And after 20 Hours of Work...

Alright, for posterity... some pics from the work I did yesterday.

The two most significant things I let go of yesterday:

(1) My B.A. Here's the stack of notes, papers, exams. I only kept the bit on top with the pink elastic, since that was a course given by our top star in the department (Prof Brecher, an Arab-Israeli expert who doesn't give this course anymore.) For most classes, you can re-find anything you need in the assigned readings; but I can't be sure about that where Brecher's course is concerned, which he taught for decades.

(2) The Royal Adderly bone china flowers that used to belong to my mother's mother, who died before I was born. I loved these when I was a girl. It was one of my most cherished possessions. But the pore old thing is chipped and broken, and really hard to dust. It was time.

Here's my poopy old room, with the books all piled on top of each other. My bed was pushed up against them, so I couldn't even get at some of the books. And I actually had a small dining room table next to the bed, initially as a study table, but eventually it just got piled high with readings, art I didn't have room for (but didn't want Nombly to pee on), the cat bed, and other accumulated crapola.

These shelves were all Stepmommy's when she was, like, 20. The plastic ones were breaking, taped together, buckling under the weight of my course notes. The joints on the metal ones were so loose the units would leeeaaan to one side or another.

Mid-job. The fiction books laid out in alpha order on my table.
The reaction of Nombly, who is bottom-most in the hierarchy, was to come and spray my filing cabinet. Right as I stood there alphabetizing. Sigh. Oh well, a filing cabinet is washable. The paper towels, bags, cleaners, and Feliway were all close to hand. No sense getting mad--it's not his fault I brought Haley into the mix and made him insecure (when he was already a neurotic Woody Allen type to begin with.) Cats stake out territory in your home, and when you move everything around it induces anxiety, so I guess his thought was: "Meh meh meh! Where is my territory? Where will Sherry let me sit? Where can I sleep in safety? What happened to all my Spots??"

When cleaning your room, it's important to dump a lot of stuff on your bed. This way you have to finish the job before going to bed.

Sherry's first reaction to the final room: "Where the frak is my cat bed? On the floor? What up with that! Nombly will piss on it!" I moved it to the top of the washing machine.

Haley's reaction? She strolled into the room while I was taking pics, sat smack down in the middle of the bed, and looked up at the camera. "I'm ready for my close-up Miss Mabel." Nothing phases this chick.

Here is the Fiction section, by genre and alpha. I stacked vertically because otherwise there isn't enough room on my shelves.

Sadie Scrymgeour Baynton (repaint by Stepmommy) was given the London Collection to guard.

Non-Fiction (the other half is here in the living room.) The first shelf by the wall is school books and course packs. The next two are mostly history books, and other books I use for story research. The London collection stretches across the top, ending with My Favourite Authors (guarded by The Musical Moose.) And then the general fiction section starts.

The reason for the huge bedside table--I spend a lot of time sitting in bed. It's a bedside table, vanity table, and writing desk all in one. (Eye masks, Calcium, codeine, pens, paper, MaeWitch's perfumes, the books I'm reading, my story notebook...)

I still have to do the desk...

and the laundry closet.

And I have to decide what to do with this shelf.

So far I've got my Darci doll (who represents my Inner Child... I wanted to be *A Star*), the London souvenirs Gilby bought me...

My London Traveling Companion: Yoda (with his suitcase), and the friend he brought back with him...

And gifts/souvenirs from others: Shoes from MidnightStreet's trip to Holland, mini Christmas Carol from my dad, soapstone carving from Vidal, mask from Italy via Gilby...

...homemade Tom Servo (Mystery Science Theatre 3000) made by my brother, and the scorpion Pablo and Delyriam brought back from an Egypt exhibit in Vancouver.

I think I'll also keep my Core Values books here, guarded of course by the minotaur (whose maze features prominently in Joseph Campbell's writings.)

And that's the end of my shooooow.

Mamma mia the pain the pain

Wow. It's, like, 7:30 in the morning.

I was up at 11 AM, and worked the whole day (with short breaks) til 5:30 AM on cleaning and rearranging my bedroom. Unless you're a Book Person, you don't know how long it takes to haul those books off and put them back up again on new shelves. Eeeps! Plus I had to reorg/re-alpha them all. They used to be arranged by subject (non fiction) and by genre and alpha (fiction) but when Nombly turned into The Peeing Wonder I had to take everything off the bottom shelves before they got hit. (If there is one thing about books... they cannot be cleaned when either Liquid or Smell gets into them.) So I just tossed and shoved and shoveled books up on each other, and tried to get through the rest of my MA--and things were already a disorganized mess to begin with. (School is Death. Really.)

