I want to post something new and I am at a loss for what to write about. I will try out a stream of consciousness to see if anything comes out of the woodwork. I am longing for the days when I have a clear idea of what to write about and the inspiration to do it justice. I know I could leave it and try again later but the odds are that if I leave it now, I won't write later. I have time and I feel like writing...it's just the topic that eludes me.
Alright, here is something I learned this morning.
I learned that early typewriters had no way to put things in bold lettering or italics and so to stress things, people would write it in Latin.
Ahhh the brain of an interpreter, always full of odds and ends of information.
Monday, 12 January 2009
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
A battle of wills at 5:30am
Getting up this morning was particularly hard. About half an hour before my alarm was supposed to go off I had a cat racing around my head and leaping over me while howling to the moon. Did you even know that cats could howl? Well they can, and it's a loud and disturbing noise.
The pattern (game) seems to be that when I ignore him for the leaping and howling he stands at the blinds (venetian and old which equals heavy and loud) and paws them until I react. It is the most grating sound since Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber making the most annoying sound on Earth. The blinds and the cat are mere feet from my head and also just out of reach. He has it down to a science.
My best counter ploy is to catch him in mid-leap over my head and force him into a cuddle. I roll on to my side with him tucked under my arm and I hold him there against me. He knows he's trapped and he isn't happy but makes no attempt to get away. Until I start to drift off to sleep again and then he slowly (very slowly) starts to manoeuvre his way out. Just when he thinks he is home free, I tighten my grip and reel him back. It is torture for him I am sure. But it is also my best revenge. Those blinds, oh my dog! So loud and obnoxious!
My plan for stopping this behaviour of his is to sleep with the blinds open high enough that he can't paw at them. The howling and leaping there is no cure for aside from locking him out of my bedroom door which I am not willing to do. It is his apartment. I just pay the rent.
The pattern (game) seems to be that when I ignore him for the leaping and howling he stands at the blinds (venetian and old which equals heavy and loud) and paws them until I react. It is the most grating sound since Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber making the most annoying sound on Earth. The blinds and the cat are mere feet from my head and also just out of reach. He has it down to a science.
My best counter ploy is to catch him in mid-leap over my head and force him into a cuddle. I roll on to my side with him tucked under my arm and I hold him there against me. He knows he's trapped and he isn't happy but makes no attempt to get away. Until I start to drift off to sleep again and then he slowly (very slowly) starts to manoeuvre his way out. Just when he thinks he is home free, I tighten my grip and reel him back. It is torture for him I am sure. But it is also my best revenge. Those blinds, oh my dog! So loud and obnoxious!
My plan for stopping this behaviour of his is to sleep with the blinds open high enough that he can't paw at them. The howling and leaping there is no cure for aside from locking him out of my bedroom door which I am not willing to do. It is his apartment. I just pay the rent.
Monday, 5 January 2009
A mish-mash of topics that start with the letter W.
Getting up this morning seemed almost impossible. I have had a few weeks of sleeping til 9ish and today my alarm was set for 5:45. Plus this snow! Oy vey! (ok, I just looked up oy vey on dictionary.com to make sure I spelled it right and it directed me to look up Oy and the example sentence they gave was ... "It is snowing again! Oy!"- how fitting).
Seriously though, this weather can kiss my ass. Every single time it snows I am surprised. I phone someone and say "I thought we were done!" Aren't we done yet? I also have fully embraced looking up to the sky, shaking my fist and saying 'bullsh*t!" every time it starts up again. My complaining is, in part, just for the fun of it. But really I would be so happy if the roads were cleared (side streets too), sidewalks shovelled, and the giant drifts on the sides of roads had pathways shovelled through them every once in awhile. Oh, and I had an easy place to park my car. With those 4 things, it could snow til March and I'd be fine with it. I'd probably still be surprised every time it started up again and I'd probably still shake my fist in the air and say 'bullsh*t!" because it is fun to do.
