The weather is still still strongly affecting things this week. Sang "It's too Darn Hot" in the bus shelter, while waiting for a bus that I have already missed, or is really, really late. Much too cold, and vehicles and buses have been breaking down mid-route. Decide amid the delirious singing that this is a good time to take some pictures since my eyelashes have frosted over and Malcolm obviously needs some pictures of snow.

Last night, little triumphs include finally, finally finishing Swann's Way (knowing that yes, there are more volumes, which I don't plan on starting any time soon). Also moved on to "cleaning" (removing magazines, once read of course).

Latest jems:
- More, which made me quite wish I was 40 (well... just less awkward), and
- Unlimited, which included an article on how to drink whiskey (so that I could fit into the old boys' club), along side of how to re-vamp thrift store finds into business casual (so cool!). Will have to keep an eye out on this one.

Juno

"Sometimes you can want something too much." ~ Dave

The crazy lyrics in the opening sequence had me giggling away. A good / strange start to the movie that's getting so much attention: Juno. I went to the Garneau to see it with Dave. I liked it alot. The dialogue was so witty that now when I look for memorable quotes on imbd I'm finding practically-half of the movie there. Though there was nothing that directly referenced the hamburger phone that I thought was brilliant.

After watching I can see how neither Pro-Life or Pro-Choice groups can fully agree whether the movie was in their favour.

Always been a little lost on the subject. I read someone's review on the movie recently and realised that pro-life and pro-choice need not been in direct opposition. One side only talks about giving a choice, and the choice doesn't have to be abortion (i.e. Pro-Choice does not equal Pro-Abortion). I think I can be happy with that. MacLean's asked an interesting question too: Suddenly Teen Pregnancy is cool?

Wondering if something's broken again to even go to a movie - but that's a whole issue entirely.

Another reason why the movie resonated with me: I have to believe the fairytale can be true too. Atleast most days.

Rethinking Pessimism

Feel I deserve a badge of honour for making it to work today. Other co-workers have called saying their cars won't start and they're not coming in. Well... there were transit issues from all the snow, but I still got here relatively on time. Ta-dah! And in minus 40 (with the windchill) weather, no less (yes, multiple pairs of pants have come into play).

Ah, well, it was a nice weekend after all. There was a very warm Feast where Rem made samosas. Got to meet Jenn's David (very quiet... I guess we are kind of scary in a group). Na posed for me and the camera. And we talked late into the night.

Ran some errands with Chris the next day and caught up on all that was going on. He has a new job! Yes, another one. We made a bread pudding in the microwave (during which Lana made a huge mess involving brown sugar.)

Revelations from the night: Lana is a pessimist.

Are you shocked like I was? Or did you recognise it right away? I'm re-thinking how maybe the most cheerful people I have come across may be the pessimists in life - they're not thinking that things will be better, but rather they happy that things aren't as bad as they could be (or had expected). And that the grumpy people are the poor optimists that have been tried and tried again, and are disappointed. So counter-intuitive to when people say "think positive and be happy".

Anyway, I'm probably getting my words mixed again. Time to brave the cold.

(Right: Chris actually plays the guitar.)

Surprise!

Sibley came through! Total craziness. I get a call from reception this afternoon, that I have a vistor. It's Sibley. He's looking a hunderd times better and he has my money. Wow. Definitely unexpected, and it feels good.


Catherine comes for a visit today too. Also a surprise. She had a bad day at work. I try to cheer her up while still keeping some semblance of working. In the end, she kept busy with a crossword puzzle and the library CD collection that had amassed on my desk. Right: The new photo for my wall - Catherine with Rufus does Judy at Carnegie Hall. I'm not making this up.

Jenn and Lana go to lunch

"You know, my brain feels like water today... other days it feels like french fries."

~ Overheard at the YA section of the Stanley Milner Library

I am in such a happy mood. Completely different from the weekend. This is probably because:

a) I'm drinking Zhena's Gypsy Tea in Lemon Jasmine, which is a little like drinking perfume... but a tasty one that makes me think of flowers and summer;

b) I passed the exam! On the dot! Yay for last minute scribbling that counts for marks!

c) Jenn came over for lunch.

I was so excited about this lunch date, that I did some cleaning. Not that Jenn (or anyone who's actually seen the office on a normal day) would have notice the subtley of some of the piles being neater than before, it still felt good to do.

