summer hobbies

when the sun is out in boston it just evokes a desire to do and create things. i have a seasonal set of hobbies that come and go with the nice weather. well, they dont really go, but in winter usually i'm just not interested in doing much so they mostly manifest around now.

i've started a fishtank again - it's a 15 gallon with a glass top. there are two whisper filters in it but their motor is finnickey so i went and bought a new 20i today. i'd forgotten how much the aquarium hobby costs...so far, it's been:

aquarium on craigslist - $35
lamp hood - $32
filter - $21
need filter cartridges - $15
need full spectrum lamp bulb - $15
need heater - $15
fish food - $4
2 plants - $10
plant substrate gravel - $17

and of course, since the sun is out my garden is in full bloom. well, by full bloom i mean the wild tomato plants that grew by themselves are tall and spindly and have small fruit on them. the potatoes that were sitting on my counter for a month before i planted them are sprouting in the backyard amongst the weeds. my flower garden (lilies, morning glory, and gladiolus) are kind of growing. mainly the weeds are doing great!

i also have a few herbs that actually survived seedling stage, and i'm thinking about making guac tonight so i'll have to harvest my cilantro. problem is i came in to the office today and the plants are all down and almost withered. maybe i forgot to water, but i hope they're not dead. this herb gardening thing isn't going to well.

the last thing i always want to do during the summer is work on bikes. i've got about three frames and partial bikes in my basement, and so far all i've managed to do is remove the ball bearings from the wheel hubs and not get them back in. but if there was a source of broken/cheap bikes around here other than the annual MIT police bike auction, i'd totally buy more and fix them and sell them...or just have them sit in my basement.

so i either need to get a bike repair thing going, or actually do something with my photography, in order to get a side income to feed my aquarium money sink.