Please send love. Meggy's gone.

I got home from work this evening to find that my chinchilla had passed away.

Meggy on January 31, 2014

Meguilla's body was still warm, as though she'd tried with all her might to hold on 'til I could be there. She'd been uncharacteristically lethargic this morning before I left, but no warning bells went off. I checked on her a few times during the day via the webcam, and while she wasn't being very active at all, she'd normally sleep most of the daylight hours away anyway. I wasn't expecting her to be gone when I arrived, and it was another shock to my system. If I'd thought for one moment that she was seriously ill, I'd have gotten her to a vet...

I already miss Meggy incredibly.  She may only have lived with me for 26 months or so, but I loved my little round thing with all my heart, and I'm crying writing these words. Meguilla's sister, Priscilla, passed away just over a week after Laura and I had moved the two of them into the apartment from central Pennsylvania, and we were heartbroken then, too. These adorable animals are so fragile, and they tend to hide any symptoms of illness or weakness. I want to bury Meggy in the park, where her sister is, with their cousins the squirrels chattering nearby.

My only consolation is knowing that I gave her a good life for the two years that I knew her. Regular "chinny playtime," dust baths, raisin and dried apple treats... I loved her, and I know she loved me. I still have Preeti, my lovely tortie cat, of course, and I'm going to have to love her twice as hard now. (She seems to realize that something's changed, but I don't think she understands.) It really hurts seeing the happy little family I'd once had with Laura take another loss, though. Really hurts. So, yeah, if you could please send some love, right now I could use a lot. In the meantime, I have more crying to do...

One Week Down...

Well, after one week on the South Beach diet (phase one), I've lost 4.8 pounds.  My aim isn't really to lose weight, or not any significant weight anyway, but it still feels good to know that my metabolism hasn't slowed down too much.  The diet itself hasn't been bad at all, and I'm not craving sugar or bread or chocolate at all.  No, really.

The Up band has been very cool (thanks again, honey!), and the only hiccup I've seen with it so far was more than likely caused by me.  I've been using it to keep track of my meals and how I feel after them, as well as my sleep and my walking, and I think it's all tying in nicely with the diet and my aim to improve my health and fitness this year.  Laura and I intend to start playing tennis in the spring, which will be great for the both of us.

I believe I've finally resolved the ChinCam (http://www.andersensilva.com/chincamp.php) issues, by setting up my old iPhone 3G S as the webcam and by dumping Stickam in favor of USTREAM.  Though Meguilla the chinchilla is not going to be active 24/7, the stream will be up more often than it's down.  Maybe Meggy would be more interested in entertaining you if there were raisins involved...!  Chinny playtime, a nightly occurrence in the Silva/Liston household, will not be televised, for the most part, because it involves Meggy running all over the dining room floor, and often over us as well, and there's just no easy way to keep a cam trained on her.  There is also now a YouTube channel for the grumpchilla's finer moments, though!  Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/meggychincam

I've started reading one of my Christmas gifts, "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid," by Douglas R. Hofstadter, and while it's not light reading at all, it's quite an intriguing book, and it had the unexpected side effect of prompting me to purchase and start listening to some Bach.  I've always been a Mozart fan, but I've now discovered that I really enjoy Bach, too.  Nothing wrong with switching the KMFDM and Metallica and Regina Spektor and Beatles with some Bach once in a while, eh?

I finally spent some more time with the guitar yesterday afternoon and started coming up with music to a new song, "So Much Happy."  I still need to record "Burning in the Sun" and "Let Me," both of which were written last year, and there are older songs which stil haven't been recorded, either, but it feels good to want to write music again.

SOPA sucks.  Google, Twitter, Facebook, and other Web giants have purportedly considered a one-day blackout in protest, and to demonstrate against the bill, though this is far from confirmed.  I hope they do it.  Too few Americans are paying attention to what gets done in their names these days, and suddenly not having access to those sites would certainly make them take notice.

One week down, fifty-one to go...  How's the New Year treating you?

Episode VII: A New Beginning

November has been a busy month.  Laura moved in with me, and the two of us are still adjusting to life together, and cooking together, and all the little and big things that change when one lives with someone else.  So far, however, so good.  Very good, even, and I'm not anticipating any major changes to that wholesome goodness.  Well, OK, "wholesome" is relative...

The day after moving in with me, Laura got to meet my parents and my sister and her family (including my two nephews) for the first time at my sister's birthday party.  My love was a bit nervous about it, but all turned out well, as I'd expected, and everyone had a nice time there.

A week after she moved in, I had to leave Laura home alone for several hours while I went to an Ani DiFranco concert with Jenn, Rhonda, and Amanda.  It was a great show, and I'm looking forward to Ani's new album next year, but it felt good to get back home after the show.

A few days after that was Thanksgiving, and Laura and I went to my parents' house for dinner and had a great, overstuffed meal, to which we brought mashed white sweet potatoes, apple pie, and wine.  Laura got to meet one additional family member, Degas the degu, and was quite pleased to meet him.  It was also Laura's birthday, and mom and dad had a cake and presents for her.  The next day, we were taken out for dinner by Laura's mom and had another nice time.

On Saturday, it was my turn to meet some furry faces, as we went to central Pennsylvania to pick up the rest of Laura's stuff and to bring home Priscilla and Meguilla, our "chinchildren." (I managed to bang up both of my calves during a chase scene involving a botched leap into the back of the U-Haul van after we'd gotten home, but otherwise everyone made the trip just fine.)  Yes, Laura and I have a family of chinchillas now, and the girls are so cute that I had to share: ChinchillaCam is at http://www.andersensilva.com/chincam.php if you're interested!

Prissy is the bolder of the two

A busy month, but a good'un.  Let's see what December has in store...  <#