I've been suffering from a tummy flu these past two days. It seems to be mostly cleared up now, but my abdominal muscles are really tight. After spending most of yesterday in a horizontal/fetal position, I managed to get over to Nicole's to help her paint. In that I couldn't straighten up completely, thanks to the muscle pain, I did the baseboard edging while she did the rollering and mostly it was alright. She also made sure to pack me full of cheese and crackers in order to stopper me. *laugh* Her place is really nice. She's got a large, airy, bright loft in the same complex she's already been living in (the one I eventually want to move into...). She's paying a ridiculously small amount of rent considering the size of the place. Honestly, she has as much living space as Stew and I and she's paying over two hundred dollars less than us. Inclusive. Wow.

Okay, so you're probably wondering, did I get the job? YES, I got the job ! The one I wanted, even, not the short-term contract. I heard the news on Tuesday and I bounced around the office. I think Richard's a bit disappointed that I'll be leaving Membership, especially right before a big exhibition and March Break, but how can he argue with higher pay and longer shifts? I'm a little sorry to leave Membership, but I've been with the department since November 1998, which is a really long time to hold a job with little room to move. Anyway, I'll be writing my official letters of resignation tonight and bringing them a bouquet of flowers next week.

Anyway, there is no doubt now that I've moved beyond where I was. These are, I believe, very positive changes. While the move to Visitor Services is something of a lateral move within the museum, it puts me in a new place, changes my routine and offers me a fresh perspective. Even moreso, the contract in Education adds a level of excitement and brings a new challenge for me to overcome. I'm working under the impression that I will be back at school in the fall, another positive change, and my mother is starting to call this the "Year of Maya". I hope she's right. If anything, my recent experiences with a certain someone and my betrayal at his hands has changed my view, has thrown me into action. I am taking control of my life and have taken a new fork in the path. I don't know where it's going to lead me, only that it will offer scenery I've never seen before, and possibly a very cool destination. I've got a map to help me along the way, but parts have been left uncharted and I'll be filling them in as I go.

Good thing I like Orienteering.

I am such a mush, it's unreal. Last night, after work, I got home to find Stew watching television. Since we only get three or four channels at any given time he had the Sunday Disney movie on. Tarzan. So, I turned it on, too, but I didn't really start watching until about the half-way point. Within minutes of sitting down in front of the TV I was already crying. I kid you not, the damn movie had me crying. Actually, I really enjoyed it. It came out during the period when I'd gotten really tired of Disney, following The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I probably should have gone to see this one, though. Also, something that I already knew was reaffirmed for me, love it or hate it, Disney wrote the book on facial expressions and they renew their copyright every damn year. Disney is the master of animated characterisations.

Friday night was Cheryl's birthday and Rick and I met everyone at Marlowe on College Street. It was right around the corner from my old place, but when I lived there, there were other restaurants I went to and so I never tried it. It was good, a bit pricey, but the flavours were excellent and I had a dark beer that, while not as good as Barbar Winter Bok, was still very tasty - Leffe Brune. Tons of people showed up including a whole bunch of ex-ROM employees, some of whom I had not seen in a couple of years. Much merriment took place and it seems Rick is a hit with the ROM girls. He got a lecture from Maria about how being called 'cute' isn't a bad thing and Lia told me I had to bring him out lots more because he's fun. It seems that waiting nearly four years to show him off to the girls was a good move. And also, his short hair is a HUGE hit. They dig him. Me too.

This is a crazy week for me. I worked on Saturday and Sunday, today I'm at the membership desk, tomorrow I'm upstairs in the office, Wednesday I'm at training, Thursday I'm on the desk and at training, Friday is the membership preview, and Saturday I'm here again for the public opening of the big Egypt show. *sweats* Plus, I have to finish a proposal I'm working on for a web design contract. Only a few weeks ago, I was complaining that I did not have enough to keep me busy. It doesn't rain, but it pours, as they say. Also, on Saturday, I'm going to try to get out to the Petes for Ryan's nomination (hopefully) as Conservative candidate in Peterborough. My own politics aside, the other two men he's up against make him look like a moderate. I don't know how I'll manage it, since I'm working until two on Saturday, but maybe I can score a ride with A&C, or I'll hop on the bus. I'd like to be there for him, regardless of whether he wins or loses.

Finally, I hope to hear today if I got the VS job. I didn't hear on Friday, obviously, so cross your fingers.

C'est tout.

