Allen & Ton

These 2 guys, Allen and Ton are my new addiction.

They are The Auction Hunters!

They are kind of like the guys on A&E's Storage Wars, only 100 times better.

I find Storage Wars is more about the bidders personalities and their conflicts

whereas The Auction Hunters is more about the

treasures they find and the profit they make.

Allen & Ton are knowledgeable about antiques, they take their

treasures to specific buyers and they are great at making deals.

Tonight, they traded 2 shot guns for a Grandfather Clock pendulum with

a guy in Texas that they called "W" due to his uncanny resemblance to GW Bush.

Good summer "guilty pleasure" TV.

Really?

It's as hot as stink today.

Everyone is walking, talking and thinking slower.

This morning, by the time I got out of the shower & got dressed, I was a hot mess.

Traveling to work on a hot city bus with A/C on but all the windows open,

I arrived at work looking like a hot mess.

Leaving work and waiting for a bus in the hot muggy crap outside, by the

time I got on the bus, I looked like a hot mess.

Walking from the bus stop to my front door completely soaked my back.

Eeeewwww disgusting.  Hot mess.

The second I got home, I put Crockett in the tub & splashed some cool water on his belly.

I then got in & enjoyed a tepid shower.

An hour later as Adam & I ate our salad and corn on the cob,

buttery hot mess.

At 9:30pm when I took Crockett out hoping it'd cooled down a bit...I was wrong.

I came back in, brow dripping, again, eeewwww... hot mess.

Jumped back in the shower.

9:45pm on the phone with Mom pissing & moaning about the heat.

Decide, (pardon my french) fuck it, lets put the A/C unit in the bedroom window.

I need to sleep & I can't leave home in the morning a hot mess.

It just sets me up for a bad day.

Here is the thing about our A/C unit; it is standard size.

Our window is oversize.

Until I can fix it up properly, we are certified 100% WHITE TRASH

with a garbage bag up at our window.

Truth is, I don't care. Right now anyway.

Tomorrow I will be mortified.

All I can hear in my head is that actor from Grace Under Fire when she played

Earl's mother and said repeatedly in a thick southern drawl, " Don't you judge me."



Can y'all hear the dueling banjo's rattling around my head?

Crockett is asleep and breathing normally and I sit here

typing, not looking like a hot mess, but rather a comfortable

gal in her jammies ready for a good night's sleep.

I'll take a photo & post it after I've figured out how to fix it!

 Actually,  looking at the above photo, I think I did a pretty good job!

I think the yellow duct tape is a nice touch along with the paper clips ;)

I am a resourceful girl, I'll give myself that!

Too Hot For Pugs

It is another beautiful sunny summer day here in Toronto,

ergo, it's too hot for Pugs.

Crockett & I went out for a walk, a slow walk.

We went around the edge of the park in the shade.

I stood still for about 10 minutes just listening to the sounds coming from this area.

I saw Robins collecting twigs, Chipmunks scurrying about and a Woodpecker

pecking at the base of a tree.  It was awesome.

Crockett got impatient so we moved along.

A great feeling when your dog looks back at you with what you interpret as a great big happy smile.

Striking a pose. Nose up, breathing in all the scents of the park.



We had a little sit down.

He wanted to cool off his warm belly on the cool grass.

When we got in, I placed him in the tub, gave him a sprinkle of cool water

and he was revitalized.

He ran around the apartment for a few minutes like a lunatic, which is standard

once he is freed from the bath.

Now, he's laying on the floor, completely asleep.

Dogs rule.

Super High to Super Low

All day today and pretty much for the last little while, I've been

walking around like a kid on Christmas Eve.

I've found it, at times, hard to contain my excitement over the release

of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II.

We were pretty close to the front of the line :)

Today, Adam & I went downtown to and saw it, in IMAX 3D.

It was everything I hoped for.

It was so well done.

I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I cried some more and I cheered some more.

