jazzberryram

full-circle

2008-05-29T00:37:00.004+02:00

It's been ages since I last posted. I've just come back from another trip to the Czech Republic, which somehow seems significant since the last entry was also about my last trip to the Czech Republic. Back in August, I was scouting venues for Ray and Renata's wedding. This time around, I was there for their wedding, which was absolutely beautiful! So, it seems like I've come full-circle.

And speaking of things that have come full-circle, today (or rather, yesterday, since I'm writing this so late in the evening) is my one-year anniversary. I've officially lived in the Netherlands for a year now. My friend Sarah asked me what my reflections were after one year, and I have to say, a lot has happened this year. I haven't been able to formulate a coherent response to her question yet, but I'm working on it.

And on my one-year anniversary of living in Holland, I find myself contemplating a move to Sweden. Not because I dislike living here. On the contrary. I want to stay in Holland. But I have been offered a job that, for now at least, I think is more interesting and in line with my future career aspirations. I have one and-a-half days left to make a decision...

czech it out

2007-08-23T19:33:00.000+02:00

Back from my week in the Czech Republic and already I'm up to my ears with work. But it was nice to get away, finally see Prague and Southern Moravia, and hang out with my good friends Ray and Renata again. It was strange adjusting to being surrounded by people speaking yet another new language. At every turn, I had to shut off my natural inclination to thank people in Dutch and wrack my brain trying to remember how to say it in Czech ("Dekuji" in case you were wondering). And staying with Renata's family was so great, because I got the full Czech experience. Ate plenty of good food, drank an abundance of good beer, had way too many shots of Slivovice, and added a few more words to my Czech vocabulary.

I'm looking forward to heading back in the spring for the wedding!

Ten things to do before I die..

2007-07-28T21:35:00.000+02:00

(in no particular order)

1. Jump off a plane and go sky diving...solo.
2. Ride a camel across the Sahara Desert.
3. Scuba dive in the tropics.
4. Live in Europe.
5. Vacation in the Greek islands
6. Build a house...for myself or for someone else.
7. Visit at least one country in every continent.
8. Go Zorbing across an open field.
9. Take a cooking course in the Italian countryside.
10. Start my own business.
Numbers 1 to 4 have been done...still working on the others.

lost memories

2007-07-25T01:23:00.000+02:00

My laptop's hard drive crashed the other day, and had to be replaced. Unfortunately, the data was unrecoverable. Two year's worth of data...gone. I'm crushed! My portfolio, various digital projects, client work, personal work...all gone. And I didn't have the sense to back-up my files. What kills me most are the two years' worth of photos that i've lost. Memories which I still cling to, but can never be regained in a photograph.

Makes me think of families that lose everything they own in house fires. Though nowhere near as drastic, I'm mourning my own loss. Photographs of friends, cherished moments, of laughter, of tears...

Losing my data, shredding a pair of expensive jeans in Belgium, and losing two pairs of designer sunglasses since I've moved to Europe are only teaching me not to cling to tightly to material possessions. Life is about the experiences gained from it, not about the prizes that you take home.

thoughts of home

2007-07-14T13:00:00.000+02:00

I shot this photo at a get together last week, at Mags' place in Den Haag. This was the start of the evening...cold drinks, lots of goodies to snack on, great friends, and plenty of laughter.

I won't lie, there are days where I look around me and freak out a little bit when I realize I'm not in familiar surroundings, but I'm so thankful for the people that I've met here. A new community of friends that has made the transition so much easier than I would have imagined.

I sat in the shower late last night until I got all pruney thinking about my move, and how long I'll be here, and if it will ever feel like home. And I realized that it doesn't really matter. Home is where I choose to make it. And for now, at least, this is home.

hmmm...

2007-07-14T12:51:00.000+02:00

Not sure what to make of this sculpture that sits at the entrance to Westbroek Park in The Hague. I looked for a plaque that might give some sort of clue, but couldn't fine anything. I knew the Dutch were very liberal and tolerant, but seriously!

keen on keane

2007-07-14T12:45:00.000+02:00

I've been sick the past few days, so haven't felt much like blogging. I'm still hacking away, but feel obligated to at least post some photos. Here's one from Werchter. Mags and I were in the front row for Keane, and they played a rocking set. They also had a catwalk that went out into the audience, and played an acoustic bit there, which was fantastic.

synchronicity

2007-07-14T12:35:00.000+02:00

I have my Google homepage set to tell me the daily weather forecasts for three of the places that I consider home. This morning, as I was checking my e-mail, I found this on the homepage. Perhaps it's just me, but I find it kind of strange that the weather on the west coast of Canada, the east coast of the US, and western Europe are pretty much the same this weekend. Like the stars have somehow aligned to ensure that the weather patterns are somehow synchronised.

rock on!

2007-06-28T10:24:00.000+02:00

Off to Belgium with the boys in a few hours (the girls have meetings today and will join us tomorrow). Not sure if the weather will co-operate, but since we'll be camping for four nights, and rocking out four four days, my fingers are crossed for the best. Otherwise, it's going to smell like a wet dog in my tent.

Monday morning, after packing up, Matt and I are heading to Antwerp to review some proof prints at the offices of one of the agencies that we work with. We'll probably be wet and stinky, but we've warned everyone beforehand.

déjà vu

2007-06-27T19:07:00.000+02:00

Went apartment hunting with my real estate agent yesterday. Of the four properties he showed me, two I had seen when I was here in February. One was the exact same apartment, only the tennant that was there at the time had moved out and it was now empty. The other was a different unit in the same building. Slim pickings. The two properties in the photograph above are potentials, but I want to see a few more possibilities before I sign a contract.

d-day

2007-06-26T00:27:00.000+02:00

After work this evening, a few of us gathered at the pub to celebrate our friend's divorce. The papers were signed, and everything became official today. Some people wonder whether the end of a marriage is cause for celebration. At the end of the day, I think it really is a glass half-empty/glass half-full debate. You either celebrate the end of a partnership (11 years in total, seven of them as man and wife), or you celebrate new beginnings. In this case, we raised our glasses to new beginnings and being surrounded by good friends.

hell and gore

2007-06-24T21:19:00.000+02:00

Still in the Midsummer spirit, especially after going through photos from last night's festivities. I was curious about the drinking songs that are sung when you do snaps, so I did a bit of internet research. One song in particular is called Helan Går which pretty much means, "Drink it up!" The verse warns, if you don't drink this one, you're not going to get the next one (halvan). The second verse warns that if you don't finish halvan, you're not going to get the third snaps (tersen).

Helan går!
Helan går, sjung "hoppfadirallanlallanlej"
helan går, sjung "hoppfadirallanlej."
Den som inte helan tar,
han heller inte halvan får,
helan gååååååååååår,
*klunk* *klunk* *klunk* (Drink here!)
sjung "hoppfadirallanlej".

It seems each snaps has a name referring to the order in which it's drunk: helan, halvan, tersen, quarten, quinten, sixten, septen, etc. (eventually there's a smuttan which makes me giggle a little.

The Swedes were nice enough to print out sheets with lyrics, as well as including the phonetic sounds of the lyrics so we could sing along. Once I reached "all handsome in the hell and tar" I couldn't stop laughing.

A phonetic "translation" for non-Swedes
Hell and gore
Chungkhapp fallerallan lallan-lay
Hell and gore
Chungkhapp fallerallan lallan-lay
Oh handsome in the hell and tar
And hell are in the half and four.
Hell and gore
Chungkhapp fallerallan lallan-lay.

After a night of drinking, I think it's somehow appropriate that the song reads phonetically in English, "hell and gore."

midsummer

2007-06-24T11:17:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, I enjoyed my very first 'real' Swedish Midsummer celebration in Delftse Hout, along the water. After working for a Swedish company for over five years, it's funny that it's taken this long. Not that I haven't had diluted versions of Midsummer in the past, but prior to this, I had never danced around a Maypole, let along poke flowers into the cross, sloshed back so much aquavit, or had real Swedes (instead of Canadians in blond wigs) leading the drinking songs before exclaiming a boisterous, "Sköl!"

Despite the on-again, off-again rain showers, the Swedes decided to have the party outdoors, and thankfully, we were blessed with sunshine, even if there was some running around in the muddy grass during the course of the afternoon and evening. Everyone toting their picnic baskets, we enjoyed quite the spread of food (yes, there were Swedish meatballs in the buffet, along with reindeer wraps, gravadlax, shrimp salad, boiled potatoes with dill, breads, several types of cheeses, knäckebröd, fruit, strawberry cheesecake, brownies, and all sorts of other goodies). Lots of rosés, vodka and aquavit. Lots of flowers. Lots of fun.

Linking hands in a circle around the maypole, mumbling along in butchered Swedish while the Swedes sang louder to compensate for our inability to enunciate, much less comprehend what the hell we were singing along to, we probably looked to onlookers like a motley crew of cult members enacting some sort of pagan ritual. Kind of a surreal experience, but a great time!

I ended the evening by hopping on my bike and heading home, but as I turned around to wave farewell to some of the walkers who shouted goodbye, I lost my balance and fell into a bunch of stinging nettle. As some friends came over to give me a hand up, Peter laughed and shook his head, watching the rescue effort from his bike, "And I promised to make sure you didn't get completely sloshed during your first Midsummer...look how well that turned out!"

tents and train stations

2007-06-24T10:49:00.000+02:00

Woke up bright and early yesterday, braved the torrential downpour, and took the train to Amsterdam to meet up with Mags to go shopping for a tent, sleeping bag, and mattress pad. After testing out a few different tents, we both opted for the seconds tent in bright lime green. The beauty of the tent is that you take it out of the disc-shaped carrying case (with shoulder straps for ease of portability) and essentially fling it open.

Before Mags left me at Den Haag Centraal station, we bumped into our friend Juanita, and of course, we had to show off our new tents...at the train station.

Four more days until Werchter!

matchmaker

2007-06-22T17:32:00.000+02:00

So, one of the receptionists has apparently been scheming to hook me up with one of her friends. This morning, she sent an e-mail to Caroline, who sits directly across from me, and asked if she thought I'd be interested.

I looked at the e-mail on her screen, saw the attachment with a photo of three people happily smiling and asked, "am I supposed to date all three of them?"

Caroline fired off a reply:

He says he will have them all! Whilst walking away laughing and confused… Come by and explain.

deluxe

2007-06-21T19:22:00.000+02:00

I spoke with my realtor today to make an appointment to view some properties next week. Prior to this, I had sent him an e-mail with an overview of the type of place I'm looking for.

Since he had already shown me some properties in February, I have a vague idea of what I want in a flat in terms of price range, amenities, location, etc. One of the things I listed was a full-sized kitchen, since I do like to cook and entertain.

As he was going down the list, clarifying the points I had listed, he stopped at this one and asked, "You want a deluxe kitchen?"

"A regular kitchen will be fine. But a full-sized one." I responded, uncertain of what he meant by a deluxe kitchen, and envisioning state of the art appliances with 16 burners and a walk-in freezer.

"So, a deluxe, then."

"Well, my kitchen right now is a closet converted into a kitchen, and the microwave is housed on a bookshelf under the television, so if by deluxe, you mean something bigger than a closet, then yes, I want a deluxe kitchen. But if by deluxe, you mean fancy and overpriced, then I can do with just a standard 10'x10' kitchen"

Laughing, he says, "Yes, this is Holland, If you actually want to cook in your kitchen, then you want what we call a deluxe kitchen."

hello & shit

2007-06-21T00:13:00.000+02:00

I woke up this morning, flipped over, grabbed my laptop and checked my e-mail before hopping in the shower and heading for work. Waiting in my inbox was an e-mail from my friend Lizzo with the subject: "hello & shit". Lizzo is one of the most random, crazy-fun people I've met, and can literally talk without taking breaths in between sentences. The conversations I've had with her are very steam-of-consciousness sort of ramblings, and I'm pleased that her e-mails are as well.

In her e-mail, which seriously took me ten minutes to read (it was that long!), she writes about moving from Boston and living in Southern California:

back to me
i am loving summer and have the crazy white person with pink skin burn look to prove it
last weekend i laid in a raft in the pool at my apartment all day saturday
and sunday ryan and i went to this beach down the street
it is where they filmed the best movie ever, beaches
which makes me break out into "the wind beneath my wing" whenever i go
so i packed a picnic and we swam and layed around and shit
and there were dolphins
and i had a little moment where i thought," i can't believe i live here, this is where people come to vacation, i don't have to wait for a beach day or ever make plans, every day is a beach day" and i was happy

Which is kind of how I feel about living in Europe...

it's like learning to ride a bike again

2007-06-19T18:25:00.000+02:00

....and that's exactly what I've been doing. It's been years since I've cycled around, and now that I've sold my car, I need to think about buying a bike. I've been holding back from making an immediate purchase since I don't really know what I want or need. A folding bike that I found on craigslist was briefly in consideration, but then when I decided that the likelihood of me folding up my bike to take it on the train is pretty much zilch, I began to think about a basic omafiets (literally translated: granny bike).

My plan is to get comfortable with being on a bike again, and then figure out how much I want to spend. Especially since bicycle theft is very common here in The Netherlands, there really is no point in buying a new one. Except for the fact that I like nice things. (Cue the whiny voice...) So, my co-worker offered me the use of her bike, which has been sitting in the shed at work for a few months while I contemplate my decision. All I would have to do is pump up the flat. So, after work today, I did just that. Borrowed a bike pump, went to pump up the deflated tires, and wouldn't you know it, there are leaks everywhere. So, Plan A didn't work out so well.

On to Plan B. At work, there are a few bicycles that are available to borrow. Usually they are all lent out and there aren't any left. Luckily, I've sort of made friends with one of the receptionists, and she found one for me. Unfortunately, it's built for Dutch people who are extremely tall, so I had a difficult time manoeuvering it. The minute I hopped on (and I literally had to jump to get on the damn seat!) I almost fell on my face.

I'm such a klutz.

"the phone present have groans"

2007-06-16T15:01:00.000+02:00

So, I'm trying to redeem some free PrePaid minutes for my mobile phone, and to do so, I have to fill out a survey. Everything is in Dutch, so I resort to online translation to figure out out to fill this damn thing in. Here's the translation result for one of the questions:

I have elected until prepaid, because:
* I the cost within the handshake wish keep
* I little bubble
* I within young one have been until one subscription
* the facile upon within supply is
* I the phone present have groans
* the reverse

I really need to learn to speak Dutch...

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I checked the "I little bubble" box.

honesty is the best policy

2007-06-11T23:51:00.000+02:00

I was catching up on my Boston blogs this evening and read about Evan's budget hotel adventures in New York. Coincidentally, one of my colleagues had just showed me a fantastic series of advertising campaigns for a hotel chain in Amsterdam called Hans Brinker Budget Hotel.

Go to the History section and "take a walk down memory lane (watch out for the dog shit) and enjoy the advertising that helped make the Hnas Brinker a home from home for thousands of visitors to Amsterdam." This is perhaps the most truthful (and hilariously funny) advertising I've seen in a long time.

Perhaps this is where I should threaten to send unruly house guests when they come to visit me in The Netherlands...

"the community"

2007-06-10T21:44:00.000+02:00

Week 2. Adjusting slowly...still not feeling at home yet, but I figure if I never shake the feeling of being a tourist, that can't be such a bad thing, can it?  The nice thing about living here in Delft is that there is sort of a built-in community of ex-pats from work here.

This weekend, i went shopping in The Hague with one of the guys in IT, who needed to get some of those wheely shoes for his kids back in Sweden.  I ended up picking up a crappy prepaid phone since i can't sign up for a mobile contract without a residence permit.  I was all excited until I got back to the apartment, opened up the box and realized that all the instructions were in Dutch.  Oy!

Later that evening, I was walking over to meet up with one of my colleagues, a fellow editor, when I ran into a girl from HR who was unloading some tables for some friends, another IT guy and his girlfriend (who used to work for the company as an architect, but has since left the fold) that they had picked up in Dusseldorf earlier that morning.  Helped them move tables up to their apartment, then went to go grab some food so we could all have dinner before going to the main market square around the corner to see a midnight show of the theatre festival (De Mooi Weer Spelen).

