I think I just kicked my personal dork-dom rating up a notch by accepting a pocket pc and keyboard from work. Now I just have to get one of those really dorky bluetooth earpieces and walk around looking like I'm talking to myself or I'm being driven by remote control via a brain implant, or both.
Oh wait, mine's not a phone, so cancel the earpiece. Thank goodness, now I'm just a sub-dork again. That feels better.
question: do these things actually save us time and make us more productive?
mompoet - that was a rhetorical question
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Sham Slam
I lost the sham slam in Maple Ridge last night, which is very bad or very good, depending on how you look at it. The object was to be the worst and the judges gave me the lowest scores, so that was great (or awful - depending). I performed sham translation of Jabberwocky called "Picklewocky" and a 3 minute long haiku.
The Maple Ridge Slam is organized by Devon and Maris Goodman, a sister and brother team. They are young, energetic, talented and intelligent. They are amazing at promoting and hosting their event. The cafe was nearly full, mostly with people who came for the slam. Those who came not for the slam were dragged kicking and laughing into the action. The slam takes place on the 3rd Friday of the month at The Ridge Cafe.
The poetry was truly putrid, on purpose of course. Booing and hissing replaced clapping and cheering. The judges gave zeros and negative scores. Maris and Devon hammed it up with layers of hostful incompetence and rudeness, hurling insults at the audience, the poets and each other. One of the evening's lowlights was a truly vomit-inducing second round sacrifice poem by Devon. Trevor Spilchen featured, and he was great, except when he performed as "Spilli Vanilli" in a tribute to disgrace pop lip-synch duo Milli Vanilli. Vancouver Slam poet RC Weslowski was there too. His homo-erotic ode to a Alberta Conservative MP rivalled Devon's poem for ooky factor, but was not bad enough to earn him a losing title.
This slam is worth checking out. I'm looking forward to attending on a "good poetry" night, when the young and enthusiastic crowd and equally young and enthusiastic poets should put on a really fun show. Next month: May 18 at the Ridge Cafe in the Library/Leisure Centre Building on Dewdney Trunk Road at 224th in Maple Ridge. Admission is $2. Doors at 7.
question: did you ever try to do something badly and find out you could be worse than you imagined?
mompoet - always attracted to awfulness
The Maple Ridge Slam is organized by Devon and Maris Goodman, a sister and brother team. They are young, energetic, talented and intelligent. They are amazing at promoting and hosting their event. The cafe was nearly full, mostly with people who came for the slam. Those who came not for the slam were dragged kicking and laughing into the action. The slam takes place on the 3rd Friday of the month at The Ridge Cafe.
The poetry was truly putrid, on purpose of course. Booing and hissing replaced clapping and cheering. The judges gave zeros and negative scores. Maris and Devon hammed it up with layers of hostful incompetence and rudeness, hurling insults at the audience, the poets and each other. One of the evening's lowlights was a truly vomit-inducing second round sacrifice poem by Devon. Trevor Spilchen featured, and he was great, except when he performed as "Spilli Vanilli" in a tribute to disgrace pop lip-synch duo Milli Vanilli. Vancouver Slam poet RC Weslowski was there too. His homo-erotic ode to a Alberta Conservative MP rivalled Devon's poem for ooky factor, but was not bad enough to earn him a losing title.
This slam is worth checking out. I'm looking forward to attending on a "good poetry" night, when the young and enthusiastic crowd and equally young and enthusiastic poets should put on a really fun show. Next month: May 18 at the Ridge Cafe in the Library/Leisure Centre Building on Dewdney Trunk Road at 224th in Maple Ridge. Admission is $2. Doors at 7.
question: did you ever try to do something badly and find out you could be worse than you imagined?
mompoet - always attracted to awfulness
Oliver!
The middle school performance of Oliver was wonderful - the best show they've put on in all of the years we've been there, and not just because Fiona was in it. They had lots of boys this year, so it was their chance to produce a show with lots of male roles. There were also lots of grade 6s who are little, and grade 8s who are big and more grown-up looking, so there were actors who could be orphans and actors who could be adults.
Fiona played Nancy. She sang two solo songs beautifully, and looked disarmingly grown up in a crimson satin dress with black lace trim. I saw the show Wednesday. Andy went Wednesday and Thursday. Lots of friends and family came too. Even on closing night Thursday, when lots of people would like to be watching the hockey game, the gym was almost full.
After the last show the students helped tear down the sets and put away props, then they had a pizza celebration. Their teacher/directors asked them what they like best about the play. Fiona told me in the car home there were several things she liked best, but the one that sticks in my mind is this: The grade 6s, 7s and 8s hung out together, ate lunch together and it wasn't weird. There were no cliques. They just worked and had fun together. I think that is very cool.
question: have you seen any musical theatre lately?
mompoet - beginning to think it's normal for people to burst into song when they have something to say
Fiona played Nancy. She sang two solo songs beautifully, and looked disarmingly grown up in a crimson satin dress with black lace trim. I saw the show Wednesday. Andy went Wednesday and Thursday. Lots of friends and family came too. Even on closing night Thursday, when lots of people would like to be watching the hockey game, the gym was almost full.
