I emailed about writing for BlogTO and they emailed back, interested. They asked what sort of posts I would contribute to the site. I could have come up with more but this is the reply I sent this afternoon. Posting it here just to amuse you.

I have a lot of interests in art, history and culture. I have been taking photos of abandoned farmhouses but I really like old buildings in general. I'm looking forward to getting pictures of old buildings in Toronto, derelict, run down or not. Union Station is high on my list. I have some of the photos I have done on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatgrrl/ Most urban explorers want to get inside tunnels and such but I prefer the outside of the building. Besides, it is too dangerous to go into ruined farmhouses where the floor has partially caved in.

I have been looking at local (Toronto) groups for my personal interests, as well as the urban explorations groups I have found groups for postcard collectors, crochet and crafters, illustrators and others which I can't think of right now. I'm also interested in women in small or home businesses. I attempted to begin one myself last year but plans fell through, mainly a money thing. I like history, inventive and odd art forms. I'm not into music other than whatever comes on the radio. I really like small publishing. I attended CanZine in October even though I arrived far too early. (I thought it would take me a lot longer to get there).

Other than that I don't know what will come along. I'm not a heavy duty planner. I am writing a bit about technology and creativity for LockerGnome. I have a personal blog which is more like a scrapbook of junk with scattered journal posts. I like to meet people and hope to get out doing something each week. I'm job hunting right now so it has to be freebie events for now. :) I enjoy cultural events and now that I am down here I will find more along the lines of the German Xmas thing which I know is coming up soon.

Hope I fit in somewhere. I would really like to be a part of BlogTO. It would be a great way for me to get to know the city and not let myself be too shy about getting out socially. I can blab with anyone but at times I am a bookworm at heart.

Susan Ward writes the Small Business in Canada topic at About.com She has posted an article listing the top ten home businesses. I think she bit off a bit much by calling it 'Now and Tomorrow'. Tomorrow can change pretty fast while that article is going to be pretty dated in no time at all.

Here is the list: (squished, if you want to read it in full click the link back).

1. Home Renovation Services\
2. Pet-Based Products\
3. Catering Services\
4. Cleaning Services\
5. Fall Prevention Products\
6. Wedding Consultant/Planner Services (Event Planner for short)\
7. Dietary Consultant Services\
8. In-Home Beauty Services (Personal Trainer included here?)\
9. Sewing and Alteration Services\
10. Life/Business Coaching Services

I would add Personal Shopper/ Concierge Services and Image/ Etiquette Consultants and Personal Organizers to this list. That's one I thought of while reading it. Maybe Virtual Assistants too, that covers a lot but it's often work outside of the home while the others focus on home life for the client.

Interesting how almost all of these are personal services. Things a housewife used to do when it was still traditional for women to stay at home keeping the house clean, kids fed and so on. Women have changed the world in a lot of ways. I wonder if anyone ever saw this coming? It's ironic that women are the ones who start up most of these kind of small businesses.

Should it enter your mind, I am not saying women should stay at home or all start small businesses.

I am moved. Right now I'm back at the old place to help out my Mom. The hot water heater broke and the basement got pretty flooded. The septic tank is also having problems. We just had it fixed but they said a tree root has been growing in the main pipe outside. It seems to be back again and we are replacing the pipe this time. So a lot of water problems.

I just received the kit to set up the Internet at the Beaches but didn't have time to finish installing and fixing up the hardware. So I won't be online till after the weekend. Just a quickie to wave hello from no where.

PS- I went to CanZine! Will write about it later.

There's an exciting title. Still here; leaving soon. Bringing stuff downstairs to pack into the car. You know you're really moving elsewhere when you strip your bed and don't intend to put new sheets on it.

CanZine is on Sunday Maybe I will be able to go. Money is really tight but I will have a few bus tokens. Admission is only $5 and, other than coffee, I wouldn't really need to buy anything else. I do need to get out to buy the bus pass so I could make a day trip out of the whole thing.

This came from Skye (an online friend) who was tagged with this kind of touchy feely thing.

Tell me 1 piece of information about yourself that I really should never know.

I'm not wearing any underwear right now.

Tell me 2 colors that you would never ever ever wear.

Puke green and puke yellow. I wear every colour so this was a silly question.

Tell me 3 things that you love to eat.

Cheesecake, ice cream and barely cooked steak.

Tell me 4 things that you would never ever serve to a guest at your dinner table.

Crawling caterpillars, cow eyes, plastic furniture or human beings (not living ones anyway).

Tell me 5 things that you keep forgetting to buy from the supermarket.

Nothing I can think of, I usually make a list ahead of time.

Tell me 6 things about the autumn that you love.

• It's cool after summer which is too hot.
• I like the way Autumn is spelled, so many people forget how to spell words with silent letters.
• Leaves, all the colours: green, red, burgundy, yellow, gold, orange and so on.
• Kids go back to school and we have the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) not to mention all the Fall Fairs and Festivals in towns all over Ontario.
• Someone said October is a lucky/ good month for me. I'm not sure why.
• My nephew and my sister both have birthdays in the Fall and it's the time for Halloween!

Tell me 7 things that you value about your family.

This is way too complicated and mushy/ fluffy.

Tell me 8 things that you like to watch on TV.

• Some of the commercials are good. I like watching a guy I knew from school appear on various commercials, he's in one for Rogers now.
• Dust and dust bunnies. I just don't clean around there as often as I should. But they are kind of interesting and don't you almost hate to destroy their little dusty empires?
• I used to watch the Gilmore Girls. I haven't seen it for years now.
• Sometimes I watch Medium or Ghost Whisperer but they are about ghosts and that's a bit touchy with me. I don't enjoy being scared and I do believe in ghosts.
• I watch YTV (the TV station) when my nephew is visiting. Some of those shows are actually good. I don't look for them when he's not here though.
• I watch Canadian Idol when it comes on.
• I have begun watching Deal or No Deal.
• I like watching a lot of science fiction but when you live with someone who really doesn't like it you tend to miss a lot more than you see.

Tell me 9 things that you loved about school.

I barely remember school. I liked walking to and from school, kids miss that these days. I liked most of the classes: history, literature, geography, English. I came to enjoy exams and tests once I realized they were as much fun as those personality tests I am still addicted to online. That's about it. I had some friends but most of the time I was a loner. I dropped out of high school a few times.

Tell me 10 of the little things that you love about life.

• It's always there. No matter what the last hour was like or how busy yesterday was, the next day always comes - as long as you wake up for it.
• There are endless things to learn and explore. It's like living in an encyclopedia.
• It comes in a great range of colours.
• Rain, rocks, nature in general. Storms and weather in general.
• Plants, nothing can be too terrible if you can go outside or look out a window or your kitchen table even and see a plant growing. I'm a closet tree hugger.
• Being able to use my body. Just having fingers, legs, eyes... it's really amazing and we should not forget or take any of it for granted.
• A smile. One smile has a huge amount of power. Not everyone really has this figured out. Some go around in a grump all the time, I feel sorry for them.
• Humour, any kind of humour that is really funny and clever but not the kind that hurts or cuts up other people.
• People, sometimes I think I'd like to have the world to myself but in reality the world would be far different and missing so many things if there weren't other people around. It's not the famous people who count its the everyday people who deliver your newspaper, cook your eggs the way you like and drive the bus who really make the world go around.
• Just being here at all. It's such a miracle that each of us were ever born. Think about all the combinations of people who built up to your creation. If anyone had done something differently you wouldn't have been born. Some other warm body would be living your life, or many no one at all. Give thanks to your ancestors. Not just the sex part (I know a lot of people will think that's all there is to it).