Poor Creatures

A friend suggested activated charcoal for the lingering scent in my apartment from that pipe/dead mouse/sewage, whatever it was. This is something you can find in the aquarium section of pet stores, apparently. While there, I saw so many sad sights, like fish floating in these tiny suspended cups. It was horrible. Although the colors of the arrangement are stunningly beautiful. One more sad shot below.

This is a box of crickets. They’re being sold as food for I don’t know what. Poor little guys. I know whoever they are meant to feed has to eat too, but still.

Finney is Hanging in There

It’s been five months since Finney had major surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. So far so good. I haven’t seen any indications yet that the cancer has spread elsewhere. The hair has not grown completely back, as you can see. It makes him look so frail and vulnerable when he walks. But he seems okay to me. Old, but okay.

Finney Hairless

Thank you, Steve and Michelle!

My friends Steve and Michelle gave me tickets to a Zombies concert last night. I’m embarrassed to admit I was not familiar with their album, ‎Odessey and Oracle. How is that possible? It’s the album’s 50th anniversary and the concert last night was mostly a anniversary celebration for the album. Every song they sang from it was beautiful. I’m shocked it’s not more famous (although it probably is and I’m the last to know). Incredibly inventive harmonies on all the vocals. Who wrote them? I’m guessing Rod Argent.

Thank you so much, Steve and Michelle! We had a great time, the seats were perfection!!

The Zombies

What did you do, Lizette Moritz?

Every once in a while in my Blackwell’s Island research I come across intriguing little bits like the ones below. (Actually, I come across trillions of them.) The superintendents and wardens on Blackwell’s Island weren’t allowed to fire any employees, they could only suspend them. The decision to fire came from the commissioners of the Department of Charities and Correction who were surprisingly lenient.

Over and over I’d see an employee that had been suspended at the Lunatic Asylum reinstated. The bar of acceptable care was so low, and in order for a superintendent to bother to suspend you, you had to have been incredibly brutal and cruel.

So I was used to seeing orders like this 1868 one to reinstate Lunatic Asylum attendant Lizette Moritz. What I’ve never seen before is this 1870 followup, where they accept her resignation. What on earth could she have done where she could have been compelled to voluntarily resign? My guess is she killed someone, and they couldn’t prove it, but she didn’t know that. So they gave her the choice to resign or go to court. A brief google search didn’t turn up anything.

Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum

Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum

Losing Bones Will Break My Heart

I always get so insanely attached to the characters on my favorite tv shows. I’ll feel sad for days when a show I love is cancelled, or ends in a more friendly way. But losing the show Bones is going to kill me. I don’t just love a few of the characters, I love all of them, and every squintern who has ever appeared on the show. They’ve always picked the best actors, which is why I get so upset whenever we lose one. I still am sad about Sweets and Vincent Nigel-Murray. And they are not even real!! What am I going to do when I lose freaking ALL OF THEM?? It’s such a dependably sweet, smart, good-hearted show. I’m going be inconsolable.

Why why why why can’t something last forever??

Speaking of which, here is a future heartbreak resting on the radiator.