Archive, April 2008

10 Apr 2008 April Wonderland Everything was normal when we went to bed last night. And then, sometime while we slept, the snow started. 10cm and climbing of big, fluffy, Christmas postcard flakes pouring out of the sky, like some one just realized that snow is about to go out of style. The online weather was still calling it "flurries" when we left the apartment, but by the time I got to work, we’d been upgraded to "Snowfall Warning." LOL Of course, this being Calgary, the traffic was crazy. Bow Trail was a skating rink and traffic heading uphill (west) was having problems. Several cars and a public transit bus had wiped out - the bus was impeding 3 lanes of traffic when we went by (fortunately in the other direction!) I made it, damp and drippy, to the office by 8:50 and no one else rolled in ’til 9:30. Calgary transit may suck, but in this weather, not having to excavate the car or navigate the drivers is a real plus. I was kinda hoping no one would show up so I could go home, but no such luck. If, wherever you are, your pants hems are dry, count yourself lucky! Ciao! Update: It stopped snowing around 1pm and the temperature is currently at +1. It was wet snow to begin with, but now all the clumps have fused. It kinda looks like everything is covered in clumps of plastic that melted on and then fused. I love weather! 3:28 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

03 Apr 2008 Jon Bon Jovi in my subconscious Last night’s dream was interesting. I don’t remember all the details, but here’s what I recall. Somehow I was outside and just covered in mud, leaves, grass; your standard rolling around on the wet, forested ground sort of look. I don’t know why or how, but suddenly Jon Bon Jovi and his wife were also there, also covered in muck. They told me that their house wasn’t far away and offered to let me get cleaned up there. So we walked a little way through the trees and there it was. In my dream, it was a very nice house, the kind of thing you can do in the rare circumstance when you combine money with taste. I was shown to a spare room upstairs which had it’s own bath, natch. I remember taking a very long shower and enjoying it greatly - hot water, lots of suds, shampooing my hair twice, the whole bit. When I finally wandered back downstairs, my hosts were already in the kitchen, putting together a snack. And although I was bundled up in the robe that had been hanging in the kitchen, they were nude. They explained that they were naturalists at home, but I was to do whatever I was most comfortable with. Have you ever seen some of the beefcake shots of Jon? The man is ripped. All over. And in the dream, his wife was pretty impressive as well. I was a bit intimidated, but the naturalist movement is supposed to be about the beauty of the human form, right? So I went for it. And we spent a lovely evening talking, chatting, listening to music.. although the details are vague. At least there weren’t any mazes! Ciao!

Archive, March 2008

27 Mar 2008 Capitalism runs amuck In one of my recent cruises around myspace, I swung by my friend Leela’s page, to see if there was any chance she was gonna grace us with her presence soon. I was very excited to see Calgary on her tour itinerary for a Juno show. At the time, I couldn’t find any info on the Junos website though. I found it today. There are four limited access shows including the Aboriginal showcase, where Leela will be performing. And tickets are only $50 each! What!?!? They also have JunoFest, which takes place at about 15 venues simultaneously. Each venue runs from 10pm-2am showcasing 4 artists and it goes for two nights. So for a measly $30, you can get a wristband that will let you try and figure out how to see your four favorite artists at venues across the city simultaneously. However designed this monstrocity ought to have horrible things happen to them. In the interests of my own sanity and my already large entertainment budget for this month, I’ve decided to skip the whole mess. Ciao! 7:41 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

25 Mar 2008 It wasn’t Easter, but it was sure spiritual I have to start by saying that I’m typing this on my NEW computer at work which is FANTASTIC, but until I track down an adaptor, I’m stuck with this lousy keyboard, on which I pre-emptively blame all typos (and grammatical errors, too. Heck, why not?) Driving from Banff to Calgary is like fast forwarding through humanity’s technological development while being beaten over the head with it’s moral and aesthetic decline. We left Banff on Saturday night around 11:00pm and it was beautiful. Just cool enough to make your pockets inviting, with a giant round moon. (I don’t think it was technically full, but it was close enough for the naked eye.) As we rolled down the highway, the moonlight was like a search beacon, reflecting off the sheets of snow on the mountains and creating a jagged horizon of dark stone against the bluer sky. Making our way out of the mountains and into the foothills, there began to be more evidence of humanity. In the daytime, it’s depressing how many more people are living in that area than I remember from my childhood, but at night, the single porchlights scattered around just seem comforting. And then you come over that last hill and there it is: Calgary. Depending on my mood it’s either the "sodium glow" or the "mutant phosphorescent slime mold". There’s nothing like that orange light filling the sky for as far as you can see to reinforce your understanding that there are too many damn people on this planet. And if we can’t learn to control our prodigious procreating, we should at least learn to live without making the place so depressingly ugly. It’s true that there can be moments of beauty within a metropolis, but as a whole they have nothing to recommend them and we never come close to replacing the cost of what’s lost. Sigh. The reason we were in Banff though, was definitely a high point! Hawksley Workman was playing at the Banff Centre and it was mind blowing. In the past, I’ve always seem him together with Mr. Lonely. This time, he’s put together a band of five, including Jesse Zubot. So we had a flute, sax, alto sax, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, a banjo, a violin, a child’s drum kit, a child’s piano, a full drum kit, several synthesizers and a whole collection of tambourines, rattles and shakers. The high point of the show was still Hawksley’s amazing and always unanticipatable voice, but with that much sound behind it... wow. He did most of the songs off the new album "Between the Beautifuls", plus a very generous handful of old stuff. And the usual segues into other tunes, ranging from Beyonce to Culture Club to Kiss. And no one who was there will ever forget about the Glacier People, gathered together around the enormous margarita! We dragged him back out for two encores - poor guy! Ciao! 8:14 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

