Doodling

This is the time of year when, thanks to a generous gift card from my brother and sister-in-law, I generally end up with more art stuff. I say generally because last year I ended up buying beads and some other stuff and just a little bit of art stuff. Back to the art stuff again this year, though.

Are you tired of me typing "stuff" yet?

What you're seeing to the left in today's pointless photo(s) is mixed media paper, black 110 lb paper (I was going to buy an art pad of heavy-ish paper, and then it occurred to me that I could find it cheaper in the scrapbooking section. Turned out to be heavier paper, even.), a General's sketch set with charcoals, pastel pencils, and graphite (just to replace some of my stubs, really), a package of store brand coloured pencils in neons and metallics (for a change from my normal, usable colours?), and a set of Stabilo Point 88 Fineliners. That's nylon tip pens, good for writing or drawing. The picture to the right is me testing the pens to make sure none of them were dry. Oh, and I was drinking tea, obviously.

I went all art with my gift card this year partly to give myself a figurative kick in the butt. I've been lazy about art lately. It's been happening, but I slowed down a lot to give my stupid wrist a rest while it was being, well, stupid, this fall. It's an old injury that I periodically re-injure. Unfortunately, it also means that on my bad days I get a very shaky hand, because it's your wrist that controls most of your hand movements. If you're interested in anatomy, look up a picture of the human hand. There are surprisingly few muscles in the hand itself. Your wrist is the puppet master.

Anyway. Shaky wrist equalled shaky hand this fall -- still does, now and then -- so I backed off a bit to let things heal. The problem with that is that you get out of the habit. Oh, I've still been doodling (it's pretty hard to stop that) but I haven't produced much that's worth public viewing. In fact, I see that the last time I posted to my art blog it was August. I guess I should do something about that.

That's the plan. So, fineliners to convince myself that pen lines don't have to be perfect to be valid (shakes really show in fine pen, but that's okay... she tries to believe...) and pencils because I used to do a lot of pencil work and I should get back to it.

The other thing that usually helps is doing an inventory. I started one a few months ago, but got stalled. If you follow me on Instagram, then, don't be surprised if art supplies start showing up in my posts again. Photos remind me of what I have and how far I got, and if I've got the photos I may as well post them, right? That way it's not just me that knows the scale of years of buying.



Well, this turned into a post. Fancy that. Next time will probably be tea, you know. It wouldn't be the holiday season if I wasn't reviewing my tea presents.

You've been warned.

T'was the day after Christmas...

Otherwise known as Boxing Day here in Canada (and the UK, and probably other Commonwealth Countries as well. I'm too lazy to check, to be honest).

To the left, you'll see my annual slow shutter speed photo of the Christmas tree, because it's more fun that way. Plus, you can tell by the dotted lines up top and the solid lines below that Dad has one string of LED lights and one string of old-fashioned incandescents, and that appeals to the nerd in me.

And that implies that there are parts of me that aren't nerd, I suppose. I'm not entirely sure that it's true, but we'll roll with it.

And how was Christmas? Not too bad, actually. Dad didn't think that the gifts I gave him were too stupid (gifts, plural, only because he got a few little things this year instead of one big thing), I made out nicely myself, I was (as usual) spoiled by my brother and sister-in-law and will have a shopping trip to blog about when I get the chance, and the turkey was pretty good.

We didn't go out to view the Christmas lights this time, as we often do, because it was bloody cold out there. Ah well, I was inside so that's all right. I managed to make it into town just before a heavy snowfall and will leave (probably tomorrow) as it's warming up, so my timing was pretty good for a change.

And as for Boxing Day sales? Just online ones this year for me. I don't exactly have to budget to find more things than I need, anyway.

I'll leave you with a few shots of... well, any cat owner can guess who enjoys Christmas the most, I guess.

Hope you had a merry/happy whatever.

Hey, it's another post!

Probably another short post because I'm literally just waiting for the (watercolour) paint to dry on something I'm doodling for Illustration Friday. See the other blog in a while for the end result, if I feel like it's worth posting.

The prompt this week is vintage, by the way. Kind of a weird one.

Anyway, today's flower. I wish I could have gotten a better shot of this poppy, but it was a bit windy yesterday (today? Rain, so not much better). It's pretty spectacular, though. Pink double with purple bits on the underside. The funny thing? Dad has no idea where it came from. The oriental poppies we had before came from my grandma's former house, and they were straight-up orange.

I hope this one seeds, because I'd like to see it around for a while.

