Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Turkey in the Straw - animated Flash ecard by Jacquie Lawson: Jacquie Lawson animated e-cards

Wasps, snow tires, and fish bait?

Now what do these items have in common? Well, it seemed strange that yesterday I was sitting outside having to swat away the wasps, today I bought and had snow tires installed, and then I saw the fish bait at Capital Iron while I was waiting for the tires.

Capital Iron was funky as usual but when did they go rather upscale on many items...a b-b-q for over $10,000 at Capital Iron! Prices on household items seemed rather high too. I guess in this past year I've been at too many dollar stores, thrift stores in Palm Springs, and Ikea. Sticker shock for sure.

All photos are of the funky part of Capital Iron...

For Steve Jobs

Painting again

I started a couple of paintings today...one of our paradise beach and the other of some rock balancing sculptures which will allow me to put my beloved freighters in the background. I needed to relax and take my mind off things...it worked!

Pet humour

From tastefulyoffensive.com (good site!)

Thanks to Bronwen who posted this on Facebook today.


tastefullyoffensive.com

Laughter is an Instant Vacation Movie

flickspire - Laughter is an Instant Vacation Movie

Comfort foods chez Derek and Mary's

It was a perfect day and occasion for comfort food. Mary made this great meal of meatloaf, cornbread, salad, and apple crisp from her own apples. Just what the doctor ordered for all of us!






*Photos from the web since I didn't think to take them.

Camosun English Dept TGIF

We had a TGIF yesterday for Jim's colleagues and a good time was had by all! Great to see some people I don't see that much.

Binky's on the mend....

Binky was having some bladder problems but an ultrasound showed no tumors so great news and now being treated. An injection from the vet once a week and drops in her mouth every day. You can see she wasn't exactly liking having the drops...poor thing! Jim did the dirty while Ian held her.

Photos: The 12 coolest libraries in the world

In the TC today as part of their Raise a Reader campaign. We've been in a few of these wonderful libraries...the one's I've posted photos of here.

Photos: The 12 coolest libraries in the world


British Museum Reading Room. Probably hadn't seen too many libraries when I first saw it in 1972.


Vancouver Public Library...my all time favourite, of course!


Seattle Public Library. Saw this a couple of years ago...absolutely fabulous!


Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Well, I wouldn't want to be a student in New Haven where Yale is. We had a heck of a time finding it and got lost. While Jim was in the Beinecke doing research I explored the town which has almost nothing of interest that I could find and it even seemed hard to find a place to have a drink. Guess it's a good place to be studious....


Trinity College, Dublin. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful...and made even more wonderful by The Book of Kells.

Autumn came in with a roar...

Autumn certainly came in with a roar yesterday...ferries cancelled, our power out, mucho rain and wind! All of a sudden I notice lots of trees that have already turned colour...when did this happen?

I'm still in the mindset of the folks with the badminton net still up and the summer chairs out.

Itty bitty book review: "Half-Blood Blues"

* Power back on now after being out a few hours. Went to Uplands to warm up and have lunch.




"Half-Blood Blues" by Esi Edugyan

Pretty impressed by this second novel of local Edugyan which is on the short list for the Man Booker. I hope it wins the Booker...wow, how exciting would that be! The Julian Barnes which is touted to win is only 150 pages...come on...this isn't a novel. And a review in The Guardian seems to agree. Winner announced Oct 18...keeping my fingers crossed.

Takes place in Germany in the 30's, Paris, 1940 and Poland 1992. The story is about a brilliant jazz musician is arrested by the Nazis in Paris, 1940 and is never heard from again. He was black and German. Flash forward to 1992 when he turns up in Poland and a couple of his old band members seek him out. Mostly, it's all about jazz, and blacks, anti-semitism, and all that stuff going on in the 30's and WW II. Beautifully written...I highly recommend it.

The Saylor Foundation

Jim has been very impressed with what he's seen on this free online university that is sponsored by the Saylor foundation....even a course on using the iPad!


The Saylor Foundation

So many books...so little time....

Five of us from the bookclub went to hear Michael Ondaatje read from his new novel, "The Cat's Table"...wow...an enthralling book and Ondaatje was the opposite of what I expected. I was expecting someone very intellectual and celebral and he was very down to earth and accessible. His novels are so wonderfully crafted that I thought he spent most of his time working them out ahead of time but it seems he makes stuff up as he goes along then does numerous rewrites so things fit and make sense.

I think perhaps his publisher got impatient with his last book "Divisadaro" and just said "give me what you have"...I felt it need a few rewrites.

This one seems perfect and I can't wait for it to arrive from Amazon.ca (I've bought books recently from Bolen's and Munro's so felt I could indulge myself in cheaper prices for a couple of books.)

I also ordered Julian Barnes "The Sense of an Ending" which is favoured to win the Booker prize. Jim is more a fan of his but he is also always interesting. I'm taking great interest in the Booker this year as two locals from the Victoria are short listed...yes...amazing as that may be! They are Esi Edugyan and Patrick de Witt. De Witt is currently living in Portland so not quite as local anymore but I immediately went out and bought Edugyan's "Half-Blood Blues" and am enjoying it immensely.

