Day One Hundred and Fifty-Three - A Hero Dressed In Green

I've been obsessed with ancient Rome since I was very small. I still love it and I frequently will make up excuses for any excesses and bad behaviours [kinda like my relationship with the Yankees]. However, I don't like many things associated with ancient Rome in this modern world, such as...okay, mainly the film Gladiator. Hate it so much. One thing I like very much is the HBO series Rome, which I only started watching 12 weeks ago due to obviously not having HBO. I love the lively credits and they feature another thing about ancient Rome that I love - mosaics [okay, mostly graffiti, but keep an eye out]. If I were in ancient Rome and had the means, I would have more grandiose mosaics than all the dormice in the city. It would be my number one priority. However, I'm not in ancient Rome and since I rent I can't really muck up the place with large-scale mosaics.

What I can do is make them on a smaller scale. Joseph has this neat thing [also from Japan] where you can create little pixellated characters from the Zelda videogames by using little Lite-Brite type things [that don't light up]. The Engrish instructions suggest "let's make dot characters and more yourself" so I made a mosaic. While watching Rome [super intense episode]. It is of Link holding the triforce aloft. I am very proud of myself and I think it looks really cool. I'm not sure what the ancient Romans would think, although Link does sport quite the fetching man dress.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Two - Quelle Puissance

On Friday Joseph and I went to Active Surplus on Queen West - which is a super ideal place for thing-a-dayers who have above-average creativity and technological know-how. I'm not crazy about the place since I don't have these things and, even though they got rid of the giant gorilla [which always seemed like it would have a guy inside of it...one day...and it would scare the crap out of me - even though this never happened, the threat was worse than reality] the whole place is filled with creepy weirdos and smells like a giant gorilla suit that's been left out in many Toronto seasons...for years. Thankfully, I was developing DeathCold 2008 @ the time so I don't think that I smelled too much. Joseph went because he wanted to buy some LED things to possibly fix our ailing VCR remote [didn't work], but I veer towards the crafty things @ Active Surplus as they are relatively non-threatening. I bought earring hooks [FYI - their googly eye selection is subpar].

Joseph's brother Greg lives in Japan and has brought us various cool little plastic things from Japan [and also these candies that were just solidified corn syrup that I ate a million of, even though they were kinda gross]. I am a big fan of Dragonball Z [okay, not so much these days, but historically I was a fan] and he brought me this keychain with one Goku and one Vegeta figure in fighting stances. They are pretty small and cute and too easily banged up hanging from my purse/keychain/backpack, so I put them in safekeeping. Until now when I made my own earrings. I had to use some pliers to open up the earring hooks, but this was easy enough. And now, perfectly cute earrings - it looks like they are fighting each other across my head! They are really light and comfortable, so I just might actually wear them - normally earrings are painful and cumbersome for me so I never wear them.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-One - Lights Out

Yup, me too. I know that a lot of thing-a-day bloggers did this one, and I wasn't sure that I was going to do it, but then I went and got sick and also took a bunch of Tylenol Extra Strength Nighttime pills @ 11am, and being barely awake @ 8pm, I almost had no choice for my thing de jour. So tonight I participated in Earth Hour. I turned out all the lights and also turned off electrical devices, such as my laptop and the TV. I think that was the point, but I'm not sure. I ended up playing my Nintendo DS for about 15 minutes [which I think might be not quite allow-able, but I'm not sure] before falling asleep again. When I woke up it was practically 10pm, so I guess I love the Earth doubly as much as everyone else. Please pass the Nobel Prize.

I must echo some other bloggers slight confusion over what exactly the point of all of this is. I think it has much more impact when you see whole cities dark - because very often office buildings and garish ads blare all night long [in this case very often means every night]. And that is pretty discusting, so really - bravo for turning them off for one hour. Problem solved. My carbon footprint is ridiculously small and honestly, if I didn't participate, the only difference would be that my laptop would have remained in sleep mode, I would have had one light on and maybe the TV/videogame console. I'm so sure that matters. I do resent average joes/janes like me feeling guilty over environmental concerns when big corporations are the real culprits and will ultimately be the real solution to various environmental woes. Unfortunately, with very few exceptions, none of them care and probably won't for a good long time.

Yes, I am a cheery ray of sunshine. You could power your home with my goodwill and positive energy. Of that I'm sure.

Day One Hundred and Fifty - The Thin Blue Line

[I haven't been updating due to the rarest of triple threats: 1. I'm sick [and it's gross]; 2. my internet keeps going out; 3. I'm even lazier than ever due to the first two points. The new things have been continuing and I will be updating slowly, but surely so check back often!]

In my life I have been fortunate enough to not be involved in too many crime scenes. By that I mean that I have been involved in zero crime scenes. I do watch a lot of true crime shows on TV, if that counts for anything. Well, tonight after a surprise dinner @ Juice For Life I found myself @ the scene of a crime. Of course, at the time we didn't really know it was a crime scene, just that the subways had stopped stopping @ Spadina station [and the passengers on the trains looked a bit confused as they zoomed by - I thought it might have been a "Speed" situation]. While attempting to do some investigative journalism on the situation we were ushered outside to the mysterious shuttle buses [which of course never showed up] and I crossed yellow police tape.

As it happens, people on the crime scene part of the yellow tape don't really know as much as one might think. We didn't know what happened until we got home and ventured on to the evil/stupid and poorly written CR24 website. Someone was shot in the leg, so nothing terribly exciting [although obviously unfortunate - but subways are rarely entirely shut down for jumpers so we thought it would be something much worse].

