Before you whip your dead fish at my house.

Let's get some things straight, all you crazy fish keepers who love to send anonymous hate mail.
This is the picture of the fish that spiked your ire. This is the first and last HYBRID Cichild I will ever own. If you had bothered to read my comments or any of my other posts- you would see that I am not only an animal lover, but also a fish enthusiast and a knowledgeable keeper with years of experience with multiple tanks.

Would someone who spent the last three weeks handfeeding baby Mourning Doves that fell out of a tree, then returning them to nature, smack a fish on a garage floor?

This photo which some of you claimed was a metal trashcan lid- which we can't even use in our neighborhood, is in fact, a feed bucket that I use to clean the tank. This is the fish before I added the water,
placed the plank of wood over the top of it and drove it to the fish store, AVIARIUM in DULUTH GEORGIA where I have brought 3 large Oscars and one very aggressive Red Devil who actually bit me when cleaning a tank. I usually have to beg the guy there to take the fish and get nothing, maybe a plant in return.
I have no doubt someone like you, MONSTER FISH KEEPER members, or your pals walked in that store or one like it and felt like you were getting a bargain. I choose to believe those fish were re-homed, just like when I drop off towels at the local animal shelter, I choose to believe all those dogs and cats found a barn in the country to call home. But ...

Let me say a few things here, as this is my blog and I can damn well say whatever I want.

To Those of you who wrote to me with your angry hateful words.
I think it is FANTASTIC.
You are so passionate, you took the time to tell people how you feel.
Wow.
Imagine if you did that in real life, everyday- to your boss, your neighbor, your congressman, your grocery store clerk. How much different would your life be?

Because apparently you KNOW everything about everybody.
Why even from looking at my photo you have determined things about me that you are certain are true. You are superhuman monster fish keepers.
I am so impressed.
And I thank you for all the hits on my blog. You made me a lot of money and gave me a lot of free press. Did you ever hear the expression, there is no bad press?

So, yes you not so anonymous fish lovers. ( comments and posts and websites and blogs have trackers, just so you know.)


For the future, know that anytime you want to express your opinion- out there in the real world?
You should give your complete name, your address, your contact information, because in this LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE, we have rights and when you believe in them you should stand proudly and tell the world how you feel things could change, why they should and we can all have rational discussions.
You don't need to call me names, you don't need to threaten. Are you a Cichlid?

I didn't think so.
I understand. I have always understood. There are a bunch of people out there who get in over their heads- they don't spay their dogs, they let their cats run wild, they do not educate their children, they incur consumer debt, they eat poorly, they gamble, they steal, they are addicts, they may even believe the girl at the PETCO who says this hybrid fish is a 4 incher semi-aggressive.
After four years of tanks in CA and six years with this setup in GA, I no longer keep Cichlids. I have a smaller tank of tropicals that is easier to maintain and just as interesting and calming to watch.
CALMING. Hmm. That is a concept, fish people.

As far as this blog? It's not what I do, or who I am. It's a way I stay connected. I am a mother, a wife, a friend, a music and film lover. I am a novelist, a published essayist and short story writer. I write fiction. I exaggerate. I am sarcastic and I love irony. I have a wonderful sense of humor, though a bit on the dark side at times. I tend to speak off the cuff- and sometimes blog that way. And above all, I understand everyone has a right to voice their opinion.
Mine might be that I think You are ignorant cowards, and very very poor spellers. You also have no understanding of fiction.

It might be. But it's not. Because no one has the right to judge.

You are responsible for you. I am responsible for me. That is the way it is.
You cannot control or change me, as much as we both might like for that to happen.

Let me close with this:
I forgive you.
I think somewhere in there you have big hearts. You care. And that is wonderful.

Now go out in the world and shake someone else's tree.
You have the power to do good. Use it wisely.