more about seeing yellow

I was out looking at yellow things with Andy at our friends' Michele and Brent's place last night. We had a nice supper and unwound from a hectic week. When we got home, there was this email from my Dad:

I've always wanted to know why some people ask questions whose answers are inherently unknowable -- such as whether everyone sees colours the same. What experiment could possibly determine the answer to that question? Metaphysics begins with questions purportedly about the real world whose answers cannot possibly be determined by any experiment.

For your particular question, ask yourself how you learned to use the word "yellow". When your usage developed to the point that you and your parents used the word "yellow" for almost exactly the same things, the meaning of the word, for you, stabilized. So we'll agree that A, B, C, and D are yellow, and that P, Q, R, and S are not. In that sense we "see the same thing" but whether what is going on inside you, when you say "that's yellow" is the same as what is going on inside me, when I say the same thing, is I think completely unknowable. And as long as we can communicate efficiently, and not have you saying that things that I think are red are really yellow, it doesn't matter whether what's going on inside you and what's going on inside me are the same.

Let's put it this way. If your mother were to claim that what you see is that same as what I see when we both say that something is yellow, how could the two of us possibly prove her wrong? If she were to claim that what you see is different from what I see, how could the two of us possibly prove her wrong?

Dad, who read a lot of logical positivist philosophers a long time ago

question: can you prove either way?

mompoet - exactly.

email addresses you can't have

you can't have:

yahoo@yahoo.ca
gmail@yahoo.ca
hotmail@yahoo.ca
oohay@yahoo.ca
liamg@yahoo.ca
laimtoh@yahoo.ca
google@yahoo.ca
elgoog@yahoo.ca
googol@yahoo.ca
googolplex@yahoo.ca
betelgeuse@yahoo.ca

but you can have

ibuymypantsatzellers@yahoo.ca

question: I don't want it, do you?

mompoet - go figger

this is what you get when you google "google"

google

this is what you get when you search "youtube" on youtube

spring morning walk thoughts

The dog was out scraping her cone on the pavement and shoving it into the hedges and rolling on the grass for the first time with it. I wonder if she thinks she will have a cone for ever and ever? The vet says one more week - until her second check-up on Tuesday, when the stitches will come out, and if all is well the cone can come off. In the meantime she's still getting snagged on the furniture and bumping into wall corners, and trying to get around the coffee table to snug up between it and the couch. When we go outside she sniffs and snorks and picks up all kinds of bits of leaf and soil around the edges of the cone so I have to give it a wipe when we come back inside. She's very good natured about it. We are all looking forward to saying goodbye to the cone.

As the dog took me out on her walk this morning, I saw all kinds of spring flowers in bloom, including the smaller cherry blossoms. The big fluffy pink ones will come out at the end of April. The small ones are delicate and beautiful. I took some photos which I will post later. There are hyacinths all around - the deep purply blue ones and the white ones, and I can't smell a darn thing when I walk past them. This is very distressing to me. I keep hoping my sense of smell will come back, but it seems to be worse than ever this year. Before it faded, hyacinths used to irritate me, they smelled so distinctive and tangy. Now I wouldn't know they were there if I closed my eyes. I've got my fingers crossed for the lilacs, which will appear soon. I love them. If I have to put on a cone and bury my head in a lilac bush I will. That's how determined I am to smell them. But I'm good natured about it too. There are benefits. You can sit in a car with me and fart for half an hour and it barely bothers me. So I guess I'm being good natured too. Still, I can hardly wait until my smell comes back, as I still hope it will.

question: did you ever lose something that you once took for granted?

