Late last night, while in the midst of studying for finals and playing Grand Theft Auto IV, Mittens was whining in his cage with his little belly pressed against the bars. This means only one thing. “Let me out!”

So, after a while, I caved, and opened up his cage, giving him free reign of my bedroom. He ran around, jumping on my desk, scampering across my bed, hiding under my couch… his usual, adorable deal. I kept working on my final papers, until I heard furious, frantic squeaking coming from my bathroom.

I bolted over to my bathroom, only to spot Mittens in the toilet, sitting in the cold water, attempting in vain to climb out. I’d have been squeaking a lot too, if I had fallen inside of a giant toilet. Poor guy. I scooped him right up and called up my vet, who told me I’d have to blow dry him til he was completely dry. The problem with chinchillas, is that they can’t get wet. Not because they are gremlins or anything, but because of their super sensitive skin.

So Mittens was treated like quite the diva for the next hour or so, bundled in a towel, having his fur blow dried. No, the blow drier wasn’t actually that close to him while turned on (see picture above). That was just for the picture. I had to keep it several feet away from him.

Lesson learned, keep the bathroom door closed.

So my pals Standard of Living were in town this past week, on tour with Maverick Records artist Ben Jelen, who you might remember from his hit single in 2005, Come On. With the water coming out of the piano. Good song, weird video.

We hung out a lot in the backroom of the World Cafe Live, playing cards, and watching the guys hit on the various waitresses working at the club. It was great seeing old friends, who I hadn’t seen for the greater part of a year, which is about how long it’s been since I’ve last been in Buffalo, NY.

They played a fantastic live set. The acoustic at the World Cafe Live are really great. I took a handful of photos, but spend most of the time shooting some video on my camcorder. Thought it would be fun to put together a nice acoustic video for the guys. I’ll be working on that over the next week or so, since I really need something relaxing to do in the midst of finals and work. Seriously, I have way too much going on right now, and nothing relaxes me more than sweet piano rock.

Mittens was loved by everyone who stayed at the house, both fans of the band who came to party, and the rockstars themselves. He just loves attention and a good snuggling.

Give Standard of Living a listen on their Myspace. I’ll be heading up to Buffalo, NY for their album release show in June, no doubt about that one.

Standard of Living
www.myspace.com/standardofliving

With the semester winding down and some new projects in the works, I find myself sitting down at my laptop in my room, far busier than I’ve been since January. This of course, infuriates Mittens, who is in dire need of attention when I come home from work and/or school. He’ll put his little paws up and grab the cage, whining until I take him out. He sounds strangely like a puppy when he does that.

Lately, his new favorite habit is running up onto my desk while I’m working, leaping onto the monitor, and sitting there, sometimes for almost an hour, watching me type, work on photos, or edit video. It’s adorable as hell, but also extremely hard to photograph, what with the monitor and all.

And yes Sara, those are some of your Etsy stickers next to my laptop.

He’s always so curious. Whenever I let him out, regardless of the amount of open space he has to run around, he loves hopping up next to me. I could be playing Halo, reading in bed, or working on my laptop. Just sort of amazes me, seeing this kind of bond form with a little critter like a chinchilla. Maybe it’s because I got him when he was so little. Still, pretty crazy. Who knew!

I had a bit of a freak out last night. While doing homework, I let Mittens run around my room. If he isn’t let out for at least an hour a day, he starts to cry inside his cage (it sounds like a puppy), and will do so most of the night. So, with his door open, he scampered up my arm and jumped onto the floor, running about like crazy.

I typed away furiously on my Powerbook while Family Guy played in the background. I like to laugh while writing and studying, it keeps my spirits up. Suddenly, I realized that nearly two hours had gone by, due to the fact that disc one of the season I was watching was over. I started to look around my room. Where was Mittens?

I looked all around the house. Mittens had once before climbed the steps from my downstairs bedroom, and spent his playtime causing havoc in the living room / kitchen, but he was nowhere to be found.

Finally, I discovered him in my bathroom, sitting on top of the towel rack, fast asleep against the wall. How he got up there in the first place, I’m not quite sure. Maybe he climbed up the towels, or jumped off the toilet. Whatever the case was, he woke up when I walked in, climbed onto my shoulder, and went back to sleep inside his cage.

Silly Mittens. You are so adorables.

Whenever I’m in my room getting ready for the day or when I’m about to go to sleep, one of the last things I do is check up Prince Mittens, my chinchilla. In the morning he’s usually asleep in his hammock or house, and at nighttime, he’s generally running around, jumping here and there, and making whining noises because he wants to be let out for a while. Whenever I let him out, he runs straight to his dust bath, shakes around, and then leaps onto my bed, getting it all sandy. Thaaaanks.

However, one thing I’ve certainly noticed while checking out his habitat, is well, I’m pretty sure he has a WAY sweeter pad then I do. What’s with that? He’s a chinchilla! So I took the time to sit back and figure out, just who has the nicest place. The results were shocking.

BEDROOM 

Mittens sleeps in a sweet hammock.

This is my bed, a queen size Ikea Malm. I purchased the frame off Craigslist for a criminally low price, only to discover some of the bolts were missing, which caused my bed to randomly fall apart at nighttime. I finally got the missing pieces, but unfortunately, the bed-slats slip out every now and again, especially when you’re sleeping too far to one side of the bed.

When this happens, you fall over into a pit, since the mattress has nothing holding it up. Wonderful.

WINNER: MITTENS

LIVING ROOM 

Mittens’ living quarters is a little house on top of a two story platform, that he often sits on top of and hides within. He also enjoys chewing on it. I got it from Petsmart. It took about 5 minutes to put together and it only cost me $8.

My living room is decked out pretty nicely by my hip and stylish roommates. I can’t chew on any of the furniture, but that’s okay.

WINNER: ME

KITCHEN 

Mittens has a really sweet marble slab that he enjoys resting on, because its nice and cool through out the day. There is also a large wooden toy for him to play with directly next to it, which he often hides under and climbs on top of.

The marble slab in my kitchen almost always has a cat on it.

WINNER: MITTENS

===== FINAL TALLY: MITTENS - 2, ERIC - 1

You win this one Mittens. Just wait til I get a human sized hamster ball to roll around inside. THEN we’ll be tied.

He’s exactly eight weeks old. Right now he just about fits in my hand, but soon he’ll get just a little bit bigger. So far he’s spent the greater part of an hour taking leaps from the second story platform of his cage in an attempt to land in the hammock across the way. He makes it a handful of times, never giving up.

Just look at those ears! Like my buddy Jackie says, he’s like a real life Pikachu.

Life just got a whole lot cuter.

So one of my co-workers has a sister who wanted a bun. Since Heather and I are bunny barons, this little one found her way to a new home here in Philadelphia.

But look at this little rabbit! Heart-meltingly adorable, and many different colors. Her black fur has light brown highlights, her underbelly is white and tan, and her little nose is white! She also has a little white stripe on her forehead (which could possibly be a third eye, making her a psychic bun) and will definitely be missed. And not just by me…

… but by her kitty cat look alike! Here’s Diesel reaching out to grab a bunny ear. Want to see a few more photos? Hit up the Flickr, I’ve got a little photo set on there.

But you know, not all little furry creatures here in Philadelphia are as lucky as this bun. If you’re looking for a bunny, puppy, kitty, etc, well, check out Philadelphia’s Animal Welfare Society, or PAWS. There are a lot of animals out there who need a home!

In fact, I’m bringing one of these little guys home on Tuesday. Adopting him from a place up in Levittown, PA. He’s a little exotic, and extremely cute. Pictures soon!