Help!

Well, it's not that serious, but I did something ages ago that made the comments window all yucky ... and now something's changed to make the posts appear way down here. I'm annoyed by it. Anyone familiar enough with CSS to help me fix it when I get back mid-month? Pretty please!

I'm off to the Fair on Saturday. Yay! I'm traveling with Marmaduke in the land yacht he calls his vanilla pimpmobile. We'll go to Nelson via Invermere, stay with Patty and Jaime, then to Salem on Sunday and stay with friends there. That'll get us on Fair property plenty early for setting up on Monday. I'm so excited about it.

I did a bunch of running-around-getting-ready stuff yesterday. When I went out the back door, there was a crow up on the top of the big fir tree in the neighbours' yard, yelling his head off at me. He followed me out of the yard, changing perches several times so he was facing me .. then he followed me down the alley, perching on the wires a little ahead of me, waiting 'til I passed him, swooping down just over my head and finding a new perch, yelling the whole time ... when I got to the end of the alley, I turned left and so did he ... he flew to the lamp post on the corner and yelled at me 'til I started to cross the street ... then he flew across and landed on the lamp post on the other corner and yelled from there ... when I started to cross the other way, he did the same thing ... then he followed me for two more blocks, from lamp post to tree to lamp post 'til another crow came and chased him off. He yells at me whenever I go out the back door if he's around, and swoops down if I turn my back. I wonder what he's trying to tell me.

Sir Bunrab and I were sad that the lawn hand to be cut. I went and cut some daisies and put them in water first, and left a little patch long in case Sir Bunrab comes by for a snack.

'Cept for the shadows going the wrong way, this is what I see when I open my front door each morning ...



If you'd asked me to guess what I'd be doing yesterday evening, there's no way I'd've guessed I'd be henna-ing Brandon's hair. It was fun, though! And we watched the Firefly pilot during the waiting bits.

From CBC:

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein suggested his province may stop sanctioning all marriages in a bid to avoid having to recognize same-sex marriages. Instead, he said, Alberta might recognize civil unions, leaving the solemnization of marriage to religious institutions to deal with as they wish.

... what does this mean, you ask?

It means that the hotly debated Same Sex Law has passed, making same-sex marriages legal in Canada ... right before Canada Day, too ... another reason to be grateful for this place. It ought to be noted that does not mean that religious groups are obliged to perform unions against their beliefs.

It also means that this province may stop sanctioning marriages altogether and recognize only civil unions. If that happens, marriages will become churches' domain. So far, I'm failing to see a downside to this.

Clover ...

Mona, Rose, Cassandra and I had an Ikea adventure on Friday. I love how it doesn't really matter if it's the museum or the playground or a walk or Ikea, it's all a grand adventure and there are a bazillion things to look at and touch and talk about.

Mary, Cory, Ernie and Linda came over around dinner time to drop Cory off for his birthday sleepover. Cory and I ordered Fish Tikka Masala and Saag Paneer and Chana Masala and nan from New Asian Village for dinner ... his first experience with Indian food ... then we watched Analyze This. This morning we had pineapple and nan for breakfast, he started a World of Warcraft character on my account, then we traipsed all over Whyte Ave. We found a celtic cross necklace he liked at Scottish Imports but failed to find him a T-shirt. The one he liked at Mars & Venus was too big, as was the one at the headshop ... there was nothing that appealed to him at Warp One or Whyte Knight. We were going to go to the Wee Book Inn, but ended up at Megatunes, where he found a U2 CD he wanted and I found a Jethro Tull one I thought he'd like, too. After that, we went downtown and saw Batmat Begins. Instead of going out for dinner, he opted to come home for leftover Indian and watching the Firefly pilot. Mary, Ernie and Linda came to get him after their road-trip to visit a bunch of other CSA gardens in the area. They wanted to borrow Firefly but Brandon asked first, so they borrowed Sleepy Hollow instead.

The dandelions aren't in bloom anymore, nor are the volunteer California poppies in the lawn ... but the clover and volunteer daisies have come up. Sir Bunrab comes every day to nibble dandelion leaves, which he seems to prefer to the neighbours' garden. The other day the neighbour was standing in his garden, barking at Sir Bunrab who was having a nice sunbath on my deck. Sir Bunrab was underwhelmed.

Happy Solstice ...

Things on my mind today ...
By design, National Aboriginal Day falls on the solstice.
Whether by coincidence or not, Gay Pride celebrations coincide with the solstice.
A time of turning points and balance, marking the end of the time when the veil between the worlds is thinnest ...
Midsummer, Alban Heruin, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Gathering Day, Feast of Epona and others ...
Whether or not any of this has any meaning for you,
Bright Blessings

Stuff and Nonsense ...

Daylight:

Length of day: 17:00
Hours of dark: 5:15ish
Sunrise: 5:06 am
Sunset: 10:06 pm
Start of twilight: 4:14 am
End of twilight: 10:58 pm

Current weather: Mostly Clear. 28°C (82°F), humidity 34%, wind S 12.8 km/h (8 mph.), barometer 29.85 in. Hg.

Forecast:

Tonight.. Clear. Increasing cloudiness overnight with 40% chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm. Low 13°C (55°F).
Wednesday.. Cloudy. 40% chance of showers in the morning. Showers beginning late in the day. Risk of a thunderstorm in the evening. Wind becoming NW 30 km/h (18.6 mph) in the morning. High 17°C (63°F).
Thursday.. Cloudy with 70% chance of showers. Low 8°C (46°F). High 15°C (59°F).
Friday.. Sunny. Low 7°C (45°F). High 22°C (72°F).
Saturday.. Sunny. Low 8°C (46°F). High 21°C (70°F).
Normals for the period.. Low 8°C (46°F). High 21°C (70°F).

