Oshiya, or “pusher”, is an informal Japanese term for a worker who stands on the platform of a railway station during the morning and evening rush hours, and pushes people onto the train. This video is a good example of just how crowded it gets on Japanese trains.

–as seen on my “The Best of YouTube” podcast.

I discovered this place while walking last night and went back this morning to take some photos. The light wasn’t that great, so I’ll return when the light’s better and try again.

Two Xena posts in a row! Go Xena!

This is typical Xena: getting herself stuck somewhere and taking five times as long to wriggle her way out. Sometimes I have to assist, but I was curious and amused enough to watch how she would do on her own. By the time I got my camera to shoot this video, she’d already been gingerly stumbling around up there for a couple of minutes, going back and forth across everything.

I just spotted a raccoon on the roof outside the window, and Xena jumped up to investigate!

Then Beano jumped up to see what the commotion was about, and I ran out of memory on the card! Arggghhh!!

Apparently the big explosion of cherry blossoms in High Park happened to be during the week I was too busy (and lazy) to get myself and my cameras over to shoot it. But last weekend I decided to plan nothing social and instead get some stuff done — including a visit to High Park to see what remained of the blossoms.

On more than one occasion (ha) I’ve stated my dislike for pink, but in nature I find it completely acceptable and — dare I say it — appealing!

I love magnolia trees (I miss the one beside our house in Scranton *sniff*), and this one held on for me last weekend.

Continue reading ‘In The Pink’

… we could avoid the drama of the Car Ride.

We all survived the first visit to the vet since those days back in January when we were going at least once a week. Arliin’s mother gave me Xena and Beano’s carriers in March, which I’d hidden away in the closet until I surprised Beano this morning with its sudden reappearance.

This morning it was vaccinations and a consultation with the vet as to Beano’s overall health. He still has the heart murmur they discovered in January (which he didn’t have in November), but his weight is up and everything is looking alright from the initial exam. I’ll find out in the next day or two what his kidney levels show. The reading in January showed improvement from November, so hopefully this time will be even better or at least no worse.

When the vet first saw The Old Bean she said, “Oh, I see grey hairs!” but for Beano’s sake let’s say she meant it in a George Clooney-spotting kind of way…

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After the Flickr Meetup with Heather Champ at Reposado Bar on May 1, I finally decided to order MOO cards so I wouldn’t have to write down my URLs on little scraps of paper anymore. Now, they’re all neatly typefaced onto little pieces of card, which I will start handing out and mailing out soon. I can’t remember how many photos I used from Flickr (20? 25?), but I think my favourite in MOO card form is the one of the silver car in Cuba.

Yes, in my recent attempts to whittle away at my To Do List (which includes Spring Cleaning, which I’ve been doing for days), I am also going to sit down and send out actual, non-electronic mail, with my handwriting and everything. Something I’ve been promising to do since the beginning of 2008, and here it is, the year nearly half over. Better late than never!!

I’ve come to the conclusion that any hope of writing posts in chronological order by happenings is futile. What is more realistic are posts in order by the pictures I want to show you Right Now. That’s right, it’s called impatience.

So, in Pictures I Want To Show You Right Now order, I introduce you to a big groundhog I met today in High Park, a creature of formidable size, a size that rivals that of my cats!

Male or female, I can’t tell, but he or she does love dandelions, I discovered.

I was also lucky enough to shoot some videoclips (I have become rather adept at juggling several cameras at once and changing batteries between them while keeping the subject in sight!), and I may edit a bunch of the videos together with some music, but for now a quickie:

As you can hear, it was busy in High Park today, and these creatures are accustomed to noisy humans and our machines.

On Thursday night I went to a restaurant on the Danforth which was hosting a benefit for the Toronto Humane Society. I worked late, so I only caught the very end of it. I put in three bids at the silent auction, bought a batch of raffle tickets, the big hardcover book "Iconic America" (what a bargain!) — but they didn’t charge me for the CDs (still in the cellophane)! One of the big prizes was a VIA Rail trip for two to Montreal, but I saw the current bids and didn’t think I stood a chance with my highest bid. I was waiting around for the draw for the raffle baskets, but the karaoke was in full swing and I opted to head home rather than listen to any more Cher songs.

Then yesterday the restaurant called and said I won the bid for the Kiehl’s gift box and a basket! This afternoon I picked up the stuff and was able to make my own selection from the different themes (bath, kitchen, animals, etc.). In case you can’t tell from the picture, I picked the Bartender Basket!

Cocktails, anyone?