Happy New Year!!!!

Planet Nilknarf
January 2010
 January Birthdays

1. _________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________
4. _________________________________________________
5. _________________________________________________
6. _________________________________________________
7. _________________________________________________
8. _________________________________________________
9. _________________________________________________
10. _________________________________________________
11. _________________________________________________
12. _________________________________________________
13. _________________________________________________
14. _________________________________________________
15._________________________________________________
16._________________________________________________
17._________________________________________________
18._________________________________________________
19._________________________________________________
20._________________________________________________
21._________________________________________________
22._________________________________________________
23._________________________________________________
24._________________________________________________
25._________________________________________________
26._________________________________________________
27._________________________________________________
28._________________________________________________
29._________________________________________________
30._________________________________________________
31._________________________________________________
 Message From the Editor

Happy New Year!!!!

“How lovely on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news...”
I know these words are somewhere in the Bible but I don't know where and even on-line
searches are of little or no help in this situation. Nevertheless, I've got new shoes and lots of
good news! Dave bought me these new shoes the day before our local Santa Claus parade. I
haven't been this excited about new shoes since two summers ago when I got those two pairs
of Crocs from Pickering Town Centre, a pink pair and a purple pair! I wore both those pairs
until I wore them right out. The purple ones ended up in the garbage as I wore a hole right
through the sole of the right one, but I still have enough mileage in the pink ones for the
occasional dash outside to bring in the newspaper or take out the trash.

When I think about it, shoes play an important part in life. Imelda Marcus had thousands of
pairs. In fact she probably held the world record for more pairs of shoes than anyone else in
the world. And I was shocked and actually kind of disgusted to learn that Justin Timberlake
owned over 500 pairs of sneakers! That's more pairs of sneakers than one person can wear
in a year, while there are thousands, no even MILLIONS of children all over the world who are
starving with no food or clothing, let alone a pair of shoes to their names! If I were as rich and
famous as Justin Timberlake, I'd be using most of that money I make to feed and clothe all
these children!

While we are on the subject of shoes, it has been a tradition for several years that every time
my mom goes to Holland, she usually comes back with a really cool pair of shoes for me.
When we were there together in 1990, she bought me this gorgeous pair of pumps made out
of fabric with red and yellow tulips. I don't think I have them anymore because I can't wear
pumps anymore. When I was in my early 20's I could dance the night away in 4”stilettos, but
nowadays I can't stand any kind of heel. Anyway, when she came back from her 1993 trip,
she returned with these gorgeous black sneakers that were lavishly decorated with silver and
gold machine embroidery. They came with a choice of ordinary white laces or gold ribbon. I
chose the ribbon. I wore those shoes until they wore right out. Janette and I had just left the
house to go somewhere and when I bent down to tighten my laces, the side of one of those
shoes just went RRRRRRIIIIPPP!!!!

The next shoes mom brought me from Holland were blue with red and yellow flowers and
they didn't last very long.

Then in 2001, she brought me these wonderful red synthetic snake skin sandals. They looked
like Birkenstocks, but they weren't. Those shoes had a rather bloody initiation as that was the
day I'd been notified I was evicted from my apartment and when my landlady was talking to
me I stepped on a sharp piece of gravel in my apartment. But it didn't go into the foot I
stepped on it with. It stuck to the bottom of my left foot and I scraped the top of my right foot
with it. I received a rather nasty L-shaped cut. The bleeding stopped for awhile but when I put
those sandals on the cut popped open again and bled like crazy and that night I ended up at
the hospital to get stitches. The worst part was they didn't want to treat me. They sent me to a
walk-in clinic that conveniently closed its doors at 8:00, the moment I arrived there so I had to
go back to the hospital again and didn't get my stitches until midnight.

Then there was another time shortly after that, those same shoes survived being doused with
a gallon of orange juice when my mom returned from a church meeting and tripped with a big
jug.

I wore those shoes a lot. In fact I wore those shoes on my first date with Dave when we saw
Mandy Patinken in concert. I wore them with my Victory Socks, which are deliberately
mismatched. The Victory Socks are another story in themselves.

On mom's penultimate trip to Holland she came back with a different pair of sandals for me
that were sort of a taupe/khaki suede. Not quite as pretty as any of my previous pairs, but at
least they're very comfortable.

Last time she was in Holland she hardly got to shop at all so there were no shoes for me this
time. But that's okay. With all this talk about shoes and Holland, you're probably wondering if
I've ever owned a pair of WOODEN SHOES. The answer to that is a heartfelt “YES!” I had a
pair of kleine klompen when I was five and a larger pair when I was ten. Somewhere there's
a picture of me more recently trying on a pair at the Dutch store at Niagara Falls.

