a not so amusing monday

Blogger has messed up my template.
I tried to fix it and ... well, lost the old template.
Now, I cannot get my columns, even though the template says it should be in columns.


I guess I should be grateful that it was only the template that got lost.....

time for a pause

Really? You all want a pier?

Judging by your unbridled enthusiasm, it does make me wonder what sort of image you all have in your heads of what a pier, in an industrial city, in Ontario, in March, might be like.

I had my appointment at the gym with my personal trainer who, after making me do one too many reps of abdominal exercises, said that if I was going for a long walk then she wouldn't make me go on the elliptical machine. Great. I had a free afternoon and with the dire weather report of a vernal equinox timed end to this record breaking warm spring-like weather running through my head, I headed out to the waterfront. Just for you.

But, you will have to wait until I sort through the pictures.

In the meantime, I will tell you about this.

I was at the flower show on Thursday and wandering through the marketplace section, looking for free samples new and interesting things, when I came across a tea merchant stall. Ever since I taste tested fresh, exotic, blended loose leaf teas, I have been unwilling to go back to the store brands. Last summer I was introduced to Yerba Mate tea. It has more antioxidants than green tea and has many health benefits. But mostly, I liked the taste.


But then I saw the display of gourds and metal straws, I immediately thought of Betty in Paraguay. Betty had casually mentioned in her blog about having tereré. Then she had to explain what it was, which you can read here. (Or you can check the link above for Yerba Mate).

Anyway, I thought this was pretty neat to learn about the South American way of drinking this tea out of a gourd with a straw (bombilla) last week, then to actually find them. And I love meeting people who are so excited about their product. He happily opened as many jars of tea to let me smell as I wished all the while sharing information about the flavours and differences and benefits. And he was excited that I had just learned a little about these strange cups.

It was just too interesting to pass up, so I had to buy one. I was instructed how to 'season' the gourd (fill with hot water and let it sit overnight), how to fill the gourd with the tea leaves and how to drink from the metal straw. That metal straw had me a little worried.

I bought a Mango Yerba Mate and a Lemon Rooibos tea to try. One teaspoon into the cup. Fill with hot water. Let it sit - keeping the metal straw out of the hot water!
My gourd has been seasoned and the tea steeped...


It is difficult to get around the idea of drinking something hot through a straw. This is not meant for fast consumption, but for savouring.

The straw makes for a more intense flavour.
Almost in the same way that drinking through the little hole in the takeout cup lids will do.

This might take a bit of getting used to.
I wish I had a bigger gourd...

ping, ping

In an interesting twist, I was reading XUP's post on comments, where as is often the case, the comments are as, or more, interesting than the post. There were already a lot of comments to read through, because I've been distracted by the really, really, big event happening in Vancouver and it took me awhile to read through them all and think of my own contribution.

As usual, at the same time, I had just posted on my photoblog and I was visiting a host of other photoblogs and leaving comments there. I always check off the box that says email follow up comments even though I have been getting no notification of follow up comments by email for weeks - months even. Stupid Blogger. But sometimes, it works and you never know. I also don't always get an email notice for comments left on my blogs. Blogger seemed to have its own idea of who was deemed notification worthy. So it can be a surprise when I go into the comment box to reply to one comment and find two or three others there! It also means I have to keep checking, endlessly, because I am a comment whore.

Anyway, I was still thinking about my blogger whingeing contribution to XUP's comments when I went to have a nap. In the depths of my sleep-deprived brain (why do I have to watch all 24 hours of Olympic coverage??) I could hear the pings of new emails falling into my inbox. Suddenly blogger has decided you are all notification worthy again.

Just when I was getting used to having very few emails to sift through...
Glad to have you back.

seeing things differently

When I drove from Ottawa into Hull, one of the first things that stood out for me, was that the traffic lights were different. Not only were they on a long straight arm over the intersection, they were ... horizontal.
That is just so wrong. Well, not wrong really, but so different than what my brain tells me to expect. It was startling.

Traffic lights should be on a pole at the edge of the sidewalk, or on a meridian.
Or on a short curved arm extending over one lane.
And most importantly, vertical.
And yellow.

But on a wire extending from one side of the road to the other with the signals twisting in the wind. Now that is wrong and deserves serious re-designing.

Now, I spend a long time (sometimes hours, even) on some of my blog posts. Especially the ones with photos. The photos have to be the correct size and positioned just so. And the accompanying text has to be specifically aligned. This can cause great consternation with the click and drag option. But I am particular about how I want everything to look.

