50 Things (taken from Carol, taken from Ryan)

1. Height?
5' 6"

2. Have you ever smoked heroin?
No, smoked plenty of others things tho.

3. Do you own a gun?
Squirt guns..foam guns.. um..not really, no.

5. Do you get nervous before "meeting the parents"?
I was puke-nervous before meeting Clay's Mom.

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
Gross.. Tofu dogs are ok though.

7. What's your favorite Christmas song?
Carol of the Bells (close tie w/ Spaceman Came Traveling)

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee

9. Can you do push ups?
If I get down there, I'm not coming back up.

10. Is your bathroom clean?
Sort've.. there's a lot of painting material in there right now.

11. What's your favourite piece of jewelry?
My rose quartz bracelet Leah made for me with the purple Goddess & silver locket on it. Cool :-)

12. Do you like painkillers?
Painkillers are goooood..

#15 & 13 omitted for vulgarity.

14. Do you have A.D.D.?
not that I know of..

16. Middle Name?
Adrienne

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
My tummy's full
I don't want to go to work tomorrow
I hate TV.

18. Name the last 3 things you bought in the last day:
Coffee, lemon cranberry muffin, cajun peanut mix

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:
coffee, rye & ginger, water & lemon

20. Dream car?
Fully restored '81 Mustang (ohh, if only I had the dough!)

21. Favourite Concert?
Grateful Dead, Copps Colliseum, Hamilton.... '92? My God.. Terrapin Station..Darkstar... woooohoo...!

22. Current worry?
Will I go completely insane before I manage to get myself laid off from Stats?

23. Current hate?
Mostly dave sim -- his nonsense is causing me even more stress than usual.

24. Favourite place to be?
Reading at the kitchen table, a book in one hand, a nice cool drink, perhaps some popcorn :-)

25. Least favourite place to be?
WORK %$^&$@!!

26. Where would you like to go?
PEI

27. Do you own slippers?
2 pairs.. one more dilapidated than the other.

28. What shirt are you wearing?
Grateful Dead tie-dye

29. Do you burn or tan?
I make lobsters look pale if I get left out in the sun.

30. Favourite color(s).
Dark purple, dark green

31. Would you be a pirate?
Yarr.. to quote a shirt: "Work is for people who don't know how to plundarrr"

33. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Moonshadow.. umm.. Phantom of the Opera.. whatever pops into my head.

34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
Barbies. Seriously.

35. What's in your pockets right now?
Lint.

36. Last thing that made you laugh?
This terrible movie Clay & I were watching.. "Fantasy Quest"..? verrry bad..

37.Last thing that made you cry?
Lady in the Water (I liked it yo..!)

38. Worst injury you've ever had?
Broken arm, whilst skiing. Yeowch!

40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
3.. but one is very very very very tiny & is not plugged in.

41. Who is your loudest friend?
Fiona

42. Who is your most silent friend?
Clay

43. Does someone have a crush on you?
Possibly

44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
Yes, always.

45. What is your favorite book
The Red Branch

46. What is your favorite candy?
Icy Squares

47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding?
In A Country Churchyard... Am I cheesy or what?! :-)

48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
Don't Pay the Ferryman (!) Well.. it follows.. no? Um, probably Memory Waltz from Rawlins Cross..

49. What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Snoring to wake the dead.

50. If you were stranded on a island what would u want..
Enough rum to mix with all that coconut juice. And some natives to help teach me how to survive and give me the occasionally back rub :-)

Pete Seeger Nobel Peace Prize Petition

This little note has come along from Dean Verger from Rasputin's Folk Cafe, via Andy Cohen via Mitch Podolak:

Pete Seeger Nobel Peace Prize campaign...
We have mounted a campaign for a grassroots movement to persuade the American Friends Service Committee to nominate Pete for the Nobel Peace Prize. Pete Seeger is a crusader for Peace and Social Justice and has been over the course of his 87 year lifetime. The aim is to show grassroots support to the American Friends Service Committee to nominate Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize. I know there are many people interested in adding support.

To read about and sign the petition go to:
http://www.petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet=3774

Pete Seeger appreciation page here.

Check out Pete on You Tube for some amazing footage... ya can't go wrong with Pete. I saw him and Arlo Guthrie with my Mom when I was 15 at the NAC.. an unforgettable duo for one of my first concerts. I'll never forget Pete teaching "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" to the crowd in 3 part harmony with Seeger doing the descant. It was an amazing experience where we all felt like one big family in the theatre, intimate, warm and loving.

How much for the tofu-dog in the window?

I'm feeling better--the above drawing aside ;-) If you'd like to see more of my SICK drawings, hop on over to Kunstpike for the whole bunch of me looking ill :-P

Work was ok.. I hate Mondays, period, no ifs & ands or buts. Even when I'm unemployed Mondays suck. I don't mind Thursdays though. Weird eh? HRSDC was as numbing as ever. My pod-mates were all antsy today too. No one wanted to work, it was a consensus of irritable boredom. 2 months (sort've) I've been at it, and it is still as icky as ever. Who knows what'll happen next? I keep applying to whatever comes up in the ICN. So far I've applied for 2 graphics jobs and got an application in to the Canada Council for the Arts. Now we just wait for a few months (or longer... the wheels turn slow!)

Speaking of slow wheels. Development (in animation-land) also moves slowly. But not for lack of trying. I just received an offer to renew my contract with Decode for "Ivy & Dummy" and my "Moon Warriors" show ideas, so that's cool. I can't believe 4 years have swung by already. But everyone down there still seems keen, so I said "sure"! At least with the Development happening, I feel like one day a ship may come in, even if it's an optimistic coracle ;-)

What else? I have a few things lining up, might even get a chance to sharpen my pencils and help my friend Nick on some storyboard clean-up, which would be nice. It may even save this old wreck of an artist; at least from gnawing off a limb or two! There may be creative things brewing with my dear friend Tracy too! That would be swell :-D Also, the summer is coming..and with it possible travel plans.. have to see how the dough holds out, but I am hoping the Clay-dude & I may hit Detroit for the Palladium Books open house in May, and if all goes well, a wedding out west in June. Again; tentative, but something I can look forward to. Yay!

Had a nice lunch Sunday with Mom at Mexi's at Centrum which I'd never been to; it was huge! We had fajitas (of course) and used Mom's coupon. The beer went very well with it. I'm so glad I'm not feeling nauseous any more. Yes! Poked around at Cdn. Tire for colour chips and got some sandpaper. Sandpaper costs .72 cents. That's your fact for today! I'm going to sand, scrub and prime the studio... then we'll slap on some paint... just have to see if I'm firm on the idea of a bright violet wall or not *wink*.

I have been reading like a monster, as usual... Reviews will follow when I have more time. I have to hit the books and study; this is my last week of French study at work (Block 5) and all the tests and evaluations are this week..so.. je devrai etudier mes livres! Zut alors!

