Forever A Fangirl

Schipperke 'Raven' & Corgi/Pug Mix 'Obi' - Black Dogs in Mid-West Winter Sun - 1.04.13 (PHOTOS)

 

Raven, Sunbathing in Winter Light - 1.04.13

(Above)  Schipperke senior female dog, age: about 16-17 years. She has scars on her hind legs from when she got clipped by a car in the street when she was about 6-years old and was 'helping' with bringing in the groceries. Luckily, she healed up with no limp and learned to 'stay' after that.

I like this photo as it shows the true colour of her eyes; she has a slight blue cast over the dark brown, caused by age.

 

Obi is probably a "Porgi" --a Pug- Corgi cross. He's oddly built, with a lazy eye to boot.  He uses his big paws, which are attached to very short legs, like hands. We adopted him at age about 2 and now he's 5-years old. I think he looks ferocious but he's really a love-bug, easily turned to putty by affection, a treat or a toy.

Both Obi (l) and Raven are very aware of my presence and so have stopped napping so cutely (which was the shot I was trying to catch). Obi's moving towards me. All day, he sticks to me like glue. Raven is going to resume sunning.

We've had Raven since she was said to be 2 years old and adopted from the no-kill shelter as an abandoned purebred dog with indications of future hip dysplasia. I think her 'run-in' with a car in front of our home actually made the dysplasia not as bad as it would have been because she's handling it like a champ. She moves carefully sometimes but so do I and she's much older than me! :)

Ontario - 1967 'The Kid's Table' (PHOTOS) - Happy Christmas 2012!

Hope you were Good! (or if not, had fun being Naughty!)

Me and Canadian dept. store Santa, 1962. Not a bad Santa, though he looks as if he's a tad warm in that suit. Below: A family Canadian Christmas get-together from about 1968. I have cousins and an aunt (my dad's sis) and uncle and my dad as the adults in this pic. There's me, my brother, and my cousins after that. No one in the kitchen looks happy. My brother, the second youngest, looks fearful. We may have just gotten yelled at by the host (not kidding!) It is after all, the kid's table.

At right: Presents!!! I'm not opening any yet--just passing them out. Oh, so polite.

True Blood - Is Bill Dead? Is Anna Paquin (Sookie) Quitting True Blood? Ausiello SPOILERS (PHOTO) #trueblood

 

True Blood Season 5 finale - Stephen Moyer as "Bill"  a/k/a "Billith" (Credit: HBO)

Q: So, is Bill God now? (Or, did you kill Bill?)

A: I don’t want to say if he is or he isn’t. Who’s to say what Lilith really is? He is still Bill but he is something different.

Q: So there is some of the old Bill in there?

A: It is Bill, but it is a transformed Bill. He is not a completely new person. It’s not like his memories or his experiences have been left out and he’s just a baby.

Read More at: True Blood Season 6 Spoilers

 

Anna Paquin as 'Sookie' in True Blood - episode 5.12 'Save Yourself' (Credit: HBO)

 Q: As you warned me back at Comic-Con, there was a lot of death in the episode — some more ambiguous than others. Did Luna die?

A: You’ll have to watch [next season]. We didn’t see her die.

Q: And Russell? Is he really dead? He’s gone. We may see him in flashbacks, but he bit it.

Read More at:  True Blood Season Finale Post Mortem: Alan Ball Answers Burning Questions, Previews Season 6

 

Anna Paquin, who is carrying twins, as seen on August 27 2012 wearing a bright yellow sundress while going to lunch in Los Angeles (Credit: INFphoto.com, Pacific Coast News, AKM-GSI)

And now the question that has been looming ever-more largely, after Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer's bundles of joy arrive, will Mrs. Moyer be inclined to return to her job as "Sookie Stackhouse' on HBO's TRUE BLOOD?

First, I must be honest with you: I don't know.

Paquin is famously private and so has said very-little-to-nothing about her 'condition.' The timing of the arrival has been announced as 'in the fall' (of 2012) which means she and Moyer would have at least the traditional amount of time that the average working American mom has to enjoy her babies. Sadly, if she were in New Zealand, the country which she has referred to as where she calls 'home', she'd have a lot more time off to do all the things that a mother of newborn twins does, which is to put it simply, twice as much as a mom of a singleton. That is, if she were an average mum.

The upside is that much of True Blood's filming is done at night so once the babies have settled into a nightly routine it could be a bit of an easing up on the pressure that all new mothers face. I'm assuming that there will be a nursery on the True Blood set, that nannies will be involved, and of course, the bonus of both mom and dad working on the same television show. Even so, Paquin has the additional pressure of having to get back into pre-baby shape pretty darn quick. Hopefully, the costume department will help her out a bit there as well as the camera people, who seemed finally to get the hang of shooting a pregnant actress whose character was not pregnant by the final episode of season 5.

When all is said and done, most likely, though twins are automatically considered a high-risk pregnancy, Anna Paquin will give birth to healthy babies and because she has the resources she'll be able to cope with both work and the raising of two babies with the variety of help at her disposal, not the least of which is her husband, Stephen Moyer. His character on True Blood who has been dubbed "Billith," will be getting some serious face time in season 6, so unless they kill him off early in the season (doubtful) both Paquin and Moyer will return to work on True Blood as scheduled sometime in late 2012 or early 2013. 

