I had something all picked out for today. A pottery dish I have been keeping change in. Originally it came with a candle in it, long since burned. A present from my mother in law. So after I dumped the change out, washed it and was all ready to take a photo of it, I had second thoughts about getting rid of it. I have so much other work to get today — my allotted time for ruminating about stuff and what to get rid of today has run out. I'll think about this item a bit longer and decide tomorrow.

Tags: May 2010, miscellaneous

I'm giving a talk about my blog tomorrow night. 20 slides, 20 seconds about each slide. I've had fun putting together a presentation. Maybe there is a Pecha Kucha event near you. They happen all over the world. Here's one of the slides.

Tags: miscellaneous, May 2010, Pecha Kucha

This was in a free pile. I thought it might be good for a chuckle. It wasn't. Even if the author is trying to deliberately write bad poetry, it's not consistent or funny enough to be good bad poetry. I shared a few poems with my poetry group and we all decided we had given the book its due and could now recycle it. The back of the book does say that at the very least it can be used as toilet paper. It's so rare for me to recycle a book instead of passing it on, but this time I'm being judgmental and can't in good conscience let anyone else read it. (I understand how personal this stuff is, and how proud authors feel about having a book out, so I've blurred the author's name. If you really want to know, you'll have to do a search on your own.)

Tags: books, May 2010

My mother grew up with Leonard Brooks as a neighbour. She took piano lessons from his wife. In the winter, Leonard would lie down on the floor in front of the fireplace and listen while my mother played. Once, when she was practising Minuet in G, he got up and played violin to accompany her. My uncles used to deliver papers there. Brooks and his wife eventually moved to Mexico. An accomplished artist, he also wrote many books on watercolour and oil painting techniques. My mom bought me this print of his collage "Amaryllis and Cat" at least 25 years ago. I have hung it up everywhere I've lived. But there are so many beautiful images and paintings to be seen. I think 25 years is long enough for this one. I am ready to find something else, or finally get around to framing one of the many flat pieces I have in storage upstairs under the guest bed. Thanks Mom for all the years of looking at this print of two of my favourite things — Siamese cats and amaryllis. Random garden shot is some broccoli rabe we had for dinner. Absolutely clean and beautiful, right out of the cold frame. Didn't even have to wash it. Delicious.

I bought this box at a yard sale across the street at least four years ago. I had plans to finish it somehow, either with stain or oil. It was filled with bits of leather and some old wood burning tools. I decided awhile ago that I don't like the box well enough to put any time into it. Or even to use it as is. It has been in the trunk of the car for about a month, waiting to be dropped off at a thrift store. On the weekend my friend was helping me load some books into the trunk — yes, I bought more books at the sale, and she saw the box. And wanted it. Excellent!

Tags: box, crafts, May 2010

This morning I have a break from volunteering at the book sale. I was tempted to post books again, but I'll do that in a couple of days. I'm getting rid of more books to make room for some new ones from the sale. After a week of sorting, I realize that the books I donated weren't in very good shape and might have gone straight to poundage. Although I did see The Female Eunuch — first in fiction, then in history. Who knows where it ended up. Today's discard is a wee flower holder with a frog. The frog is why I have kept it for so long. It's too small to be very practical though — I've put a quarter beside it for scale. I had plans to smash the holder and have the frog as a separate thing to use in other vases, but I have other frogs, and perhaps someone else will like this the way it is.

Tags: flowers, vase, May 2010

I LOVED my polaroid camera. I still have stacks of photos. Some of them are peeling apart and they are all losing colour, but they hold many memories. I used to take a polaroid of everyone who came to my place for dinner or coffee or just to hang out. Back in the days when I played hostess. But not enough anymore to search eBay for film. I hear the young kids are into them though, via the friend who now has my old one to give to her son's girlfriend. Here she is pretending to take a picture. It turned out well. Thanks.

Tags: camera, May 2010

Once a year, the Times Colonist has a huge book sale. Two days, hundreds of thousands of books. I have signed up to volunteer this year, sorting books before the sale on May 15 and 16. Today I have to work on my projects, but I'm hoping to put in a shift by tomorrow or Wednesday. Yesterday I dropped off a bunch of books that have been accumulating in my "get rid of" pile. I also stopped by a friend's house and took at least 150 of her books to the drop off. She took a couple of my discards, and I took some of hers, but all around, we got rid of more than we brought home from each other. I love this book sale. Always find some great books for my nieces and nephews. Some poetry for me. And crime fiction of course. I am this close to finishing my taxes. I was up til 2am last Thursday -- got to the stage where I know I'm in for a nice refund, so I don't have to rush to file. But I want to get it out of the way by tomorrow. Hoping to get back to more regular posts after that. Random cat is the beautiful Barger.

Tags: books, May 2010, cats