Yesterday was pretty steady. We knocked off around 4 and had dinner at the folks’ place, then cruised back here after stopping off for Apricot Ale (link removed for safety) which is rather delightful stuff, and watched the EPIC director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven (which I loved but I can see why it was panned) and then the little gem The Secret Life of Words. Heartshattering and beautiful – that was the movie which got Sarah Polley acquainted with Julie Christie – and we all know how that turned out.
Category: Family
More packing
Fast forward to 4:55 it that’s the audio what you want…..
I have a cough and cold but I’m ignoring it. Today, more packing and maybe more movies. After we knocked off yesterday, we watched three movies. Radio Days (it was on my lifetime list and MAN did I enjoy it), Eulogy (OMG what a great movie) and Eastern Promises (fabulous movie, and the naked fight in the bathhouse was all it was billed to be and more).
Jeff has provisionally agreed to the Friday Night Veg-In being reinstituted in our new home. The Friday night Veg-In will be two Fridays a month. You show up after work with whatever you are planning to drink (or contribute to the beer jar) and you get a) one free meal b) one free movie c) adult conversation… That’s the last 4th Friday of the month. Second Friday will be kid friendly; depending on the age of the kids we’ll either watch in the living room or I can ride herd on kids in the guest bedroom or depending on the weather we can go play in the park across the street. Can’t let my grandmother in waiting skills get all rusty. I can’t even remember these days whether you’re supposed to swing a toddler by it’s arm or it’s leg.
No, I’m not trying to scare anyone with the grandmother comment. Last I checked, Keith was not situated to provide me with grandchildren, and Katie shudders from head to foot in a fashion only to be described as Grand Guignol-esque if you even breathe a hint about the possibility. Dang, it’s almost ten o’clock, time to attack the boxing situation again.
I’m sleeping so well I’m wondering if I should just say screw it and buy a softer mattress. I sleep better on a soft sprung mattress than on foam, that’s for sure. I slept like a log in the DR and that mattress was as soft as a waterbed, damned near.
Anyway, I’m having a lovely time..
I just rolled $300 in change
So I guess I can say Jeff’s keeping me busy; next up, the kitchen. We are having a good time and Radiohead is playing in the background. The new album is great. One thing about living with Jeff, we have similar enough tastes in music to have a good time and different enough not to get boring.
Little bit of everything
My explosive happiness of the last couple of days has simmered down somewhat. I have all new shiny tunes on my music player, and I set foot out the door yesterday to the strains of Dion’s “The Wanderer” and next up was Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” which, inshallah, will be played at my funeral. Work was work and Trevor got up at lunch so I could sit down, so that was nice. Then on the way home I turned around and walked backwards for a while so I could listen to Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna” and watch the sunset at the same time. Today I’m going to lunch with my boss and someone from one of the furrin offices. Monday I had the second best workmeeting of all time (the best one was with two of the US office guys and a pitcher of beer); the convenor, who has been with the company less than a year but has always impressed me as a very clever man, ran things in a very collaborative and fun way, and the other person was my colleague from day one at the company whom I reverence greatly (he ALWAYS sends me fraternal greetings on International Women’s Day, which is beyond words sweet) and we actually accomplished what the meeting set out to do which is how meetings go when you have the right people in the room and the wrong people aren’t invited. And minutes were provided within a day. Yeah. That’s how things should be, gorramit.
I light a brace of candles for my gran, who essentially hasn’t been sick since she was recovering from gall bladder surgery, which I think was back when tv had been invented but the colour hadn’t, and who is finding her current trials painful and frankly undignified (but not life threatening). Given that she is the sweetest woman who ever trod this ball of mud, I wish her speedy relief so she can get back to more interesting activities.
mOm is dejunking…. she is dejunking an immense piece of guilt inducing junk onto somebody who’s doing handsprings of gleeee at the prospect of receiving it, and the person who gave her the guilt inducing junk is the one who suggested it. That’s what I call win win. I mean, when the person who’s getting the junk is paying to have it crated and shipped…. this is success! And no, it’s not junk. But one of the definitions of junk is ‘useful stuff in the wrong place’ and this terrible blockage will be cleared, with satisfying results, shortly.
I am working on the Valentine’s cards for work. One must be careful. But one must live up to one’s reputation as well…. not always an easy balance to strike.
Katie had her first day of work at her new job yesterday and pronounced it tolerable, except that it is JUST BARELY on the other side of the line in terms of zones for bus passes. Personally I think she should walk it but you know kids these days.
I am SO looking forward to purchasing a bicycle. And actually living someplace I can use it! I never did get rid of my bike helmet (or my motorcycle helmet, as I secretly believe that one day I will again have a sweetie who rides) because I didn’t want to give up that last bit of hope I’d use it.
This weekend I’m off to the Island to help my bro pack. I am looking forward to that as well. Hope he’s got lots of good things for me to cook in the fridge. Hint hint.
I have much curtailed my beer consumption, which is good. Quoth the Luddite, “You don’t have to stop on my account,” after suggesting we go pick up beer to take back to is place and I’m thinking, “But I don’t need to drink beer when you’re around.” Ah, I’m just being socially malleable. If my friends all drank and smoked, I probably would too… no spine, that’s me. I am going to bed at a reasonable hour and not spending hours on the computer. All good so far…. can it last? Probably not; the cheerfulness is probably just an artifact of having the sun on my face when I went home last night, after months of darkness.
Oh, snap. My printer is out of ink. Think fast about this!!!! what shall I do? Oh, yeah, there’s a reprographic place in this building, it’s not like I just ran out of airspeed, altitude and options all at the same time.
Cats. There will be cats back in my life! Eddie and Gizmo are wonderful, staunch, middle aged cats. Nothing too spectacular, except Gizmo took a dog out once, and both of them are mighty hunters.
Success – we hope
Looks like the place we looked at on Monday night is a go. I will be forwarding my credit info to the landpeers shortly. The place is a three bedroom upper floor of a house in East Van bordering on Burnaby. It’s definitely ‘centrally located’.
Yes…. we could be looking at lots of places for a lot longer, but frankly we both saw it, we both liked it, and the place is quiet and well kept. Let’s see if this bears fruit or we have to keep looking.
Who pulled the plug…
… that was blocking my brain?
I wrote FOUR SONGS yesterday. One is a love song to Al Swearengen from Deadwood – one is a blues tune about the Blue Hell, a bar from the Fred Pohl Heechee Chronicles – one is a narsty emo bytchefest between Gelis and Niccolo from Dunnett’s series which references their ongoing telepathic mindgames – and the last is a breakneck, kickass song about the current culture war between faith and reason.
The “If I were Al Swearengen” song nearly fell out of my head right after I wrote it. When I wrote it, I thought it was all in the same time signature – silly me! Then I go to sing it back and the choruses don’t work. What happened? (Or as Paul remarked, “You weren’t recording it?”) It’s in two time signatures (waltz and mildly syncopated 4/4) which is just bloody bizarre but completely fits the mood of the song.
Anyway, I suspect that somebody went to a shrine somewhere and prayed for me, because that was the most amazing thing that’s happened to me in years. That sound you hear is a giant mental drain unclogging.
I light a candle for Patricia, who has an owie. (Further details as authorized).
I light a candle for Katie, who will love Daxus until death or something like it. I was that stupid at 19, but at least I loved worthier men.
A little art for your morning
Daughter Katie here; Jeff to arrive sometime in the early afternoon, maybe earlier.
Happy sigh.
Blogging at the Con
So, last night, Jeff Hitchin did not one, not two but THREE filks of the Tapioca Song. One was in Spanish, one in Japanese, and one was about Oxycontin. I surreptitiously took a picture of him while he was about it. Jeff is a fabulous performer and great raconteur; I am honoured above my worthiness.
All hail the Con Committee. They planned for 80 and there will easily be 120 attendees. Runnerwolf – whose idea the whole thing was, enthusiastically endorsed by everyone in earshot, including, as I recollect, me – was looking a bit glazed but really happy when I met up with her at the reg table yesterday.
Met up with Lady Miss Banjola and Dr. Filk with no difficulties AFTER I got into my shared room; Shaddyr (I will refer to her & Runnerwolf by LJ names as it ‘s easier) gave up her room passkey from last night so even though I hadn’t seen the principals I had a place to stash my stuff.
I did some of the driving down from Vancouver, but long about supper time I started getting visual disturbances (I still feel kinda wonky today, although that may have something to do with my lack of cafFiend) so Peggy did the driving from there.
Open Filking last night was great; I heard many filk classics old and new, and which included a madrigal zombie filk, Jonathan Coulton’s “Eat Your Brains” ably performed by Tony Fabris, the funniest parody of Danny Boy Ever…. and I debuted “You Try Being Buffy’s Mom” a capella as I have yet to write it down, although LMB has an MP3 of it up on her website (v raw, being recorded the day I wrote it).
Anyway, I’m being a jackass hogging one of the two public internet access points in the hotel, so I’d best fly. I’m here, I’m settled, and apart from once aGAIN failing to bring earplugs, I’m doing great. I’ll post pics later; I remembered to bring my USB cable and this computer has a USB port, can you believe it?
Oooh, a Lego Ezra Pound
Man, he was hotter than a two dollar pistol when he was young. And yes, he was a foul racist blatherer sometimes with skewed up ideas about economics, but he was a damned fine poet. I can’t remember where I scanged this from.
I’m off to see Persepolis this aft with Keith, and afterwards I’m calling daughter Katie and dragging her over here for a massage. She sounds beat, baffed, bent, bewildered and entirely tharn.
Sing hey nonny nonny for nine hours of sleep
And I’m going contradancing on Friday. Something to look forward to!
pOp haZ a saying “I’ll wear black until they come up with a darker colour.” And now they have.
More cleanup
Katie said to me on Monday, “There was something in your fridge I couldn’t identify.”
I said, “Was it green?”
“Yeah. I think it used to be a vegetable.”
“It was a cucumber – the beginning of October.”
Hysterical laughter.
I am trying to practice thankfulness. Today’s thank…. Hot shower. Oh, oh, the beauty of a hot shower.
Me getting massaged
I was so blissed out that I didn’t even notice when Katie lay on the floor and started taking pictures. Then I did notice her and screamed.
There were quite a few goofy and out of focus pix but this is the best of the lot to my way of thinking.
I came home last night
and Katie had cleaned my apartment. Now she’s sleeping in again, and I’m about to head for work.
My back feels SO much better today. I told Mike to buy me a massage table just like that and I’ll give him the money later. It’s really well designed, holds 500 pounds and is comfy as all get out.
Tetris made of people
Quite literally, what it says.
It’s snowing again.
Daughter Katie’s coming over this afternoon and We Will, We Will Deadwood. Hopefully the transit system is up to the task of getting her here.
I found a hilarious critique of Libertarianism on line.
Last night I dreamed I was back in the High Park area of Toronto. I guess I’m sick of looking at stucco houses. I miss many things about Toronto; I miss seeing the CN Tower and I miss a lot of the friends I have there (Tammy, Catherine, Dave, Jan and others). I miss Kensington Market the way it was, I miss the colour of Lake Ontario on a windy fall day, I miss being able to ice skate outside in the wintertime.
Sometimes I wish I could live in three places at once, because there are things I miss about Montreal too. I miss the Dorval circle and the absolutely craziness of the town when the festivals like the Jazz festival and Just For Laughs were on; I miss how people dress with more style and drive with more verve (and frankly, consistently better than the unwashed hordes of incompetents who adorn the roads in Vancouver); I miss being able to hear Inuktitut spoken in the street; I miss skating in La Centre de la Nature in Laval, the best outdoor skating venue in Canada; I miss the wild variety of the weather, even.
Happy New Year
Well, that was a simply glorious evening. Mike and Heather turned up about 9:30 so we had an actual “There are more than two family molecules here” partay. I didn’t know and Jarmo didn’t either that both he and I had invited Mike – and Katie got into the action and got on the phone with him as well.
I got there about seven thirty, all choked because nothing was open so I could pick up more supplies. I watched a family game of Texas Hold’em, which I had never seen before. Kids arrived about half an hour later, and that’s when the trouble really started; we made the discovery that our hosts had Guitar Hero II and Dance Dance Revolution.
If the downstairs neighbour had been in (he’s a bouncer, so one can imagine how he was occupied last night) he’d have pounded every one of our heads in, seriatim. As it was I danced so much my back actually feels better today. Then Mike broke out the Guitar Hero III and the duels/cooperative mode play began! It was amazing watching Keith and Eric thrash out some SOS by the Police, and then he and Mike did Warpigs. THEN THE STANNOMANCY.
o
my
goodness
Below is all five of them – for the three of us. Keith and Katie both got twins! Keith’s were almost perfectly even and symmetrical – except one was a boy and one was a girl which you will note if you look closely at the top two – and Katie got a dragon and a whale – the bottom two. Mine’s the moon curve in the middle…
Below, Katie’s
Below mine, held by Katie to give you an idea of the size. It was the largest of the evening by a wide margin, which might or might not have had something to do with going last. Jarmo’s was the only one with ‘money’ in it.
Below, Keith and Mike play co-op on Warpigs.
And here’s Katie, wearing my 2008 as a Goth Tiara….
We took off about 1:30 – I drove the kids home and cleared the door of my apartment just after 2. Then I phoned Katie to say, “yes mom I’m home”.