Best. Chair. Ever.

In the whole wide world! I wanted to sit and/or sleep in it for pretty much ever. Too bad it's like a najillion $$

Handsome snow-snarfer

Morning Conversation

In my defence of how strange these questions were, even though I was trying to wake Nannermellon up, I was also very sleepy. Picture all Nannermellon's answers to be mumbled for full adorableness.

Me: Wake up, wake up, wake up.

Nannermellon: ...

Me: Okay, you have to talk. ...What is your opinion on piglets?

Nannermellon: They're little.

Me: If you had to decorate a house for a piglet, how would you do it?

Nannermellon: Purple.

Me: Would you doing anything else?

Nannermellon: Leaves.

Me: On the walls or on the floor?

Nannermellon: All over.

Me: Hm. Would you use dried ones or fresh ones?

Nannermellon: No gray - just no gray.

Me: No gray ones? Okay...
       Which is your favourite toe?

[long pause]

Nannermellon: This one. [points at her middle finger.]

Me [laughing]: That's not a toe!

Nannermellon [sulkily]: It's a good toe.

[another long pause]

Me: You still haven't named your favourite finger for me.

Nannermellon: Norman.

Me: Best. Answer. Ever. But which ones of your toes is Norman? You still haven't told me. I wouldn't recognize him if I saw him on the street.

Nannermellon: Herman.
                        Would a toe walk down a street by itself?
                        That would be weird...
                        And would it have feet? With toes on it?

Me: That would be very... meta.

[pause]

Me: What was your favourite movie as a kid?

Nannermellon: rins bry.

Me: what?

Nannermellon: rinses rye.

Me: Pardon?

Nannermellon: Prinses bri.

Me: Oh, the Princess Bride. Great movie.
       Can you say a quote from it?

Nannermellon: No more rhymes now, I mean it.... Does anyone want a peanut?
                        Are there any rocks ahead? ... If there are, we'll all be dead.
                        You've fallen victim to one of the classic blunders, never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. A ha ha ha ha
                        ROUSs? I don't believe they exist.

Me: Ahhhrrghhh!

Nannermellon: It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise [hand flop].



Me: :)

Lavender honey tea bread!!

Can we make this? Also, does anyone have a cake pan that is shaped like a castle?

Hahaha camels

This made me giggle today

Love this guy

Back at high park today! He made his chewbacca noises in excitement when we got close. :)

Warm tips!

Before and after of my staining project

KAllouses

Haha

New get up and Goanthem

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NzECTWzvYc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sleepytime Tea

I like how much I can sleep when I have a headache. I have slept from three till ten in two hour stints and am looking forward with perfect contentment to the full night of sleep before me.

Under an Autumn Sky

1. I came across a recipe for sage pesto this morning in Under The Tuscan Sun.
Chop a big bunch of sage leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, and 4 tablespoons of pine nuts. Grind together in the mortor (or food processor), slowly adding olive oil to form a thick paste. Transfer to a bowl, mix again, add salt and pepper and a handful of parmigiano. Makes about 1-1/2 cups.
Now the clippings of my sage bush that anually takes over the yard will go somewhere more romantic and delicious than the compost pile.

2. It also contained this poem which spoke to me:
Send me out into another life
lord because this one is growing faint
I do not think it goes all the way.

3. I like watching seed fluffs drift over grasses, they seem to capture a light as soft and gentle as themselves.

4. I looked over on the subway and a few seats over someone was wearing a black shaggy buffalo hat complete with horns. When she stood up I saw that her knapsac was a vampire bat. I liked its little black ears and grinning fangs.

beginnings and endings

I walked to work through a ravine this morning. It smelled of damp earth. The air was crisp and cool. It refreshed my heart and my sleepy eyes.

After work I made brownies. I added a banana and made brief glancing references to two recipes which I largely ignored (banana, egg, honey, sugar, butter, flour, chia seeds, flax seeds, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cocoa, ground almonds - a dash of this, a dash of that). I added a melted chocolate glaze that I also improvised (butter, unsweeted bakers chocolate, almond milk, sugar), and it all came out tasting of heaven. I was halfway through my first brownie when I began to get excited for seconds.

Shit, I made a wrong turn!