Anna Paquin, late August, 2012 (Credit: FameFlynet, Inc)

 

 

Watch The Big C & Weeds Tonight! @SHO_Weeds @SHO_TheBigC @SHO_Kareem

 

 
Laura Linney in 'The Big C' (Photo credit: Showtime)

When I grow up* I want to be able to write as well as Ileane Rudolph does in her stellar TVGuide article on Showtime's The Big C. Writer Rudolph simply nails oh, everything I like about the show. The piece echos my sentiments about The Big C's ability to strike a chord with survivors of not only life-threatening conditions such as the protagonist, Cathy Jameson with stage 4 cancer, but of the great lot of us that have survived and often thrived in the aftermath of one of the many things that smack us HARD out of left field.

The Big C and Weeds are on tonight beginning at 10:00/9:00c on Showtime.

 After coming home from the real-life fireworks I'm watching both shows which always have someone or some situation heating up, blowing up or causing massive cracking up. How about you?

*Chronologically-speaking this happened a few decades ago...but I'm still coming to grips with that.

 (Photo Credit:  Showtime)

With a mischievous smile, Laura Linney is gleefully ruining a take. During a tense scene between her character, Cathy Jamison, who has Stage 4 melanoma, and her bipolar brother, Sean, played by John Benjamin Hickey, she makes her costar break down in giggles.

Whoever says cancer is no laughing matter hasn't seen The Big C, Showtime's irreverent comedy about a Minneapolis teacher, wife and mom who's trying not only to beat death but to live as fully as possible in whatever time she has left. The smartly written, beautifully cast show has earned a devoted fan base and critical plaudits, and three-time Emmy winner Linney has already snared a Golden Globe for her deft portrayal of the strong-willed Cathy.

The oft-repeated mantra at The Big C is "It's not a show about dying; it's a show about living." And for sure, Cathy lives large. In the first season she kept her illness a secret, booted her immature husband, Paul (Oliver Platt), and had an affair. "Cathy doesn't behave in a safe, by-the-numbers fashion," says Hickey, during a break on the set in Stamford, Connecticut. "A lot of people who are living with cancer love the funny, outrageous, sometimes controversial way that character deals." Executive producer Jenny Bicks, a survivor herself, says, "The writers take the kid gloves off when we talk about cancer, because when you've gone through it, it's not all tragic and dramatic. It can also be super strange and funny."

Read on after the jump!

True Blood Fans - Bid for Paquin & Moyer Collectibles - Help 'Facing the Atlantic' in Brave Quest for Kid's Medical Team

Golden Globe HBO afterparty (2010) Credit: HBO inc.

Be Part of Something BIG - Facing the Atlantic - Face The World - Helping Disfigured Children Worldwide:

It's been said before but it bears repeating, the True Blood cast is among the most generous bunch of 'creatives'  in show business. Despite their many commitments including shooting their hit HBO supernatural vampire melodrama True Blood, thespian husband Stephen Moyer ('Bill Compton') and wife, Anna Paquin ('Sookie Stackhouse') are working to raise funds for a cause you may be familiar with and if not, once you hear about it I'm sure you'll agree is extremely worthwhile.

Below are the formal details  but suffice to say this cause can't be construed as anything but  hugely important and all the folks making it possible from the adventurers to the bidders on the auctions to the following websites who reach out and do their best to serve the cause are to be commended and sincerely appreciated:

 

The Vault - TrueBlood-Online.com

 and

AllStephenMoyer.com

Questions: thevault@trueblood-online.com

Above: CLICK to enlarge!

Here is what is happening and why you should care about it: On behalf of Facing The World, a humanitarian organisation, the exciting and challenging project Facing The Atlantic will participate in a non-stop-row from the Canary Islands to Barbados.

 More info after the jump:

Actress Evan Rachel Wood Confirms Bisexuality (4.19.11) #trueblood #bisexual

True Blood's Queen says She is Bisexual and 'Dominant':

 

Actress Evan Rachel Wood, age 23, has revealed she is bisexual.

'The Wrestler' star as well as the vampire queen 'Sophie-Anne LeClerq' on HBO's True Blood opened up about her sexuality during a magazine interview. Asked whether she dates women as well as men, Wood answered in the affirmative. She added, "I'm into anything… meet a nice guy, meet a nice girl…"

Wood has been in and out of a relationship with rocker Marilyn Manson, including an engagement to marry, since age 19. They are not currently together, however.

Wood's fellow actor and co-star in HBO's True Blood, Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse), revealed her own bisexuality about a year ago.

Source: National Ledger - 'Evan Rachel Wood Reveals She is Bisexual'

(Image: Splash News)

True Blood's Queen Sophie-Anne says 'I'm into anything.'

PHOTOS: Katie Sackoff, Shirtless Tahmoh Penikett @kateesackhof #BSG #Helo #Starbuck #deservesretweet,

Former Battlestar Galactica besties in Brisbane:

  

http://yfrog.com/h0t56evj (I found this @kateesackhoff)

@kateesackhoff @GregCipes @PenikettTahmoh (looking mighty ripped!) and I on the river boat tooling around Brisbane

  Orig from: @ClareKramer

OMG. The abs on that man. Everyone looks terrific and happy!

 

Is this not the. cutest. twosome?

