Sock Monkeys!

A month or so ago my friend, E, and I went to the Creativfestival down at the Toronto Convention Centre.   There, we took a bead ring making class, bought far too many beads, and wandered around looking at the vendors’ booths.  My eye was caught by a kit including instruction book and yarn for the cutest baby sock monkey imaginable.  I’ve been wanting to make a sock monkey for a long time, so I could not resist that little guy.  As it turns out, the baby sock monkey pattern is available free online.  That’s fine though, because now I’ve got the whole book.  It has all sorts of fancy monkeys, as well as a lion, elephant, and giraffe.  I’m having a lot of fun making them.  I’m thinking they’ll make excellent gifts for small friends, and if the reaction of some of my adultish friends is any indication, for bigger friends too.

Here are my first two attempts at the basic monkeys – the baby and the standard shape.  Now that I’ve mastered these I’m going to start in on the ones in fun costumes!

High Park, End of October

A couple weeks ago, back at the very end of October, I took a few pictures down at Grenadier Pond in High Park.  It was a crisp, windy day, with a lot of sunshine, and storm clouds just starting to move in.  The light was beautiful playing over the ripples in the pond, and the leaves on the ground and turning colour on the trees.  On a gloomy gloomy November day like today, I thought the world needed to remember this beauty.

Dragon Seer

Dragon Seer, by Janet McNaughton

http://www.janetmcnaughton.ca/

YA/Canadian/Fantasy/Myth

 

Fourteen year-old Madoca is a slave in the household of a tyrannical chieftain, serving his equally tyrannical daughter.  At the Gathering, an annual coming together of all the people’s in the land, a new Dragon Seer will be chosen.  The Dragon Seers work with the dwindling population of dragons to maintain the wisdom of the land, and to lead the people.  A seer is chosen by the dragons in a knot flying event in the midst of an ancient ring of standing stones.  Madoca expects her mistress to be chosen, and can hardly believe it when the dragon changes her.  Overnight, her world is changed.  She travels to live with the dragons and the other two seers, and begins to learn the wisdom of the dragons, and the ancient art of healing.  Madoca begins to grow in confidence and in power.  Yet, all is not well.  There are very few dragons left, and little hope of the population growing, and the land of the Picts is in danger from the invading Vikings who threaten the future of their people.

Madoca is surrounded by a cast of enticing characters.  The dragons are unlike most current book dragons, and also have very real personalities of their own.  The other Dragon Seers, Eenna and Nechtan, a young wisewoman, Bethoc, and a number of other characters are all compelling.  Madoca grows throughout the story, fighting her own jealousies and a desire for revenge, and coming to terms with the political situation of her time.

The world of the story is also very intriguing.  It is set in the Orkneys, and centres around the Pictish people.  An authors note at the end of the book discusses the fact that very little is known of the Picts.  There is little evidence remaining of how their civilization organized itself, of their gods and communications.  This story is an imagining of how the civilization might have been.  The culture created is fully realized, and very intriguing.

Highly recommended.

 

A Grey November Rabbits to You

Paris in 2.5 Minutes

I went to Paris for a little holiday this September.  It was lovely.  I had been there before, but that was when I was fifteen, and it was part of a choir tour.  Needless to say, we were well regimented and travelled around in our bus.  We saw many things, but there were few that I remembered, and I really felt like I had yet to experience the feel of the city.  So, when a cheap flight and good hotel rate appeared right when I had a week off work, I went.

People (family mostly) have been asking for pictures.  I took over 900 (thank you digital camera!).  No one wants to sit through that kind of a slideshow, least of all me, so I’ve compressed the show into a 2.5 minute slideshow of the some of the visual highpoints.

