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Listen here.
Another day, another confession. Until this time last year, I had never seen A Charlie Brown Christmas. No, it's true! (I have many pop-cultural blind spots.)
Then my choir sang a version of Christmastime Is Here and, after some rough spots at first, I discovered it was good. Then the movie came on TV and I watched it and, as you might expect, loved it. Here's a video of the relevant part (spoiler warning in case anyone else is as out of it as I am):
It's just heartwarming, dammit. *sniffle*
Apparently the words are Methodist (by Charles Wesley, 1739) and the tune is adapted from Mendelssohn (1840ish). I wonder if they sang it in the intervening 101 years, and if so, to what?
Get the full musical Advent calendar here. | What is this?
Another day, another confession. Until this time last year, I had never seen A Charlie Brown Christmas. No, it's true! (I have many pop-cultural blind spots.)
Then my choir sang a version of Christmastime Is Here and, after some rough spots at first, I discovered it was good. Then the movie came on TV and I watched it and, as you might expect, loved it. Here's a video of the relevant part (spoiler warning in case anyone else is as out of it as I am):
It's just heartwarming, dammit. *sniffle*
Apparently the words are Methodist (by Charles Wesley, 1739) and the tune is adapted from Mendelssohn (1840ish). I wonder if they sang it in the intervening 101 years, and if so, to what?
Get the full musical Advent calendar here. | What is this?
PSA: shiny Watchmen things!
Mar. 4th, 2009 10:31 amMy buddy ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monkeycommando is now working for Driven magazine. They are currently running a contest over at the site to give away a piece of Watchmen swag; all you have to do is send them an email to enter the draw. They're also doing daily Q&As with the stars and director.
I should prolly get a Watchmen icon, although the Triplettes sort of work too...
monkeycommando is now working for Driven magazine. They are currently running a contest over at the site to give away a piece of Watchmen swag; all you have to do is send them an email to enter the draw. They're also doing daily Q&As with the stars and director.I should prolly get a Watchmen icon, although the Triplettes sort of work too...
It's cold. -20°C at present, according to the Weather Network. I wouldn't mind -- I have finally fully embraced the power of adequate outerwear and giant snow boots, so being outside is not as much of a penance as usual -- but when it's this cold there tends to be an arctic blast under my desk.
Fortunately I have a blanket! And it's going all the way up to -13 today!
Saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night withlife_on_queen. Liked most of it, but the frame story added nothing and the more elegiac musings on life and death and the meaning of it all were a bit hard to take. The quirky funny bits, and Taraji P. Henson (thank you IMDB) as Benjamin's adopted mother, and Cate and Brad together with a minimum of prosthetic makeup, were great.
I am much too old for movies that get out after 11, though. Pathetic, I know.
Fortunately I have a blanket! And it's going all the way up to -13 today!
Saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night with
life_on_queen. Liked most of it, but the frame story added nothing and the more elegiac musings on life and death and the meaning of it all were a bit hard to take. The quirky funny bits, and Taraji P. Henson (thank you IMDB) as Benjamin's adopted mother, and Cate and Brad together with a minimum of prosthetic makeup, were great.I am much too old for movies that get out after 11, though. Pathetic, I know.
Portrait of a pair of con artists
May. 28th, 2008 12:07 pm
"Hey baby, guess what?"
"What?"
"John and Helen are going out later, but I happen to know that Jen will be coming by to feed us."
"So?"
"Pay attention. This is the plan. We eat all our kibble, and then when John and Helen come back, we look really pathetic and frantic."
"And?"
"And Helen will feed us again."
"Will she really fall for that?"
"Trust me."
It worked. OK, in the real world they probably didn't have advance notice. But they do have this very strange relationship, wherein sometimes Tilde lies on her back and Blue nuzzles her -- we call that the Venus phase -- and sometimes Blue nips at Tilde until she starts chasing him while snarling and (because apparently snarling tickles her nose) sneezing. That would be the Mars phase.
Jen and I went to see Indiana Jones. It was OK. Very fun in spots. Could have been shorter. Nice to see Karen Allen again. Loved Cate Blanchett's hair.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
Mar. 9th, 2008 05:11 pmI cannot for the life of me remember who on my friends list made me aware of this movie, and thus of the book. If it was you: Thank you!* Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (1938), by Winifred Watson, is a thoroughly delightful book about the healing power of female friendship, good clothes, makeup, and having fun, not to mention the marvellous liberating power of cocktails, make-believe, and rising to the occasion. One morning Miss Pettigrew, friendless 40ish spinster and failed governess at her wits' end, arrives on the doorstep of Delysia LaFosse, actress and nightclub singer with far too many men in her life. Hijinks ensue. Over the day that follows Miss Pettigrew becomes both Cinderella and fairy godmother, and a good time and a happy ending are had by all (well, all who deserve a happy ending, anyway).
Jen and I saw the movie Friday night, and I am sad to report that it is significantly less awesome than the source material. Writers David Magee and Simon Beaufoy have taken pretty much all the elements that made the book great, discarded them, and replaced them with female back-stabbing and ominous pre-war overtones. Amy Adams is delightful (although her Miss LaFosse lacks the native shrewdness of the original) and Frances McDormand does yeoman work with a script that mostly requires her to stand around looking half-starved and miserable. Lee Pace and Ciaran Hinds are both adorable as their respective love interests, but dear God, was it really necessary to turn Shirley Henderson's Miss Dubarry into such a scheming nightmare? And to do so much violence to the plot? I mean, yes, there wasn't much to the plot, but it was perfectly serviceable the way it was.
At least the movie looks pretty. Too bad it's had most of the fun leached out of it. Read the book instead.
*Turns out it wasnineweaving.
