Right, well, it looks like it's going to be another beautiful day, sunny, warm and not too humid. This is good for me since I'm going with Carrie to visit some bridal shops to look for bridesmaid type dresses. I'm still all for using Sandra of Heretic to make the actual gown, but we'll see.

Last night, Carrie and I went down to the Dome where we met Rick and Al for the ball game. A&C had won four free tickets to see the Jays play the Yankees. Happily, the players' strike was averted and the game played on. It was an excellent game, despite the fact that the Jays lost. Not really a big surprise, though we did whomp the Yanks the night before. It looked like it was going to be carnage after the Yanks had leapt into a rather pronounced lead within the first inning, but steadily, the Jays caught up. It ended up being really exciting with the final score being 9-7. I haven't been to a ball game in at least four years, so this, with the excellent seats not far past third base, nine rows up from the front, we all had a really good time. Carrie and I also looked adorable in our animal ears, which I'd bought at the zoo earlier that day, she in koala ears and me in white tiger ears.

And, indeed I was at the zoo. I met Gwyn, from RoD, for the first time and we had a great time. Gwyn is a very nice person with a good sense of humour and an incredibly cool wheelchair. In about four hours we did most of the zoo, skipping over the African Savana and the Canadian Wilderness. A lot of the animals were asleep, but some favourites like the elephants and rhinoseri (dictionary.com has the plural as being rhinoseroses, which is INCORRECT, stupid Americans killing classical language), the giant octopus, the clouded leopard who insisted on sleeping between the big water pipe and ceiling rather than its tree, and the otters. Always the otters. They always look like they're having a lot of fun. I'd be happy to be an otter, frankly. Anyway, it was a good time and the weather was great. The butterflies in the indomalaya woodland pavillion were out in the sunshine flitting through the trees like something out of a children's book, like art-nouveau book illustrations come to life. Simply beautiful.

Tonight we're playing D&D at Ryan's which will be a nice tight squeeze in his tiny appartment, but he insists on us playing there and we're humouring him, I guess. Tomorrow, I think we're going to do a small scale belated birthday dinner for me, and Rick would really like it if we went to Whisky Saigon for retro night, and maybe we will. I don't know. Maybe I've grown out of clubbing but I just can't bring myself to find this as something I want to do. I plan to work on my web stuff tomorrow and Monday, too, though on Monday I'm going to drop by Derek's new place (which is practically around the corner) and hang out for a bit. I really want to get web stuff done. I've been meaning to work on Ray's page for ages. Anyway, I'm feeling kind of sulky for no apparent reason, so I'll go before this gets me down.

Today I've actually had the pleasure of acting as a proper Union Steward. Whee ! Mostly this has entailed me shlepping all over the museum looking for the president in order to ask questions, Wilson (with his broken arm) in tow. Questions about leaves of absense and/or extended sick time foremost. And then giving some sort of council to Wilson about his insurance and what the ROM will and will not cover. I got to meet the Membership Dept.'s representative in HR and he's as much of a slime as people made him out to be. As one woman said to me on our way out of HR, "He looks evil." Anyway, maybe he's not, but he's all about saying things like, "Well it's really up to the union," and, "I can't really say, it depends on what the museum and union work out." Yeesh, a break... give me one, please. However, it's a useful experience and I got to take Wilson into areas of the ROM he's never been before. It's BIG. Anyway, now I should really get some work done since I've been doing this for the better part of two hours.

Another thing that happened on the weekend was Nadine's going away party. Yes, that's right, my jazz-singing friend has left for England. She found the Canadian scene a real bitch to break into and so, with a couple of leads in London, she decided to up and go. It can't be worse there, plus it puts her closer to the not insignificant jazz culture of continental Europe.

Anyway, my intention was to visit for only a little while, but when I arrived at the place the party was being held and was given food and drink, extricating myself became more difficult. You should only know what this condo was like. It was hosted by Nadine's friend Shauna and my goodness was her place incredible. It was three levels with the kitchen, dinning/living room on the first level, her bedroom on the middle level, and a lounging area on the third, which also happened to open onto a fantastic L-shaped balcony overlooking downtown Toronto. *drool*

I talked a lot to Errol, Nadine's cousin, who I'd met on at least one other occasion, and to this other fellow named Louie who has a band. Louie, I think, dug me, but I left him with no contact information and took off (eventually) when he was distracted by the arrival of his friends. I'm so evil. *cackles* Anyway, it was fun. It was a lovely send-off for a cool, cool chick. I hope she does well in London.

Last night, skipping ahead to the very near past, I went to Paul's house. Paul being the boyfriend of Tracy. You see, Tracy, the night before, had visited me (and we'd both visited her Mom) and left her wallet/day-planner thing at my house. It was hiding under the Arrow-launching Action Aragorn (or whatever it is called) that she had given me for my birthday. So, after work and dinner, I drove up to Paul's neighbourhood to return this very important article to its rightful owner. Silly Tracy. I haven't been to Paul's house in at LEAST five years, but probably more.

Anyway, I got to meet her parrot, Coral, who tried to bite me, and then sat very quietly on my finger. When Paul arrived, he demonstrated how much Coral doesn't like him. Coral screams at Paul and tries to get away from him. It's quite funny. Then Paul and Tracy introduced me to the myriad of creatures residing in the house. Aside from the three cats, the dog, and Coral, there are countless spotted geckos (quite cool), a larger lizard that feels like a small pinapple, some fish, and two cameleons, male and female. I left smelling very much of animal, especially after hugging Paul goodbye after he'd worked all day in a barn. *laugh* It was a very nice visit and a very long time coming.

