Livin' in the land of the cold and the flat: November 2005

Cookie Baking 101

Well, I don't know about "Tis the Season" yet, but it's almost the season and time to make some gingerbread cookies. They were fun to decorate, though they have behavioural issues that need to be worked out.

Gingerbread people NOT behaving, and the voyeuristic snowmen are checking out the situation. Honestly...cookies these days.

yay for gingerbread cookies!

Happy Birthday Jodi!

Since Jodi is in Regina there will be no pictures to add to the blog of the festivities, but congratulations are in order anyway. She' s had quite an eventful year, working on her thesis, getting married in August (and it was a beautiful wedding), and now moving back to BC so she can actually be with Peter. Anyway, she has survived to 31 in style (or is it 30 for the second time?), and will look fabulous anywhere. To another great year!

Jodi on her last trip here. A classic whatcha gonna do? pose.

El Weekend

Two days of teaching grade 10's first aid made me very grateful I'm not 15 anymore. Oh the stress at that age! At one point I actually used the phrase "back in the day when I was in high school", and none of the students looked shocked. Far from "back in the day" being laughable, it seems that I've been put in the "adult" category, and indeed, when I went to high school there probably wasn't even electricity. Excellent. Back in the day, we weren't allowed to wear hats or chew gum in class. I'm happy to see that these are still general rules. However, these kids really need to Pull Their Pants UP!

It was a fairly eventful weekend, with lots of activity on the Jive front. Friday and Saturday brought more another lessons with Todd and Lynn, where we learned the basic Jive pattern (rock, step, slow, slow), inside and outside turns, back passes, sweetheart move, and peek-a-boo (who thinks these names up?) as well as other assorted moves. Good times all around. Naturally we went out for drinks on Saturday night, which seems to be a mandatory part of the dancing experience. And when Earl's has their martini weekend, it's wrong not to take advantage of it! We experimented with the cool penguin this time. I don't think it looked like a penguin at all, but perhaps that's not the point.

Now it's Monday and back in the weekly grind. Time to mess about with the data and see if it makes any sense. Have a great Monday!

The Guest Star of the evening...The Cool Penguin

Ahh, aren't they so cute?

Shannon and her Cool Penguin

The drink matches my shirt!

Some serious dancin' skills in this group!

This is not an approved move! But at least he didn't drop her.

Todd giving some instruction

Frame, steps, hands...so much to remember!

Michael and Selena learning the basic Jive footwork

Happy First 29th Selena!

In honour of Selena's 29th birthday we went out to for some Japanese food, Vancouver style. By this, I don't mean the local Bait and Tackle shop, I mean we went to The Samurai after some strenuous yoga. We did change out of our yoga clothes though. We wouldn't want the people in the restaurant to think there had been a lululemon explosion. And while lululemon is very West Coast chic, it's not necessarily appropriate for EVERY occasion.

Anyway, we got fixed up and made our way over to the restaurant. Michael and Selena seem to have a time warp car, since they went home, got the rogue contact lens out of her eye, changed, and made it back to the restaurant before we got there. And we'd gone straight from the gym. The first order of business was drinks. I elected to go for "The Emperor", because I liked the sound of it; then I could be a dictator, if only in theory. You are what you drink? You have what you drink? Should I be drinking "emotionally unavailable man" or "geographically undesirable men" drinks? Hmm, I should invent those. Regardless, the Emperor had 3 oz of gin, brandy, and rum mixed in with a bit of non-alcohol. And this was on an empty stomach. So I got a little happy before the food came, but thankfully nothing too crazy. Although I did find the lightswitch fascinating in the bathroom.

I had sushi, because really, we were in a Japanese restaurant and I wasn't going to order chicken. The sushi and tempura helped minimize the Emperor's effects. I did have some difficulty with the green tea ice cream, but what can you expect when you eat ice cream with chopsticks? So there is quite a classy picture of me retrieving ice cream from down my shirt. And the sad part is that was after I was completely sober again. Figures.

