I Am Away,

I am going up into the bush to be creative. Away from the net and the phone.
I will be gone 10 days.
Hopefully the guys won't ruin the house while I am away. LOL

I may be sending photos to my Facebook, so you can check in there for mobile uploads, but it has been tempermental lately so I cannot promise it will work.

What will definitely work is my Twitter Feed.
I will be Tweeting about my escapades via my cell phone so you can keep up that way.
I am WitchAmy on Twitter.

I can get Tweets if you send an @WitchAmy message to me, otherwise I am not going to watch specific Tweet feeds, so I can conserve battery.

http://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-am-away-i-am-going-up-into-bush-to-be.html

It's finally arrived!!!!! Oh my gawd!!!

We are so excited!!!!!

It's FINALLY Arrived!

Send a smile, make someone laugh, have some fun!

http://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2009/07/its-finally-arrived-oh-my-gawd-we-are.html

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
(All of the Photos are from Our Midnight Premier of HBP in Newmarket)


Well I have been very fortunate this year to be able to get the juicy goods on all that was going on in preparation for the release of this film.
I am also very excited that I am -In-the-Know about all of the current buzz around the filming of the last two movies for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.
I came across the absolutely best YouTube video on Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.
It is long but it is 100% worth the watch, and if you never see another media video about the movie after this one, you won't be missing anything.

Enjoy the video! Click on the arrow and watch. You can make the screen full-size too!

If you have not read the book series I suggest you do it soon. You can see in the lower right margin of this blog that my library is brimming with Harry Potter. You definitely are missing a huge amount of the epic story if you do not read the books. There are characters in the books you have never seen on film, and story lines which are way more in depth than the movie.

It does not take away from the movies though. All of the films have done a great job with flow forsaking some info just to make the movie flow work.


I owe all of my new knowledge about the cast and the PR of all things Harry Potter 2009 to becoming a member of Feltbeats.
It was quite by accident that I came upon all of this.

Being the Needle Felter that I am in real-life I spend a good part of my evenings on my web marketing. In doing so I came across Tom Felton's Twitter page while looking for feeds on Felting :)

Tom Tweets regularly and he often was having conversations with Feltbeats.
Curiouser and Curiouser I became, and a flow of really interesting info emerged.
I looked into Feltbeats.
I found it a really well written fan site for Tom Felton.
In my research I found out it's an OFFICIAL Tom Felton site for HE is Feltbeats.

This site does not actually follow Tom because of Harry Potter. It follows him for his independent indy music career. I began to read the info he submitted for the site, and read the comments of the fan followers and I was hooked.

I was reading a mirror of my own Sons' lives. Same issues with things like stage fright, dealing with sharing emotional content as a song writer, and learning a new instrument and working hard at perfecting it.
The site also follows Tom on his journey into manhood and relationships with his mates and his girlfriend, plus his never ending love for his dog.
Such normal average things that all "kids" go through, and shared publicly by a young man who is greatful for his opportunities and working hard to make a future for himself, with clear goals, and a very clear understanding that all of the hoopla over Harry Potter puts him at the pinnacle of his career at the beginning of his life (which is very hard to stand up against for future endeavours), so he now realizes that he needs to be wise and choose content that will make him happy, and not content for a project to overshadow or be greater than the Harry Potter franchise (which would be near to impossible to do).

I am not a dreamy fan.
I am a fan of the young folks of Harry Potter as a whole. I think they deserve the koodos and pats on the back just like I would give my Sons' and their friends for trying new things, like making a band, or trying a new endeavor. I am as pround of these folks for being good role models as I am about the friends of my Sons' from our small town.
I realize in my nice wise age that young folks who are Good, and Good Role models are not a dime a dozen. They definitely are not average. And ones who also work hard in a job, or a sport, or school don't usually get the recognition they deserve.
The whole young cast of Harry Potter carry themselves very well in their public persona. Like my own kids they are very knowledgeable about networking, the net, and all the new places to be plugged into for information.

My day is spent working in the studio, and learning from my kids what I need to know to survive in this instant message, instant order, instant buy, instant info world of the internet.
I am now plugged-in to web feeds, news feeds, info feeds and technology feeds.
I watch the stars who go the extra step to connect with the people at large. I am fascinated by their networking skills and the savvy they have about using social networking sites to instill this blanket relationship with the fans. It is very brilliant! No one can sell YOU like YOURSELF.

Our kids generation already knows you have to connect with your fans or clients, you have to use everything at your disposal to do it too! Gone is the day of just hanging out your placard over the door of the shop and waiting for folks to become nosy and mosey in. Now you are expected to be available to a world greater than THE BLOCK.

