Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, commited citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that
ever has.
the world; indeed it is the only thing that
ever has.
Margaret Mead
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
I finally have a pearl necklace that I can show my mother.
A gift from my aunt (mom's cousin), EXTREMELY generous and a very nice surprise. I had expressed an interest in having one to wear with my wedding gown, and now I do! And now I will probably wear it to work and out... they just look so classy!!!
I'm surprised by all the gifts I'm getting... turns out that everyone in the universe wants to give me jewelry. Maybe they all are excited to finally have an excuse to get me jewelry, after a whole lifetime of telling people not to? More likely people just get excited about weddings.
Either way, yaaay!
A gift from my aunt (mom's cousin), EXTREMELY generous and a very nice surprise. I had expressed an interest in having one to wear with my wedding gown, and now I do! And now I will probably wear it to work and out... they just look so classy!!!
I'm surprised by all the gifts I'm getting... turns out that everyone in the universe wants to give me jewelry. Maybe they all are excited to finally have an excuse to get me jewelry, after a whole lifetime of telling people not to? More likely people just get excited about weddings.
Either way, yaaay!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Fark
This is a response on the fark.com forum to this article.
I can see it now, some hip cocktail party in a post-modern apartment at the end of a block that's just far enough past the main wave of gentrification to feel gritty to the suburbanites pulling up in their crossovers and hybrids and considering for a moment whether the black man in the suit at the end of the block, just lounging there against the light pole and smoking a cigarette, represents a threat. Inside, at the table, Devin and Dorothy (We're the Alliterate Duo, they like to say. Hee hee hee!) are sipping their Two Buck Chuck (have you tried it? Oh my god we normally don't buy anything that's less than $15 a bottle, but it's so good!) and regaling the other assembled guests with stories of their last adventure. God, they've had some adventures. They were in Australia when the Tsunami hit (another couple of thousand miles, that could have been us); they were in San Francisco just two weeks before the last Big One (you know, we actually talked about staying a little longer); they flew together out of the same airport where that pilot landed that jet in the river. It's crazy what they've almost survived.
But this. You listen as they talk about the ride from the cruise ship to the beach. "It was unreal," Devin is saying. "I mean, the ocean. It was so calm. So serene. But it was like calm masking chaos, you know? And when we stepped onto the sand I felt this sense that I was stepping into history. It was just one of those moments, you know?"
And Dorothy: "I couldn't believe the people. They were so brave. They came to us with these necklaces made from seashells, and I was just thinking, 'how brave they are to be able to still make these when everything's been destroyed.' You know how impressed I am by the dedication of artists. Remember when I had that gallery show? It took so much out of me, just getting that ready." She pauses and her eyes glisten in the flickering light of the Yankee Candles stacked on the shelves. "I'd have bought one in a heartbeat if they'd had one that matched my dress."
"We gave them five dollars, though," Devin said. "You should have seen them smile. I don't know if I've ever done anything so meaningful in my life."
Dorothy grins and squeezes his arm. "He was so brave," she says. "They had these guards, you know, to keep away the looters and things. But Devin just walked past him to the woman who tried to sell me the necklace as she walked up the beach--it wasn't hard to catch her, you know, with her limping and all--and even though the guard yelled at him to stop he pressed the money into her hand. Oh, how she smiled. I think maybe we made a real difference in her life."
Devin nods. "It was dangerous, I know. But I was just thinking, you know. I mean, we were there. We had to do something. It was like we were there for a reason, you know. It was crazy, man. Totally crazy. If I could have, I would have gone off and tried to do more. You know, dig some people out of rubble and stuff."
Again, Dorothy squeezes his arm. "You're so strong, honey."
"But we were only there for the day, you know?" Devin continues. "So we had to go back to the beach. We got to jetski, too. That was way cool."
It's amazing, the richness that their experiences bring to their life. Why must you always live so vicariously through them? That's what you ask yourself. But you'll change. Next time, you'll be the one with the story to tell. That's your promise to yourself.
Check out the forums here
I love the response.
I've taken an RCI cruise and have been to this part of the island (they served burgers, wtf?). Personally, I feel weird about going to places in developing nations that tout their "otherness" for tourist dollars but hey, everyone needs to get by somehow.
Thoughts?
This is a response on the fark.com forum to this article.
I can see it now, some hip cocktail party in a post-modern apartment at the end of a block that's just far enough past the main wave of gentrification to feel gritty to the suburbanites pulling up in their crossovers and hybrids and considering for a moment whether the black man in the suit at the end of the block, just lounging there against the light pole and smoking a cigarette, represents a threat. Inside, at the table, Devin and Dorothy (We're the Alliterate Duo, they like to say. Hee hee hee!) are sipping their Two Buck Chuck (have you tried it? Oh my god we normally don't buy anything that's less than $15 a bottle, but it's so good!) and regaling the other assembled guests with stories of their last adventure. God, they've had some adventures. They were in Australia when the Tsunami hit (another couple of thousand miles, that could have been us); they were in San Francisco just two weeks before the last Big One (you know, we actually talked about staying a little longer); they flew together out of the same airport where that pilot landed that jet in the river. It's crazy what they've almost survived.
But this. You listen as they talk about the ride from the cruise ship to the beach. "It was unreal," Devin is saying. "I mean, the ocean. It was so calm. So serene. But it was like calm masking chaos, you know? And when we stepped onto the sand I felt this sense that I was stepping into history. It was just one of those moments, you know?"
And Dorothy: "I couldn't believe the people. They were so brave. They came to us with these necklaces made from seashells, and I was just thinking, 'how brave they are to be able to still make these when everything's been destroyed.' You know how impressed I am by the dedication of artists. Remember when I had that gallery show? It took so much out of me, just getting that ready." She pauses and her eyes glisten in the flickering light of the Yankee Candles stacked on the shelves. "I'd have bought one in a heartbeat if they'd had one that matched my dress."
"We gave them five dollars, though," Devin said. "You should have seen them smile. I don't know if I've ever done anything so meaningful in my life."
Dorothy grins and squeezes his arm. "He was so brave," she says. "They had these guards, you know, to keep away the looters and things. But Devin just walked past him to the woman who tried to sell me the necklace as she walked up the beach--it wasn't hard to catch her, you know, with her limping and all--and even though the guard yelled at him to stop he pressed the money into her hand. Oh, how she smiled. I think maybe we made a real difference in her life."
Devin nods. "It was dangerous, I know. But I was just thinking, you know. I mean, we were there. We had to do something. It was like we were there for a reason, you know. It was crazy, man. Totally crazy. If I could have, I would have gone off and tried to do more. You know, dig some people out of rubble and stuff."