Jen and I saw the movie Friday night, and I am sad to report that it is significantly less awesome than the source material. Writers David Magee and Simon Beaufoy have taken pretty much all the elements that made the book great, discarded them, and replaced them with female back-stabbing and ominous pre-war overtones. Amy Adams is delightful (although her Miss LaFosse lacks the native shrewdness of the original) and Frances McDormand does yeoman work with a script that mostly requires her to stand around looking half-starved and miserable. Lee Pace and Ciaran Hinds are both adorable as their respective love interests, but dear God, was it really necessary to turn Shirley Henderson's Miss Dubarry into such a scheming nightmare? And to do so much violence to the plot? I mean, yes, there wasn't much to the plot, but it was perfectly serviceable the way it was.
At least the movie looks pretty. Too bad it's had most of the fun leached out of it. Read the book instead.
*Turns out it was
nineweaving.A long overdue update
Feb. 23rd, 2008 03:03 pmI have a long list of things to do, most of which I don't feel like doing. But one of them is "Update LJ" (no, really). So here I am.
Via![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
spacing, interesting article on the future of suburbs.
It's been ages since I did a book update, so here's one, although it may be missing some items.
( Cut to spare those who really don't care what I've been reading since the start of January )
Sheesh. I should be an Amazon affiliate.
Incidentally, the library's new hold/account interface is up and running. I have to say I hope they continue tinkering with it because, while the options to change the pickup location and put items on hold for a specific length of time are cool, it's missing some functionality that I really appreciated in the old version, specifically:
- items ready to pick up showed in a different section of the Holds page
- holds could be sorted by title or expiry date
- renewals showed up instantly (in the new version you have to log out and log in again, although it's possible this was due to startup bugginess)
It would also be good if its privacy certificate checked out properly. Just sayin', TPL.
What was interesting while they were switching over and the hold system was down was how empty the hold shelves in the branches got after just a couple of days. Really an impressive reminder of how many books cycle through there!
( More lists of media consumed, just for completeness )
Via
spacing, interesting article on the future of suburbs.In the first half of last year, residential burglaries rose by 35 percent and robberies by 58 percent in suburban Lee County, Florida, where one in four houses stands empty. Charlotte’s crime rates have stayed flat overall in recent years—but from 2003 to 2006, in the 10 suburbs of the city that have experienced the highest foreclosure rates, crime rose 33 percent. Civic organizations in some suburbs have begun to mow the lawns around empty houses to keep up the appearance of stability. Police departments are mapping foreclosures in an effort to identify emerging criminal hot spots.I'm in a bit of a slump at the moment myself, although not of epic proportions. I spent Tuesday home sick and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and Februaryish and lacking motivation. Also, time has been behaving really weirdly; I keep being surprised by how much or how little time has passed since event X. But I'm chipping away at work, I bought lipstick and got a Clinique bonus (hey, whatever works), today is sunny and gorgeous, my dog seems to feel all is right with his world now that Jen and Tilde are home, and the family birthday is tonight. So life could be much worse.
The decline of places like Windy Ridge and Franklin Reserve is usually attributed to the subprime-mortgage crisis, with its wave of foreclosures. And the crisis has indeed catalyzed or intensified social problems in many communities. But the story of vacant suburban homes and declining suburban neighborhoods did not begin with the crisis, and will not end with it. A structural change is under way in the housing market—a major shift in the way many Americans want to live and work. It has shaped the current downturn, steering some of the worst problems away from the cities and toward the suburban fringes. And its effects will be felt more strongly, and more broadly, as the years pass. Its ultimate impact on the suburbs, and the cities, will be profound.
It's been ages since I did a book update, so here's one, although it may be missing some items.
( Cut to spare those who really don't care what I've been reading since the start of January )
Sheesh. I should be an Amazon affiliate.
Incidentally, the library's new hold/account interface is up and running. I have to say I hope they continue tinkering with it because, while the options to change the pickup location and put items on hold for a specific length of time are cool, it's missing some functionality that I really appreciated in the old version, specifically:
- items ready to pick up showed in a different section of the Holds page
- holds could be sorted by title or expiry date
- renewals showed up instantly (in the new version you have to log out and log in again, although it's possible this was due to startup bugginess)
It would also be good if its privacy certificate checked out properly. Just sayin', TPL.
What was interesting while they were switching over and the hold system was down was how empty the hold shelves in the branches got after just a couple of days. Really an impressive reminder of how many books cycle through there!
( More lists of media consumed, just for completeness )
Lets101 - Free Online Dating
Not completely off-base. Except for the "Always get what they want" part, which is clearly insane, and the "Loves to takes things at the centre" part, which isn't actually English.
"Lies but doesn't pretend" hits uncomfortably close to the bone.
In other news:
- JK Rowling came and bothered Maureen Johnson again; you must read her account. MUST.
- I saw Elizabeth: The Golden Age last night, and loved it; I was able to happily tune out all questions of historical veracity except for the nagging "Why does Mary Queen of Scots have a Scottish accent?" I loved that the Infanta had an Elizabeth doll. And that was totally Eilean Donan, not Fotheringay. Cate Blanchett is SO GOOD playing Elizabeth entering middle age, so powerful but also so alone. I will be be very happy if they make a third one, about 20 years from now.
- It's Friday. Hurray!
(no subject)
Nov. 5th, 2007 12:37 pmIt is dark outside. I hope it isn't raining when I leave work, because despite being warned I forgot my umbrella.
Friday: after-work work celebration, followed by meetingmonkeycommando and S and F at Lick's. I was extremely full of after-work snacks so didn't actually eat, but it was fun. Then home and watched much TV.
Saturday: seminar on trim carpentry at Lee Valley. Jen was fending off a cold so I went by myself. WAY COOL. I can now build door and window casings, install baseboard, make mitre and cope joints with confidence and (in theory at least) straighten a wall. Oh, and measure. All taking into account that Nothing Is Square.
Then had a birthday celebration at the Rivoli, wherein we played some truly terrible pool -- I'm convinced there was something wrong with the table.pretentiousgit, monkeycommando, lostvoice, themusesbitch, and others who are not on LJ were present and a fine time was had by all.