So Shannon and I presented Selena with her card and gift, and we all sang happy birthday at the requisite time, and she even got a sparkler in her cake! Probably imported specially from Japan. Steve and Nicole, friends of Selena and Michael, were out for the celebration too. Since the fan was so loud, we couldn't really hear them across the table, but they are very nice. And Kathleen and Doug (from yoga) came for dinner too. They're fabulous, and really quite entertaining. I must say, Selena is aging well, and hardly looks a day over 28. Michael got her a sewing machine, but not in a "get your ass into the living room and sew me a sweater, woman" kinda way. Apparently she likes to sew. Without being forced. And I'm guessing she can do it without sewing through her finger on the sewing machine. I can't, thus, I stay away from them (the machines, not Selena and Michael).

The evening was a lot of fun, and we always enjoy going out with the yoga crowd. Indeed, I really liked Kathleen until I couldn't get up this morning. I think I'll create a drink after Kathleen and call it "sadistic yoga instructor who makes us work hard" or "go maggots go!". At least I can recover before advanced yoga tomorrow...

Selena and her birthday Sparkler. Make a wish!

Steve, Nicole, Selena, me, Shannon, and Kathleen

Ok, now it's me who won't behave for the camera. I blame the Emperor and the Midori Margarita. Note the authentic kimono-swathed arm in the foreground.

Ah yes, the ice cream issues. Classy aren't we? (that would be the Royal we)

Kathleen and I. And I mangled that poor piece of sushi, since we took a few photos, but at least I didn't drop it.

Shannon opted for sushi. She's managing well, despite a few deep rooted issues with chopsticks. Can you get chopstick therapy?

Doug salutes Selena with a good ol fashioned beer.

The food preparation. This guy was deft with a fork! And he set stuff on fire, which is always interesting. I should start doing that...

Happy First 29th Selena!

In honour of Selena's 29th birthday we went out to for some Japanese food, Vancouver style. By this, I don't mean the local Bait and Tackle shop, I mean we went to The Samurai after some strenuous yoga. We did change out of our yoga clothes though. We wouldn't want the people in the restaurant to think there had been a lululemon explosion. And while lululemon is very West Coast chic, it's not necessarily appropriate for EVERY occasion.

Anyway, we got fixed up and made our way over to the restaurant. Michael and Selena seem to have a time warp car, since they went home, got the rogue contact lens out of her eye, changed, and made it back to the restaurant before we got there. And we'd gone straight from the gym. The first order of business was drinks. I elected to go for "The Emperor", because I liked the sound of it; then I could be a dictator, if only in theory. You are what you drink? You have what you drink? Should I be drinking "emotionally unavailable man" or "geographically undesirable men" drinks? Hmm, I should invent those. Regardless, the Emperor had 3 oz of gin, brandy, and rum mixed in with a bit of non-alcohol. And this was on an empty stomach. So I got a little happy before the food came, but thankfully nothing too crazy. Although I did find the lightswitch fascinating in the bathroom.

I had sushi, because really, we were in a Japanese restaurant and I wasn't going to order chicken. The sushi and tempura helped minimize the Emperor's effects. I did have some difficulty with the green tea ice cream, but what can you expect when you eat ice cream with chopsticks? So there is quite a classy picture of me retrieving ice cream from down my shirt. And the sad part is that was after I was completely sober again. Figures.

So Shannon and I presented Selena with her card and gift, and we all sang happy birthday at the requisite time, and she even got a sparkler in her cake! Probably imported specially from Japan. Steve and Nicole, friends of Selena and Michael, were out for the celebration too. Since the fan was so loud, we couldn't really hear them across the table, but they are very nice. And Kathleen and Doug (from yoga) came for dinner too. They're fabulous, and really quite entertaining. I must say, Selena is aging well, and hardly looks a day over 28. Michael got her a sewing machine, but not in a "get your ass into the living room and sew me a sweater, woman" kinda way. Apparently she likes to sew. Without being forced. And I'm guessing she can do it without sewing through her finger on the sewing machine. I can't, thus, I stay away from them (the machines, not Selena and Michael).

The evening was a lot of fun, and we always enjoy going out with the yoga crowd. Indeed, I really liked Kathleen until I couldn't get up this morning. I think I'll create a drink after Kathleen and call it "sadistic yoga instructor who makes us work hard" or "go maggots go!". At least I can recover before advanced yoga tomorrow...

