Thursday, November 30, 2006

ugh!

What a morning... I wake up late because I had difficulties falling asleep last night. I go to make Miranda's lunch and see that I forgot to bake the croissants I put out to thaw last night. I take Miranda to Jarod's house to wait for the bus and my car gets stuck in the snow mound from when they scraped the street. Jarod's dad comes out to help me out and I put down the window so we can talk. I get out and start driving away only to discover that my window will not go back up. Oh and did I mention it was snowing?

I call my daddy but he had no suggestions, aside from putting the car in a heated garage and hope that un-sticks it. I didn't know who to call next. I call Honda's roadside assistance to see if I was still covered (I have been fearing that it was only good for a year and expired this past August). Fortunately, I can stop worrying about that as I am covered until August 2008). So then I tell the guy my window is stuck. He said it would take a while for a tow truck to come and take the car to the dealership. I told him not to bother because I was already driving and the dealership is in the same general direction as I was driving.

I was told it would probably be at least 2 hours to get looked at, but I could wait in the customer lounge. The lounge was nice, tv on the sports channel, somewhat cozy chairs, but it was feezing (or rather, I was freezing from drving with the window all the way down). There was also a kitchen and you could purchase breakfast or lunch! Cereal, toast, grilled cheeese, and daily specials (today it was pyrogies for lunch). I had a Coke Zero and Raisin bread in my bag. Also, it was a good thing my ipod was recharged (yesterday morning I went to turn it on for my walk to the office and it was dead) and I had magazines in my car to read. So I sat and tried to keep myself from freaking out how much this was ging to cost me.

The Window: The service department tried oiling it first but that didn't rectify the problem, so the ended up replacing the run channel. I now have the window up (and it goes up and down just fine) and it didn't cost me a cent. fhew!

Once I got downtown I had to park further away than I normally do because the lot was so full. :( And my leg really hurts because I have a tight muscle from not stretching properly after running on Tuesday (which was aggravated because I ran again last night), and sitting and waiting for the car didn't make it any better. I imagine that walking 11 blocks (three of those through the snow) in high heels probably doesn't make it any better. The pain started off as a tightness in my ITB (iliotibial band) at my hip, and after last night's run the pain was extending down to my knee. I know it will be fine with a little rest, ice and stretching.

Of all days to have to stay late at work... this afternoon I promised Miranda I would get her right after work and we'd go to the school to visit the book fair. Now she's going to have to miss it, and I will have to come up with a way to make it up to her. In the end, this car problem is costing me in the long run. :(

22 more sleeps until I get on the lace for Phoenix.... :)

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Welcome to the deep freeze

Here is a look at what the weather was like today. It didn't get any warmer than this.
ps - check out the temperature with the wind chill brrrr!

Monday, November 27, 2006

Vanity

I like my hair in this picture, except for that little piece on my forehead that is out of place. I would photoshop it out but I can't be bothered. I wish I could just brush it out of the way!

The Bird

My latest school project - THE BIRD on my hand, posted on the gallery board below the blue house with the red door and the many rooms that I will one day live in...

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Nov 25

my horrorscope for yesterday:

All of your efforts pay off when you realize there's a whole new way to look at this situation. You may not understand what the point of all this work is, but you'll soon see that you were meant to be on this new path.

It works so much easier when I look at them in retrospect.

ha..ha..ha...haaaa

For Jenny's birthday we went to the Comic Strip in WEM. The guys made us laugh but were not hillarious. The funniest part was them cutting up this company Christmas party. They were a chainsaw manufacterer, Husqvarna. Anyway, you had to be there. The headline started off with a good joke, but we cannot remember what it was about, and then he ended strong. How lame, you can totally see through that one: have the audience remmeber laughing when you started and laughing when you finish. But his last joke was funny. He was making fun of people who talk baby talk to their dogs and turned it around to see how it would be if they spoke to people that way, like say to a cop of a girl in the bar. That was funny! We also got free tickets for another show because our seats weren't in the best spot.

