Dramatis Personae
Allegra Sloman. That would be me. If you find a medium length silver hair in your food, that would be my fault.
“My” cat, the delivered-by-Caesarean-tortoiseshell-Persian Miss Margot. I try and try, but somehow she keeps being called Muffin, the Muffin, Sunnymuffin, the girl, the little one, the tribble, the furball, and holysh*tInearlysteppedonheragain. Placid, self-willed, and insanely fond of Eddie’s butt, I brush her about four times a week, degunk her eyes about twice a week, and trim her nails when Jeff complains, for all the good it does. I love her madly, but of course she prefers Jeff.
Jeff. My brother the extremely smart man who is not quite a genius. From his extremely infectious laugh to his ability to tame machinery to his excellent taste to his work ethic, a great guy and a marvie roommate. His hair does not get into food, but it makes its presence known. After John died I came to the conclusion that I’m the luckiest woman on earth to have his daily company. His cats, Eddie who is still with us, and Gizmo, who crossed the rainbow bridge in 2010.
Paul. My ex. I will speak respectfully of and to him. Or at least try to – I’ve not always been successful at that, but I do try. His cats, Zeek! and Kira. Except that as of July 8 2009, only Kira is left. Sad sigh.
Keith. My first born. (1986) Amusing, intelligent, kind-hearted, rational, sunny and klutzy. A juggler, a karateka, a dispensing optician. If you find a long curly brown hair in my food, it’s his fault. Lives with Paul – but the computers here are faster and the software more beguiling so he hangs here at Geekhaus quite a bit.
Katie. My second born. (1988) Stunningly gorgeous and a hair stylist, she has a dark secret past. Lives in my hood in a coop house. Everything else is in the hands of the censors, so ask me no more.
Suzanne. Katie’s former mother-in-common-law. Great woman who’s suffered many more trials – and most far from her own making – than I. Her son Daxus, Katie’s x-s-0, or who was her ex-s-o until about mid August 2010. Everything else is in the hands of the censors, etc. etc.
Dr. Filk, Paul’s only brother, now deceased in Victoria but formerly a tenant with Juliana and Douglas & the rest of their eclectic household (4 Devon Rex cats?), and his cats Vince and Suki. An anarchist. A filker. A biker. One of the most entertaining and intelligent men evar. And he died on the 2nd of May 2009, and he will be forever missed by his many admirers, family members, coworkers, exes, and the filk circle the whole world round. His ex wife, Carrie.
Lady Miss Banjola- his former partner in crime; her life partner being Joe, Tom and Peggy’s youngest. I’ll let her website speak for her – it’s blogrolled. A force to be reckoned with in contemporary filk. Yup, she won a Pegasus for the Wreck of the Crash of the Easthill Mining Disaster!!!! Rodney, O Rodney, her love song to the geek on the now sadly cancelled Stargate Atlantis, has to be heard to be believed. Go now to her site – listen and be moved! They recorded an album now out on CDBABY please buy it; cdbaby.com, look for Brooke and John.
Cindy, whose glorious voice, songwriting, Stargate building capacities and harmonizing ability continue to astound.
Glenn; Paul’s double first cousin, my former webmaster and the source of many great links and much intellectual exploration (see Swampy’s weblog except he never updates it, smirk) and some VERY canny predictions about human behaviour; Maggie, his c/l spouse of many years, who is a family historian, a horsewoman and great fun to hang out with. Paul’s sisters, Ruth and Lois, and their spouses and offspring, may they live forever, and Lois probably will since she’s the kind of person who inspired Willie P. Bennett to write songs about her (Music in Your Eyes was written for her, can you believe it?). Paul’s mother Phyllis, a most excellent long distance grandmother, and whom I visited last in October 2009.
Mike. He used to be my boss. Now he’s one of my best buddies. Great taste and an evil sense of occasion… an ever blooming source of edgy fun. His g/f formerly known as Vilma. His former girlfriend Heather.