At the festival, we ran into another girl who works in my department doing distribution, but lives in The Hague), as well as a graphic designer from iceland that I had met back in Tokyo last year, along with some other work folks. So, just from one day in Delft, you can get an idea of how interconnected the ex-pat community is here.  The nice thing about it is that the organization is so big that you can hang out with all sorts of different people (I hung out with a completely different set of folks last weekend, including a girl from aruba who doesn't work for the company, but has sort of been 'adopted' into the clan).  And even though we all work in the same organization, we don't all work directly together, which makes avoiding 'shop talk' much easier...sometimes.

The show itself was spectacular!  Kind of a Cirque du Soleil type show, with lots of fire, pyrotechnics, live music, and brilliant costumes.  The basic premise was a race where different countries test out their own flying machines, but fail.  Finally, the female racer is the only one to succeed, despite being denied a chance to test her flightcraft.

Today, I stayed away from work folks altogether (which is difficult, but still possible...I think) and checked out more of the festival with a new friend from The Hague, before grabbing some Turkish pizzas and lounging around one of the squares chatting.

small space living

2007-06-02T01:02:00.000+02:00

Luckily, I got the keys to my temporary apartment this evening, so I'm no longer putting on shows for the tourists. I did have to lug all four pieces of luggage from the hotel to the apartment, tripping over cobblestones as I dragged everything over, but now that I'm here, I've been able to unpack and attempt to settle in a bit. The suite is compact, but comfortable.

When the landlady showed me the suite, I thought the place was pleasant and well-kept, but I wondered aloud where the bedroom was. "Oh, the sofa converts into a bed. Let me show you!" she said with great enthusisasm.

"And the kitchen?"
"Behind the folding doors that looks like it leads into a closet, right here!"

"The bathroom?"
"Beyond the pocket door, of course!"

"And if the kitchen is in what I thought what was the closet, where's the actual closet?"
"Tucked behind the door!"

Talk about small space living!

The church bells ring every hour from the steeple of NieuwKerk, just a few steps away and I've got a view of a waterlily strewn canal from my window, where red geraniums are spilling out from the window box, so it's making me feel like I'm in a postcard world.

As for work, the team here is great. I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with them all yet since I've been at appointments with local authorities trying to sort out my paperwork, but they're a great bunch. And, get this – my first official day isn't until tomorrow, but I was in the office today, and I've already requested vacation. Before I've even started! I'm going to Rock Werchter, a four day music festival in Belgium . The line-up is pretty awesome, so I couldn't resist. I'll be spending some $300 USD for tickets and the campsite, and it'll probably be one big boozefest, but it should be fun.

first impressions

2007-05-30T03:56:00.000+02:00

After weeks of farewell parties and send-offs, my friends finally got sick of me and put me on a flight to the Netherlands. I think even now, as I walk the cobblestone streets, watch the mallards and swans swimming in the canals, brushing past the water lilies which are just starting to bloom, and listen to strains of Dutch being spoken wherever I go, it still hasn't sunk in that this is my new home. Part of me thinks I'm just on a business trip and that I"ll be back in my comfort zone soon. And then I remember that all my stuff is packed away in a shipping container headed to New Jersey before crossing the ocean, and that my apartment in Boston is empty and ready to be moved into by the next tenant.

I don't think it was until I tried to use the pay phone at the Schiphol Airport this morning to track down my taxi, or went to the train station in the afternoon to take some Dutch passport photos in a photo booth which had all instructions listed in Dutch that I realized what's in store for me in terms of settling in, acclimatizing and making this place my new home. At least I could make out some of the menu selections at the restaurant that I went to earlier this evening.

I checked into the hotel this morning. It's a small little inn, really, located in the heart of the city. With my two large suitcases, a backpack and my laptop case in tow, I climbed up a few flights of steep, narrow stairs, sweating it out, and finally
setting the bags down and taking the suitcases up the remaining staircases one at a time. Once I got into my hotel room, I marveled at the large dormer windows in both the bedroom and the bathroom and was in awe of the fantastic view of both the Old Church and the New Church situated in the main square, just several rows of houses away.

As it had been a long morning, I really needed to make my way to the bathroom to relieve myself. Now, being jet lagged and completely worn out from carrying my bags up the staircases, I wasn't really paying much attention to anything aside from the business at hand. I did pause in embarrassment however, when I noticed that several flashbulbs were going off at the top of the old church from the tower. I realized then that I had neglected to lower the blinds in the bathroom and was essentially putting on a show for the tourists from my bathroom window. With a shrug and a sheepish smile, I waved at them
and said, "Welcome to Delft!" and then quickly washed up and ducked out of view.

....and I've only been here for a few hours.

pb&j

2007-05-05T20:50:00.000+02:00

Saw Peter Björn & John at the Paradise Rock Club in Allston last night. They played a high energy set including "Amsterdam" which Linda, in true dork fashion, dedicated to me. And Peter answered the question that's been plaguing me since I discovered their music – they hate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "The worst, most unhealthy American Invention."

Gotta love a trio of Swedish geeks who can rock out like nobody's watching!

springtime in vancouver

2007-05-05T20:35:00.000+02:00

It's been about a week since I returned from Vancouver, and spring is just starting to hit Boston. It feels like I've gone back in time, but since spring is my favorite season, it's great to experience it twice! Here are some photos from my trip home:

A felled tree at the entrance to Stanley Park. Notice Swiss scupltor Heinz Aesclimann's steel work, "Composer" behind it, in the distance.

Grape Hyacinths sprinkled with spring rain.

Burnaby Mountain, near Simon Fraser University.

View from the Seawall. Stanley Park to the left, and the Vancouver city skyline to the right.

Cherry blossoms in full bloom atop Burnaby mountain.

wet, wet, wet

2007-04-11T03:23:00.000+02:00

Got back home from work today to find the kitchen covered in water – on the shelves, on the counter, all over the floor. Rushing upstairs to find out what had happened, I found out that the person living in the unit above had his toilet overflow and caused a big flood on the second floor as well. There was a cleaning crew here to clean the mess on the second floor, so I asked them to bring their wet-vac down and clean up downstairs as well. They're still mopping up, but I've asked them to leave a fan for me so that I can make sure the floorboards dry out and hopefully don't get mouldy or mildewy from being soaked.

From what I've been able to determine, plumbers were here earlier to fix the pipes, but there's still a few drips, and the water leakage has also extended to the windows in the living area. My credenza is all wet, but luckily, the water hasn't touched any of the electronic equipment sitting on top (at least not that I've noticed so far).

I've had to throw away a lot of food that was on my shelves and on the counter (having an overflowing toilet spill over your kitchen doesn't exactly make you want to consume any food that's been soaked by it), and am still in the process of cleaning up. Luckily, one of my neighbours across the hall had a key and was able to let the cleaners into my unit before I arrived
home from work, otherwise, i'm sure there would have been a significant amount more damage to the unit and my stuff.

hoppiness...

2007-04-11T02:27:00.000+02:00

When we were younger, my sister and I used to repeat a rhyme around this time of year...

Happy Easter, Happy Spring,
Happy, Happy Everything!

There's really no point to me posting this, except for the fact that it always seems to resonate in my head around Easter. I attended Easter morning services at St. James's Church in Cambridge this morning. The last time I was there was probably Christmas of 2005. It's been a long time. The sun was shining through the stained glass through most of the service, casting a multicolored glow over the entire congregation as the choir sang traditional African hymns with drums pounding at the front of the chapel, making for a festive celebration. The final peals of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus reminded me of Easter celebrations at home. However, I didn't spend too much time feeling homesick, since I was graciously 'adopted' by the Beers family again, as I have been for most of the major holidays since I moved to Boston.

Jo and I brought some desserts and appies for Easter dinner at her parent's place in Wakefield, but had to put them in the fridge at the church so that they wouldn't get spoiled in the car while we sat through the service. In order to avoid mixing our things up with the rest of the contents of the fridge (the majority of which were intended to be served during the after-service coffee hour) we marked the bags "BEERS - DO NOT SERVE," much to the delight of people who opened the refrigerator door to prepare the coffee hour snacks.

Tulips at Bloemenmarkt (the flower market) in Amsterdam, photographed in February 2007.

sunday river on a snowy saturday

2007-04-08T03:49:00.000+02:00

Woke up at the ungodly hour of 3am to get ready for a day trip to Bethel, ME. Earlier this week, Raf had sent out and e-mail to see if anybody wanted to join him for the last ski trip of the season. Tempting us with photos from that day's snowfall, Jo and I immediately hopped on board. The agreement was that Raf would drive there and back, and Jo and I would sleep in the car the entire way there, and most likely, the entire drive back.

Conditions were wonderful, and we got a good six hours of skiing in before our tired, aching bodies begged us to stop. And when we finally got back into the car, sleep was all we could think of.

it's my party and i'll bitch if i want to!

2007-03-31T05:58:00.000+02:00

Sucking on a Scorpion Bowl

Went out for Renata's birthday dinner at Pho Republique in the South End. It was a gorgeous day, so we rushed home after work and walked there from R&R's apartment. The food was delicious, the drinks were tasty, but the manager was rude and unaccommodating, asking us to leave after two hours since "our time was up, and other patron's need to be seated." Funny thing is, we had been ordering food and drinks all night, and when she arrived to vacate us from our table, the server had just set out a giant Scorpion Bowl on our table. Aftedr much pleading, the manager said in a whiny voice that she didn't mean to upset us, but Renata cut her off, informed her that it was her birthday, and that she intended to enjoy it, then waved her away. The things that this beautiful blonde Czech girl can get away with will never cease to amaze me!

king of the castle

2007-03-28T00:15:00.000+02:00

A representative from the moving company came to the apartment today to assess my belongings and determine how many boxes the movers would need to bring when they come to pack my things. "I'm basically a professional counter," he said as he proceeded to count my chairs, shoes, and books. Afterwards, I went to get my car serviced at the dealership. By the time they finished, it was too late to head to work, so I drove over to Castle Island instead. Sullivan's, the burger shack at the edge of the recreation site was open for teh season, so I ordered a cheeseburger and onion rings served in a brown paper box, and looked out onto Boston Harbor, contemplating the move ahead of me. Found some beautiful violet blue mussel shells littered along the shore and had to snap a few shots. Here's one:

flowers, for me?

2007-03-25T03:56:00.000+02:00

Lazed around for most of the morning, but decided to pick myself up off the sofa and walked to Downtown Crossing to do some shopping and enjoy the warm weather. Strolled by Lambert's Market on the way home and picked up two bunches of asparagus, two boxes of strawberries, and some blueberries. I needed a little pick-me-up, so I bought a boquet of tropical flowers – bright orange birds of paradise, cranberry-colored bromeliad, and bushy palm fronds.

As I walked through the Westin, on the way back to my apartment, I passed the doorman, who gave me a thumbs up and said "Well done, man!" I was puzzled at first, but chuckled when I realized that he was referring to the boquet I was clutching under my arm. Little did he know, the flowers were just a selfish indulgence.

For dinner, I made a mushroom and wild rice risotto with spears of steamed asparagus, from the market, on the side. Thought briefly about pairing it with a glass of wine, but laying my eyes on the tropical boquet gracing my living room and settled on a cold bottle of Corona instead, dreaming of lying on a beach somewhere warm and sunny with the waves creeping up to my toes.

go slow...

2007-03-09T05:45:00.000+01:00

Left the office early, after a full day of meetings, intending to meet Sylvi, Fredrik and Trine for dinner at Django, a great slow-cooking BYOB just off of South Street. As soon as I got on Kelly Drive, I realized that I had left my cell phone back at the hotel and didn't know exactly where the restaurant was located. "No problem," I thought, "I'm going to meet up with Sylvi & Fredrik at their house anyway, then drive down together." So, satisfied by this, I parked along the Drive, and watched the rowers glide down the Schukykill River as the sun set on the snowy banks.

I then drove to their place, but saw the morning paper still on their stoop and figured that they hadn't arrived yet, so I walked down teh street to grab a chai latte from the little coffee shop down the street. When I walked back to their place and saw the newspaper still there, I realized that they were probably running late and had most likely gone straight to the restaurant instead. So, I hopped into the car, tried to navigate into Center City, trying to find a restaurant that I didn't know the address to.

I'll skip over the rest of the story, but an hour later, I finally arrived at the restaurant, happy to see my friends and even more thrilled to enjoy a scrumptious slow-cooked meal on a cold wintery day.

going dutch

2007-02-04T05:00:00.000+01:00

At the end of a rigorous two-week review process at work, I hopped on a plane and headed to Amsterdam. After a year-and-a-half of waiting, I'm finally here to see see if I still want to accept the job that has been kept open for me. Should be an interesting week!

chasing sunsets across the desert

2007-01-15T05:22:00.000+01:00

photos de paris

2006-12-31T05:13:00.000+01:00

eventually...

2006-09-08T03:18:00.000+02:00

After agonizing over the two job offers, I begged, pleaded, and grovelled, and bought an extra 48 hours to make a decision. During that time, I managed to call the folks in the Netherlands, nail down some more details, and then talk with one of the guys that I'd actually be working with. Being around my age, he was able to give me a pretty good picture of what it's like to live and work in Holland and some inside information on the group at work. Not being able to visit and scope things out before actually making the decision, I really latched on to his descriptions and used them to make my final choice.

Philadelphia is the safe and comfortable choice. I know the city, was good friends with the people that I'd be working with, and have somewhat of a community there already. The job, although a few rungs up the corporate ladder, wouldn't be completely new to me. It is, however, the more logical career move for me.

That said, I decided to turn down the offer in Philly and go with the option that makes me tremble in anticipation. Just as when I was deciding between two options before choosing Boston, I picked it because it was the one that freaked me out more because there were so many more unknowns.

The strange part of this whole process is that regardless of which job I took, I wouldn't start until next spring. I have some loose ends to tie up here at the job in Boston before I can move on, and despite the fact that it's not written in my contract, I really can't take another job until my 18 months is up here. So, while I'm excited about the prospect of moving to the Netherlands, I can't actually be officially offered the job until next year, nor can I plan the details around my move.

It's like Purgatory - only I know I'm getting out eventually.

decisions

2006-09-05T03:57:00.000+02:00

Sunset over the rocky ledge of Pemaquid Point lighthouse in Bristol, Maine

Climbing across large rocks and poking in tidal pools along the beach in Maine, collecting flat stones and large pieces of driftwood which have been worn smooth from years of being swept by crashing waves, Jo and I spent a relaxing weekend getting away from the insanity of our lives. Hers, being a university administrator during the start of the fall semester, and mine, trying to hold down a full-time job, a concurrent large project in Philadelphia, and trying to decide between two job offers.

Fortune was in our favor as we stumbled upon a cozy little bed & breakfast in Walpole which had a room available because of a last-minute cancellation. Not having planned the trip far enough in advance, we spottiness hopped in my trusty RAV-4 and drove north with no destination in mind, aside from a general agreement that we wanted to visit Maine. With the cooperation of the sun and the rain clouds, we managed to explore pockets of the state which weren't overflowing with long weekend tourists and managed to consume satisfying amounts of fresh lobsters and littleneck clams. Drenched in a bowl of hot butter and served with chowder and corn, each meal was messy, yet a veritable seafood feast.

As I type this entry, I've just finished reducing some wild blueberries on the stove with granulated sugar and Grand Marinier, which makes a decadent topping to drizzle on top of a bowl of cold vanilla ice cream. The berries were purchased at a roadside stand on the drive back and weren't sweet enough to have been finished off in handfuls in the car, so I saved them to fashion into tonight's dessert. Armed with spoonfuls of delectable sweetness, I'm ready to contemplate my future.

it was a very good year

2006-08-31T06:21:00.000+02:00

After a lazy, rainy day, I drove over to S & F's place to dine on a delicious risotto, paired with a 1979 Bordeaux. There was a moment of silence, followed by laughter when I realized that I was sipping a wine that was bottled the year I was born. A warm summer evening, good food, great wine, fantastic company...

hiding under a blanket

2006-08-15T03:54:00.000+02:00

Sometimes it's overwhelming just realizing how much there is to do in so little time.