Again, Dorothy squeezes his arm. "You're so strong, honey."
"But we were only there for the day, you know?" Devin continues. "So we had to go back to the beach. We got to jetski, too. That was way cool."
It's amazing, the richness that their experiences bring to their life. Why must you always live so vicariously through them? That's what you ask yourself. But you'll change. Next time, you'll be the one with the story to tell. That's your promise to yourself.
Check out the forums here
I love the response.
I've taken an RCI cruise and have been to this part of the island (they served burgers, wtf?). Personally, I feel weird about going to places in developing nations that tout their "otherness" for tourist dollars but hey, everyone needs to get by somehow.
Thoughts?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Here's the cat, here's the bag
So the secret's out.
Well, not a secret to people who read this blog but Nathan got a whole hour full of crazy today. I've been feeling very.. emotional, and had a really frustrating morning involving trying to fight a ticket at city hall (all fucking three of them. City halls, not tickets.) and getting my car fixed, while being crushed with the knowledge that I will never pay off the $10,000 I spent on my car because I will always have to drop another thousand bucks on it everytime I get headway in my line of credit (yeah, I had $500 to my name when I bough the car).
So I went home and cried and cried and cried and Nathan was all "What the HELL is this?!" and somehow it made him feel like a bad boyfriend because I have problems that he can't solve, which really, are not his problem. Unfortunately, when I get this way, I'm completely inconsolable and will switch back and forth between being really weepy and really jokey and unemotional, which I admit, is creepy. Which is why I try to keep it to when I'm alone. But unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep last night and I just had to pay almost $300 to get my license and plate renewed (seriously, what the FUCK) and I pretty much have.. oh about 3 dollars to spend on my birthday weekend in Montreal, where Nathan will probably pay for everything because he feels sorry for me, which makes me feel like a worthless asshole (albeit, with a great boyfriend). So yeah, underslept and stressed = Elaine freaking the fuck out.
Really, it's quite the feat that I've been able to keep this side of me from him. Well maybe not, seeing as we only see each other 2 days a week. Which also makes me sad. Oh Budweiser, take me awaaaaayyyyy...
So the secret's out.
Well, not a secret to people who read this blog but Nathan got a whole hour full of crazy today. I've been feeling very.. emotional, and had a really frustrating morning involving trying to fight a ticket at city hall (all fucking three of them. City halls, not tickets.) and getting my car fixed, while being crushed with the knowledge that I will never pay off the $10,000 I spent on my car because I will always have to drop another thousand bucks on it everytime I get headway in my line of credit (yeah, I had $500 to my name when I bough the car).
So I went home and cried and cried and cried and Nathan was all "What the HELL is this?!" and somehow it made him feel like a bad boyfriend because I have problems that he can't solve, which really, are not his problem. Unfortunately, when I get this way, I'm completely inconsolable and will switch back and forth between being really weepy and really jokey and unemotional, which I admit, is creepy. Which is why I try to keep it to when I'm alone. But unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep last night and I just had to pay almost $300 to get my license and plate renewed (seriously, what the FUCK) and I pretty much have.. oh about 3 dollars to spend on my birthday weekend in Montreal, where Nathan will probably pay for everything because he feels sorry for me, which makes me feel like a worthless asshole (albeit, with a great boyfriend). So yeah, underslept and stressed = Elaine freaking the fuck out.
Really, it's quite the feat that I've been able to keep this side of me from him. Well maybe not, seeing as we only see each other 2 days a week. Which also makes me sad. Oh Budweiser, take me awaaaaayyyyy...
Monday, June 08, 2009
Kicking into high gear
So as a serendipitous twist, I did not get a job at a restaurant, even though Gabriel assured me I would be making a ton of money. Apparently they have a two week training period, and unless I use my vacation time or quit my job, it's not happening. The sad thing is, I would probably be making more money working 40 hrs a week as a server than I do now. I calculated it... $16/hr is what I make. I WENT TO COLLEGE. I'm in a profession! I guess I should be lucky that I'm in my field at all, considering so many people are having a hard time at it, but seriously, aren't people just taking advantage at this point?
So this past couple of weeks I've been scouring craigslist, applying for design gigs and trying to network with people. I've got a couple of promising things happening, but they are barter, not paid. But both are things I sorely need (wedding photography and website creation) so I'm really happy they're working out so far.
I've recently posted an ad for Quark to Indesign creation. For all the non-designers, Quark is a layout program that was very very popular. Probably because the person who developed it made a deal with the devil. Sure, it's popular, but the interface is ridiculously clunky and terrible.
As well, Quark is ridiculously expensive.
So here comes Adobe Indesign, which was made by angels who let you set your own keyboard shortcuts and make everything as intuitive as possible. And make it reasonably inexpensive.
The problem is, if you want to start using Indesign in your company, that means that some poor jerk has to convert all your clients' old files if they need updating. This keeps a lot of people from converting, which honestly probably costs them a lot of time, since designing on Quark is like trying to make a castle out of dry sand.
So I'm putting myself out there to do this incredibly tedious task, and hopefully it's so boring and awful, that people will actually pay me to do it (as with many well-paying jobs). I can do it during the evenings, and luckily, I am lightning fast in Indesign.
So hopefuly, this works. Because not only does mama have to pay for a wedding dress and flowers and stuff, she also needs a new computer!
So as a serendipitous twist, I did not get a job at a restaurant, even though Gabriel assured me I would be making a ton of money. Apparently they have a two week training period, and unless I use my vacation time or quit my job, it's not happening. The sad thing is, I would probably be making more money working 40 hrs a week as a server than I do now. I calculated it... $16/hr is what I make. I WENT TO COLLEGE. I'm in a profession! I guess I should be lucky that I'm in my field at all, considering so many people are having a hard time at it, but seriously, aren't people just taking advantage at this point?
So this past couple of weeks I've been scouring craigslist, applying for design gigs and trying to network with people. I've got a couple of promising things happening, but they are barter, not paid. But both are things I sorely need (wedding photography and website creation) so I'm really happy they're working out so far.
I've recently posted an ad for Quark to Indesign creation. For all the non-designers, Quark is a layout program that was very very popular. Probably because the person who developed it made a deal with the devil. Sure, it's popular, but the interface is ridiculously clunky and terrible.
As well, Quark is ridiculously expensive.
So here comes Adobe Indesign, which was made by angels who let you set your own keyboard shortcuts and make everything as intuitive as possible. And make it reasonably inexpensive.