The other day (week, actually, since this has been sitting in my 'drafts for oh, awhile...) I succumbed to one of the many pop-up invitations to try out Google Chrome. I had been with several friends and the conversation somehow turned to the glorification of the 'chrome'. It was so loved by at least two of my computer geek friends that I decided to give it a go. It was purported to load faster and I thought that in itself would be a wonderful thing.

It took a little getting used to finding where everything was. The font was a little different. I liked the instant spell check - though I had to constantly 'Canadianize' it by adding any 'our' word to the dictionary. The tabs were now on the top, instead of the bottom of the screen. And instead of eventually clumping together in a hidden vertical sequence when it got to be too many open tabs (I am easily distracted) they just kept being added in a long horizontal sequence. It wasn't what my brain told me to expect.

Neither was my finished post exactly as expected when I switched from IE to Chrome. All that careful layout was slightly off.

I once commented to another blogger who had posted a photo of her computer screen on one of her posts that I had no idea there was actually another column far off to the right hand side. In fact, I couldn't even see all of her photo without having to scroll down because it was too large to fit on my 17" screen. It wasn't until then that I realized there was also a scroll bar on the bottom. What she was obviously seeing on her screen was not what I was seeing on mine.

Which makes me wonder, is the image of our posts different if you are using a Mac vs a PC? Since Internet Explorer shows differently that Google Chrome, how many other variants are there?

...and why won't Blogger let me embiggen some of my photos??

SundayStills - fins, feathers and fur

The fur coat was first written about here.

The fish I said I fell in love with I wrote about here.

The bird ornament is one of many I have, but I like it so much I keep him up all year.

Mission accomplished. No archives. Now I have to put everything back where it belongs.

It may seem like I have run out of words.

Mostly, I have been drawn outside by November's unseasonal warmth and sunshine.

I'll be back.

Go here to see how others handled this Sunday challenge.

the second five random words

It's time for the second set of five random words, this time offered up by Geewits of Trying to Fill the Unforgiving Minute.

BEARS
I have never seen a bear.
I have been to Banff and Jasper and even Yellowstone National Parks. I have camped in Algonquin and Killarney Provincial Parks. I've driven the Trans Canada Highway from Toronto to Vancouver 2 times and to Winnipeg 3 times. I've seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn. But nary a bear. It seems almost un-Canadian.
It's probably for the best.

FOG
My best memories of Switzerland are in the fog. I know - what a waste of beautiful, amazing scenery, THE ALPS, in the fog! And yet, it was all so beautiful. To wake up in fog and watch it shift and move. To be on the train and feel that you are climbing up, up, up, until suddenly the fog lifts and the clouds part and you see... mountains. All around you. I think we entertained the other Swiss passengers on the train with our squeals of delight and racing from one side of the train to the other to drink in the views. My friend Denise was from Kansas and we were living in Holland, so the peaks of the alps were a wondrous sight after so much flatness. I don't think it would have been quite so exciting had we seen them all along. Or if every day weren't first enshrouded in fog so that we didn't know for sure if would ever see them again.

GRAPES
There are a lot of grapes near where I live. The Niagara Peninsula is the largest grape growing area in Canada. This means there are a lot of wineries, too. If you come to visit me, I will take you on a wine tour. We will drive down roads beside fields and fields of grapes. I will not be able to tell you what kind of grapes they are, but we can visit any number of wineries for tastings and ask. Driving around in September and October is the best time to see the vines laden with grapes before harvesting. And we can stop in at my favourite bakery, The Pie Plate for some grape pie. Quite possibly the most expensive pie I have ever bought. But I had to try it, and without asking the price, the last one in the shop was boxed up. You don't see grape pie very often, so the 14.99 was maybe worth it. Once. Or for a very special occasion.

TOENAILS
Most people don't seem to like their feet. I don't really think about whether I like mine or not, but I do like to take care of them. Having a pedicure is more than making your toes pretty and colourful, though if you don't like your feet, I say get a good polish. Polished toes will detract from the rest of your feet, because once there is some colour on your toenails, that's what everyone will be looking at. I have small toenails. So small, that there is barely anything on my baby toes. I figure I should get a discount for only needing eight toes polished.

