Month: May 2006

What a drag it is growing old
2006-05-31— Posted by: allegra

I tink I be on painkillers the rest of my life. The pain in my back is interfering with my ability to reason and it took me 10 minutes to get dressed this morning. Obviously I am going to seek medical attention but in the meantime I am just flabbergasted how much it hurts.

Baby pic
2006-05-30— Posted by: allegra

It’s Brayden again. Sigh, happy sigh. I can see a baby without wanting to eat it, but Brayden is a cutie patootie. Happy sigh.

enough sleep
2006-05-30— Posted by: allegra

Mike and John and I went to Canada Games Pool last night for a nice long soak. It was amazing not to experience any pain for an hour, although I’m sore as blazes this morning.

I was thinking of swimming, but as soon as the warm jets hit, I was immobilized.

I am LOVING Barnes’ Armies of Memory…. what a page turner. I love Giraut, I think he’s my 4th fave hero, after Lymond, Niccolo and Miles, of course.

today’s APOD
2006-05-29— Posted by: allegra

As always, I went to Astronomy Picture of the Day, and got dumped into a NASA feed (rebroadcast, obliviously) of the Titan landing. It was so beautiful I cried. I’m still sniffing. The stars our destination……..

enough sleep
2006-05-29— Posted by: allegra

Katie, the little weiner, has gone and gotten her tongue pierced. And me having custody of her dental bills for another 18 months.

Sang and played at Tom and Peggy’s last night, having sucked back a truly magnificent meal concocted by their tallest scion. SOME people have decent respectful children, all full up with filial piety.

Worked on the new tune when I got home (how to make a mandolin sound big and tough, and it needs lots of slide guitar, and it sounds like I’m trying to channel the blues and Malian music through a tubby middleaged white woman’s body…. Dr. Filk just shrugged when I commented on the inappropriateness of it, and also, when I asked him if I was boring him, just laughed). Stayed up for Katie to get back from (???) bowling, at midnight. (Camper Van Beethoven… “Take – the skinheads bowling,” went through my mind when she came home.)

I am also reading John Barnes’ new novel Armies of Memory, which contains the deathless line (I paraphrase) “I’d have more luck organizing a ferret marching band” and also the deathless line, “It’s a strange job, so it’s good it’s being done by someone strange.”

Paul, bless him, just called to let me know he’ll be home in time to hand over the car, so I have plenty of time to make a lunch, etc. before I go into work, and it’s Memorial Day in the States so it should be just funereal on the phones today.

I have received (now four) postcards from Brother James, the last one of those postcards of all of the major sights of London. It sounds like he’s having a whale of a time. Happy sigh.

Keith is still enjoying his job, especially the money and how much time free he has to try and get killed some more in the WoW universe at his new fave internet cafe. He said the other day that he thinks he’s too snippy, and after thinking to myself that *I* am currently the reigning champeen in that department (note to self, screw perimenopause) I told him that I thought he was a lot LESS snippy now that he was working in a reputable job and making decent money in an environment where he is less likely to lose the nail off his toe (I went into his room looking for something and found his toenail on his dresser. Bleagh, and damned straight, it serves me right.)

Coming up next on World of Allegra: Lunch for me, breakfast for kitties, and a cuppa.

Links
2006-05-28— Posted by: allegra

Storm pix

Joss Whedon interview (old)

Mercury sponge

How to bust into a cell wall.

This has big implications for Canadian weather

Cat furniture
2006-05-27— Posted by: allegra

That’s me passed out (almost) on the sofa. Kira crawled onto me (walking solemnly up and down on her exceedingly pointy feet, trying to find my solar plexus) and then Zeek! came up and touched noses with her and sat on my arm. I was stuck like that for an hour! They were both purring.

Hyack
2006-05-27— Posted by: allegra

Keith volunteered to take us to breakfast this am, and so we walked down to the IHOP at 6th and 8th in New Westminster… (Paul ended up picking up the tab, thank you Paul!) expecting it to be like every other Saturday morning at IHOP and jammed out the doors. The walk through New Westminster was lovely, everything blooming and fresh. When we got there, the parking lot was empty and we were seated immediately. Why? Because of the Hyack Festival!

