Animals Animals

I talk a lot about my animules... without them, I'd be a lot crazier & even though they wreck things, tag pant cuffs (rabbit!) hork 3am hairballs (Nellie!) and drag anything chew-able through the bars of their cages (all ratties!) without 'em, life would be pretty dull. I'm sure Clay would give a slightly different opinion, but that's cause he's been on litter-duty ever since my sciatica went kablooie :-P

I found a hilarious site with some gr8 kitty pics on it that you should check out! It's called the

Moggy Horde.

Very funny! Just open the link and scroll down to The Silly Sleeping Pose Olympics!

Here's my contribution, and probably the first in a series of pics & info on my critters. We'll start with ARLO since he is my most famous kitty. Each entry will feature a picture (if I have one) a bit of history and the like. This is in preparation for getting YET MORE ANIMULES (tonight I'm off to meet 2 baby female rats--oh yeah, and their owner.) There was a free Sheltie posted on the Stats bulletin board and I was WAY tempted. Yikes. (She looks just like my sweet Buffy.) But dogs in the house with no one at home ain't fair.



ARLO

Born probably Sept 2nd, 1990 somewhere near Hawksbury. My buddy Andrew Raff's folks found a box of kittens in a field at the end of a dirt road. Arlo was the "fiesty one" and joined me in my first apartment! (253 York St...Ah, the glory days..) Arlo was never a heavy cat.. at his biggest, he was 11 lbs. and as he's aged, he's slimmed down to maybe 7 or so. He has a great "What the heck are YOU looking at?!" expression at all times because of the grey mask and splotch of grey on his nose.

He is named after Arlo Guthrie (who I get to SEE LIVE IN CONCERT on May 10th! Can you tell I'm excited? :-D) And my wee kitty has been with me to every place I've lived, has disappeared twice (once in August 1998 for a week.. then the following year around the same time for 3 months. ARG.) Too bad cats can't talk Hooman; then I'd know where he'd gone. I figure aliens took him up. After that, I got him microchipped, and of course he hasn't escaped to unknown domains since!



He continues to be the Coolest Cat Ever and I love him so much. He stars in my first published b & w comic "The Tale of Minkie's Kitten" (c) 1996 and was the inspiration for all my

"Uburkitty" comics.

His pawprints are on an acrylic painting from 1990 called "Skytoes" which was shortly after I got him. When he was teeny, he used to sleep on my neck, holding my face between his paws. At night, he'd carefully groom one side of my face and then the other. It made getting a decent night's sleep challenging! Good thing I worked in animation...

I'm sure I could go on and on! But more later--as I find pics and comix.
Cheerio :-)

Shimmy to the Laundromat

Or was is Wiggle to the Laundromat? I forget. It's some crazy Dennis Lee book from the '70s anyhow! But that is neither here nor there. I have SHIMMIED and the SHIMMY was good! And my poor ass is *sore*! But it was good fun. I have to get me a hip scarf with bojangle deelies on it so I can be as cool as my instructor. OR, more likely, I'll stand on the side and shuffle around trying to watch peoples' feet and attempting to figure out the "travelling steps" we're learning.

This week... I've been doing TAMs. The less said the better! :-D For more information on TAMs, see the archives. WHEEEEEEeee!! And no, TAMs is not some Scottish affectation. In fact, it has nothing to do with Scotland at all.



I finished

Charles de Lint's "The Blue Girl"

and enjoyed it very much. I love CdL and have read his stuff since 1986. That's like TWENTY YEARS of fabulous Canadian cool urban-faerie weavings. Thanks Charles! :-) I really enjoyed the book. It's teen fic, but I've never let that stop me from reading anything. Heck, I still love Anne McCaffrey and she's supposedly for teens as well. Piffle!



Also--Clay shanghaied me to see "V for Vendetta" last night at the AMC. It was amazing. I went in knowing *nothing* about co-creator

Alan Moore's comic

and came out with weepy eyes, staggering and going *whoaaaaa*. I highly recommend this film! Now I must root around in Clay's comic boxes and find the original comic to read. Wow. (**note, I KNOW that Alan Moore didn't like the film--that's cool. I liked it. I'll update later when I read the comics..)