And she arrives! "This is a very Lana-looking office." I take it as a compliment. And then she poses (with pipe wrenches!) for the wall. We escape the office, and proceeded to catch up. We talk and eat. She's happy. I'm glad. I return to the office really, really late. Nothing's exploded though. Back to work.

Then the balance sheet didn't balance.

Was so tired after writing the mid-term that I managed to pull "a Darren". It involved saying "Happy Christmas" rather than "Happy Birthday" to Uncle Gary when I showed up at his birthday dinner. Not that any one reacted... any one really listening? I really could have done being somewhere else - sleep would have been a good choice.

There was however a silver lining: I got to sit next to Celina during the dinner. We talked about the CD in her diskman (High School Musical II), and she told me about her musical. This was really neat. There is a roving band of edcuators out there who go to schools to help children create and perform their own musical in a matter of days. She described a simple plot with the Earth dying because of polluters. One of the characters she played was an angry tree.

I pulled out my book when she pulled out her Archie comics for Kevin (yes, this was a the dinner table - I should have said something, but really, no one was paying attention to us anyway), and started talking about Nassim Nicholas Taleb's The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. I was so impressed by some of the ideas, one of which I had interpreted as seeing things the way they truly are rather than what we expect them to be. Oh, and it elaborated on the elusive "Bleen and Grue". Celina was not impressed, and gave me another one of those strange looks. Which probably I deserved, she hasn't taken statistics yet, and maybe she sees things the way they are. (Not like Lana who looks for cypress trees by trying to match them to Van Gogh's paintings...) And it was so close to Tiffany Aching's First Sight and Second Thoughts (yes, Prachett does it again!)

With that out of the way, Celina does my MASH reading and devines that when I grow up I will be pretty and rich, but live in a swamp. Nice. I just need to grow up.

Parenting explained, and how to make Lana do things

"I think we're in violent agreement." ~ Bob

The Change Team's work is finally done! Faced with a crazy deadline (a week earlier than expected), we did our presentation of the draft report (Bob: So draft that the watermark says "raft" - now let's see if it'll float. *Lana inward groan*) early last week. Now it is agreed: we are done!

Bob and Will (consultants on the main project) wanted thank us for all our hard work, and so we (less Candice and Nancy) went out for dinner last night at New Asian Village. Hm... delicious. And I got carded! Oh, the excitement! I guess around a bunch of people who are married and have teenage kids, I do manage to look pretty young.

After a big - not yet released - annoucement that our recommendations were accepted with just minor changes, the topic of discussion turned to kids and parenting. I was amazed. There are some parents out there that are so calm, cool, and in control. I mirrored Kerri's sentiments: Marjorie and/or Will should put out a parenting book - we would definitely buy one. Will said that it would be a really big book (inches thick), but each page would just have one sentence in the middle: "Be the parent!" "All the other white space would be for notes", Marjorie chimed in. I would definitely have to take notes. Such as how not to flinch or become unhinged when kids don't do what they're told... oh, and creative punishment (Will: Hit them where it hurts [pretty sure that was figurative]) that was effective and legal.

Marjorie: You should go and get more naan bread.
Lana: Oh, did you want some? You can some of mine.
Marjorie: No. YOU. REALLY need more naan bread.

After a bit more of me being dense, Marjorie spelled it out: the naan bread guy is cute, and he was making eyes at me. Um... wasn't he just being nice?

Marjorie: If you don't go out there for more naan bread, smile your pretty smile at him and make eye contact, I'm going march you out there and start talking, "Are you single? My friend here's single..."

She was incredibly persuasive. Not causing a scene was more incentive than a bribe of all the bottle caps from all the imported beers at our table. So I went out there, sent by Marjorie for desserts after we've had enough naan, and time after time, thankfully, the guy wasn't there (Susan B was there to back me up). Though I have to say it would have been funny. A guy who would cook for me (not Dad) would be very nice.

In other news: Passport came by registered mail. One step closer to New York!