Tom L and Peggy L. Hard to mention one without the other, even though they are such distinctive individuals; Tom and Peggy are in large part responsible for me continuing to identify as a Unitarian. They are smart, hard working, loving, hospitable, generous and brilliant musically. I am humbled and honoured by their ongoing friendship. Brooke’s parents-in-law. Parents to Ben and Joe. Tom’s blackberry jelly is legendary. His survival after a recent nasty electrical accident is a miracle. Peggy’s cooking is most excellent. Actually JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING about Peggy is excellent, and I’ll be the first to say so.
Patricia. I helped hire her, and she was my boss, and now she’s gone over to Sales and thus is in the Stygian Darkness. Intelligent, sarcastic, energetic and competent. And extremely cute! Yeah, I know, but it’s true.
ScaryClown. A former coworker. A link to some of this stuff is/WAS under Adult Themed Artwork on my blogroll. When I first met him, something in me reached out to him and went “Sibling!” and that’s how I’ve treated him ever since. Special, strange and somehow he brings out all my protective instincts.
My adoptive little brother Jerome, and his family, the youngest of whom I have finally beheld with my own eyes and who is one active little dickens at just eight months.
Alex, aka Lexi, my spectacularly amazing in virtually every way first cousin on my mother’s side (and she cooks…); Darwin, her alert and communicative and (candidly) super attractive first born; Rob, her debonair and entirely excellent spouse. Now working on a hat business, which is blogrolled. Yeehaw!
Cousin Gerald, my entertaining cousin from the “other” side of the family, i.e., Loki’s. We email back and forth a lot – sometimes this percolates onto the blog, as he finds the most amazing stuff and sends it to me. A cartographer! All hail the mapfolks! Able to locate my sense of humour with his eyes closed! GPS??? We don’t need no steenkeeng GPS!!! He has two adorable grandbabies, Alyssa and Braden.
nautilus3 and Loki are my parents. I was going to let their comments speak for them, but I have a sudden urge to advise you that I am only marginally worthy to darn their socks. My mother in particular is, in terms of intelligence, industry, people skills and good nature, completely unlike other human beings, and even people who’ve known her for years tend to agree. My father is a grumpy old man, with a bag of anecdotes the size of a life, and an ability to detach his prejudices from his advice in a truly Sherlockian way. Useful, rational, witty and full of joie de vivre, my parents are amazing & I wish EVERYBODY could have folks as great.
My Beacon people; Tom and Peggy (reprise), Sue, Carol, Kathleen, Naomi, Gary and Elva, Larry (the published writer!) Katie Stein Sather and Al Sather, Ivy and Ralph, John and Anita, Tom and Uta, Rob W, Donna and David, Joy and John (now sadly, departed from church although not thank goodness from life), Renée, Dina, Anne and Len, Don (author of McGowan’s War) and Donatella (now also sadly departed from church), Bareld and Marylke, and George, Miriam and Carmen, now dead and sadly missed.
Deb! ah, Debbie. She was a fellow tenant when I was living in Amedeo Garden Court in Etobicoke (which is also where Katie was born, so it’s somewhat more memorable as a former address than most tenements….) At the time our biggest similarity was that we were both living c/l with a guy in the aviation business. Since then she’s relocated to Ottawa and the only reason we’re still in touch is because her hubby contacted me regarding a product my company sells, and boom, we’re emailing back and forth constantly now. Goddess bless the internet! Her people Jim and Jenn and their assortment of critters, and her ex Spence.
Kopper, also known as Katie K; one of the most energetic, intelligent and life-loving individuals I’ve ever met. And cute, too. And musical, too. Kopper is a mensch. Kopper is in nesting mode currently, and I’m so happy for her. Her house is called Ajax Baldwin. If you ever see it, you will know why.
