rock collection

So I've been looking around my small but well-stuffed home office and thinking about all the junk in our locker and dreading the day we actually have to start packing it all up. The idea of moving to a nicer place appeals to me, of course (else why move), but I hate the moving process itself.

Some people like moving because it gives them a chance to start from scratch, to purge junk, to plan their new space with a clean slate. Me, I just want to get it over with. I've always been a packrat, and hate throwing things out.

Part of this is because of the "waste not, want not" mindset learned during childhood. My family wasn't poor, but neither were we rich, and we learned how to make things last. I think that part of my packrat mentality is also because I tend to be overly sentimental about inaminate objects.

When Sara and Annie were younger, for example, they would often pick up things on our walks, like weeds or rocks or fallen pinecones, and give them to Jeff and me.

"This is a present for you, Auntie Debbie," Annie would say, laying the rock in my hand reverently. "I picked it out just for you." Utter sincerity and trust shines from her eyes, and I'd take her special gift, tears brimming up in my own eyes.

When I get home, I'd unload my gifts onto the dining room table.

"What are you doing with all those rocks?" Jeff would ask.

"Sara and Annie gave them to me."

"Oh." Jeff always understood. I'm sure he has his own special rock collection.

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I made pancakes for Jeff and me this morning. I used an Aunt Jenima mix, but at least I used the kind where you have to add an egg and milk instead of just water, giving me the illusion that I'm cooking something almost from scratch. For me, pancakes are just a handy sponge for maple syrup. I adore maple syrup.

We used to live across the road from some dairy farmers who made their own maple syrup the old-fashioned way. I loved going over when they were in the boiling off process (or whatever you call the stage where the water is evaporating from the collected sap).

I also loved reading about maple syrup candy in the Little House On The Prairie Books, how Laura and Mary would pour the hot syrup onto the snow and then eat the resulting maple candy. We used to tried this as kids but it never did work; inevitably the syrup would disappear into the snow and we'd have to comfort ourselves by licking the syrup-flavoured snow. Now, I realize that the trick was probably to boil the syrup until it was thicker. Maybe I'll try that with a niece or nephew someday.





Links/News:

Yay, looks like J.K. Rowling has almost finished the fifth Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, according to
this TimesOnline article. Reason for delay: writer's block and a pregnancy.

TimesOnline also has an interesting article about the changing reputation of comics. "Once considered the exclusive realm of juvenile escapism, the comic book and graphic novel now harbour artists who are upending expectations with work that is nuanced, literate and decidedly adult."

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Today's Blatherpics:

These photos were scanned as part of my Family Photo Archive project.

	My mom.
	Me, age two.

blur

Jeff and I are meeting with our real estate agent tonight, and checking out more places this weekend.

After a while, the houses all begin to blur together. Living rooms ... bedrooms ... basements ... backyards. Even apart from the potential of moving to a new home, it's fascinating from a people-watcher's point of view, to see so many different personalities expressing themselves in style of home, furniture, lawn decorations.

We're still not entirely decided on whether we want to move into a house or another condo. We like the idea of living in a house, but are we really prepared to cope with maintenance and other hassles that go with it? Will our neighbours drive us nuts? Will we drive them nuts?

We've only been on one house hunting expedition with the real estate agent, however. I suspect the one this weekend will help make up our minds.

I'm starting to revise my novel, reading through the entire thing, fixing plot inconsistencies, editing and revising. I find that I get the most work done on it offline, where I'm not tempted to pick up e-mail or check to see if anyone's posted in Blatherchat or posted any LOTR report comments.

My favourite place to write is in coffee shops, mainly because they usually have comfy chairs but also because I like the noise and action around me. Sometimes I just order a coffee or latté but don't drink it, just setting in nearby to prove that yes, I did order something so I'm allowed to sit here. I bring noise-blocking headphones and put on some Kim Robertson harp music to help mask out whatever horrible muzak is playing on the speakers. Yeah, I know I just said I like working in coffee shops because of the noise, so why the noise-blocking headphones? I like the noise and action, but I don't like being able to distinguish words of conversations going around me, if that makes any sense at all.

Sent out two more queries, sent in my article and photos for Country Connections magazine, continuing work on two consulting jobs re: online communities, continuing to work on my novel. I love my work; I could do this forever.

Links/News:

One year ago, I started fiction writing again, the first time since the whole Inkspot adventure.

Two years ago, I was being teased about my Canadian accent at work.

"Spirited Away" debuts in North America on Friday after smashing box office records in Japan. (Reuters)

dragonfly run

Yesterday, I took the subway to meet my friend Cathy for lunch, and I decided to release a book in the subway car: John Grisham's The Brethren. After I surreptitiously left a book on one of the seats, I moved to another part of the subway car just before a horde of lunch hour types boarded the train. A woman sat in the seat I had just left, noticed the book on the window ledge beside her.

