epic haiku

more from Boston

Yes... we did stay in bed most of the time. Yes, we are shameless. No, we don't care what you think.

Linnea is flying!

True love.

Yes Linnea... I do have beautiful friends.

I would just like to say, Earl, that you asked for it.

See more on my facebook as my flickr is maxed out for now.

At some point, maybe soon, there will be video. One step at a time people.

My Easter

Being the "older kids" on the stairs. Me, Matt and Ryan. This would be my favorite picture ever is Jonathan was in it too.

Helping Jonathan pack up for his return to school.

Jonathan and his mother, the definitive Mrs. Brenda Ault, one of my life heroes.

Ryan and I sway while Jonathan packs.

Nathan and Matthew McConnell continue the age old battle of brother against brother.

Talking about music, because that's what we do.
(Tom Waits and Broken Social Scene people, we love them.)

This coming weekend I am going down to Hillsdale with Matt for Anna's bridal shower and to hang with Ryan. Two weekends in a row, pretty special. It was like old times before things blew up at the church and we were all this amazingly tight family unit here. What a blessing of a weekend.

Easter with old friends

this was taken last summer, but tonight was pretty much a rehashing, the four of us out in the Ault's cabin smoking (I refrained except for a few drags) and tonight, playing poker. All our families got together tonight to celebrate Easter (everyone wanted to know where you were Jo, we missed you). I am going to church with them tomorrow. It was so good to be all of us, which means, Jonathan was home for the weekend. Jonathan and I still talk about living in Europe near each other one day like we did when we were kids. I was pretty depressed yesterday, Easter has been hard since college. I really started missing my Covenant family hard core with Thorn coming out and everyone together for break, so seeing my guys tonight and spending last night with Anna at her wedding dress fitting really fed my soul. I spent the rest of Friday pretty much on the phone or IM with Katzman, Andrea, Justin and Linnea. *deep breath* I am so content tonight. Oh, and I won the poker game, so that was the icing on the cake.

Tonight we were late getting to the Ault's because I couldn't figure out what to wear. When we got there I walked in, hugged everyone and then Jonathan came up to me and after our normal touchy-feely greeting he was like: "Well you look very nice." which made me smile. "Thanks" I replied "I dressed up for you." "Really? That's cool. That's really nice. [pause] Yeah, well I dressed up for you too." *grins* It was like being with extended family tonight. Tomorrow after church we are eating with our neighbors the Thompson's, also pretty much family. It's going to be a good day after all.

don'tcha dare rush me! Don't do it.

*singing* I bought new paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaants! They are two sizes smaller than my former paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaants! *ends singing but starts jumping up and down with joy*

I have lots of pictures developed now. I will post them later. Do not rush me. Just don't do it. Okay fine, here are two for now that show my incredible ability as a photographer. 

Hecker will do this to you if you rush me.


And yes, this is about the single worst one in the entire batch, but I love Geib's face in it. It's all like "What the crap?" Which is a look I get frequently from Mark, but since I haven't seen him in a millennia, it's now a precious moment... although you probably can't see it.

Fine... one more.

Andrea, Trimspa fabulous from our White Trash Halloween party... this is before the ritualistic branding started.

Serious stuff later people. I am two pants sizes smaller! No time for seriousness here.

Oh oh oh! Thorn is out, those of you with copies, whatcha think?

Yes... I am watching a video I rented from the library on the 1994 Olympic Figure Skating because I loved it back then and I love it today. Stop looking at me like that.

The Curious History of Place Names

I finished reading Off the Map: The Curious Histories of Place Names by Derek Nelson. It was a fascinating read filled with trivia that just wakes my brain up and makes it kind of tingle with excitement. It laid out a new way for me to think about the world as well as the places I am going to visit this summer and sort of was a gateway book for getting into more research of the origins and anthropological land lines of each place I want to go. If you have any interest in this sort of thing pick it up or book mark it for later. I haven't enjoyed a geographic/history book this much since How the Irish Saved Civilization.

Goodbye Snowflake, my love.

Yesterday we buried our dearly departed cat, Snowflake. It was actually pretty emotional for me and my parents. It was, as both my mom and dad said, and end of an era.

When I was a little girl I begged and begged and begged for years for a white, long haired kitten after seeing a picture of one in a Christmas magazine. I wanted a white tiny little kitty cat with huge blue eyes. I think my begging started sometime around the age of four or five. When I was eight I got a treasure map for Christmas from "Santa" (always written in my dad's handwriting) and at the end of this map (that we had to use the car to get to) was a house. We went up to the house and knocked on the door and right inside the door were two perfect tiny little white kittens with red ribbons around their necks. Perfect tiny beautiful little creatures. One for me, and one for Joannah.

