Today is a lovely day. For July. Of course, this is the last day in September, so mind if I ask, "What the hell is wrong with the weather this year?" They're calling for 34C with humidity tomorrow. Great. Please note: sarcasm. The leaves should be a third in colour by now, but instead, I've seen two trees turning. In total. And they were in Peterborough. What gives?

Don't give me that El Nino crap, either. I studied climate in university and I know all about El Nino. Ya, it is cyclical, and they're calling for this to be an El Nino winter, and yes, it peaks every five to seven years, and it is balanced by La Nina, the cold current to El Nino's warm. Some might recall that last year we had a warm winter. Ridiculously warm across most of Canada (and the US). The winter previous, was cold. Some might also recall that last year, they mentioned El Nino in discussing the drought and warm winter, too. Okay, but that wasn't really El Nino, right? What? Is anyone else confused?

So, I went to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate prediction website and found a chronological listing of the warm and cold cycles since 1950. Okay, so considering there is a lag time of about two to three months before we start really feeling the effects, what the hell was wrong with last year? They're calling it neutral (normal) but hey? So how is it that last summer was wickedly hot and dry and the winter was warm? And then the spring was cold? And then this summer, even given a two month lag time, was well over the 'slightly warm' caused by El Nino? Was there something about fires in Austrailia? And smog from China? I don't remember.

I'm not answering any questions here at all, and I'm only serving to confuse myself. I'm going to end this befuddled rant with, "What the hell is up with the weather?" and pretend I've never heard of this El Nino business.

In other news: On Saturday, Carrie and I went to visit Sandra for a discussion of bridesmaid dresses. She showed us some swatches and mostly we just hung out. She also fed us (because we're special) some of her fantastic pear crumble. MmmMmmmmm. Following that, we picked up Rick (a bit late, no surprise there) and headed up to Al & Carrie's where we found Al. We all headed to St. Hubert's for a most delicious chicken dinner and then over to Yorkdale to watch The Tuxedo, starring Jackie Chan. It was so funny. I nearly peed at one point, but happily managed to contain myself.

Sunday, Rick and I headed down to Queen St W where we could enjoy the sights and sounds of Word on the Street. It was fun. We visited Evelyn and Leila who were promoting Leila's lovely children's book, Patches Finds a Friend. They were pleased that we came out. We also visited John who was doing children's entertainment (and he was rocking it, even through the kids were at the need-a-nap point in the day). He, too, was pleased to see us. I talked to Andy Barry from Metro Morning on the CBC and he was about as tall as he sounds. *laugh* One little girl was very cute about having heard him come out of her radio in the mornings. I bought a book and picked up some magazines that were virtually free, Rick bought me some argyle socks (hurray), and then we went to Sushi Time and ate. I couldn't finish mine.

Today is crawling by, and now I'm waiting, not to go home, but to go to a union meeting I only found out about earlier in the day. I'm also still waiting to hear back from the ROM Imaging centre about the use of images from the ROM files. Why am I the only one on the ball? Geesh.

Also, I'd like to add some names to that list of mine. Gladys, Jocelyn, Randy, Orville, Garth, and Eileen (except when concerning that Dexy's Midnight Runners song). Don't you feel edified, now.

If and when I eventually have children, here is a list of names, thrown together out nowhere, that I will hopefully never call them. Names in bold represent names I detest. This list comes out of sheer boredom and if your name is on it, maybe for you I'll make an exception.

Crystal (or with a K), Todd, Ilia, Janet, Jane, Janice (or any other variants), Paula, Dalton, Roy, Gordon, Jake, Lyn (or any variant), Elaine, Courtney, Courtleigh, Caitlin, Jordan (spelling it with a G is fine), Ron, Wendy, Saul, Olive, Larry, Brad, Chad, Chaz (who thought that one up anyway?), Melinda, Alana, Frank, Ursula, Ainsley, Georgina, Harold, Nelly, Roger, Telly, Vince, Bernice, Abner, Mabel, Tammy.

Oh, hurray ! I can go home now. I'm the last of two people in the office... all the managment and supervisors disappeared some time ago. Now it's my turn.

