Happy Hallowe'en!!

Two Movies, One Website

Tonight I ended up watching Beetlejuice with my roomies. Few things. For one, I do like a good Tim Burton movie, let me just say. Secondly, it's cool to know a movie I liked as a kid I still like now, though there's lots I appreciate about it now that I didn't then. Funny how some things you enjoy as a kind, you don't care much for as a grown up, but other things stick with you. Finally, I have to say I really love the visual style of the movie. I mean, there's the trademark Tim Burton things, the stripes, the crazy angles, the dead, dead, dead. But what I liked about this movie in particular was the looks Lydia and her step mother had going. Lydia had the goth thing, obviously, which I'll always love, but the step-mom had this look going that was trendy-artsy eighties with a slight gothic edge to it as well. Nothing I'd ever wear, but really fun to look at.

This reminds me of watching Penelope the other day; I really liked the look of that movie as well. The house was great, Penelope's room in particular, as it had to have all kinds of things to make up for the fact that she could never leave the house. I loved the trees and the Autumn leaves and all the cold weather wear. The city was neat, both modern and quaint at once. The scenes where she sees the world for the first time are beautiful and magical to look at. And I absolutely loved Penelope's look. Modern, but a bit old fashioned at the same time, all skirts and heels and tights, but without coming across as too uptight and done. Mostly classic, simple shapes, but colourful and cutesy and different without being at all over the top. Love it, love it, love it. And that James McAvoy guy was all right too. ;)

Anyway, here's one more thing just because I feel like adding it. It's a link to a website I heard about on CBC yesterday, pretty fun if you enjoy sneaking little glimpses into other people's lives. Have fun!

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/

October 24

Today is the day Seguin bought me a GINORMOUS choclate bar. It actually weighs one kilogram. It's my favourite type of chocolate too.

What a sweetheart. =)

Meet the Cats

This post is for you, Meghan, to catch up on the kitties in my life. ;)

First of all, we have Loki. You know who he is, Meghan, but for those who don't and might be interested, here ya go.

Inherited from our former roomies in Oakville, he's been a part of the family for about two years. He started out as a pretty crazy guy, high energy, high strung, loud and heavy on personality. He's quieted down a fair amount now, and even seems rather grown up now that we have the kitten, but he's still a pretty unique guy. He's also rather large. I never truly appreciated what a big cat he is until we got Penelope, but after cuddling her, he seems big and muscular and heavy by comparison. He really isn't the skinny ninja he used to be.

On the other hand, he's still pretty dynamic. He can wrestle and chase with the best of them and is teaching Penelope all the moves. He'll carry on a conversation, he loves to lick faces with his sandpaper tongue, and he likes to sleep on the computer chair at night. If Seguin stays up late playing games when Loki wants to go to sleep, he's not shy about stealing the chair the second Seguin gets up for a drink. He also loves hugs.

Magic is Skye's kitty. She's teeny tiny and black in colour and is about 10 years old. She has the funniest scratchy little meow and will often hop from surface to surface following you about in a quest for pets, but gets peeved if you pick her up.

She gets along okay with Loki and tolerates the kitten. Her favourite person is definitely Skye, but she will show up looking for company if Skye is not around. She eats lots of strange things, or example, she prefers tuna with mayonaisse to tuna juice from the can, but her favourite treats are moochies. Toss one down the hall and she tears after it like it's the last morsel in existence, pouncing on it with a mad efficiency. It's pretty cool to watch.

I think she feels pretty comfortable living here even though she pretends to hate the other cats. A few months ago, she licked all the fur off her back end. It's was strange looking, bald and skinny; Skye and roomie at the time called her Sir Patchy Bottom. Since she's been here, however, she's allowed it all to grow back, and she has a normal cat bottom again. I think that must be a good thing.

Penelope is the newest member of the family. Her full name is Doctor Penelope, sometimes known as Penny or Squeaker or The Kitten. She was a member of the last litter of the Grandview straw Delta, who was mercifully taken to live in the observatory just recently. We'll have had her two weeks this Sunday, but she's made herself very much at home.

