2009-07-16T11:41:00.001-07:00

2009-06-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

2009-06-05T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today I gave away a story about me. Once it's gone it's gone, and it's no longer my story. A story is a dissection of any point in the universe, any point from A to B in our existence.

And so it is a dance around a pin point we call the truth.

Why Punctuation and Such Matters

2009-05-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

Which is the actual headline?

Doctor who performed abortions shot to death.

Doctor Who performed abortions, shot to death.

Resistance is Futile

2009-05-31T12:04:00.001-07:00

Blogging seems so old-fashioned in this hyper-text world of 250 character instant updates straight from the canaries beak. 'Good' bloggin seems almost like a literary endeavour compared to Facebook and tweets. For me the Golden Age of Blogging was probably 2002-2004. Why am I still doing this? Why did I do it then?

Then: Because it was a new medium. A needed outlet that paralleled major life changes and a means to funnel a lot of thought and creativity and also to connect to people.

Now: Habit? Nostalgia? Boredom?

Latest shift: My love for growing things has intensified. Lot's of herbs, flowering plants.

Next Step: Move somewhere with some earth of our own.

And then i created a twitter account

The Real Punk Rock

2009-05-06T06:49:00.001-07:00

Getting Older. Getting Better

2009-05-06T06:18:00.000-07:00

If an i-Pod plays without earphones...

2009-05-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_a_tree_falls_in_a_forest

Nuclear bomb tests help to identify fake whisky

2009-05-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

It's true. That's all I have to say on the matter.

HOME

2009-04-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

After I got divorced I would dream about living in tall shaky buildings. I would wind up the staircases until I could see the earth and its curve far away on the horizon. Then the wind would blow and the building would squeak and creak and protest. It's funny that I live in Sandy Hill. In a crooked house. Sometimes the wind blows through the place. And the ghosts waltz and twirl and say "hush".

Watching Spring Do its Thing

2009-04-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Although we officially have 4 seasons we often skip Spring in this part of the world. From snow fall warnings to sun tan lotion comes within a matter of weeks. Yesterday was our first summery day of 2009 with t-shirt and shorts temperatures. from the balcony I literally saw the green buds turn into baby leaves in the matter of a few hours. it was an old-fashioned kind of slow day, reading the newspaper actually printed on paper, drinking beer and enjoying the molasses slow warmth of the sun.

Later in the day a storm warning glow reflected off of the steely clouds massed along the north and swiftly turned into our first summer tempest. It was appropriate as we were watching 'Operazione Paura', an Italian Giallo by Mario Brava. The wind blasted my brushes and canvas along with a lamp off of the table in the front window. It had the strength to also toss two large recycling carts into the street. And so another season of another year begins.

The Story of Yonlu

2009-04-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

This never would be with out computers. I wonder what did never happen?

I Got Google Mapped

2009-04-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago there was a mention in the news about the street view, Google mapping of Ottawa and the issue of Canada's privacy laws. As it were I was walking down my street, just a block west of my residence, when the Google camera car drove right past me. I gawked straight at the camera trying to see what the set-up was. I had my sunglasses on but those who know me will know me (if they use the 'footage'. It's not up yet). I wish I had, had my phone on me. I would have called Leslie. She could have gone out on the balcony as they passed by.

Still Alive

2009-04-12T00:01:00.001-07:00

Paul Williams Update

2009-04-11T02:05:00.000-07:00

Anonymous volunteered the following definitive link on Paul Williams present day Web presence.

Tamil Tigers on the Streets of Ottawa

2009-04-11T01:54:00.000-07:00

The Tamils are protesting all along Wellington for the past week and the numbers keep growing. It's not clear what they want from the protest signs. I know there is a civil war in Sri Lanka but that's about it. From the signs I've picked up that they want Canada (the government) to do or not do something.

2009-04-11T01:37:00.000-07:00

I don't think I really ever appreciated how terrifying this woman was at the time. i was too young to see the maniacal tension in her body.

