my birthday

Hey, it's my birthday today! As a birthday present to myself, I'm going to FilKONtario a day early. It's Katy's birthday today, too!

Allison has updated her Filk Forte column with a new poll topic: "FKO Virtual Con and Memories". Post your FKO recollections here or, if you've never been able to attend FKO, come attend a "virtual" version here. :) Wow...Allison just posted her column yesterday, and a bunch of people have joined the party already. :)

Hey, guess what? Jodi just got interviewed about The Muse's Muse by Billboard Magazine for an article in a future issue! Veryvery cool.

Had lunch at Wow Sushi yesterday (see photo above). Topics ranged from DSL connection speeds to wilderness camping to elephantitis to guys' short haircuts. Parki just got a buzzcut (see photo below). I'm sure he gets accosted all the time now by people wanting to touch his head, which feels wonderfully fuzzy. Ray (see photo above) does his own haircuts, shaving his head twice a week.

In the evening, Jeff took me to North 44º for my birthday. And as a birthday present, he's taking me to see The Lion King next Wednesday evening, woohoo! :-) :-) We had a very good talk during dinner. Things have been getting much better for us since I came home from Philadelphia and am not as superstressed. To Annie: Jeff read your Blatherchat post about this a while back and was as touched as I was.

It's funny, really. I told Jeff last night that when I think back to how unhappy I was in Philadelphia several months ago, it seems like another world. Sort of like waking up in the middle of the night from a bad dream and being able to remember all the details in grisly detail, but then in the morning the memory has gone all fuzzy around the edges and gradually fades away as the day progresses.

It wasn't all bad, of course. I met some very cool people, had a great harp teacher (I hope to resume occasional harp lessons in Toronto), got to try Philly cheesesteak and scrapple, experienced living alone for the first time (there's a certain freedom in being able to decorate your apartment any way you want without having to consult anyone :)). Plus the experience has made me a stronger person, in terms of knowing what I want and don't want in life, being better at sticking up for myself.

Some people have asked me if I'm bitter about what happened to Inkspot. Perhaps a tinge (my comic strip is good therapy for me right now :-)), but to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to going back to my own writing, to simplifying my life. Rather than dwell on what-ifs and self-indulgent regret, I'm going to focus on getting on with the next stage of my life.

After my sabbatical, of course. ;-)

Have a great weekend, everyone. To those who wanted to attend FKO but couldn't; you will be missed. But hey, come join the virtual filk convention in Filk Forte!

Today's Blatherpics:

Lunch crowd at Wow sushi yesterday.

Parki with his new haircut. Quite a contrast to his hairstyle back in university, I'd say.

the sopranos

Met Luisa for lunch yesterday. We ate at a place on Yonge called the Spring Roll. Fantastic food, yum! The hot and sour soup was to die for. I have certain types of food which, if on the menu of any restaurant, I must try. Hot and sour soup is one. Creme caramel is another. I have a weakness for both.

Parki came over last night to watch The Sopranos with Jeff and me (Scott M. kindly loaned us his copy of the first season on DVD). We ordered in Thai food from Natchos and watched four episodes in a row, to the end of the first season.

Amazingly good writing, characterization (and character growth), storytelling. Warning for the squeamish: it IS violent. But violent scenes are non-gratuitous, well integrated into the fabric of the story. It took me a couple of episodes for me to get into it, but now I'm completely hooked. It's the best thing I've seen on television in a long time.

Humble apologies to John O'Halloran for posting one of his Consonance photos on my Blatherings yesterday without asking permission! (insert deep blush of shame here) I usually do ask, but forgot this time. I've removed the photo. :-(

Woohoo, only two days until FilKONtario! I'm checking into the hotel tomorrow afternoon, staying through until Monday. Katy and Ju are coming to visit on Monday through Wednesday, and then on Thursday I leave for Las Vegas with Jeff's family. I'm not sure how much Blathering I'm going to be doing during this time, though hopefully I'll find an Internet cafe somewhere to get my online fix. :-)

Today's Blatherpic:

This photo was taken during our last trip to the cottage.

skinrolling

Hey, so my dad-in-law is taking the whole family to Las Vegas next weekend (weekend after FKO). I've never been. I'm not much into gambling, but am curious to see what all the fuss is about. My mom-in-law is treating the womenfolk to pampering at the spa in the hotel we're staying at...she faxed me a list of spa services to choose from (!). Wow, some of these services sound pretty exotic...Bali Spice Scrub, Volcanic Earth Ritual, Balinese Foot Wash. I'm a *big* sucker for massages, so angsted for a while over the massage section before settling on something called a "JAMU Massage". The description reads as follows: "A meditative massage combining Hindu, Chinese and European techniques for a rhythmic, relaxing and energizing experience. Unique massage strokes include acupressure, skinrolling, wringing and percussion, with your choice of exotic oils: island fruits, island spice, or island flowers." Mmmmm. But what on earth is "skinrolling"?! I must find out.

I'm not hugely experienced at getting professional massages, but I've learned a few pointers (which are extremely borne from personal taste and therefore may not apply to everyone) for maximizing the massage experience:

If you don't like pain, say so.
I remember getting pummelled a long while ago...it felt like the masseuse was doing her best to inflict as many bruises on my body as she possibly could, a sort of endurance test. I felt like pummelling HER at times during the massage, in fact. It would have been far better for me to admit my low pain threshold and ask that she have mercy.