The 3D glasses on my head made my glasses crooked & gave me crazy Mad Eye Moody looking eyes. Weird.

When it ended, I got really sad really fast.

The realization that that's it hit me hard.

Adam started talking to me during the credits, but I couldn't reply.

I was lost in my thoughts.

Reliving the film.

Comparing what they took or or did differently than the book.

Still now, 4 hours later, I'm still feeling very quiet.

I'm glad we saw it in 3D, but the glasses - special ones for IMAX -

were a pain. a slight tilt of the heat and.....blur.

Plus wearing glasses over glasses.....not so much.

I WILL see it again in the theater in regular 2D.

I will go alone because yes, Adam fell asleep.

I was so angry!

I kept pinching him.

The story never grabbed him, he hasn't read the books.

He said today he can't relate to any character

and that hearing the theme music - that he has heard a bagazillion

times from our DVD player - is a sleep tonic to him.

I can't really say anything else right now, it's still bouncing around in my head.

I am sad.

A Post That Moved Me.

This post today is not all from me.

The text in bold green font was directly from Rachael's blog:

Talk2TheTrees

She posted an answer to a question posed to the Dalai Lama.

It is one of the most common sense things I've read in awhile.

Rachael, besides being an artist, a hat maker and a pet owner, does post

some quite deep meaningful quotes.

I enjoy her blog daily.

When asked "What thing about humanity surprises you the most?", the Dalai Lama answered:

"Man…. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."

Things always don't go the way we planned.

Sometimes it seems that hope is lost.

It always bothered me when people would say,

"Well, there are people worse off than you all over the world,
what do you have to complain about?"

Here's the thing, I get that. I understand.

In the big picture, living where I live and having

the freedoms I have is a blessing.

I recognize that.

That doesn't mean that I am not entitled to not have a bad day.

It helps me to cope with the bad days knowing I'm blessed in so many other ways.

My life is not perfect. Far from it.

Whose life is perfect? Is there even such a thing?

The Dalai lama is a wonderful wise man.

I love listening to him speak.

His tone and delivery of words is so calming.

His smile is also adorably innocent for a man of his age & wisdom.

I am trying to focus on the now.

I forever used to think how great things would be "one day".

We have to work hard to make our "one days" become our "right nows".

Easier said than done.

Thanks Rachael :)

I Was Right!

I said Adam'd make a good Hagrid and I was right!

Adam has very kind eyes.

He even makes an ok Harry.



An odd looking Dumbledore



And a hilarious Snape!



Fill in the Blanks Wednesday

Prompts from: The Little Things We Do.

The Hobbit: Peter Jackson's Second Video Blog from the Set

I posted the First Video Blog Here.

So excited about this film.

ENJOY!

The Final Countdown

The countdown of course is for our boy wizard Harry.

I bought our tickets today online.

We are going all out & seeing it in an IMAX 3D Adventure.

Adam doesn't get it.  I am actually almost willing to wager that

he will, at some point, fall asleep during the film.

He did during the last two.

I've watched so many interviews of J.K Rowling and the cast and crew lately.

There was one I wish I'd bookmarked.

J.K Rowling said she didn't think the first book would have a big audience.

Sure, there'd be the obsessives, but not the masses that love the books.

I would characterize myself as an obsessive in this case.

I don't belong to any clubs or online groups.

Ok, I bought my awesome kick ass wand...

I've never dressed up for Halloween as a Harry Potter character.

If I did, it'd be Professor Trelawny ;)  She's awesome.

I think Adam'd make a perfect Hagrid.

He's kind and caring like Hagrid.

I can guarantee that a future family dog at some point will

either be named Dobby or Albus - depending on the breed.

But I digress.

I love the characters, the stories, the school, the portraits that move.

The MAGIC and all the Magical Creatures.

I also love that it's British.

While reading the first book, as Hagrid tapped on the wall out back of the

Leaky Cauldron, I was there.

I was 11 years old and I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

As a kid, my favourite stories were of other worlds or secret places.

Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

The Wizard of Oz (even though it was scary)

The Land of the Lost

The Secret Garden

Mary Poppins

Alice in Wonderland

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

As an adult, my tastes have remained the same in books and films.

I get lost in Middle Earth, often.

The Spiderwick Chronicles

Stardust

These stories, in a way have become my escape,

my relaxation, my inspiration and at times, my therapy.

A few years ago, I had pneumonia. A pneumonia that wouldn't go away.

After chest x-rays and CT scans, further tests and procedures were required.

Words like Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and lung nodules came up.

There were some weeks before my biopsy was scheduled where, for the first time, I

thought about my mortality.

My mind went 100 miles a minute for about 3 weeks.

If whatever was wrong with me wasn't going to kill me,

the stress I was causing myself surely would.

One of the thoughts I had was, " I won't know how Harry Potter ends."

See, the last book hadn't been published yet.

How odd is it, that I thought about that.

I thought about a million other things too, like would Adam re-marry?

Would my Mom be ok?

Would I ever get to see myself with a full head of grey hair?

Will I ever grow old?

Mostly, I was scared. Really scared.

That is when movies and books calmed me.

Took me out of the shit I was going through, even if it was for just 90 minutes.

That's why I love movies.

That's why I love books.

I am looking forward to seeing this final film.

I am incredibly sad that it is the last film.

The Boy Who Lived.

Saturday Morning Movie Fan

 Adam's sleep patterns have been off as of late.

By off, I mean, he comes to bed as I'm waking up.

I'm ready to spend time together & he's falling asleep.

When he gets up, he's ready to spend time together & I'm ready for sleep.

I don't know how folks who work night shifts do it.

Adam isn't working a night shift, he's just a little bit mental

and enjoys staying up all night.

Lately, I've been brightest early in the morning and by 8:00pm

I no longer function at full capacity.

This morning I think he rolled into bed around 5:00am.

I went to bed early-ish last night, so come 7:00am, I was wide awake.

The sun was brightly shining, the sky was blue and there was

a slight breeze.

Perfect Pug walking weather.

I splashed my face with water, brushed my teeth

(you never know, might bump into someone)

and took Crockett out.

He wasn't in a walking mood, he was in a sniffing mood.

He must've sniffed every blade of grass & leaf as he didn't move from

this spot for 5 minutes.

When I came back in, Adam was in a deep sleep snoring loudly.

I decided to go to the theater at Yonge & Eglinton as it's the last

Saturday of the Harry Potter Marathon and today's film is

The Deathly Hallows Part 1.

It started at 10:30am so I decided to walk down to the

theater, camera in hand and have a nice stroll.

I walked down on the shady side of the street & it was perfect.

I'm headed down to just past the tallest building that you can see in this photo.



I zoomed it & have circled the theater sign.

Google Maps says it is 1.5kms

I left home at 9:00am so I had plenty of time.

I had to stop for a coffee.

How crazy is this, there are 4 Starbucks between my apartment

and the theater. There are 2 more North of us, both within walking distance.

It was a perfect cuppa.

As I continued South, I looked up alot.

I noticed a nice design on a building that is being renovated inside.

Sadly, I can't remember what was there.

At least they're not messing with the exterior.

Also, some cool art in a frame shop window.

There's another tiny little store called Love Child that looks wedged between

2 buildings that sell the funkiest baby clothes, cool onesies and t-shirts.

I arrived at the theater well in time to be the first one in.

It filled up between 10:15am - 10:30am.

I was really happy I went, I enjoyed seeing it on the big

screen again.

When I left the theater, I noticed there was a HUGE cardboard poster.

I wasn't able to get a really good photo of it, but the one I did take

is posted as today's Project 365 photo.

I picked up some groceries on the way home and

have spent the rest of the day being quite lazy.

I am going to go to bed early again so that I can be up early again

tomorrow for another nice morning walk with Crockett.