mompoet - conehead of my own kind

main street slam

There's a new poetry slam in Vancouver - last Tuesday of every month at the Cottage Bistro on Main Street at 29th Ave. It's run by Trevor Spilchen and Sean McGarragle. I competed there last night with a stage full of exciting and excellent poets: Chris Gilpin, Patrick Swan, The Svelte Ms Spelt, Fernando Raguero, GoBFree, Zaccheus and Jack McCarthy. It was an evening of excellent poetry and raucous good fun. The format's a bit different from that of the original Van Slam on Commercial. At the Main St. Slam the competition is a series of head-to-head bouts. Instead of scoring numbers, the judges hold "beaver" and "toque" cards. After each pair of poets perform, the judges hold up a beaver or a toque to represent their choice of winning poet for that round. Every poet gets to do at least 2 pieces because the first round second-placers go again against one another in round 2. It felt good to be part of this new thing and to perform along with such a talented and friendly group of fellow poets. Jack McCarthy took the title for the evening. And now I can say I have slammed in a match with Mike McGee and in a match with Jack McCarthy. Slam is really something else.

This morning I am very tired and also very happy.

In other news:

• The dog must wear her cone for one more week, at which time the vet will take out her stiches and free her from her restrictive headpiece.
• Fiona took first place in the Folk Song category for her age group at the Coquitlam Music Festival and brought home a trophy.
• There are 4 coats of red paint on the basement walls and it's finally starting to look uniformly red. We'll do another tonight.
• Work hit me like a tornado of good stuff but way too fast when I returned on Monday, and continued in that vein Tuesday, and will continue until 5pm Friday.
  
• Next week I'm a guest-reader for a grade 6-7 class as a school near where I work. Easter is just around the corner. Van Slam Finals night after that. Summer Camp is coming soon too.
  

Thumpity thump, the days go by like a flip-book cartoon in the hands of an 8 year old. Forward and back, quickety quick. Good thing the story's a good one.

question: got some fun going?

mompoet - accelerated

mama chicken

I just love this photograph from Cute Overload.

When we were little, my brother and sister and I used to snug up to our mom at the bus stop and say that we were little chickens and she was the mommy and we wanted to hide under her fur. I wonder if this is what we looked like?

question: got any chickens under your fur?

mompoet - clucky

something new

My job in recreation involves creating and inventing fun and healthy things for people to do in their spare time. Because I specialize in community development I don't make things up all by myself. Instead, I mostly hang around and wait for people to say things like, "I'd really like to have a cooking class about all of the the things you can do with fiddleheads." Then I say, "Could I help you get that going?" That's my job in a nutshell. It's goofy and fun, and more important than it looks sometimes.

Anyway, today I was spending my own leisure time before work in the butt-burning sweatbox cycle class. The instructor put on a slow song at the end of the class to help us stop churning and get ready to stretch. She said something about downloading some music she'd heard on the radio, but she changed her mind about using this song in the class, because when she listened to it all the way through, it was so sad it made her cry. She said, "I'm not playing any song in this class that makes me cry."

This made me think of a new fitness class for people who prefer to cry. EMO-Fit. The class would be in a very dark room, so participants would not have to look at any part of their bodies, or be concerned if they did not have enough black clothing to keep up with the people beside them. Most of the exercises would involve lying on the floor in the fetal position, with maybe a little rocking and whimpering, but there could also be short burst of frantic running and sobbing.

Now I just have to hang around and wait for someone to ask me to create it. I'll pretend it wasn't my idea all along.

question: is this weird?

mompoet - it's okay, I know it's weird.

spring break check in

Things planned and done:

-sewed two "oom pa pa" dresses for middle school production of Oliver
-prepped basement and painted 1 coat primer and 3 coats colour (red and redder)
-saw a good movie
-saw several dvds - one was good
-had a couple of good meals out with friends and family
-bought beads with Kirsi and made jewelery at her house
-ate lunch with Laurie and Chris from work - 2.5 hour lunches are good when we are all on vacation at the same time
-got dog through surgery and 4 days of cone-head survival
-bought fabric for 5 dresses for Lindbjerg production of Anne of Green Gables
-went for a walk with the ladeez
-practice drove with son who is approaching 60 hours needed prior to taking "N" driving test
-read a lot
-blogged a lot
-yakked on the phone with Irene
-hung out with my husband and the kids doing not much of anything and liking it
-worked at bits and pieces of my job that kept intruding (darn cell phone)
-attended start-up meeting for strata committee about insurance and broken pipes in walls
-drove girls to auditions for summer camp and practices for music festival coming up soon
-slept in and stayed up late
-cleaned the house a little

