As you may know, I have a pet rat. No, no, stop with the jokes right there. The weirded-out look is fine, ‘cause I get that in person a lot. There are only two real reactions: the ‘oh my gosh, this person seemed normal but just turned really crazy’ one, or the ‘oh yeah! we had a rat when I was a kid. aren’t they great?’ option. I leave you to figure out the majority side.
But in all seriousness, Melli is curious and cute, and I love her. This despite aspersions cast by friends about her cleanliness and ability to spread The Plague. With a cross-country move looming, I started thinking about how to bring her with me. My mother at first told me I should give her up (I fervently disagreed), and then later acquiesced while saying, “Well, she may not live through the journey.” It’s true. WE may not live through the journey, either. But so far the plan is to make Melli a traveling rat. Maybe I should write my road experiences from her perspective…hmm…
These same friends who look askance at my pet often forward articles on rat experiments (weird peace offerings?). The latest of these comes from Wired.com, and tells how blue dye can heal spine injuries. Check out the hilarious photo!
T/F: I should attempt to dye Melli blue.
And to round out the rat news, I’ve just heard that they’re making a new film version of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. The first version, animated classic The Secret of NIMH, scared the heck out of me. Here’s hoping the new one isn’t a horror flick…