Day One Hundred and Forty-Nine - The Pursuit Of Happiness

Okay, I'm not the happiest camper in the whole...camp? In fact, I'm very cynical and negative and nihilistic. My blog does a pretty good job of masking a lot of that, though, which is intentional as I use it to boost me up a bit. The other day, a fellow thing-a-dayer, Colette, posted a list of 50 things that make her happy. So, in the interest of being a big copycat and as a personal challenge to myself, I made a list of 50 things that make me happy. In no particular order, here they are [if you read the whole thing I bet you probably have a pretty boring job]:

1. Ruffled chips with cream cheese dip

2. Blue cheese

3. Pizza done just the way I like it – thin crust, lots of zesty tomato sauce [lots of garlic and a bit spicy] and multiple cheeses

4. Maki with crunch that is wrapped with the seaweed on the inside

5. Noodles – big fat udon noodles, pho noodles, spaghetti noodles

6. Peanut butter and chocolate together – especially Quaker peanut butter granola bars dipped in peanut butter and Reese peanut butter cups

7. Popcorn sprinkled with parmesan cheese – this was an idea I got from DOOL where it was mentioned as a joke – it’s great, but don’t salt the popcorn or it will be too salty

8. Vegan chocolate cake @ Juice for Life

9. Crispy tofu in the Ninja bowl, also @ Juice for Life

10. Chocolate chip cookies – mainly the ones made from Amy Sedaris’ recipe and never ever eaten when freshly baked and warm

11. Soft cheese croissants

12. Coke Zero…by the bucketload – it is magic

13. Really good French fries with mayo – in Belgium

14. Chocolate waffles – with the fresh, warm chocolate – also in Belgium

15. Champagne

16. Miso soup with lots of bits of spring onion and seaweed

17. Pep – the candy bar, not the feeling

18. Email – you probably thought this was going to be 50 foods that make me happy – any kind of email – work email, personal email, forwards…I love it and I feel it’s going the way of the dodo as everyone uses instant messaging and Facebook

19. Comments on my blog – I think I’ve gotten maybe a dozen total, but it thrills me

20. Battlestar Galactica – this is only so far down because I’m hungry and feeling a
bit lonely

21. Late night TV – Jon, Stephen, Dave, Jimmy and Conan are all my favourites – I know that’s a lot of favourites…but it changes often

22. True crime shows and Bill Kurtis [he’s amazing]

23. TV that is kinda cheesy, but still watchable – examples include DOOL, classic TV shows [Wonder Years, Three’s Company, Dallas] and of course 90210

24. Bitchy, vampy TV characters who kick ass, take names and don’t give a damn – examples include Nicole on DOOL, Val on 90210, Starbuck on BSG

25. Baseball – I love watching it live, up in the cheap seats with overpriced beer and pizza, fries, hotdogs, etc. - but it’s also just fine to watch from the comfort of my sofa

26. Silence – I know, I’m old, but I just love quietness

27. When a good song comes on my nonPod and there is no one around and I can sing and air drum and make an idiot of myself

28. Egg McMuffins – without the weird piece of ham of course – McDo breakfast is such a guilty pleasure and leaves me feeling quite strange, but it’s even better if it’s a surprise breakfast

29. In fact, good surprises of any kind – I still think of my surprise birthday party as being the best ever and best holiday ever was the surprise trip to Italy – surprises don’t have to be so grand, but I’m always genuinely shocked that anyone cares enough about me

30. Really clever modern art – just being around art of most types makes me feel wonderful, but contemporary art is my favourite

31. My mum sending me $20 in the mail – it’s something that my dad used to do when I was in university, my mum now does it whenever I find myself unemployed or in school

32. Listening to classical music in the bathtub – a really hot bath

33. Surprising other people – like when I go out to the airport to meet someone, the time I bought the Wii [and hid it in the closet for a whole weekend], buying theatre tickets for my mum

34. Cooking something special – I like cooking everyday, but I love having a recipe, assembling the ingredients and ending up with some new, exciting dish

35. Grocery shopping

36. Playing board games/trivia games – but only if I win [and convincingly]

37. Being in an airplane – you can’t beat that feeling as you are powering down the runway and then you just stop being on the ground – every time it happens, it’s a marvel

38. Going out to a nice restaurant and lingering over everything – I know this can bother servers, but I tip well and I will only do this if the restaurant isn’t superbusy

39. A really nice espresso

40. My nose piercing – if I could put my hoop back in I would be in heaven

41. La Perroquet – my favourite restaurant in the world [it’s in Belgium]

42. Kitties! I love animals of all type, but kitties and monkeys/apes are my favourites – kitties win because primates don’t have an Lolcat equivalent

43. Photos of celebs without makeup/celebs with cellulite – not because of the schadenfreud [sp?] factor, but because it makes me feel infinitely better about myself

44. A really smooth ride on a roller coaster – this doesn’t happen much @ Wonderland, sadly

45. Finding clothes/shoes in my size [that don’t need to be altered] with the bare minimum of hassle

46. Boots – they give such attitude – either sexy, tight boots with a killer heel or clunky, I can kick your arse kind of combat boot – I even love my winter boots!

47. A big snowstorm – this is new for me as coming from the snowbelt I hated the snow for 6 months of the year thing, but now I like it because it takes away the pressure to leave the confines of one’s home

48. Lego Star Wars – this game made me actually kinda like the real Star Wars, plus I like playing with Joseph and I like the fact that you never really die – can’t wait for Lego Indiana Jones

49. The Bloor Cinema – often talked about, one of my favourite places in Toronto

50. The new announcements on TTC buses and streetcars – they are on the subways as well, however only the bus and streetcar ones make me feel like I’m in London on the Tube

Yes, lots of food things, which indicates my very complicated relationship with food. I think trying to cure emotional eating is very difficult - I mean, certain foods will trigger your brain's pleasure centres and it's damn tough to fight biology. I'm pleased with the list, but it's so self-serving and reflects my current lifestyle - I bet in 6 months I would come up with a totally different list!

Day One Hundred and Forty-Eight - Art Crawl

Today was quite the momentous day for me as I did my first paid work for an art institution - ever. And, I suppose that could qualify as my thing of the day as it is obviously highly extraordinary. However, the thing that I did was so cool that it really needs to stand alone. Today I visited 21 art galleries in one afternoon. True, I was doing nothing glamorous - I was delivering packages of brochures to various selected galleries along west Queen West [and I just pray that your gallery had been selected]. It was initially very heavy-going [I had 250 brochures in my backpack], but obviously got progressively easier. I find it very amusing that after all of my education and work experience I'm right back @ my first job ever - delivering papers of some sort. My mum would be so proud.

