WTF, Q & V

Was that, "It's Not Unusual" put to a samba beat?  Maybe it was just too early and my brain was playing tricks on me.  But then later, I swear I heard a Christina Aguilera song as a quickstep and then Alicia Keys' "Fallin'" done as a Viennese Waltz. 


Anyway, along with some very interesting costumes and great dancing, this was another fairly successful year for the Northern Lights Classic. 

It was fun to see the new group of competitive dancers and catch up with some of the old (TA) group.  Eventhough I have been dancing, the competitive scene is so separate that much of it was a surprise.

Alice (no longer competing) now does competition makeup.  Ryan (Pib) volunteers as a marshaller during the day (and humours me with a social dance).  Linda and Clarice continue to dance, but with new partners I've never met before.

The little diva, Mishel, is the crowd darling. 

Dominic (judging again this year) played with his son backstage.

I volunteered for the evening show and was given an extra treat at the Latin Championship awards: Mayor Stephen Mandel and Mrs. Mandel were guest presenters!  How did they manage that?! 

Mayor Mandel did a small twirl on the floor and said a few words before handing over the trophy.  It was definitely an unexpected, but nice cap to the night. 

More photos here.

Clip of Diana Lemeshko and Mario Acosta-Cervallo's Rumba in the second day's winners showcase (unfortunately cut short when memory card ran out).

Shapeshifted and Worth Spreading

We were tired, but ready. There were the opening remarks and then some delicious little treats. 

"Ish-ish-ISH!" 

The music played as we milled through the huge crowd at the AGA's latest exhibit opening party.  Finally, we elbowed our way to the third floor to see it gutted of walls.  The huge space created was to fit the Brian Jungen exhibit.

Two huge sculptures made of white plastic chairs (Shapeshifter and Cetology) hung from the ceiling resembling the skeletons of sea creatures or flying animals.  Recycle and garbage bins were pieced together to make a room-sized turtle shell (Carapace). 

I still felt awe when I saw them.  So big and so strange.  It was as though my wandering thoughts of "What will people of the future think of when they see what is left of our civilization?", had materialised.  Or that our stuff has become a "living" thing (much bigger than ourselves) with appetites of their own.

Touching was allowed and one could even walk into the shell. 

"He looks like a real art guy." 

And we did not.  It seemed this time, Paul actually got into watching the fashion show before us.  We attempted to superficially figure out which were the "real" art guys, and which were not. 

We ended the night in the gift shop.  I embarassed Paul by reading aloud Sarah Jackson's Jam Cousteau (A Jam Story).  Much too cute not to.  But I do admit my fake French accent is horrible.

http://ajamstory.com/cards.html

Puddles, Slippage, Return to Normal

Paul got long johns.  I plastic wrapped my windows. 

The grand result of which is ten days (18-28) of unseasonally mild January.  There was even a high of 7 C yesterday and a sort of freezing rain on another.

Everywhere there are puddles.  Mom, of course, worries about me slipping.  But she really should have been telling people like Boss Michael, who decided to go running at lunch.   

Bonne Bell

The kijiji cell phone guy turned out to be an Asian man in his forties, a bit slovenly, wearing a ripped white T-shirt.  He scratched his belly, looked around, and made a call - confirming he was the person I was waiting for.  I shivered before walking out from the safety of the Bell Store. I was so glad to have followed the good advice to arrange the meeting there.  And that was the end of the latest cell phone saga. 

Well... there was also the bit where I walked back into the Bell Store, and the Awesome-Rep-With-The-Good-Advice did all the technical stuff and a test call for me (all for free!).  Then I paid the kijiji guy for the phone. 

I know kijiji meetings and transactions happen every day, but this was my first successful meet up (the other people I'd arranged to meet didn't even show up).  But what was most noteworthy through all of this was all the help I got from the Awesome-Rep-With-The-Good-Advice.  I figured since I wasn't buying a phone through him that he wouldn't care how I got the phone.  But instead, once he found I was looking for one on kijiji, he offered his store as a the meeting site (for my safety) and coached me to bring the phone to him to test before I paid the kijiji guy.  And as I said before, he didn't charge anything.  That's exceptional customer service. 

WWNDD?

