My Creatively Random Life

So, this is the last day of the A to Z Challenge.  I was a little worried last week that I wasn't going to make it to the end.  I got behind and a little uninspired, a little less than motivated and real life caught up with me in a very big way.  However here I am by some miracle on April 30th with my Z post.  YAY! I like the letter Z, if I had to pick a favorite letter of the alphabet this would be it.  First of all because I love saying it...Zee...Zee...Zee (Come on you say it too, it's fun!) and second because (as you can tell by the title of this blog post) a whole boatload of my favorite things begin with the letter Z.  Zombie!  I love zombies, I am training the monkey's to love (and possibly be terrified of) zombies.  Plus I think it is adorable that Cat wanted to bring a Zombie baby home until she happen to grab one that moved (apparently creepy dolls that are trying to eat themselves are okay....as long as they don't move) ...

Just cause.

X was hard post for me to come up with a topic.  It is certainly isn't an easy letter to come up for words for.  Plus I am behind on my posts (almost caught up but still) and I was oh so tired last night.  Then I remembered Xena: Warrior Princess and how much I used to love watching it and thought now there is a post.  (Yay!) Now as far as warrior princesses go Xena is far from being my favorite, I far prefer Wonder Woman or She-ra.  But I did genuinely enjoy the show unlike so much of what is on TV these days.  Sure it had it's moments of being absolutely ridiculous (so does Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sherlock Holmes all of which I love) but it was brilliantly written.  The acting was also fairly decent for the most part, which seems to be lacking in some shows I catch these days. Plus I had a massive crush on Gabrielle...

This is another poem that I wrote when I was in high school.  Why were we created? Why are we born? Why do we have to die? Why does that make me cry? Why do people get murdered? Why do people kill? Why does God let it happen? Why? Why? Why? Why is the grass green? Why is the sky blue? Why do birds fly? Why do dogs hate cats? Why does God allow war? Why are children starving? Why let the children die? Why? Why? Why? Why let the children die? Why let them cry? Why does one have so much, And the other so little? Why mommy, why? Why daddy, why? Why do the children die? Why does God let it happen? Why? Some tell me why? Why?           Why not?

I love a good vampire story.  Naturally that means I have always want to portray a good vampire character.  Well, maybe not so good.  Anyhow, this is the background on my vampire.  Her actual story has not been written yet.  She came about as a role-playing character.  I stumbled across the name, looked up the meaning and then spent an entire night playing with Greek mythology (because who needs sleep?) Ariadne is the daughter of King Minos of Crete (son of Zeus) and queen Pasiphaë, (daughter of Helios). Over the course of her life she has filled many roles; daughter, weaver, lover, wife, mother goddess, vampire. But all good stories most have a beginning and the start of Ariadne's is shrouded in myth and legend... King Minos attacked Athens after his son was killed there, the Athenians asked for terms, and it was requested that they sacrifice seven young men and seven maidens every nine years to the Minotaur, who was Pasiphaë's son and Aria...

So, having fallen behind on the challenge due to computer issues I find myself coming to the realization that I went into this project quite unprepared.  I think if I do something like this again I will maybe not decide to do it so last minute.  A chance to plan ahead and at least come up with topics for my posts ahead of time would definitely be a good idea.  Oh well, that's life.  You learn as you go along.  It has been a fun experience so far. 

This is my deskmate, her name is Cera.

Okay, so here is my confession...shoes have got to be one of if not the biggest addiction I have.  It's horrible.  I own sooo many pairs of shoes.  And I can easily justify buying a new pair, I don't even break a sweat any more.  Boots and sandals are my biggest weaknesses.  High heels of course (the higher the better) I actually feel uncomfortable in flats.  Not to mention short.  I always know something is off with me when I don't feel like shoe shopping.  That is my internal gauge.  Some pictures from my current shoe wish list: All of the shoes pictured above are from Sinister Soles which is an online shoe store.  I don't get quite the same thrill from buying shoes online (but that doesn't stop me) 

Reading is a skill I picked up at a very early age thanks to my awesome mother who never thought to limit herself to reading me "age appropriate" books.  Or thankfully to limit me to reading "age appropriate" books.  (Oh the battles she fought) Now there is nothing that makes me happier than to curl up on my couch under a warm fuzzy blanket with a good book.  *sigh*  My prefered genre is of course fantasy or sci fi but I will read anything and everything I can get my hands on.  I have three overflowing bookshelves in my hallway (just of my books, this does not include the monkeys overflow shelves of books) of books I cannot think of parting with. Then I had the bright idea of getting an e-reader so that I would maybe not end up on an episode of Hoarders one day.  I love it, it's great for instant gratification.  And those books that are only e-published or only published in another country and shipping is outrageous.  But it is not a b...

