Nice Things for a Monday

Hi people!

I’m catsitting somewhere, keeping the kitties company while I enjoy a beer. Beer always works much better before supper, much more efficient. And I’m convinced that hops or malt or something is good for me, because I’m always happier after having a beer than after having a scotch or a liqueur or any of that crap. Wine’s okay too, but it’s for Sundays. Or lamb. Or company.

Never mind. Back to business. “Time Team” is on tonight, so I’ll want to have today’s blog entry published well before that.

Today’s business is, Good Things for a Monday.

At the top of the list, Gina’s husband Cliff has a new job, after — what — two weeks of unemployment? Wow! If you’ve got any leftover good luck dust, Cliff, would you mind blowing it E.g.’s way? Thanks.

Next, E.g. has found another job to which to apply! That makes three jobs in less than three months! Well okay, put that way, the stats don’t sound all that great, but on the other hand, a fresh injection of encouragement is a good thing. I think. Anyway.

Third thing, Turtle has been given two more awards! Both from Dennis the Vizsla Dog. I think one of these days he and I will run away to Budapest together. It should be a snap, really; I can count to ten in Hungarian, and can also say “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, “brethren”, and “forever” in that amazing non-Indo-European tongue. What more do we need?

Anyway, the awards:

1. The Perfect Blend of Friendship award.

The award sez “Trust, Kindness, Honesty, Caring.”  Now you all KNOW that my blogroll contains only blogs with these characteristics, but I am to choose only five recipients. Lessee:

1. Gina — that was obvious! When I die and go to heaven, I hope her mansion will be next door to mine;
2. Alyson – always there for me, when she isn’t busy dislocating appendages;
3. Livingisdetail — she’s all that; her warmth shines through her words;
4. Julie – she cares for the earth and her family, and is honest about the failures in her suburban garden;
5. The Aged Cat — heartbreakingly honest, meltingly kind writing; a lo-ot of us miss her.

Then there’s the Kreativ Blogger award. It comes with rules. Here they are, in Dennis’s handwriting:

• list six things wot mayk yoo happy
• pass the award on to six bloggers wot yoo consider to be kreativ
• link to the blogger wot gayv yoo the award
• link to the blogs reseeving the award
• notify the resipients

Um, all right, Six things that make me happy:

1. Beer.
2. Watching “Time Team”.
3. Birdwatching.
4. Hiking.
5. Singing.
6. Cuddling on the sofa with E.g. and the dogs, sipping a beer, and singing along to the opening credits of “Time Team” after a weekend spent hiking and birdwatching.

So now, presenting the resipients of…

2. The Kreativ Blogger award.

1. Almostgotit, for her humorous writing style and wonderful mixed bag of blog entry topics;
2. Tom K, creator of the delightfully imaginative “Checkers’ World” (btw, we miss you) ;
3. Eyegillian, for her original poems and photographs;
4. Bobbie, because anyone who can write about Commerson’s Frogfish with a straight face has got to have a deep sense of humour;
5. She, for her poetic moonstruck prose; and
6. The Orange Phoenix, for her poetry and white-knuckle tales of imperfect dates.

And it’s “Time Team” in 15 minutes! Gotta go. See you tomorrow!

Thank You for Being Blogfriends

…our words go ’round the world and back again…

Down in the States today, it’s Thanksgiving. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever noticed it. The only holiday for Canadians this month is Remembrance Day, wherein the soggy fallen maple leaves and chill drizzle of November create the perfect pathetic-fallacy setting to the laying of poppy wreaths at the foot of grey monuments. Europe couldn’t have picked a better day for a ceasefire.

But back to today. It’s Thanksgiving Day down in the States. A reverent, indoor hush has slowly stolen in since yesterday, a quiet, tingling anticipation of the one thing that unites all humankind: the joy of a shared meal.

And why have I noticed this for the first time ever? Because over half of my blogfriends are talking turkey today. From New York City to Memphis to San Diego to Kona, and a few other states in between, you’re tucking away your laptops and tucking into the table. I’ve been watching the computer screens dimming since yesterday.

So today, I thought I would show my thanks for having youse guys in my klatsch. First, I’ll introduce the final three new members of my blogroll, one of whom lives in the States. Then I’ll mention a little blog admin I did yesterday.

