Some days, coffee just isn't enough. Even highly sweetened coffee. I'm just feeling so burnt out today.

Anyway, let me recap some points from my weekend back in the Petes. The Pink Ribbon Ball, held at the Trentwinds, was quite nice, until the band started. Man. Kountry Klassics. The name says it all, unfortunately. I did enjoy a nice two-step with Mom's friend, Wayne, however. The food was good and the auction was fun. After a while, though, Mom and I began to really feel uncomfortable with the ultra-couply atmosphere.

I helped Mom bring in her fish on Sunday. It was a bit chilly, especially when our hands were submerged in the water, but ultimately, it was an adventure and it all ended up quite successful. As an update to this story, sadly, yesterday, Mom discovered a bit too late that there was a hairline crack in the coy basin in the basement. While she was able to save Papa Coy, Mama Coy ended up asphixiating in the shallow water where the circulation pump could not reach. Sad news, but for four years, Mama Coy lived a very happy, fishy life and grew to be an enormous 16" long.

My hard drive is indeed toasted. I did consider data recovery as I really am loathe to lose my stories and old university essays, not to mention the art and music, too. Data recovery would just be too expensive so I'm just going to let this slip away and consider it a fresh start. The hard drive is, thankfully, still under warranty, so I'll be able to get a replacement from the company.

Yesterday, Scarlette's alternator blew in the parking lot right by the ROM. I spent the greater portion of my morning with a very pleasant tow-truck driver named Eric, and the first half of the afternoon at a friendly CAA garage near my house called Bento's Auto Repair, or some such. So, close to 300 dollars later, Scarlette was running quite smoothly. Couple this with the exhaust leak I had just had fixed and I have one nicely running car. Anyway, so much for being ahead of the Eight Ball this month. I'll be living on credit until next week's paycheque.

Tonight, Rick's taking me to see Punch Drunk Love and we're going to eat some sushi. Whee ! A date. Tomorrow, we're going to Al and Carrie's to help them hand out candy to children. I think I'll have to bring some art stuff over to their house, too, though, because I need to finish matting my artwork for the convention in Rochester. Megan and I are driving there and back on Friday. Exciting !

Today's name of the day at the ROM is Michael. Actually, it's been more like the name of the week. I've entered so many Michael's into the membership database that you would think it would go out of style. The web address of the day is definitely thejaggededgegroup.com, just for the name alone. It would have to be for the name, since there's nothing on the page yet.

I had my first Krispy Kreme doughnut today. It was... kind of tasty, but really sweet, and it had this weird texture and I didn't need to chew. I'm sorry, but... shouldn't you have to chew a doughnut? You'd think. Calvin, at work, says you should have them nuked, because 'they're just like angel wings'. I'll take his word for it. Anyway, I had said doughnut at a membership/foundation coffee mixer, or something, this morning. Of course, the point was to mingle together, but membership talked to membership and foundation talked to foundation. It's like foundation views membership as it's poor relation, or something. That said, I think it fair to point out that the coffee was quite delicious.

My commute in to the city from the Petes this morning was quite extraordinary. The sun was coming up and had cast a rosey glow over all of the clouds in the very blue sky. The light itself had that special fragility of autumn sunlight, that clear brightness that can only barely chase away the frost. And there was frost. There was a delicate silver coating over all the umber and chocolate shades of grass along the highway; with the coloured leaves above it was even more beautiful. Add to that how quickly the drive passed and how smoothly the traffic moved and I could almost persuade myself that I should move back to Peterborough and commute in to work.

Almost.

...

And, this just in: Bad news.

Your computer and Maxtor's own diagnostic tools are unable to detect
your hard drive. The clunking noise means the power is working, computer
knows that something is attached, but is unable to follow-through with
the detection process.

I tried switching ide cables, power cables, and primary/secondary
positions on the motherboard. (As well as using another computer.) The
problem is definitely the hard drive itself, which will need to be sent
to a professional recovery center if you are to recover any data.

There's http://www.cdrdatarecovery.com/ in toronto that advertises an
"under $500" special.. They might not be a bad option, since they don't
charge you if they can't get any data. Or try a big US company like
http://www.drivesavers.com/.

What a recovery center can do is replace the drive components in a
cleanroom or move the disk platters to a new drive altogether, that sort
of thing. It isn't cheap, but you have to decide how much of your
time/money your data is worth to you.

This terrible, terrible news comes straight from Derek who was doing an autopsy on Natasha. And just this time last week I was trilling joyfully about her. I should have backed up her files... I kept meaning to, but just never got around to it. I've been so busy. And now I want to cry. I guess Mom and I will discuss the options tonight.

In a pleasant moment of complete distraction, I decided to look up spider pictures on the 'net. Yep, it was definitely distracting, speaking as an arachnaphobe. I found this very nifty site that has some great information on it and especially enjoyed its unidentified spiders page. Then there was this other page about the spiders of the Dolomites, which wasn't terribly interesting, but it does sport some nice photos. My favourite is the top photograph of this page because it makes me smile. I mean, look at it's adorable face ! It's got its happy mask on. The whole reason I decided to waste time like this was because of the spider that was in my dream last night. I wanted to see if it was a real species. I'm still not sure, but I did see one spider that looked similar, at least in shape.

I had a wonderful car moment last night when I was driving home from work. I was sitting in traffic on Davenport listening to Disc Drive on CBC2, when I glance out my window at the car exactly beside me. There, stopped in traffic heading the other way, was an almost identical Subaru - a slightly later model Loyale, I think. Even the colour was almost the same. The woman behind the wheel, in her later middle age with a similar style as my mother, was looking at Scarlette with a big smile on her face. I grinned and gave her the thumbs-up, which she answered with her own. Hurray for old-school Subaru owners !

So, it turns out that the only person to remark on my entry about apostrophes and Old English was Tanya, who got quite professorish at me as she gave me a lecture about Old English vs. Middle English. Usually, such emails come from Nick, so this was a bit of a surprise. Of course, I'm opting to completely disregard her opinion, because... well, because I can. Hah ! Anyway, at least the entry sparked some controversy, though not at all about apostrophes or semi-colons. Actually, Tanya's email was quite interesting and did spark some return discussion from me. She's right, but I think I'm also right, at least to a degree, and maybe we'll have to leave it at that. The thing with history, especially the history of language, is that since no one was THERE to record it, we cannot ever know for sure. Maybe, to better qualify terms like Old English, we should make a broader scale that reflects demographic changes and whatnot.

