The Real McCoy

I just got back from renewing my plate sticker. I like to live dangerously when it comes to traffic citations. I think technically the plate is only valid until the first of the month, but I like to pretend it's valid up until the birthday of the owner. I also replaced my ownership which was two addresses and one owner ago. The lady was like, "Where's the other part, the part that says you own the car?" I was like, "If it's not what I've given you I don't think I have it." $10 is the price you pay for being an idiot, which I am ok with. I extended for two years, just incase Ford rolls back the licensing fee cut.

Yesterday was a bit of a shit show. I picked up Adam and we did some shopping for him at Winners. Then instead of coming home we went down to Cherry Beach, first stopping at the Church&Front Timmies so I could get a drink. As I'm walking out of the Tims I witness a cab backing into my car and hitting my bumper. I checked for damage and didn't see any, but I was still plenty pissed. I didn't even know what to do. I asked for his number and he said something like, "I'm a taxi driver." Ok buddy, that's well established, but if I find a crack I want to be able to find you. So I just took his taxi information down and was done. It's not the end of the world, but it's still not a nice thing to see happen. Adam mentioned that if I wasn't there I never would have known, which helped me calmed down.

Nik and I hit up Niagara this weekend past. Drove in Saturday morning and stayed the night. After we checked in we taxied down to Clifton hill and took a walk down to the falls. I snapped a neat shot on my phone camera of the American Falls, they have this oddly beautiful ice formation that sits in front of the falling water. I'm not sure if that's how it is every year, but it was neat. After the Falls we went to the Hershey and Coke store. Then we took a stroll through the midway but we weren't feeling it so we moved on. Gift store, Sugar Mountain, and finally a tour through the wax museum of criminals. We walked home after that and ordered a gluten free pizza and had some drinks. A bit later we taxied down to Fallsview and blew about $30 each. I emailed Fallsview to complain about their faulty slot machines. They flipped Nik's bet to maximum (10 credits vs 1 credit) on more than one occassion, and they flipped my credit bet from 25c to 50c, and then later flipped my bet to maximum as well. We wouldn't be sore losers if we lost the money fair and square. And odds are we would have lost it anyways. So I await a response from Fallsview. And if I'm lucky a gift cert. But I'm not counting on that.

I'm about 400 pages away from finishing Atlas Shrugged. I told Adam that I'm not sure if part of my love for this book is cognitive dissonance. Why else would I read a 1069 page book if I wasn't enjoying it? All joking aside it's a great book. And I fear I may feel a small void in my life when I'm done.

Looking forward to drinks tonight with S&S.

Annnnd, done.

Nights of Make-Believe, Days I Don't Believe

No matter how many improvements my landlord makes I still feel like there is an ever growing list of annoyances at this place. My showerhead still screeches like 1000 dying rodents every time I take a shower. If I'm lucky it will stop half way and I will be able to shower in peace. But that's usually not the case. He waits about 5 days after a snow fall to shovel, and by then the next fall is just around the corner. On occassion he will not take the trash or recycling to the curb and either I will have to take the bin out or it will not go out at all. The tenants downstairs seem like lazy bums when it comes to split responsibilities. Granted it should only be split between one, but step up, please. And now the big winner is the dying smoke alarm battery that has been beeping every 30 seconds for the past 2 DAYS. I don't even know what to do. My landlord is out of town so we have to put up with it until he returns tomorrow or the battery finally dies. We'll see how much longer I can maintain my sanity with this going.

I had some great Indian food for lunch with a coworker. There's a great veggie Indian place just south of Matheson and Mavis called Doaba. Mmmm, the food is amazing and so cheap. I actually found myself smiling today at work. I feel so much more like I used to. And that's something I haven't felt in well over a month. That being said my general attitude has not changed, they have made their bed.

Dawn had a great bday at Insomnia on Tuesday. I picked up Adam and Jess and headed down at about 8pm. Most of her friends were from work, which made me jealous. I wish I had more close friends at work. Anyways, she has some really great friends. I had a really great talk with this one girl about Canada and US in terms of politics, and geography and travel, and human rights. It was really fantastic.

I finally passed the halfway point in Atlas Shrugged. I'm starting to think that this might be one of the most important and socially relevant books I've ever read. It was personally a bit slow in the beginning but Rand has just picked it up and taken the book in some really interesting directions. She of course is a little kooky with some pretty harsh views. Objectivism is a bit of a tough pill to swallow sometimes, but it makes you think.

The dying battery is starting to double beep, perhaps this is progress? Just die already.

Do You Have Any Of Those Way Small Harmonicas?

It's been a while again. I used to be better at this. PS to last time, the french toast was AMAZING. I tried it last Sunday by myself at my place and I could not come even close to how good Adam's toast was. I just need to work on my mastery of the culinary arts. Maybe it made a difference that I had to use water in my egg mix instead of milk. And not because I'm stinking poor, but my milk had just expired. And I don't mess with expiry dates.

