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Ali has requested, in response to Meg Fowler doing so, a fill-in-the-blank Love List from friends. Here be’s mine:
Song you love: ‘Shroud’ by Ani diFranco
Word you love: Ladle
Academic subject you love: Philosophy
Hobby you love: Cooking (it excites me that that has become true…)
Type of baked good you love: Gluten-free, vegan chocolate cake from Magic Oven (…my options are limited, but this is really amazing even for those whose options aren’t limited…)
Type of sky you love: Blue, with just enough small clouds to provide bright contrast
Beverage you love: Water
Vacation you love: mmm any. Especially ones alone, where I have hours before and after in airports and on planes to think about (and then reminisce) about the time away.
Restaurant you love: Salad King
Way of getting around that you love: Rollerblading
Person you love: Ali (on my mind n’ all :P)
Room in your home (or ideal home) you love: Living room (in the afternoon)
Movie you love: What Dreams May Come/Finding Neverland
Book you love: …dear God… we’ll go with ‘Answer my Prayer’ by Sid Hite
City you love: Cork (hands down)
Future plan you love: Growing in love (in all senses and directions of both words)
Form of communication you love: Talking, face-to-face, and trying to repress smiles which refer to things happily noted from the conversation but not referring to the topic.
Junk food you love: Lay’s Salt & Vinegar chips
September 6th, 2008
One of the more successful Canadian blogs out there is Meg Fowler’s, and one of her regular posts is the “Friday Love List”, which my dear friend Ali has recently picked up on as well.
And this morning I’ve decided I could use a Monday Love List. So with no further ado, here are some things I love:
Green leaves outside my window (preferably with the sound of birds in accompaniement)
Making a new city feel like home
Dark chocolate
The sky, when clouds are doing shocking things (particularly when this is juxtaposed against city skylines)
Public Transit (kind of a love-hate)
That newly acquired sensual comfort of being close with a new lover
Smiles
Dancing eyes (particularly ones that dance during intricate conversation)
Long, healthy hair
Women who cultivate their natural beauty
Men who are comfortable owning the space around them
Children laughing, peeking, exploring, existing…
Groups of people dancing
Piles of unread books
Piles of books I’ve read
…Books
Fresh starts
Comfort zones
August 18th, 2008
You know why living in Toronto rocks? Because this afternoon I was one of like 60 people to see Hawksley Workman perform songs from his new album, Between the Beautifuls, on MTV Live, a 20 minute walk from my house, for free!
I think Hawksley definitely attracted an audience that the MTV Live group weren’t used to, which laughed tongue-in-cheek at their humour, rather than enjoying it outright, but in anycase it was a blast! And if you go the MTV Live website and look at the Hawksley clips from today’s show you can see Gabe and me sitting there (Gabe in green stripes, and me in many multi-coloured stripes) in the ‘chats with the hosts’. More importantly, you can also check out the performances. All three songs he performed were new, and I particularly liked the 2nd on September Lily.
Also, because I have a test tomorrow, and just saw one of my favourite artists, I am surfing the net very aimlessly. Hawksley is from Huntsville, Ontario, so obviously I went to the Huntsville website. Yes, I’m embarrassed. But I’m glad I did because it made me laugh.
Check out #7 on the FAQ page.
I genuinely hope those available at that number are derided daily with prank phone calls.
February 6th, 2008
I was chatting last night with my boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend(/old friend from public school) who also happens to have extremely strong ties to Ireland (both her parents came over from there), and we treaded in some extremely interesting waters. Once I was getting tired, and no longer cared if my ideas were coherent I shared something that had been striking me as odd but on which I had not yet been able to place a finger.
I find, I shared with her, that here in Canada it takes a very special event for me to put on makeup. And usually, makeup comes in an entire package with a nice skirt, good shoes etc. But I do it very, very rarely. And I would never throw on a pair of jeans, a nice shirt, and some mascara, I just wouldn’t do it. But when I’m in Cork, I have no problem doing that, and I can’t figure out why.
We talked about it for a bit, and then I shared that when I was over there this past weekend I met the (relatively) new girlfriend of a close friend of mine and how bizarre it was that I felt myself saying, “she was GORGEOUS, and a really sweet girl.” –I would never do that here, talking about a girl’s appearance like that. It wouldn’t sound right. It wouldn’t imply the right things…
So then we started talking about how what it means to be feminine seems to be different in the two places. The implications of choosing to be feminine are different. I brought up one of my cousins, who is just about the most striking, glamourous person I’ve met in real life, and how she’s also brilliant, funny, strong, loving etc. …and we discussed that as an image that doesn’t exist here. Here you make a choice. Either you are beautiful and stupid, or you’re smart and ugly. Either you are the type who takes too much time worrying about your looks, or you’re the type who doesn’t care.
Here saying someone’s girlfriend was gorgeous would come with bizarre undertones to do with her being shallow, or perhaps unintelligent. There it doesn’t at all. It’s just a compliment, that perhaps also implies that she takes care of herself, and cares (positively) about her appearance.
Here we have this strange sense of all-or-nothing. And of femininity as a sign of being opressed and objectified. And the weird thing is I’m not in the least bit a feminist. I find it hard to believe that women in the west are actively opressed–but there is a perception left alive over here in North America that just seems very strange. How we present ourselves shouldn’t feel related to opression. To feel like strong independent women we shouldn’t have to hide our makeup and pretend we don’t love gorgeous shoes. Those should absolutely be independent issues altogether. Or should they? Are they?
September 26th, 2007
My Naturopath asked me today who in my family I related to the most. As my family (that I know well) is small, and my brother and I are like night and day I found my options whittled down to my parents very quickly, and it was an interesting question.
