Friday, July 30, 2010

Dear Frank...you suck by Lola B


Dear Frank,

Is that your name? Apparently that is what the family calls you, not that I give a rat's ass. Listen buddy, it was bad enough when Rowan came along. It took me a good long while and about a year's worth of dog therapy, but I have slowly moved into what the experts call the acceptance phase. If you must know, things have been pretty good around the house before you showed up last Saturday. The kid goes to daycare, mommy (aka the woman I like to leg hump) isn't working so much and I have been getting lots of pats, and walks. It all boils down to attention for me Frank. That is the key to my happiness. That and food. So you can imagine my concern when you sauntered your fat butt into MY house last week. Seriously? Dude, you can't even jump up on the bed or jump down from it without the humans having to carry you up and down.

The first few days were rough. I have to admit that looking back it was a full on battle of wills at that point. You would go near mommy, daddy or Rowan. I would rip your face off. You would look at me for too long. Again, I wanted to destroy your life. And then, you went and did what will put you on my shit list for at least a week (which is way more in dog years) you took my CHEWIES. That's right Frank the Tank, you stole my food. Big Mistake. Huge. At that point, I saw red, and went for the juggler. I think they refer to that in shrink jargon as temporary insanity. You need to know that there is a pecking chain in this here family and that you are on the bottom. Well you may be in front of mommy, because she is apparently every one's doormat. I am writing this to you after being annoyed and inconvenienced by your smelly presence for exactly a week now. I have stopped wasting my time to try an inflict violence and fury against your world. The only reason I am stopping is because daddy gives me a poke in the back every time I do this, and it really sends me into a tail spin when daddy is mad at me. Don't read anything into this. I am not going to play with you yet or be your best friend. I just watch safely from a distance giving you my look of utter disgust.

Surprisingly, my humans like you. They give you all sorts of pats and plays. They have gotten some things that are apparently going to help with that foul breath that you got going on. They have been cleaning your ears, brushing your teeth, you know getting you up to speed in the cleanliness department.

This is the kicker Frank. Never in my wildest dreams did I think you were actually going to sleep in MY bed. What I mean is my parents bed. You know the king sized one with the nice Italian sheets that I like to blow my nose in...Fun trick I'll teach you to annoy the humans should we ever become Bffs.
I'll tell you Frank I am wearing down. At this point, I am willing to tolerate your existence, and I have not been trying to start a fight with you in the last few days. At this point I am not sure if you are going to be a permenant fixture at the Eaton house. Jury's still out on that from my perspective.

Mommy has taken pictures of Frank a few days back, but I wasn't in the right frame of mind, and asked her to delete them from her computer. Maybe next week.

Mommy proof read this document and wants me to tell you that she wants to talk about all of this from her perspective in the next few days.

I am watching you,

Lola Bean (AKA the queen of the house)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

{Inspired Lovely}


Can't wait for this class to start. I have been a fan of Debee's work for some time now. Time to get my hands dirty!

{Inspire Lovely} is a week of love & whimsy all in an on-line art class starting August 1-7.

Class includes the following:
* 7 days of rockin' "art school" style classes (I loved art school, i know you'll love it too!)
* 7 Inspiration Board photos to inspire your creativity
* 7 Art sketches with detailed instructions + photos
* 7 photography prompts
* 7 journaling prompts
* Printable PDF embellishments designed exclusively for "Inspire Lovely"
* Video techniques (including spray paint, layering with style, using "white space", splatter and watercolour effects)
* Access to private art class blog (will be up for 2 weeks after the class ends so you can work at your own pace)
* Access to one-on-one access to instructor via private e-mail.
* Sharing techniques and my personal inspiration lists and places.
* A PDF of the class will be sent out once the class ends. Will include photos and detailed instructions you can reference at your leisure.
* A sweet giveaway! I love giving things away :) One Belladrummer etsy shop certificate worth $15. xoxo

This class may be purchased on-line for $20 here on Debee's blog

Debee's cover page for the class

Friday, July 23, 2010

Raised by Swans

I love finding new music, especially when the artists are Canadian. I watched Atom Egoyan's Chloe this week, and two songs by a band called Raised by Swans were in it. I loved them, so I downloaded their new album No Ghostless Place. They remind me of bands like Sigur Ros, and Radiohead. Lovely.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Hay fever

Someone wouldn't jump the farmer's fence to take some cool pictures of the hay bails. That person wouldn't be me. So, while I'm in the field, someone else stayed behind and took this picture, which I like very much. Mostly because of the smirk on my face. The one that reads, "Hey, I just jumped this fence. I'm trespassing, so shoot me." Luckily no farmers came out with guns, or weapons of any kind.


Saturday, July 17, 2010

It was a good day....


Some had a better day then others....