And the beat goes on

I'm waiting for my lunch to cook. Despite my best efforts at hand washing and drinking liquids (of the non-alcoholic variety, primarily water) it seems that I've got a cold. Damn. I hate that. So I'm still washing my hands (that's just good hygine), and drinking water (good sense), and now I'm taking drugs too. And everyone knows that "it's never a good idea to operate heavy machinery or statistically experiment with data when you're on drugs". I'm not sure if Advil counts, but whatever.

This weekend was fairly busy. First, the Harry Potter movie on Friday, and then I took Shannon shoe shopping on Saturday. I was on alert for some quality Christmas presents, but mostly just looking for shoes/boots for her. It's tough to find somewhat fashionable winter boots that will suffice in -30 weather. But we had a mission, and thankfully the Shoe Gods were with us that day. Sometimes you can try endless pairs of shoes and nothing will work, and on those days, recognize that you don't have "it" and go home. But, on the glorious days that "it" is with you, buy, buy, buy! And Shannon managed that admirably. We found her some boots, and a lovely pair of Franco Sarto dress shoes, with a managable heel.

Now, we've discovered one unfortunate fact; we have the same size feet. And the Franco Sarto shoes were SO pretty, and SO comfortable, and SO cheap...and did they have two pairs please? Of course not. Well, since I'm (a little bit) known for my shoe situation, and I recognize that I do have a few pairs (stop laughing!), I stepped back and sent the shoes home with Shannon (better for my VISA anyway). It was the right thing to do, and as she says, now I have shoe karma. I'm wondering if that only associates with shoes, or if I can parlay it into the man situation? or the thesis?

Anyway, after the shoe buying trip, we went home and got changed, then went out to see a concert featuring Oscar Lopez, a juno winning Latin guitarist. He incorporated jazz, blues, and even pop sensibilities into his music. I was surprised at the range - from some songs that were fiery and passionate, to jazzy and upbeat, and a few times I almost expected Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones to start dancing, a la Mask of Zorro. The most interesting and peculiar thing about the show was that it was held in a church. The architecture was beautiful, but I kept getting distracted by the way the light played off the different beam structures. Anyway, it was a fun night.

And now back to work... Have a great Monday!

Beautiful architecture

Very nice!

The Church Venue

Our night out on Saturday

Well Done Dragon!

Last night a bunch of us decided to capitalize on the weekend status and celebrate a week of hard work. Well, hmmm...I'm sure there was someone who worked this week. Maybe Bruce. Yes, I'm certain that he worked hard this week. And Shannon has an outline for her literature review. And I have, well, hmmm. I had jetlag. Today I'm reorganizing my data in preparation for a weekend/week of work. So I'm back on track. But I digress...

Bruce, Shannon, Stefan, Allison, and I (among others) saw the new Harry Potter movie last night, and it was excellent. We lined up at 9:00 for the 10:30 show (which was sold out that morning already) and managed to get a whole row of prime seats. I think there were about 10 of us. Thanks to Allison for getting the tickets early! The movie had great special effects, scary dragons (that ran amok and destroyed things), and there was a comedic aspect that wasn't as prevalent in the first three movies. This one was also the first real glimpse of the darker side you get in the books. Shannon and I should be screenwriters, since clearly we could come up with lines like "well done Dragon!" In fact, we do all the time.

It was interesting seeing the age variety in the crowd. There were teenagers, people our age, and even actual adults (note that I don't consider us adults - those of you that know us should understand why. Reference: the twizzler incident). Some of the members of the audience showed up in various Harry Potter paraphanalia, and there was cheering when the movie started. It almost seemed like this movie appeals to the younger ones the way Star Wars appealed to us a few years ago. I didn't particularly feel like cheering when HP started, but I remember when Star Wars 1 was released (before we'd actually seen it), and the excitement in the theater. This was somewhat subdued after the movie, but that's another story.

So it was a friday night well spent. How can you go wrong when overpriced popcorn and twizzlers are involved? I thought it was a great movie, and I'd see it again (particularly if someone else paid). I like that the english aspect is maintained in the movies, and Ron finally did something in this movie besides look terrified. The movie stayed surprisingly true to the book, so if you like the books, see the movie. If you don't, well, then you might think this movie is ungood.

