The weather over the last couple of days has been magnificent. Spring has sprung and the buds are budding. Saturday's 'breakfast' meeting involved doughnut holes, so after the productive (if unsatisfying) two-hour meet, we all picked up and went to the Black Horse pub for some lunch. The Black Horse is fast becoming the campaign team neighbourhood hang-out. Sitting out on the patio was great - warm, peaceful. The conversation was better than my sandwich, which was disappointing, but the fries are amazing. I dawdled there longer than I'd meant to and by the time I left some two hours later or so, I had a legitimate sunburn ! That night I was back in the Petes to volunteer my impressive sales skills (*laugh*) to the renewal campaign at the season's final concert. Well, I did rather well, scoring several donations and at least a couple new subscriptions. I think it must have been the cleavage. ;)

I was in TO yesterday for some ROM fun. It would have been a bore had I not been working with the people I was, who were entertaining and silly. There were very few people visiting the museum, most likely because the day was so beautiful. Why would you want to go into a museum when you could be out doing things in the wonderful weather? I fully understood. I hopped back into Bernadette (I borrowed Mom's car for the commute) and came back to the Petes where I helped Mom in the garden for an hour or so before taking a much deserved nap.

Willi is now allowed to go out into the garden for semi-supervised outings. The rule is that either Mom or I have to be out with her. She's wearing an old collar that belonged to Chester and is having a blast. She was out for hours and hours yesterday, climbing trees, stalking birds and squirrels, following Chester around and generally having a gay old time. She joined me for my nap and then slept soundly with me almost all night long. Talk about a tired kitty.

Today, I'm trying to do some work for Booboo and get my resume out to a few places. It's a tough slog, but I'm determined to find something soon. I think I might have to resign from the fanfilm I'm working on, though, due to serious time constraints. I'm not a superhero and as much as I want to be involved, it's nearly impossible. My skills aren't up to the task and my time doesn't permit me to relearn them. How very disappointing.

Tonight, I'm going to see Russian Ark that fascinating film that chronicles Russian history all in one take. It gets amazing reviews, but I know of at least two people that dozed off at points, so we'll see how it is. I'm pretty keen to see it and expect that it will at the very least be an interesting experience. Anyway, it's time to get me gone as I must get ready for my visit to the doctor - it's annual physical time.

Okay. It's been a while. I've been remiss, I admit it. I have ignored my weblog for over a week. Bad Maya, no biscuit. I just had better things to be doing, what with Passover and Easter and being at Mom's and whatnot.

First off: SARS is not scary. Toronto is not filled with people in bubblesuits and I don't walk around in a mask. I'd like to remind everyone that you would have had as good a chance of getting shot by the Virginia sniper last autumn than you now do dying of SARS here in Toronto. People keep comparing it to HIV/AIDS, which is UNBELIEVABLE ! The viruses are not remotely similar except that they are both viruses. Secondly, HIV/AIDS is deadly. you might live five years, or you might live 20, but it's going to kill you. SARS is more than likely not; 100% fatal versus 4%. Hm, you do the math. Also, every case of SARS, but one, have been traced back to Patient One. So, I tend to think it's pretty much contained. The World Health Org can take a short walk off a long pier.

Rant over.

******* Some time later ********

Now that I'm full of coffee and a delicious banana/chocolate chip muffin from The Second Cup (mmmm), I feel better. No one was wearing a mask. It was very sweet that my sister emailed me wishing that she could send me a bubblesuit, but it's not necessary. Really.

Mom and I have set a date for a trip to Detroit later this month. What's in Detroit, you ask? Well, let me tell you ! The Detroit Institute of Arts, where there is what looks to be a magnificent exhibition of Italian Renaissance art. We plan to spend two nights in Windsor for maximum regional discovery and non-exhausting travel for Mom. I'm sure there's plenty to see and do. Megan is hopefully going to come along, which is keen, since she and I have wanted to go to Detroit to look at the beautiful old architecture that is falling to the ground. Excitement !

