co-written song

Allison was downtown yesterday so we got together. Ended up co-writing a song! :-) Jodi, Allison and I all have new songs finished or in the works, hope to debut some of them at Filkontario next month.
Got back my California trip photos but haven't had time to post them in the report yet. This weekend, maybe...I'll let you know. Today's picture is of Paul Kwinn and I in front of his workplace (Accolade).

I brought a tape of the Barbie song Sara likes so much for her to keep. Ruth called me last night to "thank" me for the tape, that Sara knows most of the lyrics now and proved it by singing them while the family was dining in a Japanese restaurant last night: "I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world, wrapped in plastic, it's fantastic..."

I love being an aunt. :-)

death-sleep

Thanks for the reassurances from Sherman and Anne that I'm not the only one to over-react to the "death-sleeps" of tiny infants. Also, my mom-in-law told me that she actually called the fire department when Jeff's sister (who was around 8 or 9) slept so soundly in her locked bedroom that she didn't respond to banging on the door. And of course she was merely deeply asleep.

I desperately want to go see Titanic this week, but Jeff is sick. :-( And he would kill me if I went without him, I'm sure. In fact, a great many people I know right now are sick...I'm hoping to stave off germs until after Confusion.

Speaking of Confusion...hope to see some of you there! Don't forget that the Ookla-UT joint concert is on Saturday from 11-noon in the Theatre (but please check your program books at the convention just in case there's been a change). This is the first time that we've done a concert with just Ookla, and we won't have much time to rehearse beforehand, and it should be LOTS of fun. :-) At present the playlist includes songs that both groups have done on each other's albums (Still Can't Buy Me Love, Teenybopper Love, Leftovers, for example) and we'll also be doing songs separately.

To you writertypes out there: Hey, Inklings was given a nice write-up in the Markets section of this month's Writer's Digest magazine! Check out p54.

cottage weekend

Jeff and I went to the cottage on the weekend with his mom. Drove up to Algonquin Park in spite of bad weather, icy roads (Jeff and I saw three car spin-outs happen along the way). Skiied across the lake, pulling our supply sleds behind us. This gave me great motivation for eating as much as possible at the cottage, of course...less to lug back across the ice! :-) I tried snowshoeing for the first time...much easier than I expected, lots of fun. I trekked out into the middle of the frozen lake, sat down (not knowing how difficult it would be to get up without undoing my snowshoes), and just listened to the silence. Living in downtown Toronto, I very rarely encounter any true quiet areas...I'd forgotten how much I missed that. Made a snow angel.

There is no running water, so Jeff hacks a hole in the ice with an axe. Has to hack quite a bit; the ice is about a foot and a half thick. We spend Saturday evening reading, sitting by the fire, dozing, talking (trying not to doze WHILE we talk, of course). Jeff's mom makes a splendid meal. She recently broke a Canadian swimming record in the Masters division, by the way. I feel terribly unfit in comparison. Doesn't stop me from pigging out on dinner, of course.

Next day, we go out hiking behind the cottage for a bit, have lunch, then go home. I opt for snowshoes instead of skis this time, but regret the decision partway across the lake. Also, the sled seems heavier...or maybe I just ate too much at lunch. Anyway, it's a wee bit more challenging heading back across the lake, and when we finally reach the car I feel like throwing up my mittens a la Rocky style.

Sorry, haven't posted the California pics in my report yet, will do that this week.

words for the '90s

So who watched the Oscars? I know Allison did. :-) I watched bits and pieces here and there. Did everyone agree with who won/lost? I've seen Titanic, The Full Monty, As Good As It Gets, but I still need to see Wag The Dog, Kundun and L.A. Confidential.

My current taste fave is malt bread. I ate half a loaf yesterday by myself, throughout the day. I'm a big fan of weird breads, by the way. It's been years since I've touched Wonder Bread.

Here are some New Words for the 90s:

Blamestorming: Sitting around in a group discussing why a deadline as
missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.



Chainsaw Consultant: An outside expert brought in to reduce the
employee head count, leaving the top brass with clean hands.



Cube Farm: An office filled with cubicles.



Ego Surfing: Scanning the Net, databases, print media and so on, looking
for references to one's own name.



Idea Hamsters: People who always seem to have their idea
generators running.



Keyboard Plaque: The disgusting buildup of dirt and crud found on
computer keyboards.



Mouse Potato: The online, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.



Ohnosecond: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that
you've just made a big mistake.



Perot: To quit unexpectedly, as in "My cellular phone just
perot'ed."



Swiped Out: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless
because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.



Alpha Geek - The most knowledgeable, technically proficient person
in an office or work group. "Ask Larry, he's the alpha geek around
here."



Beepilepsy - The brief seizure people sometimes have when their beeper
goes off (especially in vibrator mode). Characterized by physical
spasms,
goofy facial expressions and interruption of speech in mid-sentence.



Irritainment - Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying,
but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The O.J. trials were
a prime example.



Percussive Maintenance - The fine art of whacking an electronic device to
get it to work again.



Seagull Manager - A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, shits
over everything and then leaves.



Umfriend - A sexual relation of dubious standing. "This is uh..Dale,
my...um...friend..."



Uninstalled - Euphemism for being fired. Heard on the voicemail of a
vice president at a downsizing computer firm: "You have reached the
number of an uninstalled vice president. Please dial our main number
and ask the operator for assistance." See also Decruitment.



Vulcan Nerve Pinch - The taxing hand position required to reach a
the appropriate keys for certain commands. For instance, the warm
re-boot for a Mac II computer involves simultaneously pressing the
Control key, the Command key, the Return key and the Power On key.



Yuppie Food Stamps - The ubiquitous $20 bills spewed out of ATM's
everywhere. Often used when trying to split the bill after a meal:
"We all owe $8 each, but all anybody's got is yuppie food stamps."

new ut songs

Fun practice last night. We went over the new song Allison and I wrote ("Another Story"), with Jodi adding harmonies/counterpoint, me with flute. I also played A&J my new X-Files song (our ONLY X-Files song :-)), "The Truth Is Out There". Looking forward to attending the local filk tomorrow! Anyone wishing to find out more about the local filk scene should contact Judith Hayman at hayman@bserv.com.

Science Fact of the Day:
Hey, did you know that chocolate's magnesium content helps release endorphins, which supposedly lifts our spirits and energy? I kid you not. And chocolate is the only food that contains phenylthylamine, supposedly a chemical that is also released in our brain when we fall in love. Boy, does this sound desperate...