Things planned but still needing to be done or at least completed:
-sew 6 more oom pa pa dresses by April 1
-sew Anne of Green Gables dresses by April 21
-put on two more coats of paint - red is red is red
-restore basement to liveable area for teenagers who are missing their basement
-go out with husband for dinner with friends that was postponed when friend got the flu
-bottle wine that is sitting in a tantalizing 5 gallon container waiting to be bottled (hmmm, maybe just use a big straw?)
-write love poem for 2 couples at church both celebrate 50th anniversaries, in time to recite at church supper on April 20
-buy Easter treats for family
-send package to Africa
-get the dog to the vet and get the cone off (we hope)
-get outside now that the rain has stopped

question: did you have a good spring break?

mompoet - always lots and lots, never finished

it's a cat

Co-winner of the Coca Cola Company of Great Britain quarter-million pound Lottery, Pearl has sent me a picture of her cat in a hat - a Tilley hat to be precise. Two hundred fifty thousand thank yous to Pearl for generously responding and allowing me to post this photo.

question: which would you rather have - a hatful of fake money or a hatful of real cat?

mompoet - purrrr

cat story

The neighbours were standing outside in the not-rain this afternoon. Tony from up the street told us an amazing story about Hugo the cat, who I have written about in my blog previously. Hugo is the cat who stands in the driveway or garden and hurls himself at Soleil, our dog, when we walk by. I call him sideways dancing ambush cat.

A few days before Christmas, Hugo went missing. I know this because signs were posted at all of the garbage sheds. I felt sad. Coyotes and racoons take out a lot of outside cats in our neighbourhood. Missing usually means "eaten."

About 3 weeks ago I was walking the dog, and there was Hugo, sitting in the garden outside of his house! I haven't seen Tony since then to ask, but he was out today standing in the not-rain, so I found out the story:

The same day that Hugo went missing, a man who lives about 5km from here, called the cable company to come to his house. He was waiting outside when the truck arrived, and he observed a cat, jumping off the roof of the truck. The cat hung around, and the man eventually invited the cat in and began caring for him. He also called the cable company to ask where the truck had been before it came to his house that day. He hoped to get Hugo back to his rightful home. The cable company refused to tell him, citing privacy regulations.

The man persisted in pestering the cable company for 3 months, until someone there finally agreed to tell him the neighbourhood, but not the house, where the truck had been previous to his house that day. The man came to our neighbourhood to post signs, and saw a sign that Tony had posted, three months earlier. He phoned Tony and Hugo went home.

The man really likes Hugo and has already cat-sat once when Tony and his family went away on a vacation. I like this story very much. Two families are new friends, and Hugo has someone else who loves him. And a big company relented and had a heart (somewhat) when it came to a hitchhiking cat.

question: have you ever driven away with something on your car roof that did not belong there?

mompoet - keys, phone, library books and penicillin (but not all at the same time)

a major award

About 6 months ago I posted an invitation for friends to send me their photos of dogs and cats wearing hats. I received zero photos. No dogs. No cats. No hats.

Still, the yahoo account I set up especially to receive photos is active, thanks to copious spam mails (none of which bear any mention of dogs, cats or hats). I check the account every couple of weeks in hopes of a late-breaking photo. Even a hand-drawn facsimile of a dog or cat wearing a hat? But only more spam.

Today I am fortunate to be the winner of 250 thousand pounds British money from the Coca Cola Compan. See the letter that I received:

THE COCA COLA COMPANY
PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD
DEPTCOCA COLA AVENUE
STAMFORD BRIDGE LONDON.
SW1V 3DW UNITED KINGDOM

THE COCA COLA COMPANY OFFICIAL PRIZE NOTIFICATION

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws held on (24th January, 2007) by Coca-Cola in conjunction with the British American Tobacco Worldwide Promotion, your email was among the 20 Lucky winners who won (£250,000.00 GBP) Two Hundred And Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterling each on the THE COCACOLA COMPANY PROMOTION

However the results were released on the (30th January, 2007) and your email was attached to ticket number (7PWYZ2007) ref number (UK/839030X2/140) and ballot number(BT:12052006/20) The online draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 29,031 E-mail addresses of individuals and co-oporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. However, no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy.