Proto English - pre 300CE
Early English - 300-1066CE
Old English - 1066-1350CE
Middle English - 1350-1700CE
Modern English - 1700 onward
American Spelling - ongoing problem

And then anyone who deviates from said scale, can be drawn and quartered, or beheaded, or flayed, or hanged, or shot, depending on the time period they're referring to. Is that a bit over the top? Perhaps. Okay, well, I still think my list should stand. Tanya, your thoughts? ;)

Natasha's hard drive has blown. This is very bad. Very, very bad; no idea if it's recoverable. I almost went into appoplectic shock today when discussing what this could mean with my computer savvy boss. Strangely, when it happened, I was completely calm. I just shut it down and it restarted with this weird message: Boot Failure Insert Boot Disk and Press Enter. Or something to that effect. I just turned her off and then expected all to be well the following day. Sadly, this was not to be. I've now called Techknight and hopefully he'll be able to work a miracle. There are at least seven years worth of documents saved in her brain and several of them I desperately do not wish to lose. :(

Today, at work, I'm running a list. I'm checking it twice. I'm finding out who's been naughty or nice. And I can assure you that I'm ready for a stiff drink. This is hell. Calvin and I have both been working on this list of ROM volunteers trying to match them to memberships (a prerequisite to volunteering), only we seem not to be able to standardise our search techniques. I've been through this list of hundreds twice already, Calvin at least that many times, maybe more, and guess what we'll be doing together this afternoon? Yep. All over again. Feel my joy.

I'm off to Peterborough tonight, with Willi, in order to have my car worked on tomorrow. I'll take the Greyhound back to Toronto (leaving Willi with Mom) tomorrow morning in order to get to work on time. Yay? No. Anyway, on Friday night, I'll head back out to the Petes for the weekend. I will be attending the Pink Ribbon Ball in support of breast cancer research. So, I guess I will have to haunt the corn maze next year. Anyway, this will be more back and forth to Peterborough in a week than I've done since I moved out of residence at the end of my second year.

I was rear-ended again today. Yes, again. It's becoming something of a running joke only I do not find it terribly humourous, especially when the driver at fault tries to bully me. Anyway, 20 minutes late for work, but otherwise completely fine and Scarlette unscathed; it's all good.

I watched a lot of TV last night, which is quite bizarre for me, but I got a costume design done for the fan film and spent time bonding with Willi (who has finally forgiven me for 'abandoning' her when I went to the cottage) and also Nick. One shouldn't bond too closely with Nick, though, because he's liable to do something that he won't regret... but you might. He found a link to a woman reading The Canterbury Tales in the Old English. Gosh, it sounded beautiful and the language sort of permiated my skull and became perfectly understandable. I've remarked on it before, but Old English sounds a lot like Dutch.

Well, Wilson is no longer with the ROM, choosing instead, the tricky road to employment in Hong Kong. Tony Tran is up here now, and while he's a nice and funny guy, things just won't be the same without Wilson leaning around the divider saying, "Maya you so mean ! You so mean, Maya. I call you DJ Meanie because you so mean. Why you so mean to me?" What a nut. I wish him well. Apparently the job market in Hong Kong is very difficult, so he'll need all the good wishes he can get. Anyway, having Tony coming upstairs (he, like me, began with site-sales) will likely mean I'll lose some of my hours since the whole reason I've been working full-time has been because we've been short-staffed. Maybe I'll get some extra work from New Media. I hope.

To change the topic completely, a few weeks back, Rick sent me a link to the Apostrophe Protecion Society. I think he did it as something of a joke, knowing that I have a real beef with how badly abused language has become. Apostrophes, semi-colons, colons, when used incorrectly, as well as double negatives, make me crazy. Anyway, I emailed the chairman of the Society and he emailed me in response. Here is my letter to him:

...I am driven to distraction by improper apostrophe placement as well as other
common grammatical horrors. I can't help it, I was raised by well degreed
mother who also happened to teach English to functionally illiterate college
students.

Have you considered creating a sibling society about the proper use of
semi-colons? I believe that is another horribly abused punctuation mark...

His response:

...What a very encouraging email to receive. Thanks. As you say, it will be
a fight, but there seem to be plenty of people who still have respect for
grammar. I don't think I can start protecting the semi-colon, but if you
like to start an appropriate society, let me know. I will certainly join.
Best wishes - John

Isn't that neat? Now watch, everyone will start emailing me when I make grammatical errors in my weblog. I guess that's the price I have to pay. Anyway, I'd love to start a Semi-colon Protection Society. Anyone know how one does such a thing?

Apparently, Elfwood does not believe that what I do with lead miniatures is original art. Okaaaay. I'm not sure what makes them different than people having inked a work but having had someone else paint it, or vise versa. Sometimes, Elfwood's rules piss me right off. I guess my portfolio page is going to have to get a serious face-lift soon, then.

Anyway, congratulations, Rick, on your buck-and-a-half raise ! *smooches*

If Elvis is flipping burgers in the south, Ernie Coombs is alive and playing pool in Peterborough.

Another long hiatus, but another valid reason. I was in the Petes with Rick, and frankly, I was too busy to even manage to check my email, let alone write in my weblog.

We had a nice time in the Petes, despite some setbacks. I had a tetnus shot that made me feel kind of less than stellar, and all our corn maze haunting intentions were foiled when Henry (since childhood, I've given this name to my vision of the weather god) decided that the skies should open and spill forth their liquid contents. Oh well. I might manage some haunting next weekend, but we'll have to see.

There was much enjoyable socialising. On Saturday, Rick and I met up with the gang (Al, Carrie, Richie, and Bill, and many others, who do not picture in the later part of this account) at a Warhammer tourney and following that, upon discovering that nothing worth mentioning was playing at the cinema, there were drinks and food at Riley's. Rick and I played some highly humourous games of pool with Richie and Bill. Richie narrowly missed Rick's boy-bits with the cue ball, and nailed me with the chalk. I swear, it was like a war zone with balls flying everywhere except where we wanted them to go. And yes, Ernie Coombs is alive and playing pool in Peterborough. The resemblance was uncanny.

Mom had Ray over for dinner on Friday night, and though the vaccination had me feeling low, it was a good time. We ate some of the game meat that we came back with from the cottage, the venison sausages. Following that, we watched Deliverance, which oddly enough, I'd never seen. Wow. They just don't make films like that anymore. Mostly, I forgot that I was watching a movie at all, the whole thing moved so naturally. Interestingly enough, they showed it on television the following night, and we managed to tune in to the interviews following it. Ronnie Cox, the actor that played Drew, said that in the year following the film's release, 31 men died on the Chattooga river (where the film was shot) trying to re-enact the story.

Sunday was the fundraising champaigne brunch in support of the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra hosted at th'Electric City Gardens. It was amazing. The champaigne, provided by the incredibly cheap Collio Estates (they donated four bottles of not very good, ultra-affordable 'champagne'), was the only thing that was not. It was fizzy white wine that was a long way from being delicious or classy. Anyway, the food was marvelous, naturally, and there was a flutist and keyboard accompaniment who played quite pleasantly. All in all, it was a success, I think, and everyone was impressed. Good job to my mom for organising the whole thing, and to Rick (he cut off the holly from the ornaments - they were Christmas tree decorations, originally), and also to me, for sitting at the computer for a couple of hours putting together the menu cards. Yay !

Okay, I'm back ! I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, or, for those of you who aren't Canadian, but think we're just another state, a happy Columbus Day.