The problem is, if you want to start using Indesign in your company, that means that some poor jerk has to convert all your clients' old files if they need updating. This keeps a lot of people from converting, which honestly probably costs them a lot of time, since designing on Quark is like trying to make a castle out of dry sand.
So I'm putting myself out there to do this incredibly tedious task, and hopefully it's so boring and awful, that people will actually pay me to do it (as with many well-paying jobs). I can do it during the evenings, and luckily, I am lightning fast in Indesign.
So hopefuly, this works. Because not only does mama have to pay for a wedding dress and flowers and stuff, she also needs a new computer!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Hmph
I was listening to This American Life today, and they were talking to a guy who was an anarchist turned support worker turned FBI informant. This guy spent all his time helping people, or trying to keep people from getting hurt/killed (as an anarchist NGO guy, he was approached by many guerilla warriors to either fund them or help them steal from governments and people.. or something, I have no memory). The interviewer asks him why does he put himself into harms way by informing on dangerous people, or why he went to Katrina and basically fought the government and local police for the ability to provide food, housing and medication to the poor. The analogy was: what would you do if you walked by an alley and saw someone getting beat up? Would you do something or would you keep on walking? For most of us, this pretty much never happens. For this guy, he walks by that alley way all the time.
That's sort of how I feel about my beliefs regarding the environment and society. Every minute we are faced with a choice: the right choice, or the other choice. What I can't seem to explain to people is that each choice matters, and that they should take them seriously. Every time you buy fair trade juice instead of Nestle, you're making a difference. Sure, you're paying an extra dollar or two, but when was the last time you put your money to a good cause? And how often are you funding the people who make the world a terrible place? For me, I feel this constriction of choice almost freeing. Always do the right thing. There is no choice, there's no thinking, you just do it, no matter how hard it is.
Although I'm still driving to/from work, I still eat meat and I'm not supporting clean energy. That's what sucks, I always know I can do more. Perhaps when I get a second job and pay off my debt I'll be able to.
Oh yeah, I'm looking for a second job. I'm sick of being poor. And well rested, apparently.
I was listening to This American Life today, and they were talking to a guy who was an anarchist turned support worker turned FBI informant. This guy spent all his time helping people, or trying to keep people from getting hurt/killed (as an anarchist NGO guy, he was approached by many guerilla warriors to either fund them or help them steal from governments and people.. or something, I have no memory). The interviewer asks him why does he put himself into harms way by informing on dangerous people, or why he went to Katrina and basically fought the government and local police for the ability to provide food, housing and medication to the poor. The analogy was: what would you do if you walked by an alley and saw someone getting beat up? Would you do something or would you keep on walking? For most of us, this pretty much never happens. For this guy, he walks by that alley way all the time.
That's sort of how I feel about my beliefs regarding the environment and society. Every minute we are faced with a choice: the right choice, or the other choice. What I can't seem to explain to people is that each choice matters, and that they should take them seriously. Every time you buy fair trade juice instead of Nestle, you're making a difference. Sure, you're paying an extra dollar or two, but when was the last time you put your money to a good cause? And how often are you funding the people who make the world a terrible place? For me, I feel this constriction of choice almost freeing. Always do the right thing. There is no choice, there's no thinking, you just do it, no matter how hard it is.
Although I'm still driving to/from work, I still eat meat and I'm not supporting clean energy. That's what sucks, I always know I can do more. Perhaps when I get a second job and pay off my debt I'll be able to.
Oh yeah, I'm looking for a second job. I'm sick of being poor. And well rested, apparently.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Plant update: The plants are doing well. Some other plants are starting to crop up in my herb planter, which is probably because you're supposed to take all roots out of the soil before planting stuff in it, and well, I'm me. I have high hopes for the raspberry and tomato plants, though. Now I just need to get more flowers to lure the bees and butterflies in so they can pollinate them. whee!!!
So I've made the decision to get a second job. I'm sick of having so much debt. So now I'm going to try to get a part time serving job on weeknights to pick up the slack. We're getting married next year, which means that I want to have cash for this wedding, the ensuing honeymoon, and all the other things I've wanted to do in my adult life. Which means I get an entirely new job, which doesn't look promising, or I become a server on weeknights. Goodbye prime time tv, goodbye sanity.
Tonight I'm meeting up with a photographer who wants to barter graphic design work for photography work. He wants to do our wedding, but I'm worried that he'll disappear next year. Things on the internet are always so shady. I should probably write up some kind of contract, though I don't really know how. Whoa, looks like you can do it online. Okay, I have one hour to do this. Will update later.
So I've made the decision to get a second job. I'm sick of having so much debt. So now I'm going to try to get a part time serving job on weeknights to pick up the slack. We're getting married next year, which means that I want to have cash for this wedding, the ensuing honeymoon, and all the other things I've wanted to do in my adult life. Which means I get an entirely new job, which doesn't look promising, or I become a server on weeknights. Goodbye prime time tv, goodbye sanity.
Tonight I'm meeting up with a photographer who wants to barter graphic design work for photography work. He wants to do our wedding, but I'm worried that he'll disappear next year. Things on the internet are always so shady. I should probably write up some kind of contract, though I don't really know how. Whoa, looks like you can do it online. Okay, I have one hour to do this. Will update later.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Lovers and other strangers
I'm listening to this radio show that I used to listen to when I was a kid called Lovers and Other Strangers which I think is all kind of slow rock pop love songs. Right now I'm listening to "broken wings" by Mr. Mister. Anyway. It's exactly the same music as when I was a kid. Kind of cool, actually.
Right now I'm waiting for a pizza to cool so I can put it in the oven and go to bed. I wanted to toast the top without burning the bottom so I broiled it. Bad idea. Burned the outer ring of the top and the bottom doesn't even look cooked. Oh well, it'll all work out when I microwave it at work.
Earlier today I joined Brett, William, Ryan and a couple of their friends at this photo/art exhibition that was supposed to be porn for the blind. I found this kind of deceiving because I thought it was going to be like a lecture series about the accessibility of porn and such, but it was not. It was an art exhibition, which I am not really into. I was tricked. I'm really really not into art, most of it doesn't speak to me. The idea was cool but I think maybe it was a little off on its message. She had photos, then relief moulds of what the photos were, and a description of the photos in braille beside the relief. But the artist didn't actually know what the braille said. I think I'm just getting too sciencey about this. I never was into art for the whole artsiness thing, anyway.
These past couple of weeks have been really nice. Instead of spending the evenings alone, I've been having dinner with friends almost most of the time. I think I should make a bigger effort to have dinner with friends (eating in, of course, god knows I can't afford dinner out 5 nights a week) It's a quality of life thing. Although the next couple of weeks I really need to be focusing on the freelance gigs I have.