I felt like I was at the cottage after having left a peanut out for a chipmunk, and was hoping it would take it. And she took it! Flipped through a few pages (not sure if she saw the sticker in front), started reading, and ended up taking the book off the train with her. Yay! It's true that I will never give away any of my most-loved books, but I do have a huge pile of books that I've read once or attempted to read once and will likely never read again. I am going to do some massive purging before we move anyway, so at least this way I'll get extra pleasure out of it.

I think I'll stick to releasing books in the subway rather than outside; people are less likely to be revolted by the idea of picking up a discarded book. Who knows why that book might have been left on that newspaper stand? On a subway, everyone's desperate for reading material (at least everyone who isn't dozing fitfully, their heads knocking painfully against the window or their neighbour's knobby shoulders). The trick is to leave the books without anyone looking, else some helpful soul might run after me, thinking I've forgotten it.

Our search for a new home continues. Because we're not in a particular hurry to move but are actively looking, it's possible we may not move for many months. Then again, we may buy a place next week (there was a non-zero chance we might have bought a place on Monday, but we decided to pass). Or we might decide that it's not worth the hassle, and to stay where we are forever.

I'm much more conscious of our neighbourhood whenever I go out these days, knowing that there's a good possibility we may be moving out of it. I've decided to start keeping track of what I'll miss and what I won't miss.

Something I won't miss: Dodging around smokers on the sidewalk when I run. Yes, I know that I'll find smokers everywhere, but I suspect that the concentration is much higher downtown. Sometimes I'll run along Front Street on my way to the Martin Goodman Trail and it'll be like running through the smoking section of a bar, especially if it's at the end of the day. *koff *koff...

Something I'll miss: The convenience (depending where we move). Everything's within walking distance: bookstores, coffee shops, grocery stores, movie theatres, live theatre, symphony halls, restaurants, video rental stores, interesting shops. From a tourist perspective, we live within minutes' walk of the CN tower, Skydome (my health club's in the Skydome), Air Canada Centre, Hummingbird Centre, Hockey Hall of Fame, Roy Thompson Hall, Princess of Wales theatre, Royal Alexandra theatre.





My mutant bananas still haven't ripened. Still no reply from Grocery Gateway, either.

Parki came over last night for dinner and three episodes of The Sopranos (thanks again for the loan of the DVDs, Scott!).

Finished The Hobbit, loved it! Starting Lord of the Rings now. See my reports.

A year ago, Jeff and I finally got home from Japan after 9/11.

Two years ago, we were keeping in touch via Kritter Cameras. Man, I remember how much I missed Jeff back then, when I was living in Philly.

Five years ago, my Sea Monkeys were dying.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Every time I go for a run, even on exactly the same route, I find something new. This dragonfly art was embedded in a driveway.
	Thanks to ScottM for giving me this souvenir Papal Mass Pass, leftover from World Youth Day.

poll: reading frenzy

I can't recall if I've ever posted the photo at the top of the page in my Blatherings before. It's a picture of Jeff in the cottage lake at ice-out years ago. Yes, that's real ice floating around him in the water (hence his agonized expression). I think he was only in for about a second or two, but I'm amazed that he was able to stand the icy temperature for that long!

I also took the picture below that same week, looking out the front of the boathouse at the ice drifting slowly by.





Dead tired this morning, and it's Jodi's fault! :-) She loaned me her copy of Passage by Connie Willis. I usually have two reading projects going at the same time. Right now, I'm reading Tolkien as well as one other.

I started Passage last night, and couldn't put it down until it was past midnight, when I was halfway through. Even then, I had to fight the urge to keep reading. I'm always torn when that happens...I desperately WANT to keep reading, but I know that I'm so tired that I'm not appreciating what I'm reading as much as I would be if I was awake, and wouldn't it be better to close up the book and continue later?

How about the rest of you?

Poll: When you can't put down a book...

When's the last time you felt the same way I did? For what book? Have you ever read an entire book at one sitting? When do you do most of your reading? (just before going to bed? in line at the grocery store? etc.)

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Jeff in icy agony/ecstasy. His dad's kneeling on the dock nearby.
	View from the front of the boathouse at ice-out.

bananas

Click on the image above to see a larger picture of our bananas. They look pretty green, don't they? I tried peeling one this morning, but found it too hard. I bought these bananas via Grocery Gateway almost TWO WEEKS AGO. Where the heck did GG get these mutant bananas from? I sent the photo to them this morning with exactly that question. Well, almost exactly. I didn't use the word "mutant".

I recently sold an article about how to store fruit and vegetables to Dollar Stretcher, but I have to confess that the secret of bananas still eludes me to some extent. I know they're a good ethylene producer (a ripening agent), and that putting them in a bag with another good ethylene producer will help speed up ripening. Storing bananas on a hook is supposed to help the fruit last longer because it avoids "resting bruises" and encourages ventilation.

Then why don't I ever have bananas ripen when I want them to? They're green and hard one day, brown and mushy the next.

Or apparently green forever, like our current bananas. In another couple weeks, I'm going to contact the people at Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Maybe they'll give me money for our mutant bananas, enough for a down payment of a new house.

Hey, miracles do happen. Like bananas that are still green after two weeks.