I’m horribly addicted to my new iPod – not only is there the obvious convenience of having one small device to listen to music, read books and comics (just got the Thief of Always, which has some pretty great art) but I can also tune my guitar, record my ideas, jot down ideas for lyrics and paint – if you already have one you don’t need me to tell you how great it is. I am forever indebted to my big brother Pierre, who bought a new mac and gave me the free iPod that came with it.

My favorite apps of late are 4-track (although the Griffin smarttalk mic I bought one week ago is already broken, much to my extreme disappointment, so I’m going to have to look at a different brand) and Brushes. There was a time that I was making all my art digitally, but it just couldn’t compete with the tactile pleasure of traditional art (and my much – loved oil pastels) but this app might just have hooked me again. I guess I like painting with my fingers, and I like being able to just turn the screen around. My latest plan (I’m always full of plans) is making some comics (the canvas is a perfect panel size), in particular the one that I’ve had brewing for about a year now, about parenting.

Here’s some Brushes art:

So, hockey season starts next week – this has been my first break from hockey since starting to play the game 7 years ago, and suprisingly I didn’t miss it that much – in fact, at our practice last week when I heard that 4 players were going to miss our season opener , I had that familiar annoyed feeling. I know that there are work conflicts and injuries etc. but it was the thing that bothered me most last season, and in the ensuing spring season where we played with 8 players for the majority of it. But I started to feel a bit more excited about it after the practice, and then started feeling even more ready after the scrimmage I went to with Matt’s team, the Ultra Moroons. I love playing against men but only with these men (sometimes when someone invites a friend I feel a momentary nervousness because I don’t know how they’ll feel about women on the ice) and it’s the perfect wake up call for a new season. If I can defend against the men then I can do it against the women.

Vanessa told me afterwards that they started hating me on her team for being too rough and cheered when I got knocked down. I didn’t admit to her how much that hurt my feelings – they cheered? They think I’m too rough when they’re all a good foot taller than me? But a quick survey of some of her teammates (including Matt!) indicated that this was probably not the truth. Except maybe for Noah. Sorry for taking you out on the boards, Noah.