decision & insomnia cures

So I've decided to move back to Toronto sooner than later. The original plan was for me to stay in Philadelphia until March. Circumstances are somewhat different at work than I expected, however. That plus missing family and friends (and husband!) has convinced me that it's time to do something proactive to remedy the situation.

The thought of all the loose ends that need tying up or adjust before I move home is daunting, but this is overshadowed by sheer joy at the thought of going back home. :-)

Had lunch with my friend Josh, a part-time freelancer for Inkspot. When -does- a work associate become a friend rather than just "someone from work"? I'm sure someone has written down rules about this somewhere. Anyway, do check out his Web site, which is very cool.

Jeff is coming to visit tomorrow! We're going to New York for the weekend to visit with friends.

Follow-up: insomnia cures

Thanks to all of you who posted suggestions for curing insomnia in Blatherchat. I realize there are books out there on the topic, but I was mainly interested in getting ideas from people who have actually successfully used these ideas. :-) Here's a summary, for the record:

Celestial Seasonings' Tension Tamer tea - Jim

Sleeping tablets that contain valerian (my favorite brand is Paxs, available at health food stores) - Jim

A whole Actifed - Jim

over-the-counter sleeping pills. (e.g. Tylenol PM) - Cosmo

"My best cure for insomnia is to start studying my notes from English class. I find that 'Heart of Darkness' works especially well for this. If only I could find a way to keep this from working during class, I'd be set." - Lyanne

work on the computer (it may not work for everyone, though) - Beckett

journal writing - Beckett

valerian root tablet just before bedtime - Teddy

"My tactics are 1) drink a mug of warm milk 3) avoid seeing the time to avoid frustrating myself even more 4) read something _really_ boring 5) And if I am mentally fussing about something, writing it down in my journal." - Andrea

Thanks, everyone!

harp name

Okay, you've all convinced me. My harp's name is now officially Gwyneth Paltrow. If anyone hassles me about it, I'll blame you lot. :-)

ovff flashback

MY CAKE

Diana Huey made me an absolutely delicious chocolate cake with chocolate mint icing. She asked Corwin what she should write on top, and he suggested "Hi!!" So that's exactly what she wrote. :-) Jodi, Allison and I all shared pieces of the cake during the weekend, and I had two pieces for breakfast one morning (I am so bad).

BOB KANEFSKY

The person I spent the most one-on-one time with was Bob Kanefsky. When did we do this? He and I shared a shuttle ride back to the airport after the convention and also had dinner together at the airport. I never had much of a chance to get to know Bob, and felt a bit awkward at first, not really sure how the conversation would go. I needn't have worried; we had a lot of fun. He's a fascinating guy, and fun to talk to. Sometimes it's easy to forget that people at filk cons have lives OUTSIDE of the convention. :-) I'm sure some people think I spend all my regular time eating chocolate and talking to the food in my fridge. :-) Anyway, I found out lots more about Bob's work at NASA. Very cool-sounding job!!! Bob won a Pegasus award for Best Songwriter/Composer, by the way.

Speaking of which, I still haven't had a chance to update the OVFF Web site with the Pegasus winners (Steve Macdonald has very kindly offered to help me maintain the OVFF site from now on...thanks, Steve!). FYI, the winners this year were:

Best Filk Song: Sam's Song, by Zander and Soren Nyrond

Best Writer/Composer: Bob Kanefsky

Best Performer: Ookla the Mok

Best End of the World Song: Out of the Clear Blue Sky, by Jane Robinson

Best Food/Drink Song: tie between 307 Ale by Tom Smith, and My Jalapeno Man by me

Today's Blatherpic:
Simon performing "Sam's Song" in the Pegasus concert, with Diana accompanying. The song ended up winning in the Best Filk Song category.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

sleep

Have you ever had some days when all you want to do is sleep? I'm having a lot of those days lately. Maybe it's my brain finally going on strike ("ENOUGH ALREADY!").

It's a fickle organ, though, because as much as I want to sleep, I can't seem to get enough..I'm waking up during the night. Usually around 3 or 4 am, and then have trouble falling back asleep. What do you all do when you get insomnia? I'm trying the usual recommended remedies...herbal tea (I still have some left from my birthday gift from Lissa, Phil, Annie & Tim, plus yummy cinnamon tea from Beckett), which I have in my favourite mug (a bright yellow mug with my name painted in bright letters, also a gift from the Brits). I read. I play my harp. I try very hard to stay offline.

Other insomnia suggestions welcome!

