Tranzac session Web site, community volunteering

Spent my weekend relaxing, but also doing some volunteer stuff for two communities I enjoy. One was the n'MC fundraising effort for the filk community, and the other was for the Tranzac music session I've been attending for the past year.

You can see a partial screenshot of the brand new Tranzacsession.org above.

My attitude about community volunteering is one of gratitude, not obligation. I've gotten so much joy out of the above-mentioned communities, so this is my way of giving back a little. I've also been inspired by the others in these communities who have already given and continue to give so much of their time for little or no monetary compensation.

My friend Lissa posted a wonderful LJ entry about thanking the volunteers in the UK filk community a while back. I've always been grateful to those on filk convention committees; I (totally) lack the skill set to help that way, so I volunteer other ways instead. Sometimes I have to say no because of other life obligations and commitments, but I help when I can.

I'd love to compile a "thank you" list like Lissa's for the North American filk community, but I suspect it would take far more e-mailing time than I have right now (if I want to get the n'MC t-shirt drawing finished by the deadline, that is :-)).

Instead, I invite anyone out there who has EVER helped out with a North American filk convention in any way (doesn't have to be just concom) to post the name of the convention(s) they've helped. Feel free to post the names of other volunteers you know about, if you'd like.

Thanks, for example, to the hardworking members of the FilKONtario concom committee:

Heather Borean - Publications, At-Con Registration
Dave Hayman - Chair, Treasurer, Pre-registration, Hall of Fame
Judith Hayman - Interfilk, On-line Publications, Hotel and Banquet Liaison
Sally Headford - Publications, At-Con Registration
Ken Lalonde - Recording & Sound, Con Dad
Sue Posteraro - Publications, Programming
Howard Scrimgeour - Ops/Sound, Volunteers
Peggi Warner-Lalonde - Guest Liaison, Dealers

Debbie

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Cartoon sketches for the n'MC t-shirt

The drawings below are some of the cartoon sketches I've been doing of n'MC members for a fundraising t-shirt. n'MC = n'Early Music Consort, an a capella filk choir based in Britain. FilKONtario and Interfilk have combined efforts to raise the funds to get the choir to FilKONtario in 2007, and the t-shirt is part of the effort.













Please note that the sketches above are not meant to be realistic portraits but more the cartoony-type carticatures I've been doing for Livejournal icons in the past. I'll be doing 14 of them in total, then combining them into a t-shirt design, all within the next couple of weeks. The faces will end up as relatively small on the t-shirt. I'll be adding more to this Flickr set of n'MC sketches, and may replace some of them with better ones if I have time. My main goal is to have at least a vague resemblance of the cartoon to the real person. :-)

Eight finished, six more to go.

The t-shirts will be available at FilKONtario next month.

To n'MC members: If I've misspelled your name or gotten any major features wrong, please let me know.

Here's a button I designed as part of the fundraising effort:



Thanks to "Blind Lemming Chiffon" for printing these buttons.

Speaking of FilKONtario, don't forget about this year's convention! As I mentioned in a previous Blathering, the Guest of Honour is the Fantabulous CHRIS CONWAY, the Filk Waif is the Tantalizingly TANYA HUFF, and the Interfilk Guest is the Eloquent JUDI MILLER. We'll be doing a joint concert with Franklin on Saturday, and Ookla the Mok will be doing a concert on Friday.

You can find more info about the convention at the FilKONtario Web site. Please note that the weekend registration fee goes up after March 11th, so register soon!

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bookstores and chocolate and LOTR musical

It's a reading and drawing day. Jeff and I walked around our neighbourhood, visiting bookstores and buying chocolate. My favourite local bookstores: The Flying Dragon Bookshop on Bayview Avenue and Mabel's Fables on Mt. Pleasant Avenue...both are children's bookstores.

I have nothing against major bookstore chains, but I've found that the people working in the smaller, independent bookstores tend to be more knowledgeable and passionate about the books they're selling. I had a wonderful conversation with a woman in The Flying Dragon, for example, about various kids' books including Jules Pfeiffer's The Man In The Ceiling. (Thanks to my friend Rand for recommending I read this book.)

POLL QUESTION:
Do you have a favourite local bookstore (even if it's a mega chain bookstore)? If so, what is it?