I hope everyone is well and that the creative fires burn brightly for you all. Courage my friends!
May the Muse be generous, the creative souls quiver with eager anticipation and the pieces of time you carve in which to lay down those juicy creations be enough to salve your souls.

*hugs*
Suzanne.



I got a bunch of these this week from a buddy at work.. this is my fave. I am tempted to print it on good photo paper and get it laminated. I think it would look swell over my computer. It's one of those lovely little pics that Management would glance at and go, "Great! It's one of those motivational pics! What a great sign of glowing morale!" When it fact, it is a sign of moral decay and the need for suicide prevention officers wielding mega hypos of thorazine to chase us down one by one and cart us safely to the Quiet Room for Deprogramming.

wheee!

PS: Today's "secret word" is salve.

Who spiked the biryani?

Yeow, just got off an unintended 3-day fast :-P Got a wicked stomach flu Sunday night which basically left me praying to the Porcelain God every hour on the hour and wishing a) I could die b) that biryani and popcorn had not been my Last Supper and c) that I had some way to stop the nail in the head pain coupled with nasty stomach cramps. Geez.. where did this come from?

Monday I stayed home and stayed comatose in bed, with Clay tending my small needs (glasses of water, acetominophen, cool cloths, more blankets/ less blankets etc.) I vaguely remember getting up a couple of times, but basically I was sick sick sick. Gahhh... You know when you get up and your brain thumps the front of your skull? Then you sit back down and your brain thunks the back? That sucks.. urg.

I slept a little better Monday night, but still, tossing and turning, cramping & headache like a sledgehammer pounding a railroad spike into the old cranium. Clay headed off to work and I got up like a dummy thinking that I could go to work too. Except I felt nauseous, and every time I tried to think I kept getting these terse little messages from upstairs: go to bed or drink some water. Weird. It was like direct messages from the subconscious with no bullshit in between; no ideas/ thoughts/ distractions, just "instruction". Sue followed instructions...

Yesterday was exponentially better than the day before and so on. But still no food. Right up until lunch today, I just lived on water, acetomenophen, the odd gravol pill (that really knocks you out btw) and a Tums. Whee. I was a bit wobbly getting in to work today. Everything had an odd surreal quality; especially the drive in. I left very late, because everything seemed to take an extra-long time to accomplish.

My pod-mates Edythe B, Sumintra P & Lily C insisted that I get some food into me to try and get my strength back up. Eventually I capitulated and headed for the caff. I was leery though. Just the evening before the mere smell of food made me feel sick. Who knew what a whole gigantic room full of food smells would do to me?? But.. they were right; when I swung by the caff's soup area, the soup looked good. The banana I snagged near the salad area looked really good. And I can't tell you how the cool tall bottle of OJ looked. MMmmm sugar water....

Meal #1 went down ok and stayed down (hurray.)
Made it home eventually and am determined to have a good, restful sleep if I can get it... hope to be in better shape tomorrow!

*urg*
sick-Sue

Allwords Review

I signed up to Review Me last month to see if I could get paid for reviewing sites (part of my Work At Home scheme..) Most of these schemes have worked with mixed success (I think I've earned about $10 at Helium for writing, but that's still kinda cool..considering I've only penned about 10 articles; you leave 'em alone and they just generate cash for you. I really should put more articles up I suppose..)Anyway, this an advertisement, so feel free to read, enjoy or skip it if you want. I do have to say that I found the fun Anagram Genius site via the Allwords "Word Games" link, and for that alone it is cool. Where else can you declare that your place of work is the Devil's playground? Onwards....

After logging onto Allwords and poking around a bit, I concluded that it's a versatile and useful web page for writers who need quick reference tools that are more than just your run- of- the- mill e-dictionary. It was interesting being able to type a word into the search engine and having the page spit out not only the usual description but also 4 or 5 other language roots, meanings and the like. It definitely broadens the creative palette to have a few new colours thrown on.

The site is Free, which is handy, considering that there are a lot of sites which require a monthly fee (not just erotica ones my friends ;-)) It's also well-organized, which is a relief. It is aggravating logging in someplace and finding that you have to hunt all over for the most basic tools. I don't have to say the fun I've had clicking on the Anagram link.. if only to find out that my full name translates into "Razes inaner mundaneness". Yay, proof that the creative spirit can burn through the most dull things of life. The Crossword helper is cool too.. try stumping it with long weird words and see what happens C_AU____P_O_IA!! Ackk.. and if you can't remember the meaning of the word, a handy dictionary-link will explain it for you.. and if you press the link, you can make a soft electronic voice *say* the word (imagine STNG's Data quietly telling you how to say 'Obsequious.') This can be amusing in its own way... Ok, maybe I don't get out much..

For others who don't get out much, there's a "Word of the Week" that picks a word and goes into not only its definition, but description, etymology and how it relates in other languages. I think this week it's "Mythology" (I don't have to say how interesting Robbie & I would find that!) The Links for Word Lovers offers an endless array of things to lose yourself in, including: Slang, Quotations, Crosswords, Thesauri, Glossaries, Translation services, etc. There's a Blogger area where you could submit your own site if you wanted to (that is if you felt it was in some way of interest to other writers.. ;-)

All in all, it's a site that I'll probably spend some time on, (even if I wasn't being paid to write nice things about it ;-) If only to have another dictionary link that doesn't throw advertising up every time you want the spelling and meaning of a word, it is valuable. Hope this helps and that you have fun there. I would love to see what everyone else's names anagram to...

Cheers,
Suzanne.
Razes Inaner Mundaneness!
(DragonHead Studio = Guarded Sainthood)

Link:
http://www.allwords.com

I don't make this $@*# up..

The horror..the horror...

Can do

I went in to work with the usual dread in my gut, which has become my unwelcome companion. It reminds me of the days I spent half of my time not at University, then invariably would turn up for exams and critiques to try and pass somehow. (Not recommended.)

Tried reviewing my French material this morning over breakfast and the dim gloaming of another winter sunrise turning the horizon to breathtaking dusky purple and fuschia. These sunrises are wasted on me because I'm caught up on the treadmill of the joe job.. poor Mother Nature, shaking the hell out of her palette for all the sleeping artists to miss. And the wretched one who is awake is motioning through the movements, staggering to work and remembering the beauty in half-wary dreams and haunted whining.

So, my exam got postponed til next week. YAY. I was soooo not ready. Missing a couple of weeks can do that to you. I had done a few of the excersises and one of them we corrected (I was actually prepared! go figure.) When I got back, I keyed for about an hour and then the department exited for an extended lunch! Now before you go all "You Gov't People And Your Extended Lunches" on me... this is like, the only extended lunch that has ever happened to me in the department. This is OID, the most uptight division at Stats. And within that is Data Capture.. and, well, so on. So it was a nice (singular) event.