Late Night Thoughts

2009-04-11T00:12:00.000-07:00

The other night Leslie and I were sitting on the couch watching the cats meander through the living room. Leslie said, "It's funny to think that they are made of cat food." It's true. The aisles are filled with all the raw ingredients that make life. Cats, dogs, me, you.

Paul Williams Special

2009-04-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

For Bob

Paul Meets the Bradys

Paul Meets the Hardy Boys

and finally Paul Williams meets the Muppets:

And where is Paul now?

According to whet.net

"Problems with alcohol and drugs drove his proile much lower over the 80's, finally getting clean and sober in 1989, Williams became a licensed drug rehabilitation counselor and got involved with Musician's Assistance Programme, a non-profit organization by and for musicians helping them with their substance abuse issues.

He also starred as Truman Capote in the one-man show on Broadway Tru and released Back to Love Again his studio return in 1997.

He also secured a recurring role on daytime television's The Bold and the Beautiful in 1998 and returned to songwriting. "

So it's ten to twenty year old information. I guess they didn't have spell check back then. You could always check wikipedia if you wanted to bother.

Nerd Test Results: Cool High Nerd

2009-03-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

Home of Sapien

2009-03-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking today about moving. Five years in the same place makes me itchy and that's the number on the horizon. And so I wonder, what kind of place can I call home?

There are contradictions here, or at least apparent contradictions. I like the must and clutter of a lived in room. A room brimming with years and prickly with history. A room that creaks and aches and effuses the facts of life. But I also like the white empty echo and light of a fresh untouched space. A room that is a blank canvas.

I like the sky on a plain open field. I crave the shelter of a wood framed cabin. I desire the gummy resin on an old pine tree. I need the clarity of morning breeze.

So what I want is all of this.

2009-03-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or is this add from the Dairy Farmer's of Canada really creepy? Well I know it's not just me as Leslie pointed it out to me first.

I mean Grandpa tells the little girl to use her imagination and then what does he do? Why he just hacks up her little cheese suitor into bits and dumps the remains of his hacked corpse all over her dinner. What kind of lesson is that? And he's smiling while he does it!

Friday the 13th

2009-03-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

I am superstitious but I do not believe in superstition. It's what you would call a conflict between the rational mind and the emotional. I don't think that there is anything particularly foreboding about the con fluence of an arbitrary system of numbering and of naming time periods. And yet there always lingers in the background the notion that maybe bad things are bound to happen because it is Friday the 13th. Like an ostracized boy at the prom who stands to the side never taking to the floor, it is there if I choose to look. But I try to avoid it. I don't want to see what might be there.

Meanwhile I've decided to do some spring cleaning of my life. I put 200 vinyl recordings on sale last night. I got two responses almost immediately. I decided owning 800 records of which I rarely ever touch was undesirable. I have 400 more set aside for eventual dispersal and 200 core records I want to hang on too because I just simply like having them around.

It was like going through an old photo album last night sorting through the stacks of sleeves. Memories from 1980-2004 at which point I stopped buying and was sucked into the world of mp3s. I stopped buying new lps sometime in the early 1990s when the industry moved to the CD as the standard format. There was a transition period for year or two when I didn't own a CD player and I purchased cassettes.

Here is the plan: I made three piles: 1. Keepers, 2) dumpers, 3) Transfers.

Keepers are discs that have sentimental value as objects themselves.
Dumpers are discs I never really listened to more than once and have little to no attachment to. Transfers are discs with content that isn't readily available in digital format but that I want to transfer to such. Maybe even just one song. When I'm done discs in this categpry will also be sold.

Gotta have a hobby.

Obama's in Town

2009-02-19T05:45:00.000-08:00

It snowed all night. The mire and grunge has been freshly painted with a coat of pristine white just in time for Barrack Obama's first Presidential visit to Ottawa. All of the down town core is closed off to the general public, just as it was when Bush visited in 2004.