Okay, in alphabetical order, introducing:

1. Almostgotit. I found myself enjoying Almostgotit’s comments on Dennis’s blog, and went to check her out. She lives in Tennessee, has a degree in English, writes real good, and has been looking for employment that would (a) make proper use of her talents and education and (b) honour her with an appropriate financial reward. She’s been looking for a while now. Stop by and visit if you need a dose of humour, a glimpse of her cats and woodstove, an encouraging quotation by someone already famous, or an eye-rolling tale of her latest job interview. She looks the Hiring Demons in the face, and giggles over their tie selection.

2. Celtic Memory Yarns. I discovered Jo’s blog on Livingisdetail’s blogroll. Jo’s blog entries, posted about twice or thrice a month, are a treat for the eyes and the subvocalizing ears. She writes about her wool work: not just knitting it, but spinning and dyeing it as well. You’ll meet her little dogs, her friends, the local Standing Stones, and other attractions of the ancient Irish hillsides where she lives. Her blog title is well chosen, as her entries are beautifully-spun tales, always imbued with a hint of magic.

3. Huckleberry Days. A few months ago, Themarvelousinnature pointed to Huckleberry as an excellent new nature blogger. Huckleberry lives in the Vancouver area of British Columbia. Each post focuses on one ecological detail, usually of the Fraser River Delta. It may be a plant, a species of animal, or an aspect of the natural environment. Topics for the month of November include Teasel, Western Bunchberry, and glassworts; Western Red-backed Salamanders, Rock Doves, and cockles; and rainbows, drainage ditches, and bogs. Huckleberry posts daily; she keeps her entries a manageable length, and keeps ‘em coming.

***Applause***

Okay, now for the little admin thingy I did yesterday. If you scroll over my sidebar, you’ll find little highlighted tags for each of your blogs.

Thank you for being blogfriends.

C.O.L.A.: The Creators’, Observers’, and Lovers’ Awards

Good morning, everyone!

With yesterday’s blog entry/wine-and-cheese running to 700 words, I decided to leave the admin details till this morning. Here are the rules and regulations accompanying each award that was handed out yesterday, along with the lists of recipients repeated for your convenience.

Oh, and by the way, those “musts” and “have tos” in the regulations apply only if you decide to hang your award on your blogden wall; I have no intention of giving you all chain letters!

= = = = =

First, for the Arte y Pico award:

1. PICK FIVE BLOGS THAT YOU CONSIDER DESERVE THIS AWARD FOR CREATIVITY, DESIGN, AND
2. INTERESTING MATERIAL AND ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE BLOGGER COMMUNITY REGARDLESS OF LANGUAGE.
3. EACH AWARD HAS TO HAVE THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR AND A LINK TO HIS/HER BLOG TO BE VISITED.
4. EACH AWARD WINNER HAS TO SHOW THE AWARD AND PUT THE NAME AND LINK TO THE BLOG THAT HAS GIVEN HIM/HER THE AWARD ITSELF.
5. AWARD WINNERS AND THE ONE WHO HAS GIVEN THE PRIZE HAVE TO SHOW THE LINK OF THE ARTE-Y-PICO BLOG (HTTP://ARTEYPICO.BLOGSPOT.COM) SO EVERYONE WILL KNOW THE ORIGIN OF THE AWARD.
6. IN COMPLIANCE WITH SAID RULES, THE AWARD WINNER MUST SHOW THESE RULES.

The Arte y Pico recipients are:

Celtic Memory Yarns

Checkers’ World

Dog Daily Photo

We Three, Ginger Cats’ Tales   and

Wondering Eye.

= = = = =

Second, the Superior Scribbler award:

1. Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.

4. Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit This Post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!

5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

The Superior Scribbler recipients are:

Huckleberry Days

The Marvelous in Nature

The Right Blue

The Unwound Road  and

Urban Observation.

= = = = =

And third, the I Heart Your Blog award:

Apparently, the rules for this one are lost in antiquity. Accept the award, refuse it, covet it, pass it on to whomever you will. Just keep it away from the teacher’s eyes.

The I Heart Your Blog recipients are:

Almost Got It

Cody Bear’s Friends

Gina’s Public Diary

Laugh in the Sun

Pennycat’s Weblog

The Aged Cat

The Chawed Rosin

Towards Sustainability

Wearing Stilettos   and

Yasashiikuma.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

Creators, Observers, and Lovers

How’s that for a catchy title?