We went to the Tansy Buffet near Lincoln Fields. I enjoyed it; lots of broccoli and plenty of tasty Dim Sum. The dish labeled "Lasagna" contained suspicious looking eggplant (go figure...) They had canned peaches though.. MMmmm Peaches For Sue! :-D

So, returned to work in time for the afternoon break. Yay, I love days like these. Keyed for an hour, caught up a bit with Myra and then turned the Echo Westward and home. Worked on a Sudoku when I got to Kanata... I'm getting a bit better at these. My brain felt like it had sprained itself. Math... echhh :-P

Then Fi called! Yayyy Feefers. We've been playing phone-tag for months. So it was cool finally catching up for real. She's knitting like a fiend and has a special surprise for me that she's been working on since before my bday last year! (A house cosy?) We'll see.

Well, I should go and draw.. the pencil is calling my name...
Cheers,
Suzanne.

PS Check out my post on Kunstpike about Nick Cross' "Waif of Persephone" that arrived yesterday!
PPS Check out Art Wanted. "Black Diamond" one of my drawings got voted the site's Top Ten today!
PPPS Don't forget to vote for Amanda on the Model Search. Only 3 days left!
PPPPS Umm.. can't think of anything else.. :-)

Marking passage

I finally uploaded the pic of our backyard covered in MANGO FOOTIE PRINTS. Can you believe it? Of course, now the backyard is smoothed out with fresh snow. But only a couple of weeks ago it looked like a doggie playground. As you can see, I have two sheds, a fence, a nice thick cedar hedge at the back and off to the far left is my compost mound. Whee!

Work was so-so. It is with myopic blinking gurgledge that I spasm back into the leather traces of HRSDC and keying. Only the people make it bearable. I know, I shouldn't whine; I could be digging ditches, laying pipe, swimming across the North Atlantic or something.. but at least there would be a bit more of a mental engagement happening. A wee little one? Hmm..

Got paid, got my over-time pay.. and headed off to the Bulk Barn, Pet Value and Farm Boy to get whole wheat pasta, rabbit food and .. well, more rabbit food (but for people :-) It wasn't too busy out.. but almost got creamed by a couple of trucks. People A) don't look where they're driving in parking lots *and* B) don't signal their intent. Thus C) Sue almost got creamed. I always figured I'd do more damage to a grill than they would to me.. but these were muchos big trucks. So, I just kept scooting out of the way with my cart and hoped that they'd spare me.

Although considering my fate tomorrow (French exam & keying HRSDC) it might've been preferable.

On a sadder note.. my elderly rattie Diego passed away yesterday, at the age of almost 3 years old. He was a rex who at the end was looking a bit threadbare, but still was an engaging friendly fellow who accepted Cheerios with gentle jaws. He lived alone more than half his life after his cage mate Gandalf passed on, and after he was rejected from integrating into a group cage with his brothers (Salty & Coal.) He lived his days between eating yummy grapes, pizza crusts and rat blocks, sleeping in his Mandarin box and sipping water. When he wasn't doing that, he tottered along the couch, a geriatric rattie who had outlived all his brothers.

He'll be missed.

Vote for Amanda!

Hello folks,

Just heard from my friends, Mario & Ivonne in an email; turns out their daughter, Amanda, has entered the Ottawa Sun Model Contest! So, if you'd like to help out, feel free to vote daily for her til March 11th. Go to this link and press the VOTE HERE button. An email template will pop up. In the Subject line, type #6 and Amanda. In the message body, put your name, address & phone # for verification.

It would so awesome if she could win! Yay!
Thanks everybody,
Cheers,
Suzanne.

But you can eat the fish

My bro sent this to me... OMG!

Head in the sand

The only thing that that gets you is dirt in your ears, eyes & nose. No fun! Sorry for the long hiatus (I actually have had a couple of interim posts on Kunstpike, but it ain't the same.) Recently, I have been dogsitting (looking after my friends' CL & AF's doggie Mango (an 11 month old German shep/lab cross) for the weekend, while the two gallavant in TO for Chinese New Year. Btw, Happy Year of the Pig everybody!), reading, sleeping, cooking, studying French, working at the JTIH (Job That I Hate) and drawing like a crazy grrl (the JTIL.) In between, there has been television, movies, dinners at the So Good, Yang Ming & Green Door, visits with family & friends and visiting my old Storyboard Guru Mik Casey in hospital. He's doing much better now, friends! Thank goodness. So it's been a busy old time, and truth to tell, I shan't be sad to see February's ass go waddling away and shaking into the slushy beginnings of March.

Things that I've learned sitting on a dog for 4 days: nobody can lick your face like a dog. Completely; in like 20 mega-fast swipes of a glooby pink tongue. Your eyes, ears, nose, chin, cheeks and yes, hair (guess I won't need a shampoo!) get slimed. Nothing can exuberantly run, play and eat snow like a dog. I've never seen anything slide head first into piles of snow with such unbridled enthusiasm. Dogs are the embodiment of playful joy. Nothing can dislocate your shoulder and back like a dog running on hyper adrenaline out for a walk. 'Nuff said. Nothing is quieter than a house where a dog has been and is no longer. The cats, rabbit and rats are on alert, but the thwapping wagging tail, panting, whining, yips and throaty bark-growls are quiet. I miss Mango. (Here's a pic of her when she was a sweet little pup!)

No, we won't be getting a dog in the near future :-(

On to "Sue Reads." I had tried to post this a couple of days ago, but just became enraged, then disconsolate, excited, depressed.. now finally a bit stable, I can paste it in from a saved file.

For the love of Troy Little, I kept doing something and expecting different results (classic definition of Insanity I think.) Every time I picked up "Cerebus", I wanted to approach it with the same awe, interest, adulation and respect that it deserved, and every time I did that, the same thing happened. I couldn't separate the artist/writer from the comic. I'd get my back up, my skin felt tight, it was hard to breathe and I wanted to strangle something. I'm not generally a violent person, so the urge to strangle things is not a frequent occurance.

I had wanted to read "Cerebus" for some time, but Dave Sim's misogyny made me loath to send any money his way and thus support something in which I do not believe. Being female and gay seem to be two things that get his back up (re: *Feminist-Homosexualist Axis), so you'd wonder why I kept finding myself drawn back to this guy's stuff if it was the antithesis of my own beliefs. Well, you can't have an opinion if you're not informed, and .. well, I respect and love Troy. Troy respects and loves this work. I wanted to see for myself.

So I borrowed "High Society" from the library for free.

Devouring is usually a term reserved for Tiramisu and really good chicken wings. "Chiaroscuro" has been inhaled as was "High Society" It was a great book, phenomenal story-telling, artwork, lettering, emotional descriptions, and *funny*. Very funny :-) So, I am a bit saddened to discover that the library only has two Dave Sim books; the first one, and this one. So, unless I borrow the phone books from friends, I will just have to be content with that & whatever I can find online. Speaking of which, I have found some of Sim's written works and have been poring over them. It's hard to swallow when you feel like strangling things, so I'll chew slowly. There will be more on this later when I've read more and can get my hands nice and dirty. As my poet, postie, political pal Anders Carson says: "Don't wrestle with pigs, you'll only get dirty and they'll love it." It's equally applicable, but because Troy, Sim, Canadian Comics, Feminism and myself seem to be tangled together, I'm bound to get a bit of dirt on me if I want to eventually extricate myself, my thoughts & have some love intact.