Sunday: mmmm sweet sleep. Chamber choir practice (our conductor is a lovely Newf and occasionally says things like "When you move to a new section, the arse keeps falling out of her"). Then I went and bought underwear at the Bay and pondered metaphysical questions like, why don't manufacturers make matching panties for their bras? I don't care so much if it's black or white, but I do for colours. Luckily Wonderbra bucked the trend so I got a lovely chocolate-brown set. (Triumph bras, for some reason, didn't fit me at all. I held one up to a bra that fit perfectly well and the band and cup were identical except that the Triumph cup was cut a little lower -- mystery.)
(Yes,raithen and pretentiousgit, one of these days I will go to a specialty bra store and get properly fitted. Although in fact I don't believe I'm actually wearing the wrong size.)
And then I came home and watched Tristram Shandy, which I enjoyed very much although it does help to have read (most of) the book (wonder where it's got to?). And I didn't realize until this morning that you never actually do get to see the same movie they're all reacting to at the end! Brilliant.
Books read this week:
The Boy's Tale, Margaret Frazer
Does She or Doesn't She?, Alisa Kwitney -- my least favourite of hers so far, I wouldn't recommend starting with it; ( spoilers )
Lady Fortescue Steps Out, Marion Chesney. I liked the premise (a group of Regency poor relations club together and open a hotel), but I never really connected with any of the characters; I think in this case it was the 3rd omniscient POV that was rather distancing. Plus too much explaining what each character is thinking and feeling about what's going on. Is she MC Beaton? Because I've noticed a similar problem in the Hamish MacBeth novels. (Checks: Yes. However, she's clearly had a long and successful career, so what do I know?) There was also a bit of a tendency to let the research take over, which was annoying. (As a random example: The heroine is waking up and it's really noisy because of all the bells from all these different churches and street vendors. Do I need to know who owns every single bell? Or that there were petitions to Parliament to cut down on the noise? No I do not. It was noisy because of all the bells. I got it.)
Abandoning halfway through:
For a Few Demons More, Kim Harrison. Desperately in need of faster pacing -- it could easily be tightened by about 50 pages from what I've read so far -- and I'm starting to find Rachel really irritating, like Stephanie Plum with no sense of self-preservation and a whole lot more vanity.
There may be more, but that's what leaps to mind.
Friday: after-work work celebration, followed by meeting
monkeycommando and S and F at Lick's. I was extremely full of after-work snacks so didn't actually eat, but it was fun. Then home and watched much TV.Saturday: seminar on trim carpentry at Lee Valley. Jen was fending off a cold so I went by myself. WAY COOL. I can now build door and window casings, install baseboard, make mitre and cope joints with confidence and (in theory at least) straighten a wall. Oh, and measure. All taking into account that Nothing Is Square.
Then had a birthday celebration at the Rivoli, wherein we played some truly terrible pool -- I'm convinced there was something wrong with the table.
pretentiousgit, monkeycommando, lostvoice, themusesbitch, and others who are not on LJ were present and a fine time was had by all.Sunday: mmmm sweet sleep. Chamber choir practice (our conductor is a lovely Newf and occasionally says things like "When you move to a new section, the arse keeps falling out of her"). Then I went and bought underwear at the Bay and pondered metaphysical questions like, why don't manufacturers make matching panties for their bras? I don't care so much if it's black or white, but I do for colours. Luckily Wonderbra bucked the trend so I got a lovely chocolate-brown set. (Triumph bras, for some reason, didn't fit me at all. I held one up to a bra that fit perfectly well and the band and cup were identical except that the Triumph cup was cut a little lower -- mystery.)
(Yes,
raithen and pretentiousgit, one of these days I will go to a specialty bra store and get properly fitted. Although in fact I don't believe I'm actually wearing the wrong size.)And then I came home and watched Tristram Shandy, which I enjoyed very much although it does help to have read (most of) the book (wonder where it's got to?). And I didn't realize until this morning that you never actually do get to see the same movie they're all reacting to at the end! Brilliant.
Books read this week:
The Boy's Tale, Margaret Frazer
Does She or Doesn't She?, Alisa Kwitney -- my least favourite of hers so far, I wouldn't recommend starting with it; ( spoilers )
Lady Fortescue Steps Out, Marion Chesney. I liked the premise (a group of Regency poor relations club together and open a hotel), but I never really connected with any of the characters; I think in this case it was the 3rd omniscient POV that was rather distancing. Plus too much explaining what each character is thinking and feeling about what's going on. Is she MC Beaton? Because I've noticed a similar problem in the Hamish MacBeth novels. (Checks: Yes. However, she's clearly had a long and successful career, so what do I know?) There was also a bit of a tendency to let the research take over, which was annoying. (As a random example: The heroine is waking up and it's really noisy because of all the bells from all these different churches and street vendors. Do I need to know who owns every single bell? Or that there were petitions to Parliament to cut down on the noise? No I do not. It was noisy because of all the bells. I got it.)
Abandoning halfway through:
For a Few Demons More, Kim Harrison. Desperately in need of faster pacing -- it could easily be tightened by about 50 pages from what I've read so far -- and I'm starting to find Rachel really irritating, like Stephanie Plum with no sense of self-preservation and a whole lot more vanity.
There may be more, but that's what leaps to mind.
Spent most of the weekend volunteering at Planet in Focus -- Friday and Saturday evenings at the Royal, and Sunday afternoon at Innis. I discovered that the Royal's box office is effectively a cone of silence, albeit one the wind whistles through in disconcerting fashion; it's almost impossible to communicate anything remotely complex to a patron even if she presses her ear up to the little hole.
Managed to watch two movies during all this. Il Giardino was charming and made me want to instantly eat tomatoes and roast red peppers I'd grown in my own garden. Maybe next year. The panel discussion afterward had maybe one too many panelists, although I did learn the intriguing fact that one group has estimated Toronto could theoretically grow, at a minimum, half its yearly food requirement within its own borders. That was cool. And Sounds of Sand was just bloody heartbreaking.
In back deck progress, Jen and John have built steps down to the basement (reportedly -- I haven't inspected yet). Tilde spent Sunday morning a quivering mass of nerves because they were doing things OUTSIDE. With POWER TOOLS. She greeted me with tremendous relief and spent half an hour trying to cut off my air supply with her cheek. I may have mentioned that Tilde is just a fraction neurotic at times.