KISSING
Not a day goes by without more news being written about H1N1 and how we should not only wash our hands every minute of the day, but stop that disease ridden practice of shaking hands. Trust me, no elbow bump will ever become a part of my greeting. So, I'm guessing that the kiss hello is definitely out forevermore. As uncomfortable as I can feel with the kiss hello, I sortof wish I didn't feel uncomfortable. I wish I knew exactly what to do - left cheek peck or right cheek peck or right, left, right, or air kiss... it is all so confusing. Unlike the handshake which is direct and formal and polite without invading anyones personal space. I was walking behind two little girls yesterday; they were holding hands and kicking the leaves on the sidewalk and laughing, when one of them spontaneously put her arm around the other's shoulder and gave her a kiss on the cheek. It was all so sweet. As all kisses should be.

So far, Meggie and Susan have also played from the first set of words. If you wish to check out their post, click on their names. And if you wish to play just ask for five words.

the first five random words

It is time for another meme!
I like these kind of free flowing ones where you ask other bloggers to supply you with questions or, in this case, FIVE random words chosen specifically for you. All you have to do is write anything that these words make you think of. These five random words came from mrwriteon of And I Still Think So.

TROPICAL
Everything seems so much bigger in the tropics. Bigger and more intense. The sun is hotter, the rain is more frequent, the flowers are huge, the greenery more lush, the birds more colourful. The humidity more exhausting. The spiders and other bugs way too frightening. So, not quite paradise.
I used to think a holiday on a beach would be the most boring thing. I needed a little more stimulation. I now know better, the sand and sea are so mesmerizing and the heat so draining, I don't want to go anywhere but sit with a cool drink with one of those umbrellas. They are talking about snow and frost on the weather channel at the moment....

MYTHOLOGY
The first time I sent a donation to PBS (public television that relies on funding "from viewers like you") was after seeing the Bill Moyers interviews with Joseph Campbell. I had to have that book. I was devoted to his writings and soon my bookshelves were heavy with all manner of books on mythology and comparative religions. About a year ago, when I needed more space, it was my books on mythology that were redistributed in the laundry room. I kept a few, most definitely Joseph Campbell, and Bullfinch, though I will likely never get around to reading it. But I now have a few more feet of space for other genres. It seemed, at the time and still, a strange passion for someone who tends to take things literally. Maybe it was my creative side that needed to be explored.

SATIN
Seriously overrated. Oh sure it looks so slinky and sexy the way it drapes and flows and shimmers. Until it hugs a bulge. Or snags. And you know that if you wear that gorgeous outfit to a party you will come home with some kind of stain decorating your front that will not come out.
Satin is perfection and who among us can attain that. Who can wear perfection well? Who among us can eat bruschetta without dripping? Yes, it is wonderful to have those sheets floating over your body as you sleep, until you see the wrinkled mess in the morning.
No, satin is annoying.

STREETCARS
When I was very little I wanted to be a streetcar driver when I grew up. I always liked sitting in the very back to watch the cable that attached to the overhead electrical wires. It would swing back and forth when the car turned corners and sometimes, if we were lucky, the driver would have to get out and prod it back into position with a long stick. Then there were the areas where several tracks merged and he (for it was always a he back then, though that never occurred to me as a young girl, I still thought I could grow up to be one of their exalted group) would again need to get out with a different long stick and do something magical with the tracks so we'd be going in the right direction. These things never happened on the bus. Then I grew up and had to take the 504 car every day to work. The novelty soon wore off. Though I still feel a certain nostalgia when I see streetcars and am ambivalent at the newer designs that look like mini futuristic trains.

CITIES
I love cities. I was born in Toronto, although technically it was a suburb and felt very suburban. When I was young, going 'downtown' was a major event. It required getting dressed up in your almost Sunday best. "I am not going to be seen downtown with you wearing that outfit" was often heard in my house. I love the energy that comes in a city. Seeing the streets full of life and restaurants with patios full of people makes me feel happy. The noise and the smells are another story, one that comes with city life that needs to be endured but not enjoyed. I moved a lot while in Toronto and managed to always live within walking distance of the subway each time. That is almost as important as being able to walk to a coffee shop, grocery store and book store. The idea of living out in the country with no neighbours for miles around sends a minor panicked feeling through my bones. Way too much enforced quiet and solitude.

