29 April, 2006

One of the challenges of my yoga workout

Like most anything I try to do around the house, I cannot get through a yoga workout without Simon or Billie getting in the act with me. With Billie, her involvement is primarily brushing against my legs and seeing if she can topple me over when I'm in a balance pose. Simon, however, will actually roll out on the mat and do some "kitty yoga" (well, he's been known to try to pull me out of a balance pose, too).

This afternoon, as I was about to do a seated forward bend, I had to shift my legs around Simon, who was in the Pose of the Cat Who Is About To Attack the Human's Feet. As I leaned into my pose, he and I came face-to-face. He looked into my eyes, then gave me one of his world-famous Atomic Kitty Nose Kisses.

And then he lifted his hind leg over his head, bent around and proceeded to groom his private parts. (But, hey, at least he got it in the right order: nose kiss first, THEN the grooming...)

LISTENING: All Downhill From Here from the album "Insignificance" by Jim O'Rourke

Technorati Tags: cats, furkids

~~ victoria on 9:14 PM ~~ 0 comments

27 April, 2006

My resolve is getting wobbly

My name is Victoria and I am a "Battlestar Galactica" addict. I am so hooked on that show that I'm considering getting the cable TV hooked up (after more than 2-1/2 years without any TV), just so I can watch it. However, I realize that if I can just be patient (stop laughing!) I could take the money I'd spend on the enhanced cable (cos I'm sure the Sci-Fi channel isn't on the free basic I could get here), and I could buy the DVDs.

As if the addiction to BSG isn't enough, the Sci-Fi channel has engaged my Pavlovian reflexes by announcing a "prequel" series to BSG, called "Caprica". This series will be set 50 years before BSG and will deal with the Cylon uprising.

I could gush at great length over what a totally kick-ass series BSG is, but I'll try to spare you by just saying it is a completely different series from the original. As one who loved the original series (in all its campy glory), I had my doubts before watching the DVD of the 2003 miniseries. However, the new series is just so wonderfully imagined, intelligently written, and brilliantly acted. Compared to the original series, the producers have such superior Special EFX technology available, yet it's a prop, there simply to move the stories forward, not relied upon as a cover for lazy writing or ambivalent acting.

Errrrr, what's the number for Comcast?

LISTENING: Bunnyman and Chickengirl from the album "20 Minute Loop" by 20 Minute Loop

Technorati Tags: Battlestar Galactica

~~ victoria on 9:13 PM ~~ 0 comments

26 April, 2006

Revisiting

A couple of years ago, I wrote this piece about Elena Filatova's photographic journal of the "Dead Zone" near the Chernobyl nuclear plant. It's a riveting journey through many of the towns nearby, including a stop harrowingly close to the nuclear plant. She added a new trip through some of the ghost towns in Belarus, called "Land of Wolves", in 2005.

It's a haunting story of a land frozen in time (with many photos of old Soviet signs and slogans). It takes you beyond being pro- or anti-nuclear power, rather, it bears witness to the human tragedy, from the lives suddenly abandoned to the firefighters and soldiers who died either fighting the fire, or shortly thereafter from the radiation.

Go take a look.

Technorati Tags: Chernobyl

~~ victoria on 9:52 PM ~~ 0 comments

23 April, 2006

Does this mean I have to become a vegetarian now?

My God-damned hippie name is Lilac Cornucopia.
Take The Damned Hippie Name Generator today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

~~ victoria on 1:24 PM ~~ 0 comments

22 April, 2006

Thanks to Simon, I do the research so you won't have to

Sampling
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.

I had one of these gerbera daisies' heads floating in a dish of water after its stem became unable to support it.

Simon has, for the most part, left the daisies alone in the nearly 2 weeks they've been brightening our home. Except for this photo shoot, and then this morning, when I woke up and stumbled into the living room to find a partially-eaten daisy head on the floor. Since Billie won't eat anything that isn't dry kibble, I knew it had to be Simon. Since he didn't seem worse for wear yet, I fed him and Billie, then Googled something along the lines of "are gerbera daisies poisonous to cats".

They are not. Further proof that that little furbrat leads a charmed life.

~~ victoria on 9:31 PM ~~ 2 comments

20 April, 2006

Chat Noir

Chat Noir
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.

They're rare, but every so often I get one of Billie where she's not either an ink blot or doing "bitter beer face".

The technicals: Minolta 800si with the 50mm lens, opened all the way up to f1.7 (but I can't remember the shutter speed). On Ilford XP2 film.

~~ victoria on 9:40 PM ~~ 0 comments

Confidential to the jogger on The Embarcadero this morning

Yeah that was really clever and cute the way you stuck your arm out in front of you like you were trying to slice your way through all of us commuters who just got off the ferries. As though your commitment to fitness is SOOOOOOOOO important compared with our getting to work on time that we flabby, insignificant commuters must part like the Red Sea so you won't break your stride.

Here's news for you: You're running along The Embarcadero. That doesn't make you an awe-inspiring fitness freak, it makes you a TOURIST! You want us to stand agog in awe of your commitment to fitness, let's see you run up California Street.

That is all.

LISTENING: Unsatisfied from the album "Let It Be" by The Replacements

Technorati Tags: Confidential, ranting, San Francisco Life

~~ victoria on 9:34 PM ~~ 0 comments

10 April, 2006

Well, that's just GREAT!

Evidently there is some sort of nasty fungal eye infection attacking soft contact lens wearers (like me) and there is, evidently, a possible link to a specific brand of Bausch & Lomb solution (i.e., the one that I use).

What's troubling for me is that every year I deal with itchy, red eyes that discharge goo because I battle seasonal allergies. So, at what point do I stop poo-poo'ing any discomfort as allergies and start worrying that my corneas are about to shrivel up and fall out?

So, I'm spending my first day of "vacation" getting my eyes checked, just to, hopefully, rule out the fungal nasties. Because, as an artist, losing my sight would be just bad for business.

Technorati Tags: ranting

~~ victoria on 8:22 PM ~~ 0 comments

02 April, 2006

Math is Easy!

3(nasty cold this winter*) + (daylight savings time) + 10(migraine) = 1 Grumpy Vicster

(*I will continue to call it winter until it stops frackin' raining!)

Technorati Tags: ranting

~~ victoria on 7:21 PM ~~ 0 comments

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