Rain. A beautiful thing. Sure, it can be a frightful inconvenience, such as this morning on my way to work; no one can drive when the roads get wet and traffic grinds nearly to a halt. For the most part, though, I think rain is lovely. It makes the city smell nice, which is no small feat, it cleans the cars and streets. It sounds lovely and it feels lovely (when it's not too cold). Today is one of those lovely autumnal rainy days. The rain is, I think, technically the end of Isadore, the hurricane, though its lost all of its force. So, it's just a nice rainy day.

I've been working somewhat diligently on some storyboards for the fan film. The director asked me to do two scenes to be shot mid-October, but he wants them for the weekend. I had to email him to explain that there was no way I would be able to get him both by then. I've got too much on my plate. I've started work on the ICC/ROM web thing. I sent some suggestions to Julian and now await his final copy. I've also met with Brett, the web guy, and he's a sweetie. Things aren't moving as fast as I would like, but the hold-up is not on my part. I remember the familiar feeling of spinning wheels from when I worked at the government.

I have no plans to do work tomorrow at all. Carrie and I will be heading over to Sandra's for a discussion on bridesmaid dresses. Following that, we may join Al and Rick for dinner and a movie. If A&C can't make that, then Rick and I will do dinner and a movie ourselves. I extended the invite to Ryan and Colleen, but Colleen informed me that Ryan was in Ottawa, and so I gathered from her response that she would not be coming either. Oh well. Rick and I will be heading to the Word on the Street festival on Sunday to visit friends in booths and doing entertainment. That should be nice. I suppose that on Sunday night, I'll have to get back to work, though. My week is promising to be loaded with business, which is alright, I guess, because it keeps my mind on occupied.

I'm sitting here at work, listening to a pair of the ancient volunteers. Between them, their combined age is probably 160 years old. Initially, I thought they were cute, the way they chattered at each other, recalling their youths and the way things used to be. I enjoyed their take on the world today, because it was coloured by the past, which is the way we're supposed to think, right? That's the whole point of learning history. Well, over the course of several mornings listening to them chat, I've decided that they're kind of irritating. They're both lovely ladies, and they're talking to each other, but since I'm sitting next to them, I'm hit with the full brunt of their conversation. Today, it has consisted almost entirely of these subjects: The Germans trying to get supplies from Japan; the Germans; the Queen; the Germans; Prince Harry; submarines during WWII; the Bismark (and the classic film, Sink the Bismark); the Germans; and finally, Das Boot (pronounced incorrectly). They also peppered this somewhat prejudiced conversation with a discussion of the people of Tent City being kicked off their squats, of course, saying, "And it's about time they did." Add to this that they find nothing relevant to be said by anyone under 40, often talking right over my attempts to join in. These women are not giving me hope for my own old age.

Last night was the season premiere of West Wing. Ya, it was a little brim-full of rah-rah-America, but not too badly. It was also chalk full of the wonderful, witty back and forth dialogue, great cinematography, and some very good moments of poignant honesty. It's such a good show, and I'm so pleased it's still running. I look forward to another good season, even if we have to suffer through the loss of Rob Lowe. We'll survive.

After yet another lapse in entries, I am back for more. Or maybe you're back for more. Anyway, I'm back, and you're reading this, so huzzah !

I had a great weekend out in the Petes. Great except for the on-going not-feeling-so-good stuff. Friday after work, I picked up Rick from IBM and we drove to Julie's house where she and Jerzy were celebrating their most magnificent 50th wedding anniversary. Yay ! David and Jeannie were back from where ever in the world they were coming from (flying from Germany, visted Holland, working somewhere in Africa - it's all so confusing) and they, along with Tania, Karyn, and Diane (I think) made a fantastic dinner. Lamb, rice, that Greek phylo pastry dish with spinach and feta in it (spano-something) and other good things. Much frivolity occured and presents were passed about. Not just to the couple, no indeed, but also from Mom and I to David (we'd missed his birthday while he was away) and from Julie & Jerzy, Tania and David to me for my birthday.

