Monday mysteries solved

This weekend I solved a lot of mysteries, in anticipation of the Nancy Drew movie, which opens this Friday. First, I stopped off at the vet to ask them about Mr. Baz and his dandruff. The vet assistant told me that he was probably allergic to something. I told her I live in a condo. We have two plants, which are new (because I always kill plants so then I have to buy new ones) and Mr. Baz's dandruff has been going on for nearly a year, so I'm not really sure that could be the problem.

She re-emphasized that he's probably allergic to something. She said SOMETHING in a very conspiratorially tone, like I should know what she's talking about but she shouldn't have to say. So I said, "What? Me? Do you think my cat is allergic to me?" She shrugged, as if to say, "You said it, lady." Hmph.

Thankfully the other cute vet assistant said, "It's probably nothing. It's very common." Then he added, "Do you always have the heat or air conditioning on?" A-ha! That's it. Because when Mr. Baz is at the country home (my dad's house) there is never ANY air conditioning on. My father believes in letting the fresh air in -- even if it's 100-degree-fahrenheit fresh air. But we always have the air conditioning on.

When I got home, my friend Vickie wrote me an email to say that it was probably air conditioning causing the dandruff. Vickie's looking to get a cat, so she's been doing a lot of research into all things cats so I totally believe that she knows what she's talking about. The cute vet assistant also said to try brushing Mr. Baz to try to get rid of the dandruff. So I dug out his cat brush (turns out he has TWO brushes, since apparently at some point I forgot I'd already bought one and bought another, though I haven't brushed hiim in ages, since he really, REALLY hates it). Still, it was for his own good, I told him. He didn't look impressed but we carried on. But you know what? It turns out that BRUSHING him only makes the dandruff even worse! It's like it scrapes off another layer of dead skin, so that the specks of dry skin quadruplify! So much for that. I knew there was a reason I wasn't brushing him.

In other mysteries solved, I found the missing cord to my camera. It was -- where else -- on my bookshelf, which is a perfectly logical place for it to be, no? So, a month later, here are some pictures from the Toronto book launch party of my book.....

Here's my aunt saying "Are those CONDOMS? What IS that?" FYI, I have no idea...

Shopping...

Eating cupcakes....

Setting up the books...


Talking...


And signing...

In other picture news, this weekend I was at BookExpo Canada , signing copies of my book for booksellers, librarians and other book lovers. It was super fun and I met so many great booksellers from stores like Indigo Peterborough, Indigo Scarborough Town Centre, Indigo Pickering Town Centre, Indigo Oshawa and Chapters St. Catharines, not to mention a bunch of girls from Indigo Eaton Centre and Indigo Bay-Bloor, which are two of my most frequently visited Indigo stores. I also got to meet Vanessa Craft , author of the novel Out of Character, which I just finished reading. Here's a pic of Vanessa and I at the booth signing together. Vanessa is super funny, and probably just said something ridiculous, which is why I'm making such an unflattering face. Vanity shmanity.






Sadly, I was at my publisher's booth at the same time that Sarah Mlynowski was signing, so I didn't get to meet her, even though I really wanted to. Here is a picture someone else took of her...



I also didn't get to meet Vincent Lam, since as I mentioned, he was also signing at the same time as me....





Finally, I leave you with a little past prime minister...





Jean Chretien!