triple reds 032

triple reds 032, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

These are some cool FISH!

007

007, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

More of my fancy Platys... I have an auction of them running at Aquabid...well...I DID...they got snapped up...but just being able to do this and study and enjoy all these fish is such a wonderful experience and learning how to use the digital camera and seeing the improvements I'm making...this has got to be one of the best times of my life...

Picnik collage Fancy Platy Parents and Fry

Picnik collage Fancy Platy Parents and Fry, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

I have to admit the more and more I practice with my new digital camera...the better I'm getting at capturing some decent photos of my fish...I'm still not where I want to be...but I'm getting closer everyday.

Interestingly enough in one of the blogs I follow...there was an article about the 6 steps to financial success...here is a short excerpt.."A few days ago, I read Jason Fried’s wonderful article How to Make Money in Six Easy Steps. The article details Fried’s growth as an entrepreneur from a young child to running the successful software firm 37signals.
Fried’s “six easy steps” are as follows:
1. Understanding the buyer is the key to being a strong seller
2. It’s all about passion
3. Charge real money for real products
4. There are different pathways to the same dollar
5. Bootstrapping
6. Practice

It seems that even the best of the best still practice, practice, practice, each and everyday whatever they are most passionate about and want to excel at...and when I read that...something "clicked"...Kobe Bryant may have natural talent as a basketball player...but he still drills and drills and drill in the gym everyday...it's what he does, it's what he's passionate about...it's what makes him beyond acceptable and beyond good and moves him up to a great basketball player...So I'm no longer counting the time I spend on practice pics that are worthless as a waste of time...I'm counting them as practice...a learning experience along the road to being really good at what I do.

So I wonder...

I've often thought that we all compare ourselves to others...to check in and see how we're doing compared to somebody else...and then if they are doing significantly better we feel lousy...here's an excerpt from a blog I follow...and it proves my point that comparing yourself to others is just pointless and a waste of time...

I’m 21 years old and I’m a successful student and I have a scholarship at a university. One of the things I enjoy doing is reading about people who have contributed greatly to science and math. Sometimes after reading long enough I come across a man who is in his mid 20s and made a huge contribution to what was known at that time to science. After reading such articles I feel proud of them. They were so young yet they were smart enough to formulate a thesis or invent something that changed the world. But then new thoughts pop into my mind. “Why am I not as good as they were?” “What made them so good?” “What do they have that I don’t?” And literally after a few minutes, I’m down, confused, and depressed.
So my question is this- any advice on how to deal with this? How not to compare myself to geniuses and how to overcome feelings of worthlessness and helplessness?"

See...if you start doing that in your 20s you will never feel like you've caught up...or never feel like anything you do is worthwhile compared to what others are doing. The secret that you don't know is that perhaps this person has been a science geek master since 8 years old...so by his 20s he's already had several  years experience in this field. It's like comparing yourself to a master painter when you're just learning to draw...of course you'd feel overwhelmed and sad..and feel like you're never going to get to that level. What you don't see is all those years and very bad paintings that Monet threw away as trash. I don't think anybody  sits down one day and becomes an expert or genius in any field.  But for some perverse reason we always want to compare our baby efforts to a master or genius and then make ourselves feel bad.

I think the best advice I've ever seen on this subject comes from a humble bumper sticker that I saw recently...it said...."If the grass is always greener on the other side, water  your own grass more." So true...instead of bemoaing the fact that somebody else looks better...can do something better or whatever...focus that energy on what you can do for yourself that will improve what you are interested in or trying to do.

Lavender Crowntail Betta

Lavender Crowntail Betta, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

This is a photo I actually took with my very own digital camera... I am so far far away from Pete Mang-Lotsoffish quality pictures...but I am pretty darn proud of myself that I figured that camera out and actually got a good shot of Lavender Lou. He's another one of my "rescue bettas" and he has a very pretty girlfriend...NOT in his tank...because they aren't sociable that way...lol...they are both up for bid on Aquabid as I type this and have had 6 bids on them so far. Lavender Lou is a very happy camper...he's blowing bubbles all over the top of his tank...always a good sign...and he's eye-ing up his girlfriend in the next tank over as he keeps building his bubble nest. He's preparing for mating and the eventual eggs he will carry by mouth and place into his bubble nest. It is so hard to get a good clear picture of fish...they just won't sit still and pose...and you can't bribe them like you can the dog.

I have been naughty and spent far far too much on other people's auctions so I've been reading about ways to curb impulse buying from one of my favorite bloggers. He has some very good suggestions for credit card impulsiveness...or rather ways to stop that. I really like the one about wrapping your credit cards in a treasured picture of something you're working towards or someone you love dearly like your children who spending that money could possibly hurt.

Anyway, he says:

"This week, The Simple Dollar is running a short series on some of the key moments in my financial turnaround and how you can experience those moments as well. For a full description of this, see the first article in the series.

Once I had the credit cards out of my wallet, I found that I was forced to think about my purchases more carefully when I was out and about. However, the problem was not solved when I was at home.

The challenge, of course, was the internet. I’d visit a website, see something interesting, and then find myself quickly whipping out my card and typing in the number.

Alternately, simply having them out and easily available meant that sometimes I’d just slip one in my pocket when I was out and about, using it to buy gas and, often, to buy unnecessary things. While not having the cards in my wallet helped greatly with impromptu impulse purchases, it didn’t help when I talked myself into being impulsive before I even left the house.

It was time to move onto stiffer measures.

Block Your Cards
The goal, in the end, is to make sure that every time you purchase something on credit, you’re giving that purchase some careful thought. Removing your credit cards from your wallet is a good first step, but if they’re just sitting in a drawer and easily accessed, additional steps are needed.

My solution was simple: I blocked my card use by making their usage more difficult using various physical and emotional means.

Here are three techniques I used, all with degrees of success.

Freeze them
Just take out a freezer-safe dish (a large Ziploc freezer bag can work pretty well for this), add some ice cubes to it, then put your credit cards on top of the ice cubes. Add water until the credit cards are completely submerged, then put the container in the freezer. What you’ll end up with is a giant ice cube that has your credit cards in the middle.

In order to retrieve your cards, you’re either going to have to melt the large ice cube or you’re going to have to smash the ice cube, likely making a pretty good mess. In either case, you’re going to have to spend some time doing this, forcing you to think about the reasons for which you’re trying to get these cards out of the ice.

Hide them
Another option is to simply hide the cards in a hard-to-reach place in your home – or in a safe external place, like your safe deposit box.

For me, a great place to hide stuff is in our attic. The only way to access the attic is through a portal at the top of our bedroom closet, which is essentially impossible to access without a ladder. Thus, to get into the attic, I have to go to the garage, get a ladder, carry it up the stairs to the bedroom, set it up, climb up there, open the attic portal, get into the attic, then rummage around for the things I’m looking for.

During this process, I have plenty of time to think about why I’m retrieving the cards and, often, I can talk myself right out of it.

Wrap them in pictures
A final approach that worked for me was to use an emotional block of sorts. I simply take a 4″ by 6″ snapshot photo of my children and use it as a “wrapper” for each credit card by placing the card in the center of the back of the photo, then folding the edges so that it forms something of an “envelope” around the card.

When I do this, whenever I go to retrieve a card, I’m forced to look at the pictures of my kids, who really are the inspiration for many of the positive choices I make in my life. Their picture tells me that I should really consider making a better choice, both for their sake as well as for my own long-term viability so that I can be there for them.

Obviously, you can use whatever picture you’d like for this purpose: an image of a long term goal you have, someone you deeply love, or anything else. The key is to use an image that will make you hesitate before using that card.

The key here is to slow down your ability to just grab a credit card and use it, forcing you to think more carefully about your purchases in real time. Such a move will do nothing but help you if you’re struggling to get your spending under control."

Gotta love this guy and give him kudos for creativity too!

Bumble Bee Blue Shrimp

Bluebumblebee shrimp-lotsoffish strain, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

I just bought this strain of shrimp. They are going to be delivered this week...wow! They are just too cool. In this photo they look more of a greenish blue than straight blue...I'll have to wait until I get them to see what they actually look like in reality. It's hard sometimes to capture the true color of fish or shrimp...but even greenish blue with those bright yellow band they are BEAUTIFUL. I have been so naughty this weekend. I have been on everybody else's auctions and buying up a storm...lol...AH...