Mostly though, it was amazing fun. I realize that my standards for what qualifies as amazing fun are amazingly low. However, the winter has been going on since approximately forever and today was another of those teasing spring-is-on-its-way kinda days and honestly, without a solid reason to get outside I would instead stay inside and watch TV [because TV is not a fair-weather friend like the weather]. Also, it was fantastic to get to see all of the galleries like that. Speed art. Not all of the art is super fantastic, but more than what I would have thought. Additionally, I was super grateful that the population of both skeevy nutcases and hipster doofuses was quite low [although ever-present]. Mostly people were very nice to me and didn't make me feel like the sweaty, wind-blown dork that I was. I appreciate that.

Day One Hundred and Forty-Seven - Kotta-Hay Cheese?

As mentioned in my cornbread post, cottage cheese freaks me out. "It looks as though this cheese has already been eaten." Yes, that is quite an apt description. Here's what I know about cottage cheese - it is high in protein, low in fat, which makes it an ideal friend for dieters and weightlifters. It is some kinda dairy product. It looks really unpleasant. And sounds unpleasant as well when you dig into it. All squidgy. I do frequently use it in low-fat recipes, but mixed with a lot of things [it's a good companion for ricotta or marscapone or cream cheese - like a 50/50 mix]. I have not tried it on its own, although a former coworker used to go into the cafe and just eat spoonfuls of it out of the tub. I found this...curious.

I had quite a bit of cottage cheese left from the cornbread, so tonight I created a safe place for myself - cuddled in front of the TV, in the dark and actually kinda hungry and I ate cottage cheese out of its tub. What happened was - the horror, the horror. Okay - it wasn't *that* bad. I tried very hard to not smell it as I have a sensitive nose and thought it might smell of something. The sound - so squidgy, so wrong. I let the tub and contents warm slightly from our supercold fridge. The texture - really, really wrong. A lot. The taste? Very surprising. I think I thought it would taste like tofu...kinda like nothing. It doesn't. As the LolCats would say - it has a flavour. Kinda like cream cheese, but stronger. And then a bit watery. Although this was rather horrific, I managed to eat at least five big spoonfuls. Like I said, I was hungry.

Day One Hundred and Forty-Six - Alive With The Sound Of Music

Granted, the concept of having a "thing-a-day" blog is not one that is meant to be competitive. However, it's hard not to view things that way sometimes when other people are doing things much cooler than me. Truthfully, today was pretty crummy - my volunteering partner is leaving the museum, the VCR is busted, my internet was out all day - minor stuff I know, but still - too many flies in my ointment [and I'm sensitive]. So, while some days I go cool/bold things for the project - things like confidently speaking a foreign language, trying some new food, going somewhere new...there are other days when I do something less inventive like making myself sick on Shamrock Shakes, change a lightbulb or, like today when I watched The Hills. No, not the hot new episode, but an older, crummy episode.

This Extraordinary Thing [it really is out of the ordinary as I cut reality TV out of my life and I never plan to repeat this] was brought about my simple curiousity and extreme, extreme laziness [even for me - this was epically lazy]. The thing is - I know people who watch this show and I wanted to know what the fascination was - I have also seen many of the girls from The Hills on JKL and Letterman [yes, they were vapid and dim - but there had to be more, right?]. And the laziness? Okay, so I got home from the museum later than normal after a walk in the Annex and was feeling sad/tired and with the VCR being bust I watched an entire episode of DOOL, including all of the adverts...and then...I was just sitting here - too lazy to go take a nap or to even arrange the pillows/sweaters so I could nap on the sofa [which I was currently sitting on] and it was 30 minutes until American Justice. So, too lazy to fall asleep the remote control wandered up to good old channel 52 [MTV, which I never watch] and The Hills was starting. O-kay [it was a sign].

Dear god - it was frakking awful. Like...I can barely even speak on it. The girls all seem more vapid and dim than in their late-night appearances [props to Jimmy and Dave for pulling some conversation out of them], the guys were alternately skeezy/too preppy or like BOTH simultaneously. They all have money, jobs, friends, a committment to horrific grammar/language skills and perhaps most worringly - the respect/admiration of regular people. I don't...get it. With all of the backlash against reality TV, you would think that these chicks would be the first to go. But, no. Boggles the mind. Next time I will take that nap - TV, how dare you betray me?

Day One Hundred and Forty-Five - Greater Eggs-pectations

Every year for Easter I would get unreasonably excited [egg-sited!] about colouring the eggs. I say unreasonably because essentially all you are doing is putting some hard-cooked eggs into cups of food colouring, waiting a few minutes and then taking them out and maybe slapping a sticker on. It's really not *the* most thrilling fun. Sometimes I would use a wax pencil and write things on the eggs "invisibly", however this would invariably go wrong and end up saying "Happes yster" because I am none too precise. Also, my grandma would go mental with blue eggs [blue being her favourite colour] - she would cut you to get @ the blue dye and then because the blue dye is always the most powerful, there would be dozens of blue eggs.

This year I tried researching how to colour eggs naturally - like using food products. I remember my grandma doing this with onion skins and also something that made the eggs purple/red [I think either beets or red cabbage?]. I couldn't find any information, so I bought a kit. I also realized that mixing a bit of cooking oil into the dye would make the eggs more exciting. So today I made speckled Easter Eggs with glitter. Yay for glitter! It took me way back...all the way to the year 1999 when glitter was relevant. The speckling looks very cool [the oil does that] and makes them look more like bird or dinosaur eggs...so - eat up!

Day One Hundred and Forty-Four - The Story Of A Childhood

Today I went to the cinema and I saw Persepolis - and although the conditions were less than ideal [the theatre was beyond freezing being the main negative], it was a fascinating film. I had seen the writer/artist on The Colbert Report and had read a few reviews around the time of the Oscars, but I didn't know that much about it, though I'm a total sucker for a coming of age chick story told via graphic novel. If that's a genre, it's in my Top Five. In fact, it is how I would like to tell my own story, except that I have no artistic talent and I feel that cheapens things [also, I don't even need to say that this is a total hack move @ this point in cultural history].

