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01/17/2007: "Athena The Triops 12/10/06-1/17/07"

Music: Jello Biafra spoken word
Mood: sad

Athena The Triops passed away this morning in her peanut butter jar. She was 39 days old. Yesterday she started swimming funny, and when I came home last night from work, she was at the bottom of the tank, barely twitching her legs and antenna. This morning, I found her lying on her back at the bottom of the tank.

While it is pretty sad, I knew that this day was coming. Triops live at most 50-65 days under optimal conditions so Athena living 39 days in a peanut butter jar in the middle of winter is pretty darn good. For a few minutes, I was thinking what I could have done better to keep her alive but I changed her water regularly, fed her twice a day, kept a light on for warmth, and even gave her a button to play with.

Athena had a good life, and she gave me the gift of inspiration. During her brief life, I have really made some progress in writing the book by going back to the original inspiration of the triops. Thanks, Athena-I'll miss you.

After a brief mourning period, I plan on increasing my triops ranching by utilizing aquarium technology in the hopes of increasing their numbers and lifespan.

In other news, I had a flashback to the first Gulf War and remembered Jello Biafra putting out a 7" called Die For Oil Sucker. How eerily prescient.

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