Archive for ◊ July, 2006 ◊

31 Jul 2006 Risk Reward
 |  Category: Consumer, Rants  | 5 Comments

20060731(001).jpg

As seen on a Mustang Ferrari on University Ave.

Gah, I’m so frustrated. I wasted an entire evening on car maintenance that mostly didn’t happen. Just getting spark plugs from the Ford dealership reminded me of when I went to them to complete the car importation back in the spring and they were complete jerks. I’m beginning to think I should forget about car maintenance and drive the car until it won’t run anymore and then use Zipcar if I need one like I used Cooperative Auto Network in Vancouver. Because I imported the car in a duty-free category, I can’t sell it for two years, so I’m pretty much stuck with it. If I need to go on a road trip, I’ll rent a car.

30 Jul 2006 The Smudge and Sunrise Show

July 30, 2006
Music: “Tour de France” by Ben Charest (“The Triplets of Belleville” soundtrack)

Some pet therapy for me, courtesy of knitty_kat‘s kitties. It was a very pleasant way to end a full day, much of which was spent on the phone making various arrangements and running errands.

I finally got in touch with Berit to confirm their arrival in Toronto from Hamburg on August 10. They’ll be here for two weeks, so I’d better have a look around online to see if I can come up with a loose itinerary of things to do and places to see. I’m sure I can find lots of activities that Justi, now three years old, would like. Feel free to pipe up with suggestions or recommendations if you have any.

I finally firmed up some travel plans that included using an airline voucher that my cousin gave to me. (Thanks Tosca!) It expires on August 25, so I have a very short window of time to use it. I went to the airport today to trade in the voucher and pay the fare difference for the ticket. Only three people know where I’m going, and I’ll keep a lid on it until I actually get there and post a photo to reveal where I am. Hint: I’ve never been there before.

It’s tough being at home, so I’m trying to stay occupied and focused on plans. For me, making plans is best way I know to try and feel optimistic about the future in the wake of tragedy and crushing circumstances. Consequently, being out of the apartment a great deal these days (I’m also working at least Monday and Tuesday and I don’t email from there) and suffering from a major case of Heavy Heart and Permanent Lump in Throat means I’m backlogged on the correspondence. Will try and catch up soon.

I woke up at 6am again — my sleeping is rather screwed up these days — so I’m off to catch some ZZZZs.

30 Jul 2006 Picture the Cure Promo Card
 |  Category: Volunteering/Charity  | 3 Comments

Design by Karl Randay
Logo by Laura Kicey
Photographs by Dawn M. Armfield, Stephanie Fysh, Linda Plaisted, Peter Bowers, Henry Roxas and Rachael Ashe.

I keep forgetting to post the promo card here. I handed out more today, and if you’re in the GTA I’ll be happy to mail a bunch out to you to distribute to your friends, co-workers, and anyone who’d be interested in bidding on some fantastic prints to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society! For a preview of the artwork, check out the gallery online:

- view thumbnails
- view index

30 Jul 2006 With Hugh
 |  Category: Critters + Creatures, Fave, Hugh, Loss  | 18 Comments

Hugh and me, by Rachael

May 27, 2006
Photo by Rachael

This was taken a couple of days before Rachael and I drove down to Pennsylvania and New York to scatter David’s ashes.

Life’s been rough in 2006, but it feels rougher than ever now that Hugh is gone. He made the transition from my former life in Pennsylvania to my current life in Ontario easier because I never felt completely alone. We were the remaining two members of the House of Fielding, and we would stick together through thick and thin. Recently I cancelled family trips — a road trip to Maine and a flight to Vancouver — because I wasn’t comfortable leaving Hugh with a catsitter after his recent trips to the vet.

“Hugh’s in his twilight years,” I said to someone. “I have to make sure he’s alright.”

{ continue reading… }

29 Jul 2006 Steamtown, Scranton
 |  Category: Fave, Music, Videoclips  | 6 Comments


October 2, 2004
Music: “Allentown” by Billy Joel
Length: 3:45

This video is part of a project that’s coming along very, very slowly. The CD** of David’s music that I compiled to hand out at his memorial on December 28 has a list of 14 songs. I plan to use all 14 songs as soundtracks for videoclips I’ve shot and edited, and so far I’ve completed seven* (Biplane Evermore is just an mp3 with a photo, not a video), shown in bold and linked to the videos hosted on YouTube.