When we emerged from the IHOP we watched a number of extremely kickass NW Washington marching bands, and the usual assortment of floats and marching groups including schools, businesses, War Amps, Old Cool Cars, Scary Evil F*cking Clowns that make small children burst into tears, Apple Blossom Festival Princesses, Pipe Bands, Football teams, More extremely good marching bands, Military outfits, a wooden-sided car that even Paul couldn’t identify, Dogs, cool, non traditional bicycles, an inflatable lobster, etc etc. Then it started to rain, so we came back here.

Katie’s boyfriend L. hasn’t fed his tarantula in four freaking months, doesn’t he know the meaning of humanity? We may have to make a cricket run. And he says he wants a turtle! Nyet! Not until he can keep the arthropod in good shape, mutter mutter.

I didn’t eat any pork products at breakfast and as a result I feel pretty good. I think I’m going to have to stop eating bacon and sausages entirely, as much as I love them; every time I eat them I feel rather stunned afterwards.

At the risk of sounding like I never eat at home, we ate last night at Simba’s on Edmonds. DAMN the food was so excellent! We were lucky to get a table.

I talked to Jeff this morning, it was great to hear his voice.

On a very sad note, and one that I have dreaded posting, the magnificent Pokey has not returned since early this past week. Dr. Filk is feeling pretty wretched, so be nice to him.

enough sleep
2006-05-26— Posted by: allegra

Thank God this interminable week is almost over.

Spotting traffic
2006-05-25— Posted by: allegra

Here’s Paul, flying around last summer with Dan P.

????
2006-05-25— Posted by: allegra

I’m the customer service person of the week. This is impossible. I demand a recount. Oh. You mean I get swag? Like, a Starbucks card, a free movie pass and a company golf shirt? Okay. Snif….

I’d like to thank my mother, and my father, and the harbor police…..

Forwarded from mOm
2006-05-25— Posted by: allegra

Arthur Guiterman...

On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness 

The tusks which clashed in mighty brawls
Of mastodons, are billiard balls.

The sword of Charlemagne the Just
Is Ferric Oxide, known as rust.

The grizzly bear, whose potent hug,
Was feared by all, is now a rug.

Great Caesar's bust is on the shelf,
And I don't feel so well myself.

Migraine
2006-05-25— Posted by: allegra

At fifty one practices virtues that at twenty one couldn’t pronounce.

It’s Towel Day!!!!!!!!!!
2006-05-24— Posted by: allegra

http://www.towelday.kojv.net/

I am a frood who really knows where her towel is.

Happy sigh
2006-05-24— Posted by: allegra

Like many employed persons, I kvetch about my job. But every once in a while you get a call from a customer saying, Your product SAVED MY ASS! (During Hurricane Katrina).

And you know, it feels pretty good. You hear so much crap that it’s good to remember that the reason you don’t hear from most of your customers is that they are happy. So today I am happy. I don’t know how long it will last, but I’m doing purty good.

Shiny robot news
2006-05-23— Posted by: allegra

http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/mg19025526.500.html

More summaries
2006-05-23— Posted by: allegra

Well, I would have had a simply charming time at Jeff’s if I hadn’t had a migraine, but really the only bad thing is that I now have to watch TWO zombie movies the next time I’m there; it’s probably going to be 28 Days and Army of Darkness, so pray for me.

Off to walk with Peggy, and so to work.

From the walk to Marymere Falls
2006-05-23— Posted by: allegra

A Flat Red Wood Borer.

Dr Filk and Brooke get wet
2006-05-22— Posted by: allegra

To summarize the last two days:
2006-05-22— Posted by: allegra

Migraine.

Oh yeah, forgot to blog
2006-05-20— Posted by: allegra

I am currently enjoying the sunny environs of Victoria. Tori bird is on her way to Montreal. Jeff’s gonna pick me up in a few minutes and then I’ll go to his place to grunt, scratch, drink beer and watch movies (really, a superlative way to spend a weekend……)

Katie has introduced her new beau to the grands – all this is going fine. Very very peaceful. More later.

Hm, must check what’s in the computer for pix these days. Here’s my cousin Derry, who has left us for the undiscovered country, feeding a giraffe in 1974.