After the last show the students helped tear down the sets and put away props, then they had a pizza celebration. Their teacher/directors asked them what they like best about the play. Fiona told me in the car home there were several things she liked best, but the one that sticks in my mind is this: The grade 6s, 7s and 8s hung out together, ate lunch together and it wasn't weird. There were no cliques. They just worked and had fun together. I think that is very cool.
question: have you seen any musical theatre lately?
mompoet - beginning to think it's normal for people to burst into song when they have something to say
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
100 years of marriage
We're having a potluck supper at church on Friday to celebrate 100 years of marriage. Two couples will be honoured on their anniversaries (40th and 60th). I was asked to write a poem to help with the celebration. It's almost ready, and should be fun. I've written parts for everyone to join in the performance. Something delightful that I learned: both couples met at New Year's Eve parties. Both wives consider their most precious gifts from their husbands to be their wedding rings. Oh, and there's this great story about an accidentally green-frosted wedding cake, but you'll have to show up at the supper to hear that.
If supper's over not too late, I might head out to the Sham Slam at the Maple Ridge Poetry Slam. Here's the scoop lifted from an email announcement by co-host of this new slam, Devon Goodman:
The RIDGE POETRY SLAM
IN MAPLE "MORE HORSES THAN PEOPLE" RIDGE
CONTINUES
@ THE RIDGE CAFE
#170, 22470, Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge
(think leisure-centre library building area)
EVERY 3RD FRIDAY OF THE MONTH ( APRIL 20TH)
7:00 - 10:00 PM, $2 or by donation
THE SHAM SLAM
AKA The Bad Poetry Slam
and the Poetry Slap
LOWEST SCORE WINS
BRING OUT YOUR ANGST, FAILED METAPHORS, AND SUPERFICIAL RHYMES
AND WHATEVER OTHER SORT OF SKULLDUGGERY YOU CAN THINK OF
THIS IS GOING TO BE RIDICULOUS
FEATURING THE ATROCIOUS
SPILLIOUS
"Bio,I hated biology in school and sometimes I have to teach it now! Oh, you mean Biography well thats complicated. How to explain the intricacies of a life spent teaching and being a father of three girls and being a musician and a poet, (or should I say gay scientist!) In the words of Jeff Lebowski "The dude abides" and can be found hosting the Spillious Speak and Sing open mic at the cottage bistro the First and Third Wednesday of every month, running the fabulous 80's @ 8 show @ The Cottage Bistro the 3rd Wednesday every month and co-hosting The Main street head to head slam at the same venue.(This month is Tuesday the 24th)"
come out and
MAKE US SQUIRM!
SPREAD THE WORD!
question: what's it like to be married for 100 years?
mompoet - I'm going to ask Diane and Pete, Vivian and Paul on Friday
If supper's over not too late, I might head out to the Sham Slam at the Maple Ridge Poetry Slam. Here's the scoop lifted from an email announcement by co-host of this new slam, Devon Goodman:
The RIDGE POETRY SLAM
IN MAPLE "MORE HORSES THAN PEOPLE" RIDGE
CONTINUES
@ THE RIDGE CAFE
#170, 22470, Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge
(think leisure-centre library building area)
EVERY 3RD FRIDAY OF THE MONTH ( APRIL 20TH)
7:00 - 10:00 PM, $2 or by donation
THE SHAM SLAM
AKA The Bad Poetry Slam
and the Poetry Slap
LOWEST SCORE WINS
BRING OUT YOUR ANGST, FAILED METAPHORS, AND SUPERFICIAL RHYMES
AND WHATEVER OTHER SORT OF SKULLDUGGERY YOU CAN THINK OF
THIS IS GOING TO BE RIDICULOUS
FEATURING THE ATROCIOUS
SPILLIOUS
"Bio,I hated biology in school and sometimes I have to teach it now! Oh, you mean Biography well thats complicated. How to explain the intricacies of a life spent teaching and being a father of three girls and being a musician and a poet, (or should I say gay scientist!) In the words of Jeff Lebowski "The dude abides" and can be found hosting the Spillious Speak and Sing open mic at the cottage bistro the First and Third Wednesday of every month, running the fabulous 80's @ 8 show @ The Cottage Bistro the 3rd Wednesday every month and co-hosting The Main street head to head slam at the same venue.(This month is Tuesday the 24th)"
come out and
MAKE US SQUIRM!
SPREAD THE WORD!
question: what's it like to be married for 100 years?
mompoet - I'm going to ask Diane and Pete, Vivian and Paul on Friday
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
now this is silly
I was tired and grumpy at work today. I had a great night last night at the Poetry Slam, but paid for it today with tiredness and a short fuse.
Co-worker comes in needing me to order something using the new computerized purchasing system (she's been locked out of the system for inexplicable reasons). I'm due to go in for re-training, haven't used the program yet, in a terrible rush needing to get out the door to a meeting (and did I mention grumpy?)
Co-worker is apologizing. If you want, we could do it tomorrow (but tomorrow will be worse when I check my schedule). I say, "Let's do it." Now we both feel bad, she for inconveniencing me. Me for not doing a great job of being a supportive and friendly co-worker. I pull out my training manual and follow the instructions, with co-worker coaching me with info that Purchasing gave her, and her copy of the manual. Of course it does not work. Keeps spitting unintelligible error messages at me and making precious minutes of data entry into squishy little fields disappear and need to be redone. Like this:
ERROR: Wrong syntax hooglebloob. Should snigwipple as: XX:_,_,_) (Did I mention the original program was written in GERMAN?)