Okay, this pizza should be cool by now.. either way, I'm sleepy. Time to wreck the fridge by putting hot food in it.
I'm listening to this radio show that I used to listen to when I was a kid called Lovers and Other Strangers which I think is all kind of slow rock pop love songs. Right now I'm listening to "broken wings" by Mr. Mister. Anyway. It's exactly the same music as when I was a kid. Kind of cool, actually.
Right now I'm waiting for a pizza to cool so I can put it in the oven and go to bed. I wanted to toast the top without burning the bottom so I broiled it. Bad idea. Burned the outer ring of the top and the bottom doesn't even look cooked. Oh well, it'll all work out when I microwave it at work.
Earlier today I joined Brett, William, Ryan and a couple of their friends at this photo/art exhibition that was supposed to be porn for the blind. I found this kind of deceiving because I thought it was going to be like a lecture series about the accessibility of porn and such, but it was not. It was an art exhibition, which I am not really into. I was tricked. I'm really really not into art, most of it doesn't speak to me. The idea was cool but I think maybe it was a little off on its message. She had photos, then relief moulds of what the photos were, and a description of the photos in braille beside the relief. But the artist didn't actually know what the braille said. I think I'm just getting too sciencey about this. I never was into art for the whole artsiness thing, anyway.
These past couple of weeks have been really nice. Instead of spending the evenings alone, I've been having dinner with friends almost most of the time. I think I should make a bigger effort to have dinner with friends (eating in, of course, god knows I can't afford dinner out 5 nights a week) It's a quality of life thing. Although the next couple of weeks I really need to be focusing on the freelance gigs I have.
Okay, this pizza should be cool by now.. either way, I'm sleepy. Time to wreck the fridge by putting hot food in it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
my mom is funny
Me: [looking at all the jars and jars of dried food things in my mom's pantry] Wow, and Nathan gives ME a hard time about owning a lot of cooking stuff.
Mom: That's because the only cooking instructions he know is "967-11-11" [Toronto number for Pizza Pizza]
So I'm starting to plan my wedding, which is... weird. Much weirder is the big deal that Derek's making over it, saying that I'm the LAST person he would expect to get married, and how proud of me he is. Which I'm not sure if I should take as a compliment. He explained that it's because I'm such a strident feminist, that he thought I was against the institution of marriage. While it is true that I think that it has been kind of wrecked by stupid people getting married too early and/or for the wrong reasons, I do like the idea of having a big food-filled party that is pretty much all about me. So yeah. Vanity wins.
Part of the wedding planning is the attempt to talk my parents out of having shark fin soup. Apparently it's a big face thing, we're going to look cheap, the old people won't like it, bla bla bla. The thing is, that's one big thing that Nathan and I are boycotting. (ps, I'm so happy that Nathan is boycotting something with me... I'll get him off Kraft and Nestle, yet!) Their attempt to sway me includes bringing it up all the time and telling me how bad it's going to look. They must have a short memory, because this tactic didn't keep me out of art school or make me move back home. Obviously, I don't care about how "bad" I look. Or they look for that matter. Well that's not true, just that certain things are more important. Like the ecosystem.
There's a site where you can order or download table cards that explain in English and Chinese the choice to omit Shark Fin Soup from the menu. I'm probably going to recreate one for our tables. It's a great idea, but ugly as sin. It looks like a fricking aquarium. I know Chinese weddings can be kind of gaudy, but at least things should match!
So far, my oldest cousin is with me on this, which is super awesome. And the fact is, shark fins don't TASTE like anything! It's just a gelatinous stringy thing in a sea of delicious, sticky thick soup which I'm POSITIVE doesn't get any deliciousness from the shark fin. There's even vegetarian options!
Anyway, I've got my parents to concede to offer abalone in lieu of the shark fin, which I'm hoping isn't quite as ecologically damaging.
In other battles, my parents really want an open bar, not realizing how that is the perfect recipe for having the reception turn into a bar brawl. I'll keep you all posted.
Me: [looking at all the jars and jars of dried food things in my mom's pantry] Wow, and Nathan gives ME a hard time about owning a lot of cooking stuff.
Mom: That's because the only cooking instructions he know is "967-11-11" [Toronto number for Pizza Pizza]
So I'm starting to plan my wedding, which is... weird. Much weirder is the big deal that Derek's making over it, saying that I'm the LAST person he would expect to get married, and how proud of me he is. Which I'm not sure if I should take as a compliment. He explained that it's because I'm such a strident feminist, that he thought I was against the institution of marriage. While it is true that I think that it has been kind of wrecked by stupid people getting married too early and/or for the wrong reasons, I do like the idea of having a big food-filled party that is pretty much all about me. So yeah. Vanity wins.
Part of the wedding planning is the attempt to talk my parents out of having shark fin soup. Apparently it's a big face thing, we're going to look cheap, the old people won't like it, bla bla bla. The thing is, that's one big thing that Nathan and I are boycotting. (ps, I'm so happy that Nathan is boycotting something with me... I'll get him off Kraft and Nestle, yet!) Their attempt to sway me includes bringing it up all the time and telling me how bad it's going to look. They must have a short memory, because this tactic didn't keep me out of art school or make me move back home. Obviously, I don't care about how "bad" I look. Or they look for that matter. Well that's not true, just that certain things are more important. Like the ecosystem.
There's a site where you can order or download table cards that explain in English and Chinese the choice to omit Shark Fin Soup from the menu. I'm probably going to recreate one for our tables. It's a great idea, but ugly as sin. It looks like a fricking aquarium. I know Chinese weddings can be kind of gaudy, but at least things should match!
So far, my oldest cousin is with me on this, which is super awesome. And the fact is, shark fins don't TASTE like anything! It's just a gelatinous stringy thing in a sea of delicious, sticky thick soup which I'm POSITIVE doesn't get any deliciousness from the shark fin. There's even vegetarian options!
Anyway, I've got my parents to concede to offer abalone in lieu of the shark fin, which I'm hoping isn't quite as ecologically damaging.
In other battles, my parents really want an open bar, not realizing how that is the perfect recipe for having the reception turn into a bar brawl. I'll keep you all posted.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Finally, the post everyone has been waiting for. Or something
I've been waiting to post this because I'm still sure that getting excited about things will make the universe decide I'm undeserving of it, and whisk it out of my life. So I'm tempting fate here. For you. FOR YOU.
