New Year joy

I started my first work day of the year with a piece of mochi from yesterday and mug of "1000 Nachts" Frankfurt tea. The mug was a gift from Beckett. I love the illustration, and the mug is big enough that it holds nearly two cups of tea. And the 1000 Nachts tea reminds me of Urban Tapestry's Germany trip, especially our visit with Juliane Honisch.

To Babylon Five fans: My music partner Allison is starting to watch B5 from the beginning for the first time and is now on Season Two. I haven't yet seen the series, but I've been told that B5 fans are very much enjoying following her reactions to various episodes.

Here's her Season 1 post with reader comments below (warning: some spoilers).

Here's her second post: very mild spoilers, but I found this post and its discussion deeply moving because of its focus on a B5 song by Lloyd Landa, a Toronto area filker friend of ours who died suddenly of heart failure about five years ago.



Sadly, Allison is unable to attend GAfilk this weekend; Jodi and I will miss her a great deal. At this point, it looks as if FilKONtario (Mar. 31st - April 2nd) is going to be the only convention that all of Urban Tapestry is going to be attending for sure this year.

A note re: my Blathering about the amazing Adam English...looks like Adam will be bringing a few copies of his new solo CD "Sketched Out" to GAfilk, so be sure to approach him early in the weekend if you'd like to buy a copy. I've already reserved mine. The six-song CD is US$10; Adam warns potential buyers that it's full of in-jokes about caricature art and caricature artists.

So I've ordered my Burke whistle, after much research and discussion with music-types. As I mentioned earlier, my mom-in-law was kind enough to fund a high-end whistle for me as Christmas gift. I know that there's nothing wrong with a good $10 whistle and that many pro whistle-players use them, but I also figure there's no harm in having a high-end whistle, especially as a gift. :-) Thanks for your generosity, Ginny!

Here's the whistle I ordered:



Special thanks to the folks from the Chiff and Fipple forums, whose comments helped me make my final decision (including Michael Burke himself!). A couple of these responses have spun off into e-mail conversations I'm quite enjoying. And one whistle-player is planning to work up a version of Urban Tapestry's "The Lady" with some friends to perform at an Irish session this fall!

During the Christmas holidays, I finished and was paid for an illustration assignment (I love Paypal). Worked on my online illustration portfolio. Updated my comic strips. Updated the Urban Tapestry site. Took advantage of my new craft table to do some fabric painting. Even did some writing during the holidays! Plus got to hang out with a number of friends I haven't seen in a while because they were on holiday. Allison's still on holiday, and I'm looking forward to having lunch with her today; she was kind enough to come down to my neighbourhood.



Plunging back into my normal writing schedule starting today. Only a few more days until I leave for GAfilk! Unfortunately I can't extend my stay past Monday morning; I have too much work I want to finish. I'm actually pretty excited about work these days, both my writing and my illustrating.

I'm also very much looking forward to the coming year...it's going to be my first "normal" year in a long while. No Web sites to sell, my tendinitis has healed enough so I'm able to type relatively normally again, and we're NOT MOVING. The only problem right now is that I'm so happy with my basement office that I tend to want to stay in it all the time. I've even blocked up the windows for even more privacy and so I can use the windowsills as shelf space.

Sunlight? Bah, who needs it? :-D

Ok, just kidding. I love this neighbourhood, so take frequent walks in the area. Plus I've resolved to go the health club more often.



Speaking of resolutions, I have also resolved to finally send prizes to those who posted resolutions back at the end of 2003. These people are:

Monica
Erica Neely
Mike Whitaker
Lissa
The Magician
Fiona
Amanda (Amanda Snyder?)
Mary the Braider
plaidearthworm
Lyanne
Lynn Gold
jok
Ana
Sherman Dorn
Allison
Gary Ehrlich
Joela
Susanna



I will likely be making handmade bookmarks using materials in my craft corner and will mail them out during the year. I'm pretty sure I have current addresses of Lissa, Mary, Lyanne, jok, and Allison, otherwise if your name is above (check this page to remind yourself of your resolution), I'd very much appreciate you e-mailing me your current address.

Photo below: My eight-year-old niece jumping up and down in her nightgown on New Year's Eve, just after midnight. The photo was taken by Jeff, who perfectly captured the pure joy of that moment. For me, it's a pretty accurate summary of how I'm feeling about this coming year. It's going to be a good year, I can feel it. And I'm going to do everything I can to make it a good year. :-)

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