It's been a pretty stressful two weeks. My attitude at work started to change as the days went on and my contract offer was not arriving. Eventually, early last week, I gave up. I took my defiant and rebellious "Julie's Contract Ends" off the shared wall calendar and I started to clean out my desk. I'm not sure anything that happened or will have happened after that point will make me want to stay. I have 4 days to decide.

I started writing quotes again. The mood struck me to start again so I thought why not. I'm still writing them down to keep a small log of what has gone up.

I had a pretty great weekend this weekend past. Friday night was drinks night with some friends from work. We hit up Sneaky Dees and followed that with Andy Pool Hall and Free Times Cafe! I've added Andy Pool Hall as my first 2011 Toronto Adventure. I really enjoyed being able to look back on my 2010 list to see what new things I had been up to. Then on Saturday a dinner in Oakville turned into an impromptu overnight at a cottage in Midland. Jackie's boyfriend's friend was having a birthday gathering and Jak invited me up with her. Back to back nights of not being D.D. is a pretty special treat for me. We got almost lost in Moonstone in search for a gas station. PS - Moonstone doesn't have a gas station. Sunday night I almost cracked a beer out of habit.

I must exit to complete a quick grocery shopping. I shall try to update more frequently. And for myself, I'm going to try to stop being so depressed and depressing, and then maybe I'll have more to write about.

XO

Why Hello There

Long time no type. Did you miss me?

It's been a hectic new year. But mostly I've just been lazy and rather lackadaisical about keeping up here. I've done a few things, but also spent a handful of time at home alone. With Adam being away for almost 3 weeks late night trips to the lake were cut down significantly. And by significantly I mean completely.

I've finished my quote-bombing at work. It was really fun for a time, almost two months, but I think it ran its natural course and it's done. I even got some cool replies from people. I could tell who it was so I can only wonder if they knew it was me. I'd like to take this chance to document all of the quotes I chose:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost

"All that we are is a result of what we have thought." - Buddha

"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else." - Albert Einstein

"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." - Napolean Bonaparte

"The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the merely impossible lacks." - Douglas Adams

"Politics determines who has the power, not who has the truth." - Paul Krugman

"A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value." - Isaac Asimov

"If one does not understand a person one tends to regard him as a fool." - Carl Jung

"When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced course of action you should take - choose the bolder." - Ezra Pound (have a drink and think again)

"When one has much to put into them, a day has a hundred pockets." - Nietzsche (hundred 42 - DA)

"With the possible exception of the equator, everything begins somewhere." - CS Lewis (But nothing everything ends somewhere.)

"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." - William Blake

"There is an eloquence in true enthusiam." - Edgar Allan Poe

"Few people can see genius in someone that has offended them." - Robertson Davies

"Being asked what kind of animal you'd like to be is a trick question; you already are one." - Douglas Coupland (but maybe not the animal you'd like to be)

"The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the sleeping world." - Leonard Cohen (otherwise known as the lazy people)

And that's that. It was fun while it lasted, but no more stealthy runs across the office in efforts to remain anonymous. I wanted to save up a good one for my contract ending but I just don't have it in me anymore. That's another thing, I might be done with this office come February. I'm pratically begging them to let me know either way. Today the permanent people got a bonus which just set me off. It was 4pm and I just wanted to pack up and leave. Like my efforts are not appreciated as much as the rest of my coworkers. Obviously some of them work on projects that are more advanced than I could handle, but I'm on the ground doing a lot of work with a lot of different custom applications. And when things go wrong I'm right in there troubleshooting with the higher ups, solutioning the seemingly impossible.

My landlord has been in and out of my apartment this week fixing my shower. A few days ago he did some soldering and left two windows open to air it out. My place was FREEZING. With the space heater running it hovered at 14C for about two hours before I finally gave up and turned the oven on and left it open. It's the poor man's furnace, except I'm sure it's not cheap. He did make some nice advances on the shower, except he said it was "fixed" and when I run the water to the showerhead the faucet leaks all the cold water and all I'm left with is scalding hot water. I quickly wet my hair trying to avoid getting burned, but it was too painful so I had to rinse the shampoo out under the faucet. That doesn't work well with long hair. Ugh.

Tomorrow morning Adam's coming over and I'm going to make french toast, with cut up fruit. A nice cheap alternative to Futures all-day-breakfast, except there's no way it could be as tasty, dang.

That's all she wrote.

Ho Ho Ho

Santa was very good to me this year. I am very hard to buy for because I hardly ever get anything for myself and I don't do well accepting presents. But my family did a bang up job this year.

I am sooo excited to be off work for two more days. It's been a long December and I'm glad 2010 is coming to a finish. I think all in all it's been a pretty great year. I had a fun summer, great family visits, and the forming of new late night coffee traditions. All of which I am extremely grateful for. I should probably set some goals for myself for 2011. Maybe I'll make a list. I find I do well with lists.

Last night was Sim's annual boxing day getogether. It was a most rad evening. I was a bit late cause I napped after I got home from 2 days with family. I love them, but I guess they wear me out. I jest, it's probably just because I spent the last night on the couch instead of in the bed downstairs. The couch is just more comfortable but it's still a couch. It's always phenomenal seeing everyone from high school back in the same room. And expected unpleasantries ended up being alright, at least for me they did >_<. Today I'm going to finish my current book, and I think do some cleaning up. I don't know where this mess comes from. I suppose with all the time I've been spending at home it adds up faster.