******* Some time even later ********

Anyway, Passover/Easter went nicely. I had a great time at Mom's and I'm going back for a few more days as of tomorrow. The Seder was probably the most fun we've had at Passover in ages, with an air of relaxation thanks to Mom being off work. I got some miniature painting done, which is a darn good thing because for a while there it seemed like I might never paint again. I've also been busy wrangling A d a m 's thank you and seasons greetings card designs.

Tonight, I'll be doing more of the same and writing covering letters and sending out resumes. God, the resumes. It's my goal to get at least seven sent out to various positions. Oh, the excitement. So, ya, this means that I didn't get the other job. I'm getting used to this. It's an important lesson that I'm learning; previously, I had a tendency to fall into jobs with ease. Well, it's not easy anymore. I'm working at it now, taking the time, doing the research, and eventually, it's bound to pay off. It has to. I won't live on the edge forever.

Maybe I should have scheduled my interview at 11am, rather than 10am, as I really didn't feel on top of my game. Thanks to all for the best wishes, I think I really needed them. The company is pretty cool, the people all looked pretty laid back and casual, but I wasn't at ease. The building is nice - the Xerox building at Yonge and Bloor - and the lay-out of the work stations was nice, the cubicles themselves not too small. The salary isn't spectacular by any stretch, but were I offered the job, I think I'd take it because it actually heads me in the direction that I want to go. So, do I think I'll get the job? I'd rather not say.

I'm going to take a quick nap before I get ready to head out to the Petes for Passover. I feel pretty beat. On another note, it's my sister's birthday today: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GINA !!! I'll try to give her a call tonight, before the seder.

It's a stunning day today. It's about 27 degrees right now, but without any sort of humidity, which is pretty sweet, with full sun and a gorgeous breeze. I'm celebrating this by wearing a skirt and teeshirt and I left my leather jacket at home in exchange for my denim.

Last night, I went to A&C's for dinner. Rick joined us and we enjoyed nummy chicken wings, onion rings and plenty o' salad. I noticed that Al avoided the bean salad that I brought *laugh*, but the rest of us enjoyed it. Rick grumped about missing the hockey game, which the Leafs won, by the way, but was sensible enough to not mention the game while we watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. By the time the flick was over, it was getting late and we didn't have time to enjoy the extra features. Next week, though, oh baby - Snape and Lucius... *passes out* *comes to* *looks around* *giggles with embarrasment*

I can be such a girl sometimes.

Anyway, tonight there is an informal campaign team meeting at a pub. Yes, I did say 'informal'. I think the plan is to avoid discussing work, if at all possible, and bond with each other. We'll see how that goes; I wonder if some of them can discuss anything other than work. There will be no staying out late, though, because of tomorrow's interview. I have to give myself time tonight to prepare for it as well as to get a decent amount of sleep.

Passover starts tomorrow night, too, so Willi and I will be going up to the Petes for a few days. I have to take some work with me, holiday or not, because I've got stuff needin' doing. I've also promised to repaint Richie's model because... well, frankly, it blows. He hadn't thought the horse would live through the first adventure and so he didn't bother to paint it nicely. So, I'm going to make it nice, since the horse (I think we named it Effervesence, or something) did, in fact, survive.

Okay, Blogger is a spazz today.

I forgot to mention that on Saturday, after work and before D&D, I went to One Big No, the artist protest against the US in Iraq. There was an art exhibition of activist art, most of it beyond terrible, and tons and tons of musical acts that were performing, most of whom were really quite good. The highlight of my two hours there was definitely the Kurdish musicians and dancers who did a rollicking performance on the mainstage. I was happy to see a wide dichotomy of people attending. One of the arguments made against the No side of the war debate is that it's all just a bunch of white, middle class, 'bleeding heart' liberals. Well, not at this protest. I would say that every colour, faith and status was represented here at this family-friendly protest. I can't say who turned out for the night time acts, as I wasn't there, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a similar make-up. If there was one thing that surprised me, though, was the tiny, nearly invisible presence of the NDP. I would have thought that they'd be out in full force, but they really weren't.

