Mantid update, kidney infection, and a new snarky usericon.

[oddharmonic]

Some mantid news:

• Rowan, our smaller juvenile mantid, passed away over the weekend. She wasn't a very good eater, so we weren't sure how long she'd live.
• Valentine, our larger juvenile mantid, passed the milestone of her first molt to reveal wings and is now a bit longer than my index finger. Even though her favorite pastime is watching TV, she studiously avoided watching the roast of William Shatner last night to stare at me. Our best guess is that with compound eyes, my glasses frames and face shape probably look like a giant mantid to her. Also, I made a usericon of her from a photo taken a few weeks ago. I hope she eats that cricket today that's been chirping all weekend.
• An ootheca hatched last week, netting several tiny mantids that could fit two abreast on my pinkie fingernail and one that actively tried to climb out of his tube at feeding time. He -- we arbitrarily call them he or she until we can determine their gender -- was handed to me for some human handling time and scampered right up to my elbow despite the hair on my forearm that the older mantids do not like.

If I'm scarce online for the next few days, please don't think I'm snubbing you. I've got another kidney infection. Meh.

To help exorcise my pissy mood, I made this usericon for misfitina: