Headdesk

My husband, who already creates confusion by posting on my facebook... has figured out how to post videos on my blog!!

HELP! SOS!

Talking like babies

One of my fave songs right now. The line that caught my attention was "But when we're alone together talking like babies..." I just love that image. Sitting side by side, cooing, laughing, lost in your own little world.

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Crocheted toilet seat covers and other masterpieces

If you've lived in 1960s apartments, you'll have had a colored bathroom. My roomie and I once had a violently pink one, which we decorated with plastic roses and romantic shit and called Sherry's Bathroom of Love. (Sherry being our male cat with long fluffy white fur, at the time.)

Fernando and my current bathroom is the most bland of 60s bathrooms, the peach one. Similar to this:

Which I guess is meant to look like this:



At the moment I have Toulouse-Lautrec orange and reds--a T-L picture, red towels, striped peach and red shower curtain. But since the rest of my home is getting vintage-ized, why keep putting lipstick on a pig. Time to give 'er.

Sadly the peach sink was replaced with boring white plastic, and the shower tiles covered in white plastic. But we'll do our best. I've decided to buy 1960-70s towels whenever I can find them in thrift shops--they often get tossed or used/sold for rags, but can still find.

I'd like to find one of these shower curtains:

Will find some appropriate wall art. And then there are the details...

Ho ho the knitting and crochet skills will come in handy!

In reality, I'm still organizing and purging the apartment. It is Le Slow Going. So I go decoration-thrift-shopping so as to start dreaming and planning and having something to look forward to.

Did I post this song yet? It's really good

Great Canadian band (Sam Roberts grew up in my neck of the burbs), and great video--love the dancing.

We are all shapeshifters
We are all lonely drifters
In forgotten hours when we escape
Through the winking eyes and the secret handshakes
Disposable me, expendable you
Just take what you need and do what you do

Hooked

Here is the Recreation Photo! of my crochet hook accident last month, featuring the actual hook!

That's about the angle it was at.

You can see the tip is a bit pointier than usual, hence its amazing puncturing capabilites!

 

 

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Great moments in Bill #5

Wisdom in love.

Great moments in Bill #4

"I am the Bionic Woman. What would I wear?"

Great moments in Bill #3

"Come Sam shake it, you won't break it!"

Great Moments in Bill #2

Bill tells off Coach Frederick.

Bill makes a prank call...



...and is eventually found out. When the coach confronts him about it, tells him it's not fair that he never gets a chance to play a real position in gym class, that he might be good! Or how will he ever get better? when he's always picked last. The teacher defends himself: It's not my fault you're picked last. And Bill tells him: Of course it is, you always let the same guys pick the teams.

I wish this scene was on youtube. But you can watch the game where Bill finally gets to be team captain. I love the meeting on the mound. "Meeting on the mound? Very cool."

Great Moments in Bill #1

From Freaks and Geeks. Bill is our favorite geek because though he knows he's unpopular, he refuses to change who he is and stands up for himself.

Bill tells off the head cheerleader.

Booty calling

Gender bending with Ingrid

Why I gots to be so rude?

Random story. When I was in Nanaimo the song "Rude" came out by MAGIC! which I loved and told everyone about and taught to Madame Miroir. And then whenever I was grumpy she'd take a lamb puppet and pop it in my face and sing (in a very silly voice): "Why you got to be so ruuuude?" (Not "gotta" but "got to.")

I told Fernando this, and now he does it too. So I recommend learning the chorus of this song just so you can throw it in someone's face. It's very handy.



(Though when Fernando sings it, I get to respond: "But you married her anyway!")

Greetings, Princess

If you still haven't seen Freaks and Geeks... well, come on. Really now.

Back in the day I didn't have cable TV, and just a little black and white manual box. I would get home from 3-11 PM shifts at the bookstore and there wasn't much on to watch (two English channels on non-cable in Montreal, in them days.) That's how I first caught Freaks and Geeks.

It starts off seeming like a lightweight teen comedy, so you have to give it some time to grow. When they started the show, they gave all the writers (and actors? I forget) a questionnaire asking them about their teen experiences, and almost all the storylines come from those. Hence you will, at multiple points, identify.

I think more and more people are finally seeing it, in part cause it's on Netflix, and in part because 5 of the men involved went on to become a movie mini-industry unto themselves:

Producer Judd Apatow
Creator Paul Feig
Seth Rogen
James Franco
Jason Segal

They knew they were going to be cancelled so Feig wrote a great final episode to wrap the season up. It's perfect. (I just rewatched the show, and am amazed all over at how great it is.) One of the freaks, played by Franco, is the very cool and good looking Daniel who is terrible at school, and basically thinks he's stupid and will never be good at anything.

As punishment for something he's sent to join the A/V club, to run the class projectors. Of course A/V club is the special haunt of our geeks. "He's being sent to A/V... as punishment?" But in an inspired moment our Elder and Wiser Geek invites Daniel to play D&D with them. And Daniel not only has fun, but wins the game. Which, if you've never played, does require actual talent--creativity, and puzzle solving. He's finally good at something.

It's the best, best storyline. I could watch it 100 times.



Feig said he envisioned Daniel going to prison the next season. But I believe that in A/V he club he became interested in cinema and went on to make small, independent films.

a song and a non-report report

Just heard this new Sinead song, I guess from an upcoming album. It's fantastic! Very passionate. You guys will like.



Not much to report. I've been having trouble with insomnia, so that's a pain in the ass. There was the crochet hook I got stuck in my foot. A bit of friend socializing. Went to an outdoor sculpture museum--stone carvings from west Africa. Then had to keep driving Fernando back there so he could hang out for hours and talk to the sculptor. And we saw the Lego movie at a movie in the park thing.

Songs About Jumping Are Wickity-wickity-whack

For some reason the concept of jumping makes for catchy songs.

Kriss Kross - Jump


(Or Justin Timberlake if you prefer...)


 House of Pain - Jump Around


The Pointer Sisters - Jump (For My Love)


Van Halen - Jump


Madonna - Jump


David Bowie - Jump They Say


The Rolling Stones / or this excellent cover by Aretha - Jumpin' Jack Flash
(You have to take a lot of drugs to both play guitar and man a control board at the same time.)

It's been awhile!

Well hallos!

I don't know what happened. I just sort of tuned out, there. Been spotty on email and facebook too, and forgot to read my froggy's posts cause I never opened blogger. Eeps! So here are some updatees.

CATS
I no longer feel so guilty about taking Haley away to Nanaimo--she's a new woman! Minion is still top cat, but Haley stands up to her more. And she no longer shies away from demanding her share of attention from us. She also PLAYS with Minion, which she very rarely used to do. I see them scramble through the apartment at least once a day. So things are better!

Minion, who had to go fingerless for two years, is back with a vengeance. Took her a couple days to rediscover the old finger sucking routine, and now she's a worse addict than ever. And if I try to stop her cause I want to use my hand? "Mahmmy. Mahmmy... two years mahmmy. You abandoned me for TWO YEARS mahmmy. Yeah, so. Hand over the finger."

FERNANDO
I don't like to write about the old husbando because he's very private, but I'm very, very happy to be back with him. :-)

JOBLIES
I always have this perpetual struggle of whether I should look for a more professional job ( = better paying, more challenging, but saps time and energy from one's life), vs something simpler like a retail job ( = get bored faster, less pay, but don't take work home with you, and though you're on your feet, the good thing is you're on your feet!). I'd thought maybe it was time for something professional; but the first week I was home I went to a charity thrift store chain to donate some things and saw a temp, part-time, help wanted sign in the window. Well it seemed stupid to ignore it, so I called up.

And soon I had a full-time permanent position. Shrug. Whatcha gonna do? I believe in letting the universe shove you around a bit, and that's how it felt. "Get thee to a low level job. ...But for a charity, cause it's nicer."

This company is based on the Goodwill model. There are a whole bunch of little donation centers all over Montreal and surrounding areas, and that's where I work. We take people's things, do a quick triage, pack em up, send up out. The first location I worked at was new, so very slow--so I had time to plot my novel in between sorting items. Now I'm in a busier location which also has a wee bookstore, of which I am queen. I get to reorganize it, play with it, and do what I can to make sales. So while the sorting is dull, frolicking in the bookstore is fun.

I work 10 hour shifts, which means I get 3 days off per week rather than 2. It's all good for now.

WRITINGS
I used to write a lot of books based on my friends and colleagues. I'd take their names and basic characteristics, then throw them somewhere and run with it. I've decided to revise a couple of these to have some ebooks up and running. The ones I'm editing were written about my friends at my old bookstore, in Regency England. They are very silly. But editing them has given me back my excitement and love for writing, so this part of my life is finally back up and running. Phew!

CRAFTS
Crocheting an afghan and an octopus, and knitting a dishcloth. I'm doing more reading (a lot of PG Wodehouse) and less TV, so less crocheting. But still loving it.

FRIENDS
Slowly catching up on seeing people. It usually costs money (I can't entertain here, it's too messy), so I have to go slowly. So far I've hung out with Maewitch & The Boy, Onthatmidnightstreet and Vidal, and Swiss Girl. It felt really good to get back in the old friend groove. Though I miss my Nanaimo peeps!

I do miss chatting with my parents every day. I could remedy this by calling them, but I forget. And when I do, they're supposedly always out. When I lived there and they didn't do that much socializing, and all of the sudden they're never home? Puleeze. They are clearly avoiding me.

I miss Harvey, though we saw each other more on facebook so the change isn't so big. I miss my peeps at the store! And I especially miss my beautiful Mme Miroir. What a special person she is, and I am so so glad I moved to Nanaimo and was able to meet and get to know her. I'd have to say, on the whole, she's the *thing* I miss most. ...Even more than the weather. ...That may change February 1st.

So that's me! And now I have to make the blog rounds and find out how everyone else is. xxoo

___
I did not know this cover existed! So exciting.

Last Day Across Canada: Sudbury to Montreal yay!

So my last night on the road was in Sudbury. I regretted choosing it, cause the bigger the city, the harder it is to find where the motels are, and find the better ones. I did find a motel strip, but they all looked skeevy. I didn't care, just chose one. It was laughably terrible. The wifi and tv were both crap, so I didn't post. But that helped me get to bed, and then I got the hell out of there in the AM. Determined to make it to Montreal!

So... what are these? I kept seeing them.

I drove in my socks most of the time. 

Hard to see, but this is one of those blue road signs with the Helpful Tips! 

Smoke shacks, I think.

I started crossing off the cities I went through.

Nice sunny day.

I always made one little stop along the way, in search of gas or coffee. I think this was Mattawa. very cute. I drove around a bit.

They had these wood statues all over town. 

Then back on the road...

Water water everywhere...

 I thought I had a picture of the lines in the road they make for air patrolled traffic. Whenever I'd see a sign saying the traffic was tracked by a plane, I noticed yellow lines on the road. I wonder how that works. 

North Bay... Mattawa... Deep River...

More construction! Good heavens. There were a lot of bridges being improved or widened or something.

I decided to go through Ottawa, rather than around it. Cause it's very cute, our capitol city, and I hadn't been in awhile. But they had major construction going on. Got stuck in bumpery to bumpery stuff... nothing like that in Nanaimo!

Swiss Girl was complaining that terrace season (sitting outside a restaurant) hadn't started. I told her it would come when I did, and to prove I was right I took a pic of this terrace in Ottawa.

The big fancy hotel. Swiss G used to live there--in Ottawa, not at the hotel. Though it was her fave spot for a drinkypoo.

Can just see Parliament behind this wall.

Great art museum.

Stuck in traffic, I was able to get you a nice picture of Mother, who stands outside the museum. I saw one in London too.

In traffic, I was stuck behind a super villain.

One of the many embassies.

The mint.

The construction.

I just wanted out of there so followed my nose to a route I was pretty sure headed eastward. Well, it did--it went along the river. But at some point I zigged when I should have zagged and ended up in... the sign says Orleans! I'm in France! Actually it appeared to be the Suburbia Capitol of the World. I got stuck, driving around in circles, lost, and the whole town was a middle class suburb. Weirdest thing I've ever seen. Ever!

Finally got the hell out, and onto a little country highway headed for Montreal.

I couldn't tell which province I was in, but the farmhouses changed--they were these cute little brick things.

  

 

I made sure to have one peanut butter cookie in each province, and here we have the celebratory Quebec cookie! We're homes! 

How did I know I was in Quebec, when my route didn't pass the official signage? Well the signs all turned French, with the occasional wee English at the bottom. (Sorry, it's very hard to photograph things on the fly, trying not to get distracted from one's driving.)

And that's it! Home home home! 

It's been great. I have a lot of organizing to do in the apartment, but I'm very happy. I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. And should soon have a job with a thrift store charity here, so no job hunting to do.

And I gots my fambly back. :-)