The Tall Tale of Cowboy Blue

Summer 2009 I moved back to San Diego. As new roommates and friends, Lindsey and I wanted to get something together for the house they we could share and bond over, so we decided on a fish.  We headed to Petsmart determined to find the prettiest, healthiest and best one they had.  Once we found, “The One”, who happened to be a BLUE male Beta, we headed home and immediately started brainstorming for names. To our demise, we couldn’t think of a good one, so we decided to wait it out and see what his personality was. Well, beyond our wildest imagination, this little blue fish was a wild one! He seemed to have some pent up anger and would shoot around in the water like he wanted to jump out and attack you! It became a form of entertainment to watch him spin around and wait for his prey (fish food pellets) drop into the water before he attacked them one by one like he hadn’t eaten for weeks. If you put your ear close enough to the tank, you can actually hear him chewing…I’m not totally nuts, others have heard it too! So came his name, VICIOUS THE FISHOUS. Since he was a poor sport that hid at the bottom of his tank, didn’t socialize unless under threat, and chewed with his mouth open, he became more of an afterthought than a part of the family. Sadly, over time, we would forget to feed him (scheduling conflicts), and his tank would sometimes go a few weeks without a cleaning. Perhaps it was this rough upbringing that humbled our little Vicious.
Two moves later, and now that Tim and I are living together, Vicious has been everything but what his name insinuates! He turned into a happy, glowing fish, that likes to swim around and although he still chews with his mouth open, I have learned to make an exception ;) I felt his new mannerisms entitled him to a new name, something more enduring and personal. I had a fish in college that I LOVED name Blue, he wasn’t even blue, which made no sense at all! Vicious, however, was blue, and began to take on his personality a bit, so I officially changed his name to BLUEFISH, Blue for short.
When unpacking, Tim didn’t have a place to hang his cowboy hat, and coincidentally placed it on Blue’s fish tank. Not only does it look great, but Bluefish loves it! He swims around when you take it off to feed him, and likes it when you put it back on. I know, I sound crazy, but come over any day and see it for yourself. I’m a proud parent in saying that our little Vicious the Fishious went from a grumpy little fish to a praised Cowboy in the past year….hence his new name, COWBOY BLUE.