Randomness from the Meowee East

If cats had their way, they would spend their entire lives up in the air. Maybe that's what they're shouting at the birds from the window each morning. "Take me with you!"


Sherry asleep with his head against the water bowl. He would occasionally lean in and take a drink.

Empty chairs and empty tables (as they say in Les Miz) (except it's not cause everyone died from fighting in a revolution)

Well yesterday Fernando and I (mostly the brave Fernando) finished clearing out Pablo's apartment. Some things he ran out of time to take out, or that we'd decided to keep. (I even exchanged his kitchen sink plug for the one in our apt, that's always been broken. A scavenger til the end!)

It sort of depressed both of us being over there. I think for Fernando it was more a mourning of the passage of the marriage--he hates to see people break up. For me, it was a bit broader... just 11 years of shared history. It's very strange to go through a place that's all empty, when you have memories if New Years, or movie watching, or standing in doorways having long conversations, or playing pop bottle with dear departed Bantha Rottweiler, and of just hanging with Pablo and Delyriam and Tonga. That's basically a 3rd of my life! I don't like the idea of someone else living there--I will give Rude Stares when the new renters move in.

Here is our last look at 108

The last time fiddling with that fracking lock.
(Okay won't miss that.)

Entering the empty abode.

Well empty except for a microwave we left, and a wine glass peeking out.

No embellishments to liven up the 70s yellow (which I guess should be coming back in style any time now.)

A lone hanger.

Fernando looks for the occupants, but they are gone... gone...

But he consoles himself with Warcraft on his new
(from Pablo) desktop.

illustrated edition

I was too tired yesterday to upload the pics from my day.

Here's the village.


Here's the last thing Pablo had the most trouble parting with. He collected these in childhood, never used them, kept them as a nice little collection. (I forget where they were from. 7 11?)

His favourite.

Here Fernando and Pablo remove the last big piece of furniture, the ole couch. Why don't they make couches to fit through doors? Or doors that expand when people move crap!
Here Pablo pulls a Gookie while scrubbing down the white board. That board hung in their apartment for as long as I can remember, with every conceivable phone number, written in different colours, at angles, in corners, jammed up against each other. The last evidence of the Old Life.

And here he is throwing it away. Most of the stuff piled in front of the skip were P's -- whenever there's something we think someone might want to take, we leave it in front of the skip, not in. Already people have taken away, among other things, a TV, a Godzilla doll, a doggy cookie jar; and of this lot, everything's been taken except the couch, which is all in pieces anyway (Fernando kept the cushions) and the chest of drawers. We're all so hard up on this block, it's not hard to give your things away.
And this pic just because it's cute. Sherry sitting on his favourite bench, pulled up to the dishwasher to eat.

Alone again... naturally?

Haven't been online today or yesterday. Brother Pablo is moving to Vancouver (in about an hour). Fernando and I are taking some of his things (lots of book shelves, some other stuff) so that fact finally spurred me to do The Great Apartment Reorg that's been due for a long while. I still have a lot to do, but most of the major pieces are in place.

Taking down all my books, throwing out my olllld shelves that are falling apart, replacing them, and replacing the books will be the longo part. Though always kind of fun. What book lover doesn't revel in her own books? But luckily I got rid of a LOT of them last summer and this year.

Anyway, Fernando's been helping me, which only happens about once in 5 years because it's all very traumatic for him. Luckily I'd gone to the Pointe Claire village and done a bunch of shopping, so we had grapes and cherries to keep our sugar levels up.

We helped Pablo bring all kinds of stuff down to the garbage, and then I made vegan chocolate milk shakes.

*

We just saw Pablo off to the taxi. It was very strange and sad. I'm used to saying goodbye to people because I've moved a lot in life, so I'll adapt... but goodbyes are sad all the same. Now there's no friendly neighbour down the hall, just me and Fernando and the kitties.

I told Sherry to stop playing with Nombly's tail.

So he chose to nap on it instead.

My blog last June

* Read this story: "Polish man has woken up from a 19-year coma to find the Communist party no longer in power and food no longer rationed, Polish TV reports."

* Was writing the story I'm now editing.

* Was therefore studying a few Native issues, as research--specifically the "repatriation" of artifacts -- getting back sacred objects of ancestor remains from museums.