The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ) from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world.
This Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by the The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).This lottery is the 3rd of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public. In other to claim your (£250,000.00 GBP) Two Hundred And Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterling prize winning, which has been deposited in a designated courier. you will have to fill the form below and send it to the claims officer of THE COCA COLA COMPANY for verification and then you will be directed to the courier company where a cheque of (£250,000.00 GBP) Two Hundred And Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterling has already been deposited in your favour.

NAME:.....................................
AGE:........................................
SEX:........................................
ADDRESS:...............................
EMAIL:....................................
PHONE:...................................
OCCUPATION:.........................
COMPANY:..............................
COUNTRY:...............................
AMOUNT WON......................
TICKET NUMBER...................
BALLOT NUMBER...................
REF NUMBER.........................

Please you are adviced to complete the form and send it immediately to our claims officer through email or fax for prompt collection of your fund from the
designated courier company.

(CONTACT CLAIMS OFFICER)

Name: Flin Moore

E mail : flinclaims_lotterydepartment@yahoo.co.uk



You are to keep all lotto information away from the general public especially your ticket number ref number and ballot number. (This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained). Staff of Coca-Cola and the British American Tobacco Company are not to partake in this Lottery.

Accept my hearty congratulations once again!

Yours faithfully,
Elizabeth Martins (Mrs)
Management


Wow! That's better than a dog and a cat, both wearing tuxedos! I will surely send this back to the Coca Cola Company's Mrs. Elizabeth Martins (whose official title looks mightily genuine) via the yahoo account that the Coca Cola Company of Britain must have set up just for this contest. Gosh, I wonder if that Mr. Flin Moore has a dog or a cat, and if said pet wears a hat. Maybe I could get a photo of me and Flin and Elizabeth and all of our pets, all wearing Coca Cola hats, and me holding the great big cheque that I just won.

question: would you respond?

mompoet dogsandcatswearinghats@yahoo.ca

Painting Project Code Pink

The primer paint is really pink! Really! Everytime I go downstairs I shout and whoop, it's that pink.

In case you don't believe me. Here are some pink pictures. It's temporary. Tomorrow it will be deep red. I'm not sure what that will make me do - cartwheels?

question: did you ever colour your world pink?

mompoet - I love my edger (and that pinkman in the picture too)

animator vs animation 1

I found this via the Weebl and Bob website, where part 2 is posted. but check out part 1 first.

question: too sleepy to ask questions

mompoet - about to dive into pepto bismol pink primer (but first, coffee)

oh - here's w&b for part 2

the rat and the dog and the cat

Soleil the dog spent Wednesday at the vet, having a bit of surgery to get two little warts taken off of her eyelid. She's wearing a cone, and a bit stumbly after the anaesthetic and from some pain meds she's taking, but her eye looks great and she's figuring out how to walk around without getting her cone stuck on things. She's also figured out how to do the big head and shoulder cuddle, even with a cone on, or rather we've figured it out (did you know, you can put your face inside the cone with the dog, and the dog likes it?)

She's not feeling very dignified looking, so I won't post a photo (besides, cameras frighten her). Instead, I'll post some pictures of Nelson's vacation, graciously sent by Kirsi, who kindly took him along on her trip to Ireland. Nelson was showing them to Sol to cheer her up. He told her next time Kirsi might want a beautiful dog to go along with her?