In other news, I bought myself a Wii. So at least now I have something to keep me active and entertained at home while the weather outside keeps me indoors. I spent about 40 minutes last night trying out the bowling, baseball and tennis. I am excited to do the boxing and try out the Wii-Fit...hula hooping, tightrope walking and ski jumping here I come!
Seriously though, this weather can kiss my ass. Every single time it snows I am surprised. I phone someone and say "I thought we were done!" Aren't we done yet? I also have fully embraced looking up to the sky, shaking my fist and saying 'bullsh*t!" every time it starts up again. My complaining is, in part, just for the fun of it. But really I would be so happy if the roads were cleared (side streets too), sidewalks shovelled, and the giant drifts on the sides of roads had pathways shovelled through them every once in awhile. Oh, and I had an easy place to park my car. With those 4 things, it could snow til March and I'd be fine with it. I'd probably still be surprised every time it started up again and I'd probably still shake my fist in the air and say 'bullsh*t!" because it is fun to do.
In other news, I bought myself a Wii. So at least now I have something to keep me active and entertained at home while the weather outside keeps me indoors. I spent about 40 minutes last night trying out the bowling, baseball and tennis. I am excited to do the boxing and try out the Wii-Fit...hula hooping, tightrope walking and ski jumping here I come!
Saturday, 3 January 2009
Movies in 2008
This past year I kept a list of every new movie I saw. I had two categories; One was movies I went to see in the theater and the other was movies I rented or watched on tv. In 2008 I saw 43 movies in the theater and rented 39 movies. Of all the movies I saw in the theater only a few stand out as GREAT movies to me. The lists themselves would be rather boring to anyone but me so I am only going to write about some of them. Using nifty little categories of course.
In the GREAT category: 8.5 -10 out of 10
Sex and The City
The Dark Knight
Rachel Getting Married
Slumdog Millionaire
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
In the liked-a-lot category: 7 - 8 out of 10
P.S. I Love you
27 Dresses
Cloverfield
Walk Hard
The Darjeeling Limited
Penelope
The Bank Job
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Iron Man
Hancock
Hellboy II
Mamma Mia!
Tropic Thunder
Quantum of Solace
Movies that didn't make either of those two lists but still deserve some kind of mention are:
WALL-E - because it was really good but I pretty much forgot all about it once it was over.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno - because it was truly terrible and I almost never say that about a movie.
Those are just movies that I saw in the theater. As for the renters and saw-it-on-tv movies, the ones worth mentioning are:
X Men - not a new movie but new to me and so enjoyable
Gone Baby Gone - wow - dark and serious but amazing
Eagle vs. Shark - ridiculously quirky and right up my alley
Breakfast with Scot - sweet and charming
Charlie Bartlett - charming and quirky with a bit of a dark side
Meet Me in St. Louis - Classic musical
In the GREAT category: 8.5 -10 out of 10
Sex and The City
The Dark Knight
Rachel Getting Married
Slumdog Millionaire
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
In the liked-a-lot category: 7 - 8 out of 10
P.S. I Love you
27 Dresses
Cloverfield
Walk Hard
The Darjeeling Limited
Penelope
The Bank Job
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Iron Man
Hancock
Hellboy II
Mamma Mia!
Tropic Thunder
Quantum of Solace
Movies that didn't make either of those two lists but still deserve some kind of mention are:
WALL-E - because it was really good but I pretty much forgot all about it once it was over.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno - because it was truly terrible and I almost never say that about a movie.
Those are just movies that I saw in the theater. As for the renters and saw-it-on-tv movies, the ones worth mentioning are:
X Men - not a new movie but new to me and so enjoyable
Gone Baby Gone - wow - dark and serious but amazing
Eagle vs. Shark - ridiculously quirky and right up my alley
Breakfast with Scot - sweet and charming
Charlie Bartlett - charming and quirky with a bit of a dark side
Meet Me in St. Louis - Classic musical
Friday, 2 January 2009
Happy New Year!!
I am very thankful for 2008 and all of the lessons, experiences, opportunities and challenges I had. I am grateful to be entering 2009 with an open heart and an open mind.