Now the justification or rationalization comes in...well, you see...ummmm....errrrr... well dammit... I didn't have any of those kind of fish or shrimp and I can't very well run the same auction over and over again now can I? Of course not! So I HAVE to have new and different strains of fish to breed and sell right? Of course I'm right...lol... at least that's what I tell myself as the cupboards are barren of new food and my jeans have frays and holes in them and the gas tank never quite gets filled all the way up...Priorities right? Yep...

and my priority right now is getting the best breeding stock I can get my grubby little hands one...my SO noticed that I had painted my fingernails...a very rare thing indeed...so he asks..."did you get your nails done, they look very nice?" I say, I did them myself, thank you. He says..."oh I thought you might have splurged and gotten them done." I say..."Hah! Now why would I pay somebody 60 bucks to paint my nails and slop some artificial goop on them, what would I have to show for that in 2 weeks? No, see... I will happily drop a hundred bucks on a good pair of young breeding fish F1 quality... and in 2 weeks or so I will probably see a very lovely pregnant female fish and then a nice drop of fry that will grow in a few weeks and I will be able to auction them off and MAKE money many times over on that original pair...but 60 bucks to get my nails done at some hoity toity salon...furrrrgedaboutittt...ain't EVEN going to happen...lol. Priorities right?

I will wear my jeans slap flat OUT and my sneakers til they have holes in them or the infamous flapping sole thing going on...and then mutter and mumble and complain when I have to replace them...but buy a new tank that's on sale... I'll do it in a heartbeat and not think twice about it...snag a really good auction for shrimp or fish that I don't currently have in stock...you betcha...no complaints there...but the way I look at it...those beautiful and interesting creatures MAKE me money in the long run and sometimes in the short run too...so that is worth investing money in...me if I could get away with it...I'd go to the post office and corner store in my PJ's and bedroom slippers and not be bothered with having to buy new jeans and sneakers...but alas... I don't want the good townspeople to think I'm even loonier than they already think I am...what with all these fish tanks and the weird hours I keep...lol....

Purple blue crayfish

Purple blue crayfish, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

This little guy looks so entertained...lol. He actually looks annoyed and like he wants to be put BACK in his tank...so he can run around and do his thing...munching on whatever he finds that looks tasty to him.

On being frugal

Here is an excerpt from The Simple Dollar...a blog I follow more or less regularly. It has some really good advice on managing your time and money. I like the one about turning off the cell phone...yanking the ethernet out of the computer when you have to get work done. I have A.D.H.D. and I'm always fighting distractions and something else that catches my eye and captures my attention when I have detailed work to do on the computer...for example...record keeping for my online fish auctioning business... I start to do it...and then I think...hmmmm I just need to check my e-mail real quick...and that leads to well I might as well check my current auctions...and that leads to ....wonder what so and so is auctioning this week and I'm off looking at what other people are doing...and then I decided I need a break and just a few minutes of the game Mafia Wars can't hurt...and before I know it...the whole morning has slipped away and I've gotten Zilch done on my personal business record keeping which was what I set out to do in the first  place, lol.

Here are the tips from The Simple Dollar  Blog:

"Focus. When it’s time to get stuff done, eliminate distractions. Pull the ethernet cable out from your computer. Turn your cell phone completely off. Disconnect your office phone. Pull the blinds. Close your door. Actually get some work done, instead of just working for a few minutes and then bopping over to the latest distraction.
Keep a list. Whenever you think of something you have to do or something you want to think about later, add it to the list. Then, when you’re done with the task at hand, just turn to the list instead of wandering off and trying to think of what you need to do next.
Make routine tasks as efficient as possible. If you can figure out how to shave a few minutes off of something you do every day, then you suddenly will find your time multiplying. Three minutes saved doing laundry can make the difference in convincing you to load the dishwasher tonight instead of going to bed. The clean dishes tomorrow mean one less task to worry about, giving you the space to take care of something else in your life (like one of the frugality tasks below).
Not understanding frugality
On the other side of the equation is the “time to be frugal” part of things. The assumption here is that frugality must be a time sink because the first thing or two they imagine a frugal person doing seems like a giant time sink. In truth, many frugal tactics end up being time savers as well over the long run, in addition to saving money. Here are five examples.
Install a programmable thermostat. Once one is installed and properly programmed, you’ll basically only have to touch your thermostat a few times a year. Not only that, because the furnace or A/C unit in your house is running less (assuming you programmed it sensibly, with the heat and/or the air conditioning turning off at night), you’re saving money as well.
Install long-lasting energy efficient bulbs. In areas where you don’t need perfect lighting, install CFL and/or LED light bulbs. Both will last for far longer than normal bulbs (meaning less time spent changing bulbs), plus they’re much more energy efficient, meaning your energy bill will drop with continued normal use of the lights.
Wire your entertainment center to a master switch. If you have an outlet in your family room that is wired to a switch, then just plug your entertainment center in via that outlet. Then, when you’re ready to go to bed, just flip the switch and everything loses power. No standby devices sucking down energy, plus it’s much easier to turn everything off at night.
Make double/triple/quadruple meals. When you’re actually making a homemade meal, such as a casserole, make doubles or triples of it and sock them away in the freezer. The next time you come home, feel lazy, and are just tempted to order something for supper, pull the ready-made meal out of the freezer and toss it in the oven. Instant homemade food, much cheaper than delivery.
Purge your overstuffed closets. Getting rid of unwanted stuff via yard sale or eBay means more cash in hand. It also means it’s quicker and easier to actually find the closet items that you want or need."

I  just love this guy. His parents obviously did a really good job of raising him with common sense and an appreciation for education.

White crayfish

White crayfish, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

Here is a white crayfish, one of 3 different colors that I am getting. The other two are red and a really pretty purple blue. They are omniverous and will even eat raw hotdogs bites dropped into their tank. They do interbreed so if you want to keep the colors pure you have to keep them in separate tanks. ..

I think they are a really cool addition to all my rare tropical fish...something just a little bit different...can't keep them with the fish though...they find fish very tasty to snack on...and I'm not breeding rare and expensive fish for crayfish to eat at whim, lol.

Speaking of fish... I was on Aquabid earlier...getting ready to post a new auction for baby fry from 4 of my different breeding groups and I was using Firefox just like I always do...and they come up with this new crap...that Firefox has disabled the copy/paste function...WHAT???

Then they tell me there is HTML code that you can go into the computer's system and put this function back in with...again WHAT??? I'm not a computer programmer...this is ridiculous!!

AND what makes even less sense to me...why disable it and then give you the HTML code to put it back into your system????? Do they think I'm bored and have nothing better to do than get frustrated with trying to log on and do what I do?

COURAGE

I  just read a quote..."The Most Important Form Of Courage is Moral Courage."  It's not hard to snatch a baby away from a fireplace or stop them from running into traffic. It is much harder to take a moral stance that is not popular or trendy....I always give more than the customer paid for when I'm packing up my boxes of fish to ship off....

One of my friends told me that was silly and excessive and totally unnecessary and I would never turn a handsome profit if I continued to do that...you know what?  I don't care. I believe in old fashioned values and customer service and giving my customers just a little bit more than they paid for...if only a brand new fish net and some hardwood leaves in their box...it's a little more time consuming for me...but I don't care. I want to give a little bit more of my business to others. They are the people that support me and make this wonderful venture and business possible...why wouldn't I want to give them a little something extra with their orders?? I feel sorry for my friend with the cold heart of a tax accountant...but the bottom line for me is I will continue to give a little bit more each and every day...I don't believe that giving will make me go broke... I believe that giving comes back to me 10x over in many different forms and fashions.

I'm not a spendthrift. I don't throw my money or my products away. I've styled and dyed and high-lighted my own hair at home in the bathroom for years. No, it's not trendy...no it's not chic...but my hair looks good and I save all that fancy salon price to have somebody else do it for me. I'm fully functioning and capable of using the mirror and pulling little bits of hair through a plastic cap and then washing it out after the recommended period of time. Why would I pay somebody else $100 to do this for me? Now, that doesn't make good sense to me.

The money I save on beauty treatments and hair styling... I re-invest and spend on my fish and purchasing more breeding stock. I also don't have a brand new car with outrageous payments. I drive a pick up truck and a 15 year old standard shift car. Again..not trendy or chic...but it works for me and the money I save on those high car payments I again use to invest in breeding stock or fish equiptment or supplies or soy candle wax and candle scenting fragrances and wicks and tea light containers.