So I don't know what the heck snigwipple is anyway because I missed the advanced snig functions course that was held at 3:15pm on Chrismas Eve.
I phone Purchasing they say, "we don't know how to work it. we're transferring you to helpdesk."
Ayyyyeeeeee! I am falling into a pit of gooo.
"Hello. Helpdesk."
"I need help with Shopping Cart."
"Just a moment. I will transfer you to our shopping cart specialist on duty."
Does co-worker detect that I am about to lose it? I give her a progress report, "I'm on hold with helpdesk, waiting for a shopping specialist."
Shopping cart specialist helps me figure out my gross and vast error (don't put a dollar sign before the dollar amount). She advises me on how to correctly fill out several other fields. Then she says, "Should work now." Just call me right back if you have any more problems. Ten seconds later all of my work is wiped out, again. I phone helpdesk back and ask for Shopping Cart specialist by name. (This is 15 seconds later.) They tell me that she has not been in the office all day. "Can we take your number and ask her to call you back?"
I am near tears now. Not tears of laughter. "No," I say, "I'm late for a meeting. I'll call her tomorrow." I hope co-worker did not hear that catch in my voice.
"Okay, let's try one more time before we give up"
Somehow we get the info all inputted and I push "submit" or whatever it is. I get my completed order, confirmed sent to my boss for approval and ready to print. For the $475 item I thought I just ordered, the total is $1,325. Lots of tax, I guess.
Suddenly, coworker and I are laughing hysterically. I dash off a hyperbolic email to my boss and the buyer who will receive this order, including an explanation that I do not actually want a geotechnical engineer. I really want a training consultant, but that's not on the menu, and helpdesk suggested that a geotechnical engineer is the closest existing listing to a training consultant. (Hmmm, what should I do when I need to order hats? Oh! Manhole covers, yup, that'll do.)
I still have 10 minutes to get to my meeting, fifteen minutes away by car. I thank co-worker for putting up with grumpy me. She says thanks for helping her order a geotechnical engineer. Tomorrow let's order some anthrax vaccine. We agree it was hell, but also the best laugh we had all day.
question: did you receive any error messages today?
mompoet - Error Message: my order was not printed (figures)
Co-worker comes in needing me to order something using the new computerized purchasing system (she's been locked out of the system for inexplicable reasons). I'm due to go in for re-training, haven't used the program yet, in a terrible rush needing to get out the door to a meeting (and did I mention grumpy?)
Co-worker is apologizing. If you want, we could do it tomorrow (but tomorrow will be worse when I check my schedule). I say, "Let's do it." Now we both feel bad, she for inconveniencing me. Me for not doing a great job of being a supportive and friendly co-worker. I pull out my training manual and follow the instructions, with co-worker coaching me with info that Purchasing gave her, and her copy of the manual. Of course it does not work. Keeps spitting unintelligible error messages at me and making precious minutes of data entry into squishy little fields disappear and need to be redone. Like this:
ERROR: Wrong syntax hooglebloob. Should snigwipple as: XX:_,_,_) (Did I mention the original program was written in GERMAN?)
So I don't know what the heck snigwipple is anyway because I missed the advanced snig functions course that was held at 3:15pm on Chrismas Eve.
I phone Purchasing they say, "we don't know how to work it. we're transferring you to helpdesk."
Ayyyyeeeeee! I am falling into a pit of gooo.
"Hello. Helpdesk."
"I need help with Shopping Cart."
"Just a moment. I will transfer you to our shopping cart specialist on duty."
Does co-worker detect that I am about to lose it? I give her a progress report, "I'm on hold with helpdesk, waiting for a shopping specialist."
Shopping cart specialist helps me figure out my gross and vast error (don't put a dollar sign before the dollar amount). She advises me on how to correctly fill out several other fields. Then she says, "Should work now." Just call me right back if you have any more problems. Ten seconds later all of my work is wiped out, again. I phone helpdesk back and ask for Shopping Cart specialist by name. (This is 15 seconds later.) They tell me that she has not been in the office all day. "Can we take your number and ask her to call you back?"
I am near tears now. Not tears of laughter. "No," I say, "I'm late for a meeting. I'll call her tomorrow." I hope co-worker did not hear that catch in my voice.
"Okay, let's try one more time before we give up"
Somehow we get the info all inputted and I push "submit" or whatever it is. I get my completed order, confirmed sent to my boss for approval and ready to print. For the $475 item I thought I just ordered, the total is $1,325. Lots of tax, I guess.
Suddenly, coworker and I are laughing hysterically. I dash off a hyperbolic email to my boss and the buyer who will receive this order, including an explanation that I do not actually want a geotechnical engineer. I really want a training consultant, but that's not on the menu, and helpdesk suggested that a geotechnical engineer is the closest existing listing to a training consultant. (Hmmm, what should I do when I need to order hats? Oh! Manhole covers, yup, that'll do.)
I still have 10 minutes to get to my meeting, fifteen minutes away by car. I thank co-worker for putting up with grumpy me. She says thanks for helping her order a geotechnical engineer. Tomorrow let's order some anthrax vaccine. We agree it was hell, but also the best laugh we had all day.
question: did you receive any error messages today?
mompoet - Error Message: my order was not printed (figures)
Monday, April 16, 2007
resources
I have been thinking and thinking about how much is enough and how much is too much. I tend to do as much as possible because it suits me to work that way. Sometimes I get overwhelmed.