A few points on Persepolis. I know nothing about Iran. I mean, I'm intelligent, I know what's going on [kinda]...but I know so little about certain histories/regions that it's quite shocking [I don't really think most people know more than me, so I'm not feeling extra stupid]. So, now I'm left with the desire just to type "Iran" into Wikipedia and see where that takes me. I'm simple. I guess others don't like Iran all that much as is evidenced by certain people's desire to bomb it and other people's desire to not give this film an Oscar [like I said, I'm simple].

On the Academy Award issue - Persepolis is only the second film to be nominated in this category with a PG-13 rating. Really. I feel like many people probably do feel that animated pictures are "G" and that those types of films are the ones that should be recognized. But when I think of animated films, I don't even really think of Disney/Pixar - it would be like when one thinks of "good" [Oscar-worthy, I mean] films as any sort of pap that appeals to the masses [I liked Starship Troopers as much as the next guy, but it shouldn't win Best Picture]. Does the story of a cartoon rat chef more deserving than the story of real people affected by war and revolution? I guess I can't judge [since I wasn't asked to by the Academy], but I do think that the animation was better and more magical in Persepolis. But again, I'm simple.

Day One Hundred and Forty-Three - A-maize-ing

I love chili. I have dozens of recipes for it and every one I've ever used has been delicious. It's so simple that you almost feel guilty about how good it tastes and smells. So normally, I just whip up a batch of chili and we eat it for dinner and then multiple lunches [well, mostly Joseph eats the lunches, I am just getting used to the idea of leftovers]. Done and done [and I mean done]. However, in my youth and travelling chili-tasting days of yore I came to enjoy many fine sidedishes for chili - my favourite being cornbread. I like cornbread so much that I would just eat it as a meal [I love bread of almost any kind, to be honest] - the Whole Foods stuff is particularly wondrous, though too spicy for me to eat avec chili.

So, I'm trying to make this whole "let's have traditional Easter chili thing" catch on [hey - it's vegetarian chili and you aren't supposed to eat meat today so it's kinda clever, no?] and I made a good batch o'chili in the slow cooker with lots of corn and in addition I made cornbread. Bread can rival chili for fantastic food smell, I will say that much. I was a bit skeptical with regards to the recipe, which required actual corn and cottage cheese [I can't be the only one terrified by cottage cheese, can I?] and I had to skip the green chiles as I tend to be violently allergic to some types of hot peppers. The end result was very rustic in appearance, but delicious and able for dunking.

Day One Hundred and Forty-Two - Sacri-licious

I've already talked a bit about my feelings on Easter, but to reiterate - they aren't terribly grand. When I was younger I would often go to church on Holy Thursday [that's today] with my friends, which was pretty unusual. Our church had this tradition of having the priest wash the feet of certain pre-selected church people. I think it was either largely or entirely comprised of people who were going to be confirmed that spring. I was entirely terrified that I would be selected. Looking back now, there is no way I would have been as I wasn't really churchy and my original confirmation name was rejected for...I dunno...being too hookery? But at the time, I was thirteen years old and I had enough of my own problems without worrying about putting my feet on display in front of a crowded church.

Anyway, I wasn't selected and therefore I've gone my whole life without a priest pedicure. Or any kind of pedicure [I don't like paying people to touch me]. I've also never been on the other end of things so tonight I washed someone else's feet. It made me feel really subservient, but I guess happy that I was doing something nice for someone, without expecting something in return. I used bath bubbles and bath salts and a citrus scrub...which I'm sure Jesus would have done too, if they were available to him. Instead he probably used myrrh because dang, that guy loved myrrh.

Day One Hundred and Forty-One - So Are The Days Of Our Lives

Yes, I am a big fan of Days of our Lives [and yes, it really is referred to as DOOL by its fans - the Friends were right about that]. Actually, I should say that I am a "fan" of DOOL. Because I really kinda hate the show. And 97% of the characters. And storylines. And acting/directing/hairstyles/technical stuff. And yet I watch it everyday - it is a comfort to me. When I see that hourglass, I know that things will be okay for the next hour [or 40 minutes if I've recorded it]. And, on hourglasses - I think they are neat. When I first met Joseph he had an hourglass and a feather quill in his residence room and I thought that was just the cat's ass. I'm...strange.

So - 9+ years down the road - we still have the hourglass [and quill], but it doesn't get much use...okay - ANY use. In the event that the end of the world is upon us and we have no other means to tell/mark time, an hourglass will come in handy [Joseph thinks the sun will be helpful for this, but what about at night? Or if the sun is blotted out due to climate change, thank you very much Al Gore?]. So, in preparation for that tonight I used an hourglass to time something. See - it's not really an HOURglass in the strictest sense of the word "hour" unless hour = about 16 minutes and 20 seconds. So I put on a clay facial mask thing and when I do that I don't wear my glasses and I can't see any clocks without a lot of squinting, therefore the hourglass was the ideal solution. My pores are so happy with the hourglass solution!

Day One Hundred and Forty - But They Are Not Yours They Are My Own

There is no real detailed explanation or anything too clever about this one. I saw it on Wikihow and realized that I have never done this [though my skills @ other forms of divination are known throughout the lands]. Also, under the "materials needed" section it listed just one thing and that one thing is attached to my wrist...so, laziness triumphs once more. That's right tonight I learned how to read palms. I did myself first and then Joseph, who seemed unusually willing to participate [sometimes I feel like I'm dragging him kicking and screaming into my Extraordinary Things].

The first thing to know is that palm reading is generally done to see where you have been, not really to determine where you are going. Also, since your hand changes over time [or in the case of Buster on AD is replaced with a hook] you can re-read your palm as time goes by. Sadly, I didn't really have a revealing experience. I learned the following about myself [Joseph's is a secret except to say that he has no fate line, which makes him the ultimate master of his domain]: I fall in love easily, I have experienced emotional trauma, I am creative and spontaneous, I have a short attention span, I am prone to emotional crisis, I am often faced with momentous decisions, I have plenty of energy and vitality, I am strong and enthusiastic and I am prone to changes in life from external forces. Hand shape is also important and from that I learned that: I am sociable, talkative and witty, I can be shallow, spiteful and cold, I am comfortable with the intangible and I do things in different and radical ways.