I think it takes moral courage to stand up for yourself and decide what is important to you...and act on your decisions no matter what your friends...your neighbors...the media...or even your family may think.  You are the one who has to live with what you do day in...day out...and when you lay down to sleep...if you are doing what you believe is right...you won't waste time tossing and turning and worrying about tomorrow...you'll go right to sleep...eager to get up and do what you love doing all over again.

BLUE PLATY FISH

BLUE PLATY FISH, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

I currently have an auction running for a pair of these gorgeous blue platys...they are new to me...for breeding purposes...how much fish keeping and breeding have changed since I had my first aquarium almost 30 years ago with the clown colored gravel and the fairground won goldfish...lol.

Earlier this morning I was amazed by "Synchronicity"...and here again I've found another blogger...who has similar ideas...it can't be coincidence...I don't believe that for a minute...I think we all cross paths with people who either have something to teach us or something to learn from us...

I only wish I had the motivation and common sense this guy's got back when I was his young age...he's amazing for somebody so young and he is so headed in all the right directions to have a fulfilled and fully satisfying life...why?

Why is it...that some people "get it" at a younger age? I didn't really and fully grasp all these ideals until I was in my late forties and I'm still working on them in my fifties...maybe by my sixties...they will have jelled...lol

Anyway...here is his blog this morning...



"The Less You Need, the More You Have

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 12:00 PM PST

The biggest mistake I’ve made in my adult life was convincing myself that I needed a lot of things.

Sure, some of you might laugh at the notion that I ever convinced myself that I needed a mountain of video games or a big collection of trading cards or a pile of DVDs.

Those things were just the tip of the iceberg.

I convinced myself I needed the latest and greatest cell phone.

I convinced myself I needed to eat out regularly.

I convinced myself I needed new shoes all the time.

I convinced myself I needed nice clothes.

I convinced myself I needed anything beyond a minimal roof over my head, minimal clothes on my back, water, and food.

Really, in the end, that’s all I need. Water, basic food, basic clothing, and a roof to keep the rain and cold away for myself and my family. Everything else beyond that is want.

When I finally realized that the things I actually needed were incredibly minimal, I began to see how amazingly abundant my life was.

I had friends. I had a wife that loved me. I had reasonably good health. I had wonderful children. I had a good sense of humor. I had a solid work ethic. I had the ability to entertain myself. On top of that, I had a staggering abundance of material things, from decent clothes on my back to a decent used car in the driveway.

With all of this wealth in my life, why do I need more? Why do I want more?

A few months ago, I wrote about the scarcity and abundance mentalities on The Simple Dollar. In that article, I defined what they were…

Most people are deeply scripted in what I call the Scarcity Mentality. They see life as having only so much, as though there were only one pie out there. And if someone were to get a big piece of the pie, it would mean less for everybody else.

The Scarcity Mentality is the zero-sum paradigm of life. People with a Scarcity Mentality have a very difficult time sharing recognition and credit, power or profit – even with those who help in the production. The also have a a very hard time being genuinely happy for the success of other people.

The Abundance Mentality, on the other hand, flow out of a deep inner sense of personal worth and security. It is the paradigm that there is plenty out there and enough to spare for everybody. It results in sharing of prestige, of recognition, of profits, of decision making. It opens possibilities, options, alternatives, and creativity.

… but, for the most part, I stuck to the pattern of defining the mentalities through what other people have:

To me, the biggest difference between the scarcity mentality and the abundance mentality is that the scarcity mentality cares what other people have, while the abundance mentality doesn’t.

After some reflection, I think I would go even further than the above statement. Simply put, the abundance mentality finds value in what one already has, while ths scarcity mentality is always seeking more.

(That’s not to say the abundance mentality doesn’t seek out success – it certainly does. The success it seeks, though, is on its own terms. It’s about achievement for the sake of achievement, not achievement for the sake of reward.)

The more I look at my own life, the more I realize that I don’t need very much at all. Then, when I look at all of the things I do have, I’m stunned by all that I have in my life and I don’t really feel a need to have any more. In fact, if anything, I feel like having more would be almost overwhelming.

Some people see that statement as some sort of deprivation. There is always more out there. Why not acquire it?

My feeling is that instead of just acquiring more, lately, I’m driven to maximize all of the relationships, possessions, and other things my life already has going for it. People. Things. Places. Memories. Ideas. Experiences.

That’s a full life, and it’s one that over and over again ensures that I keep my wallet firmly in my pocket while also enjoying the multitude of great things I already have.

Step back and look at your life. Remove just what you need from that picture – water, basic food, a few changes of basic clothing, minimal shelter. Look at all that’s left – all of the possessions, relationships, experiences, thoughts, and other things. That’s an abundance, one that can provide you with more than you can ever explore and enjoy."

I don't understand boredom....

There are so many fascinating things on the internet that I just don't understand people who say..."I'm bored."

How can you be bored if you have a computer and access to the internet??  There are so many creative people out there doing such fantastic things...and you can just stumble across them while you are looking for something else...take the time to stop and smell the roses...or in this case read the page for the product advertised...it's fascinating what other people are doing with their candles and scents.

I just read about a 62 year old woman.... Mandy Aftel, who is making perfume the old fashioned way with all natural ingredients...she even uses whale vomit...which sounds disgusting...but it's the form that natural ambergris comes in...and that's one of the most expensive ingredients in good perfumes...that and natural rose attar...

This woman is 62 years old and had a very satisfying career as a therapist helping artists and now she is wildly successful as a natural perfume maker...she said..." Of all the senses, smell is the one most tied to vivid memories. It's the closest to the heart."  I couldn't agree more. When I'm making soy candles and I find scents that are strong and pleasing...I try and figure out what that particular smell is associated with...what pleasant memory it conjures up.

I'm pouring "baby powder" soy candles tonight...and I know why they are so pleasing to me...they remind me of my children when they were little bitty babies...my grandbaby...and all good things...my bedroom is scented with "baby powder" fragrance from candles to air fresheners to scented oil warmers...it smells comforting and secure to me. "Baby powder" scent also reminds me of my Grandmother...that and the old old perfume..."Evening in Paris"...I still remember that it came in a dark blue bottle with a gold twist cap...Grandma kept it on her vanity in her bedroom...she would let me put tiny dabs on my little wrists and behind my ears and she would tell me..."OH...You smell so lovely...you must have a great date coming to pick you up and take you out on the town."

The apple pie scent reminds me of her baking pies in the old kitchen...it was so tiny it was hard to put two people in there at the same time...lol...but she baked the most fantastic things in there...and she sold her pies to the local diner also.

Maybe that's where I get my idea of selling my fish and candles and what not. She was always doing something creative and making money at it also. She just loved to bake...there were always pies and cakes and cookies of all varieties in her house. Small wonder I loved spending the night or the entire weekend at her house.

Oh... Frasier Break...I love that silly show for some reason...and it has back to back episodes at 2 am and 2:30 am...see... I do...do other things besides playing Mafia Wars in my spare time...lol. 

Well that was a lovely break... I just like the humor on that show...makes me snicker every time...lol

Back to my boredom rant...I just don't understand how anybody can be bored these days...so much information available at the click of a mouse...it's like ever widening loops of creativity right there at your fingertips...each different site inspiring people to create...each one saying in it's own way...GO FOR IT! You, too, can do something this creative...something artistic...let the inner child/artist out to play. Bust out the scratch paper and start doodling down ideas. I love the internet.

When I was a child, I loved the library the same way for the same reasons. I would go there and be open mouthed in wonder at all the different books...rows and rows and shelves and shelves full of books on all kinds of topics...anything you wanted to know in the world was in those books. I would always check out the maximum number of books allowed each and every week.

I loved college for the same reasons...so many classes to take outside of my major...art classes-pottery classes-quilting classes-journalism classes-creative writing classes-photography classes...that reminds me...(did I mention at any point that I have A.D. H. D. ? lol, and my mind skips around from subject to subject like lightening? LOL)  that I am going to get a digital camera and teach myself to take detailed up close pictures of my fish and candles and handmade soaps and quilts and crocheted afghans and...and...and..lol

I am so pleased with my life these days...I had cream of potato soup and a salad for dinner tonight (ackkkkkkk all those carbohydrates! Shut up inner critic! It's comfort food when it's cold outside and I LIKE IT!)  and I don't have to watch my figure to please anybody. My cholesterol level was fine the last time I was at the Dr.s and that's all that matters to me.