We gave Julie and Jerzy a set of delightful wine glasses, each decorated with tiny balls made of gold glass. They were put to good service that night, when Jerzy broke out the champagne. The most amazing thing I got was David's old set of lead miniatures. We're talking about some of the original D&D/LotR miniatures ever produced. Some of them predate me ! A few of them have corroded, though, which is sad. I will attempt to preserve what I can with glaze and sealer.

The humidity was gross that night and their house doesn't have air-conditioning, which made the evening just shy of utterly unbearable. Mom looked like she was going to melt into her chair, and I kept sticking to every surface I touched. We left a bit past 10pm and dropped Rick at the subway before heading to my place to get my laundry, stereo (for fixing) and Willi. Then we hit the road for the Petes. We ended up staying up late that night, doing I'm not sure what, but it was fun, and it was nice to be in a centrally air-conditioned house. Oh the joy !

Saturday, I didn't do much of anything, but some errands with Mom. Ray came over for dinner and we watched two movies. We had rented Iris, about Iris Murdock and her decline into alzheimers. Dame Judi Dench was fantastic as was Kate Winslet (Iris, and young Iris) and the two men playing John Bayley (Jim Broadbent and Hugh Bonneville as young John) were terrific and very sensitive to their roles. It was an amazing and powerful film, and not remotely maudlin. It pulled no punches, instead showing great honesty and emotion. I don't recommend this as a good film if you want comedy. This film is touching and quite sad. Beautiful, though. Truly. After a break for some pie and enough time to decompress after the first film, we put in my brand new Monsters Inc. tape. Whee ! Mom hadn't seen it before and LOVED it. Ray, I'm not sure whether he liked it or not. Yay for fur effects !

Sunday I went to Lindsay (but first to Bridgenorth, which was unintentional and very much in the wrong direction) to meet up with Carrie, her sister Sherrie and her mom (whose name I forget) to attend a bridal show. It was... Well, there were some very tasty refreshments. And the older woman modeling the mother-of-the-bride ensembles was very good... It was odd. I think I frightened Sherrie with my snide comments, but Carrie's mother seemed to find me quite funny. It was fun. We went back to their house and Carrie modeled her dress for us, and it looks a whole lot better in person than in the photos she took. Back home that night, Mom and I watched the wonderful and charming, Cinema Paradiso. Wow, three awesome flicks in one weekend.

Yesterday was not so fun. I felt like hell and following my doctor's visit, the medication she gave me made me feel even more hellish. I didn't come back until this morning and currently, here at work, I still feel like crap. Yay. I'm going to try to get some work done on Al and Carrie's wedding invites this evening. Try being the operative word. I'm all shaky and I feel like my stomach's eating me from the inside out.

So, it looks like I'll be freelancing for Julian at the ROM. It's scarey ! My web skills are going to have to get a serious overhaul ! I'm excited. Nervous, but excited. I've got about two weeks to get, what needs to be done, finished. Eek ! I can do it, right? Sure. :)

I guess this will put my own site's updates on hiatus for a little while, but what's another couple of weeks in the grand scheme of things? Exactly.

I've sent some updates to my Elfwood sites, though, if you haven't already seen them. My Lothlorien (fantasy) gallery has some new stuff and some old stuff, and by request... scantilly clad women and dwarves ! Woo. Also, my Zone 47 (sci-fi) gallery has been updated as well. Check it out !

Last night, Rick and I went for dinner at the Montreal Bistro. The Don Thompson Quartet with Barry Elmes, Jim Vivian and featuring Roy Styffe (alto sax) played, and they were pretty good. I wasn't terribly keen on Roy Styffe, but I'm not big on the alto sax, but he seemed hard-pressed to keep up through some of his solos and he spent more time than I approve of staring at his music. The rest of them were fun and great. The food was excellent. I had the linguini with goatcheese and Rick had the seafood cocotte. It was expensive, but really nice. There are some excellent performers coming up over the next month, too, so I'd love to go back. Aside from all that, last night marked two and a half years for Rick and I. Wow.