Elly and Doug – Elly is the person in Vancouver I’ve known longest, having hung out with her in Toronto before I ever had children. Doug is her ferociously smart and good tempered spouse. On the Blogroll – Who’s Crazy Now. Moved to Toronto in Jan 2009. Heavy sigh! But wait, there’s more … SQUEEEEE! THEY ARE GETTING MARRIED IN AUGUST 2010 Nope, they’re spending their money on better things. Responsible, and I applaud them.
SPECIAL MENTION MUST BE MADE, of course, for the Dalai Jarmo, who is in a class by himself. In some respects he is my spiritual mentor and most of the conversations he and I have do not make it onto this blog. Remarkable man with a heart the size of a planet. His wife Susana. (They, along with Mike, are Wreck Beach companions as well. Yes, I am a nudist, GTFOI).
Tammy, located in Toronto. Blogrolled as Write Marketing. We went to France in late November 2008. I so appreciate her zest for life.
Other people I never-to-rarely mention but who are really important to me; Jan, and her “vampire family”, Catherine and Colin and their many friends and adherents; Lucile & her fambly; Carrie who used to be Carol and I thought I’d mention her twice for that reason, Dale in Belize; Ron in Toronto; Leo and his wife Linda and three Tai Kwon Do kinder, one of whom has been called back to serve in Afghanistan; Jim P and Jan G, and their delightfully intelligent and industrious daughters Nita (who protests against the war in Afghanistan) and Carly (who is travelling in Central America right now) has returned from furrin parts and is residing in Vancouver, Paul’s cousin Ruth C, Unca Gary and Ontie Diane; Cousin Gregory and wife Tracy and their two delightful boys Kaiden and Keegan (and all four play hockey!)
Chipper, who goes back as well to my days in Toronto, and provides her ongoing commentary and keen observation of current trends from the wilds of Madawaska – on the Blogroll as Red Deer Lodge. Her former b/f Larry. She is an awesome dancer; one of the highest compliments I ever got was when somebody miscalled me as her sibling. She is definitely somebody who can top any customer service story I tell with no difficulty.
SPECIAL life changing mention must be made of David J D, who taught me everything I know about poetry, about half of what I know about music and who comes with a side of astonishment. Thank you for the Weakerthans and the Dylan, bud.
Brother James, who is not my brother but a former coworker now living in Ottawa. Terrifically smart, focussed and having that special sparkle that only men who marry well can keep. Alternate Power Calculator on the blogroll is his work.
Bonnie, my friend since public school.
Unca Dave (now, alas, dead of cancer in Castlegar as of November 16, 2009), Ontie Mary who turned 75 recently, Ontie Jackie, Unca Barry, Cousin Shauna, Cousin John, Cousin Katherine, cousin-in-law Graham, Granny (Loki’s mOm, deceased 25 Jan 2010), Cousin Alyssa plus her s.o Derrick (and amazing doggie), Cousin Darcy, hubby Curtis and their superamazinglywonderful Jasmine (let me put it this way, I have HER picture and not my kids’ pictures over my desk at work) and their various extended relations, hubbies & kids.
The Ghosts of this blog are, officially, John Caspell, George Carlin, Dorothy Dunnett, my maternal and paternal grandfathers Bob and Dennis, Judy Holliday, Martha Ballard, H.L. Mencken, Willie P. Bennett, my maternal grandmother Susie, Sue and Elizabeth, and two animals: Argus, a boxer dog and Bounce, the Platonic ideal of cats.
….. and I’ll add others as I go, because even though I consider myself to be a socially defective hermit, I keep meeting people and making friends. V. bizarre.
Last update, September 4 2010, some additions, some deletions, some minor edits. Previous March 28 2010 including minor deletions and major additions and edits. Craptastic! Look at this suckass history of keeping data current. Bwa. December 8, 2009 including major deletions, previous November 13, previous October 26 including deletions, previous update July 26, previous update July 11, previous June 4… previous previous update May 2 2009.