This visit is being met by the public with a much greater enthusiasm than last time, however there is a lot of commentary about whether our Prime Minister is as enthusiastic. The tides have changed and America now has the more liberal minded leader, while we have a bush era ideologue, mind you a largely neutered one, thanks to our Parliamentary system.

It's amazing the machinery that is involved in a Presidential visit. The flying in of a fleet of armoured limousines, the closing off of traffic, the removal of trash bins and mail boxes along the motorcade path, the gating off of the busiest part of the city and the positioning of tactical units atop the buildings, not to mention the helicopters that constantly sweep the air like overgrown prehistoric insects.

2009-02-07T11:57:00.001-08:00

Sign by Danasoft - Get Your Free Sign

2009-02-07T11:56:00.001-08:00

Sign by Danasoft - Get Your Free Sign

Bale Out:

2009-02-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

Disseminating things like this is the reason for the internet:
RevoLucian's mix of Christian Bale's outburst on the Terminator set.
WARNING: Plenty of sailor talk.

Philly Bound

2008-12-17T21:06:00.001-08:00

and back again for Christmas.

Zombie hand Mushroom

2008-12-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

I came across this freaky funghi during my travels through the intertubes. the things you can randomly learn on a given day. Today i found this: Zombie hand mushroom, from an Indonesian blogger.

A number of commentators on the blog-post identify the funghi as 'Stinkhorn'. God those are grotesque. I'm done with random learning.

Bettie Page R.I.P.

2008-12-12T04:11:00.002-08:00

Favourite pin-up of geeks and freaks since the 1950's, including yours truly, Miss Bettie Page, has passed away. Bettie first caught my eye in the 1980's in an add in Toronto's NOW magazine for some product or establishment that I do not recall, but i do remember how cute and sexy she was. A fond farewell to Bettie Page.
More on Bettie Page >>

2008-11-30T17:01:00.000-08:00

Oh Noz...

2008-11-19T21:37:00.000-08:00

Change.gov

2008-11-18T19:32:00.001-08:00

change.gov: the Office of the President-elect

2008-11-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

2008-11-18T16:44:00.000-08:00

BBC Science and Scatology

2008-11-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

The BBC Science and Envirmonment section has stories on Astronauts drinking there own pee and a video of a whale taking a poop. I wonder who is editing that section of the Web site?

Two Years This Day

2008-11-17T04:46:00.000-08:00

Jelly Fish Painting

2008-11-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

i added some details, reshaped the bulb and added some darker tones.

Cornycopia

2008-11-13T15:48:00.000-08:00

There's no such thing as a boring day. This morning my little Mouffette decided to do a Logan's Run and dashed out the door up the stairs and proceeded to freak out. She seemed to confuse the apartment above me with our own as she frantically scraped at the door. I caught her and she immediately began to shiver. This is a kitten who has been picked up everyday of her life since we got her and even asks to be lifted up on my shoulder. I was worried and late and called her Mommy in Philly for advice. Mommy pet expert said "don't worry".

At this point I was running a mere 15 minutes behind schedule. I wasn't concerned as I have a half hour grace period to show up at my office. However fate awaited. The roads were a little icy, and my bus was very slow, but as I was to find out not for that reason. By the time we hit Dalhousie and Rideau a half hour had passed on what was normally a 15 minute bus ride to work. The #1 bus was in front of us. Number One slow bus. What was going on? We hit the stop in front of the Rideau (Weirdo) centre and we hit the mulcher. Slowly , ever so painfully, anxiously, slowly we moved ahead one metre. Then a few more inches.Stopped. Stopped. Moved ahead. Stopped. Mov..Sto..mo..sto.ped. A communal sigh wafted from one end of the bus to the other as a substitute for the open fresh air we anticipated when we would finally be able to get off that slug of a bus.

