Settler words&music in S'ólh Téméxw, (leanpub.com/upsun) living where privilege meets precarity in MST country. she/her/they———– Novels: Midnite Moving Co., Upsun; Sweep Off Those Waves coming soon, Hair Sinister after that. —Restore All Indigenous Lands!
Full marks if you get the movie reference.
Photo credit Getty. The little horse is called Thumbelina. She actually is more of a freak of nature than the big one, being a midget version of a miniature horse. The big one is Radar, he’s a Belgian draft horse and he hails from Texas, natch.
Is it the heated blanket, or does this cat know when people are dying?
More wonderful pix. The dog has Winston Churchill to a bee’s knees, and the chillin bear IS the chillin’est,
The four of us are planning to get together for his birthday. I already bought his present but it will probably arrive next week.
Had the folks over for beers last night; in attendance, Melissa, Ryan, Brian C, Jarmo and Rob of Nine, who was, unfortunately, not able to massage my printer into compliance as there is no driver for it. Drat.
After they all left, Swampy came over for a beer and told me that things are going much more smoothly than he anticipated and it was just really pleasant to have him here – and we discussed a couple of books, including Focusing and The Dosadi Experiment (which is basically a fast forward through Dune without the religion and with a kickass courtroom scene at the end). Then at nine my date came over. We sat outside next to the fountain until about the fourth time he slapped a mosquito (imagine that… a guy who gets bit by mosquitoes more than I do!?) at which point I said that I found it unconscionably inhospitable to contribute to his discomfort so, and besides, there was beer and a bathroom back at my place…
So I guess I’ve had a very sociable weekend already and it ain’t even noon on Saturday yet.
Today is the 100th centenary of Heinlein’s birth. How I wished he could have become a blogger. Okay, I don’t but it makes me laugh to think about how he would have talked about the last three or four sets of American governments.
I talked to Kira on the phone today. She was purring. Zeek!, thank heaven, is back to his old self and the bloody spot under his chin has cleared up. His bloodwork came back okay so the 1200 vet bill Paul and I were looking at turned out not to be necessary.
Keith will come by today before work with more Aubrey/Maturin for me. (more, more more!) and some other media for me to peruse (hopefully Fables III and IV).
I watched Denis Leary’s music video of Asshole last night. I always liked the song, but the video was brilliant, IMO.
Facebook is extremely amusing, and I’m having loads o’ fun with it. Mostly poking people. I’ve gotten into a poking contest with two people; I know that sounds rude, but it’s harmless virtual primate fun.
Here’s a cool “matrix style” domestic argument, from Japanese TV.
My lung health improved dramatically when I stopped having cats. I love them, but I suspect I’m allergic. According to this (as yet unreplicated) study, there may be a lot of other people who have difficulties.
My philosophical buddy Avinash called and reminded me to be rational – it was a lovely conversation. I met him while I was running the Simplicity Meetup group last year.
Katie has a job!!!! She picked it out, applied, interviewed her new boss as hard as he interviewed her, and I am very proud of her.
Lady Miss Banjola is a pharmacist! Dred her blisterpakking skillz!
I have come to the conscious decision to let go of some stuff and it hurts, but it’s kind of a good hurt, if you know what I mean. I’m talking material stuff.
Sad news…. Cali, Tom and Peggy’s kitty, aetat 24, is v. poorly and not going to make it.
I learned last night that the closing date has been moved in two weeks; it’s now July 15th.
Sandra sent me pics of a fine looking woman sitting in her living room in Syria with two tame hyenas. Brr. Those things are loony dangerous! It would be like taming bears, no sane person would do it. Anyway, I’d repost it but for some reason I could not copy the pic to post.
I am definitely NOT coming to Victoria this weekend, as I suspect I will be heaving crap out of the two sheds this weekend once I hear when is convenient so to do with Paul.
Sigh. V. happy about Katie still, and why the hell not.
My telus webmail is down. Normally I wouldn’t mention such a trifle, but I ran a personal ad. And that’s where all the replies are going, and the Telus minion was both rude and uninformative as to when the webmail will be up again. Gr.
Rereading Master and Commander as I don’t have any fresh Aubrey/Maturin books.
Today, the photo for my passport, and possibly some of the other paperwork dealt with.
Then contemplate the dog’s face for a while. All hail the beedogs!
Eli’s expression perfectly matches how I feel right now.
From the Be Careful What You Wish For Department, I had a tremendous urge to hear a Cars tune or two a couple of nights ago, and last night I got about an hour’s worth at Elly’s. I now have the crunching opening guitar riff of Good Times Roll jammed in my head.
Also listened to Alice in Chains Jar of Flies. It is an annoying, and yet somehow deeply satisfying album. ALSO and this was the big win of the evening in terms of auralstim, the EP from around the same time called Sap. Wonderful harmonies, tunes like a drunk tripping downstairs in terms of structure, and oh, the crunchy, crunchy guitars. How I like the sound, even if the lyrics are uninspired. Can’t have everything. I mean, I write a mean tune, but can I sing it? Which reminds me, time to pick the mando up again. A mandolin can’t tell you to shut up, unless, of course, somebody else is trying to beat your head in with it.
I was supposed to go yesterday to see the Blue Meenies at the John B Pub in Coquitlam, but somehow I got really antisocial and didn’t go. Yesterday was a day remarkably unproductive of forward progress with any activities except that today I am feeling better than I have in ages, my bills are all paid, the garbage is out, I’ve finished the 5th O’Brian book (The Fortune of War) and I ate at home twice – remarkably, because there’s no denying I’ve been eating out a lot.
