix this all up, and place a dollop in each triangle.
Most of the croissants are gone, so there are no pictures, but they looked fancy and tasted great.

To Mulch or not to Mulch

Yesterday I fed all my babies. The only one that refused food, after behaving as if he were starving, was Tybalt. He is very sensitive to the light/dark schedule and this past week I've not been as attentive to that as usual. I had to leave pretty early every day for rehearsal and performances, and I would come home late at night. I thought that it hadn't been that bad, that I had adjusted the lights so they wouldn't feel the change, but I guess I was wrong. Picky, picky animals!
This coming week is normal, so there shouldn't be any more complaints from the snake department.
I fed Barbossa yesterday, and he ate two live mice. He missed the first one and struck a pile of mulch... which he proceeded to constrict. Picture me, standing with the feeding tongs in one hand, the PetCo box with one mouse left inside in the other, the cage open, Barbossa trying to kill mulch and meanwhile a mouse running around the snake without a care in the world. It was quite a picture. He finally realized that he was strangling wood and he at least had the decency to look sheepish at his mistake. He swallowed his pride and struck the mouse. He ate the two of them without further problems.

Coral was super funny yesterday also. I opened the cage, ready to get her out and feed her. She was inside her little hiding place, which looks like a hollow rock formation, and she refused to get out. She was way to comfy it seems. So I took out the whole rock, with her still inside, and I offered her the mouse. She took it, and ate it while curled up. Tell me that is not lazy! When she was done, I just lifted the whole thing and placed it back inside her cage, shook my head in disbelief and closed the glass door. They come up with something different every day.

My mom came yesterday with the box of mice and a new rat. His name is Vincent and he is also ridiculously cute. This one is not an albino, he is dark brown and white, with black eyes. This means that he has better vision than Gustav did. My mom says that he was the only one left in his cage, and she felt so bad about leaving him alone that he had to get him. There's no problem here, I'm always willing to take more pets in (although I think I've had my fill of dogs for a while).
I haven' baked anything for a few days, I haven't been able to do much for a few days, so maybe tomorrow I'll cook something and post the recipes and the pictures. I'll also see if I can get a picture of Vincent.

Feeding Frenzy Saturday!

Doesn't sound quite as spiffy.

Well, the play is over! We all did a really great last performance yesterday and we are all resting today. It's been a crazy, crazy week.
There were 4 plays (including ours), written, performed and directed by students, so it was pretty interesting to see. We all stepped up the energy in the last performance, all the casts did, and we had a packed house. I mean PACKED. We had to put extra seats on the sides. In our play, we had a little choreographed dance number and we had to really pay attention to where the audience members were. The last thing we needed was to smack someone in the face while we where twirling our little hearts out.
It was fun.

Today I have to feed my babies! I was gone all of yesterday and I was too exhausted last night when I got home to feed them.
When I went to turn the lights on in the garage, I saw Tybalt raising his head, looking for something yummy to eat. They're so good at telling time! He knew that I was behind on my schedule and he just wanted to remind me that there are little reptile stomachs growling. I know, Tybalt. I am aware of my failures as a snake-mother.
Barbossa has finally shed! So today he will also eat his two mice.

I have some sad news. Gustav, the little rat we were taking care of, died two days ago. No, I didn't feed it to anyone. He had been sneezing a bit, and he wasn't eating too much, so we suspected he was sick, but we didn't know how sick. It was probably a respiratory infection, because he was having a lot of trouble breathing. Maybe he caught something while he was at the wildlife center, and we didn't catch it in time to help him. So, a moment of silence for Gustav, the sweet little albino rat.

Tired Snakes and Humans

I am exhausted! I just sat down after an all-day crazy schedule. We had the first official performance for the play today, at noon, and it went very well. Everyone's energy was up, and we had a good audience that was really responsive to what was happening on the stage. That's always good. There's nothing worse than an audience who is tired or bored. They don't laugh or gasp at anything, and you can just see the performers start to freak out.

I was able to take Topkapi out this afternoon, right before sitting down to type this, and she has been super lazy again. She drank her water and then I took her up to my room and put her on the bed. She looked around my room in that adorable way she has, lifting her head, moving it like a telescope. Then, when she was satisfied with the room, when she saw that it was up to her standards, she proceeded to slither all along my bed to where the pillows are. Scientists say that snakes are dumb, but I'm not so sure. Topkapi remembers a lot of things, like which are the best hiding spots, that I give her fresh water every day, etc.; she makes associations, so she has to be a little bit intelligent. At least she thinks she is; she walks around as if she were a genius and a movie star. Well, to me she kind of is. Anywaays, she found my pillows, curled up and went right to sleep. I guess she is tired. Maybe she is also doing a play in "snake world". Yeah, I haven't had much sleep can you tell
I wish I had some more pictures to put up, but with the overwhelming schedule this week it's been impossible to concentrate on anything else but the basics, food, sleep, and making sure I have the flask for the show (don't ask).
Tomorrow we have a performance at night, at 7, and Friday we have two, one at noon and one at 7.
Barbossa has still not shed, but I'm sure he is a day away. Hopefully he sheds well. I've been spraying his cage as much as I can, but I haven't been home that much all these days, so we'll see how it goes.