19 Mar 2008 Urban nature, pain and music For the last couple of weeks, there have been two pairs of geese perched respectively on the roof of the Health Science Center and the Women’s Health Center. They weren’t there every morning, but quite frequently, they would be squawking at each across the parking lot as people streamed in to work. I wondered if they were considering the rooftops as nesting areas - a bit lacking in water and plant life, but what do I know? Or maybe they’d already nested somewhere and were just time-sharing on the roofs for a change of pace? And then this morning, there was only one pair of geese. It seems early to say for sure, but maybe they were competing for the "choice" roof and now this pair has won? I dunno, but I’ve got to remember to bring my camera with me! In other news, Stuart and I were recently considering our options for backcountry camping this summer - you have to book sites pretty early. We decided on a trip to North Kananaskis Pass and a loop through Waterton parks, and I think they should both be amazing. However, reading the descriptions, I realized that I had to start getting in shape or Stuart was gonna have to bury me somewhere along the trail. His gym membership had expired, so off we went to the University and bought a family membership. Monday was my first real workout and as anticipated, I’m feeling it. My arms were sore on yesterday, but then I gave Stuart a shiatsu treatment. I woke up this morning with a right triceps so stiff that I can’t bend my elbow. Ouch! We go back tonight and I’m going to introduce my legs to this whole concept - if I can’t walk tomorrow, I’ll be sure and blog from home. It’s been a musical sort of month. Last weekend, we got to see Gordie Tentrees open for Suzie Vinnick and Rick Fines. Wow! The next day we went to see a really impressive "brunch theater" version of The Little Shop of Horrors. Saturday we’re off to Banff again, to see Hawksley Workman touring his new album and next weekend Danny Michel is in town. Plus I just discovered that Leela is doing some kind of Junos related performance in April that I need to get more information on. Isn’t life fun? Ciao! 4:40 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

05 Mar 2008 Life is a soap opera Mom called me last night to let me know that Marghie (The Hair Goddess) is divorcing her husband of 22 years. What?!?!?! It turns out he's been cheating on her with one of her best friends, Jill. Who just lost her partner to brain cancer. I didn't think that stuff like this happened in real life. At any rate, this has all apparently come to light in the last week, so at this stage, Marghie has moved out her stuff and not much else. I'd say she's coping well, except that I doubt it's all had time to sink in yet. In other news, Stuart's sister was back in Emergency last night, after an initial visit on the weekend. We've never had a chance to talk to her, so we're a bit sketchy on the details of symptoms, duration, etc. but so far all diagnostic tests have come up clear. Of course, because of the family history of HHT, Delaine is convinced it's related to that, regardless of the evidence. And from Stuart's end of a conversation I overheard this morning, she's not willing to consider that it might be something as prosaic as stress/panic attack. 'Cause that family doesn't have a history of getting worked up about stuff, oh no... Anyway, must run to another exciting PeopleSoft course. Wheeeeee! Ciao!

