It's been a long couple of months. I feel kind of like the critter above! Yes my hair is unkempt, I am pretty sure I forgot to brush my teeth and my neural networking capabilities ranks a big fat "0" on any sort of intelligence scale.

Going back to school has been akin to hitting a brick wall with all the finesse of a rocket. I am pretty sure I know how the bug who hit the windshield felt. You know the one that survives impact at 120km/hr? I looked like that leaving my Chem midterm last week! I passed but the class average was 43% . You don't need to be a fortune teller to know that one (or more) of my fellow students will experience the joy of being a Christmas Grad. this year!

They say animals such as cats have the ability to sense turmoil and stress in the people around them and some even say that their presence helps calm down individuals.

I am worried.

Cloudy, our feral cat turned house cat (during the winter months only..she is selective about it!) , who has successfully avoided me for several years (the feeling is mutual) has suddenly decided to become a lap ornament and even as I type now uses her tiny little claws to perforate...I mean knead me. The effect is anything but soothing.

Why would this beast who has shunned all forms of affection for four years suddenly decide that I am in need of some feline lovin'?

I admit her purring is rather nice but the needle like holes she is tattooing my arms and torso with could stop anytime now. The blood will be hard to wash from my clothes. I am pretty sure I'll get an infection from Lord knows what her little pussy cat toes have been treading in. Ughhh, not a nice visual!

Is it possible that she senses the stress that integrals and resonance and inference have created in my poor crumpled brain?

Or maybe she is getting in one last "see ya wouldn't wanna be ya!" jab in hopes that my spot in the bed will become her next snoozing spot?

Cats are kinda devious that way . I wouldn't put it past her.

Well little Puss will be disappointed because I plan on passing calculus and chemistry and statistics and whatever glorious form of higher education the college flings my way. I am pretty sure that once exams finally finish I will be holding down the bed for many hours as countless lost evenings are recovered in a haze of hopefully pleasant filled non mathematical dreams.

With my luck the cat will come back.

She'll sit on the floor beside my bed purring in a thunderous manner just out of pillow range and keep me from achieving that blissful state of unconsciousness called sleep.

I hear it is good for you. I might try it one of these days.

Just as soon as exams are over...and the cat learns to hate me again!

Julie 14x11 oil Portrait Commission

Remembrance day has come and gone.

I thought about how fleetingly we "celebrate" this day as I put my poppies away for yet another year.

This years Remembrance Day was dark and wet as a massive fall storm soaked our veterans with 90 mm+ of rain. One older veteran was interviewed stating that he thought the event should have been held outside so everyone could get a taste of what the soldiers endured day after day, year after year.

He sounded bitter, even if he had earned the right to voice his emotion, I felt his statement was harsh and misdirected. I watched the other people in attendance who laid wreaths in honour of family members long since past and was proud of the number of young people present. As Great Great Grandchildren laid memorials I realized that the youth of our Nation are keenly aware of what awaits them if Peace can not be achieved.

Awareness I believe is the first step in finding solutions.

This statement does little to help those who are currently serving our country but the awareness that we have soldiers throughout the world protecting those great great grandchildren calms my fears.

For the record, I would have stood in the rain to hear the ceremonies but I was pleased to be part of the standing room only crowd that filled the Church. There was no applause or raucous cheering to drive home the point that we support our troops but there were tears shed as the crowd stood in silence to remember those who served, are serving and will be serving.

God Bless those who serve.

Frankie

Guess Who?

Mummy

Spiderman

I know this is a few days late for Halloween but I couldn't resist.

Actually I am delaying the resumtion of homework. The mountianous chain I had is now just a single mountian and I have a good start on Stats, the calculations done for Chemistry and and really good idea for GIS. Calculus mercifully is not even on the radar today!

You want to know the sad thing? I carved literly hundreds of pumpkins while at the corn maze but my own pumpkins remain untouched, standing decoratively on my front step beside my kids "extreme" carvings.

After a few hours of mountian climbing I may just carve my pumpkins for kicks...even if I am fashionably late for the main event!!

Julie

Julie 14x11 Oil portrait Commission

I hope you have all survived another Halloween. We were able to fend off the hoards of trick or treaters that converged on our home. All three of them left with their knapsacks full. The young seem to be able to process the goodies better than I can and so I was glad to avert another hip enlarging event!

Todays painting is one of a duet. The second one will come later.

These paintings are the commission I mentioned several weeks ago about memorializing a lost friend. Julie, this lovely paint mare lived a long and happy life surrounded by many people and so the need for two paintings. I am not sure who ended up with which painting but I am told that everyone who saw them loved them.

I wish I could say the same for calculus. My mind has made that change in state from solid matter to liquid. I am pretty sure every time I shake my head in confusion I am losing IQ points as any and all neurons escape my ear canals. My poor mind is just hoping to survive this wondrous experience with enough skills to qualify to make french fries at the local Burger Joint.

They say what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Wow, I never thought I would live to see that adage played out in real life much less my own.

Here's hoping I have Herculean strength ....and I still look like a girl at the end of it all!