Speaking of Dad, did you know that yesterday was Father's Day? It was for us, since I had to work last Sunday. That edible plant walk for the local U of Alberta alumni (Quaecumque vera! And yes, I'm an alumna as well. 91 BSc spec (Zoology). Sheesh, 1991. And now I feel even older...) went well, at least. Anyway, when I found out that I couldn't come in for actual Father's Day I asked Dad if I could take him out for dinner the next Saturday -- yesterday, in other words -- instead. He chose a local Chinese buffet, which let me off cheaper than I intended. I'm always up for decent buffet, though, and this one turned out to be just that.

Decent, that is. Definitely Chop Suey (Chinese heavily modified for Canadian tastes, that is), a few too many battered and deep fried things, lacking in something spicy except for the sriracha they had out, but generally tasty and definitely fresh. That waitress put on an awful lot of miles continually restocking things.

It was definitely the pseudo-Chinese food of my childhood, and probably what I would have kept eating except for a friend I had at U of A (Quaecumque vera...). She was the daughter of from-China parents who had a restaurant in Fort Macleod. At the restaurant they served  the Canada-friendly stuff, but at home it was straight-on real Cantonese. When she and I would go to the Chinese restaurant close to our places she'd order completely off the menu and get things that I wouldn't have even imagined existed. Not everything went over well immediately with this small town Alberta girl, but it certainly gave me a taste for something that wasn't sweet and sour pork.

And good on her. Life's boring if you only ever eat pineapple chicken balls.

Anyway (again), my paint's dry now so it's on to the pen & ink.





Don't expect much, by the way. I never do.

Something vaguely Christmas, I suppose, is appropriate.

Well hey, it looks like at least one reindeer was here.

Or maybe it was a Mule Deer?

Ok, let's try this again.

If I'm yet again scarved, wearing penguin earrings, and taking photos of the side of my head, it must be Christmas. Right?

Actually, Christmas almost didn't happen for me this year; at least not on Christmas itself. After yet another bout of insomnia, I was left headachy, brainless, and knowing full well that I wasn't fit to hit the highway (sleepless driving is still impaired driving, folks. You don't have to be drunk to be charged). I was planning to be in at Dad's place on the 23rd, but it was the 24th before he got the teary, probably slightly incoherent call that I just couldn't do it even then. What would have happened? A day's delay, maybe, which doesn't sound so bad except... well, Christmas, you know? Christmas should be on Christmas, if you're going to celebrate at all.

Long story short (too late for that?), I did manage to get some sleep that night and was able to make it in for Christmas morning. Gifts happened, turkey happened, and that evening we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. That's become a bit of a thing with the two of us: tooling around town, Christmas carols on the radio station because pretty much everyone has the night off, and both of us singing along. That last part is accidental. It just kind of happens.

It ended up being a good day, and I'm glad that I made it.

What else? Well, it was the Turkey Brothers' first Christmas with a tree, and they didn't destroy it. Granted, it was only partially decorated, but it's a good sign for next year.

In the gift department, you'll no doubt be hearing about my latest tech toy, so I'll save it for now. I did get a much nicer bluetooth speaker than the one I would have picked up at the after Christmas sales, though. Guess I'll be making more use of that Spotify deal from Rogers than I assumed that I would. And I won't just be throwing my phone into a cup to amplify it, although that works better than it should.

Also, tea. And when I make it back into town, my yearly art supply geek-out. So now you know what to look forward to on the blog in the future.



All in all, a pretty good day, and I'm glad I had it. I'll try to get out the camera and get some better (or at least a little more interesting) photos for the blog soon. Hope everyone's having (had, or whatever) a good holiday.





Don't let the Boxing Day sales wear you down.

Random signs of Christmas

1. Very annoying music in stores. Seriously, there are plenty of good Christmas recordings out there. You must have to work hard to find such bad ones.
2. My Dad playing Santa at local functions.
3. My Dad putting reindeer antlers and a red nose on his Trail Blazer. Because Santa.
4. My Dad finding out that the Santa costume scares the bejeezus out of his cats. Wish I'd been there for that one.
5. Books of Christmas carols on my desk in case anyone at work feels like playing the piano. It won't happen, but I try.
6. Inappropriate music on TV ads. Actually, I might save that one for another post because it's a good topic.
7. The food in the usual staff snack area gaining an astonishing amount of calories.
8. This:

Oddly enough, not my usual work attire. Ah well, if we're lucky it won't be cold enough this year for me to break out the Christmas stocking cap.

Yeah, I have one. Made it, in fact.

Anyway, there's your quick post of the day. Bad to work for me.


Enjoy the pseudoselfie.

In case you wondered

I lived.

