longterm friendships

Interesting...Jeff just ran the stats on electricpenguin.com, and in June, I got about half the traffic that Inkspot was getting at its peak. Pretty bizarre, considering that most stuff on electricpenguin.com has only been around for a few months and Inkspot was almost six years old.


For those of you who haven't already seen it, here's the newspaper article in the Sunday Herald Sun (Australia) about my Lord of the Rings project. Many thanks to Julie for mailing it!


We booked our flights to Vancouver and Japan yesterday, all but one leg of the flight for one person booked on points. I also booked my flight to California on points yesterday. Jeff and I calculated that between now and October, we'll only be spending about ten days in Toronto. In addition to the trips mentioned above, we're also going away on trips with my sister and her family, with Reid and Luisa, the hiking trip with Alison and Jeff and Parki, cottage trips.


We're both pretty hyped about our trip to Japan; neither of us have ever been. I've been frantically listening to language tapes and reading language books to try to absorb as much as I can between now and August. :-) Last night, Jeff and I had dinner at Takesushi on Front Street. I've never been, but had heard Jeff and Bryan raving about it before. We had the chef's choice special, and it was amazing. There were about 7 or 8 courses (there may have been more; I lost count), each very small and exquisitely presented, and absolutely delicious. The waitstaff saw Jeff and me poring over our Japan books, and we got a lot of useful advice in terms of places to visit in and around Tokyo.


Anyway, Takesushi gets a big thumbs up from both of us, but because of the hefty prices, we'll probably only have dinner there on special occasions.





We also went to Toys'R'Us last night in preparation for the Waterfight Party at Reid and Luisa's place this weekend. Last time I attended, I was sorely underprepared. But no longer! We are now owners of a Super Soaker CPS 2700!! For those interested, here's an explanation of how these mega-waterguns work.


Many of the people in the photo at the top of this page will be attending the party. I came across the photo during my ongoing attempt to reorganize my office, and couldn't help but notice that despite the fact that this photo was taken about ten years ago, Jeff and I are still friends with many of the same crowd. Several of the people in this photo have posted in Blatherchat, including: Jeff Kesner ("jok"), Andy ("aiabx"), Michelle, Jeff, Reid, Luisa, and Kaarel. The guy with his arm around me is Kaarel (my brother-in-law). The guy at the far right is Andrew, whom I'm visiting in California this fall. The guy immediately to the right of my Jeff is our friend Scott Dixon, now a history professor at the University of Belfast, and who is coming to visit later this summer.


There is something highly comforting about longterm friendships. You've worked out most of the kinks and second-guessing so prevalent in new friendships (similar to romantic relationships, now that I think of it). You're each familiar with the other's weaknesses and idiosyncrasies but are willing to accept them. But most importantly, you know that even if you're not in frequent contact, there's someone out there you can rely on in times of trouble. This is not to say that shorter term friendships can't do the same, but again, it's similar to having a romantic relationship. There's a difference between a couple who have just met and are in the passionate whirlwind of blossoming romance, and a couple who have been together for twenty years.


Not sure why I'm getting all sentimental these days. Perhaps my time in Philadelphia has helped me better appreciate good friendships (not just those in the photo, of course) and the value of pursuing the same. And in answer to a poll question I posed a while back, I -do- think it's possible to be good friends with someone you don't see all that often, especially if there's a history behind the friendship, and a mutual desire to stay in contact, whether through getting together in person at least once in a while, phonecalls, e-mails.


I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this topic, especially from those who said they thought it was possible to be close friends with someone they've never met.









Today's Blatherpic:


- Photo of a New Year's gathering at our place in Orangeville, about ten years ago. Ruth took the photo, which is why she's not in it. :-)


- Watergun we bought last night.


- Jeff and I with Sara and Annie at Andy's and Christine's bbq a while back.


- Parki's driver's license photo (below).

Feel free to suggest a daily poll question.


Today's Poll:

Are any of your close friendships at least ten years old?

Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to all you Americans! And happy birthday to Paul Kwinn!

Why I Sometimes Wish I Lived In The U.S.

- Sidewalk magazine stands.


- Philly cheesesteaks, more interesting selection of chocolate bars than Canada.


- Mail service on Saturdays.


- They tend to get cool movie trailers sooner.


- They don't have to pay all kinds of customs duty tax on mail order items.


- Their money is worth more.


- More filk conventions. :-)




By the way, is there any special national holidays in the England? Australia? Other countries?




Today's Blatherpic:


- A childhood picture of my friend Luisa.

Feel free to suggest a daily poll question.


Today's Poll:

Did you do anything special to celebrate U.S. Independence Day?

powdered peanut butter

Went to see A.I. last night with Parki, Frank, and Jeff. Despite the excellent acting (especially by the little boy) and intriguing premise, I was majorly disappointed. I was not the only one...by the time the final credits rolled, many of the people in last night's audience were shaking their heads, catcalling, snickering. I will not say anything else for fear of giving away spoilers except that my favourite part of the movie was the Harry Potter trailer.


Annie and Sara have been going to Bug Camp. Both recently came home with pet snails. I can't help but remember the traumatic demises of Snail and Fish last year. Sara has started asking for a puppy.