I love, love, love these two onscreen together! Miss them!

Would love to see both Tahmoh Penikett and Katee Sackhoff together in a super-awesome series. I could see them in a 'Friends'-like comedy/drama but better---sci-fi or not. It's entirely possible. I cannot believe smart casting peeps do not see the chemistry here?!

Again, please.

http://yfrog.com/h8fqwuf

 

 http://yfrog.com/h8fqwuf

Some great, sort-of- recent news about Katee Sackoff:

Well, there’s one Battlestar Galactica vet who won’t be joining Ron Moore’s frak pack-heavy NBC supernatural procedural 17th Precinct: Katee Sackhoff.

 

The badass formerly known as Starbuck has landed the female lead in the A&E pilot 'Longmire.' Based on the Walt Longmire Mystery series of novels by Craig Johnson, the project centers on a charismatic, dry-witted Wyoming sheriff , played by 'Matrix' actor  Robert Taylor ('Agent Smith's' collegue-in-code--'till  Neo killed him) . Sackhoff will play 'Vic', one of his deputies.

 

Sackhoff is coming off a recurring role as' Det. Frankie Reed' on CSI. Also cast on Longmire, Deadline reports, are Cassidy Freeman (Smallville), as Longmire’s daughter; Lou Diamond Phillips (Numb3rs) as his best friend; and Bailey Chase (Saving Grace) as another deputy.

Source: TVLine  - 'Pilot Scoop: Katee Sackhoff, Smallville Vet, Others Join A&E's Longmire'

Update/ 4.16.11 Does anyone know if the shows  have been picked up or do we have to wait until May for the anouncement? I think I read somewhere, 'Not 'till May! Boo! But yay! They are in the running!

 

More news on Katee's new pilot after the jump!

You Call Yourself A Battlestar Galactica Fan? Pff! Tricia Helfer - Katee Sackoff LALa Cross Country Charity Ride

 

 

Update 10.24.2010 /Tricia and Katee have announced that starting tonight at 8:30 p.m. when the UStream airs, folks that come up with the best or funniest questions for them (as deemed so by Katee's mom, affectionately referred to as "Mother Mary") will be rewarded with an Acting Outlaws t-shirt of your choice!

 Get all the details at http://www.actingoutlaws.org

I'm really shocked that from the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of Battlestar Galactica fans that according to Katee, only 200-something of you tuned in to the UStream of Tricia Helfer's and Katee Sackoff's 2500-mile cross-country trip from Los Angeles to Louisiana, dubbed the "LAla Ride," to raise both awareness and funds to the still-devastated Gulf Region.

I'm a little irked with you so-called Battlestar Galctica fans for not supporting these beautiful, big-hearted, generous women who are quite literally risking their lives to help the Gulf which was severely damaged by the BP Oil Spill cluster**** months ago.

As Starbuck and as all of the Cylon Sixes, Katee and Tricia respectively, blossomed as actresses and helped to make BSG one of the best television shows in history. They gave a lot of themselves for your enjoyment.

Is it a lot to ask that you at least show some support of them as they make this grueling trip? Is it? I'm dealing with dial-up atm, and so just took 20 minutes to watch two minutes of the embedded video above.

Katee and Tricia are appearing live each night after being on their BMW bikes all day. Though unscripted, they are very entertaining and despite the obvious toll that all that riding through some truly awful weather and road conditions takes, they are putting in their best effort to bring a bit of this experience to you. Please tune in.

 Get all the details at http://www.actingoutlaws.org.

Join us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/actingoutlaws.
and Twitter http://www.twitter.com/actingoutlaws.

Text to donate: "FUTURE" to 85944 to donate $10 to the Gulf Future campaign for Gulf Coast recovery.
http://www.healthygulf.org

 

How Did Battlestar Galactica's Starbuck & Six Turn Into Biker Chicks For Charity?

 

"At the #BMW dealer in Longbeach getting fit for the motorbikes!!"

@kateesackoff and @trutriciahelfer get ready for a 2500 miles cross-country trip to raise awareness and $ for the devastated Gulf area.

actingoutlaws | October 05, 2010

Actresses Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer prepare for their 2500 mile trip from Los Angeles to Louisiana with the help of Heather Lewis as they test which BMW bikes they want to take on the trip and practice maneuvers to prepare them for any unpredictable weather conditions and unforeseen problems which may arise.

"The LA La Ride" is a charity ride to raise money and awareness for the Gulf in regards to the BP oil spill disaster and is in conjunction with the Gulf Restoration Network. BMW has graciously donated the bikes Katee and Tricia will be riding.

Get all the details at http://www.actingoutlaws.org

Join us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/actingoutlaws
and Twitter http://www.twitter.com/actingoutlaws

Text to donate: "FUTURE" to 85944 to donate $10 to the Gulf Future campaign for Gulf Coast recovery.
http://www.healthygulf.org

actingoutlaws | September 16, 2010

Beginning Friday, October 22nd, Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica, 24, Nip/Tuck) and Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice, Dark Blue) will ride from Los Angeles, CA to New Orleans, LA to raise funds and awareness for the continuous conflict and enduring environmental impact that the Gulf Oil Disaster has caused to this region.

Says Sackhoff and Helfer, "On a quest to do our part to protect the earth and all its inhabitants, we sought a way to marry our love of the open road with our love of humanity. Welcome the Acting Outlaws."