My newest shoes are special because aside from being my first new running shoes in at least
four years, I was attracted to the cute black-and-white polka-dot trim and pink lettering. Also,
it's not very often I try on the first pair of shoes and they fit comfortable. Normally I hate
shopping for shoes because I have such wide feet! Shoes from Holland always fit because in
Europe they actually recognize the fact that many women have wide feet. Anyway, here I was
in Zellers with the perfect shoes the first time and Dave also let me pick out these cute, funky
shoelaces with these smiley faces.

The next picture on that page is of my certificate for completing the “Compassion in Action”
course. That was one amazing program with so many fascinating stories I wish I could
remember them all. I think this is an excellent programme and I would highly recommend it to
anyone. Classes like this should be taught in school Felicia said in this course that we are all
kind by nature but I don't know. In this day and age, kindness is a rare thing. It doesn't come
as naturally as it used to. We all need to slow down and learn to listen without judging. We all
need to learn how to show that we care without giving unsolicited advice.

That same day I also took a seminar about languages. It was fascinating and I had a great
time participating in the discussion and sharing stories from my own experience.

On Sunday, November 29th, I went to Toronto to the Museum of Childhood's general annual
meeting. It was wonderful to finally meet Loet Vos for the first time! In the short time we've
known each other, I've come to think of her as one of my dearest friends and up until this day
we've only spoken on the phone. We share much in common including a Dutch background
and a love for carousels.

I remember one of our first conversations when she mentioned that during her childhood in
Holland she had ridden a carousel that had MUSHROOMS! I had written a letter to the
Carousel News & Trader for information about such a thing as I couldn't find any pictures on
the Internet and Idius Felix was happy to oblige by providing me with a few pictures of early
switchback machines including one called “Hobbeltje Gheits” or “rocking goats”.
And of course, this inspired me to create this drawing in my art class:

At our meeting that day we also had a very interesting guest speaker, Sasha Grigorieva, from
the Julia Child cooking school. She spoke about the origin of Christmas traditions and
Christmas in other countries as well as providing us with a variety of tasty treats to sample
including both Dutch and German Peppernuts. The difference between the two is that
German Peppernuts are actually made with pepper and they're a bit softer and doughier. The
Dutch ones are actually gingerbread. I've had the Dutch ones before. They are also called
“Moppies” although nobody used that word that day. We also had a drink called “Lamb's
Wool” which consists of mulled cider topped by a frothy, lumpy apple sauce which you eat
with a spoon. One thing I would like to start doing in issues of Planet Nilknarf from here on is
providing different recipes every month , starting with tis recipe for German Peppernuts;

German Peppernuts (Pfeffernusse)

300 ml honey, 150 g sugar, 300 g butter, 700 g flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground
cinnamon. ¼ tsp each ground white pepper, cardamom and cloves, zest of one orange and
one lemon, icing (juice of one lemon and 300 g icing sugar)

Heat butter with honey and sugar in big pot, bring to a boil and let the mixture cool a little. Stir
in flour with spices ad backing powder, knead well. Roll smallish balls of dough (3 cm in
diameter) and put into preheated (360F) oven on a lightly greased baking tray. Bake for about
20 minutes till done. (they shouldn't colour too much). Mix lemon juice with icing sugar and
glaze peppernuts with this mixture while they are still warm. Let peppernuts cool. Do not
panic, they'll become quite hard. Put away in tightly closed tins or jars ad forget for two or
three weeks. After that time they'll become soft and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. They'll keep
fresh at room temperature for months—if they get a chance, that is!

While I was there I gave Loet a carousel horse and one of the dolls I've made and showed
her the quilt I've been working on. Since that picture was taken I've actually trimmed the
borders of my squares in half to make the quilt a bit smaller.

I had a wonderful surprise when I came home that evening even though I did not get to see it
until at least three in the morning because Dave and I were up late watching Star Wars
movies. I opened my bedroom door to discover this fantastic KISS “Destroyer” blanket on my
bed!!!

Upcoming Events:
I was delighted to recently be informed that the Silver Beach Carousel opens to the public on
New Year's Day! Even though I can't be there unless a miracle happens, information can be
found here:

http://www.silverbeachcarousel.com/

And I was just informed by Iris Gray that there's a wonderful new carousel opening RIGHT
NOW in Vancouver at Butchart Gardens! December 1at was opening day and they were
giving free rides to the public!

http://www.butchartgardens.com/the-gardens/rose-carousel/rose-carousel.html

Birthday Calendar Project

On the third page of this issue, you probably saw the first page of our new regular feature, the
monthly Birthday Calendar. Our winner, by default, is Janette Tansley with her wonderful idea
of featuring a different theme every month. Since her birthday is in January, we agreed to kick
off the project with her favorite thing: Ladybugs!!!

