Happy Halloween

It's that time of the year again, my favourite holiday! Halloween is just so great. (And the fact it's my birthday makes it even better, heh) Unfortunately I have class during peak trick-or-treater time so I won't be able to hand out candies, but at least I got to celebrate with my girlfriends last weekend.



I carved some pumpkins with my mother last evening. Her's is on the right and mine are the other two. I made the silly decision to carve a white pumpkin (furthest to the left) but that thing was hard as a rock and it made the carving quite difficult, hence it's rather deplorable face. I hope you all have a great Halloween! Ooooo!

Fish Fish Fish

I love fishing, but haven't been able to go anywhere near as much as I'd have liked over the last few years. Now that I'm living in the country again, I plan to take full advantage of that and make up for lost time. I'm off to a good start too! My first fishing trip with my parents ended with my catching four large northern pike.



My father didn't catch anything, and my mom only caught a small perch - not even large enough to keep. I guess I just had the fish mojo on my side that afternoon. I cleaned the first pike myself and we fried it up right there on the side of the lake and ate it right up. Fresh fish is delicious!

It feels so good to be able to get back into this hobby again. I went again by myself a few days later down in a small bay by the public docks here in town. It was peaceful and so nice to just be outside and let time slide by languidly. I'm so glad summer is here and that I am spending it how I am! Cheers!

Moving Time

I've gone silent again the last few weeks. My life has been rather stressful and topsy turvy. I've elected to move early, for several reasons. A large one being that my apartment has an increasingly serious cockroach problem and I am not willing to wait around another month as it just gets worse. My parents have found me a wonderful little two bedroom apartment on the edge of town, very near my grandmother's, which I'm very happy about. The official move is Tuesday, so most of my belongings are already packed up.

I have been up to things other than stressing though. I baked up a Chocolate Guinness Cake with Cream Cheese Icing back around St-Patty's day. It's the third time I make the recipe and it's amazing every time, probably one of my most favourite cakes. I also finished up this round of belly dance classes. I'm really going to miss dancing with my ladies, but it's time to move on.



I met Laura way back when we both started taking belly dance classes in January of 2012. I thought she looked like a really groovy lady, and like someone I'd like to get to know. So I wrote up my name and number on a piece of paper and introduced myself, saying I'd like to try and be friends. It may have been dorky, but it worked, and we're great friends now. I'm really going to miss her, and my other friends here. But there are plenty of people in Sturgeon who are looking forward to having me there, old friends I'll be able to catch up with and strengthen those relationships. My future is looking really good. I'm about to head out and say goodbye to some more of my friends now though. I hope you are all having a lovely Easter weekend. Cheers!

Bright Shiny Winter

I had some free time between shifts at the restaurant today, so I took a walk down to Dow's Lake. I'm glad I did, it's so lovely out, and supposed to be so all weekend. Spring is well on its way! It's still nippy enough to wear my super fluffy earmuffs though, and that makes me happy.

I have to be getting ready for the second half of today's split-shifts though, so I hope you are all having a good Friday and that you have a lovely weekend too. Cheers!

Geckotastic

Not much to say today, just sharing some photos I took yesterday. I have one baby gecko left from my last clutch, and the pet shop will be buying it off me this week. It's an adorable wee thing, and I could probably keep it easily enough, but I'm going to part with it now before I get too attached. The other three crested geckos are more than enough for the time being.

Ah what my cat would give for a few free moments to play with that nifty wiggly toy thing! He's good about obeying me when I'm around but he's gotten himself into a few pickles while on his own. Which is why the animals have their own room now. I hope you all have a good start to your week. Cheers!

New Arachnids

Some of you may be aware of my large collection of pets, but today I've made two new additions to my little zoo. I already have 8 tarantulas, but most of them are either adults or in the late stages of being a juvenile. It's been a long time since I've had little baby T's around. So today - with a lucky opportunity to have them dropped off for free from Tarantula Canada - I got two slings, baby tarantulas.

The top one is a Hapalopus sp. Colombia large aka Pumpkin patch tarantula. The bottom one is a Cyriocosmus elegans aka Trinidad dwarf tarantula. They're both less than 1/4" in size right now, but they'll grow to several inches in size. I'm so very happy to have these little ones under my care, they'll grow into beautiful adults. I hope you're all having a good weekend. Cheers!