Another line that pops into my head regarding this is from the old "Art & Fear" book I've mentioned a couple of times..about disconnecting art from the artist. How one would delight in having a Van Gogh on the wall, but not necessarily be as happy to have Van Gogh sitting on one's couch. (Of course, Anders said that that would make his day! But you know what I mean.) Can one enjoy, appreciate and laud the Work and keep that entirely separate from the creator of the work? Possibly. I think regarding "Cerebus" that it would have to be, to actually enjoy the stuff without rampaging around or getting depressed.

We'll see how it goes.

*"The Feminist-Homosexualist Axis" can be found in Dave Sim's Tangent. Have a bucket handy, wet naps and keep sharp objects locked up.

PS: If there are any interested, I have updated the DragonHead Store at Cafe Press. You can now purchase a wide range of "Axe Sis!" merchandise, to show healthy support for the Feminist-Homosexualist Axis. Even if you aren't a card-carrying dyke, feel free to sport the merch, especially if you are female, know women, like women and feel that having emotions is not a detriment to being a thinking person.

PPS: You can NOW purchase and official WOMANGUE mug at Cafe Press! You've read the Blog, now drink the drink. Nothing like a steaming mug of Womangue to get the day started off right!

PPPS: A new article at Helium on weight loss tips. Check it out! Every click means a penny goes in my penny jar. Woohoo :-D

PPPPS: Ok, enough with the PPPPS's.

The Frantics - Dutch Cowboys

Ok, it's February, it's chilly out, there's snow... People are grim. Only one thing to do. FRANTIC TIME!!

Feel the Creative Burn

If anyone is interested, I've posted three articles at Helium ( this one reviews Ottawa's Green Door restaurant), this one is a fantastic recipe for Apple Cake :-) and finally an article on the dangers of diet soda! Hopefully more articles to come...

Cheers
Suzanne (aka Rowann)

Another turn of the Wheel

Hope you don't mind me jumping in here Robbie with info on the winter festival of Imbolc. I know you like to explore myth and legend.. but somehow I've always felt connected to this particular holiday. And any Goddess/ Saint who can turn water into ale, encourage her sheep to make lakes of milk, helps to stoke the fires of creativity AND is the patron of a tidy house needs to be celebrated and prayed to [by ME] for sure ;-)

Merrie Imbolc!

It is the Feast of St. Brigid, (otherwise knows as Bride, Bridey, Brighid, Brigit, Briggidda and Brigantia (referring to the Celtic Brigantii tribe) Apparently pronounced "Breet", --gotta watch those "d's, "dh's" and other crazy consonents in Irish Gaelic! She is a pagan Solar/ Fire Goddess, completely intertwined with an identity as a Christian Saint.

To find out all about Imbolc, the Celtic Goddess and later Christian Saint, check out this great link: The Wheel of the Celtic Year: Imbolc

"...Early writers believed Brigid's name stemmed from breo-aigit: "fiery arrow," a false but somehow very fitting etymology for a goddess of smithcraft, and one who kindles the fires of creativity and regeneration."

Her influence is so strong, that she is still revered and celebrated to this day, especially in Ireland, where it is traditional to make St. Brigid's Crosses (counter-clockwise Swastika traditionally of wheat or oats) and light candles within the house. Old crosses are burned today & new ones made, symbolising renewal, birth and the coming of Spring.

TO CELEBRATE IMBOLC TODAY . . .

This is traditionally a time of purification; clean your house!
If you have any Christmas greenery lingering, burn it now.

Make your own Brighid's crosses and hang them up,
especially in the kitchen where her influence can bless your food.

Put out food; cake, buttered bread and milk will do, outside your door:
Brighid and her cow walk through the neighborhood tonight, and will appreciate your offering.

Leave a silk ribbon on your doorstep for Brighid to bless:
It can then be used for healing purposes.

Meditate upon what you would like to see grow in health and strength this year:
for yourself, your family, your community, the Earth,
and ask for Bride's blessing upon your prayers.

Here's an interesting link to the Wiccan side of celebrating Imbolc, written by Akasha. For the Druidic take on the Irish Goddess, this link is particularly interesting: "Brigit: The Survival of a Goddess", by Winter Cymres, 1995. For information and stories on the Christian interpretation of St. Brigit, check out: All Saint's Parish as well as the Catholic Encyclopedia (and Wikipedia has lots of good bits too.)

Happy Imbolc, may the light and blessing of the Goddess/Saint inspire another year of abundance, health and creativity.

FlugBug & Dan Brereton

It has been a flurry of flu (fince Friday), spent the night up and down, awake, frozen to the bone, then asleep, then Wide Awake, burning alive and kicking off the layers of blanketses. The fever is gone (thankfully), but left a calling card of sniffling, snurking coldishness to annoy me. I have occupied my time reading, sleeping, eating ham (when I could eat again) and colouring a few drawings (including the one that is on the upper right handside of the Blog!)

Finished Gaiman's Anansi Boys which was a very good read indeed; much fun. It is written so visually; I can see it in my mind, not just as a movie, or TV mini-series, but in colour and form very Sandman-esque as a comic (maybe with an accompanying music CD to go along with.) It also had a teaser at the back with Shadow, the character from American Gods.. kind've mean, tossing a chapter at you and then running off laughing into the darkness. Thanks anyway!

Slogged through a Teen novel of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in French by Gilman & Sherman, originally titled "Deep Water" but translated as Les Sirenes Demoniaques, which was also very good. I only had to look up the words in my French/French dictionary* 40% of the time.. then by the mid-point abandoned the dic entirely, as the plot drug me along and I didn't care if I couldn't remember what a "bouqin" was. It'll make my French classes better (so I hope.) I did see Subjunctive phrases popping out at me, which is good; cause we have our first exam on Feb 6th!

Next on the list was a stack of comics Clayton sent my way as I lay swaddled on the couch, covered in tissues (eww!) Dan Brereton's The Nocturnals. Ok, now I know everyone else is celebrating the Nocturnals' 10th anniversary... but for me, they were brand new! It was delightful reading such beautifully painted work, great characters, interesting story, nice meaty dialogue. (By meaty I don't mean intellectual or high-brow; I mean something gritty, tasty that you could sink your teeth into (and claws and what have you.) I will be keeping my eyes peeled for more Nocturnals stuff and checking on Mr. Brereton's web page frequently.

He has a nice little piece about how he sets out to paint, including a pic of his studio. I find studio pictures inspire me; they seem like such a great thing to share. It's intimate; it's a place where the artist or writer spends wayy too much of their time, away from friends and family (if they want to be successful that is.) I love visiting my friends' studios and work spaces; I don't know if it's a feel in the air, or the residue of creative energy and magic..but sometimes I feel like by just touching it I can take a bit of it with me to help inspire myself.