It has been a thrill learning from Feltbeats and Tom Felton about this, as much as it is for me to constantly learn from my own kids. These days my kids (well young men of 21 and 23) are my teachers and tutors, and they keep me learning THE NEW every day. I stay fresh by watching feeds from crafters and from young folks IN THE KNOW like Feltbeats and Tom Felton.

http://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2009/07/harry-potter-and-half-blood-prince-all.html

For My Own Records.....























































































































I just want to acknowledge that even
though I was all busy and excited about the work I did for Feltbeats and Tom Felton last week, I did not forget the Michael Jackson Memorial.

So for my own records (as this IS my journal, as public as it may be) I want to say that Cam taped the TV coverage of the memorial.

Now we can find the memorial stuff everywhere on the web.
Hopefully this embed will last as long as my blog does, so I can watch this video over and over.

This video is his last recorded rehearsal for his concert series that never was:
It is so nice to see his little smirk at the end, like he was pleased with himself and his team.

http://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2009/07/for-my-own-records.html

Tom Felton Day In Toronto!

Me in my Press Get-up

Today was Tom Felton's ( Draco Malfoy ) press junket in Toronto for Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.
It was a whirlwind day for Tom and his lovely girlfriend Jade, landing at the Toronto airport to be picked up by this amazing ride!
Tom took this pic and sent it out.

A bit of Video I took for you

He then zipped to Much On Demand to do their live show at 5PM on Queen Street in Toronto.
Then he had only a half hour window to get from Queen street W of Yonge to Yonge and Davenport (which is about 8km away on a good day, but today there was construction everywhere and the route was much longer) so Tom was running late. He arrived around 6:15PM to MTV live at the old Masonic Temple Concert Hall. He was whisked through the security doors away from the paparazzi and into the studio.

In preparing for the late arrival MTV live decided to move up a band to the stage and have them play first. They tore up the set and moved the floor fans out of their place. Then suddenly they could see Tom's vehicle coming closer to the building through the security cams and in 1 min they replaced the set and had everyone back in place ready for the interview.

Only two press photographers were allowed into the site, Me and the MTV national photographer. I got to pick where I would work. I chose the balcony.(my pictures are below)

I got to meet Tom and Jade after the show, we got to speak for a minute. They both greeted me with a handshake and a cheer for Feltbeats. Tom's smile was ear to ear. I think it was just because he could recognize a name in the crowd that was familiar (Feltbeats his Fan Site).
Tom and Jade wanted to stop for a live shot we could post fast but the PR person could not allow them the time. They had to rush off to do an autograph signing at another location.Late, Late, Late...

Tom looked very fine in comfy jeans, a nice T and a blazer, sporting a fine sage coloured ascot.
Jade was demure in a two piece skirt suit-white with blue piping.
Tom looked fresh and his eyes danced with excitement.

Tom did not disappoint. He was his cheerful and social self. He really is so professional under such constraints of time that a junket has, and he is so professional with the media. He made their job easy.

It is too bad Toronto could not get to spend a little more time with this really great couple. Their hospitality suits Toronto's hospitality. I hope they will try to come to Toronto when their time is more their own. When you travel for business it isn't all that cool. It is hard work to do this stuff jet-lagged, without the reward of getting to see sites and absorb the culture and....shop. LOL

I want to thank MTV's Publicity associate Ashley Applebaum for going out of her way to accommodate a last minute press photographer pass for me on behalf of Feltbeats.
I want to thank Feltbeats Admins for working with me tirelessly for a 1wk period before the Junket to co-ordinate retrievals and feeds and certification letters etc.
The day was a great time for me. I offered to do it for The Deathly Hallows too. So perhaps we will do this again in the near future! :)

Site of MTV Live in Toronto

Fans waiting to get into the venue

A quick cell phone shot for Feltbeats Live Feed
Tweeted and Facebooked mid show

Next two shots are just the area outside the venue for Tom's Records

Funny Little Pillow beside the Host with Tom's photo on it

These photos below are my shots of the interview

The Lower Studio Deck

http://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2009/07/tom-felton-day-in-toronto-me-in-my.html

I Have Become A Correspondent For The Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince, Toronto, Live Junket


Today is Alex's birthday. He is 23 years old today.

I am going to miss his birthday dinner because I got a last minute opportunity to cover the Toronto HP live junket.

I will get home for cake.
Watch my twitter feed (@WitchAmy) for live tweets this afternoon and evening. See my Facebook (Lynn Lundy Tucker) for the first pics and vids from my mobile phone.