Clip directed and edited by Justin Berger for HKL Films
Clip produced by HKL Films and Acting Outlaws
http://www.hklfilms.com

Katee just deadlifted this bike!

Be sure to follow them @kateesackoff and @trutriciahelfer and @actingoutlaws.

Though neither own BMW bikes yet, both women are very serious about mastering the art of riding them.

I really, really, want to buy  one of those t-shirts! EDIT/ Keep checking the actingoutlaws.org site as the t-shirts for men, women & babies (also fits canines, according to Katee) should be up for sale soon! Marketing peeps pls. put something together where buying one = donating to the cause! (I'm donating anyway.) Or/Also, they make donating $ super easy and only suggest $10! Go HERE: Text to donate: "FUTURE" to 85944 to donate $10 to the Gulf Future campaign for Gulf Coast recovery.
http://www.healthygulf.org

(Below) Both Tricia Helfer and Katee Sackhoff explain how they got started riding motorcycles and why they think more women should. They are quite a duo.

losangelestimes | September 01, 2009

Susan Carpenter, motorcycle columnist for the Los Angeles Times rides with Battlestar Galactica stars Tricia Helfer and Katee Sackhoff on Angeles Crest Highway.

 

TypePad Sells Self To Video Egg "Nothing In TypePad Changes Today"

I haven't done much personal blogging on TypePad for some time. Just the same, hearing today that TypePad has sold out is quite a shock--even though in hindsight, I suppose it shouldn't be.

This is partly my comment in response to the official announcement which ominously stated that "nothing in TypePad changes today." (my italics).

This is pretty sad for us long-time TypePad bloggers. I've been reading how this "merger" was reported in the news. Here's the NYTimes link: Blogging Pioneer Bought by Video Ad Firm - NYTimes.com http://nyti.ms/alenoC.

It's a bit more...direct in stating what is going on.

I've been w/TypePad since 2003. A Movable Type user suggested you as I'm not a techie-type (or I thought I wasn't). TypePad worked out smashingly for me. I so loved it here and I was pretty happy for you in your successes through the years.

Yeah, I tried Vox when you asked, I did the BETA thing, even sat on a TypePad consumer panel for a year. I've felt the shift. You're very, very interested in "big" bloggers. I'm totally not and I never will be because I hate selling myself. Monetizing a blog successfully is incredibly difficult. EVERYONE knows that. So one either goes for the bucks or blogs for free.

There's no point in regular bloggers staying with not-Six Apart. Monetizers--big bucks bloggers like HuffPost perhaps will find not-6A appealing.

After seven years I hate to leave and certainly I'll try whatever is coming but this is not good news at all for me. Please, one request, give me time to migrate my 7 years worth of writing to another host.

Best of luck,

Cyn

EDIT/ This is not meant to be an indignant rant. I realize that I've only been renting space from you. I own the content--you own the space. You are now selling the space. Your space, your choice.

The Metatextual Meaning of the Big Gold Hole - A Nice Fit

First, it's an apt metaphor for the entire series, in that it contains the promise of a blinding revelation, but it's hard to find, and if you do find it and try to penetrate it, it vanishes and in the process spews out all this bullshit.  

via www.fakelocke.com

I am so on board with this assessment of LOST, especially the spewing of "all this bullshit(e)" -part.

I can only enjoy LOST if I think of it as an old skool DC comic book.

Does anyone else besides me remember LOST being referred to (by one of the characters out -of-character, I think) as "Craphole Island"? That could also be a nice fit for "gold hole."

Peter Paul & Mary - Puff the Magic Dragon, If I Had A Hammer, Blowin' In The Wind, Leaving On A Jet Plane - Videos

thatsakeeper

Puff the Magic Dragon Tonight in Person - 1966

Puff the Magic Dragon was probably the first of Peter, Paul and Mary's string of folk song hits that those of us of a certain age remember hearing as children. I was in the playroom basement of my cousin's house when this first came on the radio, catching my fancy. Many years later I heard that "Puff" was an allusion to smoking pot, getting high but my childhood impression of it as a simple, catchy pop-folk song never changed.

 

Leaving On A Jet Plane

slims86

Ms. Travers once told the music magazine Goldmine: "People say to us, 'Oh, I grew up with your music,' and we often say, sotto voce, 'So did we.'

NYTimes.com

Below:

If I Had A Hammer

I remember belting this out in grade school chorus.

cschoon1213 | August 12, 2009 | 91 likes, 0 dislikes

Peter Paul and Mary, If I Had A Hammer

Lyrics:

If I had a hammer,
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening,
All over this land
I'd hammer out danger,
I'd hammer out a warning,
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
If I had a bell,
I'd ring it in the morning,
I'd ring it in the evening,
All over this land
I'd ring out danger,
I'd ring out a warning
I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
If I had a song,
I'd sing it in the morning,
I'd sing it in the evening,
All over this land
I'd sing out danger,
I'd sing out a warning
I'd sing out love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
Well I got a hammer,
And I got a bell,
And I got a song to sing, all over this land.
It's the hammer of Justice,
It's the bell of Freedom,
It's the song about Love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
It's the hammer of Justice,
It's the bell of Freedom,
It's the song about Love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

 

thatsakeeper

Blowin' in the Wind

Tonight in Person - 1966

The real deal. Born and bred in Greenwich Village, NY, here Mary Travers is shown at an anti war news conference in 1967.

