Must be the Season of the Witch

A gang swarmed several people last night in my neighborhood, attacking them with a knife and some kind of metal object and robbing them. I wonder if it had anything to do with the few recent warm days, or with St. Patrick's day. I guess not wonder--hope. In my heart I'm hoping that they're drunken revelers from the suburbs come downtown on St. Patrick's day.
As an evening worker and a fan of late night walks in my hood (and taking the back roads) this worries me.
Also in the news, our friend Joseph Fritzl is in court. According to wikipedia, he is charged with: "rape, incest, kidnap, false imprisonment and slavery, which carry a maximum 20-year term."
Reading up on a similar case in Britain which did not involve imprisonment but did result in 19 pregnancies, I was puzzled. In the latter case, the defendant received 25 consecutive life sentences and must serve a minimum of 19.5 years in prison. Why do the charges against Fritzl only amount to a maximum of 20 years? He imprisoned his daughter and their children for 24 years. It will likely be impossible for some of them to have a normal life after what has happened to them. In some ways I think that several decades of rape and enslavement are worse crimes than murder. I know that life can't be returned once it's taken, but in essence, these lives were taken as well.

It's not a tumour

Or perhaps it is.
Fauna got out of the cage recently, and began acting strange shortly after.
The vet thinks she might have a tumor of the pituitary gland. From what I've read online of symptoms, I would tend to agree.

She's acting confused and very affectionate. Poorly coordinated. She presses her head against the wall and against my hand.

Prognosis: wait and see for now. And don't chastise me for getting attached. They are my first adult pets and so far it seems a lot like a first love situation. Gimme gimme gimme---ow ow ow...

Happy International Women's Day!

I hope you've taken a moment to think about your womanhood--about what you love and hate about being a woman, about how you enact your ladiness (or don't) and about the plight of your fellow double x-ers.

On such an important day, this woman is contemplating her vagina. It's not necessary to do this in order to fully enjoy I.W.D.

Seriously, though. This is a painting by one of my favourite Canadian artists, Alex Colville. It is a picture of his wife when they were younger, and it hangs in the AGO beside a more contemporary picture of her.
Her hair is grey. She is rounder in the belly, and looks to be retirement age. But you can feel her strong presence through the tempera on particle board (or whatever it is). It's quite obvious that he loves her and that she loves him.
But heterosexual romantic love is also not mandatory in order to enjoy this day. Have a good one!

I has a bored.

It's Friday night.
I'm removing old paint from my bedroom floor with nail polish remover. What the hell is going on.
How did I forget how to amuse myself? All I can think about is the schoolwork I have to do tomorrow.