Franklin chocolate! And geeky college photos!

Happy St. Nicholas Day! Yesterday, a big box arrived from Germany, courtesy my friend Franklin. Inside: four gift bags filled with chocolate, one each for me, Allison, Jodi and Walter. The last bag was a thank you for some custom-made DVDs that Walter had sent Franklin after FKO.

The photo to the right was taken at Ju's place, just before we left for the castle.

The photo above shows the contents of my gift bag.

THANK YOU, FRANKLIN!




Above: A photo that my friend Reid posted on his Flickr page from 1985, taken in Robarts Library on the University of Toronto Campus. Michelle Sagara West is on the left, I'm on the right, and you can see our pal John Swain slinking around behind. Michelle is now a fantasy writer and John is an experimental high energy physicist at Northeastern University.

Check out Reid's blog entry for a 1983 photo of me, Luisa and Reid back in those days -- it remains one of my favourite from those days.

Reid also has a link to some other old photos from that entry. Reid and I were dating in those days (in case you're curious about why Jeff isn't around! He started hanging out with us a year or two later, I think) while Luisa was dating someone else. Years later, Reid and Luisa asked me to be Matron-Of-Honour at their wedding. :-)

As I mentioned in this Blathering a couple years ago, we were part of very close-knit crowd back then, like a big family. Then we graduated and some people moved away, some had families, some drifted to other friendships. Luisa's now one of my best friends; here are some reasons why. Jeff and I still hang out with some of the old gang now and then, like this boardgaming night.





1983 photo above courtesy Reid's Flickr page. From left to right: Luisa, ??, Tom West, me (seated), Andrew, Kaarel, John Chew's dad, Nick, Andy, Pontus, John Swain, Reid and John Chew.

Survey: Do YOU still keep in touch with / hang out with your friends from school?



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Doodling

Hey, my pal Chris Conway opened for Jefferson Starship recently! For more exclamation marks, see the end of this Blathering!

I made Sicilian Seafood Stew last night, one of my current faves from the Moosewood Cook-At-Home cookbook. It's incredibly easy to put together and makes a special dinner with some crusty bread and a bottle of wine. Jeff and I opted for Strongbow Cider instead of the wine.

I've been somewhat surprised to be getting regular checks from Google Adsense. I used to pay more attention to where my traffic went, but since turning down the Dummies book earlier this year, my focus has been on novel writing. Inkygirl takes a lot less time now that I've dropped the job listing section, but it looks as if people like my writing-related comics just as much, perhaps even more. Go figure. When I've accumulated enough comics, I'm going to go through them all and select the best for a book compilation. Perhaps along with some Will Write For Chocolate strips as well!

In any case, so far I've found Google Adsense to be pretty painless. I know there are some out there who feel that personal blogs should be ad-free but as a freelancer, I figure every extra bit of stress-free income is a good thing, especially if it allows me to spend more time on novelstuff.



My writing cartoons generally don't take me much time and are fun to do. For the one at the top of this page, I sat down this morning, opened up a blank Corel Painter canvas and stared at it for a few minutes before coming up with an idea. The entire cartoon took about 20 minutes; I'd want to do a more polished version if I was going to include it in a book.

By now, some of you are thinking, "Hey, if it only took her 20 minutes, then why can't she draw a quick xxxx for me?" where xxxx is an LJ icon, blog header, or other "quickie" cartoon. The answer: because it wouldn't be as quick and painless if I was doing it on demand. When I draw my Blatherdoodles and cartoons, I can draw whatever I'd like and however I'd like it, plus I don't have to do it at all if I change my mind halfway through.

Plus doodling on demand isn't nearly as fun as free doodling. I've found that since I started drawing for pay, free doodling is even more important to me. In a way, it's very much like Blatherings -- writing and drawing whatever I'd like is good for my creative soul. I've heard of too many artist-types who used to draw (or write or play music, whatever) just for the fun of it, but stopped once they actually started doing it for a living. :-(

Some days the ideas come easier than others. Some days something like this comes out instead of a cartoon:



I was pleased by the following comment that someone posted on this doodle's Flickr page:

"Debbie

I caught my breath when I saw this - a great doodle. Without knowing the back story, I found it melancholic when I looked at it and imagined the worst. Further glances then had me thinking differently and imagining sulking or a time-out. A picture that provokes and challenges is a good thing.