Mike was over and loaded the computer up with goodies and ate dinner here; we had planned to go to the B but he jammed and homework called him home. I know it’s really anti-social, but I’m to the point that I’m really preferring interacting with people in real-time one on one. I just feel overwhelmed, except at work, that seems to be a different case. Any rate, Mike’s out of his place in Burnaby due to the elderly plumbing at his apartment, so he’s back with his folks. This just means that every evening he has three dogs and a cat to take for a walk, because Winky walks right around the block with his dogs…. I have posted the best pic ever of animal companions previously, showing Winky, Tasha, Spud and Mila all basking in the sunshine in Mike’s folk’s front yard.
I now have access to a really remarkable internet radio station. The music on it was so good that I literally slept on the living room sofa so I could continue to listen to it in my sleep…. then I realized that this was not too intelligent on a number of levels and crawled back into bed long about 3:45 am. Now it’s off to get my hairs cut.
Bengal cats will remove about $600 from your wallet if you buy a decent one from a breeder, and fine bloodline cats go for way, way more than that. I first became acquainted with them about 7 years ago at a cat show, and I decided that if I was ever made out of money I’d get one. For intelligence, beauty and temperament, they really can’t be beat. Here’s a video that shows just how laid back and smart one can be…
Yesterday I got to the Augur Inn, where I a) returned the penultimate Strangers in Paradise, b) cleaned the downstairs bathroom, removing paint spatters and glue which had been there since we moved in, cleaning the door, and putting the light fixture back up so that all that remains is scrubbing the floor and painting the door c) cleaned the railings in the deck, d) rewashed some windows, e) ran the loveseat cover Janice got through the laundry and hung it to dry as Zeek! bled all over it, f) started detailing the downstairs kitchen, g) scrubbed out the laundry room sink some more (it isn’t done), h) washed the exterior of the windows in the garage. Partway through my day Katie took me out for breakfast. It was yummy, and you can get steak and eggs at the Big 6 for $6.35.
About 3:30 I bailed and Paul drove me to the liquor store and I picked up beer, wine and vodka (the only mix I have is orange juice….) and helped me in with MORE boxes and some pictures (I left them in the garage) and then I spent a lovely four hours with Gail, Jerome’s mum, who’s a simply fascinating woman who has raised three simply splendid children, and whose brother Bruce wrote that Vancouver Map Book (before there were computers). This is a book which shows what Vancouver looked like in ten year increments and which lived next to my bed from the time I got it to the time I moved (of course I can’t find it, but I will when I’ve finished unpacking…)
Then I unpacked my new vacuum cleaner and I LOVE it. It’s a new Hoover canister and it does everything a vacuum cleaner should do and there’s only two attachments and it looks like a bug eyed alien and is bright orange. I vacuumed my apartment (well, not the bedroom, the bedroom is a disaster still) but the rest.
This morning I got up and washed the pot and pans I got at Ikea and made myself coffee and breakfast, and now I’m going to figure out when the first bus comes and then go over to the Augur Inn. Katie was going to take me to see Spiderman and Keith and Paul invited themselves along but that’s okay….
The weather has clouded over. There are many, many birds here, I could birdwatch all day. This morning I watched a hawk kill something.
Burnt and his new bride are probably honeymooning somewhere. I will get a full report on the wedding from LTGW on Monday, or so I hope. Men never remember the details women want to hear, unless they’re gay or making a heroic effort.
I have started reading Master and Commander. Stephen Maturin’s comments about thinking he was gonna die are very funny, and Jack Aubrey is the most admirable mixture of low cunning, high spirits and cluelessness that ever walked on the foredeck of any ship, real or imagined. Sigh, I can hardly wait for Pirates of the Caribbean III.
Paul has made revisions to the separation agreement (as have I) which I have not yet seen. He says he’s not putting the house on the market until the separation agreement is chopped, and also I shouldn’t have moved out because it’s costing a lot of money.
Uh…. I wasn’t thinking about money when I moved out. I was thinking about my sanity. I had a little hiatus there while I didn’t do much, but that had as much to do with the unbelievable YogSuggothian hor-ror of work as any other emotional background noise, and I was still going back to the house to clean rather more than I want to, because I am actually serious about getting the house sold.
I already know what’s going to happen. Paul will stall until the house selling season is over, then move back into the basement and rent the upstairs. He can do what he likes. I still own half the house and when the time comes to renegotiate the mortgage, he can buy me out and experience the joy of doubling the size of the mortgage on one income with a renter who may or may not work out. Even if housing prices plummet I will still be free. This is why I find what Paul’s doing so amusing. He keeps talking about money. He never talks about the emotional stuff, only about the inconvenience, and how the house which he spent many many hours complaining about has now majickally turned into a haven. I already got what I wanted. I have contemplated how I would feel if I lost every penny on the house. I would be plenty cheesed, but you know, life goes on. My spiritual advisor has lost just about everything, twice, in the last ten years, and all it’s done is make him a better person with a clearer understanding of what’s important. I should be so lucky as to have life events that did that for me!
I want to sell the house and get the best buck possible not because I am a raving acquisitive bitch, but because I want to have the wherewithal to help my children. Happy Mother’s Day, everybody.
Okay, parts of this are pretty funny, but it’s very long.
This was stolen from www.wyomingoutdoorsradio.com, which I recommend as it has some AMAZING pix, including ones I have already posted. Watch out for the bull terrier that took on a porcupine, you’ll SHUDDER if you look at it.
This mule kicked this cougar’s sorry ass.