On a different note, I just got off the phone with the woman who called about my resume. It's for an entry level design/art job with an advertising agency. It's not in the big creative or production departments, rather it would be with the accounting dept., producing art specifically for them for presentations, etc. It's not sexy, but it would be an excellent foot in the door. The company is located right at Yonge and Bloor (mmmmm, good eats...) and I have an interview at 10am on Wednesday !! She wanted me to come in tomorrow, but I am at the ROM, and though I could probably take an hour and a half off, and walk over, Wednesday allows me more time to prepare a portfolio. Go me !

I forgot to mention that on Saturday, after work and before D&D, I went to One Big No, the artist protest against the US in Iraq. There was an art exhibition of activist art, most of it beyond terrible, and tons and tons of musical acts that were performing, most of whom were really quite good. The highlight of my two hours there was definitely the Kurdish musicians and dancers who did a rollicking performance on the mainstage. I was happy to see a wide dichotomy of people attending. One of the arguments made against the No side of the war debate is that it's all just a bunch of white, middle class, 'bleeding heart' liberals. Well, not at this protest. I would say that every colour, faith and status was represented here at this family-friendly protest. I can't say who turned out for the night time acts, as I wasn't there, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a similar make-up. If there was one thing that surprised me, though, was the tiny, nearly invisible presence of the NDP. I would have thought that they'd be out in full force, but they really weren't.

On a different note, I just got off the phone with the woman who called about my resume. It's for an entry level design/art job with an advertising agency. It's not in the big creative or production departments, rather it would be with the accounting dept., producing art specifically for them for presentations, etc. It's not sexy, but it would be an excellent foot in the door. The company is located right at Yonge and Bloor (mmmmm, good eats...) and I have an interview at 10am on Wednesday !! She wanted me to come in tomorrow, but I am at the ROM, and though I could probably take an hour and a half off, and walk over, Wednesday allows me more time to prepare a portfolio. Go me !

Okay, first of all, here is some news. I updated my webpage. No, not the portfolio, just the other stuff. Go look, it has a link to my store, from which you must buy things.

Also, this cracked me up. Imagine Bush and North Korea's Kim as internet buddies. Heehee. Pretty funny stuff.

Last night, Rick ran a D&D campaign. Hey woo ! Go Rick ! It was pretty good. We're a fun bunch, though, so it's hard for it to suck. Rick's a bit rusty, but he hasn't DM'd since before the third edition came out, so, all in all, with a bit of leaning on the texts, he was pretty good. I'm playing a gnome monk, Mumbee Wimblewarren - Apples to you ! - and I think I'm going to like him. I am having some trouble sorting out a personality for him, though. I'll figure it out eventually, I always do. Maybe I'll finally run a second episode to my campaign in the near future, too. I'd like to, just for variety.

Yesterday and today at the ROM were absolutely dead. Okay, not stone, cold dead, but neading some serious ressusitation (I'm sure I spelled that wrong). I spent most of them standing around in the rotunda, drawing. I have never had to keep myself entertained like that before. I found some administrative tasks to do, too, like sorting ballots, but there's only so much one can do. Anyway, after work, I went to the gym. For those of you who thought I'd just give up on the gym, I am proving you wrong ! I actually like going to the gym on Sundays. It's pretty quiet, very laid back and not nearly as noisy as it is on a weeknight after work. I worked out for an hour and forty-five minutes, using the cross-trainer for about ten minutes (not bad, not bad...) and various other interesting machines that look like instruments of torture. Following my workout, I walked around on Yonge Street for a bit, eating dinner at the little sushi place, all by my lonesome, and then wandering into some used booksellers. I bought a book that looks like it will be an interesting read. The title, in silver, on the black cover was what caught my eye, King Death. It's subtitle is "The Black Death and its aftermath in late-medieval England" and it has some dancing skeletons on the cover as well, making it the perfect buy. I had a wonderful conversation with the shop owner, too, and I will definitely go back in order to plumb the depths of his art section.

