This title may not be containable.

So after waking up on the mezzanine level of hell yesterday, I was enjoying a chat with my right hand man/former wrestler extraordinaire Frenchy (to use his old grapplin' handle) today, and he starts telling me about his day yesterday. About how he found his neighbour face down in the gravel and unresponsive, having had a stroke. About how it took the longest 20 minutes of his life for the emergency services to arrive because apparently yesterday was the busiest fire day in city history for as far back as anyone can remember or something like that.

So that wasn't a fun day for anyone.

Well tonight I'm supposed to be at a rehearsal for the theatre I'm involved in, but the door was locked and nobody was there when I pulled up a few minutes late. I kicked myself unnecessarily hard and assumed I had the wrong day. Just checked the e-mail announcing the next rehearsal. Nope.

Ah well, a lovely night for a drive with the radio being awesome with it's blues selection. Then it was terrible with a horrid screeching noise. Then the emergency broadcast system noted some highway closures and an evacuation notice because of a fire in some town. I didn't pay too much attention to the details. I was too suprised that I understood what I was hearing.

It was in English. All of it was in English. Only in English.

I was listening to the French Canadian Broadcasting Corporation station.

You can't even go to the park without being greeted with "Hello Bonjour!" in Canada, but evacuation notices don't have to be bilingual? They don't even have to be in the official language that the station they're being broadcast on broadcasts in?

Learn a second language today, folks. You really never know just how handy it might come in some day!

Meanwhile, my lovely Mackie heading out on one of our favourite trails (which has bilingual markers):

This title is way below code.

Nothing gets you out of bed faster than the sound of sirens and the smell of acrid smoke. From where my bed is situated I can look out my window at a large, open park located right behind my home. I couldn't see past my fence for smoke.

I have no idea who's place was on fire. From the sound of the sirens it was close, but no uber-close, I don't think. I'd say over a block away.

Nothing gets you started on a day with a feeling of deep, deep gratitude like knowing today was the day for a home in your neighbourhood to burn and it wasn't yours.

Mackie and I found this vision of beauty on our hikes the other day:



So I made this:



Silly creatures. They really just have no idea how to take a bad picture.

I had to write this title three times!

I keep working on this guy and working on this guy. He's beautiful so I persist. Alas, he is also cursed. So I persist.



This is painting number three of him. One and two were also lovely, but glitches invariably happened. It took Four! photo sessions to get a good shot of him - light was bad, camera was on the wrong setting, you name it. On my monitor it still kind of looks like his background's black. It's not. It's a gorgeous grapey purple.

This guy, on the other hand, flew out of my head perfectly formed and lovely. I'm very happy with him.



Art is funny.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Funny.

This title took forever to write.

I designed this card well over a year ago, and it's only just today seen the light of Etsy. Obviously modeled after Man Ray's "Le Violon d’Ingres", the cat that inspired it was ironically my Siamese Keaton. His nickname was also Kiki.

Speaking of cats, of course, I do believe Andy is responding to treatment. His paw is still gory looking, but he's limping less and it's not inflamed and angry looking anymore. Just very very injured.

Now the lawnmower's sick. At least I think so. It was shaking like a chihuahua confronting a hairbrush. I'm thinking I should have it looked at before it does something silly like spit it's spinning blade of destruction at my neck.

Oh yeah and congratulations to me! Yesterday I had my first sale since I've been back in business at Etsy. Good ol' Chalkie, he never lets me down.

TAACEOs (Title About Art Cards, Editions, and Originals)

So now that my caffeine free brain isn't busy knitting itself into knots, it decided it needed a new creative challenge. This is what's challenging my brain now: ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions, and Originals - basically trading cards for art. The only rule is the size - 2.5" X 3.5". Standard bubblegum card size.)

This is Stan's Etsy debut! I've been painting him a lot. He'll show up more, I'm sure, but for his debut I've captured the birth of his cosmic awakening:



This one explains itself, I'd say. The title is "Pure Joy Pup":



Meanwhile, Andy (he of the floating head fame in my paintings, and featured in the last post) appears to have an auto immune disease. Not content with attacking everyone else in the house, he's found a way to attack himself! He's starting steroids tonight. Please anybody reading send healing thoughts - his poor front right paw looks like dried hamburger!

This title's so great I just have to write it again.

Return of a couple favorites in my shop over at Etsy - go check 'em out! Note the handy dandy self updating sidebar for your convenience, hey? Hey? Hey yeah!

Meanwhile, I have been home schooling. More specifically Andy has been schooling me in how to run his home.

Today's lesson: you are not supposed to leave the cat inside when you work in the yard.



So beautiful when he's angry.

Mackie also taught me some math today:

1 Dog = 3hrs + 5 garbage bags

Tomorrow is the happiest day of the year. It's the day that the next time I have to that bit of spring clean up is the furthest away.