guinea pig

Kudos and an Inkspot pen to both Andrea and Beckett for correctly guessing the last two Mystery Photos (Andrea guessed Graham, Beckett guess Reid). I'm especially impressed by Beckett's guess since she's never met my friend Reid! :-)

Spent most of yesterday in restaurants (morning) and coffeeshops (afternoon) working on the short story collab. The intense focus on the short story reminds me all over again of how much I love writing fiction. I enjoy writing nonfiction, but there's something about fiction writing that is so much more absorbing (for me, anyway).

I'm thinking about scaling back temporarily on my nonfiction to focus on getting my novel finished and out to my agent by the end of June. Unfortunately this would mean scaling back temporarily on income as well, but I would really, really like to have my book out circulating. Jeff's supportive of this, but I still want to think about it.





Looks like Sara and Annie are going to be getting a pet guinea pig! The whole family's doing a lot of research on the topic (as you can tell from today's photos). Sara was reading aloud to us from one of the books she borrowed from the library.

Jeff and I have agreed to take care of the guinea pig when my sister and her family go away for vacation. We're both a bit nervous about the possible risk, of course...the main concern being WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO THE GUINEA PIG WHILE IT'S IN OUR CARE? Geez, I remember how traumatic it was when Sara's pet snail died.

I've pleaded with Ruth to make sure the girls pick a generic-looking guinea pig that would be easy to replace in a hurry (as I imagine Jeff and I driving frantically around Toronto hours before Sara and Annie come back from their vacation, combing the pet stores for a lookalike guinea pig), but she says she's leaving the choice entirely up to Sara and Annie.

Argh! Does she have to be so REASONABLE?





Today's Poll Question: What pets did you all have as kids?

Here are some of ours (the ones I remember, anyway):

ZEBRA FINCHES: Can't remember their names, sorry (Ruth would remember, I'm sure). Our pair ended breeding and having about half a dozen chicks. Pretty fascinating to watch the whole process (eggs, hatching, chicks growing up) though it sure made a mess. I remember we named one of them Spock. We ended up giving them away to our Avon lady.

HOUDINI: our gerbil. Can't remember what his original name was, but we renamed him Houdini because he kept escaping.

MARTHA: My pet hermit crab. The most boring pet I ever had. She/it was dead for a week and a half before I noticed. I kid you not.





TRUDI: Australian terrier, much beloved even though she did look a little bit like an oversized rat when we gave her a bath (hence the reference to her appearance in Reid & Luisa's song).

Ruth, Jim and I researched dogs for months because we knew our parents were resistant to the idea. We put together an impressive-looking (at least I remember it being impressive-looking) project. Dad and Mom said they didn't want a dog that was too big, too noisy, or too mean. So we spent a lot of time in the library doing research (the Web didn't exist back then :-)) and finally collated our findings, showing a comparison of different breeds for size and noise and temperament (supplemented with our own drawings and photocopies), concluding that the Australian Terrier was the best choice for our family. We begged and pleaded, promising to take care of the dog, to be responsible for cleaning up after it. My parents finally relented.

Despite all of our promises, my poor Mom ended up doing all the cleaning up after Trudi. I can't believe we did that to her. Funny thing is, Ruth, Jim and I were absolutely sincere when we swore up and down that we would be the ones to be cleaning up the yard. I feel bad about this now, obviously. And I did apologize to Mom, years later. She seemed to have a good sense of humour about it.





But partly because of this, Trudi became more of my mom's dog than anyone else, really. Which is why it was so hard when we finally had to put her down (the year after my mom died of cancer). I felt so sorry for the veterinarian who had to do it...Dad, Ruth, Jim and I all insisted on being there for the injection, and we were all bawling during the procedure. We were crying partly because of Trudi, but there was also a lot of leftover grief over Mom there as well.

The poor vet. :(

No cats for us...we were all pretty allergic. I still am. I also have a sneaking suspicious that Jeff and/or I are going to be allergic to Sara's and Annie's guinea pig, but taking an allergy pill now and again is a small price to pay for their pet-joy.

Speaking of which, I've had several people ask me what I meant when I said that no pets were allowed at my virtual birthday party. My answer? It was supposed to be a joke! Honest! I thought it would be funny to include that stipulation for a virtual party in our virtual apartment (no pets allowed in our real-life apartment...guess we'll have to just smuggle the guinea pig in somehow when we have to babysit it).

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Today's Blatherpics:

	One of Sara's and Annie's lists of potential names for their impending pet guinea pig (depending on whether it's a male or female).
	Sara researching guinea pigs.
	Annie researching guinea pigs.
	Ruth researching guinea pigs.
	Annie's drawing of a guinea pig.
	Annie and Sara and Jeff at bedtime.

plotting

Had a good session with Michelle yesterday. We finished plotting out the story and decided who would do which of the remaining scenes. Michelle also helped me get through the scene I'm currently working through, which has been driving me nuts.

ME: "...so I've rewritten this stupid scene FOUR TIMES but can't seem to get it right. (insert more ranting and beating of head against wall here)"

MICHELLE: "Um, so what seems to be the problem?"