After the show, everyone went home except for me and Daniel. We went to Moxie's for dinner and the insensitive bloke ordered a big boy Heineken (and then a Corona - big boys are 700mL). He did say that he considered not getting the Heineken but couldn't resist its great taste. I was drinking stripnotic and showgirl cocktails. Why do they give them such horrible names? I played wingman and helped the charming lad land the waitress's digits. haha! She initially thought that we were together and then thought it was a first date when Daniel questioned me being a vegetarian. She insisted that we were a couple. She is like 20, so that explains a lot.

After dinner, we met up with David at Fever. Holy crap was that place horrible! (David was there for a birthday celebration.) Very young crowd, girls with their Babyphat purses and Bebe tanks. The club, although non smoking, was constantly under the smoke of a fog machine. It hurt my eyes and my throat. We only stayed an hour before calling it a night.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Mmmmm... Pashmina!

I got a gift in the mail, a lovely Pashima/Silk scarf from Carolyn, a present from her trip to Italy! It is so soft and soooo warm! It is a light pink colour, with a rainbow of colours woven in with gold tinsel.

Pashima is also called the "diamond fiber" and "the soft gold of high Asia". It is the finest, softest and warmest wool known to mankind, coming from the underbelly of the Capra Hircus goats from the Himalayas.

Miranda got a wooden Pinocchio toy, one of those kind that you hold on to the head and pull a string at the bottom and the arms and legs move up and down.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Where I want to go!!!!

With this year's Christmas visit to Phoenix, I want to go to the Phoenix Art Museum!

Exhibits that will be there at the same time I will be there include, Fierce Reality: Italian Masters from 17th Century Naples, Modern by Nature: Ansel Adams in the 1930s, After Dark: 100 Years of the Evening Dress (this one should be fun!), Brilliant Abstraction: Orme Lewis Gifts in the New Orme Lewis Gallery, George Thiewes: Expanding the Sculptural Field.

Bummer that I will be there before the Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art: Treasures from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam exhibit arrives. :( They will have 14 works by Rembrandt! There is to be over 90 pieces in total! I could cry! *sob* I'm so sad I'll be missing out, as the exhibit is only going to 3 museums in the United States.

Mostly for no reason

In addition to Jennifer's birthday card, I made some other cards the past two evenings. One is for my Oma, who broke her hip and could use some cheering up. The other cards I made with no purpose in mind aside from something to do to occupy my time. I'm on my way to having a box of handmade cards and nothing to do with them. Perhaps I'll open up a card service: I'll write on the inside, adress the letter, and mail it to whomever your heart desires. Any requests? (my other cards)

(click for a larger view)

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

House 2

Another house made during my trip to mentor at the elementary school. Instead of putting it on the art board, I am keeping it at work. Truth be told, I would have put it up on the board (to show off haha! remember my house with a red door) but I only had time to colour it at the school. I cut it out and glued it together during one of my breaks at the office.

It was my mentee's birthday yesterday so I sent along a card with one of my co-workers, so I could wish her a happy birthday since I wouldn't be seeing her until today.

Grey

This morning the temperature was -17C, but with the windchill it was -24C. It snowed a few centimetres over night. By the light of the streetlamp, the snow was soft, flakey, and sparkling. It almost made me forget how cold I was. Another 2-4cm will fall before tomorrow morning, and it gets colder for the rest of the week. How many weeks until Spring?

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Happy Birthday, Jenn!

Today was Jennifer's birthday!


Yesterday, Michelle and I stayed late at work, blew up 2 dozen balloons and decorated Jenn's desk to surprise her when she arrived in the morning.


I didn't take very good pictures, because there was the whole other side of the pod that was decorated with balloon and streamers.


It was a "made with love" themed birthday surprise, as Michelle and I even handmade cards for the birthday girl. :)

David Carter

From the MAKEBELIEVE exhibit, my favourite was the collection by David Carter.