We open this forum to invite the rest of you readers out there to suggest themes for the
upcoming months in future issues of Planet Nilknarf!!

Autism Awareness Carousel Update

I have good news and bad news. First the good news: We have LOTS of new pictures!! Now
the bad news: they ALL forgot to include their NAMES!! But I'm grateful for their submissions
anyway.

I am also feeling rather melancholy lately as this project hasn't exactly been “cupcakes and
sprinkles” these days. Our most recent meeting has been a pathetic fiasco. None of our
committee meetings showed up on December 3rd. It was just me and Tiffany and the basic
gist of our meeting is that I might as well forget about this stupid project and get a real job. I
feel like nobody really cares and I'm just wasting my time, yet I can't give up. It's like a
constant tug-o-war going on within me. One voice keeps telling me “Forget it, You're wasting
your time, nobody cares, yadayadayada..” while the other tells me to hang in there and keep
going. Unfortunately the negative voice telling me to screw it seems to be yelling louder.

I'll just talk back to it and tell it where to SHOVE IT and show you my latest pictures
anyway...!!!

I must say, though, the scanner does not do some of these magnificent colours justice,
especially the neon stripes on this magnificent S&G-style stander:
And you really gotta love the roller skates on “Magenta!!!

The pencil-crayon strokes in most of these kids' drawings remind me a lot of natural wood
grain, so when and if we ever make the actual horses, instead of traditional primer and paint, I
would like to do them in a translucent stain that allows the natural pattern of the wood grain to
show through. I'll show you the rest of these horses in next month's issue. Meanwhile, here's
the latest buzz about the Quilting Bee:
(Previous Page:) Janette's Gas Sign horse celebrates her fascination with Petroliana
(Below:) “Paint”, the children's favorite horse from the Missoula, Montana carousel salutes my
recognition of the community carousel people who have provided me with helpful information:

Last but not least, Ethan MacDonald's horse:

I find that creating embroidered versions of the submissions I've received so far brings each
one closer to life. The colour and texture give me an even closer idea of what the finished
product will look like and inspire me as to what materials we should use to create each horse.

Perhaps the next step might be for me to create scale models out of balsa wood. Too bad I
don't have room for an actual miniature platform to show where each horse will go on the
completed carousel. I reckon such a thing would be about as wide as my kitchen table!!!

Now, as usual, is another horse for you to decorate:

And for further inspiration....the continuing coverage of (insert dramatic and exciting music
here: DANT-DA-DA-DAAAAA!!!....)

2009 NCA Convention in Philadelphia

When last we left I was talking about Ed Roth's carousel being built in Pottstown.
Here are some pictures of the animals in the workshop:

The next day we went to Dorney Park to ride this beautiful Dentzel?Muller carousel:

As Doo-Wop architecture is another one of my interests, I couldn't resist taking a picture of

this funky, 50's-style diner:
The next place we visited that day was the early stationary Dentzel carousel at Weona Park in
Pen Argyl. The name of this place literally comes from the phrase “We own a park!”

I don't think I remember writing this down in my story but I couldn't help but notice the
fascinating difference between each giraffe's mane!! It's impossible to see in this picture
though.

Our next stop that day was Henry Mercer's concrete castle in Fonthill:

Although it reminded me of Hogwarts Academy, I didn't stay in there very long because I
found it kind of cramped with so many people. At least I wasn't the only one to opt out of the
rest of the tour as several others decided they wanted a break at that time. It was a gorgeous
day and we enjoyed sitting outside, me with the second (or was it the third?) Harry Potter
book!!!

I'll share the next tray of tidbits in next month's issue! Stay tuned.

Now let's see where else the Travelling Dolls have visited...!!!

Clockwise from upper left: On the “Barbie” horse at Soupy Island, on the giraffe's ears at
Weona Park, on a purple pony on a pedal-powered carousel (try saying that three times
fast!!!) at Arnold's Family Fun Centre!

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

“Bad ideas are like Playground Scapegoats. With the right encouragement they can
grow up to become geniuses” - Cathrine from Under the Tuscan Sun

“I've seen my future and it is needlepoint and Double-A batteries in Bulk” - Amanda on
Ugly Betty

“It was the best of ties, it was the worst of times.”