As for the cat. She's coneless, happy to have her dog back, not chasing the rat, and regularly reminding us that it's always time to feed the cat somewhere in the world.

question: meow? woof? squeak?

mompoet - friend to hungry cats, cone-headed dogs and well-travelled rats everywhere

another dooce link

Dooce just linked this delicious article about what our kids think we're saying when we're talking with each other.

question: did we really say that?

mompoet - shhhh don't tell the kids

palindromes

Coming home from fabric shopping today, addle-brained and frayed (and so tired, that's the best pun I can think of), the two girls took a break from singing in the back seat and played with palindromes. We tried to think of the longest palindrome sentence we could make up, but we weren't very good at it, mostly just tagging palindrome words to both ends of sentences we already knew. "Yo" and "Oy" also came in handy, but did not do much to add length or meaning.
Eventually we got around to creating our own palindrome dictionary, one in which we collected slightly altered words, transformed to spell the same forward and backward, with only slightly blurred meaning and delightful sound. I especially like "blulb." Can't you just imagine planting some lovely spring flower blulbs? or sblulbs, I suppose. That just makes a lovely light blulb go on in my head. For a snack, we ate a bananab. Mmmmm. Those taste really good with peeneep pubbup in a sandwich. We made up some nice palindromic people names too, as we thought Bob and Otto just too cliche. Bilib was our favourite, and I kind of like Eileelie. We also had an argument about how to spell kayak. (I was wrong, but I was driving, so I have an excuse.)

Then we got home and we had to act normal (for now).

question: got any good palindromes?

mompoet - aka momopomom

new question on the canadian blood services pre-donation questionnaire

Have you, in the last 6 months, been in contact with monkeys or with their bodily fluids?

Wow! compared to the sex questions and drugs for sex questions (not to mention the Mad Cow disease in your family question) this one is easy. I asked the nurse about it. She says if you have a pet monkey that has lived with you in Canada for a long time, that's okay. It's only recently imported or immigrated monkeys that cause concern, because of a monkey virus that can be transferred to human beings.

question: have you?

mompoet - Opos

Basement Day 1

The painting project begins with emptying the room. Some wall-patching has commenced. It ehoes in there, and there are things in other parts of the house where they do not belong.

Nostalgia find of the day was a 45inch single vinyl disc of Paula Abdul singing (it's just) The Way that You Love Me. I think I must be to blame for that one. I think that when I was a fitness instructor in the 80s I taped that and made people do 1,000 butt lift/donkey kicks to it. Seems fitting now.

question: Did you ever find something that you forgot you lost?

mompoet - dusty and tired

I had to show them

Fi and her friend were amazed at the Paula Abdul "45." I showed them:



question - it ain't?

mompoet - something else from 1989 I guess

I like the Fire

After listening a couple more times, I have decided that I do like Arcade Fire's Neon Bible CD. It takes some getting used to, but it's worth it. Here's the New York Times article about the band and the CD, that gives some insight into the people and their work. Things I like about this CD: its drama and denseness of sounds and thoughts, themes of faith, alienation, self-doubt and hope for something better, the variety different song-forms, the idea of recording an entire concept album in a church turned into a recording studio and living space. The things I had to get past: darkness, gothic style, murky sound in parts. I get annoyed easily by purposeful obscurity, but that's just me.

All in all, I like it, especially My Body is a Cage and Intervention

question: have you seen my yellow felt marker?

mompoet - doing okay without it now

Good Movie

I saw The Lives of Others yesterday with my mom and dad. It's a great movie. It made me think about a time in my life - 1989 when the Berlin wall fell, also we had the massacre at Tianamen Square. Our first child was born soon after that, and I remember wondering if the world was getting better or worse, and what would be the nature of our son's reality as he grew up. I'm still wondering. My dad says it's not getting better or worse. It's just getting different. I think he's right, and I also think that human nature will always will be the same, and that people do change and can change themselves and their world to a different different if they can find the courage and will.

If you get a chance, this is one worth seeing. If you are like me, you will leave the theatre jittery with thinking and feeling.

question: what about this world of ours?

mompoet - interested in change and sameness, sometimes courageous

Spring Breaks Abounding

The whole family has the week off work and school. Some our friends are doing this. Some are doing this. Some are doing this. We are doing this.

By the end of the week we will have a more teen-friendly basement space, and our house will be a bit lighter, having disposed of a bunch of stuff that we don't need any more. At the moment it seems like a daunting task, but I know that painting is like swimming. If you think about getting undressed and shoving yourself into a bathing suit and jumping in the cold water, well YUK! but once your in, it's really kind of nice. Same with painting. Thinking about it is the worst part.