Archive, February 2008

26 Feb 2008 Geek out! But first, the weekend update. Stuart and I arrived at the house minutes after the twins and their grandparents (who had taken them to gymnastics.) We gave 'em a snack, bundled them up and off to the zoo. Several of the exhibits were closed but the tigers were definitely a hit. As always though, their favorite part was the playground. As Stuart commented, we could definitely see the effects of growth and the gymnastics classes - they were much more coordinated and confident climbing around on the equipment. Back at home, it was time for more food and then their afternoon "nap". This isn't a nap as such anymore - just so called quiet time when they can't leave their room. On both days, Calvin screamed for about 10 minutes, after which they played happily and noisily. One of their fav activities now is to climb onto the dresser and jump from there to the bed. This is how heartthrobs get their endearing eyebrow scars, I'm sure! The rest of the time was filled with repeated viewings of Lilo & Stitch, Baby Einstein (oh my god, shoot me!) and running around. Bedtime actually went pretty well, even with the assortment of stuff you have to spray up Calvin's poor allergy-ridden nose. They played a bit and then passed out - thank goodness for a day full of activity. Stuart spent every moment he could pry them away from the big screen practicing "Rock Band". The drums are a bit challenging for a couple of reasons: a) when you move from level to level, they switch around the colors, apparently at random and b) it sometimes calls for you to hit something, even when there is apparently no drum noise in the song itself - weird and offputting. At any rate, Mike and Angie get in more practice than we do (since they own the darn Xbox) and Stuart was determined to catch up. On Sunday afternoon, Steve came over to get a shiatsu treatment. He'd just returned from a visit to Great Britain and he brought prezzies! Specifically, he brought me the Master's Laser screwdriver and the upgraded version of the Doctor's Sonic screwdriver with the UV pen and psychic paper. (Hee, hee, hee, hee - mine, ALL MINE!) By default, Stuart got the first edition of the new Torchwood zine. We also watched Episode 1, Season 2 of Torchwood: James Marsters has joined the cast as a former collegue of Jack's and they have a great scene with a passionate snog followed by a rambunctious fist fight. Too, too cool - I can't wait for the next box set to arrive! Ciao! 5:21 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove 22 Feb 2008 Sniff, sniff... HOOOONK I'm not sure if this is the heralding of a bad allergy year or just what allergies in Calgary are going to be like (let's hope not!), but I'm pretty wiped. It started by waking me up Sunday morning about 3am with a tickle in my throat. It first I thought "cold" and hauled myself out of bed to find the ColdFX. I did faithfully finish the course of ColdFX, because when my allergies flare up, by definition my immune system is haywire, so a little back-up couldn't hurt. I've decided in the meantime though that it's the result of the lovely Chinook - blowing away the snow and stirring up all the mold and spores underneath. I'm congested, all the nodes in my throat are swollen and I'm exhausted. The sinus congestion seems to be letting up a bit today, which really means that I look like Rudolph from blowing my nose so much. Always my favorite fashion statement. Stuart and I are babysitting the twins for the weekend, so if you don't hear from my again, you can safely assume that I died of exhaustion. Ciao! 5:16 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove 15 Feb 2008 Chinook! It's about bloody time too. Chinooks were one of the selling points to get me to move to Calgary and it's FEBRUARY before we have a real one?!?!?! Sure, there were dinky little warm spots, but nothing that was truly a Chinook. Today however, I walked out to the bus, sans toque, hair whipping in the warm winds, watching the snow piles disappear. Plus, the sun is now over the horizon again by the time I head out, which only added to the euphoria. The only sucky thing is that I had to go to work! It would have been a great day to go for a walk, home for breakfast and then back to bed for snuggles and a nap. The nap is called for because Stuart and I babysat Ella and Miles last night. Meg's working at the Rocky View this term and Geoff had to go out of town for work on a non-standard night. Meg left us a casserole, we played with kids, gave them a bath, read them stories and Miles gave everyone a good night kiss and passed out. Ella, on the other hand, got pissed when her excuses to come back downstairs didn't work and spent a solid hour and a half laying at the top of the stairs, moaning, "Mooooo-mmmmmyyyy" and sniffling. Meg finally rolled in around 10:45 and we gratefully went home to pass out ourselves. However, the alarm went off WAY too early this morning. Thank god it's a long weekend, Ciao! 08 Feb 2008 I just don’t know what to say. The bus driver missed my stop again this morning! It's always the same woman and I kind of kidded her a bit as she was pulling over to the curb. Apparently, if she has to stop for a red light, she forgets that she still needs to pull over for the bus stop. Yikes! I was very cranky yesterday, but I'm feeling better now. Stuart and I are heading to Canmore for a weekend of relaxation and debauchery at the condo. It's snowing right now and grey, but we're not going during rush hour, so I think it'll be fine. And hey, if we're lucky, it'll snow enough while we're there that they'll shut down the highway for an extra day or two! (I don't know that I've ever heard of them closing the stretch between Canmore and Calgary, but I can hope. ) Ciao! 3:26 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

05 Feb 2008 All the usual excuses Well, I've been busy at work, I've had a sinus infection, Stuart's come down with an intestinal infection - it's been a great start to the year. And frankly, although I've met some interesting people through MySpace, I find myself less and less concerned about keeping up here. If I ever get up the $$$ for a laptop, I may just start a blogger account or my own webpage. I find myself reluctant to come and blog, because I'll have to deal with the piled up friend requests and junk. And I don't think I'm the only one, since the blogs I subscribe to have been suspiciously quiet for a while as well. Oh well, no rash action at this point. In happier news, yesterday was my and Stuart's one year anniversary. Lordy, but it seems like just days ago I met him and yet I feel like I've known him forever. The Christmas holidays was full of comments from friends and family that they like him, so that's good. LOL The plan had been to go for sushi, but since he's on a liquid diet for the time being, I made onion soup instead. Wheeee. He gave me the Unrated Extended version of Doom for our anniversary - is that romantic or what?!?! That's ok, I gave him a book of Canadian Military history. No flowers and teddy bears here. Ciao!

