Amour-Fou♥Net

Two days ago, I went to Petco to get a bigger tank for my betta fishy, Tobias (Tom and I inherited him from our roommate in Buffalo, Britney!). Right now, he lives in a coffee pot, but as you can see, it’s kind of a tight squeeze:

So I decided to get Tobias a bigger, more comfortable home, and maybe some friends. But after talking to some peeps at the store (a couple of whom seemed really knowledgeable) I decided not to risk putting Tobias with other fish because male bettas are pretty vicious. Instead, I got a 5.5 gallon tank and a bunch of supplies, so that I can start a mini-but-still-super-legit actual aquarium!

It’s going to be kinda high maintenance: I’m gonna have to start the nitrogen cycle, grow some plants, and make sure the aquarium’s occupants have enough space and get along. But I love a project, so I’m really excited about it, even if it’ll be kinda challening.

As for which fish I’m going to have, I think I’m going to go with a couple colorful platies because they’re small, cute, peaceful, etc, and probably an African dwarf frog too, because they’re adorable, low maintenance, and get along with calm fish.

I’m also going to have to figure out what kinds of plants I want to grow, because I’ll have to put them in first….

Oh and don’t worry–I haven’t forgotten about little Tobias! I’m going to get him a bigger home and maybe a ghost shrimp to keep him company and help keep the tank clean. According to the internetz, ghost shrimps are cool because they’re transparent and you can see food go through them!

And here’s an awesome sign for the road…

I took this while in standstill traffic near my house today on the way back from visiting Tom in New York ( ). It struck me as ridiculous because… what’s with the question mark?

Tonight I’m going to mini-review a couple more of the books I read this summer, this time the ones that were both fictional and took place in Japan. Okay the category is kind of a stretch, as you’ll see when you realize how different the books I’m about to talk about are, but whatever. Here goes!

The Hell Screen: Yummy Fare for J-History Nerds

Okay, okay. As a mystery, The Hell Screen by I.J. Parker is kinda mediocre, though it does definitely improve in the second half. But as historical fiction, this had me drooling.

Maybe that won’t be the case for everyone–after all, I am an East Asian history major, and I’ve studied medieval Japan pretty extensively. But Parker has really succeeded in painting a very, very detailed picture of Heian era Japan, explaining every possible element of daily life in old Kyoto that would realistically intersect with her characters. I’m a stickler for historical accuracy, too, and though I’m obviously not an expert, I didn’t catch any anachronisms or errors whatsoever.

I know historical fiction tends to be considered kinda trashy, not to mention mysteries, but this was a really fun read and I’ll definitely be looking into other entries in the series.

Battle Royale: Delicious Pulpy Goodness

First, the bad: The translation of Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami, has way more errors than I would expect, and Bruce Springsteen is quoted way more than I would like. (Don’t ask.)

And now, the good: Battle Royale is one of the best (if not THE best) books I read this summer. I haven’t seen the movie (it’s on my to-do list!), so I didn’t really know what to expect. For those of you who don’t know, the basic premise of the book (and you find this out within the first few pages) is that a bunch of kids are trapped on an island and have to kill each other, in an alternate-history-late-20th-century totalitarian Japan. I won’t give more details, because I don’t want to ruin it.

The book is filled to the brim with more blood and guts than you could possibly imagine, and does more than a little stereotyping about some (not all!) of its characters. But there are enough twists and turns to make this an incredibly riveting page-turner, that WILL shock you (not in a gratuitous way, I promise!) more than once. I can’t recommend it highly enough. (Unless you’re like, really squeamish, in which case you should stay far far away… )