Without Words

I'm just taken aback by the surprise gift my friend made for me. She and I have known each other for years now, and she knows more about me than most people ever will. Even though we've never met in person - we're in completely different hemispheres and continents - I still consider her one of my closest and dearest friends. And there's nothing better than knowing that sentiment is returned in kind. My friend is an amazing artist... and this is with what she surprised me!

I feel like I could explode from loving this so much! The funniest part is that she posted it on Facebook and I noticed the gecko before realizing it was me haha...This makes me so happy. Definitely something I'm going to treasure and love for a long time. Aw friendship, how it does warm the cockles of my heart! I highly suggest you check out more of her amazing art on her Deviant Art profile where she posts as Chaotic-AlterEgo. Now to try and calm myself down enough to actually get to sleep... <3

Ignorance May Be Bliss

But existing in blissful ignorance isn't living, it's just ignorance. I'm seeing so many people who choose to deny life as it is, to live their lives with their heads in the sand. Sometimes their form of ignorance is religion, when for others it's substance abuse, or losing themselves in the bubble-world of a relationship. And I can honestly see the appeal there, in something that promises to make all the scary things go away - or at least seem that way. But pretending the storm on the horizon isn't there isn't going to stop the rain.

It just seems so weak resorting to that kind of behavior. A coward's way out. It's especially disappointing to see people who's opinions I used to value existing like that, now that I'm more aware of such things. I'm not a deep thinker, I'm not a genius and I know that. I'm a pretty simple person. But it just seems so stupid to live like that. To ignore the obvious and keep riding that speeding train toward the broken bridge up ahead. Hiding in a church, inside a chemical high, in the arms of a lover, that's not the way to go.



While I can understand that change is frightening, the reality is that it's inevitable. Things are going to change sooner or later, whether you want them to or not. I just think it's better to be the catalyst for that change, to be in control, rather than simply duck down and let things go and just be along for the ride. The later might be easier now but it's going to be a lot more difficult dealing with the fallout in the future. My hatches are going to be battened down when that storm hits, I will be ready to face it and get through it.

I've been plowing along through life alone these last few years, and while it's been difficult and confusing and frightening, I've never gone so far as to just ignore the reality of life's struggles as my actual lifestyle. It's one thing to take the time to enjoy a little escape, let your mind free itself from worries and stress, and another entirely to live in that world of oblivion everyday and call it reality.

I think the worst thing about all of this is how so many of those people with their heads in the sand are quick to try and pull you down with them. As if their "reality" is the only one that can possibly be true and you're a fool not to live that way. But I don't need the comfort of a fictitious god figure or the numbing properties of a substance to get through this life. I still have so much to learn, but I know that much at least.

I'm going to face this life and all it can throw at me head on, with confidence in myself. Because the feelings of safety and confidence brought forth through religions and substances and dependent-relationships are not going to cut it. I've been standing on my own two feet this long, I'm not about to get down on my knees and jam my head in the sand with the rest of them. I'm better than that. And I think they are too, if they just made the effort and faced life as it is and not how they wish it were. 



So while I am still filled with a lot of fears and doubts about my future, I'm okay with that. I understand that it's just a part of life, and that it will also reward me with feelings of joy and comfort and safety when I work towards those things as goals. Nobody has any say in how my life will turn out but me, and I'm not about to throw that away for some outward source of temporary false comfort. You can live with your rose-tinted glasses on but the world isn't all pink. I like it in every shade, even the darker ones, because it makes the high points all the better. I'm going to try my best not to dwell on others' mistakes - or my own - but to learn from them and move on to grow and progress, as awkward and uncomfortable as that can be. Because I am alive. I am awake. And I'm not letting that go.

Ottawa Zombie Walk 2012

And what a great Zombie Walk it was! I had an absolute blast, as per usual. Even with the misty rain and chilliness.My friend Ed the Head and I really enjoyed ourselves. This is the third time my friend Tina joins in on the walk too, she's always a great zombie.