Juggling two full time jobs and managing resources for both is taking its toll. While it's been an exciting challenge, I'm beginning to realize how unrealistic it is to hold down both and maintain my sanity. Reality can be tough to swallow. As much as I think I can handle the pressure, I'm coming to the distinct realization that I'm only one man and can only do so much given 24 hours in a single day. Between deadlines, travel, and accounting for how others fit into my competing demands, it really feels like I have each limb tied to a different horse and they're pulling in four different directions.

Sometimes it's just easier to hide under a blanket, if even for a few minutes, just to collect my thoughts and take a deep breath before emerging from a figurative 'time-out' and saying to myself, "bring it on!"

has it been that long?

2006-07-02T10:35:00.000+02:00

i've been such a sporadic blogger that i barely feel like mustering up the energy to write even the occasional entry. the weekend has been gorgeous so far and aside from dinner and a movie at the harbour ('rebel without a cause') at sunset on friday night, i haven't really been partaking. spent the morning washing dishes, then stepped out briefly to pick up some groceries, as well as some long green bamboo stalks for the 2.5' glass vase that sits in my bedroom. came home, made a refreshingly summertime meal of greek-style tabouleh with fresh dill, cilantro, and crumbled feta cheese, then gotcracking on some of the administrative parts of the side project that i'm working on.

happy canada day!
(i sang a silent 'o canada' in my apartment today in commemoration of the event.)

japanese corner store

2006-04-09T16:14:00.000+02:00

Day two started with a walk to the nearby corner store to pick up some toiletries. Not being able to read Japanese, I had to search quite hard to make sure that I wasn't picking up a toilet sanitizer instead of a bar of soap.

stimulating...

2006-04-09T16:07:00.000+02:00

First evening in Tokyo and it's been...well...an experience.

I think I look too Japanese for my own good as all the locals start speaking to me in Japanese and freak out when I answer back with a helpless look on my face and start muttering out english phrases. I managed to catch a limousine bus (not a prestigious as the name mightsound) from Narita International Airport into Tokyo and then hail a cab to my hotel. two fairly big accomplishments and not a word of Japanese except "arigato gozaimsu."

The minute I arrived at the hotel, I got a call from my friends Fredrik and Sylvi who brought me to a "contemporary performance art show" at this great advertising firm/art gallery at the invitation aof a friend and her husband who's an artist. It was, interesting, to say the very least. one of the performances included a naked man guzzling a bottle of wine while being flogged with whips and barbed wire by a girl in a house coat. and that was probably one of the less risqué performances! One of the other ones was a guy sitting atop a ladder, unzipping his pants, and sipping on a long straw which was held to his genitals while a video camera played the close-up on a screen behind him. Not even after an hour after I arrived in Tokyo,
this is what I was introduced to. Needless to say, we didn't stay long and instead moved to a cool little bar down the street called "Lether Bar" which was owned by a Spanish ex-pat.

After a few drinks and meeting some friends of friends, we went out to a Chinese restaurant and had some Peking duck (delicious) and chinese sherry (absolutely horrendous!). The restaurant was in Roppongi Hills, which is now a cleaned up, more European part of town, but which used to be the red-light district. Appropriately enough, the restaurant is decorated with giant phalluses on the walls, as well as breasts aplenty, and at the bar, an oversized bell carved with a very large vagina looms above diners.

And this was all in the first night.

This is going to be one hell of an trip!

I heart SF

2006-02-01T07:31:00.000+01:00

Back in San Francisco for another business trip. Every time I visit this city, I'm reminded of how much I love it. The beautiful views of the mountains and the pacific ocean, the wonderfully eclectic architecture, the diverse nooks and crannies of the city, the relatively temperate weather, and the ever-present greenery. I could write songs about how much I fall back in love with it each time I return, and how heartbroken I am each time I get on a plane to leave.

I don't know if I ever felt this way about Boston. True, I was excited when I first moved there - I moved across the continent, for goodness sake! But after the initial rush, I don't know that I'm still as jazzed about living there. True, I've never lived closer to a (sorta) metropolitan city before and that's kinda great. And I really love my apartment. I've got a small circle of friends around the city that I enjoy spending time with. But yet, something's missing. Work is relatively fulfilling, although I am getting somewhat bored by the day-to-day. The one consolation is that I am starting to get more interesting "side" projects. The downside of this is that I end up spending too much time slaving away and not enough time playing.

When I start feeling like this, I start to think about the job offer in the Netherlands. Although I understand and have come to terms with tea fact that I'm tied to an informal contract in Boston for another year, I can't help but feel a little resentment about the fact that I had to turn down the opportunity to live and work in Europe. I guess I have to remind myself that whether I'm here or there, the initial feeling of excitement will only last for so long. I need to somehow get at the heart of what's making me feel so melancholy before I decide to make another major life change.

...but that's a bloc for another day.

One Love :: Bob Morley

lousy tippers

2005-12-02T02:30:00.000+01:00

Went out to dinner at P.F. Chang's on Bay Street today with some colleagues from work. One of the younger guys had a bit too much alcohol, and as a sesult, became an annoying drunk. Got up, started to complain to the restaurant management about stupid, mundane things, and then left only enough money to cover his check, minus tax and tip. After we mentioned it to him, he ignored up and carried on. A few of us had to add to our bills to make up for his scrooginess. My new pet peeve? Lousy-as tippers and cheap drunks.

And to top it off, the weather in San Fransisco has gotten progressively worse.

lard ball

2005-10-05T03:49:00.000+02:00

I swear, by the end of this project, I will be one big lard ball! Been working until about 8:30 every night (and starting at around 7am), so by the time I get home, I'm too lazy to make dinner. Hence my trip to the grocery store today to load up my cart with frozen dinner entrées. As I checked out, I was digusted with myself. But it sure beats going to the McDonald's drive through every night for dinner.

changing leaves

2005-09-27T03:39:00.000+02:00

So mellow and relaxed. A weekend in the mountains tends to have that kind of effect on people.

Left the city on Friday night after fighting I-93 Northbound traffic all the way home from work. After a stressful day where the only meal I had were the millions of Starburst candies that I had brought for my gang at work, but ended up devouring the majority of myself, Lily and I left for Joho's place - our meeting point for the weekend's adventures. Upon arrival, we had warm pasta and buffalo wings waiting for us on the table. I love Joho anticipates my needs and just takes care of things before I even ask.

With D in tow, we drive up to New Hampshire - the first really long drive that my new (and as-yet unnamed) RAV-4 has been on since I got it. The drive consists of a lot of highway, some country roads, and then a gravel road, then a bushy, unkempt road, leading up to a family cabin built by Joho's dad back before she was even born. A long drive behind us, we unpack the car and dust off the cobwebs, wipe the countertops, and start a fire in the wood oven before settling in for the night.

In the morning, D makes omelets for breakfast, while we toast bagels and slice fruit. cooking on a gas stove and washing dishes afterwards with a gas stove and a cabin without running water has its challenges, but we quickly grow accustomed to the way of the woods. We hike around the surrounding area marvelling at the peaceful serenity of the mountains, admire the changing colours of the autumn leaves, and breathe in the crisp, cold air.

Walking along the gravel road, we happen upon the neighbours and decide to pay a visit. It turns out they are harvesting apples from the orchard, so the four of us decide to lend a hand and spend the afternoon picking (and sampling) the fruit from the trees. Zealous to a fault, we fill two large crates (approximately 20 bushels each) before we are told to stop. We then head over to the barn where we sample some of the cider that is being pressed.

In return for our help, we are treated to pizzas and beer on the field in front of the house, where we sit cross legged on the grass and share stories about ourselves. The picnic lunch is soon followed by homemade apple pie accompanied by ice cream, and we are in heaven. The remainder of the afternoon consists of napping in the sun, climbing the big old crabapple tree in an attempt to secure a rope around one of the branches so we can shake the fruit off, and picking some more apples to bring home for baking.

Making a meal of soup, an evening game of Settlers, trips to the stream for water, star gazing in the pitch black evening and admiring the stardust, hiking to the top of Mount Prospect, and a visit into the town of Whitefield rounded off the trip. The trip was so relaxing - just being around nature, being away from work and the busyness of everyday life in the city (including my laptop, which I surprisingly decided at the last moment not to bring with me), and being with good friends made it that much more enjoyable.

Today, I scratched the bumper of my car against a concrete column in the garage, trying to avoid grazing the Audi parked next to me; missed a deadline at work; and got an e-mail from my landlord telling me that my electric bills have been sent to her and need to be paid, but I'm not as stressed out about it as I normally am.

Maybe tomorrow. Today, I'm still relying on my memories of the weekend to keep me sane.

dim sum and paperwork

2005-09-19T01:50:00.000+02:00

Together with Joho, her roommate, and his new girlfriend, I went out for dim sum at China Pearl today. Havn't had really good Chinese food since leaving Vancouver. Okay, well maybe that's stretching it. The Chinatown in Philly was a good source of tasties. Nonetheless, I discovered a new favourite dish - lobster claw wrapped with shrimpmeat, then envelopped with crispy deep fried strips. Jennifer was a dim sum newbie, but a very good sport at that - going so far as to try the chicken feet, which even I tried to stay away from.

Afterwards, Joho and I walked around Chinatown checking out a fabric shop, where we picked out a golden brocade that will be the inspiration for the bedroom makeover we are planning for her. Then we headed back to my place where Joho had planned on studying before going over to her parents' place for a birthday dinner. I ended up napping for much longer than planned. But I guess I needed the sleep, after getting so little this past week.

Just spent the past hour organizing bills and paperwork from the move to Boston. I still have expense reports to file, paperwork to send out, and other exciting things like that which I've put off for far longer than I should have, but it feels a little better to be a little more organized. Now, I just need to get my bank account in order and get a Massachusetts driver's license. I hope they let me keep my BC license. It seems like I'm defecting to the dark side by getting an American license. But I guess I should get used to it...

I've officially been here for three months and five days and it still feels strange. Some days, I feel very much at home (especially with the West Coast weather that we've been having here lately), and others, I wake up, stuble out of bed and am confused as to how I ended up here. It's been a fun adventure so far though.

Am I the Only One? :: Barenaked Ladies

taking a break...

2005-09-18T03:31:00.000+02:00

I spent the past week conducting training sessions for the twenty or so newbies to the department. Initially, I was reluctant to conduct the training sessions, but they turned out pretty well. As it happens, mine have been the "fun sessions," as I've been told by some fo the participants, which always encouraging to hear. The best part for me has been seeing how these new guys interact with each other when I have them do group projects. It reveals so much about them and their working styles, and gives me a glimpse into how they will be to work with.

Between moments of frustration (not with the training - but with head office mishaps), it's been and incredibly turing week. I was glad to be able to take a break from it all and make a day trip out to Newport, RI today with Joho. Initially planned as a trip to listen to some timeshare spiel, then visiting the famed Newport Mansions, we skipped the mansion tours, and ended up having a great seafood lunch, then strolling around the shops, where we picked up some birthday gifts for friends and then some amber jewelry for Joho, as a belated birthday gift.

On our way home, we stopped at Newport Creamery's Awful Awful Ice Cream Stop for some peppermint stick ice cream. A perfect end to a fun day.

Running Out of Time :: Hot Hot Heat

random thoughts

2005-08-24T01:59:00.000+02:00

I'm so tempted to pull a Felicity and chop off my locks, but there never seems to be enough time in the day to breathe let alone find a decent shearing establishment and do the deed.

Heck, I've barely blogged about my adventures in the past few months since I've moved out to the east coast. One day soon, I'll fill you in, dear Internet. The stories include many back-and-forth travels between Beantown and the City of Brotherly Love, and a tree falling on my car in the middle of a thunderstorm. Rolicking good times!

Smackwater Jack :: Carole King

jekyl/hyde

2005-08-24T01:41:00.000+02:00

At lunch today, a story was relayed of drunken weekend debauchery. The story included a 'gay boy man whore' (her term, not mine) and a breeder chick looking to score at the a local watering hole. Taking their two randoms back to the apartment, there were requests from hers for a menange a trois including the aforementioned 'GBMW' which was denied, followed by a plea for "foot fucking" which was again denied to much laughter. The compromise turned out to be some toe sucking and foot worship to vuch laughter and disbelief. Halfway through the store, we looked over at the next table and noticed a mother and her six-year old daughter having lunch. The poor girl probably had a billion questions for her mommy on the ride home from the restuarant.

Much tamer was my previous evening's activities which included driving a friend and collegue to the dealership to pick up her new car, returning her rental,and having dinner at a great little Mexican cucina in Norwood. And my weekend consisted of making fun of a bedazzled Chris Isaak decked out in an electric blue sequinzed suit while in concert, exploring downtown Boston with a colleague, and attending a dinner party in Waltham.

It strikes me as interesting the differences between the two primary group of friends that I hang out with. perhaps it says something about my personality. what exactly that is, i'm not sure.

Sweetness :: Jimmy Eat World

old man at the club

2005-08-13T08:52:00.000+02:00

Is it sad that at the club tonight, I felt like I was 65?

The journey home included me being given a giant bear hug and then subsequently carried around quincy market, and then getting mooned by someone in our party as we made our way toward the highway. Amusing, yes. But am I too old for this? Probably not. But I feel it.

Funny thing is, we were at another venue earlier on in the evening watching senior citizens line dancing to electronica and I was probably more amused by them. Man, I'm aging too quickly for my years.

home

2005-07-09T02:15:00.000+02:00

It's been ages since my last post - I barely know where to begin.

At the present, I'm sitting on the floor of my old bedroom in my parents' house. My computer is on the carpet, and the only other things in the room are a bed and an abandoned wardrobe. Just a few hours earlier, the movers came and packed up my life into 63 boxes and carted them off in a huge 40 foot container. Because I've been spending the past few days back in Vancouver sorting my things in anticipation of the move, I've gotten very little sleep. The result was an already sleep-deprived me, being deprived of even more sleep. Racoons are jealous of the dark circles around my eyes.

Now that my stuff is gone, I have a sense of relief that the move portion of my trip is over, and I can now focus on my sister's wedding, which happens tomorrow. However, part of me feels a little wistful and unsettled. After a month of being on the road (or "on airplanes," as it were) between Philadelphia and Boston, living out of two suitcases, and eating out at greasy spoons every night, I've been looking foward to coming home. But now, home doesn't seem as much like "home" anymore - but rather, the place that I come to when I want to visit my parents. My mother has started to talk about converting my room into a sewing room, and happy as I am for her that she's starting to embrace being an empty nester, it saddens me to realize that this place, what has been my haven for so long, no matter how long I was away for school or work, really is now "my parents' place."

The idea of not having a home right now (I go back to living in hotel rooms for the next month until my stuff arrives in Boston and I move into my apartment) is kind of jarring, and I'm not certain how to feel about it. One thing I know though - no matter what I call this place, or what incarnation my old bedroom takes on, in my mind, this will always be home.

As soon as the movers drove away and I closed the door after waving them goodbye, I walked into the kitchen where my mom was over the sink, preparing to make a pot of soup. Paperwork in hand, I placed my arms around her and held her in a tight embrace. "I know," she said.

love bug

2005-05-18T07:24:00.000+02:00

Over lunch the other day, the big cheese was talking about taking his kids to the movies and how excited they were about the new Lindsay Lohan movie. Stuggling with the name, he came up with "Herpes - The Love Bug, or something like that..."

The love bug, indeed.

jazzberryram's day off

2005-05-16T04:19:00.000+02:00

Three days off from work and a weekend later, and I'm bored as all hell, itching for Monday morning to come so I can once again return to my office. Pathetic, isn't it?

Not to say that it hasn't been nice having some time off from the hectic pace of the office, but since I hadn't really planned anything exciting, I quickly got bored of hanging out with myself - since all my friends were either at school or at work while I was on a proverbial 'hall pass.'

