Giant Squirrel Invasion In Toronto!

So I woke up this morning and sleepily went downstairs to get some breakfast, but something caught my eye as I passed the living room, so I turned....and then saw THIS:



At first I just stood there, blinking like a cartoon character, wondering if I was still asleep.





I went into the kitchen, where two more Evil Squirrels peered in:



And another as I headed down toward my office:



Jeff's still asleep, so I'm here trying to figure out who was responsible. Hmmm....someone who knew our house well enough to cut each squirrel picture to fit our windows ALMOST EXACTLY. Someone who rarely sleeps like a normal person so was able to drive up to our house and sneak around at 2 or 3 am when everyone else is asleep.

Someone who has played April Fool's and other scarily well-planned jokes on us before, maybe?

And someone who is, without a doubt, unaware that my capacity for seeking creative retribution is unmatched...

See LJ comments here.

The Red Balloon

Thanks SO much for all your responses to my Birthday Post. They meant a great deal to me. 

I received some wonderful gifts from friends and family for my birthday. Part of Jeff's gift, for example, was focused on my obsession with tea. 

And my friend Walter made me cry.

Walter's gift

The photo above is of The Red Balloon DVD and children's book adaptation. The 34-minute movie by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse was one of my favourites from childhood; Dad had rented it from our public library and brought it home. I loved the book.

The story itself is very simple; if you don't mind spoilers, read this Wikipedia entry. The film won a bunch of awards, including an Oscar for Lamorisse for writing the best original screenplay in 1956 and the Palme d'Or for short films at Cannes.

One of my many early Red Balloon doodles
I had no idea that it was available on DVD until I opened Walter's present. I cried for somewhat complicated reasons, but partly because I was so touched that Walter knew how much this gift would mean to me, and that he had taken the time to track down the DVD and book.

I painted a Red Balloon on my office door!
Plus, ever since I saw that movie and read the book, red balloons have always been one of my very favourite things. It's not just about the children's story for me, but about the innocence and joy of childhood.

Another early Red Balloon doodle. You can tell my early drawings because I signed them "ohi" instead of "d.ohi".

I've told the following story in Blatherings years ago, but I can't seem to find it for linking, so am going to re-tell it here:

Shortly after graduating from university, when I was living on St. Patrick St. in Toronto with friends, I was feeling a bit down (I can't remember why). On impulse, I bought a red balloon and tied a little note to it with my address and a cartoon drawing of me.

I wouldn't do this now -- sending a balloon out into the wild isn't exactly environmentally friendly, and attaching my home address is just crazy. Anyway, some months later I received a letter in my mailbox from a little boy in Lockport, New York, where his father had found the balloon in one of their fruit trees.

Gift from a friend familiar with my Red Balloon obsession

We became penpals, and wrote for quite a few years before the correspondence finally stopped.

But my obsession with red balloons continued. :-)


Thank you, Walter, for your gift and your friendship.

I'm getting together with Allison and Jodi tonight for our last practice before FilKONtario. Only a few more days!

Yet another Red Balloon doodle from years back.