The New Olympus E-P1 "Digital Pen" Micro Four Thirds Camera

This may be the one I’ve been waiting for, the answer to my DSLR blues. So small, so powerful, so stylish. And so available by my upcoming birthday.

Official Olympus E-P1 page
DPReview in depth preview + samples
Engadget gallery w/ plenty of lust-inducing pics

Lumix LX3 with accessories

Now that’s a fine point-and-shoot. F2.0-F2.8 24-60mm Leica DC Vario-Summicron lens, 1/1.63-inch CCD sensor, and 10.1 million effective pixels. Available in late August. Details at DPReview.

Yes, Virginia, there is something beyond the Martini.

Coincidentally enough, a few days ago my five-year-old received a toy accordion as a gift and I just can’t keep my hands off of it.

I feel like spending some quality time trolling the net for a used bandoneón.

See more progress on: Learn to play the bandoneón

Whatever pet we were to choose it had to be rather small and easy to care for. Maybe something that could survive without constant attention? I also thought it would be nice if the pet could provide an educational experience for our daughters, so they could not only share the responsibility of taking care of an animal but also witness the life cycle of something from nature. This idea narrowed the choices down further to something with a short life span.

It turned out that the answer to our pet problem was a 220 million year old crustacean, Triops longicaudatus.

I first became aware of Triops at my daughter’s preschool. There they had a little tank of fresh water in which some Triops eggs had been tossed. In just a couple of days, a dozen or so tiny Triops hatched. Irregular feedings thereafter meant fewer and fewer Triops in the tank until one lone Triops, a pretty big guy after two weeks of eating his cousins, remained. The water in the tank was a bit murky, lending a certain mystery to the Triops’ life and times. I was intrigued. I decided we should try raising Triops.

Of course, it’s silly to think of a two inch long crustacean swimming in a murky tank of water as a pet. Isn’t it? Perhaps. Our daughters referred to our Triops as “our pets” even as they giggled knowing it was a bit absurd. Nevertheless, they do exhibit some pet-like qualities: they are animals, albeit a simple and ancient species; they require food, light, attention, and regular water changes; and they are gregarious swimmers that are quite entertaining to watch. There are, however, two qualities which the Triops possess that do not grant them high marks in petitude: their tendency to eat the weak members among them and the incontrovertible grossness of their peculiar visage.

I will refrain from posting a photo of the Triops as I think it would be too shocking for you. If you really must take a gander at it’s horribleness, you may go here. I’ll wait, but consider yourself warned… Ok, did you have a look? Are you satisfied?

Anyway, you may have noticed that I referred to our Triops in the past tense two paragraphs above. That is because this morning, after 24 days of life, all nine remaining Triops dropped dead. I don’t know why. And I’m not overly concerned about it. In fact, I’m quite relieved. I am a bit curious if it was the algae that did them in. I changed the water several times but the algae came back quickly. Perhaps the poor buggers suffocated.

And now I offer you a poem by Ogden Nash:

The Shrimp

A shrimp who sought his lady shrimp
Could catch no glimpse
Not even a glimp.
At times, translucence
Is rather a nuisance.