I vaguely remembered the rumour, the same writer who wrote the Nancy Drew mysteries had also penned the Bobbsey Twins books.  And that Carolyn Keene was a pseudonym.  But the truth was more complex. 

CBC's Ideas breaks open the case of the Mystery of the Stratemeyer Legacy.  

Whatever your providence, we still love you, Nancy Drew.

Extended Christmas Presents

Catherine is back.  We met up at an A&W and opened belated Christmas presents, including the very unexpected ones from Charlotte.

Charlotte, again with her wit, proves reusing is even more fantastic than new.  And we loved how her kids helped with the Christmas cards. 

BWD and Cell Phone update

I hadn't been joking about looking for a BWD.  (Though... it was probably a bit wicked of me to leave some things unsaid and mislead Kathy.)  My new friend kijiji offered some leads and I even canvassed a number of friends to see if anyone would lend me their wedding dress... Now, less than 3 weeks away from the Strauss Ball, I have one.  Um... one that needs some of alterations.  Um... possibly a lot of alterations.  Ambitious I am.  Fingers crossed. 

The cell phone saga, however, continues.

< 3 Cookies

Paul visits for lunch and brings me home-made me cookies.

Can you guess which one I liked better?

Tangled

"Will you marry me?"  I stared, shocked, at Manoj.  "I mean dance-wise." 

First week back at training and, I do have to say, it feels great to be dancing.  Especially with Manoj, who can lead and make me laugh.  Though, it doesn't look like we're going to be assigned to teach the same class so, no, we're not going to be married dance-wise.  Fingers crossed, I will get a good partner this term... and maybe a competitions partner too... (pretty please?)

Took the kids, Celina and Kevin, to the movies yesterday on Lorena's kindness (free movie ticket vouchers).  It's pretty impressive what packages they have now have for the kids (a small popcorn and a Kinder Surprise). 

http://www.librius.net/b/23331/read

The verdict on Tangled (the Disney interpretation of Rapunzel): "The best movie ever!"  Um... that would be Celina at the end credits.  Kevin wasn't as enthusiastic, but he did say he liked it and thought it was funny.  Speaking as an adult (or the closest in the vicinity), I was impressed by how moving and witty the banter was (yes, I cried).  And the two main characters really had some depth. 

It also rekindled my love for cast iron frying pans.  Obviously, it is the weapon of choice for discerning young ladies. 

"I"... scream quietly...

Beth's brain is like no other.  She admitted the ticking made it really difficult to think of words in general, but the ones she did come up with were different.  And that's what counts in Scattegories. 

However, when the letter "I" was rolled...

Um... ice cream ... ah.... ice cream... hm... ice cream....

And Neil, unfortunately didn't even think of that one. 

And in the end, Steph trumped us all. 

A nice light ending to a Steph-hosted Games Night Feast.  Talking about empty hive syndrome was just much too scary. 

Paul will be back from Hamilton soon! 

Birthday Studio Experience

Monica: "Lorena has average to above average intelligence." 

And that's probably why our attempt at surprising her for her birthday this year (by having it earlier), wasn't that big of a surprise. 

Unlike our previous Gaya visit, we chose items different from each other.  And, aside from Lorena (who stuck to stone bowl be bim bop), chose things we've never ordered before. 

Surprisingly, I wasn't the last to make a choice.  Monica was trying out a special diet and wanted to stick to it.  Her spicy number looked pretty tasty...

Wendy's, billed as sweet and spicy, also looked great, but it turned out to be a little too spicy. 

Tip Tip's soupy selection included dumplings and "rice cakes". 

After the delicious meal, Gaya's waitress brought out the one little thing Lorena wasn't to have guessed: A Whimsical cupcake. 

There was a time when I really thought The Whimsical Cake Studio only provided and supplies to make cakes (it's a studio), but in fact, they make and sell, true to name, fun and fanciful cakes and cupcakes. 

Wendy made sure we each had a Pistachio.  The icing was a bit oily, but definitely flavourful with small chunks of pistachio nuts (yes, I did try some).  There also a pleasant tangy kick from the green sprinkles - lime?  The actual cake part, we guessed, was vanilla with a hint of lemon. 

