It's A Name and It Will Stick

The name, however, is not Stick although that suggestion was quite funny and I'd never say that somewhere down the road we won't have a fish named Stick. It's just not going to be this one.

There's no doubt that if Mr. Right were choosing the name, it would have been Cubbie but he didn't get to this time. I'll let him choose a name sometime when the suggestions are few and far between.

I loved so many of the ideas and suggestions that it was hard to make a final decision so I'll just have to go with the one that's stuck in my head. And, that's Alabaster. I like it because it's descriptive and because if it turns out to be a boy, he can become Al and if she turns out to be a girl, she can become Allie. If it ends up real obese, it can be Fat Baster. You won't get that unless you've watched the second or third films in the Austin Powers series. If you haven't, then I guess you better go ahead and do that now.

An interesting fact is that it's very difficult to tell the sex of a koi and that sometimes the best method is to watch them during spawning season. If the fish is being chased, it's a girl. If it's a chaser, then you have your boy. I see some parallels here but I won't get into all that now.

Thursday I'm presenting a new guy that needs your help finding a name and this one will be a little harder. Of course, that could mean the prize is a little better. In fact, I can almost guarantee it.

In the meantime, I'd like to introduce you to the star of this post. Please say hello to Alabaster!

A Case of Mistaken Identity

Yesterday, for You Capture - Joy week, I mistakenly identified joyful looking Carrington as Erin. It was easy to do. I've never been good connecting new names with new faces and in this case, that was complicated by meeting too many people in too short a time all wearing identical shirts. That's my official explanation.

I can assure you that it had nothing to do with the sixties in musingsoftheSIXTIES. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of cans of SPICY HOT V8 that I still have to drink.

Before I get to that though, I have to address my dilemma as described here. I really do need some help naming this guy:



Maybe I wasn't completely clear. It's a contest and the person that submits the chosen name wins a prize. The prize can be any of the following interesting items: a cheap car vacuum cleaner, a really cheap, odd digital camera, an iron, a football, a porcelain egg that opens or one of Beth's prints from her print shop.

I have to remind you, though, that Casper has already been submitted as well as Pearl, Blizzard, Snow White, Milky, Eggshell, Albino, Alabaster, Cloud, and Icy. These last nine submissions were via telephone from our beloved firstborn granddaughter and her husband. And they're making a pretty strong run for the big prize.

So submit your suggestions by Saturday night. After that, any suggestions become the sole property of the white fish and no prize will be awarded if that name is chosen.

Now...back to that V8.

The Name Game

I love my koi. They may not be real tame but they are my pets. And they all have names. I mean they all should have names. The truth is that each one has been named but I've found out that if the name doesn't fit, it doesn't stick. Especially after a long winter where they hibernate at the bottom of the pond and you don't seem them for 3 months or more. If it wasn't a good name, it's gone in the Spring. So I'm hoping for some help in the naming of the poor, neglected koi whose name didn't fit and therefore didn't stick.

Here's an example of how we choose names. This is one of the new guys who is still in the nursery (aquarium) in the house and who is going to be released in the big pond this weekend.







Isn't he pretty? He has beautiful iridescent coloring and flowing fins which qualify him as a butterfly koi. And his name is Stealth. And it's going to stick. Why? Because when he's in the pond, he's virtually invisible. Looking down on him, his silvery black coloring against the black pond liner renders him almost impossible to see. Hence, his name is Stealth.

But the other three koi in the aquarium need names and preferably before they enter the world of the big pond. So maybe we can start with this guy:





He's what we call a platinum koi. He also has a nice iridescent quality but although you can't see it here, there's some very light, undesirable orange on his back. We've had platinums before. Most recently we had Moonshine and prior to that we had two named Whitey and Kracker. So we need a name for this guy. Please leave a suggestion in the comments section. If your suggestion is chosen, not only will you have the unmitigated pleasure of being the sponsor of his name but there will be a prize involved as well.

Let's see what you come up with. Thanks for your help.