Peace & love.

We Got Our Backs To The Wall

This morning was another wake n bake morning for my neighbours downstairs. I'm surprised my landlord hasn't put the kibosh on that. I had an early start today, at least in weekend terms. I got up and put some laundry on and did most of my dishes. I followed that up with a full laundry fold and a full rearrangement of my bookshelf. They're in alphabetical order by author, which unfortunately looks atrocious but it will just have to do. I hung my grandma's Bali ink paintings, watched a movie, and finally got back on the stationary bike in my room, it had certainly been long enough. And now I'm going to grocery shop and send out some resumes. Not bad for a lazy Sunday.

It's been a crazy busy week for me, starting with Son's visit from the Loo. She crashed on Sunday. And then on Monday I drove to work with Adam and he borrowed my car during the day. Then I dropped him off downtown and met up with Son for dinner at Friendly Thai in the Junction. Great Chicken Pad Thai. Tuesday I dropped Son off in High Park and took an alternate route into work. Some numbnut couldn't wait 2 seconds for me to make contact with a stopped car and cut me off by taking a left turn from behind me. I leaned on the horn and started to curse like a sailor. It didn't help that my horn was frozen and made more of a mrraaahhh mrrrraahhh noise than a meeep meeep noise. Wednesday I went to see Brian who was in on a visit from Brooklyn. I saw a handful of people from res which was great. Thursday I went to Disgraceland with Son/Tanya/Jess & Christine. I'd never been before but it just another Bloor St indie dive bar, with a bit of an Elvis twist (deep fried mars bars). Following that I went to bid Adam/Matt/Ashley happy trails as they were to be departing for NYC the next day. I took a pass on joining them. It just wasn't the right time for my first trip to NYC. I would need at least 3 full days to get that full travel satiation feeling. Friday was my day off. Saturday was a party at Ed's, and today was today.

I wore a Christmas sweater to work in hopes of lightening the mood a little bit. Most people just avoided eye contact or gave me unsatisfied stares. It was a joke people, a fucking joke. It just reaffirms my belief that I don't belong in that office. I got two laughs from some close coworkers. One of them admitted to me that for a split second he questioned whether or not I was serious, but that second quickly passed. He said that between my halloween costume and my sweater I should be nominated for person of the year at my company. Too bad there is no such designation.

I found another response to a quote on Friday. I think I know who's writing them now. And I'm sure she knows that it's me writing the original ones, as hers is the only office I need to slip past to get into the Conference Room. And she is most often in her office while I unstealthly sneak past. It feels really satisfying that someone is responding to my break out from eternal staledom that permiates from the very soul of the office. The response this time was "42 - DA". And there is one very clear person that quotes Douglas Adams as frequently as possible so I'm being a super detective and putting 2 and 2 together. I am pretty smart. Fairly smart. Kind of smart....I'm not TOO dumb. It's going to be a busy holiday season. It's kind of the time of year that everyone comes out of the woodworks and says, "Hey, I still exist, how about you?"

Murry Crissmas everyone. And by everyone I mean my two and only loyal readers. <3

I've Got Troubles Enough

Adam and I were saved by a van full of TTC workers on Thursday night. In typical fashion we were enjoying a coffee down by lake. I guess normally either we don't stay that long or we don't leave the radio running. By the time it came to leave the battery was almost completely drained. It only adds irony to the situation that earlier we had been joking about knocking on windows, and now we were really going to have to do it. As soon as we got out of the car we saw another one pulling in, so Adam went up to him first. He made something up about his battery not being good, so there went that. Then he realized there was a TTC van sitting in the round about. The van turned out to be jammed full of young guys in TTC jackets, all very willing to help out. I attached the cables to my battery and the driver did his and in no time flat we were up and running. I'm not sure if I mentioned that I recently gave a random guy a jump. Luckily I wasn't alone otherwise him luring me to the back side of the George Brown parking lot might have been a bit frightening. When that happened I quickly declared I had no problem providing a jump as long as he did all the connecting. But this time I was fully confident in being able to connect at least my own cables. Soon after the jump all remaining cars had left the lot. We could have been stranded at Cherry Beach. I really need to renew my CAA membership!

Before Cherry Beach I went to Sheridan College with my mother to see a performance of The Drowsy Chaperone. I'm usually not terribly keen on musicals, but this one was very enjoyable. The musical itself apparently first launched at the Rivoli and then went onto the Fringe Festival and then went to Broadway. I was going to say it has a great Canadian sense of humour to it, but apparently the authors were English. I suppose both are dry.

Tea with my mom last week was nice. We sat and chatted for a while. Had some cut up melon with some amazing yogurt. Good times.

I slept in today, and then after waking up I moved to the living room and took a nap. I am well rested but feeling surprisingly sleepy. I'm just going to bum around the house today, do some light cleaning, laundry, etc. This is the first morning in two weeks that I've been able to sleep in and be lazy so I'm soaking it in.