My strategy when I feel overwhelmed is to drop a couple of commitments until I feel that sense of joy return. I'm not exaggerating when I say joy. Most of the time I wake up saying to myself, "I have such and such to do today - YES!" That's not to say I love everything that I have to do. Just most days the highlight is something I have chosen or at least accepted and I am happy to do it.
Yesterday I chose to drop two commitments for the day: I attended my writer's group, but just for half an hour to say hello to everyone and share in the announcements part of the meeting. I left before reading and workshopping began. On the way home I felt sad, mostly that I wasn't staying to help my friends and share in the creative process. But I got over it. Later that afternoon I was supposed to go to a meeting in our strata complex about insurance issues. I missed the meeting, sent my research in ahead by email and called in my regrets. Later in the day as I drove out of the complex to take some of Fi's friends home after a visit, I saw my neighbours coming home from the meeting. I felt guilty to see them working hard at something important on a Sunday afternoon and I ducked out. But I got over it.
Instead of spending the afternoon at Shoreline Writers and the Insurance Committee, I sewed a costume, cooked home-made soup for supper, talked about hockey with our son, kept an eye on Andy and his bad cold, and enjoyed the silliness of 3 girls watching the second half of Titanic on DVD.
This morning I woke up feeling 100% better! It will be a late night at the Vancouver Poetry Slam, but I know for sure that I want to be there. I go to it with joy. It's funny how a mini-sabbatical can make such a difference. Nobody missed me terribly or thought I was being negligent, and I felt like I was in the right place doing the right thing.
question: Do you take a break sometimes?
mompoet - changing plans, maintaining happiness
My strategy when I feel overwhelmed is to drop a couple of commitments until I feel that sense of joy return. I'm not exaggerating when I say joy. Most of the time I wake up saying to myself, "I have such and such to do today - YES!" That's not to say I love everything that I have to do. Just most days the highlight is something I have chosen or at least accepted and I am happy to do it.
Yesterday I chose to drop two commitments for the day: I attended my writer's group, but just for half an hour to say hello to everyone and share in the announcements part of the meeting. I left before reading and workshopping began. On the way home I felt sad, mostly that I wasn't staying to help my friends and share in the creative process. But I got over it. Later that afternoon I was supposed to go to a meeting in our strata complex about insurance issues. I missed the meeting, sent my research in ahead by email and called in my regrets. Later in the day as I drove out of the complex to take some of Fi's friends home after a visit, I saw my neighbours coming home from the meeting. I felt guilty to see them working hard at something important on a Sunday afternoon and I ducked out. But I got over it.
Instead of spending the afternoon at Shoreline Writers and the Insurance Committee, I sewed a costume, cooked home-made soup for supper, talked about hockey with our son, kept an eye on Andy and his bad cold, and enjoyed the silliness of 3 girls watching the second half of Titanic on DVD.
This morning I woke up feeling 100% better! It will be a late night at the Vancouver Poetry Slam, but I know for sure that I want to be there. I go to it with joy. It's funny how a mini-sabbatical can make such a difference. Nobody missed me terribly or thought I was being negligent, and I felt like I was in the right place doing the right thing.
question: Do you take a break sometimes?
mompoet - changing plans, maintaining happiness
Sunday, April 15, 2007
breathe out
This week has been two scoops too many, but we're through it. Lots of good stuff, just too much, too relentlessly, too intense with not a moment to breathe (let alone think) in between.
I've been doing summer job interviews at work, trying to hire for about 20 positions. It's going well, but it's nerve-wracking anyways because it's very important, and I'm doing it not for my own programs, but on behalf of a big summer programs committee. I'm hiring other people's staff. I know now that I do not want to be an HR consultant. It's too difficult.
In between I'm trying to keep up with my regular work, including a community meeting, program startups, time to meet with my co-workers and staff who I supervise, all the while trying not to be a grumpy rushed distracted messy mess. I have this lurking feeling like "I forgot something important" constantly. Multi-tasking is one thing. Operating simultaneously in several dimensions is not good. I have a break from interviews this week then a blast of more interviews in the final week of April and it will be mostly done. Thank goodness my good friend and co-worker Robin is doing the background checks and sitting down with me for a reality check every day or two. Without her, I think I might be spinning in the stratosphere right now.
In between that, I've been going to the Coquitlam District Music Festival with Fiona who has done phenomenally well. She competed in 5 categories, placed in 4, got wonderful adjudications and sang and performed beautifully. I am so proud of her. She has worked hard, and it's paying off spectacularly. Watching the competition is exciting and sweaty and emotional. We all sit in complete silence watching and listening, but inside I'm jumping out of my chair and shrieking quite often. (Good thing it doesn't show.) I did cry a couple of times, but I slouched down and hid behind someone tall so I wouldn't be an embarassment. (I hope)
In between that, I've been helping Alex get his final hours of practice driving in. Soon he'll go for his "N" test which will qualify him as a new driver, allowed to drive my car solo with some restrictions. He's also putting out job applications, so I guess this summer he'll be using my car to drive to work. Maybe I'll have an excuse to stay home more. I like that.