I'm quite looking forward to restoring my sleep schedule from the wreckage the World Series has made of it.
Books read this week:
The Seeing Stone, Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (book 2 of the Spiderwick Chronicles)
Turkish Delight, Rosemary Edghill (fun although not stellar, a bit like The Grand Sophy if Sophy Stanton-Lacy had been brought up in the harem of the Grand Turk)
Sex as a Second Language, Alisa Kwitney (seriously fun and very hot; I'm now working through her back catalogue)
...God, is that all? I just took a stack of books back to the library but of course a lot of them were from last week. And I've got a few pages into about four others. Chugging along.
Managed to watch two movies during all this. Il Giardino was charming and made me want to instantly eat tomatoes and roast red peppers I'd grown in my own garden. Maybe next year. The panel discussion afterward had maybe one too many panelists, although I did learn the intriguing fact that one group has estimated Toronto could theoretically grow, at a minimum, half its yearly food requirement within its own borders. That was cool. And Sounds of Sand was just bloody heartbreaking.
In back deck progress, Jen and John have built steps down to the basement (reportedly -- I haven't inspected yet). Tilde spent Sunday morning a quivering mass of nerves because they were doing things OUTSIDE. With POWER TOOLS. She greeted me with tremendous relief and spent half an hour trying to cut off my air supply with her cheek. I may have mentioned that Tilde is just a fraction neurotic at times.
I'm quite looking forward to restoring my sleep schedule from the wreckage the World Series has made of it.
Books read this week:
The Seeing Stone, Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (book 2 of the Spiderwick Chronicles)
Turkish Delight, Rosemary Edghill (fun although not stellar, a bit like The Grand Sophy if Sophy Stanton-Lacy had been brought up in the harem of the Grand Turk)
Sex as a Second Language, Alisa Kwitney (seriously fun and very hot; I'm now working through her back catalogue)
...God, is that all? I just took a stack of books back to the library but of course a lot of them were from last week. And I've got a few pages into about four others. Chugging along.
Gotta love it. Not my most productive weekend ever, but I puttered around and got a few things done (although I wimped out of a party Saturday night and out of chamber choir rehearsal Sunday, on the principle that neither of these events would be enhanced by my coughing all over them). Unearthed my winter wardrobe. Did laundry. Cleaned the disturbing pink jelly out of the bottom of my fridge. Made a grocery list but did not buy groceries. Searched for sequins, as it is once again Ornament Project Time; I thought I'd hit pay dirt at one of the dollar stores on Queen but although they did have three different sequin assortments, none of them contained the right shade of blue. Bah. It may have to be Wal-Mart. Took apart my desk, although have not yet taken it to the basement. Read more books (Look to the Lady and Danger Point). Did a lot of Killer Sudoku (I am dangerously addicted). Had dinner at my parents' last night with three Cornish poets. Got home in time to watch the end of Where Eagles Dare (aka All Germans are Mortal), featuring a ridiculously young Clint Eastwood and also a special Making Of feature made long before DVDs were ever thought of, which impressed us.
Mostly I spent a lot of time getting distracted by other things. Any day now I will be back into my normal routine, but it hasn't happened yet.
Mostly I spent a lot of time getting distracted by other things. Any day now I will be back into my normal routine, but it hasn't happened yet.
(no subject)
Sep. 11th, 2007 09:58 amOK, I know J.K. Rowling has inured us all to silly titles, but... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? This is a joke, right?
(Incidentally I had to search Amazon before I could remember the latest HP title. Harry Potter and the Last Battle wasn't it. Nor was Harry Potter and the 600-page Doorstop. Oh, my brain.)
(Incidentally I had to search Amazon before I could remember the latest HP title. Harry Potter and the Last Battle wasn't it. Nor was Harry Potter and the 600-page Doorstop. Oh, my brain.)
aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln...
Sep. 10th, 2007 04:10 pmI am, incidentally, TIRED. I had an excellent and productive weekend, and I now have the rudiments of a bookcase (whee! my parents are the best). But there was a lot of priming and painting and nailing (love the air compressor!) and fetching and carrying and running up and down stairs involved. I have splotches of primer ALL over me, and the raccoon seems to have decided the corner of my not-deck is a lovely place to curl up in a ball and snooze the day away when it's raining. (And I think I'm developing a wee bit of Stockholm Syndrome -- I look at it sleeping with its nose tucked into its tummy and its little fuzzy ears sticking out and think "Awwww!" rather than "Get the hell off my roof, you destructive little menace!")
Also got some grocery shopping done. Read Nickel and Dimed, and I'm pretty sure that's all I've finished all week. Watched Disturbia and re-watched The Matchmaker while sitting in a heap on Jen's couch last night. Have hit the scary part of my knitting where I divide for the arms. I'm still not at all sure this is going to be a me-sized sweater, but it'll certainly be pretty.
Jen and John made progress on the back deck. It has visible structure. They, too, love the air compressor, although instead of using the little nailer for finishing nails they are using the HUGE one for framing nails. Scary stuff, but impressive.
Also got some grocery shopping done. Read Nickel and Dimed, and I'm pretty sure that's all I've finished all week. Watched Disturbia and re-watched The Matchmaker while sitting in a heap on Jen's couch last night. Have hit the scary part of my knitting where I divide for the arms. I'm still not at all sure this is going to be a me-sized sweater, but it'll certainly be pretty.
Jen and John made progress on the back deck. It has visible structure. They, too, love the air compressor, although instead of using the little nailer for finishing nails they are using the HUGE one for framing nails. Scary stuff, but impressive.
A Big Welcome Back to My Prefrontal Cortex
Sep. 7th, 2007 11:14 amI'm not as young as I used to be. Evidence: I was fried yesterday as a result of staying up to an hour that 10 years ago I would not have considered particularly late. The advantage of my job is now I understand what's going on in my brain when this happens (or at least I have a plausible explanation): brain gets tired, inhibitory centres don't work as well, impulse control gets way worse. Result: I am easily distracted, impulsive, chatty, slow, and think everything's a crisis.