I know it’s a joke, but…..
2006-05-19— Posted by: allegra

Baby liposuction

Crunchy goodness
2006-05-19— Posted by: allegra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHl6QkC9__8

Sorry, no Trollhaven today.
2006-05-19— Posted by: allegra

Wrote another song last night. It’s official. The little bastards are popping out faster than I can write them down.

The garden at Trollhaven
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

A stroll through Trollhaven
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

People live in that house. We saw them.

I think I’ve heard of Trollhaven
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

I simply must see more Trollhaven.
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

Really, more Trollhaven?
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

Born to be a bouncer, dig that knowing face.

Sorry, more Trollhaven
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

What can I say.

David Michael, Whidbey Island Ferry
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

We bought two of his CDs.

That was a nice sounding harp.

I didn’t want to visit Baltimore BEFORE I read this.
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/9229472/detail.html

Certain politicians explained
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

Certain politicians explained! Chimps mount fecally overwhelming protest. Rain gear strongly recommended.

Fox mollusc trampoline church
2006-05-18— Posted by: allegra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdPI50E0Zdo

This juvenile fox spends a happy couple of minutes playing on a trampoline. Very close to the end, you will say to yourself “WTF???” as a large plastic object heaves into view (I have no idea what it is) but it doesn’t detract from the charm of this lovely piece of home video. Thank you thank you Janice for forwarding it. I’m going to leave the link up so Paul can see it when he gets back from running.

Paul’s talking about selling the house again. Heavy sigh. Ruth 1:16-17.

Brother James has forwarded three, count ’em three lovely postcards from his travels in England and Ireland; a castle, Stonehenge, and the Georgian Doors of Dublin, which was actually a poster in a friend’s house that I admired many times and has now turned up in miniature format to adorn my desk. Your taste in postcards continues to rock, Bro James!

L’il Cthu has expressed an interest in coming to work (I checked my calendar, and, by gar, it IS Take Your Squid Overlord Spawn to Work Day – who knew?) so I coaxed it into the Spaced Out Ladies bag (see previous blogs) and it’s now making separation anxiety noises about the chandelier. It somewhat shamefacedly admits that the reason it jumped into the chandelier in the first place was because it was the object that looked most like a squid; this gave me pause, because if he goes for the Squid-resembling objects, I think some of the sales people are in for a more interesting day than their Daytimers would predict. A full report on the Morbid Mollusc later.

Photo copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. Forwarded from Sandy.

Kokopelli garden at Trollhaven
2006-05-17— Posted by: allegra

Crest at Trollhaven
2006-05-17— Posted by: allegra

The Dragon’s Gate at Trollhaven, outside Sequim
2006-05-17— Posted by: allegra

The patio at Bread and Roses in Port Townsend
2006-05-17— Posted by: allegra

It’s the damned bug’s fault, Chapitre le deux
2006-05-16— Posted by: allegra

So, blurwise, we drove to the Hoh Valley and took a lot of picatures in the Hall of Mosses (gee mOm, wish you could have been there) and hiked about 2.5 miles up the trail along the river. Took a lot of pictures there too! Which I will post later. It was entirely gorgeous and the weather couldn’t possibly have been improved on.

Then we ate in a diner at Forks, then went back to the Lodge and crashed, had dessert, and crashed. Marionberry Cobbler rules!

Then we got up and went to Sequim, where we visited a flea market, where I got my mOm a belated Beloved Female Progenitor day prezzie, and went to ah, so wonderful to relate, the Oak Table, where I ate YUMMMMMY peach blintzes to the asploding point. Then we had to deke off highway 101 where I had the experience of watching a passerby throw a blanket over a motorcyclist who appeared to be, ah, integumentarily challenged and quite dead; we later found the highway was closed both ways for about two hours.

Then we visited Trollhaven. I am not going to say anything about it – I’ll just post pics.

Then we got on the Whidbey Island ferry and nearly ran out of gas at Deception Pass, and then we drove past the I5 and up Highway 9 instead, which was so thoroughly infested with a combination of RV’s and motorcycles that I felt like I was driving the only car on the road.

The Sumas crossing was ridiculously easy, and so home.