Those who know me and meet my mother, or vice versa know that in terms of my behaviour I am soooo my mother’s daughter. My voice sounds, and moves like hers. My hands wave like hers. I wander around what I mean to ask like she does. Many might be inclined to suggest that I am my mother’s daughter first.
And it does make sense that I act as much like her as I do. She was my model growing up, and I had(/ve) more respect for her accomplishments as a single mother than I can express. Plus I have her introversion, and so it makes sense that I would have developed her (elaborate) ways of coping with it.
Plus I know that she really works to understand her children, and I know that I can talk to her openly and honestly about my life choices and get nothing but support and positive advice (where needed) back. But there has always been an extent to which I feel fundamentally misunderstood with respect to my mother. Why, I can’t quite tell. She tries, and functionally speaking she usually succeeds. It’s just this sense I’ve always had (that has made our relationship difficult).
So my mind moves to Ireland and I think in many ways it’s my father’s mind that I have. I have his tendency to overanalyze. I have his sense of responsibility and agency in things well outside his control. I have his likelihood to dwell.
I have his obsession with the inner-workings of the minds of others. I have his need to express, and be understood in a backward way. I have his sarcasm. And it’s weird because when it comes to the big things I do not feel understood by my father. I am afraid to tell him about my life choices. I am conflicted between a desire for him not to feel disappointed and a sense that it’s less his business than he thinks it is. I often find myself (unintenionally) caging what I tell him about my accomplishments or fears (in ways I never would with my mother).
And yet I have this strange sense of being understood by him. On a fundamental level, when we are sitting across the table from one another I feel like “we get it”. There’s something essential about who each of us is that the other simply understands. And think that’s why the answer is that it’s my father I relate to most.
September 14th, 2007
There’s that time of year, namely right now, when 10-15 degrees celcius requires quite a few layers, probably a jacket, and maybe even light gloves for the weaker among us. It’s that time of year when we are coming down off of temperatures consistantly in the mid-twenties reaching as high as 35-40 when factoring in humidity.
And then there’s that time of year, in approximately six months, when 10-15 degrees celcius requires a t-shirt, possibly sandles, maybe even a tank top and shorts for the more ambitious among us. It’s that time of year when we are coming away from temperatures consistantly in the minus mid-twenties reaching as low as minus 35-40 when factoring in windchill.
Beautiful country. Amazing people and culture. Ridiculous (read: downright laughable) climate.
September 13th, 2007
Facebook began as a network for students at post-secondary schools. When I was in first year it was already available for students at the University of Toronto. Which was great. Because UofT is incredibly anti-social and so having an online system for connecting with people in your classes was an assett for us all. Then over the course of a year or so we enjoyed it as the universities our friends went to got on board.
Then Facebook started allowing highschool students to join too. Then everyone else. Which seemed weird, but we didn’t mind, who cared as long as we could still use it. But then, THEN they started adding all of these ridiculous applications clogging up people’s profiles making locating an individual’s wall virtually impossible. Which was a bit annoying.
And now. NOW… (…well, last month but I didn’t notice ’cause I wasn’t in class…) they got rid of their application for courses: which is to say there is now no one way to see who else is in your classes. Apparently there’s a bunch of third-party applications that could be used, but because there’s a bunch of them none of them will work like the original did (unless everyone uses every application). *sigh*. …now I feel like I’ve been tricked into joining some random social online network. And it makes me unhappy. Grrr Facebook!!
September 11th, 2007
They went into Iraq for “Weapons of Mass Destruction”….until they couldn’t find any. Then other justifications were thrown into the pot, and it was asked that we forget what they’d said before. Ignore it, if we didn’t mind.
Afghanistan? Finding Bin Laden? Meh. Not the goal anyway. Apparently. Although I coulda sworn that’s what they said they were goin’ in for. Check out Matt Good.
September 8th, 2007
10 questions from James Lipton on Inside the Actor’s Studio. While having a new agent (yay!) might make one think my doing this is because I dream of one day being on the show, it’s really just because Darren Barefoot got Meg to do it, basically.
1. What is your favorite word? Ladle
2. What is your least favorite word? Bigot
3. What turns you on? Inspiring discussions and sparkling eyes.
4. What turns you off? Small-mindedness
5. What sound or noise do you love? Birds out my window.
6. What sound or noise do you hate? That sound when a small child is crying so loud it’s a scream.
7. What is your favorite curse word? Shit
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Pilot
9. What profession would you not like to do? Criminal lawyer
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Everyone is here.
August 7th, 2007
As part of Toronto’s SummerWorks festival my friend, Caitlin McCarthy, from highschool (far left) is in a fantastic new play called Muhammed of Yorkville. Written by a fellow student at University of Toronto during the scandal regarding the comics depicting Muhammed this play asks and explores some of the most interesting questions surrounding the controversy and what it means for those living in a multicultural city like Toronto. It’s also wonderfully funny.
“A play about religious controvery, artistic integrity and getting dumped on the phone,” Muhammed of Yorkville can be summed up (or at least, is being summed up) by the following:
When a Yorkville art gallery decides to exhibit a painting of the Prophet Muhammad, it sparks a string of controversies ranging from the thought-provoking to the absurd. Religion, politics, ideology and sexuality clash as gallery owners, angry teens and Muslim protestors say what they think and hear what they want.
Fantasticly written and wonderfully acted. Go see it!
Remainging shows are:
Wednesday August 8th 8:00pm
Friday August 10th 6:30pm
Saturday August 11th 12:30pm
Sunday August 12th 9:30pm
Buy tickets here, or an hour before at the show at The Factory Theatre on the corner of Bathurst and Adelaide.
August 6th, 2007
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