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.