Mary Travers, whose ringing, earnest vocals with the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary made songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “If I Had a Hammer” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” enduring anthems of the 1960s protest movement, died on Wednesday at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut. She was 72 and lived in Redding, Conn.

The cause was complications from chemotherapy associated with a bone-marrow transplant she had several years ago after developing leukemia, said Heather Lylis, a spokeswoman.

Ms. Travers brought a powerful voice and an unfeigned urgency to music that resonated with mainstream listeners. With her straight blond hair and willowy figure and two bearded guitar players by her side, she looked exactly like what she was, a Greenwich Villager directly from the clubs and the coffeehouses that nourished the folk-music revival. NYTimes.com

Dexter Marries His Sister Deb!

AP Photo/Matt Sayles

After watching three seasons of Dexter, one of cable's very best shows, I was wondering how in Season Four, which sadly is some time away, it could maintain it's killer level of entertainment.

I've been enthralled with Dexter since Season 1, E1, "Dexter"  having started watching Dexter beginning with the premiere based solely on Michael C. Hall's work as "David Fisher" in HBO's brilliant (but sometimes grating) Six Feet Under.

After all these years of watching him I would have thought I'd see him give away something when he looked at his real-life love while she was literally acting as his sister.

I totally never saw this coming on Michael C. Hall's side, but what I've mentioned a couple times over the recently finished Season 3 to my spouse and son with whom I have a standing weekly date to watch Dexter, is that Jennifer Carpenter keeps getting better--looking great and growing incredibly as an actress. Now I see that she's only age 29 so must have started "Dexter" around age 25-26. I noted that Jennifer had sort of taken on the role in a way in which it seemed she felt really comfortable in her skin. I'm guessing dating "the sexiest man alive" has helped her grow into the role--of big-sister, Deb. Eep. She's only 29 and he's 37. That it hasn't been glaring obvious is a huge credit to Michael C. Hall's seemingly eternal youthfulness.

I :heart: Jennifer Carpenter. I'm so happy for them both but honestly just a tiny bit weirded out. I'll get over it, obviously (or will I?) but the newlyweds really must share some weddings shots so we can really picture them as Mr. and Mrs. Hall. Please and thank you. (Big Sur! Yummy, though it is rainy season and the winds get pretty stiff there. Still, a beautiful backdrop for nuptials.)

Source: People

"...They may play brother and sister on Dexter, but in real life Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter were lawfully wed on New Year's Eve, according to Hall's rep... The outdoor ceremony was held in Big Sur, CA. Jennifer carried a bouquet of white roses with her grandfather's wedding band attached.

Dexter's cast and crew are currently on hiatus but will resume work on the upcoming fourth season early this year. Dexter has already been renewed by Showtime for two more 12-episode seasons.

Hall, 37, and Carpenter, 29, plan to appear together at this year's Golden Globes Awards on Sunday. The couple has been secretly dating for about a year and a half and will make their first public appearance together on the red carpet at the Beverly Hilton. The series is up for multiple awards, including Best Actor in a Drama for Hall.

PEOPLE...spoke with Jennifer the Emmys last September, where she answered the question, "Who's the sexiest man alive?" with, "Michael C Hall!. "He's the sexiest man alive. He's one of the best we've got. He's an incredible talent..."

Family Legacies, Wishes Granted, and Trying To Make The World a Better Place

I've had many good things happen in my life including wishes and dreams coming true.
Recently, a fellow blogger wrote an insightful, moving, humourous, and thought-provoking blog post about wishes.
I tend mostly to cut straight to the chase of a topic but Brett never seems in a hurry to get his thoughts down in print and his Grant a Wish post was no different.

Brett thoroughly explored what a wish means to him by breaking it down into components and linking important members of his biological family to the attributes.

He began with his grandfather, who he described as "a self-made man who granted wishes his entire life."

Brett recalled his memories of his grandfather and in doing so reminded me of my own grandfather, known as "Frank," who was also very much a self-man man. He was a man who in his 101-year life went from a 14-year-old cook out in the wild west of British Columbia to a Sargent with the Toronto police department. Of course there were many, many places in-between. Also like Brett's granddad, Frank built many things with his hands and would have appreciated the quality of Craftsman tools. Some of his creations include the cottages at Maple Lake and many of the original furniture pieces in them or that were in them.

Brett wrote too of his grandmother who he credited with bestowing empathic abilities--a truly golden gift in my opinion, as I was given it as well. He went on to credit his mum with instilling a love of reading which in turn garnered him a wide life perspective as well as spoke of his dad encouraging Brett's freedom to chose what he wanted to do in life. Besides empathy, he credited his grandmother with an understanding of potential in others and in his grandfather’s drive to help people, an example of and a desire for improving the world around them.

And just  as if he had a large, lovely ribbon Brett tied together the things that his loved ones had given him.

He spoke of his grandfather at the tender age of 16 building a working motorcycle from scratch so he'd be able to get to town and find better work. He shared that his grandfather's interest in finding a better way to accomplish things never waned. Brett said that if his grandfather found a more efficient or effective way of doing things he adopted them and integrated them into his own repertoire.

