Oops, January’s almost over

So January was a little crazy. I went to Kensington Market in Toronto for the first time! I’m really not sure how I had never been to that area before, but I liked it very much and hopefully will be going again soon. I also visited Chinatown for the first time since I was a little kid, so that was exciting. Very different from what I hazily remembered, but still interesting.

I’m hoping February goes by quickly. It always used to when I was in school. The month would be, like, midterm-lab-midterm-essay-lab-READING WEEK!!!!-midterm-midterm-lab. I’m hoping this February will be less hectic than that, but it probably won’t happen.

I wish I had some exciting news or updates to put here, but that’s life. Someday I swear this blog will get focused and I will update regularly because I will know exactly what to say. Someday. Not today, obviously!

Time Flies and Festive Specials

Sporadic blog post!

It’s been aaaaaaages since I’ve written on here. I’m sorry. I keep logging into WordPress, open up a new document, stare at a blank page, think of nothing, and then move on. In my defense, I’ve been super busy, the details of which I can’t really get into here, but it’s been a good kind of busy.

So yes, I’ve been very busy but very happy. Keeping busy is good because I find it disconcerting to be aimless and not be focused on one or fifty-odd things.

I don’t really have any great stories to share on here. Between work, internship, and random trips out of town to visit family and friends, there haven’t been any events amenable to sharing on here. I don’t even have an embarrassing anecdote about my dad!

I will tell you this, though. It’s coming up to Christmas, and while I love the lights on all the houses (they’re so pretty. Especially the blue lights and the white lights. Especially when there are blue AND white lights on trees, like I saw on Front St. in Toronto, and it just lights up the whole area with its pretty prettiness), there is something even better about this time of year. And that, my friends, is the Festive Special. Fellow Canadians, you know you love it. There’s stuffing! And cranberry sauce! And chocolate!

(Even though I’m old and remember when they gave out Toblerones instead of Lindors, which was far superior, in my humble and unimportant opinion.)

I went there tonight with my mom and it was so good. I went super-old-school (read: childlike) and got a Shirley Temple too. And it came with two cherries! Totally made my night.

So tell me, what is your favourite part of the holiday season?

(Alternatively, what is your favourite part of the Festive Special? I think it’s the stuffing, but I could really go in several directions with this.)

Under the boardwalk

You know that song, Under the Boardwalk? It’s been in my head for what feels like forever. I’m going to have to sing some Ricky Martin or something to get rid of it soon.

Anyways. I haven’t been under any boardwalks recently, which is a shame. But I did go wandering in the Beaches in Toronto recently. I had never visited that area of the city before. It was weird but wonderful, discovering a new part of a city I thought I knew pretty well. I love playing tourist anywhere though so I was happy.

I went with my family to an artist showcase, where all these artists had displays in their own homes. Kind of like a craft show, but you got to walk to different houses instead of booths. It was a lot of fun walking to the different houses and checking out painting and sculptures. I must admit, I liked looking at the different homes more than looking at the art. Seriously though, these houses were beautiful. Lots of big windows, lovely wooden floors, excellent use of light.

Clearly I’ve been exposed to too much HGTV lately.

In between art stops, we wound up in a cupcake shop that was adorable. They sold these cute oversized coffee mugs that were just over 3 bucks – obviously I had to buy one, and my sister bought one too. We walked in right before they closed up and bought coffee and a cupcake in exchange for using their, um, facilities. They were so friendly that they gave us leftover cookies!

It was a sweet ending to the day.

(See what I did there?! This blog is in serious want of more puns.)

Titles are hard.

I knew it was time to post something when my last post was officially “a while ago”…thank you WordPress for keeping track of time for me.

October is absolutely my favourite month. You can bust out your coziest sweaters. The leaves change colours and are beautiful, even though it makes my mom want to cry because it means winter is coming, but really, what can you do when you live in Canada? People start using their chimneys and it smells like campfires on the streets. It’s the perfect month between that in-between summer and fall weather you get in September, and the oh-my-goodness-I’m-not-ready-for-snow-and-winter-coats-wait-there’s-already-a-blizzard rush of November. And if I’m really lucky I get to wear fuzzy cardigans with mitts and no coat. Because coats are a hindrance.

It’s my birthday month too, so clearly I’m biased.

Anyways, I’ve been playing with my sister’s DSLR camera and would love to upload some photos on here, but unfortunately the camera battery is running low. And, as luck would have it, the battery charger is almost 3 hours away. But! I will be getting my greedy paws on that charger this week (hopefully). So get ready for some fantastic fall pictures!

Or some mediocre, poorly lit, amateur pictures of cows next to a highway.

You know you’re chewing bubblegum

I have a confession to make. Despite the best intentions of my hipster-music-loving sister (she hates when I call her that, but it’s totally true), “indie” (whatever that means) friends, and my parents who lovingly refer to my favourite songs as “trash”, “garbage”, or “whatever this is, it’s NOT music” (that one’s the BEST), I am a pop music addict.

You hear that, world? I LOVE POP!

