My aquarium

 

Did you know that fishes LOVE green peas? If you only give them dry food they will get constipated, so from time to time its good for them to eat something fresh. Green peas must be cooked/steamed and you must peel the skin that fishes can't eat. The mushy part is like de luxe dinner for fishes and it will help their digestion.

This is how my fishes greet me every morning. They are very excited because they expect food from me. So yes, there is definitely some kind of communication/recognition. This is my large aquarium at home.

A Fish Called Ray

 

Inspired by a friend whose apartment I usually take care for when he is on vacation and who has several most beautiful aquariums, at certain point last year i decided to have my own aquarium. It serves as a fulfilment of the need for the pet but without necessary mess of ether dog or cat. Initially I bought a small, 30 litre aquarium that made me very happy but eventually moved my fishes to much bigger, new home that gives them proper space. The old, small aquarium is now at my work where I still fuss over it, with new fishes there. 

I am naturally most attached to the first fishies that I got. At this point I have a dozen fishes and each of them was carefully selected by their gender and colour - so I can easily tell them apart and recognise who is who. Some, like my namesake, even grew and changed their colouring. My all-time favourite is the prettiest little bright orange boy whom I called Ray and who had his own, lovely personality. When Ray and his two buddies were transferred into a new, big aquarium, they were initially always swimming together in their little group because they were scared of this large new space - later I bought them several female "wives" and watched with amusement when Ray would follow them and puff himself up to look bigger, he is just the most adorable little fish boy. He would also always react when I would come near the tank and beg for the food. I always made sure that fishes are well fed, the water changed and was constantly fussing over the plants, decorations, etc. It would make me very happy to see my aquarium pretty and fishes inside swimming up and down, playing with each other.

Sadly, Ray has died yesterday. He was perfectly fine in the morning but was lying on the bottom of aquarium in the evening when the automatic light comes on and I usually give them food. I was affected much more than I expected and even cried - I am still crying as I write this - I placed him gently in a paper tissue and buried him on the bottom of a flower pot, I think this was nicest thing i could have done. I have no idea why exactly he has died, since all the other fishes are perfectly fine and the quality of the water is regularly tested, perhaps it was just his time (they apparently live just a short little lives). 

To some, the grief I feel for my little fish friend might seem exaggerated - but it made me think that this is exactly why as a species we are so unique. We are not just going trough life hunting for food and shelter, we react and the way we react on things around us is what makes our lives so rich and unique. It is because we are moved by the joy of love, friendship and company that we are humans. I always cried when my pets would die and little Ray deserves my affections since he gave me lots of joy and beauty, on my side I am satisfied that I gave him a beautiful home with enough space and plants, so surely he was a lucky little guy. Come to think fo it, my fishes have nobody else but me so yes, I do care about them and love them. We might be just a tiny ripple in time but its because we share this love and affection, it makes it all worth and special. One day my time will also come and I hope that someone will  miss me. 

"The Year 1000" exhibition in National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden

Far more than badly directed (and played) comic twist on Agatha Christie, I enjoyed an exhibition titled "The Year 1000" and presented in Leiden's glorious National Museum of Antiquities - probably the most exciting archeological museum I have ever seen anywhere in the world. I do have some authority here since I sailed around the world for 15 years and have visited many museums in different countries, this one in Leiden is by far the best. 

The exhibition was titled "The Year 1000" and it was meant to cover The Netherlands but it soon became obvious that its scope was much bigger - perhaps there were simply not so many saved artefacts from Medieval lowlands - so eventually we got little stories from many different parts of the world and some explanations what kind of world it was around year 1 000. What left the biggest impression on me was a screen with a movie of night sky - full of comets and stars, constantly moving but somehow always the same, almost immortal - combined with the contemporary writings of monks excitedly mentioning strange, mysterious things in the skies and what it could possibly mean (for many of them now we understand they were comets or Northern Lights, not a harbinger of Divine's wrath). It was a world totally different from ours (for one thing, religion was a big part of daily life in many aspects) but we as a humans have hardly changed at all. So it was like a peek into a time machine, where this same night sky is constantly same but our perception of it changed a lot.  

"Murder on the Orient Express" in DeLaMar Theatre

It seemed like a good idea - the poster was instantly identifiable and we both agreed it might be cool to actually get out of the house and do what real people do, visit a theatre. The fact that it was all in Dutch did not scare me, I thought at this point my command of Dutch should be sufficient and in fact we both excitedly waited Saturday as a day when we will treat ourselves.

Instead, we found ourselves squeezed in a packed auditorium and surrounded by fairly provincial audience who did not even bothered to dress up just a little differently from their casual shopping in a supermarket. I knew Dutch can be very casual but this was just annoying, it takes away from the whole experience. We felt like we are the only ones who actually made an effort. My friend disliked the minimalistic stage but I didn't mind, having just a few props (moved around by actors themselves) worked for me and it forced the production to be more creative. Unfortunately, the director obviously insisted on some sort of forced comedy so Agatha Christie's famous whodunit was presented as a over-indulgent salon comedy where everything was exaggerated to the point of almost parody. Everybody (starting from Remko Vrijdag as Hercule Poirot ) over-acted very badly in order to get some laugh from the audience but we were not amused. These things can not be forced. And it suddenly reminded me on a few occasions when I visited local theatre, just to notice how everything was over-baked for my taste.

It might be a cultural difference. I always found a stage acting a bit too much to take (even in my own country, it was insufferable) and preferred a natural, relaxed, non-acting style much more than what I perceive Kabuki style that projects to the balcony. Perhaps this naturalistic style works very well for the camera but theatre has its own rules and most of the time I think its exaggerated. I can accept it in music performance but it kills my enjoyment of the theatre. All this clowning done to appeal to the totally non-demanding audiences, its not for me. We just couldn't wait to return home.