'Yeah, we can't have him eating off his shoe on prom night.' by Kara
Monday, November 27, 2006 at 9:00 AM

So, last night I went and got a new guinea pig.

For those who don't read Kalibourne or Blacklight, you all suck so hard, I noted that ... well ... Clodia, the younger of my two guinea pigs, died Saturday evening after the doctors at Colony Veterinary Hospital did all they could. She was only two and a half years old, and it came on literally while I was out at the drugstore.

Well, no point in re-re-restating my written mourning process.

I tell people all the time ... if you have two pets and one dies, for the love of God get another as soon as you can, because odds are your other pet will not understand being alone. This is definitely true of Scout, who is about four. I got Clodia after Ace, my first, died. She has never actually been alone. So the Co-Writer with the Bluest Liver with to Petco with me to pick a new one yesterday. It was definitely not an easy thing to do, but it was a good thing to do.

There were several females in the cage ... one, minus a brown stripe, looked exactly like Clo. No no, can't have that ... but the one hiding with her was brown and white with -- swear to God -- pink eyes. And she's clearly not albino. I had to have her.

It turns out she's incredibly sweet. The second I put her in the cage, she very quickly associated herself with the layout. There's the food, there's the water, there's the nice little hidden corner ... Then she saw Scout and started following her around. Not chasing, not bugging ... almost in a worshipful little kouhai way.

So I've named her Noriko.

'Nono' is not an acceptable nickname, and 'Nonoriri' is incredibly borderline. Family and friends who can't deal with Japanese get to call her 'Nori,' even though that makes her sound like seaweed. But seeing as even 'Clo' was a difficult nickname for Clodia (she became 'Chloe' to family after awhile, and 'Clotilde' to my operetta-loving grandfather ... +100 to anyone who can place the origin of the name), I think I can handle her being called 'seaweed' by my grandparents.

The sad part is ... I go get Clo today. I think I'll be okay, though. If you have been, it's okay.