The theme of continuing improvement to realize a dream tied together much of what Brett said about his family and he shared that he believes it "important in life to try and improve upon those talents and gifts that we receive from our parents and grandparents."

With this in mind, Brett approached Sears, saying that as he shops for the important people in his life this holiday season, he planned on focusing on "finding those things that will help them realize their potential, realize how to master their own situations in life, and realize their own dreams and wishes."

Brett summarized his essay (it was so much more than just a blog post) with looking beyond his immediate family to the world of blogging and what he calls his "extended blogging family" with this: "I see in Sears and in the Grant a Wish program the opportunity for people looking to explore their creative side and work in blogging or podcasting or even learning how to do video, I see an opportunity." Brett advised people that were scouring the store shelves in search of the perfect gift for that special someone to "look at the products on the shelf, and think how those products might be used by the people that receive them to un-tap their potential. If you can do that, if you can even get a little close, you will probably Grant a Wish to the person you love and I believe that the gift that they receive will not go to waste."

Brett summed up his post with these thoughts: "Maybe you can provide some inspiration to someone that might just change the world, and if that’s true, then you will have changed the world a little bit for the better yourself!"

Honestly, I couldn't have said it better myself.

California Gay-Marriage Ban Creates Legal Uncertainty

California Gay-Marriage Ban Creates Legal Uncertainty

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11...

Protesters march down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 during a "No on Prop 8'' rally. In a heartbreaking defeat for the gay-rights movement, California voters put a stop to gay marriage, creating uncertainty about the legal status of 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot during a four-month window of opportunity opened by the state's highest court. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

This is a very unfortunate situation.
California need to define marriage in a more inclusive way.
I think there should be a census-like nature to it. The non-heterosexual community should be able to enter into a legal union if they so wish. That's all that "marriage" is. The ceremony, the 2-hour Catholic, The Hawaii Clifftop that's what makes it a wedding. If two people want to hook up for life, why does it matter if they are the same sex or not the same sex?
Also, if they are veted as a heterosexual couple is for adoption then why the hell not should they not be able to adopt?  I'm not sure if that right was taken too with Prop 8 but there's is talk of it in the US.
Bleh.
Dictating people's lifestyles--their lives, actually--not cool.

Geekfest!!! The 20th Annual District 211 Gifted Expo~

Thank gord it's over. Another hurdle. Many more to come as spouse and I were discussing tonight. I worry that our son is not disciplined enough to keep his grades up and that if he goes away to college at age 17  he'll really be in a one-down position of having to take on a LOT of responsibility--and will he be able to to cut it? This is early I know to be fretting as Chris is only 15 and in the next couple of years with any luck he'll mature and get his priorities in line and his ambitions focused. I wonder how many of my own mistakes I'm using as a point of reference here?

Families and their repeating patterns!

The Expo was big fun. The kids are amazingly smart, worked incredibly hard, and it's very obvious that they will have a successful career by any measure. One guy that I've been hearing a lot about is a friend of my son's, Ray Li, who invented a board game and is now marketing it. A sophomore. Just blows my mind. I was too busy chatting up the kids about their projects to get many photos but here are a few including the project that seemed most popular:

"Creating a Guitar~ Guitar-Hero Style" ~

A real guitar engineered to play Guitar Hero II.

Created by Adam Grainawi, Palatine High School

"Lineage" created and marketed by Ray Li~

Spouse chats up Ray.

I was just flabbergasted that this guy created a board game and he's selling it! My son helped him promote Lineage by playing it at lunch time and by participating in a tournament that he won. Ray gave Chris a $10 gift certificate good towards purchase of the game. :D

And last but not least, a "fearsome weapon" somewhat like a crossbow, used by the Greeks, Romans, and in Medieval times, replicated with safety and other modifications by my son and his "mentor."

Chris explains The Ballista~

He had to do the demo outside which I think he quite enjoyed. Can't be flinging around stuff from a "fearsome weapon" inside school. :D

 Ballista: Answering q's from a teacher~

I think Palatine High School who hosted this year, did a very nice job with the design of the program and of hosting the show. I liked this year's layout of the host high school. Was easy to get from Point A to Point B.

Chris's display card has the same design as the entire front of the program, a bound, thick-ish catalog about the kids from the 5 high school's gifted program's 2-year Critical Thinking program and their projects.

My keepsake from the show.~

Go Get 'Em, Tiger?

Are you a go-getter or do you wait for good things to happen to you?
Submitted by sleepybear.

Oh, good grief!

Nuh-uh. Gotta send out the good juju into the world and work your tail off and the good things come as a result.

Anything else is luck. Which I will not turn down. :)

Talking Loudly in the Library

You know the expression, "You must not get out much."? Compared to some people I guess I don't. I go out every single day but I don't interact face-to-face with all that many people in the general public. Today however, youngest son and I went to the Palatine Public Library.
Both son and I had a number of books to get and as it happened we got there barely an hour before closing time. Son knew what section he wanted to look in but I needed the use of the computer terminals to locate  books for the list I carried. It happened that the only terminal I found on the first floor was about 10 feet from the children's section on one side and from a librarian station on the other.

