Random December

Before we get going on the monthly Link-o-Rama, there's a winner to announce. I asked my friend Andrew to pick a number between 1 and 36. For very good reasons, Andrew haven't been able to read the blog for a while, so he was as unbiased as they come. He picked comment #31, which is Emelie from Sweden. Congratulations, Emelie! Send me an email at landers5ATgmailDOTcom and we'll discuss prints and addresses.

From Trevor, a musing on the 1 in 7 Canadians who have a disability. Via Broadsides, a wonderful video celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reminding us exactly what those human rights are.

While we are in the Broadsides archives, a wee thing on imperfection and the quest for the impossible, all summed up in two photos.

I got my Seated View 2009 calendar last week and was again astonished by the quality - really thick paper stock, the photos turned out beautifully and no, this is not a hopeless attempt at a sales pitch (although, if you feel so inclined, you can buy it here - now, that was a hopeless attempt at a sales pitch). The reason I am bringing this up in so gauche a manner is this: as I was looking through the photographs, sort of impressed by how well the photos looked enlarged, I came upon December. Which makes it sound like that was a surprise, but given that it's the last month of the year and I was looking at a calendar… ? Moving on! December’s image is this one

Instead of getting a Christmas tree, I decorate my ficus - less expensive, less messy and keeps the cat from getting stuck as she plays with the ornaments - and it took me a couple months into the year until the sun hit my living room in just the right way to realize that when we stripped the tree, we'd forgotten something. The photo (taken using my trusty macro setting) is therefore entitled The Forgotten Ornament. It wasn't until I saw it blown up to an 8 x 10 that I realized the lovely subtle light on the wee glass ball looks that way because it's covered in dust. When cropped and enlarged, you can actually count the dust motes, which made me laugh like an idiot because now the title works in more than one way. Initially, I was a little embarrassed at having this image on my calendar, but I figure we're all so stressed out in December that having proof of other people's lack of attention to housekeeping might help justify ignoring it while doing other seasonal things. It'll be my Christmas gift to you next year. A-hem.

Test your Christmas knowledge.

A new show is coming to Toronto. Aga-Boom. Which appears to be an ENTIRE show with clowns. I may have mentioned they creep me out? Needless to say, I won’t be getting tickets. The thought alone is enough to make me curl up in a ball and suck my thumb.

Moving on to the animal section of this post, which should be helpful in blocking out the clowns. Baby moose encounter a sprinkler - imagine having that in your backyard! – from Trevor again, who also included what to do with a pile of puppies who won’t go to sleep. Then there’s Maru the Cat from Japan , The Broccoli Kitten and while we are on I Can Has Cheezburger, remember the Cosmic Feline? Think it looks like this when it plays with us? LynnM – still blogless, alas - sent a test that’ll tell you if you’re a Crazy Cat Person (3 guesses what my score was) and seasonally, Bailey the Unknown Reindeer made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe (works best with sound).

Sort of animal-related, DavidG (also blogless – will you people get going already?) sent me a fascinating scientific paper called Chicken. With a fantastic video presentation. And if that doesn't set you clucking... I mean, chuckling, I don't know what would.

Bling is out and personally, I'm relieved. I’ve always been of the opinion that you should wear your accessories, not the other way around. Let’s hope scent isn’t far behind so we can go back to subtle levels of perfume that allows the people around you to take in oxygen instead of the present trend in which one should apparently bathe in the stuff.

And ending this link-o-rama like we began, in the disability world, via a comment over at Beth’s (unfortunately, I can’t remember who posted it there, so I can't give credit where it's due - if anyone knows, please leave it in the comments), Monster in a Wheelchair. Play the song. Please play the song. That line halfway through about the step had me howling.