Brain optional

1. I'm wearing red fuzzy, very cosy socks this morning.

2. As I sleepily brushed my teeth this morning I looked down at a box of baking soda and read "Change every 30  days," and for a half beat I thought in angry panic "I can't do that! That's too much to ask! I am who I am!" before I realized it was probaly referring to the baking soda.

3. Sandy brought over delicious cookies she made. Soft but firm, chocolate chip, melt in your mouth delectable.

Simple Things

A man winked at me while I was sitting on my front porch sawing wood. I like a man who likes a girl with tools.

Necessary new socks

Pet fur not originally included

Climbing with Kryptonite

 I played on the jungle gym with Kryptonite. We hung upside down and dangled from our feet. There were looped monkey bars and I decided I really really wanted to lie in them. After much wriggling and giggling (my hips were too big to slide through them, and my shoulders barely fit) I managed to squish myself through them.

Just look at the cuteness!

Sunbeams

Phase 1: assemble tiny soldiers for numerous tea parties

Check.

Newly organized shelves!

I thought Emberella Cat would be proud. :)

Coooookies

It's hard to look at your snack, baby.

Cakeportation

The lovelies!

Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam!

Looking in my junkmail collection today, I have a message from "Lint Lizard Suction". According to the subject line it will speed drying time and clean the dryer. I now have a lovely image in my head of lizards running up the walls of my dryer after every load with their little suction cup feet, happily sucking in and nibbling all the lint left behind. So cute!

Human Piñata

Sweet Scent

"According to a study by the Wheeling Jesuit University, Jasmine has a positive effect on the quality of sleep one gets, decreasing anxiety and improving the attitude one has after waking up. The smell of Jasmine doesn't make you sleep more, instead it makes your sleep time count for more. I guess you could consider it 'high quality' sleep with less moving and disturbance. In addition, studying while smelling Jasmine increased alertness and performance on cognitive tests."
I read this to Rafiki last night and he immediately said, "Bedtime!" :)

Little Tiny Keys

John Silver at work recited a poem from her childhood one day,

"Hearts, like doors, open with ease 

To very, very little keys, 

Now don't forget that two of these 

Are thank you sir, 

and If you please."

I think it's sweet and oh so perfect.

Nuzzling Niceness

As I turned onto my street I was greeted by two English bulldogs who came running up to me, and pressed their soft faces into my legs, snorting and slobbering and wagging their tails in their delight. I scratched their soft rolls of fur and fat, and walked home with a big smile on my face.

:)

Wish I could remember that dream.

I woke up enough to realize I was laughing in my sleep.

Yesss

Running makes me feel stronger and Pilates makes me feel taller. 

Vitamin D and laughs

Today at the dog park there was one of those small dogs that sounded like a gremlin. It made a little boy (of about 8)laugh so hard and uncontollably  that everyone around started to laugh. Funny. 

Kid Koala

Last night I went to Kid Koala's Space Cadet Headphone Experience with Bird and Jam. It was wonderful. We lay back on our pod pillows with headphones on all squished together.
Without designated seating there was much shuffling to fit everyone in, but all the people hosting were super relaxed, laughing and joking, "Those of you on a first date, it's time to take it to the next level." "You get a free book if you sit on someone's lap!"
There was an art show before we went in. There were Kid Koala's achingly beautiful sketches of robots flying over landscapes, shovelling the grass, and doing all the other things that robots do. There was a big console of buttons that lit up and blinked at you that you could play with. Some of them made noises. Bird and I were crouched beside it leaning in close to here our noises, when we were joined by a curly haired girl with a big smile. It felt very companionable. There were old-school games you could play - the kind of games you'd find at a science store for kids when you were little. There was a display of alien plants, each under a bell shaped cloche.
Then we went inside, lay back and let the music wash over us. Bird turned to me after the warm up act (although as Kid Koala said, "It's a bit odd calling it a warm up act for a chill out show. This is the calm, before the calm." Which made me laugh.) and said, "I feel hipper just by coming here." It was true, everyone around us seemed hipster and interesting, and the whole event was charmingly off the usual path.
The music was wonderful. He played Moon River, a song that goes straight into my heart every time I hear it. It was also his Mummy's favourite song:

He played Drunk Trumpet, which is the first song I ever heard by him, and the reason I fell for his music:

He got us all to channel our inner three your olds when he played this song:

You better believe we all got up and did all the actions. My favourite part was when you 'reach over and touch your toes, yes you curl up like a little bean... and then you groooowwwwww.' It is (three-year-old) daughter's favourite song. Bird says it might have been her favourite of the night too :)
Here's some of an audience dancing to it. It seems funny when you can't hear the music through the headphones anymore:

Even when he asked for volunteers from the audience the things that they had to do were awesome and not at all embarrassing - like have a thumb war in a official Thai thumb-wrestling ring (it looked fabulous on the big screen - two thumbs duking it out), or play a music box while he scratched over top of it, or play a bell when a star on fell onto your number on screen.
I enjoyed the whole show SO MUCH. I wish I could do it all over again :)


ps. I was dancing about to Kid Koala music as I wrote this post and I looked up to find Zoe-cat staring at me in complete beffudlement, as only a cat can stare. She made me laugh.

Companionable Comments

Checking my morning comics, I came across these by Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content :

jephjacques my right knee looks like I tried to Muay Thai a rosebush thanks to the cat constantly using my lap as a springboardabout 1 hour ago · reply · retweet ·favorite

jephjacques Thank you, cat, for slicing my finger open. I did not need that finger anyway.about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet ·favorite

He sounds like someone I could be friends with.

Sunny day walk

Today I watched adorable baby ducks be squawked around by their mum, swim around, and tumble down a tiny hill. 

Flair's bday backpack

I kind of want it...

Mini moosetracks ice cream

Made my day on a sunny day last week

Moustached juggling club gent

Slumber party, massage, and puffy lemony pancakes

A dreamy night and day at Casa de Emberella Cat :)

trash as treasure.

Tamantha Mingledorf is following me on pintrest! I know not who she is, but her name is fabulous!

As I was sorting through my junk mail, I happened to click on Cute N HornyGirl's message to me (apparently she has horns - awesome). It is also fabulous. I quote:

"BABE. . . i guess your not getting any of my email huh? ive been tryign to email u so many times but this dam laptop is such a piece of garbage and keeps freezing. . . anyways how u been? In case u dont know who this is its ME Adriana. . we used to chat a bit on facebook and then I think u deleted me :( haha.. anyways guess what. . . I got 2 things to tell u. . both good news. . 1)im single now. . yup me and my bf broke up about 3 months ago. . . and 2) guess where im moving? RIGHT EFFING NEAR U. . . lol. . . ur actually the only person im gonna know where. . well 3 cousins too but i cant chill with them lol. . "

It's pages long! And it's consistently friendly and chatty. Whoever wrote it should write a novel. Great character development. She has a kitty named Boo. Amused me immensely.

Eggtastic, part 3

Kryptonite finally painted an egg. I've been wanting him to for ever so long. He once brought a guest from a far away land to an egg painting party, and even then remained serenely watching (despite all prodding, and despite artistic talent, and despite the fact that he occasionally murmurs wishes that he could be more artistic), saying he was contemplating his design.

Well, maybe he was contemplating his design all these years.

This year I was going to paint eggs one night, so I sent him an email that said:

"I shall be painting eggs again this evening if your egg idea has come to fruition.

Lots of pressure,

Emberella Cat."

Kryptonite wrote back,

"i'll try to think of something inappropriate to paint ;)"

I got called into work unexpectedly that evening, so when I got a text message from Kryptonite around 9pm asking how late the egg painting was going, I wasn't painting eggs at all, but driving home dirty and dishevelled with bits of plants clinging to me. It turned out to be the only time before easter that we were both free, so I rubbed my eyes and told him to come on over anyway.

We painted eggs until two in the morning. Kryptonite was adorable. He'd originally thought of doing a full on graffiti style egg, but then switched to a different idea instead. He got out little bunny stamps he'd brought back from his travels around the world and stamped the egg all over. The bunnies on the first egg smudged and were blurry, so then we had to find new ink that would work better. He wanted his egg to be perfect. So he stamped his egg, coloured in all the bunnies, re-drew their outlines with a black marker, and then painted over all the smudges in the background with white paint. At two in the morning he said plaintively, "It needs another coat of white over the smudges." I laughed, "Don't worry, it's two in the morning, I'll do it for you tomorrow before I glaze it. Go home and go to sleep." I really like his quest for perfection.

I have another egg on my tree painted by a person in my heart. His egg looks beautiful. It makes me happy.