Admittedly I spent a lot of time being a smiling zombie, because I was having such a good time. There were so many fantastic costumes and it was just great. Great I say! I love me a good zombie walk!

There wasn't as big a turnout as I was hoping, but that's probably due to the weather. Only really die-hard zombies (no pun intended heehee) show up when it's like this! As you can see below though, there were still more than enough of us to completely cover the lawn in front of Parliament on the hill. Can you spot me in the crowd on the steps? :)

The annual Zombie Walk is my absolute most favourite way of celebrating any season or holiday. As soon as it's over I'm already wishing for the next. I hope you're all having a really groovy Halloween season too! Cheers!

Gratuitous Tarantulas

I think the title is enough of a warning there! My tarantulas are a lot like my children. I know that's a stretch, but I've raised some of them from the size of my pinky fingernail to the size of my palm and they're still growing. You get attached with the effort and care that involves.

One of my largest tarantulas has recently molted - discarding its exoskeleton to grow larger - and has developed more of his mature colours. He's just absolutely gorgeous and I have to share. Hopefully someone out there enjoys these next photos and I don't frighten anyone off! I'll keep them smaller in the post, but they're available in large format on my Flickr so click away if you're brave!

The first purple-pink one is Pumpkin, the large one that recently molted. There's a clear ruler on the outside of his tank on the left, and his upper left foot is near the 5" mark, the give you an idea of his size. The other little fellow - he's only about 2" in leg span - is Dmitry. I just love his copper colour.

Up top is Thor, my very first tarantula. The black thing is a pop bottle cap, and when I first got him, he was small enough to fit inside it completely and have room to spare. He's also going to grow very large, but is of a more slow-growing species and it'll be another 4-6 years before Thor is as large as Pumpkin. Next is Houdini (because he magically makes his food disappear) standing over a blue pop bottle cap. Tarantulas don't weave webs but they do produce silk, and as you can see, they can make a lot of it.

Hard as it may be to believe, I croon over these things like people croon over babies. I actually call them that half-jokingly; my tarantula babies. They just fill me with awe and wonder and curiosity. I could watch them for hours, they're such fascinating creatures. Anyway, if you got this far, yay! Thanks for tagging along with the crazy Spider Lady. Cheers!

How did that happen?

I only just realized that I never got around to posting the second half of my Reptile Expo photos. You're all probably cringing now and wishing I'd have left it forgotten, but I must share the reptile goodness!







One woman had the most amazing collection of adult tarantulas I've seen so far. It's a bummer the cover had so much glare, they really were amazing creatures.

I've told myself no more pets while in my apartment. The ones I've got now have a lot of growing to do, which will require their taking up more space in the very-near future. Eventually I'd love to get more snakes, they're amazing pets, but money and space constraints stop me. I hope you enjoyed these photos, even though I know most of you aren't big on reptiles and whatnot.

I hope all you Americans are having a Happy Thanksgiving and a good week for everybody else! Cheers!

Kickin' it NaNoWriMo Style

Hello everybody! I hope your week is going well. I've gone pretty silent compared to usual, sparse posting and few comments being made on others' blogs. This is again because of NaNoWriMo...

I am now nearing the end of Day 9 with a total of 17 577 words. The goal is to hit 50K words by November 30th. I'm "ahead" by a day, in terms of word count, which is pretty awesome. I haven't had too hard a time yet but it's been going too smoothly for there not to be hurdles in the near future. I'm having fun though, and if I get around to finishing this sucker, I'll eventually post an edited copy online if anybody actually wants to read my nutty zombie novel.

I am also still wearing clothes, but I've either showed the outfit before or I just really don't feel up to taking photos or don't like the outfit. Or I take photos but am too busy furiously typing about zombies to post them. So I'll leave you with one sneak peak photo of an outfit you'll see more of in the future.

The top is particularly special because it was a super surprise gift from somebody totally amazing, something else I'll speak of in the future. My cat Caramel says Hi! Cheers!

Happy Halloween

I'd like to wish you all a super Happy Halloween! And a wee happy birthday to myself, since it's my birthday today too. Although I technically only officially only turn 23 at 7:42pm tonight heh. I packed my weekend full of Halloween and birthday celebrations and had an absolutely awesome time with my friends. Hope you all had a great weekend too. I'll leave you with my silly octopus costume.

