Category: Weather

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.

Now know snow – must go

I am contemplating the precipitation and thinking I wish I did some form of winter sport that involved snow rather than ice.  Because, dear friends, there’s rather a lot of it.  To quote the Caleban in the Frank Herbert Jorj X McKie books, “Low temperature and much moisture”.

Unfortunately I must now pack and get out of here to go to the ferry, and first I have an appointment right downtown at 9:30.  Must… drink… coffee. And I will hope that when I get off this blessed hill, the precip is rain rather than snow, so the Vancouver drivers are just regular, rather than supercharged, idiots.

I am looking forward to seeing the folks, though, and Jeff and Granny.

Xmas Antidotes

Funny cards.

The economics of Xmas giving.

Xmas hate – ten reasons to not like it.  Yes, the list is familiar, but there’s a sophomoric venom to it which I quite enjoy.

My ten favourite things about Christmas.

  1. Carols.  Singing them.  I don’t give a shit if I never HEAR another canned Christmas carol, but singing them is a different story.
  2. A string of dark blue incandescent lights along the roof line of a bungalow.
  3. Cooking up the turkey and having everybody go “ah!” when it comes to the table.
  4. Sitting around the homestead looking at old pictures with the family.
  5. Watching the Alastair Sims version of “A Christmas Carol”….  and turning on the TV just at the right time to catch the “Sisters” duet from White Christmas without having to watch the whole movie.
  6. Knowing that I will never again get exactly what I want for Christmas and being fine with that, because the gift part of Christmas really is for little people.
  7. Not having to beat the kids over the head anymore to write thankyou cards.
  8. Making biscotti all through the month of December and treating people at work.
  9. Listening to my father roar with laughter at the weather forecasts elsewhere in Canada.
  10. I always get cool books from Jeff.

It is a perfect night to stay home

Here’s why.  This pic captures the dreamy quiet feeling on the campus right now, everybody hunkered down and staying put.
first-snow-of-winter.jpg

For a cool weather pic, check here.

I love iridescent clouds, and we get them a lot in Vancouver, especially in the colder weather at night. Then they are actually called noctilucent clouds.

Contrails aren’t technically clouds, but jet aircraft interact with the atmosphere in interesting ways.

Last night I dreamed

That my coworker RobofNine and I were uh, affected by a tornado which came ripping down 6th Ave in New Westminster.  I got hauled into the air, got a severe case of the whirlies along with getting wet and ass-freezing cold, and then got spat out onto the roof of a 12 storey building, deaf, ‘winded’ and scared out of my mind.  I leaned over the side of the building to get my bearings and watched Rob casually move his car out of the way of the debris.  That bastard always keeps his cool!

It’s a beautiful day

It is so gorgeous outside that I feel like I’m having an Out of Weather experience.  This summer sucked, but today is nice.

Anyway – I’m dealing with my internet addiction (wot? Allegra has an inertnests addiccion?) by writing – away from the computer – and practicing mando.  So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to start a biscotti batch (about time, eh folks?) and then cheese off my neighbours and practice on my balcony.  Okay, just inside the balcony door.
I get to do the Thanksgiving service at church.  That’s less than a month away so more than enough time to get it together.
I still can’t believe how happy I am.   The goofy pic is me and Tam…photo-88.jpg