Dear Sarah,

Congratulations! It is my pleasure to accept you into the CSU Summer Arts workshop, Animation: Making a Hand-Drawn Animated Commercial.

My initial thought was, “Huh…”  And then it went to “Wait – HUH?!”

To be honest, I wasn’t as excited as I thought I would be when I received the news.  (I got it via email to my blackberry…while driving on the 405 south bound.   Hahahah…)  But, it did excite me to hear everyone else rooting for me!  According to Aubry, the head coordinator of this program – they could only accept 30 people…and 50 people had applied already.  Whoa…exciting!

…It was kinda a downer to read the rest of the email though.

We will be making scholarship decisions within the next two weeks or so. However, the scholarship budget this year is VERY limited, so students should not count on a very significant amount of financial aid.

So, I guess I can’t rely on scholarship money to help me out.  However, even though this program is practically the cost of one semester, I’m VERY excited to be a part of it.  I can’t wait to learn!!!!

I recognize that this can be a very good thing, and also a very bad thing.

This “work horse” aspect of my personality has been very useful on several occasions.   For one thing, I get things done.  No matter what obstacles stand in my way, if I feel that the matter at hand is urgent enough, I will fight to finish it.  However, it has also cost me a social life, opportunities to use my skills outside of my school, and time for me to get rest and sleep.

This semester, I tried in vain to get myself back into work horse mode, but my body would not comply.   As I’ve gotten older, sleep has gotten more and more inescapable.  I can no longer tolerate all nighters – I would definitely fork someone’s eye out if they asked me to work on a project throughout the wee hours of the night.  Therefore,

I decided to drop my Illustration class.

When I was wrestling with this, it was the most intense struggle that I’ve had in ages.  Dropping a class meant giving up, staying for another year (or so!) at CSULB, and pushing all of my goals out of their respective time slots in my head. To see how my mind works, picture a girl hiking up a looming mountain, placing each foot with careful determination.  Dropping illustration is like misplacing the next step and rolling down the mountainside to end up 1500 feet below.

The gravity of my decision still weighs heavily on me.  When I decided that I needed to drop Illustration, Halie offered me the convenience of severing my ties to that class via itouch.  2 minutes later, I dropped the class, and felt a guilty pleasure in knowing that I wouldn’t have to deal with morning classes for the rest of the semester (with exception to Fridays).

Letting go was very, very hard.  I’d like to think that I made the right decision.

Let’s hope that it is true.

Filed under: Uncategorized ]]> http://moootastic.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/letting-it-go/feed/ 3 heliodus http://moootastic.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/death-grip/ http://moootastic.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/death-grip/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:36:39 +0000 heliodus http://moootastic.wordpress.com/?p=277 ]]> So, I finished the first week of school.  I’m positively scared.

Taking 4 studio classes in one semester is all fine and dandy if you don’t have to work.  However, money is a necessity in life – so, taking 4 studio classes while working 4 days a week is a bit hectic.  It’s almost like sampling all the flavors at once and then immediately regretting it afterwards.

For people who want to guestimate of how much work is done for a studio, it’s similar to this equation: 1 unit = 2 hours of homework.

So, if there’s a 3 unit class, there will be 6 hours of homework for the said class.  And, since I’m taking 4 studios, that’s a total of 12 units, so 36 hours of work - or more – per week.  And that’s not including my job.

I know I’m whining, but I think it’s healthy to get all your complaints out in the beginning, so that you can strap yourself down for the beating that is to come.

I’m hoping that the figure drawing classes will give me some relief.  It’s not that I’m a master at drawing people – but I have had these classes in the past, so I do have a little bit of confidence.  And my only saving grace is that I”m able to draw quickly.

Here are my classes:

Illustration 371 B (this is the one that I’m the most scared about)

Figures in Context

Costumed Figure Drawing

Animation A

I’m really excited about Animation – it’s going to be a lot of work and learning, but I’m finally taking a class that’s geared towards my major.  There’s so much potential, I’m really going to dedicate my time to it.

Costumed Figure Drawing is going to be a bit tough, but I think it’ll be a really good learning experience, especially since drawing clothed people is much harder than drawing nekkid people.

Figures in Context.  Drawing nekkid people fast.  Perfect.

And Illustration B is going to whoop my ass.  It’s a color heavy class.  And I have very limited experience in color.  That being said, I’m definitely going to learn a lot, but I’m not sure if my work will ever be qualified for my portfolio.  If I do put it in, I’ll put a sticky note on the illustrations and say, “These were a learning experience.  Forgive me.”

