365 Days. 454 Posts. I blogged right into the New Year. Looking back, a surprisingly good year. Coincidence?
Things I learned in 2007:
1. Ask and Ye shall receive.
2. Whosoever giveth taketh in return.
3. Folding bikes are a magic force of positive institutional, social and physical change!
Thank you for sharing my year of Good Things.
1. The bootie boots I got yesterday are pretty hottie-hot!
2. Famished, I discovered baklava in the kitchen at work.
3. Thanks to a tip from Neil, I had fun exploring Good Business Day (a ‘continuously updated source of information on holidays and observances affecting global financial markets—bank holidays, public holidays, currency non-clearing days and trading and settlement holidays affecting exchanges’).
Happy National Unity Day, Zimbabwe.
1. Free full-size milk with Starbucks ‘traveller.’
2. Free exchange of ideas in a creative workshop.
3. Free spirits, free, with the free gift of learning.
1. Feeling the love: film directors and learning the art of.
2. Feeling the love: grandmothers and beaming smiles from.
3. Feeling the calories: Izzy and sharing free birthday cake with.
All I Ever Needed To Know I Learned In Kindergarten:
1. Listen
2. Participate
3. Have fun!
1. Incredible feedback from my U of T professor and classmates.
2. Linner (lunch + dinner) with my brother and his friend David.
3. Terrific Humber performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
‘Things growing are not ripe until their season.’
1. My professor doesn't mind that my paper is late.
2. My friend doesn't mind dinner with my nephews.
3. My nephews don't mind the pungent smell of my Converse All Stars. They take turns smelling them. ‘My turn!’ ‘No, my turn!’ Matthew says, ‘Auntie, they smell like something for baking.’
1. Hora del almuerzo con mis amigos latinos.
2. Paseo en la ciudad universitaria en la tarde.
3. Tiempo en la noche para acabar mi tarea.
1. Brains: My instructor stayed behind in class to answer our questions. I'm not a University of Toronto alumna (though I attended in utero), but it's got my respect for Brains. What a world-class, top-notch school.
2. Stomach: My strategy for eating pizza is to ask for the freshest slice. I don't care what variety, so long as it is fresh from the oven. When it's pepperoni, like it was this time, I am extra happy.
3. Fingers: Chili oil dripped off my pizza slice, conditioning my cuticles and moisturizing my hands, which remained exceptionally soft and smooth for the next 24 hours.
1. Spanish teacher offered my friend and me good tutoring rates.
2. Russian colleague offered me pretty European cigarette boxes.
3. Young couple on the subway offered me Truck Mart magazine.
1. Online: Surprise! Tori, tomorrow night.
2. Offline: Korean green tea birthday cake.
3. In line: Encouraging coursework grades.
A bathroom renovation is a good way to learn a few lessons.
1. Inspect contractor's other finished work in advance. Check.
2. Leave town for a weekend while work is completed. Check.
3. Do not - I repeat, do not - hire the contractor if he names his two trailers ‘Betsy’ and ‘Susan’. Oops, did not check.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia
A. The clock tower in the Public Gardens is chiming midnight 15 minutes early. It is beautiful, yet perplexing.
1. Feeling it as I am welcomed into several extended Korean-Portuguese families.
B. Email from old friends, wireless internet connections, chlorinated pools, hair straighteners, control top nylons, Titanic marine museums.
2. Feeling it as everyone helps me get to where I need to go in a hurry.
C. The privilege of hearing ‘Sole mio’ sung in Italian - with extraordinary feeling - from a husband to a wife (‘you are my sunshine’).
3. Feeling it as the Portuguese Adam Sandler (à la Wedding Singer) plays a Christmas carol over dinner.
I spent the day sewing. I am not even done. My back is killing me. Respect to anyone who, hunched over, sews.
As mentioned in a previous post, I have a few t-shirts I'd like to modify. They are souvenirs, cut for the male chest. Basically, I want to look less like David Beckham and more like his wife.
1. In the basement, my dad found me two pairs of incredibly sharp scissors.
2. At the mall sewing centre, the saleslady offered me some great suggestions.
3. At the dining room table, my mom saved the day. She and her magic hands stepped in when I inevitably screwed up.
In related news, I lopped off another set of pant legs to achieve jean shorts. Snip, snip, snip!
1. Fashion advice from my (exasperated) dad.
2. Career advice from a seasoned professional.
3. Industry advice from a friend who knows:
‘Don't accept any drinks and don't buy any land! There are a lot of film people out there who'll whisper sweet life-changing promises in your ears, and then the next morning you'll be waking up next to the Pillsbury Dough Boy looking for your shorts and wondering why you have a title deed to a swamp in Florida.’
God bless you, R, G and E!
1. Unexpected: guided tour of local post-production house.
2. Unexpected: visiting the film set for American Pie #685.
3. Unexpected: receiving giftbags containing free swag.
1. To start the day, my neighbour gave me a lift to the subway (I had basically hailed his minivan in desperation).
2. To spend the day, I ate heavenly food, attended incredible seminars and met fantastic new people.
3. To finish the day, I read some comments on my blog, including an invite from HiSpAnoBeLgAs to play a little blogeros game.
While I was reading seven secretillos on HiSpAnoBeLgAs, I learned a new word: chicon. The ‘white gold’ of Belgium. An endive or witloof - are any of these English words? Anyway, I googled it and got the picture.
...Etobicoke. Driver stops the bus to access first-aid kit for me. Imagine, if you will, opening something that resembles an electric panel, next to the engine. After a thick layer of dust cascades onto the steps, an interior metal box squeaks open to reveal little white (well, yellowed...) boxes. The wax paper wrappers crumble open instantly: band-aids older than me!
...Toronto. Dental hygienist does me a favour by showing me the plaque she is digging out from under my gums. I am instructed to become reacquainted with my floss (the move has thrown me off this month). She also gives me free samples of Butler G.U.M. Softpicks (they're amazing). Tartar forms after only three days!
...Scarborough. Calvin, Gentleman Extraordinaire, sits next to me at a work meeting full of new faces. Well, doesn't chance have it that he will be working for me in September. Since I'm new, but he's experienced, he'll be teaching me, I'm sure.
1. To commemorate my diet (effective immediately), a pedicure.
2. The three women on duty agree to teach me some Vietnamese.
3. ‘Thank you - very much - my love.’ ‘Cam on - nhieu - em yeu’ (to girl) ‘anh yeu’ (to guy). Pronounced ‘Gam œn (rhymes with jeune) nyieu (rhymes with Dieu) em ee-o / an ee-o.’
1. A nice driver allowed my bike on the bus during rush hour. I was running late, and he didn't make a big stink of it.
2. A few guys in a band let me join them for dinner, post-soundcheck, pre-gig. I was the lucky observer of the pre-show dynamic.
3. I recognized an old neighbour and schoolmate late at night on Queen Street West, where we took time out to catch up.
Speaking of my folding bike, I finally learned why every guy - and maybe cop - seems to salivate over it (completely seeing through, when not scowling at, yours truly). Suddenly all my male friends are calling my bike a Transformer. Nothing to do with any current Hollywood movie releases.