In Vanisher, I was at first confused why there was smoke on the top, smoke on the bottom, and then a smokeless space in between. I could not comprehend how that could be possible! I walked away, perplexed and annoyed. Then I studied Magic Box and I had a EUREKA moment! In Magic Box there are a series of glass plates which break the box into compartments. Combining the two, in Vanisher, the smokeless space is there the vanishee is hiding, as no one really vanishes, it is just an illusion. Also, upon closer inspection, the puffs of smoke are not from a continuous explosion, also emphasizing the creation process of an illusion.
Visually, my favourite piece was Sequel. I find it to be haunting and cold, but warm at the same time, which is strange because the body below is in a coffin, so really, it would not be warm at all.

Sequel follows a piece called Part 1. The full picture is the snowy scene with the severed head. What's neat about these pictures is that the images were created solely by make-up, staging, and set design: no digital manipulation of the images.


There was to be a 5th piece in this display, Presenting, but it was not out. I think someone knocked it over and broke it.

AGA


My trip to the Art Gallery of Alberta was quite nice! Actually, it was a lot of fun!!

I was pleased to see there were more than 5 pices in the Baroque Masterwoks exhibit: 13, in fact! from the National Art Gallery of Canada, and then a display of Baroque pieces that the University of Alberta has in its collection.

I was also surprised by the modern art exhibit that was there: MAKEBELIEVE. It featured Canadian artists, highlighting the mechanisms of distortion & the construction of illusions. I most enjoyed the pieces by David Carter (Vancouver). Until this visit, I never quite understood modern/contemporary art. Maybe I have gained a bit of clarity since turning 30, or perhaps having someone to discuss it with made it easier to understand. (I think it's the latter.) I finally figured out how to appreciate television as an art medium!

(top image: Milutin Gubash; bottom image: Myfanwy Macleod)

Monday, November 20, 2006

Kind Gestures

As a sweet gesture, someone gifted me a magazine (the November issue of Scientific American) but I didn't have the heart to say that I purchased the same issue a few days before! My copy (and the December issue of Psychology Today)got wet in my bag on Thursday, when the entire contents of a bottle of water emptied in my bag on my way to work. :(

Alas, the truth has a way of coming out and my soggy copy was discovered by the gift giver, and now the they are left with the challenge of finding a gift that I haven't purchased myself. The extra magazine was kept by the gift giver, who conincidentally also has an interest in science, and would willingly read it.

IE7

Reasons you shouldn't upgrade to IE7 and there's a Google ad to the right of the list, encouraging you to upgrade! heehee I hate it! It's slow and retarded and I am going to take it off my computer as soon as I can muster up the energy (and time) to deal with the mess that will probably ensue.
click image to enlarge

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Listening over & over & over & over

If you only do one thing this year, listen to Rusted Wheel by Silversun Pickups (they are from L.A. and are descibed as being a bit similar to the Smashing Pumpkins (minus Billy Corgan's often annoying voice, in my opinion)
A few months ago I heard the song Well Thought Out Twinkles, and I liked it! Well, I finally listened to the entire album Carnavas and since then I have been listening to Rusted Wheel over and over and over and over and over and over again. I also like Future Foe Scenarios and Little Lover's So Polite and Dream At Tempo 119. (EF - check the server)

Friday, November 17, 2006

Baroque Masterworks

I have been invited (well, I was planning on going earlier today but I put it off so we could go together) to The Art Gallery of Alberta (formerly the Edmonton Art Gallery) to see the a travelling display of the Baroque masterpieces currently in the permenant collection at the National Gallery of Canada (the country’s finest art museum). I'm so excited that some real art is coming to town! I think the only think I miss about living in Texas is visiting the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

The Art Gallery will be hosting an exhibition of 12 precious Baroque masterwork paintings from the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada by the likes of Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Nicholas Poussin. Baroque Masterworks from the National Gallery of Canada features Italian, French, Spanish, Dutch and Flemish paintings dating from 1600 to 1750 arising from different social, political and religious climates. As a result of their age, rarity and historical importance, paintings such as these seldom travel. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity for Canadians to see these national treasures.