It’s the damned bug’s fault, chapter one
2006-05-16— Posted by: allegra

It’s all the Tomentose Burying Beetle’s fault. After all, had I not seen the beetle crawling cheerfully in front of the door of Cabin 4 at Red Deer Lodge and Campground, I would not have been moved to go to the library back in Toronto to try to get a picture of whatever that bizarre creature was, to try and identify it. The book my search led me to was the Audubon Guide to North American Insects and Spiders, which is where I found it. I promptly bought it. It’s pretty beat up. Then I found a very interesting moth in the meadows of Humber Park, which was not in the insect book. I was in the bookstore at Golden BC attending a family reunion in the early 90’s when I found the Audubon Guide to North American Butterflies and Moths and identified the Ctenuchid Moth, at which point my mania for collecting nature books commenced. Shortly thereafter, I acquired the Reptiles and Amphibians, the simply succulent Geoffrey Kibby’s Mushrooms and Other Fungi; North American Weather, and Mosses, Lichens and Ferns of Northwest North America. I learned that the best Canadian spider book was a government publication long out of print. I got a dinged up hardcover Audubon Field Guide to Birdies. The photo version was the Audubon Western Birds; then the brisk and kick ass Plants of Coastal BC. So that is why I know that the first bug we saw, on the walk to Marymere Falls, is a Flat Red Wood Borer. I didn’t know at the time but I came back home and looked it up. We walked from Lake Crescent Lodge to Marymere Falls. The trail is no more than a mile and leads to a falls of about an 80 foot drop. We saw a lot of trilliums and forget me nots. The walk – I wouldn’t dignify it as a hike – is pretty easy going. Just prior to arriving at the lodge, we saw 3 deer apparently munching on forget me nots. They were completely unconcerned by our presence. After Marymere Falls, the four of us had dinner in the Lodge, which was a lot of fun, in a subdued and calorific sort of way. No loud laughing for me. Next morning we breakfasted at the Lodge, ate like swine and went to Sol Duc Falls. The boys took the longer trail back to the Springs; Janice and I took the car back (and she let me drive, the angel) the last three miles. That put us at Sol Duc Hot Springs in time for me to collect a Sunburn, in Washington State, in May, for the love of Jim Criminy. Sol Duc Hot Springs is delightful and the pool side Deli, fun, friendly and a provider of nourishment as well as junk. Damn, but those fries were good! Thick cut, entirely yummola. —- The trip down started when I saw two bald eagles over the Alex Fraser Bridge – a good omen for a visit to see two Americans. We had the single most charming and untroubled Border interaction possible, let alone likely to spring into existence in my imagination; this comment deleted in response to comments from my lawyer. We got to the ferry with no incident, a bit earlier than planned, but also a bit late for the 12:07…. which still boarded us. I met a man with a Koss inverter. I had no idea Koss made inverters. I was so intrigued I almost asked him to show it to me but our ride was over before I could. We came into the Port of Port Townsend and ate lunch at Bread and Roses. Paul had a carrot ginger soup that rendered him nearly ecstatic when he first ate it. I was in ecstasy myself. I have never eaten in a restaurant with the New York Times Arts Section spread out in front of me on a table that seats 8. Paul was actually lucky to get me out of there. Then we debated going up Hurricane Ridge; both time and weather were against us, so we stuck with the plan. On the way out of town I noticed the Food Co-op and we pulled in for some nourishing deli munchies. Got to the Lodge without incident around four on Thursday. The lichen previously shown is one of about fourteen thousand square meters of the stuff we saw all over the freaking park. There were sheets of it, some as big as 20 cm across, all green on one side and all white on the other. Looked like the cast offs of a molting dragon, by gum. The stuff is called Lobaria oregana. Okay, maybe it doesn’t look like dragon molts, but more like large chunks of disreputable peeled off paint lying in profusion on the forest floor as far as the eyes can see. And stuck up in trees. Much more attractive at the Sol Duc trailhead was a stand of Ptilium Crista-Castrensis. Doesn’t it sound like the name of the mother of all castrating mothers in law? I quote from the Mosses book, for I am all at once unable to best this description, “The rich golden green patches growing in low areas of mesic and montane forests are a pleasure to come across.” This is a sentiment with which I heartily concur. It’s also called Knight’s Plume, and it’s the most beautiful moss I’ve ever seen. Oh, and we had lots more wonderful adventures. Stay tuned for the thrilling Chapter II of It’s the Damned Bug’s Fault.