Witness my after-work experience. I tried to buy a file cabinet online from Staples yesterday. It was out of stock. (Crisis!) Headed down to the Staples on University after work and on the way spotted a cute dress in the window of a store. (Distractibility!) Went in to try it on. (Impulsivity!) Didn't buy it. (Luckily not too much impulsivity.) Talked to the furniture guy at Staples ("keep trying"). Wandered down to wait for the streetcar on Queen. No streetcar. Walked along to Ben and Jerry's (distractibility again) and ordered a scoop of Cherry Garcia. The girl said "Small scoop or large?" I said "Large." (Impulsivity again.) Ate my ice cream in the little park behind the food court. Hey, there's the Umbra store! (Distractibility. Hey, it's bright pink.) Went in, bought a curtain hanging set for my closet (impulsivity, but at least I'd decided the night before that's what I needed). Not, however, before wandering around and admiring everything in the store. (Slow!) Finally went home, where Jen made me eat and watch Topper (which it turns out is at least partly about the transformative power of great underwear) before we went upstairs to sort out all the bits of plywood for the bookcase, a task I'd been dreading but which turned out to be not as horrendous as I'd feared -- turns out obsessive planning sometimes pays off further down the line. (Today my parents will be building! AND I was able to order the filing cabinet just now. So all in all life is good.)
And then I slept. Sweet sweet sleep! All better now.
Jen and John have been making great progress on the back deck. Today, apparently, they will try to make it waterproof. Most exciting.
Witness my after-work experience. I tried to buy a file cabinet online from Staples yesterday. It was out of stock. (Crisis!) Headed down to the Staples on University after work and on the way spotted a cute dress in the window of a store. (Distractibility!) Went in to try it on. (Impulsivity!) Didn't buy it. (Luckily not too much impulsivity.) Talked to the furniture guy at Staples ("keep trying"). Wandered down to wait for the streetcar on Queen. No streetcar. Walked along to Ben and Jerry's (distractibility again) and ordered a scoop of Cherry Garcia. The girl said "Small scoop or large?" I said "Large." (Impulsivity again.) Ate my ice cream in the little park behind the food court. Hey, there's the Umbra store! (Distractibility. Hey, it's bright pink.) Went in, bought a curtain hanging set for my closet (impulsivity, but at least I'd decided the night before that's what I needed). Not, however, before wandering around and admiring everything in the store. (Slow!) Finally went home, where Jen made me eat and watch Topper (which it turns out is at least partly about the transformative power of great underwear) before we went upstairs to sort out all the bits of plywood for the bookcase, a task I'd been dreading but which turned out to be not as horrendous as I'd feared -- turns out obsessive planning sometimes pays off further down the line. (Today my parents will be building! AND I was able to order the filing cabinet just now. So all in all life is good.)
And then I slept. Sweet sweet sleep! All better now.
Jen and John have been making great progress on the back deck. Today, apparently, they will try to make it waterproof. Most exciting.
Oh my. It's September.
Sep. 5th, 2007 12:04 pmSo...
Took Friday off and puttered. I got to the gym and gardened and made pesto but then basically ran out of steam and spent the afternoon doing Sudoku Mega. It was nice though.
Saw War on Friday evening, which was all right for what it was (nonsensical, ultraviolent, trying too hard with the twist-on-top-of-the-twist ending). Really wanted to watch Hot Fuzz again to see them doing lots and lots of paperwork.
Jen and Tilde and I went up to the cottage Saturday, where the weather grew progressively more glorious until it was time to leave. Typical. Read, canoed, ate corn on the cob. Made plans for the bookcase in my living room; my dad approves.
Monday we came down and stopped off at Bradford Greenhouses, where they were having a sale; bought some pots and some mums and some gerberas and some pansies (guaranteed to come up again in the spring, unless we put them in containers or get road salt on them) and a rosebush (April Moon) that actually has roses with scent and some perennials of which the only thing I can remember is a pink poppy. It's not really the time of year for planting perennials, but hey! sale! If they all die, no great loss.
Then we had dinner at Jen's parents' (scallops, fondue, lemon meringue pielets) and went for a last drink withlife_on_queen, who is presumably now in Dublin experiencing extreme homesickness. I'm pretty sure we'd have heard by now if she hadn't made it. (She's going to be away for eight months! Waaah!) We smuggled the small Tilde into the bar in Jen's tote bag; luckily we had a booth or we'd never have managed it.
Books read this week: Agnes and the Hitman (I am a slut for all things Crusie but this should not cause you to discount my opinion that this is a really, really fun book. Food! Sex! Assassins! A cast of thousands! The Wedding from Hell! Flamingos! What's not to love? Unless you don't love those things). Crystal Rain (suffered a bit, I thought, from a few too many points of view, but still well-written with a really neat setting and premise and it worked out in satisfying fashion at the end). So Yesterday (shades of Bellwether). Swing, Swing Together (shades of Three Men in a Boat, obviously, as every character is reading it, and therefore also of To Say Nothing of the Dog -- I swear I wasn't going for a Connie Willis tribute weekend, it's just that something else I was reading had an ad for that in the back and there it was up at the cottage so I started it).
Bought this week: the cutest shoes ever, which were on sale. And some other stuff; I continue to fill gaps in my wardrobe. Gotta stop spending, though, really...
Took Friday off and puttered. I got to the gym and gardened and made pesto but then basically ran out of steam and spent the afternoon doing Sudoku Mega. It was nice though.
Saw War on Friday evening, which was all right for what it was (nonsensical, ultraviolent, trying too hard with the twist-on-top-of-the-twist ending). Really wanted to watch Hot Fuzz again to see them doing lots and lots of paperwork.
Jen and Tilde and I went up to the cottage Saturday, where the weather grew progressively more glorious until it was time to leave. Typical. Read, canoed, ate corn on the cob. Made plans for the bookcase in my living room; my dad approves.
