Another thing from the weekend. Although the new cat is great, we've gone from zero to stupid for her in very short order a houseguest dubbed her "Hammers" and it unfortunately suite her. She's very young, but also possibly a bimbo. Very pretty...not so smart yet. Time will tell. We're still going to (mostly) call her Ripley.

More weekend than even adventure girl can handle...Friday night wedding at Carlu, the sky room, which looks like the back corner of Gods mind when lit by candles all along the walls. They did a unity candle ceremony as part of the thing and got wax all over their hands. They both giggled and he snorted "that's what you get for buying cheap unity candles" - very cute. This was immediately followed by rehearsal for friends wedding in a Catholic church, a very new experience for me. I've always found Catholic stuff very sexy - priests, stained glass, priests, the statuary and candles, priests - you get the picture. Never have I been other than a spectator, though. Had to bow to a table. I asked why and was told it was a sign of respect. It wasn't a particularly nice table, but I figure there's some sort of relationship with the whole Jesus as carpenter thing and perhaps representations of his earlier work. I was quite honoured to be asked to do a reading for the event and got to practice this - announce title, read, count to five and then say "the word of the Lord". Which I understood, copyright is important. It was a very nice reading too, stunning stuff and I didn't want to mess up. I also didn't want to swear in church, and these seemed like reasonable goals. Come the day though, the next morning at 11am? Failed miserably in both tasks. Walked blithely away from the reading without saying the last bit, the priest caught it and then, frustrated with myself said under my breath "o d*mn it...o sh*t!" Despite my F up it was a beautiful wedding, heart felt, sincere and a flat out gorgeous location. Very small and intimate in a grand setting, bride looked like a serene sunset over wheat fields and groom looked vitally aware of his fortune. Very nice.
Wedding in the afternoon was back at the Academy of Spherical Arts, where they joked about getting me a locker. Very relaxed bride, wonderful groom...ceremony an hour later than I'd had it written down for. Very kind Academy staff photocopied song books for me though, and then it was off to our 10th anniversary party! Lovely turn out, smaller than anticipated/RSVP's stated, but had a nice small family reunion feel. Chili contest had two entries and short story contest had 3 (4 if I count the very fine one that came in late) and everyone got prizes. And a little tipsy, because since 10 years is tin we had a kegger.
Feeling a little worse for wear the next day, I was off to the 4th (as in 4 children) baby shower for friend Tsuki. She makes great looking kids and likely had all the kid stuff required so I got her a pretty pendant instead. High tea at the King Edward Hotel is an experience to recommend and clotted cream? Some of Gods best work, however you conceive of He/She/It/They to be, and it turns out the reason scones were invented.
Immediately following the ceremony the plan had been to go home...but the previous morning I'd had no shoes to wear to the wedding, so an impromptu shopping trip later (Zellers, who knew) I now have stylish yet affordable boots just like Buffy. At the Academy wedding on the weekend where the bride had been five eleven and the groom five foot seventeen, I was asked by a guest if I could maybe be a little taller in the future. Ha ha. Wasn't that funny, him noticing the height difference? Got heels now. Means I could go back and look that guy in the chin.
Almost.

On a happier note - introducing Lt. Ripley, the Mega Calico. Friend Angel was over this weekend with her digital camera and although it was kind of dying was able to take these. Ripley wasn't terribly cooperative, but the pictures show off her colouring and bruiser build. See how she dwarfs the size of a standard box of Steamwhistle, takes up an entire generous sofa cushion (seats two) and my head. Check out the size of the paws and then imaging one patting your cheek/mouth/nose or eye to wake you up...every ten minutes...until she's bored...

When I haven't seen or heard from someone in awhile, they remain in my mind as they were. There are a few people in my mind like this, three dimensional and whole, laughing and unbent by time. And then sometimes, out of the clear blue I get a note referring to them and the image becomes flatter, more like a photograph than an essence recalled. Sometimes they move or have had children, sometimes they have become disfigured or have completed some great work. Sometimes they die. It's difficult today to see the memory flatten of a relatively healthy, vital, completely honest and feisty woman who laughed at her own gullibility, drank wine and decorated her home with a truly artistic eye. She was, by accounts, actually quite sick this past while. She died at Toronto East General Hospital this morning, surrounded by family and friends. I have no idea what she looked like there - I only have images of her in her home, visiting friends and working. She was a fiercely loving mother and grandmother, spiritually devote and certain. She lived more in her short life than most do in five full ones. Good night, Suzanne.

This is the information you need to take part in the really freaking short story contest if you're coming to our anniversary party.

WORD COUNT: Max800 words.
GENRE: Any
FORMAT: Please sent in the text of an email message to revpuck@yahoo.ca PLEASE DO NOT SEND EMAIL ATTACHMENTS
DEADLINE: Must be written in the next 48 hours, submitted 11pm (ish) two days hence.
SETTING: A coffee shop.

First prize is a framed print of something spooky. Runners up recieve possible random prizes and bragging rights. Plus some port or beer, as you prefer.
Cheers! - R.

Presently there's some legislation being bantered about on a consumers right to know. We use products every day we know are toxic and have health concerns, but we also use a lot of products that look safe but aren't. The general consensus is that we have a right to know what goes in to products so we can make informed choices, and manufacturers have a responsibility to provide this data. Many now list ingredients but you need a certain degree of education, plus a good attention span, to sus out what it means. There is an organization called the Enviromental Working Group who's efforts have been most recently been plagiorized in National Geographic. Of the 111 ingredients in your tooth paste, how many clean your teeth? Of the 136 in your shampoo, how many cause cancer or birth defects? Do you want to know? They have a list of products sorted by manufacturer and coded by health risk as low, medium, and high. It's possibly the coolest thing I've seen so far this week.

http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/index.php

Apparently, my shampoo has dope it in and it constitutes a reproductive health concern because it may lower my fertility. Now, I know that the foundation that makes the soap is concerned about over population - seems their products reflect their beliefs. Shows integrity, really.

Just sat down and discovered 88 new emails. Thus begins the night job...