Though it certainly seemed as though Lorena had a lot on her mind (likely work...), but I think by the end of lunch she did have a good time. 

Happy Birthday, Lorena! 

Amazing Rare Things

Start out with the colour's basic name and then make it into a pun, or call it the thing that is uniquely that colour.  And that's the usual formula to get a fun and marginally clever colour name. 

Usually. 

So, you could probably understand why this year's Pantone's Color of the Year had my head itching. 

Honeysuckle?  Isn't that an off-white flower?  How does this relate to pink? 

Then I saw it in a copy of Amazing Rare Things: The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery, a variety of honeysuckle that was pink.

I hadn't been convinced by the Pantone's press release image of a pink flower (there are, after all, designer flowers), but this lovely, watercolour by Alexander Marshal from the 1600s seemed good proof to me.  Um... despite scale issues...

The rest of the book was also illuminating, surprising, and inspiring in different ways. 

One was the life story of artist Maria Sibylla Merian, the only female artist in the collection, who went on a wildlife viewing expedition to South America in 1699 when she was fifty-two!  That totally sounds like the crazy type of thing that young-uns get into.  To have that energy and spirit of adventure...

Her pieces are colourful and interesting, but had way too many creepy crawlies for me really enjoy.  I especially cringed and had to flip the page when I got to the one with a hummingbird being eaten by a large spider. 

Turns out this book is based on selections from the Royal Collection that were exhibited under the same name.  The online exhibit includes thumbnails of the pieces and commentary by Sir David Attenborough. 

The Fantasy with More Muffins

Paul: "Cheetos!" 
Lana: "No."

Though, they might be some part of Paul's fantasy, Cheetos did not appear as one of the most powerful luxury brands list in The Age of Persuasion's Luxury Advertising episode.

In the episode, Terry O'Reilly delves into the psychology of those who are attracted to luxury brands, noting two points:

1. A high value placed on the sensory benefits of premium craftsmanship
2. A deep desire to feel distinct and uncommon

Most of my friends don't buy into luxury brands.  Theresa and a number of my work friends like these brands, and seem to fit the bill for both points (at least when it comes to purses).

For me, I admire the glamour, but don't like the cost.  Which is why when knock-offs were mentioned, a little light went on in my head.  O'Reilly was almost aligning those who perscribe mostly to the second point as making a self esteem cry for help!  Was this me?  Does it make it better that I attempt to channel my desire to be special in different ways?

Anyway, looking at the actual adverts in question, there were quite a few laughs.  Some were fairly artsy and random which made me think of Bluebirds in the Spring.  Turns out Paul didn't know about Muffin Films!

A nice surprise when I looked up the webpage - it turns out there are more!  For the 10th anniversary Amy Winifred created another half dozen animations. 

My favourite still is Bluebirds in the Spring:



Oh, and then there's Making Fiends...

Not a Monkey's Uncle

"Congratulations on your new monkey and bear!"  We wished enthusiastically to Andrew and Beccy on the video conference as they showed us recently gifted stuffed toys. 

"And your new baby too." 

Andrew's photo of Matthew at several hours old.

Welcome to the world, Matthew David. 

Paul's now an uncle.

ISSS Appreciation

We thought the mystery would be solved, but "Anonymous wants to remain anonymous."  So instead, a member of the Interdepartmental Science Students' Society (ISSS) committee read the nomination letter and presented Paul with his Professor Appreciation Night Award. 

(Yay!)

Other nominees were less discrete.  Passionate presentations were made by students (dressed in their best and still looked too young to be in University).  Then a disheveled professor came up to the podium to accept their award. 

It was neat to find out what these students valued in their instructors, and to see there were people who really cared about teaching on campus. 

And then, we snacked.  Though Paul, I guess, was still kind of on duty. 

Animals in Translation

I admit, part of my curiousity was because I remembered seeing Claire Danes on the DVD box cover and it sounded like an interesting movie.  The woman she played: Temple Grandin.

And here the real woman was giving the keynote speech for the Louis D Hyndman Sr Award. 

Paul and I arrived slightly later than planned, but managed to get a seat in the crowded room (it later became standing room only).  I didn't know what to expect (I had a vague memory of the movie synopsis) and was thoroughly impressed. 