I want to thank MTV for working so hard for us to get me a last minute press pass, and to Feltbeats for asking if I could do it.

Of course it is live so I cannot predict how it all will fly, but I will do my best.
Tom Felton is doing two live events today in Toronto. I am covering MTV Live at the Masonic Temple.
(5:30-8:30PM)
Tom will be at Much On Demand live
(4:30-5:30)
both events are available online.

My job is to take as many meet and greet photos of Tom with his fans at the Meet and Greet, and at the Red Carpet if possible, and to try to get a video comment from Tom.



Watch my twitter for last minute changes

http://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-have-become-correspondent-for-harry.html

I Am Trying Something New

Today at between 12 noon and 1PM in Toronto time (GMT-5) there will be live streaming video here of the Premiere of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince in London.
I have never used this service before so I am taking a chance that there wont be any snags.
You can expect advertisement in the feed.

I hope this is a rewarding opportunity for Harry Potter fans who are my readers, so they get to see the live coverage today!

Here in Toronto the hype begins tomorrow when Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) comes in for two live interviews back-to-back. Contest winners for MOD and CTV will be announced tomorrow too.

There may be some news concerning Me and The Toronto Harry Potter Events. Negotiations are taking place for me to cover the events for Feltbeats. The Official Tom Felton Fan club. Send me all the luck you can so I can get my PRESS PASS!

Below is the LiveStream video player: Don't forget to check out the London Premiere on here today at lunchtime!

http://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-am-trying-something-new-today-at.html

HUGE SAVINGS IN MY ETSY SHOP! With my SNEAKY SALE

Well July is here!
I am celebrating the summer with some amazing deals for the smart shopper.
So as a treat to my customers I have done something really awesome!
I have created a SNEAKY SALE.

For my SNEAKY SALE I have made some items FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE!
I know this is very non-conventional, but it is really designed for the smart shopper.

I will stand behind what I say the postal costs are for each individual item. And for the smart shopper depending on how they create their multiple order they may get amazing savings on shipping cost for multiple items and they could get a real awesome bonus by getting an insured post item way cheaper than their individual shipping cost. So please think about what your first item is.....If its shipping cost is zero dollars then your second item will only be the cost it is to ship as a second piece(which could be as low as one dollar, which on the miniature collectibles is a huge savings of up to $14.00 on one item!)
(I will always send the items that are to be insured as an insured item no matter what because they are collectibles. I will absorb the postal costs when you order in the SNEAKY way!)
I hope I have not been too cryptic about the deals.
Any questions? Please contact me through Etsy conversations before you order if you are confused.

I just added several of my new 2009 scarf collection designs to my Hand Knit section. Have a look at these amazing colours and textures! All the scarfs are FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE ITEMS!
Click a thumbnail to see details.

http://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2009/07/huge-savings-in-my-etsy-shop-well-july.html

July Came In With A Bang And A Whimper

So July 1st was Canada Day. Usually on Canada Day I get all Red and White and boast about being Canadian and all...
But this Canada Day was somber.

How come? you ask......

Well because I was on liquid diet only. Clear fluids... and some pretty intense laxatives.
I know it isn't every day someone shares their Pre and Colonoscopy stories with everyone, but in light of the crappiness of it all I thought I would share.

I had to take two ducolax on Wed morning before 10AM, then at 11AM I had to mix a powder called PicoSalax with a cup of water and drink it down. Well...the two ducolax are really small pills but they stick to your tongue so they are hard to swallow. Kinda like a booger you can't flick from your finger.
Then there is the PicoSalax. It is a powder and fairly easy to mix with the cup of cold water. It tastes like really sour lemonade.

So I figured in a couple of hours it all would start, because it said 2-4 hrs on the box of PicoSalax. I drank a glass of water every hour, plus a cup of broth every hour and a glass of another clear beverage like gingerale or mineral water and jello. I was supposed to continue with clear fluids after 6PM every hour until "it runs clear". Yep clear BM. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

By 6 PM still nothing had happened and I needed to take the second dose of PicoSalax as instructed. So down went the sour lemonaide one more time....and I waited.....and waited.....

I didn't even have a cramp or a rumbling in my stomach.
At 8:30PM I finally passed gas a bit. But nothing like I expected to happen.

