Today my endangered species permit arrived; allowing me to purchase my long awaited Indigo snake. She has hatched and is feeding, and I only had to wait for this permit to pick her up. What is an Eastern Indigo Snake? Well, they are the largest snakes in North America – they eat anything they can catch (including venomous snakes) – they are very powerful – very beautiful (a sort of black/dark blue with an iridescent blue shimmer) – they are very docile (except when feeding – they are the bald eagle of American snakes (it’s definitely a serpent that says “Don’t tread on me!”).

I found this article online. It’s the original description of the Indigo, published in 1842:

COLUBER COUPERI-Holbrook
By John Edwards Holbrook

CHARACTERS. Head rather small, but distinct From neck, elongated, sub-oval, flattened above and at the sides; snout obtuse, slightly projecting; body thick; tail slender; color above deep bluish-black, with a metallic lustre in the sun; throat bluish-white, with blotches of pale red.

SYNONYME. Indigo Snake, or Gopher Snake.

DESCRIPTION. The head is rather small for the size of the animal, though distinct from the neck; it is sub-oval, narrow, flattened above, and at the sides, with the snout elongated and rounded anteriorly. The vertical plate is short, broad, pentagonal, and broadest before. The superior orbital are sub-trigonal and large, broadest externally. The frontal plates are broad and pentagonal. The anterior smaller and quadrilateral. The occipital are very large. There are two small pentagonal, posterior orbital plates, behind which are three temporal plates, the posterior largest. The anterior orbital is single, large, and incurvated posteriorly for the orbit. The Loral plate is single.
There are two large nasal plates, the anterior smaller, quadrilateral, and the posterior pentagonal. The rostral p1ate is large, sub-triangu1ar, round in front, but not much projecting. There are seven large superior labial plates, of which the sixth and seventh are largest, and the third and fourth are pentagonal, and form the lower wall of the orbit.
The nostrils are large, lateral near the snout, and open upwards, outwards, and a little backwards. The eyes are large, with both pupil and iris black. The neck is contracted, but less so than in the Black Snake. The body is elongated, but stout, and covered above with very large, smooth, hexagonal scales, and with broad plates below. The tail is of moderate length, and slender.

COLOUR. The head above is blue, or bluish-black; the throat is of a bluish white colour, with blotches of reddish flesh-colour. The superior surface of the animal is of a deep, bright bluish-black, of a beautiful metallic lustre in the sun; the anterior part of the abdomen of a light bluish slate-colour; the posterior part is of a darker shade, but of the same colour.

DIMENSIONS. Length of head: 2 inches, width, 18 lines; length of body, 75 inches, circumference, 7 inches; length of tail, 12 inches. In this specimen there were 186 abdominal plates, with a single one before the vent; and 62 bifid caudal plates. This snake frequently exceeds eight feet in length, and individuals have been seen ten feet long.

HABITS. J. Hamilton Couper, Esq. of St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, to whom I am indebted for a knowledge of this animal, says, “The Indigo Snake, or Gopher, combines strength and activity. Its movements are confined to the surface of the ground, in which they are free, and, for so large a snake, rapid. It is perfectly harmless, frequenting the neighbourhood of settlements, where it is usually unmolested, from its inoffensive character, and the prevalent belief that it destroys the Rattlesnake, which it attacks with courage. It is often found occupying the same hole with the Gopher (Testudo polyphemus), whence it receives one of its names~ Although a harmless snake, it is a bold one, and when provoked, it faces its enemy with courage, vibrating its tail rapidly. It is, however, so mild in character that it may be domesticated; and an instance is mentioned of the negro children of a neighbouring plantation being in the habit of holding on to the tail of one whilst it wandered about the yard.”

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. “I have only seen it in the dry pine hills, south of the Alatamaha; and I have never met with it in the low grounds even of the same vicinity.”

GENERAL REMARKS. Although in several respects resembling the Black Snake, it differs from it so very materially, that the two snakes cannot be confounded even by the most careless observer. Indeed, I only place this serpent provisionally among the Colubers, as I have not as yet had an opportunity of examining the anatomy of the animal.

I find it interesting that the author describes (twice) the snake as having “courage” and the description of the, “negro children of a neighbouring plantation being in the habit of holding on to the tail of one whilst it wandered about the yard.”
I have a picture of my baby, emailed by the breeder, but am having trouble posting it. Instead, here is a very nice picture of an indigo (showing its metallic blue shimmer).

Enjoy!

And then God laid down a series of hideous curses upon ujournal. And I was forced, like so many of my friends, to make the exodus to live journal. And here I am.

Maybe, if the ujournal comes up and running again, I can transfer my old posts to the promised land. Until then…

Last Friday I went to the silent film festival in Chicago and saw Nosferatu. It was a large, single room theatre, of the old variety – statues, curtains, burgundy, and a ceiling painted and lit like the night sky. No one yells “Wazzzzzzzzz-up!” in the middle of a silent picture. They are quiet…but then they laugh and clap when they’re supposed to (like a live performance). They are reverent, as if something religious is happening…and maybe it is. The people on the screen are long since dead, black and white phantoms flicker-flashing in silver screen purgatory – and we’re sitting there, drinking PEPSI, eating overpriced popcorn, practicing a requiem for overdramatic actors long gone.

