Having Faith in the Polar Girls’ Prison is a moving story about a 15-year-old girl who is locked in a prison with her premature baby (named Faith). Narrated by Trista in a stream-of-consciousness style, she tells her past through memories while living in her current situation. Her narrative style and speech shows the reader her weaknesses and mental instability. At times Trista is barely coherent, or downright crude, and other times she is so lyrical in her speech that it’s quite beautiful.

Against the stark and haunting landscape of Canada’s Far North, fifteen-year-old Trista chronicles the events of her life from her room in the Polar Girls’ Prison. Caught in the decline of sexual abuse, drunkenness, and failed motherhood, Trista tries to make sense of her past, especially the events that led her to jail. With heartfelt compassion and rare insight, the stunning new voice of debut novelist Cathleen With lends light to the hardships and suffering of the teenage girls and clash of cultures in this remote region that has never before been represented in literature.

From the publisher, Penguin Group Canada

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I have a question for all you feline slaves owners lovers out there. And it’s a bit of a hairy topic: furballs.

The reason I ask, as you probably deduced, is that Henry coughed up a hairball. But this wasn’t any hairball, this was like a fur-roll the size of my pinky finger. Ew gross mental images. Here, look at the pretty kitty for distraction:

I would classify Henry’s coat as a medium-length. I’ve been looking at breeds, and unless he’s just a regular American longhair, orange tabby… I would probably describe him as a Ragamuffin (all the way down to his “fatty pad on lower abdomen” which made the Vet say he needed more exercise.). All the Ragamuffin characteristics seem like Henry: “They greet family members at the door and will follow their people around the house. Because of their gentle nature, Ragamuffins are generally kept indoors for their own protection. They tend to be very vocal at times and are very lovable.”

Okay, now, back to the hairball business. I brush Henry. Maybe not as often as I should (weekly) but I do brush him (every 2-3 weeks) with a Furminator. He’s not particularly pleased with the Furminator, but he puts up with it.

So my question(s) are: How often do your cats get hairballs? Do they cough them up or pass them? How big are they usually? Is there anything I can do to avoid coming home to barfy-hairballs on my carpet?

Yarnpiggy posted about Knit & Crochet Blog Week 2010 last week sometime and piqued my interest. Eskimimi Knits is hosting the first inaugural Knit & Crochet Blog Week to celebrate fibre bloggers and talk about our shared passion. There are discussion topics for each day, as well as a “wild card” if you aren’t particularly inspired by the daily topic.

So, onto the first topic!

Starting Out: How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? Was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

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I’m having some back-end issues with the blog. It may be offline at some point this week or weekend. I shall return. So keep that in mind as I know you’ll mourn during the 24-48 hours the blog could possibly be offline.

Either way, this weekend is SUPER busy. I have a work event in Victoria (1.5 hr ferry ride away) all day Saturday and then I have to rush back to Vancouver on Sunday to make it to my choir’s Spring Concert!

A few weeks ago I’d had to give up advance passes to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo before it came out in theatres on Friday, April 16, 2010. I’d received the passes from Biz Books, a local movie/theatre-focused bookstore and had given them to my friend Marina who reviews movies for Row Three and QuietEarth.us. Marina told me that it was really good (and she hadn’t read the book) so I was very eager to see the movie.

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