And last thing - Simona sent me a great link the other day. I've sent my email, and I think it's a very worthy cause. http://action.davidsuzuki.org/C-311.

Chasing The Day Away

My mother is coming for a visit tomorrow. Nothing makes me clean like a visit from a parental unit. They haven't been to my place very often since I moved in and perhaps they are feeling a tinge of guilt. Part of me thinks they are checking up on me but I'm too old for that, I think. I have a lot more to do because the plan is for this place to be spotless. And on top of it all I need to do a grocery shopping. I'm definitely procrastinating. On the bright side - I found an umbrella! To think I came very close to purchasing a new one.

I went into work today. On Wednesday our manager asked us if we would be free for work on the weekend. ONLY the two contract employees (myself included) volunteered their time. It was nice to see people from all sorts of depts coming in to lend a hand. The entire product development team was there. Anyways. Hopefully crisis mode will be over soon.

After work I went out for a coffee with Adam down at Queen & Davenport. That neighbourhood always reminds me of the Queen West Man video. New look, new outlook. Sadly I'm unable to find a link, it's a goodie from almost 5 years ago. I thought everything was supposed to last on the internet forever? After Adam left I sat and read A Moveable Feast for a while. We are gearing up for a Long Book Read in January. Normally that would not warrant capital letters for all words, but at over 1000 pages Atlas Shrugged is going to be a feat worthy of title case. Adam's going to read War and Peace, and if either are any good we might switch. Maybe for Jan 2012.

I was going to put up my tree and decorate it, but the lights seem to be broken. I can't remember if that happened last year or if maybe that happened just now when I plugged it into the space heater outlet and shorted everything. Either way I have to decided what to do with it.

I should get back to it. Grocery shop, laundry fold, sweep, scrub, and then sleep.

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

I interviewed today for my own position, but permanent. I have to say it may have been my worst interview yet. I'm dumbfounded that there were questions that I was unable to answer. "Rate your knowledge of printers and what print stock is appropriate for each?" I'm sorry, is this an interview for the print room or project coordinator?? Right, thanks. I left the interview wanting to quit my job. I do have a sense that the questions were bullshit. I don't know the code for the SQL queries the data team uses. I ask them for data and I get it. I ask the print room to print, and I let them decide what the most appropriate machine is. I also had a few random bursts of inappropriateness that I would rather not get into. I need to find another job and fast. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I actually had a talk with my manager about a few of my projects that are going to be disseminated amongst the other PMs when I leave. My manager noted that there's still a chance that I could be renewed, and barely acknowledging the ridiculousness of that statement I said, "I'm not depending on it" and carried on with my thought. If they are going to treat me like I'm disposable I'm going to start acting like I am.

My culture slam experiment has been a complete failure. As far as I know there's no buzz in the office. As far as I can tell no one has even noticed or cares. I almost gave up tonight, but to cheer myself up I slipped into the conference room and wrote, "The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the improbable lacks. - Douglas Adams." Of course I quote it as DA so if anyone actually takes interest they have to investigate further to find out who it's by. I think if the Solutions Manager were to ever notice she'd probably piece that it's me that is always slyly slipping past her office and into the conference room only to emerge a minute later with an unnecessary smirk on my face.

I've had a busy week. Jak came over on the weekend and we drank whiskey and watched Netflix. The free month has ended and the landlord has not indicated that he's going to sign up. I might get my own free month in the meantime. On Monday Adam came over and we watched a movie and then headed down to our possible new hang out, the park just West of Lakeshore and Windermere. The legal turnaround on Lakeshore leads straight into the parking lot if you can manage to drive straight across. It's a nice stretch of lot that faces straight on to the lake, and if you're lucky enough to grab an early parking spot there's a nice view of the tower. And then I met up with a few friends at the Duke of York on Tuesday night. We had a few beers and good laughs. I missed out on a few earlier gatherings and I needed to make up for lost time, so that was good.

Adam and I actually made it back to the new park again tonight. I had high hopes to tackle a few projects around the house but I didn't get back in until about 9:30. I had to stop at the gas station at Bathurst and Dupont. They always have the best gas prices. Tonight it was like 105.9 which is more than 2c cheaper than every other station I passed on the way home. I think I may just buckle down and do some cleaning before I sleep. I want to set up my little xmas tree too. I'll have to take a picture once it's done.

Lastly, I spent Sunday reading and I finished up Gods Behaving Badly. It was "recommended" by an "amazing person who knows all these cool books." I spent the first 200 pages wondering where the heck the story was going, and the final 80 pages wishing for the swift arrival of the last page. I may have entered into that book with more than a slight bias against it, but I'm just reporting the facts.

I think I have sufficiently unloaded. C'est tout.

Good FOR You

I'd like to think I'm a fairly intelligent being. So it doesn't feel good to admit that I only last week realized my space heater had an oscillating option. It's not even hidden. It's a button on the face of the heater that says "Oscillation". Point: Honeywell.