I did go down to campus and visit some friends at my alma mater, which proved to be an interesting walk back in time. Had lunch with an old friend who now works on campus, then popped by to visit my former faculty advisor, an associate dean, as well as her secretary. It seems they always thought that I would return to academia in some form or another, and kept encouraging me in that direction. I never knew. Back when I was still working for the University, I thought it a plausible option, carving out a career at the University - in communications or marketing, or something along those lines. However, since I forayed into the world beyond the ivory tower, I haven't really looked back - until now. Not that I'm going to change my mind and return my one-way airfare to Boston, but it's nice to know that I have other options that I can hide up my sleeve for safekeeping, and that I have some backers.

After meeting old friends, and missing others who were in meetings when I swung by their offices, I wandered around campus, marvelling at all the architectural changes that have been made since I was a caffiene-addicted student toting my backpack from class to class to dorm room to class and back. As I walked into the Main Library and walked into the stacks, I got this erie feeling that I didn't belong. I made a quick exit, and headed back to my car to drive away.

One of the other days (I don't remember anymore - they've jumbled into one collective 'day off work'), I went to the local movie theatre to watch the latest film by Paul Haggis, Crash. It was gritty and heart-breaking, and I found myself tearing up at certain points, or with my jaw hanging in disbelief at others. It's a fairly realistic look at racism and bigotry, but at times, suffers under the weight of the stereotypes it portrays, even as it attempts to shatter them.

In a bit of a spending mood, I also went to the music store and picked up a few CDs to add to the collection:
The Thrills, Let's Bottle Bohemia
Moby, Hotel
Elliott Smith, From a Basement on a Hill

I also polished of Augusten Burroughs' memoir, Dry. An amusing read, both funny and poignant, making me laugh outloud at times, with this book Burroughs has cemented his status alongside satirist David Sedaris, as one of my favourite writers. Next up, Michael Cunningham, Land's End.

i could have been arnold's neighbour

2005-05-12T19:32:00.000+02:00

Now that I've accepted a job offer in a city where it's either freakishly one extreme or another - sweltering heat or bitterly freezing - I'm getting e-mails asking to set up interviews for the mild West Coast climates that I'm accustomed to. I just turned down an interview request for a job in West Sacramento.

That's okay, I doubt The Governator and I would have gotten along well anyway.

the start of goodbye

2005-05-12T19:00:00.000+02:00

It's weird, I still don't have a start date, nor do I know when I'm making the move to Boston, but already, I'm starting to say farewell to some friends in anticipation for my cross-continent move. C's become a good friend of mine ever since we first met back in University - she the Program Assistant, and I, a student in the same Co-op Program. It's going to be hard to say our final goodbyes, especially since we're both pretty horrible at keeping in touch over e-mail, but we'll have to make that extra effort.

We drove to Yaletown and took a long walk along the SeaWall, enjoying the gorgeous sunshine and the amazing scenery. Seeing the tents lined up along the water in Vanier Park, and the warm sunshine hitting the waves, making them glisten, It struck me how much I'm going to miss all of this.

After wandering back to Yaletown, undecided on where to eat, we finally got back into the car and headed to CRU, a teeny little box of a restaurant on Broadway and Granville. Living up to the adage that "size doesn't matter, it's what you do with it that counts,' CRU lived up to its well deserved acclaim. Fast, friendly service by a gracious staff, a casual, yet elegant atmosphere that makes you forget that you're essentially dining in a sardine can, and delectable plates that tantilize the senses embody the sophisticated, yet down-home charm of this west coast eatery.

My selections included a plate of Beef tenderloin Carpaccio with caperberries, truffle aioli and shaved parmesan to whet the appetite, followed by aHerb-crusted New Zealand Lamb Loin served over fricasée of artichoke hearts, olives, potato and haricots vert . For dessrt, awarm Passion Fruit Soufflé with milk chocolate sauce to drizzle over top. We shared dessrts, and if I had to choose, C's Bitter Chocolate Torte with port-stewed rhubarb and crème fraîche, would be the winner, seeing as how I'm such a chocolate whore.

After we finished dessert and realized that the Amazing Race would be on TV shortly, we hurridly took care of the bill and rushed back to C's place, just in time for the start of the show. Both rooting for the powerhouse team of Rob & Amber, we were a little disappointed by the second-place finish. Despite the fact that they made several errors on this final leg of the race, they still played the game stronger than any of the other teams, and brought with them the Survivor manta of outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting the other teams. Unfortunately, their luck ran out as American Airlines whelled the plane back to the gate and allowed Uchena and Joyce to hop onto the flight at the last moment. Now, when has that ever happened in real life?

L'Appuntamento :: Ornella Vanoni

it's not you, it's me...

2005-05-05T08:50:00.000+02:00

I finally decided to give potential boss man (PBM) a call today to turn down his job offer and let him know that I've accepted the job in Boston. Strangely, the whole process felt like I was breaking up with him. First there was the whole build-up to the inevitable phone call. (Yes, I broke up with him over the phone. I know, I know - shame on me! In my defense though, he's waaay on the other side of the continent, and in a completely different timezone, folks. So, gimme a break!) I had already made up my mind about Boston, but put off calling him because I wasn't sure what to say, and I wasn't ready to have the awkward conversation. So, I put it off over the weekend, and procrastinated until today.

Funny thing is, I was actually prepared to call, but PBM beat me to it, which kinda caught me off-guard. We had the talk, I told him about my decision and he tried to sound excited for me. Then asked about Boston - which was kind of like telling the girl you're breaking up with about the new girl that you're seeing.

The whole process was relatively painless, and it made me wonder what took me so long to do it. The call ended amicably and we promised to stay in touch. Kinda like the last time I broke up with someone. I think that time, I wimped out and did it over the phone too. Don't hate!

2005-05-05T08:46:00.000+02:00

pensive

weekend in boston

2005-04-20T07:49:00.000+02:00

We packed so much activity into such a short amount of time that coming back on the plane, I commented to M that it seemed like we had been gone for about a week.

Thursday
My procrastinating nature took over and I ended up packing my suitcase late Wednesday evening (or was it ealy Thursday morning?). This left me with only a few hours of restless sleep before I had to wake up, shower, and rush to avoid racking up waiting changes from the taxicab driver who was waiting for me on the driveway.

Got to the airport at 6:30, checked in, grabbed a toasted bagel spread thick with strawberry cream cheese from Tim Horton's, and met up with M, my travelling companion for the weekend.
We flew Vancouver to Chicago, marvelled at the psychedellic light show above the movators at O'Hare, grabbed a quick snacky meal (since United is too cheap to provide meals with any of their flights anymore), then flew to Boston.
Upon arriving at Logan International, we grabbed M's bags from Baggage Claim, then hopped on a bus to fetch our rental car (a great little Chevy Cobalt).
From there, we had initially planned on driving into the city from the I-93 on our way to the hotel to have dinner at a jazz club that we had found in one of the tour books we were rifling through at the bookstore last weekend, where we planned our trip itinerary. But the full day of flying left us weary, and because it was late, we decided instead to make a beeline for Brockton, MA and crash at the hotel.
The hotel is in a strange part of town, literally in the middle of a big box retail mall. Big rig trucks line the edge of the parking lot, while neon signs flash all around. We ask the concierge to point us to the nearest grocery store and get directions to the gas station instead since the grocery store was too far away.
At the gas station, we are greeted by two teenaged hoodlums smoking at the front door. One reaches to open the door and put down his cigarette, and as we enter and he slips behind the counter, we realize that he is, in fact, the gas station attendant. Classy!
After an unsuccessful food gtahering attempt, we spot a Wendy's from across the parking lot and make a beeline for it. Burgers and Frosties put smiles on our faces, while more teenaged slackers sitting by their cars in the lot, blasting music from their car radios frighten us a little.

Friday
We were scheduled to arrive at the offices at 10am, so we ended up having breakfast at the hotel before heading out.

Our interviews were held at the temporary offices, located in a colonial looking building/office park. Being the geeks we were, M and I posed and took pictures outside the building before heading in.
The big cheese tells me to stall during my interview with my potential department manager so that M and I can go out with the office for lunch at a nearby Thai place. I oblige and we end up having a great time meeting the rest of the office.
After lunch, the big cheese piles M, our potential department manager and I into his car and we head over to the construction site for a visit. The building is taking shape, and many exciting things are in the works.
Afterwards, M and I hightail it to Boston.
Visits to the John Hancock Tower, Prudential centre, old churches, Boston Common, Quincy Market for some clam chowder, and the aquarium, among others. We spot squirrels humping in Boston Common and like the silly little kids we are, giggle and whip out our cameras and start snapping away.
We meet with M's old highschool friend V in the lobby of the hotel of which she works and get a tour of the posh interiors. After the tour, her husband, B arrives and we head out.
We stroll along Newberry Street, checking out Fenway Park from a distance and window shop at some of the botiques along the way.
We arrive at Sonsie for dinner. Crab cakes with candied yams to start, a great polenta served in a chicken and tomato broth with steamed greens and a Chai Ice martini.
After dinner, we briefly entertain the idea of heading elsewhere for drinks or dessert, but instead opt to drive B&V back to their place in Brookline and and get a tour.
After a late night, M and I head back to the hotel.
On the drive back to Brockton, I comment on how strange and exciting it is to be in Boston and how I'm looking forward to moving there. As the words come out of my mounth, M points to a giant billboard that reads: "Welcome to Massachusetts, You're likely to live here."

Saturday
Slept in a little bit, but we both could have stayed in bed much longer. The hotel is kind of in a sketchy area, but the king sized beds are other-worldly. Soft as a cloud, but with just the right amount of firmness in the right places. It was a struggle to drag myself out of my slumber and get on with the day.

Driving to Providence, Rhode Island we enjoyed brunch at a charming little joint with the sun streaming through the large windows. French toast stuffed with strawberries and mascarpone cheese and a glass of ice cold OJ made for a delicious meal.
Walked around College Hill and visited the RISD Museum and strolled by Brown and RISD campuses. Dishevelled students in collegiate sweatshirts remind me of my own university days and make me reflect on them with a slight feeling of nostalgia.
Driving to Brookline to pick up V, we grabbed authentic Mexican burritos at Anna's Tacqueria in Allston with B&V and ran into two friends of theirs who end up dining with us.
With V in tow, M and I head to Quincy to walk along the beach and see the houses along the water, then check out Southie, which looks promising as a potential neighbourhood to live in - provided I can afford the rents.
M and I drop off V at the house and B convinces us to drive to Cambridge so we can see Hardvard and MIT. We drive, then get lost. Get directions, find MIT, then Harvard. Then get lost again trying to make it back to Brookline. Call V to get directions, then make it back two hours late...
....for the classiest barbecue ever at B&V's. Luckily, their friends R&T were also late, so no harm, no foul. We sit in the chilly evening air chatting and munching on cheese and crackers while waiting for the steak and chicken to finish on the barbecue.
Inside the house, we feast on the barbecue, comparing different marinades and rating them in order of preference. Also served are a spinach salad with strawberry slices drizzled with poppy seed dressing, as well as an asparagus and olive orzo served with cherry tomtoes. Plenty of red wine and lots of great conversation (including R's impressions of various characters at the trial at which he was a member of the jury) makes my face turn various shades of red.
Dessert of homemade brownies served a la mode with a glass of ice wine leads to more conversation, which makes us lose track of time. When we finally realize that it's time to go home, we say our goodbyes and drive back to the hotel in Brockton.

Sunday
An early flight at 9:00am means leaving the hotel at 6:00am so we have enough time to return our rental car and check-in for our international flight.

Dead tired from a late night and an early morning, we both fall sleep on the plane ride from Logan to Pearson.
On the stopover in Toronto, we stop for burgers at Hogtown Grill and get in some really good conversation. It's funny, after spending a whole weekend with each other, we don't start really getting to know each other until this point.
On the flight from Toronto to Vancouver, we spot Kevin Neuman, lead anchor for Global National, a few rows ahead of us in business class.

Phew...what a weekend!

training wheels

2005-04-09T05:55:00.000+02:00

I returned potential boss man's (henceforth called PBM) call today. It started something like this...

Me: Hey, what's going on?
PBM: [hiccup] Sorry, I have the hiccups.
PBM: I'm having a beer - I'm not sure if it's helping or making it worse.
Me: Well, maybe if you drink it with your head between your legs or something...
Me: So, what else is up?
PBM: I'm teaching my daughter to...[hiccup]...ride a bike.
Me: For a second there, I thought you were going to say you were teaching her to drink!
PBM: She is a little wobbly. Maybe it would help keep her steady.

indecisive

2005-04-07T04:03:00.000+02:00

Every time I come close to making a decision, something comes along to change my mind, or at least make me question my decision. *sigh* It's a frustrating existence...

Since this whole job saga started back in the summer, I've been itching to move to Boston. Then, Philly came along with an unofficial offer. And ever since the unofficial job offer became a little more official, I switched gears and started thinking seriously about the possibility of moving to Philly. Right now, they're still in the HR cross-check/preparing a salary and relocation offer stage, but things are moving along at a faster pace than before, which is a nice change. My would-be manager is calling me on a pretty regular basis to find out how I'm doing, and to remind me that he wants me ("in the non-gay sense," he adds) which is also nice and somewhat weird.

However, while he was on vacation a few weeks ago, I was contacted by the folks in Boston. They wanted to fly me out for an interview, and not having heard any news from Philly, I immediately agreed. I fly out next Thursday and stay for the weekend. Because I've been stuck in the Philly groove for so long, I was having trouble with the whole Boston thing. I just thought of it as a free weekend vacation. That is, until I spoke with my friend J. Because he knows all the players involved (and is generally a pretty smart guy), he was able to offer some very good advice, and really made me re-evaluate the whole situation. Which in turn, made me really want to go to Boston instead. That, and the Boston recruiters have been really great, helping me make travel arrangements and offering advice on which neighbourhoods to explore for potential homes, should I decide to move there.

So, I've flip-flopped from Boston, to Philly, and back to Boston.

Then, yesterday I get another call from my would-be manager in Philly. Turns out he had the Art Director over for dinner the night before and they started talking about the centralization of Communications resources back to the head office (located in Philadelphia). Along that vein, she would like me to be in Philly so that I can work with her more closely on special projects and such. She's an amazing creative mind, and a great person, so I would jump at the opportunity to work with her. And the fact that she wants to work with me is an added bonus!

So, now I'm flip-flopping some more.

Thing is, both parties are aware that I'm being 'courted' by the other to some extent since I've been pretty honest with both sides. Plus, since the head office is somewhat aware of the whole goings-on, word spreads quickly. But, at this point, I don't have an offer yet from Boston, so I think my best bet is just to stick it out, fly over there for my interview, and see where the pieces fall. If I end up with two offers and I'm equally enticed to take both, then I'll probably do something lame like toss a coin and let that decide my future.

Heads or Tails?

Epoca :: Gotan Project

crash

2005-03-27T07:43:00.000+02:00

A random shop window that I passed by the other day which perfectly sums up my current state of mind.

try again tomorrow...

2005-03-15T07:32:00.000+01:00

Our network and computer sustems were undergoing upgrades this weekend and so, today the glitches became apparent. I mostly work with my two Macs, but I also have a PC in my office which my assistant and I use for various things that we have PC licences for. Anyway, the network upgrade made my printers go wonky, and my PC cranky, so I was getting pretty frustrated.

I started to open some AutoCAD, and up popped the following error message...

Troubleshooting Today
An error has been detected in Today. Choose one of the following
options to fix the problem.
...
If none of these options works, turn off Today. Then try turning on
Today at a later date to see if your problem has been fixed.

today

After the annoingly frustrating morning that I'd already had, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. So, I decided to go up and have breakfast in an effort to take my mind of my computer issues.

Sitting down to read the morning paper, I stumbled upon my horoscope...

horrorscope

*sigh* And that's pretty much how the day went. Hope yours has been better! If not, turn off Today. Then try turning on Today at a later date to see if your problem has been fixed.

purgatory

2005-03-14T02:51:00.000+01:00

My posting frequency has declined steadily over the past few months that I almost feel the need to overcompensate by writing one big ass post.