Archive, January 2008

22 Jan 2008 Buses and death I thought this morning that the only thing I would post today is yet another complaint about the Calgary bus service. This morning was the third time that the same bus driver has sailed blithely past my stop and had to drop me off down the block. Not so bad most of the time, but with an icy wind blowing this morning I did not appreciate it. However, I just heard that Heath Ledger is dead. Now, I don't think the guy was the be all and end all of actors, but he wasn't a disgrace and he was cute. I know that the Batman sequel is coming up, but I think this may be taking "dying for publicity" just a wee bit far. Apparently it was an overdose, so unless they find a note, I don't think I'll believe for sure that it was either accidental or deliberate, but in the end, does it matter? Au revoir! Ciao. Post Script. Of course, on my way home, the driver missed the turn-off from Crowchild to Bow Trail and we had to meander our way up Crowchild, down 17th and through residential neighbourhoods to get back on course. Did I mention that it happened last week too? Sigh. 9:09 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

08 Jan 2008 Famine or feast Well, I've gone from boredom to insanity. My co-workers are both gone on either holiday or medical leave and I'm trying to coordinate two busy men's schedules without even having access to one of them! Ah the joys... But in this brief respite, let me give you my thoughts on "I am Legend". I loved all the non-zombie bits of this movie. Watching Will Smith try and deal with his total isolation is just really amazing. However, I have the same problems as I do with every zombie movie: Where are all the bodies? Did the zombies consume every ounce and then lick away all the bloodstains? If they have no social order, how do they have a leader? What's with all the hints that the girl Will took is important to the leader, without any follow-up? I think something was left on the cutting room floor that shouldn't have been. Ditto with his wife and daughter - did that out of control helicopter hit theirs or not? And why was the army using a scan that could register either false positives or false negatives? Scratch that - it's the US Army, it was probably a scan for TB or something. And finally, why on earth didn't he climb into the chimney, throw the grenade and shut the door? Heroic sacrifices are all well and good, but kinda stupid when they aren't necessary. Oops! Gotta call a cab for a visiting scholar... Ciao! 6:42 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

04 Jan 2008 What I didn’t get for Christmas. After a fairly successful attempt to avoid succumbing to the lures of ebay, I've gone back again. Legitimately though, I think. Stuart and I are trying out some dietary changes, based loosely on "The Thrive Diet", but most of the recipes require small appliances to prepare. We "borrowed" an old and jury-rigged food processor, but need to get a grinder and a blender. Having time to kill at work, I researched the matter and decided that blender-wise, what we needed was a Waring. However, Waring blenders don't seem to be available in Canada (wine coolers and other necessities yes, but blenders no.) So I turned to my old standby and there it was: $135CAN including shipping, 5 year manufacturers warranty... it was even in black! I can't wait for it to arrive. The other thing that Stuart and I have been waffling over is a new comforter for the bed. Our current blankie is a quilt made by his grandmother (I think) in a duvet cover made by his mom. Now I appreciate the sentimental value, but it's just not quite big enough for two people. Whenever someone rolls over, the other one ends up with a two inch gap letting in what feels like a blast of frigid air. Not good! Years ago, I came across the concept of silk comforters; not covered in silk, the batting itself is silk fiber. Many claims are made regarding it's hypo-allergenic qualities, it's thermo-regulation qualities and it's potential lifespan. When I first encountered them, $400 for a queen size was definitely outside my price range - but once again ebay came through with $110CAN including shipping. Now my only problem is to find a cover that will fit it. Rats - more shopping! Ciao! 4:54 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

02 Jan 2008 Web free holiday Sorry kids, but it was a crazy holiday and I'm afraid my blogging paid the price. When it comes to a choice between living my life and blogging about it... living wins! Christmas itself was exhausting but great fun. We had a yummy dinner Christmas Eve at my parents place with my sister and her family. The gift opening started there and then continued at Stuart's parents with his sister in attendance. Then it was time for bed after a long drive and way too much food. My parents came over to Stuart's parents for a turkey Christmas lunch, which had me a bit apprehensive. The original meeting at our going away party had gone ok, but this was a religious time at HIS parents. I waited to see just how outrageously my dad would put his foot in his mouth. I was amazed when he behaved almost meekly and only told one slightly risque joke. Amazing! On Boxing Day, Stuart and I went shopping but it wasn't very successful. Nothing we wanted was particularly on sale and nothing on sale was anything we particularly wanted. The biggest purchase was at Camper's Village, but he'd likely have bought most of it even if it wasn't on sale! Then it was back to my parent's for another day of eating and opening presents. Ella and Miles got so many gifts that by the end of things, even Ella didn't want to open anything else. Wow! I pretty much spent the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve hibernating. Reading, watching movies, going to game night. I could get used to a life of luxury. We spent New Year'es Eve with our friends Kay & Dave at their party, playing Wii and talking to an interesting assortment of people. In previous years, it would have been about how drunk everyone could get, but now they're all getting older and there were several pregnancies, so it was much less rambunctious. Fun though! That reminds me though - Kay & Dave are finally pregnant and without the IVF. David had a surgery on the "boys" back in November and although he hasn't gone back for his follow-up appointment yet, I think we all agree that it was successful. LOL And Gerry got engaged over the holidays! I haven't met or even heard much about the lady, but I hope they'll be happy, happy, happy! That's it folks - have a good 2008. Ciao!