My cottage was spectacular. Yes, it's always wonderful there, but it was extra spiffy this time, because it was so perfect. I had no pressures attached to the making of art for the expo, just time with myself, Mom, Melody (the cat we brought because she needs daily medication) and all the things I chose to spend time doing. I think it wouldn't be fair to chronicle the events as I so often do, rather I think this time I'll just high light some stand-out moments (hours). There was at least one such event each day - it was that kind of a holiday.

We arrived on Thursday, after dark, to find the house exactly as it was left. This was a wonderful thing. For the last four summers, excluding this past summer, we've rented our cottage to friends of the family. In years prior to that, often the camp was used by friends in the Montreal area on the weekends. This time, no one had been using the camp since Mom closed it up at the end of August. All the pots and pans, glasses and forks were exactly as they had been left. The bedrooms were as they had been, things stored where they were supposed to be; a rare and exquisite pleasure, simple as it is.

The first fire that we lit was a wonderful thing, too. Oh, the smell of wood smoke filling the woods and tinging the air in the cabin is one of my favourite things. I love the sound of birch when it pops and the flare of heat when I open the stove doors. It's an airtight stove, so it heats well and effeciently. The piece itself probably ways six hundred pounds and is cast iron. The house may rot back to the earth and that stove will remain. There's a lovely familiar squeak as you turn the handles to open the doors, too, sort of a chirp that signifies warmth, love, and probably my mother cursing as a log rolls off of where it should be pinning her poker beneath it. Unfortunately, Melody became the second cat we've owned to jump on it. It is a good thing her feet are tufty with fur, because she didn't burn them badly. The second cat and in both instances, neither cat could boast a remarkable mind.

I took a walk every day that we were up there. On the Saturday, I went and picked apples from the trees that stand in what were once the fields of the McEvoy farm. Monge owns it now, and has for years, but I remember when the fields were still fields, albeit overgrown. Once, crossing the stream that runs through them, my father and I fell in. Apparently my fears of crossing over a fallen tree were completely well-founded, and we both sogged our way home. I still remember how my sneakers squelched. Anyway, now the fields are choked with evergreens planted when Monge took the fields, their purpose, I suppose, eventually to be harvested for timber. Thick though they grow, they have not crushed the indomitable spirit of the old apple trees, nor, it seems, have they infiltrated the deeper areas of field. I picked a basket's worth of apples for Thanksgiving dinner. Mom makes the BEST spiced crabapples. Ever. This time, I was smart enough to greet the trees warmly and not climb about in them, as apple trees, at least in the mythology, are very... difficult. Last summer, I learned the hard way when my pants were torn quite vulgarly through the inner thighs and my knee was twisted painfully as I fell out of one tree. The trees, this time, seemed quite happy to share their burden with me, and they ended up quite delicious.

Thanksgiving dinner was great ! Mom bought a roaster, rather than toiling all day over the wood-burner in the kitchen. It was a marvelous adventure and a complete success ! Elizabeth came in from Montreal (never play cards with her, she's a shark, something we forget everytime) and Jean and Michael came up the hill to join us in our feast. We moved the dinning room table out of the 'dining room' and into the living room, near the big stove, in order to accomodate the larger number of people. The turkey was perfect, the apples were perfect, the stuffing and potatoes were perfect, the pie was perfect, and the company was better than that ! It was a memorable Thanksgiving, to be sure.

We took a drive up the Rouge River (Riviere Rouge, as the signage says) in order to see the fall colours and, as they were coming into their peak, we were not disappointed. I climbed about on the massive rocks of the river, as I often do, only this time I was bundled in a long sleeved shirt, a flannel lumber shirt, and my leather jacket. It was cold ! It had actually bottomed out at zero degrees the previous night. Anyway, Mom and I collected a pair of pebbles to take to Leo's grave and then we took the very scenic route to the cemetary. We laid the pebbles on the gravestone and then wandered in the rest of the cemetary reading some of the other names. McEvoy, McArthur, Lalonde, Poirier, MacAndrews... if anyone thinks Quebec was founded soley by French people, they just need to visit the rural cemetaries of western Quebec and the Eastern Townships; laine pur, my arse. Following our visit to Leo, we went home to enjoy leftovers. Yum !

Anyway, so now I'm back in Toronto, for the night, before gathering up my cat and boyfriend to head back to the Petes for fun over the weekend. Rick hasn't been out to the Petes in a long time, so it should be nice. We'll be haunting a corn maze the Saturday night, and enjoying a champagne brunch in support of the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra. Keen !

And finally, in other news, I finished my work on the ROM site and why am I not surprised to see that it hasn't been added to their webpage, yet? Maybe I'll drop into the IT department tomorrow when I'm in to pick up my paycheque and see Brett about it. Oh well, the work was done and now it's out of my hands.

This is going to be my last post for a little while as I'm heading to the Petes tonight and tomorrow, Mom and I will be heading to the cottage. I'm pretty excited about going; autumn is a good time up there. I can already smell the wood smoke and hear the rustle of drying leaves. The colours probably won't be terribly vibrant as they are practically nonexistant here in the city. It's just been such a lousy fall for colour. At least it's gotten cooler, though they're calling for temperatures in the low 20s later this week. Yeesh.

There's a union party at the Bedford Academy this evening, so I'm going for a bit. We'll be celebrating our new union executives and the achievement of two decent contracts. Rick will meet me here at the museum and we'll walk over. There will be finger foods and one free drink, which I'll let Rick have, and then, after I congratulate Ceceil on being re-elected as the president, I'm going to head home to pack. Derek is coming over, too, in order to pick up keys and to see how to feed Willi while Nick and I are absent. I think Willi'll be in good hands with him. He's a good egg.

I've handed over my work on the ICC page to Brett, the ROM's amazingly patient and pleasant webmaster. We made a couple more changes to it today, sitting in his office. All in all, it's not been a terribly arduous project, and I've enjoyed it quite a bit. I learned new things, and offered good suggestions, some of which were implemented, and I think it's ben a really good experience. I hope to be doing more of such work for the ROM in the future. Go me !

Anyway, back to work I go. I have plenty of stuff here that needs doing before I take off. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving long-weekend. See you when I get back !

After a discussion with my mother about names I do and do not like, I have to add a few to my list of liked names: Maya (Mom got offended that I hadn't put it on, and yes, I LOVE my name), Ira, Ruth, Judas, Rachel, Matthew, James (not Jim), Solomon, and Avrum. Heavy on the Judeo-Christian names, eh? I'll also add Sebastian (and its variants), Una, Wim, and Joan. Now, as a disclaimer: If you don't see your name, I might not have thought of it, or while I might like it, it might not have quite made the list. The list is by no means complete, nor is it meant to offend. At the very least, these lists have stimulated a good amount of conversation.