Home sick, today, with what I suppose is a cold, I have spent most of the day in bed. There's a vague thought that I might like to make myself some soup, but that requires effort, even if it's only to open a can, pour out the contents and add an equal part of water. I woke up this morning with my right eye glued shut and puffy with infection and I can't turn my head to the right. Peter, from the ROM, called to see how I was doing - it's a crunch week and I am loathe to miss work, but there is nothing I can do about this. Hopefully, I'll be fine tomorrow, but if I feel like I do right now, I suspect I'll be out again. More than likely, this is partially my body's response to my extreme nervousness about the interview and everything related to it. Stress and adrenaline held me together through the last two days, and today the seams split.

Anyway, about the interview: It went on longer than at least two I heard about, lasting a little over half an hour. It still remains one of the shortest interviews I've ever had, not including the French portion that was held afterward. I had prepared quite extensively for the interview and therefore managed to give consise answers and appropriate examples. As well, I stressed my years of experience at the ROM and in customer service. I also talked about my love of the ROM and all the time I've spent in it, excluding work time. My fears of dealing with Keenan were unnecessary as he sat back and took notes, not asking any of the questions. I was able to ignore him almost the whole time. I was very professional, shaking hands with the interviewers at the start and acting as if we did not have a history together at the museum. At the end, I thanked them all for the opportunity to interview and shook their hands once again.

The French portion of the interview was held down in the Visitor Services section with Estrella, one of my favourite people at the ROM. She speaks beautiful French (as well as several other languages) and she is very easy to speak with. That isn't to say that speaking French was easy. I was still riding a wave of anxiety and my French was all over the place. One sentence would come out nicely, the next would fall flat and I'd find myself stammering, unable to recall the word I wanted to use. We spoke for about eight minutes, which for me is an eternity, and I think I managed to make myself understood. I used some words that I swear I haven't used since I was in French Immersion, back in elementary school. I also said I would be more than happy to take a class to raise my speaking ability since my comprehension is great.

Now I have to wait. I was supposed to bring in my referrences today, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow. *sigh* Anyway, if all goes well, I'll know where I stand either Friday or Monday. I really, really hope I get the job. I want it badly. It's more money, better hours, and, not to say I don't like my colleagues in Membership, because that simply isn't true, but I have a broader social circle in Visitor Services. So, please cross your bits and hope for the best.

On a different note, I fired my second adorably nauseating dragon last night. I did not wait long enough for the model to cool and picked it up while it was still hot and soft, snapping its tail and one horn. I had to do emergency repairs on it and hopefully it will be alright. I will start painting it when I'm feeling up to it. There's more challenge to modelling these little figures than I'd imagined, though, because my cat likes to stick her claws into the soft, pliable clay. I have to be careful of her when she's sitting by me because if I don't pay close attention, she'll pull the clay right off my work surface. The last thing I want is her EATING my art, or the polymer clay, for that matter. Cats are so weird.

Today is my interview for the Visitor Services job. I am really nervous. As a rule, I don't get particularly anxious before an interview, but I really want this job and I have a lot of excellent competition. I am also a little nervous about the interviewers, especially Keenan, who is known for his difficult questions and unfriendly manner. I've interviewed with him before, so at least I won't be surprised, and I spent a lot of time preparing myself last night. I wrote out questions and answers, situational examples, talked briefly to my mother about it and I guess I'm ready. But it doesn't take the butterflies away.

I spoke to my supervisor, Richard, about using him as a referrence for the VS job and he said yes, of course, but he's disappointed that I am hoping to get into that department. I'm not the only one from Membership who is hoping to make the move, either. It's really hard to argue with my rationale, though, since the pay is quite a bit higher and the shifts are twice as long. I promised him that if I get the job I will make sure to give my full two weeks so as not to leave him in the lurch. I also spoke to Peter, my in-office supervisor (data entry), and told him that one way or the other, I was going to have to give up that job for Education. There are two options: 1. that I give him my letter of resignation and two weeks or, 2. he simply not schedule me for the duration of my contract leaving me free to return when it ends. I'm hoping he'll go for option 2, but I'm not holding my breath.

I had a long conversation with Tracy last night. It was weird to talk almost the whole time about 'grown-up' issues. She recently passed her board exams and now has only about two more months until she's officially Dr. Waugh. We discussed her home-buying plans with Paul, her fiance, and how the bank doesn't want to give her a loan (not surprisingly, since she's not currently employed or contracted). I'm not bothered by her being engaged, it was a long time coming, but this house-purchasing business is just... well, it's so grown-up. I'm still fantasing about the loft I'll have one day and she's about to BUY a home with her husband-to-be. It kind of makes my head swim.