Went home for the weekend. Did a lot of sleeping. :-) Went for brunch at Mildred Pierce's with Jeff, Amanda, and Helen. Went to the Paramount with Jeff, Brian Parkinson, and Bryan Fullerton, to see Charlies' Angels. My fave Angel was Cameron Diaz. Theirs was Drew Barrymore. :-) Afterward, we went to Fune for sushi. Visited with my sister and her family and my Dad, who is now home from Japan. He sent me some photos while in Japan; today's Blathering picture is one of them (a class he taught).

Had a harp lesson last night. My teacher's been away for a while, playing on a cruise ship. She came back looking relaxed and tanned. :-) I've memorized "My Love Is A Red, Red Rose" and am learning "The Dark Isle" by Iaian McLaughlin, arranged by Sue Richards. I'm learning how to do "rolls" now...y'know, the harp cliche ripple-chordy effect thingy. Rolls are supposed to sound graceful and natural; mine currently sound like misguided hand spasms. Also learning "Sakura", arranged by Janet Correll. Kim (my teacher) showed me how to make the harp sound more like a koto by playing very close to the soundboard. She also showed me how to do harmonics, do interesting twangy things with the strings, and using the harp as a percussion instrument with the tuning key and also by weaving a piece of paper into the strings.

Very cool lesson.

Harper friends keep asking me if my harp has told me its name yet. I have to confess that the only name it has told me so far is "Gwyneth Paltrow". I refuse to call my harp Gwyneth Paltrow, so am still waiting for another name.

ovff flashback

Talis Kimberley's concert. That woman has incredible stage presence! And velvet dresses to die for. :-) I'm in awe of her songwriting abilities. Have I gushed enough? What's your favourite Talis song? Mine is "Death Danced At My Party", though her song about books (Let Me Turn Your Pages?) is a close second.

Talis brought me a Cadbury's Creme Egg mug from the Cadbury factory in the UK.

Many thanks to those who filled in gaps in my previous OVFF flashbacks. Mark Peters of Ivanhouse Records did the Karen and Lloyd CD, and my Interfilk auction afghan was made by Pat Whitten (Whidden?). :)

stomach touching

Back in Toronto this weekend, seeing Jeff for the first time in three weeks. Have to confess that I'm getting tired of a long-distance marriage; I'm not quite sure how other couples in similar situations manage it. There are advantages to having the remote control to oneself, being able to eat lima beans and chicken livers anytime, renting sappy b&w musicals without having to consult anyone else...but the novelty has worn off somewhat. I miss my husband.

I'm also finding adjustment to a corporate world a challenge. Most of the people I work with may be great, but I still feel like I've been dropped into the middle of a complicated game in which I don't know all the rules.

But back to my visit home...

Today Jeff and I had breakfast at Movenpick's then went to see "The Contender" at the Paramount together. Quite enjoyed this movie. Tonight I see my sister and her family. Hey, Ruth's books are mentioned twice in today's Globe & Mail! Next Stop (written by Sarah Ellis, illustrated by Ruth) is reviewed in the special book section. And there's a special TD ad on pg A30 about TD Canadian Children's Book Week featuring her book, Nicholas At The Library (written by Hazel Hutchins, illustrated by Ruth). A copy of the book is being given to EVERY GRADE ONE STUDENT IN CANADA. I have such a cool sister.

ovff flashback

All the babies and kids! Wow, it's obvious there's a baby boom in the filk world. A lot of super-cute young 'uns crawling and toddling and sleeping and drooling. 'Twas also great to see Andrea and Beckett in their pre-mother states (and of course I forget when they're due, exactly...Andrea? Beckett? And Beckett is going to have twins!). Both looked radiant, though I'm sure neither will claim they felt radiant. I'm fascinated by pregnancy, even though I will never have children myself. And what is it about people touching pregnant womens' stomachs? Especially without asking permission? Every time I saw Andrea and Beckett, I wanted to touch their stomachs. I had to physically restrain myself. What is it with that impulse, anyway? Is it just me?