So! Tomorrow, more TAMs (probably) and maybe beer with LH after work, if I'm good. I have to get a bunch of art done for people, AND find JG's disk *sorry man!* and what else... c'est tout. Talk l8r,

Ciao
Suze
*shimmy*shimmy*shimmy*shimmy*.

Passing notes

Yes, we've been reduced to playing HANGMAN on Post-It notes at work. We're done our work assembling all the envelopes and labels and we're offically back on TAMs! AUgh. So, to pass the time, we've been playing movie genre guessing games together.

Which was fine when we could email! But then, we were encouraged *not* to email while keying. SIGH. How to stay awake during the horrific TAMs???? Well...there is an internal computer messaging system called NetHail which contacts specific users on their PC's! Yay! Our game was saved; we NetHailed all morning and John got stumped on the above clue.

The answer?? GODZILLA!!! (He did get a little help from ChippEric tho'!)

And of course we got caught by our Supervisor NetHailing. John stuck to his guns and didn't turn me in, but Susie snitched in 2 seconds and our cover was blown. Next, we had a 10 second meeting telling us that not only was NetHail an important technical tool used solely by the LAN guys, but that it was really easy to accidentally NetHail the ENTIRE Stats Can staff if you weren't careful. Oopsie. Don't you just love the thought of mailing the entire staff something lame like "Wait, the Sound of Music isn't a genre film!?" *sighhh*

So, no communication. Except.. yes, we've regressed to passing notes. But it helped make the Friday go faster.

Then we had delicious buffet at the Easy Garden in Bells Corners with William and his family. CRABLEGS FREE FOR ALL. The staff cowered when William strode through the door (and rightfully so.)

All in all, I'm glad the week's over!

Cheerio
Suz.

jiggle wiggle giggle

Whew! I'm just coming down from my first bellydance class. What fun! It was a great group of beginners & cool seeing my teacher Lisa-Marie again. The music was exotic with infectious beats and increasing tempos! I felt like not only did I have two left feet..but I didn't care! I wiggled and jiggled all around, tried to keep up, tried to *remember* key moves, forgot things and kept moving. What a blast!

Looking fwd to next week's class :-D

There is still a possibility of joining the Intermediate class if anyone's into it. That would be a hoot, just getting more dancing in. Check the instructions in the previous post if you need help.

Work was ok; we finished up the next phase of PISA today which was kind've surreal. We've been plugging away at this particular part for a few weeks now! All the moisture has been sucked out of my fingers and my brain is putty.

It was good getting 2gether for coffee and Bridgehead sandwiches with Leah after work and reminding myself that I DO have in fact, a functioning brain! It just took a bit for the old engine to kick over. Thank goodness :-) We had a nice drive to Westboro beach and walked around a bit. There were ducks out! Cool :-) Ducks are like, the *happiest* birds around. Have you ever seen anything as happy as a duck sitting in a little puddle of water?

Anyway.. the bed calls.. and I must answer.
ZZZZzzzz

Cheers!
Suzanne.

Online Comic! Woohoo :-D

I drew this up last August just after two dyke teenager roomies moved into our place. I got A LOT of drawing done over those last 2 months (before they moved out again.) This one is just a weird little tale about bunnies and ratties. It's Easter, what the heck.

Happy PaganSpring!
Suz.

Bellydance Your Blues Away

The sitch is *dire*!

A very cool lady; Lisa-Marie, who is a potter and wonderful bellydance teacher, is teaching two classes at Sir Guy Carleton HS starting April 19th (yeahp, that's next week!) There are 2 classes scheduled, Beginner (7:30pm - 8:30pm) and Intermediate (8:45pm-9:45pm.) I took dancing with Lisa-Marie a couple of years ago when she taught Goddess Size bellydancing in Orleans & I had so much fun, it was unbelievable. Picture about 8 large women in a class, jiggling, laughing, moving their bodies and having a great time. Now include WAY more laughing. I really enjoyed the classes & was delighted to see that she was going to be teaching again. So--I signed up for Beginner (because I really only barely remember all those jiggly-wiggly moves and need to be refreshed..)