I should post a BEFORE pic of my studio to garner some sympathy. Although I only have myself and my innate laziness and apathy to blame. I've been drawing for over a year on a combination of the kitchen table, a clipboard and those ricketty little TV trays Clay has had for eons. Now, the art is fine... art is art, no matter where ya do it (I mean, "Night Heat", the comic I did for "aBraxIa IV" was drawn mostly on a pic-nic table in Summerside PEI.)

But having a nice studio, all sitting there, READY for you to enter and do your thang; supplies neatly accessible, paper, pens etc, niiice n'est ce pas? Anything that makes the process easier, is good. IMHO.


So; that's about it=-=-more later when I regain my blurred senses.
Cheerio,
Suzanne.

* Yes, a French/French dictionary only contains FRENCH. I can't find my other Larousse French/English... so it is another frustrating and illuminating experience involving language for the Suester.

The Road to Hell is paved with unbought stuffed dogs

Thank Ernest Hemingway for another jewel! The road to Hell is also probably paved with reams of miscellaneous unsorted ITS cards, which I would inevitably have to sort. I began my new life in a different department to which I had been transferred, yesterday. The "Rite of Passage" in the new area in which I find myself, is to sort International Travel Cards by hand, sitting basically in a hallway, with CFRA & Lowell Green blaring at you for 7.5 hours a day.

Hell indeed!

If Data Capture is the equivalent to Dante's Limbo, then sorting ITS cards is definitely on the edge of Hell; possibly in the 1/2 level between Pergatory and level 1. Maybe.. At least I can listen to my MP3 player, sip coffee, nibble on apples and fibre muffins and let my mind wander into happier pursuits. Like how to escape!

Thankfully, I think the Half-Acrage of Hell should end by next Monday. I was told that I would be back at keying by then, instead of sorting cards. I think that the sorting part of the job is to make you inordinately thankful when you finally get transferred back to keying. I mean, keying HRSDC is mind-numbing, repetitive, painful etc etc.. Catherine L. refuses to do overtime if it involves this (to give you an idea of how unappealing it is!) So, I figure by the time 5 days of sorting goes by, you are so desperate, bored, hopeless and depressed that the thought of keying HRSDC becomes instantly appealing (& even exciting. Good Lord!)

But, it must be all a mind f*ck.

I was going to go to bed, but I think I'll rant instead.

Two weeks ago, I was doing overtime for HRSDC because they are really behind. I've been keying this crap forever, and it is not a brand new thing for me. Now, if you had someone transferred into your department, who not only had keyed plenty of HRSDC but did it accurately and well.. AND you were really really REALLy behind...would you.. stick them in a hallway sorting ITS cards?

Or.. would you get them to the nearest computer, do-not-pass-Go, and get them keying your already overdue work?

Oh, and regarding overtime: Basically, because I'm "new" to the department, I'm not allowed keying HRSDC as overtime. Even though last week I was doing 3 hours of it after my regular shift each night. So, instead of getting back to Kanata at 7:15pm after 11 hours of work, in the dark, I got to come home early this week. Instead of crippling myself typing, I went to the gym, began reading Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys", baked muffins, cooked fish, made a whole wheat pasta dish, drew new art, inked & coloured things on the computer.....

Ok ok, I enjoyed my little bit of extra time.

But does all this make a lick of sense to anyone? It's nuts. It's Government, mostly it is my bizarre division (OID) at Stats which has some pretty crazy ideas about How To Teach Discipline To The Zombie Work Force.

I'm not even going to start IN on Lowell Green. Except that I might send him an off-colour drawing of several dyke feminists showing him what fists are really for :-) Nahh, probably too high-brow for the right-wing, redneck, troglodyte. I was going to call CFRA C--cks--king, F--king, Rectal, A--hole Radio.. but then I thought I might offend some of my gay friends. So, I'll just be sure to ram my MP3's headphones firmly in my ears before Theresa cranks Lowell and drives me to impromptu suicide via unsorted ITS card paper-cuts.

ACK.

Ooh, and I get to do more of it tomorrow!! WHhheeeheeeeeee!

-32 lbs. and counting

Had my weigh-in Saturday and that aggraving lb. that had turned up, much like an unwelcome guest when you're in the middle of doing laundry & are sporting your most embarassing ripped shirt, lumberjack socks and schluff pants, is gone at last. Since it's been awhile since I collaged, here is the 32 lbs. benchmark below. My pal Boo says her kids have weighed themselves, so I am looking fwd to when I hit the -40 and -51 lbs. benchmarks to include them here and help make their fame! (If not fortune :-))


Today wasn't too awful; except for the tricky weather and sketchier road conditions. I had to go and get my head drilled at ye olde dentiste. I'd been putting it off for about 3+ years (ever since my Doc had accidently struck a literal nerve and had scared me off for good.) I'd even had to postpone my appointment in December because of our work luncheon.

Now, although it feels like I've been socked in the head, I'm relieved that the work is over. For now. In a month, I get to return to the Chair Of Pain for round 2. Supposedly that is to be an hour's session where I believe I'll finally get my two lower canines seen too. Hard to be self-respecting werewolf with cracked lower teeth! URk :-P


Just finished the last of Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" graphic novels last night with a bit of bittersweetness.. as is always the case when one gets to the end of a particularly good novel, or in this case series of stories. The last book "The Wake" was expertly drawn... it was pure pleasure after reading "The Kindly Ones", which although story-wise was 120% excellent character, plot, originality all that..the artwork, save for a couple of artists wasn't that great. Weak in fact. But that has been the only book that has let me a bit down, and the story carried it all anyway. It is fun to see different artist's takes on the Sandman, Death, Delerium and the rest.. I am tempted to shake my brush pen and get the ink flowing for a rendition of my own perhaps!


Also finished "A Complicated Kindness", the Miriam Toews book I'd borrowed from.... Moira? Jane? Possibly Marika? In any case, it will be returned when we four get together in Feb for our monthly luncheon I'm sure! It was a very satisfying read.. like going to the Green Door in fact. You are faced with the difficult delight of picking and choosing dishes, not because some of them are bad, but because you simply don't have enough room on your plate for all of them! You are hungry and all the food is not only nourishing, but tasty, piquant, alive to the palate. One is disheartened because the plate will never be big enough to hold all the food and you HAVE to choose. A bigger plate would lessen the wonders of the dishes you chose.

The book was like that; short, but to perfect length. Each chapter with the flavour of the writer's voice feeding your soul. The texture of characters developped, the delicate shades of the backgrounds, all served to reenforce the whole as an unquestionably solid read. Good!

Great now I want to go to the Green Door :-D I believe that a trip will be forthcoming.. possibly with Leah. That would be swell :-))

Next on the book list: Anansi Boys by Gaiman, a few magazines that have arrived, and another book I picked up from Singing Pebble Books: 52 Projects - Random Acts of Everyday Creativity, by Jeffrey Yamaguchi. Looks like fun.