Better

I was in a sad mood, listening to music on random, and then a story read by friends came up on my shuffle. It made me feel a little better.

I like tamales and nuts and volts

Eggstatic, part 2

I love our egg tree, with all its beautiful eggs, painted by people I care about. It makes me happy every time I walk up the street. I like that I'm not the only one...

Out walking a few days before easter Jaja ran into a lady she knows who lives on our street. They had a polite chat, hi how are you, that sort of thing, then the lady burst out, "Do you know what happened to the easter house?"

"What easter house?" Jaja asked, and the lady said, "The easter house on our street that hangs the hand painted eggs in the tree outside!"

Jaja paused. "...You mean my house?"

"Is that your house?" the lady asked, agog.

"I think so..." Jaja said.

"Well are you going to do the eggs this year??"

Here is an egg painted by Kippen - the Great A'Tuin swimming and hugging his sky sea.

The side you can't see is his shell. I think he's so lovely and content.

Eggstatic, part 1

I love easter, with all its creative and yummy delights.

I like the beautiful hidden in plain sight places my family finds for eggs:

Emberella Cat & Bas Cat grating cheese together :)

One of the clowns I hang out with

Hiding?

Devil at the pet store yesterday, this made me laugh so hard. So of course I had to take a picture.

Made a strawberry face mask...yummy

I hope the rest of the day is as good as waking up

I had the most lovely dream about a celebrity with flipping great wodgers of cash who liked me. He was a musician in a well-known alternative band - I'd heard of it, but didn't know any of the bands music. He was being interviewed for some show, and for some reason I wandered in. I started asking questions too, and he and I immediately discovered we were the type of people who could be friends. The rest of the people on the show (the rest of the audience and the official interviewer) were somewhat annoyed that I was monopolizing his attention, but they drifted away. He wanted my number, but I was reluctant to give it because I didn't want to give the wrong impression (after all, I have Rafiki). I hadn't given it to him by the time I woke up, but it was so nice, even in a dream, to find a kindred spirit.

Rafiki sent me the best wake up text this morning (he had to get up early to study, I had to get up early for work), "Wakey wakey my favourite person!! Kisses on your neck, cheeks, forehead, and eye lid if I was in bed with you."

New birthday sheets, first night

Mmmm

Sexually, I'm silly.

1. This morning I read that "people who enjoy silliness are one third more likely to be happy." (Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project). I am pleased to note that Rafiki and I are on the right track.

2. Princess Dragon was lying in all the sunbeams around the house. Her fur looked soft and beautiful in the sunlight. She lay with perfect repose and was a lovely reminder to enjoy the moment wherever you are.

3. Jaja and I went to a flamenco performance this evening. They got all their students up on stage from the audience, and all danced, all clapped the rhythm, and all shouted in joy at key moments (although I have no idea what the cues were) - the energy was wonderful. The professional dancers feet were a blur when they stomped out the rhythm. The dynamic between the clapping, the flamenco guitar, and the singing was amazing. The claps were so sharp and clear and would get faster and faster while the guitarist flicked out the melody. It was also exciting because each performer brought his or her own personality to the dance - for all that it was so technical, each dancer or singer was worlds apart from the styles of the rest. Some strutted, some were seriously intent, some bounced and flicked the energy into the air off their hips or their finger tips - all had fun.

When I got home I hunted down this dance from Strictly Ballroom, because I wanted to watch more flamenco-esque dance. It's such a great scene:

4. On the way home I passed a little free library on a street near my house. I'm not sure how it works, but it's very pretty and seems like a lovely idea.

5. I started reading Sexually I'm More of a Switzerland: More Personal Ads from the London Review of Books. The ads in it are delightfully bizarre. So far a few of the jewels I've come across are:

"I put the phrase 'five-header bi-sexual orgy' in this ad to increase my Google hits. Really I'm looking for someone who likes hearty soups and jigsaws of kittens. Woman, 62. Berwick. Box no. 7862."

"An ancient Czech legend says that any usurper who places the Crown of Saint Wenceslas on his head is doomed to die within a year. During World War II, Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi governor of the puppet Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, secretly wore the crown believing himself to be a great king. He was assassinated less that a year later by the Czech resistance. I have many more stories like this one. I will tell you them all and we will make love. Man, 47. Box no. 6889."