Andy and I finally got some time together on Friday. We went out for supper with a bunch of friends, including Andy's best man from our wedding. Bill and his wife Linda live in Calgary. They visit every few months, and we all get together. It was nice. We talked and laughed and caught up. We went to the Keg restaurant and ate steak, which I hardly ever do any more. It was good, but I didn't feel that good after.
That's the other thing about this week - not enough time for health. I missed the gym all except Friday morning. When I got there I was so wound up I think I just about broke the pedals off the bike. But it felt good. Next interview week, I'm going to try to stop for some exercise throughout the week.
This week it's the middle school production of Oliver. I'm still sewing costumes, but now they're for Anne of Green Gables. And Andy has a horrible chest-coughing cold, so I'm trying to do as much for him as I can, while he rests. My job for myself this week is to calm down, stop rushing, forget about some things and find out it's okay, really. I will exercise, and read, and watch a movie. That will be much better.
question: how do you make yourself reset to a more reasonable pace?
mompoet - one speed/wrong speed
I've been doing summer job interviews at work, trying to hire for about 20 positions. It's going well, but it's nerve-wracking anyways because it's very important, and I'm doing it not for my own programs, but on behalf of a big summer programs committee. I'm hiring other people's staff. I know now that I do not want to be an HR consultant. It's too difficult.
In between I'm trying to keep up with my regular work, including a community meeting, program startups, time to meet with my co-workers and staff who I supervise, all the while trying not to be a grumpy rushed distracted messy mess. I have this lurking feeling like "I forgot something important" constantly. Multi-tasking is one thing. Operating simultaneously in several dimensions is not good. I have a break from interviews this week then a blast of more interviews in the final week of April and it will be mostly done. Thank goodness my good friend and co-worker Robin is doing the background checks and sitting down with me for a reality check every day or two. Without her, I think I might be spinning in the stratosphere right now.
In between that, I've been going to the Coquitlam District Music Festival with Fiona who has done phenomenally well. She competed in 5 categories, placed in 4, got wonderful adjudications and sang and performed beautifully. I am so proud of her. She has worked hard, and it's paying off spectacularly. Watching the competition is exciting and sweaty and emotional. We all sit in complete silence watching and listening, but inside I'm jumping out of my chair and shrieking quite often. (Good thing it doesn't show.) I did cry a couple of times, but I slouched down and hid behind someone tall so I wouldn't be an embarassment. (I hope)
In between that, I've been helping Alex get his final hours of practice driving in. Soon he'll go for his "N" test which will qualify him as a new driver, allowed to drive my car solo with some restrictions. He's also putting out job applications, so I guess this summer he'll be using my car to drive to work. Maybe I'll have an excuse to stay home more. I like that.
Andy and I finally got some time together on Friday. We went out for supper with a bunch of friends, including Andy's best man from our wedding. Bill and his wife Linda live in Calgary. They visit every few months, and we all get together. It was nice. We talked and laughed and caught up. We went to the Keg restaurant and ate steak, which I hardly ever do any more. It was good, but I didn't feel that good after.
That's the other thing about this week - not enough time for health. I missed the gym all except Friday morning. When I got there I was so wound up I think I just about broke the pedals off the bike. But it felt good. Next interview week, I'm going to try to stop for some exercise throughout the week.
This week it's the middle school production of Oliver. I'm still sewing costumes, but now they're for Anne of Green Gables. And Andy has a horrible chest-coughing cold, so I'm trying to do as much for him as I can, while he rests. My job for myself this week is to calm down, stop rushing, forget about some things and find out it's okay, really. I will exercise, and read, and watch a movie. That will be much better.
question: how do you make yourself reset to a more reasonable pace?
mompoet - one speed/wrong speed
Saturday, April 14, 2007
april
my heart is not a kite today
it is not a blushing peony
it is not a tangerine, heavy with juice
today my heart is small and tight and proper
it wears wire rim glasses and pulls its hair back sensibly
it is clean-scrubbed beyond reproof
if my heart had a name today
it would be "Miss Crabapple"
a substitute teacher of uncertain age
reciting lessons from someone else's book
for a time
uncomfortably short
question: what name do you give your heart today?
mompoet - thumpy
it is not a blushing peony
it is not a tangerine, heavy with juice
today my heart is small and tight and proper
it wears wire rim glasses and pulls its hair back sensibly
it is clean-scrubbed beyond reproof
if my heart had a name today
it would be "Miss Crabapple"
a substitute teacher of uncertain age
reciting lessons from someone else's book
for a time
uncomfortably short
question: what name do you give your heart today?
mompoet - thumpy
Friday, April 13, 2007
daffodils
I actually smelled them. Thursday night, 6:55pm outside of Burnaby City Hall after a brief but heave rainshower. THEY...SMELLED...WONDERFUL.