A couple of weeks ago, Nathan and I got engaged! We just got back from a trip to Mexico and went out for dinner in the city. In retrospect, I should have really seen it coming since a) Nathan asked me if I owned any rings, b) Nathan initiated a conversation about white gold vs. yellow gold, c) he suggested going out for dinner, which he never does because I always beat him to the punch.
So we got home for dinner and there was a box sitting on the bed that I originally got earrings in from my cousin over Christmas. I opened the box and, much to my consternation, there was a ring in it. I didn't want to be presumptuous, so I uttered a very clever "oh... it's a ring...". He jumped on me and said "yeah.. will you marry me??". Apparently I laughed for about 30 seconds. Apparently because this time seemed a lot shorter to me. To be fair, I laughed out of nervousness. But I said yes. Obviously. Then we watched Stepbrothers on DVD. Fucking Catalina Wine Mixer.
So far, engaged life is awesome. We don't see each other very often (only on weekends), but when we do, we are both filled with giddy excitement not seen since the early days of our relationship.
It's weird. I feel like a switch went off. Where I've always been super cautious (all too cognisant of the fact that people will be careless with your heart) I feel like I can finally be free to have feelings and to express them.
Hopefully the "new me" isn't too intense for him.
Time will tell...
I've been waiting to post this because I'm still sure that getting excited about things will make the universe decide I'm undeserving of it, and whisk it out of my life. So I'm tempting fate here. For you. FOR YOU.
A couple of weeks ago, Nathan and I got engaged! We just got back from a trip to Mexico and went out for dinner in the city. In retrospect, I should have really seen it coming since a) Nathan asked me if I owned any rings, b) Nathan initiated a conversation about white gold vs. yellow gold, c) he suggested going out for dinner, which he never does because I always beat him to the punch.
So we got home for dinner and there was a box sitting on the bed that I originally got earrings in from my cousin over Christmas. I opened the box and, much to my consternation, there was a ring in it. I didn't want to be presumptuous, so I uttered a very clever "oh... it's a ring...". He jumped on me and said "yeah.. will you marry me??". Apparently I laughed for about 30 seconds. Apparently because this time seemed a lot shorter to me. To be fair, I laughed out of nervousness. But I said yes. Obviously. Then we watched Stepbrothers on DVD. Fucking Catalina Wine Mixer.
So far, engaged life is awesome. We don't see each other very often (only on weekends), but when we do, we are both filled with giddy excitement not seen since the early days of our relationship.
It's weird. I feel like a switch went off. Where I've always been super cautious (all too cognisant of the fact that people will be careless with your heart) I feel like I can finally be free to have feelings and to express them.
Hopefully the "new me" isn't too intense for him.
Time will tell...
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Gaaaaahhhhh
Man, I have been so restless this week. It has been the longest week of my life.
Every couple of months I get this restlessness where I really just want to flip the bird to everything in my life and just take off. For some reason, I thought this would go away once I moved out of my parents' house. I was wrong.
Coming home from an irregularly dreadful dodgeball game, I considered not coming home at all, and instead driving... somewhere. Just away. Then I thought that well... my passport's at home. Depending on how i feel on Saturday morning, I just may be tempted to jump into the car (and give Nathan the choice to come or not) and just get the fuck out of the city, and go somewhere I've never been before.
I hate that I'm always nostalgic of a very short time in my life where I really seemed to live for the moment. I went out all night, had a great time, and came home, relatively unscathed. But now.. now I live in a *nice* apartment. And I have a good job. And a good car. Now I have THINGS that I have to maintain. Seriously, I miss having a shitty apartment, and therefore life, that I could just throw caution to the wind and live a little bit. I'm feeling trapped in a very Fight Club kind of way. But instead of fighting my way through it, I'm drinking-alone my way through it. Which will probably become unhealthy if I do it more than 3 days in a row. Which I haven't yet.
Yes, my crisis has been 3 days long. I'm only 27. The longer one can come when I'm older and realize that men at large do not find me physically attractive anymore.
Speaking of, I have a recent anecdote that pretty much cements the fact that I'm an oblivious jerk:
A friend of mine and I were having a conversation about race (she's Asian) and she said "it just occurred to me: it's possible that some of the guys that rejected me when I asked them out could have rejected me because I'm Asian.". It's really possible. She's from a small town. But that wasn't really important to me, because I was suddenly hit by the realization that guys DO say "no" to girls. And I NEVER KNEW THAT. I mean, sure, I had a guy say "no" to me once. When I was 15 but I probably didn't comb my hair then. But really, my biggest pep line to my painfully single friends is "just go talk to him.. come on to him. What is he going to do? Say NO?! Guys don't say no to anything!" Turns out, guys just don't say no to me, which I thought was just because men in general are easy and have no standards. So maybe I need to be easier on my friends, even though they're all super awesome and smoking hot. Seriously, when you are cool like that, fear of rejection is not an excuse.
Nathan and I also had a conversation where he told me that he gets really frustrated when he's taking pictures of me and I don't smile (usually because I'm trying to do some stupid sexy model face). Apparently, he thinks my smile is my best feature (uhm.. my best visible feature) because it makes everyone around me feel special and funny and great. Which is definitely what I was going for, so I'm glad it worked. But maybe that's why boys like me so much.
Meh, I don't know. I think it's just funny that men actually do refuse normal, nice girls and that makes me feel good, because I am somewhere above just normal and nice.
I know, it's super jerky, but hey, everyone likes to feel attractive and irresistable sometime. I had a very awkward childhood. Let me have this.
Wow, the unmeasured amounts of vodka are starting to get to me. I've had 3 highballs (what the hell? Am I suddenly in the 70s?) of screwdrivers in the past couple of hours. Unmeasured. So I could have had more than 6 shots of vodka. Which I hope I did, otherwise my tolerance is dying.
Okay 10:30pm. I'm going to try to get a decent amount of sleep before tomorrow. Big day tomorrow. Nathan and I are going on a big date after work! wheeeeeee!!!
Man, I have been so restless this week. It has been the longest week of my life.
Every couple of months I get this restlessness where I really just want to flip the bird to everything in my life and just take off. For some reason, I thought this would go away once I moved out of my parents' house. I was wrong.
Coming home from an irregularly dreadful dodgeball game, I considered not coming home at all, and instead driving... somewhere. Just away. Then I thought that well... my passport's at home. Depending on how i feel on Saturday morning, I just may be tempted to jump into the car (and give Nathan the choice to come or not) and just get the fuck out of the city, and go somewhere I've never been before.
