Nature

May 6/12.

Decided to try another round of running at Riverdale Park this morning.

(if I could do it once, maybe again!) No way I could do the 10 k run (or even the 5 k) that so many are involved in on the streets of Toronto today! This time, increased my run by one lap, for a total of 1200 metres.

I was ready to sit down after that, lemme tell ya! (And it was hat head time)! This pic was taken at the start of one of the beautiful walking trails they have at Riverdale. Next time, I'll explore.

(for the time being, it was tough enough just propelling myself back up the massive hill after the run!)

Afraid I haven't quite been able to reach the zen-like state people say they get into when they run.

As Woody Allen asked Shelley Duvall in Annie Hall, (1977), - "Did it achieve total heavy-ocity?" Nope. Haven't hit that stage yet! (and ya, I know "Alvy Singer" was referring to a rock concert, not running, but it's still a funny line!)

So far, (to quote Shelley as "Pam" the rock critic), I haven't found running to be "transplendent", but I'm workin' on it!!

Maybe on "Day 3" I'll hit the motherload of
"Total Transplendent Heavy-ocity!"  THAT day, (as Will Ferrell would say playing James Lipton on SNL) will be "so scrumtrulescent I can barely move"! - Can only hope!
Ha ha

Will Ferrell portrays James Lipton of Inside the Actor's Studio opposite Alec Baldwin as Charles Nelson Reilly on SNL.

http://www.hark.com/clips/pqwsxndmds-a-performance-so-scrumtrulescent-i-can-barely-move

(Sounds much funnier when Will Ferrell says it)!! Check it out.

While in the park and on the trail, I saw many squirrels. It reminded me of my sister, Carrie's ongoing experience with Stella the Squirrel and Prickles the Porcupine. For anyone who doesn't know, Carrie was a longtime host

 of the TVO kids show Polka Dot Door.

She's a brilliant singer, very funny kids entertainer and her work as a puppeteer is perfection. When a squirrel decided to make a nest on top of her third floor apartment air conditioner a few months ago, and then, gave birth to five babies, Carrie chronicled all the events as they unfolded, shooting the action, editing it, narrating the segments (as Prickles), and becoming very involved in the lives of this little squirrel family. This is the latest of her youtube videos, which she calls,
The Sad One.

The stunning music is by our composer cousin, Kevan Staples (of Rough Trade fame). I think Carrie is well on her way to a new career as a documentary filmmaker. Beautifully done. I am very proud of my multi-talented sister.

Emotions

Hey!  Start jumping!

It's Leap Day! - Only once every four years. I keep forgetting there's a February 29th to contend with this year. What to do with an extra day!

In honour of this special day, (ha ha), my daughter Kate's boyfriend, Damian Sommer, (independent video game developer), jumped over lilypads at the chance to come up with one in tribute to Kate! In his own words, "It features ukelele playing and giant evil bats!" He stressed to me that it was created in only two hours. If you play this game, you'll hear Kate's songs, singing voice, ukelele strumming AND be able to kill bats, all at the same time. Awesome!
Check it out. (might take a minute or so to load).

Damian made a game for Kate!

I'm amazed by Damian's creativity. He has lots of other games on the go too. As for my OWN creativity, good grief. I love to write, but why is it I can't EVER take good auto-pics, (let alone create online games!) Tried to take some shots today. All horrible.

Either WAY too light,

MUCH too dark,

way too heavy on the devil red-eye,

insanely blurry & over-exposed, - ai carumba! I mean, come ON!  Just ONE decent shot please!!!!!!!!!

I friggin' give up. Books, instructions, tripods, photography, just NOT my forte!

I keep listening to Howard Stern on SIRIUS, talking about his current photography lessons, (when he's not swamped with America's Got Talent),

his Nikon, all his success with celebrity shots,

calendars featuring his gorgeous wife, Beth, you name it. Guess all it takes is money to finance major-league lessons. Not altogether true though. Howard can just do ANYTHING he puts his mind to.

This one was about the best I could do. Oh well. Whatever.

After all these failed attempts, headed off to visit Auntie Ray at Christie Gardens. Has been far too long since she's held court with me. This is the parking lot, on the way up to see her.

Sam loaned me his iPad, (after giving me a crash course lesson on how to use it - no easy feat, as I am severely iPad-challenged), so I could show Auntie Ray the "squirrel/porcupine" videos shot by my sister, Carrie. I had a sh**load of notes jotted down to try & follow to make this happen.

Miraculously, managed to put the contraption in front of Auntie Ray and actually SCREEN Prickles the Porcupine in action! I knew in my heart, she HAD to see the tribute to Uncle Ev, so lovingly and beautifully put together by Carrie. (between the two of us, I think we were Uncle Ev's BIGGEST fans).

 
 I kneeled beside Ray to watch the video "Imagine the Possibilities", (knowing she would be in tears by the end), when Carrie sings the number she composed and performed, in honour of Uncle Ev, and Stella, the squirrel. Yep, Auntie Ray cried. And so did I. Then I hugged her. Haven't even told CARRIE yet that I gave Auntie Ray a private screening! She raved on & on about Carrie's talent, as a singer, composer, puppeteer, voice artist, etc. And I second ALL of that in EVERY way. After the show, I took her down to the dining room, made sure she got seated for dinner, and cried when I left.

Ray Staples is a very special person. I love her.