Allegra Sloman's blog

One of the things I’ve noticed about getting older is that I have to have my fun in smaller and smaller doses. I am still battling with a migraine but there’s no headache – just a host of other unpleasant symptoms.

When I got up to make my tea I realized that oobleck (I mean dense wet snow) is falling from the sky, and screamed. Paul immediately came to my rescue and comforted me by saying that it was not staying on the ground.

The picture is of a Colobus monkey delivered by C-section in a zoo incubator. She’s cuddling a stuffed animal. The next picture is a tiger playing in snow at a zoo.

Three things about Japanese Martial Arts tournaments:

Digital cameras;

Lots and lots and lots and lots of medals;

Pocky. Lots and lots and lots and lots of Pocky. “We survived on bottled water and Pocky.” So says Keith, and he brought three boxes home to prove it.

Keith was volunteering at the Sato Cup – scoreboards etc….

Kung Fu guys showed up and did Kung Fu Dancing to really loud Techno music.

I went home sick yesterday, collapsed for a couple of hours, got up, forced myself to eat something, and then lay awake all night listening to my insides creaking and muttering like a ship’s rigging. I think my stomach valve sealed itself shut again. I had to lie on my stomach for a couple of hours to try and encourage my innards to be a little more cooperative. I am going to be very cautious about what I eat today, I think. The tingling and the numbness have pretty much stopped, and the flashies, which is why I can post, but the whole “Life as We Know It has No Meaning and Why Don’t You Just Fling Yourself From the Iron Workers Memorial” feeling has not stopped. The fact that I know it’s an artefact of my brain chemistry (yet another migraine expressing itself) doesn’t help. The thing that scared me most yesterday was the dizzy spell, Paul thinks it’s flu. I dunno.

Bought Paul an MP3 player for Valentines. He can use it at work or run with it; I am hoping it will cheer him up.

I light a candle for all the people who are breaking up right now.

I had yet another snuggly dream last night. The person I dreamed about is about as snuggly as a moray eel so it was an odd sensation; even in the dream you’re thinking (Neo style) ‘Whoa!’

Showcase next Friday. Nobody has their sets together. Especially not me.

Strange tweezer teeth, the ability to eat prey in nano-seconds, and hoowee, check out that schnozz. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Star Nosed Mole.

I am very happy to report that the non boyfriend has been upgraded to boyfriend but that doesn’t mean what you think it does, and that Katie appears to have figured out how to walk independent of the force of gravity.

I am equally happy to report that Keith has a job interview today for a serious job making serious money, and even if he doesn’t get the job he could use the interview experience.

Paul’s on his way home from work …. I only just got up. So it’s blog, drag comb through hair, brush teeth and fly out the door. Class last night was great, other people’s sets are starting to gel nicely. As for me….I bought chocolate croissants, my response to anything like stress. I am so glad it’s Friday, this was a pretty emotional week at work. As in, just holding it in.

This line deleted, about a nice dream I had last night. I’ll take cuddles, even if they’re the product of my fitfully operating brain chemistry.

Brooke’s mater and pater made it into the Georgia Straight yesterday. Very nice haircut…. oh yeah and the article is cool too.

 

Forgot to mention, mOm sent me a movie file of a penguin apparently dancing to techno. God, Kira, I know you’re hungry but jamming your bewhiskered phyz into my ear and screeching is not appropriate right now. Anyway, my mother is getting much more sophisticated about sending me stuff. It’s almost always stuff I haven’t seen and almost 100 percent stuff I want to see. Thanks mOm! I’d post or link it if I knew how or where to find it….

If you know about Hammy Hamster, I don’t have to ‘splain anything. If you don’t, ‘splanations would be pointless, maybe even actively painful. Sigh.

For Immediate Release

Infectious Tapioca has been identified as an immediate hazard to navigation in Vancouver and the GVRD. Symptoms include perseverative humming, mild cursing, inability to concentrate, unconvincing threats of self harm and severe thrumps.Appetite may increase to the point where non food items are ingested; keep your hands and feet away from the face of anyone so afflicted.

If you come in contact with someone with the eruptive stage of Infectious Tapioca, after you stop laughing and pointing, you should back away slowly and avoid the use of microwave ovens, and probably radar installations just to be on the safe side.

Role playing games and Bing Crosby are strongly contraindicated as palliative measures; Mahler and Cribbage seem to assist in some cases.

Do not listen to anything that a person afflicted with Infectious Tapioca may say and try to prevent them from playing with their food, although this may be difficult seeing as how you will not want to get too close to the business end.

May the Goddess have mercy on us all.

My Tapioca song is now so firmly lodged in Brooke that her normal thought processes, a concept fit to frighten us all, are being interfered with. So I thought I would riff on the notion a little.

Baby bears : Two little polar bears born at the zoo in Rostock, northern Germany, are presented to the public. (AFP/DDP/Danny Gohlke)

Big shout out to Glen, who has the Buddha nature

and Katie, who is trying to finish her English course and is having a bit of a hard time

and Robin and Cari, who used to threaten to kill Katie but have since decided to go to Katie’s school and are apparently straightening out their lives, which I have to assume is true since I have actually seen them and invited them into my house to clean their shoes off and they appear to not be threatening and at least one of them has put on weight, which is a good sign in some circumstances

and my Dad, for holding up his corner of the edifice of society, sometimes at extreme personal cost

and my Mom, whose dental surgery stitches come out on Wednesday

and my boss, for frequently acting like the only sane adult within earshot

and Keith, for being consistently entertaining and for COFFEE

and Paul, who is being extra snuggly

and Tori for her amazing art

and Mike, for being Mike (I don’t have the vocabulary to list all the reasons)

and Brother James for the phone which is working great, thanks

and John for his reading from Neal Stephenson’s doorstopper last night (the scene from the carriage ride in the snow, if anybody cares)

and Tom and Peggy of COURSE

and Brooke for offering the loan of sundry DVD’s

and our across the alley neighbours for being such a delight

and the rosemary bush out front, which is turning into a household god; what else blooms in January? And the blooms are such a pretty colour.

