Somebody molted and the exoskeleton came off in almost one whole piece. Now it looks like there's a ghost shrimp haunting the tank.

Spent a big chunk of the morning figuring out how to make a gif from a video of my shrimp. Things that were super easy 10 years ago can become a challenge when you don't keep up with the tools. But I did it!

Shai-Hulud has little desire to come out of the sand. African sand boas spend something like 95% of their life in the sand. He makes a big show of it when he does come out, though!

#snake - I actually got to see Shai-Hulud at his water bowl today! In almost 4 years I've seen him in positions I recognized as "on the way to water" and "on the way back from water", but never "at the water".

I'm still awake at Should-Be-Asleep o'clock. It's been a physically rough week. Decided to play with the digital collage thing again and do a Lake Monster one.

It took me over an hour to do this, and I changed the background four or five times. This would have been a huge mess with magazine cut-outs and glue.

It seems...I don't know, scattered? Sparse? But I'm not experienced with this. I'll be patient with myself.

The past few months have been too busy for me to make much time for art. And I don't have the mental energy for details when I'm worn out. I decided tonight that I don't care and just needed to draw something. The lack of caring shows in the poor shading. I'm glad I gave myself some time to do something I enjoy, though.

#snake - Taking pictures is allowed today. It isn't always. He'll come out for me, but can quickly go into the sand when my phone comes out.

This time, it's a base color of a sort of light to medium purple with a coat of magnetized nail polish on top. The magnetized polish would look like a thin layer of Labradorite on its own. It changes the purple to become ten little clear night skies on my fingers!

I had to stop painting my nails years ago because I started having allergic reactions when I touch my face. I have now found a brand - Mooncat - that doesn't have some of the chemicals in most nail polish. I'm hoping this works.

The color is called "Loch Ness". Blue with rainbow holographic micro glitter. I have Lake Monster nails!

This is a fossilized Tylosaurus tooth! That means it's a minimum of 65 million years old. I held it in my hand! Very briefly, though. I'm absolutely shaking with awe and joy, and I didn't want to drop it.

Someone acquired it for me and it will stay with me in my house! This is...this is a lot! This is important! I'm probably going to start crying soon. Good tears!

There's a visitor in my yard today. I'm a little concerned about why a bat would be out during the day. We've seen them in the evenings before, so we know they live on our property. It could be the heat. If they don't go home tonight, I may need to call a wildlife rehabilitator tomorrow.

Happy pride, y'all! 🏳️‍🌈 When you're queer, you're family. 💜

If you're not out, you're still family. There are many valid reasons to stay quiet. You are still loved. We just have more family than we know.💜

That includes queer military. We know you're there. We love you. 💜

I got a new deck of cards. I am really picky about how Hekate is portrayed. Neopaganism has done a lot of appropriating and manipulating. I was glad to see the creator is a member of the Covenant of Hekate. There's a higher standard for research. Looking through the cards, I think they'll be great for self-examination and growth work.

I don't have the biggest achievements in my family, but I am the one who will really stick with something.

Thank you to every music teacher who made violin videos on YouTube during lockdown! My niece's violin arrived and it sounds like I've been playing for a week on the first day.

It might still sound like first week after a couple of years. But I love how moving the bow across the strings feels!

Added these to our home today, so I'm getting a good start to another week of embracing my weirdness.

Filled the bird feeder, sat 8 or 9 feet away, and started playing my banjo. It only took a few minutes for the beautiful, colorful visitors to start showing up.

I needed this time today. This week, so far, has been a crappy month stuffed into a few days. But it was really nice outside, birds came to the bird feeder and chirped and trilled while I played.

I spent some time drawing today. I seem to be in a "draw weird stuff" mood. There's a major trauma anniversary for me in a few days. This is a good time to just do any healthy thing my hands want to do. I also spent some time outside playing my ukulele for the birds.