Save the Tigers

The girl who lives next door is probably ten or eleven. She often comes around on some sort of project. One time it was an offer of $2 to sweep the area around our condo's door. (We took her up on it.) Another time it was selling chocolates. (They were milk chocolate so I had to decline) Today she came to my door with a clipboard.

"Would you like to help save the tigers?"

"What do they need saving from?"

"Poaching. There's only 5000 of them left in the wild."

"How can I help save them?"

"You just sign here."

She holds out her blue clipboard which is covered in soccerball stickers. It has a piece of lined paper clipped to it and in her neatest ten year old penmanship it reads "Sighn if you Care" and then there are squares she has drawn one of which says "Name". I obliged and she gave Caleb a pet while I did so.

"Is this a chihuahua?"

"Yes."

"My friend Stephanie has one."

"Cool."

Every time she sees Caleb she asks me if he's a chihuahua and then tells me that Stephanie has one too. I thanked her for letting me help save the tigers and off she went. She kind of reminds me of myself around the same age and it made me laugh. I used to go around selling flowers to the neighbours which I had probably taken from their yards. I used to make lilac potpourri by microwaving lilacs and try to get people to buy it and I'm sure if I had heard that the tigers were disappearing I'd have gone around to my neighbours trying to get them to sign a piece of paper and hoping that if everyone cared enough just their vote to save the tigers would somehow save the tigers. I love the simplicity of this idea. I think I may just go around and get people to sign to end world hunger and stop the wars. I don't have to send them anywhere or do anything with it. Just the fact that people care will be enough for me. And while I'm at it I might offer to do some sweeping for cash, that seems like a win-win for everyone.

Just headed over to take some photos of my mommy. I hope they turn out well. In the meantime for your entertainment please click the word entertainment and then read and laugh.

Just shake it...

Want a fun new photo toy? Miss the days of "shaking it like a polaroid?" I know I did till I found this gem: Poladroid is available for free download and is a virtual polaroid camera that sits on your desktop. Once it's installed, pick a photo you think would make a great little polaroid you just drag and drop it and then wait and wait and you can even shake it if that makes you feel better. How fun! Since Polaroid film went officially off the market last year I know we've all been craving this. Their new camera with a built-in printe looks like fun but just not the same terrible washed out colours in photos that I really love. Here are a few examples of what I've come up with since I've discovered the Poladroid last night after digging through some old shots I had lying around. If you download it as well let me know what you come up with.

Goudy ain`t dowdy.

So Langford just got a whole lot cooler. You will probably hear me rambling on about my new obsession with GVPL`s latest library, The Goudy Branch, a lot seeing as I`m already unusually enthusiastic about libraries in general and this just kicked my enthusiasm into high gear. It is such an incredible concept and I hope more areas will follow suite. The best way to describe the new branch is that it`s a book store themed library. The sections are divided up by commonly used terminology and sections rather than by the traditional dewey decimal system so instead of wandering up and down aisles of old dusty books. (which is not something I`m adverse to but probably makes a 15 year old girl less likely to use the library) you just go to the section you would in a bookstore. There aren`t a lot of books here as it is a small branch but they are all relatively popular titles and they are all 14 day loans on which holds and renewals can not be placed so it keeps the rotation current. Of course as with any other branch you can file an online request for any book that is at another branch and those books can ben taken out for the regular time frame and can be renewed. There are also free internet stations and even a couple computers on which teenagers can play games. You can rent movies, music or computer games for your XBox, Playstation 2 or Nintendo Wii.

Finally, the cherry on top is that the library has a coffee shop that is open to it. Books still must be checked out of course so in case you were to spill your tea on the book you would still be responsible for it but I think this is the best idea ever. If Starbucks in Chapters is hell then a Mirage Coffee in a library is heaven. I am in heaven. This is a booklover`s dream.

The library had 40, 000 in a private donation made and the city of Langford covered the rest of the initial expense to build the branch and it will be maintained by . I feel like this is a great use of taxpayer money, it`s something everyone can enjoy and use and I hope that this idea really catches on. Of course I still have great respect for the traditional library and I`m sure there are probably a few library purists out there that would consider this an abomination. That being said I think the two will work well together and this is a great way to keep libraries relevant to a younger generation and it`s a nice way to quickly grab a book rather than having to spend hours wandering around aimlessly. Well done Langford!






Photos by Tony Bounsall Photo-Design

Ma new shoes.

Went shopping today with my 15 year old foster daughter which was not fun. Ok, it was fun at times but she has this idea of what she likes and it's had to find just the right clothing items for her. We came away with two sweaters and a tank top that I think will be really versatile for her but more exciting to me were the new shoes I found. There was only one pair left and they were my size so they had to come home with me. Aren't they pretty?





I love the art and think it's so rad how what's on the outside of the left one is on the inside of the right one and vice versa so you can see both parts of the design when they're on. Other than that it's been a relatively unexciting day. We went to Swans for lunch and it was a strange surreal experience because our server was crying multiple times during our time there. We invented a game called "What made our waitress cry?" where we guessed what had happened to her. I posited that her boyfriend had broken up with her and he really loved french fries so everytime someone orders french fries it reminds her of him. C. thought one of the tables was mean to her. We didn't ask so I guess we'll never know. Now Davis and I are at home just chillin' chillin' and mindin' our business. I'll catch y'all on the flip side.

I thought the days were getting longer...

Remember "Never Been Kissed" with Drew Barrymore? No, you probably wouldn't. It's this great film where Miss Barrymore plays a nerdy writer at a newspaper who's picked to do a story where she goes undercover as a high school student to write about being a high school student or...to uncover a scandal or something. Well, today is like that for me. (Only I'm gonna' go ahead and *not* date a high school student or eat weed brownies with Rastafari)

Ok, it's not exactly like that because I'm clearly not Drew Barrymore, my life is most likely (thought not certainly) not a film and oh yeah, I"m not pretending to be in high school. I'm performing poetry and/or teaching a workshop on writing poetry depending on what the kids seem to be more into. I guess ultimately I'll probably be doing both. My friend Dave Morris is coming which I think will be super fun. I feel like it was a wise choice because he's borrowing Missie's car so we can drive there. Yay! Ok, I also feel like it was a wise choice because Dave is funny and engaging and good with teenagers. (or so I've been lead to believe by all his "improv camp" stories) So it should be pretty fun. I'm up super early because I never wake up before 10 anymore so I've forgotten how to and I needed Davis to drag me out of bed and pour some coffee down my throat before he left for work to ensure I would not sleep until noon accidentally. So far the plan has worked and he even brought me half a bagel and strawberries. Score!

Ok, I'm going to go do this now. Or in a bit. More coffee to drink, then a shower, then a bus ride etc. I'll be doing it in the near future. I mean not "doing it" but...ok, well...goodbye blog readers. I love you all. I wish many hours of sleeping in for you. Adieu.

I hope most people in the world have already experienced "Jones Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage" In case you haven't...here you go. You're welcome.

Exploding Banana Head Man

I can almost guarantee this is the strangest thing you'll see today. There seems to be a method to this madness but what it is, I can not say. I have no further words for this, just a quiet sense of reverance...