Buzz in Aotearoa"

I was happy because yesterday's doodle was meant to be exactly this: capturing a moment that may or may not have had a backstory when I created it, but hopefully inspiring those looking at it to come up with their own backstory.

Anyway, I actually did turn down a paying drawing assignment yesterday because the person needed it before Christmas, and I've promised myself that I wouldn't take new illustration jobs until the New Year so I could focus on my book.

Below: Christmas Ornament Craft Exchange contribution from Lyanne. Lyanne and I are seeing Wicked in less than two weeks, woohoo!





And a Happy Birthday to Chris Conway! Chris recently opened for Jefferson Starship. I added the line at the beginning because I was so amused by his LJ comment:

"I might've opened for Jefferson Starship but on Blatherings I only got 5th billing to Sicilian Seafood stew.
I'm a failure...:-)"

Anyway, I've been very much enjoying listening to Chris's newest CD, Close The Circle. Perfect for mellowing out...

Speaking of mellow, here's one of my favourite photos of Chris, taken at GAfilk some years ago:



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Nieces, Christmas trees, and Butterfingers

Above: One of the ornaments I received in a Christmas Ornament Craft Exchange I participated in this year. The homemade ornament above came from my friend Marilisa in the UK. The accompanying note reads: "Before Christmas trees were popularised in Greece (where I come from), people decorated models of boats with lights instead, and children carried them when they went carol-singing, too." Even though my own Christmas Ornament contribution didn't turn out that successfully, I'm very much enjoying the small packages I've been receiving in the mail these past few weeks.

Congrats to my friends Katy and Steve, who got married this past weekend! For those who don't know them, Steve moved from the U.S. to Germany to marry Katy, whom he met at a filk convention. Pretty darned romantic, really. :-)

One of our nieces came to visit us for part of the weekend. Jeff and I took her out for dim sum at Cha Liu, then for dessert at Hollywood Gelato:



No niece visit would be complete, of course, without Sugar Mountain:



The shopping bags at Sugar Mountain happily proclaim: "4 out of 5 dentists recommend Sugar Mountain!" I bought a Butterfinger chocolate bar, which I have to say now rivals Kit Kat as a favourite chocolate bar. According to the official Butterfinger Web site, Nestle also makes Butterfinger Stixx...ooo, I must look for these. Also the Butterfinger Crisp Minis. I hope they're available in Canada.

Sadly, Sugar Mountain didn't have any of the interesting Kit Kat flavours I mentioned in an earlier Blathering.

:-(



Jeff and I also went with my sister and her family for our annual Christmas tree expedition. They've been getting their tree from the same family-run business out in the country for many years. Now that we live in a house, we've started getting our tree from there as well.

The RENOVATIONS ARE FINISHED (yay!!!), so we've put the tree in the place where the spiral staircase used to be located; see the photo above. We still haven't decided how to use this new space longterm, though we're thinking about getting an upright piano next year (YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY). Many reasons to celebrate this past weekend. I even got some novelstuff done, some Urban Tapestry prep, AND an outdoor run.

Link O' The Day:

If'n book-binding video
Most entertaining bookbinding video I've ever seen :-). "See how we make our Buttonhole Stitch Albums at the If'n Books bookbindery! We are joined by some surprise guests." (Thanks to Booklust for the link)




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It can't be December already

I did much of my Christmas shopping online yesterday, whilst eating lunch. I've purposely kept a bit to do in person; I actually don't mind Christmas shopping as long as I don't have to do it in a panic, and especially if it involves bookstores. A timely survey: What are your favourite online shopping sites?

Found out that the Super Secret Guest for GAfilk next month is S.M. Stirling! I haven't read any of his books yet and am trying to decide which to read first. So is Allison.

In response to my previous Blathering about squirrels and Kit Kats, Christine posted the picture below in my comments board.

:-D



Her accompanying comment: "Squirrels and Kit Kats... squirrels and Kit Kats... hmmm.... the 151th variety!"

Links O' The Day

YipyipMOO: I actually do remember this skit from Sesame Street days, and find it's the perfect pick-me-up on a cold and dreary and WET day like today. I WANT SNOW! (Thanks to Ray for the link.)