Generally, I try to avoid thinking about things like that because more often than not I begin to feel like an underachiever. Then I have to remind myself that while Tracy is on the brink of becoming a vet, she's had to sacrifice a lot of life experience. When I stand on the life-spiral and look down, I'm not in the same place I was, even if it sometimes feels like I am. There are a lot of challenges and obstacles that I have overcome and I have done more things than many other people my age. So, while I'm not ready to buy a house and start my career, I am well on the way to becoming a truly fascinating person. Go me.

Tonight I am going to write something substantive. An entry of substance. Of weight. Or, at the very least, an entry of several hundred words.

I am in Peterborough visiting my mother, only briefly, but with enjoyment nonetheless. The point was to come out for last night in order to catch Lorne Elliot who was playing at Showplace. If you're not familiar with him, he is the host of the CBC's "Madly Off in All Directions" heard every Sunday on CBC One. He's taken a leave in order to take a show on the road, and my God, is that man ever funny. I thought he was fun on the radio. Now that I've SEEN him, I know how much I was missing. Not only does he do a marvelous job of playing with, and sometimes abusing, the English language (especially those colloquialisms common to various regions of Canada), but he's physically a riot. He moves like he's made of rubber. And he plays a mean guitar. It was the best stand-up I've ever seen.

The plan had been to come out the night before last, which would have been Wednesday, but I got scheduled for training on Thursday. This would be the education job. I am so excited about this job, it's not even a question as to whether it would be worth it for the number of hours, it is worth it to ME. I'm going to be something half-way between a teacher and a tour-guide, taking students through the Eternal Egypt exhibit that will be opening at the end of the month. I have a binder to study, full of information about the exhibition as well as the curriculum requirements for the three principal grade-levels that I'll be dealing with. Grade fives, nines, and elevens. It seems that those are the 'bread and butter' grades for the museum, at least when it comes to cultures, art, and world religion.

Anyway, I had my first training session on Thursday where I met my fellow educator/facilitators. Most of them have a history with the ROM from past exhibits and/or children's programming. There are only a handful of people who are new to the ROM, one coming from the Science Centre, a few out of related subjects in university, and one woman who was actually a cultural site interpreter in Egypt. There's one woman who is a forensic anthropologist, so as she said, "I'm going out on a limb a bit here, but if there are any murders in the show, I'm so there !" Mostly we're all between the ages of twenty and thirty, with only a very few exceptions. I'm completely excited about it, keyed up, thrilled, and I only have momentary pangs when I think, "Oh my God, I'm going to be dealing with KIDS." Probably, I'll be too busy for it to actually register.

There are twenty artifacts that I must know like the back of my hand, each representative of a particular period in the three thousand years of ancient Egyptian history. There are actually one hundred and forty-four pieces, but with twenty memorised, I shouldn't be at a loss for words at any point. Of course, I will learn much more than that, but these are a jumping off point. We have two training sessions this week, of which I'll have to finagle some time off because they both conflict with my very busy week in the membership office. Then there are two sessions in the exhibit itself, which will hopefully be enough. The three colossal pieces that are set up outside the entrance to the hall are visible through the plastic and every time I look at them I get excited. They're outside the gallery space because of load-bearing issues inside. It seems they're just too damn heavy and they might go through the floor. We wouldn't want that.

Well, other than that, there isn't too much to talk about that is new in my life. I went shopping with Mom today - a great adventure and much fun. We picked up a new blind for my bedroom and my mother is banging and clopping right now as I type, putting it up. So far, no cursing, but I'm sure that will come. Cursing is part of any midnight project. We also bought me a gorgeous soft, warm shawl/wrap thing for me that I can wear out as well as a sexy new camissol top. At Lewiscraft, spurred on by Snerk, my mother convinced me to purchase many things to make more adorable, sellable, artworks that people will actually buy. It's not so much that I'm selling out, but that I really want people to buy my stuff. Maybe if people like my cute, commercial stuff, they'll take another look at my serious work. Anyway, expect more cute dragons in the future. *sigh* Mom placed an order for a greenhouse shelf-thing that she is buying herself for her birthday, and we went to Staples to examine the possibilities for new computer desks. My bedroom will require redesigning in order to accomodate Natasha and her accessories and my current desk in Toronto won't work and is starting to its age.