Here’s to a new semester.  I pray that I don’t get horribly ill or suffer some huge accident, and that God will grant me enough energy to make it through the day.

It has only been the third day, so I have yet to give a final evaluation of my first week of school, but I can pretty much guess how it’s going to be: tiring.

It’s nothing new, but I wish I would get used to getting tired already, so I wouldn’t feel so freshly tired everytime the new semester starts.  Does that make sense? 

But, it has also been a funny week as well.

Part 1: This happened two days ago, but I had the priveledge of purchasing the biggest cabbage I have ever seen in my life.  I went to 99 Ranch Market near my house to buy ingredients for Okonomiyaki.  When I went to the vegetables section, I was immediately struck by the ginormity of this cabbage – it was like a monolith standing among pebbles.  I took pictures with the cabbage before I got to use a fourth of it for the okonomiyaki batter.  I dont’ know what I’m going to do with the rest of the cabbage – I have a feeling I’ll be eating a lot of Japanese pancakes for the next two weeks.

Funny news part 2: I have been going to the gym regularly for the past two weeks.  This has been quite surprising, because I was certain that I would find it relatively boring and would quit soon thereafter.  However, due to the fact that I paid for my membership (and will continue to pay the monthly fees) out of my own pocket, I’ve been getting my money’s worth by going as much as I possibly can. 

And, would you believe it – I’m actually having fun.  Fun at the gym?  I’m having a hard time believing it myself. 

Trust me, I know what you are thinking.  Before I bought the membership, the concept of going to the gym regularly was as thrilling as getting my teeth drilled.  My mother would strongly suggest that I did some exercise ”for my own good”, to which I dully noted and did for a bit – then would retreat back into my dark cave of a room to play videogames until the crack of dawn. 

However, after some more prodding from my mother (“When are you going to actually use the membership that you bought?”), I went and did a short run on the treadmill.  Nothing fancy, just an easy jog for 30 minutes, then I had to leave for work.

And I noticed something.  I actually felt good.  Like, REALLY good.  Soon, it started to become a habit; and once I discovered that the gym had a marvelous sauna and steam room, I was completely addicted.

Fast forward to this morning.  After I awoke, I realized that, while I wasn’t sore, I couldn’t lift my arms above my head without some difficulty.  This may sound horrific, but it wasn’t that bad.  In fact, I found it rather hilarious. 

Funny news part 3: when I got to my Illustration class this morning, there was only one desk left (since I was 10 minutes late again). Our desks for this class are the tall, drafting tables (with an adustable top so that you can angle them) that have the tall, adjustable chairs with them.

Only that mine didn’t have an adustable chair. There was no chair at all.   

So, I had to grab a stool to sit on, which made me several heads shorter than the people I sat next to.  And, to make things even more obvious, I was in the front row, right smack in the center of the room, so that EVERYONE could see that I sitting on a short stool with my chin kissing the table top, looking like an idiot. 

And, to add to the ridiculousness of the situation, I had to stand up for the rest of the class while we were doing our painting exercises.  My arms were still dead at this time, so when I was mixing paint, I had use my whole arm from the shoulder and put my whole body into it.  I was getting it everywhere.  I noticed that the girl to my right sort of scooted farther away from me to avoid getting hit by my gyrating elbow.

The class thankfully ended without incident.

Anyhow, I think this semester will be a good one – I mean, this week has been so funny to start off with, it must be a sign of good times to come .

Until next time.

I’m afraid of the commitment, and of letting myself down again.  It’s also an act of cowardice and self defense, and I know that I’m pretty terrible at seeing things through and finishing something.

Which shows through in my art, actually.  All my professors have told me last semester, “SLOW DOWN AND FINISH SOMETHING!”  I guess my hurriedness is no longer a strong point.  In fact, now it has turned into my greatest weakness.

Before, when I was younger, I would actively write down the weaknesses that I was dealing with and proclaim, “I want to fix these!”  I seem to have stopped doing that too.  I’ve gotten very complacent in my life, and it hasn’t really bothered me.

Until I woke up this morning and realized, “I have not been doing ANYTHING to start of this new year.”

An old flame has slowly returned inside of me.  I want to be better.  I’m going to turn 23 soon – if I don’t change my habits soon, I’ll be stuck this way for the good portion of my life.  And that thought is rather dissatisfying.

So, let me look back at myself in 2009.