The photo above is of the dehydrated food I ordered from Walton Feed, in preparation for our hiking trip next month. I have dehydrated mushrooms, mixed peppers, hash browns, diced carrots, diced potatoes, flaked potatoes, broccoli, sliced celery, margarine, butter, cheese powder, tomato powder, sweet corn, sour cream, chicken, beef, milk, eggs, and peanut butter. The dehydrated chicken and beef look like dog food. Our pantry is full of mysterious-looking cans with plastic lids.


To conserve weight, we're going to try taking as much dehydrated food as possible. I've been testing various recipes over the past little while. This morning I made a Bisquick biscuit, cut it in half, and filled it with a mixture of precooked bacon crumbles, powdered egg mixed with water and cooked, pieces of Velveeta (which seems to last forever without refrigeration until you open the package). It actually tasted okay! I'll schedule this for late in the hiking trip...people are more likely to eat Anything by then.


I've been gradually trying out small samples of each type of dehydrated food. My favourite so far is the powdered peanut butter. With a little sugar and water added, it tastes very close to the real thing. Hm...peanut butter and jam biscuits? peanut butter cookies? peanut sauce?


It's going to be more of a challenge packing for this trip than any of our other camping trips, primarily because of the weight issue. We'll be lugging everything on our backs the entire way. So I find myself agonizing over questions like whether or not to take a book, for example...after I'm finished the book, it's just dead weight. Or perhaps I can load up my Palm Pilot with a book, but then do I really want to lug along a recharger as well? There's no way I could survive 10 days without at least one book. I wish someone would hurry up and finish inventing electronic paper. :-)


Jeff and I have also been researching for our trip to Japan. To anyone out there who is familiar with Japan: we are looking for recommendations on what to do and where to go! We have about 9 days, and are staying with our friend Alison in Tokyo. I've been getting lots of advice from my dad, Ruth, Gail Kesner. Take toilet paper (not all public washrooms have it), a handkerchief (not all public washrooms have paper towels), be prepared for the locals to sneer at me (someone who looks Japanese but can't speak the language, just like a gaijin), etc. After browsing through our Japan tourist guides (Lonely Planet's guide as well as the mini rough guide for Tokyo), Jeff and I are realizing that 9 days is way too short to see more than a fraction of what we want to see. Our timing is unfortunately limited, however, because of plans made just before and after.


I'm hoping to take my laptop (hopefully an iBook by then) on all our trips except for the hiking trip, and keep posting my Blatherings and photos along the way.









Today's Blatherpic:


- Annie and Sara.


- Dehydrated canned food from Walton Feed.


- Childhood picture of Frank and his doll.

Feel free to suggest a daily poll question.


Today's Poll: (Courtesy Chris Conway)

Are you a vegetarian/vegan?

O Canada

* Why I'm Glad I Live In Canada *

We pronounce "process" correctly.


When listening to the Barenaked Ladies' song, "If I Had A Million Dollars", we know what Kraft Dinner is.


We know what serviettes are.


We have Mounties.









We invented Superman.


We have back bacon.


We spell "neighbour" and "colour" correctly.


We're nice.


We have chesterfields, runners, and elastics.


Our money is cooler-looking.


We don't mix up our "e"s and "r"s (like in the word "centre").


We have FilKONtario.


We have ketchup chips.


We're modest. ;-)








Hey, you other Canadians...any other suggestions? :-) Please post them in Blatherchat, thanks.





Today's Blatherpic:


- Me modelling a Waiting For Frodo" t-shirt, baby doll t-shirt version (there is also a regular t-shirt).


- A typical Canadian mountie.


- Our flag, eh?

Feel free to suggest a daily poll question.


Today's Poll:

Do you like back bacon more than strip bacon?

frequent flyer

As most of you already know, I spent much of last year and early this year flying back and forth between Toronto and Philadelphia on US Airways. Whereas flying was previously a thrill, I quickly grew tired of the novelty, especially when at least half my flights seemed to be delayed or cancelled because of weather or air traffic. I remember sitting miserably in the middle of the Philadelphia airport during the Christmas holidays, having had one flight home cancelled and waiting to see if the next would be as well, whilst listening to some local high school choir cheerfully singing, "I'll Be Home For Christmas".


I had counted on the frequent flights adding up to a free flight and upgrade package, however, so was Not Happy when US Airways failed to send me my upgrade package despite repeated phonecalls, e-mails, and faxes. They finally 'fessed up last week with humble apologies, saying that I had somehow slipped through the cracks. As compensation, they've extended my "Silver Preferred" status to 2002, FexExed my upgrade package.


Anyway, it looks like I can visit California this October! I'll be visiting with Paul and Beckett (and twins!), Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff, and my friend Andrew. I'm pretty hyped about this trip. Conventions are wonderful, but I'm really looking forward to some relatively quiet one-on-one time with friends I don't get to see that often. A few days after I get back, I take off again, this time on Air Canada frequent flyer points, to spend some time with Andrea and Tom in Cincinnati (as well as visiting the offices of Writer's Digest) before going to OVFF.


Packing up to go back to the city today....


Today's Blatherpic:


- Ivan Semeniuk, at Andy's and Christine's bbq. Ivan is the host of Discovery Connection on the Discovery Channel as well as an excellent improvisational blues pianist.

Feel free to suggest a daily poll question.


Today's Poll:

Are you (at least somewhat) afraid of flying?