Quick update:

The fireworks were a b s o l u t e l y a m a z i n g. Fourth of July isn't going to compare. I bet at least 10 million dollars lit up the sky last night. \o/


Last night's mind blowing experience, a Ricardo Caballer Ricasa production. If nothing else, at least check out the first two minutes, and the last minute of the finale.

I cannot wait until next year.



The new 2.5G tank is circulating; Davno's hanging out in her glass bowl next to my mouse pad. All considering, I don't think I've been happier with a tank yet. I can't wait to put her in. ♥

Next up: breaking down the Fluval and 20G tanks and sunning and separating the rocks to dry. Hopefully getting out to Petland to turn in some guppies. Will be trying to transition snails to the 2.5G as I find them. One by one. Woo.

Since my foray into fish husbandry seems to be becoming a pretty big thing for me, I'm going to try and not ramble so much about it here, and use my new blog instead.

The blog was supposed to be about 'finding myself' but since I never found suitable topics for individual posts, the blog will be how I find peace in a fish tank.

I just made my first post over there, wee!

https://lastofthewildes.wordpress.com/
https://lastofthewildes.wordpress.com/
https://lastofthewildes.wordpress.com/

I'm going to have to figure out how to use wordpress more.

I promise to try and get back to my usual posting and commenting schedule, but please.

Go check this out.
Linkkkkie ---> http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141016-your-life-on-earth

This is terribly humbling. It's a your-life-so-far-in-review.

As of typing,

My heart has beaten 1 billion times in my lifetime

on Earth I am 26, on Neptune I am 0
My next birthday on Neptune is in 50,468 Earth days

I've traveled 130,197,320,205 miles through the Milky Way

When I was 2, the black-faced lion tamarin was discovered.
There have been 126 major volcanic eruptions.
Ocean pH has decreased by 0.05

When I was 11, 157 fish species were listed as critical, now 424 are on the brink of extinction.
"There are virtually no Goliath groupers left in the world."

When I was 17, black rhinos were saved from extinction. There population exceeds 3,000.

Upsetting, fascinating. Reminding me how human I am and how much humanity is to blame for all the good and bad that happens in our world.

I want to bookmark this link and revisit it occasionally.

Every once in a while, I find myself caught in a memory, the nostalgia hits so hard and I feel a profound ache in my soul. We had an old mulberry tree in our side yard behind the garage. The wall was dated 1937 but we tore the garage down in 2011 and the tree came down a year before.

This tree was monstrous. Being borne from a single bush untended for over a quarter of a century, it grew to be twice the size of the garage, much taller in fact, with six strong trunks in the center. I couldn't hug a trunk and touch my own hands. Standing in the middle of the trunks, I could spread my arms out wide, spin in a circle, and not touch any part of the tree. It took months to bring it down. We're still using it's stump as bonfire kindling.

I remember pulling into the driveway one Friday night; I was coming home from university for the weekend. I had to stop my car as soon as I pulled into the driveway. All of that sky above the garage looked wrong. There was so much blue and not nearly enough green. To this day, I still harbor some angst at my mother for declaring that tree begone, an eyesore.

No, it was glorious. It was quiet, it was shade, and it was a part of home. I can't tell you how many times we cut and stripped the perfect mulberry branches to roast our marshmallows. Or begin to explain how the smell of the ripe fruit would blow in through the window on the breeze, always sweet but somehow despite the summer heat, never sour. Once, we even made pies. Every summer, we'd fish white and black berry pods out of the swimming pool with the skimmer and would have to scrub the liner from where they stained. And the songs of the birds that would nest year after year!

I pray, oh do I pray, that if I plant a mulberry bush at my next home and allow it to grow wild that it would grow to be an incredible tree just like ours was. And if my children or husband ever begged me to cut it down, I pray they listen to my defense. One day, they would look back, perhaps not as fondly as I, but they would look back and realize how lovely that once insignificant plant was and allow it to become more majestic.

While getting ready for night two of the bachelorette this track came on my iTunes and it made me really happy. It's another one of those I downloaded for free on Amazon and it's so fun and poppy and encouraging and I love the melody of it so much.

Have a super-cute, great sounding acoustic that's almost better than the studio version:



Oh No Fiasco makes me think of Paramore but I actually like ONF. To be honest this is the only song I've heard so far but now that I've found more of their stuff on youtube, I'm about dying to get into them.

Will be back to link to the sampler album I got this from. I'm running out of time!

Have you ever heard a song/melody/lyric that connected instantly with your soul? The first time I listened to this track when Emily gave me a copy of Imaginaerum, it seemed so familiar to me. I got chills throughout my entire body and Goosebumps spread all over my arms and torso. I felt the flute melody in my heart and it was starling because I've never connected to music so intensely before.



Unofficial lyric video. Language is.... Finnish. The flawless Tuomas as songwriter as usual. I love his view on music. He says, "My aim in the band is to become a more balanced human being, friend and co-worker through creating music and stories, to give the listeners a place to escape to and to create their own universes."

I'm nervous about what happens next with Nightwish. Tarja left. Anette left. Now it's just the gentlemen and I'm scared. I've been a fan since about 2004. I loved Tarja. I adored Anette. I don't care for the vocalist they had on tour with them, because I couldn't get into After Forever's sound. If she's what they choose to continue their story with, I'll try to be open minded about Floor's addition because it's Nightwish.

I've connected with so many of their tracks, this one most intensely. Another track inspired my username and I'm determined to write a short story with this song as part of the soundtrack, is "Last of the Wilds" off their Master Passion Greed album. I hope that Nightwish can continue to be great and devastating.

It's been two years since Imaginaerum was released... I wonder how much longer I'm going to have to wait for another album.

Evening! I've decided that, since I frequently indulge in music, I'm going to take one day a week to share my latest favorites. I often browse Amazon's section of free music downloads and have found some precious gems. I love growing my music collection, and discovering new favorite artists is an experience to cherish.


Tonight, I'm sharing something that usually doesn't tickle my fancy. Click play to listen to the music and read on, as it's the official track but isn't a lyric or music video. Just the tunage.



This is considered part of the hard rock and metal genre, but the fans on their youtube insist it to be influenced by deathcore or metalcore. Neither of which are usually my cup of tea. But let me explain why I'm loving on it so hard.

I can understand the scream-type lyrics with relative ease, and the powerful, lyrical chorus is engaging. It drags you further into the song. Regarding the growls, I love the contrast of the deeper and higher tones - it makes me think of the devil and angel sitting on my shoulders and the battle between them.

And the lyrics!

I could never be
what you wanted me to be
And now this high is growing thin
I turn to you
what should I do?
just light the match
just light the match
and watch me burn

watch me burn
you watch me burn
as I wither away
you are shaden by grey
as I wither away
come fucking blow me away

Lyrics from eLyrics.net

I feel especially taken by this song because this is part of the genre my best gal pal listens to. One night while we were hanging out, she took the time to explain why she likes the music she does. When I found this song in one of my playlists, I thought, "I bet D would love this." We listened together, and she did enjoy the track, but I was proud to finally understand her perspective and pick out a song just for her.

If you're digging it, download for free with other metal tracks from the Artery Recordings March Metal Madness '13 sampler.