"I celebrated my fortieth birthday last week by cataloguing my collection of bird feeders. Next year I'm hoping for sexual intercourse. And a cake. Join my invite mailing list at box no. 6831. Man."

All these in just the introduction! I am looking forward to the rest.

The crusades, the telemarketers.

We got a call this morning. The voice inquired whether this was a residential or business number.

Mum confirmed it was a business, and the voice on the other end of the line asked, "So, would you like to support the military?"

Mum was so surprised she said, "The military? You'd better call the church!" and hung up. :D

"The Mighty Oak was once a Nut that Stood its Ground."

1. I went to the symphony with my mummy today, and listened to violins sing.

At the end of the third movement Pekka Kuusisto, the solo violinist, made his violin warble like a bird, and finished the movement with a small quiet smile on his face, as if everything had come to a perfect moment and he was content. He was right, it was a perfect moment.

2. A very small bay tree has seeded itself in our rock garden. It isn't supposed to grow in our cold climate, but there it is, three sturdy leaves upraised.

3. I'm reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, and stuffing it full of bookmarks. It is very good (and happy!) and has many bits I want to remember. Today I came across this paragraph in defence of children's literature:

Children's literature often deals openly with the most transcendent themes, such as the battle between good and evil and the supreme power of love. These books don't gloss over the horror and fascination of evil, but in the end, in even the most realistic novels, good triumphs. Novelists for adults don't usually write that way; perhaps they fear being seen as sentimental or priggish or simplistic. Instead, the focus on guilt, hypocrisy, the perversion of good intentions, the cruel workings of fate, social criticism, the slipperiness of language, the inevitability of death, sexual passion, unjust accusation, and the like. These are grand literary themes. Yet I also find it enormously satisfying to see good prevail over evil, to see virtue vindicated and wrongdoing punished. I love didactic writing, whether by Tolstoy or Madeleine L'Engle.

and this quote by C.S. Lewis:

When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

It puts into words reasons why I love children's literature so much, and can be often found lurking among those shelves, rather than the "adult" novels section where I am supposed to be found, and reminds me not to be ashamed of it, but instead, be myself and ever more grow into who I am.

Sunny day in east MB

Black River Welcome Wagon

Happy Birthday Nannermellon!

loves you.

My neighbor's door

Good Morning

I like that I can put Nannermellon to sleep by reading to her. I like her very soft wheezy breathing that whispers down the phone line when after the second chapter I say, "Are you awake?" Revisiting Harry Potter this way is nice too, it goes more slowly, and I get caught up in the story, thinking, "what happens next?"

I like the sun shining in my window this morning, glowing, with shafts of light illuminating my orchids and the chinese animals hanging on my walls.

My orchids are blooming :)

I like this Cul de Sac, and the exchange that followed it:

towerwarlock: "I have never seen a kids room look like that unless it was right after the mom trashed it looking for any narcotics the kid never had in the first place."

Michael Jantze: "Today’s strip was written by my 9-Y-O daughter (who also voices Alice in the animated shorts)…and she wrote the gag from a real conversation she and I had while looking for a sweater in her room…in reality? The candy was still in the bucket, half eatenAND there was a Christmas gift unopened! She took the original cartoon to her fourth grade class today for show and tell. Signed, a proud papa."

Dani Rice: @towerwarlock "You’ve never been to our house! The twins room got so bad my husband actually hung the beds from the ceiling to keep them from putting stuff under them."

.

Funny, Poignant, Beautiful

This video makes me happy every time I've watched it.

It's from DV8 Physical Theater's dance film The Cost of Living. It's brilliant, funny, poignant and beautiful. A warning to Kippens though, if you watch The Cost of Living, it has clowns in the beginning. Skip ahead to 3:15 and then you're safe.

In other news, I found a bunch of white hairs lurking in my brown ones last night. I liked my initial reaction to the discovery. They first made me think of the book The Fairy Rebel I read as a child, in which one of the characters is part fairy and has a few blue hairs hidden in her brown ones that are magic. I thought, "Brilliant! I can make wishes!"

Smiling Tulips

Emberella Cat brought me tulips and other goodies when I was oh so sick and lonely

A good Tulip day

Kali, hot yoga, groceries, celery/cucumber/beet juice, nachos, tidying, and oh yes tulips. A nice day for Me.