We made it to where Rideau meets Elgin and then goes by the name Wellington, the portion of the road that runs in front of Canada's seat of government, Parliament Hill. There was nothing beyond that point. No traffic at least; only a low lying mist in the air. At this point I decided, along with everyone else, to phone in to work and explain why I was so late. Why a 15 minute bus ride had taken over an hour. Of course I didn't have a fundamental explanation. Only a situational one.

I did get off that bus and I walked in the rain. The German looking woman who sat across from me, walked up to me on the drizzled sidewalk, "I gave up on the bus too."
Indeed. I could have walked to work in half the time.

Why was Wellington closed? Well this is why.

A friend of mine told me about his son. He's about 3 years old and has recently had extensive surgery. The aftermath has involved all kinds of monitoring. My friend told me that his son saw some pictures of himself with all of the diagnostic attachments. he asked "Did they make me a robot?" Apparently he is also fascinated by Darth Vader these days. True story.

My day was fairly normal after that point. Except for the fact that I bought (yes paid for) a newspaper and went and sat down and read it. Here follows what I learned about the world today:

Andre Picard of the Globe and Mail asks institutions to stop whoring themselves for Mcbucks, using the example of hospitals taking McCash in exchange for promoting McHeartAttacks.
Listening to music you love is good for the heart.
The Asper family ruled their media empire with an iron fist.
Lego (the company) cannot trademark interlocking bricks.
That's about it. The rest of the news was all a bunch of obvious and horrible things.
Maine Coons are enormous

Then I came home and found a pomegranate waiting for me at my keyboard. Thanks!
And one thing I already knew: The KKK membership is composed of ugly morons.

Portraits

2008-11-08T20:09:00.001-08:00

Portraits

2008-11-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

Oil Painting

2008-11-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

Today I filled in the jelly fish in my oil painting. I need to go over it again and fill in some lights and darks. it's challenging to do the tentacles and takes a very steady hand and fluid motion.

Half-Moon Through the Trees

2008-11-06T19:41:00.000-08:00

Jelly Fish

2008-11-06T04:22:00.000-08:00

Victory Redraws Political Map

2008-11-04T20:54:00.000-08:00

From the Washington Post >>

Gone but Loved

2008-11-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

Farewell

2008-10-31T20:08:00.000-07:00

Hey, did you here the news?

Studs Turkel died.

Never Say Never

2008-10-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

I never thought a Styx song would be such an appropriate observation of the political scenario of 2008, and yet here you go:

You were the apple of the public's eye as you cut the ribbon at the local mall
A mirage for both you and us. How can this be real?
We love your body in that photograph, your home state sure must be proud
The queen of the United States, or have you lost your crown

Well aren't you Miss America
Don't you Miss America
Won't you Miss America
Our love

Well are you really who we think you are
Or does your smile seem to wear you down
Is the girl who you once were screaming to jump out
And the dream that you must live - a disease for which there is no cure
This roller coaster ride you're on won't stop to let you off

Well aren't you Miss America
Don't you Miss America
Won't you Miss America
Our love

Miss America, Miss America, Miss America
Miss America, Miss America, Miss America

Well aren't you Miss America
Don't you Miss America
Won't you Miss America
Our love

Well it's true just take a look - The cover sometimes makes the book
And the judges, do they ever ask to read between your lines
In your cage at the human zoo, they all stop to look at you
Next year, what will you do when you have been forgotten

Well aren't you Miss America
Don't you Miss America
Won't you Miss America
Our love

Mouffette

2008-10-31T04:36:00.000-07:00

Knife Painting

2008-10-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Last week in my oil painting class we learned techniques using pallette knife tools. This was my first attempt and it wasn't too bad. You have to surrender a lot of control and finesse but you can get some intersting texture.

