If you are wondering if this is Silly Kat’s blog, you didn’t get lost!

I just upgraded to WordPress 3.0, so I felt the need to dress it up for a celebration. Well, a girl needs a different dress once a while to reflect her mood. You can understand that right?

What’s new now? I am starting to get sick of Facebook games, I mean, literally sick, that I spend more time tending my farm and pets than I watch TV, or eat. After doing the exact same thing day after day, the new items nowadays all require FV, which, requires USD to buy virtual cash so I can buy the items I want for my games. I didn’t feel as wasted before, but nowadays, every few days there’s maintenance, or a message “the game is enhanced, please reload…” which loses my points and progress every single darn time. GRR! Frustrated. So I am quitting.

Instead, I got myself some real pets. Bettas! Beautiful, lively, happy bettas who would respond to my shadow or voice by looking at my direction, getting excited and opening/closing mouths as if signalling they are hungry. I do need to feed them and change water almost everyday. Otherwise, it’s not some cash-purchased virtual medicine can fix. It hurt me last time I accidentally torn one betta’s tail while changing water for him. He was completely stressed out for two days! I felt so bad and was so worried that it might never recover. But after some careful tending (daily water change, less stressful movements around him, and plenty of good food), he is now looking more lively than when I first got him. His color is brilliant. His tail is recovering slowly, did I emphasize the slooooooooowly part? I feel terrible whenever I see him. He serves as a reminder that I need to be gentle to all my fishie babies because they are quite precious and fragile comparing to computers.

When I learn how to take some good pictures of the bettas, I will upload some.  For now, you just have to take my words when I say they all look great–happy, healthy, and aggressive, even the little female ones.  =)

I finally got my ChumChum! I have been waiting for days for it to arrive and there it is at my doorstep today! It’s so adorable!

Wait, have I mention what my ChumChum is?  I guess I have skipped that part. =)

As part of my birthday presents this year, along with a John McCain birthday card, I received a Chumby.  =P But on my birthday, I think it was still in transit somewhere above the Pacific Ocean.  It took a few days for it to be shipped from China to California.  Meanwhile, I was already checking out the widgets and costumes.  It just felt so natural that I started calling it ChumChum.  Finally, today, it arrived safely at my doorstep, in one piece.

When I was opening the box, my first impression of it was how earth friendly the wrapper was.  There’s no fancy box, no hard plastic cover, just a simple yet sturdy cloth bag.  The Chumby Charms and AC Adapter were in two smaller, and equally simple pouches.  Nothing complicated.  No scissors involved, no trash to throw away.  You would think cloth bags and pouches must feel like cheap wrapping.  But quite the opposite, it feels special, because it reminds me of hand-made bags that friends would make as little gifts.

The setup was simple and straightforward.  A thin “get connected” booklet with large and clear fonts provided all the information I needed to get ChumChum setup and start loading widgets.  The booklet’s recycled-paper-cover gave the same earth friendly message.

I just started loaded some widgets to it and cannot wait to find out more use about it.  For now, check out my ChumChum page to see my virtual pet. =)

I gave two bettas away in the past 2 weeks. I think I always get people hooked on betta, becoming as crazy about them as I am. Is it a good thing? Well, it proves that I am influential, or perhaps the bettas are very powerfully influential little animals. I can’t help but to fall in love with them, and now more people are becoming like me.

It is always a pleasure to watch them swim around and flare. One new betta daddy told me that his little fella swam into an underground filter through the opening and got trapped underneath. He was shocked of its magical disappearance when he heard some tiny noises. Luckily the filter was not running. He hurried to its rescue… Another time the new daddy asked me if the fish would be drown because it needed to get air from the surface, even in sleep. Isn’t it great to feel that you are responsible for another precious life? Every inch of growth (for betta that might mean one year of feeding) means so much all at a sudden.

It is time for me to stop my betta obsession now. I will continue to love my babies. I promise them that I will not give them away. But I will not buy more to give away. It is sad to part with them… =”( I will, however, be glad to help daddy and mommy to pick new babies and try to provide as much information as they want to know to keep their babies healthy and happy.

Butterfly, Snow White, and Dim Sum, mommy loves you guys.. Muah!

I must be the most pathetic person in the world. I would smile just by playing with my bettas! And I would open and close my mouth as quickly as my fishie as in competition! I wish I could flare like them….