If anyone else wants to play, just let me know and I'll choose five words for you to be creative with.

what I like to see

When I was about 12, I got my first pair of glasses. I distinctly remember sitting in our living room and staring at the wallpaper - the flocked wallpaper (well, it was 1970) and realizing I could see the gold flocking. I could actually see the furry swirls raised from the rest of the wallpaper. It seems so obvious, but at the time it was new and exciting. I would sit on the chesterfield and bob my head up and down to see the difference in my improved eyesight. And I'm not even that blind. For more than 30 years I had the exact same prescription. The frames changed. The size of the lenses certainly changed. But the prescription, not a bit. I only needed the glasses for distance and even then, not all the time. I was always losing them at school. So I eventually stopped wearing them unless absolutely necessary. As a result, when I did wear them I was amazed all over again at the clarity and detail.

This all changed about 6 years ago, coincidentally just in time for our provincial health plan to delist vision care. I started having trouble reading those big signs in the middle of the grocery aisles to say what was in each aisle. Worse, I realized that I would be holding the boxes of cereal at varying distances to get the right angle to be able to read the information that is so vital to be included that it is in the tiniest font size available. It turned out my regular prescription needed to be stronger. AND, I needed reading glasses. Bifocals were recommended. I bit the inside of my cheek and tried not to shed any tears. I went home with new, stronger, prescription distance glasses and a pair of invisible bifocals. I sat on the chesterfield and bobbed my head up and down (I was told to do this, to get used to them) to watch television and read a book at the same time. This time, it wasn't so exciting. It was more dizzying than anything else. Then, the invisible line bifocals were almost the same style as the distance ones and within a matter of weeks I had trouble knowing which were which.

I ended up later getting another pair of reading glasses. I keep magnifying glasses in every room because that is so much easier. Except for reading books. I still need to work on that. And now I need another, stronger, prescription. I get headaches whenever I try to read the newspaper or a magazine. I find I check out the print before I even consider buying or reading a book. I can't get away with not wearing the glasses any more. All those blurry letters make my head spin, my eyes water, and scare me even a little. I hate to see anything out of focus. When I upload my photos I spend hours scrutinizing each one to determine the one that is the most in focus.

My mother had macular degeneration and for the longest time she struggled with doing the crossword and knitting as her eyesight deteriorated. I have no idea how she did it. Sheer determination and pig-headedness, most likely. Instead of biting my cheek, I had to bite my tongue to stop from complaining about my needing new reading glasses after 30 years. I maybe don't like anything to be out of focus, but I still have the opportunity to fix that. For the time being.

In the meantime, I have to take a blurry, out of focus photo for my new team blog lens.us.together. It is an unbelievably difficult challenge. I could just take an out of focus shot, but there would be no meaning to that. I need to find one that has a reason for being.

one photo out-of-focus is a mistake,

ten photos out-of-focus are an experimentation,

one hundred photos out-of-focus are a style.

~author unknown

There is a new game of tag going around the blogosphere, all about thinking happy. Finding joy in the little things in life. Interestingly, the blog that just this week won a Webby for best personal blog and the People's Choice Award is 1000 Awesome Things. Check it out and see if you don't find yourself smiling in recognition at some of the insignificant awesome things in life that just seem to make you happy, even if only for a moment. It's more than a list, with interesting perspectives thrown in. Started almost a year ago, he updates daily with another of life's little pleasures, giving one pause for thought and laughter. Or cynicism.
“A lovingly beautiful blog. It’s like being a three- or four-year-old and looking at the world for the first time again. Read it and you’ll feel good about being human.” – Jim Hedger, Webmaster radio

I'd like to say that waking up refreshed and rarin' to go after a good deep sleep is one thing that makes me happy. Well, it is, but I don't think it falls into the 'unimportant things that make you happy' category. which is the point of this tag. That is a really important thing. This past week has been especially trying, for some reason. The mere act of waking up has exhausted me. Walking over to the kitchen then the computer, I'm glad of the chair. Even the computer has been a bit trying of late, taking so long to upload some blogs, that I give up and go lay down, where my desire to read fights with my need to sleep. Neither one seems to come out a winner.

But, with the birds singing and the sun shining I headed outdoors today. And thought about the Six Unimportant Things That Make Me Happy.
A tag from reflecting Susan over in the 'Swamp. I won't tag any of you, but if anyone else feels like playing, "you're it".

1. A good hair day
2. The smell of laundry fresh off the line. Especially bedsheets. And pillowcases.
3. A brilliantly painted sunset after a dull day.
4. A really, really, good cup of tea in the afternoon.
5. Ducks. Playing, waddling, quacking, swimming, diving. How can you not smile when you see them?
6. When a young child, who is not yours and you've just met, reaches up and puts her hand in yours. Of course, I get this same warm feeling when a cat climbs onto my lap and curls up to sleep. It's a tie.

