while feeding the fish this morning i noticed something new in the tank: a tiny baby fish! apparently that one bloated female was in fact pregnant and delivered during the night. i found her swimming around, back to her formerly slender figure. i looked around the aquarium and saw another fry, then another. i counted a total of 10 fries, no longer than half a centimeter each, most of them hiding in the plants. i was happy to see the baby fish but i knew things wouldn't go well for them.

throughout the day i came back to check on their status, periodically adding food, partly for them, but also to keep the adults well-fed so they don't eat the fries. here's the sad truth: while some fish species care for their youngs, guppies aren't well known for their maternal/paternal instincts, and don't discriminate when it comes to eating and will more than happy eat their own offsprings. although i didn't witness any actual infanticide, i noticed one male guppy was particularly engorged to the point of looking pregnant. as if that wasn't bad enough, other species will eat the guppy babies as well, although i think the tetras have so far abstained. i also saw that there seemed to be less and less fries, as a holocaust of baby cannibalism continued throughout the day.

despite the overwhelming odds against their survival, i went out briefly to find some special fry food at big fish, little fish. the store owner told me that i could just feed the babies finely grounded brown and red fish flakes. what i didn't tell him was the babies and the adults were in the same tank, and even when i add food, the fries are so afraid of getting eaten they don't come out of hiding to feed. when my mother came by in the early evening to see the fries, i noticed they were schooling at the bottom of the tank, about 8 of them, so some were probably hiding at last count.

i spent the early morning working on sending out some rebates: filling forms, getting upc labels, scanning/printing invoices. rebates are a hassle and that's probably why companies have them, hoping that maybe somebody will forget to send in the form or not even bother because of all the trouble.

in the afternoon i finally went out for a run. the temperature was 40 degrees but i decided to go in shorts anyway, although with a turtleneck. there was hardly anybody out and the setting sun cast a golden glow on the landscape while the sky started to become a wash of magenta and lavender. i was doing well, motivated by my music selection, but 2/3 of the way around i started to cramp up on my left side and had to walk off the pain a bit before continuing. the fountain is still there but they've already turned off the water.

after my shower i watched last night's episode of dexter. is this one of the greatest series on television right now? after i finished watching, i almost wanted to applaud. michael c. hall, who plays dexter, has got to be one of the greatest actors of all times and he should get an emmy nomination if not outright win it. i've never seen six feet under, but i briefly glimpsed an episode this past week, and i couldn't even recognize him playing david fisher, it was borderline scary.

i managed to video chat with mandy, whom i haven't seen in a million years. it was her first time and my third. she gave me a tour of her new place in brooklyn and showed me what she was making for dinner, eggplant parmigiana. we talked about ANTM, and told me she didn't like melrose, even though i thought she should've won.

after my own dinner of leftover scallion pancakes, i watched the lost room mini-series on scifi. another great show, catch it if you can.