Her passionate and powerful voice (with what I think of as country accent), conveyed the need to treat animals properly: "Animals make us human."  Telling / reminding us that an animal's world is sensory based.  That their memories are sights, sounds, smells, touches... and all these things are things we can control. The need to get away from a verbal language and pay attention to details.  And that these details are what nucleus accumben ("seek / fear" switch) interprets to either send an animal into terror or let them be curious. 

It seemed so simple, but at the same time the details she mentioned were incredible.  Tiny things that wouldn't necessarily seem like anything to us... Where lights were positioned, the colour of an object...

Lastly, she touched on "Bulldog's Disease" - how we're doing a dis-service to animals by inbreeding them for the superficial traits. 

There were many questions, and I could see her conviction and knowledge in all of it.  Though interested in biology, I never really thought past "Animals are not like humans", and what Malcolm Gladwell wrote about in "What the Dog Saw".  I think I need to read one of her books.

Phone Finding

Even with piles and piles of snow around, Drew somehow resisted the urge to push me into the snow.  For that I am thankful.  Admittedly, I was over dressed in too many layers, so probably wouldn't have felt the cold, but it could still have hurt.

Drew was teaching me the ways of finding a new cell phone. 

My previous methods before were simple: Sign up for a new plan and get a new phone for free.  Or, dig up a phone from Jeff's old collection and somehow get it connected. 

Unfortunately, I was still tied down to my latest plan and the last of Jeff's old phones was dying.  So, what does one do?
One, apparently calls up a friend who is much more tech savvy for help. 

The Drew directed method:

1. Eat dinner.
2. Read a whole bunch of kijiji adverts. (And learn about "unlocking", plan specific networks, how to find consumer reviews on different phones... and that's just the start.)
3. Head to Walmart. 

"Walmart sells phones?!"  Apparently they do.  There's a whole island of them!  The benefit of visiting here is to actually get hold of several and to see how they work.  The downside is information overload. 

With all these choices, I'm finding there are things that annoy or bother me that I didn't even realise.  Yikes!  The "maximizer" in me is kicking into gear.  This is going to take more work. 

Entertain Another Day

Yesterday's huge dump of snow delayed, but didn't stop me from going to Paul's.  But, admitting the road conditions were terrible, we postponed our plans to entertain. 

HH and Coconut will have time to practice their moves. 

And I guess they'll have to eat all those cupcakes* themselves. 


* They started out as Victorious Sponge, but quickly turned into something else. 

Clothing Option(s/al) Feast

Malcolm described for me his two body problem.  I know little about the mechanics issue, but I could understand and sympathise with the one about two independent people with academic careers. 

Attention was quickly turned to the no-longer-quite-a-baby Arilyn. 


 













She eventually recovered from the terrorising, and did some scaring of her own: Getting much too close to Steph and the fridge magnets. 

Meanwhile, Paul modeled items from Steph's bag of clothing to get rid of, making quite the fashion statements.















Erik arrived with his father and sister. 
We had some tea. 

Arilyn showed that clothing for Feast is indeed optional.

Even so, Rebecca decided to stick with with the shirt and hat she'd made herself.  (And the rest of us, to what we originally arrived in.)
 

(Left: "Genius is rarely recognised in its time. What can you do?") 

Bones of Contention

Took Mom for a bone density scan this morning.

She lay on a table while the attendant moved the machine around her legs and feet.  She described this pain in her bones that was difficult understand, let alone translate. 

I ended up talking to the attendant about the scan reports.

I expected different scanner machines (even of the same brand and model) to have different reading calibrations that need some accounting for. But I was surprised that different clinics issued reports of different values and measures. 

That meant, items showing on this report might not be the same as those from her last (done at a now closed clinic), making it more difficult to tell if there is a change if the change is small. 

Is the treatment she's had for so long is working?  How could we tell?   I guess the best we could hope for is that the new results put her somewhere in a zone that is safe...

Doctors really have their work cut out for them. 

Weather and Work

De ja vu: It is January and + 2 degrees Celcius.  And I am overheating in my down jacket. 

Wednesday, the first work day back, went fairly smoothly.  I was actually surprised that the desk piles, the emails, etc. didn't look that bad.  Well, not soul crushing. 