And I'm here at work... um... taking photos of my camera? Ok, honestly, I'd been taking photos of the new displays and I just didn't feel like getting up again so soon.

The ankle? Rolled, but I've had worse, sad to say. I'll be hobbling for a while. More annoying is my elbow, which took the brunt of the fall. Not broken, but the joint's swollen and the arm isn't terribly happy about being straight.

Boys, since you won't know unless you happen to be drag queens or transgendered, I'll just tell you that it makes putting on a bra a helluva joy.

Anyway, back to work. We didn't open until 1 pm today because, after all, it's important to take time for Remembrance. Shake a veteran's hand today, ok?

Shopping and why it's dangerous. For me, anyway.

Today's pointless photo? Well, what else does an arachnophile buy at the post-Halloween sales?

I should mention that these are from two separate pairs of socks. If I could have found a pair with one spider foot and one web foot I would have bought it, though.

Anyway, enough about my socks (which yes, I will be wearing year-round, thank you very much). As you might have gathered, I went shopping yesterday, which is a weird thing.

I don't do much shopping. Well, other than for groceries, obviously. I don't do much shopping because I'm not all that big on malls, and big box stores don't thrill me either. I'm not a recluse -- if I need something I'll go out and get it -- but if I don't need anything I don't shop for pleasure. I've got to the point in my life, you see, where I'd really rather get rid of some stuff than accumulate more.

Um, with a couple of exceptions, I guess. I seem to be good at accumulating art supplies. And neat-looking wearable rocks (yeah, yeah, you hadn't noticed). I used to be good at gaining books, too, but lately I'm getting just as good at giving them away when I'm done with them.

Finding out that the world doesn't end when a book leaves your possession was actually a pretty big thing for me, you know.



Anyway AGAIN, yesterday I had to go shopping. Yes, had to. There was a present I needed to buy. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, but I figured that if I was shopping anyway I may as well look around a bit. So instead of a quick trip to the bookstore, it was a trip to the electronics store which, as it turned out, opened an hour later than the other stores around it (and why? It makes no sense). So, an unexpected trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond while I was waiting. Which, by the way led to a complete WTF moment, as in WTF is it with the whole Elf on a Shelf franchise? Now you can dress the wretched creepy thing up in a tutu and have it watch its own movie with its pet reindeer? Ugh.

After the electronics store, a bit of a drive to the next "power centre" where Chapters is. But, of course, you have to visit the 50% off sale at the temporary Halloween store first to buy spider socks. Then you should probably stop at the bulk foods place to see what's new and not to buy discount Halloween candy (no, really. I didn't buy discount Halloween candy).

Then, finally, the bookstore. Where I bought what I came for. And next year's Moleskine datebook which I would have bought anyway. And maybe a couple of other things. Ok, three other things.



Are you seeing the problem yet?

When you go to a physical store you're likely to see other things that you might like. That's the point for the retailers, after all. You come for one thing; you're tempted into others. There's a whole science behind making sure you are, at least when you're talking about big chain stores. I went into a bookstore to buy A book and came out with four things, only two of which I could really justify. When I shop online? I get what I came for, more or less. The only time I get more is if I'm making up a minimum order for free shipping, and even then I usually have a couple of things that were in the back of my mind in case I need that extra couple of dollars to top off an order. In a physical store I don't have to make a minimum purchase, and yet I'm more likely to get one or two extra things.

And so I generally don't shop. Not casually, anyway.

Oddly enough, I'm much less likely to have that extra temptation around Christmas time. Maybe it's the crowds, maybe it's the annoyingly bland music; I just find myself pretty good at getting in and out as quickly as I possibly can, as long as I have a vague idea of what I'm looking for.



Anyway (the third), back to work for me now. I hope that you appreciated the extra words today. And that without a required minimum, even.

Yet another quick post

Today's pointless doodle is one that I did for Illustration Friday ages ago. I used to be much better at lettering -- my mother, especially, encouraged it to help improve my hopeless lefty writing -- but this was done fairly quickly.

And obviously with no ruler.

So yeah, we've hit the season of fiddling with the clocks again, which this year means that those of you who celebrate Halloween by getting drunk will have an extra hour to do it, I guess. Personally, I'm not looking forward to it being dark before supper. I say, just keep the damned clocks on Daylight Savings all year long. It would keep some of us saner.

Well, one or two of us at least.

Anyway, that's it for me for the month, unless for some reason I decide to post from my phone. It's happened before, but it's really not kind to my data plan so I'm trying to get out of the habit. So let's assume that I won't then, and I'll say Happy Halloween if you're into that sort of thing, and if not... um... Happy November?