Welcome, blogroll members! This is a Friday Festival of Blogfriends, with doorprizes for most of you and nice words for all of you.

I’ve been given some awards lately. One of them is not mine to pass on, although it is yours for the taking if you enjoy the underwater explorations of The Right Blue as much as I do. I was specifically named as a Friend of the Right Blue, I think, because I suggested John Denver’s “Calypso” as a theme song for Bobbie and Jerry’s blog. Please go visit their blog if you haven’t, and learn about their “Right Blue” badge in their November 9th post.

Another award, the Arte y Pico,  was given me all the way back in August by Elizabeth, Wearing Stilettos and Living on a Farm. She must have wondered why I never posted it or passed it on, but the reason is this: On checking its raison-d’être, I found it was originally intended for creative people — specifically, for handicraft workers. This award’s purpose is to acknowledge “creativity, design, and contribution to the blogging community.” Okay, I can stretch the definition a bit to include creative writing or photography; but in August, I felt that I hadn’t yet proven myself. Now, however, with just over six dozen bits of creative writing or camera pointing on tap, I graciously and humbly accept the award, Elizabeth. Thank you for your encouragement!

On November 16th, Dennis the Lovable Vizsla gave me an I Heart Your Blog award — for the second time! (Dogs truly are the gifts that keep on giving. ) The first time, in early October, I wimped out and unofficially handed it off to everyone, so I think I should more properly award ten bloggers today.

As you can see, most of my blog awards emphasize my — er — soft skills. Generally, I think, my writing makes people want to smile and give me a little scritch behind the ears. Sometimes the entries are funny; occasionally they’re fierce; always they come from the heart. Like many of you, though, I harbour a secret, insane fantasy life in which I fancy myself a writer. It was with great pleasure, then, that on November 19th I found myself the recipient of the Superior Scribbler Award, handed out by Alyson at Laugh in the Sun.

So. This is the last time I’m ever gonna be able to pull this off, but — there’s an award for each of you. Sort of. Dennis and Livingisdetail, because you were co-recipients with me (Dennis from Elizabeth, and Livingisdetail from Alyson), and because of the categories I see you in, you’re gonna hafta carry those awards around tonight, as you make your way between the ale and the Oka.

Here we go:

I. The Arte y Pico award is for the Creators, the spinners of yarns, the wielders of cameras, the designers of comics and the mythifiers of the moon. You are:

• Celtic Memory Yarns
• Checkers’ World
• Dog Daily Photo
• We Three, Ginger Cats’ Tales   and
• Wondering Eye;

(and the sixth Creator is Dennis’s Diary of Destruction ) .

II. The Superior Scribbler award is for the Observers, the examiners of Nature or of Human Nature, the reporters of secrets, histories, small parts and large trends. You are:

• Huckleberry Days
• The Marvelous in Nature
• The Right Blue
• The Unwound Road  and
• Urban Observation;

(and the sixth Observer is One Little Detail ).

III. The I Heart Your Blog Award is for the Lovers, of which there are many types: the passionate and the compassionate, the advocates and the next-door neighbours, the pet people, the people people, and the plant people. You are twice five:

• Almost Got It
• Cody Bear’s Friends
• Gina’s Public Diary
• Laugh in the Sun
• Pennycat’s Weblog
• The Aged Cat
• The Chawed Rosin
• Towards Sustainability
• Wearing Stilettos   and
• Yasashiikuma.

Enjoy the party, everyone! In a separate entry, I’ll post the award icons and the rules that go with each.

Testing, One, Two, Three

Boy, I’m whacked. Remind me not to look for a job that requires constant use of a computer.

I went looking for a few new additions to my blogroll today. Scanning and skimming until the whites of my eyes turned purple, looking for something I thought would sustain my interest on a regular basis. And I found three. Did I mention you were a select group, o blogfriends?

Introducing…

1. Towards Sustainability. I found this one on Livingisdetail’s blogroll. Crazy Mumma — oh wait, she’s also called Julie — lives in Australia with her spouse and three children. She is an environmental scientist who has decided that, for the time being, her greatest contribution to the environment is staying home with the kids and learning new ways to respect the earth. These ways include growing vegetables on her little suburban property, sewing cloth sandwich wrappers, and trying out recipes for homemade toothpaste and deodorant. It’s all fascinating, informative stuff. Crazy Mumma has just published her 500th post, and shows no signs of quitting.

