happy canada day!

Happy Canada Day!

Saw Paul Kwinn on Thursday night...he's in town visiting Allison. I met Paul, Allison, Allison's husband John, & Jodi at the Pickle Barrel (where else?) and then hung out at Allison's place before. I had been up working since 3 a.m., so was pretty braindead, but Paul didn't mock me too much.

Today, the same crew above plus Rand, Rand's wife Tanya, Jodi's hubby James, and Jeff are all meeting here for lunch, and then we're off to the island for Canada Day festivities.

Today's blatherphoto was taken just now by our new digital Canon Elph camera, which is very cool. My only camera seems to have died, sadly. I'm going to take the new camera along today, and will try post a picture or two later tonight or tomorrow.

I had my first harp lesson last week! Sharlene Wallace is amazing. And of course, my technique wasn't quite on...I had figured as much. I had been holding the harp and my hands incorrectly; no wonder I was having so much trouble with some of the chord reaches (yeah right...NOW I'm going to be a stunning harp virtuoso :)). I bought her two CDs, which are really, really good. You can find out more about her at http://www.sharlenewallace.com.

GUEST BLATHERER: ALLISON DURNO:

Hi everyone! We're just about to head off to Centre Island to wander around, build a fire on the beach and watch fireworks. We've been having fun here. Debbie and I played "Heart and Soul" as a duet on her harp! How cool is that? Rand brought me a book to read called "The Big Book of the 70's" :). Whoo, he knows me to well. It'll keep me going 'til Harry Potter comes out next week :). Played EverQuest with John, Jodi and Paul last night- got to be a female rogue named Rianne. I've been having fun with the games instruction Paul has been giving me since he got here. Tomorrow there's going to be a filk at my place! Everyone in commuting distance come to my filk!

GUEST BLATHERER: PAUL KWINN:

Yahoo, I'm in a strange land called Canada. Contrary to rumors, there is no snow here. It's rather warm here today, in fact. Everquest: yes, I felt guilty because Jodi was hoping to get to converse with characters in the game, and then as soon as she tried to talk to somebody, she accidentally atttacked him, and he killed her. Jodi didn't care for the game much after that. On the flight here, I wrote a new song (from an idea John Durno, Allison's husband) named "Let's Get the Monkeys to Do It". Rand said he won't include it on the new Ookla album, though (in spite of the fact that it's all about monkeys). I've been enjoying myself a lot, unless you're my wife Beckett, in which case I've spent all of my time pining for you. (Hi Beck!)

GUEST BLATHERER: TANYA BELLAVIA:

This feels like my virgin blathering experience. And you know, maybe its slightly overrated. Still, if you get the chance, you should try this. Like all things, I'm sure that this gets better with practice. Just not quite living up to the fantasy. Anyways, I have no idea what the rest of today holds for me. something about Australian fireworks. So, I'll find out the answer to that deep mystery, a quest for knowledge that haunts all of us . . . just what do the Australians know about fireworks? Supposedly there s a musical score to accompany this grand spectacle. Well, the gang is now leaving.