survey: being "grown-up"

My friends Laura and Peter. Both are (incredibly talented) freelance
illustrators, writers, and graphic designers.


It's fun to run in the rain. I think that part of the fun is a secret delight in doing something that was strictly forbidden in childhood. I can stomp through as many puddles as I like, stay out in the cold and wet without boots or a proper raincoat.

SURVEY: In your opinion, what are the other secret delights in being "grown-up"? Feel free to answer in your own journal rather than the message board, but please post a link so people can find it.

My tendinitis continues to improve. ( A note about the spelling of tendinitis: ViaVoice the spells the word with an "i" (i.e. instead of "tendOnitis"), but apparently it can be spelled either way. ) During my physiotherapy session this morning, Nick The Physiotherapist told me that I could cut the number of weekly sessions from 3 to 2 from now on, plus my left arm no longer needs ultrasound treatments.

I asked Nick about playing the flute, and he advised that I give it a shot, at first only for short durations, stopping if I experience any pain. I'm going to try it for the first time this weekend; wish me luck! I haven't played any musical instruments for over three months now, and am really missing the experience. I suspect that my harp playing may have to wait the longest. I'm also going to test out whether or not I can draw a bit with my Wacom tablet.

Enjoyed dinner with Allison and Jodi last night in North York. Despite the physical distance between the three of us now, it's great that we still manage to get together on a semi-regular basis. Only a month until Concertino, in Massachusetts! We're all really looking forward to this convention, which will be the only out-of-town convention that all three of us will be able to attend this year.



Books by Peter Cook and Laura Suzuki of Doodletronics.


(This entry was written with ViaVoice, a voice recognition program, which sometimes has its own sense of humor. Please forgive any spelling or grammar quirks which Debbie has missed while editing. Thank you. )

June/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

guest blather: Helen Waters

The wristbands that let Helen and me into the show
despite the fact that we were not on The List.


By Helen Waters
(written late last night)

Since Debbie became paralysed from the wrist down in that Extreme Ironing incident several months ago, she has been seeking ever more creative ways to fill time previously spent in her computer dungeon.

"So, like, d'ya wanna go line up at MuchMusic, see if we can get on TV?" she asked me this morning, after Jeff was safely packed off to work. Lubing up with glitter and dancing on Electric Circus has never been a great ambition of mine, but not wanting to be an ungrateful house guest, I agreed. "June is Accordion Awareness month and some guy is dropping by with his bellows to blow some tunes!" she continued excitedly.

4:30 found us lined up outside the Much studios on Queen Street West behind a dozen acne-ridden but enthusiastic teens. We were old enough to be their parents (grandparents, if we were from New Brunswick) and I was starting to have regrets. The hot water was out at Jeff & Debbie's, and by this point I hadn't showered since 6:00 AM GMT Monday. I had dashed out that morning, a list of errands to attend to, unshowered, unbrushed and unmakeup'd. Debbie must have been to the hairdressers, surely she couldn't have twisted her hair into the two trendy knotted pigtails on the back of her head. Unless... nah!

At last the queue began to move. "You on the list?" we were asked by a woman at the door. "We're here for Accordion Awareness Month!!" shrieked Debbie. The woman looked at us, bewildered. "Wha...?" She babbled something about needing to be on the list, and then taped orange wristbands onto us anyway. We filed into a studio, where we were arranged as an attractive and energetic backdrop to the presenters, and instructed when to clap and scream (often and on the count of three). I made sure we positioned ourselves as far to the back as possible, hoping the less retiring teens would obscure us from the camera.

After several videos and pretending to be excited on cue, the man of the bellows, Joey DeVilla made his appearance. He played a couple of verses of Sk8r Boi for our entertainment, making accordions officially cool again. You can catch the repeat of MuchOnDemand featuring Accordion Man and two middle-aged audience members at 7:30 AM Wednesday morning (cringe).



Another part of Helen's mystery present for me
Allison was the first one to guess correctly (in LJ): Helen made me
a music stand!


A note from Debbie:

There are indeed elements of truth in the above account; I will leave it to you, the discriminating reader, to determine where these are. :-)

June/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

helen visit

Part of the present that Helen made for me.


Our friend Helen is visiting from London. She brought some very yummy chocolate (see photo below) and also a surprise present for me which she created herself in a furniture design/making course. I've posted part of her present in a photo at the top of this page. Can any of you guess what the final object looks like? Complete photo will be posted in a future Blathering; Helen needs a few small pieces to complete the construction. She even shaped most of the metal pieces herself; I'm super impressed.

If you're curious about some of Helen's other projects, check out her website.



Chocolate from Helen.


I finished reading A Prayer For Owen Meany last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it. My next reading project is to reread the last Harry Potter novel, in preparation for the arrival of the new book.

Also still enjoying Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Jeff is hooked on Angel, hah hah! We're starting to watch the episodes together, and we are still in season 1 (and bitter about Doyle).

re: beetle picture yesterday...