2. We Three, Ginger Cats Tales. I’m not sure now how I arrived here — and that is perhaps appropriate. The writing in this blog is rich and beautiful and mysterious, poetic and respectful. The entries are short — often only one well-crafted paragraph — and the accompanying photos focus on both the pets and the Welsh countryside where they live.

3. The Chawed Rosin. This is a lovely eclectic blog from somewhere in the United States. You’ll just have to go visit it to figure it out; certainly at one hour past my bedtime, I’m beyond understanding much more than the fact that anybody who posts Melanie and “Pata Pata” videos and Edgar Allen Poe poems and political cartoons of President Obama gluing the Constitution back together again — well, this blogger’s got my attention!

So there, a blog on sustainable living, another on creative writing, and a third on popular culture and history. Enough for one day. Have a good weekend, everybody!

Wound Up

This is just a quick news update. Even though she hasn’t posted anything since July, some of you still have E.g.’s Unwound Road on your blogrolls. In case you don’t use feeds, I would like to let you know that she wrote a new entry this morning.

She’s sad.

While she’s trying to look forward to a new life in the city of her oldest memories, she’s still stuck in her current job as her office completely restructures itself and she’s expected to re-invent her work. All that she thought her organization stood for seems to have been tossed lightly into the maw of the Almighty Dollar.

I’d be depressed, too. And so would you, I expect.

So if you’ve got a moment to drop over to the Unwound Road and give E.g. a kind word, she’d be most grateful. And who knows, she might even start writing regularly again.

‘Tis Complex to be Simple

Well, gang, while Lavenderbay ponders pickles for a limerick, and raincoats and umbrellas for an essay, Turtle has gone searching on Youtube for appropriate renditions of theme songs for Gina’s and Dennis the Vizsla’s blogs. Gina and Dennis are good blogfriends with each other, and yet their theme songs are poles apart. I like that in a community.

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I. A Theme Song for Dennis’s Diary of Destruction

First, Turtle checked out a video for Dennis’s theme song. She wanted Johny Rivers’s “Secret Agent Man” . This song, she feels, captures Dennis’s love of disguises, his knack for getting into scrapes, and his suspicion of pretty faces such as those of Trouble the Kitty  and those cute little armed hedgehogs in pyjamas.

Fair enough. But Turtle doesn’t like a lot of violence, especially the red drippy kind, so it was hard to find a  video. The music videos of Johnny Rivers himself, on the other hand, didn’t seem to play very well. Searching, searching… Ah! This would be it. Adventure, danger, no ketchup, some physical comedy, and featuring a character in one of Dennis’s own adventures! Here it is.

 

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II. A Theme Song for Gina’s Public Diary

Again, knowing which song she wanted for Gina was, for Turtle, a snap. It is the well-loved Shaker hymn, “‘Simple Gifts”. But was it simple to make a choice of video? Nooooo. There are videos of guitar, recorder, and handbell performances. There are videos of children singing it for private functions. There is Marylin Horne singing Aaron Copland’s version with full orchestral accompaniment. There is a tribute to folk music expert John Langstaff. And there are lots of high school choirs trying to win local music festival awards with it. Which to choose?

When Shaker elder Joseph Brackett composed the song in 1848, it was meant for dancing. The Shakers, a celibate community who gained members only by recruitment or adoption, slept in sexually segregated quarters, had a gender-based division of labour, and even went through separate doorways. They wanted to live as though the Kingdom had already come, which to them included the Biblical verse that in heaven there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage. But they danced. Men on one side of the room, women on the other, but still and all…

One video, I thought, best exemplified the tradition. Shaker music was originally performed a capella, because it was felt that the Creator-made human voice was a finer instrument than any one made by human hands. This video has only one accompanying instrument, the piano.

And the performers are all one gender. And while most of them simply sing, one line in front dances. And these men, for the most part, are not married and don’t plan to be. Please enjoy.

