| Current mood: |  pleased |
Hitchhikers and Scorpions
So I should be studying for a quiz tomorrow, but creative energies are stirring.
So, during my lunch break at work today, while I was eating inside my car in a small park, I noticed a young kid walking along the road trying to hitch a ride. So, I figured what the hell, finished my sandwich and drove over. The boy looked like a young high schooler, and he wanted a ride down the road to a little shopping center. He was obviously skipping school and lied about it. Anyway, he asked me if I smoked while we were cruising along. And I told him no, that cigarettes would kill you. In an older, more experienced, but natural tone, I went on to mention that both my granddads died from smoking, my father took 15 years or so to quit, that it was expensive, and girls hated the smell and taste on guys when they got older. So, he quickly remarked that the girls his age seemed to like the boys who had them. I replied that they didn't really like the boys for the cigarettes, they liked them for being daring enough to have what they weren't supposed to have and for having the resources to acquire them. Next, it will be alcohol or marijuana, parties and social status, and then money, title, boats, and cars. Anyway, the kid seemed to naturally look up to me and listen, and it was nice to think that maybe I made some small difference. I'm sure a boy that disillusioned by school already doesn't really look up much to the authority figures already in his life.
On another note, I finally selected the species of scorpion to take over the now vacant tank in which my previous ones lived once upon a time. I had a mother Emperor (Pandinus imperator) scorpion since Valentine's Day my freshman year in college (it had babies later). She was a gift from the girl I dated for about a year (she knew me well.. lol). I guess that was 2001. Anyway, I selected Smeringus mesaensis as my new beloved arachnid species. They live in the sand dunes in Arizona, and they have a remarkable ethereal, translucent quality. All scorpions glow under UV radiation (i.e. blacklight), and although these won't reach the sizes attained by most Emperors, they will still be fairly large (perhaps 3 or 4 inches). I mail ordered them through the Internet, and I hope to receive them soon. Most people are horrified by scorpions, but I don't understand. If a person studies them intently for more than a moment, (s)he can only marvel. Scorpions have the complex locomotive movements of a spider. Just as gracefully as a spider, they glide and crawl over all terrain without a hint of difficulty. They have the pincers or claws of a crab, powerful enough to crush and mangle their prey. Their armored exoskeleton is smooth and beautiful and it glows green under a blacklight. And then there is the potent venom of the arching tail's hooked stinger, and its fatal precision. Such a deadly little package, one of nature's most brilliantly evolved warriors. Why would anyone ever get a turtle or a bunny?
Now I guess I'll go study.