So really, I didn't learn anything new. I'm not quite sure what the purpose of reading one's past is - aside from a neat parlour trick. Joseph and I have very similar palms [but entirely different hands - I have creepy alien fingers], except that like Kara Thrace, I have a special destiny.

Day One Hundred and Thirty-Nine - The Innocent Words Of A Drunken Child

I'm a bit surprised by St. Patrick's Day each year. Even though I spent many years growing up believing that my ancestry was Irish [it's not, it's complicated - though I'm probably the most Canadian person ever] the fact that so many people celebrate this day is shocking. I know, it's a great excuse to be gone drinkin' - and let's face it, March sucks so you need this. But it really does have a whole marketing machine behind it - there are many possibilites when one is searching for just the right St. Patrick's Day crapola to purchase [my favourite is my shamrock doodlebop headpiece springy thing which I didn't wear today as it gives me a headache and I'm not sure the museum has that much of a sense of humour].

However, the main thing that one can purchase on St. Patrick's Day is green beer. I can't remember ever going out for green beer @ a pub [though really, I'm sure it happened and my lack of memory only tells me that it was the usual classy outing that frequently happened during university]. In some American city they even turn the water in a river green, which I think is neat. And now that I made my own green beer - I'm wondering if they do this with some gigantic dropper of food colouring? Okay, so the secret of turning beer green is DO NOT USE GREEN FOOD COLOURING. Ever. Beer #1 [which was Joseph's beer] I used green [and put it in after the beer, also not smart] and the colour ended up so sickly. Like, swamp water. That had been infected with cholera. Joseph still drank it. Beer #2 I dropped a single drop of blue food colouring into the glass, then poured the beer which turned a true Irish green [just like my eyes]. However, it was still difficult to drink - there is something about mucking with the colour of food/drink that makes it quite unappealing. Also, I've totally lost my drinking abilities and after a few sips I'm like - yeah, I'm good - I don't want to get a headache. See - not Irish.

[of course, I am kidding. conan would forgive me. his show was rocking the irish self-deprecation tonight with martha stewart - awesome!]

Day One Hundred and Thirty-Eight - They're Ba-ack!

I'm not sure how it entirely came about...but Joseph and I were talking about McDo and watching some adverts from the 70s for them...and then I found out that they used to have a mascot called Uncle O'Grimacey who showed up appropriately enough on St. Patrick's Day. I got to reminiscing about my love for Shamrock Shakes and Joseph says - oh, they are back @ this one McDo up north. I was disbelieving, although Wikipedia told me that the shakes were back @ selected McDos in Canada. We went out to the shops to get some random items [one of which will have me using a drill some time this week - yeah!] and were on our way back home when Joseph asked if we should bother checking our local McDo for Shamrock Shakes. Feeling optimistic, we went and were greatly rewarded as they had them! I got a Shamrock Shake!

Okay, they are obviously only available for a limited time and by the time anyone is reading this on Monday, this will be your last chance dance, friends. I cannot encourage you strongly enough to avail yourself of some fine milkshake product. If not for yourself, won't someone please think of the children? Right then. It was spectacular. For about an hour or so. And then...my stomach said "oh hell to the no" and I felt incredibly unwell. For a short period of time...but I think that Shamrock Shakes might be human Drano. All I remember is the March Breaks of my misspent youth when I would drink gallons of Shamrock Shakes [often mixed with booze - vodka was good, so was Creme de Menthe if you are looking to really supersize it] while watching the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament all day...I remember there was one player who would take a lot of penalty shots and Claire and I were not fond of him...but I can't remember specifics because clearly Shamrock Shakes are also roofies or something.

Also, even though this experience didn't end well, I'm totally getting another one tomorrow after the museum...I never learn.

Day One Hundred and Thirty-Seven - If The Shoe Fits...

Okay, so this is going to sound a bit bizarre as I have been volunteering there for seven weeks or so, but today I went to the Bata Shoe Museum as a visitor. Yeah, I haven't been to the shoe museum. Once I stuck my head into the Star Turns exhibit to check for the presence of Terry Fox's shoe and it was confirmed...but that was the end of that. So today Joseph and I were in the Annex as he needed a haircut and we wanted to go out in the sunshine...though apparently the sunshine didn't have much use for us as it went away as soon as we were ready to enjoy. So, we needed an inexpensive location to work up an appetite away from the elements and bam - there was the shoe museum.

I think the shoe museum gets a big of a bad rap...well, because it's the shoe museum [I'm sure the other gallery I volunteer @ gets a bad rap too because it's contemporary art and it's really easy to pile on the hate there]. However, it is really interesting and quite a unique view of the world, cultures, religion and history...through footwear. The Rococo exhibit was the most uninteresting, however I think that's partly because I have always disliked the Rococo period in art...so really - why would their shoes be any more enlightening? It was interesting that in the Rococo period women were thought to be the weaker/lesser sex in part because of their indulgence and love for fashion. I just found that to be a bit of irony...in the shoe museum. Also, men wore high heels to prove how awesome they were...HA!

Day One Hundred and Thirty-Six - Spring Break! Woo!

So, I might not have been able to go on a fabulous spring break holiday like my friend Claire and [later on this month] my mum - but in my own, fun-employed, financially responsible way, I can still celebrate this most important of seasons. In particular, the season where one shouts "spring break! woo!" and then flashes onself [not that I expect Claire or my mum to be doing this]. I experienced a bit of spring break on Monday @ the museum with all of the March Break activities, but that hardly counts [mostly because Boram - my fellow volunteer - and I weren't allowed a single undecorated cookie].

