Dust off the LPs

We were checking out a new bar last night (owned by a friend of mine who plays Domaine) called La Distillerie (corner Ontario and Sanguinet). They have a few good beers on tap and make cocktails with fresh fruit. Yummers!

A song came on over the conversation that mystified a few of us for a few moments. I maintained it had to be Boy George while others thought it was George Michael. In the end, I was disturbed to realized that my ears were sensitive to Boy's particular type of warbling.

Which led to these questions:

1. What was the first piece of music that you were given and what format was it in (tape, 45rpm, 33rpm, 78rpm, CD)?

2. What was the first piece of music that you bought and what format was it in?

My first 45rpms that I owned were as follows:

Illusion by Imagination
I Love Rock and Roll by Joan Jet and the Blackhearts
Hurts So Good by John Cougar Mellencamp
Jenny 867-5309 by Tommy Tutone

And the first 33rpm LP that I ever bought with my own money was (God, this is embarrassing):

Physical by Olivia Newton John

Share in my shame! Respond!

Ultra Sound: Not Invasive?

As far as I know, Ultra Sound operations are supposed to be non-invasive, right? It's supposed to be the more humane way to go to see what's going on underneath the hood.

A friend of mine is going for an ultra sound examination today and she's afraid that, because she didn't need to drink water, fast, or howl at the moon the night before, this means the docs will be sticking cameras inside her to find out what's going on.

If that's true, what's non-invasive about that? That sounds plenty invasive! What the difference between that and the doctor lighting a candle, pulling on his hiking boots, and climbing right inside?

Sometimes doctors know a little too much about history. Sure, modern technology has made medical procedures to be much smoother and less risky, but having even a tiny camera shoved down your thoat (or any other orifice) is not something to which we look forward, no matter how medically amazing it is.

Unexpected Photo Opp

I got a weird email from a friend yesterday. He was going through the Montreal Gazette recently and found a photo insert that was credited to me!

I've had my pictures published here and there before (this pic is being considered for a magazine called Sky and Telescope), but never in the newspaper. I'm thinking this is a case of mistaken identity, but I'd really like to see that photo insert.

I'll keep you posted. Maybe I'm famouser than I thinked!

What Was I Doing

Got this from her who got it from her.

10 years ago
I was 26 and I was very busy in my job as a freelance technical writer. My main client, Storm Technical Communications, had just closed their doors in Montreal, but I was soon to score a long-term contract with Bell Canada. I wasn't seeing anybody steady and that was just the way I liked it. In the summer of 1996, I had moved in with my friend Barbara into a 4000 sq.ft. loft in Old Montreal. It was a great place and we had fantastic parties there. Living with Barbara wasn't as great though and our friendship suffered a major blow from which neither of us ever recovered.

5 years ago
I was 31 and life wasn't too bad, considering what was coming. My job at Toon Boom was stressful, but satisfying. I was surrounded by good friends, my pagan life was still new and exciting, and I was recently re-singlified. Of course, September was a bad month all around, with world events going haywire and losing my Toon Boom job (which sent me into a spiraling depression that I was too depressed at the time to notice). I felt I was being taken down notch by notch and I wondered what was out there in store for me.

1 year ago
This time last year I was deeply in love with Ms. Carotte and was making plans to go out and visit here in TO. My contracts had ended and I decided to take the summer off. It was the summer of play. Festivals, Domaine (LARP), and general summer merriment. I had plans to visit a friend in Britanny, but I never followed through with them. I kinda regret that now.

Yesterday
I was just getting back from my fourth trip to H2O Adventures, a company that hosts a weekend of whitewater kayaking. WWK is a newfound love of mine, and although it terrifies me and I'm not good at it yet, I love it. I especially love bringing my crew with me and see them enjoy it as well.

5 snacks I enjoy
- Ritz Chips
- Corn Poofs
- Crispix mixed with trailmix
- Pepperoni sticks (from Dad's Bagels)
- Toast

5 songs I know all the words to
- O Canada
- Sit on my Face (and tell me that you love me): I get to sing this out loud in the metros more often than you might think
- The Toronto Song (by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie)
- Home for a Rest (Spirit of the West)

5 things I would do with $100 Million
- Pay off my debts
- Take my friends on a wild vacation somewhere (maybe on a ship)
- Get some land in Hawkesbury and build my Dream Home
- Tour the world's storytelling festivals
- Take my pagan buddies to Stonehenge

5 bad habits I have
- chew my fingernails
- bite my lip
- get easily distracted
- being unfocussed
- fret about my body shape

5 things I like doing
- White Water Kayaking
- Alpine Skiing
- Hanging with my friends
- Talking trash over a good game of Poker
- Attending storytelling events (even when I'm not telling)

5 things I would never wear
- Leather pants
- Hand-cuffs
- Silk anything (except ties): it gives me the willies when I feel it against my skin
- contact lenses
- piercings in sensitive areas

5 TV shows I like
- Battlestar Galactica
- Myth Busters
- CSI: various flavours
- M*A*S*H
- Family Guy

5 joys of the moment
- A successful story told
- Seeing someone else thumbing through my published work
- Friendly discussion over pints
- Sharing in a friend's accomplishment
- Feeling a strong spiritual connection

5 favorite toys
- my computer
- my car
- my Creative Zen mp3 player
- my PalmPilot
- my digicam

Speed up, Slow Down

This week has all been about speed. Did you see how the people were speeding during the rainstorm in Montreal? It's wet people... Time to slow down, not speed up!

But time is just zipping by and I'll be flipped over in a kayak before I even know on which side my toast is buttered. I've got no time, no time, no time, no time... I've taken on too many activities again and it's taking its toll on me.

I love my extra-curriculars, I always have. I don't get into all this stuff because I'm lonely (when I was single); there's just lots of stuff I want to experience and learn. When I get into a relationship, my free time gets majorly squeezed.

I don't mean to say that my gal is taking over my life, but there are only so many hours in a day, and spending quality time with her is important (and no, she's not theatening to tip a jar of mammory milk over my head so that I'll write that).

So I end up having to drop a few things so I can get everything done. It's heart-wrenching, but what can I do? Something's gotta give before someone tosses me out.

So here's what I have on my plate that's keeping me so busy:

Ms. Carotte (most moments)
Assorted friends (every other moment)
MPRC (every Thursday plus planning events)
Storytelling (twice or more a month)
Work (40 hours a week)
BNI (every Thursday morning, I'm the VP of my chapter)
Dragon Boating (Mondays, Wednesdays, and the odd race weekend)
Domaine LARP (one weekend a month)
Pagan festivals (three weekends in the summer)

But that's not all! There's loads more stuff I'd like to be doing with my free time, but as I complete projects, I need to find time to work these things in:

Teaching (pagan stuff)
Learn to play Tin Whistle
Learn to play Bodrahn
Learn how to draw (university educated and I draw like a four year-old)
Learn sign language
Learn how to fence
Learn more stories
Take a professional photography course
Attend more storytelling festivals/events
Tell more stories in French
Publish another book (a collection of Irish/Quebecois stories)
Do more Whitewater Kayaking
Direct theatrical plays again

Argh. Just not enough time in a day or a lifetime. Anything else you think I should add to this list?