Yay! Hopefully they will have more than 5 paintings. Gosh, am I cynical or what?

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Google Documents

I am writing in Google Documents. I read that I can post from here to my blog. I don't know if I will ever use this feature, but I thought I would at least test it out.

Hmmm... all this online stuff, really how secure is it? Can someone hack into the google servers and peek at my personal stuff. Probably. Nothing is safe any more.

Spying on the Quad

I was searching for webcams in Edmonton and I found one that peeks at the SW corner of the Quad on the University campus. (look, it's sunny today! yay! but still lots of snow)

click to spy for yourself!

everyone in the world

What is everyone in the world doing at the same time?
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GROWING OLDER

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

C.R.A.Z.Y.

I watched a French Canadian film called C.R.A.Z.Y. Patsy Cline's Song Crazy unserscores the film and the title is made up of the initials of the 5 boys in the story (Christian, Raymond, Antoine, Zachary, Yvan). Zac is the main character, having been born on Christmas Day 1960, and dropped on his head by his father. heehee oops! His monther believes he has a gift for healing. His father balks at the idea of his son who plays dress up with his mothers clothes and desired a doll carriage for a present. Anyway, it's a story about the family, and it was good.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

I don't get it

The roads are shit today and Churchill Square of all things is being plowed this morning! It's a city block of nothing. There are sidewalks all around the perimeter, why do they need to plowed the entire concrete square? Meanwhile, to cross the city streets you are stepping into 15-20cm (or more, depending on how much it has drifted) of snow.

Tomorrow the temperature is to go above zero, so the snow will be melting and the roads will be worse than today. Then, it will freeze again overnight and the following morning the roads will be horrendous, icy and icy rutts everywhere.

Nerd

So I'm sort of listed on the Hi5 website. I say sort of because I don't really do anything with it. I joined because I got an invite from Michelle and then totally forgot about it until Lorraine sent me an email to be added to her friends list. Then I filled in the personal information, uploaded a picture. Then Michelle slaps me with a NERD high-5.
Ok, so I'm a nerd! leave me alone. I'm gonna go read about viruses that hijack smartphones.

Monday, November 13, 2006

The Song Works!

"Post Punk Laptop Rapper", Mc Lars raps about Ahab and his hunt for Moby-Dick, and his video has him dancing with a bunch of children.
Call me Ahab, what, monomaniac Obsessed with success unlike Steve Wozniak On the hunt for this mammal that once took my leg With my warn down crew and my man Queequeg
Miranda loves the song, asked for me to put it on her MP3 player, and everytime it plays in the car, she asks me questions about the story of the captain and the whale. (What kind of whale, why did he chase the whale? did he think he could get he leg back? how big was the whale?) Today she asked me if there was a book we could read, or a movie we could watch about the story. (Next thing she'll be asking about is who is Steve Wozniak, and then she can learn about the invention of the Apple computer!)

She's six years old, and asking me to read her 19th century classical literature. My little brain-child :) The book is 700 pages long, but there is a children's version that is just over 100 pages, and hopefully I can track down a copy.
She was also asking if I had more songs about whales, so I told her about the song Captain Nemo by Sarah Brightman, a song about Captain Nemo from Jules Vern's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. She hasn't asked about that book yet, but I think I still have a copy of it in the basement.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

She Dances

Tap Class:

(Miranda is on the left)


(Miranda is in the middle)


Jazz Class:

(Miranda is on the left, pink leotard & black short pants)


(Miranda is on the left, pink leotard & black short pants)

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

I'm Dr. Pepper

You are Dr. Pepper. You are full of flavors.  You're not a real doctor.  You are often overlooked, but still hold your own.
Which Caffeinated Beverage are You?

House with a red door

The things I do during company time when I'm not at the office:
I build houses out of paper!

It is also posted on the Art Gallery board at the elementary school. I coloured an orange and purple house too, but I still have to cut it out and put it together. (Nov 1st)

I wonder what I will do today!