Later, folks.

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Edited to add: yes, I did go to DAVIDsTEA. Yes, the person at the counter was extremely glad to see that I knew what I wanted and wasn't going to ask for every single canister to be brought down. Yes, they were freaking busy. Still nice to finally have them in town, though.

And maybe I'm not the only one here who hates Teavana.

Happy Thanksgiving Turkey... Brothers

Well, I spent a little time this morning doodling something for Illustration Friday, which you can find on the other blog if you choose to. The blather over there (which, oddly, is called vague mutterings. Made sense to me at the time, I suppose) means that the blather over here is getting short shrift today. However, I will give the holiday a bit of a nod by presenting some non-feathered turkeys:

For anyone who didn't believe how big these guys are, I present to you one chair full of cat. Oh, and for those new to the program, the Turkey Brothers, Bob on the left and Tom on the right, are my father's cats and are, indeed, brothers. They're also proof that mamma cats fool around.

When I went outside a little later to take more pointless photos, I noticed a window full of Bob. And no, he's not responsible for the duct tape fix job. He would have been talented to break the window on the outside when he's usually on the inside.

Coming back in, I was greeted by Tom. Dad's alarm system has an audible "back door" prompt when the door is opened, and it's become the cat caller. Tom especially needs to see who's coming in. As you notice, he decided to show me how well he can cheek shoes.

Apparently they were delicious. Um, whatever, Tom.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Expect mostly radio silence from me in the next day or two. As usual.

Tartan Day

Well, it's Tartan Day here in Canada and a lot of other places (although I see that Australia and New Zealand have theirs in July). Tartan Day, you ask? Yes, really. April 6th was chosen because it marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath. I'll let you do your own reading on that. I'm not exactly up on my Scottish history.

Heck, I'm not even Scottish.

Oh, maybe if you go waaay back in my mother's ancestry you might find something, but I'm far more English than I'd ever be Scottish. I'm more Welsh than Scottish, and that's going back a ways right there. I'm even more Irish than I am Scottish, and that's going back even further. And as for Ukrainian? Well, my grandfather was Ukrainian (or Ukrainian-Canadian, that is), so when it comes down to ancestry I'm actually fairly Ukrainian even though I don't know a darned thing about it.

Um, anyway. The point is, I'm not Scottish.

For a number of years now my boss, who is of Scottish ancestry, has been giving us the gears for not celebrating Tartan Day. This is someone who has shown up to work in full kilt on April 6th, by the way. Many of us have tried to explain that if we own any tartan at all it's in pyjama bottoms, but he'll just say we should come to work in pyjama bottoms then.

Not me. Besides, I feel a bit weird about wearing tartan. Have I mentioned that I'm not Scottish?

Well, I hadn't remembered that Tartan Day was coming up, but the other day I was reading an article on the history of tartans (and, naturally, now I realise that the article wasn't posted at random) and that got me searching for itemss made with the Alberta Tartan. Oh, wait, Alberta Tartan. And, as an added bonus, the other provinces. You know, for those who are interested. I figured that I may not be Scottish -- did I mention? -- but I am an Albertan. And there are plenty of scarves and things out there that I could get for not much money, and then next Tartan Day I wouldn't have to put up with the annual where's your tartan-fest.

I mentioned all of this to Dad, and he sent me in a slightly different direction.

What you're seeing in the not-entirely-pointless photo above is an old jacket of his featuring the Maple Leaf Tartan, which is Canada's official tartan. I may not be Scottish -- have you heard? -- but I'm definitely Canadian. And since the jacket doesn't fit him anymore he's perfectly willing for me to take it to bits and make whatever tartanish things I'd like to have around for Tartan Day. And as an added bonus, the thing's virgin wool. That's quite the step up from the polyester-viscose stuff I was looking at. Tartan Day problem solved!

Except that TODAY is Tartan Day.



Kind of makes me laugh, really.

Ah well, Tartan Day problem for next year solved, and if I'm in the mood for a little sewing tonight (hand-sewing that is. I'm way too far away from junior high home ec to remember how to use a sewing machine) maybe I'll make myself a little hair bow or something just to give the day a day-late nod at work tomorrow.

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On a completely different note, I hope that everyone's remembering that April is Daffodil Month for the Canadian Cancer Society. Wear a pin. Buy a bunch of flowers if you see a charity seller in a local store. They're not expensive, the money's for a good cause, and I'm pretty sure that someone you love will appreciate the fact that you took the time.

Enough words for today, folks. I'm off to... oh hell, probably do my taxes. It seems to happen every Easter weekend.



