LJ user pics

Thanks to all those who posted pseudo-memories of me. Loved them all, am going to give aiabx and singlemaltsilk prizes. Here are their contributions, for those that missed them. Andy and singlemaltsilk both get custom-made LJ user pics. Since Andy doesn't have a Livejournal, he's free to use or not use his user pic however he'd like, of course :-). I'll post them both in my Blatherings when they're finished.

I've had several requests for user pics since I updated my own in Livejournal. As much as I enjoy doing them, they do take time, so I'm opting to create them when inspired rather than by request. More fun that way. :-) Got a kick out of creating some for Mary (based on her Elfquest costume) and Allison, for example. I'm also thinking of compiling a page of user pics that people are free to scoop if they'd like.

In case you're curious, I create each user pic in Corel Painter, drawing the picture with a Wacom Artpad and pen in a 200 x 200 pixel document, then shrink it down to 100 x 100 for Livejournal use. I'm still experimenting with different media.

Here's one of Allison using Painter's round tip pen brush and camel wash watercolour brush:



Used the same tools to create one of my new user pics:



Got together at the Frog and Firkin with Allison and Jodi last night. Allison gave Jodi and me our copies of the Urban Tapestry DVD...many thanks to her husband John for putting that together for us!

We've already started planning for our next Urban Tapestry trip, which is to Pittsburgh for Confluence, where our pal Chris Conway (posts as Christo in Blatherchat) is featured filk guest. Our concert is on Friday night at 10 pm, for those interested.

May 2004 comments: Read Blatherchat | Post in Blatherchat | Livejournal

a quiet joy

As some of you may already know, I like trying new kinds of food. I'm willing try almost anything once, as long as it's not moving. The picture above is of something I picked up for two bucks in Chinatown recently on a whim; it just looked way too interesting even though I had no idea what it was.

Turns out that the leafy wrapping contained a mushy bean paste of some kind. It tasted OK, but made my throat feel a bit funny (funny as a mild allergic reaction) so I only ate one of them. Still worth trying, though.

Had a great run today after my physiotherapy appointment, the longest run I've had since this whole tendinitis thing started. Partway through, the sun came out. Shortly after, I smelled the most wonderful fragrance...after the long winter, it took me a few seconds to recognize the smell of freshly mown grass. Looked around and sure enough, there was a guy on a lawn mower machine chugging across a nearby lawn.

Physiotherapy is going well, by the way, and my arms are getting stronger each day. I'm lifting weights again...tiny baby weights, yes, but at least they're weights! My physiotherapist also has me working on a weight machine and doing a modified sort of straight-legged pushup without the pushing up part: just holding myself in the push-up position for as long as I can. Couldn't do this at all at first; then my arm muscles inevitably started shaking like crazy after only a few seconds. Now I'm up to about 15 seconds before the shaking starts. Doesn't sound impressive, but then I remind myself I couldn't even hold a glass of water a year ago.

Typing a little bit more each day, though I'm still relying on ViaVoice to avoid overdoing it. I got another article assignment, this time for a print country magazine. This means I have three article deadlines coming up, plus the short story deadline. God, it is SO GREAT to be able to work on my writing again. Obviously, I'm also starting to draw again.

I'm leaving my guitar and harp and flute playing until last because although I desperately miss my music, one of my previous setbacks was caused because I started getting back into my guitar playing (which I rely on when songwriting) a tad too soon.

But as I was running outside this morning, delighting in the scent of fresh-cut grass, the clarity and warmth of sunlight, I couldn't help but be filled with an appreciation for what I do have, and an anticipation for even better things to come.

May 2004 comments: Read Blatherchat | Post in Blatherchat | Livejournal

LAN party

Andy, in Luisa's and Reid's basement.
In background: Jasba, Jeff.


For those interested, I have updated my comic strip, My Life in a Nutshell. New character: my friend Luisa!



Playing Munchkin while we waited for others to arrive.
From L to R: Jeff, Reid, Ronnie, Luisa, Michael.