Women & Chocolate (aka Chick Crack)

Ben and Jerry really are two of my favourite men that I've never met. Although, I understand that one of them is now dead (probably from eating too much icecream). On the whole, I don't really like icecream, but when it comes to Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia, it's a whole different ballgame (as they say). I'm not sure what it is, maybe the little cherries, maybe the chocolaty bits, but somehow it's just wonderful.

Shannon (who prefers B & J Chunky Monkey) just questioned whether men get the same pleasure out of icecream that women do. This question could be extended to chocolate as well. Why is it that women fall all over themselves (and any other people that get in between them and the goal) to get a hold of their favourite icecream or chocolate? I've seen women holding the little cartons and refusing to share, defending the little pint of goodness with their spoons stationed on Alert 5. If you have the temerity to try to steal some, you'll be lucky to just lose a finger, if not an eye. There's a reason it's called Chick Crack.

Most men only buy chocolate when they've messed something up or have to get a birthday/Christmas present for a woman. And Joey, who can always be counted on to provide chocolate treats, refused to share her box. Now, I certainly can't hold that against her, since it was maybe five hours after my trip to Purdy's, and I KNOW that I had more chocolate than she did. The good thing about a quality friend is that they will step up if necessary and share. In fact, I'm sure that if some horrible event occurred, she'd be the first to send chocolate (among other things).

Perhaps women's taste buds are more enhanced than men's. Or maybe we feel that we deserve it for putting up with men. I know there are some women that would vote for the latter. However, I think that it may be a mystery left unsolved (do I sense a Ph.D research opportunity here?). Anyone with comments or insight are certainly welcome to add to the discussion, but I think the important thing is to make sure there is always some sort of chocolate around to satiate the aforementioned women.

A Walk in the Snow

I decided to take my winter clothes for a field test today. The boots were amazingly warm and kept my feet toasty. I took some pictures of the river and then walked over to see if I could persuade Selena and Angus to come for a walk. I ran into them outside of their apartment and we cruised along the river and had a play in the park. Angus is pretty good at sitting for treats, but he hasn't learned to pose for a camera yet.

Angus and I at the park

Angus the Snow Dog...but no booties today!

Selena and Angus all bundled up

Angus sitting for a treat from Selena

This looks a whole lot different than it did a week ago!

Lisa, Joey and The Lamp. Isn't it nice? You'd never know it took 3 days of hardcore shopping to find it...

Joey, Chips and I on our way out the door. Chips was attempting to escape the whole time...

Joey and Erick - lookin' good guys!

Don't you hate it when people can't behave for the camera?

Fish and I were having a moment

Erick and I on my last night in Oakville

Lisa and Joey

I'm attempting to learn some basic scales

Joey playing Lord of the Rings music on her beautiful piano

The Toronto Visit

On Thursday I flew to Ontario (thank-you Jamie, once again, for the standby ticket). Now, I was supposed to fly to Toronto, but since it was a long weekend, I ended up flying to Hamilton. Not a problem, I can handle travel. So I took a cab to the GO station, bought a ticket from the non-english speaking guy, attempted to confirm the correct bus, and finally, got on the bus. Two minutes later I found out that it was the wrong bus. So I got back off, waited for the other bus, and had a nice journey towards Oakville. Then I got dropped off at a not-quite random park n'ride, and called J-girl, lost again. Apparently the bus doesn't go where it should. Anyway, Viper came and got me, and it was all good. Somewhat stressful, but good.

The first night was pretty casual, just unpacking, getting a bite to eat, and hanging out. I managed 22 hours awake that day. Needless to say, some sleeping in was in order the next morning. We all went out to The Legend of Zorro that night, and I liked it, despite the reviews. It was no Mask of Zorro, but it had swashbuckling action.

We did the obligatory expedition to Purdy's chocolates and Chapter's book store, my resolve crumbling a bit near all those yummy chocolates and fabulous books. But hey, chocolate cures headaches and irritation (theoretically) and books make you smarter. So clearly those are quality buys. There were NO shoes following me around, thank goodness, and just to make sure, we stayed away from anything remotely resembling a shoe store. In our voyages, Viper found a fantastic suit and some new sweaters. It's very nice to see someone else stepping up.

