For Cat Lovers Only (?)

I've known about this book for a long time. 'Why Cats Paint - a theory of Feline aesthetics by Heather Busch and Burton Silver. This is a serious analysis of the variations in feline artistic expression including live installations, and use of untraditional materials. An historical perspective gives a glimpse into the development of the modern artist artist. The book features 12 major international feline artists. Above is Princess painting a portrait of Boris.

A local celebrity, Misty,living in Rosedale, Toronto. is identified as a Formal Expansionist. One of her recent paintings, 'Interning the Terrier', (which appears to show a small headless dog being stuffed inside a red armchair by 2 frogs and a sardine) sold at auction for $21,000.

The next in the series is 'Why Paint Cats - The ethics of feline aesthetics'.

The List

Before I start answering the list that Irene and Marissa have done, I must confess to another screw up. This time with my hair. I've been using the same plastic brush for about 15 years. Somehow my hair became clamped in the round configuration and I just couldn't get it free. I was tugging so hard that my scalp started to bleed. So, reluctantly, I had to cut it out. I can ill afford to contribute to my already thinning hair in that particular location. It doesn't look like much here but there is a whole hunk of hair on the underside.

So now for the list. And it's a long one.

Gone on a blind date?: No

Skipped school? : No

Watched someone die? : Yes

Been to Canada: born at Women's College Hospital in Toronto

Been to Mexico: Twice vacation

Been to Florida: Yes

Been on a plane: Yes

Been lost: Probably but I can't remember the circumstances

Been on the opposite side of the country: Vancouver

Been to Washington DC: No

Swam/waded in the ocean: Yes

Cried yourself to sleep: Many times

Played cops and robbers: This is a boys game. I played school where I was the teacher

Recently coloured with crayons: Yes

Sang Karaoke: Never and the world is happy for that

Paid for a meal with coins only: Many times

Done something you told yourself you wouldn't do: Cheated on my diet

Made prank phone call: In high school called a funeral home (Hulse and Playfair) and chanted - what? no pulse, call Hulce and we'll Playfair. We'll stab him, you slab him

Laughed until some kind of beverage came out your nose: Yes

Caught a snowflake on your tongue: Yes

Danced in the rain: No

Written a letter to Santa: No

Been kissed under the mistletoe: No

Watched the sun rise with someone you care about: No

Gone ice skating : As a kid

Been skinny dipping: No

Gone to the movies: Yes, but when

Been in love: Yes

Mother's name: Marjorie

Favorite drink: Bellini with or without the plastic animals

Any tattoos: Yes, 5 very small ones for medical purposes

Body piercings: Pierced ears

How much do you love your job: I hate the actual work and politics but love the 'clients'

Favorite vacation: Up the California coast, San Fransisco and Carmel

Ever been to Africa: No

Ever eaten cookies for dinner: I'm not a big cookie person but I'm sure I added some to the 2litres of ice cream that I can consume in a single sitting

Been on TV?: Yes - the Howdy Doody show when I was a pipsqueak. Sat in the Peanut Gallery

Ever steal any traffic signs?: What for?

Ever been in a car accident?: No

Drive a 2 door or 4 door: Don't drive

Favourite salad dressing: Ranch, Catalina

Favourite pie: lemon meringue

Favourite number: 4

Favourite movie: Tootsie, Ghostbusters, Chicago and any horror movie - good or lousy

Favorite holy day: Festivus (for the rest of us)

Favorite dessert: ice cream - mocha almond fudge

Favorite food: lamb

Favorite brand of shampoo: Aveda

Favorite toothpaste: Sensodyne

What do you do to relax: Some sort of artwork in front of the TV

Ever been to Ottawa: lived there for many years

How many siblings do you have?: None

What is your favorite flower: gerbera daisies, orchids

Furthest place you will send this message: not sure

Who will respond the fastest: winding down from all these questions and I have no answer to this

I dare you all to take your own survey.