Somewhere in Miami

I am sitting with my sister outside a Starbucks imn downtown Miami. I am writing on my sister's high tech phone, so if there are tons of spelling mistakes you know why. I am putting myself through this writing torture (I hate texting) because I don't know when I'll be able to actually sit down with my laptop and write a proper entry.
Yesterday, I had a full day of rehearsals for the play. We had our first dress rehearsal and we also had a small audience watching us fumble on stage. I kid, our group did very well. There are four other plays, but I didn't really see any of the others but I'm sure they're going well. I did get a chance to do a little role in one of the other plays, because one of the actresses was not able to make it to last night's mini performance. It was really fun to do, and I got to wear a wig and be completely annoying (I was playing a nagging 70-year old mother).
Today we have another dress rehearsal from 11:30-2:00, which is a bit strange after already having done a performance, but if it makes the director feel better, why not?
I missed my babies yesterday. I'm not used to being away from them so long. I did take Damascus out last night as soon as I got home, because I couldn't go a whole day without handling a snake. It is a serious addiction. He behaved like an angel.
Topkapi must have been first, surprised at being stuck in her cage all day, and then pissed off at the stupid, forgetful human.
Anyway my hand is cramping up, so I'll have to call it a day.

Spring!

To all the Christians out there, I want to wish you a happy Easter! Although it is not entirely your holiday, I still want to get off my high horse and wish you all a pleasant day. However, if you or your children do eat chocolate eggs, bunnies, or chicks please give a little thought to the pagan beliefs behind those symbols representing the rebirth of spring. After all we're not eating chocolate crosses, are we?
At my house, we had a great Easter egg hunt. All the dogs were excited and they stared at us like we had finally lost our marbles. Our Basset hound was beyond confused. We found all of the hidden (by our mom and dad) goodies, we think, because they forgot to count how many things they had bought. Last year we found one chocolate egg two weeks after Easter. My parents also bought two ceramic eggs that contain flowering seeds and soil. You tap the egg open and water them, and in a few days you have flowers! They are already watered, and I'm watching them like a hawk to see which one buds first.
There really is nothing like a sugar high at nine in the morning.

Yesterday, my family watched "The Fourth Kind", and let me tell you that is one scary movie. When we rented it, I wasn't sure how scary it would be since it is about aliens and that's something I've never found frightening. And, after the disappointment of "Paranormal Activity", we were all a bit sceptical. But the movie is wonderful. It has a great plot and some seriously chilling images. I don't know if it's all true, if the footage is real, and frankly I don't really care that much. I was entertained AND scared so for me that's a winner.
The next week is a really busy one for me. It is tech week for the play I'm in, so we have rehearsals pretty much every day. I don't know if I'll get to write much, but we'll see.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 4

It's been way too many days without a picture of Topkapi, so to avoid the wrath of a scorned snake, here she is in all her glory. I took her out this morning before I fed all the other babies, because if I take her out afterwards, when I smell nice and mousy, there's a danger of someone loosing a finger. She was her sweet, curious, marvelous self and we had a grand old time sitting at the kitchen table. She drank her fresh water and then it was exploring time!

A little look on this side, a little look on that side. Doesn't she have a beautiful profile?
By the way, the foot you see on the right side of the last picture does not belong to a lion, it belongs to this:

That creature is Vinicius, a Brazilian Fila, which is a relatively uncommon dog to have. There is a reason for that, not only are they huge but they don't like strangers very much. Or at all. He is the sweetest animal to the four of us, but anybody outside of that circle is not welcome. Seriously, he will eat you. Since he really has no contact with the world outside of our house (we can't possibly walk him), there is no problem and he is the perfect guard dog. If you walk by my house you'll just hear a lot of barking.
The Fila breed was created by putting a little bit of mastiff, a little bit of bloodhound, and a little bit of bulldog together, stirring the pot and out popped the first Fila.
All joking aside, they really are a good breed if you know how to deal with big dogs. They are extremely smart, brave, and most importantly loyal.

I finished feeding the morning babies, and everyone ate without complaining. Tybalt was a bit hesitant at first, but after some insistence on my part he took the pinkie. Now I just have Topkapi to feed tonight and that's it for this week. Barbossa will not be eating tomorrow since he is shedding, but he ate fine last week so no worries.

In the Bayou

A few hours ago, my family and I rented and watched "The Princess and the Frog". We are geeks and love most of the animated Disney movies and we own pretty much all the old ones. Actually today we also bought the "Alice in Wonderland", you know, the one that is not a waste of time aka the Tim Burton one.
Well, this new cartoon is great. My sister and I recently went to New Orleans and we enjoyed it very much, so anything as Voodoo and Jazz infused as this movie was a must-see. We were not disappointed. It had good music and was super cute. And of course, there was a snake who shockingly was not the villain! Since pythons are such an integral part of the Voodoo religion I expected to see one in the movie (another reason why I wanted to watch it) but I assumed it would be portrayed in the typical negative fashion. But no, this one, whose name is Juju, was actually a sweet, caring, and funny character. I could only think of my beautiful Topkapi.
When we were in New Orleans, my sister and I went to visit a real, functioning Voodoo temple, and we met the high priestess. She practiced in her own house and every room was full to the brim with offerings and statues that represented a million different things. She also had, as every Voodoo priestess must, a python. She had a small ball python, who was in her own beautiful wooden cage, surrounded by different objects and tokens of affection and gratitude. I love to see animals respected and worshipped. As you can tell, that is business as usual at my house.

My babies have behaved really well today. Topkapi almost fell off my bed today, but I was able to catch her at the last moment so everything's as it should be. I've been trying to get a picture of Coral for a few days now, but I'm usually alone in the house and she is just a speed machine. She is just gorgeous, so I wish I could put one up. Oh, and she finished shedding today, so she looks extra pretty with her new coat of paint.

Today was the last official rehearsal before the dress rehearsal for the play I'm a part of. It went pretty well, some people still forgot lines, but nothing major. On Monday we have a long, long day of tech rehearsals, which includes lighting, costuming, etc. Just the superficial aspect of the play, so hopefully everyone is prepared by then so we don't have to worry about anyone standing there with egg on his or her face.