Flight | David Lee Fielding

1. To Be By Your Side | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 4:04
2. Allentown | Billy Joel | 3:48
3. Come Fly With Me | Frank Sinatra | 3:18
4. Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines | Ron Goodwin | 2:36
5. The Biplane Evermore | The Irish Rovers | 2:54
6. Leaving On a Jet Plane | John Denver | 4:05
7. Fly Like An Eagle | Steve Miller Band | 3:06
8. Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time) | Elton John | 4:45
9. Mr. Blue Sky | Electric Light Orchestra | 5:08
10. Blackbird | The Beatles | 2:20
11. Jet Airliner | Steve Miller Band | 3:37
12. Treetop Flyer | Jimmy Buffet | 5:52
13. Fly Me to the Moon | Frank Sinatra | 2:32
14. Solace | Westwind Brass | 2:56

I took the train clips overlooking the Steamtown Historical Site on the second day of the weekend David and I met.

I chose “Allentown” as the second track (one of the only ones not related to aviation) because David was born there, he was a huge Billy Joel fan (Joel is also a major history buff), and he loved trains. David’s last project was working on his model railroad and I named it “Fieldingville”.

{ continue reading… }

28 Jul 2006 David and Hugh
 |  Category: Critters + Creatures, David, Hugh, Videoclips  | 10 Comments

March 31, 2005
Length: 1:48
Music: “Cieco, Cieco” Barber – Ben Charest (from “The Triplets of Belleville” soundtrack)

David playing with Hugh in front of our house in Scranton. Hugh wasn’t as lively in this clip because he knew he had to go inside soon. The clips I shot prior to this one are in the next video.

I asked Socar last summer what the lyrics to this song meant, and she said it’s rubbish Italian, just made-up stuff. All I could pick out was what sounded like “Toronto” and “Jimmy Hoffa” –?!?

David and Hugh
Length: 8:59

This video was a typical late weekday afternoon scene, after David returned home from work. We were the Three Musketeers after I joined the household. You can get an idea of how close Hugh and David were in life, and after David passed away Hugh was just like that with me. I miss them both so much it hurts like the dickens.

26 Jul 2006 Heartbroken
 |  Category: Critters + Creatures, Hugh, Loss  | 37 Comments

my last picture of Hugh, from the bathMy heart shattered into a million pieces today.

I came home from work and found Hugh dead on the kitchen floor. I turned the corner, saw him, and fell to my knees, sobbing his name over and over… it’s as if it wasn’t me, it was someone else crumpled and unable to breathe.

I took his lifeless body to the vet this evening with the help of a friend, and preparing him for the journey was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I also boarded Gigi at the same vet (where she has boarded for two years), because I am too upset to be dealing with her, too.

I’m going to take Hugh’s ashes back to Pennsylvania and scatter them either there, or at Rhinebeck, NY where I scattered David’s ashes almost two months ago. Pennsylvania is where Hugh lived for all of his 15 years, except for the past few months in Toronto.

Mercy HospiceI will never have another pet like Hugh. He was with David to the very end in hospice, and he comforted me in the painful months that followed. We spent a lot of time together; constant companions. He never left my side — always either curled up at my feet or sitting in my lap. Every night he would lie on my belly and purr before eventually moving down to my feet to snooze, just like he would with David.

The House of Fielding won’t be the same without Hugh. He always greeted me when I got home, and now I have this sick feeling knowing I won’t see his little face at the door anymore.

Rest in peace, my kitty, I miss you terribly.

Hugh, by Gail

July 1, when Hugh returned home from the vet
happy to have Hugh home

26 Jul 2006 Happy Birthday Rachael!
 |  Category: Friends  | 2 Comments

Rachael's Red Series
A photo I took on Rachael’s birthday last year during the Red Photowalk, still one of my favourites. I’ll be participating again this year, albeit remotely here in Toronto and probably with Gigi in tow. Watch this space for blurry red pics with a dog’s nose or tail!

26 Jul 2006 A Fish Landed in My Mailbox
 |  Category: Friends  | 3 Comments

nifty origami fish from Neil

I was having a downer of a Monday last week, but then I checked the mailbox and found this nifty origami fish via transatlantic post from Neil inside a handwritten letter.

Thank you, Neil, the timing couldn’t have been better!

25 Jul 2006 David, Proud Aviator
 |  Category: David, Loss  | Leave a Comment

David, proud aviator

David attending the Centennial of Flight celebrations in North Carolina, December 2003.

www.countdowntokittyhawk.com/events/centennial.html

* * * * *

In a completely random moment today working on Excel spreadsheets, I looked up and had an image of David standing in the hallway. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I couldn’t stop my eyes from welling up with tears. Thankfully, no one in the office walked by in those moments as I hid behind my computer monitor and tried to regain my composure. For two weeks in November 2004 I worked side-by-side with David while we were waiting for Verizon to install DSL in our house for me to work from home. One of the saddest days in the New Year was when I had to archive David’s personal files from his office computer and clear his things from the desk where he’d worked for eight years. I don’t know what took root in my brain to bring this image of David at work to the front of my mind, but it took supreme willpower to make it subside.