Happy holidays?

Something about food, probably

And this, which is me playing pointless photoeditor game with a shot that wasn't all that great. It's more fun now -- kind of like a twining honeysuckle on a musical stave, maybe.

Well, I like it.

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So, the potatoes are on and from the sound of things upstairs the turkey will soon be in the care of Mr Popeil (I mean the rotisserie, for those who don't follow the infomercial scene). And there'll be dressing and gravy and cranberry and of course pumpkin pie for dessert. You'd think it was a holiday or something.

Dad and I do holidays in a small way, which I think is appropriate. It would seem weird to go to a lot of fuss for just the two of us. I was mentioning to him, however, that it seems a little odd in a way to do turkey and pumpkin pie for Easter. Isn't that more autumn-like? I mean, not that I'm complaining. I like turkey dinner. Just, for whatever reason, Easter seems more ham than turkey to me.

Good thing we're not having ham, though, because I got ham in my head last weekend and bought a small one for myself this week.

Anyway, the whole thing got me to thinking about our arbitrary ideas of when food is appropriate. For example, I had a grilled cheese for breakfast this morning. Hey, I'd been up since four (as, sadly, usual) and by the time I got around to having breakfast it was practically lunch time, relatively-speaking. Nothing wrong with a grilled cheese for lunch. But for breakfast? Some of you are thinking that it's weird. But if I'd had a couple of pieces of toast instead with an egg and a piece of cheese, no one would have thought a thing. Put it into sandwich form and it's suddenly not breakfast.

Incidentally, I had a fried egg and toast for supper last night. It's what I was in the mood for.

As another example, back in university I had the habit of ordering two extra large pizzas on the weekend and living on that for as long as it would last me. Breakfast, supper... not usually lunch because I was on campus. If I did that now people would wonder about my health, if not my sanity. As a student? It didn't seem any worse than living on ramen or Kraft Dinner the way some people did.

Er... should I admit now that lunch more often than not was chocolate milk in those days? Gah. I can't justify that at all even now, except to say that often I didn't have much of a break between my morning lectures and my afternoon labs. At least the milk was a bit of energy.

Anyway (again), my eating habits are much better now for the most part, and thank goodness. Your body won't let you get away with the same garbage in your forties as you could in your twenties. And today, as I said, we'll be eating especially well. Happy Easter, Passover (seems weird to say happy Passover...), spring break, or whatever else you may be celebrating, everyone.

How to spend New Years when you're boring

Today's pointless photo? I dunno. I just liked it.

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So, I have plans for New year's Eve. Obviously, if I'm bringing it up, I'm about to tell you about them. Ready? I'll be...

Sitting by myself in my apartment and doodling.




Yay me.

Actually, that's not a bad thing because it means that I've made the annual trek with my gift card from my enablers brother and sister-in-law to get some new art toys. And beads. I have to admit that I got tempted into the 60% off Boxing Week sale on beads while I was there, so it won't be All Art All the Time this year. Unless you call beading art. Which some people do, I suppose, but I'm not sure that you can count the way I bead as anything close to art.

Anyway.

I'll be quietly home playing with my new toys (and maaaybe a glass or two of wine. Haven't decided that part for sure yet), making a pseudoartsy mess, and, frankly, happy. I never did like the fuss of going out on New Year's Eve and being expected to have fun even when all I wanted to do was get out of a stuffy, noisy room. The only real exceptions to me preferring a quiet New Years were a) back in the dark ages when I used to babysit and knew that New Year's Eve meant some decent cash for a teenager, and b) when this city did First Night for a few years back around the turn of the century (makes me laugh to type that). Yeah, cheap, non-booze-based entertainment actually got me out of the house back then, and it's too bad that the event folded. Tonight, though, it'll be me, DVDs to avoid the vacuousness of TV MARATHONS (otherwise known as we didn't feel like actually programming anything over the holidays), and the new mixed media journal I started last night when I realised that the olf in me just couldn't take the mess of my old one any longer.

It, um, hit the garbage on my way to work this morning. Maybe one of our local dumpster divers will appreciate the sheer weight of the gessoed pages.

Oh, and the toys (but not the beads, because you'll probably see them in various forms on the blog later anyway)? These pencils, and these ones, and a lettering felt on a whim, and a something else that I'll tell you about later because it will also likely be starring in some pointless portraiture here as winter makes me increasingly desperate for things to take pictures of.

Bet you can't wait.