Could it be all those furlough days (creating an impressive 11 consecutive days off) actually restored my energy and sanity? 

Many people fought the University's cost cutting measure of closing down buildings and imposing unpaid vacation time.  Questioning especially just how much savings there would be when some buildings were kept open*. 

Even more so contentious, I guess, since around the Christmas-New Year break is when most people need the money most. 

My line on the issue has been if losing what amounts to a couple week's pay over the course of year meant jobs could be saved, then it was worth it.  But then again, I'm luckily not living from pay cheque to pay cheque.  And I after thinking on it a bit more, I realised I wasn't really thinking strategically either.  What would stop the same measure from becoming common place? 

Anyway, with just a day here or there I didn't really notice a difference.  In this super-extended Christmas-New Year break there is this nice, unexpected side effect. 

This is really just a lesson that I should actually use my vacation time for relaxing, isn't it? 

----------------------------------------
* One of the unions had voted to not go with the plan, so their workers still went to work and their buildings needed to be open. 

Sideshow Trends

Now that I've finally updated the (extremely behind) 2010 Book Challenge page, the verdict is in: I missed my updated goal by one. 

I don't remember a period of not reading or not having a book on the go... Feeling more shocked than disappointed. 

Looking again on the list, the consolation (though really the important thing) is, I read some really good books. 

Don't think I'll commit to another challenge this year.  I plan on just reading.  But I'll add here some toys (widgets) from the goodreads.com site that are quick links to my current reads and recent reviews.  (Or even better - become my friend ^.^)

Anyway...

With Catherine as my "in" on the latest and greatest trends in the book world, I was a little suprised there was no word on carnival books, stories about the circus, about travelling performers... Is this not a genre?

For some reason I've stumbled on three in the past month:

The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Time of New Weather by Sean Murphy

I liked them all*.

And then I'm hearing about a circus based television show and Evelyn Evelyn. 

Hm... considering the last two are a bit old, I'm starting to wonder if  this really is a trend or my brain is subconsciously seeking them out.  And, what is that supposed to mean?

* Warning: Geek Love was by far the most disturbing (don't make my mistake of thinking it's a romantic comedy) and has me worried about having children.

Pink Tuesday

Ye Olde Spaghetti Factory downtown has delicious pasta that comes with fabulous ice cream.  But, the feast for my eyes was the stained glass lamps which set the dark wood all around gorgeously glowing. 

Oh, Tiffany*, how I love thee... with your dragonflies...

And flowers...

... and fungi and fruit. 















If asked, "Is that a flamingo in your lamp?", the answer is yes. 

Also, Paul debuted the Tuesday shirt - on Tuesday! 

Socks unconfirmed.






------------------------------
*Tiffany inspired. 

Baby Olivia Smile

It was Jazzy's birthday coming up, but when I visited, she was the one who gave me presents - yay clothes! 

My timing wasn't great and I had interupted Olivia's lunch.  But she eventually forgave me and smiled for the camera. 

So cute!  There's no reserve here, just pure joy :)

Happy New Year!

"You are insane, wounded... with a beggar in tow!"  Um... not exactly the new year wishes one would bestow on a friend, but when it came to story and character development, it at least made things interesting. 

Steph had invited us to a New Year's Eve-ning of board games. 

Our first, Tales of the Arabian Nights, is like a choose your own adventure book in game form.  Our characters were decked out with a number of talents and skills, but then dealt quest cards and given scenarios to react to (and develop the story) based on the values rolled on the dice. 

Michael: My quest is, "Purchase a Slave".

Stephen: "It's so romantic, like Pretty Woman"

Paul and I played one character together... who probably seemed a bit bi-polar.  He consistently wanted to be kind, but I took this as my chance to be mean :P 

Next up, was Scotland's Yard.  But before Steph could make us run around too much as X, we realised it was almost midnight. 

Mr. Anderson uncapped the bottle of bubbly. 

And the cork went flying! 

Only six more minutes to go...

...three, two, one...

Happy new year!  Drink (the Mystic Fire, Mystic River...)!

 

Paul reminds me 2011 is prime.  May it be good to you all.