I finally took some pictures of the bin cages that I made. They're not exactly decorative, but they certainly do the trick. The dwarfies don't really care how pretty they are anyways, it's more for my benefit. They like the running room :)
The lighting in the pictures is bad, but it's winter and we don't tend to get alot of sunlight in Edmonton at this time.

This is one of the bin cages (Joon's I think) It's a 70 quart bin, which is excellent for the little guys. I prefer them over the standard cages because I can move things around in them to accomodate whoever resides inside. They also all look slightly different too.

This is the front of the lid (looking from outside in). All I did was cut a big hole in it and glued screen mesh on the inside (the metal kind of mesh)

This is the inside of the lid. You can see where I glued the mesh in place. I used a hot glue gun and then trimmed the edges so they weren't sharp. If you live in a hot climate, it would be a good idea to drill a few holes along the sides for added ventilation. I'll probably do that this summer if it gets too hot.

Now that I've decided start breeding Dwarfies, I'm going to need more cages. Most of the ones sold at Petsmart, or Petcetera aren't suitable for the tiny Dwarf Hamsters. After doing reseach I ran across this site that explains how to make plastic bin cages. They are amazingly easy to make and not at all expensive. My first one cost me about $20 in total to make and the Dwarfes have TONS more room to play in than the typical Habitrail cage allows. Not to mention that the tubes most of the store bought cages come with are dangerous for the Dwarfs little feet. Too many cases of broken limbs have been reported due to these climbing tubes.

So, I'm off to get several more bins from Home Depot today and am settling down this afternoon to make them into the proper cages. I'm also stopping at Petcetera to see their Dwarfs. I'm not sure if I'll be coming home with one just yet because I would prefer to get my next one from another breeder. The petstores are good for getting pet hamsters, but for breeding purposes, it's better to know the genetic lines of that individual hamster. I basically want to see what colors they have. If they have a black one, however, I doubt that I'll be able to walk away *grin*.

I'll post some pics of the cages when I'm all done.

The little ones are are already getting fur! Joon won't let me get a really close look at them, so I have yet to be able to take any pictures. From what I've see though, 2 will be darker (like Joon) and 2 will be white (like Benny) or a just a lighter color.

They woke me up around 3am this morning because Joon had left the nest to eat and they started squeaking (too sweet). Joon is a very good mama and Benny is just trying to be around to help. I was a little worried about keeping him in there, but apparently, Dwarfies are very family-oriented creatures. The dad likes to get involved and from what I've seen, Benny is trying to do just that :)

On the book front, I've finished Chapter 2 and am trying to work out how Chapter 3 will go. I have a general idea, but the words are eluding me. I'm starting to doubt that I will make the 5oK mark in time, but I have a certain way of writing, and it's not fast. I'm a perfectionist who likes every sentence to sound "just right" before moving on to the next.

Around 1am last night, my little dwarf hamster, Joon, had four little babies. I wasn't even sure if she was pregnant because, you see, when I aqquired Benny and Joon, they were called Pinky and The Brain. Yes that's right, they were supposedly two MALES. I didn't even have them for 2 days when I noticed odd behavior from Benny. Basically he was a little TOO interested in poor little Joon (if you know what I mean). Anyhow, to make a long story short, I have four new little additions to the household :)

I'll post some pics of the sweet little family as soon as I remember where I put the batteries for the camera.

Oh yes, another exciting event in my life is that I have commited myself to write a 50K word novel in 30 days. We were able to start writing on Nov.1 and submissions should be in by Nov.30.

Sounds impossible I know, but I have faith in the fact that my first novel was just over 100K words and it took me three months to write. I'm a more efficient writer now so this should be a piece of cake, right? Only time will tell. And so far I'm only at 2000 something words. Not good for 5 days of work *sigh*

At least the story is fleshed out in my mind, and if I don't make the deadline, I have a good story to finish :)

The site: NaNoWriMo

Because of a huge dump of snow Friday night, I was stuck indoors all weekend. Hanging out in front of the TV seemed like the best thing to do. I was quite shocked when I was flipping through the channels and ran across a movie that I was obsessed with during my crazy High School years. Yes, folks, that would be The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Ahh...what a movie. Even after all these years, it still makes a person think.