2008-10-27T21:58:00.001-07:00

2008-10-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

2008-10-27T21:57:00.001-07:00

2008-10-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

2008-10-27T21:56:00.001-07:00

2008-10-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

2008-10-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

2008-10-27T21:54:00.001-07:00

Jack and Luna

2008-10-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

Jack

2008-10-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

Jelly Fish Painting

2008-10-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

I'm loving my oil painting class. Last week we did a knife painting which was fun. I'm also working on this jellyfish painting. I missed two classes due to family events but I'm catching up painting at home.

This is the pencil sketch that I did on tracing paper. Afterwards I rubbed one side with pencil lead and retraced it onto the canvas

Here I've outlined the jellyfish with yellow ochre and filled out the background. The next step will be to fill in the details of the jellfish. Oil takes a long time to dry so I won't touch this again until next week.

Oh Nohes!

2008-10-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday Ottumn

2008-10-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

I left home around 11:15, walking down Daly Avenue towards Weirdo Street ( that's what my friend Marlene calls Rideau St.). It's Fall. The sky is that kind of blue and the leaves are gold and red. The air is cool, crisp and calm.

I love the old red brick homes in this neighbourhood. I love the trellis work and the history embedded in these old homes.

I look up, I look down and it's all a brief wonder of colour. Soon it will all be crisp, crackling, crunching, leaves that must turn to dust.

Autumn is wistful. Leaves and feathers blow in circles, round and round and where do they go?

My friend and I had a restful meal at this Sushi place in the market. I ate something called Godzilla. It wasn't noticeably radioactive.

I had this 'Zen Master' Martini. We all know that Zen Masters drink 2.5oz Martini's to chill out.

This is the paper store where I bought some handmade cards for someone special ;)

I don't see them either.

The mice said we must drink small beverages.

And eat desserts!

But mostly they kept saying. "Write this down on a napkin and take a picture of it !!!"

S'o-k. I 8s em all.

Did You Know This Thing Was in the House?

2008-10-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

Mouffette and Luna the early days.

Who Took the Cards?

2008-10-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

Autumn Comes Around

2008-10-20T05:51:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up with the Andy Partridge of XTC song "Autumn Comes Around" going through my head. It's more of a draft than a completed song and appears on the Fuzzy Warbles collection. I have an Mp3 player that has close to 900 hundred songs on it. I almost always play it on shuffle. Guess which song played first as I left the house this morning? Yes "Autumn Comes Around".

Autumn comes around,
but she don't have your face.
Doesn't have your style and grace.
Just throws leaves round the place,
like you would have never done
had you been there.

Autumn comes around
but she don't have your hair.
Far too keen to strip trees bare.
Leave fruit rotting there,
like you would have never done
had you been there.

Yellow Literature

2008-10-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Autumn and the descent into long, dark, cold days of winter comes a series of classic gothic horror under the Penguin Reds imprint. The reference to "Reds" is in this case misleading as this series of macabre menaces uses yellow and black to tie the series together. I find the covers extremely effective. They refer to a 1950s esthetic that uses strong clean lines and leans towards silhouetted forms of solid colour. They really grabbed my eye in the store. The use of yellow for horror also harkens back to the pulps of the 30s and 40s that used this colour to signify cheap and sleazy weird publications. In Italy horror moves are called 'giallo', which translates as 'yellow' in English.

Selections that I have purchased are 'The Spook House' a collection of stories by Ambrose Bierce and The 'House on the Borderland' by William Hope Hodgson. Having purchased these two titles, it occurred to me how many of the titles refer to dwellings. Aside from 'The Spook House' and 'The House on the Borderland' there is 'The Haunted Dolls' House', 'The Haunted Hotel', and 'The Lair of the White Worm'.
There is also a collection of Edgar Allan Poe tales, 'The Masque of the Red Death', which could have readily been called 'Fall of the House of Usher', which is one of his best known and strongest stories that also conveniently fits the pattern of dwellings. The H.P. Lovecraft is represented by 'The Dunwich Horror' which does take place around a family farm but I might have chosen 'Dreams in the Witch House' to cap some other short stories of the authour's.