I've taken on a new adventure at work. I have decided to culture slam them by leaving inspiring or thoughtful quotes on the whiteboards in the conference rooms. I started on Friday night, and almost wet myself while I scribbled out the following Frost quote - "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one last traveled by, and that has made all the difference." I strolled past the conference room this afternoon and was tickled pink to see that the other PLO material had been erased by my quote proudly remained at the top of the board. Maybe I'll put a new one up each Friday? It may be lame but I'm kind of excited.

The Eastern parking lot at Cherry Beach is officially closed for the season. Maybe they could take this opportunity to fix the horrendous pot holes that riddle the entire stretch of the lot. I doubt it, but it would be nice. Maybe it's time to find a new winter haunt, but it's hard to think of a new place. It's so peaceful at night, and fairly isolated. Plus it's just a stone's throw from the downtown core. It made me think of where I would have gone in Calgary and that's easy - Nose Hill. I wish we had a city hill that overlooked the entire city. It would probably be too congested to ever get a spot. Here I go already dreaming up traffic for a site that doesn't even exist.

I went to see my Great Aunt this weekend. I love her to pieces. She's so tiny and proper, but she has this wicked smirk that shows she also has a great sense of humour. I told her all about my trip East, and we talked about books, and just everything. I told her about my Halloween costume and she knew what I was talking about. Though she may not have found it as hilarious I did.

I'm about to start reading A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. Adam lent it to me. I want to expand my reading into the classics. I might do Steinbeck next. Onwards!

Woooof

I had a project this weekend that required me to be in our downtown office from 9am-5:30pm on Saturday and 9:30am-7:00pm on Sunday. I'm beat. I actually went to a silent auction with my mother on Saturday night, and followed that up with a trip down to Cherry beach with Adam. The MC at the silent auction was unbearable. After each time she opened her mouth I would turn to my mother in disgust and remark about how terrible she was. That didn't leave much time for rest, but I didn't want my entire weekend to be wasted.

Two of my coworkers and I took the subway home together. One headed to the West end, one to North York, and me to York. As soon as we all sat down I said, "This is where I pretend to ignore everyone else, so there will be no further talking." Funny thing, we all sat in silence until about St. George and the West ender left us. I made some small talk with the last guy. He was the team lead for our Data Specialist team. He should really be the manager but our company decided to eliminate middle management and put all of the pressure on team leads. I like his style so it was nice to spend a weekend getting to know him better. Him and my old manager are both pretty cool. What really upsets me about this weekend is that I probably won't get OT pay. The 18 hrs will be added to my clocked hours, and only when it goes over 88hrs will it turn into pay and a half. Eff that noise, and that is all I have to say about that.

It's been a pretty busy week. Between dinner at home, to coffee with an old friend, I've been busy. Adam came over on Wednesday and we watched a movie. It was nice. There was no spastic cat to lure with nimbly tapping fingers, but that's ok. We had another midweek night trip to Cherry beach. It's kind of where we go when we're not sure what to do. It's not too busy late at night. And it's extra nice in the Summer time when you can walk up and down the beach, maybe blind skip a rock or two.

I have a few places to add to my new things in Toronto list. Next time.

A Freckle on the Nose of Life's Complexion

I wonder what our world will be like when our generation is at the top of the demographic distribution triangle. Will we be toting that we were kids when the internet first became popularized, just as some might have bragged about the first automobiles? I wonder.

I went to see the Toronto Philharmonia play on Thursday night. A coworker's wife is in the orchestra and he scored us some tickets. He playfully mentioned on the ride down that it was a coy plan for him to score a free lift there, and I laughed as I said, "Don't think that didn't cross my mind." But he was of course joking. For someone that commutes into Mississauga from the Toronto East end, he's no stranger to public transit and wouldn't blink twice at finding his way to the Toronto Centre for the Arts. At any rate it was a great show. They have 7 performances this year, and in efforts to find a new conductor they are having a new one for each performance. Looking at some of the photos for the up and coming conductors I was surprised at how young they all were. And to think, if it's difficult to make it as a musician think about how much harder it is for a conductor. Not many orchestras around town. The second song featured this amazing classical guitarist Michael Kolk (in this video on the left: Youtube link).

As promised from earlier I have a photo to share with you. Adam so cleverly clipped this from the Sun several weeks ago. I laughed so hard the first time I saw it, and I laugh every time I see it. The actual article to match the photo was about disaster relief, which is no laughing matter, but that was just too brilliant. Like some sort of editor's Easter egg. I have a lot to do today so I should get to it. Right now I'm just trying to heat my place up to a tolerable heat so that when I step out of the shower I won't freeze. For the record I hate winter at this apartment. Summer (minus the scorchers) is so wonderful. At least I have a space heater now. Last year I waited until Christmas to get one, but I don't know how I survived the cold winter nights that were upon us then.

Autumn Time, and the Living is Easy

I have finally completed my ten new adventures in Toronto. Perhaps it took me longer than it should have, but falling into familiar routines is so easy. Futures, BMV, 7-11, Flip Toss & Thai, coffee at Cherry Beach, a movie from Blockbusters. It feels good to expand my horizons, and I'd like to keep this tradition going for my own sake. I want to know as much as I can about this fine city of ours.