I did not find Velkyn's character sheet. I suspect it is truly lost. Despite my promise not to play if I could not find it, I did end up going to Al and Carrie's afterall. I brought my wax beans and added them to the D&D dinner, and then was informed that I was to be playing afterall, because they weren't done. Okay then. I hadn't brought even my temporary sheet. Nuts. Good thing I carry dice in my purse. Shut up, you knew I was a geek.

Unfortunately, I felt the beginnings of a headache on my way over, and by the time I was eating, I knew it was a migraine. Not wanting to poop out, I took some tylenol, bringing the pain to a more tolerable, though still clinging, level, and went on with the game. My fun level was a lot lower than usual because of the pain, and when I returned to my home I washed my face and went to bed.

This morning, I felt much better; sensitive in the eyes, but altogether functional. It's a wonderful autumn day, cool, crisp, windy, with bright sunshine and a real smell of October in the air. I am wearing my velvet blazer for the first time since last winter and though smelling a bit musty, it's nice to be clothed in the old favourites again. Tonight, I'll get my work done with the ICC thing and tomorrow I'll be able to take it to the ROM's webmaster for preliminary hosting. I can't get it to look good in netscape, despite using the existing template, but IT can do something about that.

Now I'm pretty much counting down the days until I'll be at my cottage. Mom and I will be there for Thanksgiving. We haven't done that in a long time. We're going up on Thursday and we're coming back on the Tuesday, so it will be a nice long weekend. I love the cottage in the fall. I love the cottage all the time, really, but in the fall it's just so autumnally wonderful. Except for the extremely cold seat in the outhouse, anyway. :O

Willi will stay in Toronto. This will be a bit stressful for her, I know, because she's so attached to me, and with Nick doing family things for part of it, it will be even worse. Derek will be looking after things while I'm gone, so I know she'll be okay. Mom will be bringing Melody, though, leaving Chester at her house, because Melody is old and gets daily medication that we don't trust others to give. We'd just bring them all if we could, but it's hunting season and we don't really want them to be shot. It will be pretty difficult to keep them in, so it's best if we do not bring them at all. I suggested we could get them little jackets in hunter orange, but Mom did not share my enthusiasm. *laugh* Oh well.

See which Greek Goddess you are.

That was NOT the same picture that was on the website. I dunno what goddess that is, but that is not Athena. Athena had a helmet and, you know, looks kind of war-like. Anyway, on with the log.

I had a wonderful time in Guelph visiting with Tracy. The drive out was horrible what with rush hour traffic and an accident, too. It turned a drive that I can easily do in under an hour and fifteen minutes into closer to two hours. Crappy. On a positive note, the weather held off until I arrived at her place. A wicked storm blew up, soaking her bed (before it occured to us to close her bedroom window), but we were safe and sound enjoying Trey Parker's movie, Orgazmo, which I'd never seen. Man, was it crazy ! Think of it: good Mormon boy of the latter-day saints doing his mission work in LA and getting drafted into a porn flick. Don't worry, he has a stunt cock stand in for the penetration scenes. It was crude, but also very clever and totally satisfying, which has nothing to do with the porn. Really. ;)

I played with Tracy's parrot, Coral (who bit me today and drew blood, the nasty fellow), quite a bit, as well as her cat, Deedlit (spelling, anyone?). Deedlit's a bit silly, but quite forgiving because she's so darn cute, sort of like Willi. I was less impressed with her when she stepped on my face at seven in the morning, and when she and the other cat, Jasper, were wrestling in the room at various times of the night. Good wrestling, not fighting. One thing that was super neat and not something you see every day, was Tracy and Mel (her housemate) vaccinating Jasper. The cat refuses to let a vet touch him, even on a house call, so Mel was given the syringes already filled with the vaccines and was left to do it herself. She's only a second year student, though, and less comfortable with needles than Tracy, so after three missed attempts, they wrapped Jasper in a towel, Mel held him down, and Tracy gave the injection. A day in the life of a vet student? Today we also took Deedlit outside on her leash and harness. Nifty.

We went to a farmers' market this morning and bought good food, some of which I brought back for my dinner. To digress somewhat, I enjoyed two small emu-meat pies and some late corn on the cob for dinner tonight. I have wax beans for tomorrow. Hurray ! The apple seller was out of spartans, but I picked up some lovely empires for a nice low price and they are delicious. Tracy also brought me along for a tour of the vet college. She is a tour guide and I was more than happy to accompany as it allows me to live somewhat viccariously through her own experiences at the school. I enjoyed the tour very much. I got to see specimens in jars of icky siamese twin pigs and such. Pretty gross stuff. The tour was fun and the college has such a lovely atmosphere, even if parts of it smell rather a bit like preserved cadavers. When the tour was over, Tracy took me into the restricted areas to meet her sheep. She works with a lab sheep. We also walked past the equine isolation stalls and there was one horse passed out in the stall on an IV, which was pretty interesting to see. There was a gorgeous show horse in one stall and he was all excited to see people looking in the observation window and he looked very good. We couldn't figure out why he was in isolation. Then we saw the bloody mucus he left on the plexiglass. Ew. Not a good sign.

Anyway, now I'm back at home, procrastinating before A) putting the edited text into the web page and, B) looking for my long lost character sheet. If I can't find it, I doubt I'll go to D&D tomorrow. I have a lot of stuff I need to be doing, anyway. We'll see.

In case you've sent me email in the last five days and I haven't answered, this would be because Hotmail is meddling with its servers again, or something. Anyway, I know for a fact that at least two messages never came and one was delayed by three days. I also have no idea if the emails I'm sending are going out, though it does appear that for the most part they are. Back to work I go.

Heading to Guelph tonight ! Hurray ! I'm going to visit with Tracy. Initially it was to be for the whole weekend, but her father's birthday is tomorrow night and I have more work to be doing so we're driving back together in the afternoon on Saturday. Willi should be suitably upset by my absense. Little does she know that I'll be gone for most of a week over Thanksgiving. Poor girl. I'll miss her, but on the other hand, I'll enjoy getting a full night's sleep several nights in a row.

Speaking of work, which I really wasn't speaking of, I'm quite pleased. I've been working on the ICC site and had to play within the bounds of the current website template. It's a very boring template, but it's teaching me many things. I used CSS for the first time (cascading style sheets) ever. I used a tutorial first, and then recreated the ones I used in the original site. I was surprised at how easy they are to use, which, I suppose, is the point. Julian's had a look at the page and aside from a couple of typos that will be fixed tomorrow night, he thinks it looks good. Also, he's ammenable to the use of images. So, I'm going to try to get a hold of some on Monday. I was thinking of creating a sort of photo montage that can be a transparent image underneath the text. A good idea, I think, and quite tasteful.

If all goes well, I might actually be able to play D&D on Sunday, but I'm not sure. I'd like to, but first I'd like to find my character sheet. Arg ! Why is it that the important things are the first to disappear? *wink*

At half past four yesterday afternoon, I received the revised Call for Submissions. Finally. I didn't do anything with it last night since Rick was coming over so tonight's the big night. Tonight I get busy !