At around 9:10PM something began to happen. I felt like I was finally gonna poop.
Sorry there is no cute way to say it.......POOP
Well I pooped all right. Once it began I couldn't get off the toilet! There were no wild cramps, just an urge to go and then liquid poured out of my sphinctor like mud.
Carl kept having to bring me beverages to the bathroom. I thought he was going to die.
The look on his face was pure pain as he crossed the threshold of the room reaching out as far as he could towards me to give me some gatorade or water. As he tried not to gag at the horrible smell that my body was leaving behind he would say, "Are you ok?"
I would look up at him and say, "Yes" in defeat. Through the haze of sulphur odour that was coming out of me.

I guess it was a chemical reaction with the Pico Salax. I hope it was a chemical reaction! Shit! that would be horrible if that is what our colon smells like in the deep recesses we rarely clean out!
It all slowed down around 1AM. I figured that it did because I slowed down in the drinkin. I was getting tired, but it wasn't "running clear" yet, and I was supposed to keep drinking until it did.
I kept drinking.
By 4AM I had had enough. I could not drink any more liquid I was peein a storm and my belly felt waterlogged and I still wasn't "running clear".
I gave up and laid my head down to sleep for a little while.

As I was relaxing to my slumber I thought about this process. How long it took to start working, and then I questioned all I knew about my bowels. I assumed all these years I was normal down there. Or as my Dad would say, "A perfect asshole!"
I did poopy business every day. I only ever was constipated if a medication made me so. I am not a long time on the potty sitter, or a pusher, or a holder, so I thought I was in the elite pooper crowd. Those that can boast they are not afraid of public toilets, and don't hold it in because one cannot impress folks if they know you poop. I really thought of myself as the perfect pooper! Get the urge, go to the toilet, do my business quick painless and not smelly, and wash hands and leave. All taking less than 5min. I felt special cuz I was not held to some routine that could put the whole body cycle off if it was messed with, I had no hang ups about the perfect atmosphere or anything like that.

Then when it took 12 hrs from the first laxetive to first poop I felt defeated. I questioned what I thought was normal. Then I spawned a huge fear in my mind. "What if I am a horrible pooper and I poop every day but it is poop from two weeks ago and not yesterday!?"
I convinced myself my bowels were broken. Probably lined like sandpaper, or all twisted in prezel knots. I was as good as a constipated "imperfect asshole". By this point I was certain my bowels were too slow, and then I convinced myself that I probably had shit inside me left over from Easter dinner in me! That had to be bad. Nothing good could come of that for sure!

I fell asleep without accomplishing "running clear". I awoke at 7:50AM and had my last poop. It was gassy and not much of anything, but when I wiped it was clear. So I hoped what was meant by "running clear" had just happened, because I could not drink any more water before the surgery.

My surgery wasn't until 2:15PM and I had specific instructions to arrive by 1:15PM. I went to our local hospital and went to the outpatient day surgery area. I got screened for swine flu, and then I used a computer to log in. They took my health card number and confirmed my identity through the digital input system of the hospital.

Exactly on time the nurse called for me, and allowed Carl to come to the back area with me where I was prepped. I had to take everything off, but I could keep my shoes. They handed me a big plastic bag for my clothes and belongings. I carried the bag with me as I was processed. I had my cute hospital gown on backwards and a second gown around the other way like a robe as I shuffled to the IV room. I went through a check list of drug allergies with the nurse, then she put an IV in my left hand. She told me that they would give me a drug in the IV that would make me forget everything, yet allow me to respond to the Dr, and I would also get pain meds as necessary through the IV. Once the IV shunt was in place I was escorted to a line of chairs in the back hallway.
Carl sat with me in the hall until they called me. It was not very long before I got my call. The nurse told Carl he could go wander for about an hour. I walked into the operating procedure room. There were two very experienced nurses in the room along with the Dr.

The nurses hooked up my IV drip, and then put oxygen in my nose. They instructed me to lay on my side on the table. They wrapped me up warm in the blankets with my butt free. Then I don't remember much about going under. I remember the last thing I said to the Dr. was that was really impressed she got new hair colour to match mine, and she laughed very hard. And in the middle of her laughing I said my hair colour was for the fire down below. As I remembered the night before...it was literal.....
And she roared with laughter and I was out.....

The nurse told me that I would not remember anything, and I possibly could lose the whole day. I had had a similar memory loss drug for an esophageal scope so I knew what to expect.
But what I expected and the Nurse explained was not exactly what happened.......

Now before you read on I want you to understand something.
I have brain damage that does not allow my brain to pass the hypnogogic state. This means I cannot get into the sleep that is deep(REM). That state of mind where there is no recollection. So what happened to me is because of my own brain damage, not any negligence on the Dr's part......