Archive, December 2007

17 Dec 2007 I can move!!! Our friends Mike and Angie were in London recently and saw the TARDIS! Too cool! There are apparently pictures, but I haven't seen them yet. I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't nick it for me, but to be fair, it wouldn't exactly fit in the overhead bin or my apartment for that matter. Mike was in California, but we took nachos over on Friday anyway, to hang out with Angie for a bit. The twins had been fractious all day, so she was a bit frazzled. We chatted all evening and we offered to come babysit or something on Sunday, because she was trying to get all the Christmas decorating done before Mike got home. On Saturday, I had an appointment for a shiatsu treatment. Yes, it's true - I managed to track down a fellow SSC grad and we exchanged treatments. It went very well I think - neither of us are into the Kaz school of "beat the knot out", and I think we both felt better afterward. I know I did! I can move again, although the knots and pain are still lurking, so I'm going to try and book another this weekend. Out damn kink! Out! On Sunday, we picked up the twins and met Megan with her kids at the zoo. It was a bit above zero, so not a bad day to hang out, all things considered. We saw animals, had lunch, played in the playground... all the fun stuff. What really stood out for me though, was the developmental differences between Ella and the boys. She is only about 6 months older, but she's taller, more coordinated and basically toilet trained. She also speaks in paragraphs, with complete sentences, where they are still at "want more crackers." We were constantly watching out for where they were, while she would orbit her mom, ask if it was ok to run and actually stood listening to several of the canned speeches about the animals and repeating the interesting bits. I realize that there are differences between the development of boys and girls (not to mention between individuals!) but phew! was it ever highlighted. To be fair, I think we'd have to give Megan twins to raise, since that's got to change the dynamic quite a bit. Not that it really matters, it just intrigued me. Oh! And the other thing I did this weekend was to finally buy a Christmas tree. It's a potted spruce tree that's about 10" tall. Small enough to both fit in our apartment and not aggravate Stuart's Christmas indifference. Yeah me! In other news - it's gonna be a long week at work. Nothing, nothing, nothing to do. Bah. Ciao! 3:03 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

12 Dec 2007 Laughing at others misfortune I forgot to tell you about the funniest thing I saw this weekend. I was sitting at a red light at a three way stop. Traffic was turning left, from my right hand side onto the road to drive past me. There was no ice, no heavy traffic, no glaring sun and we all watched as an SUV sailed majestically around the corner, completely off course and straight into the traffic light pole. I laughed hysterically, because the driver and his girlfriend looked so surprised and yet, as far as I could tell, there was no reason for the crash except that he just wasn't paying attention. When he got out to inspect the damage (and he'd hit it hard enough to crumple the bumper and dent the grill), he threw his hands up in the classic Cauley McCulkin (sp?) move. Totally made my day! Since then, my neck and back have been getting progressively worse, to the point where it's interfering with my sleep. I've tried to contact another SSC grad who's supposedly in town, but with no luck. I tried searching Calgary massage online and got a bunch of places that are clothing optional. I'm not letting this get to the point where I can't move again though, so I'll keep asking around. In the meantime, the work day is almost done and I'm getting a headache and I'm grouchy. Grrrrr.... Fortunately, there's left-overs for dinner, so no work there. Yeah! What do you call a lazy kangaroo? A pouch potato! Ciao! 9:12 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

11 Dec 2007 What’s in my hair?!?! I think it's cream cheese dip, actually. Today was the Kids' Christmas party at work. It was a potluck and the parents brought a gift for each kid that Santa distributed. The food was good, the kids were wild and I played the reindeer. Complete with red antlers on a headband, which fell off every time I looked down. A lot of people didn't even come in today, until they arrived with their kids at noon for lunch. The atrium turned out to be a good space for it, since there was lots of empty, enclosed space for the kids to bomb around in. Then they all left again for the day and we cleaned everything up. I'm exhausted - how come I don't get to go home early? What a bizarre punishment for not pumping out rug rats. On another note, I've now read all of Nodwick. It's not even a Nodwick strip per se, but one of my favorites features two skeletons standing in a bathroom and one is holding a toothbrush and is covered with foam down to his shoulders. The caption says, "I always forget where to stop." LOL I don't know what I'll read now, since as far as I can tell, Wayne's online strip has stopped dead. "Full Frontal Nerdity" maybe? Stuart and I have started to experiment with the recipes from "The Thrive Diet". The cereal turned out to be pretty edible, but I don't know about the zucchini chips. The only ones that got anywhere near dry enough to be considered "chips" were leathery and stuck to the pan. Hmmm.... I'm gonna try the Sweet Potato Fries tonight, cause heh, how hard can that be? Ciao! 7:58 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

