Facing the truth

I'm not the only blogger in my family. My cousin, Sharon, is also contributing on blogspot (myartisticinsanity.blogspot.com) although I have to admit, she has a much better work ethic than I do. Today, she reached out to her cousins on Facebook for a photo for a facial recognition project she is working on.

Self portrait, no arm.

Now, unlike today's generation, who like to take photos of themselves everywhere (we went to a Green Day concert where a group of teens spent hours taking photos featuring everyone but the band), I detest having my picture taken. The glut of pix on sites like Facebook, taken from arms length and often focusing on the arm, are narcissistic and, frankly, often silly. I understand the concept of taking photos to commemorate an event, I just don't consider everyday living an event. Do I really want to see your picture driving, having lunch or standing in a line? They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I guess these people are blabbermouths (now, there's an old school line for you!).

Jess's photo of me. Hairy!

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I took a photo for Sharon showcasing my wrinkles, grey hair and body fat. She is going to try and merge the photos of the cousins to see where our similarities are and compare them to pix of my mother, aunts and grandmother. 

Me + Roxie. Lookalikes?

Well, I think (and I could be wrong) that I look more like my dog, Roxie, (or my cousin, Ken, but I'll let Sharon sort that out) than my Mom. So, I figured I'd take a shot with my dog. After several unsuccessful attempts (you try holding a squirmy poodle and getting a sharp focus), I got my son's girlfriend, Jess, to take a shot. I think I can see a resemblance. Then, we decided to get my son, Ben, in the photo since he has the same hair as Roxie and I. 

The problem is, any time you try to get more than 2 people in a shot, it's almost impossible to get a good image of all 3 at once. Especially when one of them (in this case, the dog) doesn't want to cooperate. Then the cat decided to distract the dog. Of course, half of the shots are blurry but the progression tells a kind of story so I thought I'd throw them in my blog. Just so you get the big picture, Roxie is about 2ft. tall, I am 5'5" and Ben is 6'5". There might be extra height thrown in because it was a rainy day and the hair had more "lift" than usual. Sometimes I feel like that guy in the Head and Shoulders commercial.

Roxie goofing around, looking at Catastrophe, me talking (typical), the final shot!

 Anyway, in place of flowers, here we are in all our blonde and curly haired glory. Enjoy!

Freedom, just another word...

I don't usually get philosophical on my blog. I guess I'm not that deep. But this one just struck me and seemed to build on itself, so here it goes.

Last week, I was getting my snow tires taken off the car. Okay, it's June and it was 32 degrees Celsius, 40 with the humidity, so I figured it was time. I had time to kill so I walked over to Timmy's for a steeped tea. There was a woman there who came and sat near me. She was singing and dancing to the music on the radio and getting strange looks from other customers. And I thought, how sad, that we're so afraid to break into song like they do on "Glee" or those old school musicals. But this woman didn't care and I was a little jealous. 

Many times when I'm walking the dog and a really catchy tune shuffles through my headphones, I've often felt like dancing a little "Hippy, Hippy Shake" or singing along with Green Day on "Good Riddance". And, I'll admit it, sometimes I do. I mean, it's hard not to Shake when Teenage Head ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeCGtWaWwBk ) tells you to. And when I sing along with Metric on "Gold Guns Girls", I've certainly earned some odd looks. I guess it's okay if you're in an iPod TV spot but not so much if you're just walking down the street. Which got me to wondering ... is this freedom .. to sing out loud and dance to a tune without caring who sees?

That same day, I drove to Niagara Falls for a job interview. It was freaking hot in the car (I refuse to turn on the air conditioning -- I'll be cold in the winter, thank you very much) so I drove down in shorts and a tank and changed into my suit and heels in the parking lot before my meeting. When I was done, I hopped in the car and drove to my sisters' cottage in Crystal Beach. I had the place to myself so I threw on my bathing suit and went for a quick dip. It was quiet at the beach and, after cooling myself off in the lake, I laid on the beach in the sun and had a quick cat nap. It was so relaxing and I thought, "ahhh, now this is freedom".