- January: Kicked off the new year in Monterrey with Auntie Am, Ryan, Nathan, Lauren, and Marissa.  Had an awesome time (Point Lobos was a great hike)

- Started the new semester with 5 classes, three of which were studio classes.  Also decided to not take Japanese after this semester

- Dealt with my confused feelings for a boy

- In February, I had flashing vision in my left eye; went to the eye doctor and they told me I had a retinal tear.  I was devastated – it would not only affect me for the rest of my life, but my career as well

- Found out later that there was no tear, but just a lot of tension on my eyeball.  A relief, and a determination to work harder

- Started working at 85 cafe in March.  It consumed my life quickly thereafter

- April, mostly filled with school, midterms, and work work work.  Pulled that glorious all-nighter to finish my 9-10 foot skeleton and muscular systems drawing for Anatomy for the Artist.  I was extremely proud of that work

- I also turned 22, and worked on my birthday.  I received a free cake slice and caramel macchiato.  Ironically, I also worked on my birthday when I turned 21 – and Mamiko gave me two great birthday gifts: 375 dollars, and some cute Japanese items

-May, starting to realize that my character had taken a shift for the worse.  Devised a shift in thinking..

- Also got promoted to Supervisor, after working at 85 for less than 2 months

-June – July – August, I worked full time, 42 hours/7 days a week.  I nearly went crazy in the end.

- Had a serious talk with my mom about finances, and I decided to pay for half of my tuition to CSULB; hence the hectic work schedule

- I also planned to have 1000 dollars to start off the school semester, to buy art supplies

-Had a hilarious experience with Marissa on June 19th, with her Miata breaking down

- Gave my dad his Father’s Day gift, and had the most satisfying reaction ever

- In July, the Wilds came and spent a couple days with us.  My mom, Uncle Evan, and Auntie Am ran the 5k.

- Bought myself a Nintendo DS i

- In August, finally snapped and scheduled to have two days off.  I went to the Wild Animal park with my mother, and had a wonderful experience.

- The next week, I went to the San Diego Zoo with my parents, and had an equally wonderful experience.

-Did a solo trip to the Wild Animal Park to draw.  It was refreshing and amazing.

- Started the new semester, and latched myself onto Halie.  We had three classes together; Her friendship was what kept me afloat that semester.

- September: Celebrated my mother’s birthday by taking her to Disneyland

- Had two really stressful events at work: The 85 Anniversary, and the Mooncake sale.  After those events, I decided to step down from being supervisor

- October: Contracted H1N1; put me out of school for nearly 2 weeks, and out of work for the whole month.  Also suffered with Mono.  My body went through permanent changes.

- Went to school anyway; even breathing became a chore at times; somehow made it through midterms

- November: Went back to work, nearly penniless.  Decided to work as much as I could, so that I could have some money to survive.

- Launched the cx3 project with Halie, Ashley, and Judy.  Got support from my professors.

- Decided to finally take action about the guy I liked.  It didn’t work out, but at least we’re still friends.

- December: Finals Month; I halted the cx3 project.  We had no time to dilly dally on other things.

- Hell week and Final’s week; killed myself to get my projects done.  2 consecutive all nighters for my Character Design and Rendering class.  Found out that having 6 “6-hour Power Shots” in a row can hurt your heart.

- After school was over, just SLEPT.

- Went up north to visit my Grandma and visit the Foxes.

- Ended the year by working at 85, and going to the Wrap Party held by them afterwards.

—-

Fascinating.

It’s interesting to see my year in review like this.  It makes me realize all the things that I have gone through.  It’s a pity that it’s mostly filled with school and work entries, but those are the major things in my life.

I wonder how 2010 will play out.  January has already started for 7 days, and I have only been doing one thing, actually: SLEEPING.  I got sick at the start of the new year, so it threw my ambitions to work out the window.   I focused on getting better, and now that I have, I need to pick myself up off the bed and throw myself into the gym.

And although I fear doing this, I feel that it is necessary.  It keeps me on track.

So, things I’d like to see this year:

- By April 25th, I’m going to lose 15 pounds.  That’s 15 weeks away.

- I am going to save up more money.  60 dollars from each paycheck is going to be qualified as ‘untouchable’.

- Relaunch the Cx3 project, and have closure on the November project.

- Slow down and observe more in my art. Relay the beauty of forms, and practice self-control; actually FINISH a drawing

- Eat breakfast.  Every day.