So today, after three days of food-related Extraordinary Things I decided to be extra clever and I wore a bikini all day. I'm sure that I have never done this, even in my summers spent @ the beach. I certainly have never done this under my winter clothes and through two outfit changes [like Britney Spears I go mental @ home and like to try on different outfits...but not wigs...yet]. I went out grocery shopping and I also went out for sushi. But mostly, I spent the whole day not unlike a dog with his collar on and leash out...just as he/she may think they are going for a walk, I spent the day just feeling like I was going to the beach. Not that I ever go to the beach and it's certainly not nearly warm enough. I'm mostly just delighted that a year and a bit later, my bikini still fits and it's still supercute.

Day One Hundred and Thirty-Five - Three-Peat

Okay - so a superfun 3-for-1 food-related Extraordinary Thing! Today I used leftovers to create a completely different meal. This is kinda a big thing for me since I do not eat leftovers. Unless it's pizza [and then I prefer it as a leftover] or udon. Joseph eats all of the leftovers. And preparing [on purpose] extra food for a second meal is all the rage on that cooking show that I hate, but tend to end up watching 10 minutes of it on a daily basis anyway, so I guess there is something to it.

What happened was - there was an unexpected large amount of filling left from the omelettes of Tuesday. A combination of Spanish onions, red bell peppers, celery and cannellini beans that had been sauteed in preparation for being part of the omelette extravaganza. I should have known better as the recipe is from an English cookbook and their vegetables are always smaller and I didn't account for that. So...what to do? I considered making more omelettes, but was lacking in eggs. And tonight I had to go out and, knowing Joseph would not prepare himself anything more complicated than pot noodles, I decided to transform the leftovers into a hearty soup - adding some diced tomatoes, vegetable stock and a dazzling array of herbs and spices. The result was so delicious that I ended up coming home and eating the leftover soup as well! It felt good to be all free-form and without recipe - and also to use up things that were contributing to clutter fridge.

Day One Hundred and Thirty-Four - An Acquired Taste

Okay, back to back food things - it makes me happy. I am already thinking about what I will do with this blog once the year is up [who am I kidding - I was thinking about this the day I started]...and perhaps something with food is not an entirely bad idea, although it neglects my other main interests: TV, American politics, art/architecture, baseball and hot celeb gossip. But, I digress [as I do]. Last week during my grocery shop I noticed that rapini was on sale. Normally I wouldn't purchase something like this in the grocery store [meaning a food that I hadn't already experienced - usually prepared in a restaurant], but our grocery store has a terrible selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, so whatever is on sale, that's usually what I buy.

Tonight I prepared and ate rapini. I have never had rapini before, although it's super fashionable right now. I thought I would like it as I heard it was bitter and a bit strange and generally, that's what I like [in people and in food]. I prepared it by blanching and then then lightly sautee-ing in a butter sauce. Although it shrunk up a lot [which I should have been expecting], it was very good and I look forward to having it again. You can tell that it is just chock-full of vitamins.

On a side note Joseph mentioned to me that I should be cautious in what I write here in case potential employers Google me. While it is unlikely they would find this, if they do - all I have to say is PLEASE GIVE ME A JOB...I'm awesome. And honestly, aside from toning my naughty words down, I don't give too much consideration to what I write. I'm vaguely aware that friends/family might be reading...but I figure they all know me and are probably expecting something much worse!

Day One Hundred and Thirty-Three - Let's Get Cracking

I do about 95% of the cooking @ home and that's the way I like it. I love cooking and find it relaxing and a rewarding creative outlet. However, there are three items that Joseph always cooks - eggs, mashed potatoes [which he hasn't done in years] and pancakes. While Joseph was in Belgium for two months last summer I learned myself [yes, that's right - I learned myself] how to make scrambled eggs. Delicious. I followed the example of Martha Stewart and she is not one to steer you wrong. But Joseph still makes the fried eggs as well as omelettes [which we have not had in years as well] - there is just something intimidating about them. Like, not knowing when they are done or splitting the eggs open or hard cooking them accidentally. And yeah, I was pretty embarassed when Gordon Ramsay was calling people out on Hell's Kitchen for not being able to fry an egg.

Well, I still can't fry an egg, but I have added something to my egg oeuvre as tonight I made omelettes. They were kinda Spanish omelettes as they had Spanish onions, red peppers, celery and beans. The experience was a bit scary as eggs cook so quickly, but then...not quickly enough. I got all antsy attempting to flip the omelettes in half, but it was mostly recoverable. They tasted very good, but were rather huge [and half of the filling will now have to be converted into soup] and I do think overcooked. I have a tendency to overcook meat [I think because I don't eat it] as I don't want to kill someone. Raw eggs are killer. Happily death by omelettes was averted this evening.

Day One Hundred and Thirty-Two - Hopping Down The Bunny Trail

Christmas and Easter are the two "big ones" when it comes to Christian celebrations and yet...no one really cares about Easter, though from my rememberings of a religious education it is actually the more important one. Even in a secular way, Easter gets overlooked, although of course there are lots of chocolate eggs and such [I always got toys because I didn't like chocolate when I was little - one year we were in Niagara Falls and I got a Finders Keyper and it was totally the best]. Both me and my Dad did not like Easter and found it to be completely depressing - it was springtime and you had many days off school, but then...you had to spend all of your time inside a dark church and not seeing your friends at all. We often went away to get away from this...

But I digress [as I do] - this year I decided to copy some Christmas traditions for Easter and tonight I wrote out Easter cards. I mean, I don't really celebrate xmas either [in a religious way], but I still send cards. So, why not for Easter [which I also don't celebrate beyond making myself sick on Easter Cream Eggs]? I am sending out half a dozen cards, which is like 80% less than my xmas card mail-outs, but the cards come in packs of six. Besides, this winter has been long and depressing [just me? okay] and I figure that people like to get mail. I know I do.

Day One Hundred and Thirty-One - Judge and Jury

Having a Wii opens you up to this whole community beyond actually playing videogames. There is the weather channel and shopping and the place where you can post your Miis. I normally don't like it when Joseph posts the Miis [he always makes them - I haven't the patience to work with their limited options, while he is quite the Mii artiste] as I don't like people stealing them. They are always running these contests where you enter based on a theme - sometimes it's specific like a Nintendo-owned character or someone from history like Abraham Lincoln - and sometimes it's more generic like "baddest bully" or "a nice witch" - probably due to copyright issues. Then you can judge all of the entries and then you are judged as to how good you are @ judging - distance from public opinion and everything. Joseph has quite a good eye for Miis, so I let him handle this as I do not have the patience for it.