There. That's me psyching myself up.

And while the paint dries we'll have some fun around Port Moody. It's a pretty nice place too. Especially with all of us home to spend some time together.

question: do you have something you dread that is actually okay once you do it?

mompoet - meditating about painting

Tuesdays with Morrie

I went to see this play last night with my friend Robin. We enjoyed it very much. I cried for most of it. After the play we talked about life and love and illness and dying and crying in the dark at a theatre. I cried so much I had big drops falling off my chin into my lap. Luckily I didn't sob. Robin and I agreed that sobbing in the dark at a theatre is embarassing.

Before the play we went out for supper. There we talked about work (we work in the same office), friends, family, pets, art, how our children are growing up. I realised that although I see Robin every day at work, we don't get together often to do this kind of talking. We met 23 years ago (at another job) and have been close friends ever since. Working down the hall from each other, we don't take each other for granted, but we less often step out of our co-workers roles and into our friends roles. We must do this more often.

I realised that I needed to cry generally when I said goodbye to Robin, hopped in my car, and cried some more, then I got home, parked my car and cried just a bit more - this time I sobbed. It felt good. Then I smiled, and went inside to my home and and my art and my husband and my pets and my children who are growing up and I thought about how lucky I am to be surrounded by love the way that I am.

question: did something make you feel today?

mompoet - drying off my chin

my visual DNA

Thanks to Daisy who pointed me to this fun thing:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

help! I'm trapped in a black velvet doodle art poster of a gothic cathedral and Leonard Cohen just stole my pink, yellow and orange felt markers

Trying to figure out if I like Arcade Fire's Neon Bible.

Question: what do you think?

mompoet - excuse me, this ornately embroidered felt cap just slid down over my ears, so I'm having trouble hearing

yes it is. no it isn't

bust it, break it, wreck it, ruin it

That's what my Dad says when things start flying around. And they have been flying. I'm going through a bit of a spell of "can't hold onto a two handled hand-holder even if it's holding my hand too." Last night I broke a glass jar lid with my head. It was one of those fancy q-tip jars for your bathroom, with an ornamental glass lid. I picked it up to put it away and somehow launched the lid through the air in a trajectory that ended just above my right eyebrow. I am 99.9% certain that it broke there on my sturdy skull, before falling to the counter and exploding out to the tile bathroom floor, but I don't have the video to prove it.

Rushing to make some salad dressing to pack in my lunch this morning, I spilled olive oil all over the top and down the front of the stove. Yuk. I guess it could have been worse. It could have been fish sauce or molasses. But still!

I walked from the gym to my car today, after my workout, and noticed at the last minute that my gold chain and cross were dangling from the corner of a pocket in the bag, just about to fall to the ground. How it worked its way out of the little pouch where I safely stow rings and necklaces when I work out, I don't know. Luckily I saw it and rescued it.

For the rest of the day I drove carefully, handled my glass of water with utmost respect, and wore a bib to eat the salad (well, that part's an exaggeration). I did turn my computer keyboard upside down and shake rye krisp crumbs out of it when the Info Services guy came to update my computer to daylight savings time. I didn't want him to think I was totally trashing the equipment!

I guess I should consider myself lucky that I didn't drop my earrings behind the couch or my cell phone in the toilet, and I'm pretty sure I did not run over anyone or thing while driving. Some days you just have to be extra careful.

question: break anything lately?

mompoet - hypothesising what I could break with my elbow (a paper plate), my nose (a ping pong ball), my baby toe (a crocodile's hangnail)

Spring has almost broken

It's daylight saving time already. The birds have been screaming every morning. Outside it's raining enough to flood the local roadways. It must be spring (almost).

In just one week, for the first time since I can remember, our whole family will take a vacation from work and school together for Spring Break. Up until now it's been Andy and the kids' show, because I've never had enough weeks of holidays, but I'm up to 4 weeks of paid vacation a year now. Most of my friends at work get a lot more, but I quit my job when the kids were little, then started over when they were both in school, so I've been playing catch-up.