My little dog, Lucy, is cuddled up in my lap. I have a steaming hot cup of tea with lemon. The soy candles have been poured. The house smells wonderful. Going to take a hot lavender bubble bath with my latest fiction novel. Yes, it's a good life here in Lakeview, NC.

I love Synchronicity!

This page from another Blogger fits right in with what I've been thinking about lately...

5 Things That Were Given to Me for Nothing

Written by David DiGiovanni - 20 Comments
Categories: self improvement

Over the last year I have read lots of material on self-improvement and success. One common theme I found in almost everything I read was an emphasis on gratitude. In an effort to increase gratitude in my life, I have listed the top 5 things that have been given to me for nothing:

1. My Car

When my Gramma bought a new car, she sold her 1997 Ford Tauras to me for $1. A white Tauras isn’t exactly the coolest car on the block, but I have driven it for 7 years with minimal maintenance costs. After 14 years and 100,000+ miles, it still gets me where I need to go.

2. My Education

I was fortunate enough to have great parents who decided at a young age to save money for my education. I graduated from Purdue University in 2009 with no student loans and $0 paid by me towards my tuition. They also paid my rent all four years. The only thing I had to do was graduate on time. I know that most people don’t get an amazing deal like this and for that I am grateful.

3. My Computer

When I graduated from High School in 2005, my parents threw a graduation party for me. I netted about $2,000 in cash gifts and used it to buy a brand new laptop.
In 2008, the laptop was stolen when our house was robbed. Good thing my parents had home owners insurance. The laptop was covered for $1200 which I used to buy a new computer that I still use to this very day.

4. My Job

After three years of studying Food Process Engineering at Purdue, I realized that a 9-5 job at one of the big food companies wasn’t the life for me. I spent the last year of college building websites for my own personal profit and in the process learned a lot about web development.
After I graduated, I made one call to a cousin who owned a web development company. He gave me an opportunity to work on a project which eventually led to a full time gig.
I put this on my list because my cousin had no reason to hire me. I had no degree and no professional experience, but he took a chance and gave me an opportunity.

5. My Websites

I own and operate several blogs in my spare time. I build my sites on either WordPress or Drupal. Both of these website platforms are open source projects that are completely free to use.
In the web development world, it is so easy to take for granted all of the free information, scripts, programs, and platforms that are available. The cost to develop a blog platform similar to WordPress or Drupal would be in the thousands, not to mention all of the free modules and add-ons.
The WordPress and Drupal communities have created a product that allows me to set up a new blog in minutes for free.

Summary

It was so easy for me to think of these 5 things because I truly feel like I did nothing to get them.
After I became aware of the obvious things, I couldn’t help but think of all the not so obvious things I am given on a daily basis. Things like clean water, refrigeration, internet access, and air conditioning. I pay for all of these things, but I had nothing to do with the invention or discovery of these daily amenities. They simply happened and now I am here to benefit.
It doesn’t stop there though. After I became aware of the more subtle things I am given, I took the next inevitable step. I became thankful for my existence. I don’t know how I ended up in this world, but I wake up everyday grateful for the opportunity to experience life.
Waking up every day with gratitude for being alive is like starting the day with a built-in advantage. It doesn’t matter what happens the rest of the day because it is all extra. This might sound like a recipe for complacency, but it’s actually the opposite. Being grateful for what I have not only drives me to want more, it creates a flow of abundance into my life that will provide for my deepest desires.
Start a flow of abundance in your life! Leave your list of 5 things you are grateful for in the comments section below.
David DiGiovanni is a freelance blogger and the founder of Let Go And Flow – a self help blog based on the writings of Deepak Chopra.  Follow him on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/daviddigiovanni)

I don't understand why.....

WOW! What an adventure! My son and I were on our way to Walmart. Going 65 mph down a busy interstate and KA-BOOM...the passenger side front tire blew...it didn't just go flat...that sucker BLEW! The truck tried to flip over...not just once but twice...then it crazy fish tailed all over the rode before I finally got it over to the side of the road and stopped....THEN we found out we didn't have a jack...so my son calls a friend of his...and he brings a jack and wrench to get the lug nuts off...and THEN...

The spare tire which hasn't ever been used in years is dry rotted...lol.  At least we were all safe and sound and didn't get hit by the tons of cars whizzing by...and the jack held the truck up and didn't collapse on anybody...and we made it to the gas station and got the dry rotted tire to hold enough air to get us home. Tomorrow the truck is going to get a new front tire and we are going to get a new spare and a tool kit for behind the street to include a good flashlight with good batteries...and I think I'm going to throw a nice warm blanket back there too...it was cold waiting for help to arrive.

I'm just feeling so grateful that everybody is okay. I guess that's the secret to life...feeling blessed for what you do have...instead of resentful for what you don't have...or whining because something unexpected happens during a routine trip....and I am so grateful for all the wonderful things in my life

I mailed a box of fish to California from here in North Carolina...they arrived all alive and lively...and the best part is the buyer is so pleased with them and the couple of little extra goodies I tucked into the box.  That's the part I like the best...the people who buy my fish...being so pleased when they get them. I put a lot of time and effort into raising healthy fish and it's rewarding when the buyers find them pleasing. I like raising unique fish that you can't find at the local pet stores.

I'm waiting on some mail order fish...some really pretty guppy pairs and some red dalmation platys. I'm really excited about  the platys. I don't currently have any dalmation platys and the contrast with the red ones is so interesting. Each fish displays a unique patterning...it's so cool.

I am such a geek when it comes to my fish...lol.

I'm still making all natural soy based candles...they hold the scent all the way through the life of the candle and I like the ease of making them.

I've been eying up the stash of fabrics I have also...I can feel it coming on...It's Quilt Making Time...lol.

I've been perusing other quilters sites and looking at all the fabulous quilts they've made and I can't wait to get started quilting again. I go through dry spells with quilting...times when I'm bone dry on ideas and tapped out on energy to execute a whole quilt all by myself...then I'll see what somebody else has made and I get inspired all over again...and then about half way through the quilt...my attention and energy for the project starts to wane...so I'll go back and look at all the creative and wonderful quilts that other women and men are making or have already made...and I get re-inspired and full of energy and I find the time to finish up my own project.

It's funny...I don't compare my finished creations to anybody else's...wondering if mine is just as good. I used to do that with creative projects when I was younger. I never felt confident enough to just accept what I came up with...now I just make what I see in my head and when it's done I'm satisfied with it...pleased with the project  and pleased with myself for making it in the first place.

I love being old enough that I don't give a damn what other people think of my creativity or projects...if I'm happy with it...that's enough for me. It's truly liberating to be this age... I love it...I look better than I have in years... I feel better... and I'm full of life and ideas and projects and blessed with the energy to execute and complete them. 

It's a great day to...lol

I found this video on mafia wars while playing and wasting time...but Ma...I was having so much Fun...lol

DWARF Tanganyikan Cichlids 4

DWARF Tanganyikan Cichlids 4, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

I'm setting up a new 20 gal long tank to breed these guys. They are specifically called...Julidochromis dickfeldi-"livua"...now say that 5 times fast...lol

They may be a mouthful to say...but they are absolutely BEAUTIFL to look at and watch them make their new lives in the home I'm providing for them.

Finding my rainbow...

Just took a quiz at Femspace and found out the color and description of my personal rainbow. Sometimes I am blown away by how eerily accurate these simple little quizzes can be...maybe I only say that because I really like the results of my quiz...lol..??

25 Things That I Love

I was watching the sun rise over the lake this morning and thinking about all the things I love... a quick 25...

1. My sound of my son's laughter and his sense of humor.

2. Having my own HOME based business.

3. Seeing all the new life in my breeding tanks.

4. Going to the Post Office and getting a box of breeder fish.

5. Going to the Post Office to send the new baby fish off to their new homes.

6. Fresh, hot coffee at 3 a.m.

7. The smell of outdoor line dried sheets and pillowcases.

8. Listerine "Fresh Burst" mouthwash.

9. Long hot bubble baths.

10. Lavender & Chamomile bubble bath scent.

11. Hot tea with lemon.

12. Coloring markers.

13. The Big Box of Crayola Crayons.

14. The smell of the lake across my street.

15. The sun setting over the lake.

16. Edy's Peppermint Ice Cream.

17. An unexpected e-mail or letter from an old friend.

18. The freedom to do what I love.

19. Getting paid to do what I love.

20. My red and white Ford pick up truck.

21. My business cards...I designed them myself, and am so pleased with how they turned out.

22. Flea markets.

23. Yard sales.

24. Bookstores.

25. The FREE FREE FREE library system...God Bless Andrew Carnegie.

Paradox Fish from Lotsoffish 1

Paradox Fish from Lotsoffish 1, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

Paradox Fish

Orange Spotted Rabbit Snail

Orange Spotted Rabbit Snail, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

I like aquatic life that is unusual and unique...not something you come across everyday in the local pet stores. This Orange Spotted Rabbit Snail is just too cool...lol

He reminds me of a very old turtle...just poking along...