Monday AMuse

I hosted a dinner party yesterday.

That meant a good week of cleaning and tidying and sorting and buying stuff....

I've never had 6 people for dinner in this place - and I know, they all came to see me (and to eat) not to critique my home. Still. Went to an awful lot of effort and was exhausted by the time they showed up. Now, I'll spend this week finding all the little bits and pieces that got shoved in drawers, and baskets and closets "out of the way".

Go on, tell me you haven't done that, too.

So, as I take a deep breath, I offer you this little gem I found on a blog from a new SundayStills contributer who calls herself the crazy sheep lady

More cute photos of this little guy can be found here, oh and here with his story, and several posts of daily cuteness in between.

just another cold winter's day

We in the northern hemisphere are experiencing a bitter cold snap. You may have read a few complaints, or observations, or thoughts about this on other blogs.

I thought I'd try to see some positive points of it being so cold.

...

...

...


Well...

You can leave butter on the counter and it won't melt into a liquidy, messy, softness.

Anyone else have a positive spin?


Then, I had a look at Russell's blog from Iowa.
He managed a photo of a sundog which I had completely forgotten about.


Beauty in extreme cold.

Then there is this photo of snow in Norway that looks almost blue from the cold.


For more photos see Ivar Ivrig's photo gallery

A bright, sunny, if cold, Monday it is, too.

A special Hello to all you visitors from A Majority of Two
(a well deserved Blog of Note, I say).

Some of you may remember that I started a photo theme of posting a daily shot of yellow from around my neighbourhood. That went well, on my other site Sightlines. Then I sort of lost the daily photo hunt habit.

There are many photo memes out in blogland, and I have been tempted to join, but obviously my discipline is a little lacking for such strenuous weekly commitment. But now, Drowsey Monkey has started a new photo meme, called Mellow Yellow Monday. And I thought, hey, this is great, I already have a lot of yellow photos I can post. And I can get in at the beginning, which is always exciting. Of course, I forgot that my best yellow photos had already been posted...

Anyway, I've joined and if you are interested, take a peek at Sightlines and at

for more great shots of yellow to cheer your day. You may even want to join on the fun.

calendars

One of the things I look forward to in the new year is opening up a new calendar. Not because it represents new beginnings or the promise of good things to come. No, I just like the pretty pictures.

And there are so many to choose from. Chapters and Indigo have the best selection of art calendars. There are kiosks in malls that have the biggest selection from the too cute for words puppies and kittens in hammocks, flowers and countryside drawings, castles and sunsets and gardens, to birds and animals, cars, firemen, faeries and eventually to the the tacky celebrity and tv shows.

Every year I head out with an open mind, never knowing or expecting what will take my fancy. It may be faces in food, or lightning, or dolphins or trees. Or Monet, Dali, Pieck, Man Ray, Colin Baxter, Paris or Tuscany. I love that with a calendar one can have twelve new prints of artwork to grace the walls of one's kitchen, hall, bathroom or bedroom or office. Just when you are ready to look at something different, a new month neatly arranges that for you.

This year, I already picked out a Jane Austin's Bath to remind me of my holiday.
I bought an Anton Pieck.
And one of chickens.

The chickens will go in the kitchen. I have become rather entranced by them lately, after reading a few bloggers who have written and photographed their personal experiences with these Japanese Bantams, Auracanas, Cuckoo Marans, Buff Orpingtons, Polish Hens, Guinea Fowl ... I must admit to not having put much thought into these creatures, I had no idea there were so many varieties, or that they were so gorgeous! But now, I honestly almost (almost) wish I had a house with a yard and lived in a sensible urban area that allowed backyard coops so I could raise a 'chook' or two. And probably bore, or entertain, you with photos and anecdotes and trials and tribulations, and maybe recipes for their marvelous eggs
.

5 questions before the year ends

I hope you don't mind if we conduct this interview in my pajamas.
I certainly won't mind if you read this in your pajamas. In fact I would be honoured. I'd know that you are probably relaxed and feeling cozy.

I have sufficiently recovered from whatever nasty bug invaded my body over the last week. It wasn't pleasant, and I will not gross you out with details. Besides, I'd just as soon not think about it anymore. It might come back, and I am willing it far, far away.