The opening quote of Charles' Dickens A Tale of Two Cities can best be said to sum up this
past year year. 2009 has been a year of radical contrasts. It has been a year of agony and
ecstasy. Because of my health problems and financial struggles it has been one of the worst
summers of my life. However, because of the KISS concert and being able to attend both
carousel conventions, it has been a year of wish fulfillment as well.

With this being the new year, many people, myself included, usually make New Year's
Resolutions. And, more often than not, we usually end up breaking them. Many people
resolve to lose weight. I suppose I could, but instead I resolve to eat less junk food and
exercise more. That way, weight loss will be a fringe benefit, rather than a specific goal. Then
again, with my f****ed-up metabolism, diet and exercise might as well be total starvation and
perpetual motion. I tried that for a month and I was totally miserable. Anything that keeps me
away from my artwork makes me a total bitch!

I resolve that in 2010 I won't gross my readers out by writing about my icky, squicky health
problems. Then again I'd like to resolve not to HAVE any in the first place, but I can't control
what happens to my own body. So please pray that nothing like that ever happens to me
again. At least I learned not to be afraid of male doctors. Some of them can actually be quite
pleasant and gentle. And I'm not afraid of surgery now that I know what ti expect. Before that
fateful weekend I had never been unconscious in my life. I've never fainted and until then I'd
never been under general anesthetic. I actually kind of enjoyed the experience. I can see why
Michael Jackson wanted it so badly for his insomnia. It was the first decent sleep I'd had that
week and I wouldn't be surprised if I was so exhausted I conked out before the gas even
kicked in!

I also need something else to be interested in besides merry-go-rounds. I'd like to get back
into my music and spend at least an hour a day practicing. I also need to admit defeat and
find a real job.

In 2010, I'd like to learn at least one or two new things, maybe take up a sport or learn
another language. I've sometimes entertained the idea of taking up martial arts such as judo
or karate. As for foreign languages, I know bits and pieces of French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
and German, but I'd like to become more fluent in at least one of them. Perhaps I'll dig up
those old Dutch tapes and study from where I left off.

Folks, if you want the Autism Awareness Carousel idea to survive, PLEASE buy my
merchandise: T-shirts, teddy bears, carousel horses, etc. I need all the help I can get. I don't
want to have to give up and admit defeat and forget about the whole project!

Which brings me to my most important New Year's Resolution:

I will NOT spend whatever money I make for the carousel on ANYTHING ELSE other than
what it was intended for. Easier said than done, though. As long as the following things DON'T
happen again:
1. Please pray that I don't get sick like I did this year and have to spend nearly every
other week travelling back and forth to Toronto to have to see my doctor. Even cab fare
to the Glacier clinic and back costs the same!!
2. No more THEIVES pinching money from my cash box when I'm not looking.
3. May KISS not come back to Oshawa again for a long, long time. Thanks to their
concert, I basically have NOTHING left!!! There was no way I could have stayed home
moping knowing they were in town with me not being there. I grabbed all the money I
had around the house, seriously not thinking I'd actually make it to see them for real!!!
It was worth every penny but I hope it never happens again.
If I am going to build the carousel I will probably have to do it one horse at a time and then
display that first horse or two somewhere where everyone will see it. I know I'd like to put
Janette's Gas Sign horse in the Automotive Museum and any other horse I create in the art
gallery or library.

Amanda's quote about needlepoint and AA batteries in bulk reminded me very much of my
OWN life. However when I mentioned this to my husband he reminded me of something I
wouldn't have thought of on my own. In her situation, the batteries were for a VIBRATOR!! I
haven't sunk quite that low yet. I need MY batteries because I CAN'T SURVIVE without my
CD Walkman. I suppose I should get with the times and invest in an iPod one of these days or
an MP3 player. Another thing of mine that used to use AA batteries was my old 35mm camera
that died on me when I was in Sandusky. I was so fed up with it I just threw the whole thing in
the garbage. I probably should have rescued the batteries before I turfed it.

Ewetopia
 Epilogue
Well, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I know I sure did. It was a quiet one, just me
and my hubby. And we exchanged some rather nice gifts. These are two of them:

Yep, I got a leopard Snuggie and this fascinating book about KISS fanzines! Some amazing
memories there as back in the 80's I used to be involved with The Oath, Flaming Youth and
Firehouse. This should make for a fascinating topic in a future issue of Planet Nilknarf!!!!
Dave really liked his Simpsons Scene-It game and we played three rounds before bedtime.

Dinner was a bit of a disappointment. I don't think we'll be buying one of those buzzard rolls
again. It was so dry and stringy!

We received an invite for New Year's Eve with Kevin Porter, and I wish we could make it but
since we don't drive we're just going to have another quiet New Year's Eve here at home.
Happy New Year!!!