At several points Joey demonstrated her prowess at the piano, and she actually attempted to teach me how to play. Now, I'm no Tchaikovsky, but I did learn where middle C is located, a basic scale or two, and how to kind-of read music (elephants have great big feet - or something). We also made an afternoon trip to look at the new houses in their area, some of which were spectacular. It's always fun to see how other people decorate their place and get ideas for your (dream) castle.

There was some quality cooking going on over the weekend. Between Joey and her pork roast, my chicken, and Viper's bbq steaks, we definitely ate well. No vegetarians there, that's for sure.

I flew back on Tuesday, avoiding the blizzard in Winnipeg, and arrived to -20 degree temperatures at home. It was a great trip, and a nice break. Now I have to get back to work and do some data analysis...good times!

This Week in Lisaland

On Saturday I went with Kynthia up north to Prince Albert - she got an actress part in a WW2 short film. We drove up with the director and the camera man, and once Kynthia got got dressed up in her costume, we took off to the woods. The day was overcast, and there were decent filming conditions. I never realized that it took hours of takes and re-takes to shoot a 10 minute movie sequence. I managed to help out a little bit by acting as the line prompter, and helping when something didn't look/sound right. When our fingers and toes were numb we called it a day and headed back to the booming metropolis of PA for hot chocolate and pie. It was a pretty fun day and by the end I knew the lines by heart!

Today I met with my supervisor to discuss statistics and data reconfiguration. It seems that I'll be spending the next month or so playing with numbers, producing SPSS outputs, and trying to make some sense of the data. Sadly, the "classical" statistics won't be overly useful, but by Christmas I'll know a whole bunch interesting ways to analyze data (I know, I know, I'm playing it fast and loose with the word "interesting").

The last week has been spent marking and interviewing for the Great Sand Hills project. Not terribly exciting. But upcoming this week: a trip to Toronto to see Erick and Joey! Yay! Standby for pictures and updates from balmy Oakville. Well, balmier than Saskatoon anyway. My cat nieces, Fish and Chips, are eagerly awaiting my arrival. And I have news for the Oakville economy - the shopping moratorium is still in place, so sadly, the city will have to survive without my quasi-quarterly shopping trip. But for my part, I'm sure the lack of shopping will be compensated by Erick's stellar cooking skills...something that I only get to experience a few times a year (and they call and torture me when he's cooking something particular spectacular).

In other news, Shannon and I have signed up for the Jive classes with Todd et al. Michael and Selena have also signed up, so the lucky guy will get his share of the ladies that night! The Christmas curling event is also coming up on the radar, and that should be good fun. Last year I learned the key terminology and managed to get a rock or two in the hut (or whatever), and so this year I'll master the more delicate aspects (like screaming "harder!" and "SWEEP!"). But those things aren't until the end of November, which seems to be approaching with alarming speed.

I'd like to protest the fact that Christmas is approaching so rapidly. People are already planning lists, buying presents, and apparently putting up trees, judging by the buying spree at the Bay the other day. I haven't thought about lists, much less bought anything. I do confess that I've listened to some Christmas music, but what can I say, it made me happy. I'll cave and watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation eventually, and at that point I'll know that Christmas is inevitable and the stress can begin. Until then, I'll continue to live in my (Cranberry Body Shop smelling) school bubble, devoid of "real life" and other annoying influences.

In short: SPSS can be mastered, and is not "scary". Fish and Chips are cats, not snacks. I am no longer avoiding my supervisor (he was very helpful today). The Saskatoon and Oakville economies will be in recession given my quiescence towards shopping. Christmas must wait until the data is analyzed.

Lisa and Kynthia, hanging out

A Disquisition on "Flurries"

Today I was thinking about snow. I'm actually hoping that it will snow again, so I checked the oh-so-reliable weather website and discovered that we're expecting "flurries" soon. Now, I'm from Victoria, but I was raised in Ontario, so I'm technically familiar with snow jargon. However, it behooves me to think about the term "flurry" a bit.

As a noun it can be used in two ways - (1) a sudden burst or commotion; (2) a sudden gust of wind or a stirring mass, such as leaves; (3) a brief, light snowfall. As a verb, flurry means to agitate or confuse.