Finally, Rick sent me a link today, which he probably got from the little advert in his email inbox. Which are smarter, cats or dogs? An unanswerable question, really, and the article was written by someone predisposed to believe cats less intelligent, and therefore the whole article was rather unbalanced. Anyway, the answer always comes down to cat people believe dogs to be dumber and vise-versa. Whatever. Here's what I wrote to Rick as a rebuttal to the article (if you can call it that):

That woman and her dog researcher don't know dick about cats. Cats ARE social, but not herding animals, and that's an important fact. And frequently, in the wild, cats form pride-like social structures. And, anyone who's seen Willi and me, especially, interacting, cannot possibly argue that she (or any other cat that I've lived with, for that matter) does not communicate -well- with humans. Cats have a myriad of communication signals, and as for spoken 'word' cats have recently been explained as having well over one hundred, including many outside our hearing.

I joke that cats are smarter than dogs, but since their 'purposes' in existing, especially among humans, are so completely different, and their behaviour so dissimilar, it's apples and oranges. I've met smart dogs. I've met dumb cats. I've also met monumentally stupid dogs and brilliant cats. I've seen cats' problem solving skills at work, and there, with the tiny exception of a few breeds, they have dogs well beat. Also, cats, unlike dogs, play very well by themselves. Yes, dogs play by themselves, but cats make it an artform. And I guess in a world where 'team-players' are prefered, that makes cats less smart.

And, for the record, cats in history -were- trained for hunting, etc. But, their free-will and independence made them less reliable and therefore dangerous. At any rate, I prefer having a pet that doesn't look at me like I'm The Master. But then, I like horses that have 'problem habits' too.

Guess how I just spent my last hour and a half. Nope. Nuh-uh.

I just organised my receipts, etc. for tax time. Oh, the joy of it all. Mom will be pleased to discover everything coming in a folder box, rather than in a plastic bag, unsorted, as in previous years. Of course, it's a little confusing since the folders came pre-labled and for the most part none of my entries corresponds to them.

Anyway, I got a phonecall yesterday from one of the companies that I applied to last week. I tried to return the call today, but had to leave a message. I'll give another try in a bit. It's for a design job at an animation/design studio here in Toronto, and it looks, potentially, very exciting. In other work news, I spoke to B______. He wanted to know if I was still willing to be part of the team, with new work coming in the near future, even though there was a good chance that they wouldn't be able to actually pay me. I'm committed to them and his campaign. It's damn good work and experience for me. I also know, first hand, that the campaign has no money. They can pay me when they can pay me, but for this stuff coming up, chances are, it would be pro-bono. I told him that the answer was yes, I would still do the work, or as much as I could without cutting into any paying work that comes my way. He was good with that, and frankly, I'm good with it, too. The people involved in this campaign are all working for free, pretty much with the exception of one or two people in the same boat as me, and these people are all very well connected. There is no way I would risk future paying work by being a snot now. Besides, did I mention? I like them and enjoy the work.

I'm listening, right now, to a promotional copy of Martin Gore's Counterfeit 2 ! It's not mine, but Stacey has kindly allowed me to borrow it. A friend of hers, living in England, sent it to her. It hasn't been released yet over there, and certainly not here. So, what do I think of it? Arrrummm-num-num ! Delicious. It's got some interesting choices of music on it, and when I say that, I mean that these are all songs written by other artists. At first I was a little disappointed, because Martin's such an excellent songwriter, but I've gotten over it and now find that he's done excellent things with the material. There are a couple of tracks that I could live without, but none of it is bad. He covers songs written by David Bowie/Iggy Pop, and Nick Cave, as well as John Lennon/Yoko Ono, and Hank Thompson ("the king of western swing").

I guess I should probably get back to talking about my weekend in Ottawa. First of all, what you should know about the Balharries is that they all take photographs and, probably since the invention of the camera, they probably always have. My mother's uncle, Ken, was an architect, his brother was an architect as well. I am not sure I know what their father was, other than an unpleasant man, but the arts run strong in their blood, likely from my mother's grandmother who had been a concert vocal soloist until she'd been made to give it up. Anyway, getting back to the photos, there were albums of them, covering, mostly, the last sixty years of family history with the majority of them being of the 1940s-60s. It was very interesting to listen to the cousins discussing the pictures with Ken and Rosemary, sharing laughs over the funny stories and adventures. Photos were being snapped of everyone pouring over the albums, of people taking pictures, of people taking pictures of people while they took pictures... It was fun.