On Monday, I met a surrealist artist at the Goose Island Brewery. Turns out our cultural and pop-cultural tastes are pretty close. We talked Poe, silent films, comic books, and other things besides. She liked my writing and now wants to do the artwork for my thesis project (my epic poem). We talked about that – about a lost angel named Syth, a place of lost souls named Sheol, a voodoo priestess who will be renamed, and the dark muse she summons named Crow. She liked the images. Said she had wanted to do something based on stained glass windows, with a medieval look. I’m excited.

And excited is good to be. Better than scarred or nervous or apathetic. Because this will be my last year in the Grad program and I need to get going on my thesis. It’s starting to come into view. I can see a sorry sort of angel, an old voodoo mambo, and a black bird. I saw these figures before. That’s not new. But now I see them in stained glass.

Go to http://nevermore_66.ujournal.org/ for my real journal. Go on…it’s fun…read it already.

I’m back.

It’s bean a long long time. Too long. How many “long”s can I put in this entry? longlonglonglonglonglonglonglonglonglonglong . . .

Anyway, I’ve neglected this wondrous little pet, this internet journal. I’ve come back to feed the beast until it grows glutinous and fat. It just so happens I’m making this journal part of my belated new years resolution, though it seems silly to have to wait for a holiday to make a resolution when you can make ’em and break ’em all year round.

I feel resolved to make a few moves. I am by nature a fairly lazy soul. Understand I do care in the end, and that has gotten me through the worst of my slothing impulses, but I want to accelerate myself more. Though I’ve had a fogy destination in distant site, I’ve taken the scenic route through my college career. I’m a quarter way through my Masters and now I must make some decisive moves.

I don’t think I’ve waisted my time before now . . . it’s just that I’m read NOW to move on.

So this is just a little late night reminder to myself. There’s much more to come.

Insomnia has really set in. I used to just like staying up late. Now I really do have a problem sleeping. I don’t know if it’s because I need more exercise, social contact, or what. Maybe a little of everything. I’ve been pretty lazy lately and I’m mostly alone in my little dorm apartment.

So I type. The sun will be coming up soon and I have yet to be able to fall asleep.

Let’s just hope I don’t form a multiple personality alter ego, start an underground fighting club, rule a band of jaded urban terrorists, and blow up a bunch of buildings . . . . .

I think that fixed my problem. Just thinking of all that work is making me tired . . .

Good legal news I suppose:

I’ve received more than a few tickets in my driving career. It’s not that I’m a very reckless or speedy driver . . . I just have very bad luck with cops. With my last two tickets, they even asked if I had drugs and weapons. Maybe it’s the long hair or maybe I’m giving off super-criminal vibes, I don’t know . . . cause guns make me nervous and the strongest thing I do is Pepsi.

Well this last ticket (my speedometer broke but the cop still showed little mercy) put me in the danger zone of getting my license suspended (3 tickets in a year). So I hire a lawyer and for $150 dollars he thinks he can get the ticket reduced or better. So I do so.

Good news! He talked to the states attorney and I get the thing knocked down to supervision (which I technically shouldn’t get) and all I have to do is pay the court $150. Hurray! But then I think, wait a second. He just talked with the guy. No court or anything. So my ticket and violation really weren’t that important to begin with. It’s all just a money transaction under the guise of safety for the road. In the end both parties get an equal share of MY money . . . so they aren’t combatants (as I originally pictured the whole struggle) with one side defending me and the other attacking. No, it’s a nice smooth operating procedure even slicker than the slight of hand shell game I am learning at the moment.

To put it in mother goose terms, I’m a squealing little pig (no Deliverance jokes please) and this Big Bad Wolf comes along and starts blowing my house down. Oh no! I’m doomed!

But then, da dada da, another wolf enters the fray. He says, “Hay pal, don’t worry. I am a hungry wolf as well, but I’m looking out for YOUR interests. For $150, I’ll fight this other wolf off. Now I must warn you, I might not beat him. You might loose your money and the house, it’s a risk.

Well, I don’t want to loose my house or get eaten by the first wolf so I agree. What’s $150 compared to my well being? I close the door tight and wait. I hear the background sounds of a fight, of course I can’t actually see what’s going on. Finally it stops.

The second wolf comes to my door and says, “Here’s what I worked out. If you pay the other wolf $150, he will overlook your house and probably not come back.” Now understand that I can’t complain at this modified deal. Just before, the sly wolf cleverly warned me that I might loose my house anyway. So another $150 seems like a good thing.

I pay the wolf and you know what happens? They both walk off together, and arm around each other’s shoulder like pals. Later they go out to a steak dinner together and toast each other’s good work and fortunes.

And this little piggy goes, “Weeeeeeeeeeee!” $300 lighter.

Fucking wolves.