Play time

"Oh, crumbcake!" ~ Kelly, avoiding an expletive situation

Had another translation problem with Mom and Dad yesterday. The word in question was "play" (mostly as a noun). I couldn't quite grasp it. My easy non-definitive definition is: what is not work or rest, is play. Theirs seemed to be so much more complicated: Sports are play (Lana agrees), games are play (Lana agrees), hanging out with friends may or may not be play (... not understanding), watching a movie with or without friends is not play (disagree).

By the end (Lana throwing hands in air and deciding to go and study) I narrowed it down: things that are active are play, while passive things are not. I'm still not quite sure what part of my brain is missing that this is so difficult - I am not enjoying words at the moment. Am I imposing a lifestyle view on my definition (Lana really only has three states)... or is the Chinese word simply more specific? Dictionary.com gives me over 62 uses / definitions of the word... this is not an easy word. I am reminded that any word written (typed) enough times eventually looks wrong.

Also on the weekend: Dessert Party at Kelly's (that would be Dr. Kelly to you)! We converged for treats and more treats. Though Catherine had predicted cheesecake based on last year's turn out (three different varieties)- in fact there was none. The theme this year seemed to be cookies (Darren made crumbcake... which is not a cake) and pie... of the trivia (Genus 5) variety.

Who'd have thought we were such brilliant people - or that Phil Jackson did so many things?

The Dance Team - Kelly, Darren, Bernice and I, also known as the 4 Cha-Chas - was extremely bad in the arts category (we were definitely science-stacked). Team Romance (Kirsten, Catherine, Jenn, Malcolm) ended up winning over all. But this was not before lemmings, South Park, Scarface, Farley Mowat, astrology, and the Chocolate Festival had all made an appearance.

This all was definitely not work, nor was it rest (from all the laughing). It was a night. And it was called that. Many hugs later, home ward went Catherine and I.

Lovers, Haters, Cheaters, Bakers

The days are going a little bit faster with Scrabulous involved. Could this be an addiction? Laying down the tiles for "exposit" for 94 points was better than eating chocolate. Yes, this might be a problem. Especially since... Lana cheats. Ack! Now that Lana knows, she must try to be good.

Other revelations from last week's Friday Feast:

- Disfunctional and normal are not so far apart, or "Chinese families are strange". Chris relayed his dinner experience at a friend's home that was disturbing. Simon and Lana agreed that though it wasn't necessarily good, it all sounded pretty normal. Conclusion: Both friend and Lana should move out (but not necessarily together).

- Simon was collecting for a new camera for Lana. (Though the plan was abandonned - it was terribly sweet)

-Liam is heading out to Wales.

Darryl: So the secret to spinning a dreidel is -

Barry: No, you can't tell her unless she's part of the tribe.

Missed the turn-off to Nikki's housewarming. When I did get there, there were only traces of "The Stupid Little House" she had originally talked about. I put the green apple Jones Soda into a martini glass (very Star Trek I was told), and Nikki gave me the grand tour. I laughed at her discription of the original interior - as if three different woodcabins were pieced together (the woodcabin exterior still remains) - and was amazed at the transformation. Japanese chic and IKEA can go together!

Spent the next few hours munching on homemade maki rolls and chatting with a performance artist (who has a tattoo that bisects her body from front and back), an anime voice artist, and Darryl and Barry. The two are Jewish, and I was totally drawn in. It started with the dreidel - where do you find one? (I had Rem in mind) The answer: Chinatown. I had to smile: Aunt Quan's factory that produced Christmas ornaments year round might be producing dreidels as well. Then we talked about kosher. Not that I got any closer to understanding - but now at least I know the "margarine" I bought that was lactose-free, salt-free probably could have been salt-ful, and with lactose and still be kosher (and probably would have tasted much better). Nikki also told me she declared email bankrupcy at work and now feels a lot more free. I am not ready to take that step... but to think all those emails that aren't relevant any more can be all gone... hm... sweet.

"You went toboganning?! You got hurt trick or treating!" ~ Cindy

Cindy came to see the spectacle that is the girl who went tobagganing / sledding, even though she would get hurt doing simple activities (such as trick o' treating). I didn't disappoint. Somewhere between slidding down the hill as I tried to climb up (and thus needed to crawl) and hurling down the hill on one of Steph's orange plastic matts, I hurt my right arm. Phoo! And so, I am now a left-handed mouser. Maybe this will help develop complex neural pathways in my right brain that will make me brilliant! Or not. At least it was fun. And a beautiful day. Rem debuted his new look. And it was all followed up with dinner and nice hot drinks at Jenn's.

