(written in March 1999)
Salutations! I am the newest member of the family. As you know, I am Damian Charles, a grey teddy bear hamster. My human was reading a novel that had a character named Damian in it, and she really liked that name, so that's what she named me. Both of my names put together means "tame man." I suppose that's a compliment, although I can be wild at times. I know that my birthday is around December 29, 1998, because I was 8 1/2 weeks old when my human picked me up from my birth home. She keeps telling me how adorable I am, so I guess I am!
My human really misses Chandler, her old hamster. She loved him a lot, but I know that she loves me too. I moved in soon after he died for two main reasons: One, she didn't like having an empty cage in her room. Even if she removed it, there would be a big empty space where it used to be, and she would always remember that it was there. And two, she didn't want to dwell on her past loss. She loves animals, and wanted to have mercy on another creature by taking it home from the "pet store." I sure am glad that she took me home from that crowded place!
I am also a vegetarian, just like my human. I really love sunflower seeds and these yummy treats called "Toasties." I really like my cage. My human said that Chandler used to sleep on the house at the top, but I don't really like it up there. I think it's haunted. So I made a little nest in one corner of the lowest level for my bed. My human thinks that it's strange that I don't store food in my cheeks like most hamsters do. I guess I don't because I sit right in front of my food bowl when I am eating. My human got vitamin drops to put in my water bottle. She doesn't want me to get sick. I know Chandler didn't die of sickness, but of old age, but she still wants to be precautious. I don't mind, because I can't even taste the vitamins in my water.
My human's mom thinks I am very vain. She says I clean myself more than Chandler ever did. I do clean myself a lot, but that's because it relaxes me, and I am a tad vain. I don't like having my hair stick up all over; I don't care if my human and her family think it's cute if my hair's messed up! My human spends a lot of time with her hair too. But she has a ton of hair! I watched her comb it once, and it took her forever! But I think hair is very important!
At my birth place (the "pet store?"), they told my human I was a girl! So my human named me Ophelia Lenore. She also liked the names Adriana, Elena, Catarina, Isabella, and Tamsyn. Her sister liked the name Xena (my human says it's a TV show about a "warrior princess" who beats bad people up by jumping in the air and kicking them, among other things-that sounds pretty neato to me!). But then my human went to another hamster site, and saw this thing about sexing hamsters. She found out that the "pet store" was wrong, and that I was a boy! Of course, I knew my gender all along, but no one would listen to me. My human's mom thought I was especially vain then; she thought it made more sense for a female hamster to primp and groom herself more than usual. But I proved them all wrong!
I love to climb the walls of my cage! I even was climbing upside down on the ceiling! My human said that Chandler never climbed as much as me. I think that I am very athletic, probably more than Chandler was. Well, I really love running in my ball on the kitchen floor! That thing is totally groovy! I can actually go places!
I met William the guinea pig and Molly the dog yesterday. Molly is old and lazy, and Will is scared of me! He squeaks too much, and it is very annoying. I try to sleep, but he keeps me up by squeaking! Arghh! The other humans are pretty normal, whatever that means. My human likes to read a lot. Whenever she's not at school, work, or doing homework, she either is reading novels or working on the computer. She loves doing both, and would rather read and design web sites than go to dances or other things like that. She thinks they're lame. She might become a web site designer when she grows up, but she doesn't know for sure. She wants to become a novelist, but doesn't know if any publisher would be interested in her stories. But I know that she hates her advanced placement Biology class. Everyday she comes home from school and complains about her nasty teacher and her stupid labs. She really hates that class, and tells me it was "the biggest mistake of her life." She always talks to me, and I like it. It makes me feel loved, but I know I am. My human also wonders why her teacher makes them work so much in that class. "It's absurd! What a nightmare!" she says. She knows it's an AP class, but she still thinks that all the extra work is pointless. She knows that she isn't going to major in science. Sometimes she tells me that she's scared of college. She thinks she will have too many hard science courses like AP Bio, even though she isn't majoring in science! Oh well. I'm glad that I don't have to do any work! I just sleep all day and play all night! It's a wonderful life!
Hamster wallpaper is kindly provided by Caralee Nelson.
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