Monday we came down and stopped off at Bradford Greenhouses, where they were having a sale; bought some pots and some mums and some gerberas and some pansies (guaranteed to come up again in the spring, unless we put them in containers or get road salt on them) and a rosebush (April Moon) that actually has roses with scent and some perennials of which the only thing I can remember is a pink poppy. It's not really the time of year for planting perennials, but hey! sale! If they all die, no great loss.
Then we had dinner at Jen's parents' (scallops, fondue, lemon meringue pielets) and went for a last drink with
life_on_queen, who is presumably now in Dublin experiencing extreme homesickness. I'm pretty sure we'd have heard by now if she hadn't made it. (She's going to be away for eight months! Waaah!) We smuggled the small Tilde into the bar in Jen's tote bag; luckily we had a booth or we'd never have managed it.Books read this week: Agnes and the Hitman (I am a slut for all things Crusie but this should not cause you to discount my opinion that this is a really, really fun book. Food! Sex! Assassins! A cast of thousands! The Wedding from Hell! Flamingos! What's not to love? Unless you don't love those things). Crystal Rain (suffered a bit, I thought, from a few too many points of view, but still well-written with a really neat setting and premise and it worked out in satisfying fashion at the end). So Yesterday (shades of Bellwether). Swing, Swing Together (shades of Three Men in a Boat, obviously, as every character is reading it, and therefore also of To Say Nothing of the Dog -- I swear I wasn't going for a Connie Willis tribute weekend, it's just that something else I was reading had an ad for that in the back and there it was up at the cottage so I started it).
Bought this week: the cutest shoes ever, which were on sale. And some other stuff; I continue to fill gaps in my wardrobe. Gotta stop spending, though, really...
Weekend review
Aug. 20th, 2007 12:14 pmbut first: I am very excited to learn that George Brown offers courses in emergency management, and I would LOVE to take some.
On Friday I went to Enterprise (I get a discount) after work and rented Vanzilla. (Brand new, just arrived, a mere 66 km on the clock.) Took me a bit to get used to driving something so HUGE and with so few side windows, but I didn't kill anybody or squish anything and that's what counts.life_on_queen and I moved a load of stuff up to her parents' that evening (moving truism: You have more stuff than you think) and finished around 10:30. I came back early Saturday morning, with coffee, and got help parallel parking the monster in front of the apartment. Failed to read the parking sign correctly and got a ticket (you'd think I'd learn), but I choose to think of this as my offering to the parking gods because we got excellent parking for the rest of the morning. Dan and Dennis came over and we moved the furniture and the cat (poor Tully) all in excellent time for me to get Vanzilla back by noon.
Thenlife_on_queen and I ate breakfast and went to MEC. Always a happy thing. I bought a (basic, but decent) compass and two pairs of pants and some tops and some Clif bars and evidently spent enough that it raised the eyebrows of Visa, but I think I am mostly all set for England now.
And then I went home and figured I had basically accomplished plenty for the weekend and could stop now. I did get up in time to pick up my dry-cleaning and my photos and some library books, and made a long list of things to do of which I achieved about half. I did cook: vegetable biryani (laziest method possible including frozen vegetables) and sorta kinda penne puttanesca (tomato sauce, tuna, capers, olives, jalapenos -- very tasty). And I watched Gilda on TVO, which was fantastic although I found the ending troubling. Rita Hayworth rocked that part, however.
Yesterday I got sucked in by Sudoku and Eva Ibbotson, but I did manage to paint the annoying plaster patch in my kitchen so my kitchen is back to normal now, hurray!
Vanzilla gave me a bruise on the outside of my left thigh from hopping out of the cab so often. Ow.
Books read this week: She Went All the Way (OK, cute but not a keeper -- pretty ordinary). Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (started off feeling intimidated, and I still feel I was never that cool and together, but I loved it -- they've both been slightly maimed by their respective exes, and they're as uncertain as you'd expect teenagers to be, and they spend most of the middle of the book utterly out of sync with each other and it works out in the end). What the Lady Wants (reread). Madensky Square (lovely -- a very unconventional romance, and one of her love letters to Vienna). I'm forgetting something. Although maybe not, it was a pretty full week. (Edit: Swordspoint! *headslap* Which I reread for the first time in years and years and years -- I originally bought it for the pretty Tom Canty cover but didn't really cleave to it. Liked it much better this time around especially in light of The Privilege of the Sword.)
Returned to the library only partly read because someone else had it on hold but I think I have the gist: Inequality Reexamined.
On Friday I went to Enterprise (I get a discount) after work and rented Vanzilla. (Brand new, just arrived, a mere 66 km on the clock.) Took me a bit to get used to driving something so HUGE and with so few side windows, but I didn't kill anybody or squish anything and that's what counts.
life_on_queen and I moved a load of stuff up to her parents' that evening (moving truism: You have more stuff than you think) and finished around 10:30. I came back early Saturday morning, with coffee, and got help parallel parking the monster in front of the apartment. Failed to read the parking sign correctly and got a ticket (you'd think I'd learn), but I choose to think of this as my offering to the parking gods because we got excellent parking for the rest of the morning. Dan and Dennis came over and we moved the furniture and the cat (poor Tully) all in excellent time for me to get Vanzilla back by noon.Then
life_on_queen and I ate breakfast and went to MEC. Always a happy thing. I bought a (basic, but decent) compass and two pairs of pants and some tops and some Clif bars and evidently spent enough that it raised the eyebrows of Visa, but I think I am mostly all set for England now.And then I went home and figured I had basically accomplished plenty for the weekend and could stop now. I did get up in time to pick up my dry-cleaning and my photos and some library books, and made a long list of things to do of which I achieved about half. I did cook: vegetable biryani (laziest method possible including frozen vegetables) and sorta kinda penne puttanesca (tomato sauce, tuna, capers, olives, jalapenos -- very tasty). And I watched Gilda on TVO, which was fantastic although I found the ending troubling. Rita Hayworth rocked that part, however.
Yesterday I got sucked in by Sudoku and Eva Ibbotson, but I did manage to paint the annoying plaster patch in my kitchen so my kitchen is back to normal now, hurray!