In a reverie between bouts of sleep Londo and Sarah Michelle Gellar meet on Babylon 5 and Londo congratulates her as if she’s Buffy, and she leans forward very annoyed and says “My name is Sarah Michelle Gellar” and Londo says, “Yes, and you’re married to Freddie Prinze Jr; I’ll be polite and not mention the divorce. My dear lady, we are all actors. Right now, you’re a human being offended at being mistaken for an actor. Believe me, it could be worse…”

Then I said I can hardly wait for bike and spuffy to do the wild thing, and realized I’m probably still too tired to talk.

I looked all over the inertnet for this and couldn’t find it, so I’m posting it (as I remember it). I think this is really cute.

The Jig of the One Celled Organizms

A paranoid paramecium
Went out one day for a stroll
And saw his friend amoeba
Contracting his vacuole
He said, now friend Amoeba –
Just what is eating you?
“It’s a mean old ‘moeba eater!
So tell me what to do!”

You just flick out your flagellum
and pump your plasma gel
stomp your pseudopodium as
You kick him all to hell
Your organelles work overtime
Your ectoplasm too
Just start binary fission
and he’ll just

get

half

of

you!

Debuted the Tapioca song last night; very much enjoyed doing that. Wrote another song “Lifeline”. When I emerge from the grip of my hormones I’ll blog some more.

2019 says I recorded Lifeline, here it is.

Our DVD player is having a Buffyverse induced Near Death Experience. Must Get Cleaner.

I’ll keep this short as I am working on a migraine and the screen is yelling at me to go away. Yet more Buffy; we watched “Crush” and the five of us (John had just got back from “Night and Gay” with the VLGC) delighted in the dialogue, which is pretty funny. James Marsters is not much of an actor, but that doesn’t prevent you from staring at him.

Paul and Keith and I vacuumed and carpet cleaned yesterday because the living room carpet was disGUSTing. Then the boys rearranged the furniture. As we have now given up on the notion that we are pretending we don’t watch TV (and we still don’t have cable) the chairs in the room now look at the TV, which is sitting in the fireplace (which doesn’t work because we’d have to spend an awful lot of money to get it to code). I like the image of a tv sitting in a fireplace. Suits me, somehow.

One of the benefits of the furniture rearrangement is that the living room now has enough space for Keith to do kata in, which he is doing; Kira just skulked off in disgust as he is bounding about punching the air and Kira is not at all convinced this is safe.

Off to Kinko’s or somesuch today to photocopy the Glorious Nosebleed.

Paul’s off to work.

I should find some other domestic project to do before I take off; the living room is making me feel all cheerful.

Rob and LJ over for supper last night. Everybody is in really good shape and we had a fine time.

Email fwded home from work….

All names redacted to protect the hoo hoo’s.

Subject: If you change the word “You” to “Beer”…

Did I ever tell you Beer’s my hero?

Beer’s everything, everything I wish I could be.

Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle,

for Beer is the wind beneath my wings,

’cause Beer is the wind beneath my wings.

…

Oh, the wind beneath my wings.

Beer, beer, beer, beer is the wind beneath my wings.

Fly, fly, fly away. Beer lets me fly so high.

Oh, Beer, Beer, Beer, the wind beneath my wings.

Oh, Beer, Beer, Beer, the wind beneath my wings.

The temp said we should substitute “Weed” instead. Man, ya gotta love Vancouver.

Great concert, Tom L, Peggy, Tom U, Mike J and Agnes J in attendance. He did perform Michael, Michael, Michael and Berkeley Springs and a new waltz that had me practically crying, it’s so pretty. He also sang one song in French and did a ‘world premiere’ of a new tune.

The concert was recorded for Radio Canada and the APTN, so the Vancouver audience (I really like Vancouver audiences) was even more well behaved than normal. I only heard one cell phone go off but it was one of those subdued rings and it was during patter, thank god, and the person carrying the phone was obviously mortified… did I mention my cell phone went off during a fellow comedian’s spiel the other night? I was pretty choked, but she handled it very well.

I have a fairly full dance card today but Paul is wanting to top it up with a meal invite for somebody- he just hasn’t figured out who he wants to feed. Hope they like pork chops, whoever they are.

2019 sez don’t you love how Paul would just say OKAY YOU’RE COOKING DINNER FOR EXTRA PEOPLE and wow I’m not seeing much of a happy marriage here no matter how hard I look. but hey I smile and keep trying.

I am not feeling that sociable at the moment but I imagine I’ll perk up later. My right hip hurts so much it’s hard for me to think about anything else right now. I walked down to Farm Town to get bacon with Paul thinking that would loosen things up but I’m not happy now.

I’m shipping off my French books to Brother James (sometime) and the darnedest thing happened. I got to thinking I should look at them and found a poem in the back of Teach Yourself French Grammar. After I fix it I’ll post it.