Speaking of Luisa, Jeff and I had a good time on Friday and Saturday at the small LAN party that she and Reid hosted. They had a great setup where people on one team were upstairs and the other team was in the basement. Everyone was networked together, of course, and they even had several iSight cameras set up as well as Walkie-Talkies so everyone could happily hurl insults and threats back and forth as they massacred each other, etc.



Sample card from Munchkin. Same artist does Dork Tower,
one of my favorite comics!


This was not an event for those hoping for regular party conversation (we all knew this in advance): networked gaming was the main focus. I'm not a gamer, but intended to and did spend most of the time on my laptop playing with Corel Painter, surfing the Web, working on comics, researching for the short story I'm doing with Michelle.



Reid and Gillian.


It's hard to explain to most people (people outside of the computer nerd/gamer mindset) why I enjoy these events so much since I'm not actively participating and spend most of the time doing my own thing. I think that the key factor is that I'm doing my own thing in an atmosphere I find enormously entertaining and comforting at the same time, and with people I like.



Ray, killing things.


I've always loved people-watching, and LAN parties are wonderful for this. I especially get a huge kick out of watching people enjoy themselves, my friends in particular. The positive vibe is great, and much conducive to creative projects of all kinds... one of the reasons I like taking my laptop and Wacom artpad to Jeff's Friday night gaming sometimes.



One of the upstairs computer rooms. Note that the
monitor behind them shows the downstairs computer room (Jeff on screen).
L to R: Michael, Iain, and Eric.


Had my first Tim Horton's maple baked good, by the way! The chain has been heavily pushing their new line of "maple baked goods" recently in television commercials and billboards. On the way home in the car Friday night, Andy talked about this a bit while I was dozing...enough bits infiltrated my subconscious to wake me up with a terrible craving for a maple baked good from Tim Horton's.



Downstairs computer room. Jasba, Andy and Jeff.
David Barker was also in that room Saturday, Ray on Friday.


We pulled into at least one Tim Horton's, but THEY WERE SOLD OUT OF DONUTS. They told us to come back several hours later at 6 a.m., when they would get more donuts. AUGH. Of course this made my craving even worse, which highly amused Jeff, Ray and especially Andy.

ANDY (cheerfully): "Hey look! There's a Country Style Donuts. That's no good, sorry."

ANDY (a few minutes later): "Hey look, Debbie! There's another one of those Tim Horton's billboards!"

ANDY (again): "I see another Tim Horton's! Oh, their racks look empty. Too bad."

I started hitting him with my pillow, but he wouldn't stop, the sadistic cad.

Jeff and I bought a bag of maple baked goods from Tim Horton's on the way back to Reid's and Luisa's this morning, and I happily hoovered an entire dipped maple walnut donut.

Yum, well worth the wait. Hope you're all having a great weekend!



Ray took this photo of me on the way home
late Friday night (about 3 a.m.).

May 2004 comments: Read Blatherchat | Post in Blatherchat | Livejournal

sloan!

Lining up for the Sloan concert. Rand and I were first in line!


Rand and I had a great time at the Sloan concert in Kitchener last night. For those unfamiliar with the Canadian band, Sloan has been around for about 10 years; Rand got me hooked on them recently.




Sloan poster on front door of Elements nightclub.


Worried about lineups, we showed up at the front door of the venue about an hour beforehand and ended up being first in line. Chatted a bit with some of the people behind us; holy cow, did I ever feel out of it in terms of the current music scene. :-) I think I'll definitely have to do a comic based on this conversation eventually.




We had a quick dinner at the diner across the street from
Elements before the show.


Rand and I opted to stand as close to the front as possible. The advantage of our position was that we got to see everything close-up. The disadvantage was that the sound system in the nightclub was such that the vocals were better heard from further back; from where we were standing, we heard Patrick's guitar more clearly. Didn't matter to me in the end, though....I had a huge amount of fun anyway, and was familiar with most of the songs.



The warm-up band, Blinker the Star.