This is kinda big. When I was a teenager, I would only listen to these CDs that people made from live concerts and rare tracks that they mailed each other. Because I am old, and I remember when people listened to music on compact discs, and when people actually mailed each other physical objects through the postal service.

But the point is that now I don’t care about being judged for my music. I think Lady Gaga is crazy and entertaining and I love to sing along to Paparazzi in the car. I have known the words to Like a Prayer since I was four years old. Tiffany? Mariah Carey (circa 1995)? Love it.

I have a particular fondness for Wilson Philips. I can remember blasting their tape in the car on family trips up north when I was little. I still have that tape.

*Title from U2′s Discotheque, a song I overlooked for years and is underrated, in my very humble opinion.

Gym Dork

Before writing this post, I Googled “dork” to see what would come up. Did you know that there is a chicken breed called Dorking? Fascinating.

Anyways.

There are some things I hate about the gym I go to (it’s small, the building it used to be in had charm, it has a 25-yard pool instead of 25 metres) but there are other things I love (the steam room, hair straighteners in the change room that I never use but like to know they’re there, the cute guy who works at the front desk). What gets me there at 8 p.m. on a Thursday is the fact that there are individual television sets attached to almost all the cardio equipment.

So last week I watched the season premiere of Bones while on a stationary bike. I ended up biking way faster than usual, and this is where the dorkiness comes in. When there was action on the screen, I pedaled faster as if to keep up. They chased a bad guy, I started sprinting. Same thing with So You Think You Can Dance – as soon as the dancers get going, I move faster like I’m trying to keep up.

If I watch a sitcom, I laugh out loud. You may think I try not to watch comedy in public if I know I’ll laugh, but it makes the time fly. At least I’m not the only one, though. Last week my elliptical neighbour was watching an old Seinfeld rerun and laughed constantly. It made me feel better – I was giggling through a Simpsons I’ve seen at least twenty times.

Excuses, excuses

This post’s alternate title is What I Did On My Summer Vacation.

But first, excuses. My posting on this site has been sporadic at best. I’d love to write a quality post every single day, and often I’ll think of a great topic or a story I’d love to share on here. Usually that happens when I’m driving on the highway or at the gym. Unfortunately I don’t have a fancy phone with an internet browser to update this blog then and there and I always forget whatever I was going to say by the time I get to my computer.

This summer has been crazy. Definitely one of the busiest I’ve ever had. I went to Europe for a few weeks with my family – check out my Flickr page for a few photos. I’ll eventually get around to adding the rest. It’s slow going, picking out my favourite pictures from the 1,300 I took. Digital cameras and large memory cards are both a blessing and a curse.

I celebrated weddings and mourned losses. I met new family and caught up with old friends. I went swimming at my cottage only once, because the water was ice cold but the sun was out and it seemed like a good idea for a moment. I went kayaking and fixed my bike after it fell from my car. I painted railings and porches and learned how to do paperwork. I learned the art of waiting to drink wine until after the pictures will be taken.

It was a great summer but a busy one. So busy that I’m writing this more than halfway through September. But what I’m looking forward to now is learning new things and writing about those experience here. Taking more photos and sharing them on this site. Writing at least (at least!) once a week on here and bringing some more focus to the words and sentences.

So, I’m sorry this blog hasn’t been a constant source of anything. I’ll do my best to change that.

10 little geese lined up in a row

There’s always tons of ducks and geese by my family’s cottage. In the spring the babies are adorable, especially when they’re following the grown ones around. But by the end of the summer, I find it somewhat disconcerting to watch them file across the bay.

 

Swimming single file

The goose family appears to be larger this year than in the past. Too bad there weren’t 12 little geese in two straight lines like in Madeline.

 

 

 

Look at how straight they are!

 UPDATE: I counted 21 geese today all huddled together. 21!

Always, sometimes, never

Inspired by the talented ladies at fiveblondes.com

I always:

Eat all my broccoli

Ask for the aisle seat

Talk during movies

Drive with the windows down (as long as the temperature’s above zero)

Control the radio station

Flip channels while watching TV

 

I sometimes:

Snort when I laugh

Think of a perfect comeback hours or days too late

Forget what I’m talking about in the middle of a sentence

Cook dinner from scratch

Speak without thinking, then regret it

Read blogs for hours on end

 

I never:

Leave a book half-read

Put laundry away right away

Bake brownies from a mix

Give someone a compliment I don’t mean

Lie to my loved ones

Read celebrity gossip sites (Jezebel doesn’t count, and I’ve given up all the rest)

Leaving on a jet plane

I’m going on a trip soon! All I have to do is pack…and find my camera’s battery charger. I’m excited to take some pictures so that my Flickr account won’t be so bare. I am the world’s worst packer. Nothing ever fits neatly into the suitcase. It’ll start off fine, but by the end the last-minute odds and ends will be stuffed haphazardly into random pockets of space, and I’ll have to sit on the luggage in order to zip it closed. But it’s still fun because it’s the first part in going on a journey.