Today's blatherpic: Steve Macdonald. Steve is planning to attend every filk convention that is being held next year. Details here.

interfilk auction

Went to Pagoda with Leone tonight. We both had the roasted duck soup (yummmmmmmm) and then shared a dessert of fried bananas and green tea icecream. Leone goes to comic conventions (check out her comics Web site); I go to filk conventions...from what I can tell, the experiences are pretty similar: a few short but intense days in close quarters with friends you only see a few times a year but with whom you feel an unusually strong bond of friendship. I might try a comic convention sometime, just to compare. :-)

ovff flashback

Allison's working on a full OVFF report; I'm just going to do highlights. One highlight was the Interfilk auction this year. Interfilk, for those of you who don't know, is a fan fund. From the Interfilk Web site: "Most fan funds raise funds to transport a fan chosen from among fans to a convention that they would not normally attend. In our case we raise funds from filk fans to transport members of the filk community who have something special to share."

Urban Tapestry were Interfilk Guests at ConChord (in California) and have been forever grateful for that opportunity. One of the ways that Interfilk raises money is through auction of items donated by members of the filk community. In addition to being for a good cause, these auctions are also a lot of fun.

This year, Allison, Jodi and I were invited to be "auction wenches", those who help as runners during the auction, carrying auction items around to show to potential bidders. Other wenches included: Talis Kimberley (Guest of Honour), Judith Hayman, Erica Neely, Barb Riedel, Kathleen Sloan, Diana Huey, Mary Ellen Wessels.

This year's theme was medieval garb. Medieval garb and water pistols, that is. Allison had garb; Jodi and I didn't. Jodi had purple sparkly deely-boppers, though. I had a water pistol that Erica Neely was kind enough to give to me.

I bought a box of truffles made by Mike Browne and an afghan made by Pat (I'm sorry, I don't know her last name). I bought the truffles for the obvious reasons, and the afghan to remind me of my filker friends, to wrap around myself (while eating my truffles, ideally) during cold Philadelphia nights.

For me, the highlight of the auction came when a very special CD was auctioned off...a recording of Karen and Lloyd's concert at last year's OVFF. If anyone knows the name of the person who donated this item, please let me know so I can post it here. The concert had a special significance to me because Karen and Lloyd had invited me to participate. They played a sample from one of the tracks on the CD, and hearing Karen's voice and Lloyd's guitar was a bittersweet thing.

I had planned to bid for this, but the bidding soared up beyond my range before I could even open my mouth. I believe that Clark Weirda won the bid for $400.

I think Lloyd would have been happy.

Today's Blatherpic:
Interfilk wenches - Allison Durno, Diana Huey, Judith Hayman.

Mid-way Blatherpic:
Rowan, MEW and Ed's son

hockey monkey song

Last night, Dave Clement called from some motel near LaFayette. He, Tom, and Talis are touring, doing performances during her stay in North America. I talked to each of them as well as Corwin and Simon (Corwin is Talis's son).

Corwin is adorable (there's something about a British accent in children). I asked him how the convention was; he said that it was a bit boring (he said this quite cheerfully), though Talis and Simon seemed to like well it enough, that he had to do a lot of sitting around. But he also said that he was thinking about doing a CD himself, one of his violin playing.

"Would you like a CD, Debbie?" he asks.

"I would LOVE one, Corwin, thank you! Have you started working on the CD yet?"

"Not yet. I have to get a violin first, and then learn to play it. But after I do, I'll make a CD and send one to you."

Before we hung up, they all sang the Hockey Monkey song at me. For those of you that don't know, the Hockey Monkey song is a fun tune written by James Kochalka, a friend of Ookla's. We first heard Rand and Adam sing this song a couple of years ago, and we loved it. After hearing it only once (which accounts for the fact that our version differs a bit from Ookla's version), Allison transcribed a version for us, and we've sung it at children's concerts and in our regular concerts. We also tend to launch into it at odd moments, such as while standing in line at the grocery store or while waiting at the airport. :-)

We had lots of people singing it by the end of our stay in the UK when we were Guests of Honour at Didgeri-Douze. :-) Our goal is to get everyone in filkdom to learn this song eventually.

For me, the appeal of the song is its benevolence, silliness, and the pure of joy of it. It's a dancing, waving arms in the air type of song. When the hotel shuttle came to take me and Bob Kanefsky to the airport, Allison, Jodi, and a gang of other filker friends launched into a rendition as a send-off. If you want to hear a recorded version of this song, buy Ookla's next CD. Or feel free to request this from Urban Tapestry in open filk anytime. :-)

And it's 1, 2, 3...kids love the monkey and it's
4, 5, 6...monkey's got a hockey stick and
7, 8, 9...havin' a good time
YEAH!

Today's blatherpic:
Amanda and me, in the main function space at OVFF. Amanda and Scott are in the midst of a move (literally) to Seattle, where Scott starts work at Microsoft.