* Wrote about romance writing I liked or disliked.

* Doing a massive cleanout of the apartment. Parted with a ton of books and the last of my cassette tapes.

* And then posting videos of some random songs I hadn't heard in ages. (And now I'm checking to see if the ones that weren't on itunes last year are on yet... Oh sweet! "I Can Dream About You" by Dan Hartman!) (OMG I just remembered I can use Zamzar to turn the youtube songs I want into mp3s. Double sweet!)

Reading reading reading reading i love it love it love it love it

Oo it's so nice to be at work and seeing books I want to read, and I can buy them without guilt! No homework competing with my reads! Tonight I noticed two books I've been waiting for in paperback

--one about some chick time traveling to Jane Austen's time, and the other is a novel about teen girls in Saudi, written by a Saudi woman.



I also took a chance on something called The Tailor's Daughter about a Victorian period chick who loses her hearing (includes murder! and romance!), and a vampire novel called The Historian. I think I'll read the latter next, after I'm done the Jane Langton mystery. I'm hoping it will give me a similar experience as reading Strange & Norrell last summer--sitting on the swing on my balcony, enjoying a slowwww read.

(That cucumber perfume is starting to itch again. Or maybe it's reacting to the heat of the laptop my wrist is pressed against.)

The Great Perfume Quest! (updated June 23, 08)

June 23

I know her beauty and the moonlight overthrew David, but I've decided I'm not a Bathsheba girl. It's too strong--I couldn't even wash it off with lemon juice.

June 22

BPAL SO FAR:

Alright, I think I've tried all the bpals at some point. They don't seem to be itching me anymore, unless it's just certain scents. I've narrowed it down to 7, but it's hard to compare perfumes all in a row. Just opening the box she gave me makes my hands all smelly from a mixture of perfumes.

I just retried on the cucumber, and it really does smell like cuces. So while I like the smell, I think I can get my kicks from eating salad instead.

Left to retry:
Nuit, Dormouse, Melancholy, Ephemera, Bathsheba and Hellfire.

But I still haven't tried the Possets brand, or Arcana! As Midnightstreet would say, It's all very distressing. But it should be easier to track now that I'll have the laptop here in the room with me. Never give up! Never surrender!

Dormouse (and Miss Mabel's Allergies)
"A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony."

Well, I really liked this one, but after doing some cooking it basically was washed off. So I put some by my ears, but that's all gone now too. But I'm also finding that most (all) of these perfumeries make the skin on my forearms burn a little bit, and this one did especially. With other scents the burning wore off; but with this one, when I added some to my neck, the burning started again on my arms and was pretty bad til I washed my arms.

I've also realized I'm mildly allergic to latex, which is why bras torture me, and even my stretchy shirts (most shirts these days) are a bit annoying. I stopped wearing necklaces years ago because the tickling against my chest drives me out of my head. (So I don't know if I could wear perfume in a locket instead.)

I'm not used to being a Sensitive Person! I don't like it!

*

Squirting Cucumber

"Yikes! A spurt of wet, grassy greenness."
(these are the descriptions from the BPAL site by the way)

Sep 1: I really like this one, but I had to put a lot on. By the time I got to work (walking again) my initial bit was basically gone. It was non-existent after a few hours. I had to put a good dollop on both wrists when I got home. I really like it... apparently I'm a squirty cucumber kind of gal. But even with the Good Dollops on, I can only smell it when I stick my nose to my wrist. I feel like this would cost me a lot of money, because I'd have to pour it on to get any effect. ;-) But I do like this scent.


*
French Love
"A warm, soft, sexual blend. Sweet and alluring."

Wore this to work today, putting on more than I did BP. I was bold! But actually it was very faint by the time I got there; but maybe I sweated it off by walking to work in hot weather. It seemed very rich, like, I should only wear it once I'm 60 years old, and dripping in diamonds. I'm too young for this perfume!

*

Black Phoenix
"A dark, languid scent."

Didn't make a big impression. I wore it to work, but could hardly smell it.

*

Sundew
"A carnivorous enchantress: diverse, lovely and graceful, emitting a sticky, glowing golden, sweet and terminally inviting scent"

This was way strong when I put it on (ruined my breakfast, my tongue tasted like perfume), but I liked it better later. I'm not sure I want to tell people I wear a perfume that sounds like a fruit juice, though.

