Free Guitar Lessons for Animals

So, I've moved in with my boyfriend and started a new job. What is the next logical step? What is it that you would start wanting under these same circumstances?

Why, a pet, of course!

I have wanted a dog for a long time. My boyfriend and his family have always had a dog, and it's always been a golden retriever.

I have never had a dog. My family has always had cats; one cat, really. The cat is almost as old as I am. Eight years ago we got a second cat. She was supposed to be my cat, while the other cat was more my brother's.

Well, she's extremely sweet but not very bright at all. In this apartment complex you can't have a dog. Cats are a $500 fee due at move-in followed by $50 cat-rent each month. I love my cat, but not enough to cough up $1100. Plus, she's incredibly large... LARGE, I tell you! So maybe they would have bumped the fee to $2200.

So, no dogs and no cat. I decided to get a fish.

I had a fish my freshman year of college. His name was Disco, and he was a fantail goldfish. He lived maybe 3 months, and I was pretty sad when he died. I know that he was just a fish, but my first year was sometimes painful and it was nice to take care of something. But most fish don't do very well unless they have a filter.

My mom has had a betta fish, Phish, for almost five months. It seemed low maintenance and full of vigor. The pet store had a surprisingly great collection and everything was clean. Usually I remember fish sections as dank and disgusting. I didn't buy a normal betta; I bought a crown-tail betta. I don't know how they're different except that crown-tails have fins that look like dred locks.

You may recognize bettas from your office... people like keeping them in bowls with a giant plant sticking out the top. I recently found out that this is a bad idea.

Meet Gremlin!

At first I thought he was just the latest addition to a long line of strangely behaved pets. Bettas are also known as "fighting fish." If you put two in a bowl together, they'll tear eachother up. When I hold a mirror up to Phish's bowl, his gills puff up and he starts darting around. When I hold a mirror up to Gremlin's bowl, he just looks at it very inquisitively and follows it with his head.

But finally Gremlin has started acting like a fighting fish. I put him on the kitchen counter, and in the morning when I first turn the light on he sticks up his fins and darts around. So maybe he's a real betta after all.

It's nice to have him. We're turning into quite a motley circus in this apartment.