The first step in assuming responsibility of something larger than oneself is to grasp the effort involved in menial caregiving, and purchase something within the limits of disposability. In other words, if my new fish were to die in the near future, no big loss. It would suck for the fish, but a new one costs, like, three dollars.

I bought one of those little mini-aquariums yesterday. It came with the standard assortment of plastic plants, a burst bag of green gravel, and a little jar of chemical which makes the water you and I consume everyday, safe for habitation by aquatic animals.

And then I went back to the pet store later and picked up blue. He is a male betta, officially termed Betta Splendens and popularly known as a Siamese Fighting Fish. He was living in a small plastic drinking cup, stacked neatly on the shelf with about thirty of his closest relatives -- and I'm still not sure if he likes his new digs, a spacious two litres of green-hued plastic, more or less than the plastic cup.

Some of you, the astute ones, may have already seen the webcam. No guarantees on how long that will last. Perhaps only until I'm certain he's not going to expire when I go home at night. Perhaps.