ME: "It's this Maggie character. She seems to have taken on a life of her own and keeps doing things that I don't think fit with the story so far. Argh!!" (I explain details)

MICHELLE: "I think you should just let her do what she wants to do."

ME (after a long pause): "I beg your pardon?"

MICHELLE: "We'll just have to change bits of the earlier story, but I think it'll work."

ME (trying to resist the urge to throw my arms around her in desperate gratitude): "Oh! Okay!!"

We went to Swiss Chalet for dinner; I had the E.T. special. Love that mini brownie cake thingy at the end, yum. Jeff was amused when he came home from work and saw our geekgirl stuff strewn across the dining room table: both of our iBooks, Michelle's iPod, my digital camera (see photo at top of today's entry).

We'll both be writing these last scenes today, then go through an edit of everything for consistency, etc. Deadline's Monday! I'm sure Michelle did a bunch of writing last night; she's definitely much more a night hawk than I am. Her most productive writing hours are when I'm fast asleep. :-)

Kudos to Andrea for correctly guessing that yesterday's Blatherphoto was a young Graham Leathers!

The photo below is of a non-filk friend...any guesses? He's in my Cast of Characters.

bad coffee

I make the worst coffee in the world. I challenge any of you to prove me wrong. I'm serious.

I've written about my bad coffeemaking before. I'm starting to drink coffee a bit more these days, partly because I'm doing more writing in coffeeshops. Despite my increased coffee knowledge, I claim no expertise in knowing the finer points of gourmet coffee.

But I know my coffee's bad because it tastes sort of like aspirin. Actually, the last coffee I made tasted like the hot water used to clean out a coffeepot that had been left on the burner until all the (very bad) coffee inside had evaporated away.

I recently complained about my bad coffee to Rand. He suggested cleaning our coffeemaker out with vinegar. I didn't know you were supposed to clean out coffeemakers. Maybe Jeff has already done this, who knows. If I lived alone, I'm sure my coffeemaker would continue to accumulate coffee sludge for years before I thought to do anything about it (and only because I couldn't pry open the lid).

So now I'm following the coffeemaker-cleaning directions and doing the vinegar treatment. I had a terrible craving for fish and chips for a large part of the afternoon.

I'm a MAJOR vinegar fan when it comes to fish and chips. I used to dip my chips in vinegar and suck on them until my lips turned white.

But the vinegar smell is fading in the apartment now, which means it's time to start running plain water through the coffeemaker. Rand guarantees that my coffee will start tasting better.

My concern, however, is how will I know? Hm. I should find one of my hardcore coffee-drinking friends and get them to take me to a really good coffee place so I know what Good Coffee is supposed to taste like.

For now, I guess I'll be happy as long as my coffee doesn't taste like aspirin.

Michelle is coming over so we can work on the story. Too bad she doesn't drink coffee, or I could get her to do the first taste-test. >:-)

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Apologies to those Oscar winners who have not received their prizes yet. With FKO over, I'm getting back into my regular routine and will mail off your pens and write your poems very soon, I promise.

But here's a new challenge for you...identify the filker in the photo at the top of this Blathering. :-)

running

(Daniel Glasser has granted me permission to post some of his FKO photos; please see bottom of the page for credits -- thanks, Daniel!)

It was so gorgeous out late yesterday afternoon that I decided to do some running outdoors around 5 pm. I enjoyed the experience so much more than running on a treadmill that I think I just might have to do it again.

I ran along the harbourfront, as close to the lake as I could get without falling in, the breeze off the water kept me from getting too hot (I should have brought sunscreen!). I chose a look-out point near Queen's Quay Terminal as my turn-around spot, and I rested for several minutes, watching the waves on the lake and listening to the seagulls call to each other.

Definitely better than the sound of treadmills and exercise machines. :-)

I'm not a seasoned runner like Andrea Dale and Dave Weingart, doing most of my cardio workout on elliptical trainers and rowing machines in the gym, and have only recently started running on the treadmill. My "routine" is generally warming up with a fast walk, then running until I get tired. At that point I do more fast walking, then run again. And so on. Eventually I'd like to get to the point where I can run the entire time, with no walking breaks. I'm ramping up very gradually; I pushed myself too hard when I tried running about five or six years ago, and developed some knee problems. We'll see how it goes this time.





Anyway, it was a great walk/run, and helped a lot with my current bout of post-con blues (which are hitting me harder than usual). There weren't many people along the harbourfront; I'm sure that will change as the weather warms up. I passed a few cyclists, other joggers, couples walking arm in arm.

I might take out my bicycle again, but I find it's not nearly as relaxing as walking or running. Mainly because I have to constantly fight the tendency to enjoy my surroundings; riding a bike in downtown Toronto tends to require more sustained focus and coordination because of the busy traffic.

I used to hate exercising. I remember the first time I tried out a stationery bike; I was exhausted after only five minutes (and that was on the lowest resistance level on the bike!). Now it feels good to be able to push myself pretty hard for an hour without feeling like dying. :-) I've gotten hooked on the endorphins; I actually like working up a sweat, to feel somewhat sore the next day.





