Remember those baby birds I was all ga-ga about this past month? The ones nesting in my hanging planter on the front porch? Well, the babies grew up and flew away. Poof. They are gone. I am sad. But happy they all lived to fly away to their new lives.

Thursday, June 14, 2001 - 11:40 p.m.

I started a website for my bird, go see Maui's Beach House.

Thursday, June 14, 2001 - 11:57 a.m.

Pet Peeve o' the Day: Sites that are so artsy fartsy graphical that it's impossible to tell what the links are for or what the site is about or just plain impossible to navigate because of all the ornamentation, especially on index pages. I appreciate that some people have wonderful graphical skills but in my opinion the content and ease of navigation are more important. If I have to think too hard about where the links are, what they are for or feel like I'm navigating a maze instead of a website, I move on.

Wednesday, June 13, 2001 - 10:26 p.m.

If you're not sick of me talking about my new bird, here are some new pictures!

Maui on his new playgym
Maui closeup
Mel and Maui (fluffing out his feathers)
Mel and Maui

Wednesday, June 13, 2001 - 10:58 a.m.

My blue parrotlet has a name finally! Maui!

It may seem like I chose it purely because he is blue like the ocean or that Maui is a pretty tropical place. But not so! Although that does tie into things pretty nicely. The main reason I chose his name is that I had been saving money for months to buy a parrotlet. I was stashing away every spare quarter, dime, dollars, whatever inside of a baseball cap in my closet. It just seemed like a good place. LOL Anyway, after I bought him and the cap was empty I gave it to my daughter to wear and play with and at that moment realized his name with sudden clarity. I had bought the cap on our trip to Maui in '99 and the cap says MAUI across the front in pretty tropical letters. So that is the little story of his name. Like you care, right? LOL

Tuesday, June 12, 2001 - 07:21 p.m.

It's a boy!

What I was hinting at in yesterday's entry was that quite unexpectedly and from an unexpected source, I was given information that a blue parrotlet baby was for sale only fifteen minutes from me. I had joined a Colorado bird enthusiast list and had mentioned I was waiting on a parrotlet but that it wouldn't be ready until almost September. Being the impatient person I am, I wasn't sure I could wait that long. But I was willing to try. Well anyway, a person on the list had a friend of a friend with parrotlets ready for new homes. I went to visit the breeder and her blue male parrotlet baby was too cute not to bring home. He is naturally sweet, loves to be held and cuddled. He comes to the cage door when I come up begging to be let out. Best of all, she was asking a very good price for him. I didn't really think I'd be able to afford a blue so I never really considered getting one although the green ones are really cute too, just a lot cheaper. So you tell me, how could I NOT take him home?? Just look at his photos. You'll see!

Rather than post pics here in the blog and take up a bunch of space and loading time, click the links to see!

My cute blue baby!
Cute baby in my hand
Mel and new birdie, self portrait. LOL
Mel and birdie, taken by hubby (kinda dark)
The birdcage

And if you aren't familiar with parrotlets, they are the smallest true parrots. Some describe them as Amazons in miniature. They are fearless, outgoing, comical, lovable, can learn tricks, live 20-30 years and males can learn to talk. If you want to learn more, visit The Parrotlet Ranch

Monday, June 11, 2001 - 11:29 p.m.

Sometimes the most wonderful unexpected things happen in mysterious ways....I'll keep you posted. Heh.

Monday, June 11, 2001 - 04:05 p.m.

I'm practically in tears reading *this* and couldn't agree more.

Monday, June 11, 2001 - 09:23 a.m.

I went to see Moulin Rouge last night. This film definitely is 'love it or hate it'. I loved it. It's creative, unusual and amazing eye candy. I loved the juxtaposition of time and music....it's set in 1900 but has modern rock/pop songs. I didn't expect that it would be a musical. I guess I'm not sure what I expected. It reminded me of a cross between Rocky Horror Picture Show and something like Carousel....maybe. It is just too hard to explain. I will say that this film should be seen on the big screen. Some of the graphical effects would lose so much on a television, especially the opening and closing theater scenes. Just awesome.