10 Dec 2007 Christmas obligations? Check! It wasn't really an obligation actually, but Mom came up on Thursday to join me and Stuart to see "The Vinyl Cafe Christmas". The musical guests were Danny Michel and Allison from the Po' Girls, so it was totally amazing. Stuart McLean read two old stories and one new one - which was great, of course! The only bad part of the evening was parking. We got to the Jubilee with lots of time, we thought and by the time we'd parked the car, we slid into our seats with about a minute and a half before the lights went down. Phew! The next night was the Brenntag Christmas party. As we walked into the banquet room, I said to Stuart, "I missed the part of the invitation that said I was supposed to dress like a whore." Not that there weren't some gorgeously dressed women in the crowd, but on the whole there was way too much cleavage and not nearly enough cloth. The younger crowd especially seemed to feel that 2 sizes too small is a fashion statement - which it is, just not a GOOD one. The party was for all of Alberta and northern B.C., so there was assigned seating; probably in an attempt to get folks to mingle. Not a problem for us, as I knew two people in the crowd and Stuart a few more. I was introduced to a bunch of folks I'll likely never meet again, but at least Stuart got to put some faces to names and say "hi" to a few folks. Dinner was quite tasty and served at the tables - a good thing, since we were packed in so tight, getting up to a buffet would have been disaster. After dinner was the obligatory speech - kinda pointless and rambling, followed by door prizes that we didn't win. The evening ended with a dance, but the DJ was so loud that we gave up and went home after 8 or 10 songs. The next morning, everyone slept in and then I took Mom to the bus depot to head home. I think she might have liked to stay for the weekend and see the kids more, but since it was Dad's birthday, I think she felt bad about leaving him all alone. LOL Ciao!

01 Dec 2007

Partyin’ take one Last night was my work Christmas party. Being the least busy person at the office, I'd ended up organizing a lot of it. Although they really just wanted a reprise of last year's party, so it wasn't so bad. Drinks and hors d'ouevres were at 6, although Stuart and I didn't arrive until a little after 6:30. Dinner was at 7 and it was pretty good - salad, veggies, pasta primavera and roast beef. The only disappointment was that they ran out for dessert before everyone got a piece. (I'll be calling on Monday to complain about that!) After dinner, we had a brief word from the Executive Director and then it was over to the fun casino. Everyone got a $20 000 dollar stake and had a choice of blackjack, roulette or craps. We played for about an hour, then everyone used their winnings in the auction. There were some good items we'd managed to get and I think the top bid for anything was $2.2 million! We also gave out the door prizes in between the insane bidding. After all the goodies we dispersed, the DJ fired up and we danced for about an hour. By that time, people were getting a bit thin on the ground, so it wasn't a huge dance crowd, but we had fun. I even found out that Stuart dances pretty well for a guy! Yeah! I think we packed it in around 11:30, and there weren't that many people left, but I think most folks had an ok time. Phew! Ciao!