The *dire* part is that no one has signed up for the Intermediate part of the class. So, I thought I'd post and hope that some of you might be interested in shaking, jiggling and wiggling for a couple of hours on a Wednesday night. The classes are reasonable (see below) and it would be so good to get out and moove. If there is a great interest, some could even car pool.

Anyway, I know this is kind've an ad, but hopefully you won't mind and might enjoy signing up for dancing. I'm going to sign up for both and hopefully still be able to walk come Thurs. morning :-D

Please, even if you're not intested, mention it to your friends who might be & fwd the info! Thanks a bunch,

hugs
Suzanne.


---------------

Beginner
Wednesday, Apr. 19 until June 14. No class May 3.
7:30 - 8:30 p.m. 8 weeks, $63.00
Sir Guy Carelton School, 55 Centrepointe Drive, Nepean
To view details for this class, please go to:
http://www.ocdsb.ca/continuweb/general.htm
To register please call (613) 239-2751

Intermediate
Wednesday, Apr. 19 until June 14. No class May 3.
8:45 - 9:45 p.m. 8 weeks
Sir Guy Carelton School, 55 Centrepointe Drive, Nepean
To view details for this class, please go to:
http://www.ocdsb.ca/continuweb/general.htm
To register please call (613) 239-2751
For questions or information on these classes feel free to call Sha' Vega (Lisa-Marie) at 819-281-3307 or write to potbelly@lablanchepoterie.com

AND for anyone who hasn't scrolled down to reread my Mustang post.. here's a link for my sweet baby who is official *for sale*

BEAUTIFUL VINTAGE MUSTANG NEEDS NEW HOME

Thinking

I was just thinking of Stephanie before going to bed and remembering that it's been a year since she died. It's incredible that the time passed and it's April again. I remember last year, working at the CRA and listening to Sarah Slean "Night Bugs" and "Day One", Sophie Zelmani's "Time to Kill" and Jann Arden over and over again. The songs wove together and helped move me through the bewildering pain and loss. I listened to k.d.lang's "Hymns of the 49th Parallel", Tom Waits, Indigo Girls and Elaina Martin. I just tried to remember Stephanie singing, Stephanie being herself, playing bongos on the porch, cooking, dressing in smart clothes, driving, telling stories, shooting pool at the Lookout with me and all the memories that made her *her*.

Wherever you are Steph, I hope you're doing cool.

miss you,
S.

Mustang on the lawn

For fun, here is a short email correspondence with my buddy Barb, a wonderful, lovely lady & an old friend from WAY back :-D

> Barb wrote:
>
> > And.....from checking out your website.....is the Mustang gone, gone , gone. The last vestige of Dorothy?...............gone?
> >

> Hiya Barb ;-)
> The Mustang is still here.. but possibly not for long, now that I have my shiny candy Echo. I do feel some poignancy.. I had her for 10 years! We've been on crazy road trips down East & all over the place.. and yeah, it's pretty much the last vestige of Nanna that I had.. For your pleasure, a piccy. (and, yeahp, if you know anyone looking for a 25 year old Mustang...?)
>
> hugs!
> Suzanne



> Barb wrote:

Why let the Mustang go? It's part of your family heritage. I'm sure your neighbours would be good sports if you turned it into a lawn ornament. Ya know, just like on the reserve. Put it on blocks in your front yard, leave the doors open, spread some soil in it and grow flowers. Open the hood and insert a nice, big, plastic Virgin Mary sculpture and light it up with Xmas lights. Leave the trunk open and collect found objects in it in sculptural form. Hub caps, fence posts, Javex bottles, pop cans, beer bottles, bundles of chicken wire. It will be great. Something to talk about with people who wander by.

