I am not a compulsive shopper. I don’t go in for collecting things generally. But when there are words for sale it’s another matter. I have to admit, my word choices are not exactly exciting but my mind went a little blank when faced with such choice. Incidentally, dingbat, moustache and perambulate are still, at the time of this post, available. And unlike the Scrabble dictionary, zen is a valid word (though it’s already been redefined).

If you’re dropping in on the blog today you might notice some stuff moving around, changing colour, shifting a bit… That’s because my blog is in the midst of a bit of an aesthetic update, coinciding with the impending launch of my newly designed main site – more on that a little later. Change is good!

My good friend Megan, creator of the Spark Girl products was interviewed for the fashion plate in the Georgia Straight. The article is here. I may be a bit biased, but I think her stuff is pretty cool. Her heart pendant is my favourite – I wear it quite often which is saying something since I really don’t go in much for jewelry – especially sparkly stuff. But it’s got enough of a macabre twist to appeal to me.

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I started reading a book co-authored by a friend, Blogging for Dummies (2nd edition). And it makes me realise what a rotten blogger I am. I mean, I already knew I was… but now I have proof. I’m crap because I just don’t blog enough. Mostly it’s because I don’t have time and lately I’ve been working on stuff that really isn’t bloggable in detail yet. This particular thing is just occupying way too much time right now and not leaving much room for bloggable items. or laundry. or sketching. or that lovely pile of books that’s growing, unread on the bedside table. or the garden which is sloughing off winter at an alarming pace. I’m stuck on the project that just won’t die. And by die, I mean, be finished, completed, come to fruition. Not die as in, “we’re very sorry but we’ve decided to call the whole thing off, pity you spent 10 months of your life on it, you fool” (which does happen time to time in the industry that this particular project is associated with and wouldn’t surprise me). So let’s not get confused about that, project gods, I would like a nice satisfying end to this thing so I can move on to the stuff that I need and desperately want to be doing. I will happily sacrifice my bestest, strongest, softest and most supple 6B to you if it will help.

On the subject of blogging, this weekend is Northern Voice – the blogging unconference, or whatever. I was going to pass it by – “I’m not a real blogger, why would I got to a conference about something I don’t really do?” – except that I know some of the organisers and they’ve piqued my curiosity about the whole thing. As well, the pre-party is held in a tiki lounge – sorry Polynesian room at the Waldorf Hotel which is reason enough. I admit, I’ve never really got the whole tiki lounge thing. I’ve actually had dinner in one that has periodic thunder showers and I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, apparently, because I’d forgotten about it until now. Or perhaps it was because the food was mediocre and overpriced – I don’t remember greasy spring rolls being a typical Polynesian fare. But I digress. I’m interested in seeing the artwork at the Waldorf- the murals and the velvet paintings. I’m kind of interested to see a velvet painting that may actually be art and will not remind me of 1970’s rec room decor or the basement of an spca thrift store. As for the conference itself, a few fellow CWILL BC authors are part of a panel about authors who blog. The conference will either make me blog more and better or, well… or nothing one way or the other.

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The other day, I was tagged by Fiona with the 5 Random Things About Me list. After rereading my list I realise it is weighted heavily toward the ‘weird injuries I’ve sustained’ subject which creates a more thematic sort of list rather than a purely random one. However, weird injuries or accidents are really the only interesting things about me – random or not – so they’re going to stay.

1. I fell out of a second story window when I was little and came away from it without a bump, bruise or scratch. Babies are bouncy, I guess. I am less bouncible and more bruisible these days.

2. I have been bitten by the following mammals: squirrel, rabbit, cat, seal, dog, pig, horse. The most damage, measured in blood spilled, was inflicted by the squirrel.

3. At age four I had to have stitches in my tongue following an ice skating accident. Keep your tongue in your mouth while skating and you’ll keep your tongue.

4. While visiting a Central American country, I wore a small scorpion on my back, inside my shirt, for the better part of a morning before I noticed it and it was removed without incident. After that, I was careful to check all my clothing before getting dressed.

5. These days I worry often about the state of the planet and my impact on it. Seeing newly designed disposable (plastic) consumer items advertised on TV is enough to simultaneously annoy me and throw me into a funk. And there is absolutely no reason for grocery stores to wrap bananas or coconuts in plastic packaging. phew! end of plastic rant.

note: the seal pictured above is not the culprit from item number 2. But it looks a bit like the culprit – big eyes, flippers, whiskers, cute… and this is a better photo than the one I have of the seal in question.

I know the whole idea is to tag 5 more people… but I’m just not very good at doing what I’m supposed to. Take this as an invitation to post your own list on your blog if you so wish. Why wait to be tagged?

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Animal cruelty, dogfighting and poisoning are not generally what one thinks of when they are planning a Caribbean holiday. There is a new website for the Nevis humane society. It was created by a friend’s girlfriend who is studying medicine on the small island and it brings to light some of the darker sides of island life.

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My friend Rachael, photographic artist extraordinaire, has lovely photos of trees hand-printed on metal for sale on Etsy.

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Lost Lake, Whistler B.C | January 2008

Just got back from a couple of days holidays with old friends from out-of-town. We ate some great meals together, topped off a couple of evenings with port and great dark chocolate, mourned the lack of Trader Joe’s in Canada and caught up on lots and lots of conversation. I played with my friend’s baby (who for being born and bred in California was a really good sport in the cold weather and put up with one very slushy miserable day like the true British Columbian she’s to become), took loads of photos, went snowshoeing with my boyfriend on a lovely sparkly, sunny day and did absolutely no drawing whatsoever. Time away from work and out of the studio is good.

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The Zenn Car. I’d like a sage green one.

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The other day, we were checking out the opening credits for the film Juno (which are great) and suddenly recognised our street – drawn in detail right down to one of our neighbour’s cars and the no parking signs on his fence.

Here’s one of the photos I took from our kitchen window of the filming that happened back in March.

We felt sorry for the crew who had to make the street look like fall by tying bunches of leaves onto the bare branches while it poured with rain. The day of shooting was dry, but the next day poured again while they undid all the trees and swept up the leaves they’d scattered on the road. In the background, behind all the fake fall foliage, the fruit trees were in full bloom.

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