Tomorrow I am getting my head pruned, at long last, and I will pick up a new box of Sculpey for further artistic pursuits. Then I'm off to Toronto with Bill and Richie for Dungeons & Dragons at A&C's. So, happy St. Valentine's Day, if you're into that sort of thing, otherwise let me wish you a terrific Emperor Norton Day and hope you celebrate in good health.

I am going to post some serious irreverance here, now, so be warned - it's funny, tasty, disturbing, and really WELL done. It speaks to my inner slash-fiction writer, who's muscles have not been flexed in four years or so. And without further ado - TWO PIRATES KISSING ! Big thanks to Stew who posted it in his livejournal.

Anyway, the router did exciting things that resulted in a two day lack of Internet, but all has been repaired and I'm back online. Stuff happened today but I don't really want to talk about it right now. I have to go and think about how I 'can improve my sales statistics', which ought to give you some idea as to why I'm irritated.

One thing I'm a little tired of is making plans only to have them fall through because of a migraine headache. It doesn't happen all that often anymore as most of my migraines are fairly tolerable, except today my date with Rick got the boot because this one is just a little too strong. We'd planned to go see The Return of the King again, but there is no way I could have sat through three-plus hours of movie magic with my eyes as sensitive as they were. Are. I've had to turn down the brightness on my computer in order to get some work done. Mostly I have done a lot of nothing today, so tonight, as soon as my eyes and head would allow it, I sat down at Natasha to work on a mock-up webpage. I'm playing around and trying new things, for instance, though I tend not to like them, frames. I will probably lose the frames before long, but it does allow for a new way of thinking about webpages if frames aren't your typical thing. Anyway, with this work underway, Mom cannot get upset that I'm leaving things until the last minute.

So, the good news is, I got the education job, and for the time being I have agreed to attend the training session though it totally facks up my plans to head back to Peterborough. I'm fairly certain that I'll be able to swing attending only part of the session, afterall, Mom and I have tickets for Cabin Fever in the Petes. It will be tight, but there's a rush-hour bus that should get me there in time. I must find out exactly the kind of hours I can expect to get from this job in order to make sure I can really afford to accept it. It does mean I'll have to leave one of my jobs in Membership if I take it. You see, I've also applied, and will likely get an interview, for another job in the Visitor Services Dept. It will take me out of the selling aspect of Membership and raise my wage and hours enough to make a significant difference to my standard of living. I guess I must do some thinking and talking to my mother about it. How is it that my mother knows how to deal with (nearly) everything?

The house desperately needs to be cleaned. My room is a mess, there's washing that needs to be done... Now that I have all this free time, you would think I'd get on it, right? Wrong. Maybe I'll work on the bathroom tonight. I had a bizarre migraine dream about living in a house with a whole bunch of people, most of whom I like, only there was this wacky disaster (a weather event, or something) and the house needed immediate and serious attention. In this dream I was the chief Swifferer. It was quite disgusting the muck we were Swiffering up, but I guess there was a little of my conscious thought seeping into my dreamtime. Anyway, my house is not full of muck, or lots of people, but two cats, one of whom sheds like she's got a disease, make a house pretty hairy, as does a pair of long-haired humans. And as for the laundry, I really am putting off the walk to the laundromat. It's a walk just long enough to make me dread it, especially with icy sidewalks. I know, I'm a wimp. I guess I've got no choice but to buck up and go clean my clothes on Sunday. Tomorrow, I'll pick up my drycleaned pants. It's a start. We're talking baby-steps, here, but a start nonetheless.


You are a faerie of the flame. You tend to lose
your temper at the littlest thing, hot-headed.
You're a loyal friend to those who can
understand your raging moods. You're social
though claim not to be. You are no one else but
yourself and sometimes you try to hard to be
just that. You're a passionate friend, and
would do almost anything for those you care
for.


What's your inner Faerie?
brought to you by Quizilla

In case it was wrong, I thought I'd try another one... Guess there's no denying it.

You are the Fire Faerie!