Now, XUP has agreed to 'interview me'.

It’s a fun, co-operative interview exercise where fellow bloggers can email you asking to join in and then you have to email them back with 5 interview questions - things you’d like to know specifically about them. Then they answer the questions on their blog and invite other bloggers to join in which means they have to come up with 5 questions for those bloggers.

Her blog is so entertaining and informative, and you never know what is going on in her head from one day to the next. So I was really curious as to what she would ask.
Here's what XUP wants to know:

1. Have you ever been so insanely "in love" that you thought you would die without the other person?

It is worse when that relationship ends and you start thinking life is not worth living anymore. And years later you realize you didn't really 'like' that person as much as you 'loved' them. While together, I don't think I thought about it that way. Maybe I'm not insane enough? Doesn't mean I wasn't foolish, though.

2. If you could change one thing about your physical self, magically and without surgery, what would it be?

I would have soft, supple, slightly oily, flawless, darker hued skin. No more of this dry, flaky, itchy, redness that I suffer with now. I'd still buy luxurious hand creme, though.

3. All the celebrities have suddenly become homeless through some natural disaster affecting only celebrities. They need to be billeted for a week in the homes of regular folk until their mansions can be rebuilt. Who would you sign up to billet?

Ellen DeGeneres. She seems to have this capacity to make herself right at home wherever she is. And can easily amuse herself, so would never be needing me to entertain her. She would make me laugh and we'd act all silly and drink mojitos. She would likely also come bearing gifts.

4. You are self-employed and seem to enjoy the freedom and even the challenges. If you were offered an office job that would be routine, not too interesting but with good people and full-time and secure job would you take it?

I do miss the commaraderie with sharing an office space with people you meet daily, and benefits would be nice to have...but no. I like that my days are so unstructured, it allows me to continue with my favourite pasttime of procrastination. I would have to become very disciplined and buy office clothes and smile at people and develop a telephone voice. It would be too drastic a change.

5. Are you looking forward to your next birthday? Why or why not?

I'm not bothered, either way. My family doesn't really 'do' birthdays except as an excuse to get together for dinner but we all live so far apart and having a winter birthday, even that doesn't happen very often. We make a fuss over the milestones, and I was actually excited about turning 50 last year, so 51 is a bit nothing. I'm looking forward to Freedom 55, though. (do I need an office job to quit to enjoy it like in the commercials?)

So, if you'd like to play along, here are the rules:

Send me an email saying: ”Interview Me” (see my profile page for address)
I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
You can then answer the questions on your blog.
You should also post these rules along with an offer to interview anyone else who emails you wanting to be interviewed.

meme #2

Still feeling sniffly. (which spellcheck says should be sniffy?? or snuffly??)
So am pleased to have an easy post that practically wrote itself. Well, after I copied it from Geewits and Ian.

The Bold is what I have already done, green is what I would still like to do. (everything else, I haven't done and don't really want to do.)

I also won't tag anyone, but if you do it let me know so I can read yours - it is interesting to see what we've done with our lives. So far.


1. Started your own blog (and aren't you glad I did!)
2. Slept under the stars (it was heavenly)
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii (does a stopover count? probably not)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain (or was it just a hill? took hours, anyway)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (lake actually, but still)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (not very well)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (not recommended)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (elevator ride, maybe)
18. Grown your own vegetables (amazing what a balcony can hold)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (back in youthful days)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (known as mental health day?)
24. Built a snow fort (of course, I live in Canada!)
25. Held a lamb (New Zealand Spring Lamb, even. yes, alive)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (sun and moon)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (mostly every day)
31. Hit a home run (if I ever did it was surely an accident)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (again, not very well)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (briefly, but satisfyingly)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (as a Girl Guide)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a cheque
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (doll and bunny, and Lego)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (if by 'pieced" one piece is meant!)
73. Stood in Times Square (underwhelming event)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (should be more embarrassed...)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (newsmagazine, crowd scene)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

oh crap

In spite of the warmth and sunshine that has brought a smile to my face, it has been a crap week.