Check it out

Hey ho...
If you haven't discovered my Art Flog, please feel free to wander over to Kunstpike and take a gander.. I'm going to try and post regularly there with what-all I draw, whether it's comics, funny-animals, erotica, etc. So, not necessarily for the kiddies; be warned! :-D And some stuff well, will be purty cute too (with luck.)

Today was allright I suppose. For a Thursday. I don't personally mind Thursdays, but some people can't get the hang of them (Dent, Arthur). I am officially a Term CR-03 as of like yesterday. My paperwork finally came through (this was the interview I had in August that I thought I bombed--just goes to show what a surge of adrenaline can do for your self-confidence.) So, I am no longer Census-exclusion, which means I can apply for internal jobs within STC. Which is cool... I guess.. although it could mean that I just get imbedded deeper into the labyrinthine siren-song of a gov't job with no hope of extricating my ass to do the art/crap I really need to do!

That being said, since my status has changed, I'm being moved next week from my cushy, comfy corner office which made work keying tolerable.. back to the Dungeon Below; a windowless maze of cubes, all pretty much the same, egg-cartons with keyers keying data. And, to top it off, I get the plum assignment of keying HRSDC (which I think I was bitching about a few months ago.) Although not as excrutiating as the TAMS, it is still a pretty boring piece of business to do. Some people absolutely hate doing it (Catherine L!) I don't know.. as far as I'm concerned, it's same sh*t different bag, eh? ;-)

Still, it's too bad; it'll be 2-3 months keying the same thing, day after day, week after week, month after--well, until they run out. Which they never will. You know those little travel cards you fill out when you return to Canada from some foreign land? That's what the HRSDC thingies are. So, unless everyone decides to stay home forever, Stats will never run out of these things. I guess there's something to be said for job security, eh?

I think I'm going to have to invest in some books on CD or something.. or be sure to remember my MP3/ radio so I don't go (even more) bonkers. Although I seem to remember that I couldn't pick up CKCU 93.1 or CBC downstairs. *sighhh*!

I'm not bitter really.. or resigned.. I think after awhile, even the most rebellious of slaves must realize that the collar and irons don't chafe quite so much, that the slop is pretty tasty when you've worked hard and that the company of your fellow drones ain't too bad, compared to isolation. The danger is to sink so deeply that one appreciates and enjoys the slavery.. never glancing at the sliver of window peeping over the miles of cubed work-space, forgets the dreams and hopes that once were the thick chewy sustenance of life.

OH! To never forget the wise words of George Eliot... aka Mary Anne Evans (1819-1880), my favourite of which is: "It's never too late to be who you might have been." I find it remarkable that synchronicity occurs in bunches.. what I'm reading, listening to on the radio, observing on the TV often yell at me to follow my dreams, be true to my heart and trust my talent. Even while my internal demons scream and rant that I am not good enough and cling to the safety of the Joe Job. Can there be balance between what one HAS to do to live and what one MUST do to keep internally alive? When the balance gets out of whack, things happen (bad things usually); reminding me of a quote from "Art and Fear" that goes something like this.. "The artist doesn't get down to work until the pain of not working outweighs the pain of working."

Gurrg..
Well, it's past midnight and I have to be up in less than 5 hours... :-P I must be nuts writing. Blame the Bridgehead coffee I scarfed.. a restless spirit.. a busy mind... chocolate fibre muffins... what-have-you.

Ok, I'll shush now :-)
nite.

Belly Dance classes coming up!

Hello all you lovely ladies (and/or partners of ladies :-)

Just wanted to post the info about Belly Dance classes starting in Feb. if anyone is interested. I usually sign up for the Wed. night classes and they are an absolute hoot. The cost is reasonable (usually comes out to be about $10 a class) and the teacher, a good friend of mine, is supportive, funny and can really move :-D Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions, or check Lisa-Marie's links too. Looking forward to shimmying with y'all!

hugs,
Suzanne.

Sha' Vega's 2007 Classes

Wednesday night in Nepean at Sir Guy Carleton H.S.

6:20 p.m. - 7:20 p.m. Tarot Card Interpretation
7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Beginners Belly Dance
8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Intermediate Belly Dance

Registration begins in January 8 and will close on January 26.
Classes start on February 7 for 8 weeks.
No class on March 14 (spring break).
Register on line here: https://e-connect.ocdsb.edu.on.ca/
or call (613) 239-2751

Thursday nights in South Keys
at Hunt Club Riverside Community Centre on Paul Anka Drive

Call 613-521-1392 for registration information.

6:30 - 7:30 Beginners Belly Dance
7:30 - 8:30 Intermediate Belly Dance

For more on Sha' Vega, please visit:
http://lablanchepoterie.com/otherstuff.htm

What's the buzz, tell me what's happening

Afternoon dudes and dudettes; if the typing is a bit off, it's because Arlo has decided to lie in between me and the keyboard... a call for attention? Or... naw, he's just sleeping and using my left arm as a pillow. What a guy!

Another couple of recipes to post and then I'll get back to whining and kvetching about my life! I have to say that the holidays were very challenging food-wise. I tried my best to make good choices, and to really think before I ate.. but one can only do so much. I am only human after all.. in case you were questioning *wink*.

I've just finished reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman collections 5-7 and enjoyed them very much.. it inspires me to get the pencils out and get drawing again. Hurray! For that reason, my handle Apathienmadchen (Apathy Girl) has been changed to Eifriger (Eager) instead. I thought it might be a bit more uplifting and positive ;-) I also have just finished reading Charles de Lint's "Widdershins" which I enjoyed a whole bunch. All of these morsels were courtesy of the libleberrie at Hazeldean. I owe them $1.50 in fines.... sigh! But it's still cheaper than buying all these wonderful books myself. I still haunt garage sales, book sales and the Thrift store for books with success.. so there's no worry of my collection grinding to a halt. I just couldn't wait long enough for de Lint's latest offering to come out in paperback, let alone find it used. So... there ya go.

Ok, now on with the recipes!

This one is a muffin recipe that will help get you through the difficulties of dessert. I make these ahead, freeze them and bring them with me when I know that there's going to be a lot of sweets happening. Kids also really like them!
Chocolate Fibre Muffins

3 cups All Bran (cereal)
2 1/2 cups water
Mix the above together and let stand 5 min.
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 box Betty Crocker Low Fat Brownie Mix

Soak cereal in water for 5 minutes. Add baking soda and brownie mix (dry) to the cereal and stir. Put in ungreased or paper-lined muffin cups. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. Makes about 24, freezes well.

WW info: 1.5 points per average sized muffin.

+++

Ok, now that your sweet tooths have been satisfied (and nigh guilt-free!) On to breakfast. When I began trying to lose weight and started exercising, my buddy Leah divulged a breakfast secret to me. First of all.. EAT YOUR BREAKFAST! This is very important. You need breakfast to get you to lunch without falling off the wagon and eating high fat doughnuts and muffins all morning.