For Firefly fans: Don't watch this if you haven't seen the movie yet. Then again, if you haven't seen the movie yet, you're not really a Firefly fan, are you? (Thanks to BSAG for the link.)




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Eichhörnchen

Happy birthday to my friend Luisa!

In yesterday's Blathering, I complained about workmen trodding on my head. I was highly amused by a drawing that Brooke posted in my message board along with the comment: "Renovators? Or the SQUIRREL LIBERATION FRONT?"


Drawing courtesy Brooke Lunderville.

Speaking of Evil Squirrels...

My friend Erica is on her way to Germany to help celebrate the nuptials of Katy Dröge and Steve Macdonald, and a discussion has arisen in her LJ about useful German phrases since she says she only knows how to say "Excuse me" in the language.



I volunteered helpful phrases from my Lonely Planet German phrasebook such as:

"Ich kann es nicht essen aus philosophischen Gründen."
-- I can't eat it for philosophical reasons.

"Ich habe meine eigene Spritze."
-- I have my own syringe.

"Kann ich meinem Kind hier die Brust geben?"
-- Can I breastfeed here?

"Bevor wir uns näher kennen lernen, muss ich etwas klarstellen. Ich bin Buchhalterin."
-- Before this goes any further, I must be upfront. I'm an accountant.



Whereupon Christine helpfully posted the following:

"Ist das ein Eichhörnchen in deiner Tasche oder freust du dich nur, mich zu sehen?"
= Could you help me, I'm looking for the restrooms, please.

Which prompted PhilP to accuse Christine of evil intentions: "I don't recognize a couple of the words, but I'm pretty sure it really translates 'Is that a squirrel in your pants, or are you happy to see me?'"

When Urban Tapestry was invited over to Germany to perform at Filkcontinental last year, Christine tried convincing us that "Eichhörnchen" was a German swear word.



We soon discovered that it actually meant "squirrel." By then, of course, Allison, Jodi and I had already invested considerable time in learning how to pronounce it properly; it remains one of the only German words Jodi will admit she knows. To us, the word sounds almost like a cute sneeze (especially when Jodi says it). Our German friend Katy Dröge has pointed out, however, that the English word "squirrel" is odd-sounding as well, twisting up one's tongue in its pronunciation. And y'know, she's right.

I was curious enough to do a bit of research on the origins of the word "squirrel." From A Brief History of the Squirrel: "The squirrel's common name can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, where Aristotle used the word skiouros, skia meaning shade, while oura means tail. Thus the meaning "he who sits in the shadow of his tail" was recorded. Centuries later the French created a noun esquirel to describe this animal. From this the present word squirrel was derived."

Anyway, here are some other useful phrases that Christine posted, fyi:

"Kann ich meinem Eichhörnchen hier die Brust geben?"

"Ich habe mein eigenes Eichhörnchen."


Above: Azuki Bean Kit Kat.

Link O' The Day

While perusing this Vox blog, I discovered a food blog called Slashfood. Holy cow. This is SO much my kind of blog. I mean geez, check out this 20-sided pecan pie!



And did you know that there are 150 varieties of Kit Kats made around the world?!?!?



I followed a link from that entry to this Wikipedia entry on Kit Kats, and discovered to my gustatorial greed that these flavours include dark chocolate, bitter, white chocolate, white with Hokkaido Milk (a limited edition in Japan), mint, apple, banana, blueberry, cherry, double berry, fruit parfait, grape, lemon, lemon cheesecake, white lemon and yogurt, honeycomb, luscious lime, mango, Hokkaido Yubari Melon, orange, blood orange, passion fruit, pineapple, summer pine, strawberries and cream, strawberry & yogurt, almond tofu, azuki, cafe latte with Hokkaido milk, cappuccino, caramac, waguri chestnut, Christmas pudding, white winter cinnamon, coffee, green tea, Halloween, hazelnut, white with maple syrup, milkshake, chocolate mocha, pumpkin...plus many, many more.


Above: Green Tea Kit Kat

Tragically, almost all of these were released as limited editions in various countries and are thus not readily available.

Ah, what I'd give for a time travel machine and a transporter.


Above: Yubari Melon Kit Kat.




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