Happy New Year to all of you! May this year be your very best so far!
xo
Happy New Year to all of you! May this year be your very best so far!
xo
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Grandmas and Girlfriends
My sister wrote this and I love it so much that I am copying and pasting it here for all to read!
my sister and i went to visit our grandma in the hopsital where she is recovering and regaining her strength after a heart attack. as we sat chatting in front of a fireplace, grandma told us about a time when she and three of her girlfriends were seated in a food court having lunch and sharing some laughs. she said they were so engrossed in their visiting that it was as if they were the only ones in the room. a man at a nearby table said to them "you four ladies remind me of the golden girls" and grandma said that she quickly responded "yes, and i'm the sexy one."
my grandma, agnes josephine thomas, will turn 91 this january, on our shared birthday. she has macular degeneration so she can't see very well, she is hard of hearing, and she seems to get smaller every time i see her. and yet she is still strong and independent, living on her own, playing bridge with her friends several times a week, being the loving and steadfast head of our big family. her face still lights up whenever i see her and i am met with a smile and grandma's sweet familiar voice saying "there she is!" as she raises both of her arms in the air, celebrating my arrival.
during our visit yesterday, a woman came to fetch grandma for her exercise class. grandma said "no thank you, i'd rather stay here with my friends." she ended up going to the class after all, but it struck me that she referred to us, her granddaughters, as her friends. my sister and i grinned at each other, wrinkling our noses at grandma's cuteness. but last night, as i was reading about women and friendships, i realized that grandma's got it right. we are friends. she has been my lifelong friend. french braiding my hair, teaching me how to bake, letting me poke raisins into the dough to make eyes for my bread girl's face, taking me for a ride on the bus to new westminster's sally ann, serving me the very best homemade lunches, playing countless games with me (i've been blessed with two card-shark grandmas), inviting me to watch lawrence welk with her when she babysat me on saturday evenings, taking me as her date each year to the seniors' "january birthday party" at century house, making me lefse (a yummy norwegian treat - thin and crepe-like, made from potatoes, spread with butter and honey and rolled up to devour...a favourite of all of her grandkids), phoning me regularly to see how i'm doing. my grandma has been such a blessing in my life. she has shared her wisdom and shared her stories. she has instilled in me the importance of friendships, and she modelled how to cultivate rich relationships with her many sisters and many girlfriends. she has been an amazing friend to me. i am lucky to have so many wonderful women in my life. girlfriends, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, steps, aunts, cousins, monkeys, nieces, pastors, cousins' daughters, cousins' wives, extended family, sisters' friends, old friends, new friends, reconnected friends. there is nothing like it, really...having someone who knows you and your history, knows your heart, wants only the best for you.
my relationship with each of you is unique. maybe we made up dance routines together in my living room. had sleepovers and watched scary movie after scary movie. vacationed together and felt closer than if our families had actually been related. watched the fire crackle as we sang along to barbra streisand. got into teenage mischief. were roommates in university. maybe we laughed until we cried on a zillion occasions, especially the morning after a party, when everything just seems funnier. consoled each other's broken hearts. encouraged each other to feel the fear and do it anyway. invited each other. took the wheel for each other. gabbed over coffee, appies, wine, dessert. jumped on the tramp. shared our hearts. commiserated. made concoctions from everything we could find under the bathroom sink (you know who you are). pow wowed. stayed in hostels. drank and dialled. took chances. let each other vent. cried because we were sad. cried because we were happy. talked about god. skipped school and watched tv from the comfort of my parents' bed. stayed up all night. got each other through some very hard times. celebrated each other's triumphs, big and small. praised and worshipped together. held onto each other's dreams when we felt afraid or discouraged. held each other's hair back when we got sick. surprised each other. gave advice. walked and talked. maybe we grew up together. were a sounding board. had faith. gave grace. got over it. gave hugs. rocked out in the car. kept each other's secrets. borrowed each other's clothes. came up with great ideas. had spa days and weekend getaways. let each other Just Be. agonized over career choices. recorded ourselves singing. snuck out. got caught. covered for one another. shared a brain. emailed. brunched. road tripped. drafted sentences together. let each other ride our coattails sometimes (where do i sign?). made up secret codes (WDIS?). supported each other to be our best selves. believed in each other. made each other stronger. loved one another. here's some of what i read last night that got me thinking about women and friendship. it's from 'captivating: unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul' by john and stasi eldredge:"the gift of friendship among women is a treasure not to be taken lightly. women friends become the face of god to one another - the face of grace, of delight, of mercy. the capacity of a woman's heart for meaningful relationships is vast. there is no way your husband or your children can ever provide the intimacy and relational satisfaction you need. a woman must have women friends. to have a woman friend is to relax into another soul and be welcomed in all that you are and all that you are not. it is a great gift to know that you see as another sees, an immense pleasure to be understood, to enjoy easy companionship of one you can let your guard down with. when god gives a friend, he is entrusting us with the care of another's heart. it is a chance to mother and to sister, to be a life giver, to help someone else become the woman she was created to be, to walk alongside her and call her deep heart forth." thank you all for your friendship. i am truly blessed.