I just recently got a couple of these guys...planning on getting a few more...I don't know how they breed yet...guess I'm going to find out.

Oryzias woworae--rice fish 3

Oryzias woworae--rice fish 3, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

These are a new strain of fish I want to breed. They are called Oryzias woworae or commonly...Rice Fish. They are very rare in the United States with just a very few breeders working with them.

They are egg layers and fairly easy to breed. After two weeks in the spawning tank...remove the group of breeders to another tank....sit back and watch the tank and soon you will see all the new teeny tiny little rice fish...

What an AMAZING hobby this is...lol

gähn....nichts mehr dran...am Wochenende....

gähn....nichts mehr dran...am Wochenende...., originally uploaded by ♥ ♥ ♥ flickrsprotte ♥ ♥ ♥.

WOW!

This is an AMAZING pic... I love how he has his mouth wide open and his eyes are scrunched up...lol

Reminds me of my children when they were little and it was feeding time.

Albino Blue Topaz Guppies 2

Albino Blue Topaz Guppies 2, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

A new strain of fish I am going to be breeding. It seems that almost by "accident" I've ended up with a whole special group of various strains of Albino fish. I've got:

1. Albino Swordtails/red lyretail and regular swordtail

2. Albino Ancistrus/Brushynose

3. Albino Galaxy Guppies

4. Albino Blue Topaz Guppies

and I'm thinking about breeding the "accidental" Albino White bodied swordtails...interesting how that happened. Of course I still have tanks full of "regular" fancy guppies, platys, regulare Danios...Giant Danios...assorted large Mystery Snails...Briggs Apple Snails, Red Ramshorn Snails...a ton of "Rescue" Bettas...a couple of "Rescue" plecos and the worlds smallest live bearers...Hernandia Formosa and another strain of American live bearers that I'm not sure exactly what family they fall into yet...oh yes I almost forgot...the red whip-tail catfish...the flash plecos and the very rare Dario species..lol

I'm sure I've forgotten about some fish here...one day I will have to take an actual inventory of everybody in their tanks and write it down.

Albino swordtails 6

Albino swordtails 6, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

Some Albino Swordtails...these were an "accidental" creation by "Lotsoffish"...not sure yet what they are going to throw...but they won't throw all Albinos in a drop...just a few

Banded Platy 1

Banded Platy 1, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

This black band appeared on the female in "The Platy Guy's" breeding group of speckled platys. He doesn't know if it's going to carry over to the fr or not. Interesting...this is how new strains come up...somebody has a strain that throws something odd, new or different...separates it out and re-breed it over and over...until the group consistently drops the new trait.

Crowntail betta

Crowntail betta, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

I have this thing about rescuing fish that are about to face the "big flush" either because their owners got tired of them or they got orders to move to a new location...I'm close to Ft Bragg so I have taken in many about to be homeless heading for the toilet...fish. This guy was a yard sale find and he was pitiful...laying at the bottom of a cloudy little betta bowl...he was scrawny and just looked so despondent...

I knew what I had to do...oh yes...haul him home and nurse him back to health and then try to find a home for him where somebody would actually take the time to learn about his needs and care for him.

He so different today...full of himself and confident...flaring his fins at any other fish that dares to swim by "his" territory....he has a female friend too...she's a light sky blue and she was a rescue too...they aren't in the same tank together... I don't want baby bettas...lol... I really don't have the room for them.

Now that they are both robust and healthy...I have them up for auction at Aquabid... I didn't really think anybody would be interested in them as they aren't really exotic...but I've had bids on them and I'm confident they will find a good home.

I was on the internet early this morning and I found this really fun blog...I'm going to quote it here...

"22 Manly Ways to Reuse an Altoids Tin

by Brett & Kate McKay on January 30, 2011 · 71 comments

in Manly Skills

Altoids have been freshening bad breath since the turn of the 19th century. But while they are touted as “Curiously Strong Mints,” perhaps the real curiosity is not the allure of the mints themselves, but the popularity of turning the tin in which they’re packaged into all sorts of truly handy, and just plain fun, creations.

The draw of the transformed Altoids tin, like the draw one feels towards, say, a secret book safe, is hard to put your finger on. Part of it is the satisfying challenge of fitting as much as possible into a small space. Part of it is the delight of being able to carry something cool in your pocket. Of course much of the appeal can be found in the enjoyment of tinkering and working on a diy project. There is also the satisfaction that comes from reusing an ordinary object for something else entirely. Grandpa’s old motto of “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” still resonates.

Any way you slice it, beholding the creative uses for an Altoids tin simply brings a smile to your face. So we searched high and low and put together this list of 22 manly ways to reuse an Altoids tin. You can make some of these things for yourself, or use the list for cheap and unique gift ideas.
First Aid Kit

You never know when a bear is going to claw you in the face while you have him in a half-nelson, so it’s best to keep a first aid kit on hand at all times. This one is small enough to sock away nearly anywhere-a pocket, a backpack, your car, your European man purse-wherever.

Full instructions here.
Electronics Lab

Photo and tin by Nick Ames

For tinkering on the go. According to its creator, Nick Ames, this tin “contains nearly everything to work on small projects, such as a breadboard, components (including several ICs), and a adjustable power supply. The power supply is a simple LM317 circuit, with the 317′s metal tab cut off to make it fit.”

See here for another view of the kit and the details of its contents.
Charcloth Maker

Photo

When you’re making fire the traditional way, such as with flint and steel, you want to make sure to catch your hard earned spark in something that will turn it into a real fire. What you need is an easily combustible piece of tinder. Enter the char cloth. They’re easy to make-just put strips of cotton fabric in an Altoids tin, close the lid tightly, make a hole in the tin, and place it in a fire to cook.

Full instructions here.
Pocket Games Chest

Photo by airship

We’ve all been unexpectedly stuck somewhere-say the airport or inside a tent on a rained out camping trip-and found ourselves bored out of our minds. Sure you could zone out from your companions and play Angry Birds on your iPad, but why not get everyone involved in a good old fashioned game instead? For analog gaming on the go, stash an Altoids games chest in your bag.

For details of this tin’s contents, see here.
Router Plane

When Popular Woodworking Magazine held a contest challenging readers to make tools out of Altoids tins, this design came out on top. It’s a working router plane, a tool used by woodworkers. The tool is especially nice as the thumbscrew and iron are stored within the tin.
Martini on the Go Kit


If Frank Sinatra had been a poor drifter, this is how he would have made his martinis. Ring a ding ding in an Altoids tin.

Full instructions here.
Mini Flashlight

A mini flashlight you can carry in your pocket wherever you go. This idea, thought up by Nick Brenn, is so popular that Edmund Scientific now sells a kit for those who don’t want to be bothered with gathering and buying the necessary parts themselves. For the more enterprising, the full instructions for this diy project can be found here.
Portable BBQ Stove

Perfect for life as a hobo; just throw the mouse you caught in your boxcar on this portable grill. Dinner is served!

Full instructions here.
Tin Valet

Photo and Valet by Dshouppe

Using a valet is an effective way to keep track of the contents of your pockets; at the end of the day, deposit your keys, coins, watch and so on, and you’ll know right where to pick them up the next morning. Dshouppe made this Altoids tin valet for all the young men in her life. She painted the tins, drilled a hole through them, stuck a threaded rod through the holes, and used nuts and washers to hold the tins in place. The tins were lined with a piece of black rubber–the kind you can use to open a jar–cut to the size of the tin’s bottoms. This served to protect the items which would be placed inside them. Finally, a piece of wood was used at the bottom to hold the threaded rod in place.
Survival Kit

Photo from Field and Stream

Turning an Altoids tin into a survival kit is hands down the most popular Altoids project of them all. There are tons of variations out there, with each assembler arguing the merits of including this or that item. For my money, the guys at Field and Stream have put together the best one. Just stick a survival blanket in your pocket and you’re prepared for almost anything that might befall you in the wild.
Covert Dart Gun

Have an annoying co-worker? Soak your dart with a tranquilzer, casually remove this Altoids tin from your pocket, offer him a mint, and then-boom!-shoot em right in the neck. Then steal his sandwich.