In case you've missed my previous rants about smell deficit problems, I have lost a good part of my sense of smell in the last few years. I'm still okay for stuff I can physically snuffle up close, but those delicious wafty hints of "something over here - look!" happen very rarely these days. Once in a while the portal opens and whoooooo! It helps that there are a googolplex daffodils blooming around Burnaby City Hall. mmmmmmm
Other signs of spring:
"Bear in the Area Signs" are popping up - saw one on Heritage Mountain Boulevard on the weekend.
flip flops are back out of the closet (not mine yet!)
there were some kids with a lemonade stand on Monday
Welcome Spring. Bring me some more smells that I can smell.
question: if you could smell only one smell, what would you smell?
mompoet - I could never choose
In case you've missed my previous rants about smell deficit problems, I have lost a good part of my sense of smell in the last few years. I'm still okay for stuff I can physically snuffle up close, but those delicious wafty hints of "something over here - look!" happen very rarely these days. Once in a while the portal opens and whoooooo! It helps that there are a googolplex daffodils blooming around Burnaby City Hall. mmmmmmm
Other signs of spring:
"Bear in the Area Signs" are popping up - saw one on Heritage Mountain Boulevard on the weekend.
flip flops are back out of the closet (not mine yet!)
there were some kids with a lemonade stand on Monday
Welcome Spring. Bring me some more smells that I can smell.
question: if you could smell only one smell, what would you smell?
mompoet - I could never choose
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Teeny Ted
There's this guy named Robert Chaplin who collaborated with physicists at Simon Fraser University to make the world's smallest book. It's indescribably how much I love this.
The creator of the book seems to be an interesting person indeed. While he was unavailable for comment to Canadadotcom, he did talk to CBC Radio's As It Happens this evening. I looked him up. He has a blog.
An interesting fact about Robert Chaplin. He published a toilet plunger and got it into the National Library of Canada.
I need to read more, but it seems like he enjoys carving, publishing and science.
question: read any good toilet plungers lately?
mompoet - still trying to read what size is this sewing machine needle...quick! get the electron microscope!
The creator of the book seems to be an interesting person indeed. While he was unavailable for comment to Canadadotcom, he did talk to CBC Radio's As It Happens this evening. I looked him up. He has a blog.
An interesting fact about Robert Chaplin. He published a toilet plunger and got it into the National Library of Canada.
I need to read more, but it seems like he enjoys carving, publishing and science.
question: read any good toilet plungers lately?
mompoet - still trying to read what size is this sewing machine needle...quick! get the electron microscope!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Typ-ohs
epidsode
arnachnaphobia
snadwich
hugs and knishes
eyepod
catcophony
deardful
ingrammatrical
ardurous
ernormourous
obstutes
question: do the fingers tell truths beyond reckoning?
mompoet - nimble-blundered
arnachnaphobia
snadwich
hugs and knishes
eyepod
catcophony
deardful
ingrammatrical
ardurous
ernormourous
obstutes
question: do the fingers tell truths beyond reckoning?
mompoet - nimble-blundered
something funny
I think this is funny.
Thanks to my friend Helmi for showing this to me.
question: do you think it is funny?
mompoet - funny funny
Thanks to my friend Helmi for showing this to me.
question: do you think it is funny?
mompoet - funny funny
Monday, April 09, 2007
a new epidsode
Alex: Come quick Mom! It's a brand new episode of Little People Big World...the one where Matt and Jacob get hurt!
Mom: Oh my! What happens to them?
Alex: Trebuchet accident.
question: whuuu?
mompoet - still figuring out what it is about TV
Mom: Oh my! What happens to them?
Alex: Trebuchet accident.
question: whuuu?
mompoet - still figuring out what it is about TV
you may use my line...
Caller: Hello Mrs. Mompoet? This is Ramona from Jack Layton and the Federal NDP. We want to express our appreciation for your previous contributions, and ask if you could increase your monthly donation or give a little extra this month?
Mompoet: Well, I'd like to, but you see, we're currently financing two teenagers.
Caller: Oh, yes. I understand. Thanks then. Good bye.
Mompoet: Well, I'd like to, but you see, we're currently financing two teenagers.
Caller: Oh, yes. I understand. Thanks then. Good bye.
scambaiting?
I have received many scam emails, you know the ones from people in other countries, appealing for my help with orphans, inheritances, stock certificates, deposed princes etc. I just delete them.
I didn't know that there are people who make it a vocation to bait the scammers. I heard about this on CBC radio over the weekend, and checked out a site that they mentioned: 419eater.com
The whole thing strikes me as kind of creepy, but interesting. There are even sound files of scambaiters talking to scammers on the phone, and photographs of scammers making themselves look ridiculous just to provide the scambaiters with trophies. I'm not signing up for this hobby.
question: what do you think about this?
mompoet - better things to do with my spare time
I didn't know that there are people who make it a vocation to bait the scammers. I heard about this on CBC radio over the weekend, and checked out a site that they mentioned: 419eater.com
The whole thing strikes me as kind of creepy, but interesting. There are even sound files of scambaiters talking to scammers on the phone, and photographs of scammers making themselves look ridiculous just to provide the scambaiters with trophies. I'm not signing up for this hobby.
question: what do you think about this?
mompoet - better things to do with my spare time
Easter is happy
We had a lovely church service for Easter Sunday. It was pouring rain, so I skipped the sunrise service at Rocky Point Pier, scheduled for 7am, and made it in for the regular service at 10. The church was filled with light and flowers and families, everyone smiling and singing and happy to be there. Easter Sunday is wonderful!
After a quiet day at home, we joined with my parents and Andy's brother and nephew at Andy's Mom's place for supper. It was yummy and relaxing.