I had lots of fun hanging out with Allison, Jodi, Julie and Connie last night. Julie and Connie are in town to see the Lord of the Rings musical with Allison. Julie and Connie were recently interviewed by CBC for this online article. The article, by the way, has a video clip of one of the rehearsals. I'm so excited; Jeff and I are seeing the musical with our nieces next weekend!



I have more pics from last night here, and so does Allison.

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Tranzac session, Australian pottery and a package from Beckett

The sketch above is one of several I did last night at the Tranzac during the Irish music session, in my Moleskine. Lots of fiddles, flutes, whistles, concertinas, some pipes, a banjo, and several accordions. We learned how to play the 42 Pound Cheque polka last night (you can find the music on this page of Tranzac tunes). Lordy, but I do love some of these tune names.

I sat beside an accordion player last night who is actually a potter living in Australia. He's in North America for a few months giving university lectures on ceramics before going back. Check out the gorgeous piece on his business card:



If you're in Australia, be sure to check out Rosemont Pottery in Bathurst! Peter Wilson's pieces are also held in collections in Japan and the Australian National Gallery.

Hey, I got a very tiny and obscure mention (sort of) in a recent CNET news article. I discovered it accidentally while surfing for other information. I'm the "freelance writer" mentioned in the 4th-last paragraph. Woohoo, fame! :-D The focus of the article is on digital comic strips, and on Offpanel Productions, the company hosting my Will Write For Chocolate comic strip.

Thanks to Angela Hoy for giving Will Write For Chocolate a plug in her weekly e-mail newsletter for freelance writers, WritersWeekly. Incidentally, I forgot to post a photo of the cool-looking ornament that Angela had sent me a while ago, which I've added to my office tree:



Last week I mentioned getting a surprise package from Beckett and her boys. Here's what I received...

These leaves were handmade by Beckett, Casey & Riley for my office tree:



Some decorations for next year's Christmas tree:



Casey picked out the snowman on the left, Riley and Casey picked out the polar bear (Beckett said it reminded her of Jeff :-)).

Photos for my magnetic wall:



I put my two new photos (Casey & Riley) up beside a photo of Zoë. Apologies for the crappy quality of my picture...there's not much light in that area of my office yet.

Thanks so much to Beckett, Casey and Riley!

Yesterday I got WAY too much into my writing. "Impossible!" you may cry, but it's true. The good side: I love my work. The bad side: I sat on my butt in front of my computer the whole day and didn't take a step outdoors until it was time to leave for the Tranzac in the evening. I -will- go to my health club today, I swear it, else I invite you all to mock me mercilessly tomorrow.

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Finding inspiration

Will Write For Chocolate has been updated! This week's blog entry: "Finding writing inspiration."

Thanks for the supportive messages and e-mails about yesterday's Blathering, everyone, and for sharing some of your own stories. Thanks also to Essaywriter for mentioning the entry in her blog.

Here's a post from Mary Ellen I found especially inspiring:

"I haven't yet read the book The Good Life by by Jay McInerney, but I heard an interview on Fresh Air and this quote from the book which he read near the end of the interview really moved me: (The main character is falling asleep and meditating on the death of his best friend) 'It seems to him as if they are taking a course in loss lately. And as he feels himself falling asleep he has an insight that he believes is important which he hopes he will remember it in the morning, although it is one of those thoughts that seldom survive the translation to the language of daylight hours. Knowing that whatever plenty befalls them, together or separately in the future, they will become more and more intimate with loss as the years accumulate. Friends dying, or slipping away undramatically into the crowded past, memory itself finally flickering and growing treacherous towards the end...' (apologies for any punctuation errors, I transcribed it from the interview) I feel that way already a little. As more and more people I love pass into a world unseen, unknown by me, and unimaginable to me, I do feel that the past is increasingly crowded. Although my Grandfather meant a lot to me I think it really began with the death of my Father, then my friend Steve, the suicide of Iain, most recently Cindy's death...and not just death. As he says, some just slip away, people I really liked, or even loved but for whatever reason just don't see anymore. It is increasingly a crowded past. But, I try to make it a rallying cry for my present. I try to live as fully and passionately as I can. This isn't always easy and sometimes you just have to stop and let yourself watch bad TV and read frivolous novels and eat junk food and laugh. But, as you say, that's not 'wasted' time, that's time you give yourself as a gift when you need it. Thank you for sharing your grief with us."

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