We watched West Wing last night, and, as usual, it was good. We watched part of that horrible Amazing Race show, and as they introduced the people, I knew I didn't care. Though, I kind of hope the strict Baptist and his gay son win. We flipped to that 50 Years of the CBC thing hosted by Rick Mercer. It was kind of funny. Last night was CBC television during the 70s. Tonight it will be the 80s. If I watch anything, though, it will likely be the CSI show. Going back to Rick Mercer for a moment, I have to wonder, why is he the CBC's golden boy lately? Yes, his Talking to Americans was funny, but I'm not sure I understand the love affair. Oh well.

Willi broke my spider plant. Again. It seems her widening hips make it hard for her to judge where to land and how to turn about on the window sill. Looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and go buy some potting soil and a new pot on Sunday. It's a good thing spider plants are nearly impossible to kill. It just goes right on sprouting babies and flowers. Rick was a good guy and cleaned up the mess that Willi had made. I couldn't deal with it this morning, not if I wanted to be on time, anyway. Big smoochy thanks to Rick for taking care of the plant.

What does one do with an incredibly irritating, adorable cat? She drives me so insane at night that I dream of declawing her. I absolutely hate declawing cats, because it mutilates their paws. I do understand that there is a new way to do it that leaves the joints intact, and I might even consider it because she can get agressive, be horribly destructive, and drives me out of my mind when she picks the bottom of my door to wake me up at night. I don't know. I love her to pieces, but she really is a pain in the ass. Oh well, who needs to sleep anyway, right?

I think I'm going insane. I keep hearing things that aren't there. I could have sworn I heard a subway door chime, but since I work on the fourth floor of the museum, it seems rather unlikely, even if the ROM is above a station. It's a creepy feeling this sensation of dwindling sanity. They say that if you think you're nuts, you probably aren't. I'm counting on that.

Last night, I went over to Megan's house. It's in a bit of turmoil since she and Chris broke up and he was finishing up moving his stuff, and her other roommate, Chantal, gave notice, too. Megan's looked better. She's put on weight and is even paler than she usually is, but it was great to see her. We've missed each other very much, neither making much effort to hold up the friendship as each of us fought our seperate private battles. We watched Buffy, which rocked, and then a new show called Haunted, which didn't entirely suck and we'll watch again, and topped it off with Angel. If I'm not working to deadline next Tuesday, we're going to do it again.

Speaking of deadlines, at least the Imaging Centre got back to me. I'll deal with that tomorrow. I've grabbed the ROM book, Worlds to Explore, which sort of takes the reader through a vague tour of the different galleries. I've already marked four images I wouldn't mind using. Of course, having the final copy to work with would be nice. I think it's time for a phone call. On top of that Dawn wants costume designs. I'm going to explode. Scream. Flail about madly. Something dramatic to appropriately show how pulled I feel. If I could just get that copy ! Gar ! *mildly freaking out*

In fairness, I shall endeavour to create a list of names that I like. This is not a list of potential baby names, I don't particularly dream of having babies, but I do have very strong preferences for certain names.

Adelaide, Stephen, David, Jude, Claire (hi mom !), Anne, Phalar, Thomas, Jack, Ben, Kieran, Megan (and with an H, but not spelled Meagan), Ian, Catherine, Emma, Aaron, Isaac, Ellen, Justin, Chavah, Olivia, Robert, Jeffrey (and with a G), Julie, Evan, Gregory, Nigel, Johanna, Nathaniel (Nathan), Jasmine, Laurel, Lucifer (shush, it means 'bringer of light'), Michael, Vivian (for either male or female),Claudia, Uriel, and Eshe.

I can hear the membership peeps discussing future 'incentives' to draw in more members and ensure that members renew. It's sort of interesting how they discuss it. It's very consumer-driven and quite mercantile. We the public don't often think about how much planning goes into the annoying direct mailings that come, or even the scripts that are used, and the trouble-shooting and scenarios that must be considered. They're also discussing hospital visits and injuries, but I guess it can't be all work, all the time, eh?

I took a walk at lunch today; headed over to the Manulife Centre to buy some stuff at the Pharma Plus there. I couldn't help but marvel at today. The previous warm weather record was set in 1988 at 27C, but today it hit 28C (go, Toronto?!) and did actually make 34C with the humidex, but because there's a gentle breeze, and the sun's not so high in the sky, it doesn't feel as bad as it could. I had a very nice walk in the sun, and for now, I've decided that I will enjoy this strange Indian Summer. The long-range prediction, as bespoken by the Weather Network, will remain a bit warm, but cooling right down next week. I wonder if they will be right.

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.

Right, well, it looks like it's going to be another beautiful day, sunny, warm and not too humid. This is good for me since I'm going with Carrie to visit some bridal shops to look for bridesmaid type dresses. I'm still all for using Sandra of Heretic to make the actual gown, but we'll see.

Last night, Carrie and I went down to the Dome where we met Rick and Al for the ball game. A&C had won four free tickets to see the Jays play the Yankees. Happily, the players' strike was averted and the game played on. It was an excellent game, despite the fact that the Jays lost. Not really a big surprise, though we did whomp the Yanks the night before. It looked like it was going to be carnage after the Yanks had leapt into a rather pronounced lead within the first inning, but steadily, the Jays caught up. It ended up being really exciting with the final score being 9-7. I haven't been to a ball game in at least four years, so this, with the excellent seats not far past third base, nine rows up from the front, we all had a really good time. Carrie and I also looked adorable in our animal ears, which I'd bought at the zoo earlier that day, she in koala ears and me in white tiger ears.

And, indeed I was at the zoo. I met Gwyn, from RoD, for the first time and we had a great time. Gwyn is a very nice person with a good sense of humour and an incredibly cool wheelchair. In about four hours we did most of the zoo, skipping over the African Savana and the Canadian Wilderness. A lot of the animals were asleep, but some favourites like the elephants and rhinoseri (dictionary.com has the plural as being rhinoseroses, which is INCORRECT, stupid Americans killing classical language), the giant octopus, the clouded leopard who insisted on sleeping between the big water pipe and ceiling rather than its tree, and the otters. Always the otters. They always look like they're having a lot of fun. I'd be happy to be an otter, frankly. Anyway, it was a good time and the weather was great. The butterflies in the indomalaya woodland pavillion were out in the sunshine flitting through the trees like something out of a children's book, like art-nouveau book illustrations come to life. Simply beautiful.

Tonight we're playing D&D at Ryan's which will be a nice tight squeeze in his tiny appartment, but he insists on us playing there and we're humouring him, I guess. Tomorrow, I think we're going to do a small scale belated birthday dinner for me, and Rick would really like it if we went to Whisky Saigon for retro night, and maybe we will. I don't know. Maybe I've grown out of clubbing but I just can't bring myself to find this as something I want to do. I plan to work on my web stuff tomorrow and Monday, too, though on Monday I'm going to drop by Derek's new place (which is practically around the corner) and hang out for a bit. I really want to get web stuff done. I've been meaning to work on Ray's page for ages. Anyway, I'm feeling kind of sulky for no apparent reason, so I'll go before this gets me down.