Full instructions here.
S’Mores Pocket Snack Kit

Okay, so there’s nothing particuarly manly about s’mores. Who cares? They’re awesomely delicious and one of my favorite things. So this pocket s’mores kit really tickles my fancy. You put the traditional ingredients inside the tin and tote it with you, so you’re ready whenever the urge for a s’mores snack strikes. You can warm the whole thing up into gooey goodness by placing the tin on the mini BBQ grill above, or even break out an Altoids tin that’s expressly made for roasting marshmallows. Now there’s a guy after my own heart:

Pinhole Camera

Photograph by Chris Keeney

The idea behind the pinhole camera is actually quite ancient and can be traced all the way back to the 4th century BC. To make one, you need a light-tight box, and an Altoids tin fits the bill nicely.

Full instructions here.
Fire Starting Kit

A fire starting kit includes the essentials for creating a flame in any condition, such as weatherproof matches, ferrocerium rods, petroleum jelly, cotton balls, a magnifying glass, and tampons. Yes, tampons.
Morse Code Oscillator

Nginuity on the Hack Gadgets forums built a Altoids Can Morse Code Oscillator. Why an Altoids can? According to the creator, “I actually use these tins a whole lot for project boxes that involve radio frequency, and also things that may need somewhat of a precise Crystal reference, because the metal does a very good job of shielding the circuit from stray RF, which can get kind of nasty when you work with microwave technology (or, more importantly, keeping out all of the 2.4GHz signals in the neighborhood from getting into a tiny High Frequency mixer, etc).” So yeah, I’ll just take his word on it.
Pocket Watercolor Kit

©2006 L. Laughy, Ninth Wave Designs: Used with permission.

Harness your inner Thomas Moran with this watercolor set in a can. Whether you’re sitting on the banks of a lake or staring out the window of a coffeeshop, you never know when inspiration will strike. So carry this tin along with Moleskine’s watercolor notebook, and you’ll be ready to paint a masterpiece wherever you go.

The watercolor kit in the photograph was created using brass strips to divide the half-pans of watercolor. For other ways to make one, see here and here.
Alcohol Stove

Alcohol stoves are a favorite among minimalist backpackers and vagabonds of all varieties as they’re simple, lightweight, clean burning, and best of all, cheap and easy to make yourself from things like, well, an Altoids can . You can build one with a built-in pot rest, or use it as the fuel source for an Esbit stove, as is shown in the photograph.

Full instructions here.
Emergency Candle

Here is a great way to recycle the remnants of candles you, or perhaps more likely, your lady friend, have lying around the house. The tin holds a candle along with matches and strikers. The candle can be used in an emergency, such as when your car gets caught in the snow; lighting a multi-wick candle in your car can keep you from freezing for several hours.

Full instructions here.
Urban Survival Kit

Photograph and tin by Scott Taylor

City dwellers have a different set of needs from those heading out into the wilderness. The Urban Survival Kit includes items for problems more annoying than life threatening. Obviously, you can exercise your creativity here in filling the tin with things you personally need to survive the urban jungle.

Details on the contents of this tin can be seen here.
Pocket Tackle Box

Huck Finn fished with just a stick and a string. So while having a full-sized tackle box is nice, it’s certainly not necessary. Especially if you’re going backpacking and want to try your hand at catching your own dinner along the way.

Full instructions here.
Fireball Shooter


It’s an Altoids tin. That shoots fireballs. What more do I need to say?

Read more: http://artofmanliness.com/2011/01/30/22-manly-ways-to-reuse-an-altoids-tin/#ixzz1CzowJkJX

Giant Danio 5 mine

Giant Danio 5 mine, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

Another pic of the Giant Danios...and then I had to read my e-mails...respond to some auctions and questions...and I follow a blog...The Simple Dollar and while I was reading it this morning it just made sense for the situation I'm in.... Anybody rich person out there want to be my patron...LOL??

This is what the blog was about....

"An Artist on the Side: Coppola on the Future of Artists and Artisans

Posted: 02 Feb 2011 12:00 PM PST

Earlier this week, I stumbled upon a great interview with Francis Ford Coppola over at the 99 percent. In this interview, Coppola talks about the past and future of people making money from their art, whether it be music, movies, or other things:

We have to be very clever about those things. You have to remember that it’s only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with money. Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had another job. I have another job. I make films. No one tells me what to do. But I make the money in the wine industry. You work another job and get up at five in the morning and write your script.

This idea of Metallica or some rock n’ roll singer being rich, that’s not necessarily going to happen anymore. Because, as we enter into a new age, maybe art will be free. Maybe the students are right. They should be able to download music and movies. I’m going to be shot for saying this. But who said art has to cost money? And therefore, who says artists have to make money?

In the old days, 200 years ago, if you were a composer, the only way you could make money was to travel with the orchestra and be the conductor, because then you’d be paid as a musician. There was no recording. There were no record royalties. So I would say, “Try to disconnect the idea of cinema with the idea of making a living and money.” Because there are ways around it.

Here’s an interesting question. How exactly did you first find The Simple Dollar? Maybe you discovered it from a Google search. Perhaps you found it because a friend sent you a link, or maybe you first spied it on some other website.

The fact of the matter is that regardless of how great my writing is (or how awful it is, depending on your position), you didn’t find it solely on its own merits. You discovered it through some other means – a friend, Google, someone’s website, whatever the case may be.

As much as I love being a writer, I don’t make money from writing. Writing is the fun part, but my income comes from the time I spend working on the software behind The Simple Dollar, marketing the stuff I write to other sites, making it easy for people to send links to their friends, negotiating with advertisers, and countless other mundane tasks like that.

Without those types of tasks, my writing wouldn’t earn me a single solitary cent.

Coppola’s point is exactly that: the fun creative stuff that so many of us do really doesn’t earn us much money at all, at least not most of the time. Yes, we just passed through a weird time in history where a handful of people benefited from an inefficient means to distribute media, but the internet is eroding those things incredibly quickly.

Soon, we’re going to be right back where artists started. They’ll either be doing their art via patronage (meaning people directly pay for them to continue producing) or they’ll do it in their spare time purely as a hobby.

Why am I writing about this?

A few times a week, I’ll get a passionate email from a reader who has some particular talent. They’ve written a novel. They’re really good on the piano. They can make gorgeous end tables. They can spin and flip with grace. How do they make money?

My painful response is that unless they are incredibly, incredibly lucky, these talents alone won’t earn them much money. In order to succeed, you either need to have the ability to get your talents right into the laps of the people who want to see it or have the means to hire someone who is able to do that (often with them getting a split of the proceeds).

In the recent past, the answer used to be a publishing contract, a music deal, a movie deal, or something along those lines. Today, that’s changed. Such businesses won’t take an interest in you until you’ve done something that attracts their attention because, frankly, more people are publishing and producing now than will ever get read or heard or seen or have their products purchased. The internet has created too much noise and no one is going to bother until you rise above it.

I’ve published two books, but neither of them would have ever been published without The Simple Dollar, and The Simple Dollar, regardless of how good of a writer I am, was built on my ability to convince people to link to it and to keep the site running.

If you have big dreams that revolve around some particular talent or skill that you’ve cultivated, I have some very serious suggestions for you.

Don’t assume your talent or skill will be your money maker for a long, long time. Your talent or skill is going to be your side job – treat it like such. If you go to work, come home tired, and convince yourself to not do anything with it today, you’re never going to make it. I spent years writing and learning how to program and learning about internet marketing in my spare time, failing over and over again, with nothing to show for it other than a gradually growing skill set.

Find some type of work that will help you spread your talent. Be an administrative assistant for someone who works in media distribution. Become a software developer. Get a marketing degree. Get your foot in the door, any way you can, in the path between where you are right now and where your audience is. Barring that, find a job that will provide minimal intrusion, such as a job as a gas station attendant.

Live frugally. The more money you have in the bank and the less expenditures you have, the easier it will be to make the leap into practicing your skill on a full time basis when the time comes.