Over the past few months, I've been doing the back-and-forth with a prospective new employer in Philadelphia. He called to unofficially offer me a job back in January after I got back from vacation, but since the position wasn't yet vacant, he couldn't make a formal offer. Then, when the position was finally open in early February, the posting went up and he encouraged me to put in my aplpication - just to formalize everything. I tried to schedule an interview, but he told me there was no need - he'd already made up his mind that he wanted to hire me. I pressed for an interview, and he agreed, so we had sort of a reverse interview, where I ended up asking the majority of the questions.

After that, he said that he had to finish interviewing the rest of the candidates (in keeping with the HR policy) before he could go to HR and put together a formal job offer. Two weeks later, I hadn't heard anything yet, so I called him back. Apparently, he was in board meetings all week, so hadn't had an opportunity to finish interviews. I told him to hurry his ass up and get an offer drafted (with much more tact and diplomacy, of course) because I was losing patience. He agreed and promised to touch base with HR to see if he could expedite the process by getting the paperwork started before he finished interviewing, and keep me in the loop so I knew where things were at.

Friday, I still hadn't heard anything, and since I knew he was headed to Europe for meeting and a brief vacation with his family, wanted to touch base. Turns out he was out of the office, I guess in preparation for his two-week trip, so I guess I have another two weeks to wait before I hear from him. As you can probably tell, patience is not one of my strongest virtues. This is going to be the longest, most agonizing two weeks of my life!

Meanwhile, not being entirely sure if the Philadelphia opportunity will pan out, I've put myself back in the running for the job in Boston. Both jobs are essentially the same, although the scope and opportunities are somewhat different. I have a feeling taht the folks at head office would prefer to see me in Boston, but the longer term benefits of being in Philaldephia seem to outweigh the shorter term Boston benefits. Several months ago, I was agonizing over which opportunity to pursue. Then, I made up my mind that Philly would be the better option and starting planning my life around that eventuality. Now, despite the fact that my heart is still set on Philly, I'm just ready to take whichever opportunity decides topresent itself first.

I'm just really tired of waiting. And being stuck in this liminal space, between what I've been doing for the past three years and moving to new challenges in a new city, while exciting, is also kind of maddening. I feel like I've already done all the mental preparation that I need to do. I'm no longer freaked out by the prospect of uprooting myself and moving to the States, like I was a few months ago. At this point, I just want to get on with it!

At the same time, we're gearing up for some intense things at work right now, and I have half-a-mind to tell my manager not to count on me sticking around to see it all through to the end - just to be fair to him and the rest of the department. At the same time, I don't have a formal offer in hand, so I really don't have much to tell. Any announcement on my part would be foolhardy at this stage. Plus, the sadist in me wants to see the boss man squirm when he realizes that he's screwed if I leave. And he'll squirm more, the closer we get to deadline. For some strange reason though, I think he may already suspect that something's up. I don't have any concrete proof taht he knows, but let's just say that the prospective boss man in Philly doesn't exactly have a reputation for being tight-lipped. *sigh*

So, aside from the anxiety that this waiting is causing me, it's making it difficult for me to plan my vacation requests (which are due on Monday), or approve my assistant's requests. I've had to turn down a few speaking engagements at the old Alma Mater, miss out on buying concert tickets, and miss the sign-up deadline for the annual Vancouver Sun 10km Run. All of this, simply because I don't know where I'll be hanging my hat in the next month or two.

When this is all resolved, I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief. In the meantime, with my allergies rendering me a sneezing, snotty mess, and all this uncertainty making me cranky and irritable, I'm not fun to be around. Hence, my socially reclusive behaviour as of late.

This weekend, though has been somewhat better. I finally got outside, started some sketches and preliminary work on my sister's wedding invitation, took some photographs of the cherry blossoms, and picked up the latest HOW Magazine. Somewhere in there, I also managed to finish watching the adventures of Harold & Kumar, which I started watching during my weekend in Jersey last summer (appropriately enough), but never finished. Not the most intellectually stimulating film ever made, but amusing nonetheless and good for a few belly laughs. Also had lunch with my sister and her fiancee at Saffron Restaurant & Grill, a relatively new Indian restaurant in Burnaby. I haven't had good Indian food in a while, and it sure hit the spot!

It's a wonder what a little Indian food and frat boy humour can do to lift your spirits!

Belle :: Jack Johnson

exceptions to the rule

2005-03-06T04:09:00.000+01:00

In researching relocation considerations for Canadians moving to the United States (hopefully me, in the next month or so), I came across this interesting tidbit from the Canadian Foreign Affairs website:

U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionVery specific U.S. regulations govern what you
may bring into the United States. ....Switchblade knives are prohibited,
except those owned by persons with only one arm.

Now, a Captain Hook-style prosthetic I can understand. But a switchblade?!?

Thievery Corporation :: Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun) feat. The Flaming Lips

just another day

2005-02-14T05:20:00.000+01:00

The holiday of doom for all single folk rears its ugly tomorrow. A day where unattached people like myself must walk by couples with arms interlocked, facing each other as they stroll down the street, wrapped up in a Hallmark moment all their own, oblivious to the world around them, and contemplate why nobody is buying us diamond tennis bracelets or taking us out for a fancy dinner. A day where people engaged in public displays of affection make you want to run off and vomit even more so than usual, or make you mutter snidely under your breath, "go get a freaking room!" A day where as you walk by flower shops teeming with blossoms of all shapes and sizes, you feel thankful for not having to whip out your wallet to pay the insanely marked-up prices that the other sods will inevitably do in the name of love. On the other hand, a crimson blush of embarassment passes your cheeks upon the realization that you have nobody to offer the flowers to even if you had wanted to buy them.

February 14th is strictly for couples only. As if I don't feel like a third wheel enough the rest of the year. This ridicilous holiday only serves to emphasize my singleness, which at other times of the year safely passes for being an independent spirit. A lone wolf, if you will.

I haven't always hated this holiday. I can remember a time when I was, in fact, eager for this holiday to arrive. Nights before the fourteenth, I'd sit on the floor with my scissors, gluesticks, scraps of red construction paper and doilies fanned out around me, working furiously in an effort to create the finest Valentine's cards in the second grade class. Only a few years later, would I succumb to the pressure of scrawling the words "won't you bee mine" in pencil on store bought cards with pictures of cartoon bumblebees engaged in all sorts of romantic activities printed on the other side.

Then there was that time that I inadvertedly scheduled a first date for the evening of the fourteenth. "Let's just hang out and have sushi," or so I thought. It wasn't until the before the date that my friends reminded me that it was a Valentine's Date - stressing the word "Valentine's" with such intensity that it frightened me to the core. "What did that mean? Did I have to buy flowers? What kind of flowers are appropriate for a first date?" My head was spinning. Luckily, I got my act together and figured it all out before the nervousness and anticipation set in. What followed was an evening of great conversation and some star gazing. Romantic and schmaltzy, like a good Valentine's date should be. So you see, I haven't always hated it.

But now that I'm single, dateless, and not currently blinded by puppy love, I'm reminded of how ridiculous it is to have a Hallmark holiday devised to dupe the lovestruck populace into fueling the machine of consumerism. Fancy meals, expensive gifts, symbols of extravagance, all apparently to show how much you love your significant other. Like we really need another day devoted to that. What? Anniversaries and birthdays aren't enough?

And then there's the effect it has on us single people. Now the spotlight is on us to see if we can get your act together in the next 364 days so that the same embarassing thing doesn't happen again this time next year. Knowing me, I'll probaly still be dateless and sitting at home with the remote control in one hand, a cold drink in the other, and a TV dinner on my lap.

A friend of mine is going out for an anti-Valentine's celebration with a group of other likewise single girlfriends tomorrow. On a whim, ne of the girls in decided to make invitations for the event. The cover reads sarcastically: "It's just another day."

Perfectly said.

daytrip

2005-02-06T06:05:00.000+01:00

Spent the day yesterday in Seattle with J & K as part of work-related "research." Our first stop was the Apple Store at University Village, where we completely geeked out and oogled the pretty machines inside. J showed us the Genius Bar where way-to-smart-for-their-own-good techies go to ask questions. And if the Apple guys get stumped, there's a red phone with a direct link to Apple headquarters in California. The complete geeks that we are, we ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the magic bat phone. After test driving various Macs and asking a bunch of questions, both K and I figured out what was on our respective shopping lists for when we came back across the border. Then, to complete the dorkification, we took digital photos of ourselves outside the Apple Store.

We had planned on eating at Zao's Noodle House, but seeing the long wait outside, we decided to try Burrito Loco instead. Freshly baked tortilla chips with tomato salsa and salsa verde for dipping, Chicken enchiladas with rice and beans, along with hibiscus juice at an authentic Mexican restaurant hit the spot and fueled us for a few more hours of retail resarch at Crate & Barrel and a few other stores.

Leaving UVillage, we drove toward Renton to visit the folks at the Seattle office, where we probably ended up staying way too long. It's always interesting to see how other branches of the same company work, and sometimes it helps us to appreciate the people and politics at our own offices even more.

After hightailing it out of the office, the three of us headed downtown to find someplace to have dinner. First though, we drove to REI to check out their use of graphics and just to be amazed by the fabulous space that they occupy. Then, we drove to the EMP to check out the unparalleled work of Frank Ghery. We had only meant to drive by so that I could see it, but when I laid eyes on it, I knew that we had to go down and explore a little. Seeing the building, with its curved metal walls reaching out all over the place and in various colours was almost surreal. It was like something out of a child's imagination translated onto the streets of downtown Seattle.

So, after wandering around for a little while, we decided that instead of finding somewhere else to eat, that we should just stay at the EMP and soak in the fabulous architecture. Luckily, we arrived at the Liquid Lounge a few minutes before Happy Hour ended, so we were able to take advantage of cheap eats and cheap drinks. Our playfully abusive waitress brought out some buffalo chicken wings with celery and blue cheese, oven-roasted greek olives with Mediterraean Sea salt and shredded Parmesan cheese, served with focaccia bread, Hummus with crisp, hearth-baked flatbread, and Caesar salad with crisp focaccia croutons, which we pretty much devoured. Good food, good conversation, and good music made for a great evening...or so we thought...

When we got back to the car, after joking taht we probably got a ticket for parking so long there, we discovered a boot on the car tire instead, along with a fine for $75. Luckily, the parking guy was still there, so we didn't have to get the impound guys to come down. At the same time all of this was happening, we were practically being accosted by a street thug harassing us for money so her could grab some dinner. After the fine was forked over and the boot removed, we all ducked into the car and drove home, kicking ourselves for not noticing the parking regulations signs prohibiting us from parking there.

The late night drive home consisted of a trip to Krispy Kreme for dessert, being amused by a seemingly stoned Krispy Kreme employee, the purchase of the perfect travel mug by J, listening to the most ecclectic mix of music on J's iPod/iTrip combo, and chatting about everything under the sun. I was dead tired by the time I finally got home, but in one of those satisfyingly tired kind of ways. The day was a blast and I couln't have had more fun with J & K. It makes me think that I don't really want to leave them to go off to Philly or Boston because I'll miss them way too much.

bleeding heart

2005-02-01T07:42:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, as I was searching the English Department's website for some information about an event that I've been invited to speak at, I came across an entry on the events calendar page that made me stop in my tracks. The words read "memorial service," followed by a name that seemed vaguely familiar. After a few Google searches, my suspicions were unfortunately confirmed. The woman named turns out to have indeed been one of my first year English professors. She and I never really developed a relationship beyond the classroom (although I did see her at campus productions every so often in my years there), nor were any the papers or topics that I wrote in her class particularly memorable, somehow, however, she made an impression on me. Always vibrant and full of an assured and focussed brand of energy, she struck me as a woman who was passionate about teaching, steadfast in her convictions, and unshakable in her love of life.

Reading one of the many tributes to her reminded me of the fragility of our existence here on earth, but also impressed upon me the triumph of the human spirit even in the face of death. My heart bleeds for little Hana Gabriele, who will never meet her mother, but will nonetheless know her from the memories of the people who's lives she touched in her brief time here. A mother who gave much more than life and love before she even knew her daughter...

i'm not a perfect blogger

2005-01-23T06:23:00.000+01:00

The week's gone by in a bit of a blur - hence the non-existant blogging. (We all know that's the most overused excuse ever, but we'll let it slide again, right?) Anyway, because of the flurry of activity at work, I called my assistant, who's on contract with me for a year part-time (meaning two measly days per week) to come in for the whole week. It's kinda nice having someone to do all the grunt work for me while I perch on a chaise longue supervising his efforts while being fanned with enormous palm fronds and being fed grapes.

Aside from being my little 'boy bitch' (as I so endearingly refer to him), he's also amusing to have around. A particular brand of sarcastic humour notwithstanding, he and I share a fondness for The O.C. (Seth Cohen being a hero to us both) and we have similar tastes in music (which is important when you have to spend the whole day in the same room with somebody).

So anyway, I usually listen to Virgin Radio UK during the work day because they play much better music than any of the local stations, and I like listeniing to the British accents of the DJs. For some reason, this week was like a Hoobastank-fest of insane proportions. The Reason (I refuse to post an MP3 link to it because I now posess a complete vehemence for the song) kept playing on a loop! Okay, I exaggerate, but it seriously played like twice in an hour one morning, and then again later that afternoon. The same story in the days that followed. Every time it would come on, we would stop what we were doing and bang our heads on the table.

Then on Friday, the damn song played yet again! In a moment of frustration, i switched to iTunes on my computer and hit a random playlist to listen to instead. Minutes later, guess what song appeared on the playlist?!? You guessed it! Turns out I had loaded the entire album several months ago when the band wasn't so overplayed and I was still fond of the song.

So, in an effort to add some new tunes to my collection and to avoid any mention of the stanky hooba's next week, I went CD shopping this weekend. Hey, it's as good an excuse as any, right? Here are the new additions:

Keane - Hopes & Fears
De-Phazz - Plastic Love Memory
Chris Botti - When I Fall in Love
The Clash - London Calling
Jamie Cullum - Live at Blenheim Place [DVD]

As well, I shopped online for the following two items since I couldn't find them anywhere else. I'm pretty damned excited to get these babies in the mail. And since concert tickets have sold out every time they've come to Vancouver, I figure a DVD of the concert experience is as close as I'm gonna get for now.

Scissor Sisters - Remixed [EP]
Scissor Sisters - We Are Scissor Sisters and So Are You [DVD]

The hills are alive!

carwashes and bake sales

2005-01-17T03:36:00.000+01:00

As for the weekend, it's been a real homebody adventure. Washing the salt and slush from my car using a rag and a small bucket of warm water, while confined in the garage is not an easy task. But it beats freezing your ass (and fingers) off in the cold trying to get water through the frozen hose pipe. Now Stella's good as new, and looking much shinier than the rest of her automotive compatriots on the road - inside and out.

And since nobody in this house seems to want to crawl out from under the warm shelter of their quilts to prepare a meal, I took it upon myself to make some potato corn chowder served up in ciabata bread bowls. Followed by a batch of banana raspberry muffins. Damn, I even impress myself sometimes!

Now for the rest of that laundry...

Gosh, you'd think I was holding a fundraiser or vying to be on the cast of Desperate Housewives or something!

dummies

2005-01-17T03:11:00.000+01:00

Well, it's been a pretty uneventful week, especially after the sorta/kinda job offer and the news of L's resignation followed by the resulting depression. Nothing new on the job front - just starting to get a clearer picture of dates and timeslines. It looks like the soonest I can probably break free of my current post is March, although, looking at the big picture, June/July is probably a more realistic target date. It seems like a long time to wait, but I figure any mild assurance of a job offer that will rescue me from the hands of evil boss man and his fellow cronies is good enough for me. And if I have to wait a few extra months, then so be it. I've lasted a little over a year under his limp-wristed fist, what are a few extra months?

Came home Friday night with a pseudo bust form for my sister's wedding gown. Apparently, she needs one so that the dress doesn't get all wrinkly in the box. Being the kind and generous brother that I am, I spot one headed for the trash, and salvage it for her. Still in good shape, I fork over a whopping three bucks for it, and lug it home. Sure beats the $180 that I would have paid has I purchased one of the "real" busty bust forms that I had found through a local supplier!