Performs other duties as required. That's what it says at the bottom of my job description, and today, that's what I seem to be doing. Go me ! I've spent about half of my morning trying to help Stacey make a comment card template using QuarkXpress. I haven't used the programme in four years, and never was very savvy with it, but apparently, I am now the Quark Master, or some such. I hadn't really thought about how much I've learned through various graphics and desk-top publishing programmes over the years, but clearly enough so that I can sit down and say, "If you move this here, now click this icon (that will let you move the whole text box and its content together), and move this up a little - THERE. Now adjust the framing here..." and be of a great deal of help. Stacey has now professed her love for me at least four times and has hugged me and rubbed her head on my shoulder and purred like a cat. I guess that's a good sign. It's nice to be validated, even if it isn't coming from a manager.

Speaking of validation, as you may (or may not) know, I'm working on a Star Wars fan film. It was written by Ishyko and Lady Viola of Sith Academy fame, with the screenplay by Ishyko and to be directed by her husband. They've amassed a sizable CG department, officially ten people, I think, which is also the art department for the film. I've felt very out of my depths as far as the computer stuff has been concerned, seeing the work done by some of these people. For instance, check this guy out. He modeled my concept for the Jedi Temple (not viewable outside the group) and he made it far better than I was able to do in several hours of trying. I've forgotten so much of what I learned. Anyway, I have put my effort into costume designs, concept art, and storyboarding (three areas that are closely related and really what I want to do) and finally uploaded the stuff to the group last night. Anyway, I was more than pleased with the reactions I got. If it means that I work more heavily involved in the two-dimensional stuff, so be it. I will offer my computer skills where ever necessary, and I do want to be involved in some of the modeling and certainly the lighting, but if this is where I'll be the biggest help, then I'm very happy to be there.

Anyway, later this afternoon I'm meeting with Julian from the New Media department at the ROM to discuss the possibility of me working with him to promote the ICC's co-operative work with the museum, or something. The details are not yet clear, and I suppose that's part of what we'll be discussing. I am a little nervous as Julian is sort of a ROM celebrity, having done many shows with the Discovery channel and whatnot. He seems like a nice man, though, and hopefully this will be a good way into his department. We shall see.

I had a great weekend. Saturday afternoon and evening was spent in Stoney Creek with Rick, celebrating his parents' 25th wedding anniversary. His sister, Anna, seems to not dislike me anymore, which is nice and leads me to suspect she was just taking out hostility on me in order to goad him. She came with Rick and I in order to buy presents for his family. Rick and I went in on a gift certificate from Home Depot and he went in with Anna on a small entertainment centre for the living room. Dinner took us to the Mandarin in Burlington, which is fun, though if you're looking for Chinese food, that isn't where you'll find it. You will find, however; a wide array of scrumptious seafood such as mussels, crablegs (hot and cold), shrimp (breaded or chilled in the shell) and other tasty things. They actually had a very passable Cocquille St. Jacques all saucey and seafoody good. It's nice to have two pleasant visits in a row, since in the beginning of our relationship, I could hardly go out there when they weren't fighting.

Sunday, Rick and I went to Red Rose, the most delicious Indian restaurant in Toronto, as far as I'm concerned. This was to be my pre-Yom Kippur dinner and it was perfect. I doubt it was kosher, but it was delicious and filling. I had the curried goat and Rick the lamb vindaloo. Yum, yum, yum. It was great and I didn't get hungry until after midnight that night. All in all, I fasted from about 6:30pm on Sunday until 7:30pm on Monday. It was relatively painless as far as fasts go. First of all, I do cheat, drinking water and whatnot, mostly because it's really BAD for you to dehydrate like that, and also because I've cut down my daily food intake by probably about a quarter. Yes, poverty will do wonders for one's figure. I can actually see that my face is thinner, though not so much for the rest of me. *laugh*

There's more to say, but I'm not feeling very talkative right now. I'd rather get back to storyboarding and whatnot. Oh, I've updated my Elfwood Lothlorien gallery again and in the next couple of days there should be some new stuff in my Elfwood Zone gallery. I have to actually get down TO it with my real sites, though. I've been very lax.

On Wednesday night, after two fruitless hours at Robarts library looking for coats of arms, as a sort of beautiful non-memorial activity, Rick and I went to see Arturo Brachetti at the Canon (Pantages) Theatre. I had gotten the tickets for free on Monday from Ania in membership - a Mirvish promotional offer to Membership at the ROM, or something.