Vanzilla gave me a bruise on the outside of my left thigh from hopping out of the cab so often. Ow.
Books read this week: She Went All the Way (OK, cute but not a keeper -- pretty ordinary). Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (started off feeling intimidated, and I still feel I was never that cool and together, but I loved it -- they've both been slightly maimed by their respective exes, and they're as uncertain as you'd expect teenagers to be, and they spend most of the middle of the book utterly out of sync with each other and it works out in the end). What the Lady Wants (reread). Madensky Square (lovely -- a very unconventional romance, and one of her love letters to Vienna). I'm forgetting something. Although maybe not, it was a pretty full week. (Edit: Swordspoint! *headslap* Which I reread for the first time in years and years and years -- I originally bought it for the pretty Tom Canty cover but didn't really cleave to it. Liked it much better this time around especially in light of The Privilege of the Sword.)
Returned to the library only partly read because someone else had it on hold but I think I have the gist: Inequality Reexamined.
incidentally
Aug. 14th, 2007 03:25 pmYou know you're getting old when you go see a lovely romantic fantasy movie and come out of it with a raving crush on the hero's father.
At least I'm not too old for raving crushes. I suppose that's something.
At least I'm not too old for raving crushes. I suppose that's something.
Monday already?
Aug. 13th, 2007 10:13 amI don't feel I quite got a proper weekend. Let's see...
Friday night: checked on the cat, walked home stopping for ice cream on the way. Jen and I stayed up until 12:30 pricing stuff for the yard sale.
Saturday morning: I have already detailed the raccoon invasion. Then we had the invasion of the yard sale early birds, which lasted longer and was more annoying. One woman showed up before we had put anything out at all, around 8 a.m., and hung around while we set up. Luckily Joanne showed up around the same time, with items for sale and baby Liam (not for sale, although we had offers), and went to get us breakfast and blessed coffee, which made it much easier to cope. There was nearly a fistfight overlife_on_queen's illustrated Passion of the Christ.
It was a hot, hot day. Luckily our neighbours to the south have a tree, whose shade we followed around. The candles we had out for sale were not so lucky; they melted. Stuff sold pretty briskly, especially in the morning, but it was a fairly gruelling day. (Many thanks to all who showed up to help or give moral support, includingmonkeycommando.) I broke my resolution to not acquire anything and took a skirt and a purse from Jen and two books and a figure of Lucy from life_on_queen. (Would've been three books -- I spotted one I'd quite have liked when someone brought it to be priced. Ah well.)
Anyway, we did sell quite a lot (although not everything). Comics were very popular. (Some Guy: "This is the best yard sale EVER! Normally it's my girlfriend who loves yard sales!") Jen has wisely observed that you shouldn't put anything into a yard sale that you wouldn't otherwise give away, otherwise the avaricious instinct starts to get you.
Lucy is currently hanging out with Eowyn and Sam and Theoden and Boromir and the Tardis. My fandoms play well with others.
In the evening after we had more or less recovered I went to check on the cat (again) and buy ice cream (again). Jen went to see the latest Bourne movie (Supremacy? I can't keep them straight).
Sunday I finally tackled the job of cleaning up properly after the raccoon invasion, which for some reason involved buying more cleaning supplies. Jen prepared for a no-cook lunch with her aunt and uncle and cousins (I was detailed to go buy booze at the last minute). Delicious: two kinds of bread, four kinds of cheese, ham, turkey, salad, salmon mousse (which melted), green and red and yellow peppers, eggplant dip with pita, olives stuffed with almonds, cherries, strawberries, chocolate eclairs. I for one stuffed myself.
(I almost forgot -- we discovered the corpse of a squirrel next to the Hole. This helps explain the horrendous smell that's been wafting out of that area of the garden -- we thought it was raccoon poop. Jen's uncle Neil kindly disposed of it for us. In happier news I handed over a bunch of the dresses that hadn't sold and hopefully someone will make use of them.)
And then we collapsed in a heap and worked on a jigsaw and watched the first part of Death on the Nile, which is... leisurely.
Books read this week: Wings to the Kingdom. Young Avengers: Sidekicks. The Mirador. Died in the Wool. Book of Moons (reread). Tarragon Island. Magic or Madness.
Friday night: checked on the cat, walked home stopping for ice cream on the way. Jen and I stayed up until 12:30 pricing stuff for the yard sale.
Saturday morning: I have already detailed the raccoon invasion. Then we had the invasion of the yard sale early birds, which lasted longer and was more annoying. One woman showed up before we had put anything out at all, around 8 a.m., and hung around while we set up. Luckily Joanne showed up around the same time, with items for sale and baby Liam (not for sale, although we had offers), and went to get us breakfast and blessed coffee, which made it much easier to cope. There was nearly a fistfight over
life_on_queen's illustrated Passion of the Christ.It was a hot, hot day. Luckily our neighbours to the south have a tree, whose shade we followed around. The candles we had out for sale were not so lucky; they melted. Stuff sold pretty briskly, especially in the morning, but it was a fairly gruelling day. (Many thanks to all who showed up to help or give moral support, including
monkeycommando.) I broke my resolution to not acquire anything and took a skirt and a purse from Jen and two books and a figure of Lucy from life_on_queen. (Would've been three books -- I spotted one I'd quite have liked when someone brought it to be priced. Ah well.)Anyway, we did sell quite a lot (although not everything). Comics were very popular. (Some Guy: "This is the best yard sale EVER! Normally it's my girlfriend who loves yard sales!") Jen has wisely observed that you shouldn't put anything into a yard sale that you wouldn't otherwise give away, otherwise the avaricious instinct starts to get you.
Lucy is currently hanging out with Eowyn and Sam and Theoden and Boromir and the Tardis. My fandoms play well with others.
In the evening after we had more or less recovered I went to check on the cat (again) and buy ice cream (again). Jen went to see the latest Bourne movie (Supremacy? I can't keep them straight).