I hate that I'm always nostalgic of a very short time in my life where I really seemed to live for the moment. I went out all night, had a great time, and came home, relatively unscathed. But now.. now I live in a *nice* apartment. And I have a good job. And a good car. Now I have THINGS that I have to maintain. Seriously, I miss having a shitty apartment, and therefore life, that I could just throw caution to the wind and live a little bit. I'm feeling trapped in a very Fight Club kind of way. But instead of fighting my way through it, I'm drinking-alone my way through it. Which will probably become unhealthy if I do it more than 3 days in a row. Which I haven't yet.
Yes, my crisis has been 3 days long. I'm only 27. The longer one can come when I'm older and realize that men at large do not find me physically attractive anymore.
Speaking of, I have a recent anecdote that pretty much cements the fact that I'm an oblivious jerk:
A friend of mine and I were having a conversation about race (she's Asian) and she said "it just occurred to me: it's possible that some of the guys that rejected me when I asked them out could have rejected me because I'm Asian.". It's really possible. She's from a small town. But that wasn't really important to me, because I was suddenly hit by the realization that guys DO say "no" to girls. And I NEVER KNEW THAT. I mean, sure, I had a guy say "no" to me once. When I was 15 but I probably didn't comb my hair then. But really, my biggest pep line to my painfully single friends is "just go talk to him.. come on to him. What is he going to do? Say NO?! Guys don't say no to anything!" Turns out, guys just don't say no to me, which I thought was just because men in general are easy and have no standards. So maybe I need to be easier on my friends, even though they're all super awesome and smoking hot. Seriously, when you are cool like that, fear of rejection is not an excuse.
Nathan and I also had a conversation where he told me that he gets really frustrated when he's taking pictures of me and I don't smile (usually because I'm trying to do some stupid sexy model face). Apparently, he thinks my smile is my best feature (uhm.. my best visible feature) because it makes everyone around me feel special and funny and great. Which is definitely what I was going for, so I'm glad it worked. But maybe that's why boys like me so much.
Meh, I don't know. I think it's just funny that men actually do refuse normal, nice girls and that makes me feel good, because I am somewhere above just normal and nice.
I know, it's super jerky, but hey, everyone likes to feel attractive and irresistable sometime. I had a very awkward childhood. Let me have this.
Wow, the unmeasured amounts of vodka are starting to get to me. I've had 3 highballs (what the hell? Am I suddenly in the 70s?) of screwdrivers in the past couple of hours. Unmeasured. So I could have had more than 6 shots of vodka. Which I hope I did, otherwise my tolerance is dying.
Okay 10:30pm. I'm going to try to get a decent amount of sleep before tomorrow. Big day tomorrow. Nathan and I are going on a big date after work! wheeeeeee!!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
I am tired of playing defense and I don't even have hockey skates
One of my favourite podcasts is the Moth podcast. The Moth is an organization where people tell stories, true or elaborated, about their lives. They're usually 15 minutes, and always really good. I'm a fan. They have this process where people pick a story they would like to tell from their life, and they work on it over and over until it's ready to tell. Sort of like a creative writing and public speaking workshop all in one. It looks like fun, but it's based in New York. There's also some kind of price involved.
I often wonder what my story would be. The thing with life is that there is rarely a beginning, middle and end. Things start without warning, never reach climax, or dissipate without resolution. Which I suppose is the hard part about finding the story to tell. Often the stories on the Moth are things that are events that take place over the course of five minutes, or five days, and they somehow manage to spin that into a 15 minute story. I have trouble telling a 2 minute story about anything that happens in my life. Just ask Nathan. I'm very tempted to not tell anyone anything about what's going on because I know that I retell events very poorly. Maybe I really should take a course with the Moth.
So far, the only story I can think of with a good beginning, middle and end is the story of how Nathan and I met. I can think of one other, but I can't really piece together how everything would go into a cohesive story. I just know that it would end with "That's when my mom said for the first and only time in my life that she loved me." Which I guess would be a story about how my family is loving, but not affectionate. And it would also be about how I'm the same way, despite my efforts, and how that makes personal relationships awkward. And it would also be about death, dying and regret. Too bad I haven't a clue how to tell it. Man, thinking about it still makes me extremely sad. I remember that after my grandfather died, I would cry and cry and cry every day for about an hour when I was alone, and I wondered if it would ever stop hurting so much. And it did. But not by much. Basically I don't burst into tears about it anymore, but that's about it.
Ooooh kay. So listen to "Hockey Skates" by Kathleen Edwards. Then download a couple of free EPs by The Acorn at their site. To wash away all this gross emotion.
One of my favourite podcasts is the Moth podcast. The Moth is an organization where people tell stories, true or elaborated, about their lives. They're usually 15 minutes, and always really good. I'm a fan. They have this process where people pick a story they would like to tell from their life, and they work on it over and over until it's ready to tell. Sort of like a creative writing and public speaking workshop all in one. It looks like fun, but it's based in New York. There's also some kind of price involved.
I often wonder what my story would be. The thing with life is that there is rarely a beginning, middle and end. Things start without warning, never reach climax, or dissipate without resolution. Which I suppose is the hard part about finding the story to tell. Often the stories on the Moth are things that are events that take place over the course of five minutes, or five days, and they somehow manage to spin that into a 15 minute story. I have trouble telling a 2 minute story about anything that happens in my life. Just ask Nathan. I'm very tempted to not tell anyone anything about what's going on because I know that I retell events very poorly. Maybe I really should take a course with the Moth.
So far, the only story I can think of with a good beginning, middle and end is the story of how Nathan and I met. I can think of one other, but I can't really piece together how everything would go into a cohesive story. I just know that it would end with "That's when my mom said for the first and only time in my life that she loved me." Which I guess would be a story about how my family is loving, but not affectionate. And it would also be about how I'm the same way, despite my efforts, and how that makes personal relationships awkward. And it would also be about death, dying and regret. Too bad I haven't a clue how to tell it. Man, thinking about it still makes me extremely sad. I remember that after my grandfather died, I would cry and cry and cry every day for about an hour when I was alone, and I wondered if it would ever stop hurting so much. And it did. But not by much. Basically I don't burst into tears about it anymore, but that's about it.
Ooooh kay. So listen to "Hockey Skates" by Kathleen Edwards. Then download a couple of free EPs by The Acorn at their site. To wash away all this gross emotion.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Pareve
It's apparently pronounced PAR-iv-ah. And it's also the best thing ever. It's a Jewish dietary category which means that it contains no dairy or meat, so it is therefore suitable to eat with dairy and meat (but not together, obviously). Since I live in a Jewish neighbourhood, I've kind of been flipping out every couple of weeks with "Ooh, pareve hazlenut spread!" and lately, the most amazing thing ever.