I'd had a headache all day at work and it only got worse leading up to Brachetti. By halfway through the first act, i was well aware that I was having a migraine. It occured to me that perhaps I should go home at the intermission, but I fought the urge and took one of my meds to try to lessen the pain, or at least keep it from getting worse, as I really don't know how often I would get to see a performance like Brachetti's again.

It was completely unique and visually stunning and, unfortunately, I think generally over the heads of the average Torontonian theatre-goer. His is a very European theatrical event. It refers to European cultural icons and expects the audience to know them too. It made the performance wonderful for me, who was introduced to classic film and European film at a reasonably young age. There were only a few references that I didn't get. The final piece in his performance is a grand tribute to Fellini, the Italian film maker. My mother would have loved it - she adores Fellini. I loved it. I loved the whole performance, even with the migraine, though the music -was- a little loud. But, then, I was a kid who saw 8 1/2 at about the age of the same number, La Cage au Folles when I was about 10, and Cabaret not much later... I grew up surrounded by films that weren't North American mainstream. For me, Brachetti was awesome. For the majority of the theatre, I suspect he was entertaining and amusing at times, but a bit confusing. Too bad for them. He'll probably do alright in Quebec when he's there, and probably in New York, but for the most part, I doubt North America will 'get' him.

I stayed out of work on Thursday, feeling still quite fragile, heading to my dentist appointment in the middle of the afternoon. There's nothing quite like recovering from a migraine with the power toothbrush vibrating your teeth. I suppose I should be happy that it wasn't a drill. *shudder* I went to A&C's after, and aside from feeling kind of bleh there as well, that was alright. Carrie and I enjoyed a double-header of CSI on CTV. It's kind of good compared to many crime dramas produced on this side of the Atlantic. It's no Homicide - Life on the Street, but it's pretty good. Anyway, I had a terrible night sleeping and woke up this morning feeling not a whole lot better than I did yesterday. I might leave work early today. I don't know. I really need the money, but I really feel weird.

Today is September Eleventh. This morning, Tanya sang Mozart's Requiem in honour of the dead. This morning, the names of the dead were read aloud from Ground Zero. Today we remember. We remember those that died. Today is not about America's undying spirit, or the vanquishing of evil-doers the world over. Today is the anniversary of the many hundreds that died as four hijacked jet airliners opened the eyes of the world. Wave your flags if you think that's what is important today. Sing your anthems and pledge your allegiance if it makes you think you're part of something great. Send your sons and daughters off to war if you think that's what makes America the Beautiful.

I prefer to recall those who lost their lives because of the insanity of Man; the inhumanity of Man.

Fighting a useless war did not answer the questions nor did it offer security. Stripping the rights and freedoms of hundreds of people for the sake of mere, and often groundless, possibilities did not reclaim what was lost. No, not at all. Perhaps now it is time to try a different road. A route too often disregarded: the road of peace. That is a message I want brought to the world, to all that fight their insane struggles, their battles wrought of vengence and jealousy. We are one people, billions of us, living on one planet despising each other. Put down your flags and your fists and instead take up the cause of unity. It has never truly been tried, never truly given a fair chance to succeed. Time has shown us that hatred and war do not work, do not further humanity. Put down your rolls of bills, close your wallets and set aside your flow-charts. Open your eyes and realise that war should not be what runs our economies, no matter what, for the losses are impossible to value.

Try the road of Peace. The road of War is a dead-end.

So, today, I got this email:

On Monday Jean Cretien and George Bush are meeting in
Detroit to discuss Bush`s plans on war on Iraq. It is clear
that despite global opposition to a war on Iraq, Bush plans
to attack Iraq anny day now.

ON THE EVENING OF THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH OVER
100 FIGHTERS FROM THE US AND UK BOMBED IRAQ IN
THE LARGEST BOMBING MISSION SINCE 1998.

Join the Toronto Committe Against Sanctions and War on
Iraq for thie emergency rally and picket.

BRING YOUUR OWN SIGNS AND BANNERS THAT WE
CAN HOLD ALONG THE SIDEWALK OF YONGE STREET.