Upon my arrival home, I decide to fish around my sister's closet and clothe the bust form. I had planned on putting the dress on it and presenting it to her in a "wow, i'm gonna cry, this is like a scene from one of those cheesy, sappy movies" kind of moment, but the intricate embroidery and beadwork on the dress freaked me out (what if i tore something?). So, I threw on some of her own clothes, adding a parka, scarf, and a hat as a final touch. Then, because I'm a prankster of a little brother, I backlit it to add to the creep factor. Long story short, when she finally came home and opened her door, there was a gasp, followed by "What the...? Who is...? Oh sheesh!"

When she realized taht it was a bust form, not a stranger lurking about in her room, she called me over and we had a good laugh. Then I told her to undress the dummy. She started with the top, but when I pointed sheepishly at the drawstring pants, she gave me a strange look before untying the drawstring to reveal...a mignificent codpiece!

Hey, for three dollars, you can't be too picky!

Crystal Village :: Pete Yorn

evil clients

2005-01-10T03:26:00.000+01:00

I need to stop checking my work e-mail when I'm at home. It makes me crazy!

Friday, I sent out a final proof of an ad to a client. We had gone through a few revisions and settled on a final design and layout. The proof was just a confirmation before sending the artwork to publication. Today, I get an e-mail from the client asking to change the product featured and create more of a focus on the stupid dollar breakfast that is also being offered. Gag! Finality is never final with her.

Insert string of expletives here...

Boy, I'm really making up for my recent lack of posts. The need for catharis seems to be the best remedy for a wilting blog.

choice of maybe's

2005-01-10T02:43:00.000+01:00

So, some big news at work this week. After nine or ten years with the company, my friend, and favourite long-distance colleague, L, is calling it quits. I must admit, I didn't find the news particularly surprising, but I was saddened and a little bewildered nonetheless. She's one of the "good guys," so to speak, and I had honestly hoped that we would be able to work together forever (as grade-school as that sounds). However, I respect her decision and wish her all the best as she moves on to greener pastures. And as she reminded me, just because she's leaving the copmany, it doesn't mean we can't still be friends.

Now, the twist (and there always seems to be one) is this - the day before L called to break the news to me, her boss called me from Philly to tell me about her decision, and to offer me her job. It seems the thought of losing someone so good freaked him out and he felt he needed to take immediate action. He talked to teh board, his management team, and they all decided that if I were to accept the job, they would throw in a relocation package for me. If I decline and the job goes to someone else, the relocation package is off the table.

My initial reaction is flattery - at the relocation offer (which is no longer standard), and at the mere thought that my feet are big enough to fill the figurative shoes L is leaving behind. But there are so many other factors that are at play before I can say yay or nay to this exciting and potentially challenging new offer. I kind of had my sights set on moving to Boston and all the different things associated with that move, and hadn't accounted for Philly as a possible destination. Now it feels as though I have to choose between two possibilities - neither of them with definite job offers at this point, just promises of jobs.

Choosing between two "maybe's" - is that how my New Year is starting off? This can't be a good sign...or can it?

made to be broken

2005-01-10T01:58:00.000+01:00

One of my New Year's Resolutions should be to post more often, although I'm sure that if it does get added to the list, it will subsequently be the first to get broken. So off the list it stays. Meanwhile, here's the overly-ambitious 2005 list. (Afterall, don't motivational speakers always tell you to aim high and stuff?!?)

1. Update the portfolio and give it a makeover. I'm sick of how it looks.

2. Create actual web content for the online portfolio site. This means dusting off my years old (probablly bootleg) version of Dreamweaver and figuring out style sheets and stuff. Or maybe I'll just cheat my way through it and stay teh hell away from coding and stuff like that because it scares me.

3. Buy a new laptop and matching toys. I haven't consciously been saving up, but I know there's enough in the bank account to treat myself. I deserve it, dammit! And this PC is really starting to annoy the hell outta me.

4. Move. Out. Away. Whatever. I promised myself I'd be out of the house by time I turned 25. Looks like that didn't happen. I'm extending the deadline to my 26th birthday. If I don't move to a different city like I hope to do, I will resign myself to staying in Vancouver and buy a condo or apartment to nest in.

5. Watch at least one new movie a month. At the theatre. My newly purchased stash of discount movie tickets should ensure that I follow through on this culturally enriching resolution, tailored to broaden my horizons. Provided, of course, that I don't go catch retarded (albeit cult hit) flicks like "Dude, Where's my Car?"

6. Since I should probably have a fitness resolution, and I'm too lazy to add 'join a gym' to the list, I'm gonna start running again (after the cold disappears). And the goal is to beat my the 10 km Sun Run finish time that I set last year.

7. Stop spending money on clothes. I think there are articles in the closet with tags still on them, and yet, like a crazy shoppaholic clothes whore, I keep buying more. Enough! (Exceptions may be made on fabulous shoe purchases. But only if they are indeed fabulous. Or extremely comfortable.)

8. Pack lunches (and breakfasts). And eat at MickeyD's and Wendy's less. So far, I've been holding steady to this resolution, but we're only nine days into the year. This is most likely the first one I'll break. I'd place bets on it now.

9. Read a new book every month. And finish them.

10. Ten resolutions?!? Holy crap! I should know that too many resolutions are a recipe for failure! But whatever. Ten is a nice, round number. So be it. Hmmm...how about this? Write at least one postcard a month.

There you have it. The 2005 Made-to-be-Broken List!

back at it

2005-01-05T08:47:00.000+01:00

First day back at work and I'm ready to go back on vacation. Sad, since during the last week of vacation, I was ready to go back to owrk. You can only do so much shopping and going to dress-fittings (for my sister's wedding gown, silly!) before becoming bored stupid. The trips to the spa, however, will be missed. Never have I been so relaxed in my life.

I rushed to work in a hurry, fearing that I'd be late on my first day back. Wrapped up all the pasalubong (souvenirs) that I brought back for my co-workers, hopped in teh shower, and packed a quick breakfast and lunch, and drove off. about 25 minutes into my morning commute, I glanced at the digital clock on my car dashboard and realized that it was a few minutes before 6:00 - and I wasn't sue to be in the office until 7:00. I guess my internal clock still hasn't completely adjusted to the time change.

Arriving early was actually nice. I got to wade through the tonne of e-mail that awaited, as well as check phone messages before everyone else arrived. My assistant, D, made a giant 'welcome back' balloon out of vinyl and tape scraps (as well as pop bottles and other miscellaneous bits and pieces, I'm told) and hung it in the middle of the office. I was also greeted by a fun new desktop pattern and screensaver on my computer. Fun stuff. It feels kinda strange to come back to an assistant that I've barely worked with and that my co-workers are now more familiar with since he's been around for the whole month while I've been away.

Once people started trickling in, I ended up going on the meeting circuit. First, a manager's meeting, then a customer service meeting, followed by a promotions/marketing meeting. No breaks, no lunch, still many unopened e-mails and bills to sort through - I'm tired just thinking about my day tomorrow.

How I long to be lying on a sunbed under the coconut trees on a white sandy beach, being massaged while the sound of the surf drowns out the commotion of the world around.

More blogging about the vacation (enjoyable and tasty), turning twenty-five (still hasn't fully sunk in yet), and new year's resolutions (lofty and ambitious, and a few already broken - so time to re-think and revise) to come at a later date.

Sway :: Michael Buble

belated

2004-12-26T18:14:00.000+01:00

I know it's a few days late, but Happy Christmukkawanzaa to all!

The sorry state of internet connections in this country is partially to blame, as is my extended family's pre-occipation with shoving plates of deliciousness in front of me. With so much food to be consumed, there is little, if any time to spend with frivolous things like checking e-mail and posting on the blog. I mean, how to you turn down barbecued chicken, seared fish steaks, and grilled squid served on banana leaves and dipped in freshly squeezed calamansi juice?

If I didn't have such an abnormally speedy metabolism, I would have to get my cousins to roll me aboard the airplane.

vacation angst

2004-12-22T17:23:00.000+01:00

This is the first post I've written since I've been on vacation. I'd love to say that I've been too busy frolicking on the beach or soaking in the sun to write, but that's barely the truth. Plain and simple, I've just been lazy. I started journalling for the first two weeks of the trip, and then as soon as I got to Davao, I don't think I've even managed to make a scribble in my journal. The pages sit barren and white, still crisp from neglect.

Most of the time since we've been in Davao has been either spent with the hoardes of cousins (fun! fun! fun!), traipsing all over town with my sister to shop for various wedding acoutrements (yawn), acting as chaperone for my sister and her fiance (terribly old-fashioned, and slightly silly, but bearable nonetheless), or dining with various relatives and friends of the parental units (varying from mildly enjoyable or downright uncomfortable, depending on the dinner companions present). My cousins finally got out of school this week, so we've actually been able to spend more time with them, but since there's little to see or do here, we've primarily been hanging out at the mall since the air conditioned interiors are a welcome reprieve from the sweltering heat outside.

I walked around the city the other day, and nearly gave my aunt a heart attack. I can't decide whether it was because it's deemed low-class to walk around the dusty streets alone, or if she was afraid that I would be kidnapped. She insisted that I get her driver to take me around the city, but after much arguing, I won out and was able to walk around on my own unaccompanied - on the condition that i called her once i got to my destination. She was so much like my mom it was endearing.

That's the tough thing about being here in the Philippines. The heat, grime, and shoddy plumbing, I've sort of gotten used to, or at least come to terms with. The things that I'm having the most difficulty with are my lack of language skills and my inability to get around on my own. True, I can utter a small handful of words and phrases in Tagalog, and a few in Bisaya, but aside from "mag kano to?" (how much is this?), I don't have much other useful vocbulary to boast of. I mean, how far can I get with words like "kamatis" (tomato) and "tubig" (water)? "Tubig ang kamatis daw, po. Salamat. Maligayang Pasko!" (Water with tomato please, sir. Thank you. Merry Christmas!" Yeah. Like I said, useful.

And then there's the matter of getting around. Walking, like I mentioned, seems to be out of the question. Not only is it searingly hot on the dusty roads, but it's pretty unsafe to be a pedestrian. Unless you're a seasoned veteran, the chances of getting run over by vehicles swerving in and out of traffic without regard for people on foot, or being pick-pocketted or nabbed are quite high. Driving is another story altogether. I'm comfortable driving in crazy traffic cities like Philadelphia and New York, but driving in the Philippines is insane. First of all, there are barely any road signs left - making navigation slightly difficult. They've all either rusted or fallen off, never to be replaced again. Secondly, there is little or no regard for traffic regulations. The rule seems to be: 'If you think you can pass, do it! And if you think you can't, honk your horn, and maybe you can intimdate the other drivers around you enough so that you can squeeze your way through.' Today, I was in the car with my cousin, and we witnessed a car losing its sideview mirrors to the traffic whizzing by. The driver simply stopped as one of the passengers got out of the car to pick up the mirror, and they drove off again like it was a daily occurence. No surprise, no kaffuffle. I had to laugh at the ease with which the situation was handled. If it were me, I would have insisted on exchanging license plates, etc.

Another thing that I'm having trouble getting accustomed to is the disparity between the rich and the poor. Everywhere you turn, there are people begging on the streets. In residential areas, at the mall, on the streets, in front of churches. And if you give any change to one, you'd better have enough to supply the masses that swarm around you after you've extended your hand to offer the first donation! The sad thing is, most of the beggars are children. young boys and girls in tattered clothes and barefoot, carrying their crying infant siblings, or holding the hand of a brother whose face is burned beyond recognition. It's heartbreaking to witness, and even more so to have to shoo them away from the door, as they grab onto your pants begging for alms as you try to get into your car or taxi.

But it's not all bad. spending time with faily has been what's made this vacation enjoyable. It's been about five years since I saw most of my cousins, so seeing them now all grown up is pretty exciting. the cousins on my dad's side are all pretty well-off businessmen and women with families f their own, and the cousins on my mom's side are mostly all in college or working. There's a few kiddos thrown in the mix, and they make for the life of the party. And since my dad has ten siblings, and my mom eight, there's plenty of family to go around!

As for the angst, I got an e-mail from the folks in Sweden, and it looks like I won't be moving there anytime soon. For a while, it was sounding like they wanted me to fly to Copenhagen on my way back to Vancouver for a third round of interviews. When it turned out that flights would be more expensive than anticipated and that I wouldn't be able to get there until the new year, I was told that the pool of candidates had been narrowed down to three other local candidates, and that since they wanted to make a decision before Christmas, they would just pick from those three. I can't say that I'm not disappointed, but I guess I know well enough now not to get my hopes up about these sort of things. More than being disappointed about not going to Sweden (or at least flying to Copenhagen for an interview), I'm more upset by the fact that I have to go back to my seemingly dead-end job. Now, I'm even more motivated to find out what opportunities the US has in store for me.

In other angsty news, my sister's finace has suggested that he will be coming back to the Philippines to help with the family business after the wedding, since it seems to be falling apart at the seams. My sister isn't pleased, as "this wasn't part of the plan!" She and I talked for most of the evening, after the two of them got off the phone, hashing out the various possiblilities, and despite her reluctance to move down here, I think she's resigned herself to the fact that she probably should.

"Life never turns out the way we plan for it to," I said in my best Yoda voice.

She responded, "I know. I hate it. I don't want to move back to the Philippines. And get married and have to consider other people aisde from me and my husband. And have to support his family. And pay a mortgage. And their mortgage. And have to start life over again. And figure out how to speak the language. And talk to the help. And get around. And figure out how to get a job. It sucks! And now I have to go pee!"

And with that final exclamation, she collapsed on the bed, heaving a big sigh.

Life is tough. And then you pee.

bowl of cherries...

2004-12-02T22:58:00.000+01:00

My flight leaves in ten hours. That means I have to leave the house in about six hours to pick up my sister's finace and get to the airport in time for international check-in. The flight may be delayed because of the crazy-ass typhoons that have touched down in Luzon and the surrounding area. This also means that our plans to hop to the resort island of Boracay may be thwarted. Plus it's raining and thundering elsewhere in the Philippines. I guess I shouldn't be whining so much about a potentially spoiled vacation when I haven't even packed my things yet, or considered the number of people missing or dead in the typhoons. Nothing like a little dose of reality to make you realize how un-sucky your life really is.

Alright, back to the bags...

Bubble Pop Electric :: Gwen Stefani

recaplet

2004-11-29T08:03:00.000+01:00

Yet another week-in-summary post:

monday
Got a call from Lisa. Talked for hours, but somehow felt much shorter than that. Tried to convince her to come to the Philippines with me in December. Tempted her with promises of scuba diving and durian. It still remains to be seen if she will take the bait.

tuesday
T proposed lunch at Costco, so we all piled into my little car and drove off. There were no seats left insode, so we decided to eat outside. Too windy. Decided to pile back into my car. So, like, totally high school. As we sat and ate our pizza, chicken strips & fries, we made fun of people walking by. Ahhh...high school memories.

wednesday
Had our department Christmas party at Monsoon. Pan Asian food in a funky space. Vegetable Pakoras dipped in a tamarind chutney. Yummy daal and naan bread. Pan seared halibut and mussels with deep fried crispy lotus root and yam chips. The tacky gift exchange got me a three-part gift: an oversized wooden fork & spoon set, a WHAM! cassette, and a Farrah Faucet puzzle which revealed nipplage. Boss Man coveted, so I graciously offered Farrah to him. It was the least I could do. He paid for everyone's meals. He deserved a bit of fun for later.

thursday
Picked up Raj after work and headed to Granville Island to catch The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged). Went to Sandbar for dinner, then laughed our asses off at the show. Rolicking good times!

friday
Finally finished one of my big projects today, including installation. Breathed a big sigh of relief. Got a last-minute creative brief that was a rush job. Freaked out. Panicked. Stayed at work much longer than I should have. Got home at 9:00 pm. Fifteen hours at the office is waaay too long. When the hallucinations begin, it's time to go home.

saturday
Picked up the new Gwen Stefani and U2 albums. Rocked along with Gwen on the drive home. I *heart* her.

sunday
Went to Chapters. Picked up a book to send to Lisa, and then proceeded to shell out $87.14 on magazines. Two fluff reads for the plane ride, one regular read, and an expensive ($49.50) necessity. Why must design magazines be so expensive? You'd think we were well paid or something...