Now Andy is back at work, but the kids and I have one more day off - Monday in lieu of the Sunday which falls on the weekend, so somehow we are "owed" a day off from work and school. I think that's a funny notion, but I'll take the day off anytime!
With Easter past, we jump into the tumble jumble of spring activities: music festivals, plays, exams and report cards, gardening, block parties, longer adventures walking the dog, karate grading, Van Slam semis and finals, hiring and training for summer day camp, the busy season for movie-making. It's always full to the brim in springtime for everyone in this family. I'm grateful for our energy and for the opportunities to be so busy with things we love to do.
question: did you have a good Easter?
mompoet - sprung
After a quiet day at home, we joined with my parents and Andy's brother and nephew at Andy's Mom's place for supper. It was yummy and relaxing.
Now Andy is back at work, but the kids and I have one more day off - Monday in lieu of the Sunday which falls on the weekend, so somehow we are "owed" a day off from work and school. I think that's a funny notion, but I'll take the day off anytime!
With Easter past, we jump into the tumble jumble of spring activities: music festivals, plays, exams and report cards, gardening, block parties, longer adventures walking the dog, karate grading, Van Slam semis and finals, hiring and training for summer day camp, the busy season for movie-making. It's always full to the brim in springtime for everyone in this family. I'm grateful for our energy and for the opportunities to be so busy with things we love to do.
question: did you have a good Easter?
mompoet - sprung
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Hello, my name is mompoet. I'm a United Church of Canada Person.
Douglas Todd wrote a good column in Saturday's Vancouver Sun, and it's available on the web, even to unbelievers (er I mean non-subscribers). Check it out.
question: why hide who you are?
mompoet - learning and growing and figuring out what's "enough information"
question: why hide who you are?
mompoet - learning and growing and figuring out what's "enough information"
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Amazing Grace
It'll slip through the theatres quickly and quietly I'm sure, but if you get a chance to see Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce, I recommend it.
question: do you know the story?
mompoet - it's a good one
question: do you know the story?
mompoet - it's a good one
Unexpected
I've been sewing these Oom-Pa-Pa dresses for the middle school production of Oliver. They're all the same pattern, but different sizes and lengths, for each of the girls, and also all different colours and fabrics. Ms. Ono, the teacher in charge of costumes (and lots of other parts of the production), bought materials from "the bargain bins" as she called them. I've already made quite a few dresses, so by now I've stitched through bales of broadcloth and meters of polyester. When I unfolded the fabric from dress number 7 (of eight) I was surprised to find a luscious apricot-coloured silk charmeuse. Silk, for real. It just feels a million light years away from the cotton-poly and poly-poly I've been stitching for days. At once it's lighter and more substantial. It's creamy and resilient and seems to have a life of its own in my hands. It's also more delicate. At once I was rifling my sewing kit for a finer sewing machine needle and slender pins. The dress is almost done and it's a delicious confection. I can't wait to see the Oom-Pa-Pa scene and spot the dancer who will wear this dress. It will float and shine. She will glow.
question: have you ever stitched silk?
mompoet - charm-eused
We're going to Arcade Fire
Vic and me, we got tickets. We're going to the show. I can hardly wait to see Arcade Fire outdoors at Deer Lake in Burnaby on May 24. Now we just have to pray for a warm, dry evening. My friend Michele and her husband once spent the entire Blues Festival dressed in giant garbage bags when it rained.
hooray, hooray, hooray!
question: don't you love looking forward to something?
mompoet - tingling with excitement
hooray, hooray, hooray!
question: don't you love looking forward to something?
mompoet - tingling with excitement
Friday, April 06, 2007
good friday is sad
We held a tenebrae (shadow) service at church this morning. It was dark and sad. We read from Luke, the story of Jesus's betrayal and crucifixion. As parts of the story were told, candles were extinguished until the church was dark. We left in quiet sadness and contemplation.There's a great article in today's Vancouver Sun about Good Friday. If you have the paper, I recommend you read it. Vancouver Sun can't be read on line without a subscription, unfortunately.
question: what can we learn from isolation, betrayal, denial and desolation?
mompoet - thinking and feeling
Mirror Mirror
Fiona and I went last night to see Mirror Mirror. It's a play written, produced and performed by a group of Vancouver teens. The theme is depression, but it also talks about the social life of all teens and their experience of family, friendship, love, academic pressure, peer pressure, racism, and the isolation that is part of growing up. The play shows how this isolation can overwhelm a person to the point of desperation and illness. It gives a glimpse into the lives of young people on the verge of adulthood, experiencing psychosis, schizophrenia, clinical depression and bipolar syndrome.
Mirror Mirror was put on at the Roundhouse Community Centre by writer-director Valerie Methot, Coastal Health (the local health authority) and other good people. They spent 6 months together, first workshoping the play then rehearsing it and readying it for presentation. We saw the finale performance on Thursday.
I wondered if Fiona would like it. On the way there, we discussed the different forms of theatrical presentation and which ones we liked best. I also wondered if it would be too immediate for her - a bunch of people just a bit older than she is, performing initially improvised bits about their angst and suffering. And it was deeply personal and immediate - maybe enough to make it uncomfortable to view. I should not have worried. She loved it. So did I. We were moved and impressed. It was a great show.