I guess there are many concepts of freedom. We refer to North America as part of the free world. But is it really free? I mean, when you're a baby, you're free to do what you want. You can eat, sleep, burp, puke and fill your diaper whenever you want . However, you rely on other people for your very survival. And the older you are, the less freedom you have to do what you want. Eventually, you have school, then work, marriage, kids, bills to pay, etc. When you get older, you get to do some of those things you did as a baby but, if you do it too much, someone will put you in a nursing home and you'll lose your freedom all together. Isn't that depressing!

I think one of the best examples I have of mature freedom is my grandmother. In her 80s, she traveled all over the place - sometimes by herself and sometimes with others. She'd pull out her harmonica and entertain a bus full of people on a trip to wherever she was going. She always danced to the "chicken dance" and she was never one to turn down a cold beer. Her children were all grown and had families of their own and she kept a nightgown and slippers with all her grandchildren so she could drop in and sleep over at a moment's notice. One day, I want to be just like her but I've got a few more years to go before I get there. And I have to learn to play the harmonica.

Is freedom just another word for nothing left to lose? It didn't work out so well for Janis Joplin. Or should we be footloose and fancy free (I'm not sure what that really means but if you google it, you'll get photos of Rod Stewart and naked men)? We all get our share of "free" time which seems to be those precious moments in your day when the demands of work, family, friends, etc. are absent. It's a time when you get to choose what to do with yourself -- whether it's lying on a beach or playing a video game. What do I do? I sweat, swear and generally beat myself up by playing in my garden.

Like you didn't know that was coming. Enjoy your weekend and your freedom. And my iris pics.

The Borg Reptile Emporium (and other creatures)

Roxie and the late Brooklyn

With the weather going a little crazy lately, things in the garden have gotten messed up. My flowers don't know whether to bloom or die. So, no photos today. 

As I mentioned in my last blog, this weather also affects the animals. I've already written about Roxie and Catastrophe so now it's time for the rest of the zoo to get mentioned. I love my furry pets. I really do. But it seems like my husband is winning this battle of the sexes. 

My household has been predominantly male for the last few years. I have 2 boys, plus my husband and a male boarder or two. Because of this overdose of testosterone, our pets are generally not cute and cuddly. We have had iguanas for years but, after we moved into a larger, more adaptable home, the number of reptiles has increased exponentially.

Flo and Eddie

At present, we have 2 iguanas -- Fry (a large male) and Leela (sex undetermined, still a baby). As well we have two bearded dragons -- Strummer (male) and Pebbles (female, my surprise anniversary present). There are two skinks -- Flo and Eddie (okay '70s music trivia fans, they're the Turtles, not skinks) and a Sudan Plated named Pugsley (for those who never saw the original Addams Family http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSG87ZAv3yE). Morticia was our original iguana and now that I watch this clip, I think our house bears a lot of similarities. Ben is about the right size to be Lurch and he has the bass vocals to go with it.

We also have 4, yes 4, snakes. We started out with the obligatory Monty (a python) who was replaced by Ratachewie, then we added Dexter (another python), Steve(n Hawking, an albino corn snake) and Alistair (who must be renamed because he is a she). We also have a pair of leopard geckos (does this sound like the makings of an ark?) who shall remain nameless -- only because Zac named them and I can't remember what they're called. The most recent addition to our family is a tortoise named Lebowski. I know there's all kinds of copyright infringement going on here but the reptiles don't seem to care.

Of course, I have those most common of household pets -- a dog, a cat and a fish. Although they all have their quirks. Roxie is a fair weather dog. She refuses to walk in the cold and snow -- even with paw protectors and a sweater. And now, when it's too hot for her, she'll lay down under every tree on our route. And, if I insist on motoring on, she'll roll around on her back so I have to stop. The cat's favourite part of the hot weather is catching flies. She literally jumps 5 feet straight up in the air to maim them, then kills them while they're stunned and eats them. And she's not even a reptile! 