When I got up this morning, I went straight to the computer and decided to do some research on it. I've heard many different interpretations on what the message was supposed to be, but I was still interested in knowing more.

This Page has some interesting points to ponder.

Back when this movie came out, Transvestites were talked about in hushed tones. It was like they weren't viewed as human beings. You could almost say that they were ALIENS. That was the lure of the movie for me. The taboo aspect. But today, we live in a Rocky Horror society.

"Today, (if the reader will forgive a little hyperbole) we live in Frank-N-Furter's castle, in a society that turns sex, violence and forbidden fantasies into theatrical spectacles. Our cultural creations include ghoulishly violent video games and serial killer trading cards; slasher films and nature videos of animals killing their prey; writhing bodies on MTV and a Jeffrey Dahmer comic book. Our daytime talk shows are filled with one strange sexual situation after another, from the transvestite who tricks heterosexual men into having sex with him, to the male college student who attended class in the nude. As Freud might put it, sex and aggression, the two drives that are most commonly subjected to repression, have been set loose in popular culture, where they have been turned into mass entertainments.

But, like Frank-N-Furter, popular culture isn't only interested in sex and violence for their own sake. It also uses them to portray acts of transgression. Here, it offers audiences opportunities to indulge what is perceived to be forbidden by violating traditional social mores and rules. One might say that the new culture has become a roller coaster for the mind that creates a sense of danger and excitement by taking audiences to the edge of social taboos for the thrill of it. Psychological repression, when it comes to sex and aggression, isn't merely being lifted; the act of going against repression has itself become a source of popular amusement."

Hmmm...very intereting.

Why are we so focused on celebrities? We put them on a pedestal and expect them to act in a way that's contrary to human behavior. Basically they're NOT allowed to make mistakes. And if, through some horrible twist of fate, they do make one, heaven help them.

I'm guilty of this myself and it makes me wonder what's happened to this world. Think about it for a minute. Take a famous actor, who the media obsesses about. Are they better than the cashier in the grocery store, the mail carrier, or the man who walks his dog past your house every morning? NO! of course they're not. Then why do we treat them as such? For myself, I find their lives more interesting, glamorous, etc, than my extremely dull one.

I woke up this morning, cringed when I saw my reflection in the mirror, and promptly wished that I was Jennifer Aniston. I'm sure that SHE wakes up looking perfectly beautiful *snort* YEAH RIGHT!

This is when I realized that they really ARE only people. No better, and no worse than the rest of us (Okay most of us...some people really are just nutcases who ought to be locked away for life).

Although, it's not New Year's yet, I'm making a resolution anyhow. I will NEVER wish to be someone other than my plain, albeit frightening in the morning, self again. At least when I make a mistake, it's soon forgotten (except by my mom, who has a memory like an elephant and thinks it's her right to remind me because of her hours of labour and surviving through my hellish teenage years)

Umm...will try to stop obsessing over celebrities as well...right. How will I survive without my daily fix of google alerts?

*sigh* I'm a work in progress.

Not much to say here. I'm finally getting going on Book 2, but I still have a few last minute problems to tend to with Book 1. I'm hoping to send it off tonight, or at least early tomorrow. The wait to hear from them is going to be agony, however. At least 2 MONTHS! sheesh.

I have some errands to run; picking up ink cartridge, paper, evelope, and the things that my roomate asked me to get for her, before I ready to sit down for the final readthrough, but I am definetely hoping it will be completed by tonight (I'm a speed reader...lol)

Well, a journal seems like a good idea. It's nice to write ones thoughts and feelings down--even if it is a little unnerving to know that others are reading it.

I found this journal page because of some links to it from a site that I visit alot. I liked the idea and it was nice to see so many people who normally wouldn't even know eachother become good friends because of it. I'm hoping to meet some new people and make friends.