When the daughters with children left, and Ken and Rosemary left some time later, the cousins (Claire, Jayne, Janis, and Julie) remained, along with a couple of of significant others and me. Here, the stories began to change. The rose-tinted glasses were take off leaving the happy world of Ken's youth open for acknowledgement. For the first time, probably in the history of the Balharries, words were not minced, skeletons were not left gathering dust in their respective closets. Now, the truth came out, voiced by three intelligent older women who had a lifetime to analyse and understand, offering the stories behind the stories to Jayne and myself. Depression, affairs, sanitoriums, alcoholism, violence, racism... The narrative was woven together like a braid, different pieces coming together to form the whole, offering unexpected insites. It was the makings of a fantastic novel, or a miniseries, and utterly mind-blowing for the uninitiated.

From years of estrangement, new bonds were created, invitations to futher visits given; relief and enlightenment palpable. The walls of distance, while not destroyed, were left ruined in places with enough room for a few cousins to climb over and visit each other, now and then, should they want to.

I don't know what I did to my neck, but I can't turn my head today. I have taken an anti-inflamatory, yet there has been no improvement. It's not just turning my head that is restricted, I can't tilt my head back. I can, however; hang my head down - useful, really. I vaguely recall waking up in the night with a startling pain in my neck, perhaps when I was changing positions, but nothing more. Anyway, it's giving me a headache, too.

I don't think I mentioned, but I was supposed to do the office set for the fan film. I was removed from that task and given a different one, that is more interesting, but also way more challenging, I think. I have to design the glass elevator that the main character rides in. It's going to be quite a challenge. I plan to concept it out related to the footage already shot, and see where I can go with it. Frankly, I think it might be beyond my skills, and as I'm no longer boarding scenes, or doing costumes, I kind of feel that I'm not really involved anymore. :/

So, on to "The Perils of a Canadian Heritage". This is going to become one of those folkloric tales of Canadian bravery (idiocy?) in the face of that great danger known as Winter Driving Conditions. Most people don't realise that I actually have any living family, other than my mother, and that's essentially true, with some exceptions. First, my half-sisters in New York, and second, the semi-estranged Balharrie cousins that live in and around Ottawa. The Balharries make up my mother's maternal family and for half of my mother's life, they utterly ignored her. It was only in my teens that I met any of them. And it was to visit with them that caused us to brave some of the worst weather we've had all winter.

Driving was slow-going, namely because of the freezing rain, snush (snow crossed with slush), and everything in between. The roads were lovingly covered in several layers of ice and snush and the plows could not keep up. Everything was going just fine, though we'd seen a couple of people off the road and the evidence of people swerving wildly, until we came to Madoc. The snush coating the highway was over an inch thick in most places. Just passed Madoc, Bernadette (Mom's car) caught a tire in the build-up that covered the yellow line. Yes, Bernie's an all-wheel-drive vehicle, but as any good driver should know, there is nothing that four- or all-wheel-drive can do on ice. So, catching her tire in the snush, with a layer of ice beneath, Mom lost control. Instinct caused her to steer against the swerve, rather than with - or even to take her hands off the wheel and let the AWD do the work - and suddenly fishtailing madly, we were pitched off the road, over the shoulder and down the embankment into the ditch. For one split second it seemed like we might roll, but instead the car settled.

"Whoa. That was kind of fun !" I exclaim once we are completely stopped.

"No, it was not !" counters my mother who is experiencing not insignificant amounts of anxiety and adrenaline. I considered suggesting that we try driving out, since I think Bernadette would have done it, but our precarious lean also meant that in trying, we might still tip the car. I did not suggest it.

Instead, "I guess we should call CAA, huh?"