Archive, November 2007

30 Nov 2007 Reflected glory One of my best-est friends, Leela Gilday, is going to have an exciting weekend. She's up for two awards at the Aboriginal Music Awards and one at the Canadian Folk Music Awards! She's already got a couple of Aboriginals and a Juno, but at this point in her career, I doubt that she's gotten blase about the whole thing. I really hope that she gets a whole selection of dust collectors, because she truly deserves them. She's been working her butt off and she's genuinely an amazing performer. As I mentioned in earlier posts, she has put together an outstanding band and she has pipes that require no amplification. Not to say that she's just loud though, she has a voice with incredible range. I've heard her do opera for her University degree, she can do smokey jazz, Native call songs, pop covers and her own writing - it all rocks. If you haven't heard any of her stuff, check out her myspace page; although I have to say that so far, her albums have failed to capture that full quality of her voice. It's kind of disappointing really. Hopefully more exposure will lead to more money and better producers... maybe I can hook her up with Danny Michel? Ciao! 3:02 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove 27 Nov 2007 If I disappear, it’s because I learned the truth I had an epiphany this morning. Calgarians don't actually drive like brain-damaged 3 year-olds; they just perpetuate the myth because it conveniently covers the more horrible truth. Calgarians hunt human beings for sport. It's the only explanation. Spread the knowledge, so that we can all take the proper precautions. Ciao. 10:10 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove 26 Nov 2007 Weekends are too short After work on Friday, Stuart and I packed the car and headed out to Canmore. We had tickets to see Colin James and Craig Northey do an acoustic set at the Eric Harvie theater at the Banff Center. If you don't know Colin James, well, I don't know what to say, but I will fill you in that Craig was in the Odds, a Canadian band that did pretty well in the 90's. He also wrote the opening credits song for "Corner Gas". The show was excellent - 2 guys, 6 guitars, a mandolin and lots of fun! They mostly did covers of Colin's songs, but they hit the high points of Odds stuff too. There was some amazing guitar playing and we enjoyed it greatly, despite the drunks behind us feeling the need to sing along with the chorus on songs they really liked. We spent the rest of the weekend at a condo that is owned by family friends. It's in Canmore and they rent it out like a sort of private time share. Three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, fireplace, satellite tv, garage, nicely decorated and stocked - all for about half the price of a basic hotel room! Stuart has been fighting a cold for a while, so we played Scrabble, watched Stargate and took lots of naps. Not exciting maybe, but relaxing and nice. We did go out for dinner before the show, to a restaurant in Canmore called Murrieta's. We had a spinach, goat cheese, beet and onion salad that was fantastic. Stuart had Saffron Seafood Risotto and I had Teriyaki Glazed Duck with Pineapple rice. Very, very yummy! The only disappointing thing was dessert - the only choice that didn't involve nuts or bananas was the Warm Chocolate Cake, which the waiter said was really good, but turned out to be pretty standard. Of course, I might have been a bit hard on it, because I really wanted the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee, which unfortunately also involved hazelnuts. Bah. It was so amazing to wake up every morning and look out the window to see mountains. Neither of us wanted to leave and we made pretty good excuses to stay as late as we could. We only really got it together when it turned dark and the view disappeared, so I guess it's a good thing that the sun's going down earlier these days. It's strengthened my resolve that some day we will live in mountains somewhere. Not right now and maybe not in Alberta - but somehow, we'll manage it! In other news, it's bloody cold today (my computer is currently reporting -16 and there is windchill to add to that.) I was very pleased with my new down coat and I felt positively old standing at the bus stop. Some girl was there wearing a felted cotton coat, no hat, scarf or mitts, in skin tight jeans and leather flats with no socks and I found myself thinking "Young people today are insane." Of course, I thought that when I WAS a young person, but standing there in knee length down, wool toque, scarf, mitts and holding my tea mug just seemed to highlight it. I was pretty comfy though. Ciao! 4:09 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove 22 Nov 2007 My Celebrity Look-alikes MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Roots This is hilarious - it totally depends on the picture that you start with. I tried a different one and got 11 matches, only 2 of whom were women! Granted, the guys were pretty feminine, but a girl could get insulted if she wanted to. LOL 4:34 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove Sleep and cold I slept on the couch last night. No, Stuart and I did not have our first fight - he was snoring like an asthmatic lawnmower in my ear. Usually, when he snores, I can just poke him a bit, he'll roll over and that's that. Not so last night. For one thing, he was so out that poking him didn't work, I actually had to nudge him into consciousness and ask him to move. And secondly, after doing that four times in an hour and having him start up yet again, I gave up. Thank goodness we went for the sofa bed, that's plenty wide enough for one to sleep comfortably without any re-arrangement! I'm not sure if it has to do with having lost some weight, not having a fast enough metabolism, getting old or some synergy thereof - but damn! winter's getting colder every year. But just for me - according to the mercury, it's still not even really winter; overnight lows of -10 and daytime highs in the 0 area used to be brisk not cold. Although I don't think my office helps. I'm sure they've got the heating/cooling system balanced as if the building was full of people, which it is not. We're at maybe 15-20% capacity, so there just aren't all the bodies helping to raise the ambient temperature. As I result, I'm sitting here in cords and a fleece sweater but my hands and nose are cold. Yesterday, my fingernails were turning purple! Can anyone recommend gloves that you can type, file, etc. in? Oh well, soon it will be time for lunch and I can take a brisk walk over to the slightly warmer Foothills cafeteria to warm up a bit. Not to mention that the single shot drink maker downstairs is doing