However, it seems that the mandate was not to prescribe to an arbitrary theme, but to re-present some classic masters of gothic horror to a new public. You can explore the collection here >>

You Smell Funny

2008-10-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

Incredible Cloud Faces and Figures

2008-10-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

This is from the Environmental Graffiti Web site: Clouds that look like faces and creatures >>

Nostalgia for Satire of Someone Else's Nostalgia

2008-10-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

On the Way Home: Thanksgiving 2008

2008-10-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

House in Owen Sound Details

2008-10-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

Owen Sound Farmer's Market

2008-10-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Sad Week

2008-10-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

I went home to Owen Sound last weekend to visit friends and family. It was beautiful weather and the leaves were at their peak. Saturday morning I went downstairs and my mother told me that her brother, my Uncle Bob passed away the night before. I drove with Jeanne and my parents to South Mountain on Monday(a 9 hour trip)and attended the wake that night. We stayed at my Uncle terry's and went to the funeral on Tuesday. I want to write more about it and post some pictures of Bob. He was a well known man and lived in his community all his life. Hundreds of people attended the wake. In fact they were lined up around the funeral home to get in. I feel saddest for my aunt Caroline. She married Bob when she was 16. It must be unimaginably hard for her right now. The last time I saw him was last November when Leslie and I dropped in on our way home from a trip to A llama farm. I'm really glad we made that stop. My aunt was making chicken biscuit and we drank tea in the kitchen. Bob was having a hard time even then. I can't believe he's gone.

Thanksgivin'er

2008-10-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

I left Ottawa early Thursday morning and took the train to Toronto. It was a beautiful ride. The red gold and green of the leaves rushed past like streaks of paint. I saw a marsh with dozens of wood ducks, a pumpkin patch dotted with hundreds of orange balls, a herd of bison and antelope. Yes antelope. I don't know what they do with them. I also saw a brilliant orange sunset on Georgian bay as we drove from Wasaga Beach towards Owen Sound.

Last night I went to see my old friend John. We drank some of his home-brew and explained death time , space and the financial crisis to his 9 year old daughter. She is a really bright and inquisitive kid. She actually is fluent in French too. I didn't know there was a French school in Owen Sound but there is. In fact Owen Sound has changed a lot since I grew up here. There are now three organic/fair trade coffee houses here and some nice boho hangouts that I never saw before. I went with a friend to the Framer's Market for the first time in my life. It was a all fresh local produce and a lot of it organic. One baker even grew their wheat and spelt and ground it to make their baked goods. There was live music too, fiddles accordion guitar.

There were all kinds of jams and jellies, local syrup, oils, candles, honey, fresh fish from the bay, arts and crafts. I never knew we had this community here. I bought some soap made with emu oil and lavender to give as gifts, again all locally produced. For lunch i had a delicious grilled pesto, hummus, tomato sandwich. We walked back and enjoyed what is one of the finest days of the year, the air alternating between, warm but not hot, cool but not chilly.

Ma Babah

2008-10-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

I've got reservations about so many things but not about you.

Reedy Rideau

2008-10-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

Canadian Thanksgiving

2008-10-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

On this long holiday weekend I want to share the words of Saint Cohen with you, as he seems to be doing alright for himself.

(Oh friends, .. don't matter if you're a man or a woman. If you're in love
with somebody, these are the words that you got to learn to say. Now
listen carefully. Here it comes...)
I'll be loving you always
with a love that's true, always
When the thing you've planned
needs my helping hand,
I will understand, always, always 
Happy Thanksgiving All.

My Baby, Moof

2008-10-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

Gatineau Champlain lookout

2008-10-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

2005

2008-10-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

Time flies.

Cat lover. Who Me?

2008-10-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

I've always thought of myself as a dog person. I shared the same birthday as our family dog. I grew up with a story of her finding me lost in the corn field next to our house and leading me home when I was three years old. I always wanted my own dog more than I ever wanted children (although I think kids are great dogs just seemed more appealing to me). I even used to want to be a dog. So it has come as a surprise to me that I am now someone who likes cats so much.