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Dear Mia

Dear Mia Micheals,

I am upset that I am having to write this letter to you so early in the SYTYCD season. You started off so well. All cheery and funny and I was loving you up. And then you had to go and do it...again. I understand that you are an artist, and that with artistry comes strong emotions. This is why I love you. Even if you cry on every single episode. Because really, that IS a lot of crying. I feel the emotions you convey are very raw and real, and because of this when you are frustrated or not feeling a particular dancer or dance you can come off as a mega beatch. Case in point, last week with Adechike. Rather then provide constructive criticism, because really, isn't that why you are up there? To help dancers learn and better themselves through your critique. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for being honest and straight forward. But telling Adechike you wished Alex was dancing his number instead, and on top of that saying that he is just not as likeable as Jose, was downright rude. Did either of those comments have anything to do with his dancing? Nope. Can you take those comments and learn anything from them? Nope. Did you tear his hurt out and leave it on the SYTYCD stage? Yup. And then you ran up there and ate it for dinner. You know it's bad when you have to apologize the next night for it. I'm hoping it was heartfelt and not just the result of public feedback. So please Mia, I'm asking you to be a little more respectful with your critiques. Really, it is just the right thing to do.

But I still love you,
Mic

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Rising Star - Roslyn

I have blogged about my best friend Rosie a few times. See here and here. She asked for some pictures that I took while visiting her in Chicago in 2009. I had forgotten about some of the fabulous pictures of her gorgeous boutique and i thought I would share. Rosie is up for a FGI Rising Star Award for 2011! So proud!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Maybe you're going to be the one that saves me?

I'm searching for a live performance that Noel Gallagher did of Wonderwall on the 102.1 the Edge radio show. Word on the street is that Liam was a no show so Noel whipped out the guitar and did this acoustic version. I love it. I found Noel's acoustic version on iTunes from "The Dream we have as Children" album which will have to do for now. If you know where to find the Edge version, e-mail me!


Wednesday, July 7, 2010

She...

She loved life and it loved her right back.

She listened to her heart above all other voices.

She pursued big dreams instead of small realities.

She saw every ending as a new beginning.

She discovered her real measurements had nothing to do with numbers or statistics.

She was kind, loving and patient...with herself.

She woke up one day and threw away all her excuses.

She realized that she was missing a great deal by being sensible.

She turned her cant's into cans, and her dreams into plans.

She ignored people who said it couldn't be done.

She had a way of turning obstacles into opportunities.

She went out on a limb, had it break off behind her and discovered she could fly.


Excerpts from She... by Kobi Yamada
Photo by Tara Whitney

Monday, July 5, 2010

Ketchup


It was a very busy weekend for the Eaton Clan. We went up to Gammy's in Niagara on the Lake on Friday for some sunshine, pool time and a BBQ. Rowan is so cute in his built in floaty, Toy Story bathing suit. He looked like a mini sumo wrestler. The pool and Rowan equation kind of gives me a heart attack. He fell on the slippery cement more times that I want to count. We were up at 6:00 AM the next morning, ate breakfast packed up and then ventured home to prepare for company coming to stay with us for a few days. Had a great Saturday at our BBQ get together and I snuck out early for dinner and Eclipse watching with a buddy. Sunday and it was off to Pride for some silliness, nonsense, dancing and socializing. I'll post pictures of the Pride festivities later in the week. So until then here on some pictures of Rowan getting his ketchup on...

Friday, July 2, 2010

Sorry but...

you'll have to endure another SYTYCD post. I am going to give a recap after each show because I think it will be fun to look back on in the future. As a side note, I have been checking out this company Blurb, who will automatically take all of your blog posts and put them into a book and then it is yours to customize and pretty up. Once you are finished accessorising, they'll print and bind it and mail you a copy. It becomes another volume in your diary.

Back to SYTYCD. I'm going to skip straight to the good stuff. Melinda finally got voted off. I even cringed a bit after her absolute horror of a salsa performance when both Mia and Adam said that they had made a mistake by keeping her over Cristina. Can you say vindication?! This is why Mia and I need to be pals. So I can keep her honest.

The boys outclass the gals by light years. Alex is clearly a favourite, and I adore him too. Finally a technical , classically trained dancer with some personality. He could take it....I enjoyed the performance with him and Twitch. Twitch is like the king of SWAGGER. I so enjoy him performing in his own style.

Even though Jose is one of technically worst dancers, I agree with the judges, I just love watching him. I love the brightness in his eyes. They draw you in....There is a sincerity and honesty in his performances that I love. The opposite of sincere performances would have been Kent's performance this week. I'm not sure he is capable of delivering a wiser, more mature performance. He is so young, naive and fresh faced. And those qualities are all fabulous, but you need to be able to transform yourself in dance. To be able to bring your sexy on....

Loved Adechike and Lauren's performance. Great chemistry and a super fun routine.

Onto the music....I can always count on this show to build up my iPod playlist. Enjoy Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri.




Off to Niagara on the Lake to enjoy some pool time. Then off to Pride this weekend. Happy Gay Pride Canada!