Friends At Last

Actually, you may recall that Bits was very unhappy with the arrival of baby kitten, Hawkeye. It was stressful for a few days...but now they love hanging out and playing...and everything else...two happy cats!

Riding The Dog

Wattle And Daub

Up to my neck in sand paper...portable table saws and drills...doing dry walling.

I don't actually like to tell anybody I can do home decor and home reno...because then they might try to hire me.

In the morning I sand all the walls in a tight small basement apartment of a house. Then I apply the mud(drywallcompound/plaster) working on second, thrid...and tomorrowfourth and finalapplication of mud on the drywall.

This is a custom drywall job. Anybody else would run away screaming but I dare to go where no macho self respecting dry waller would go...

Sometimes I am actually "whittling" drywall to custom fit it to special demands.

Fortunately, the people I'm working for have awesome hard wareand tools so it really makes the job a lot more interesting and comfortable.

Then at night I basically should flop...but happily I got together with Anita and Behzad last night...we made a group beer infused phone call to Stagg on my cell phone from a bar on Yonge Street...and then tonight I am going to a bbq at Mister Anchovy's.

Hello to my blogpals...I miss you...to Underground Baker etc...but I am covered in plaster makes it difficult to type...and a big hug to my Stagg!

Maybetonight I will load some photosbeforedinner at Mister Anchovy's...LATER! HUGS!!!

Snacks and Bits

Night Time with Tuffy P and Mister Anchovy

"I slpet and dreamt that life was beauty...and ...I woke and found that life was duty...Tuffy P found these on eBay...
I love this camo net overhang in their new patio.

(Side Note...this is a different day, but here is a quick pic of my pal Gidget at Cherry Beach I forgot to post last week...)

Another Lively Roundelay

Now I'm just showing off....

Wasp Wars

I learned a great trick from L.M. when wasps are bothering a picnic. I went by L.M.'s place a few days ago and had the best coffee...iced with lots of cream and sat outside and had a wonderful visit. She fashioned a fake wasp nest out of newspaper and it scared away the territirial wasps. I made a fake wasp nest with Mister Anchovy in Kensington Market while we were having a beer after filming and busking.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5.........6

Dinner time at Mister Anchovy's




Hi guys! Thanks for all your hellos...as you can more or less tell...some of my photos are out of sync wuith my locations...I'm not actually at Mister Anchovy's right now...but I saved these pics in my drafts and aren't these cats a riot?! This is what kind of a commotion...well they seem pretty civilized actually don't they?

I hope Red and Asterisk and Four Dinners got to see all the pics of the cats because I know they would enjoy cat photos.

I am in a fabulous bookstore called Malaprops in Asheville North Carolina typin gthis post right now.

Unfortunately...their public access computers won't allow me to download photos or cut and paste photos so I'll post pics from this trip late Saturday...

I have been getting together with friends from various online bookclubs. Met a e-mail buddy from the McCarthy forum and his wife and new baby last night.

I love being in the south, passed through the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains...what magic land this area is and the source of so much of American Gothic writing...I love it...I could imagine Lester Ballard and Suttree in the area....and Fannery OConnor's power...

Asheville so far is an incredible little town pop 72,000

From "From A Lofty Perch"

Look at the amazing package we recieved from Gardenia! Wonderful pamphlets about New Orleans (we are going there in Oct with Mister Anchovy and Tuffy P...and Gardenia is going to try to meet us there for a bit too!)...a masque, some gorgeous sea shells... a Florida licence plate (Stagg loves licence plates and Gardenia didn't even know that!) a beuatiful flamingo wine stopper...ever so useful and spces and cajun food. I am blown away Gardenia...what an incredible thoughtful package.
Stagg got this package in the mail a few days ago...but didnt pen it...he thought it was an "mail art" package being returned from an art gallery. So he had stuffed it near his closet. He pulls it out late last night and casually mentions it...I was like "oh my god...Gardenia was wondering if it was lost in the postal system". It was so much fun to open it. ISN"T BLOGGING GREAT AND TO MEET SUCH AWESOME FOLKS ONLINE!!!!

And yes...by now you may have noticed I have made a pit stop in Chicago on my way to Asheville for a conference this week. Stagg and I were all stressed out because we had to say goodbye since I have been on the road and working and we have to be apart for a few weeks at a time...so this package arrived and just cheered us right up.