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Nothing like ending the blog year on a sad note, but I just had to mention Edward Hermann's passing. Funny that he's headlined as Gilmore Girls Actor... since I never even watched that show. I remember him more for one-offs and guest shots, really, but wherever he showed up he always seemed to make an impression.

I suppose that there should be some significance about his exit coinciding with the year's, but my two fans know that I don't buy into things like that. I'll just miss him being around, that's all.



See you in 2015.

Something

 Or maybe nothing. I don't know yet.

I'm a little tired at the moment, I have to admit. Didn't quite get the sleep my brain wanted, I guess. Oh hey, speaking of sleep -- I'm thinking that I might try sleeping in a bed tonight.

Yes, yes, most people do, but lately I've been sleeping in the recliner instead. When I got here from the hospital it would have been massively uncomfortable to sleep flat, so the recliner it was. And has been since. I think I might actually be able to sleep on my side at this point, though, so the bed (not the futon, to those who know what I'm talking about. The futon's long gone and is now a click clack sofa bed instead) sounds like a possibility. We'll see how I feel tonight. It would be nice not to be bothered by kittens in their midnight rambles like I am in the living room, but since that can't be the only deciding factor, we'll see.

More baby steps, I suppose.

Oh, I should explain the picture. My uncle felt that since my father plays Santa for a number of events this time of year he should should have a proper reindeer car. At least you can find him in parking lots a little easier these days.

And now, rock:

This is Lapis Lazuli. I'd wanted a piece of lapis for a while when I picked this up. It probably stems from the usual childhood fascination with ancient Egypt (why does everyone I know seem to have gone through that phase?) and the use of lapis in jewellery and decoration. That lovely blue with the little glints of pyrite... who wouldn't want a rock like that?

Did you know that in addition to being carved and used for inlays, lapis was ground to make the pigment ultramarine? That's right, all of those blue-cloaked renaissance Virgin Marys were painted with lapis.

My particular piece of lapis contains a fair amount of calcite (the white bits) as well as the gold pyrite and the blue lazurite. When you wear it in a cage I suppose it looks a bit planet-like, as I found out when one of the nature school kids last spring told me it was like the wooorld (her emphasis. It was slightly weird).

There's a good cue to move on to the more than slightly weird:

I'm not sure I can manage complete sentences with this stuff anymore, so let's just make a list. Wisdom, truth, evil eye, inner peace, freedom from negative thought, good judgement, problem solving, new ideas, higher mind, knowledge, memory, spiritual honesty, calmness, communication, friendship, throat, heart, circulation, insomnia, infections, menstruation, migraines, autism (sheesh), clarity, connection between physical and celestial planes...

And on and on and on. Amazing, in whatever way you want to take that word.



Ok, that's enough of that. I kind of miss my rocks, you know. I do have my little amethyst tortoise with me (and one of the lab techs even noticed it. Turns out she's the type that carries rocks in her pocket... they're everywhere, you know), but I miss playing daily dress-up. And work. And people in general.

I'm never going to make six weeks, you know.

Totally not recent photo of the day:

Alpine Veronica flowers in the spring, generally. It's not spring now.

I don't know if you've heard, but it's winter here.



Bah.

Now, don't get me wrong. It's not unusual for it to be wintery in mid-November in Alberta. What is unusual, though, is for it to happen in a day. That's right, one day. One day it was something like 9C for a high, and the next, if I'm remembering right, the high was -12C.

Yes, that's a minus.

This week I decided to take Monday off because the fall of the Remembrance Day stat on Tuesday (and I seriously didn't realise that Remembrance Day isn't yet a national stat. Really, Canada?) made for an easy long weekend for a part-timer like me. The weather hit on the weekend, though, and decided that I was staying home anyway because it was too cold for me to be able to clear the 10 cm of snow from my car.

I am not making this up.

I had to get out Wednesday, unfortunately, because some stupid person delayed getting her driver's licence renewed until just a couple of days before her birthday. So, rather than face -- at best -- a fine or -- at worst -- redoing my driver's test after all of these years, I sucked it up, cleared the car, went to the registry, got a really bad toque-head photo taken... and then went right back home because the headache from the cold had set in and I couldn't face doing anything else.

I did manage to make it to work yesterday afternoon. On my own, even. Made me feel like garbage, but I did it. Today? Early program, expected morning temperature of -28C. Yes, seriously. Wheat took pity on me and said that he'd pick me up (thank you, and did I mention thank you?). It didn't get quite as cold as all that (only -21C, I think, when we left), but I'd've still had to scrape the windshield and that would have done it for my hands for a while.

Just so you know, being allergic to the cold isn't the best life choice in Alberta. Not that it was a choice or anything, but still.