I see a box with what looks like mini oreo exploding all over it with some print on the bottom that says "if you like oreo minis, you'll LOVE our Chocolate Yummy Bites™!" I am not kidding, this is what they are called. And they taste just like Oreos! (which I do really like).
This means that as long as I'm shopping in the Jewish food aisle, I will be able to eat all the other gross packaged food everyone else can enjoy. Yay!
It's apparently pronounced PAR-iv-ah. And it's also the best thing ever. It's a Jewish dietary category which means that it contains no dairy or meat, so it is therefore suitable to eat with dairy and meat (but not together, obviously). Since I live in a Jewish neighbourhood, I've kind of been flipping out every couple of weeks with "Ooh, pareve hazlenut spread!" and lately, the most amazing thing ever.
I see a box with what looks like mini oreo exploding all over it with some print on the bottom that says "if you like oreo minis, you'll LOVE our Chocolate Yummy Bites™!" I am not kidding, this is what they are called. And they taste just like Oreos! (which I do really like).
This means that as long as I'm shopping in the Jewish food aisle, I will be able to eat all the other gross packaged food everyone else can enjoy. Yay!
Sunday, January 04, 2009
It's finally over
As super fun as December was, I am relieved that it is over. I counted 7 parties (5 of which I hosted or co-hosted), 2 full-on family days (Nathan's and mine) and getting settled into our new apartment.
TIRED.
I am definitely ready to start taking it easy, stop spending so much on food/booze/snacks and stop eating like there's no tomorrow. Especially since Nathan and I have been talking about going away in February. He mentioned something about having a "beach-ready body". Well if he's going to make the effort to look fantabulous, I probably should, too. Hopefully the dairy I've been eating will stop ravaging my insides by then, as well. Stupid bloating... must say no to all muffin tops, literal and figurative.
The holiday was great, though. I got to spend a lot of time with Steph, mostly cooking which I enjoy, but up to a point (apparently). Brett's back forever or something, and I got a crap load of presents for Nathan. Which is nice but also made me feel kind of bad and cheap. On the other hand, the man is completely debt free whereas I... not so much.
Anyway, I am too tired to continue this post. Hope everyone else had a great winter so far!
As super fun as December was, I am relieved that it is over. I counted 7 parties (5 of which I hosted or co-hosted), 2 full-on family days (Nathan's and mine) and getting settled into our new apartment.
TIRED.
I am definitely ready to start taking it easy, stop spending so much on food/booze/snacks and stop eating like there's no tomorrow. Especially since Nathan and I have been talking about going away in February. He mentioned something about having a "beach-ready body". Well if he's going to make the effort to look fantabulous, I probably should, too. Hopefully the dairy I've been eating will stop ravaging my insides by then, as well. Stupid bloating... must say no to all muffin tops, literal and figurative.
The holiday was great, though. I got to spend a lot of time with Steph, mostly cooking which I enjoy, but up to a point (apparently). Brett's back forever or something, and I got a crap load of presents for Nathan. Which is nice but also made me feel kind of bad and cheap. On the other hand, the man is completely debt free whereas I... not so much.
Anyway, I am too tired to continue this post. Hope everyone else had a great winter so far!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
and exhale
This past week has been the craziest week since we moved into the new place.
Last thursday was the dodgeball champion party (yes.. yes we are), which got.. a little out of hand. Saturday and Sunday were spent cooking cooking and cooking some more, with some grocery shopping and hangovers thrown in. Saturday was the housewarming party, which was a success. People actually brought food they cooked! I'm so used to people bringing chips and wine. There were actually SIDE DISHES.
It was great, and all my friends got along. Not to say I thought they wouldn't, but sometimes it's dangerous to mix groups of friends.
Sunday night was Steph's dad's 60th surprise party, which was a super surprise because he didn't realize it was his birthday. Or that Steph was there. For about half an hour. Hilarity.
After that weekend, I find the idea of cooking almost sickening. I'm sure I'll like it again, but for a little while I will sustain myself with leftovers.
Monday I had an impromptu visit from Steph, Xuen Yen and Nicole while we all took turns prancing around in a wedding dress that Steph got at the salvation army. It was a ridiculously awesome find. I'm considering seeing if she'll be okay with me wearing it to my hypothetical wedding someday.
Speaking of my hypothetical wedding. My mom told my cousins that Nathan and I are planning on getting married. Which is weird because although that's true, he hasn't proposed and I don't like people knowing about my business. mommmmmmmmmm
Tuesday night was the annual high school xmas party, which was much more tame than usual, since it was a tuesday and I had to kick everyone out at 11pm (sorry guys). Jen and Ka Lun couldn't make it due to getting the Norwalk virus (what!?! possibly most extreme excuse ever?), Ken had a mountain of work to do and Ivano and Chris were... I have no idea. Maybe working out and talking about guy things... like cars and chicks. But Steph, Rese and Ambrose, Derek and Matt made it, so yay! And Matt made something! Derek brought his usual potato wedges, which is pretty much what he is always required to bring forever. It was a lot of fun, as catching up with everyone always is. We should probably make an effort to all see each other more than once or twice a year.
And today I am sitting around, watching Queer as Folk on my computer and NOT calling clients, and NOT cleaning. I am relaxing, for otherwise I would die.
This past week has been the craziest week since we moved into the new place.
Last thursday was the dodgeball champion party (yes.. yes we are), which got.. a little out of hand. Saturday and Sunday were spent cooking cooking and cooking some more, with some grocery shopping and hangovers thrown in. Saturday was the housewarming party, which was a success. People actually brought food they cooked! I'm so used to people bringing chips and wine. There were actually SIDE DISHES.
It was great, and all my friends got along. Not to say I thought they wouldn't, but sometimes it's dangerous to mix groups of friends.
Sunday night was Steph's dad's 60th surprise party, which was a super surprise because he didn't realize it was his birthday. Or that Steph was there. For about half an hour. Hilarity.
After that weekend, I find the idea of cooking almost sickening. I'm sure I'll like it again, but for a little while I will sustain myself with leftovers.
Monday I had an impromptu visit from Steph, Xuen Yen and Nicole while we all took turns prancing around in a wedding dress that Steph got at the salvation army. It was a ridiculously awesome find. I'm considering seeing if she'll be okay with me wearing it to my hypothetical wedding someday.
