Chicken, Pig, Cow...in A Muffin Tin!

Photo above courtesy Sugary Flower.

Check out the ADORABLE muffin tin that Sugary Flower put together because her daughter likes Ruth's Chicken, Pig, Cow Horse Around so much, for Muffin Tin Monday.

You can see the full post here.

Back from NYC and my new shameless Debbie Ohi Facebook Page!

Had a fantastic time in NYC and will be posting more about the trip soon.

Meanwhile, though, I've been convinced that I needed to create an "official" Debbie Ohi page on Facebook to promote my creative projects. If you're on Facebook, I'd be therefore grateful if you'd consider adding this Page to your Likes list: http://www.facebook.com/DebbieOhi.

Though there will be occasional cross-over, I'll be trying keep personal stuff to my personal Facebook page while posting about creative projects, books and other promo in my official Debbie Ohi Facebook Page.

And yes, I cringe at the whole "Fan Page" terminology, which is why I've resisted for so long, but I figure that I'm going to have books to promote sooner than later. :-)

Thanks so much your encouragement and support, everyone!

10 Things I Love About My Friend Errol Elumir

Though familiar with his online presence (not surprising, since Errol is EVERYWHERE online!), I didn't actually meet Errol Elumir until FilKONtario. We hit it off right away, and I had fun collaborating with Errol on comics for NaNoWriMo last year. Both our schedules tend to be über-busy, but we try to get together once a month. Group gatherings are always fun, but I've always found one-on-one conversations more satisfying (and for me, essential) for a deeper level of friendship.

Here are just a few of the things I love about Errol:

He's one of the most POSITIVE people I know. I'm not saying he's happy all the time (though maybe he is; you'd have to ask his wife Keren), but he's definitely a glass-half-full type of guy. You can tell from talking with him. You can tell from his Facebook, Twitter and blog posts. His focus is on what's good about the people and things around him, not what's wrong or missing or bad.

He doesn't just talk about doing stuff. He goes ahead and DOES it. So many people (including me) have a tendency to talk about the great plans they have for such-and-such project but then they get distracted ("ooo shiny") and the project never goes beyond discussion phase. Errol actually follows through.

He's creative. Heck, he has a whole blog about creativity. But he doesn't just talk about creativity. Creativity is woven through everything he does. He writes books. He writes songs. He draws. He makes videos.

Writer's Block by DebsAndErrol

He's a board gamer. Below: photo of Errol with our recent visitors from Belgium (Cédrick & Murielle) at Toronto board game cafe, Snakes & Lattes. On the table: a prototype of 7 Wonders: Leaders (expansion of one of my favorite board games ever, 7 Wonders). Here's his board game list on BoardGameGeek.

He's a filker. Below: Errol accepting a songwriting prize at FilKONtario:

(If you're not sure what filk is, please see the Urban Tapestry Filk FAQ)

His benevolence. He's just so gosh-darned NICE. After spending any time with Errol, I always feel inspired to be a better person.

He's a Photoshop wizard.

He's nerdy. He's not one of those who jumped on the nerd bandwagon when the whole "nerd" thing became cool. From what I can tell, he's always been a nerdboy. :-)

He adores his wife and kids. He wrote an entire ALBUM of Geek Love Songs for Keren as a birthday present. Also, his wife and his kids adore him right back.

Plus he and his family (with the help of Andrea D'Silva Photography) put together one of the coolest family portraits ever:

His new music duo, Debs and Errol! I haven't had the chance to see them perform live, but love the music videos they've posting on the Debs and Errol YouTube page, plus the awesome Debs and Errol webcomics on their blog.

I could go on much longer about things I love about my friend Errol, but am going to stop here because it would be more fun for you all to go check out his projects yourselves. Here are just a few of the places online where you can find out more about him:

Elumir.com

DebsandErrol.com (and their Facebook page! And their Twitter feed!)

Errol Elumir and Deborah Linden are working on a CD (yay!) and are fan-funding the project. Do consider supporting them! Or if money is tight, you can still enter their CD Song Contest, in which Debs and Errol are soliciting song ideas for the CD:

It’s Debs!

Errol and I are in the process of choosing songs for our upcoming CD! We have our favourites, but we would like to write a few new ones too. Personally, I’m thinking very seriously about a soulful ode to a neti pot.^[1] We don’t want to make all the creative decisions though. Since the CD is fan-funded ^[2] (and fan requested!), we want you have a say on what goes on it. Our diabolical plan is as follows:

Comment here, and give us your random, funny, geeky song titles or ideas by May 21st, 2011!^[3] We will choose our 10 favourite and then let you vote. Whichever one wins (and this is completely up to you), we will write that song and it’ll appear on the CD this August. Errol’s nervous.^[4] I think this is made of win.^[5]

Errol: And what does the winner get? Why, OUR CD! HUZZAH!

My Mother

Today would have been my mother's birthday.

Mom died from cancer when she was just a little older than I am now, but I like to imagine her peering over my shoulder from time to time, keeping tabs on me.

She would have been so tickled at my foray into children's book illustration. Ruth and I both inherited our illustration talent from Mom; I remember she used to draw for us when we were very little: fairy tale characters and princess in lush ball gowns with ribbons (I wanted lots of ribbons).

(Above: I'm in the striped shirt)

Mom left her childhood home in Japan to move to Canada to meet and marry my father. She must have been so nervous, especially since her English was not the best. She made a home for herself here with a loving husband and raised three children.

My mom's been gone for many years, but I can see her in the mirror and in photos sometimes: snatches of her expressions, her mannerisms. When I was a teenager, I used to be horrified at the thought of becoming like my mother.

Now, it makes me happy.

Video of my friend Richard tap dancing on top of the CN Tower