Liberal Party HQ in Toronto
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 5 PM
CORNER OF YONGE ST. AND ST.MARY`S
(2 blocks south of Bloor)

And I can't help but wonder if that bombing stuff was true, and I figured, sure, it probably is considering how biased the news media has been of late. I wouldn't doubt that such news would be omitted or lessened, of course, maybe it was all over the news and somehow I missed it. I haven't exactly been breaking down doors to listen/watch these days. And as I'm reading, I think, ya, I'll go protest, screw work today - this is important. Then I see that the protest is at 5pm. FIVE? FIVE??!! Come on, folks, give me a bloody break. What kind of a message is that? "Oh, when I'm done work - something far more important than the world's issues - I thought I'd go wave my little flag at a protest. Of course, I might be too tired and I'll just go home..." Yeesh. 5pm. Bush and Chretien are meeting right now, not sometime later. Any effect this could have had is made pointless by being held long after their meeting is completed.

Hopefully, if Chretien wants a real legacy for himself, he'll screw the war and ratify Kyoto. Not that either will matter one iota to Babybush and his insane cronies and lapdogs (um, hello, Tony Blair? You're LABOUR, why are you being an ass-kisser?) I have no faith in people anymore, certainly very little in governance, and frankly, if I have to see one more piece of 9-11 memorial INDUSTRY bullshit, I'll be sick. Somewhere along the way, they got so caught up in their patriotic flag-waving and revenge that they forgot that many hundreds died.

Okay, rant over. You can all go home.

Well, just so you know, I haven't really ignored my weblog, it's more like I wrote a five-page entry and Blogger ate it. It just... ate it. I was horrified, but there's nothing to do but either carry on and write it again, or say 'screw it'. It was easier to perform the latter.

Before I go into things, do note that I've worked on Ray's Art, and have now put up most of the pieces' dimensions and prices. Do have a look, because as I've said many, many times, his work is just so much better than that of the vast majority. Also, if you happen to be in Peterborough, in the lower level of Peterborough Square, at the Arts Umbrella (next to Lewiscraft), he has his work featured in a group exhibition. Mostly, he's surrounded by shlock and crap art, making his stand out all the more with meaning and talent. Sadly, the ceiling just isn't high enough to accomodate the height of his work. God, I wish people would actually buy his work. It's awesome.

I had a very busy week with a lot of anxiety and drama. In brief, because I'm tired and want to go to bed, I interviewed for Stacey's job working as the customer service rep for the membership department. It was the WORST interview I've ever given. It was utterly dominated by the heinous HR guy that represents my department, to the point that Richard (my old boss and the manager looking to replace Stacey who got a new job) was distinctly uncomfortable. Add to this my nervousness - the HR guy puts me right out of sorts - and my not entirely wanting this job and BOOM you have a horrible, ghastly, uptight and disasterous interview. And that it was. Uhg. I knew I should have worn my high heels...

On the other hand, things look like maybe they're going to happen for me in New Media, afterall. I'm hoping, but I'm not counting eggs before they're hatched, you know. I don't want that to fall through. Suffice it to say that the director of that branch seems to really like me and I know I'd really like to work for him. The end.

Currently, I'm at Mom's celebrating Rosh Hashanah. Happy New Year !! It's now the year 5763, in case you didn't know. Shana Tovah, as they say. Anyway, it's nice to be in Peterborough with Mom and Willi and Mom's cats, Chester and Melody. It's so... furry and fun. I dropped into Eyeball Soup today and Chris wants me to bring in my greeting cards to sell them. So, since this is the time for new beginnings, I say yes. I'll even make more for holidays and whatnot. Shana Tovah, indeed.

Mom's on medical leave for an indefinite amount of time, which is good for her health, though she's got mixed feelings about it. Work is bad these days, and only getting worse, and her health has been seriously deteriorating. Things will get better, now that the pressure's off, I think. I hope. I want her to be well. In the end, it's more important that she's healthy than chained to her desk at work. Circumstances allowed her to do this with a minimal amount of guilt, so, good.

Anyway, I had more I was going to say, stuff that got eaten, but now I'd rather go to bed.