Breakfast is the only meal you actually burn off during the day without any additional exercise! Just sitting around typing.. lying on the couch, existing; burn calories. Breakfast is like your freebie meal o' the day! (But that doesn't mean you can go hog wild and eat sugar-bombs or deep fried pancakes for breakfast.. well, not and try and lose weight anywayz.)

Leah recommended oatmeal for breakfast & it's pretty much what I've been eating since I started the Core programme.


Leah's Breakfast Oatmeal

1/2 cup large rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup frozen (or fresh) blueberries
1 eggwhite (Leah uses more, but I can't.)
1/2 cup light soy milk or skim milk

In the morning, stagger to your kitchen and begin assembling your brekky. In a microwave safe bowl, put in 1/2 cup rolled oats and mix with 3/4 cup of water. Microwave on high for 1 min and 23 seconds (the 1,2,3 rule.) While your oatmeal is cooking, separate an eggwhite from its yolk and whisk in a small bowl. Mix with the heated oatmeal and pop back in the nuker for another 1 min and 23 seconds.

While you're waiting, go to your basement where the freezer is, hop over the rabbit barrier that keeps him from pooping in the weight room and retrieve 1/2 cup frozen blueberries (or what have you.) Go back upstairs.

Mix blueberries with oatmeal/eggy mixture and throw into the microwave for another 1 min and 23 seconds. Pour your cold coffee from yesterday into a mug and wait patiently for your food. Exchange oatmeal for coffee and nuke that sucker. Pour 1/2 cup light soy milk over your lava-esque porridge. Mix it around so it'll cool enough to eat it. I sprinkle a bit of nutrasweet on top, but you can sprinkle what you like sweetener-wise.

Collect coffee from nuker and settle at the table to eat. You will never have enough time to make this and get to work on time, so resign yourself to being late, but feeling satisfied!

+++

Ok, enough with the recipes. I promise to post some art on Kunstpike soon and crawl back onto the good health wagon ASAP. Cheers!

Suzanne.

By popular demand

Happy New Year everyone; we made it to 2007! The Holidays were fun, exhausting, filled with relatives, friends, presents, pasts ;-) And of course FOOD. Don't worry, I'm probably not just going to yack about grub in this Blog. Well.. maybe I shall. I guess I'd better start posting art on the Kunstpike Flog if I'm going to convince myself once and for all that I'm not a Junior Statistical Clerk! :-)

First, I must post a recipe that I made for New Year's Eve lunch. I thought I'd made enough.. I mean really, who is going to devour anything with parsnips and sweet potatoes in it? But devoured it was.. and now my buddies are clamouring for the recipe! This baby is from the December 2006 iss. of Weight Watcher's Magazine (pg. 126) and is Core friendly. Enjoy!


You will need:

1 (1 1/2 pound) butternut squash, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1 inch cubes.
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (or 2.5 cm cubes for Keith)
3/4 pound parnsips, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large Vidalia, Spanish or Red onion, coarsely chopped.
2 Tablespoons canola or olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 Tablespoons apple-cider vinegar (or half Umoboshi and red wine vinegar)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a large broiling pan with non-stick spray or olive oil.

2. Combine the squash, sweet potatoes, parnsips, onion, 1 Tbsp. of oil, 1/2 tsp of salt and a 1/8 tsp. of black pepper in a large bowl. Spread vegetable mixture in a single layer on the broiling pan (or baking sheet) and roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and starting to brown (22 - 25 minutes.) If you need to, roast the veggies in two batches. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. Add the black-eyed peas, bell pepper, celery, vinegar and the remaining 1 Tbsp. oil, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. of pepper to the roasted vegetables; toss well to combine. Serve warm or let cool to room temperature.

Per serving: 1 cup= 168 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg. chol, 332 mg. sod, 31 g carb, 6 g fib, 5 g prot, 69 mg calc. (For Flex plan folks, points = 3)

Good luck!

Ed. note: try not to do this recipe at midnight Dec. 30th after attending your niece's baptism and apres baptismal party. Try not to get snippy while you are peeling squash at 1am and your partner is helping to wrap presents. Rightly decide to roast ALL the veggies at once even though they don't really fit in a single layer so you can crawl into bed around 2am.
Do be sure to get at least a sample taste before it all gets eaten up!

Or make a double batch!

And now, for Leah, Lianne, Michelle, Vicki.. everyone who has always said to me: "Will you send me that hot rice dish Sue??"


"PATAK'S" BIRIYANI

You can make this vegetarian or not depending on if you decide to use chicken, a beef/pork tenderloin or large chunk TVP. I find that any of these work well; I've even used straight tofu and it tasted great. Whatever protein source you choose will soak up the curry flavour and taste delightful.

This is one of those weird recipes where you can add as many vegetables as you want. Keep adding them; the recipe sort've swells to accept it. Remember if you really go hog-wild on the ingredients, that you'll have to add more of the curry paste or you'll have a WIMPY Biriyani and that would be sad.

You can use brown rice instead of the basmati, but you will need to increase your cooking time. I found that my veggies got pretty flacid after awhile; so you may want to partially cook the brown rice in advance, or add the veggies later. Just a thought. Ok, now on with the recipe!

You will need:
1 chicken breast (boneless, skinless) or tenderloin (beef/pork) or chunky TVP or tofu.
6 - 8 cups (or more!) assorted chopped vegetables (green/red pepper, zuchinni, celery, carrot etc.)
2 cups rice (basmati)
2 onions (chopped)
1/2 jar Patak's Biriyani sauce/ paste (approx. 8 Tbsp.)
28 oz. tin whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 cups boiling water.

Wash 2 cups rice and soak in water for 20 minutes. While this is going on, saute pork/beef tenderloin or poach chicken breast (or rehydrate 1 cup TVP, or chop up 1 pkg. firm tofu) and slice into strips.

Saute 1 onion with rice in a frying pan. In a separate pan (dutch oven, large pot) saute veggies with the other onion. Add the biriyani paste and tomatoes to vegetables.

Combine the rice/ onion mixture with the veggies and add 2 cups (or more) boiling water.

Bake 375 degrees F. covered for 40-50 minutes (This recipe is doubled and makes LOTS of food. You can try halving in to make less if you like.)

+++

Another quiz thingie

Dawn Summers 81% amorality, 63% passion, 90% spirituality, 63% selflessness

Dawn is a person driven by her love for her friends and her desire to make a difference. Perhaps you are, too. You're willing to do whatever is necessary to do what is right for those you care about, and sometimes this can get you in a little bit of trouble. Most of all, however, you have a heart of gold. Congratulations! THE 4-VARIABLE BUFFY PERSONALITY TEST

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 87% on morality You scored higher than 37% on repose You scored higher than 87% on spirituality You scored higher than 75% on selflessness

Link: The 4-Variable Buffy Personality Test written by donathos on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad... Happy Solstice!

Eight weeks and counting...!

First: Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad :-D 38 years & still going strong!

Second: Merry Christmas everyone! ;-))

Third: Weigh-In today .. down to -30 lbs.!