So, I am massively behind on this.  I feel really bad about that.  Computer issues at home over the weekend threw a wrench into my plans for blogging, writing and many other things.  Even most of my crafting plans for the weekend went up in smoke as I couldn't access any of my patterns that were on my computer.  Let me tell you that sucked.  Anyhow, on with the challenge, for Q I am going to share a couple of my favorite quotes from a book that was my Nana's.  The book is The Friendship Book of Francis Gay and it is the Edition from 1989.  It is basically a collection of musings, quotes and small poems; one for every day of the year.  They really are quite lovely books.  Friday, February 24 "If it has been a good day -- thank God.  If is has been a bad day, then rejoice that it is over and that at least you have landed neither in in hospital nor in jail!"      --Dr. Leslie Weatherhead ...

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I am a few days behind on the A to Z Challenge due to a computer malfunction.  Eep!  However things are sort of running again, (limping along as a friend put it)  and I will be posting again as soon as I get home from work tonight.  (YAY!!)  I know you all miss me!  I miss posting. 

I am not really the type to surf the web and hunt for cool links and wile the day away.  I mean I have a mild Pinterest addiction and I go on Tumblr binges but I don't really seek out random websites.  When I saw this  link in a newsletter though I had to click on it.  My randomly generated evil plan: Congratulations on being the creator of a new Evil Plan (tm)! Your objective is simple: Soul Accumulation Your motive is a little bit more complex: Sadistic pleasure Stage One: To begin your plan, you must first Assassinate a Chosen One. This will cause the world to sit up and take notice, stunned by your arrival. Who is this Demon Straight Out of Hell? Where did they come from? And why do they look so good in a Super villain Costume with Gimmicks? Stage Two: Next, you will Seize control of the Statue of Liberty. This will cause countless hordes of Animal Minions (rats, birds, etc.) to flock to you, begging to do your every bidding. Your name will become s...

Cat and I made a trip to Wal-Mart this afternoon and it was actually fairly pleasant, no meltdowns not too many additional requests from the monkey.  (okay, she conned me into some $2.00 cat fabric but really, not a big deal) Then we got to the cash and Cat oh so proudly put up her yogurt drink and her fabric which the cashier put in a bag with 5 other yogurt drinks and some other fabric.  She put my other stuff through and put in in another bag.  Cat went to the end of the separated the bag and said "Here Mommy, this one's yours."  Taking the one with her stuff in it and walking off. Some "concerned" citizen decided to speak up and tell me that I can't let that poor baby carry that heavy bag.  WTF?  You want to argue with my almost three year old and tell her she can't carry a bag she is't struggling with?  Because I don't.  Why?  Because that's stupid.  Really stupid.  And what makes it your business anyways?  How is t...

Yup, that's right.  How random is that?  Probably not very as I think M was probably about a band as well but I wrote this one first because it amused me.  I like to be amused.  <giggles>  Panic at the Disco is a Band that highly amuses me.  Just the name alone is a source of hours of amusement.  (small minds) I will admit, if I hadn't seen them live first I probably wouldn't like their music all that much it's more of an acquired taste than an OMG I loved them right away kind of thing.  (awesome live though)   I am a big fan of their lyrics though.  There is a line in this song that really resonates with me: The lyrics are "Just for the record, the weather today is slightly sarcastic with a good chance of: A. Indifference or B. Disinterest in what the critics say."  It's how I feel most days if you know what I mean. The other song that I really love from them is The Ballad of Mona Lisa....

Red eyed killer Ood to be exact.  Why?  Because of all the strange and wonderful aliens I have seen on Doctor Who I just love saying Ood the most.  Come on, say it...Ood.  Doesn't it sound weird?   Ooood! 

Really, that's about how much inspiration I have for this letter.  I brainstormed it; ninja, nine, Narnia, nymph, nympho (okay so that one was kind of interesting) but I couldn't come up with anything that struck a chord with me that I wanted to write about.  I'm not really feeling the writing in general today, I also have an assignment that I am supposed to be working on that I am getting nowhere with.  So in the interest of at least having a semi interesting post here are some of my favorite things that begin when the letter N: Naps, well really who doesn't love naps.  All warm and snuggled up under my favorite blanket, with my teddy bear.  (I could go for one right now) Nova Scotia, it's the province I was born in. It's awesome.  You should go there.  Naked moles rats, well mostly just animated ones, like in Kim Possible.  Because they are cool.  Plus how fun is it to say naked mole rat? No Doubt, because they were cool and...