I think it started last fall when Leslie brought Mara here to live. She is an extremely affectionate cat. When I watch TV or am reading on the couch she climbs up on top of me and lays her head on my shoulder and falls asleep. What really entrenched things however was when Leslie brought home Mouffette one night, last November, from the Bayview Animal Hospital. She was the last of a litter and had no home. Leslie called me and asked if it would be okay to bring a kitten home. I thought about it for a second and said sure. Little did I know how attached we would grow. As a kitten she let me carry her around on my shoulder like a pirate carries a parrot. Now that she is almost full grown she still lets me do this. In fact she wants me to do this as she seems to love the view from up there.

She's very bright and seems to have learned a mix of dog and cat behaviours from living with one of each. In fact she and Luna will compete in begging for food at the table. When she was a kitten she even growled once. One of her favourite games is a kind of one player hockey that uses a three legged plastic pizza table instead of a puck. Tonight she slapped that thing around the kitchen floor for so long I finally had to take it away from her. Anyway somehow I'm the 'daddy' to this sweet cat. Never saw it coming.

2008-10-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

2008-10-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

2008-10-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

2008-10-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

You're Welcome

2008-10-03T05:33:00.000-07:00

2008-10-03T05:26:00.000-07:00

1982-2008

2008-10-02T21:31:00.000-07:00

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful
Wife
And you may ask yourself-well...how did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right? ...am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
My god!...what have I done?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

Cats Dream 2008

2008-10-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

2008-10-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

2008-10-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

2008-10-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

On the weekend the neighbourhood was visited by great thick crows. There were six of them in the backyard although I could only capture two in the photo. We also found a dead one in the neighbours garden. I like crows. For me their croaking always reminds me of waking up to blue skies and pine fresh air on a summer day at the cottage.

Mara Muffin

2008-10-02T04:41:00.000-07:00

2008-10-02T04:36:00.000-07:00

2008-10-02T04:35:00.000-07:00

Oil Painting

2008-10-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

A friend from work got me into this oil painting class. She's an interesting person. She does boxing, paints, knits, writes and lived in the Yukon for two years and her car has flames on the side. Yep she's cool. Maybe she's Ernest Hemingway reborn. Oh and her paintings are really good.

The class was small which was nice because even though I've painted with acrylics a lot, I needed a lot of hands on advice to get started. What I learned this evening was how to transfer my image to the canvas by making a yellow ochre grid, the colour wheel, colour theory and how to thin my paints. I'm painting a jellyfish from a photo I took at the aquarium in Boston. What was I thinking. have you seen how many tentacles those things have?

Time O Big Changes

2008-10-01T04:10:00.000-07:00

This fall is the fall of big changes, not only am I finally dealing with some personal issues that went unresolved for 10 years, but I'm on an exercise regime, taking painting class and will soon be taking yoga and sculpture all while working full time and trying to maintain a long-distant relationship. That's a lot for me to take on but it's a period of growth. Sometimes it takes a cosmic 'slap in the face' to make the next move. Well I've been slapped.

Elections

2008-10-01T04:00:00.001-07:00

The election is coming up soon (Canadian) and it really feels like a no win situation. Harper is about as appealing as a weird uncle and voting for Dion is like voting for a second helping of an undercooked meal. There is Layton who has a 1970's porn star mustache. I guess that's something. Maybe I should look at their policies and then decide.

As for the election down south I think the VP debates should be fun (funny) as Bush-in-a-Dress gets to perform against Joe Biden.

National Do Not Call List

2008-09-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

Today I registered my home phone number with the National Do Not Call List. This requires that telemarketers remove your phone number from their lists by Oct. 31. Hooray. The site has proven so popular that it was crashing all morning. I did however finally get through.

www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca