Category: Friends

hot hot hot

By noon yesterday it was so hot in the house that I started thinking that it’s gonna be a very hot summer, and time to get a small window fan. By about two, I was sitting with Mike in the Mustang – top down, of course – heading over to Wreck Beach, which was full but not packed, if you know what I mean. Mike brought a UV blocking cabana (made for Spalding, it weighs less than a pound and keeps the sun off ver’ nicely) and then it was homemade music, surf, kids laughing, startlingly vast gusts of fattie smoke, a nice breeze which died around 4 pm, and the goddamned RCMP creeping up and down the beach several times, forcing me to hide my beer, the bastards. Yes, I know, what am I doing drinking on the beach? Well, it’s all part of the ambience. I even went in the water. Twice. The first time I thought that somebody was stabbing me in the feet with icy knives; the second time, basically just to make sure that I hadn’t had a physical hallucination, the icy knives were stabbing in all directions up to my navel. Don’t think I would have done well in Bastogne. Mike and I conversed about a number of things, but it was not a day for heavy conversation.

Left the beach to hook up with the kids to watch Narnia II, but (oh look, Gizmo is sniffing the barbecue in a hopeful way) unfortunately the 7:20 was sold out, so I bought them a snack and Keith headed out to my place with one of my parcels and I hung out with Katie briefly and then headed home.

Left the beach – I laugh to see that effort compressed into three words. I have been climbing a lot of stairs lately because I changed my route to work a bit, so I’m actually in good shape to climb stairs. I just couldn’t because of how hot I was. I stopped five times on the way up those 375 stairs (normally I stop once); but there were people skinnier and younger than me doing the same, so I didn’t feel bad. One middle aged guy (I must have been VERY red) asked me if I was okay and I just nodded. I didn’t push; I just climbed when I could. Got a shuttle bus almost instantly, then made the Big Mistake of the day and got on the 41 instead of the 25. The bus, which was driven by a woman in the first grip of a manic episode (I wish I was exaggerating) went mechanical (speedometer, a no go item), so I get tossed off my nice comfy seat and forced to stand in the blasting heat for twenty minutes until the replacement bus came, which was not a replacement bus, but just the next bus, which already had standees. That’s when things seriously fell apart. It took ten minutes of haranguing on the part of the bus driver (another female, this one justifiably testy but quite sane) to get everybody onto the bus – I lost sight of my bags – and every goddamned stop was accompanied by yelling to allow people on and off the bus. When I hit Joyce Station I learned that the movie was sold out (I was late anyway) and that’s when I met up with the kids (they appeared just as I pushed the door open at the mall, a wonderful feeling) and fed them a snack.

The sun (yes, the sun, I only had two beers) having had a wicked effect on me, I collapsed. Really, I should have had a shower first, but the way things have been going I figured the only way to make sure I actually wash my sheets today is by bringing the beach home with me. Out of courtesy to the other people who use the laundry machines I’m going to shake them out off the back deck first.

My back feels great. I like the sun. I even like moderate amounts of exercise. But the best part is coming home and thinking that I’ve lost a dress size off my butt from the exfoliation. I really love the beach.

Various pieces of news

I have received a piece of very important mail – I am now a card carrying member of the Skinnydippers Club.  Rawr.

And I’m likely going to Wreck Beach today with Mike. Aren’t you all glad, with the great gladness of those who will NOT be required to use eyebleach, that I don’t post pics.

L.E. and Doug made Jeff welcome with yummy food, music and conversation, as is pret’ near always the case (food was nachos and ceviche, using basa, and OMG it was aMAZing), and while we were there, we heard good news.  L.E. has a show and workshop in Ontario in June.  AND her son Corey (whose blog Jew on Jus is blogrolled here) has been made FOOD CRITIC OF THE TORONTO STAR.  That, folks, is the big time, and a BIG encouragement to do what you love.  We didn’t take the car and cabbed home.

A friend of mine has learned that her biopsy revealed “the weirdest looking scar tissue we’ve ever seen, but it isn’t cancer”.

The weather here has gone from rudely damp and cold and windy to airless, brilliant, hot and humid, overnight.  This being the ‘May 2-4″ weekend most west coast Canadians are lining up in front of the liquor stores with only one thing on their minds.

I had a four hour migraine yesterday, during which my poor boss had to clean up some of my messes.  Ow.  And I got COVERED in lint from the blankies in the first aid room.  I am reminded that it is good to have a team, and so I am in a grateful frame of mind.  The migraine is hormones, plus Vietnamese pork stew at lunch at work, plus that chocolate on Thursday. I really overdid it, I could have just had a taste and been okay, but no.  Now I am in the post migraine mood of being sort of bleak and washed out.  I know from experience that sitting in the sun doesn’t actually make my migraines worse, provided I lie reasonably still.  I had better find that 45 sunblock.

It was heavenly to sleep with the window open last night.  Very quiet, believe it or not.

Eddie was sniffing the air from my bedroom window just now.  Mostly I keep the cats out of my room.

I forgot to mention that on Thursday the Luddite brought over (on his bike!) a two foot tall strawberry planter and then he tied my bike seat to my frame with a locking cable, as he said that my bike was now quite secure except the seat.  Watching him putter put me in good heart.

So far most of the people meeting Jeff for the first time (and it’s kinda odd that he never met L.E.) pronounce him very nice.  That’s good, because it’s true.

Tired

I dunno why – I got 7.5 hours of sleep last night. Maybe watching the Battling Bastards of Bastogne plumb tuckered me out.

This is a very long essay I’m putting here. The guy writing it has been thinking some of the same things I’ve been thinking – but we don’t all come to the same conclusions, and I will have to post “Teaching my Children to Swear” in partial response at some point. Anyway the link is about the lies we tell children. I’m especially impressed by the tone – it’s thoughtful, non-confrontational, and obviously the result of some serious and dispassionate self-examination.

I am still grinning to myself when I think about Gerald’s call. I’m an easy person to entertain.

I downloaded Bejeweled to my phone. Waiting for the bus will never again be so boring.

Saw Asha at the Red Robin in Lougheed last night. Asha’s a total sweetie I met through my church. She just got back from a three week jaunt to India visiting rellies and seeing sights; her specialness in my life has to do with her telling me about Purpose Secondary School so my kids actually graduated from High School.

Luddite is supposedly coming by for dinner this evening.  Tomorrow, I have the immense happiness of going to see Doug and L.E. and introducing my brother to them.  w00t.  So I guess I’ve been having a pretty sociable time of it.

Patricia has been asking me to take Deadwood s1 into work, so I just put it next to the back door so I won’t forget.

The downstairs neighbours were running laundry in the middle of the night.  They’ve never done that before and unless they start doing it more often than once a month, I’m going to ignore it.

Heh. I’m watching Band of Brothers with my brother

Seems a little recursive, and somehow, so fitting.

I’ve decided to pass on Jericho tonight – I know, just because the weather is iffy doesn’t mean I shouldn’t go, but I just feel blah – and concentrate on more domestic activities.  Wednesday I’m dining out with Asha and we’re going to do what women have been doing for millennia – chinwag about the hopelessly inappropriate people their children are sleeping with – for all the berloody good it will do us or anyone.  Thursday, the Luddite will appear for dinner bearing too much chocolate.  Not for me, for Jeff.

Look at what the Repulsigans are doing!

I couldn’t put it better myself.

Just in case you are needing to read something.

v. relaxed

I finally figured out Mike’s evil plan… the recreational event last night featured a hot tub, and I soaked (and stretched) for a very long time.  This morning I lay in bed and contemplated that I wasn’t experiencing any pain for the first time in a long time.  As soon as I sat down in a conventional chair, that all stopped, but at least I was pain free for a few hours, and today I’m all slow and stupid with relief.

Katie and Keith are both supposed to show up today.  If they do I’ll cook them a meal but I will wait until they get here to plot what.

Today, laundry and puttering, at least until the kids arrive.  I had to tell Katie not to bother with a mother’s day present (Keith is smart enough to know he doesn’t have to bother) but that I would enjoy it if she turned up.  I’m thinking tortillas… it’s enough of a production to be mildly festive. And, of course, if you feel like it, you can read my Mother’s Day homily, which pretty much encapsulates my feelings on the subject.

Sundry and various plus HDR

A picture of Vancouver at night in HDR format.

It’ll make a nice break from Tetris on my phone.

Guess where I’m going tonight?  You can tell Mike has been here! We fed him halibut and salad and ice cream and fresh mango last night.  We also drank beer and watched BSG. And traded bodywork, it would hardly be like seeing Mike if that didn’t happen.  I might as well just leave the massage table set up in the living room, but I’m trying to fix it so you can drink beer, watch tv and get worked on at the same  time and my tiny pea brain can’t fathom a solution.

I love science “Cinderella” stories.

perfectly normal pork chops

The meal last night was yummy – the pork chops were precisely at that place where doneness and juiciness intersect.  I learned a little more of the new barbecue’s ways so that I will not be helpless when it comes to searing meat.

The Luddite was here and was entertaining.  His take on reality is so skewed that I find myself cracking up repeatedly.  We traded backrubs while Mayday! was on.  Jeff cracked up himself when he learned that one definitive way to shut me up is to work on my feet.  You never know when a piece of information like that could save your life, or your sanity at very least.
I like the Mayday! show, except when I think about travelling to France on a jet aircraft…
The stove has been fixed.  The stove elements now work in perfect congress.
Rogers is still dicking around with the phone service.  I’d give details, but I’ll let Jeff provide them if he feels like it. The phone works, but the billing is like a nightmare from the consumerist.com website.

My pay issue at work has been resolved.  That was annoying, but like most things it was easier to fix when I stopped being mad.  My raise wasn’t added effective 1st April like it was supposed to be – the explanation was apologetic and the action plan acceptable.
I am off to collect some more hepatitis shots and get a mammogram.  I’m going to ride my bicycle to the place I’m collecting my shots and then take the transit home, and then leave for my appointment at RCH.  Now that the weather is better I’m going to try to get some exercise any day it isn’t pouring rain.  I’m thinking of my last mammogram – almost 15 years ago now – in Montreal, when I got to listen to a boundlessly cheerful tech say, “Ne respirez PAS de TOUT!”  “RESpirEZ!” about a hundred times.  Then I went to listen to the results from an urbane Francophone doctor, who tapped the films in front of him and said, with equal cheerfulness, “Zat is a perfec’ly normal breast!”   Hmf.  There is nothing perfectly normal about me…. but those are words I sure want to hear again.

Jericho

Jericho Beach Folk was loads of fun.  Cameron Latimer was really good, but his dobro player and upright bassist were superlative.  No names for them unfortunately, but there can’t be TOO many dobro players hereabouts who are dead ringers for Joss Whedon.

Luddite comes by this evening.  He has been fighting with raspberries and apparently winning.  This is good, cause his raspberry bushes are very large and he’s been tending them for over a decade.  In fact, one of the first things he told me was that he was a very big raspberry fan, which I found entirely charming.

Oooo

Beautiful sky

The sky is pink, peach and lilac right now; a song sparrow is providing aural punctuation. I like this kitchen table. Oh, look; cat puke. I can’ t really complain, it’s outside on the deck.

Yesterday was a really good day for getting things done. I found my tax stuff, or at least most of it; I replaced my bank card, got new guitar strings, unpacked some boxes, did a small shop, made chocolate banana muffins, removed four pounds of fur (at least) from Eddie, who is visibly more svelte after his many grooming sessions, cleaned the bathroom fixtures, made club sandwiches for lunch (they were REALLY good), hung the Serenity and labyrinth quilts mOm made for me (as well as the heron plaque) and started clearing leftovers out of the fridge, & made an appointment to get my next set of hep shots (and then I’ll be a hepcat, w00t). Yeah, it’s all little stuff but it felt SO good to get some stuff off the list instead of onto it.

Jeff’s day was similarly productive, and included chaining down the barbecue, supervising the repairman who came to look at the stove, and putting up pegs at the back door, which will keep my coat from being draped over any chair I get close to.

Then, some BSGs3 and DeadwoodS3 – For the Deadwood episodes, this is my third time through the series and I’m STILL getting stuff I didn’t see the first & second time through. It’s a damned dense series. I am also seeing nuances in the acting I didn’t get the first time. Titus Welliver is CUTE. Sorry. I just think he is.

Later, Iron Man.  And maybe Mike will drop by after work.  And I definitely need to make some phone calls.  My girlfriends will be thinking I’ve forgotten all about them if I don’t touch base with them soon.

Jericho starts next week – Tuesday night.  I have to start practicing today as well and change guitar strings.

Off I go to work.

As usual, I’m running late.  Fed the boys pierogies, veg and salad – and I am not going to do that again anytime soon, because between the sour cream and frying the pierogies in bacon fat I had heartburn last night like a widdy firestorm in my tummy.  Urp.  Luddite brought chocolate, as usual….  Yum.  Oh, and also another bike chain for the deck.  He had a dreffle shiner from where a bike wheel jumped off a rack and hit him in the face.  With any other guy I know, I would have said a jocular “What’d the other guy look like?” but I knew it was an accident with the Luddite.  I cannot imagine him resorting to fisticuffs unless it was that or death.  He could have been up at four to greet the dawn with the Morris Men – a fine pagan tradition – but for some reason decided not to.

Over at Patricia’s

Patricia fed me and Jeff last night.  We had a really good time and at the end of the evening I said there was no fracking way I was transiting home.  It’s only a 20 dollar cab ride back from her place, which I file under ‘good to know’.  The Luddite is by this evening.

My god, we were talking about Vegemite last night! Now it’s in the news.

Patricia mocked me for my tarot reading ways – justifiably so.  Now I can’t tell if the long journey over water her last cards foretold is about an exotic vacation or just a nod to how we always go into the third floor can to gossip. Oh, if only I could interpret it!  Oh, and looky here!  More animated floor mop action!

One Leg West

Please note I have added my buddy Dave’s new (and fracking FANTASTIC) professional photography website to my blogroll.  If you’re into karate CHECK THE SPORTS PHOTOS.  They are awesome.  For those of you who have been in my bathroom, Dave’s the guy who gave me “Our Dumb World” which will provide hours of amusement to those requiring entertainment while in the room of easement. 

Monday rain

It was raining in my inbox, too. Chipper sent this link, with the comment ‘looks like an animated floor mop’. The Luddite is threatening flour, with strawberries. (He has both in excess of requirements currently).
Jeff and I walked for about half an hour in the rain yesterday (wandered over to Jerome’s for the french fry cutter). We walked through a curtain of falling cherry blossoms, so I whistled “Sakura” while he scowled gently. I don’t think he’s ever going to get used to me bursting into song in public, and I guess he doesn’t have to. I should just stop, or find people who don’t immediately wish that I had the Nelson Riddle Orchestra hidden under a flowerpot as accompaniment.
Somebody asked permission to record the Tapioca Song. I said sure, and gave them the link to the music sheet on my site. Just to round things out, Paul says he made tapioca in the microwave a few days back. I accused him of being a barbarian. He says the trick is gentle heat. Hmph.

Edgar Kitty ran up and down the hallway like an insane thing early this morning. When he decided to slow down, he barfed. Repeatedly. In a tone I’ve never heard a cat use in barfing. Essentially, he has a basso profundo barf; imagine, if you will, that Ivan Rebroff is horking up a furball in a series of staccato coughs, and that is what Eddie sounds like. Jeff and I got up to deal with the menace to bathroom navigation that is kitty puke, and I’m still up eating brekky and watching the sun come up through a veil of cloud and rain. The kitties like it when I sit here as I don’t have to move to open the back door.
Watched Across the Universe and more Deadwood, after we got back from our nice drenching walk.  Mind you, the dampness was mitigated when Jerome tucked some of Sergey and Megan’s salmon and veggies into my hand on the way out – they had it in excess of requirements and it was DAMNED good.