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.