------------

Hmm.. Mustang as a lawn ornament? Possibilities.... *wink*
kidding!
Cheers all
S.

To see an ad for the above 'stang, please click below:

BEAUTIFUL VINTAGE MUSTANG NEEDS NEW HOME

Tnhak G*d i'st Fidary!

We made it! Woohoo :-))

Somehow, another grueling week slides to its finish leaving only the pulped remains of the undertrodden and the dismal, to rest weary bodies and renew tattered souls over 48 hrs until we're spewed once more into the horrific morass of toil.

But until that happens, FRIDAY!! :-D Work drudged by until lunch when William, Susie, John & I forayed abroad for noodles, eggrolls, bocali (;-D and tofu. *yum* We cranked out the PISA. I have no idea how fast we went..it just sort've "went", then it was done. Met up with Claytor at the bus station and we drove the new car up to Westgate.

I arrived at the Licence/Thingie Office at 4:45pm (yeah, it closed at 5pm!) I got an awesome lady who helped process all my stuff. I basically said "I just got a used car, and well, here are all my bits of information" (as I slid a file folder towards her.) We managed to get me done before they locked the doors & I exited with temporary plate, used car package, new ownership, and taxes paid receipt in hand... only setting me back... $377 *yarrg*! (with our rent paid, that's my paycheque basically blown in TWO DAYS !) Is that a record, or what?

But it's good having in done. Now I return Echo-dude's plate to him tomorrow before we head up to Tom & Gloria's for a pre-Easter feast. That'll make him happy (& me too :-) Plus I'll get to see how Li'l Red does on the open highway.

And now some pictures (that have nothing to do with Echoes, or Statistics Canada.) I sketched these a few days ago, same set-up & pencil. Mayfly is a character Clay & I brainstormed on who basically only lives for 24 hours before being reborn (which although cool, is pretty much unplayable as a PC, but might make a nice NPC)



Next, we have a fire or lightning based character, possibly related to a 40's campaign because of the jacket and boots (not sure.) Hope you like!



Cheers,
Suz.

Like a molasses snail in January

Zurg. Slow *slow* day. Thank G*d tomorrow is Friday! Maybe that made it go even slower -hmmm-! Our production over the last week on labelling, bookletting, organizing, QCing etc was TOO FAST. So now we have to slow down! But it's all good. I mean, we get paid the same amount, no matter what speed we go. But the day just drags. And it's weird, you make *more* mistakes when you go slower. I don't know if it's just the mind turning to pudding, or being numb or what, but that's what it felt like.

Tomorrow we're going out for lunch at the "Fast Food Garden" at Holland Cross. They have deeeelish (and fast--no kidding :-) broccoli, tofu and noodles. And eggrolls. YUM. Something to look forward to. In the evening, depending on what happens, I might go to the Psychic Fair at the Congress Centre with Susie, Diana and John--we'll see. I still have to get the ownership transferred on me car and plates and the like. Dunno.

Wednesday night was awesome. Put the cheque in the bank, so my cheque that I wrote for bellydance lessons wouldn't bounce (always good, since TD upped their rates on rubber cheques to like $37.50 or something :-O). Lessons start after Easter! That should be fun; it's with my old Goddess Size Bellydance teacher Sha' Vega (also a primo potter--check out her blog in my links area--under Serafin!) Basically when I took it before, it was a class filled with large jiggly ladies and we just laughed and laughed and jiggled around for an hour and a half *whee!*.

I met up with Leah at Bridgehead to chat, then we wandered around Westboro and ogled the little shops, finally ending up in a nice little Italian coffee shop where she got some freshly roasted beans! I drove her home, then headed back myself, wondering if I would get back before having to turn on my (still burnt out) lights.

It's awesome bouncing ideas off each other and getting excited about the Project. I have to use Allie (my Mustang) a few more times to transport material from Stittsville here--one item is my transformed wringer washer, that I use for paper-making. THAT'LL be fun. I don't know if it'll even fit in the hatchback.

