Cat Hilarity

Okay, this is too damn funny. I have embedded it at the bottom of my page as well; but omg. Someone had fun. :)



I particularly like the phoenetic spelling in the "kapshuns", which I must assume is intentional. Click on the pic, and you can scroll through one hilarious pic after another. Not easy to do surreptitiously at your desk, if you're at work. :)

Freddie's doppelganger

Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto is well-known for his innovative filmmaking. He has worked on pictures such as Brokeback Mountain, Babel, Alexander, Frida, and 21 Grams. If you have really sharp eyes, you'll have recognized him as the Mexican prostitute Jack picks up in El Paso, in the movie Brokeback Mountain. But what made me do a double-take is this:

Am I nuts, or does he look for all the world like Freddie Mercury?

Cuz I Yam What I Yam

Ever hear a song that just hits you at the right place, at the right time of your life, and becomes "your" song for a while? Not one you share with your partner; but your own personal mantra.

I have one. I don't know how I managed not to know this one till now (well, actually, I do; I don't listen to commercial radio much and *never* listen to Top 40 stations, so I'm always behind on the new music) because it's from 2002. It became my song this spring when I was going through some difficult times; at times I wondered whether I was being unreasonable, or expecting too much from others; sometimes I wondered whether I was completely crazy. Hearing this song, and reading the lyrics, reminded me that I can only be who I am, and unapologetically so. The lyrics honestly proved to be a catalyst during that hell; the "coincidence" of which reminds me of my husband's belief that there are no real coincidences. In any case, here it is:

Don't Ask Me Why - Seven and the Sun

Don't ask me why
Don't ask me to explain I will not try
I'm who I am
That's all you need to know
So let it go

I will not change for you or anyone at all
I'm who I am I'm all I ever need to know
And you know I'll never be afraid

Don't ask me why
Don't ask me to pretend I will not try
There's more to me
Then you will ever know or ever see

I will not change, no I will never compromise
I'm who I am I'm all I ever need to be
So let go or turn and walk away

What we are
What we are
We're deeper than the sea
Higher than the stars
The gods we long to be

What we are
What we are
We're beautiful you see
Brighter then the sun
We're all we need to be

PRIDE

How the mighty temperatures have fallen - brrr! Three days ago, it was 27 degrees and humid; today it's 11 degrees out! I'm all for a high-pressure system, but this is a bit ridiculous. Oh well - it won't last long and it makes for good sleep at night, I guess.

What's going on in my life now - I am a parade marshall for the Kingston Pride parade this coming Saturday! Whoop! I'm really excited - it's my first Pride event ever. Well, I've volunteered at the women's dances put on by SACK, but they aren't strictly Pride events, despite the fact that 99% of attendees are lesbian women.

As a straight supporter of LGBT rights, I recognize that I hold heterosexual privilege. As the saying goes, with privilege comes resonsibility. I feel a responsibility to contribute to providing a safe space for the lesbian, gay, bisexual ans transgendered individuals in the Kingston community to express their pride, their sexuality, their love, their joy, their defiance to the dominant paradigm; and I want to show my support publicly.

I feel it's worth posting a couple of links to relevant local resources; one is Out in Kingston, which has a long list of queer-positive spaces and organizations/meetings/meetups for the LGBT community. Another is Kingston Pride, which has information on this year's Pride celebration in our city.

I am proud to be able to make this small contribution to the Pride events this year. If you're in the area, please come out and support the parade; or the Pride parade in your area.

Report from the jungle

It is hot. And humid. While I'm not enthralled with it, my plants sure seem to be. They have jumped up several inches just in the last couple of days while it's been rainforest-like here. Hooray! My little back garden has tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and sugar snap peas. I have 3 front gardens; one has larkspur, portulaca, cosmos and sweet peas. One has foxglove, lavender, portulaca and something else I planted and can't remember the name of - it's a tall slim stem, with a purple spiky flower at the top, sort of like a clover but a bit more sparse. And the other has foxglove and portulaca. Along my back fence, I have planted some morning glories for privacy, as our property backs onto a alley which runs behind the university stadium. There is quite a bit of foot traffic through the alley - people out for exercise, people cutting through to reach their destination more quickly, kids loitering. I also have some sunflowers planted out there as well. Yay! Within a month or so things will be really jumping. :)

Life has been a little harried here lately; DH took a job in Westport as a head chef, but yikes. It wasn't for him, for many reasons; not the least of which is that it was an hour commute one way. He didn't stay. Today, however, he has his first "real" job through his personal chef business, booked through his website by someone who found him on Google! Yay!

Money has been tight and it's been a bit scary with B not having a steady job. Somehow I'm not that worried. I don't know why - I should be. I mean, yeah, it's there in the back of my mind, but I'm not freaking out. Maybe I've become desensitized to it; it's pretty much been the story of our lives for a good 18 months or so.

Kids are great; C is a little pissy with the humidity (like me) but that could also be because she's 3. J only has a few weeks left of school and then he'll be off for the summer. He's really looking forward to his time off. I don't think B is sharing his enthusiasm, though. :P

And as for me, I'm doing okay. I have just completed a week of holidays, which were really nice. Spent lots of time with B and the kids, and just relaxed. Slept in late a few days and enjoyed the week. I have been invited to join the board at the non-profit organization where I volunteer, as well as joining the Human Resources committee (hiring new staff, dealing with current staff), and that's quite an honour. :)