Then Guy Vanderhaeghe has a new book, "A Good Guy" and also Wayne Johnston with "A World Elsewhere". Vanderhaeghe got lots of recognition and a film made out of "The Englishman's Boy" (very well deserved) but Johnston should have won everything going with "The Colony of Unrequited Dreams" but didn't get much from it so I'm really hoping he scores with this new one.

Good luck to them all and merci, merci, merci, my beloved authors for giving me so much to read this year.

A good laugh this morning

I received this from Don this morning and got a real laugh. The subject line in the email was "0" (the number 0)



Many people will walk in and out of your life but only a true friend will leave footprints on your computer!
Forward this message to 5 other people...... And you will get......


Bugger all!

That's right bugger all.

You won't get good luck or a nice surprise, 5 grand or a bloody holiday in Jamaica , just bugger all...... it's true...... It works.....!


I sent it and I got........


Bugger all. Yes that’s right. Absolutely BUGGER all.


Don't break the chain! It's the only one of these things that actually does what it says!


Your Friend Don

Super lunch at Tim's

Tim cooked a fabulous sockeye salmon for lunch...wow! It was great to see his garden and we hadn't seen the paint job on the house...great choice of colours. We got a laugh out of Jenny, the cat, loving her treats, salmon, and chicken liver pate. She was in heaven but kept whining for more! I forgot to get a photo. Thea is off to a good start at UVic and especially enjoying her Shakespeare course.

Odds and ends

Well, we almost have our house back as the painters only have a couple of things outside and inside to do. We're very pleased with the basement. Mary, you made an excellent choice for colours! I probably would have gone darker but the area really does need these light colours.

The floral display has some meaning but couldn't quite figure it out....any ideas? This is the area in Oak Bay where they had a "floral bed" complete with bedframe and alarm clock. I perhaps missed the sign explaining it.

We went to Uplands with Monique yesterday and she and I both had this great bouillbaise...Jim had his usual steak.

The Gashlycrumb Tinies

Warning:

Only for people who enjoy black humour and don't have any "tinies" at home at the moment.

The Gashlycrumb Tinies

Change in the weather

Quite a change in the weather so thought I would post these two children's drawings of sunshine. This is what I miss most about the TC and I don't think this feature appears in the online edition.

New York 9/11

I didn't quite know what to post today. Kienan's return was fabulous and now 9/11 will always be somewhat associated with that. Today, a friend mentioned that she had mixed feelings about all the focus on a tragedy. I think she meant that it's important but also to move on. Seth Godin always has something of interest to say. I really liked his blog post today and I think he speaks for New Yorkers...fabulous folks who live in a great city.

From Seth Godin's blog:

It's different here

The other day, walking through Grand Central, I bumped into a friend, here on vacation with his fiancee.

I got to thinking about why New York City attracts so many tourists, more than just about any city in the world. Not because of natural wonders or even outdoor sports activities. It might be because:

* It’s different here (as in not the same)
* You can find someone to have an argument with, about just about anything
* There are fringes--cultural, educational, architectural, societal
* More than 42 languages are spoken at the Queens public library
* You can get something that’s not the regular kind
* There are profit-seekers who will happily sell you something, anything
* There are many who do things for no profit at all and will eagerly entertain, entrance and change you for the better
* You will find a diversity of religious belief like no other
* It’s changing
* The food hasn't been entirely homogenized
* People are active
* A stranger will go out of his way for you, perhaps, and more often than you expect
* There is more information per minute, per meter and per interaction
* Neighborhoods are more important than homogeneity, and co-existing is most important

The thing is, here can be anywhere. There are New Yorks going on in towns large and small, in companies big and tiny and in families that support and respect at the same time they embrace and encourage difference.

I remember ten years ago like it was yesterday, looking out the window of my office and wondering if it (all of it) was over. I remember those that suffered and were lost, and those brave enough to risk everything. Not sure we'll ever forget, or if we should.

But now more than ever, I believe we have an obligation to stand up, stand out and to do work that matters. Wherever you are, there's an opportunity to be different, with respect.

Missing boy found: Kienan Hebert returned to family in Sparwood

What a wonderful ending...unfortunately very rare.

Missing boy found: Kienan Hebert returned to family in Sparwood

Goodbye to my ocean and taste of France...

After I started painting I became very enthusiastic and wanted everyone to share in the fun. So...I painted an "ocean" in my basement and various things I loved from France on my walls. I got my friends to contribute to the ocean...it was tremendous fun!

But all good things must come to an end and I'm having it all painted over with neutral colours. Quite a job for the painters as much of the paint is glossy and needs to be sanded, two coats of primer and two coats of finish. Glad I'm not doing it...creating it with my friends was a lot more fun! The painters started to do some sanding already of the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur so figured I better get some photos.


Sacre Coeur by moi looking a little worse for wear by sanding.


Killer Whale by Richard (rubber ducky by moi...)


Dolphins and otter by moi.


View from our favourite room at the Hotel Splendid, Bandol.


Tidepool by Carole who got me into painting in the first place!


British Octopus by Nin.


Fish by Fern.


Crab by Patty.


Jim's contribution


Walrus and the Carpenter by moi.


Mermaid by Marnie.


Treasure Chest by Annette.


Seahorse by Barbara


Shipwreck by Trish.


Seabirds by moi.


Lighthouse by moi.


Deux Chevaux by moi.


Moulin Rouge by moi.



Penquins by moi.