Mambo Taxi

Yesterday's Globe and Mail included these two comics. "Pooch Cafe" is often funny, but "Betty" is seldom worth a chuckle for me, but the pair of them next to each other at Valentine's Day were appreciated.

So, whether or not you celebrate today, whether or not you're looking, happy with the love or loves you've got, or desperately wishing the media would just stop trying to push stuff down our throats (hi)... Hope you have a happy day.

This was a great weekend, slightly better 'cause I took a partial mental-health day on Friday. The campus had no network, and I wasn't going to be terribly useful twiddling my thumbs, so I had lunch with melted_snowball, chezmax & the_infamous_j and came home. :)

Saturday d. and I drove into Toronto for chickenfeet2003's Thai Birthday Bash. We had some good gallery visits in the Distillery District (and a just a few bad ones). My favourite was a photography studio that is going to display Heidi Leverty's prints next month- I liked the stuff of hers that they showed us. Also, they have the Epson competitor to catbear's Big Ass Printer (BAP? ...does one name printers the size of a human? Who knows.) Anyhow, the guy talked about how neat it was to just try things out on a printer that's got four-foot-wide paper in it. Yeah, I could see that.

Aaand I took a few photos I like.



Then, to chickenfeet2003's for dinner and company. Awesome food- my tastebuds were singing, and not just from the spicy. Though that was part of it. It is such a good thing to get well-made hot food that wasn't prepared by my sweetie. (Mmmm, lemongrass and fish sauce.) We knew more people there than I expected, including beable and amarylliss. Good times.

Sunday, I went to Quaker Meeting, after which we talked about my hopes that my parents can move to Ithaca NY. People were quite supportive, which felt good. ...I don't think I've mentioned this trip here; I'm taking this Friday off, and meeting my parents in Ithaca- we're all staying at EcoVillage, because my mom thinks they might like it there. I've visited friends who live at EcoVillage; and even went around on a tour once; I think it's possible they could fall in love with the place. Above all, I hope my folks get enough of an urge to consider a move seriously! (To Ithaca? Elsewhere? I just think they'd be happier in a more interesting town than where they currently live.)

Also at Quaker Meeting, we collected together a big bag of kids' clothes and $60 worth of over-the-counter drugs, which are going to Burundi. I've never sent stuff to Burundi before. :)

In the evening, melted_snowball, the_infamous_j, chezmax and I went off to the cinema- to see Stardust. It was a charming movie. Not too heavy, not too light, a bit campy and cheesy, and some pretty flying and magic sequences.

And that's the weekend that was.

One thing led to another and I was just looking for one of my kid-books on amazon.

They have Old MacDonald Had an Apartment Building, which has been reissued. (yay!)

But I realized that the author and illustrator, Judi and Ron Barrett, also did two other books I loved to pieces, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and (probably my favourite), The Giant Jam Sandwich.

Oh, plus Mercer Mayer's Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo. These were the happy stuff of my childhood. I can remember sounding out letters in these, so that would put them at approximately age 4, or a bit earlier.



If, by some chance, you want to raise a kid with an early and strong appreciation for whimsy, these books won't hurt. (Though if you asked my parents, I'm sure they would say they DID hurt, by the 25,000th repetition.)

Mmm. Happy memories.

I've not read d.'s travelogues today (heck, I've not caught up on his 15-post set last week) so apologies if there's overlap.

Yesterday ( was great )

But today ( kicked ass )