I named mine immediately. It had to be Snowball because Mandie's kitty's name was Snowball in my favorite books at the time. I even named one of my dolls Cecilia after Mandie's best friend. My sister, Jo, immediately named her cat Sarah, which was her favorite name at the time and I think all of her dolls were named Sarah at some point that year. The kittens were still dependant on their mother, so we couldn't get them for another week. I went home with a high feelings I don't think I had experienced since I was given a Nutcracker for my fifth Christmas (so I could, you know, go to the magical ballet land with him).

A week later when we picked up the Snowball and Sarah my sister announced that she had changed her mind, her kitty was now to be called Snowflake. No amount of my reasoning would change her mind. I was eight, so my sister was five. My sister was just as stubborn back then as she is today about what she believes and wants. No, she said, it would not be confusing to have two practically identical (well, completely to anyone other then my family) white cats names Snowball and Snowflake. No, she was in no way copying me. No, she was not trying to steal my thunder (what if Monica had been the first born?).

My fondest memory was watching Christmas/ New Years specials with my tiny tiny kitty sleeping in the palm of my hand (and my hands were small). There was also the time the kittens got lost on the inside of our walls. Learning that they would not respond appropriately to the leashes... ever. Dressing them up in our doll clothes. Through this we slowly got to know their different personalities. Snowball always looked out the window, wanting to be free to roam and explore. Snowflake was incredibly adaptable, loving and patient in all situations... and she liked to stick her head in our armpits when snuggling... which was weird.

When we moved to Michigan when I was almost ten we had a harrowing ride from Medina to Midland. It was the first move for both my sister and I. It was exciting and heartbreaking. The cats did not like the car. Snowball literaly ripped her cardboard carrying box to shreds. I couldn't figure out why my cat was so unable to get on board with the family. Snowflake was fine, but upset by her sisters extreme behavior. Our puppy dog, Samantha also seemed pissed off by Snowball. Samantha got along great with Snowflake though.

A few months after moving to Michigan my cat ran away. It seemed that the wooded place we moved to was just a little to much for her. We never saw her again. Snowflake became the only cat, and within two short years, our only pet when Samantha took her walk into the sunset, literally, she walked off one night and never came back. Some dogs have a sense when they are going to die and go off alone. I believe this is what Samantha did because of our connection (yes, on a level I am completely serious when I say connection, I was very close to my dog) and the extended eye contact she gave me right before she left.

Snowflake was fifteen when she died. She survived Snowball, Samantha, Istas (my albino rabbit we had for a few years in my teens), all of my turtles (a boxer and a painted one that bit me on the chin), frogs, snails (Sydney the snail, I loved him), fish (including my precious Google-Eyes). She survived all the drama of my family in the 90's, my sister and my teen years. She almost made it through my sisters first year of college. She was here for half of my parents marriage to date. She was a loving comfort whenever we came home, and always strutted like a princess in front of our car when we would try to pull into the garage. She died in her sleep in her sleeping box. When we opened to bury her I burst into tears. She was always understanding and kind, even when I became extremely allergic to her and wasn't able to hold her without "preparing" myself to itch like crazy. Her meow was part of what made this our home. I miss her already and will love her forever.

Tori on being a mum and rock goddess

These are my favorite questions from a rollingstone.com interview with Tori. She answers questions about her process for her next album and about being a rock goddess and being a mum.


Just before the release of The Beekeeper, you lost your brother in a car accident. Is that loss finding its way into the new material now that some time has passed?

I think on [the title track] "The Beekeeper" it was addressed, because the song itself speaks about loss. I was drawn to the idea that in the bee colony, the drones are the ones that go first. I thought that it was nature's parallel for the loss of this man before his time. It was originally written about my mother -- she was critical, and she flat-lined and came back. That's the last time I saw my brother. But after his accident, I finished [the album] with an ode to him. "Toast," the final song on the record, I wrote on the plane coming back from the funeral. I think that this new work -- it's too early to say -- but this is a very different chapter. Certainly, since I've been a mother. You haven't really felt this Tori in a while.

How is the role of mother affecting the work now, versus when your daughter was first born?

I didn't want her looking and hearing me and thinking, "Oh my God, that's a scary lady!" There are enough scary rock & roll mothers in the world. I'm able to explain now that the woman who comes and reads bedtime stories and hangs out with her is different than the woman who walks behind that piano. I think this is the first time she's able to differentiate that. Now that there's that buffer, there are things in the world it's time to confront. There is an energy that you carry when you're nurturing another life where you're protecting first -- and once you know that cub is out of the way of the hunter's gun, you can be a little more daring.

So, hopefully this means we will be getting a little more of this

and this

in the future. One last excerpt:

Do you get frustrated with the labels that have attached themselves to you -- like "Queen of the Fairies" or New Age-y? Do you feel they undermine what it is you're trying to say?

I find it amusing, and my very cynical British husband finds it extremely amusing. He's basically said, "If anybody badmouths a fairy, they'll get their dick cut off in Cornwall." You just don't do that. It's like insulting cab drivers in New York.