I'll get straight to the point. Yesterday after work I met up with Adam at a Bakery at Dovercourt and Bloor called Nova Era. It's a part of a chain of Portuguese bakeries that spreads across the downtown. It's nice and clean with a delicious selection of baked goods. I had a delicious cream filled donut type thing and was very pleased with it. We just sat and chatted for a while before calling it. The only thing I didn't like was that you paid after you had eaten. Why not just charge me up front? Then I can leave when I need to and not have to worry about flagging someone down or forgetting to pay (not that I would, but everyone is human).

After that we headed to the Comedy Bar for my first time ever seeing a live sketch comedy performance. And also it was my first time at the Comedy Bar. It was a cute little venue with a bar and a small performance area. A friend of Adam's was on the ticket for the Toronto Sketch Fest that was kicking off that night. I cannot believe how funny they were. It's hard to explain it but the content was just hilarious and the execution was just phenomenal. The other two groups on the ticket were alright, but this one set in particular was head and shoulders and pretty much an entire torso above the rest.

Perhaps my next mission will be to get to know my neighbourhood better. I still haven't had Jamaican food and I'm pretty much surrounded by it.

Tonight was the second night in a row that I stayed at the office until 7pm. I'm so busy right now. It might start slowing down for me after mid-November but until then I have 3 major internal projects to prepare for. I'm also coming up on the end of my contract. It feels like just yesterday I switched departments but it's almost a year ago. I have just over 3 months left and then who knows. Maybe they'll extend maybe they won't. They have their priorities so I need to have my own as well.

Halloween 2010

I took the prize at my company this year for the Halloween costume contest. I had been planning this costume for months but only put my plan into action earlier this week. I actually didn't start sewing until 7pm last night after I got home. I went to see Adam at 8 and he helped me make up for lost time by doing one of the arms. That saved me so much time, plus I picked up a waaay faster stitch from him. I actually need to go over the costume again tomorrow and sew up some of the seems that are falling apart. The last time I did anything remotely exciting for Halloween was 5 years ago. And 30 minutes before leaving the house I exclaimed to my mother that I had nothing to wear so she leant me a pair of crutches and a head bandage and I went as a fight victim. But Inflatable Tube Woman still takes the cake.

I'm in the middle of a thing with Elections Ontario right now. If I can't prove my political donation to a friend's campaign was cashed within the campaign fundraiser period they are going to keep the money. I'm 99% certain I gave the cheque well in advance of the cut-off time. Even if I come back with the proof and nothing happens I'm going to my MPP and then I'm going to tell off Elections Ontario. And if I don't like their response I'm going to write a letter to the editor somewhere. B-S.

Weekend Update

I've been remembering a lot more dreams than normal lately. It's strange to wake up and have such a vivid recollection of another world that exists only in my mind. Hopefully this trend won't keep up.

This week got off to a really great start with two tickets to the Leafs/Islanders game. Sim and I had perfect timing with our meet up at Union, and after picking up some snacks that we successfully smuggled into the ACC we took our seats just in time for the national anthems. That's actually one of my favourite parts of any sporting event. The Leafs were in fine form, and if they keep that level of play up they just might make it into the playoffs this year. Their cup record is embarrassing, but more disappointing is the current trend of not even making it to round 1. It was a really close game. With about 3 minutes left we tied it up, but after getting a penalty in OT the Islanders managed an easy victory.

Wednesday was a nice chill games night at Sim's, followed by some drinks at the Fox and Fiddle with a couple of work mates. It's tough working in an office that doesn't really provide me with many friend opportunities. Not many people that live in the city, and even at that most people are married and not looking to hang out with the likes of me. So different from Calgary, but that's ok.

Friday night I went to a late showing of The Social Network with Adam. Our reaction was that it was an ok movie, but the hype is way too high. Maybe it would have been better if it was based on the official story of Mark Zuckerberg. It was definitely rental worthy, but not worth the trip out or the cost of movie ticket. Saturday was a slow day. I finished a book Nik loaned me. It was children's literature, but it was a nice change in pace from the last two 500 pagers I picked up lately. Next on my plate is a book by a Toronto local writer. I read another of his novels that was nominated for the Giller prize a few years back (A Perfect Night to go to China), so I'm looking to this early novel by David Gilmour - Back on Tuesday.

And then there was today. I did some clothes shopping, which I loathe. I picked up some material for my Halloween costume, but I think I might be a metre short. I hope not. And if the construction doesn't work out I'm not going to dress up at all. I was going to buy Nylon but it turns out it's $10 a yard so I went for a more affordable less authentic alternative material. We shall see how it works out. I'm catching up on my laundry and dishes and I'm getting ready to cook up some dinner. I have a photo I want to share, but maybe next time. Adam did some hilarious clipping from a Sun article from a few months ago. The image features Hazel McCallion and another volunteer (an older gentlemen) holding some water bottles and standing in a warehouse of disaster relief goods. The headline from the below article runs along the bottom of the photo and reads, "Scarborough doctors will focus on waterborne diseases." It's really a hoot when you see it.