The librarians were chatting and the two women on the other side of my terminal, about 2 feet from me, were chatting as well but they were very animated, laughing, enjoying their conversation as if they were chatting in a coffee shop or standing on a street counter. With acute hearing* I have trouble focusing on keyboard tasks when there's excessive noise, so after a few minutes of hearing. every. single. word. uttered by them both, and looking helplessly to the librarians chatting away obliviously, I loudly  cleared my throat.

I waited. If anything, their volume  increased. OK, I thought to myself, how to be an adult about this when the adults around me are not exactly acting like they know how adults behave in a library? I cleared my throat again, this time loudly and in a prolonged fashion. I looked at the library station and caught the attention of one of the librarians. With the arm closest to her I made a small gesture towards the two women who were still talking loudly in the library. Then with both hands I made the "two hands talking to one another" sign. A moment or two passed. The women lowered their volume though the woman still at but not using the computer terminal did not attempt to doing anything but converse.
People. I don't miss them.

*Though this is only my theory, I think because I've been legally blind since childhood, my acute hearing is a sort of compensation for it. I have an acute sense of small as well.

Hilarity Ensues (Christmas Day)

A rarity: Acting like sibs--though they are shooting each other with Airzookas. :)

 

Dom and Evie Break up '07/Did Dom Monaghan and Evangeline Lilly Tie The Knot In Summer '07?

Update: January, 2009 Dom Monaghan ("Charlie Pace" on LOST and Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen") also on LOST ring in the New Yearin snowy togetherness.

*NEW* Evie and Dom together March 2008

Update/11.08.07***Below I was afraid of this given the "uncertain" way Charlie's last scenes were on LOST the last time we saw Dominic Monaghan  playing him. Oh well. I'm sure someone's happier now. It doesn't sound like it's Dominic.

When does Lost come back on, anyway? Is it in November or am I thinking of the Battlestar Galactica mini on the SciFi Channel?<squee> Inquiring minds need the scoop!

Dom Monaghan and Eve Lilly of LOST. I don't have a credit--a magazine is the source I believe....maybe, not sure. Sorry. Did they get married this past summer (2007) like they were 'spose to before...

SPOILER ALERT!!!

I love to write in ALL CAPS. heh.

So yeah... Dominick Monaghan, according to what I Google, is makin' a movie about a serial killer--Dom's the serial killer. Bound to be more fun than Lost --they never gave him enough screen time,  IMO.

Updates: 11.08.07

UPDATE II /(Source is gossip but less rag-like)

" LOST stars Dominic Monaghan and Evangeline Lilly are apparently done according to Page Six . Dom was spotted at El Coyote in Los Angeles "crying, holding and kissing" another woman. Are they sure that other woman wasn't Elijah Wood?

Nelson Aspen reports, "They were right in the middle of the room, they weren't interested in privacy. They looked very intimate. They were nursing margaritas, leaning in, chain-smoking, having intense conversation."

Update/11.08.07

UPDATE/ (The source is a gossip rag)

LOST co-stars Evangeline Lilly and Dominic Monaghan have reportedly castaway their love and split up.

The handsome pair began dating over two years' ago after meeting on the set of the desert island drama.

The British actor - whose rocker character Charlie was killed off in the show - was spotted crying in the arms of another woman at a LA restaurant last week.

Onlookers at the El Coyote eatery also said the pair spent a lot of time kissing and cuddling.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: "They were right in the middle of the room, they weren't interested in privacy.

"They looked very intimate. They were nursing margaritas, leaning in, chain-smoking, having an intense conversation."

Evangeline and Dominic got engaged earlier this year after the Lord of the Rings star proposed during a holiday in Hawaii.

Life and Love Online

I've mentioned that I keep a blog at Vox which is another successful effort from Six Apart-- the folks who bring you this blogging system.

It's astonishingly easy to "meet" new people there due to several things at play--but it all comes down to connecting people through common interests. These interests can be of any type--anything goes--and once you list an interest and chose to make it public--and you have not only the option of  public but neighbourhood, friends, friends and family, family and private. That's a lot of options but it's quite easy to manage. You don't even have to list your interests at Vox--you can opt to join one of hundreds of groups--there are public groups, by invitation public, and private groups as well. It's really all about establishing where your comfort zone is and then regulating it as you please. I especially like the feature where one has a post filter which prevents your post from being searched by Google-type spiders so it won't turn up in a stranger's online search.

Anyway, I came not just to praise Vox but to make note of the number of couples that have met via the Internet including through Vox, and have established successful relationships.

Just a few years ago I'd hear cautionary tales of the "scary people" you'd meet on the 'Net. Being already married I wasn't interested on a personal level, but I assumed the warnings were true.

Well it turns out that yes, just as in off-line life there are scary people on the Internet. There are also incredible people as well ordinary people. In other words there are all kinds of people. In a completely unique way, Vox has allowed me to meet people from all walks of life, from all kinds of backgrounds, of both sexes as well as gender preferences, and from all over the world.

And that pretty much leads me to the comment I wanted to now make.

Two women in my "neighbourhood"--they are in the "friends" category actually, after a number of months of long-distance romance finally met up and spent a week together. Their friends were following their romance so we were collectively waiting to exhale to hear how things went. Well, they are back online and they are happier than ever. And it really doesn't matter what gender they are--they are two people in love and it's really, really nice to share if only in a small way, in their happiness.