Today I've actually had the pleasure of acting as a proper Union Steward. Whee ! Mostly this has entailed me shlepping all over the museum looking for the president in order to ask questions, Wilson (with his broken arm) in tow. Questions about leaves of absense and/or extended sick time foremost. And then giving some sort of council to Wilson about his insurance and what the ROM will and will not cover. I got to meet the Membership Dept.'s representative in HR and he's as much of a slime as people made him out to be. As one woman said to me on our way out of HR, "He looks evil." Anyway, maybe he's not, but he's all about saying things like, "Well it's really up to the union," and, "I can't really say, it depends on what the museum and union work out." Yeesh, a break... give me one, please. However, it's a useful experience and I got to take Wilson into areas of the ROM he's never been before. It's BIG. Anyway, now I should really get some work done since I've been doing this for the better part of two hours.

Another thing that happened on the weekend was Nadine's going away party. Yes, that's right, my jazz-singing friend has left for England. She found the Canadian scene a real bitch to break into and so, with a couple of leads in London, she decided to up and go. It can't be worse there, plus it puts her closer to the not insignificant jazz culture of continental Europe.

Anyway, my intention was to visit for only a little while, but when I arrived at the place the party was being held and was given food and drink, extricating myself became more difficult. You should only know what this condo was like. It was hosted by Nadine's friend Shauna and my goodness was her place incredible. It was three levels with the kitchen, dinning/living room on the first level, her bedroom on the middle level, and a lounging area on the third, which also happened to open onto a fantastic L-shaped balcony overlooking downtown Toronto. *drool*

I talked a lot to Errol, Nadine's cousin, who I'd met on at least one other occasion, and to this other fellow named Louie who has a band. Louie, I think, dug me, but I left him with no contact information and took off (eventually) when he was distracted by the arrival of his friends. I'm so evil. *cackles* Anyway, it was fun. It was a lovely send-off for a cool, cool chick. I hope she does well in London.

Last night, skipping ahead to the very near past, I went to Paul's house. Paul being the boyfriend of Tracy. You see, Tracy, the night before, had visited me (and we'd both visited her Mom) and left her wallet/day-planner thing at my house. It was hiding under the Arrow-launching Action Aragorn (or whatever it is called) that she had given me for my birthday. So, after work and dinner, I drove up to Paul's neighbourhood to return this very important article to its rightful owner. Silly Tracy. I haven't been to Paul's house in at LEAST five years, but probably more.

Anyway, I got to meet her parrot, Coral, who tried to bite me, and then sat very quietly on my finger. When Paul arrived, he demonstrated how much Coral doesn't like him. Coral screams at Paul and tries to get away from him. It's quite funny. Then Paul and Tracy introduced me to the myriad of creatures residing in the house. Aside from the three cats, the dog, and Coral, there are countless spotted geckos (quite cool), a larger lizard that feels like a small pinapple, some fish, and two cameleons, male and female. I left smelling very much of animal, especially after hugging Paul goodbye after he'd worked all day in a barn. *laugh* It was a very nice visit and a very long time coming.

Before I tell any more stories, here are two pictures taken by my friend, Brian (from Seneca), on Friday at the expo. Here's the first (with Nicole on the side). Here's the second, a close up of some of my stuff. Keen, Brian, thanks !

Now for the fun. Well, basically, it was all fun, except Friday night when it was hard to take the amazing lack of sales. That was not fun. But on Saturday, things picked up a lot. Sunday was smashing, though. Due in part (the sales, sure, but more importantly) to my friends and family coming to show their love and support. Eric came, Tracy and her mother, Nicki (my other mother), my mom and Ray came, and most surprising of all... Ryan came. I'm sure I'm missing at least one person, but honestly, the whole weekend is a bit of a blur. One of the keenest things to happen on Sunday took place while I was coming back from the Independent Artists section with my mother was when I spotted this strange man whom I thought I recognised.

"That guy," said I as I stopped and turned, "looks a lot like Ed Greenwood." So, with much encouragement by my mother to go and find out if it was indeed him, off I trotted. He covers a lot of ground - he's a lot taller than he looks.

Me: Excuse me, is your name, by any chance, Ed?
Him: Why yes it is.
Me: And also Greenwood?
Him: Yes. But don't tell anyone, I'm in disguise.

Anyway, he remembered me from way back in high school when I was still going out with Jon (who was a family friend of Ed) and we started to chat. I explained that I had a booth and he wanted to know what I was selling. When I said my art, he nearly bounced, or maybe he did bounce, and said, "Well, let's take a look !" He ended up hanging around my booth for about 20 minutes and even bought my pack of six cards. I threw in a print for free. Anyway, he's a delightful man, a six foot tall gnome, as I called him, which made him laugh merrily, and also a dirty bastard. He takes pride in all these things. Perhaps the dirty bastard most of all. I gave him a business card, too, and asked him to write me fan mail, which he agreed to do, and who knows, maybe he will. That would be keen.

As Ryan said, which I will reitterate here and make them my own sentiments, "I owe a lot to that man."

The Fangirl.

Okay. It's becoming a thing. *grin* I kind of like it. Each time it happens, it's a different person, which makes it that much cooler. A young woman, maybe early 20s, came to my booth, where I'd pinned two prints to the tablecloth, one being the illustration from Waterloo (Obi in leather pants with microphone, being backed up by Mace, Qui-Gon, and Yoda in platform boots). She stopped, cracked up and the dialogue went much like this:

Meagan: That looks like -
Me: It is.
Meagan: From the -
Me: Sith Academy.
Meagan: Ya ! It's from -
Me: Ishyko's "Waterloo".
Meagan: Are you...?
Me: Maya, Mad Mambolica. Greetings.
Meagan: Wow ! I love your stuff !

It went from there and, ultimately, she bought the print and asked me to sign it. Cool eh? I rather thought so. She was actually a lot less gushy than my other two fangirls (ever) have been. But boy, was she ever pleased. Me too.

I will finish this progression of stories sometime later.

Today, I had an interview (again) in New Media. It wasn't so smashing an interview as the last one, but hey, it's hard to blow the mind twice in a row. Afterall, it was the exact same people sitting in on the interview. It went alright. Hopefully, I'll get it.

Okay.

The guy I haven't seen since high school... Adam Lewis. He used to intimidate me and I had a memory of him as being over six feet tall and built like a house. He's like, I don't know, 5'9" max. And not scary. We figure it was because he was high all the time. Ya. That and the piercings. Piercings scared me back then. In truth, he's just a huggy-bear and he happened to have the booth beside Nicole and I.

Wow, that was a lame story.