Googaly Doogaly

I saw something really messed up last night. This kid was trying to get into the show at the Phoenix after the last band was going into their encore (I had stepped outside), and the bouncer was aggressively pushing him back. I understand that they protect the club but it was too much force. I was walking down the exit ramp as it happened and I thought he was going to push this kid into me. I got out just in time as the kid was thrown to the ground with such force that his shoe came off. Yet still he tried to get back up and insist that he had paid $20 and he just wanted to see the show. At this point there was a max of 3 encore song left before the show was over, he fight was fruitless. The kid finally starts to walk away, and I don't know why but as he's 30ft away from the entrance the bouncer walks down the ramp and walks up Sherbourne after him. I didn't see the entire altercation but I saw him pick him up by the scruff of his clothes and shout at him, "Are you scared now? Are you scared now??" And I'm pretty sure after that he pushed him down and walked back to his post. This kid was like maybe 22 and 120lbs at the most. Not a force to be reckoned with by any means, and this guy who was almost 3 times his size was just batting him around like a yarn ball. In the bouncer's defense I heard him repeat a few things the punk kid said. At one point he apparently threatened to stab the bouncer, and at another point he called him the n-word. Both being incredibly stupid and rude. But as soon as the kid had left the property and was no longer a threat to the surrounding patrons I think maybe you should leave your personal feelings aside and let it go. The show itself was fantastic. The Smashers always put on a great show. I think standing and watching music for 5 hours was a bit long, but I had missed my dinner and was cranky. I remember the days with Nik skanking in the pit at Lee's Palace. I should get back into shape so I could do that again.

It's going to be a low key day. I have a book I want to finish, and as always a bunch of cleaning to do, chores to finish, etc.

Lost in Transcendence

Let me just start by saying I do not appreciate being honked at to drive into the oncoming traffic lane to take a left turn. Just because the main street is backed up and everyone else is doing it doesn't mean I don't have the right as a driver to wait until I'm moderately perpendicular to the street in question before I decide to cross traffic. I also apologize to any passenger that is forced to witness my outrageous road rage.

The above incident aside, yesterday was a pretty great day. After a long hour commute home I met up with Adam and we went for pie at Wanda's Pie in the Sky. Probably the best part of the whole thing was being in Kensington. Other than that, I don't think I would ever pay that much money for a slice of coldly serve pie of an average to less than average size. Adam's piece on the other hand was massive, but possibly a fluke as they reached the end his selected pie and couldn't in good conscience serve it as two. I'm usually not underwhelmed by a place that comes so highly recommended, but...meh.

Afterwards we scooted down to Liberty Village to check out an art show I spotted online. It was basically just a small exposition for up and coming talent across Canada, the US, and the UK. Our night was American photographers. The small commercial area we were in was very cute. It was like walking through a hanger, covered ceiling and all, flanked with high end stores and art galleries. We almost missed the boat because I didn't write down the unit number but it wasn't too hard to find. The location was a squarish white room and there were about 6 sets of photos all with their own unique theme. Some were misses but most of them were hits. I especially enjoyed some of the candid shots with their clever titles. Then it was back to Adam's for a movie and an episode of Bored to Death. Great cast, great show. We also watched Lost in Translation the other night, which has shot back up into my all time desert island top 5.

This weekend I'll be spending three days with my family up North. I'm not looking forward to the first few hours before the heat from the space heaters kicks in, but if this weather keeps up maybe it will be alright. I found out my mom is going to butterfly the turkey so it won't take eons to cook. My only response was, "But mama.....the stuffing has to go inside the turkey." I'm pretty sure my childish pleas were willfully ignored.

Time for a quiet night in, accompanied by some clean up time. Al-right.

Monetary Mitosis

I've been rubbing two pennies together all night to see if I could witness the miracle of penny creation, but no such luck. My plans to reign in spending for the rest of 2010 have gotten off to a rough start. I have an especially large challenge since one of my paycheques this month will only be for half time. If I can get by on 75% pay then I know I'll be in a good spot when it goes back up to 100%. I've considered getting a second job, but perhaps I will wait until the new year to see how my cost saving plans work out.

Nuit Blanche was pretty fun. We got off to a late start, but I wouldn't have looked forward to the crowds for the first portion anyhow. Adam and I hit up Yonge & Bloor, and then traveled to Dundas Square and walked the main downtown core. Then back up to finish the night at Casa Loma. Surprisingly, the whole night took 4 hrs. I was put to shame by my colleague who lasted until 5:45am and yet started well before 6:00pm. Good for him. A lot of people have spoken negatively about the night, and perhaps I just don't have a good point of comparison, but I enjoyed myself. I am kicking myself for missing the human clock. We arrived at 4:15am and it wasn't back on until 5:00am so we left. A coworker says it was his favourite of the entire night. I also missed a self mourning experience just south of my house, out of pure laziness. I should have just walked down on my own at some point earlier on.