They are by no means unique, either. The use of the Internet has been common for so long now that people have met online, conducted their romance online/on the phone, met , hit it off face-to-face and then stayed together and are raising families.

It is for those that are less Internet invested or can't /won't consider alternate ways of perceiving the world, an unusual, perhaps even unsettling situation. But you'd best get use to it.  Internet romance--like offline romance--is here to stay. It unfolds in much the same way with all kinds of beginnings and sometimes, endings. To my friends that I spoke of above and my other online friends who must travel long distances to be with their loved ones--I wish you the very best and many years of happiness to come.

The Vagaries Of Online Friendships

I didn't know this woman well enough to call her a blogging friend and that was completely intentional.

Initially, I added her to my Vox neighbourhood because she was blogging friends with many if not most, of my new Vox neighbours.

Within a week or so of me reading her blog I realized that she was extremely troubled--beyond her admitted long-term bipolar disorder. I realize bi-polar disorder is serious enough and with it comes many extremes but her extremes were extreme.

She angrily dropped out of Vox then dropped back in then did so again (deleting her blog each time). She came back again fairly recently though, it seemed rather tentatively. (Her blog here at TypePad remained though I'm guessing due to it being a paid blog that it won't much longer.)

Even her most ardent supporters now characterize her as someone who led a troubled life, wrestling with demons of her own making.

Still it was a "holy crap" moment for me when I read last night that on the very day that she blogged about feeling better, getting some work freelance writing and being so excited that she was getting a brand new motorcycle--on that very day she bought her new bike, she took it out on the highway, crashed into a concrete wall on the on-ramp to another highway and plunged 33 feet to her death between the two highways, down to the ground below.

Now the Vox community, which still feels small to me, is reacting and me being the student of human behaviour that I think I was born as am finding myself drawn to read the reactions of her blogging friends both current and past.

In a case or two her friendships went beyond blogging or IMing online but in the one case that I know of well enough--that friendship ended on a very unpleasant note. The person with whom she was an off-line friend has become over the past year, a cherished online friend to me. This lady knew her quite well and is having a really hard time with her emotions. One can't just ignore that  the woman who died on Sept 11 of this year has three grade school-age children, yet the woman herself hurt so many, probably herself more than anyone, it's quite sticky as to how one expresses condolences.

I'm still thinking on this one. Having long ago removed myself from her "neighbourhood," as it is called at Vox, makes it easier for me--nothing is expected--but there are outpourings of grief some members of my Vox neighbourhood and it's really hard to know what is the right thing--the most considerate and/or comforting thing to say. Saying nothing feels wrong and "I hope she rests in peace doesn't really seem to say it well, either."

The vagaries of online friendships continue to vex me.

Happy Birthday !!! (Times Two)

My brother and I, though we live only 45 minutes apart do not see much of one another. He and his spouse, E., have been working their collective bums off creating and running their own massage therapy business in Evanston for about a decade. They are highly skilled having both graduated  from (and taught at) the Chicago School Of Massage Therapy and gone on to develop diverse specialities within and adjacent to the field of massage therapy. However, after residing as a couple in Evanston, a lovely town north of Chicago on Lake Michigan for about twenty years they have made a radical life change.

My brother applied and was accepted to medical school near Mesa, Arizona. He is going to become an Osteopath  (a D.O.-- a different flavour M.D.). Ellen will work, probably as hard or harder than him in the real world of massage in Arizona. They've found a little apartment near the campus of the oldest school of Osteopathy in the country and will reside there for a year. After that they will, thankfully, move back near the center of the country--to Cincinnati where my brother will further pursue his studies and Ellen will gain first hand (no pun intended) knowledge of the Amish people. At least they'll be driving distance away then.

My brother is my only sibling, 5 years, 10 months younger than me. Though separated when I departed Connecticut for California at age 18 we were reunited when I (plus my baby son) moved to the Chicagoland area seven years later. We've lived within an under one-hour drive of each other ever since.

I'm over the moon that he is taking on this HUGE challenge. He's been at it for a couple years now just to be able to apply to med school despite having a 4-year English degree.

What I'm not thrilled about is him leaving the state. I have no other family here beside the one I've lived with and my brother and wife. I should count my spouse's family as family and I do--as they pertain to my and my spouse's son. Otherwise, frankly, the sheer number of them freaks me out. And my spouse is one of seven kids with native Chicagoans for parents; I am one of two with parents native Torontonians--that insures a whole different upbringing.

So my brother and E. moving also makes me sad and insecure (what if one of us needs a kidney or some other part that only the other sibling can furnish!?).

Kidding aside, it's going to suck without them.

So here are what may be the last photos of them and two of my guys, taken yesterday in honour of E's birthday 2 days previous, and my spouse's birthday today.

Happy Birthday Ellen and Roger (spouse and sil)

(Notes on the slide show: the colourful Pritzker Pavillion is shown because unbeknownst to us on E's birthday, whilst we were snapping photos in Millennium Park (home of thePavillion), E & J were looking down upon us as well as at a beautiful sunset from the great height of the top of the Sear's Tower. "Snoozing" took place after  E & J had gone home.)

Life is short

Thanks to joyas.stumbleupon.com [stumbleupon.com]

Smoking Room

Thanks to my dear friend "B." in Calgary for sharing this very cool painting speaking volumes.