Music has always been such an important part of my life, don't get me wrong I have absolutely zero musical talent.  My kids don't even like it when I sing them lullabies.  I think my love from music started somewhere around the Grade One talent show, I remember it like it was yesterday.  Myself and a group of friends did a lip singing and dancing routine to Surfin' Safari by The Beach Boys. I remember what most of the groups did that did songs that day preformed even though I can not recall the names of most of my classmates or more than a vague description of what they looked like.  Tina Turner's What Love Got to Do With It?  (Not my favorite of her songs I prefer Private Dancer) and of course my favorite Beach Boys song Kokomo.  That resonates clearly for me as it was done by a group lead by the little boy I had a crush on.  *sigh*  He was quite dreamy (for a six year old) and we had quite the little friendship until another girl t...

L was much harder for me than I anticipated, partially because I kept having to overcome the urge to write about linoleum: But mostly because most of the L words that came to mind were fairly sad and hard for me to deal with let alone write about.  Like loss, loneliness, or love.  In fact when I was done thinking about the letter L this morning I wanted to go back to bed and hide under my covers and cry for a while, maybe sleep straight through to M (I like M). Then I remembered that I am a writer and as I writer I like to look up asinine words when I come across them and store them away from later use.  So in the spirit of that habit I present for your consideration:   (Just so you all know I was really tempted there to say "I present for the consideration of the Midnight Society"  Does anyone remember that show?  It was awesome! Anyways...) L is for Lycanthrope  A Lycanthrope is a werewolf.  The term comes from the Greek words '...

One thing that I think almost every religion on the planet has in common is that somewhere in their teachings is some form of Karma.  No matter how it is worded there is some mention of the fact that how your actions others is how they will come back to effect you in some way. It's basically the principal of cause and effect.  A perfectly wonderful idea if you ask me and one that I wish some people would get through their thick skulls.  If you act like a total douchbag the universe is going to respond in turn.  Duh!  Now, I am not saying that it is easy to live by the idea of do onto others as you would have them do onto you.  ( I know I can't do it as people suck and I have a nasty temper) The general concept is what I like though, the idea that if you put enough positive energy out into the world it will come back to you.  It's enough to keep me going some days, the idea that it will hopefully get better.  That's not why I'm generally a good...

After the fog of the decongestants finally started to lift this morning (I hate the colds that come with this time of year) I realized that I forgot to post this yesterday.  Bad girl!  So here without further ado is my "J" post... a day late and a dollar short.  J is for Jigglypuff, my absolute favorite Pokemon.  Mostly because I think the ability to put things to sleep is just awesome.  Also, look how cute that thing is, don't you just want to hug it? If you played Pokemon than you know these things were pretty hard to catch (or maybe that was just me) as they can mesmerize their opponent with those huge eyes and then sing a lullaby to put them to sleep and well of course your now sleeping pokemon is useless to you.  Jigglypuff is a balloon type Pokemon found in grasslands, meadows and is indigenous to almost everywhere.  It's pre-evolution is Igglybuff which evolves into Jigglypuff when it reaches a certain level o...

From high school to be exact, I was going through my writing journals from my English classes back when I used to write everyday, from prompts and occasionally write something worth reading (most of it was garbage).  Always worth a laugh to read though.  Lots of Buffy poetry, I was am totally in love with Spike.  I have a thing for vampires. Anyhow, this was written September 29 of 1999 and the prompt was Purple Rain.  (seriously I rolled my eyes at the just a bit) She stands so tall and proud Alone in the purple rain Her eyes are full of darkness Her soul is full of pain They made her choose between them They tried to make her decide She tried to please them both And something in her died How carefully she walked the line Between darkness and light How they tried to rip her apart To make her give up her fight How bravely she stands alone now How silently she cries She watched those she loved crumble When confronted with their lies How beautiful...

I almost feel like this post is a bit predictable, a post on hockey coming from a Canadian girl.  To be honest we were brainstorming ideas I couldn't really come up with anything for H and was going to go with Hello Kitty.  (please don't laugh too much)  Then I got my birthday present: Taken by Ace (took a few shots to get my head)  After I sat around in my oh so comfy hockey jersey for a while I pondered the last game I watched (we lost) and thought I don't watch enough hockey anymore.  Which is a great realization in April when you're a Leafs fan.   Really though between my work schedule and life in general I only caught a couple of games this year and they weren't spectacular by any means. Than that guilt started to sink in, you, that guilt that any true fan of any team feels when they haven't been watching and their team hasn't done well.  Maybe if I had watched more?  Maybe they would have won?   Meanwhile, Blu...