It started with a flat tire. The spare, no less. It was still on the car from the other flat tire a couple of weeks ago while I waited to get snow tires put on. Luckily the regular tire had been easily 'plugged' and repaired as I had another flat the next day. A hunk of metal on the Gardiner, shredded it. Missed my appointment for that one. I am still waiting to get my car door fixed as the part that took 10 days to arrive did not fit and must be re-ordered. On the upside, at least it has been reasonably warm and not too rainy. But it's coming. Then last night whilst attempting to manoeuvre into a driveway, I scraped and dented the car door on some pointlessly placed and newly installed bricks surrounding a postage stamped size bit of lawn. The townhouse complex also has several dozen huge rocks lined up and the tenants are worried about their placement, too. The entrances and yards are all at ground level, so the bricks are for what purpose?

I realize that I have been experiencing increasing pain in my hands and fingers which may or may not be arthritis. And I have a very irritating hangnail on my thumb. Both of which makes both of my jobs ... painful.

Later, I stopped off at a store that shouldn't be selling groceries but does anyway and often has butter on special for almost half price. They didn't have butter, for half price or otherwise (strange?) but they did offer Ben&Jerry's for $2 off. Yep, Chunky Monkey came home with me. Yep, I ate the whole thing. All by myself.

And now, to round out the week, I will share with you that I have been 'tagged' from The Sagittarian who lives in New Zealand and usually has some very entertaining musical videos at the end of blog posts. She wants to know about my most embarrassing album purchase. Yes, I am of a certain age where there are many embarrassing 70's and even 80's songs that might have made it to my iPod playlist, if there'd been such a thing (which I still don't have) so there was a bit of cringing as I reached back into my memory...

While I also was among the throngs of teenage girls listening to The Osmonds, and The Jackson Five, and The Partridge Family (well, David Cassidy) I was not alone, so even though it is cringe-worthy now, and even was a little bit then, I was not alone, so nope none of those would be my most embarrassing choice. Though, unlike the Sagittarian's pick, I never got into Donny and Marie. That is embarrassing. I remember sometimes wishing as a teenager that I was more into edgier music, but I was attracted to the softer sounds. Folk was big. And so was country for a couple of years. And by country, I mean The Oak Ridge Boys. And Alabama. Okay, and Glen Campbell. But, I remember being really happy listening to them at the time, so that can't quite qualify as embarrassing.

No, the one that sticks in my mind as being the most useless piece of music I've ever owned (and quite possibly, if I check the box where I know there are some 45's nesting, still own) would have to be this choice (see below). I know I bought it in Scotland during my first or second visit when it was a huge obnoxious hit. And I know it brought back memories to many people when it was featured on an episode of Life On Mars - UK version (because many people on youtube commented so), but for the life of me --- what was I thinking?

You'll need to move down a post to witness the video, could not manage to get both on the same post, for some reason.

Because I want to share my pain, I invite Citizen of the World who educated us about ohrwurms or earworms (I prefer the German myself), XUP who must have a song or two in her past, Mr Nighttime who claims to be influenced by music, and just to get to know you better Jo to go back in time and expose your own personal humiliation. Anyone else who wants to play along, I'll not dissuade you.

you've got mail

Several months ago I came across a site called POSTCROSSING which intrigued me so much that I immediately signed up to participate. Then I promptly did nothing more about it. When I read one of Scott's posts about his cat Orlando's travelling postcards, it took a few moments before the vague memory dawned... ah, he has discovered Postcrossing too! So I immediately found the site and tried to log on. Except I had no idea what my username or password was. See, I need lovely organizing file folders for everything. A special folder for my usernames and passwords. Yeah, that should help. Anyway, I signed up again, taking forever to come up with a name that would be accepted - I guess a few hundred more people had signed up and taken all the good names. I guess I could have just gone with VioletSky, but I wanted something different. So now, my cat whose name has morphed into Absynthe, is sending mail throughout the world through the wonder of postcards. Finland seems to be seriously over-represented - out of my first five requests for an address, three were in Finland. My next three requests gave me two more from Finland. Sure hope Finns like postcards from Niagara.

This is how it works. You register and create your profile with as little or as much information as you wish, then request up to five addresses for your first mailing. You get a user ID number for each postcard and must write that number on your card. Once the recipient gets your card they register that ID number and your name goes into the lot for the next person who requests an address. Eventually you will be getting mail with foreign stamps and pretty pictures from all over the world - or at least of the 181 countries where people have signed up. Or Finland.

My first card arrived yesterday - exciting!!

It came from France, a place called Le Grand-Luce

.

