I scrape out the fresh coconut from the inside and it becomes dessert, too. See, magic!

I love coconut, but not the dried stuff. I like it fresh, in ice cream (which we also had this evening), and young coconut as a drink. For some reason coconut and chocolate together hold little or no appeal (eg. Bounty chocolate bars). Weird, that.

Digger has got to be the most fearless cat ever. He lies down on the sidewalk and watches people, dogs, and cars go by, completely unfazed. Most cats, when approached by dogs, take off. Not Digger — he sniffs them as if he’s just another dog. His fur doesn’t stand on end, and he even seems to LIKE dogs.

Eliza says she’s never seen Digger run anywhere. Even when crossing the street, he just strolls along. Digger OWNS this neighbourhood.

titt ut by Cia L

I think not. (Click on it and check out the rest of the photoset.)

So I went this morning to a meeting point to go on a fam(iliarisation) trip through my hostelling volunteer work, and it turns out it’s tomorrow instead of today (in the infodesk book it said today). Oh well, c’est la vie.

On the way home I stopped by a florist near where I used to work on Hornby Street many moons ago. We discussed the venue, my style preferences, colours, etc.

As you can see, Aberthau House is a Tudor heritage mansion with dark wood interior. It’s a bit of a decorating challenge. I also know almost diddly-squat about flora.

The good news is what I do like is widely available here: callas lily bouquets for Eliza and me, and (cut) anthuriums, which I’d like as accent pieces in a few places around Aberthau House. Whenever I see lots of flowers, I think of funerals. Simple is always best.

originally uploaded by Ciao in Vangroovy.

Ciao got me — big-time — in this photo from last Wednesday’s BBQ for Striatic. Don’t ask me what I’m looking at! I don’t know!

A very long-overdue Cheap Tuesday found Eliza, Kristin, Manu, and me at Tinseltown to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I vaguely recall seeing the original 1971 film adaptation of Dahl’s book, with Gene Wilder. But I barely remember any of it.

This film, however, has some show-stopping one-liners from the expression-filled, makeup-friendly face of Johnny Depp.

http://chocolatefactorymovie.warnerbros.com/
http://www.timburtoncollective.com/charlie.html

I don’t want to spoil the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, but if you’re familiar at all with Tim Burton’s work you likely won’t be disappointed.

It’s dark, twisted fun.

And I’ll never look at squirrels the same way again.

It’s difficult to judge who’s looking more awry in this photo — Courtney Love or Pamela Anderson?

(I’ve mentioned that e-online’s Fashion Police is my net-reading guilty pleasure, haven’t I?)

On Saturday Eliza and I went shopping at Pacific Centre and encountered our very first collagen-injection victim. It was a scary, scary sight to behold.

It took us by surprise, really. Our elevator mistakenly went up to street level at Pacific Centre rather than down to the parkade. A woman who had most likely emerged from Holt Renfrew stepped in, a tad startled to see us.

“Why did you come up instead of down?” she asked, puzzled.

I thought there was something odd about her face, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was. I tried not to stare at her while the elevator made its way down, picking up some others on the floor we just came from. The first impression that came to mind was: high-maintenance lady. She just had that…. high-maintenance look about her.

I took a glimpse at Eliza, who was looking down. I snuck in a sidelong glance at the woman’s mouth. It was puffy, inflated to the point where it was smooth and swollen at the edges instead of gathered (for lack of a better word), with tiny lines. When she spoke, she looked strange. I thought her speech was affected. Then it dawned on me.

Collagen injection! *violin screeches from a Grade B horror movie* Eeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!

Seriously, if someone who has NEVER seen the effects of a collagen injection can recognise it on sight, then it’s probably TOO MUCH.

And if it looks like someone punched you in the mouth, it’s TOO MUCH.

And if it affects your speech? It’s TOO MUCH.

And if it makes other people in the elevator want to reach out and poke it to see if it squishes over to the other side? It’s TOO MUCH.

If you want people to look at your lips, then this is certainly one expensive way to do it.

Thursday was a busy day: I met Lana for lunch, we went to Michael’s (an arts and crafts store) to scope out decorating ideas, and I made it to the bridal shop before it closed so we could do the dress-length alterations (now that I have the shoes). That was before dinner at a Vietnamese noodle house, Rachael’s artshow, and Vandigicam’s after-show libations.

While we were at the bridal shop, Eliza bought TWO more dresses, and I bought Melissa an ivory dress. We got great deals, of course — both of Eliza’s dress for $100 each and Melissa’s for $50 (more than 50% off tag price for all). In this lighting, the dress looks white, but it is indeed the same colour as my dress.

Melissa was the flower girl in her Auntie Ally’s wedding last year in June, and her dress is still in good nick, but it’s white, so I thought I’d get her an ivory one. I was told she was the consummate flower girl, and she’s very excited to have another opportunity. She can’t wait to go shopping for shoes with Eliza!