I finished the book Old City Hall last night. It was written by a top criminal lawyer in Toronto. I did enjoy the city references, which is one reason I picked it up in the first place. But overall it just wasn't my cup of tea. Ending several chapters with, "I can't believe I didn't think of that before, how could I have missed it?!" got annoying after a while. And with a constant multiple narrative running through out the entire book I was happy for it to be over. He also left the ending completely unresolved leaving multiple plausible explanations for how the murder could have happened. With 4-5 main characters all with rich character development, I often found myself flipping to the early chapters of the book to remind myself who was who. In the end it felt like a drawn out 400 page episode of Law and Order. I would suppose maybe mystery just isn't my genre but Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood is one of my favourite books, and it even has a cliffhanger ending. Perhaps because Alias Grace was based on a true story it resonates more with the reader.

As annoyed as I may sound, I feel the fruits of my frugality shall pay off in the near future. I've always had enough money to get by, but I want better for myself now.

Midnight Train to Toronto

It's good to be back in the city. While I was away I missed the comradery of my fellow partners in non-criminal activity. I've been pretty busy since my return, starting with a trip to Oakville, plus some house chilling, and a 90th birthday party in Aurora for the best Great Aunt ever.

Life is back to normal, nothing too exciting to report. I did happen upon Toronto adventure location #5 which is the Corned Beef House. After picking up some tickets at Rotate this I stopped in at Sim's place. We unwound for a bit and then took a walk down Adelaide towards the marvelous house of smoked meat known as the Corned Beef House, conveniently located directly across the street from Hooters. The sandwich was quite good, and for just under $10 (before tax) you get a massive sandwich and a beer. Not bad at all. Then it was back to her place to once again, with the help of Spence, save the planet from unnecessary viral death.

I have a few short term life goals that I need to write down. First and foremost, I'm going on a strict cash diet. Not literally cash only, but either bank ATM cash or my credit card. I've allotted a certain amount of money for bare bone necessities, and then I'm going to budget for $100 additional dollars. I'm not going to cut up my cards but I need to get serious about money. I spent twice as much as planned on my vacation, and as much as I enjoyed it I'm a little disappointed in myself. I need to start living within my means. At least now I'll have some free time to start getting through some of my books. Get it...free?! I'm sure there are plenty of websites to pick up delicious and "on the cheap" recipes. Hopefully I can keep it together for the next few months, be prepared to pay off the winter tires, and then move forward into a world of monetary planning and financial preparedness.

Goal number two is to train myself on meditating. I know I've mentioned that already but it has been on my mind a lot.

There are other such recurring goals such as keeping my apartment cleaner, and shaving off some of this ridiculous baby fat. They're obvious but worthy of mention.

I just found out yesterday that a friend of a friend is moving to London with no one to stay with and no immediate plans. They have a year long visa and they are taking 2 mos worth of money and a whack load of ambition. They just want to mix it up a little bit, and I'm very jealous. What am I even doing with my life? I'll add that to my list of things to meditate on.

It looks like it's going to be a low key and frugal winter, but hopefully fruitful in other ways.

Day 12: Arnprior ON - Cottage

KM Driven: ~480km
Location: The Cottage

Well, my adventure has officially come to an end. I didn't do anything too out of the ordinary today. I stopped into some towns to take pictures of the names to surprise an old friend with. Then in typical Julie fashion I missed my cut off and drove in the wrong direction for at least 40 minutes. Sigh. I stopped into a Foodland to pick up some food for tonight and tomorrow morning. I think if the weather stays as it is now I will leave tomorrow. I've considered a few ways to wrap this up and I think I will do the following. Below are some fast fact recap points:

Total number of provinces: 5
Total KMs driven: 5,971.1
Cities visited: 20
(Cornwall, Trois Rivieres, Edmundston, Fredericton, Moncton, Summerside, Cavendish, Charlottetown, Montague, Georgetown, New Glasgow, Halifax, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg, Miramichi, Bouctouche, Rimouski, Trois Pistoles, Arnprior, Eganville)
Sites visited: 16
(MontMorency Falls, Nackawic Axe, Bay of Fundy, Magnetic Hill, Bottle Houses, Alpaca Farm, Union Corner Park, PEI Provincial Park, Alexander Keiths Brewery, Pizza corner, Peggy's Cove, Citadel Hill, La Dune de Bouctouche, Pokeshaw Park Black Rock Park, Chutes A Picot, Pointe-Au-Pere)
Number of pages that flew out of the window: 2 - the contents of both being unknown.
Cheapest Night: Cornwall
Most Expensive Night: Halifax
Favourite Site: Peggy's Cove
Longest Day: 12 hrs on the road

And finally things I've learned:
1) Canada is more beautiful than can be put into words
2) Cruise control is an essential car feature for all road trips, and the e-brake is not
3) French is alive and well through out the entire East Coast. French is not a second language in NB it's a first.
4) Also, Acadian pride is alive and well in the East, especially in NB.

I thought I'd have more inspiring things to say but this is harder to wrap than I thought. Lived it, loved it, and I'd do it again in a heart beat.

Le Fin.