I'm proud of the fact that I've lost the twenty pounds I put on during my corporate stress experience. It took me over a year, but I can now fit into my pre-Xlibris clothes again. :-) I know I'm not as fit as some others my age, but I feel pretty good these days. I don't deprive myself of my favourite treats (like CHOCOLATE!) but I'm more aware of what I'm eating and drinking, and cook at home more often.

For me, the main key has been consistency. Even if I'm running super-short on time, I try to carve out a bit every day to do something physical. If I don't have time for a full workout, I go for a walk. Or take the stairs, or do some stretches between bouts at the computer, or ab exercises or lift hand weights I keep at home.

I've found that the toughest part is in the beginning, when I have to establish a new habit. My tendency is to go overboard ("I'll get up at 4 am and do a 2 hour workout everyday! Yeah, that's it!!") rather than start with realistic goals from the start, and then gradually ramp up. Too easy to fail, and then it becomes easy to just give up.





Blatherings Follow-up

I recently got an e-mail from Judith Hayman re: questions that came up early in Blatherings or Blatherchat about FKO.

She says that "the Interfilk item went for $700 CDN, which is a 'number' record and a Canadian dollar record, but, given the CDN-US exchange, not an absolute record. The item was won by Zev Sero, a NYC area filker. The auction total was a Canadian record but not an absolute record. Both of these belong to GaFilk, 2001."

She also says that she wishes she could post Tanya Huff's letter of thanks to the con for her wonderful time. "She was totally sincere. We may even see her back <g>."

Judith says she hasn't answered these questions in Blatherchat because she's "not much on web-based e-mail", but invites people who want to discuss FKO-related issues to participate in her FKO mailing list.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	The sign on the construction site in front our building. I'm *highly* tempted to write something interesting on a sign and tape it just underneath. If you have any suggestions, please post them in Blatherchat. :-)
	Daniel and Melissa Glasser kindly gave me permission to re-post any of their FKO photos on my Blatherings, so I've decided to post some of my faves. See here for other Glasser photos from FKO 12. I love this one of Ingrid and Steve (who are laughing because of something Dave Weingart is saying, I believe).
	Judith and Dave Hayman at FKO. I really like the lighting in this picture. Photo by Daniel Glasser.
	Kathleen was trying to convince me to buy her beaded Christmas penguin necklace at the Interfilk auction (she's sitting in my lap in the photo). I was sad because the price had gone above my limit! Kathleen is pretending to be sad for me. :-D Photo by Daniel Glasser.
	I like this picture of Terence boxed in by Seanan, Erica and Melissa. Terence claims they were huddled around a heating vent, trying to draw out as much heat as possible. Photo by Daniel Glasser. (By the way, did you hear that Terence might be moving to Toronto?)

blonde

The photo above was taken by Daniel Glasser (Jodi, Allison and me, performing "Life Is A Bowl Of Oreo Cookies" in honour of Lissa), modified in Photoshop by Chris Conway. So now I know what I'd look like as a blonde. :-)

Thanks to Gary McGath for sending the photo below, which he took during Joey Shoji's concert at FilKONtario. From left to right: me, Allison, Jodi, Anke, Joey, Dave Weingart.





My FKO time off was fun, but I'm back into workmode now. Upcoming deadlines: short story collab with Michelle, my new marketing and promotion column for Writing-World.com, some Web work I'm doing for Moira Allen. JBR called last night and said he saw my piece in the current issue of Cottage Life magazine (he has a subscription); I have to remember to go buy a copy tomorrow!

I've also been invited to take the "Hot Seat" in misc.writing next Tuesday. I haven't decided whether this is an honour or a punishment yet. :-) From what I can tell, people in the Hot Seat basically do an often intense online Q&A session in the newsgroup. Sometimes the discussion gets pretty heated and erupts into a flamewar. Sometimes several flamewars.

I'm a bit nervous (I suspect I might get grilled about the whole Inkspot/Xlibris experience) but also looking forwards to it. I've been lurking in misc.writing since returning from my sabbatical, wanting to participate more but feeling somewhat shy about it. Nothing like a baptism by fire to force me to start speaking up more. :-)

re: shyness. I've always thought of myself as shy, though I know that some who see me performing with Urban Tapestry would disagree. :-) Funny thing is, I find that sometimes acting goofy on stage is a great cover-up for my deeply-ingrained shyness. Does that make any sense? I'm sure some of you are also thinking, "Yeah right, how can you be shy and have a public online journal?!" Good point, except that only a tiny percentage of what's going on in my head ever makes it into my Blatherings (and that could be reassuring or scary, depending on how well you know me :-)).

Poll Question: Do you consider yourself an introvert or extrovert? Post your answer in Blatherchat.

Jeff and I had some of Dave's leftover chili for dinner last night. It tasted even better than the day before!

Going through some post-con blues and really missing people right now.

Glad I have a ton of work to do. :-)