Pirate cookies. VERY important. Not only are they full of oatmealy goodness and peanut butter (mmm, protein), but they can sustain a person through an entire day of hard work at a trade show. I know this because on Sunday, I had some crappy yogurt, a bite of cake (supplied by Nicole for my birthday) - and I do mean a bite, a coffee, a juice box, and six Pirate cookes. These cookies, single-handedly, saved my life. Or at least made the hunger pangs bearable. And they're tasty. Not just alright, but darned good. Thanks to Nicole for bringing them.

That's enough tonight. I'll finish the stories tomorrow. Now I'm tired.

So... hm. I'm at the ROM, and am about to head out for cheap Chinese with Stacey. But before I do, here's one of the many stories from this past weekend.

The Ringwraith.

Remember my encounter with the Nazgul at Toronto Trek, back in early July? Well, the same costumers were at the expo, too, and there again, was the Ringwraith. I got all excited as it (he) headed past the booth and said, "Nicole, look, it's the Ringwraith ! The Ringwraith !! YAY THE RINGWRAITH !" the latter being said with muppetatious waving of arms above my head. Needless to say, the wraith turned around to see who was causing such a commotion. I swear I heard it chuckle and I even think I saw it's shoulders lift at the same time. I might be wrong. Anyway, it paused there a moment and then raised it's gauntleted hand and wiggled its fingers at me with a lovely clinking of armour. I think it remembered me. Whee !

So, the SFX was a success. I won't go into it now because I'm more tired than I've been in a long, long time. Details to follow soon, including stories about the ringwraithe (same one from T-Trek), the importance of Pirate Cookies, the guy I haven't seen since high school, the fangirl, and... the fun.

What else, what else? Oh, new stuff at my Lothlorien gallery at Elfwood. Updates to my portfolio will occur soon, as will updates to Ray's page.

Today is my birthday. All celebrating is off until I have the time. I have to prep for an interview tomorrow, and still I have not opened my presents (from Mom and Ray). Food was simply more important. Now I shall do that and then prep. Then bathe. Then prep. Then go to bed. The end.

Well, just a quick entry to start. Hopefully I'll get back to this sometime this crazy-busy weekend. I'm off to set up for the Sci-Fi Expo, with Rick's help, sometime in the near future. I've managed to get everything on my list done and, hopefully, I haven't forgotten anything. I spent an obscene amount at Kinkos, which stunned me, but my mother assured me that it's money for my future, and I feel marginally better about it. Sort of. Whichever way you look at it, $277 is a LOT of money. Both she and Rick assure me that I'll make it all back. There are moments when I think so too, and moments when I despair that anything will be sold at all.

In other news, last night, Willi caught a mouse in the house. Willi the Huntress ! I was photographing my dioramas with Nick's digital camera and I'd just finished when I heard something behind me. I turned around, camera still in my hands, and lo, there was Willi bopping the mouse on the head. I took some pictures of her flipping the poor thing about before getting a paper towel and picking it up. I threw it into the neighbour's yard (the one that doesn't like cats) and went back inside. Much praise for Willi-bee and then I cleaned my hands. Feh. If I thought she was actually going to bother killing it, I'd have let her, but, it was tiny and she was only half interested.

I'm back ! Huzzah !

I wish I weren't back, but I am, because real life has to happen no matter how we try to stall it. I love my cottage. There is no other place on Earth that I would rather be. We've called it many things, including Paradise, and for me, that is truly what it is. Paradise with distant chainsaw sounds. My cottage is nothing like the typical 'cottage'. There are no motor boats on our lake, only one other cottage (albeit owned by crazy people, though mostly they don't bother us), and a wide expanse of forest and overgrown farmland surrounding us. Up the road there are three other cottages (including our lake neighbours) and one permenant residence. Below us, there is another year-round house (owned by our close friend Jean and her son, Michael). My oldest friend lives around there, Kristina, the one who I visited in May. Anyway, it is quiet, beautiful, and technologically unburdened.

I was there for two weeks, about a third of which I devoted my time almost entirely to producing artwork for this weekend's SFX. I brought my cat, Willi, who got to be a real cat for a change, going outside, catching mice and other things. She was so happy up there. I have never seen her so totally thrilled and excited. She and Mom's cats, Chester and Melody, got along well, for a change, and she followed Chester around in the bush learning how to hunt. It was like he had a little shadow. There were no mice in the house, and seemingly there were few in the house through the winter. The damage was nil, but cleaning was still a priority as the old tenants didn't do much of a job worth mentioning. Mom bought a vacuum for the cottage and made good use of it, filling it with tons of the tenants' dog's hair. Ew. One thing that Mom did (of a few notable jobs) was to put up a shower.

Yes. A shower. This is a big thing for us. Previously, all bathing was done at the kitchen sink or in the lake as we have no bathroom per se, just a rather pleasant outhouse. The shower is a long-handled gardening tool affixed to the side of the covered work table in front of the brick barbeque. A coiling hose is attached to this tool and run into the house to the kitchen sink where you can adjust the hot and cold water. I suggested a large piece of plywood to make the shower floor, and Mom hung a curtain from the clothesline. My gosh, what an innovation !! While lake bathing is fun when the weather is hot and the water is nice, it's a good deal less so when the weather is inclemant and the lake is frigid. Also, because the weather up there had been so hot and muggy (far moreso than in just about any other year), it was super nice to have a quick shower to scrape off the sweat.

There was a great deal of damage in the bush this year from windstorms. Last year was a horrible drought that weakened a lot of mature and otherwise healthy trees. I took a hike around the camp in the first week up and I counted no less than 27 trees that were down, roots-up in the air, moss and soil peeled right off the rock. Many of these were mature oak and beech trees, as well as a few pine. It's a real mess. Many other trees have come down on the point around the path to the swimming point. Michael's cut up some of it and cleaned aside other bits, but even while we were up there, an oak tree that had fallen against another tree came down taking the other with it. Add to this the amount of beaver damage of half-girdled trees and it just gets worse. Anyway, sad as the damage is, it's testimonial of the ever changing state of nature.

Rick joined Mom and I for the last four days I would be there, arriving in Ottawa by bus and leaving with me on the 20th and driving back to Toronto. This year was more smooth a visit than last year. My mother is more comfortable with Rick, and he is more comfortable with the space up there, enabling me to go off and do my own thing once in a while. He even borrowed a tackle box in order to go fishing, though, I must say, he spent more time talking about fishing than he actually did doing it. *laugh* Maybe next time he'll bring his own stuff and he can start fishing right away, that way he can have 'his own thing' to do up there like Mom and I do. For her it's doing things and swimming, for me it's hiking and canoeing. We played uchre (sp?) on two nights, on one night myself winning, the other Mom (I'm sure this was irksome for Rick), and a game of Scrabble, too, which I won and much to my mother's horror, she came last. It's okay, though, because before Rick came up, Mom had pretty much flogged me in several games.