Speaking of my hypothetical wedding. My mom told my cousins that Nathan and I are planning on getting married. Which is weird because although that's true, he hasn't proposed and I don't like people knowing about my business. mommmmmmmmmm
Tuesday night was the annual high school xmas party, which was much more tame than usual, since it was a tuesday and I had to kick everyone out at 11pm (sorry guys). Jen and Ka Lun couldn't make it due to getting the Norwalk virus (what!?! possibly most extreme excuse ever?), Ken had a mountain of work to do and Ivano and Chris were... I have no idea. Maybe working out and talking about guy things... like cars and chicks. But Steph, Rese and Ambrose, Derek and Matt made it, so yay! And Matt made something! Derek brought his usual potato wedges, which is pretty much what he is always required to bring forever. It was a lot of fun, as catching up with everyone always is. We should probably make an effort to all see each other more than once or twice a year.
And today I am sitting around, watching Queer as Folk on my computer and NOT calling clients, and NOT cleaning. I am relaxing, for otherwise I would die.
Monday, December 01, 2008
The view from here
The view from my kitchen door. Yes, that is a deck.
The view from the entrance to my kitchen.
More pics to come, when the rest of the place is all set up. Right now we have a ton of artwork that is sitting on the floor, waiting to be hung, and piles and piles of dirty laundry. More on that later.
The entire move took us two 6-hour days. We had to move on the weekdays because we had a wedding on the weekend. Because of this, we couldn't enlist any of our friends to help. Instead, we got help from my dad on both days, and Nathan's dad on one day. I was actually surprised by how smoothly the move went, considering we had two retired men helping us. I think the reason for it was that we both respect our dad's opinions and weren't about to fight them on decisions about how to load the van, or how to manoeuver something up the many many stairs we have (35 steps from ground floor to our apartment).
Our friends Joe and Vic let us use their giant rubbermaid containers that they used for their move, and they were invaluable. They're all the same size, easily stackable and virtually indestructible, which was great since it rained on day one.
So now we're all moved in, our muscles are starting to heal and the bell guy is coming today to put in our home phone. All we need now is to put up artwork, do a little more cleaning and get a dining set. And we're done.
So one of the great things about this place is that we have laundry facilities right in our apartment. the bad thing about this is that they are apartment sized, meaning one load is now half what a regular load used to be. And it takes about twice as long, somehow (I think the dryer is broken). The washing machine is interesting. You have to roll it out of the closet and into the kitchen, where you must then hook up the water input/output hose to a special little sink. It gets a little annoying if you need to go in and out of the kitchen, but it's fine if you can spend 45 minutes either in, or outside the kitchen. Nathan has this habit of doing laundry once a month, and moved in here with his entire wardrobe dirty, so I suspect it's going to take about a week to get all the laundry done. I do not envy their water/energy bill (yes, it's all included for us).
Right now, I'm enjoying that I don't have to climb across Nathan every time I need to get out of bed and he's in it, and that my computer is in front of a window. I'm loving the butcher block counters, I'm even growing to like the electric stove. I am, however, HATING the Loblaws just down the street. It's about 1 minute away, but everything costs about $2 more than it did at No Frills. Yesterday I needed a lemon and it was 89 cents. Since when are lemons anything more than 3 for a dollar? And I'm pretty sure it wasn't organic. This means that I have to investigate other shopping options, such as the produce market a couple blocks away and the butcher that's 10 minutes away. Adventures!
One great thing about this area is a cafe nearby called The Retro Cafe. It doesn't seem all that retro, but they have great breakfast. I had eggs benedict with hash browns and Nathan had an omelette. I judge a good breakfast place by the quality of its hash browns/home fries and this place did not disappoint. The hash browns were rosti style, and they were awesome.
I'm looking forward to having an actual dining room now, and having friends over for dinner again. Nathan wants to wait until after Christmas (post xmas furniture deals?). If anyone knows of anyone getting rid of a dining room set, let me know. I am, however, not willing to pay more than $300 cash.
The view from my kitchen door. Yes, that is a deck.
The view from the entrance to my kitchen.
More pics to come, when the rest of the place is all set up. Right now we have a ton of artwork that is sitting on the floor, waiting to be hung, and piles and piles of dirty laundry. More on that later.
The entire move took us two 6-hour days. We had to move on the weekdays because we had a wedding on the weekend. Because of this, we couldn't enlist any of our friends to help. Instead, we got help from my dad on both days, and Nathan's dad on one day. I was actually surprised by how smoothly the move went, considering we had two retired men helping us. I think the reason for it was that we both respect our dad's opinions and weren't about to fight them on decisions about how to load the van, or how to manoeuver something up the many many stairs we have (35 steps from ground floor to our apartment).
Our friends Joe and Vic let us use their giant rubbermaid containers that they used for their move, and they were invaluable. They're all the same size, easily stackable and virtually indestructible, which was great since it rained on day one.
So now we're all moved in, our muscles are starting to heal and the bell guy is coming today to put in our home phone. All we need now is to put up artwork, do a little more cleaning and get a dining set. And we're done.
So one of the great things about this place is that we have laundry facilities right in our apartment. the bad thing about this is that they are apartment sized, meaning one load is now half what a regular load used to be. And it takes about twice as long, somehow (I think the dryer is broken). The washing machine is interesting. You have to roll it out of the closet and into the kitchen, where you must then hook up the water input/output hose to a special little sink. It gets a little annoying if you need to go in and out of the kitchen, but it's fine if you can spend 45 minutes either in, or outside the kitchen. Nathan has this habit of doing laundry once a month, and moved in here with his entire wardrobe dirty, so I suspect it's going to take about a week to get all the laundry done. I do not envy their water/energy bill (yes, it's all included for us).
Right now, I'm enjoying that I don't have to climb across Nathan every time I need to get out of bed and he's in it, and that my computer is in front of a window. I'm loving the butcher block counters, I'm even growing to like the electric stove. I am, however, HATING the Loblaws just down the street. It's about 1 minute away, but everything costs about $2 more than it did at No Frills. Yesterday I needed a lemon and it was 89 cents. Since when are lemons anything more than 3 for a dollar? And I'm pretty sure it wasn't organic. This means that I have to investigate other shopping options, such as the produce market a couple blocks away and the butcher that's 10 minutes away. Adventures!
One great thing about this area is a cafe nearby called The Retro Cafe. It doesn't seem all that retro, but they have great breakfast. I had eggs benedict with hash browns and Nathan had an omelette. I judge a good breakfast place by the quality of its hash browns/home fries and this place did not disappoint. The hash browns were rosti style, and they were awesome.
I'm looking forward to having an actual dining room now, and having friends over for dinner again. Nathan wants to wait until after Christmas (post xmas furniture deals?). If anyone knows of anyone getting rid of a dining room set, let me know. I am, however, not willing to pay more than $300 cash.