And now a visual aid to show what 30 lbs. looks like :-D

Tasty recipe for WW Core folks & others !

Here it is friends, the moment you've been waiting for... An original recipe by me, inspired by my pal Myra W. who suggested that flattening out polenta, cutting it up and frying it makes it taste *less* like goo! Thanks buddy :-)

Polenta Parmesan Pizza

Preparation time: 30 + min
Cooking time: 15 min
Serves: 4 (if they are tiny.)

1 Cup fine cornmeal
3 Cups water (or fat-free broth)

Make polenta (Boil 3 cups water or fat-free broth, add cornmeal in a steady stream, whisking briskly. Let cook covered 5 min., stirring occasionally to get out the lumps. Depending on the cornmeal, it may cook very quickly.)

Spread polenta on a large cookie sheet, (using wax paper to keep it from sticking to your hands) completely smoothing it out, pushing it to the edges. You may have to use 2 sheets of wax paper, as this can get kind’ve sticky! Throw it into the fridge to gel.

1/3 Cup salsa, mixed with 3 Tbsp. ketchup (or ½ Cup pizza sauce) to taste.
1 tsp. garlic powder, ½ tsp. oregano, ½ tsp. basil, ½ tsp. anis seed, 1/8 tsp. pepper, mixed (or more, to taste)

Pizza toppings (use your own favourites, or the following:)
½ green pepper, sliced thinly
¼ sweet onion (Vidalia, red) sliced thinly
½ pear, sliced thinly
4-6 mushrooms, sliced thinly

Meat topping (use your own, or try the following)
16 Yves Pepperoni tofu slices cut in half,
(or 1 poached chicken breast/ pork tenderloin, sliced thinly, or ½ cup chunk TVP rehydrated & marinated in Tbsp. soy sauce, tsp. garlic powder, ½ Tbsp. oyster sauce.)

4 slices fat-free cheese
(Optional: 3 Tbsp. grated Reggiano parmesan cheese)

Extra virgin olive oil or Canola

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Cook the polenta, then spread on the cookie sheet & put into the fridge to gel.

Meanwhile, slice green pepper, onion, pear & mushrooms. Mix the spice & herbs together in a small bowl. Mix the salsa and ketchup in another small bowl.

Cut the gelled polenta into 4 equal pieces. Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray, or a bit of olive oil. Fry the polenta until it is crispy on both sides (4 min. or so (or longer!!)) (If you have two skillets, you can fry the polenta in double batches.)

Put the fried polenta pieces on two cookie sheets. Spread each piece with ¼ of the salsa/ketchup mixture (or pizza sauce.) Then, sprinkle each piece with a ¼ of the spice mixture. Divide the “meat” topping among the four pizzas. Next, put on the onions, peppers, pears and mushrooms.

Tear 4 fat-free cheese slices into pieces and arrange over each of the pizzas. Finally, sprinkle each one with optional grated parmesan cheese.

Cook for 15 minutes until cheese has melted and veggies are cooked.

Enjoy!

Chewy Dingo

Nothing to do with chewy dingos.



Just realized it's been a MONTHOLA since my last post. Sorry. Where did that month go? Beats me! Mostly cooking I think. I spend a lot more time cooking now than I have in my life. It's good though; I'm experimenting, making new recipes, adapting ones. The diet (Weight Watchers Core Plan) has taken over my life & brain... and seems to be working. This is cool. Inordinant amount of time in front of the stove is a bit aggravating, but I feel that eventually I will get it all sorted out (like cooking crap ahead & freezing it.)

Recipe books that have helped me since I signed up at WW Nov 4th include: Harrowsmith Cookbooks 1 & 2, The Green Door Restaurant Cookbook, Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home, Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favourites & Looney Spoons. The vegetarian books offer great ideas for what to do with kasha, millet, couscous, bulghur, cornmeal and the like. This is great if you're trying to incorporate more whole grains into your life (like I am!)



Saturday's weigh in was 26.5 lbs. I got my 25 lbs. fridge magnet, with applause, and supportive cheers from the group. Yay Sue! I'm barely 12 lbs. away from my 10% goal, which'll probably happen in the new year sometime. The program is going well. It puts me in mind of two credos: "You can't possibly fail if you don't quit." (Of course, in some cases it means just ramming your head against a wall multiple times.) But in my case, I hope that it means perseverance will eventually win out. The second line was from wayy back at an OA meeting: "Keep coming back, it works if you work it."

Working it means drinking LOTS of water. Lots. Like... eventually you will find a little well-worn path leading from your office to the bathroom & back. Wheee! I drink an average of 2 L of H20 a day (that's about 64 oz.!)

Working it means.. hitting the Gym! Sue has been hitting it.. thanks to support from friends who've been coming with & encouraging me. The buddy system works! What else? Really *thinking* about food when you prepare, sit down and eat & finish. Consider the meal, be mindful while you eat. It's important to enjoy the textures & flavours and to take the time to just be there for it. It's the opposite mindset of a bingeing compulsive over-eater & it's taking a lot of time to relearn the whole thing.

Working it on Core means stopping when you've had enough. This is novel. Up until recently, I had no clue when I'd "had enough." I didn't have any signals telling me anything until I just plumb couldn't eat anymore. So.. slowly we learn to listen to the body and go; hey.. maybe I could stop now and that would be ok..!

What else? Making healthy choices MOST of the time. I don't say "all of the time" cause you'd have to be gunning for Saint-hood to pull it off. Most of time is, well, every day at work someone offers me cookies, or candy, or chocolate. Saying "no" 90% of the time means you aren't getting 90% of those empty calories. Yes, I would love a shortbread made of pure butter. But it's not worth it to me. The 10% I say "yes" to is when it *is* worth it; it is something I really want, and will truly enjoy.

Working it means kicking the sh*t out of Guilt. I don't feel guilty if I've had a bad day. I don't feel guilty if I miss the gym. I feel proud that I'm doing this, and I'm committed to being in it for a damned long run. If the wheels occasionally fall off, it isn't the end of the world.. it's just the end of that day. And, as we all know.. tomorrow is another day.



That being said, getting a 2nd-hand weight set was a good idea, so I could work out at home if I missed getting to the gym at work!

Doing this thang has required strength and will-power that I didn't know I had; didn't realize existed in me. I keep wondering when it's going to fail me, when I'm going to throw the hands in the air and say "I give up". But I'm still here. Still trying and haven't stopped... 7 weeks later.

YAY! Thanks to everyone who is helping me: Family, Friends, & my Gym & WW Buddies. You gals (& guys) are the ones who make it keep on keeping on. Without you I would be back to my old crappy habits, and I would be enjoying a one-way ticket to gallbladder failure, probably heart-failure and diabetes. So THANK YOU.

For fun, I have some images to show my progress....!
A few weeks ago, when I'd lost 14 lbs., I put this collage together:



For a comparison, the folowing items weigh approximately 25 lbs!



Stay tooned for more!
Cheers
Suzanne.