Friday, October 8 2021

Dear Journal,

Good morning, everybody. How is your Friday going so far?

The journal entry is a little late off the presses. My work gave me off today to "recharge". I'm following my instincts, and so far my "recharge" has just been doing the same things I normally do on a Friday morning, only stretched out longer with plenty of breaks to sip coffee, stare at spiders, and wander around between Internet distractions. But I'm thinking of everyone else who doesn't get a luxurious day off today. Hang in there, at least it's almost lunch time.

Sip. I'm writing from my bedroom today. Not only does that allow Marissa to exercise her rite to watching Bob's Burgers re-runs while stretching canvases, but that gives me more time to soak up something I haven't heard at my desk in a really long time. Music.

Following my long, pathetic struggle with trying to find a decent pair of headphones, I ultimately surrendered to just using my laptop speakers. They work well enough for zoom calls, but I had to put a pause on music listening.

Well yesterday I unboxed a new pair of speakers. Two small black pedestals, a power cord, an AUX cord, and a sturdy volume dial. No lights or beeps. No futzing with bluetooth or wireless. To plug something that immediately works, it's a thing of beauty.

I forgot how easy it was to focus while listening to music. Shout-out to the Amazon gift card I got from my parents for my birthday - I couldn't have made this magic happen without you.

In other news, I'm keeping a close eye on the three new spiders we've added to the collection. After a full day to settle in, I tried feeding them each a chunk of super worm. Bold, confident Leo sauntered out of his web, took it up in his tiny mouth, and spent the rest of my workday seductively gyrating around his kill. Honestly, Leo moves his little striped butt so enthusiastically, the spectacle borders on obscenity.

His behavior checks out with everything I read about the Chromatopelma cyanopubescens. Voracious eaters. Prolific webbers. Attention starved twerkers.

Venom, on the other hand, behaves like Leo's opposite. Venom, feeling unworthy to use the hide I set out for him, dug a smaller, meeker burrow along the edge of the enclosure. He still hasn't touched his worm chunk.

Spiker, the third newcomer, remains a complete mystery. He's sealed himself up in his hide with a mound of dirt, and I haven't seen him since. I get the feeling that taking care of Spiker will feel like taking care of an empty plastic box, at least until he puts on some weight and finds some courage to explore.

There's not much else going on around the house. Rodney successfully posed for picture day yesterday. And since I caught some flack for not including a picture of his outfit, today's banner image fits the bill. It was taken after picture day, and even though he's sweaty from school and has chocolate icecream smeared on his face, that is technically his picture day outfit.

I think I'll make this one brief today. I need to get back to recharging. Hope you have a good Friday, everyone, and I'll see you on Monday.