Zeus is Lord!
2006-05-15— Posted by: allegra

Lichen
2006-05-14— Posted by: allegra

Marymere Falls
2006-05-14— Posted by: allegra

Taken May 11th.

Hall of Mosses, Hoh River Valley
2006-05-14— Posted by: allegra

Taken May 13th.

Why I can’t trust Paul with a camera
2006-05-14— Posted by: allegra

Taken on the way back from Marymere Falls on the 11th.

Why I can’t trust Paul with a camera
2006-05-14— Posted by: allegra

Taken on the way back from Marymere Falls on the 11th.

Off to Lake Crescent Lodge
2006-05-10— Posted by: allegra

So we’re going to the Olympic National Park in the US, a place I have very happy memories of (from when we still had the VW bus, and were still family camping) as we wound our way up the unbelievable road up to Hurricane Ridge.

I won’t be blogging unless I find an internet cafe between now and Sunday night – I’m not planning on blogging tomorrow morning as we are going to have to get out at a fairly early hour.

Another bunch of family videos arrived – I can hardly wait to see them but we’re a leedle pressed for time.

Pic is of where we’re staying – we’ll be in the Roosevelt Lodges. The whole place is a historic site. And the Sol Duc Hot Springs! And the rainforest! Happy sigh.

Keith refused the chance to guest blog, can you credit it. Hugs to all and I will have a full report for you if I get back before ten on Sunday………..

???
2006-05-10— Posted by: allegra

I process credit card transactions all day, and the expiry dates for credit cards seem to be moving closer all the time. I strongly suspect that while the banks are still issuing credit cards with the abandon of drunken film starlets, they are reining in the validity dates.

???
2006-05-10— Posted by: allegra

If you haven’t seen this terminally weird picture, check it out. I think the most disturbing thing about it is the expression on the guy’s face.

http://www.gildlilies.com/pop_ups/phillip_toledano_kaleidoscope.htm

various….
2006-05-10— Posted by: allegra

Katie has now seen her new boyfriend EVERY SINGLE DAY since she and Daxus broke up. Keith was Daxus’ checkout boy last night. The transaction occurred without incident, but Keith was mildly twinged and Katie was majorly pissed that Dax bought 4 CANS OF SPRAYPAINT (all black) so it looks like the tagging rampage will continue. It’s not as if Keith was going to hide this information from Katie, so I can only assume this was all quite deliberate on that poor boy’s part. I feel so sorry for him, now that he’s not making Katie’s life a living hell.

Keith has gone from being really stressed about his job to being quietly pleased about it, and he says he’s honing his observational skills. He says that he can already tell a lot about a family or a person by what goes in the cart.

giggle
2006-05-09— Posted by: allegra

She went to work at Microsoft, and all she got was this going away cake….

I never post jokes but….
2006-05-09— Posted by: allegra

Two beggars are sitting side by side on a street in Rome.

One has a cross in front of him. The other one the Star of David.
Many people go by and look at both beggars, but only put money into
the hat of the beggar sitting behind the cross. A priest comes by, stops
and watches throngs of people giving money to the beggar behind the 
cross, but none give to the beggar behind the Star of David.

Finally, the priest goes over to the beggar behind the Star of David and says:
"My poor fellow, don't you understand? This is a Catholic country.
People aren't going to give you money if you sit there with a 'Star of David' in front of you,
especially when you're sitting beside a beggar who has a cross. 
In fact, they probably give to him just out of spite."

The beggar behind the 'Star of David' listened to the priest, turned 
to the other beggar with the cross and said:

"Moishe, look who's trying to teach the Goldstein brothers about marketing."

Ha ha
2006-05-08— Posted by: allegra

I have an instantiated Darth Vader head, and you don’t. It’s about 4.5 cm tall. I checked around to find out how much it costs to make, and including the electricity, it takes about 4 bucks to make this little puppy. I have no idea how much the machine costs to rent, but it really makes me happy, and now I don’t feel so bad about the Nefertiti head.