- Be more goal oriented.  Don’t let the day waste away.

I also have two pretty major goals.  And at risk of exposing myself, I’m going to say it.

“I want to have a two – three month long traveling experience around Asia and Europe”.

“By 25, I want to be moved out of my house, fully independent from my parents”.

People may think, that’s a little late, Sarah – but I feel that it’s a good goal.

So, here’s to a new year!  I’m a little late in proclaiming myself, but I feel that it’s better late than never.

I call it my self-purchased birthday gift, because by April 25th, on my 23rd birthday, I plan to lose 15 lbs.

That is technically 16 weeks away…

But, I finally decided to take action.  Finally.  Instead of wishing that I was like the skinnier Asian girls, I’m going to WORK for it, like I’ve always had to do.  I think I found a strategy to keep myself motivated too.

I’ll consider the gym with the same reverence I have for school.

As ridiculous as this sounds, it is probably the only thing that will work for me.   I literally kill myself to get good grades in school, to absorb the knowledge, and use it to the best of my ability/ for the future.  Why not treat working out the same way?  Absorb the knowledge, and learn it to the best of my ability, and most of all, keep a humble attitude.  I found that it’s important – having my fitness evaluation was certainly a humbling and eye-opening experience.  Those numbers don’t lie, that’s for sure.

I would call it a downer, but rather, it was a truth that needed to be told.  And now that I know the truth, I can work my way up.

So, here’s to me!  For finally taking action – I look forward to seeing myself in April

So, I finally got over whatever combo of illnesses that were plaguing me last month in October (I have a strong suspicion that the flu that I was afflicted with was the Swine flu.  And mono.  AT THE SAME TIME D:)

I have just started up my life again with work, and it’s been how I’ve remembered it so far – CRAZY BUSY.  That being said, I’m just happy that I’ll be able to make money again (Thank God I still have a job).  Unfortunately, because I’ve been gone for a whole month, I won’t be able to get my first paycheck until the end of the month…and I already have a growing list of things that need to be paid off…

However, God has been good to me, and my health has been fully restored.  AMEN to that.  That’s praiseworthy right there.

I think my coworkers haven’t seen me for a while, or I must have done something right – because they all have said that I’ve gotten slimmer.  (One of the perks of being deathly ill, hahah).  Also, my body constitution has changed…if I eat really rich or greasy foods, I get physically ill.  Which is a good thing, I guess…?  It’ll force  me to eat healthier.  Hurray for forced healthy eating!

Monetary-wise, I need to save up my money for the Spring semester.   I looked into my bank account and my spending report, and I nearly had a heart attack.  I spend so much money within one month, it’s absolutely ridiculous.  Especially on food and little things – it really adds up.  I need to pack my food for the rest of November, to spare me the change.  Plus,  I’m aiming to have 1,200 dollars by January 25th to help pay off the tuition.  If I can save at least 440 dollars a month – I’ll be able to meet that goal…  Oh man.  I really need to plan this carefully.  (Especially with Christmas around the corner.)  Remember, this is me we’re talking about here – the girl who is horrible with money.  I’m trying to better myself.  Really.

Anyhow, enough money talk.  I’ve recently launched a new personal project, and have once again created another blog for it.  It’s called the Creative Collaboration Catalog Project – and it can be viewed here. I’m actually pretty proud of this idea, and it has been getting some good responses so far.  I’m hoping that we’ll be able to follow through with it. 

Anyhow, that’s all for now.  Take care everyone!

I don’t think I’ve really had mono before, and no, I have not kissed anyone to receive this disease.  It started on October 2nd, and I found out after I took a trip to the emergency room.  (It wasn’t horribly serious, but I was honestly exhausted and suffering at the time – 103.7 temp, classic flu symptoms, etc.)

After they took 5 vials of blood, they did the tests, and the doctor said this: I either have a really severe case of the flu, the swine flu, or mono, or a combination of flu and mono.  Beautiful.  The temperature went away after 2 days.  The lack of appetite stayed though.

In my opinion, mono is more annoying than anything.  I have a constant supply of phlegm stuck in my nasal cavity that doesn’t want to go ANYWHERE.  Blowing my nose alleviates the irritation, but it quickly fills up again, and it clogs my nose when I try to go to sleep.    Also, there are times when I feel close to 75% better, and then suddenly, without warning, I get a wave of nausea and exhaustion, and I feel like just lying down and staying there.  The 75% quickly drops to nearly 25% to 15% percent on the wellness scale.  And it could be when I’m not doing anything – just standing there, minding my business, and BAM – I feel ill.  Severely ill.