But that was only part of it. I was overdue for the Every-5-Years go through paperwork and throw out old crap. Tossed all my class notes (don't tell Fernando, he'd just die.) Found some extremely amusing things written by friends which I DID keep, including Vidal's scientific system for assessing friends. (The number 10 strength that a friend can possess is: Stereotypical good looks. wtf!) Found the minutes Gilby wrote for an olds work leads meeting, which I'd kept because of all the Inappropriate Humour. Postings will (and must) follow soon.

The desk is still piled with stuff, but I know where it all has to go. It'll wait. At least the bed is clear.

Oh Lord. My feet and calves were in such pain from standing all day and night, I had to take Tylenol. I came here to watch a little tv, and made the MONUMENTAL mistake of checking email. Should know better.

-->Just got up to go take my (much overdue) daily pills. And apparently Tylenol does NOT make sore feet unsore. I feel crippled.

On the plus side: Made homemade chick pea salad (from the Get It Ripe book) and homemade herb bread (from How It All Vegan) --which were both excellent-- while faux-roomba vaccuumed my bedroom for me.

Better hit the sheets.

As my grandfather's cousin, Wilf, used to say: See you at the crack of noon.

Portobellos and a wee kitchen table

I'm slowwwwwwwly cleaning up my room today, so I can throw out my falling apart book shelves and move in some wood ones (mostly inherited from my bro when he moved.)

I haven't been cooking much because, with all the moving around of furniture, my kitchen was messy. But I now make it the priority room to clean and fix up, so that I can sustain myself while doing other activities. ;-) Today I made pancakes, portobello hamburgers, and prepped a bunch of rhubarb to make dessert tomorrow.

A friend once made grilled portobellos and they were SO good, that I was excited to see a recipe for them in my latest cookbook splurge: Get It Ripe by Jai Steele. I even found wee portobellos that would fit nicely in hamburger buns.

The big trick, though, was my determination to use my indoor grill. Mother bought this for us I think around our wedding, since grilling was a Fine Tradition on that side of the family. (My grandfather was a great cook in general, including the barbie, and I remember one summer visiting my mother where all we ate was boston broils on the BBQ.)

I took the grill out to use once, when I first got it, and was overwhelmed by the directions. It's FULL of warnings. Don't do this! Wash it like this! Do this the first time! Most alarming was the message that it was going to smoke for the first 15 minutes, the first time it was used. wtf! That's the one that threw me off all this time. I don't have anywhere to cook on my balcony, and I didn't want a smoke filled home!

Anyway, I decided it's time to try out the barb, since I'm all about The Cooking. I read the instructions about 5 times through. Washed all the parts and carefully dried it. Found that I could stand it evenly on my stove--where there's an oven fan in case of smoking. I got the big fan and pointed it into the kitchen, towards the open balcony door. All Ready.

And then there was pretty much no smoke. So the spell has been broken and I can use the barb. I've discovered that the main thing needed for using appliances is convenience--if they're set out in convenient places, I'll use them. I just reorganized my kitchen so that I have two long shelves with all my appliances neatly set out.

Anyway... here are my photos from The Big Barb Attempt! After 11 years, finally christened. And I must say the burgers were great--better than any vegan burger recipes I've tried making, which always fall apart.

Fernando is now about to try them. I haven't informed them that they're made of portobellos, which I kept hidden all day while they were marinating. He hates mushrooms. I'm hoping to fool him. ...I'm back. Didn't fool him. Out for mushroom burgers, though he was a good sport. I made him a fruit smoothie as recompense.

We also took this little kitchen table from my brother. I was dithering over whether to take it, but with a jolly table cloth and my old chairs (which I painted and upholstered a long time ago, and I love them) it's been a great addition to the kitchen.
[That damn kid is pointing his laser pointer into our apt again. If only he'd shine it towards the floor so Haley could chase it.]

A lovely day and obedience to authority

Loo loo loo... sitting on my balcony which at this time of day is shaded. There's a cool breeze. A cat to my right, a cat to my left. Reading the health articles in nyt.com... ahh...

Mind you, I'm reading about the Milgram electric shock experiments--weee. Here's an interesting slideshow of photos from the experiments, which I'd never seen. The article--about how people are still studying the experiments today--is here.

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.