While on hold, several vehicles stopped at the side of the road to see if we were alright. Somehow, I can't believe that people would have bothered in Toronto, but just outside of Madoc, the people care. One fellow offered us the phone number of a auto-wrecker/dealer "about half-a-mile down the road" and we happily took it. Dropping CAA, we called the Poirier Bros and within about fifteen minutes, along he came. His tow truck, a cheerful red, had "23 hr service" painted on its side leaving us to wonder exactly what hour of the day he was closed. His response, when we asked him, was, "You're just lucky you got me when I was open." He was very nice and funny, and within about five minutes he had us out of the ditch and back on the road.

There was some discussion as we were being hoisted up, whether or not we should turn around, being much closer to Peterborough than Ottawa. We decided to ask Mr. Poirier and back at his shop, he called a friend out in Perth to find out the road conditions. Raining. Okay, then, we decided that since the roads would improve further out, that we'd chalk this up to a little (mis)adventure and keep on truckin', as they say.

Unfortunately, for the interim, the roads grew much, much worse. I was driving this stretch, and we did a near repeat performance of our slip 'n' slide when the snush again caught the left tires, only with marshland to the right, not a ditch. This time, however; I released the wheel and pumped the break gently and we came to an easy stop, turned around, in the lane that would have taken us back home. Turning around, we continued on, now traveling at about 50km/hr. Evidence of a snowplow eventually turned into the real thing and we stayed behind it for about an hour until reaching Perth where, it was indeed, raining.

Nearly at Mom's cousin Jayne's house, now, we naturally got lost in Ottawa (I have never driven in Ottawa without getting lost) before finally arriving to surprise Uncle Ken and Aunt Rosemary on the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary. They were surprised alright, and delighted and touched, that we'd come all that way through such ghastly conditions (we did not tell them about our adventures) just for them. Mom got to see two of her cousins, Janice and Julie, for the first time in decades, and I met them for the first time ever.

I'll leave it there, because this is going to shape up to be a fascinating and probably very long entry. I've used up my lunch writing this, and there is plenty more to tell about the reunion of the cousins.

It's amazing what you can do when you're too sick to go to work. Actually, yesterday, I did nothing but sleep, all day, sleep, sleep, sleep. Then sometime around 8pm I got up. Nick fed me sometime later, and I watched CSI, and then I watched Nick play video games, and then I went back to bed. Well, how very exciting. Today, I stayed out of work again, which is sort of sucky, because it's a day less pay, which means two days less pay... but, on a positive note, I did eventually get to my computer. I emailed my resume to several companies in Toronto and Montreal, and that was about it. I also have managed to fix my archives for my weblog. I have now earned a nap.

While I nap, please enjoy this potential OMG moment.

I am irritable. I feel much like I'm edging onto a panic attack, which, if you have never had one, is not a nice thing, nor is the feeling just before. Background noises like music, talking, whistling, printers whirring; these things drive me crazy when I am like this. Currently I'm sucking the life out of a chocolate egg and counting down until lunch.

There is no real reason for me to feel this way, excluding the fact that I have about $40 to last me until next Friday, my job is utterly unfulfilling, and there aren't enough hours in the day. I had a really nice time in the Petes over the last few days. I helped at a PSO function that went off extremely well, spent yesterday in my nightgown, took baths... it was blissful. I even managed to get some drawing done. So, why am I a basket o'nerves today? I don't know.

There was an announcement at the ROM today about the new big donor... Michael Lee Chin, his name is, I think, and he donated a whopping 30 million dollars to the museum to help with the renovation project. God, it must be nice to just have that much money to throw at a project. The ROM staff was invited (encouraged strongly) to go downstairs and join in for the celebratory speeches, etc. Hilary Weston, ex-Lt. General of Ontario made a speech that I didn't listen to, and David Palmer, the president of the ROM Foundation spoke on behalf of Mr. Chin who could not be here due to family emergency, or something (SARS, maybe?), reading Mr. Chin's actual speech. That was a darn good speech. Then Tsabuchi (sp?), dorky Ontario PC hanger-on and current minister of culture, or something that he's utterly not qualified for, was introduced. That's when I took my leave.

Did you know, that while the ROM is laying people off because of the financial constraints of the renovation project, the head-honchos all got raises, the least going to the lowest-ranked of them, at a whopping $17,000 increase?

Is it any wonder that I'm irritable?