Also, waking up is really hard to do.  My body feels like it’s been cemented to my bed, and I have to chip myself away from it to get up in the morning.

I suppose the only upside is that I honestly have no appetite whatsoever.  I can go the whole day without eating and I’d still feel fine.  The only way I can tell if I’m hungry is if my body gets really weak, and then I stuff it with something to make it feel better.

And just this week, I’ve decided to go back to school to catch up with all the work I have to do.  I know I’m supposed to rest and whatever, but..I already paid for half of my tuition, and I don’t want to withdraw for the semester.  I’m going to try and stick it out.

So, my dear friends, I hope your fortunes are better than mine.  Stay well!

Monday is Labor day, so I’m planning on hauling my crap to Oceanside again to draw animals! <3  I also have a furlough day the day after, so I should be free.  However, another important thing I forgot to mention is that my mom’s birthday is also this Tuesday.  Whoops.

I still don’t know what to get her, but I think a good trip to Disneyland is in order .

And speaking of expressions, I believe that I am seriously dyslexic.  Or at least slightly impaired when it comes to speaking the English language.

Which is kind of a problem, since it’s my only language.

I have a tendency to mispronounce words.  Most of the time I take a stab at it with utmost confidence (and I get pretty close – with hilarious results), but sometimes the words I say are way off the original sound or meaning.

Here’s an actual conversation I had today with my friend Erin.

—–

Me: “I think my favorite memory of our Anatomy class was during midterms.  We were all delirious and cracked out, and we had the craziest conversations.”

Erin: “Yeah, but I think you were tired even on normal class days too.”

Me: “True.  I always dragged my carcass to class on Friday, late and exhausted.  Jamie just didn’t even care anymore, haha.  I would get there and then sleep anywhere – the model stand, the closet, or the hallway, and then after 15 minutes, I’d get up and draw.  She was so nice, hahah.”

Erin: “I remember that – but didn’t Ashley have a hard time sleeping too?”

Me: “Oh yeah – that poor girl is an insomniac.  She said that sometimes she only gets 2 hours of sleep a night.  When I last talked to her, she was taking medication that helps her get at least 5 hours of rest.”

Erin: “That’s awful.  That poor girl.”

Me: “I know.  I’d feel angry if I only got 5 hours of sleep a night.  My aunt is like that too – she says that her brain won’t stop working even when she tried to go to bed.  And actually, her daughter also suffers from the same thing.”

Erin: “Really?  I also had a friend who suffered from the same condition.  She mentioned something about her brain not shutting up.”

Me: “Yeah.  I guess it must be heretic.”

There was an awkward pause while we were walking.  And then I realized what I said.

Me: “I MEAN HEREDITARY!”

We both had a hard time breathing afterward, since we were laughing so hard.

—–

Another thing for me to be happy about: The cost of my art supplies thus far.  It has been remarkably cheap this semester, but that is probably because I’ve accumulated so much over the past couple of years.  So far, on art supplies alone, I’ve only spent 100 dollars – which is amazing, considering I have three art classes.  My books were not that expensive either – only around 100 dollars again (total).  So, I’ve been fairly proud of myself.

I’ve also been doing pretty well about not eating out every day.  I still splurge on snacks (frozen yogurt has been calling me, and it’s a new store at CSULB called “YoGo! Creations” – very good!), but other than that, I’ve only bought one meal at school.  Go me~!

Now, I have to do my homework for all my classes.  I have to do 5 thumbnail sketches for an obituary, draw 20 realistic and cartoon hands (so, 40 total), and render a smooth, non-fuzzy, non-reflective, non-mechanical object for my rendering class.

But first, a nap.

(P.S. In case you didn’t know, somnambulist is a fancy term for an insomniac.)

I woke up early and immediately went downstairs to see it, hoping it would be a little more at ease.  Unfortunately, it was more frightened than ever before, and pecked me considerably harder than yesterday.  Still, I let it perch on my shoulder (it didn’t even wait for me to place it there – it flew onto it and clung so hard, I thought it would rip a hole in my t-shirt).

My mother commanded me to donate it to the pet shop – she was definitely not interested in being the new owner.  Sadness and pity filled me, but I knew it would be better this way.  We weren’t exactly a pet-friendly family; she would only allow another living being in the house if they don’t smell, don’t make a mess, and are low maintenance.   Heck, even I don’t fit those standards (of being clean and not being smelly) and get in a lot of trouble for that.

