How is it spring and we’re already past Easter?

It’s not that I haven’t had stuff to blog about, it’s the time. I need to get some of my creative mojo back.

What have I been up to ? What have you been up to?

Concert of the year so far…Gary Numan. Remember him? The OG of synth, 80’s legend. He was pretty magnetic at the Concert hall a few weeks ago.

We’d been wanting to see him live for a number of years as he does include Toronto on his tours. His vibe is quite a bit heavier, more industrial these days. I wasn’t expecting Nine Inch Nails – but keeping it fresh means evolving with the times, I suppose. He did play his classics though, Cars and Friends Electric. Surprisingly – for me, at least – it was a very male audience (you can always tell by the lineup for the washrooms – it was almost Rush concert-like!)

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The birds were singing this morning. It sounds like spring!

I still struggle with sleep, so I bit the bullet and asked my doctor for some prescription help. The melatonin/ ashawanga, off the shelf options are not doing it for me anymore unfortunately. But it shouldn’t be a long term solution. She suggested good sleep hygiene and even CBT. I’ve checked a lot of the boxes with sleep hygiene but the ipad use is still a work in progress. This is hard as the reading in bed thing is something I find relaxing.

My friend suggested I try a reset for my cirrcadian rhythm based on info from Dr. Andrew Huberman, all around sunlight at the beginning of the day and then at sunset. Exposure of the eye/ retina to sunlight, behind the glass from inside, is just not good enough. Worth a try, especially now that the weather is getting much better and I can spend five minutes outside. I let the sounds of the birds chirping waft over me while I gazed through the trees at the early morning sun peeking back at me at 6:43 am. Another tip – consistency of wake and sleep times, weekends notwithstanding.

He’s a pretty cool guy, this Dr. Huberman. I love science-based content. The latest podcast talks about emotion science and AWE. The shift from small to huge – embracing that in the everyday. I want to experience more AWE in my everyday life.

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Are you on Substack? I know it started out primarily as a space for writers.. I signed up a few years thinking it might be a blog space with WordPress and another way to connect with writers. I’ve signed up to several newsletters. It’s since exploded to become more of an experience with subscriptions, and a marketing opportunity. There’s so much nowadays– IG, Facebook, Threads, substack… I think they can all connect but it’s hurting my head a bit thinking about how I could pull it all together.

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Speaking of writing, I have done absolutely nothing related to my memoir project. My colleagues have progressed a fair bit though, and I feel so privileged to be a part of their process. One is even close to publishing! I have the beginnings of another chapter in mind, after having watched a couple of films related to fathers and daughters – Aftersun and Sentimental Value. I miss my Dad – he’s been gone 17 years – but it was sometimes complicated with him.

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To file under “first world problems, annoying but still kind of hilarious”

Exhibit A :I’ve been having major issues with my garage door opener. I’d had it set up as a signal from my car, but that started failing almost a year ago – so I switched to old school remote, which worked for a little bit, but stopped.. and then for months I fiddled with both the remote, the keypad, replacing the remote batteries, putting the remote next to the keyboard… all of those things worked for a time but failed. The latest hack, I drive up as close as possible to the garage door, until my car screams at me, then I hit the remote.

So what happens if it doesn’t work – just pull up a little closer right? Ahem. Too close and your licence plate will catch the garage door on the way up and scrape, rattle and rumble! Headsmack.

Well at least everything is plastic. No major harm done.

Exhibit B: We haven’t had a working oven since February. With just the two of us, an Air Fryer will do. I don’t bake. But my daughter does – “what’s with the oven? when are we getting a new one?” It’s in her DNA and she’s got a major sweet tooth- banana bread, cookies, cupcakes …Frankly it’s been easier on our waistline without her baking, but it has been almost 3 months. Our Kitchenaid is also from 2007 so it’s time for a new one.

A stove is a stove right? Let’s get a new Kitchenaid and slide it in – how difficult can it be? After months of research, we landed on the right model and just in case, he measured our counter top – turns out the new versions don’t have that extra lip that had an overhang that we had to fill with extra countertop. So they all stick out now! We had to find a guy to remove that extra piece to accommodate the new models. $550 later (he does this over 100 times a year apparently) … we are good to go.

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My daughter’s boyfriend is visiting, he brought his tortoise, as his apartment is being fumigated. He met my Mom for the first time, my daughter took him with her for Dim Sum. First time he’s had dim sum. My Mom really likes him – I told him he passed. He is a nice young man.

They are now back home giving the tortoise a bath. I know, very random.

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I’ve been watching Keane on Youtube in the background while I blog, here’s a taste..

Off to get a new Kitchenaid, and get out on a hike for Vitamin D, and more reading.

What’s up this weekend for you?