*

Bathsheba
"Carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk."

Was overpowered by whatever I was wearing on the other wrist. Guess I'll have to try again.

*

Hellfire
"A swirl of pipe tobacco, hot leather, ambergris, dark musk and the lingering incense smoke from their Black Mass."

This was nice, floweree. But it puts that song in my head from Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney, where the priest is lusting after Esmerelda. Not sure I want that song in my head every day. The description sounds far more violent than it smelled!

*

Euterpe
"Carnation and white poppy, honeysuckle, lemon, iris and white musk."

Smelled like my health food store, though I liked it better as the day went and certain layers or whatever disappeared.
*

Dragon's Hide
"Dragon’s blood, leather and a hint of smoke."

Meh. It smelled chemically or something. Maybe that Hint of Smoke. How the hell do they get leather in perfume? I'm going to assume that's some freaky code.

*

Ephemera
"Sorrowful violet and chamomile with muguet, white geranium, calla lily and tea rose with a hint of autumn leaves."

Liked this a lot. (At the end I'll go back and re-sniff the ones I liked best.)

*

Nuit
"Dazzling white musks, white rose and night-blooming jasmine with the soft moss of moonlit meadows, a waft of Egyptian incense, and a gentle breath of moonflower."

I had to wash this off right away--hoo baby! It was so strong I couldn't function. Maybe I would have to try again with a tiny amount, though I didn't put more than a swipe with the mini wand.


* * *
These first scents are all from the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab,
courtesy of Maggie's double samples, which she let me take home to try.
They are vegan. (They had better be, or she'll be in trouble for leading me
down a false path!)

If you are NOT a perfumia expert, my reviews will make much more sense than the ones on all those BPAL fan sites. ;-) Heh heh. I never know what they're talking about. Maggie's boyfriend has a Four Label system whenever she makes him smell a scent--something like: Chocolate, Forest, Flowers, Spices. She'll have to Commentify and remind me.

Cat-itude

Sherry and I. Just hangin'. When I got home from vacation Sherry and Haley were fighting more, but things seem to have settled back to the norm--don't know what Fernando was letting them get away with!

Sherry was the first cat to forgive me for leaving. In fact, he didn't sulk me at all--just came right up and demanded attention and love.

Nombly was less enthusiastic, ready to make me grovel a bit. Fernando is his favourite anyway--they're off playing Warcraft right now.

Haley is the one who gave me the big time shames. She usually sleeps in my room, by my feet or on her cat bed, but that first night she slept in the living room. Before I left Fernando couldn't bend over her, she would growl at him, but now she let's him do whatever he wants. That's good, but when I first returned she rubbed my nose in it. "Oh, Daddy's my new favourite now. Where's Fernando? I wonder what HE is up to."

But after sufficient attention she's back to sleeping at my feet. Still... she's off in the living room now, probably sleeping in her new fave spot, Willy's old cat nest.

Ah, now this is the life of a laptop.

Now that Fernando has his desktop, and I've got a new router, I'm finally living the fantasized life of a laptop owner. Sitting on my bed, correcting the draft of last summer's novel, listening to any music I choose from my itunes library, and able to fact check at a moment's notice, while Fernando plays Warcraft in the living room rather than nagging me for the computer.

Pregnancy Pact??

Definitely the weirdest news story I've heard this year. This is definitely going to show up as a movie of the week.

"AT LEAST 17 American high school students, many aged 16 and younger, are expecting babies after apparently making a "pregnancy pact"."

ice cream, couches and makeup

Howdee. Got home early Tuesday morning. I'm not sure what I've been doing in that time... spent some time with Move-Away-Pablo, and Fernando and I had some long conversations. Did groceries, tidied up. We threw out that damn couch that I couldn't sit on because it gave me headaches, and we gave away the willow chair that ripped my clothes. So now we're not really sitting on anything.

On the plane ride home I plotted out more of my next book, so that's coming along.

Today I, un-Thoreau-like, did a little shopping. I bought a new router cause my old one sucked, and now that Fernando has his own desktop I'll be using the laptop more and want to be on the nets. (Sitting in my bed right now--yay!)