Two Cents That’s Worth the Nickel

Wa-a-a-ay back a long time ago, I chose “theme songs” for all of the blogs on my blogroll. When Elizabeth of  Wearing Stilettos and Living on a Farm joined my roll, I welcomed her with lyrics about her two dogs and two cats, set to the tune of “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.” While I haven’t found a theme song for Gina yet, I baked some fresh muffins when I invited her over. Come to think of it, I have a funny feeling that Dennis the Vizsla doesn’t have a theme song either. Note to self…

Today’s entry is twofold: the passing on of nice words to five members of my blogroll, because I’ve been memed by Themarvelousinnature; and the introduction a new blogger to the klatsch.

Today’s meme, in fact, lends itself perfectly to my second purpose. Read on, to find out why there’s a Youtube video (I hope — this is the first time I’ve tried this! ) heading today’s entry.

The meme, as shamelessly copied-and-pasted from Themarvelousinnature’s blog, goes like this:

1. Choose a max of 5 blogs (we could all probably list our entire blogroll, but then you might as well just point people at your blogroll).
2. Four of the 5 have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world (the definition of “another part of the world” is left to your discretion).
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award (fair’s fair! If they’re sending traffic your way, the least you can do is thank them by sending traffic back theirs. Hopefully you also like their blog, too).

Like point #1 says, I’d like to include everybody, and also the non-bloggers — Jack, Jack’s Mom, and Mutual Friend Jane — who regularly drop in to my comments section. Alas, it cannot be. I’ve decided this time, because Themarvelousinnature is a specialist and I am a generalist, to choose bloggers who might be said to specialize in one or another of my favourite topics. Even then, that eliminates only a few choices.

So the rest of you, if you had a moment of dizziness today, it was because I tossed you all in a touque and gave you a good shake, like so many Scrabble letters. Here goes.

1. Livingisdetail, of One Little Detail, is grounded in place. She loves to tell us about local history, in and around Melbourne, Australia.
2. Just up the street from Livingisdetail — okay, make that rural Canberra — is Alyson of Laugh in the Sun. She focusses on her family relationships: her perfect husband, her challenging children, her brainless chickens.
3. Over in Kona, Hawaii, live Bobbie and her husband Jerry, divers who seek The Right Blue. This blog presents the wonders of underwater nature they have found throughout the seven seas.
4. Up in central Ontario resides Shelley of Yasashiikuma Kennels and her ever-shifting number of adult and juvenile Cardigan Welsh Corgis. Ever wondered what it would be like to breed puppies? Click on her “Raising a litter” category for 35 entries on the subject.
5. Finally, in fulfillment of point #3 above, and in answer to “What’s the Youtube video for, anyway?”, I’d like to formally introduce you to Pennycat of Pennycat’s Weblog. Although her female personal assistant happens to be Goodbear’s sister, Pennycat is new to the blogosphere. Her blog entries are short and pithy, usually accompanied by a photo of herself. Pennycat is all about pith, primarily cat pith. If you have only two minutes for a blog read, go catch Pennycat’s, and encourage her in her new career.

Since Pennycat, now living in the country, was originally a street kitty, I have chosen as her theme song “The Alleycat Song”, played on a delightful mechanical orchestra called a nickelodeon. The sound reminds me of the Roseneath Carousel (merry-go-round) . Welcome to my blogroll, Pennycat!

And now I’ve managed to sneak everyone on my blogroll, except Checkers, The Aged Cat, and Urban Thought — oh, yeah, and E.g. , who needs some encouragement to post another brilliant entry — into today’s posting. Oh — wait…

Pulling a Goodbear!

Running away to Kitchener  this morning to visit the St Jacobs farmers’ market, drop off something from Gillian’s workplace, and find a place for nice dog walkies. Packing the cooler. Taking some bickies. Writing in sentence fragments ’cause I really should wash the dishes and air out the car, which currently smells like a soup of Lake Ontario seaweed, wet dog, and cherry-scented car freshener.

So today, I’m pulling a Goodbear! A few words, a few photos, and then Buh-bye!

I could very well say I’m pulling a PennyCat as well, but I haven’t formally introduced her. I do believe, however, that she’ll be on my blogroll before the weekend is up.

Will try to read your blogs later today, but may have to wait till tomorrow. We’ll see.

Buh-bye!

If we ever get married, I think we should take the name “Whitefoot”.

“The Snoopy Dance? I can do it in my sleep!”