Anyway, I'm home now, and though I have lots of other stories to tell, I can't really go into them now. I'm late for heading to Kinkos to make prints for this weekend. I'm exhausted, having slept very badly the night before, too. I'm currently getting Willi used to a harness so that she can maybe go out on the porch in a leash. I don't trust her not to jump off, but this way she can sit outside and stuff. We'll see. Maybe, if it works out, she can do it in Peterborough, too. It can't be bothering her too much, though initially she was slinking all over uncertainly, as she's just finished washing herself and has now gone to sleep with the harness on.

Well, I have rather a lot to say, but less time in which to say it than I would desire.

This weekend was the Realms of Despair 8th annual reunion. As always, it was great fun. I don't know what I should say. Gosh. So much happened.

Friday was the first official night, being held, as usual at the Fox and Fiddle in stunning Mississauga. Okay, that was sarcasm, for those who don't know. Mississauga is far from stunning. The usual faces were there, plus some new ones and the lovely pleasure of having both Lindsay and Deanna there as well (two of my favourite roleplayers from the game). Rick got quite looped before we headed to the airport to pick up Ben. We returned to the Fox for more merriment and did not leave until after last call. Ben seemed more than happy to sleep on my less than comfortable futon couch and Willi was more than happy to keep him company there.

Saturday was the Renn Fest and we arrived a bit late, but that was okay. We threw our friend, Kelly's, stuff into my car and all piled into the fair. Naturally, the Mud Show (the theatre in the ground) was a hit and we watched both of their shows, Beowulf and Dante's Inferno. Two plays that only barely resemble the works they portray. We separated and came back together through out the fair, now pairing up with Lindsay and Deanna, now breaking apart again. We ate tasty things (the broccoli and cheese soup in a bread-bowl was a highlight as well as their delicious smoothies), and laughed a lot and got a lot of sun. I caught one and a half jousts, the final one fully, which was quite dramatic though there was no unhorsing.

That night there was a slave auction in order to benefit Moonbeam (an immortal character on RoD) who will be running for the cure (breast cancer charity). Kelly and myself were auctioned as a pair and Rick spent 80$ on us. Here's the best part - we're considered a charitable donation and therefore are tax deductable. Neat, ya. I did a fantastic rendition of Grease Lightning with this guy named Chuck, the two of us acting out the entire song while twisting up a storm. There was much positive (and slightly less so) male attention and generally, everyone was in good spirits.

Sunday was the picnic at the Kelso Conservation Area. There was a quest that had a test of speed and constitution (which Rick placed second in - Go Rick !) which was a race down and up the bunny hill behind the picnic area. Two people wiped out on the uphill run, one of whom would otherwise have won. Too bad Rick didn't get anything for coming second. There was a RoD trivia challenge and I, knowing NOTHING of the game, despite playing it for three years, won a consolation prize (of nothing, I'll have you know) for the best humourous bullshit answer. There was also a scavenger hunt for which everyone who made it up the BIG FUCKING hill at the start got five in-game glory. Rick, Ben and I wandered through the woods for at least two hours giving our bodies quite the work-out. Today I feel more than a little stiff. *laugh*

In fact, I was so beat after the scavenger hunt that when I returned to the picnic, I just kept going and headed straight for the lake. Lindsay, Deanna, Kelly, and a bunch of other people were already down there and shortly after we were joined by Chuck. Feeling so much better, I went back up to get myself some dinner. There was, among other vegetable items, steak, lamb, turkey, rabbit and quail. YUM. Let me repeat that: YUM !!! Following dinner, there was a tug-o'-war which was also a lot of fun. And then, sadly, the day came to an end and neither Rick nor I would be returning to the Fox.

Rick was a good guy and came with me to my house and helped me pack the car with stuff for the cottage, and he lay down for a nap with me where we were neither properly rested, nor comfortable since we were both still racing from the exersion of the day. Then we were both crabby when we got up. I hate the post-nap crabbiness. Bleh. I packed Willi into her box and we set off. I dropped Rick at his place and then continued to Peterborough.

Tomorrow, Mom and I will be leaving for the cottage. We're being not terribly environmentally good, though, each taking her own car, but since I'm probably going to have to leave before her and head directly to Toronto, it just seems best. Rick will be joining us up there on the 16th and we'll leave together on the 20th. I wish I could be staying longer, since I feel I desperately need this holiday, but since I'll be working SFX the weekend of the 23rd to the 25th (my birthday, coincidentally), I have to get back in time to continue my love-hate relationship with Kinkos as I have art reproductions printed.

Anyway, now it's much later than I meant it to be and there's still laundry sitting in the machine. *sigh* I wish you all a good most-of-August. Enjoy it.

I forgot to mention my jeans ! I bought a rather nice, if slightly large, pair of jeans from the store just a little west of Heretic called Alkatraz. I don't usually buy things there because the things I do like are overpriced, or not in my size. Ever. Anyway, they usually have a sale rack out on the sidewalk and today was no exception. There were a ton of blue jeans with red stitching. And lo - a pair in my size ! The mind boggles. Anyway, here's the best part: 7.99. I kid you not. Including tax, I did not pay ten bucks. That's right, $60 jeans for less than $10. *cackle* I win !

Today, at Heretic, I choked so hard that I coughed up water and lung juice all over the floor. John (who happened to be there with Sandra) ran to my rescue as my choking didn't seem to want to let up, and I couldn't breathe and I couldn't talk. But, just as he was about to perform some heroics, I spluttered wetly, "I *cough* I'm *cough cough* I'm okay *hack hack cough*" It was actually quite frightening.

I applied for the other New Media job at the ROM. I'm quite excited. Hopefully there won't be a problem with me interviewing at the end of August. I hope, I hope, I hope. I have to call the HR representative and let her know that I'll be away and what my phone number there will be. Also, I got 30 prints each of "Waterloo" and "Kenobispotting" done at Kinkos for less than I thought it would cost. I feel secure that other printing needs will be met upon my return from the cottage.

Mark brought 'round the shirt Nicole made for me. Nuh ! So sexy ! I was going to wear it to the Reunion, or more specifically the Renn Fest, on Saturday, but I fear it will be a bit too hot. I may have to make do with wearing it tomorrow. The fabric is soft and light, but quite warm, but in an airconditioned pub, I should be fine. So, what will I wear to the fair on Saturday, you may ask (or you may not, but whatever). I'll be wearing the shirt that Sandra made for me - a lovely little number she calls the 'willow' shirt. The key characteristic are the dangly faerie bits that hang over the shoulder rather than sleeves. Mine is black with red danglies and it looks so cute ! They flip and flop when I hop about. Gah, at moments like this, I am such a girl.

Tomorrow is going to be a bit sad, as it's my last day at Heretic, but also keen ! The Reunion starts tomorrow night and I'll be there. With Rick, of course. Shortly after 11pm, I have to be at the airport to pick up Ben (my friend in Philly) who will be flying in for the Saturday, Sunday, Monday festivities. He'll be staying at my place tomorrow night and Saturday night. Also, on Saturday, Kelly will be crashing at my place as well, since she's being abandoned by her much less social boyfriend. Whee ! So much Reunion fun to be had. I hope I don't have a migraine or something.