Wheel In The Sky Keeps On Turnin'

What a great hamster
Who knew one could be a muse?
My sweet boy Ami

Ami came to live with me on February 14, 2006. He was the first hamster I ever had as a pet. I learned a lot from Ami and he inspired my creativity in ways I could never have predicted. My photography skills improved, I self-published my first book, Hamster Haiku, and I've made and sold various hamster related crafts. Ami made me happy with his simple, funny ways. And don't forget, he was a two-time hamster ball derby champion!



Ami died sometime in the early hours of September 21, 2008. He was simply old and his heart stopped. There appeared to be no trauma and no suffering. Lately, he had been sleeping more and slowing down, as is expected for an elderly hamster. I feel like I gave him a good life and he gave much more to me than he could ever know. His tiny paw prints definitely left a mark on my heart and I miss him terribly.



Actual hat. Not photoshopped!

Click here if you'd like to see more photos of Ami.

Good Things

I've certainly had a weekend full of distractions from my previous week-from-hell at work. I'd be lying if I said things were 100% perfect over that past few days, but isn't that life? Among some expected unpleasantness, there were many, many good things.

E and I enjoyed the annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday night. I always enjoy the program as I am pretty ignorant about most classical music, but do recognize quite a bit of Tchaikovsky's pieces. Every year, the evening ends with the orchestra playing his 1812 Overture, accompanied by the USC Trojan Marching Band, and some glorious fireworks. If you are in or near L.A. and haven't seen a pyrotechnics show at the Bowl, I recommend it.

I had planned on getting an early start on Saturday and possibly checking out this month's Felt Club with a friend. That didn't quite work out, mostly because I was feeling very ill from an antibiotic I'm currently taking.* E and I did stop by the craft fair, very briefly, much later in the day. I was distracted by another objective though, which was to find out if Meltdown would consider my book for its self-published section. Much to my surprise, the buyer took a quick look and said he'd buy three copies from me. I got really excited and subsequently turned off my brain. Only after E and I did some calculating, did I realize that I'd actually paid the store a small fee to sell Hamster Haiku. Oh well...my book is for sale at Meltdown!!!

After leaving Meltdown, we took a quick detour down to Melrose for a quick slice at Albano's, our favorite place for pizza in L.A. Luckily, it agreed with my troubled gut.

We'd purchased tickets in advance for Miranda July's show at the Steve Allen Theater for Saturday night. It was a fun and very interactive show. In fact, E and I were picked near the beginning of the show to participate (one of my worst nightmares!) and it actually turned out okay. Our selection was based on us being the couple in the audience who had been together the longest. We were whisked out of the theater, given ill-fitting shirts to put on over our clothes, and brought on stage with Miranda where we answered questions about how we met. Her assistants then led us to the backstage area where there was a bed. They instructed us to lie in various positions (spooning, back-to-back, etc) with our eyes closed. There was a video camera above us and we were being broadcast onto a screen onstage while Miranda told a story relating to us (we were 'Donny' and 'Fiona'). Back in our seats, we enjoyed the rest of the multimedia program, which continued to tell Donny and Fiona's story. The groovy thing was that at the very end, Miranda wrapped up the story by bringing it around to our story, complete with details we had shared while up on stage. Initially, when we were chosen to participate, I was mortified, but it ended up being very cool. We even chatted with Miranda briefly afterwards and she seemed quite pleased with our "performance." Apparently, several people thought we were actors who were just part of the show.

After the theater event, we ended up going to a low-key party to see a friend of ours who lives in England, but was in town visiting family. It was good to catch up, not only with her, but with some of her other friends that we haven't seen since she moved.

I slept in later than planned on Sunday. I did manage to get up and take care of some chores and errands. It was a beautiful, cloudless day, but we didn't make it outside until nearly 5pm. We did take a nice walk around the neighborhood though for about an hour-and-a-half. Then we hopped in the car and went to Asssscat, a free improv show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Even though E and I were, by far, two of the oldest people in the mostly college-age crowd, it was a good time with lots of laughs.

Yes, I'm tired and up late again, but I am off from work Monday. Another good thing.

*Part of me my** hellish week was contracting some random infection in one of my fingers, which continued swelling and being quite painful.

**What the hell? I've turned into a pirate or a leprechaun!

Happy Birthday Dear Blog!

A year has come and gone here on my blog. I've thought about what I might want to post in celebration, but haven't come up with any great ideas. So, instead, I'll do a little self-promotion.

Tomorrow we leave for our annual trip to the San Diego Comic Con. I'm not even sure how many years I've been attending now, but it's been over 5 (and less than 10). And to think that the first time I went, for one day only, I was kicking and screaming, "...but I don't even like comic books!!!" Now, all these years later, we go for the entire convention and I invariably buy more comics than my geeky husband! This will be our first time attending "Preview Night," as our attempt to do so last year was thwarted by travel delays I experienced coming home from a trip to New York.

This year's SDCC experience is sure to be something completely different. My dear friend, Ren, informed me that she and another friend of ours would be getting a table at the show this year. She invited me to add anything I want to their merchandise. One idea she came up with was buttons, since I have a button maker. Being the fabulous illustrator that she is, Ren came up with some designs and presto!, we have buttons for the table.

I started toying with the idea of doing some sort of book. At one point, I was going to create two books, but reality took hold. The process was long and somewhat arduous, but I ended up making a book. A comic book size book that I published independently through a company called Lulu. I have the book in hand and am quite pleased with how it turned out. I had to get a rush order and did not have time to get a proof, due to my illness and other technical delays. All seems to be in order though and I will have copies of Hamster Haiku for sale at the Tired Girl Collective table.


Happy Birthday, Snarky Dork! I hope to see some of you in San Diego!

**Thanks to my sister for the first official sale of my book!**

Hamster Haiku

Rolling in your ball

Your cute, fluffy butt wiggles
Run Ami-ham, run