Now I am not usually one to open my mouth about politically based subjects on a public platform because I know that thing can get heated and nasty really fast for no reason.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and as a general rule I find I would prefer not to pollute my ears with some peoples opinions on this one.   It might be how I was raised (Yay Mom!) or where I live but I don't see this as being this issue that so many people make it out to be.  And I personally think there are far more difficult things to try to explain to my kids than sometimes a man loves a man (or a woman a woman).  Like I don't know maybe war?  Child abuse?  The man that shot himself in the park that they play in?  Pretty much anything they can see on the news. As for this whole sanctity of marriage thing I'm on the side of the people asking how can they possibly violate it any worse than rest of us already have?  My life didn't exactly end in...

As that is the type of stories I like to write.  About princesses and dragons, angels and demons, vampires and gods.  Same reality, parallel universe or completely different world this is my favorite way to write.  I'm not saying I am necessarily any good at it mind you but there is something about tackling the forces of good and evil that appeals to me as writer.  I have an old fashion love of a story of the fight between good and evil where you truly know who the forces are and who you are routing for.  It's something that I find is a lot harder to find these days as the lines get blurred between good and evil.   That being said I am not saying that all vampires or witches or demons need to be evil nor all princess or angels or gods good just that if an author sets their lines that person A is the good guy and person B is the bad guy for 90% of the story and then they switch it and they don't have some sort of cataclysmic event in order to make t...

This post is day late because I unfortunately spent yesterday cowering in bed due to a particularly nasty migraine.   So here goes: E is for elephant, mostly because it's the first thing that popped into my mind. We've had a book, a recipe, and some random musings so I guess it's about time I pulled a craft out of my bag of tricks.  It just so happens that I have some adorable ribbon elephants in my stash so I thought I would make some elephant hair clips. 

D is for Doctor, as in Doctor Who.  I was out for my birthday on Sunday with my friend Mike and I asked him for some ideas for the challenge.  When I asked "D" he bopped me on the head with the notebook he carries to take notes for his blog and said "Duh, D is for Dalek" Dalaks I grinned at him (in his 10th Doctor jacket and TARDIS blue tie) and laughed a bit "Or Doctor?  Why didn't I think of that?"  Which is a really good question why didn't I think of the Doctor?  If you've been here before you know he's been brought up once or twice (and yes Mike is the one I am making the endlessly tedious scarf that I have not work on in a week and should not have brought up since he is probably reading this) so this post should have been an easy one for me. My first Doctor Who episode was The Library, so Ten was my first Doctor and yet as much as I love him and I do so much, he is not my favorite....Nine is.  I think it's the ears.  ...

So, one of my favorite ways to hurry Ace up when he is walking like a snail is to chase after (it really is more like amble) muttering "Braaains!" in my best zombie voice.  This elicits peals of giggles from his sister as he runs away from me screaming "Snap out of it!"  After I finally relented this morning we had a conversation that went like this: Me: "I want new children, you guys are no fun." Ace: (panting like he has been running from real zombies)  "You could always eat your own brain." Me: "Cannibalism?  That's no fun either." Ace: "Zombies do it all the time.  I've seen it." Me: "Eh...."  Zombie baby chewing on his own foot.   Ace: "I invented a game at school called Zombie tag." Me: "Do you chase each other for brains?" Ace: "NO!  Zombies shuffle Mom!" (I was almost proud of the exasperated tone in his voice because he is right, they don...

Catherine Abigail Theresa, my daughter, named as such because her brother did not want a little sister and said we could only keep her if he could call her Cat.  We were having coming up with a girls name we could agree on at the time so it ended up sparking something we could work with and that suits her.   

My favorite recipe for Banana bread comes from my mother and I have it written on at least twenty little scraps of paper scattered all over my house.  I lose them constantly and it seems like I have to call her at least every second time I wanted to make it.  I think it drives her insane.   The bananas should be well ripened but I have taken to always keeping some in my freezer so they are always good to make bread with (always good for smoothies too). Ingredients: 3 ripe bananas well mashed (I use a potato masher) 2 eggs well beaten 2 cups flour 3/4 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease bread pan.  Mix bananas and eggs together.  Stir in the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda.  Pour into pan and tap on solid surface.  Bake for 1 hour. That's it.  Simple, easy and oh so delicious.  And now I won't lose it. 

This was is my all time favorite book.  When I was 10ish my grandfather gave my gorgeously illustrated copies of both Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass for Christmas.   Twenty some years later not only do I still have the books but it stand out as the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me.  (I never thought he paid that much attention) The books are from Dragon's World publishing and are illustrated by Malcolm Ashman.  (sorry for some reason I can't seem to actually take a decent picture of them) Anyhow, my favorite thing from Alice Through the Looking Glass (other than her conversation with Dinah) is, of course, the Jabberwocky poem.  So here it is for your enjoyment. JABBERWOCKY Lewis Carroll 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves,  And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwok, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that cat...