This year we'll all be off. We've decided to stay home and re-do the basement to make it more up-to-date and inviting for the kids and their friends. Fiona and I looked at paint colours online. We'd like to paint it a bold colour called "licorice stick" as in red licorice. We'll get a sample from the paint store this week to be sure.

Also for spring break we have wart surgery for the dog, buying fabrics for Anne of Green Gables costumes, festival rehearsals and at least one ladies' night for me (Beadworks and the pub, in that order). It will be nice to jump off the merry-go-round and watch the spring rise up all around us.

For now, we will finish up the stuff that needs to be done at work and school, and begin the countdown.

question: do you see spring around you?

mompoet - thinking about licorice

Friday Night's all Right for a Small Rat in the 'Burbs

My gluestick re-appeared in the drawer on Friday. I think Nelson has discovered it's not so bad to stay close to home sometimes. He's had a lot of fun, especially when he was treated to After Eights last night (I think Nelson was a bit drunk). He said, "Mmmmm, Cathy, these brown wafers taste like glue stick. Can I have more?"

question: what will happen next in the life of Nelson?

mompoet - glad he's home for now

an evening at home for Nelson

You can't go out every night. On Thursday, Nelson kicked back and got clean.

I am a gas giant

You Are From Jupiter

You are exuberantly curious - and you love to explore newness. Enthusiastic and optimistic, you get a kick out of stimulating intellectual discussions. Foreign cultures and languages fascinate you. You love the outdoors, animals, and freedom. Chances are you tend to exaggerate, so try to keep a lid on that. If you do, you'll continue to be known for your confidence, generosity, and sense of justice.

What Planet Are You From?

Face Off on the Radio

Five spectacular Vancouver Poets and their poems will be featured on CBC Radio 1 this weekend. First on Saturday morning, March 10, from 6am-9am, all five poems will be included in Sheryl MacKay's North by Northwest. Next week, each of the five poems will be featured (one each day) on Priya Ramu's On the Coast.

Monday: c.r. avery
Tuesday: Brendan McLeod
Wednesday: Sue McIntyre (aka mompoet)
Thursday: Fernando Raguero
Friday: Barbara Adler - the Winner!

You can find it in the Vancouver area at 690 on your AM dial or, tune in to web radio at the same time. Just go to this page and click on Vancouver.

Last year there was a bit of rescheduling, so it might be good to check for an update on the blog before you tune in. I'll try to keep it up to date.

question: real Canadian poets on the radio - can it get any better?

mompoet - pinching myself in a restrained Canadian way

more rat adventure

In the tradition of Grade 9 students everywhere, Nelson came to work with me today. The office supervisor kicked him out of the photocopy area after he photocopied his butt and faxed it to all of his friends. He didn't mind though. Confined to my office, he made the most of my candy dish.

take me too

Nelson sees us coming and going all day and all evening. He just wants to be part of the fun.

Nelson speaks up

Now I know who took my gluestick. Nelson appeared with this note, just before it was time for me to leave for the Poetry Face Off and Slam. Nelson had a great evening. He met some new friends. Feature Poet Bill Mcnamara even took him up on stage for a duet.

Face Off

What a night! Cafe Deux Soleils was packed to the rafters by 8pm, with people standing outside the door trying to get in to see the show. Lots of friends and family showed up to cheer me on: Mom, Dad, Andy, Irene, Louise, Myrna, Karen, Cathy and Shannon. Thank you all! This year, all 5 poets were spoken word performers. All are part of our Van Slam Community. The show was the best I've seen in all 6 years that it has been happening, great poets and a totally welcoming and enthusiastic audience. Barbara Adler emerged the winner. Her poem about her Czech parents, and the real differences between life in Canada and in the old Czechoslovakia, from which they emigrated, was funny and moving, and excellent.

I'm very happy with the way my poem turned out. Thanks again to everyone who sent me pieces for its patchwork quilt. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to do this again. Like having a second child, this time I could relax and enjoy it.