Yummy worms
2006-05-08— Posted by: allegra

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2006/4/30/91945/8971

DO NOT VISIT THIS SITE IF YOU ARE EATING. No kidding!!!! And be glad I didn’t post pix….

The Augean task
2006-05-08— Posted by: allegra

I should mention that the Augean task was the carpet vac’cing of the living room. Even the rinse water was matte black, mit lumpen.

I have written another song.

And it's we two chance met
and with you looking fine 
Maybe we should repair to this bar?
And he held up his hand and said, no, not until
the womenfolk know where we are.

For the women we love
are deserving of care
and they certainly merit a call
He said with a wink, don't let the price of a drink
Send your happy home life for a fall.

So I got to a phone and I begged her to come
and the strangest thing then did occur
She said off with you now, you go have some fun
thanks for letting us know where you were.

I said, US? with a frown, I could hear background noise
And she seemed far too blithe and in tune
She laughed, I'm with the wife of the man that you're with
and we have been drinking since noon.

My lips split with a grin, my heart easy and free
for I know how I'm spending my night
And I will not be troublin', for the Guinness in Dublin
To be home before dawn's golden light.

And it's we two chance met, and with us looking fine
as we sit at our ease at the bar
And drink toast after toast to the wise man who said
Let the womenfolk know where we are!

enough sleep
2006-05-07— Posted by: allegra

I was amused and shamefacedly pleased to learn that one of my songs has “excaped”. I emailed it (the version Gomi recorded with me back in 04) to Jessica D in MP3 format and the next thing I know, there’s about half a dozen teens in the lower mainland listening to it on their MP3 players. Some of them claim to really like it. Katie’s got her lower lip out because she’s part of the background chorus and she would much rather pretend that it never happened. Let us say that I would rather have my songs listened to than not, so the copyright implications don’t particular irk me.

So if you hear somebody you don’t know humming “Crazymaking Boy” you are not imagining things, and when the boys I wrote it for read this I hope they grin. “You are… my hero from a fable, my supper on the table, my ready, willing, able, my Crazymaking Boy.” Oh, and as I recollect, that’s one of the songs that Mick Fleetwood, in digital format, is laying down a drum track on. Ah, digitization. And if you ever hear that song, remember, that’s us singing, so it’s warts and all, no digital correction of our wandering voices. Happy sigh.

Now back to the salt mines. Katie’s buggered off for the second night running to her new boyfriend’s place and so I have no domestic help today except Keith, who, charming lad that he is, brought home the second to latest SIP (www.strangersinparadise.com, and if you aren’t into comix, this is your chance….). But, charming lad that he is, he also has a Bad Toe, so I can’t really lean on him too hard for the Augean task Paul laid on me so casually on his way to work today. Keith’s working his first scheduled shift subsequent to training at 11 am on Monday. I am so pleased I could burst.

On the upside, if Katie doesn’t come home I don’t have to pay her her allowance. The dishes are starting to pile up. I really wish I could repeat what she said about her boyfriend yesterday during the 5 minute period she breezed through here, but it would not be suitable for a family blog.

And Paul, when he’s not ordering me around, continues to be marvellous.

I heart Zoidberg. (Futurama reference. Futurama is a Matt Groening cartoon.)

Slogging away
2006-05-07— Posted by: allegra

Peter down the alley, a charming and elderly gentleman of Italian ancestry, has offered us the use of his south facing garden. We dug out all the dandelions and will be turning the entire thing this week. Then, oh then, Lake Crescent. I can hardly wait. Oh. Just so you know, I won’t be blogging while I’m there as I won’t have access to the inertnets. So don’t expect to hear from me between the 11th and 14th of May…. I’m gonzo.

Red river piggies for my mOm
2006-05-05— Posted by: allegra

Have some piglets. Their forepigs came from Africa, and they like to swim.

I AM SO JEALOUS
2006-05-05— Posted by: allegra

One of the first things they made with the three D instantiator is A MINIATURE HEAD OF NEFERTITI. And PATRICIA GOT IT. I’d better get one of the Darth Vader heads they are whipping off right now Or I Will Be Choked! Rob of 9 even said, That will drive Allegra crazy, and he don’t know how right he is. mOm can you BELIEVE my life right now?