Sunday I finally tackled the job of cleaning up properly after the raccoon invasion, which for some reason involved buying more cleaning supplies. Jen prepared for a no-cook lunch with her aunt and uncle and cousins (I was detailed to go buy booze at the last minute). Delicious: two kinds of bread, four kinds of cheese, ham, turkey, salad, salmon mousse (which melted), green and red and yellow peppers, eggplant dip with pita, olives stuffed with almonds, cherries, strawberries, chocolate eclairs. I for one stuffed myself.
(I almost forgot -- we discovered the corpse of a squirrel next to the Hole. This helps explain the horrendous smell that's been wafting out of that area of the garden -- we thought it was raccoon poop. Jen's uncle Neil kindly disposed of it for us. In happier news I handed over a bunch of the dresses that hadn't sold and hopefully someone will make use of them.)
And then we collapsed in a heap and worked on a jigsaw and watched the first part of Death on the Nile, which is... leisurely.
Books read this week: Wings to the Kingdom. Young Avengers: Sidekicks. The Mirador. Died in the Wool. Book of Moons (reread). Tarragon Island. Magic or Madness.
Potterwatch: 167 of 3964. A bunch of people clearly haven't picked up their copies yet. Slackers. Also, there's a copy going begging on the Best Bets shelf at Alderwood branch! Nobody's touched it for 3 days! Get out there, people!
Tour de France: Vinokourov fails blood test, Astana out. This really disappoints me. While I'm not a year-round cycling fan, Vinokourov's Tour has been an incredible story of guts and determination after a bad fall early on. I'm dismayed to learn he was cheating. Dammit.
LJ: I thought work had finally blocked it because of my obsessive reloading. Turns out it was a power cut.
House: Jen and John rented something called an Oddjob, which is apparently of the awesome, and finished another row of blocks. Two partial rows left to go! Tonight: concrete floor. Then we can't work on it for two days while it sets.
Travel: I bought my ticket yesterday! England here I come. September 22-October 6.mrs_cake and I can go to the airport together.
Entertainment: Went to see Ratatouille again last night. SO wonderful.
Trainwrecks: Apparently Lindsay Lohan has bet she can take Becks away from Posh? Honey. Sweetie. Go back to rehab and CALM DOWN. We all feel bad for you.
Tour de France: Vinokourov fails blood test, Astana out. This really disappoints me. While I'm not a year-round cycling fan, Vinokourov's Tour has been an incredible story of guts and determination after a bad fall early on. I'm dismayed to learn he was cheating. Dammit.
LJ: I thought work had finally blocked it because of my obsessive reloading. Turns out it was a power cut.
House: Jen and John rented something called an Oddjob, which is apparently of the awesome, and finished another row of blocks. Two partial rows left to go! Tonight: concrete floor. Then we can't work on it for two days while it sets.
Travel: I bought my ticket yesterday! England here I come. September 22-October 6.
mrs_cake and I can go to the airport together.Entertainment: Went to see Ratatouille again last night. SO wonderful.
Trainwrecks: Apparently Lindsay Lohan has bet she can take Becks away from Posh? Honey. Sweetie. Go back to rehab and CALM DOWN. We all feel bad for you.
Weekend of masonry, mostly. After a detour at the World's Biggest Bookstore (because I am weak) I spent Friday evening with monkeycommando and S, eating Thai food (yummy!) and watching Breach. Got to see F, who was in the bath when I arrived and went to bed soon after. When I got home I was informed that there was now one entire course of cement block laid in the Hole -- 15 blocks in total. Hurray!
Saturday morning I read. John and Jen went to Home Depot to rent the cement mixer, and we spent the afternoon in and out of the Hole, taking turns to fetch and carry and lay cement blocks. We're actually getting fairly good at that. Managed 24 blocks on Saturday and a further 21, I think, yesterday -- almost 2/3 done. We're also out of gravel; we put what we had in the middle of the Hole, as footing, and we need more footing and also, obviously, some to mix into the concrete when we do that.
In the eveningslife_on_queen came over and we watched -- naturally -- the Tour de France. Which is getting very exciting.
Books read this week: Territory (I liked it a lot, but I think I missed out a bit because I'm not really that familiar with all the myths surrounding Wyatt Earp and the OK Corrall); The Mislaid Magician (delightful, I liked it more than the first sequel); The Secret Countess (aka A Countess Below Stairs, which is a much better title, I'm not sure why they saw fit to change it; anyway, utterly wonderful, she's solved that plotting problem that was especially evident in A Song for Summer, and you always know where you are with her -- the good are good, the villains are villainous, and everyone gets what they deserve in a highly satisfactory fashion); Saffy's Angel (reread); The Star of Kazan (in which the Spanish Riding School plays a minor but important role).
monkeycommando and S, eating Thai food (yummy!) and watching Breach. Got to see F, who was in the bath when I arrived and went to bed soon after. When I got home I was informed that there was now one entire course of cement block laid in the Hole -- 15 blocks in total. Hurray!Saturday morning I read. John and Jen went to Home Depot to rent the cement mixer, and we spent the afternoon in and out of the Hole, taking turns to fetch and carry and lay cement blocks. We're actually getting fairly good at that. Managed 24 blocks on Saturday and a further 21, I think, yesterday -- almost 2/3 done. We're also out of gravel; we put what we had in the middle of the Hole, as footing, and we need more footing and also, obviously, some to mix into the concrete when we do that.
In the evenings
life_on_queen came over and we watched -- naturally -- the Tour de France. Which is getting very exciting.Books read this week: Territory (I liked it a lot, but I think I missed out a bit because I'm not really that familiar with all the myths surrounding Wyatt Earp and the OK Corrall); The Mislaid Magician (delightful, I liked it more than the first sequel); The Secret Countess (aka A Countess Below Stairs, which is a much better title, I'm not sure why they saw fit to change it; anyway, utterly wonderful, she's solved that plotting problem that was especially evident in A Song for Summer, and you always know where you are with her -- the good are good, the villains are villainous, and everyone gets what they deserve in a highly satisfactory fashion); Saffy's Angel (reread); The Star of Kazan (in which the Spanish Riding School plays a minor but important role).