Sorting Faerie
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The impatience continues. You know, once one makes a life-choice one wants to move forward with it. There is certainly a feeling of stasis. I got my letter from Fleming College saying my application was received and now the waiting continues. I want to know for sure if I'll be going. I want to know for sure if I'll be moving home. I want both these things to happen -now- and nothing I can do will change the fact that I just have to be patient. I am still in relief from contract work, and while there is a nice feeling of 'what to do now' I cannot shake the need to be busy. It seems I got rather used to it. I never would have dreamed it possible, but I do not enjoy the vacant period of time each day that I spend wondering how to fill it. To compound this problem, I seem to be suffering from Artist Block. I want to draw, but I just end up drawing dumb stuff not worth finishing. So I think about the projects I want to do and then can't start them. Frustrating. I can't seem to write, either. I have been dingling about with my webpages, but it's not exactly stimulating dingling. Last night, while watching a special West Wing that did not suck and a CSI: Miami that sucked less than usual, I managed to sculpt a little dragon out of Sculpey clay. Unfortunately, it's the kind of cute, fat dragon that makes me want to puke. But, once painted, I'll probably be able to sell it, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. And, it was an exercise in creativity, so that was a change.

There is the possibility of further, future creativity as I screen-captured a bunch of good images featuring Moaning Myrtle from Chamber of Secrets. This, of course, is a long-running costume design that I have had. I have not the sewing skills, however; to pull it off. Nicole, on the other hand, does. Nicole is also moving into a new loft and I will be helping her paint it. This means a possibility of barter. Also, I plan to help as much as I can as sewing is a useful skill that I could only benefit in having. Anyway, that should be fun. Hopefully I'll be able to get it together for Ad-Astra, a good place to try out new costumes. Actually, I've never worn a real costume there, or at any convention, only sort of dressed up vaguely along a thematic line. I will also be exhibiting artwork at the show as before. Hopefully, fat, cute, cheesy dragons will sell well. I hate that I just said that. Gah. I'll be showing some of the older works and a few of the LotR works I exhibited at The Gathering of the Fellowship back in December.

The cats are getting along nicely, with the occasional ambush; Willi's settled in again and no longer mopes about. In fact, every morning she plays on my bed thus waking me up. It's very cute, if a bit irritating, and demonstrates her good humour. The game only improves if I happen to decide to play along. Today, since I didn't have to go to work, I got woken up around nine o'clock by her jovial bouncing, and when she settled down I went back to sleep. This meant that she got to do it all over again when I woke up three hours later or so. Cute, cute, cute. Also, I should mention that Tobe is now allowed to share the bed with Stinky, which makes me very hot at night.

Anyway, enough rambling about nothing, Rick is here and he is clearly impatient to be going for sushi because he's making dumb comments and staring at me with meaning.

Welcome to the mid-winter. Today was amazing. The birds were singing in the bright, warm winter sun. There was a bit of snow-melt, but only because of the heat of the sun; the temperature did not rise above -5C. At the ROM, people were in good spirits, and there was a really nice concert of traditional Erhu (or Chinese violin). The violinist was George Gao and he was accompanied by a small chamber string orchestra as well as a pianist. The music was very interesting, combining western influence with folk tradition of China and Gao himself was delightful. I sat in on the performance when my shift ended and found it enjoyable and restful.

Last night was the Yay-I-Quit party for Erin my friend from the ROM (and my old gym buddy). She'd been pigeon-holed and held back from advancing in her department long enough and she was through with it. It was a very good turn-out and I had a lot of fun. Held down at Fionn McCool's on King St. W., it was a pleasant pub and the food was excellent. I had a goat-cheese salad, old-fashioned steak and mushroom (you just don't find kidney around these parts) in a crock, and finished off my night with a sumptuous dessert called The Tinker's Tower that was so rich and huge it required help from others to finish. Rick came, too, which was nice because I got to show him off to all the ROM girls and now that he's not a stinky, long-haired smoker, he's forced to mingle like a real person, not behind the shields of hair and cigarette. I think he had a good time, and he certainly had a good dinner. There was much toasting and laughing, gossiping and story-telling. It was like a good day at work, only with much more alcohol and no fears of a supervisor catching you goofing off.

I've just had a completely satisfying dinner of fried ham and eggs with peach juice to take me through the night. There's not much in the way of veggies in the house, unless you count the tins in the cupboard, but I'll survive today without them. I would like to thank my mother who has helped me out with rent this month, which saves me from having my phoneline cut. Tomorrow is for paying Bell and then, for the most part, all my bills are caught up. The next pay cheque should be more substantive so that I'll be able to pay off what I owe to Arthur and hopefully half of the following month's rent. Whee ! I'm starting to look forward to going home for school. It will be a relief in so many ways, not the least for my wallet. I'm a bit impatient, now that I've figured out what I want to do with my life, for it to get a move on. I'm now in a kind of limbo between current annoying issues and future excitement. This is a much better limbo between crap and more crap, by the way, so this, too, is a great relief.