First up on the board

The things I do during company time when I'm not at the office:
I make a Harry Potter witch doll.It was one of the Halloween craft activities at the elementary school
that I mentor at on Wednesday afternoons, and my work of art was the first thing up on the art gallery board this year (Oct 11th).

Monday, November 06, 2006

Miss Witch

Yesterday there was a Halloween party at Sadie's house. Noemi promised her a Halloween party, but they were moving last weekend, so the party was delayed a week. In attendance were princesses, a witch, a butterfly, a couple of goth chicks, a super hero with a third eye, Woody (the sheriff from Toy Story) and like 15 children in all! Lots of noise! The children played inside, built little snowmen outside (I wish I took pictures, but I didn't see the snowpeople which looked like snow mounds since the snow wasn't sticky), played on the trampoline, swung in the tree swing, played music games and danced, ate pizza, built puzzles, and oh! baked muffins. Miranda was excited to be able to have green hair and black nails since we didn't actually have time to do that for her on October 31st.

click to see the photos :

My First 5km Race

Saturday morning I ran my first race. I was driving to the park at 9:30 and realised I hadn't even had so much as a drink of water before leaving the house. ooops! I had a few sips of water and 1/2 an almond granola bar en route.

It was the wind-up race for the Running Room fall clinics. It was at Rundle Park and they mapped out a new route to run. We started going cross country. It was about -6C, there was 2 inches of snow on the ground (it snowed the night before) and we were having to run on the grass. What a start! Once we were done on the grass, we had to run up hills, and then finally down hills and then up and down another hill.

Nicole and I finished in 00:32:31. Whoever said don't start in front because it's discouraging to see people passing you was probably a little wrong. We started in the middle and had slow people in front of us and it was hard to get around them on the narrow paths. Had we started at the front, we would have (1) been able to count how many people were ahead of us, and (2) we wouldn't have slow people in front of us!

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Night Owls

Ana had us over for dinner last night and Miranda and Miriam were up playing until 1:30 in the morning! Ana, Ramon and I were watching a movie (Hide & Seek) and had no idea about the time. Alex came back from Fort McMurray with a moose in the back of his truck. I took a peek at it when I was leaving. I thought about taking a picture, but there seemed to be something perverse about taking a photo of an animal carcass in the back of a truck.

click to see more photos of the girls

Miranda freaked out when she tried to make popcorn in the microwave and this happened. Ana said that it had happened before. It was pretty funny to walk into the kitchen and see the mess. The bag blew out on both ends.

Miranda cried when she had to go home, and was somewhat comforted by the fact that we arranged for a sleepover in two weeks.

What Every Child Needs

What is one thing I believe every child will be all the better for having? A best friend. Someone they can laugh with and fight with and cry with and brainstorm with and invent with and speak their mind without fear of judgment.

child one: Let's pretend we are witches and we have been best friends since college.
child two: No, since preschool.
child one: Ok.
child two: And let's pretend you are the rich one and I am the poor one, but we're still best friends and you help me when I need help.

And someone you can go to the hair salon with on Saturday and swap hair styles! Sadie wanted her hair straight and Miranda wanted curls.

Sweeter Than Candy

awwwwwwwwwwwww!


Airport hugs.

He left only a week ago! It seems like it was a lot longer ago.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Canadian Tire Photo Opp

Here we are, posing for the camera in the bathroom department at Canadian Tire.

The funny thing is, I think it's the best family photo we've taken together!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

I did it!

Ten weeks ago I started running in a 5km clinic and last night I finished, running 6km, in the dark and on snow and ice, in 38 minutes. Oh did I mention it was my first sub-zero run, a chilly -7C. I could have been faster, but we were running in a group and I couldn't extacly run off ahead. (With walking it was a 43 minutes and 6.3km trip.)

What I have learned about myself - I thought I was a woman who would be content to finish with the top 1/3 of the group, but discovered that I want to be finishing in the #1 spot.

School Photos

The proofs for Miranda's school photos have arrived.


Here is my school photo from grade 2. That was one of my favourite blouses, and vests were so cool! Oh the 80's...