So, we have a pet fish.  And as far as my mom was concerned, that was enough.

I took the cockatiel in it’s giant blue tub in my car.  I placed it in the passenger seat, and started to drive out.

It started to freak out considerably.  It had no grip in the tub whatsoever, so it was sliding around, and kept on flapping its wings to stay still; on top of that, the water bowl was sloshing around, and whenever I made a turn, the poor bird would sort of slide and thunk, hit the side of the plastic bowl.  It was a soft hit, but still uncomfortable, I could tell.

Finally, after 2 minutes of this, I put my hand in the bowl and allowed the bird to sit on my shoulder.  It scurried over and sat squarely on my car seat.  We drove like this all the way to petco.  Some pedestrians saw me and were talking and pointing at the yellow bird perched on my car seat.  I was praying that it wouldn’t freak out again and fly across my face while I was driving.

Finally, we made it to Petco.  After some convincing (and some more pecking on its part), I put it back on my shoulder again.  We walked inside, and I walked straight over to the cockatiel enclosure.  It was delighted; it screamed its hello to the other cockatiels.  And all the other cockatiels screamed back in unison.  This went on for a good minute, until I decided that I couldn’t hear out of my right ear anymore, and walked around the store, with it still perched squarely on my shoulder.

I saw in the corner that there was a Cockatiel starter kit on sale for 50 dollars.  I was sorely tempted to buy it and say, “Mom, they wouldn’t take it back.  And fancy that – there was this cage on sale, and I just picked one up.  You know, for our convenience.”  But then that would be lying, and I’m sure I would have to return everything anyway.

Finally, after a call to my sister, I mustered up my guts and walked over the cash register.  I explained my situation to the guy.

“Um, this cockatiel was abandoned at the park across from my house, and I was wondering if you guys take pets back.”

The guy looked at me and the bird.  I pointed to my right shoulder – the cockatiel was still perched there, alert and charming.

“Yeah, we adopt animals back.  Let me call someone over.”

He radioed for one of the staff to come and take a look at the bird.  Meanwhile, he took the cockatiel off my shoulder, and it immediately flew to his shoulder.

Another guy walked towards us.  He had a green parrot on his shoulder, and my goodness, he had stunning blue eyes.  And he was good looking.  I was sorta weepy over losing the cockatiel, so it was only after the fact that I realized how good-looking he was.

“Hm, she seems pretty healthy.”  He tried to take the cockatiel from the other guys shoulder and got pecked and hissed at.  Apparently it liked the taller guy better.  And it sure as heck wouldn’t come back to me – I tried to get it off of him earlier, and it scurried away from my hand.  Hmph, freaking traitor.

The blue-eyed man took a glove out of his pocket and gently grabbed the cockatiel off the guy’s back (actually, it was now his neck).  He examined it closely, and then said, “She’s a healthy bird.  Where did you say you found her?”

“Oh, it’s a girl?”

“Yeah.  Girls have paler cheek patches than guys.”

“Huh, never knew.  Well, my mom saw a woman place the cockatiel in a tree, place food with it, and then drive off.  She never came back.”  I felt like I should explain myself, since we were technically the ones who rescued it, yet were giving it away.   “We can’t take care of the bird, so we were hoping that you could take it back.”

“Sure.  We won’t sell it, but we’ll put it up for adoption.”  The cockatiel now jumped onto the blue-eyed man’s shoulder, and started to pick a fight with the green parrot for the spot.  The poor parrot was a bit bewildered by it, and just sort of nudged away towards the other shoulder.

“You just need to fill out the customer information.”

“Okay.”  He handed me a piece of paper.  I read the rights, and filled out the info.  I had to write my last name twice, because my handwriting was so bad.   The part that said “I relinquish all rights I had over this pet and agree to change ownership to Petco” really stuck to me for some reason.  I didn’t want to relinquish all my rights over the bird.

After some hesitation, I signed and dated it.  I handed the paper back.

He looked over it.  “Didn’t name it, huh?”

“We just found it yesterday.”

“Haha, I know.”

I looked at the cockatiel.  It was baring its beak at the green parrot, and the green parrot nervously moved away to the other side.  “Is this it?”

“Yep.”

I turned around and walked out, my shoulder a little lighter.  I called my sister back immediately after the exchange.  I told her about the parting – she gave me heartfelt words of comfort.

I’m going to miss that bird.