a brisk business in hot chocolate and coffee! Ciao! 5:05 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove 21 Nov 2007 Gift giving mania I'm not Christian in any sense of the word, but even I agree that Christmas is ridiculously over-commercialized. Unfortunately, I think I'm a contributing factor to that. I love getting presents and I love giving them. I love the whole process - thinking of what to get someone, all the comparative shopping to find the best one, the best price, buying it, wrapping it, watching whomever it is open it. From beginning to end, it's just so much darn fun! As much as I have to reign in my spending on myself, I have to work that much harder not to go nuts buying stuff for other people. And it's not just at Christmas - I could buy stuff at every conceivable excuse: birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, Mother's/Father's Day, you name it. I really do need to win a lottery! Pleeeeeeease...... Ciao! 8:36 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove 20 Nov 2007 Pain So I had another migraine yesterday. I try to forget the details, but this was the first one in several years. Thankfully, I don't get them at all regularly - just often enough to hate 'em (which is once, I think.) Anyway, in traditional migraine style, I always get auras first - in my case, the center of my vision blacks out and I can only see stuff in the periphery. Yesterday morning, I was asleep and I was getting this phenomenon in my dream! Very weird. However, since I was unconscious, I didn't clue in until someone drove a large knife into my head. That woke me up and sent me digging blindly for the Zomig. It was a bit late in the process for it to work to it's max, so I called into work and then collapsed on my bed moaning. After a couple of hours, the pain abated enough for me to slip gratefully into unconsciousness again. I woke up sometime around noon, when the migraine itself had passed and I was into what I called the "migraine hangover". I think I may have picked the term up from Thing 1. Anyway, during the hangover, nothing really bothers me anymore, not light or noise or anything; there's just a sort of bruised feeling where the pain was worst and I'm generally tired and sore. When I brushed my teeth last night with the electric toothbrush, I discovered a new phenomena - it felt like there was a small rock just inside my skull where the knife went in and it was vibrating along. Not painful exactly, just disconcerting. Thank god I don't get nauseated with my migraines. I don't even want to think how much that would hurt. And I really don't understand people who say they are having a migraine but they come to/stay at work. I can barely open my eyes and breathing hurts - rational thought is completely impossible. Today, I am drinking lots of water, taking the odd pain killer for the head "bruise" and taking it slow. Once again though, it seems that I will survive - yeah!!!! Ciao! 7:33 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove 14 Nov 2007 Ooops! So Stuart tells me the other day that I'm not allowed to read "Looking for Group" without his supervision or I'll figure out my Christmas present. (Tactical error right there, but we'll overlook it.) So I said, "What? You're getting me a Richard doll for Christmas?" He said, "Aw, you guessed, now I can't get it for you!" They MAKE a Richard doll????? Cooooool..... I hope it comes with his familiar and imp! Ciao! 8:10 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove Sleep that knits the ’raveled sleeve of care It's weird, but ever since we moved, Stuart and I have both noticed that the bed just wasn't as comfy. We tossed and turned and woke up stiff and sore. Stuart flipped the matress twice, but with no noticeable improvement. When we got back from our recent Edmonton trip, we checked to see if the box spring had been put on wrong somehow. Nope - but we flipped the mattress one more time, just for kicks. Lo and behold - it's much more comfortable. I haven't asked Stuart yet, but the last few nights I've slept much better. (He's so banged up from work that I'm not sure he'd notice a difference!) My theory - the bed was experiencing jet lag; the corporeal bit moves across a space and it takes time for the soul to catch up! Either that or it was just feeling unloved in all the upheaval. Ciao! 07 Nov 2007 New horizons So, at the urgings of several people, I've applied for a new position. It hasn't actually been posted yet, but the old job description was Communications Manager for SACRI. It would involve doing a lot of stuff that I've never done before - or at least not been paid for or done a whole lot of. I'll have to learn HTML, organize press conferences, etc. Not that I think it involves anything I can't learn - in fact, that's why I applied... the potential for a job that's interesting and new and challenging. It would also involve a lot of stuff that I've often thought, "If I was doing that, I could do it so much better!" Like internal communications, website design and database design. I've spent the last several years sickened by the grammatical idiocies of people who write for public consumption, griping about the horrible user interfaces of software I've been forced to use and generally becoming resigned to the hopelessness of beaurocracies. I certainly can't change that across the board, and maybe I'll run aground on all the same roadblocks as my predecessors... but on the other hand, maybe I can create a bastion, however small, for sanity! Assuming, of course, that they give me the job... Ciao! Ed. comment: Stuart pointed out that if I'm going to bitch about grammatical and typographical errors, I should probably spell "bureaucracy" properly. Some people are so picky! 8:34 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

06 Nov 2007 Sunshine confuses me So, Sunday was the day to set the clocks back an hour and sleep in. Stuart and I had a lovely day in and realized that what we really need is about 3 weeks of those. Time to buy another lottery ticket! I was very confused though, on Monday morning when I left for the bus at my regular time and the sun was up again. What the hell? The longest day of the year hasn't happened yet, what's going on? It took me about half an hour to put all the pieces together... Daylight SAVINGS Time - riiiIIIiiight! It's the first time I can actually remember noticing a difference. Silly me. Monday was also the day that I resigned myself to winter and pulled out the insulated jacket. (Not the heavy duty, knee length, down coziness I treated myself to this year, just the synthetic hip length number, but still.) The latest batch of snow isn't really melting and the high yesterday was 0 degrees C. Bah. Ciao!