You can have a brief flurry of hope, a flurry of interest in a new hobby, or observe the flurry out the window. If we expect "flurries" (plural), what is an individual flurry? Are the individual flakes the flurries? And the act of the snowfall the flurry? Are you confused yet?

And interestingly (or maybe not, but whatever), since I'm still relatively unused to the snowfall, the appearance of the first flurry created a flurry of excitement. I have no doubt that this fervent interest will subside in due course. Probably as soon as it snows again.

First Snowfall!

Last night was the first official snowfall. There were a couple of centimeters on the ground this morning, clearly not enough for snow angels. But that time will come and I'm not in any rush. As of this posting, at 2:30 pm, the snow is melted, but it was nice to see this morning. After doing an interview, and transcribing it, I wandered out for a walk. The brilliant sun is one thing that I love about this province. While everyone in BC is drowning in their rain, we're enjoying the sun and (fairly) moderate temperatures. I think it's about zero, which sounds cold, but it's SO much better than -40.

So there you go. Winter has arrived, and the Christmas decorations are officially going up in the malls. Not just the little section in the back of the department stores - now the decorations are gracing store fronts, and soon there will be garlands on the ceiling and Santa's little empire in the middle of the mall.

Oh well, I guess the first snowfall indicates that Christmas is coming...and perhaps Santa will have a thesis for me?

Snow!

The long awaited visit from Jodi

The weekend started off with a bang when Jodi, Lyndsay and I went for martini's at Earls. We dressed in our finery, including fur and/or vintage jackets, and headed out for the classic girl night of eating, drinking, and discussing critical issues (i.e. men). Jodi hadn't been to Saskatoon in almost a year, and despite attending her wedding in August, I hadn't spent much time with her, so it was great to catch up.

Saturday was a spent leisurely strolling around with our Starbucks in hand (yes, I know they're taking over Saskatoon, but downtown it's just convenient). It was a perfect fall day for a walk by the river, and thankfully people were out walking their puppies...which I cheerfully accosted for some quality dog time. Since our financial situations weren't as secure as our cheerfulness, we decided to keep a buffer between us and shoe stores. It's a well known fact that if you don't go into a store, it's 100% more likely that you won't pull out your VISA and "accidentally" buy shoes. Why can't they just follow me home like the commercial?

Since we couldn't afford the merchandise in the local furniture store, and indeed, it may not have even fit on the VISA, we deemed it safe for browsing. We collapsed on the beautiful leather sofa and spent about 45 minutes mentally furnishing our imaginary castles. When the coffee was cold, and the welcoming smiles of the sales attendants were almost as frosty, we departed and made our way back down to the river. Sadly, there was a shoe store en route. I wanted to stay away, for safety's sake, but Jodi hadn't ever been in...and how could I allow that to continue? After gathering my (not so iron) willpower, I led her into Duran's, my newly discovered shoe gold mine. I beelined to the shoes that I'd tried on before, but were (thankfully) too small. However, they did fit Jodi, and they needed a good home. Twenty minutes later they had been adopted. If I can't have them, at least they're "in the family". Pleased with my willpower (and large feet) and Jodi's new shoes, we cruised back to my place for a Sex and the City marathon.

Dinner came in the form of a get together with Bruce, Sarah, Jodi and myself. Sadly the meat thermometer didn't make an appearance, though I did make a fabulous chicken dish. And for the last time people, it's risotto, not rice! After dinner we got dressed in costumes/nice outfits and headed out for a quasi Halloween party. Since Jodi and I had learned about this rather last minute, we didn't have costumes. But Jodi pulled through, and in a stroke of Sex and the City inspired genius, proposed we go as power lesbians. This didn't really entail much except dressing in leather jackets and fabulous shoes, which was quite manageable. Anyway, Bruce and Sarah looked great, and Bruce, you should really wear brown polyester more often.

The party was lots of fun, and I discovered the video option on my camera. Hence, there are some rather random videos of the evening. We'd danced ourselves out by one or two, so we called it a night. I managed to get up for yoga the next morning, and Jodi met some friends for coffee. Overall, it was deemed a successful weekend!