Aaanyway, there's how things stand. They're saying that it's supposed to start warming up tomorrow, so hopefully that will give me a chance to get into Dad's and give him his birthday present (happy birthday today, Dad). Which is... ummm... probably peanuts for his bird feeder. Yeah, the crap weather meant that I didn't get my last-minute shopping done, so he'll be getting something from our bookstore. He's ok with that, though. It's not the first time.



Later, then. Assuming that I survive until the next time I'm at a computer and don't get lost in a snowbank somewhere.

The yearly rant

Clearly, the Turkey Brothers have learned how to not help with the laundry.

Tom has also learned the term GET DOWN. Or at least the tone of voice. I suspect he may have had a little help from the smack fairy... oh, wait. Some of you won't get the reference, and if you don't it sounds more abusive than I mean it to. Gimme a second...

Ok, here we go. British sketch comedy as usual.

Anyway, the boys are still doing well, and are little shits kittens. Hard to believe at this point that they'll ever settle down, but I know that they will. They're frustrating, sweet, and entertaining as hell. In other words, yeah, they're kittens.

They've also already learned that hearing the fridge door open at certain times may mean a good chance of getting meat scraps (gee, I wonder who taught them that? It definitely wasn't me). It's kind of funny, because back when my Dad was still teaching the old cats knew that if they showed up in the kitchen when he was making his sandwich to take for lunch, they'd likely get a treat. Kind of early for these two to have formed the habit, but it's there now so I can't do much about it. Which brings me to the yearly rant.

Oh, and sorry if this comes off as crabby. I'm not really, but this computer's getting old enough that it's sometimes faster to post things to the internet by using a stone tablet. As well, I forgot my wrist tensor at home, so I'm dealing with an annoyingly achy joint. Ought to be fun when I try to do the art thing in a few minutes. Having said that, then, here's the subject suggested by the cats' new-found love of turkey (we had our supper yesterday) and the usual internet greetings I've been noticing pretty much everywhere:

Don't say Canadian Thanksgiving, Canadian bloggers/tweeters/whateverelsers. For pity's sake. This time of year I see it everywhere. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, everyone! I mean, it's one thing if someone from an American site says it, because they're clarifying it for their readers. But when known Canadian internet personalities insist on adding Canadian to Thanksgiving, it's more than clarification. It's apologising. And while it's cliché that we're known for apologising, in this case it's just annoying. It's see, Americans? We have one too. Never mind that our first Thanksgiving was actually before the Pilgrims. Never mind that if you're a Canadian and people know that you're Canadian, the Americans will probably figure out that you're talking about a Canadian holiday when you say Thanksgiving a month earlier than they're expecting it. Saying Happy Canadian Thanksgiving when you just mean Thanksgiving is like putting up your hand timidly in the back of the room to ask the American commercial giant if it's ok to have a different Thanksgiving than the one that they advertise.

Yeah, it annoys me a little. And it is so cliché Canadian that it kind of makes me want to headdesk whenever I see it. I know you all mean well, but can't we just own our own holidays for once? After all, we're allowed to spell colour with a u around here. We can have different stats as well, right?

Um, that would be short for Statuary Holiday. Government-mandated days off with pay, where you usually get time and a half if you have to work them. It's a Canadian thing.

Kind of like Thanksgiving.



Happy American Columbus Day, everyone.

Fairly late pointless photo and you know that means no real post of the day:

The ball is for Arthur, you see, for when he gets older. He could consider it a gift from the late great Rikki aka Dogbreath, since she's the one who brought it into Dad's yard in the first place.

Ok, really? I just need to take some new photos this weekend. I have one on the camera that I'm debating on whether to post (you'll know why the debate if I do actually post it), but I'm hoping to find at least something in the yard that's worth a photo tomorrow.

This spring has been sooo slooow...

Anyway. It's late, this old computer is being stupid, and as the title says I don't even have a real post, so goodnight moon.

Goodnight ball.

Goodnight people who are already working on their three-day drunkfest in honour of May Two-Four.

Which, confusingly, is on May 19th this year.





I'm not sure that Queen Victoria would be amused.

Sometimes I love my workplace

After seeing the bad -- bad, but made us laugh -- version on Cake Wrecks the other day, we decided that we really needed to get our coworker's baker husband to make us a Valentine's cake. So here it is, our celebration at the Nature Centre:

Seriously. It's on the shelf opposite our office door right now. The best part has been to see who laughed and who didn't when they noticed it. The vast majority have laughed, and many pictures have been taken.