Her favourite playmate is Loki; they chase and they love to wrestle. Sometimes if he's not interested in play, she'll just lay there and look at him. He takes care of her, attempting to bathe her and burying her messes in the litter box (as she's not yet figured out how to do it herself).

When Loki is not around, she's happy to play with the mouse or the bee or the ball. She'll play with feet, she'll climb legs, she'll attack your arm, she'll relentlessly chase her own tail. She spends all her waking moments in full-on play mode, attacking, pouncing, jumping. When she finally tires, she'll lounge a bit, fall asleep, wake up, and after a bite to eat (sitting completely inside the cat dish like a child's ball bin) she'll start playing all over again. She is in hardcore training for ninja catdom.

Though they're incredibly independent and need less companionship from us than other kinds of pets, cats still appreciate friends more than one would think. I know our cats love us the way we love them, so it always makes me feel better to know they've got company when we leave the house to do our human stuff. One cat is always fantastic, but another one or two seems to make things more complete. =)

The white winter light makes everything so calm and beautiful, my heart aches, just a little bit.

Loki meets Dr. Penelope

Loki has been having a difficult time with the new kitten, Penelope. (That's Doctor Penelope to you. She has a phd in cute.) At first he was wary and a little bit jealous of the fluffy new presence, hissing, growling and generally keeping his distance. But watching them now, on day four, I can see the tide is turning, and know it won't be long now before I feel comfortable leaving them in the same room alone together.

She's become relaxed enough around him to jump and play and dart about without worry. He's been watching her do this all morning. And now it seems he's trying to get in on the act. It's a little awkward. Loki plays with Magic (Skye's kitty) by suddenly jumping out in front of her and then tearing off in the opposite direction in a bid to have her chase him. Problem is, Penelope's so tiny and unused to play with larger cats that Loki's attempts at play are probably a bit terrifying. All the same, he is trying and I think that is a good sign.

I think Loki will agree with me soon that kittens are pretty great.

October 12th Part 2

Holy kittens! Today is also the day I was featured on the front page of etsy!
http://flickr.com/photos/getglassy/2936358074/in/pool-etsyfrontpagers

October 12th

Today is the day Skye brought home a new friend.

On the Evening Air

There are a many different things that make summer really 'Summer.' And Autumn 'Autumn' and Spring 'Spring.' But biking home today, I decided there is one way in which I really prefer all of them to winter.

Now I'm a multi-season girl. Any time of year, you'll find me content with the seasonal state of my surroundings. Spring is so fresh and sunny and exciting; when I was in public school, I loved that first warm day when everyone could go outside in snow pants and sweatshirts (no need for your coat) and run around on sun dried pavement and make wet snowballs out of slowly melting snow. Summer is great because of how beautiful everything is pretty much all of the time. The nights are warm and the swimming's good and I want to be outdoors every second I can. Autumn leaves me feeling even more invigorated than Spring. Maybe it's that the back-to-school feeling never goes away, but the bright colours and the clear skies and the crips air seem so fresh and alive. And Winter makes me happy too. As I feel it approaching, I look forward to nights spent cozy indoors while the snow flies outside the window. I love skiing and building forts and getting all dressed up in scarves and hats and getting rosy cheeks from the cold. And maybe it's just me, but I feel like the stars are brighter and the sky is bigger during the winter.

The one thing I've really come to appreciate about the other three seasons, however, I never really noticed until these past few months. Early morning and twilight were common times for me to be travelling to or from work, and it seems those times are when the smells in the air are the most noticeable. I'd just never really noticed before what a variance of sensations the evening air can carry to me as I speed along on my bike. Tonight was especially nice. Rotting leaves, a smell like dry hay, dusty gravel, wood fires, moist earth, all sorts of plant smells, spicy and pungent and fresh. They all blend together in a very harmonious way, changing so subtley that with each inhalation I'm aware of the scent having changed, but I can't quite remember what was different about it before.