Quite by accident, I found out where the CEO is drinking beer tonight. Evil thoughts occur, even if it’s not my favourite pub.

All is calm and quiet on the domestic front. I’ve gone walking every morning this week since Tuesday, and I’m feeling a little more energetic. Keith cooked eggs in a basket for breakfast for Katie yesterday, and provided me with an HMM (Happy Mom Moment).

Paul continues to be extremely wonderful.

So does Dr. Filk, but BOY does he hate shaving. rrrr.

???
2006-05-05— Posted by: allegra

Porter Goss of the CIA is quitting because of allegations about hanging with hookers? Jumping Jack Flashman, his boss just said that he can break 750 laws while NOT breaking a sweat. Why should some bodily fluids perturb us?

a new kind of woman
2006-05-04— Posted by: allegra

So, this 3D modeller wandered into the building today, and you’d think a new kind of woman had turned up; I’ve never SEEEEEN so many geekulous balding heads hovering in wondrous anticipation. There were TEN GEEKS plus the technician hovered around this. I’ve never seen heterosexual men stand so close together. This critter turns out 3D models by spitting out coloured layers of plastic. Rob of 9 came down to lunch all spattered with an unbecoming amount of riotous pink paint. Yes, life is good in geekville.

enough sleep
2006-05-04— Posted by: allegra

Weird cloud
2006-05-04— Posted by: allegra

I saw this when I went walking this morning – a corkscrew cloud!

No surprise to security aficionados
2006-05-03— Posted by: allegra

http://www.guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,,1766266,00.html

Hi Glenn.

Music
2006-05-03— Posted by: allegra

Monday night, Slo-pitch Bluegrass at the ANZA Club; last night the opening Tuesday of the summer Jericho Beach Sailing Club folk night / open stage. All of the music was wonderful and entertaining and I really wished Brooke, Tom and Peggy could have been there.

I performed Lifeline and The Dreaded Tapioca Song.

I have now gone walking two mornings running; while far from being a commitment to better health it is a large number of steps in the right direction.

Daxus came to the house yesterday, was completely bizarre, gave some stuff to Katie, refused to pick up his own stuff, and left without incident.

His tag is “SHAME”, you may have seen it sprayed all over Metrotown, namely, SHAME loves KATIE; SHAME loves KATE. Etc. Keith says it’s all over the freaking place. He successfully completed another half shift at Stuperstore, by the way.

I picked up a sack full of garbage at the track at Cariboo High this am; the Burnaby Parks people opened the washroom at Paul’s request but only the Men’s washroom; which considering there is a unisex disabled can was a bit disconcerting. However, as my experience in San Francisco taught me, any public washroom is better than none, and I am thankful.

I gave a sermon a while back
2006-05-02— Posted by: allegra

Picture my surprise and happiness when I found it on the internet!! Just remember this is the single most complex and intellectually challenging sermon I ever gave, so it’s not exactly a bucket of laughs – although I tried.

The good old days
2006-05-02— Posted by: allegra

This is for Phil.

http://www.cyberspike.com/clarke/beasley.html

test
2006-05-01— Posted by: allegra

I just lost my entire post for this am. It was newsy and chatty. Sigh.

Breathe normally
2006-05-01— Posted by: allegra

I am finally feeling a bit better so it’s off to work.

Katie tried to drive her bf’s RC car under a moving vehicle yesterday, and only the Goddess who looks after cute teenaged girls prevented her from experiencing an expensive crackup. Crikey, I’ve had REAL cars that were worth less than that RC car.

Tom and Peggy fed us. There are many kinds of ministry. Dr. Filk sang an entirely new (to me) song about how cheesed off some people are when folksingers tell people to sing along. The lyrics are hysterical.

Keith traded a Colin Wilson novel for V for Vendetta (the real one, on a temp basis) and frankly I think Tom got the better part of the deal.

The walnut trunk is down. The whole frikkin house shook when it came down. I shouldn’t wonder if it didn’t break the sewer pipe right then. It’s really good walnut and Tom is pleasantly contemplating the furniture that it will be turned into.