Something that pictures can’t capture is the feeling of vibrant history in Paris.  Like in many of the other European capitals I’ve had the privilege to visit, people live in harmony with the ghosts and heroes of a legendary past.  Spectacular ancient buildings are incorporated into thoroughly modern life.  There is also a different speed at which things happen.  Sure, getting on the enviable subway system at rush hour you experience the same crowds and bustle as you do here, but the speed of food, of coffee, of pretty much everything else is somehow more comfortable.  I was also struck, almost continuously, by the care that went into the design of everything, even apartment buildings.  Everything has beautiful detail in the stonework.  Metal gratings have swirls.  It is all beautiful.  I know that can’t be said for the whole city.  I was in a bus that went past the new National Library, and it is hideous, and the outlying modern areas suffer from some of the same brutalism that is seen in many North American buildings.  But the downtown is all incredibly beautiful.

Without further ado.  Here is Paris, in 2.5 minutes:

done

Torrie and the Dragonslayers

Torrie and the Dragonslayers, by K. V. Johansen

Book Five in the Torrie Quests Series

http://www.sybertooth.com/kvj/

Canadian/fantasy/late junior

 

Torrie and the Dragonslayers is the fifth Torrie adventure.  Torrie is a mythical forest creature, who is small and furry, but man-like in appearance.  He is ancient, and of indeterminate age.  In this adventure, he tells the tale of his time with Cossypha, the daughter of a powerful sorceror, and Rufik, a young Prince on his first quest.

As the story begins, Torrie has taken up residence with Cossypha in her father’s isolated castle.  Cossypha has a terrible burden to bear, as her father has gone mad with grief, and has begun to perform terrible magics.  She can feel magic in herself, but cannot control it or use it, because there is no one to teach her how.  She is becoming desperate in her home life, and plans an escape.

Meanwhile, in a neighbouring land, a dragon has begun to terrorize the countryside, and Prince Rufik heads out on a quest to find a magic sword that is rumoured to be the only weapon capable of slaying the dragon.  As Rufik crosses the sorceror’s land, he is set upon by guards with the heads of wolves who take him captive, and place him in the dungeon of the castle.

This is the event Cossy needs to push her into escape from the castle.  She frees Rufik from the dungeon, and with Torrie, sets out to join in Rufik’s quest.

The story is narrated by Torrie, who had previously mentioned these two dragonslayers in one of his other books.  As a narrator, Torrie speaks with an air of wisdom, but does not lose humility or humour in his descriptions of  the young people’s adventure.  The story is imbued with a flavour of legend, and does not disappoint in its fantastical and adventurous elements.  It gives the feel of being a tale told many times.  It is fast moving, and flows steadily toward the climax and resolution.  The characters are engaging, and find their greatest strengths in working together.  They each suffer setbacks along the way, but persevere in their quest, growing as people through the course of their journey.

As always, with K.V. Johansen’s books, I appreciate the strength of the female characters.  Without pointing out the fact that Cossypha is in anyway special or different from other girls, she ensures that the character is just as adventurous, and just as active as her male counterpart.  The main characters, male and female, interact on an equal footing, something not always present in fantasy literature.

An excellent read from a delightful series.  Definitely recommended to fans of fantasy, adventure, or medievalistic stories.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

I apologize.  It has been over two months since I last visited.  It isn’t you.  It’s me.  What can I say?  Life’s gotten in the way.  It isn’t that you aren’t important to me.  It is just that you are so forgiving.  The good news?  I’ve got a stockpile of reviews just waiting to be posted.  And I did a little traveling.  So there are some pictures.  Oh, and I got a new camera.  So there are some more pictures.  Um.  And yes.  Lot’s has been happening.  Work has been crazy.  I’ve had a lot of commitments outside of work, so I’ve hardly been home.  And, when I am home, I’m exhausted, and find myself flaked out watching old episodes of some godforsaken television show, instead of paying attention to you, dearest blog.

A few quick updates.  I got transferred back to the branch I worked at when I first got out of school, as a wide-eyed, innocent and idealistic children’s librarian.  It is a little strange to be sitting in the manager’s office, but on the other hand, I always felt like my time there was unfinished.  I got transferred out against my will the first time, and it feels a little redemptive to be back, especially since so many of the things I fought for there have finally been put into place.