Make friends and connections – lots of them. Spend at least some of your time cultivating relationships with people who can help you with spreading what skills you have. Seek out software developers, people with online followings that focus on your area of interest, and people who are involved with your skill on a professional level. Talk to them as peers, not as fans, and attempt to build a genuine friendship with them. You’d be surprised how “famous” or “important” people can react if you treat them as an equal and not as a superior.

Improve your own social skills, especially in gently promoting yourself. If you’re introverted, this is key. The ability to communicate successfully with others, particularly when talking about yourself while not coming off as a braggart, is an ability that’s vital if you want to get others interested in your skill.

If you want riches, find another career path. Art is wonderful, but it doesn’t channel human effort in a way that generates wealth. If you want wealth, put your guitar aside and start hitting the books.

Find patrons. Yep, patronage. I know of at least one person – a painter – who has a patron who covers an annual stipend and supplies in exchange for four original pieces a year, and the person can sell the rest that they produce. That person hangs some of the originals in their home and gives others to friends. Don’t be ashamed or afraid of this type of arrangement. It was the cultural norm for many, many years – up even until 100 years ago, most artists had patrons as that’s how the wealthy would support culture and the arts. Such arrangements still exist today, and I would not be surprised at all to see them become more prevalent. Don’t be afraid to take opportunities to show your skills to the wealthy.

The best thing you can do if you have talent and are passionate about that talent is to start packaging it up. Even the brightest gem can lay unnoticed in the mines if no one is able to see it. Shine a light on what you have and learn how to polish it and put it in the right hands."


I've always been artistic, creative, and what some unkindly souls in my family referred to as "flighty and high strung" because I didn't want to work with them at the airplane factory my entire life just grinding away until I put my 20 years in...and drinking myself stupid every night as a few of those same unkindly souls did and still do.

I've always worked at jobs where I was on my own with a lot of free time...3rd shift security work for example...and managing an apartment complex where my office hours were only required to be 4 hours a day Mon-Fri for a small paycheck and free rent. That way I always had time for what I called my little projects...like making dream catchers...and natural soy candles...home made soap...sketching...drawing...painting...quilting...crocheting...whatever....I was and am always into something creative that I can make or do with my own two hands.

It's not just a hobby thing...it's not an impulse thing...it's more like a drive...a pulsing...pounding NEED that I have to fulfill....I see things in my head...get mental pictures of them and then I just have to create them. I get these pictures in my head complete with details at the weirdest times....I'll be in a thrift store looking to pick up some clothes for the Grandbaby...and see a big old wavy clear glass vase...short and squat...and I just know I have to have it....because it's supposed to be a candle of varying colors and scents with 3 wicks so that it will burn evenly and I even have the color pattern in my head instantly when I see this vase. Things like that have happened to me my whole life.

Now I've just come to accept it as natural and normal for me and to go with it...to make what I see in my head...and always there comes a person across my path that sees what I've made and has to have it...says they have been looking for something exactly like that for months or years...and they happily pay me for it. It's almost like I pick up on what someone is wanting or looking for....but I don't know them and they don't know me...but I follow the picture in my head and just do it anyway...and then somehow...some way we cross paths and the object becomes theirs. I always know what I'm making or doing is for somebody...I just never know who the "somebody" is going to turn out to be...and that used to be frustrating at times....I'd get into the making of what I saw in my head...and then I'd want to ask questions...."do you want this light blue here or here?...what about this scent instead...do you like this better?"...queries like that...but since I didn't know who I was making this thing for...I couldn't ask...just had to follow the picture in my mind and my gut instincts...but it always worked out well...even when I added more detail or balanced something out differently.

I am so lucky and blessed at this time in my life to be able to do what I want and need to do and make money from it. I am so grateful to God and the Universal Powers that be for intuition and synchronicity.

Danio Aequipinnatus

Giant Danio 7, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

These are the more commonly called "Giant" Danios. I just got a breeding schooling group of 6 of them for my 55 gal long tank...they are so lively...in constant motion and they are FAST...fairly good jumpers too...LOL...they really HAVE to have a tightly covered tank. I have some technical information about them...interesting to me anyway...but then I'm a geek about stuff like this.

"Danio aequipinnatus
SYN: Danio alburnus, D. aurolineatus, D. malabaricus, Perilampus aurolineatus, P. malabaricus
PD: An elongated fish with one pair of barbels. The body is laterally compressed and the mouth is up-turned. The back is gray-yellow to gray-green while the flanks are bluish-green. This area is marked with various yellow spots and stripes. The outer parts of the fins are transparent, while their may have a green or pink tinge.
SIZE: To 4.8" (12 cm)
SS: Bengal Danio ( D. devario ), Queen Danio ( D. regina )
HAB: Inhabits still and slow-moving rivers on the western coasts of Sri Lanka and India.
S: All
TANK: A school can be kept in a tank measuring 36" (91 cm) with a volume of 30 gallons (114 L), although they would prefer a longer tank (48"). Leave open swimming areas and plant the corners with robust plants. Use a tight-fitting cover.
WATER: pH 6-8 (7.0), 2-20 dH (8), 70-75°F (21-24°C)
SB: An active, schooling fish that should only be combined with species that can tolerate its activity. Pairs form bonds, although they are not as strong as those of Brachydanio species.
SC: Loaches, Epalzeorhynchus , Loricarids, Armored Catfish ( Corydoras ), Danios, Gouramis, Acaras, Eartheaters, larger barbs.
FOOD: Flakes; live; insect larvae, crustaceans, worms, insects.
SEX: Males are smaller, slimmer, and more colorful. "

I'm also going to try and post a pic of the map where they are found.
I was up all night setting up a new tank and getting some new fish that I bought from a very well known breeder, settled in and comfy...they seem content and not the least bit tired...unlike me.

I actually had to move 6 other tanks around in the fish room to make room to set up the new 55 gal tank...so much water moving and changing and then I got caught up in re-arranging the plants and wood in the tanks...changing out some filters for other filters...switching heaters around...and before I knew it...it was 7 am and I started this project at 6:30 pm the night before...the whole night just slipped away from me somehow...but that's what happens to me when I get in a "flow state" and I'm doing creative things...time just flies by and I'm not really aware of it at all...it's almost like being in a moving trance...and then I "snap out of it" and I'm astounded at how much I've done.

Danio Aequipinnatus

Giant Danio 7, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

These are the more commonly called "Giant" Danios. I just got a breeding schooling group of 6 of them for my 55 gal long tank...they are so lively...in constant motion and they are FAST...fairly good jumpers too...LOL...they really HAVE to have a tightly covered tank. I have some technical information about them...interesting to me anyway...but then I'm a geek about stuff like this.

"Danio aequipinnatus
SYN: Danio alburnus, D. aurolineatus, D. malabaricus, Perilampus aurolineatus, P. malabaricus
PD: An elongated fish with one pair of barbels. The body is laterally compressed and the mouth is up-turned. The back is gray-yellow to gray-green while the flanks are bluish-green. This area is marked with various yellow spots and stripes. The outer parts of the fins are transparent, while their may have a green or pink tinge.
SIZE: To 4.8" (12 cm)
SS: Bengal Danio ( D. devario ), Queen Danio ( D. regina )
HAB: Inhabits still and slow-moving rivers on the western coasts of Sri Lanka and India.
S: All
TANK: A school can be kept in a tank measuring 36" (91 cm) with a volume of 30 gallons (114 L), although they would prefer a longer tank (48"). Leave open swimming areas and plant the corners with robust plants. Use a tight-fitting cover.
WATER: pH 6-8 (7.0), 2-20 dH (8), 70-75°F (21-24°C)
SB: An active, schooling fish that should only be combined with species that can tolerate its activity. Pairs form bonds, although they are not as strong as those of Brachydanio species.
SC: Loaches, Epalzeorhynchus , Loricarids, Armored Catfish ( Corydoras ), Danios, Gouramis, Acaras, Eartheaters, larger barbs.
FOOD: Flakes; live; insect larvae, crustaceans, worms, insects.
SEX: Males are smaller, slimmer, and more colorful. "

I'm also going to try and post a pic of the map where they are found.
I was up all night setting up a new tank and getting some new fish that I bought from a very well known breeder, settled in and comfy...they seem content and not the least bit tired...unlike me.