Sloan played all the songs from their new album, Action Pact, plus some others (thanks to fan Rob Butcher for posting this list online):

Gimme That
Live On
Rest of my Life
Lines You Amend
Hollow Head
Nothing Last Forever Anymore
Great Wall
People of the Sky
Backstabbin'
Coax Me
False Alarm!
I Was Wrong (and I don't care)
Who Loves Life More?
Good In Everyone
Ready For You (c'mon back!)
Sensory Deprivation
Fade Away
The Other Man
Money City Maniacs
Reach Out
I Am the Cancer (Joy Division version)
If it Feels Good, Do it!




Security guard and crowd.


Here's someone else's report from the concert (found out about it because she posted in my LJ in response to this Blathering :-)). She and a friend brought a sign asking Sloan to play "I Am the Cancer"...and Sloan did!

The rest of the photos on this page are from the concert itself. If you're interested in finding more about Sloan, visit their Web site at http://www.sloanmusic.com/.




Chris Murphy.





Patrick Pentland. Shaved his head!





Andrew Scott. Usually on drums.





Jay Ferguson.





Chris on drums (normally Andrew's on drums).





Patrick and Chris.





Andrew, Chris and Jay.

May 2004 comments: Read Blatherchat | Post in Blatherchat | Livejournal

biker gunfights and fuzzy slippers

Wood screen handcarved by Jeff's grandfather,
who started Ridpath's Fine Furniture in Toronto
(the business is no longer in the family).


I've been highly amused at the responses so far to my challenge to make up a memory about me. For example:

--

From "singlemaltsilk" in Livejournal:
"OVFF, 2001 maybe? I'm so bad with dates, they're all starting to run together these days, like those marbleized end papers you find in expensive books. Kinda pretty, actually... where was I? Oh yeah, OVFF whenever. I was at the banquet, talking with my tablemates when the room suddenly fell quiet. And there you were, framed in the doorway: all ivory skin and bias-cut black silk satin, your demurely lowered, sooty lashes completely at odds with the knowing smile that tugged at the corners of your carmined mouth. You waited, still, silent, infinitely patient, until every eye in the room was on you. Then, and only then, you daintily lifted the fishtail hem pooled about your feet, so that all could see your exquisitely detailed Ookla The Mok fuzzy slippers, Rand on your right foot, Adam on your left."

From Andy Beaton in Blatherchat:
"Back in the late eighties, Debbie and I robbed a cocaine dealer, left him duct-taped in a bus shelter and stole his Porsche. Boy, were we embarassed when we found his badge in the glove compartment! Fortunately, Debbie is a really fast driver and we got over the provincial border before the alert went out for us. She did get us away from the cops, so I guess I shouldn't blame her for ditching me when we got into that gunfight with those bikers. It was a lucky thing that the arm I lost there was the one with the alien implant from the time Debbie talked me into eating at that Welsh restaurant..."

--

Handed in one of those digital photography articles I mentioned before, two more to go. Also doing research for the short story I'm doing with Michelle. I'm starting to type more and more each day. I'm being careful not to overdo it, and switch back to ViaVoice when my arms get sore. It's encouraging, though; if things keep improving as they are, looks like I should make a full recovery by the fall. May even be able to play flute and a bit of guitar at the Urban Tapestry concert at Confluence this July. Hey, and speaking of Confluence, sounds like my friend Michelle AND her husband Tom may be attending!

Tom was the guy who first introduced me to filk in the eighties, at an Ad Astra convention in Toronto. There was only -one- guy in the room, who had a copy of Minus Ten and Counting...no guitar or any other instrument. Tom and the guy sang through a couple of a capella songs. I was intrigued, but not hooked until I went back on my own a year or two later and found a rockin' filk room led by Kevin Davies. Eventually I started bringing my flute, but was too shy to even open the case in the beginning. Every so often, I'd run into a red-haired woman whose singing I adored. Little did I know that I'd someday be recording CDs with her. :-)

Hanging out with Rand today; we're going to a concert in Kitchener.



From my mom-in-law's garden. Anyone out there know what
type of flower this is? I forgot to ask her.

April 2004 comments: Read Blatherchat | Post in Blatherchat | Livejournal