Here's a an interesting concept from Chuck Westbrook, a twist on the Book Club. A few days ago he had a post on his blog to help create a community of bloggers among those who have a small audience with those who are ever seeking new reading material. All you have to do is subscribe to the feed on his blog and show your interest by signing up in the comments section. Out of this list a blog will be chosen and everyone flocks to the chosen blog and swells their sitemeter and comments. More details will follow as this takes shapes, but hop on over to his October 23th post - already there are 438 blogs signed up to participate.

THE BIG IDEA: Ending the tragedy of underappreciated blogs
This is a problem we can do something about without too much trouble. Here’s what I’m thinking.Gather some nice bloggers who believe in helping good content rise. The more the merrier. This becomes our group for the project. A good, lesser-known blog is chosen. Everyone in the group will read that blog for two weeks.
At the end of the two weeks, the group moves to another blog to read. With scores of bloggers focused on a particular blog, the author should see many nice things happen over those two weeks, especially if the blog really is a hidden gem. This includes discussions, traffic, constructive criticism, encouragement, and connecting to some of the bloggers in the group. That author then joins the group and we move along and do it again.

yellow

I am in love.
With my new camera.

Which isn't exactly brand new; I've had it since January, but am only now really getting back into photography. I think it is the digital amazement. Now I've figured out how to get the pictures from the camera onto my computer all by myself. Now I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have deleted so many of my previous pictures. Yep, it is definitely that digital amazement.

Way back in my previous life, I studied photography in college. Had a darkroom and everything. Well, not exactly a darkroom; I had a windowless loo in the basement which served as a darkroom so long as you were really careful not to trip over any pans of developer or fixer on the floor. The stop bath was in the sink and the enlarger sat on a board on the toilet seat. It was not the best of set ups, but it was the darkest bit of the house with water access and I was determined. Then I lost interest. Or time. Or something. Possibly the cost was a huge factor. Developing black & white became quite expensive as did the developing from Black's. And being a bit impatient, my prints didn't always turn out as expected.

A few years ago, on one of my trips to Scotland I didn't even bother taking a camera with me. I was visiting family and I already had all the touristy pictures I needed and far too many that didn't do the real experience any justice. Besides, anything else, one of my cousins could send me as they always got double prints of everything. I found it to be surprisingly freeing. I enjoyed being in the moment and I think I saw more around me when I wasn't constantly searching for the perfect photo op. And because I was a bit slow, it usually took me awhile to get the perfect composition, the perfect angle, the perfect light... and people wandered off on me. Once, they all got in the car and slo-o-w-ly started to drive away.

But that was then, long before the digital age. Now, I don't have to worry about how many pictures I take - I don't have to spend a fortune to get back a bunch of blurry or too far away prints that never get looked at again. And I found out there was a photographic and digital imaging show on at the International Centre this weekend, so I hopped on over to see what was up and what I could learn from their many free seminars. Much of it involved buying new equipment and programs or was way beyond anything I needed. And a lot reinforced what I already knew but needed dragging out from behind the fuzzy parts of my brain. But, hot damn, if it wasn't exciting. I'm getting out of this luddite stage of my life.

The other day when I went out for my coffee I decided to walk to the old church yard to see if there was anything there blogpostworthy. The light was all wrong and the sky was darkening with clouds so I wandered to the lake to catch the change and stopped when it started to rain. I was surprised to see, when I uploaded my trip's takings onto the computer, that I had 36 pictures. That would have been a whole roll of film. I was just snapping away at so many useless looking things that struck my fancy. It was only about 15 minutes. I laughed when I read Yellerbelly's comment about getting a photographers eye! I think my 'eye' is coming back into focus. I was thinking about the things I would return to photograph another day, noticing things I'd not paid attention to before. Kinda the opposite of what I just wrote.

One of the the things I noticed was that there is an awful lot of yellow around and not just the leaves. And I was deciding as I walked home (getting drenched) that my first theme week would be on the colour yellow. So, each day I will head out for a walk, not far, maybe 6 blocks or about 1 km, and on SightLines I'll post something yellow that I find. Today, I'll start with the obvious.

Some days I run out of things to say. Or energy to say them.

Some days are just too damn fine to be sitting inside, and this is one of them. It has turned out to be a bright sunshiny day afterall and I'm off to the LCH for a sit on the patio with a good book and a delicious steaming coffee,
and maybe a blue-cranberry muffin.

Besides, I have to find where I vote.

I'll take my camera with me. I've been having fun learning how to use it and have decided to share in a separate photoblog. It is small, but I will post at least a photo a day. Most of them will be views of ordinary things I see around me. Trying to make the mundane interesting.