Off to the Cat Doctor

Tomorrow morning the girls are off to see their feliatrition for various ailments. I've already started the process of desensitizing the carrier routine by bringing the carriers into the living room with doors open. Each girl crawled inside and had a snooze. Now, I predict that tomorrow morning they will have their radar operational and I won't be able to find them. I should start loading around 5:00 am to ensure that they're ready for 10:00. Amber hasn't been to the vet in a couple of years so she may not associate the quarantine procedure with a visit. Tayoh goes about every 2 months and is so psychic that as nonchalant as I my pretend to be, she seeks shelter under the bed whereupon I'm forced to jab at her with my Swiffer broom in order to chase her out. She's crying, I'm crying. But she reverts to her impish, seductive ways as soon as she's home again. I'm not sure how Amber will react.

Tayoh

Amber

Winter Renews Herself

What a surprise to awaken to what is not the dusting of snow that the meteorologist predicted. We actually had a little dump - looks beautiful but near impossible to find a sidewalk among the drifts. I love to see the vast expanse of snow - unsullied by footprints. Now going out in the cold is another matter. In my old age I just can't seem to spend any time outside. It's been so cold lately that it actually hurts.
This year I didn't make it to putting away the balcony furnishings. Winter seemed to have arrived too soon. So old, dead leaves still adorn the pots and seem to be content with being tucked in by a blanket of snow.

Even a power failure can't hold a candle to an evening with friends

Last night had 4 of us girlfriends dining out and yakking non-stop. We figured out the bill, placed the money on the little tray and then the restaurant fell into complete darkness. We tried to see if the rest of the street was affected but it was too difficult from indoors. Sure enough, when we left, the entire street was thrown into darkness. I entered the TTC at Runnymede station and it was obvious that the auxiliary power had kicked in. So dark and gloomy. The ticket master told me that the trains were still running. By the time I reached the Yonge subway line, I could barely squeeze onto the platform for the hundreds of people milling about. Three trains arrived, dumped the passengers off and announced: 'This train is out of service. Do not board the train'. No explanation why. Then finally an announcement was made - no power between Bloor to Eglinton. By now I wanted to cry and then longed for a cab but didn't have enough money. Besides, I had already paid $100 for a Metropass. Next step was shuttle buses to Eglinton and then the subway to Finch. I was never happier to arrive home to an overheated apartment.

I was so surprised and touched by the lovely unexpected gifts. Look at this wooden bucket filled with ribbons. And a lovely pendant necklace. It made up for the evil late night travels.

Snowball dances to the backstreet boys

I must say, it's taken me 4 hours to get the video up here. Lots of warnings, fatal errors etc. If it works once, it will work again.....

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Phantom Entry

Carmi's list of bloggers includes the time last posted. I seem to be stuck at 13 hours. And for the life of me, I can't figure out where this post is or what it's about. Yesterday it was also 13 hours ago. Hmmmm. I seem to be having many blips these days.

Yesterday I weighed in at 1.2 lbs lost. This is a small triumph since I seem to have a habit of gaining small amounts. I'm hoping that this challenge will help me not cheat.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am so crazy about animals. I find birds very fascinating. The following video is one of my favourites. That kind of rhythm can't be taught. Wish I could embed the video right here but I'm not that far along.

The return of the sidebar

I've had the greatest minds in the country working at this sidebar text. I tried everything that made sense and clearly the answer lies in the realm of nonsense. Another 2-3 hours spent this morning dithering over what to do. Then I fidgeted, went into 'fonts and colours' under 'Layout', clicked on 'revert to template default', then 'save changes' and lo and behold the text is back. I wanted to change the colour of the text but I'm not touching anything. I still don't know if this is permanent or just a temporary solution. But I am briefly satisfied.

The side bar is back!