Happy Halloween!

I can't be quiet

While this blog is primarily a personal account of my style adventures and my life, this post is going to be dedicated to something else important to me. Very near and dear to me are this planet's wildlife and natural areas. There is nothing that hits me harder than learning of a newly extinct species or one near extinction. Or that another tract of precious forest has been clear-cut and destroyed despite being essential animal habitat.

I know too many people who just brush it off, "Oh, it's not important, I'm sure more live elsewhere." Or claiming that it's just a bird, just a frog. Just. These are species that have evolved through millions of years, tied into a complex co-dependent ecosystem, and now they are gone. GONE. They will never exist again. I can't even begin to understand how people don't grasp the seriousness of this!!!

If you have no interest in this matter, I'm sorry and I feel bad for you. These are things you are losing, and their loss DOES impact you, whether you think it does or not. As a warning (for those of you easily emotionally affected by such things like I am) some of the following information is very heart wrenching and devastating and I apologize ahead of time if any of it upsets you.

This amazing animal is an Amur Leopard. Native to the Far East region of Russia's remote forests and areas in Northern China. It is now believed that there are less than 40 specimens left in the wild. Think about that. There are billions of people on this planet.... and less than 40 of these precious creatures left. Poaching for their fur and the destruction of their habitat from logging is attributed to their near-extinction. Conservation methods are underway, but too little too late. There are approximately 300 Amur Leopards living in zoos across the globe, and we can only hope that breeding programs manage to successfully save this species from looming extinction.

Above is an illustration of the Chinese Paddlefish, thought to be one of the biggest fresh-water fish in the world. Why an illustration? Because no one has seen one of these fish since 2003, and the last baby fish was spotted back in 1996. During a three-year search, conducted from 2006-2008, a research team from the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Science in Jingzhou failed to find even one specimen. As you can imagine, good photos are rare. The reason for this being, that back in 1983, a hydroelectric dam was built on the Yangtze river in China. This perfectly divided the river, separating the breeding and feeding grounds for this and many other fish. But don't they make special sections in dams to let fish through? Yes, except the metal re-bar inside the dams apparently affects the paddlefish's sensitive electromagnetic sensors in their long snouts and the fish stay away. The dam effectively sentenced these fish to extinction. We can only hope a small population still exists.

 

You may remember this photo from my first Zoo post a while back. This is a Javan Rhinoceros, officially extinct in Vietnam as of April 2011. It is now critically endangered, with an estimated 40-60 specimens currently surviving in the wild. Once spread through the islands of Java and Sumatra, throughout Southeast Asia, and into India and China, this animal can now only be found in zoos like this, or in the sole remaining wild population in the Ujung Kulon National Park on Java, in Indonesia. 

This odd-looking fellow is the Giant Chinese Salamander. These amphibians start off as 1" tadpoles but can grow to reach nearly 4 feet in length and live over 30 years. Currently critically endangered, not only habitat loss and pollution are to blame here. That's right folks, the Giant Chinese Salamander is being eaten into extinction. These salamanders are considered a Chinese delicacy and are extremely over-hunted as a rare food and as a form of traditional Chinese medicine. Way to go China. Again. Really, stellar work. Less than 10 specimens are known to be held in captivity, nowhere near enough to relieve pressure on the wild populations.

These four are only a few of the severely endangered species on this planet. It's claimed that anywhere from 35 to 150 species of life go extinct everyday around the globe. Every. Day. How many of those were never known to science? Which held the cure to till-now incurable diseases? Which would have changed the field of medicine forever? What great gift of nature have we so destroyed... And those are conservative numbers. Some claims are made that one species goes extinct every 20 minutes.

I know most people don't have the time or interest to learn about these matters. I know the plight of some strange amphibian or a jungle rhino doesn't impact most folks daily lives. But we have to open our eyes and see the destruction we are really bringing about. And we have to turn things around. Because I don't know about you, but I'd like our generation's children and grandchildren to live in a world with strange amphibians and jungle rhinos, and every other amazing form of life we are blessed with here on this earth.

Only the future will tell the fate of life on this planet and the consequences of our actions upon it.