Incidentally, if you're able to find this picture on Twitter then you will have officially found the account that I and a couple of others tweet on for work. Or at least the account of someone who retweeted it...

I work with some interestingly weird people.

They're great.

And in case you're wondering what the boss felt about all of this, the photo you're looking at is the one he took. I asked him to e-mail it to me so that I could show you all out there.

Did I mention that I work with some interestingly weird people?

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I need to get back to work (I took an early lunch. I was hungry, and my sandwich was calling out to me), so I'll just quickly add to my I Don't Care Olympic semi-rant from yesterday:

I don't care about Men's Hockey.

Don't get me wrong -- I like hockey. I just don't care about a bunch of overpaid professionals deciding to go slumming for a couple of weeks and pretending that they're a national team. I know that the line between amateur and professional athletes has been blurred for years, but somehow it all comes to a head for me in hockey. Especially when you get the media saying stupid things like Team Canada finally has its first game!!! as though Team Canada (underpaid but extremely talented women's version) hasn't already been winning for a bit.

And I find it boggling that bars in places like Edmonton have been given permission to open at 8 am  (8 flipping am. Eight in the morning. Seriously.) just so that people can drink and watch hockey.

Uh huh. Enjoy that beer. I'll be over here watching crazy people throw themselves head first down an icy trough.

It tends to be more entertaining.

And they're certainly not overpaid.

Guess what?

It's snowing. And cold.

Thus, flowers.

And grumpiness.

We were flying my helicopter at lunch hour, though, so I suppose that helps a bit. What also helps (and also is not very good at all, when you think about it) is that this place is covered in Christmas food at the moment. Some is dropped off by volunteers and customers, some of it comes from Christmas parties, and some comes from the staff. And, as is usual and predictable, I've had altogether too much of it. And no doubt will continue to have altogether too much of it.

Tis the season, and all that.

Anyway, this will have to be short (again), but blame the helicopter this time. I certainly do.

I continue to suck at the helicopter, by the way, but at least it's fun sucking.





Wait... that didn't sound right at all...

Stupid people in hallways

Yep, still flowers leftover from the summer. I do have seasonal pictures on the camera, but part of me doesn't want to even see them.

More snow on Sunday/Monday. As in, possibly 20 cm more.

I miss flowers, did I mention?

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This post will be short (hopefully) and disjointed (inevitably) because I'm in a state of brain no work. I've been having the sleep thing -- or lack of sleep thing -- again (um, when am I not, exactly?) and last night I finally hit the point where I knew I was going to sleep. I absolutely knew it. Eventually the head and body both do hit that state, even if you're scared they never will. Anyway, I went to bed around 11:30 pm, got to sleep pretty much right away (yay!), and... around 2:30 am what sounded like a half dozen people or so decided to have a fairly loud... let's call it a discussion... in the hallway. A loud, protracted discussion.

And that was it for me and sleep.

*shakes fist at the stupid people of the world*

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On a totally different and much more amusing note, I can't remember if I mentioned that Hugh Laurie finally joined the twitterverse a couple of weeks ago. I find this extremely funny partly because he is funny, but also partly because one of the biggest twitter deniers in the celebrity world is now one of the chattiest. Maybe there's something to this twitter thing, eh Mr Laurie?

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One last thing, then. In an attempt to escape the endless carousel of crappy Christmas songs that watching television for the past couple of days has implanted in my brain (can we say On Yer Mark, Get Set, All Christmas Commercials All The Time, boys and girls?), today's earworm is a German lullaby that I've actually performed called Guter Mond (or An den Mond), and the link is for a very nice a cappella version. This is a great song to sing. Come to it, German is a great language to sing, although I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it's just that there's a lot of good German music out there, I dunno. Anyway, if you need a break from rocking around the Christmas tree or whatever earworm's been throttled into your head, maybe give this one a try.

Later, folks.

Turkey

The pointless photo, by the way, is not of a turkey.

The picture's about all you're getting today, though, because I just spent a stupid amount of time on a silly doodle and now I don't feel like typing. A shame, really, since I probably won't post at all tomorrow and I'd been on a bit of a roll the past few days.

Ah well.

The post title? Any of my two fans who are Canadian know, and as a result probably aren't even reading today. As for me, I had my turkey yesterday, which means I also had my turkey for breakfast and will probably have it for lunch as well. I'll likely give it a miss for supper, but it should be back for lunch tomorrow...

How do you Americans manage to do that? You know, a big meal with your late Thanksgiving and then doing it all over again for Christmas so soon after? I can't help but think that it must be exhausting.

Anyway, a good Thanksgiving to everyone out there. See you in a day or two.