my sister and i went to visit our grandma in the hopsital where she is recovering and regaining her strength after a heart attack. as we sat chatting in front of a fireplace, grandma told us about a time when she and three of her girlfriends were seated in a food court having lunch and sharing some laughs. she said they were so engrossed in their visiting that it was as if they were the only ones in the room. a man at a nearby table said to them "you four ladies remind me of the golden girls" and grandma said that she quickly responded "yes, and i'm the sexy one."
my grandma, agnes josephine thomas, will turn 91 this january, on our shared birthday. she has macular degeneration so she can't see very well, she is hard of hearing, and she seems to get smaller every time i see her. and yet she is still strong and independent, living on her own, playing bridge with her friends several times a week, being the loving and steadfast head of our big family. her face still lights up whenever i see her and i am met with a smile and grandma's sweet familiar voice saying "there she is!" as she raises both of her arms in the air, celebrating my arrival.
during our visit yesterday, a woman came to fetch grandma for her exercise class. grandma said "no thank you, i'd rather stay here with my friends." she ended up going to the class after all, but it struck me that she referred to us, her granddaughters, as her friends. my sister and i grinned at each other, wrinkling our noses at grandma's cuteness. but last night, as i was reading about women and friendships, i realized that grandma's got it right. we are friends. she has been my lifelong friend. french braiding my hair, teaching me how to bake, letting me poke raisins into the dough to make eyes for my bread girl's face, taking me for a ride on the bus to new westminster's sally ann, serving me the very best homemade lunches, playing countless games with me (i've been blessed with two card-shark grandmas), inviting me to watch lawrence welk with her when she babysat me on saturday evenings, taking me as her date each year to the seniors' "january birthday party" at century house, making me lefse (a yummy norwegian treat - thin and crepe-like, made from potatoes, spread with butter and honey and rolled up to devour...a favourite of all of her grandkids), phoning me regularly to see how i'm doing. my grandma has been such a blessing in my life. she has shared her wisdom and shared her stories. she has instilled in me the importance of friendships, and she modelled how to cultivate rich relationships with her many sisters and many girlfriends. she has been an amazing friend to me. i am lucky to have so many wonderful women in my life. girlfriends, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, steps, aunts, cousins, monkeys, nieces, pastors, cousins' daughters, cousins' wives, extended family, sisters' friends, old friends, new friends, reconnected friends. there is nothing like it, really...having someone who knows you and your history, knows your heart, wants only the best for you.
