Sparky is wearing a grumpy face

I never quite realised how much went into tropical fish. Apparently the water has to be special. The filters, the aerators, the weird doo-hicky that buzzes (which, by the way, is very very annoying). We have PH testing kits and oxygenation kits and things with pipes that look very very disturbing.

It took a week before we even got5 the fish and now he’s got to wait even longer to see if these tetras die or not. Canary fish?

Beloved and the cat are now spending hours staring at these fish. Fish swim left, fish swim right, fish swim left, fish swim right.

As can be imagined, I’m not entirely sure what the attraction is. But it’s a quite hobby. And not messy any longer so he can be enthralled by his shiny swimming things.

of course, this is one tank. We have more. And he’s talking about salt water tanks and living coral now (grrr, sure he got the idea off comments here). I advise a pet rock. I mean, if he paints it pretty colours it could look like coral and he can pretend it’s alive - it’s not like coral is the most responsive of pets.

This suggestion was met with completely unwarranted hostility.

Still I have made pizza dough and we will have pizza.... but apparently “tetra” is not even remotely related to “anchovy.” I am disappointed.

We do seem to have forgotten the feng sui. But if he does come back to it he has spilled enough on our living room carpet that it should be considered a permanent water element.

Also, I do not know whether it’s chemical or the fish themselves but something smells truly vile. Beloved has fixed this with a damn air freshener. The cloying stench of the throat closing muck now permeates the house and has forced windows to be open.

I hope you fishes can swim in ice.

Also, the internet is lagging. I can’t open half of my blogs without them loading eternally. And none of my passwords are being remembered. WoW also lags. Lag and Sindragosa make Sparky a sad shaman.

Yes, I’m wearing my grumpy face. Yes yes I am.

Gay men as super uncles?

It’s quite possible that you’ve come across this little story about gay men having the evolutionary edge

The idea being that homosexuals help their family’s genes pass on by being extra support and help for the next generation of nephews and nieces (who are, of course, passing on the family genes) which makes having homosexuals in the family line an evolutionary advantage.

And in general I’ve considered this rather non-news. The studies aren’t advanced enough to make the theory anything but tentative and it certainly doesn’t prove anything but it’s curious and vaguely interesting – and lo I moved on.

Then people started bringing it to me like it was some kind of good news. Which bemused me somewhat – because apparently it was a great tool to support arguments that homosexuality was “right,” “natural” or “inherent.” This would be great – I could use this study over and over to show the value of homosexuals! To which I put on my best WTF face. Let’s have a look at this:

On inherent: every credible psychological and psychiatric organisation has already concluded that sexuality is inherent. There’s actually more evidence in favour of sexuality being inherent than there is in favour of left or right handedness being inherent. This isn’t really even up for realistic debate any more and if those telling us we “choose” to be gay or it’s because our parents were too loving/too distant/abusive/cold/affectionate/freemasons/hugged us too much/didn’t hug us enough/drank soya milk or any of the other gazzillion reasons that have been put forward (I swear, if even half of these were true the whole damn planet would be bedecked in rainbows and heterosexuals would be the minority) heard about this new study they’d dismiss it along with everything else. Bigots don’t reason.

As to the ‘gay gene’ idea – the existence of recessive genes, gene penetrance, bisexuals and *gasp* homosexuals ACTUALLY having children already more than amply explains how any genes related to homosexuality will be passed down.

On natural: how many gay animals are there out there? The list seems to grow every year. And what does natural even MEAN anyway? I’m sat here on my unnatural chair, wearing unnatural fibres that have been unnaturally coloured at a computer that is most certainly unnatural. Complain to me about “natural” when you’re naked and living in a cave eating raw food.

On right and value: Right? How is the idea that homosexuals help straight people suddenly make us more “right?”

Ooooooh, I think we missed that didn’t we?

See, this strange idea people have read from this article that the “purpose” (and, really I think ‘purpose’ rather mistakes the process of evolution altogether and tries to imply a religious stand point) of homosexuals is to provide support and assistance for their heterosexual kin is rather troubling to me. My worth and value as a human being is not somehow advanced or justified because of the support I give straight people. I don’t need a heterosexual seal of approval to justify myself or my existence (nor is ANY worth or value of ANY human being justified by how much they add to the next generation).

I have a family, it has worth, value and purpose. It has as much worth, value and purpose as a heterosexual family.

So, no, I’ll not be using this study in any kind of arguments or debates – I don‘t see what it will add to the discussion. We do not consider the “evolutionary” advantages, purposes or justifications of heterosexuals or their families. I am not going to justify my existence. I am not going to prove my worth as a person in order to demand the rights due one. And I certainly aren’t going to pin my worth on the idea that I am a useful asset to the straight people around me.

I have my own family and my own life – I’m not an adjutant to other people’s.