All 5 poems will be broadcast this Saturday, March 10, some time between 6 and 9am PST on CBC Radio 1 Vancouver. Here's the url. Just click on "Vancouver" from the list on the righthand side of the page.

question: Did you ever get to do something twice that you thought was going to be "once in a lifetime?"

mompoet - grinning

question:

more mysterious rodentia

Nelson is where I left him last night, but his paws are damp and clammy - sticky? And I can't find my scissors or my glue stick.

hmmmm

question: what is Nelson up to?

mompoet - intrigued

Nelson is restless

This morning when I went out to get the newspaper from the driveway, I found Nelson the rat in between the screen door and the front door. I think he's trying to tell me something. I put him back on his shelf in the living room, and he's been there since, but when I got back from church, another strange occurrence: There's a new account on our computer called "Nelson." It's not password protected, so I logged on. Mozilla was open to the expedia.com website.

For now, I'm going to keep an eye on him. If he goes somewhere I want to know where, and who he's with, or at least that he's with someone who will make sure he is safe.

question: what's Nelson up to?

mompoet - paying attention

two beautiful

Two entertaining and beautiful discoveries today. I saw Pan's Labyrinth this afternoon. I had been warned that it was dark and violent, but also beautiful. I was frightened and repelled and enchanted. In parts, I had the same feeling as when I'm on a roller coaster, about to go into a loop. I literally hung onto the armrests of my seat and gritted my teeth. This is a movie to see when you feel strong, resilient and curious. Thoroughly satisfying.

I bought the new Shin's CD, Wincing the Night Away. I haven't got through listening to the whole thing because I keep playing track "Red Rabbits" over and over. Here's a YouTube listen. In the YouTube video, the song is superimposed over a scene from the movie Garden State. That movie featured 2 earlier Shins tracks, and helped make the group popular. I'm enjoying this CD, and especially this sad, beautiful song.

Question: where did you find magical realism in your world today?

mompoet - it's everywhere, even when you don't see it

haiku

what a relief to
dismantle a shrine and wash
the wall behind it

just a little show tune for Friday

watch

question: did anyone just come up to you and say "What are you watching?"

mompoet - a good day to you

what's in store for march?

When the sun is shining and it rains at the same time, we call it a "monkey's wedding." But I don't know what to call today. I went out this morning to find my car looking like a piece of french toast on Sunday morning, icing sugar seived over the surface. It brushed off easily without sticking (I resisted licking it). All day the sun shone and the fat flakes flew, making me think of that week in May when the cherry blossoms blow off in the wind - only it was cold and slippery outside. Whatever you call it, somebody was having some kind of party in the sky?
Giraffe's hootenany?
Vole's Bat Mitzvah?
Manatee's Shivaree?
Anyway, it was beautiful and weird.

Did you know there are 39 marshmallows in a bag? I know that because Fi is making rice krispie squares

40 marshmallows
glob of butter
splash of vanilla
7 cups of krispies

She counted out the contents of a new bag - 39. I guess they'll turn out okay anyway.

I'm cooking risotto with pesto and asparagus. So if my post is a bit choppy it's because I keep getting up to stir the broth into the rice, and have a sip of wine. Risotto is one of my favourite comfort foods. It takes at least half an hour to cook so you slow down while you make it. It requires patience with the stirring and the waiting as the rice absorbs the broth. Even the rice sounds comforting - arborio.

The strata meeting went fine. We've formed a short term committee to look into the problem. And it's all good people who I will enjoy working with.

After I eat risotto I have nothing to do. That will be nice. I have a good book and a good movie. Meantime I'm wondering what the end of March will be like. You know the saying, "In like a lion, out like a lamb." So what happens when it comes in like a kangaroo's convocation? I guess we'll have to wait to the 31st to see.

Know what else I like about March? All of the days of the week fall on the same numbers as in February (except in a Leap Year). That's kind of nice.

question: what do you call a snowy, sunny, slippery beautiful day?

mompoet - stirring the pot gently