my relationship with each of you is unique. maybe we made up dance routines together in my living room. had sleepovers and watched scary movie after scary movie. vacationed together and felt closer than if our families had actually been related. watched the fire crackle as we sang along to barbra streisand. got into teenage mischief. were roommates in university. maybe we laughed until we cried on a zillion occasions, especially the morning after a party, when everything just seems funnier. consoled each other's broken hearts. encouraged each other to feel the fear and do it anyway. invited each other. took the wheel for each other. gabbed over coffee, appies, wine, dessert. jumped on the tramp. shared our hearts. commiserated. made concoctions from everything we could find under the bathroom sink (you know who you are). pow wowed. stayed in hostels. drank and dialled. took chances. let each other vent. cried because we were sad. cried because we were happy. talked about god. skipped school and watched tv from the comfort of my parents' bed. stayed up all night. got each other through some very hard times. celebrated each other's triumphs, big and small. praised and worshipped together. held onto each other's dreams when we felt afraid or discouraged. held each other's hair back when we got sick. surprised each other. gave advice. walked and talked. maybe we grew up together. were a sounding board. had faith. gave grace. got over it. gave hugs. rocked out in the car. kept each other's secrets. borrowed each other's clothes. came up with great ideas. had spa days and weekend getaways. let each other Just Be. agonized over career choices. recorded ourselves singing. snuck out. got caught. covered for one another. shared a brain. emailed. brunched. road tripped. drafted sentences together. let each other ride our coattails sometimes (where do i sign?). made up secret codes (WDIS?). supported each other to be our best selves. believed in each other. made each other stronger. loved one another. here's some of what i read last night that got me thinking about women and friendship. it's from 'captivating: unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul' by john and stasi eldredge:"the gift of friendship among women is a treasure not to be taken lightly. women friends become the face of god to one another - the face of grace, of delight, of mercy. the capacity of a woman's heart for meaningful relationships is vast. there is no way your husband or your children can ever provide the intimacy and relational satisfaction you need. a woman must have women friends. to have a woman friend is to relax into another soul and be welcomed in all that you are and all that you are not. it is a great gift to know that you see as another sees, an immense pleasure to be understood, to enjoy easy companionship of one you can let your guard down with. when god gives a friend, he is entrusting us with the care of another's heart. it is a chance to mother and to sister, to be a life giver, to help someone else become the woman she was created to be, to walk alongside her and call her deep heart forth." thank you all for your friendship. i am truly blessed.
Christmas is over!
Well, that's it. Another Christmas is over. And what I really want to write about is the snow. Actually I have a lot of catching up to do here so I might post a few times today instead of one giant post or trying to spread them out over the next few days.
Christmas for me turned out to be a three day event. We celebrated on Christmas eve with my dad, stepmom and her daughters. Christmas day we spent the morning with my mom and stepdad and then dinner is my grandpa's. This year we've added in a boxing day morning tradition with my sisters and I together at my mom's. It snowed ALL day and so boxing day morning went until 11pm for Stef, mom and I. We hung around mom's all morning and afternoon and then went for a walk in the snowy/rainy evening and watched a movie together back at my mom's place. It was a lovely day.
I still have nowhere to park my car. This snow has made it impossible to get into the alley behind my building and even if I could there isn't any way to pull into my actual parking spot. I parked my car overnight at Safeway on Christmas eve and since then I have left my car down on Cornwall in front of my mom's. It has actually worked out well because mom and Steve's car got broken into on Christmas eve and so they have been able to use my car when they need to.
I took some pictures last night to document the craziness of this snow. We kept thinking it had to stop and then it just kept snowing. I will post a pic here for posterity.
Christmas for me turned out to be a three day event. We celebrated on Christmas eve with my dad, stepmom and her daughters. Christmas day we spent the morning with my mom and stepdad and then dinner is my grandpa's. This year we've added in a boxing day morning tradition with my sisters and I together at my mom's. It snowed ALL day and so boxing day morning went until 11pm for Stef, mom and I. We hung around mom's all morning and afternoon and then went for a walk in the snowy/rainy evening and watched a movie together back at my mom's place. It was a lovely day.
I still have nowhere to park my car. This snow has made it impossible to get into the alley behind my building and even if I could there isn't any way to pull into my actual parking spot. I parked my car overnight at Safeway on Christmas eve and since then I have left my car down on Cornwall in front of my mom's. It has actually worked out well because mom and Steve's car got broken into on Christmas eve and so they have been able to use my car when they need to.
I took some pictures last night to document the craziness of this snow. We kept thinking it had to stop and then it just kept snowing. I will post a pic here for posterity.
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