Despite the gorgeous you-should-be-outside-playing weather, I went to the office to get in a few hours of work. Slaved away and got much more done than I had anticipated. By the time I left, it was dark and I had missed my opportunity to frolick in the sunshine.

Fortunately, there are only four more sleeps until I hop on a plane for the sunny beaches of the Philippines. Damn, I still have to pack, wrap up Lisa's books and get them to the post office, pick up some goodies to bring back for my cousins, and finish everything off at work. *sigh* It's hard work preparing to go on vacation!

Vertigo :: U2

highlights

2004-11-16T07:49:00.000+01:00

Today's excitements (in no particular order):

let's see...

Made Pad Thai with T and stayed over for dinner with him and his wife. Creation of the gingerbread Hummer followed. It's looking less and less like a Franken-tuck, and more like what it's intended to be. Icing and final touches are scheduled for completion later on in the week. It's a delicate and time-consuming art, this gingerbread sculpting!

Bitched about various annoyances with "the wife" while we hid out in my office late in the afternoon.

Started my current mapping/wayfinding project today, and thought I was making some real progress until I went to the computer and plotted out an initial mock-up. I was confused as ever by what I saw on the screen, and will need to start from square again tomorrow. A full day to realize that what I had was crap! Ah well, not all was in vain. At least I now have a light table for my office. (At least it's mine until someone tries to claim it back.)

Found out how much the folks at the external ad agency make doing the same thing that I do, but more shoddily. Let's just say that they make more money putting together one lousy flyer than I do in a single year! Oh the injustice of it all!

Called a friend in Calgary and had a good long chat...mostly about work, but also a little silliness and gossip thrown in for good measure. Had a chat with an English girl on the other end as well. Being the lover of accents that I am, this had to make it on my list of daily highlights. "Spoke with a Brit. Check!"

Discovered that a co-worker has shingles - otherwise known as herpes zoster, or a version of adult chicken pox. Not sure how contagious it is, but my fingers are crossed that it isn't too catching since we were sharing a bag of candies in the office late last week. I kept scratching nervously today, but I think it's just psychosomatic. I hope.

Found out that a co-worker's partner was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes over the weekend. It's a big deal, particularly because he's a pilot - and this news means that he is no longer allowed to fly a plane because of the possible effects of the illness. It's what he's worked for long long to be, so the news is pretty devastating. Although he seems to be taking it in good stride so far. This serves as a reminder for me that no matter how bad I think things may be in my life, it's not really all that unbearable.

I'm going to go count my blessings now...

customer service

2004-11-14T23:58:00.000+01:00

I finally found a copy of Back Porch Spirituals online and placed an order today. This was the e-mail confirmation that I received:

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved 'Bon Voyage!' to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Sunday, November 14th.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as 'Customer of the Year'. We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you once again,
Derek Sivers, president, CD Baby
the little CD store
with the best new independent music
phone: 1-800-448-6369
email: cdbaby@cdbaby.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/

All I can say is, there had better be a gold-lined box encasing my CD when it arrives in the mail!

I love these people! I fully realize that the schmaltz is pure marketing, but I don't care. Put a beanie on my head and call me a sucker! Oh, and to the people of Portland, you're welcome. I hope you enjoyed the parade rustled up on my account.

let it shine

2004-11-13T10:03:00.000+01:00

Went to T's place after work today to build a gingerbread house. Kinda.

A little background. There's a gingerbread house contest at work. And while I'm not usually one to participate in cheesy little contests like this on a regular basis, I allowed T to convince me that it would be fun.

So, rather than making a typical gingerbread house, we hashed out a few different ideas. The Chrysler Building, a Frank Lloyd Wright house, and Malibu Barbie's Dream House were all discussed, as was a scale model of the building we're currently in the process of remodelling. In the end, we gave in to our testosterone fueled imaginations and decided to build a gingerbread Hummer. So far, I've built the body and T has fashioned tires from ropes of black licorice. It's coming together quite well, I must say. Stay tuned next week as I attempt to make plate glass for the windshield out of caramelized sugar.

We're such dorks!

After a quick dinner of pizza and beer, we headed over to the Media Club to soak in the folk-pop jangle of Jeremy Fisher in concert.

At various points throughout the evening, I was singing along and toe-tapping and lap-drumming like a kid in need of ritalin. Honestly, how could one not love a skinny afro-ed white kid singing his heart out with just a guitar and a harmonica (and the recent addition of a three-man band) to back him up? The only disappointment of the evening was finally making it to the back of the club to see if I could pick up a copy of his 2002 debut album, Back Porch Spirituals, only to find that they had all been sold. If I wasn't a saner person, I'd hop on the next flight to Alberta, follow the tour and pick up a copy of his first CD.

I'll try my luck online first.

Singing on the Sidewalk :: Jeremy Fisher

embarrassment

2004-11-12T07:10:00.000+01:00

I'm sick of looking at my generic looking, template driven blog. As a graphic designer, I should be thoroughly embarrassed not to have a fancy schmancy looking site. Shame on me! I should seriously be walking around with a paper bag over my head. *sigh*

Don't worry, I'll get around to it...eventually. After I finally get rid of this decrepit old home computer (and replace it with a sexier version), wrap up the current round of freelance jobs, make it through her highness, my sister's wedding, finish training my new assistant to the point where he no longer requires adult supervision, start working more normal hours, and manage to avoid missing meals.

In other words, don't hold your breath.

The Bitch is Back :: Elton John

jump

2004-11-11T07:01:00.000+01:00

in omnia paratus

....which apparently means, prepared for all things. Like jumping off really hgh structures. Holding black umbrellas. And wearing fancy duds.

Oh Life & Death Brigade, if you were real, what I wouldn't do to become a member - just so I could pull silly stunts like this and not think twice about how silly they are, but rather how brave, adventurous, and completely spontaneous I am.

I watch waaay too much television.

sickly

2004-11-10T06:39:00.000+01:00

Today marks day three of being quarantined at home with a nasty cold and splitting headache.

I awoke this morning and stumbled out of my room after calling the boss man to tell himthat I wouldn't be heading into the office, only to be greeted by the wailing of the house alarm. Apparently, my sister turned it on, not realizing that I was still alseep in bed when she left the house. Anyway, I enter teh code to disarm the system, get a call from the alarm company and give them the secret code to let them know that everything's alright. Everything under control, or so I thought.

The phone rings a few more times and the doorbell rings, but I ignore them both because I'm sick and don't feel like dealing with telemarketers or door-to-door canvassers. So instead, I plop myself down in front of the TV and start watching one of the DVDs that I rented. A few minutes later, I hear some rumbling outside, and then, a uniformed cop appears at the patio door. Turns out, I gave the wrong secret code to the alarm company, and the cops came to investigate. He climbed over the fence and into the backyard to gain entry and was sort of surprised to see me watching TV in the den. I went and got some ID and explained the whole situation, which seemed to placate him. It did manage to infuse a jolt of excitement to my otherwise boring day at home though.

Rather than do anything remotely useful or productive, I pretty much surrendered myself in front of the television and watched movies and bad daytime TV for the past three days. I had hoped the Angels in America DVD would be on the shelves at the video store, so that I could watch all six hours of it in one sitting, but it was out. I opted for a smattering of other selections in its place:

Mambo Italiano
Blast!
I'm the One that I Want
Igby Goes Down
Virgin Suicides
A Home at the End of the World
(after first finishing the novel by Michael Cunnigham, of course)
Bollywood/Hollywood

I'm too lazy to write reviews for any of them. All were generally good, but A Home at the End of the World was particularly so. A well-writted screenplay, ballanced by some very nuanced performances. I didn't even mind the plot changes and character omissions made to the novel in order to bring the work to screen.

Unless I take a turn for the worse, I head back to the office tomorrow to face all sorts of calamity, no doubt. I've kinda gotten used to lazing around at home with nothing to do but fold laundry and watch movies, but one more day of mind numbing boredom, and I think I will go crazy.

To Be Real :: Cheryl Lynn

"there's a two-for-one special on brooding young men"

2004-11-05T04:31:00.000+01:00

shiny happy people

For the first time in a long time, I came home before dark today. Took advantage of the last few remaining hours of daylight, threw my parka on and headed out for a walk. I figured that it's been a while since I've gone running that I should probably ease myself into it, rather than be all hard core about it. With the sounds of Donovan crooning in my headphones, I set of for a brisk autumn stroll down by the creek.

The air was cool and crisp, and I was entranced by the steam of my breath mingling with the cold air. Rain from the past few days made the grass soggy and wet, so no crunchinhing of leaves beneath my feet was to be had. Just the occasional squish and slosh of wet leaves permeated with yesterday's rain.

When I reached the creek, I noticed a pair of eyes peering at me from across the way. Startled, I took a step back as my heart skipped a few beats. Turned out to be an owl, perched on a trre branch, starting at me, but not commenting on my intrusion. I stared back, and after a long silence, we made our peace and only half-heartedly contemplated each other with polite disregard.

Seconds later, I was startled by a violent thrashing in the creek bed below. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I had stumbled upon a salmon run. The sleek silvery coats of the fish reflected the dwindling sunlight left peering through the treebranches overhead as they struggled to make their way upstream. Several of his comrades followed, each larger and more brutish than the last.

As they bellied their way past the large stones that dotted the creek, using them as leverage to push past the currentforcing its way downstream, I recognized the bullheaded determination in the midst of seeming futility. Part of me wanted to step into the frigidly cold waters, and guide them to the edge of the creek where the water doesn't flow as strong, and where they could propel themselves upstream with greater ease. But I realized that part o the beauty of this cycle is the struggle against adversity and the determination required to succeed.

I wish I could say that I returned home with my head held a little higher and a bounce in my step, determined to face the challenges ahead. Unfortunately, the only determination I had was to prepare a real dinner for myself - not that Chef Boyardee or Top Ramen crap that I've been ingesting lately out of sheer laziness.

Soy chicken with a side of stir-fried snow peas, miniature corn and cashews, served on savory steamed rice. After diner, I'm planning on indulging in some freshly made sorbet and the return of my favourite guilty pleasure.

Speaking of which, I just had to take this personality quiz. (I'm such a fourteen year old girl sometimes!) Apparently, I'm sooo Ryan. I would have thought more along the lines of Seth, but, like, what-ever!

really?

Here's to another season of watching spoiled anorexic girls boozing it up, brooding Russel-Crowe look-alikes in uniform wife beaters, and dorky protagonists getting the girl, an insane amount of pop culture references, and a pretty good handful of pretty good tunes.

Leaving New York :: REM

the people have spoken

2004-11-04T05:21:00.000+01:00

...and this is what they said. I hoped that people would have come to their senses and voted someone with the ability to string together coherent, intelligent-sounding sentences, at the very least, but who am I to judge?

I listen to this station at work, and as part of their post-election coverage, they hit the streets and interviewed Americans living in London to get their reaction to the news. Most were disappointed, but one girl was crying. Literally weeping.

God Bless America...red, white, and blue states alike.

doyenne

2004-11-01T07:20:00.000+01:00

Today was my dad's birthday. Yes, he's Halloween baby. Funny thing is, he's a pretty fundamentalist Christian, so Halloween is very much a pagan holiday in his book. This has made for some interesing birthday celebrations in previous years. We usually celebrate with a birthday dinner at home, but when the trick-or-treaters would come ringing the doorbell, Dad would turn off all the lights and tell us to be quiet until the kids went away. Like the kids wouldn't notice the fact that the lights were one as they walked up the driveway, and the sounds of conversation filtering through the house, only to disappear the minute they reach the front door. But since it was Dad's day...we did as was requested of us and sat silently in the dark shaking our heads in embarassment. Part of our non-participation in so-called pagan rituals, I guess. Every so often, I'll get dressed up to go to work or to a party, and I know he's got a look of disappointment or disapproval on his face.

Anyway, this year, to avoid having to hide from the trick-or-treaters, we went out for dinner instead. We had planned on Japanese, but the place was closed, so we went to this great Indian Chinese place. Real fusion food without the pretentiousness of 'fashionable fusion.' The owner is a Chinese guy who grew up in India, so the menu is basically Chinese food with Indian flavourings.

We finished the evening off with cake - one that my sister and her fiance bought, and the other that I made...sorta. Ice cream cake topped with raspberry sorbet and decorated with whole raspberries and mint leaves glazed in a sugar syrup.

In addition to cake decorating, i've been a domestic doyenne the rest of this weekend as well. Cleaning...laundry...I even hemmed six pairs of pants - three pairs of khakis, two pairs of jeans, and a pair of cords. i broke two sewing machine needles in the process (damned jeans are way too thick for those wimpy little needles!), but at least it's all done. I've been putting it off for way too long, and since I was too cheap to get them to a tailor, I had to figure out how to do it myself.

I alo went to catch the Ray Charles biopic over the weekend. I liked that the movie portrayed the good and the bad and was not simply a glorified celebration of a musician's life. The man was unquestionably talented, but not without his faults and demons. Jamie Foxx was incredible. It wasn't until the end of the movie that I remembered that he was an actor portraying Ray, not Ray Charles himself as a younger man. If he doesn't get an Oscar for this performance come March, I will be shocked and dismayed. A hissy fit and questions about the competence of "The Academy" may follow, punctuatedwith many a cuss word.

"Deed I Do :: Blossom Dearie

timeline

2004-10-26T07:10:00.000+02:00

Inspired by Andy Brown's speech to Ephram in this week's episode, I decided to close my eyes and visualize where I would be in five years and figure out what I had to do to get me there. Well, as I closed my eyelids, the first thought that came to mind was, "In five years, I'll be thirty...well, twenty-nine, going on thirty. Holy crap! I'm too old for this visualization stuff. I need to get a life. That's what I need five years from now...a life." With that, my eyes flew open as I burst out laughing. Moment gone.

With that, I bring you stuff stolen from other people's blogs and modified for my own purposes...

10 years ago today, I would have been...
1. A tenth grader with ambitions of becoming the next Frank Lloyd Wright
2. Looking forward to my two week stint shadowing a much cooler third-year engineering student as part of a high-school/university co-op exchange program.
1. Shy and insecure.

5 years ago today, I would have been...
1. In my third year of University, officially having declared my intention to major in English Literature, after ditching the whole science thing and thereby dashing my parents' hopes of me entering the medical, dental, or engineering professions.
2. Living with my sister in a great little apartment on campus.
3. Getting ready to move to Victotria for my first job...and learning to be comfortable with being alone in a new place.

3 years ago today, I would have been...
1. Working at BC Hydro, trying to decipher my cube-mate's Portuguese conversations with her nanny while writing too many long e-mails to a girl that I evetually dated months later.
2. Figuring out that I probably wanted to be a graphic designer when I graduated.
3. Really giving serious consideration to the question of what I was going to do with the rest of my life.

1 year ago today, I was...
1. Just returning from a two-month long business trip in Toronto.
2. Itching to get back on the road.
3. And out of the house.

So far this year, I have...
1. Become more jaded and cynical, much to my dismay.
2. Been offered opportunities in Greece, Saudi Arabia, Minneapolis, and Texas, only to be forced to turn them down. (Only the last one was my decision.)
3. Travelled to New York. Alone.

Yesterday, I...
1. Started to wrap my head around my sister's upcoming wedding.
2. Went to the movies. Alone.
3. Started writing a handwritten letter to a friend.

Today, I...
1. Overslept.
2. Nodded and smiled a lot while the boss man yammered on with his hands flailing around madly in front of him as he gesticulated. I tuned him out after the first sentence. I don't think he caught on.
3. Finished several ads and crossed off many an item on my to-do list.