Well, Sundays are tricky business. One might think it's a great time to do some really great or creative Extraordinary Thing. More frequently it's a great time to sleep too much [springing forward sucks!], be lazy and concentrate on not cultivating a migraine [also - two hours of BSG]. So, if you'll notice - my Sunday ETs kinda suck and today is no exception as today I judged a Mii contest. The theme was - the ultimate reggae star - which I took to mean Bob Marley because I guess they can't say Bob Marley. Also, aside from the Don't Worry Be Happy guy [Bobby McFerrin!] that is the only reggae guy I know. Okay, and Shaggy, but he doesn't count [he counts less than Don't Worry Be Happy]. I did the judging all on my own and took a solid 20 minutes to do so. I hope that my choices live up to Joseph's high standards of spotting excellent Miis. I think most people kinda went with more of a George Clinton funk-ay kinda vibe and I think my choices reflect that. I know have to wait several days for the results.

Day One Hundred and Thirty - Chutney Butt

My taste in Indian food runs towards the pretty vanilla side of things, I will admit. I like samosas and pakoras and naan and I always, always, always order the saag paneer when we have Indian food. I'm not a big fan of curry in general - it smells like a migraine [trust me on this] and I just don't like the flavour that much when just applied in a sauce for vegetables over rice. I like the predictability of ordering saag paneer and since we so rarely go for Indian food in Toronto it's totally justifiable.

Today is International Women's Day and, yknow - a woman's place really is in the home, specifically the kitchen, so I thought I would spend some quality time there. Because I can't really afford to be going out for restaurant food, I decided to create some @ home [and since the Pad Thai experiment went well] and I made saag paneer. Unfortunately, it was not saag paneer. Yes, it involved spinach and some sort of cheese-like substance [that sounds more gross than reality], but it just wasn't the same. It tasted okay and everything [again with tofu being strangely good], but it was not saag paneer. Even worse, now I really want real saag paneer.

Day One Hundred and Twenty-Nine - Casual Gamer

Okay, so Joseph likes to throw the words "casual gamer" in my face in a half-joking, half-you-are-not-awesome-enough-to-play-the-videogames-of-a-true-gamer-like-me kinda way. I hear all of the arguments against casual gamers and I do agree - fully. That they are killing many good games with their love of sports games and fun/I've got 15 minutes to spare games. Both the Wii and the DS are good examples of this. And yet - I do shamefully love both of these systems. But I do make an effort to support cool, innovative games and smaller studios by like...watching Joseph play these games [it's kinda like how sometimes indie music like su-ucks, but you have to pretend to like it anyways because your whole world would collapse around you if you just admitted that you were instead grooving to the new Britney Spears track] and encouraging him to buy them [and unlike sucky indie music, cool games are fun and clever].

Joseph and I ended up in the videogame section @ Zellers tonight [hot Friday night action!] - after I literally tracked him there by following his bootprints in the snow. I noticed that they had an area set up with a PSP and to my surprise, it was actually working [they usually aren't]. Some punk kid had busted the control stick [I'm assuming - this is what punk kids do], but it was still functional so I played a game on a PSP. Okay, so it only lasted a few minutes before the car my character was driving exploded really apocalyptically, but I did get to shoot bad guys right in the face, so that's something [also, explosions are cool]. The graphics were really sharp - I am a total graphics ho, which also makes me a bad gamer. I think I would consider buying a PSP if I could find an inexpensive one and if there were any decent games. Still, it's not as cute as my red DS - electronics in red are automatically the best [yes, this is being written on my red laptop].

Day One Hundred and Twenty-Eight - Respect My Authority!

I have been going to museums and galleries for about ten years now [I'm only counting the past ten years as before that I can guarantee you I really wasn't paying attention] and I am continually fascinated with other spectators. Whenever I got the chance in university I would write an essay on the role of the beholder in art and I'm still very into that. The experience is a bit different when you are on the other side of things - as I am now @ two art institutions [just because I don't get paid doesn't mean I'm not working]. As someone who works there you are not quite a beholder...or at least you are in a different category - one that up until now I've never given much thought to.

One aspect I've always been very aware of is the security forces @ work in museums/galleries. They always wear dark colours and attempt to be unseen [though with the stark walls of like 85% of galleries, this is a bit counterproductive]. It seems that in Canada they are extra vigilant, even though the art is generally not as renowned. Tonight I got to join their illustrious ranks as I served as security personnel in an art gallery. I was "securing" just one piece - a new sculpture by Simon Starling, commissioned by The Power Plant. The sculpture has a lot of rust and also mussels on it as a result of being submerged in Lake Ontario for some time. I was warned that people would try to smell it and there were no ropes or string things [like the AGO had] to block people from getting up close and personal. Why you would want to smell rotting mussels is really beyond me. Unfortunately I didn't get to tell anyone to back away/stop smelling the art - though people did get quite close. People also looked at me. I think maybe that the security people are an important part of the beholders experience.

Day One Hundred and Twenty-Seven - Those Were The Days

I like to think of myself as being pretty pop culture savvy and something of an it-getter. I'm not a hipster or anything, but I know what's happening. And why. Well, invariably when one reads lists such as "best TV shows of all time" or "best TV characters of all time" there is always one that is at/near the top [just like how you can bet on Nirvana/Nevermind topping 90s lists]. That would be All In The Family. And, I have to admit - I just don't get it. Call me painfully stupid or say that I just don't get it or that I don't know from satire - whatever. To be honest, I've never watched this show and it wasn't on in my house when I was growing up. As you know though, I do have a rather slave-ish devotion to television and most of my favourites are older programmes.