I also bought an ice cream maker. It seems horribly materialistic to always be buying new kitchen gadgets, but soy ice cream costs around $7.00 for 1 litre, so this gadget will pay for itself after 4.5 uses.

I dropped by Sephora to see a friend who works there. It just opened in the mall near my home, and is to make-up types what Chapters was to me when it opened near my home. More make-up than you can shake a mascara wand at.

I wasn't used to seeing her in un-Chapters clothes. When I described the way Sephora employees are dressed to Pablo, he said: So she looks like one of Madonna's backup singers? Yes. Yes exactly. No wonder Garraty was too intimidated to inside--probably thought he'd have his Manly Life Force sucked out.

If it's Sunday it Must Be the Vancouver City Dump

Today we went to the city dump to throw some stuff out. Very exciting, because I've never been to a dump before. When I hear dump I just picture a big pile of garbage, but it was all very high tech.

still not sleeping

Watching Murder at 1600. Snipes is cute. Fiddling around with my blogs. Yesterday I finally killed the religion one, and replaced it with a writing one. I wasn't going to have a writing blog... not sure what I'll ever say on it... but one of the agents whose blogs I read says everyone needs a web presence of some kind. I'm not gonna run out and buy a dot com just yet. ! That falls under the category of "fantasizing rather than doing real work".

I don't know whether to watch the rest of this movie, or go to bed. Let's just check the time... it goes for another hour and a half! Forget it.

I'm sleepy like a sleepy moze-foze but don't feel like going to bed.

If it's... bah I don't know anymore.

Wow. I watched yet another adultery movie. Talk about theme of the month!

Today I did nothing but sit on the couch. But here are photos from yesterday's walk...

Fast Eddie

Sassy (or Lambikins as I call her)

Bobby in his carriage

The Rockster

The Brat Pack

The Dog Wrangler

frigga frakka frakky

What the menowz! I FINALLY get into the right mood to open up my novel, give it a last re-read/edit, and write up the outline at the same time... and realize that the version on this computer is not the most recent. I mostly wrote the story on my desktop.

If it's Thursday it Must Be Vancouver

Not much to report today. It was hot and sunny, I had trouble reading my book out of doors. I just ate and watched TV. Dug out my mother's books so she can do a little purging (not the Eating Disorder kind.) It's now that time of night when I look for a good movie on tv, and only find Cedric the Entertainer Goes on Vacation, or movies about adultery.

Let's see...
- robber trying to turn life around has to do one more heist (if Hollywood is to be believed, all bank robberies are by wannabe reforming robbers)
- Claude Rains and dinosaurs
- here's the kind of movie description I love: "An American photojournalist shows up unannounced on his estranged sister's doorstep in rural Nova Scotia." How long is that movie... about one minute? "Hey." "Hey. Long time no see. ...Come in." The End.
- movie about blood diamonds -- no
- vet assistant stitches body parts together to make herself some friends
- Seven -- er, no, don't need to see that twice
- Stephen King story... hmmeh
- movie about adultery (Fatal Attraction)
- Mask -- seen it
- Rounders -- seen it

Sigh. When I was in school I swear every channel was constantly showing something amazing!

If its Wednesday it Must Be Vancouver

Today:
- read Thoreau
- ate chocolate for breakfast
- showered
- sat on chair in sun and read novel, with cats and dog
- explored back yard accompanied by Oasis (the Paws that refreshes)
- took Bobby on back yard walk
- ate Indian take-out
- watched tv
- internetted
- watched movie (2nd movie about adultery this week ??!)

SCENES FROM A DAY:

Since seeking out scary things in the Step-mommy room, I thought I would seek out scary things in Mommy Yard. Now suspect she is involved in Dark Arts.

Headless Dragon

Donkey talisman found in shed, no doubt to
ward off gnome thieves.

Prettier things... little flowers

guarded by scary thorns.

Less rare, but less dangerous flowers.

And the animals...

While the dogs are out.

Nature Boy
(who now follows me everywhere)

Sassy

Oasis with his pretty green eyes
He finally climbed up for a schnoogle today

Later: napping Eddy

Napping Rockster

A cat tree hidden in the grasses!
Now that's the life.