Happy Birthday Cory!

I'm so impressed with our city's new mayor ...

from a very good article by Scott McKeen in the Friday., 17 June, 2005 City Section of Edmonton Journal:

Mandel blase about being first mayor in gay pride parade

...
"It's a group of people, they're having a parade," said Mandel. "People who are gay are people. I just don't know what the big deal is."
...
"People phoned up during the election campaign and asked if I was going to sign the proclamation," said Mandel. "I said: Of course I'm signing the proclamation. If people don't want to vote for me, they shouldn't vote for me. I'm here to do the best I can and treat everyone fairly."

But treating everyone fairly is much different than being tolerant, says Mandel.

"I hate that word tolerant," says Mandel. "Does tolerant mean I'm the good guy because you're the bad guy?"

"I'm not tolerant of people who are gay. No one should be tolerant of anybody. They should be ... accepting? I don't know what the word is. We need a better word."

How about civil? It's a bit of an old fashioned concept, civility. But it speaks of respect and polite regard for all our neighbours.

I get it, Mr. Mayor. You think this city should already be the kind of place where people feel safe, welcome and included. You think your involvement in Gay Pride week shouldn't be newsworthy.

We're not quite there yet, Mr. Mayor. It is a big deal. And some of us are impressed.

Yah. Hear! Hear!

Happy Birthday Patty!

That rain finally came ... in brief downpours with wind and lightning and thunder, over the weekend and early this week.

Brandon brought Clerks over on Friday to not watch. Brandon's good at the beginnings of movies, but hasn't quite got the ends nailed.

I spent a lot of time with Barbara and Anailise last weekend ... all day at their house on Friday, all day Saturday at their house then the lake, and most of the day Sunday. Poor poppet's been teething and teething and teething ... she's got three front teeth through, and one nearly through ... last night, one way in the back came in instead of that last front one!

I think I'm off to the lake on Saturday morning with Mona, Pete, Rose and Cassandra. I'll come back with Mom Sunday afternoon/evening, most likely.

Tina phoned in a bind with childcare for Emma and Annie for tomorrow, but it turned out their spare grandma can take 'em, else they'd've come here tomorrow.

Last week when I was out, someone came by and chewed up the stump of the old tree on the boulevard. This morning, there was all sorts of activity out in front of my house ... and now there's a new wee tree out there! It's a Summit Ash ... the old one that died was a Black Ash. I wish they'd planted an Elm, but I didn't have any say in the matter. It took three big trucks and two bobcats to accomplish that.

I got a call from the dealership this afternoon, saying that my name came up on the next-to-be-built list today. The wee car should arrive sometime mid-late August. She needs a name.

Happy Birthday, Mona!

Happy Birthday, Raye!

Happy Birthday, Ally!

Weird Factor 7.3

On my way to do some banking, I passed my old workplace and everyone was outside ... I thought "fire drill" and got off the bus a stop later. On the corner by the bank, I heard a whoop and then got bear-hugged ... it was my old boss ... turns out they were evacuated 'cuz of a bomb threat. Then I ran into a group of women from advertising and one of them told me about the bomb threat and that "we" could go back in about half an hour, probably. She felt a little silly. I ended up running into a whole lot of other folx I used to work with (some of whom I was very glad to see) over the next little while, including Lydia and her son (I didn't know she'd had a baby!). I usually arrange it so I don't run into folx from there when I go downtown. They made an enormous fuss when I left and it was awkward. A bunch of 'em asked about Roberta Jane, who I'd just talked to last night.

I went to the bank and got a bank draught to send to Dubs, then to the post office to send it express, then to the phone store to return my old phone so they'll stop charging me rent for it ... then to Bonnie Doon to find birthday cards and birthday books and a few groceries. I wanted to be home by 12:30 and made with three minutes to spare. Leah'd phoned, so I called her back and spent an hour catching up, 'cuz we haven't talked in nearly a year. I really love friendships like that. I can talk to her after three years and we pick up like it was yesterday.

I got the tent in before it rained ... well, it's still before it rained, but it sure looked and sounded like it was going to happen any second.

Today feels like a high weird-factor day.

Second breakfast and play date at Barbara and Anailise's again tomorrow, then Saturday we're going to take a day-trip to the lake to see Mona for her birthday and a play date for Rose, Cassandra and Anailise. Sunday afternoon we're off to Millenium Place in Sherwood Park for a gigantic play date (and a Patty visit, yay!) for Ally and Raye's birthday.

Dad and I mucked about in the garage again, on Tuesday. There's actually floor space now. We left a bunch of stuff on the driveway we figured someone would want ... so much more convenient than hauling it to a thrift store. There's stuff in there from before I moved into this house, and from many, many roommates since then, as well as stuff that Billy put aside to deal with later. Once the wee auto arrives (end of August they tell me), there might actually be room for it in the garage.

I'm it ...

I've been tagged to blather about books, something I'm always willing to do.

1. Estimate the total number of books you've owned in your life.
Thousands!

2. What's the last book you bought?
Mindful Knitting by Tara Jon Manning

3. What was the last book you read?
Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott

4. List 5 Books that mean a lot to you.
Only five? Oh my.
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. I keep a spare copy of this one for lending.
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham ... the one that turned me into a SF junkie.
Time Pressure by Spider Robinson ... one of my favourite authors.
Neuromancer by William Gibson ... my other favourite author.
The New Diary by Tristine Rainer & Anais Nin.

5. Tag 5 people
The Bro-In-Law
The Pope
Joe Delta
Spider Robinson
William Gibson
Okie, unlikely at best ... but wouldn't it be fun?

Happy Birthday, Robin!