Blue Tongue Skink in the Grass

I took Rhino outside to play today. I was lucky with the camera. He gave me a couple of good shots of his tongue flicking out.

I always have to be very careful when he goes outside. Most of the time he just watches the cars go by, but sometimes he goes looking for strange things to eat or for tricky places to hide. Fortunately, he never goes anywhere fast, so I'm usually able to scoop him up if he starts getting into trouble.

Lazy Lizard

Rhino went through another shed today. It was hard work so he decided to lounge about in his water dish for a while.

 Chilling at the pool.

Showing off his shiny new scales.

Pictures of a Thirteen Inch Skink

I caught a few photos of the blue--tongued skink that lives in my bedroom. He just keeps growing. He's 13'' in total length now.

Basking.

 Climbing a blanket.

 Being curious about the camera.

Burrowed and grumpy.

Waxworm Treat

I decided to give my blue-tongued skink a special protein treat today. Here is a video.

Rhino has been growing like a weed. He's already starting to look less like a baby. One of these times, I'm going to have to get a picture of him beside a ruler so it's more obvious just how big he's getting.

Hello, Rhino.

My order from Jeff at btskinks.com arrived this week, a baby blue--tongued skink named 'Rhino.'

He was quite grumpy with me after his overnight flight from Arizona, but he's adapted quite well to his new surroundings, all things considered.

Here are a couple of video clips: one of him flicking his tongue and one of him eating a tasty treat.

These animals don't seem all that common in the pet reptile scene. I don't know why. Even as a skittish baby, Rhino is the coolest lizard I've ever met. He's huffy when first approached, but I've been able to hold him without biting or struggling. He's an interesting animal, too, as he is curious and into everything, almost like a very slow ferret with scales.

What Happened

Where have I been? I've been recovering from graduate school. Gaining my Ph.D. in chemistry was a mixed experience. I enjoyed doing science and worked with some great people, but the more deeply frustrating aspects of grad school built up a mountain of anxiety and depression that took some effort to dismantle. I don't feel like discussing it here, but if you are curious, there's a documentary called "Naturally Obsessed" that covers quite a bit of it. The film is honest in ways I'm not sure the production team intended.

Anyway, I spent some time looking for work, but my wife (also a Ph.D. chemist) landed a good position before I had any reasonable prospects. We moved with our two kids and two dogs to a new place and started a new life. I got a few nibbles for jobs, but all of them were hours away and I didn't want a long term, long distance relationship with my family. Job prospects are complicated right now. I haven't found anything I feel warrants leaving the kids, yet.

Not having a job outside the home and being away from friends and family has driven me to start writing again. I've been reading some of the more recent successful books and decided that at least some of what makes a blockbuster novel is completely random and arbitrary so I may as well try.

I have about three different books in the works right now and, just like my projects in grad school, I can't seem to finish any of them. So I naturally decided the right thing to do was to start another project. I plan on publishing something here every week. Since I'm trapped in analysis paralysis, I think being forced to write a book without planning might help with my personal hangups.

I hope you enjoy what follows. Just be prepared. I think and write strange things, sometimes.

Goodbye Frei

                       ----------
                      /          \
                     /    REST    \
                    /      IN      \
                   /     PEACE      \
                  /                  \
                  | Shattered World  |
                  |     Campaign     |
                  |     killed by    |
                  |       life       |
                  |                  |
                  |                  |
                  |       2012       |
                 *|     *  *  *      | *
        _________)/\\_//(\/(/\)/\//\/|_)_______


 My apologies to everyone involved. I could not save it.