Inn of the Wandering Dragon

I found a book on how to be invisible
Take a pinch of keyhole
And fold yourself up
You cut along the dotted line
You think inside out
And you're invisible

Eye of Braille
Hem of anorak
Stem of wallflower
Hair of doormat

I found a book on how to be invisible
On the edge of the labyrinth
Under a veil you must never lift
Pages you must never turn
In the labyrinth
You stand in front of a million doors
And each one holds a million more
Corridors that lead to the world
Of the invisible
Corridors that twist and turn
Corridors that blister and burn

Eye of Braille
Hem of anorak
Stem of wallflower
Hair of doormat
Is that the wind from the desert song?
Is that an autumn leaf falling?
Or is that you, walking home?

Is that the wind from the desert song?
Is that an autumn leaf falling?
Or is that you, walking home?
Is that a storm in the swimming pool?

You take a pinch of keyhole
And fold yourself up
You cut along the dotted lines
And think inside out
You jump 'round three times
You jump into the mirror
And you're invisible

Ahhh... Another batch of spicy soup has been cooked up! It is a vegetable base (mostly tomato) with nice sized chunks of fish making it a tasty and filling meal. In addition I have also stocked up on a few spices that were running low so I can get back to making some more curries. Plans are in the works for a new batch of chili - and it will be the good stuff this time as opposed to the watered down bland batch that stumbled in last time! I have been given an ice cream pail full of fresh garden tomatoes so I'm thinking some home-made pasta sauce could be in order as well, perhaps some salsa? I shall have to rummage through my cookbooks for some ideas!

The other half is not going to be happy with me but to be blunt I am tired of not eating the foods I enjoy just because he doesn't like them. And to be equally blunt, I can't live on his idea of meals ie. microwaved hot dogs and tortilla chips. For him food is simply fuel to be shoveled in before getting on with things. It is also something of a necessary evil as there are so many ingredients that he either refuses to eat or is unable to eat. For myself food is something to enjoy and explore, which would partially explain why he is skinny as a rail and I am not.

Regardless, after a long absence from any real culinary indulgence I shall be making a return to the kitchen. I do not make claims to be a fantastic chef but I do enjoy flavours and if nothing else, I know that there are a few people out there who do appreciate and enjoy what I come up with!

I am slowly trying to shake this cold that has nested in me for the past week. The weekend was too busy to really help in this but I have tomorrow off so with luck a quiet day (of sorts) will be just the thing for me.

I say (of sorts) because there is always the housework which our busy lives has put off until now, plus I will be stepping out to grab the last few things for my costume. The other half will be working late so we probably will not work out his costume until Saturday (sigh...). But regardless, I will have some quiet time to relax and revitalize myself for the comming week.


Chalk was definately happy to have me home again. When he wasn't chasing the string he was getting into everything I was doing, which included trying to "hide" in my drawers when I was trying to put stuff away! I admit, he's so cute that I just have to play along...

I'm just itching to carve my pumpkin but that will probably have to wait until friday. I really don't have much else in the way of Halloween decorations other than a few candles. We shall see if I find myself with the time and energy to create something.

After waiting for close to 2 hours I was called in to see the Crown Representative about the speeding ticket I received. He was suprised by my statement but it took him all of five minutes to look up the facts in his computer. Indeed, that was not my car. The whole issue has been cleared up and I can get on with life sans demerits and fines.

And after much debate, testing, fiddling and searching my landlord has found the problem with my car and with the replacement of one little sensor it runs just fine now. At least, it ran fine in the garage. My registration has lapsed so he hasn't taken it for a test drive. I'm going to renew the registration today so hopefully by the end of the week my car will have a clean bill of health so to speak.

Some things are finally looking up.

Yes, one of my favorite holidays is fast approaching! Halloween night there is the Green Fools Halloween Howl. A few friends and I will be going to this event and I am really looking forward to it.

Of course, where there is a Halloween party there must be - costumes! I have a pretty good idea for my own costume which should result in only a minimum amount of spending to complete it. All I need to complete the look is a hat and a sword, I have everything else.

As for the other half, who knows? He has no interest in Halloween at all and has declared that I need to come up with a costume for him. How typical is that? I figure we are going to hit the thrift stores to see what we can find.

One of my friends has the opinion that the costume you wear reflects what you want for the coming year. I had never thought of it that way before (I wonder what qualities a flaming hell cat would represent?). But for this year I think my costume reflects a search for adventure, fun and a touch of glamour. I can live with that!

I received a rather interesting article from the local police service this week, namely a speeding ticket!

It would seem that one of the many traffic cameras took a picture of this car traveling about 72 Km per hour in a 50 zone. The photo of the licence plate is clear - except for the very last digit. It is just blurry enough that it could be a six, or maybe an eight?

I honestly wonder if the cops just cover their bases and send out tickets to all the possible culprits?

But once I got over the shock of receiving a rather hefty ticket I looked more closely at the information. Naturally I am going to fight this.

1) I was at work in a different quadrant of the city during that time and I have a signed time sheet to prove it.

2) This is not my car. I do not own a Saturn, rather my licence plate is registered to a Nissan - and yes I still have my plate firmly attached to my car.

3) I can get a licenced mechanic to put forth a statement that my little car can't even reach the posted speed limit let alone go beyond that by 20 some clicks. As a bonus, it hasn't been able to that for over two months!

I'm laughing about it because really, what else can I do? I'm going to phone around and see if I can get this tossed without having to waste my time in court (and loose wages in the process). Wish me luck, I think I am going to need it!

This picture was taken about 72 hours after the paste was removed. The orange is completely shifted to the beautiful redish browns and I love it! Of course, this being the palm of my hand it is always flexing and moving. You can start to see the wear along the major lines of my palm where the skin is exfoliating a little bit faster than other areas.

From here the stain will slowly fade away. I haven't decided if I will take a picture of that or not

This picture was taken approximately 24 hours after the paste was removed. I have to say I'm happy with the colour I'm getting!

The flash has washed it out a bit but yes, the stain on my arm is much lighter than the stain on my hand. Why? Because where the skin is thicker (ie. callouses etc) it absorbs more dye from the henna.

This design was created by a very talented lady in the states who goes by the online name of Mountain Mehndi. She first posted it back in the spring with a joke about the sun seeming to have stage fright. I have always loved it and I finally decided to try it for myself. I figured it is appropriate considering the sun seems to be getting ready for a long winter's nap!

I would like to try variations of this with different seasonal elements at some point. I just have to work out how those elements will flow with the whole design.

And to clarify - these pictures taken last night show the henna design wth the paste still on the skin.

Yes, this about sums it up for me.