So Easy...Even A Candy Can Do It

Shit...still glitches in my YouTube videos...sorry still working on it...



I hope this works...

I had an awesome little video...but it turns out it was too long in time for YouTube...I wanted to make a fancy video for Mister Anchovy and I don't want to disappoint him or his blog friends...but right now under my constrained circumstances (on the road making a documentary) this is all I can manage...

Let me know what you think and I hope you'll say hi as I'll be ona bus and then checking on the blog once a day and could use a freindly "face"....

Cute Baby and Grumpy Cat

Rapture....

Full frontal Hawkeye.
He is very very angry...if you knew this cat, you'd see that this is all anger in his repose.
Bits even looks like angry posture on his new bed from Tuffy P.

Meanwhile...I figured out why I can't upload on YouTube...the video has to be under 100 MB. Right now the videos are 635 MB...so I have to wait tilllater on Tuesday morning tocall the Help-line again...

The Hawk Has Landed

Mister Anchovy's brother and sister-in-law had kittens and one of them has joined the household! Meet Hawkeye. Yep...Hawkeye after Hawkeye Pierce on M.A.S.H. You've seen and heard of Bits...who has one green eye and one blue eye and a short coiled tail? Bits looks a bit like Marilyn Manson...but this new baby tabby girl is missing one eye and will blend right into this misfit family. Mister Anchovy's brother just dropped her off after a tearful goodbye.
Tiff has a pirate shirt on...which is kind of appropriate as this is a pirate cat...I wonder if she will wear an eye patch? She has a little "ball" inside her blind eye...she needs to go to the vets right quickly...and get a check-up...the blind eye blinks and part of her nose seems a bit compromised as well. She is a real sweetheart.
Remember this was Bits last week in the heat. He is not mellow anymore. He is very angry about the new room mate. When you say his name he growls...but we think he is going to fall in love with her!

Meanwhile...I'm just waiting to call my "help-line" to figure out how the hell do I import video...I hope to have some video up here real soon...hold on Newt we're headed for the watermelon patch....

UPDATE: Um...well, the associate at my help-line says...I need a different cable to have the computer recognize my camcorder. I would love to know why the sales clerk didn't upsell me when I bought the camcorder. Sheesh...I've done retail...it's all about helping the customer get home safe and sound with all the equipment they need...in marketing or sales world this is called "upsell". I mean really, that is the easiest sales job in the world when someone has bought something somewhat major to make sure they have everything they need to get home and be ready to use everything. Ambulance. At least I know right now what an amazing retail person I used to be...cha-ching cha-ching!

Kensington Market, Toronto.Home to Mister Anchovy on YouTube...

Okay...listen...today and tomorrow I am dedicating to figuring out how to load videos onto YouTube. I took a bunch of footage of Mister Anchovy,/li> busking with his acordion last Saturday in Kewnsington Market. Here are some still photos of the area...of course I completely forgot to take any stills of Mister Anchovy playing...but check out this wonderful area of about ten blocks...with second hand shopping, vintage clothes, cheap deals on army surplus, bulk food, organics, coffee shops and some fine restaurants and outdoor patios...while I am over at YouTube trying not to pull out my hair...

Kensington Market on Saturday morning is waking up...surprisingly andthank goodness...this renegade anarchist market has hardly changed in over twenty years. The major change wasab out twenty years ago when laws prevented live animals in cages from being sold...otherwise...you will still find a mix of artists, students, yuppies, musicians, druggies, ravers, punks, sots, downandoutters, families, babies, dogs, the damned, carny barkers, jugglers, the curious, tourists, international spies, soccor fans and other freaks.










If Kensington Market wasn't enough action...the streets bordering the market are Toronto's Chinatown where more great prices on groceries and stuff can be found and more amazing restaurants. You could spend the whole day in these neighbouring areas all within a ten block span.

Maybe if you click on these photos you can see how many people shop here ona Saturday. There is a street car service and always lots to look at and people watch...the Chinatown used to also be a haberdashery area...and the streets next to these have all kinds of fashion companies and sweatshops. Sometimes late at tnight you can drive around and find bags of remanants which make awesome painting rags for a studio.