So today I was @ TWoP reading a semi-humourous take on how racism has been presented on TV through the years and the author sited four different examples - one being All In The Family. It made me curious enough to give the show a chance and I watched All In The Family. I watched most of one episode [the Sammy Davis Jr. one - which has the longest sustained audience laugh ever recorded apparently] and then five-minute clips of a few other episodes. Yeah. I still don't get it. I mean, okay - I am aware of satire...but there is still something so unpleasant about this show and ALL of the characters. And yet, it's so beloved. Archie Bunker was apparently the inspiration for Eric Cartman [who I think - when well-written he is a complex, completely hate-able, yet vulnerable character - though in general South Park should also stay away from satire]. While I will admit that the writing/pacing was quick and snappy - it fails to really develop the characters into people you want to care about [and given their gigantic flaws, you need to work hard @ this]. Also, the live studio audience is so intrusive and makes it seem hacky [though this could be because it has been now done to death, literally - sitcoms don't use this anymore].

So, in short - I still feel pretty stupid about not getting this show. I still hate it, but now I know why [even if I'm kinda alone in this]. When it comes to TV born in the 70s give me Three's Company and WKRP in Cincinnati!

Day One Hundred and Twenty-Six - Pinus Thunbergii

For Christmas 2006 Joseph and I got the gift of bonsai from my cousins who live in Alberta. They tend to send us somewhat unusual things which end up suiting our personalities quite well [everyone in the family - not just us]. This is quite the talent as they have always lived in Alberta and we have actually met only a couple of times and don't really communicate that much otherwise [though I do Facebook with Kercelyn who is now an adult which is just strange and makes me feel positively ancient]. So, anyway - we have this bonsai, except that it's not a bonsai yet - it is just all of the stuff necessary to grow one. I had not attempted to grow it - not because I don't like it - but because I was preoccupied with our garden @ our old house and I don't have the greatest track record of indoor plants - outdoor is wonderful and plentiful...indoors I am like the angel of death.

However, while it's not at all spring here and we are currently having yet another storm, I know that I will miss gardening. So, in anticipation of warmer weather tonight I began germinating my bonsai tree. I don't think I've germinated seeds since I was in Brownies or Girl Guides, but in general growing things gives me some grand sense of accomplishment. I got Joseph to punch the holes in the plastic container as me + sharp object + stabbing motion = self-injury. A lot. Then I lightly covered the bonsai seeds with their soil and misted the soil - so as to lightly moisten it, but not to render it soggy. This is all very complicated, which I suppose is kinda the point of bonsai. I'm optimistic that the seeds will sprout and then they can be transferred into their fancy container and then the true art of bonsai can begin...in like three years. Bonsai is the art of patience apparently...which is so very appropriate for me.

Day One Hundred and Twenty-Five - Bonjour!

It seems a bit unbelievable right now, but at one point in my life and for an extended period of time I did speak, read, and write French. Without any sort of hesitation or anything - I had taken French for 15 years and I was so confident in it that I didn't think about it at all. Oh - how the times have changed. By the time I had my first trip to Belgium, my French was pretty reeky. I have been considering taking some courses in conversation as that is my main area of terrible-ness - I am still pretty okay @ the reading of French and maybe writing, although my conjugating is not pretty. Unfortunately, the courses aren't being offered right now when I've got all my free time. So sometimes I practice by watching the French CBC and reading the daily French videogame newsletter over Joseph's shoulder [yes, the French have a lot of time for videogames and a lot of news about it].

However, as Canada is officially bilingual, there are French people around and working @ a tourist destination I am bound to see them every so often [even though we have nothing to offer them in French]. And my severely limited French capabilities designate me as the French-speaking person [high-larious]. So today I had an entire conversation in French with a museum patron. The woman just came @ us with full-on French and no attempt to speak English. I was surprisingly not intimidated or nervous and I didn't use any English. I was able to give her information about the museum, inquire about the ages of her children, tell her how long a visit typically lasts, tell her the cost of admission as well as other pleasantries. I was kinda proud of myself.

Day One Hundred and Twenty-Five - Ancient Chinese Recipe

Okay. So I'm still somewhat fascinated by how fortune cookies are made. I almost don't even want to know. I mean - I figure, I'm an extremely jaded 29 year old - I need some mystery in my life, some whimsy. To clarify, what I don't understand is how they get the fortunes inside. Also, I don't know what they are made of, but maybe I wouldn't mind knowing that. However, one of the other mysteries of fortune cookies was what those numbers were for. To be honest, I had either not noticed them or my Chinese food outlets are using cut-rate cookies and they didn't have the numbers. Apparently, the numbers are for playing the lottery!

So, I haven't had the greatest luck in playing the lottery [I am still without a giraffe or entry into Rory's millionaire club], so today I decided to look to the cookie and trust in the cookie and I played the fortune cookie numbers in the lottery. I figure that the universe owes me for that crappy meal I had on Thursday - so perhaps $10 is not a bad investment if I hit the bigtime on Wednesday evening. They are definitely numbers I would not have selected.

Day One Hundred and Twenty-Four - Art Infestation

As previously noted, I am a volunteer @ The Power Plant, which is a Toronto gallery for contemporary art. As they have no permanent collection, they are home to a series of installations and also closings in between these programmes. Last night marked the premiere of their spring installation, featuring works from British artist [and Turner prize winner] Simon Starling and American artist Sadie Benning [she co-founded the band Le Tigre as well]. I will be volunteering @ the museum later this week and today I got a private tour of an art gallery.

I am a shameless fan of modern art, so I don't think my opinion counts for much. I admit - I used to be far more critical. Now I just wander about galleries and say "brilliant!" Okay, maybe I'm not that forgiving. This exhibition is really fantastic though and admission is very reasonable, so I am encouraging people to go. Starling is quite accessible [for contemporary art] and his works are fun to look @ with a bit of the cheekiness that is traditionally associated with young British artists. I didn't get to see the whole of Benning's film, but overall I'm not a huge fan of video art - I can't judge her work though...hopefully I will see it before the exhibition ends [which is in May so I have no excuse]. The whole space is quite something to take in and if you've never been and you live in the city I can safely say that you are missing out.