Fishy-O the dancing Samurai

Finally, the fish. He is a samurai fighting fish so he is single. However, I think he is lonely because, if you go up to his tank, he will come up to the glass close to your face and wave at you. I kid you not. No, he is not hungry. He is in the kitchen so he watches me cook. The other day, I was dancing around to a song on the radio so I went up to his bowl and invited him to join in. Oh yes, he did! No, the heat is not getting to me. I am not a big fish fan but Fishy-O (I know, it's a stupid name, I blame it on Zac) is a "poisson" with personality.

Our very last pet acquisition is a beaver. It's an extremely large beaver and it's living in our garage. This is only a temporary arrangement and he actually belongs to my son's girlfriend, Jess. For more information, check this link: http://www.barriebeaverfestival.com/ . Maybe you can come to up to Barrie and check it out. Or just visit us, we'll let you hold a snake.

Adults, $1. Children under 10, $.50. Seniors over 55, free. Please phone for reservations.

The vagaries of spring

Good-bye tulips -- hello irises!

 Canadian spring is a bit of a tease. This year, it started out cool, then turned a lot wet and even gave us a peak at the summer yet to come by hitting 40 degrees C with the humidity (to my American friends, that means freaking hot). And it still has a few weeks left to throw something new at us.

Unfortunately for the people in the midwestern US, this crazy spring weather has proven fatal with killer tornadoes tearing up entire towns. That's a pretty scary thing and my heart goes out to those people. The 26th anniversary of the Barrie tornado occurred on Tuesday and, to this day, I still have the occasional dream where I end up in a twister (which could also be caused by the small dog curled up in my legs).

Japanese tree peonies

Blooming and blown over

Who else gets screwed up by this whacky weather? Animals (both inside and out), weather forecasters and, of course, my garden. It's hilarious to watch my cat, who spent the majority of Tuesday outside basking under the shade of my raspberry bushes, come streaking back into the house after 30 seconds in the cool, windy weather today. Even the birds weren't enough to tempt her to stay outside. And the birds went ahead and hatched all their eggs thinking, "Hooray, summer is here", only to get practically blown out of their nests by the herculean gusts of wind that sprang up.

Beautiful rhododendrons

I guess that's the most appropriate way to put it, too. Everything "springs" up in this season -- flowers, babies, wind and rain, weeds, poison ivy, potholes and idiots on motorcycles. Although sometimes, I think the motorcyclists drive like idiots to avoid the potholes so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. My garden is blossoming at an alarming rate. Tulips are gone and irises have opened. Peonies have popped up and my rhododendrons are blooming (that $8 fertilizer stuff actually worked, thank you Toronto Rhododendron Society). Of course, here are the requisite photos.

Roxie rolling around at Sunnidale

As for my indoor friends, their appetites seem to have increased alarmingly. Fry, our adult iguana, just about bit my hand off today when it was feeding time at the zoo. This was after his initial meal and a healthy snack. Our tortoise, Lebowski, inhaled all his food instead of just walking in it. I did the cricket thing and practically had the lizards jumping as high as the insects when I opened their cages. Not only that, but the lizard couples have been chasing each other around their cages which makes the cat and the snakes crazy. What a frisky bunch!

Bathing beauties, Della and Victoria, at Tollendale Park

Of course, the other thing affected by the summer-like spring weather, is fashion. All of a sudden, girls are wearing short shorts and boys are going topless. Unfortunately, sometimes these fashions are adopted by older, less svelte, people who should save those things for the privacy of their backyard. White trash is so last century. Then there's the beach, where anything goes. It's kind of like a parade of pale, cheesy flesh that becomes red, blotchy skin after a couple of hours. But that's Canadians for you. The first time the temperature hits 15 degrees, the shorts are out of the closet. We like to stretch our summer out as far as we can.

It's June and time to get those bodies into beach condition. Or, if you're too lazy like me, grow bigger flowers so you can hide out in your yard!