Tomorrow, I...
1. Will go to work early and give my "wife" a big welcome back hug.
2. Will give an orientation to my new assistant and b/s my way through his training.
3. Will carpe the diem a little more, and find out what the future holds for me.

Day Dreamer :: Donovan Frankenreiter

case of the existential detectives

2004-10-25T06:03:00.000+02:00

Had a lunch meeting with my sister, her faince and my friend C, the wedding planner. I ordered the Indian lamb curry, which tasted like Irish stew...with beef. Should have known better than to order a curry from a wannabe British pub chain located in Vancouver and expect it to be authentic.

After lunch, I decided to go watch I *heart* Huckabees. It was a little zany, but I enjoyed it. Not exactly Oscar-worthy performances, but thought-provoking in a light-hearted presentation. I probably would have enjoyed it more if the theatre hadn't been so suffocatingly hot. In the middle of the movie, I started stipping of any removable layers that could be taken off without crossing the boundaries of common decency. Although in hindsight, the theatre was pitch dark, so nobody would have batted an eyelash at my exposure - indecent or otherwise.

Check out the corporate website, if you have time. It's a piece of work in and of itself. Reminds me of Sam Walton's place, only more upscale. Speaking of which, I found out yesterday at the exhibit that Walton has more people in uniform than the entire US Army. Scary!

Blackbird :: Sarah McLachlan

change is good

2004-10-24T06:59:00.000+02:00

....or is it?

Went downtown today to check out the Massive Change exhibit, which is making its world permiere at the VAG. Visually delicious, the exhibit traces the multiple interconnections between design and human existence, and the ways the two interact and affect each other. More importantly, it showcases the bounds of human inventiveness and discusses the dystopian possibilities that could lie ahead.

That Bruce Mau, he's amazing. After walking through the gallery, I decided that I wanted to be his disciple. Thing is, I can't really afdford to shell out $12,000 for tuition without going into debt. I just paid off my student loan debt. I'm not exactly looking to go through that again. Maybe I'll just buy the book.

Finished off the day with some window shopping along Robson Street and a dinner of Chicken Shawrama on Rice, Tabouleh, and Pita wedges with Hummus. A scrumptious end to a crisp fall day. I had a craving for something fruity and sweet, so I made myself some fresh raspberry sorbet when I got home...from scratch. Believe it!

Shooting Star (In Spite of it All) :: Jeremy Fisher

bursting at the seams

2004-10-20T06:00:00.000+02:00

I almost lost my thumb today.

Okay, perhaps that's a little melodramatic. I was cropping down a proof at work today, and without paying attention, i sliced the top of my thumb open. It was one of those weird moments where you realize what's happenening while it's happening, but are powerless to stop it. Kind of like a car wreck. I could have kicked myself for being so stupid!

Anyway, bleed, bleed, bleed. Gush, gush, gush. It was a messy sight. I had planned on just bandaging it and sucking it up, but when I realized how bad it might be, I made a mad dash to the first aid guys in the office. Luckily, I was greeted by Rob, one of my favorite firast aid guys. He cleaned and wrapped my finger in a cool pressure bandage (which was complimented by the nurse who did my initial examination a few hours later), then called and got someone to drive me to emergency to get it stitched up.

I don't think he actually told them why I needed to get to emergency - just that I needed to go, so when Britta got the call, a bit of a panic ensued. They tried to find Terry, because he drives like a madman, they rationalized, and could get me there faster. But it would take forever to track him down, so it would probably be faster for her to send Katie.

Katie ended up being my personal ambulance and rushed me to a walk-in clinic nearby. We reasoned that I'd probably get stitched up faster and have a shorter wait than if I went to emergency. Plus, Katie has a bit of a crush on the the doctor at this particular clinic, so this plan wasn't without its ulterior motives.

We made fun of people in magazines while we waited, and as we shuffled through the stack of magazines, we found a pad of viagra stationary. I took one quick look at it and knew that I had to steal a sheet or two for posterity. My favorites are point four and point five.

how to make viagra work for you

4. You need sexual stimulation in order for Viagra to work.
[Followed by a picture of a man puckering up.]

5. Viagra doesn't work for everyone the first time they take it, so try again another day.
[Accompanied by an image of calendar pages flying off as they are being torn. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again?")

Anyway, when I finally went it, Dr. H decided to shoot me with a bunch of needles. Tetanus, lidocaine, sutures... The Tetanus booster was cake, but lucky for me, I cut myself right where the nerve endings are, so I was howling in pain by the time the last two needles went in. Dr. H gave me this explanation and then then said, it's gonna hurt real bad, but it doesn't make you any less tough..."

As the needles went in, I holwed back, "I don't care how tough or simpy I come across...that hurts like HELLl!!!" Followed by, "Ohgod! ohgod! ohgod!" in rapid succession.

Because one of the stitches was near the nail, he didn't use any lidocaine for that one...just went straight at it. I was warned ahead of time, but I still cursed under my breath in every language I could conjure up!

As brutal as he sounds, Dr. H was actually pretty great throughout the whole thing - joking with me as we went on. I never understood Katie's crush on him before, but now that I've met him. I totally get it. He is, like, the nicest man ever. As Dr. H walked me back out to the waiting room, I spotted Katie peeking up from behind the pages of her magazine, all flustered and excited to catch a glimpse of him.

"Wasn't he the greatest?" she gushed as we walked out of the clinic.

I have a hunch that she'll volunteer to drive me back next week when I have go back to get my stitches taken out.

Between Signal & Noise :: Elvind Aarest

neither half-empty nor half-full

2004-10-19T08:10:00.000+02:00

Just finished mediating an argument between my sister and our parents about the wedding guest list. She wants to keep it to a manageable number so that she and the husband-in-waiting can stick to budget. The parental units want to invite everyone who ever said hello to them in passing. Asked where he expects the money to come from for all these extra guests, my dad responds in a sing-song voice, "God will provide."

Aggravated, I almost stormed out of the room with clenched fists, a furrowed brow, and thunderclouds circling my head.

Lord, forgive me for being a realist.

you'll find me under the palm branches

2004-10-19T07:45:00.000+02:00

After going through the interviews and tabulating the results, I finally got to hire another assistant. The rankings were close and because of the union environment I work in, the final decision was based on seniority. Not necessarily the way I would have gone (my first choice would have been the candidate that listed "handsome and charming" as qualifications on his application because it made me laugh), but I think it'll be good to see how things work out. If nothing else, I'm just happy to have extra hands to carry out my bidding.

After being off-site for so long, it's a struggle getting back into the swing of things at the office. This morning, I was welcomed back with a tonne of messages on my machine and plenty of e-mails in my inbox with urgent requests. Much cursing and head-pounding quickly ensued. There may have also been a few shaken fists.

To cheer me up, Terry decorated my office with three 4' palms in my office brought back from our Home Show booth. They now sit in a row on top of a series of cabinets above my desk (my office boasts a high, vaulted ceiling). It feels like Miami everytime I step in there. It's slightly ridiculouus, but I love it just the same.

Let it Shine :: Jeremy Fisher

weekend update

2004-10-18T02:36:00.000+02:00

[thursday]
Another day at the Home Show with Terry, putting the finishing touches on our display. I have to say, it turned out much better than I had anticipated. (Hands clapping with glee...)

After we handed everything over to the salespeople, the two of us decided to check out the rest of the exhibitors. We watched a food demo presented by Frank Pabst, the Executive Chef at Blue Water Cafe, a lighting seminar by Wes Thurn, a Vancouver-based designer, and a Designer's Workshop given by Sarah Richardson, formerly of Room Service, and now of Design Inc. fame. I was going to be a dork and ask for a photo with her (to send to Julia, her biggest fan), but when the session ended, my shyness took over, and I wimped out.

[friday]
After pulling twelve-hour days setting up for the Home Show, I decided to take a well-deserved day off. Afterall, I need a break before going back to the Stadium again on Monday to dismantle our display. I had planned on either going to the art gallery to see the Massive Change exhibit or to hear Karim Rashid speak at the show about the joys of designing for Umbra or his plan for taking over the design community, but after waking up to see that it was two o'clock in the afternoon, I scratched all plans, and stayed in bed for the rest of the day. Caught up on the taped shows that I had missed, and generally filled my brain with trash TV of all sorts. Despite the apparent sloth and ambivalence towards this lack of productivity, it felt strangely good.

[saturday]
Started the weekend with a morning coffee at Starbucks with Raj. It's been ages since we last saw each other, so it was nice to catch up on our University days, talk about our recent travels (hers more exciting than mine, of course - London vs. Philadelphia), and compare aggravating existenses living at home with the parental units. (Again, I had to concede defeat this round...she's got it worse off than I do.)

We also made plans to catch Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) when it starts next month. I saw the play in '99 with Serey, who took me for my birthday. Pissed my pants laughing - and that's before I developed a deeper appreciation for the Bard a few years later. Now, Lit. Major in hand and a year of Shakespeare under my belt, I'm looking forward to seeing it again and catching more of the hidden puns and ironies. Raj, havinng been my Shakespeare Sidekick back in University, is just as excited.

Afterwards, I went music shopping and picked up both Jeremy Fisher and Josh Ritter albums. Haven't really gotten into Ritter's Hello Starling yet, but after several spins, I think Fisher's Let it Shine has found a permanent place on my favourites shelf.

I had planned on ending my break from running, but because of the cold, rainy weather, decided to stay under cover and dug into Kushneer's Angels in America instead. The play, not the DVD. I bought the manuscripts a few years ago, upon recommendation from a former English Professor, but never got around to reading them. I promised myself that I'd read both parts before seeing a performance, and since the HBO production has now been made available on DVD, I decided that this was as good a time as any to start reading.

[sunday]
After devouring the manuscript, I was all eager to pick up the DVD from the video store. Unfortunately, all the copies were rented out, so I decided to see if I could find it at Future Shop. Turns out they had it, but at close to $50, I figure I'll either wait for the rental to become available, or buy it from Amazon for a 30% discount instead.

Also went to the public library and picked up one of Lynn Johnson's For Better or For Worse books. The simple reality that is portrayed in the strips is enough to make me laugh and cry with each turn of the page. Picking a comic collection is kinda like cheating, but I like being able to read them all in one sitting, without the cumbersome nature of waiting for the serials.

Took engagement photos for my sister and her fiance, which will eventually be used on the invitations to their engagement soiree. I wanted the photos to be playful and fun, so I made them stick Candy Hearts inscribed with various phrases such as "Marry Me" and "Hot Lips" between their lips.

Among the mix, I found one that read "Fax Me."

That is like, sooo, 1980's. And besides, who the hell faxes a love note or a pick-up line?

Lemon Meringue Pie :: Jeremy Fisher

....jack & jill came down the hill

2004-10-17T05:53:00.000+02:00

I was going through the collection of mp3's that I collected back in my University days and came across The Truth About Romeo by Pancho's Lament, the theme song for Jack & Jill. I still remember packing up my books and running over to Mawdsley House in my PJs to watch the show with Sharla and Shauna every week. We'd all have out textbooks and notes spread out on our laps and around us, but ignore them for the whole hour as we sat glued to the screen. It was like a weekly soap opera about fresh-out-of college twenty-somethings trying to make it in the real world in an age of Ally McBeals. We were so addicted.

Come to think of it, I'm not really sure how the show ended or why it was cancelled. There was a pretty good cast involved, including Amanda Peet, Ivan Sergei, Justin Kirk, Sarah Paulson, Jaime Pressly, and the infamous Simon Rex, so there was no shortage of decent actors (with the exception of the latter two). If this show every makes it to DVD, someone please tell me.

The Truth About Romeo :: Pancho's Lament

a slurpee a day

2004-10-14T08:29:00.000+02:00

Went to set up our booth at the Home Show today. Nice change from being at the office. I was reduced to a giddy little schoolboy as I drove my car into the Stadium through the airlock gates. I drove my car into the middle of the freaking Stadium!

Started the day off with Slurpees. Terry's idea. A good one at that!

Spent much longer setting up the booth than I though it would take. Will probably return tomorrow to fine tune. It's been a great experience, but I'll be glad when it's over.

Had a grilled ahi tuna burger from Subeez for lunch. Tres tres cool, and tres, tres chic... The waitress asked if we wanted beer with our meals. "It's the middle of the workday!" I wanted to tell her as I shook her by the shoulders. Do Canadians actually drink between the hours of 9 and 5? It's unheard of! Unless you're a sommelier, a wine critic, or a perpetual drunk. I was tempted though.

Had dinner later in the evening with Cathy at Chambar. A beautifully decorated interior, a list of Belgian beer as long as my arm, a delicous bouillabaisse bursting with rich flavour, and great conversation. What more could you ask for?

Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky :: Lou Donalson

now there was a real gent

2004-10-13T04:42:00.000+02:00

Superman's Song :: Crash Test Dummies

Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man
He'd just come along and scoop 'em up under his arm
Like that, quick as a cat in the jungle
But Clark Kent, now there was a real gent
He would not be caught sittin' around in no
Junglescape, dumb as an ape doing nothing

[Chorus:]
Superman never made any money
For saving the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair the world will never see
Another man like him

Hey Bob, Supe had a straight job
Even though he could have smashed through any bank
In the United States, he had the strength, but he would not
Folks said his family were all dead
Their planet crumbled but Superman, he forced himself
To carry on, forget Krypton, and keep going

Tarzan was king of the jungle and Lord over all the apes
But he could hardly string together four words: "I Tarzan, You Jane."

Sometimes when Supe was stopping crimes
I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit and turn his back
On man, join Tarzan in the forest
But he stayed in the city, and kept on changing clothes
In dirty old phonebooths till his work was through
And nothing to do but go on home

gobble, gobble...baaaaa

2004-10-12T04:13:00.000+02:00

Today being Thanksgiving Day, I had to forgo sleeping in to start on The Meal. My mom decided to eschew all tradition this year and decided that we would have a Thanksgiving Lunch instead of a Thanksgiving Dinner and asked me to make lamb instead of the traditional turkey. Since I'm all for breaking the rules and shattering conventions, I was all for it.

Since I marinated the lamb last night, I was able to whip everything up in just a couple of hours, and without a lot of stress. The meal turned out pretty fabulously, despite the fact that it was haphazardly thrown together at the last minute. Read: I didn't set foot in a grocery store at all during the course of planning or preparing this meal. Luckily, my parents are champion supermarket shoppers, so there was a lot in their fridge to work with.

the menu:

Roasted leg of lamb with a rosemary, garlic and olive oil marinade
(drizzled with a raspberry and red wine reduction)
Eggplant fans roasted with a garlic and balsmic vinegar paste
Candied yams and sweet potatoes roasted with walnuts
Parmesean and peppercorn brussell sprouts on a bed of ribbon carrots
Steamed rice infused with dillweed

The best part had to be the ice cream cake brought over by my sister's finace. Around the edge of the cake, read the words "Happy Thanksgiving." And in the centre was an image of a roasted turkey drawn with icing. The cake stayed in the freezer and was never brought out for dessert. But in case anyone asks, I guess we did have a Thanksgiving Turkey.

The only tradition that we didn't do away with was going around the table and having each person say what they were thankful for before grace was said. This is one thing I dread every year, but my dad is so unbelievably persistent, so each year I end up blurting out one trite response after another. The sake of this year's thankfulness? "Food." Yep. You got it! The lamest possible answer. But it was accepted with a few chuckles, and we moved along to the next person.

Now while I admitedly bitch and moan a significant amount in this forum (what's a blog for, after all?), I actually do have much to be thankful for. But for fear of turning this into a typical Thanksgiving Day in Canada post, I will refrain from listing my "things to be thankful for" countdown here. Instead, maybe I should tackle all those unanswered e-mails in my inbox and start there.

Enjoy your turkey sandwiches tomorrow, folks!

Tres Tres Chic :: Mocean Worker

marinating

2004-10-11T08:42:00.000+02:00

I just finished preparing the lamb for tomorrow's Thanksgiving meal. I was tearing rosemary leaves from stalks and mashed them in olive oil like a madman. My fingers smell like rosemary. Mmmm...

My Aphrodisiac Is You :: Katie Melua