What an ordeal trying to find out how to restore the text on the sidebar. I tried everything that made sense. Clearly the technique involves nonsense. I just signed in and tried something else. I can't even remember how I did it and it's lost

invisible blog

This post is actually a test of the ability to actually create a visible post. Earlier today I attempted to add some text to the chubby girl label. If you look at the sidebar you will see nothing except pictures. Funny how the text has disappeared while the images remain. I've tried for half a day to restore the information - I get notification that my info is saved. I've tried the 'ignore the edits and reset' (or something like that) and nothing works. I'm getting very frustrated. And nasty. Anyone have any ideas?

The next issue is the resin. The little bezels are so cute, and glossy. I wonder if this is because the resin is still wet. I will resist the urge to stick my big, clumsy fingers onto them to assess whether they are set. If they are not set by tomorrow, the experiment will have failed. That's all I need.

Resin Failure

It's the third day since pouring the resin and the resin is still liquid. Maybe I measured from the same bottle twice. So it's back to finding some bezels and starting again. This, of course, is holding back the completion of the copper book cover.

My Amber enjoys boxes. I find this odd since neither of my cats like to burrow. A parcel arrived the other day and Amber took care of the heavy packing paper by shredding and pushing all of it around the living room. As soon as she finished that task, she went to the box for peace and quiet. And she spends the night there and the day for that matter. Yes, she should be on the weight loss challenge but she has a very slow metabolic rate and, after all, she's a big boned girl. Note the bikini waxing (the white/pink area on the lower belly).

Weight Loss

I forgot to announce that as part of the weight loss pledge challenged by Carmi, I will weigh in every Monday and will post a loss or a gain. So technically I started last Monday. Today's result was a gain of 0.4 lbs. Waaaaaaaaaah!

Experimenting with Resin

Well, here's another challenge. I think that I'm destined to fail at the weight loss challenge. I don't think there's an end date unless I have all of 2009 to work at it. Then I may manage to get 5 out of 10 pounds done.

The pouring of resin - fraught with bubbles. I tried the huffing method. Didn't work and I ended up streaking my hair with resin. Not a good colour. You can't see it in the picture but there are parts in the bezel that resisted taking on the resin. Thus there were other parts that overflowed on the opposite side. I have them all sitting on wax paper to keep them from sticking to the board that's underneath but I don't know if this will work. I've taken to pushing them around on the wax paper and always get my big fat fingers in the resin. I may use them anyway depending how bad they are.

Now, what is wrong with this picture... I've had this cactus for years and it has grown tall and filled out very nicely. Then, a couple of months ago, the 2 largest stalks started to bend over and, at the base of these tall stalks, are growing little nubbins. I don't think I should cut off the large ones in case this is some kind of cloning activity. It bugs me though. Looks very weird. Anyone know what's going on here? Is it a special kind of reproductive activity?

Happy New Year Everybody !

I keep thinking that the New Year is next week. And every day this week has felt like a Sunday. Oh well, nothing special on the menu. I got a 'commission' for one of the heart necklaces. The colour requirements must be compatible with a pair of earrings so I had to stop off at Arton to seek out the appropriate colours. My prime purpose for going downtown was to visit Mokuba ribbon to look for a specific type. They have well over a thousand ribbons and, if the flesh is weak, the bill is huge. So I ended up with some discontinued ribbon - the entire leftover roll- as well as the stuff I originally went for. Mokuba is a Japanese company that designs and manufactures ribbon and other embellishments. In Toronto the store is located at 575 Queen St. West;

phone 416-504-5358

I highly recommend a stroll through the aisles.

It's actually a nice day today with very little wind and temperatures above zero. I need to go out to the pharmacy but now that I'm in, I suddenly feel weary and I'm thinking of taking a cat nap. Here that means trying to shift the cats over to allow me to squeeze into the smallest of spaces.

And I've just finished a pound of cherries from Chile. They can't touch the quality of the American Bing cherry but they are a thousand times better than the junk from Ontario. Anyway, I have a good old fashioned stomach ache.