On the personal front it has been crazy busy as of late.  Yes, I’m home typing away at the blog on a Saturday night, which is basically sacrilege for a singleton, I know.  But honestly, this is about the first night I was able to come straight home from work at a reasonable hour, and actually be at home, in awhile.  And that is only because the Meandering Economist (speaking of not updating your blog!?) and I couldn’t get our act together for a visit while he’s in town.  (Dang it all!  Next time!  Definitely next time!)  I was meant to do all sorts of  cleaning tonight, but somehow it seems like I’ve hardly begun.  And here I am, babbling away instead.  Just like old times.

So I mentioned travel.  Yep.  I finally went on vacation.  I was in Paris for a little while this September, and it was gorgeous!  And the food and coffee and wine were all so good!  Pictures to follow, I promise.  I was also at the cottage almost every weekend this summer, but that’s not quite as exciting to blog about.

As for books, I promise, I have been reading.  And I’ve even been reading the YA books I’m supposed to be reading, so I’ll have some reviews shortly, I promise.  This coming Wednesday is the actual day for a giant project I’ve been working towards at work, so it is going to be a lot sunnier in my world come Thursday.  I expect everything to look up after that.

Right.  So, it is 8:30.  I put some homemade potato leek soup on to simmer a couple hours ago, so it is probably about time to puree it.  I can’t wait for a bowl.

Ta ta.

After the first storm

Yesterday evening, after the first of the storms, or perhaps the first wave of The storm, I saw both sides of a rainbow.  Yes!  Both ends of a curve.  Admittedly there was a blank space in the middle, so it wasn’t continuously visible, but it was incredible.

Sadly I couldn’t get the whole thing in one picture, because it was so big.  The clouds and sunset coming through them were super beautiful too.

Up the creek, with a paddle

Last year I blogged about an endangered ecosystem that is near and dear to my heart.  This past Sunday, before the storm of the summer, was the first time I got to visit this beautiful space this year.  Between the morning thunderstorm, and the evening thunderstorm, there was a beautiful few hours of actual summer.  We jumped on that brief glimpse of glory to take the canoe up the creek with camera in tow.

The creek is still in about the same condition it was last year.  The development has not yet arrived.  There are any number of beautiful plants and interesting creatures around.  Yesterday seemed to be dragonfly day, because we saw any number of beautiful specimens in every crayola colour of the rainbow.  No frogs sadly.  To be honest, I don’t know that I’ve heard the frogs much this year, and that worries me.  They usually provide a musical backdrop to the evenings.  Perhaps it is just that we have been forced inside most evenings.

I’m not sure how much time we spent, but it was quite awhile, because somewhere along the way it turned from being a gloriously sunny afternoon, into a threateningly windy afternoon.

It is late enough in the season that we had to get out of the canoe and haul it over a small sandbar to get up into the creek.  Along the way my flip flop got lost in a sink hole and I had to dig it out.  Needless to say, I braved the lightning to have a shower when I got home last night.

As an added bonus, I recently started experimenting with my camera’s video feature.  As far as I can tell, there is no sound capability.  The picture is also not super, but you get the idea with the clips I’ve edited together here.  The ducks really were that close to us, and really did have no fear.  We weren’t paddling at the time, but rather floating in the current, but still, they showed an incredible lack of fear.

Please forgive the jerky nature of the filming, I was mostly trying to paddle with one hand, and hold the camera with the other.

done

P.S. This is my first attempt at editing together clips taken on my camera, so, ya.  Ignore the choppy.

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien – Shatner Does Palin (07/27/09) – Video – NBC.com

Goodbye, Sarah Palin. How I will miss thee…

If the embed doesn’t work, go directly to NBC.  They’re currently allowing Canadians to view this clip.

more about “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien -…“, posted with vodpod