Left to right: John, Walter, Scott, Jeff, me, Iain (crouching).

The photo above was taken a few evenings ago when Jeff and some of his guy friends went out to celebrate one of their birthdays at a swanky steak place. They came back afterward, and I took some photos of them in their classy duds; you can see some of the pics in Walter’s Flickrfeed.

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Photo credit: S. Truuvert

Jeff and I were married 18 years ago today. We’ve been through our share of ups and downs over the years but as I mentioned a little while back, things have been “up” for a long time now. I’m happier with our relationship now than I’ve ever been, and things just keep getting better.

Every marriage is different, but here are some things I’ve learned along the way and from talking to other married couples. If you’re in a happy longterm relationship (married or no), feel free to share your experience as well!

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Went to see my friend Allison last night. She and John just came back from a lovely trip in Newfoundland. Lovely, that is, except for Allison breaking her wrist during a hiking excursion! Eek.

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Happy Father’s Day to all you dads all out there! Especially my own father. :-)

Before you dismiss the video above as just another heavy metal band video, give it a try. I discovered this song by New York hard-rock band Guyz Nite while looking for a Father’s Day song to post on my Blip.fm page. It didn’t look like my kind of music, but I was amused by the over-the-top opening scene in the video…and discovered that the song was much more entertaining and moving than I expected.

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Enjoyed meeting Beth on the weekend; she’s a friend of Jeff’s gaming buddies whom everyone had met online but not yet in person.

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On the weekend, Jeff and I attended the celebration of the 20th wedding anniversary of our friends Michelle and Tom. It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised; Jeff and I will have been married 18 years this year.

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Yay, the art I ordered from Beckett Gladney’s Etsy store arrived! It actually arrived a while ago, expertly packaged and looking even more gorgeous in real life than on the computer screen.

Beckett’s added more art and photos to her shop, by the way, so I encourage you all to go visit RIGHT NOW. Check out this gorgeous batik case:

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John and I got together yesterday with Patricia Storms at The Butler’s Pantry in the Annex. There was a lot of artsy talk, which was fun, as well as comics and kids’ books.

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Watched the season finale of Lost with Jeff and our friend John Kalisz. No spoilers in this entry, don’t worry. All I’ll say is that I keep getting more confused.

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My friend Beckett has (finally, yay!) launched her own Etsy store. Do go over and take a look…but don’t wait too long! She just opened her shop yesterday and over half of her inventory has already sold. Prices range from $5 and up.

(Photo I took of Brooke and John at OVFF in 2006)

Brooke Lunderville (John’s music partner and close friend) has posted an update about what happened yesterday. She says that if people post happy memories of John in her journal, she’d print them out to show his family.

Here’s what I posted:

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(Above: photo of John and Brooke by Alisa Garcia)

Just heard about the sudden and unexpected passing of John Caspell; I mentioned a few days ago that he was in a motorcycle accident, but he seemed to be recovering well. Thanks to those in the Filkhaven IRC for additional info.

The filk community is in shock. I last saw John (also known as Dr. Filk) at FilKONtario last month. I can’t believe he’s gone.

John Caspell and his music partner Brooke Lunderville were scheduled as Interfilk Guests at Concertino next month. [Update: madfilkentist says that Brooke will still attend the convention as the Interfilk guest: "By convention tradition, a guest who dies before the con is still a guest. Brooke said she's still coming, and honoring John's memory will be an important part of the con."]

My deepest condolences to Brooke, John’s family and his close friends.

Info being posted at:
Brooke’s LJ
Filk LJ community
Pondside’s LJ

Above: John and Brooke at FilKONtario.

Ack! Just found out from Allison that John Caspell was in a motorcycle accident a couple of days ago. Apparently he was hit by an SUV running a red light. :-(

He has broken some ribs, a tibia, and his foot; he’s waiting for foot surgery right now, I think.

You can find out more info in Brooke’s journal.

As I mentioned before, my music group (Urban Tapestry), were the Toastmasters at a local filk convention called FilKONtario. Part of the convention is devoted to “one-shots”, which are basically mini-concerts by anyone who wants to sign up, singing one song.

One of the sign-ups was a mysterious “Esty”, which turns out to be “S.T.”, short for Suburban Travesty. Apparently Dave Clement, Tom Jeffers and Walter had been conspiring for a while. The little sneaks.

Dave was Jodi, Tom was Allison, and Walter was me. Well…Walter carried out his threat of putting this on YouTube, and you can also find the lyrics to “Pretty FIlkers” (words by Walter! his first filk song!) at this YouTube page as well as on Flickr.

To Dave, Tom and Walter: you guys are SO doomed.

>:-)

So I woke up this morning and sleepily went downstairs to get some breakfast, but something caught my eye as I passed the living room, so I turned….and then saw THIS:

At first I just stood there, blinking like a cartoon character, wondering if I was still asleep.

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Above: Jumping on a frozen lake in northern Ontario this past winter. Photo by my sister.

(UPDATE March 30, 9:22 am: Thanks to those who have posted birthday greetings here, Facebook, e-mail, phone and in my Livejournal comments. Jeff took me to Mildred’s Temple Kitchen and I loved it. You can see photos of some of the lovely gifts I received from friends in my Flickrstream. Including a gift from Walter that made me cry.)

If I could go back to my 20-year-old self and asked myself what image came immediately to mind upon hearing the phrase “47-year-old woman,” I like would have responded with a heartlessly unflattering description involving polyester pants, wrinkles and hair curlers.

Now that I’m 47, I have to be amused at how wrong I was. Well, at least about the polyester and curlers.

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Many thanks to the concom, volunteers and guests at Consonance. I had a wonderful weekend — not only was there NO SNOW, but I got to hang out with friends I don’t normally get to see very often.

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A pirate-themed invite from my friend Adam English (website being revamped) and his lovely fiancee, Jolene. Pics posted here with permission.

The wedding date? Talk Like A Pirate Day, of course.

Check out the cake that my friend’s mom made for her birthday! The design is based partly on a Livejournal icon I made for Lissa ages ago:

I’m hugely tickled that something I drew got put on a cake. Lissa has the coolest mom.

If you tried to get into Blatherings earlier today and couldn’t, by the way, it’s because I stupidly let my Blatherings.com expire (!). Yes, I know. Everything should be back now, I think.

Got a package from my friend Sib, and it included a bunch of postcards like the one above. What a cool project idea!

If you go to http://www.in1000years.com, you can find out more about Sib’s postcard project and how to contribute. I’m going to be bringing a bunch of the cards to Consonance in a couple of weeks, so feel free to ask me for one!

More info about what else Sib’s package contained in a future Blathering…