I actually had to move 6 other tanks around in the fish room to make room to set up the new 55 gal tank...so much water moving and changing and then I got caught up in re-arranging the plants and wood in the tanks...changing out some filters for other filters...switching heaters around...and before I knew it...it was 7 am and I started this project at 6:30 pm the night before...the whole night just slipped away from me somehow...but that's what happens to me when I get in a "flow state" and I'm doing creative things...time just flies by and I'm not really aware of it at all...it's almost like being in a moving trance...and then I "snap out of it" and I'm astounded at how much I've done.

Dario sp. Jaintia Hill # 1

Dario sp. Jaintia Hill # 1, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

Well today is my birthday...lol...I don't "feel" another year older...in fact I feel much better than now than I did in my thirties...now that's kind of strange. I decided to treat myself and I bought a group of these to breed.

They are so rare that it's very difficult to find much information on them at all. I know the family and sub-family they are related to...but as far as this particular species goes they are very hard to find and even harder to find breeders who have worked with them and know all the tricks of keeping them healthy and breeding repeatedly.

This is going to be a learn as you go experiment I see...lol. I do know these are very tiny fish...only getting to be around an inch to and inch and a half tops.

I have rasboras that are like that but they aren't tempermental...I hope these guys/gals aren't either...because they sure weren't cheap! I know they come from India in very remote areas and are not easily collected...although they are starting to be interesting to American breeders...hopefully more people will start breeding them and collecting information about them and passing it along.

This is what little I have found out about the family or species they are closely related to and it's scant.....

"Prior to 2002 the family Badidae included just five species of which only B. badis and, to a lesser extent, 'Badis' dario were popular in the aquarium hobby. However an extensive revision paper by Kullander and Britz published that year resulted in the erection of no less than ten new species along with the genus Dario into which 'B.' dario was moved and designated the type species. Dario currently contains three members which are most easily distinguished from Badis by their small adult size (usually less than 1"/2.5cm), predominantly red colouration, more extended first few dorsal rays/pectoral fins in males, straight-edged (vs. rounded) caudal fin, lack of visible lateral line and less involved parental behaviour. All were previously considered to represent 'Badis' dario. There are also a handful of undescribed species from India, Bangladesh and Myanmar so the genus is set to grow in size over time.

Badids have historically been considered members of the families Nandidae or Pristolepididae and it wasn't until 1968 that Barlow proposed a separate grouping for them. They share some characteristics with anabantoids, nandids and channids; most notably the typical spawning embrace in which the male wraps his body around that of the female. Recent studies have concluded that this procedure is an ancient trait inherited from a common ancestor to all these families. In the 2002 revision all Badis, Dario and Nandus species were found to share a uniquely bifurcated (split) hemal spine on the penultimate vertebra and the authors hypothesised that this may represent evidence of the monophyly of this group. They further proposed that the family Nandidae should be restricted to include only Nandus species with the other genera, Polycentrus, Monocirrhus, Afronandus and Polycentropsis, grouped together in Polycentridae. Following this system the Nandidae and Badidae are only separated by differences in morphology and egg structure although the phylogenetic relationships between them are yet to be fully-studied."

IMG_5364 Endlers

IMG_5364 Endlers, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

These are a particular strain of Endlers called Peacocks. I want to be able to take photo's as well as Pete Mang (Lotsoffish)...guess I need to buy a decent digital camera with zoom and then practice, practice, and practice some more eh?

pink and purple apple snails

pink and purple apple snails, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

It's 4 am and what am I doing? Checking out my fish tanks and looking at all the new babies and the fish that only come out at night or very early in the morning...lol.

The snails are most active at night and I've been watching them trucking around busy as beavers cleaning up all the leftover food. I know a lot of people don't like snails in their tanks...but I do. They are the most efficient little tireless soldier workers going everywhere in the tank cleaning up anything leftover. I never have any rotted or messy food crap in any of my tanks thanks to these guys and a few of their buddies like the red ramshorn snails I've started breeding and the Japanese trap door snails.

I did make myself go back and work on week # 8 of my Julia Cameron project and I wrote all my affirmations both yesterday and today. I also posted 2 new auctions up on Aquabid under mixed lots and tomorrow I have to mail out the 3 auctions that sold. So cool to be doing something I really love and to be able to do it right out of my own house is just the best experience in the world.

I see more than enough people at the flea market and I'm not in any danger yet of becoming a hermit, particularly with my son in the house and his buddy's coming over a lot.

I was on facebook earlier and somebody had posted a pic and an R.I.P. of their pet cat. It really made me think of how much we care for our pets and no matter how poor the house there is usually still some kind of pet there also be it a scrawny cat or a slinky dog that is beloved by the people that live there.

Animals contribute so much to us...unconditional love...loyalty...and they would gladly give their lives to protect us from losing ours. In addition to all the fish I have...I have a little Papillion dog named Lucy who thinks she's a pit bull....a massive pit-bullmastif mix...and a beautiful black cat that adopted us. Her name is Jasmine and she loves to drink out of the open fish tanks but never bothers the fish...other than to sit and stare at the tanks with me in the middle of the night. I think she's as fascinated with them as I am...or she's wondering when I'm going to come to my senses and start giving them to her as treats...lol.

collage of Endlers

collage of Endlers, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

I keep going back to the Endlers different strains. They are just so varied and all beautiful in different coloration. For something that was found in such small pockets of out of the way places in the world they sure have come a long way. They are very hardy little fish and easy to keep and breed. The gestation period for the females is about 23 days so you could have a whole tank full in no time flat.

I'm about to set up an Endlers Experimentation tank and put in good colorful strong breeders of known strains with some of the wilder strains and some of the hybrid strains and then just let them do their thing and see what happens. I know I am going to get some really wild fish out of this experiment. This is what is so fascinating about breeding fish...I could actually be the first person to come up with a whole new strain that breeds true and is nothing like anything that already exists out there.

It's 2:15 am and most people are safe and snug, tucked into their warm beds and I'm up on the internet looking up fish... go figure, lol.
It is just so hard to get out of this 3rd shift work ethic...I automatically start gearing up and really waking up about 10 pm even if I've been up since 6 am with no sleep and then I have to force myself to stay awake during the day because my body thinks it's sleep time about 12 noon. That was pretty much my schedule when I worked 3rd shift for all those years.

I've been trying to work my way through Julia Cameron's book - The Artist's Way...A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. It's a 12 week course and I seem to be stuck on week # 8. I don't understand why, I have the time to to do the short writing assignments...but for some reason I just haven't been doing them. I tell myself I need to do them and then I find other things to do. It's not making sense to me. The first 8 weeks unblocked so much artistry and creativity and I've been rewarded many times over for putting in the work...so it's not that I don't see any point in it...it's just a "stuck point". Maybe I just need to rest on week 8 for awhile and still take in everything I've learned about myself or maybe I just need to be like the Nike commercial and "Just Do It" whether I feel like it or not.

One of my favorite TV preachers...Joyce Meyer says and I'm paraphrasing horribly here..."screw your feelings" just do what you know you need to do, no matter how you feel about it....because you're "feelings" will trick you into doing nothing or just resting comfortably where you are. Just go out and do what you need to do even if you are tired, cranky, upset or your hip is bothering you somewhat. You'll still have those same "feelings" even if you sit on your butt on the couch all day and you won't have gotten one productive thing done because of your "feelings" that day.

I agree with that when negative or procrastinating feelings come up...but I've learned to listen to positive or encouraging or excitement feelings when they come up. I've found if I don't put them off or kill them off ...I've had some of the best creative, productive days ever. That's my goal for tomorrow....to get back into week 8 no matter how I "feel."

yellow shrimp

yellow shrimp, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

One of a group of yellow shrimp I just put up for auction...they are such a bright yellow color, particularly against a planted tank. They are from the family Neocaridina. Their average lifespan is anywhere from 1-2 years average. They average an inch to an inch and 1/4 or so when grown. The first of Neocaridina came from Taiwan, however, they were just very plain colored shrimp. It has been through hybridization for coloring that has brought so many different color combos into the hobby recently. These shrimp breed fairly freely and easily. Their gestational period is 30 days. A planted tank, live or artificial is best for them as they need places to hide, breed, and rest. You can NEVER use any fish medications with copper in them to treat fish when shrimp are in the tank as it will kill them!

Mind Boggling Goldfish

These are NOT the goldfish that were commonly available back in the day when I bought my kids their first fish...lol

multi color speckled goldfish

multi color speckled goldfish, originally uploaded by creativeaquarist.

This is an example of what I'm talking about with strains of goldfish available now.