Each season brings its own potpourri; Spring has that earthy smell of mud and thawing earth, Summer has daisies and freshly sweet grass and lake water, Autumn has dry hay and that leafy smell of decay. I shouldn't say that Winter has nothing. There is that distinctive smell of cold, fresh, clearness that comes with a crips Winter's night. There's also the smell of icy pine and moist firewood. But it seems to me that winter doesn't provide quite the 'glad to be alive' variety of sensations that the rest of the seasons do.

Could be I'm wrong. Like I said, I never noticed these things until just the last few months. Perhaps I haven't given winter a proper chance, and over the next few months, as I walk to work in the snow, I'll discover a whole variety of treats for the nose I'd never been aware of before. But in the meantime, I just want to send a shout out to Mother Nature in appreciation all the varieties of evening air I've enjoyed this year. Enjoy them while they last.

October 9th

Today is the day I saw Mom and Roger in the grocery store and thought about how I've reached that point in my life where I can live in the same town as my mother and run into her out and about without seeing her at home.
Today is also the day I saw Angie in the grocery store and missed her a lot.

October 8th

Today's the day I helped a man in customer service who sounded just like the cowboy from The Big Lebowski.

Smoke, Baby

This is just a shout out to my brother's cat Smokey. I still see him every two or three weeks, but I used to see him every day, so I miss him a lot. He is a big lug and very soft and when he's feeling affectionate, he's wonderful to cuddle with. And he has a great meow.

Pics

Here are some of my favourite pictures from the last little while.




























Some of them are quite blurry....I've had this obsession with blurring out certain photos lately. I think it has something to do with the emphasis it places on the colours.

October 5

Today's the day I finally took a walk down the dead end street near West Road Convenience. The houses were small and nice and reminded me of my Aunt Deedee's. It was chilly and there were Autumn leaves everywhere and there was a cat curled up on someone's porch chair.
There's a big empty lot at the end of the street, down by the river. I wonder what they're going to build there.

October 2nd

Today's the day I had my first proper guests since I got this apartment.
They brought cookies. =)

Too Much!!!

Sometimes I feel like the creative urge is both a blessing and a curse. This usually happens at times when I feel so full of thoughtful energy and inspiration, I just don't know where to direct my focus. There's just so many great things I could be doing. There's things I want to paint and things I want to journal and things I want to write. Photos I want to take and then a million different things I want to do with them.....stitch them and collage them and use them to tell stories. There are things I want to sew and manipulate and create and build, sometimes the ideas come so quickly I have to stop and draw them all before I forget, and even then I know I won't actually pursue even half.

There are just too many inspiring things....photos that are so aesthetically appealing I want to duplicate them or add into them and draw attention to them. Others just give me some sort of feeling that I want to capture and communicate somehow. There are techniques I want to explore, to see what I can do with them, what I else I can come up with. Even certain materials just beg to be used, their colours, their textures so tempting I feel like I just have to do something with them.

The problem is, how's a girl to find time for all of it? Even if I didn't have to cook and eat and earn a little moolah and clean up once in a while, there wouldn't be the time. Even if I completely shut out my friends and family and the beautiful world and refused to leave the house, it couldn't be done. (And then, I think the inspiration would go as well. How can one continue to spew colourful life without taking any in to begin with?) This is where the curse part of it comes in; having this ocean of inspiration and so many ideas, and barely being to dip in a toe.

Even if I did, someday, work out a life for myself where I could pursue my artistic endeavours to my heart's content, can someone as unfocused as myself ever really become successful?? Would I be able to develop anything to the extent I would like if I have so many other ideas? Does that 'jack of all trades, master of none' concept apply here??

How does one decide what to master? Do they have to?

October 1st

Today is the day I had my first real bank appointment to discuss my finances and my future.
It felt pretty grown up and empowering.