So I was out...
I had been told that I would be able to respond to the Dr. and tell them if something hurt. I also had been told I could feel pressure and resistance and that was normal.

So there I was in the drug induced gap.
Then I began to remember talking to the Dr.
I remember becoming conscious mid-sentance, "No, it doesn't hurt, it is just pressure pushing. Nope I have no pain."
I was completely calm like it did not matter at all to me that I was experiencing it. I felt pressure and I responded to them when they asked me to push back by doing so.
Then I was out again.
Then I remember responding again, "Nope, doesn't hurt. It's fine." Then....."Ooo that hurts a bit." Then I felt somone pushing on my belly, then I was out again.
The pain I felt was like a bad gas pain..that's all. The pushing feeling was not bad at all.
I actually wonder why we are made to not remember. Perhaps there is weird anxiety over feeling like you may crap yourself or something....

So I then remember waking up in recovery. I was getting my blood pressure checked and my temperature checked. I was in this little cubical in a bed. There was a tray beside me that the nurses were using to hold charts they were filling out about me.
A nurse asked me if I had someone with me and I told them yes, my husband Carl. Then they went off to look for him.
The nurse came back and said they could not find him. I said that he was probably getting a coffee and would return soon.
Then I was out again for a few more minutes.
Then I woke up and the nurse was checking me again and taking the oxygen off me and telling me I could sit up, and she removed my IV.
The Dr. came in and told me that she found nothing negative. She said she found a grade one hemoroid farther up than usual and that is no problem, and was the source of the bleeding I had earlier in the month.
Then Carl came in.
As soon as Carl arrived I was allowed to get dressed and prepared to leave.

I felt really good. I didn't think I was even groggy at the time. In retrospect I realize that I have no idea how I got through the hospital with Carl. I know I went in a totally oposite direction to where I thought I was. I now realize recovery was on a different floor than the surgery.
My next real memory was exiting the hospital after my phantom walk through it. We came out nearer to Emergency which is the oposite end to where we entered the hospital.

I remember walking to the parking garage, but I don't remember driving out of it or heading home. I do recall a glimpse of a memory when I told Carl I would come into the grocery store with him, then I vaguely remember walking around the grocery store getting a few things. I remember saying I wanted a really great meal cuz I was hungry.

Then things are vague again, and I remember sitting in my chair eating olives and feta and melba toast. I remember thinking that I loved olives and feta...... :)
Then I was suddenly feeling really restless and I went upstairs to lay down in the master bedroom because it was close to the big bathroom.
I slept for a long time. I missed dinner eventhough I picked it and wanted it.
I woke up for a little while and went down to the suite to bed.
I slept the next day until 3:30PM. Even though Carl tried to get me up every hour.
After which I made it clear to him that perhaps if I wasn't awoke every hour I may have awoke much earlier.
Of course....he was just tryin to be helpful and I gave him mini shit for it LOL.

I felt great when I finally awoke for good. I got up and ate and chilled in front of the TV. We watched some of Harry Potter and went to sleep.

Saturday I woke up a normal time. I was sore. I guess all the pain killers put in the IV and on the scope had finally worn off. My ribs felt tender and I was getting gas pains and my lower back was stiff.

Once I got moving I felt good.
I wandered around the garden telling Carl what I usually do with the flowers and he did it.
Then we prepared the front garden.
By late afternoon I felt like trying to help but I would run out of steam quickly.
When Cam came home he helped his dad with the mulch and I went back in the house as I was getting tired and cold. The sun was setting, and time to do something else.

In that afternoon I took some photos of the scarves I made, while sick, in the month of June, because I wanted to post them on Etsy before bed.
Now I am here finishing up this note that took me a couple of days to write out...

I hope I amused you with my tale of my tail. I hope it does not sway you from getting your screening when you are 50. For me it has proven it is important to check it out. My Grandmother died young of rectal cancer progressions, and she got it just before she turned sixty. So I should have been screened at 40 because of the risk, and I wasn't because I had another type of screening at that age, but now I am 46 with one warning factor (a sudden rectal bleed out of no where). I got the screening and it showed I had nothing to worry about. Knowing that it is clear is huge!!

I have done my best to be honest about how it felt what happened and how many days I was not quite myself after... (two days) so you can plan how to approach your colonoscopy informed, and hopefully you can plan a couple of recovery days after to let your body get back to normal....

For your Fun and Pleasure I have also added a funny video from one of our June Peterborough Weekends. Please answer this question in comments: What do you think Carl is doing in this video?

http://motivated-motion.blogspot.com/2009/07/july-came-in-with-bang-and-whimper-so.html