Valerie, Coastal Health and Roundhouse plan to do this again next year. I'm looking forward to seeing what issue they choose to tackle in their new production. Valerie will also facilitate another production of Take a Breath - a community performance show workshoped and presented by neighbourhood people a couple of years ago. It was delightful.
Valerie is also my friend and co-worker at Parks and Rec, where her day job is community arts facilitation. I feel proud to know her.
question: what kind of theatrical presentations do you like best?
mompoet - my sox is knocked off
Mirror Mirror was put on at the Roundhouse Community Centre by writer-director Valerie Methot, Coastal Health (the local health authority) and other good people. They spent 6 months together, first workshoping the play then rehearsing it and readying it for presentation. We saw the finale performance on Thursday.
I wondered if Fiona would like it. On the way there, we discussed the different forms of theatrical presentation and which ones we liked best. I also wondered if it would be too immediate for her - a bunch of people just a bit older than she is, performing initially improvised bits about their angst and suffering. And it was deeply personal and immediate - maybe enough to make it uncomfortable to view. I should not have worried. She loved it. So did I. We were moved and impressed. It was a great show.
Valerie, Coastal Health and Roundhouse plan to do this again next year. I'm looking forward to seeing what issue they choose to tackle in their new production. Valerie will also facilitate another production of Take a Breath - a community performance show workshoped and presented by neighbourhood people a couple of years ago. It was delightful.
Valerie is also my friend and co-worker at Parks and Rec, where her day job is community arts facilitation. I feel proud to know her.
question: what kind of theatrical presentations do you like best?
mompoet - my sox is knocked off
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Holy Week
I usually cry at church on Good Friday, and sometimes on other days. This Palm Sunday I was crying. The combination of hymn choices, readings and our minister, Tim's reflections on the juxtaposition of "Hosanna!" and "Crucify!" struck a chord of deep sadness and recognition for me. It's been following me through the week. The last thing Tim said in the benediction was something about "even though they shouted, 'Crucify!' it was not the last word."
I'm feeling a bit sad this week missing another Easter with my sister and her family. We usually travel to their home a day's drive from ours, and spend the weekend. They aren't church people, so one of the things I do when we don't visit them is to fully participate in our church's Easter observances. My heart feels hungry for all of it this year, in all of its drama, glory and human-ness.
question: do you ever wonder if people have always been the same and will always be the same?
mompoet - looking at the world with my own tender and daring heart
I'm feeling a bit sad this week missing another Easter with my sister and her family. We usually travel to their home a day's drive from ours, and spend the weekend. They aren't church people, so one of the things I do when we don't visit them is to fully participate in our church's Easter observances. My heart feels hungry for all of it this year, in all of its drama, glory and human-ness.
question: do you ever wonder if people have always been the same and will always be the same?
mompoet - looking at the world with my own tender and daring heart
ARCADE FIRE
is coming to Deer Lake Park in Burnaby for an outdoor concert on May 24. Tickets go on sale Saturday morning at Ticketmaster. I hope I get some!
question: do you like them in a box? do you like them with a fox? would you listen by the lake?
mompoet - I would! I would! for goodness sake!
question: do you like them in a box? do you like them with a fox? would you listen by the lake?
mompoet - I would! I would! for goodness sake!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
it's spring...spring is strange (haiku)
cherry blossom tree
like a bride on the skytrain
monday afternoon
question: do you think it's strange?
maybe it's just me (who thinks that I mean)
(or maybe it's me who's strange)
like a bride on the skytrain
monday afternoon
question: do you think it's strange?
maybe it's just me (who thinks that I mean)
(or maybe it's me who's strange)
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
London Calling
A poem by the Svelte Ms Spelt at last night's slam reminded me of this scene from the movie Billy Elliot.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
painting project is finished
We put 6 coats of red paint on the basement walls. Now we're done, except for a couple of touch-ups here and there. The furniture is back in, although we'll replace some of it in the next few weeks. We still have to put the games and movies and stuff back on the shelves this week. It looks like a more grown-up place now. We love the colour.
question: if you could paint your room any colour, what colour would you choose?
mompoet - liking red
Saturday, March 31, 2007
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.
question: can you prove either way?
mompoet - exactly.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
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
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
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
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
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
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:
question: got some fun going?
mompoet - accelerated
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.
question: got some fun going?
mompoet - accelerated
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
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
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
Monday, March 26, 2007
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.
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
-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
Sunday, March 25, 2007
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 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
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
Friday, March 23, 2007
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
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
Thursday, March 22, 2007
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
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
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
question: did we really say that?
mompoet - shhhh don't tell the kids
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
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
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
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
Monday, March 19, 2007
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
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
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
Sunday, March 18, 2007
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
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
Saturday, March 17, 2007
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
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
Friday, March 16, 2007
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
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
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
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)
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
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
Saturday, March 10, 2007
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
Friday, March 09, 2007
an evening at home for Nelson
You can't go out every night. On Thursday, Nelson kicked back and got clean.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
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. |
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
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
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
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.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
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:
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:
Monday, March 05, 2007
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
hmmmm
question: what is Nelson up to?
mompoet - intrigued
Sunday, March 04, 2007
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
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
Saturday, March 03, 2007
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
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
Friday, March 02, 2007
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
question: did anyone just come up to you and say "What are you watching?"
mompoet - a good day to you
Thursday, March 01, 2007
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
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
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