Ask for a woman masseuse.
I can't relax if there's a good-looking guy doing the massage...I'm way too self-conscious about flabby bits, trying to remember when I last shaved my legs, and so on. On the other hand, some people like the "pummelling" sort of massage, and in general men tend to use more pressure than women. Now that I think of it, I realize that my favourite massage person at my health club is a guy, so just ignore this entire paragraph. Derek is different, though (stop rolling your eyes, Jeff)...he only talks at the beginning (to say hello and ask if there's anything in particular I need working on) and at the end, so most of the time I'm not really aware of the person behind the hands. Sounds heartless, but it's true...and as it should be, really.

One thing I'm really not into is getting impromptu massages from strangers or people I don't know very well. Y'know, you're sitting in a filk circle and stretch to get some kinks out of your neck, and suddenly there's a pair of hands digging their thumbs into your shoulders from behind belonging to someone you don't know. I know a lot of people are fine with this, but I lean towards the "ask first" methodology.

Anyway, I'll stop going on about this or my Dad (whom I know reads my Blatherings) will think that the filk conventions I attend are nothing but hedonistic weekend-long orgies. :-)

Today's Blatherpic:

With Annie at Fune.

birthdays and oscars

New "Another Quarternote Heard From"
column from Bill Sutton is available
online: Carrying A Big Schtick.

Fune My family celebrated my birthday yesterday since I won't be around on my actual birthday this week. We went to Fune. Sara and Annie ordered their favourite sushi: tako (octopus), ebi (shrimp), and ikura (salmon roe), with noodles on the side. They both know how to use chopsticks.

After dinner, I visited the ladies' room. During the few minutes I was gone, the restaurant host and waitresses brought a cake out for me, sparklers and candles lit, about to launch into a rendition of "Happy Birthday". When they discovered I wasn't there, they had to sneak into a side entrance with the cake to avoid running into me coming back from the ladies' room. I discovered all this later, of course, but did wonder why my family looked so strange as I resumed my place at the table.

"Don't go away again, Auntie Debbie!" Sara told me.

My presents: hand-decorated framed artwork from both Sara and Annie, a cardboard rocketship made by Sara, a cardboard castle made by Annie, a pair of cool earrings chosen by Annie (I'll wear them to FKO), and a 2-DVD Toy Story set (from my Dad).

After dinner, Jeff and I went to Andy's and Christine's to watch the Oscars. Much fun, but I was too tired to stay until the end; I've been waking up around 5:30 or 6 am on a regular basis these days. In contrast, Jeff is staying up later working and playing Quake, then sleeping in. We're both trying to adjust our hours so we can spend more quality time together. :-)

Morning/Night people

I was delighted to discover that my friend Parki was a morning person recently. I found out when I sent out a question about Perl to several of my technonerdboy guy friends early one morning (my subject header: "Perl guru needed!), and Parki was the first to respond. A few hours later, Bryan posted, "What kind of Perl guru is awake before 9:30 a.m.?!" Parki's response: "I am not a Perl guru. I am a free man. Cheers, #5."

When I discussed the issue with Parki later on, I found him remarkably leery of being labelled a "morning person". He claims to not be truly awake right away, that he needs his coffee, and so on bla-di-blabla. Jeff is also this way...even if he does happen to wake up early, he's Mr. Grumpypants until he's had a chance to adjust to the shock of being conscious again. Jeff's sister was the one who came up with the name "Mr. Grumpypants" for Jeff, by the way, when we used to share a house.

Anyway, what is it with this prejudice against morning people?! I really want to know!! I say we morning people need to stand up and be proud of who we are and what we stand for!!!

(rousing patriotic orchestral music swells here)

That's all for today.

Update 11:03 a.m.: I lied, that's not all for today. In response to my paragraph about him (see above), Parki e-mailed the following response:

"I take umbrage at the 'bla-di-blabla' above, which you cavalierly toss into your diatribe as this as if the first coffee of the day is not important or is some frivolous 'drink'.

You should have more respect for the coffee.

The coffee greases the wheels of life, 'specially when the train of thought is having a hard time leaving the station in the morning.

:-)"

Ha! See how insecure these Morning Coffee people are?

For the record, I do drink coffee occasionally, but only when enough cream and sugar have been added to completely eradicate any remnants of actual coffee taste.





Today's Blatherpics:

With Annie and Sara at Fune.

Oscars night at Andy's and Christine's.

moving bryan

Jeff and I went over to Bryan Fullerton's place yesterday to help him move. We've been through a lot of moves (our own moves, plus helping friends), and I've noticed that there are several different approaches to this type of event. On one end of the spectrum is the type who starts packing months before the actual move, labelling each box with a description of the contents, cross-indexing lists, buys special wrapping for kitchenware, files a change of address form with the Post Office in advance, with the correct date of the move.

At the other end of the spectrum is the person who postpones packing until the day of the move and ends up in a panic, stuffing everything into garbage bags and making a zillion trips in a car because they left the renting of the van too late.



From what I could tell, Bryan was closer to the second, except he did rent a van and was remarkably calm throughout. Hm. Now that I think of it, I don't think I've *ever* seen Bryan stressed out.

Anyway, one of the great things about helping friends move is that it gives you an excuse to snoop through stuff you never get to snoop through in regular circumstances. We all admired Bryan's taste in fluorescent swimming gear (sadly, I did not get any photos), marvelled at how much computer hardware he had squirrelled away all over his apartment (I think there were eight computers and associated peripherals).



Many congrats to Bryan on his new pad! I look forward to snooping through his freezer for icecream in the future.

Five more days until FilKONtario!





Today's Blatherpics:
All from the move today. People helping out included me and Jeff, Bryan's mom, Erin, Jennifer, Patrick, Chris, Heath and Dan.