Before I tell any more stories, here are two pictures taken by my friend, Brian (from Seneca), on Friday at the expo. Here's the first (with Nicole on the side). Here's the second, a close up of some of my stuff. Keen, Brian, thanks !

Now for the fun. Well, basically, it was all fun, except Friday night when it was hard to take the amazing lack of sales. That was not fun. But on Saturday, things picked up a lot. Sunday was smashing, though. Due in part (the sales, sure, but more importantly) to my friends and family coming to show their love and support. Eric came, Tracy and her mother, Nicki (my other mother), my mom and Ray came, and most surprising of all... Ryan came. I'm sure I'm missing at least one person, but honestly, the whole weekend is a bit of a blur. One of the keenest things to happen on Sunday took place while I was coming back from the Independent Artists section with my mother was when I spotted this strange man whom I thought I recognised.

"That guy," said I as I stopped and turned, "looks a lot like Ed Greenwood." So, with much encouragement by my mother to go and find out if it was indeed him, off I trotted. He covers a lot of ground - he's a lot taller than he looks.

Me: Excuse me, is your name, by any chance, Ed?
Him: Why yes it is.
Me: And also Greenwood?
Him: Yes. But don't tell anyone, I'm in disguise.

Anyway, he remembered me from way back in high school when I was still going out with Jon (who was a family friend of Ed) and we started to chat. I explained that I had a booth and he wanted to know what I was selling. When I said my art, he nearly bounced, or maybe he did bounce, and said, "Well, let's take a look !" He ended up hanging around my booth for about 20 minutes and even bought my pack of six cards. I threw in a print for free. Anyway, he's a delightful man, a six foot tall gnome, as I called him, which made him laugh merrily, and also a dirty bastard. He takes pride in all these things. Perhaps the dirty bastard most of all. I gave him a business card, too, and asked him to write me fan mail, which he agreed to do, and who knows, maybe he will. That would be keen.

As Ryan said, which I will reitterate here and make them my own sentiments, "I owe a lot to that man."

The Fangirl.

Okay. It's becoming a thing. *grin* I kind of like it. Each time it happens, it's a different person, which makes it that much cooler. A young woman, maybe early 20s, came to my booth, where I'd pinned two prints to the tablecloth, one being the illustration from Waterloo (Obi in leather pants with microphone, being backed up by Mace, Qui-Gon, and Yoda in platform boots). She stopped, cracked up and the dialogue went much like this:

Meagan: That looks like -
Me: It is.
Meagan: From the -
Me: Sith Academy.
Meagan: Ya ! It's from -
Me: Ishyko's "Waterloo".
Meagan: Are you...?
Me: Maya, Mad Mambolica. Greetings.
Meagan: Wow ! I love your stuff !

It went from there and, ultimately, she bought the print and asked me to sign it. Cool eh? I rather thought so. She was actually a lot less gushy than my other two fangirls (ever) have been. But boy, was she ever pleased. Me too.

I will finish this progression of stories sometime later.

Today, I had an interview (again) in New Media. It wasn't so smashing an interview as the last one, but hey, it's hard to blow the mind twice in a row. Afterall, it was the exact same people sitting in on the interview. It went alright. Hopefully, I'll get it.

Okay.

The guy I haven't seen since high school... Adam Lewis. He used to intimidate me and I had a memory of him as being over six feet tall and built like a house. He's like, I don't know, 5'9" max. And not scary. We figure it was because he was high all the time. Ya. That and the piercings. Piercings scared me back then. In truth, he's just a huggy-bear and he happened to have the booth beside Nicole and I.

Wow, that was a lame story.

Pirate cookies. VERY important. Not only are they full of oatmealy goodness and peanut butter (mmm, protein), but they can sustain a person through an entire day of hard work at a trade show. I know this because on Sunday, I had some crappy yogurt, a bite of cake (supplied by Nicole for my birthday) - and I do mean a bite, a coffee, a juice box, and six Pirate cookes. These cookies, single-handedly, saved my life. Or at least made the hunger pangs bearable. And they're tasty. Not just alright, but darned good. Thanks to Nicole for bringing them.

That's enough tonight. I'll finish the stories tomorrow. Now I'm tired.

So... hm. I'm at the ROM, and am about to head out for cheap Chinese with Stacey. But before I do, here's one of the many stories from this past weekend.

The Ringwraith.

Remember my encounter with the Nazgul at Toronto Trek, back in early July? Well, the same costumers were at the expo, too, and there again, was the Ringwraith. I got all excited as it (he) headed past the booth and said, "Nicole, look, it's the Ringwraith ! The Ringwraith !! YAY THE RINGWRAITH !" the latter being said with muppetatious waving of arms above my head. Needless to say, the wraith turned around to see who was causing such a commotion. I swear I heard it chuckle and I even think I saw it's shoulders lift at the same time. I might be wrong. Anyway, it paused there a moment and then raised it's gauntleted hand and wiggled its fingers at me with a lovely clinking of armour. I think it remembered me. Whee !

So, the SFX was a success. I won't go into it now because I'm more tired than I've been in a long, long time. Details to follow soon, including stories about the ringwraithe (same one from T-Trek), the importance of Pirate Cookies, the guy I haven't seen since high school, the fangirl, and... the fun.

What else, what else? Oh, new stuff at my Lothlorien gallery at Elfwood. Updates to my portfolio will occur soon, as will updates to Ray's page.

Today is my birthday. All celebrating is off until I have the time. I have to prep for an interview tomorrow, and still I have not opened my presents (from Mom and Ray). Food was simply more important. Now I shall do that and then prep. Then bathe. Then prep. Then go to bed. The end.