I had asked if anyone knew what these were. Anke from Germany wrote:

"Thanks to my boyfriend, who is a biologist who specialized on insects, here comes the definition: They seem to be weevils (german: Ruesselkaefer) (Curculionidae, probably subfamily Otiorhynchinae). Usually harmless plant-eaters! *grin* But some of the nymphs do develop in wood (which is not so good for the wood... :-) ). But Oliver says that the picture is not good enough to really be sure."

Thnak you, Anke and Oliver!



Helen's contribution to Jeff's birthday scrapbook. She created it
in Illustrator, so I'm hoping to get some tips from her about the liner notes
for our CD (she is an Illustrator guru).


(This entry was written with ViaVoice, a voice recognition program, which sometimes has its own sense of humor. Please forgive any spelling or grammar quirks which Debbie has missed while editing. Thank you. )

June/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

poll: do you reread books?

Beetle invasion. Does anyone know what type these are?
These were covering the cottagers' dock when Jeff and I arrived,
and we kept finding them on our clothes and belongings for hours after.
They seem pretty harmless, but I'm still curious about what they are.



The blackflies and mosquitoes were a little bit panicky when they found out that Jeff and I were leaving the cottage, so much so that they tried to come home with us. I killed 21 blackflies and two mosquitos within the first few minutes getting in the car; got bitten a few times anyway.

It was fun to read the survey answers that people posted in Blatherchat and the Livejournal message board. I especially enjoyed seeing that other people like to reread books, like Lyanne's habit of reading Dandelion Wine every spring. I love to reread favorite books, but sometimes I feel vaguely guilty, as if I should feel an obligation to read new books (especially with my substantial "To read" pile).

For me, however, rereading an old favorite is like wearing a somewhat ratty but comfy sweater, or having macaroni and cheese from a box, or watching Classic Star Trek. There are times when you just feel like cuddling up with something comfortable and familiar.

Survey: Do you reread books?

If so, which ones do you reread the most? What prompts you to reread a book? Feel free to answer in your own journal, but please do post a link to your entry so I can read it, too.

Our friend Helen arrives this afternoon!



We spotted this deer as we were leaving
the parking lot. Apologies for the blur; the lighting
was not the greatest.


(This entry was written with ViaVoice, a voice recognition program, which sometimes has its own sense of humor. Please forgive any spelling or grammar quirks which Debbie has missed while editing. Thank you. )

June/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

cottage blather

The ringer on our cottage phone isn't working, so Jeff
started to take it apart to figure out what was wrong.
(Photo by Jeff)


Mosquitos love me.

Jeff and I will be on a hiking trail in Algonquin Park, and I will be covered in at least half an inch of Muskol on every exposed square inch of skin with Jeff blissfully free of Deet, and the bugs will still go after me. Even when he is bitten, he rarely notices. Me, I tend to swell up when a mosquito just looks at me.

In late spring, however, insects tend not to be that picky. while I was working on a Market Watch column yesterday afternoon, Jeff was out in the forest, clearing a small area in preparation for construction of our new cabin. When he emerged several hours later, he was closely followed by a cloud of blackflies. Even after he removed his work boots and left them on our cottage deck, the blackflies still hovered around the boots, as if they could not quite understand that the owner of the obviously tempting-smelling boots were no longer wearing them.

Disturbing and fascinating at the same time, really.

Thankfully, the bugs don't seem to be nearly as bad out near the water; we had our lunch there this afternoon. My arms are much better then they were during our last visit. For one thing, I find that I can read for longer periods. Since arriving Friday afternoon, I have read the following:

- last half of Rodzina by Karen Cushman (on loan from my sister Ruth)

-Different Dragons by Jean Little (on loan from my sister Ruth)

- first half of A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving. Not having anticipated how much I would be able to read here, I did not bring enough reading material so had to scrounge through the cottage shelves.

No moose this time, but I've noticed quite a few tiny toads hopping about, and a lot of hummingbirds squabbling around the feeders. Hummingbirds are beautiful to look at, but they are nasty wee things when it comes to sharing.

Jumped in the lake after my sauna this afternoon, more on impulse than plan. I figured that if my arms seized up, Jeff would pull me out. Of course I never warned him that I was going in, but I could see him working on his laptop in the boathouse so figured he would hear the splash. The water was pretty cold (!), but not nearly as cold as during ice out. I was in and out pretty quick. :-)

Though my arms are improving, keyboard typing is still difficult so I am using ViaVoice. Keeping up with e-mail continues to be a challenge; there are currently over 600 e-mails in my in-box, and this number does not include the spam messages that have already been filtered out! :-( I am gradually working through these, but it seems that more come in than I can keep up with. Even answering a simple e-mail with a "Sorry, I have tendinitis but will answer your e-mail as soon as possible" form e-mail takes about five minutes if I don't use the keyboard.

Will be heading home in a few hours. Our friend Helen is arriving tomorrow!

(This entry was written with ViaVoice, a voice recognition program, which sometimes has its own sense of humor. Please forgive any spelling or grammar quirks which Debbie has missed while editing. Thank you. )

June/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