Fishy news

I have fish! First time since I was six that I've had goldfish and I'm actually excited by them. It all started with an empty crystal fruit bowl that I unpacked. Then there were a packet of glam rocks at a candle shop, then it had water for a week (establishing an ecosystem' according to fish shop lady - did feel funny that as a trained ecologist I would have fish lady with bad eye makeup tell me about ecosystem in my fruit bowl), then Thursday night I went bunta in the pet shop and bought googly eyed black ones plus a cranky orange one, lots of plants, bubbler, air stone and food. Yihah! We have takeoff.

They are frisky little devils and swim around a lot and do cute gobbly mouth things to air bubbles and rocks and side of bowl. It's like they're giving everything little kisses.

Am pondering the fish name *issue* at present. (Think that maybe I am channeling stray maternal instincts into fish?) Figure as I don't have children and no immediate plans for such, that I should be allowed to give my fish stupid celebrity (or even celebratory) names that would make them cringe if they went to (fishy) school or make them stand out of the who's who pages of who if they were celebrities. Names like Dallas and Hunter and Carter. Or Vermillion, Azure and Ecrue. Bibsy-Belle? Zarna-Louise?

Or maybe named after where they were 'conceived' (me idly flicking through feng shui book and realising that while getting all the eastern-prosperity corners or evil energy sucking path-to-front-doors sorted out was beyond me, a bowl of fish could just about be tacklable). So? Lucky? Chi? Chai? Loc? (Chinese for happy apparently).

Or dead grandma names - actual or stylistically similar - Maude? Ivy? Rose? I am thinking of Edith and Maggie for my actual great-grandmas. But that leaves the big orange fish nameless. Any suggestions?

(Have I magically been transported back in time to become six years old all over again? Maybe).

The other good thing about the fish is that I struck up an e-mail conversation with one of my workplace crushes about fish care and maintenance (there's context, just trust me that this wasn't an entirely wacky thing to do), thereby having our first non-work related e-exchange. He even offered to bring in a fact sheet he has at home about fish care. ha ha. So he's interested, right..? Or could it be that he just has an inappropriate amount of enthusiasm for fish care?

Either way, I am very happy with new piscean friends. (I would say 'pets' but Mc and I have already spent far too long arguing over whether fish quality. Clearly they do, but he doesn't agree).