Three whole days of meeting-free productiveness. Oh, how sweet it is. Things are actually moving off my desk! Almost don't mind being back at work. Oh, and it's a short week. Added-added bonus - Lorena is back! Her left leg is wrapped in a robo-boot, and she's using crutches. But she's here. Not that I expect something bad to happen... but it's comforting to know there is someone to go to if things start falling apart.

In the facebook world: Lana has adopted a monkey (fluff) friend. Bonbon is currently a demoralized monkey. There, there, Bonbon. Just be glad you're not in the real world, where Lana just might forget to feed you.

Daisy is married! And the rest of my holiday.

On the 29th, went to the Hindu Temple to witness invoking of the god and goddess. Really not quite sure what to expect. Certainly not a white building in the middle of a commercial part of town. Stepped inside to find that the ceremony had already started - I quickly took off my shoes and joined my cousins sitting on the floor. On the raised stage were Daisy and Sunil with Sunil's parents and two officials. After each chant, Daisy and Sunil would pour or sprinkle something different into a bowl in the centre. The air smelled sweet of sandalwood and spices. (Right: Daisy's hands)

I was hoping for transcendence (something along the lines of Holy Cow), but before long, my mind started to wander. My eyes were drawn to the faux flowers, the statues (some of which were covered), and people's clothes - there were so many bright colours! And then, naturally, to socks. There were white ones, black ones, sheer ones, one with patterns, some with stripes, some with holes... I was wearing two that didn't match. *blush* I tried to hide my feet under me without flashing anyone. (Left: A poem in 5 acts)

The sky began to darken, and finally the ceremony reached a climax: the bowl of offerings was set on fire. There were hugs on the stage, and Daisy and Sunil took the micphone and thanked people for coming, and told us to stay for the dancing and dinner. That's when the trouble for me started.

Nancy didn't notice my socks. She did notice I didn't dress in a Chinese traditional dress, and she wasn't happy. In her mind we should have been showing some sort of Chinese united front and I messed it up. I fumed slightly, but held my tongue (brain thought: this is so ridiculous). Then came the questions: Where's your mom, dad, Angela, Patrick, Theresa, the kids...? I hated having to explain that they were at home, or en route to Edmonton - that they didn't come because of timing or because they felt like they wouldn't fit in. Nancy then says people get a bad impression of Chinese people because of such behaviour. Argh! Why does she have to make it such a racial / cultural thing? Can't it just be about a crazy branch of the family who's bad at RSVPing, not that adventurous, and or doesn't like to go out?

Ah, to heck with it. I was there for Daisy and Sunil, and to share this experience. I was not there to be an example. And I decided to just have fun.

The dancing was to start: Music with lots of drums started playing, and people lined up in two very long rows. Each person held sticks (some brightly coloured with bells, others just plain wood - called dandiyas) and stepped in time to the music. It was step, tap, step, tap, tap, step, turn, switch partners... or that's what it seemed like to me for the basic. Those who knew what they were doing were weaving back and forth with their partner and had much fancier footwork. I could hardly keep up to start with, but then the rhythm took hold. Two more groups formed and we all danced and danced. This was followed by homemade Indian food - all vegetarian. I tried a sauce called lemon-pickle, and collected a pocketful of glitter. And it was good.

The rest of my holiday was fairly quiet. Met up with Shauna and Catherine and we built Kinder Surprise toys at the Second Cup while catching up. Booked late, but managed to get a little time with Valerie on her visit - we sipped tea at Steeps and I got some details about her new beau! Angela and Patrick showed up for the weekend with a huge Playdoh set (knocking me out of favourite auntie position for a little while), and Daniel, a family friend's son from China who was in Calgary for high school. Together we ate many meals and attempted conversations that were half between Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. I figured he just needed a little kindness... especially around our nutty family. And maybe some magazines (National Geographic anyone?). Mom debuted a new dish - turkey gravy with tofu! - which I loved, but probably disgusted Daniel's Schezuan sensibilities.

New Year Eve itself was really quiet. Being sick, I had declined going to Calgary with Darren and Maria to Clarence's party. I called it an early night and slept. One consolation - I am getting better - just in time for work!