Well, I should go and make food. And wait for my insurance dude to phone. Apparently all the computers are down at the Head Office in Toronto. *sigh* :-P

Cheers!
Suz.

The Flash

As per suggestion from the previous post--here's the Flash logo. Do you think that'd look swell on the hood of the car? :-) Of course I would FOR SURE be stopped for speeding. And what would I say? Duh.. Yeah, ya caught me. I *am* the Flash.

For those of you who are still patiently waiting to see the bed pic.. I finally got it uploaded from work and HERE it is!



I am finally (sort've) getting used to the bed and was able to sleep on it without tossing and turning so much. The pic you see is *lower* than my mattress sits. I feel like a little kid in the bed! I was having anxiety imagining falling out the side and onto the floor. *sigh*! :-)

Work was ok, more of the same, labelling endless amounts of envelopes. Still, lots of good chatting and laughs, tossing big wads of sticky paper balls at each other and other shinanigans. Posted my cheque in the mail at lunch for 8 classes of *bellydancing*!! with Sha'Vega, my dance teacher from a couple of years ago. I'm super lookin' forward to that. Yay!

Tomorrow, coffee with Leah after work and picking up my old Mustang from the Ex-owner of the Echo's place. Oooh yeah, and payday! Hurrah :-) It is all worth it, eh?

Cheers & peace
Suzanne.

The road to enlightenment is long and difficult, so bring snacks and a magazine

Happy Weekend All!
I am reading "Journey of Awakening : A Meditator's Guidebook" by Ram Dass and enjoying it very much. I found it was a natural progression from the Goldberg book I read on writing and is jiving with many of the other Zen books I've browsed from the Shambhala line. Reading it on the #63 makes the trip go fast too, occasionally I'll glance out the window and there will be bare branches, quivering in the wind, or the Ottawa river, crusted in rotten snow. But the sun picks out crystal diamonds in the ice and the trees' graceful branches are slender and beautiful. Even rushing towards Tunney's Pasture and endless, mindless work, I find some peace and quiet for my angsty soul :-P



I picked up some very cool Bodhi beads Fri night after drinks with Leah. We headed to 3 Trees so she could return her ring and just browsed a bit. They have *so* many cool and neat things, great music playing in the bg too, bellydance material for sure ;-D Checked out beeswax candles, turned amber beads over in my fingers and helped Leah model pink embroidered delicates with her leather jacket as an impromptu screen. It was fun.

I drove my Cyclopean Mustang down the Queensway, the thin right beam lighthouse-like as I flew home to GlenCairn. I had to truncate my Friday to get back in time for the end of an eBay auction. Auction you say? Yes, I babysat that sucker for 40 minutes, watching the time tick down on a cute lil' cherry red 2000 Echo for sale, here in Ottawa! I couldn't wrap my head around the idea that I wasn't bidding on a CD or a book.. but an entire car. Hmm...:-D And, to suspend the suspense, yes, I won her! I still have to get Frank (my mech-dude) to check her over, tomorrow or Monday, but if all goes well, she will be MINE *bwahahhahaaa* Yes :-))

I have to pick a name for her, I thought either "Cherry" or maybe "Jean" (y'know, Phoenix?) So, any opinions out there? It's gotta be better than "Reddy" *grin*.



Well, that's it for now... Just recovering from finishing putting together my bed frame with Clay. It only took 2 hours... so much cursing and swearing--the air must've been BLUE. I better start working on that inner peace and quiet mind stuff or I'm gonna be totally wound up! Finally we got 'er done. The bed is SO HIGH--I'll need a ladder to clamber up into her. But I love it. I still have to find the pic of the bed to post, so you can ogle it too. Now, off to my Ma's for lasagna and to try and *ignore* the fact that the weekend is coming to a close. :-(

Oh yeah, check out my pal John G's awesome manip of a Samus:

very cool!

Adios muchachos--
Suz.