(Moules-frites!)
I’ve been a huge fan of alternative rock music since the 80’s and there are a couple of Toronto radio stations (yes, I still listen to radio!) that I tune into when I’m driving. The original, 102.1 the Edge, was my first go-to and where I was first introduced to the genius of Alan Cross (who I met live not long ago…) and more recently Indie 88. We’ve got some wicked talent in Canada – but I just realized that some of the bands that were “alt” originated over 30 years ago (!!).
So perhaps a little grayer but still edgy (what can I say, some of these guys are dads!
One of my faves who we’ve seen live in concert twice, is SLOAN- (formed in 1991). They remind me a bit of the Beatles, such talented song writers /musicians each of them – they all sing and play different instruments:
Then there’s Our Lady Peace (OLP) who just were awarded a spot on Canada’s Walk of Fame. I have yet to see them live as a band, but their lead singer Raine Maida is married to Chantal Kreviazuk a solo female artist who sings gorgeous ballads on piano. I have seen them in concert as a couple (and ran into Chantal at the airport on the way to Seattle, she was sweet, I DM’d her on socials afterwards about something and she responded :). Yes, they are beautiful couple, with beautiful boys.
A fun younger band that I discovered lately is getting a lot of radio play – Valley. A very infectious sound:
So much to stream, so little time.
One of my must do’s over the holiday season will be to binge watch shows with my daughter. We got caught up on a few series last time she was home. We also watch those Hallmark holiday movies – they are a little silly but they do help set the holiday vibe for the next couple of months.
Here’s a few of the TV series I’m streaming:
1/ Shrinking – by the creators of Ted Lasso. The whole cast is fantastic, the sad/happy storylines very well written:
2/ Bad Sisters – Irish actors are phenomenal. If you’re a fan of black comedy, you’ll love this. I’m just getting caught up, as they’re releasing Season 2 episodes as we speak.
3/ The Diplomat – I’ve developed an obsession with Keri Russell, now that I found the Dear Felicity Podcast. She is such a wonderful actress. I still have to get to the Americans at some point.
The plan is to watch Felicity with my daughter – the four seasons cover four years of university. Like Felicity, I made a decision about post-secondary schooling based on a boy. Never a good practice. It worked out ok for me in the end (we did not stay together), but since we broke up during school, I do not have great memories of university.
It should be interesting to see if she enjoys the show as much as I did way back when.
Do you have any streaming recommendations? (Like a need more distractions to help me further procrastinate – I have major decluttering goals for end of the year…)
My everyday outfit usually involves something I wear to the gym, sweats or jeans. I know the daily prompt called for 2 things and that’s technically 3. Oh well, it’s still a whole lot less than what I used to have to consider when I worked in an office.
I confess, I have a stuffed closet. I haven’t bought any work related clothes since 2019, when I bought a suit for an in person interview. After that, me and and the rest of the world went to Zoom meetings.
I do have a ton of gym wear – I went a little nuts with the discounts that I could get when I started teaching group fitness. But that’s ok, since I’m at the gym 4-5 days a week, I tell myself it was worth it. Lately I haven’t bought much new, but I do check out Salvation Army and Value Village for any vintage finds.
I treated myself to one item for the holiday season, though:
I had been eyeing this skirt for the last couple of weeks, and decided to pop into the Old Navy right next to my gym on Friday. This same skirt was on clearance for $13.99. And I had some loyalty points so I paid seven whole dollars for it! That’s like 85% off. I wore this last night for a family holiday dinner. Comfy and casual with black hose, the teeny bit of sheen giving the holiday flavour. We are hosting my family for Christmas this year, and this will also work well as hostess. It’s hard to believe there was ever a time when I used to buy a new evening gown every holiday season for the big company soirees that my husband and I attended. Times sure have changed, and thank goodness, as things are just all so ridiculously expensive now.
Do you have any holiday events to dress up for this year?
How was your week?
Hard to believe it’s the 3rd week of November! Managed to hit the gym three times and hope to go over the weekend, as usual.
Wrapped up a writing course; went to a concert in Niagara Falls (Morrissey was great!) and stayed overnight, sleeping surprisingly well in the hotel. Sleep in general has been a bit of a challenge lately so that was a pleasant surprise. Turns out that while we were having a pretty good sleep, my son only got 3 hours sleep of his own, while he watched Cody at home for us.
Today was a good one as I got to spend time with my son and his girlfriend. We had a lovely dinner together and then I walked with them around the mall, as they scouted out some things that they are interested in picking up during Black Friday sales. They will be moving away and in together in the new year, so are scoping out dinnerware, flatware, coffee machines … adulting stuff. It’s an exciting time for them. Makes me a little sad, but also happy for them. Brought me back to when Ian and I were outfitting our first home oh so many years ago.
Black Friday sales for me? Well I need to refrain. At this point I should be getting rid of stuff!
This is Cody, our 16 year old Shih Tzu. We adopted him when he was 4 (they thought he was 2 when we applied for him, but found some of his original papers so they gave us a $50 discount!). He has been such a great addition to the family.
I didn’t have a pet while I was growing up. My mother told us she was afraid of animals. She was uncomfortable whenever we went to a family friend’s house who had a Pekingnese dog, (although he was a yappy, snappy thing they kept in the basement, Lucky freaked me out too). My dad brought a kitten home once, that lasted about 3 weeks with us before my mom found it another home. Mom said we could get a pet when we had homes of our own. I only found out years later that she did have pets while she was young. But their association with horrible childhood memories of war prevented her from having pets as an adult.
Flash forward to 12 years ago. The kids had finally worn us down, and despite it being the busiest of times for our household, with all the lessons, competitive sports, school, and the two of us with jobs that involved travel – I decided to find a dog for us. We also had the assistance of a nanny at the time, who was a pet lover – that was what sealed the deal. There was no way we would have been able to welcome Cody without Abie. And Mom loves Cody – she even made a sweater for her grand furbaby:
That’s Cody in his favourite nook, with his favourite cushion. It’s mostly just the two of us who are with him now – the kids have their busy lives mostly away from home. He’s a trooper, withstood two big dental surgeries (such a stubborn breed, he never let us brush his teeth); surgery for his bladder stones; glaucoma; and he’s a cancer survivor. Diagnosed through bloodwork, he never developed symptoms of myeloma – we were able to get him on treatment quickly and he went into remission for a bit, then it came back. He’s on maintenance chemotherapy now and he’s well managed.
He’s blind (he can sort of see shadows) and likely a little deaf; at night he wanders the house a little directionless -so he’s definitely got his senior moments. He always slept most of the day- nowadays he’s likely only awake a couple of hours a day. He is very unsettled when we aren’t around, and we’ve tried to take him on vacations to dog friendly spots – but he is too out of sorts. I get it, he knows where he is at home but elsewhere he’s lost. He has a routine. So rather than being empty-nesters, we’re sort of stuck at home unless one of the kids can stay with him.
An interesting thing happened the other day. There was a door to door salesperson who came by trying to sell us on a new internet plan. We’ve been in this house since my son was born and we know which service works and doesn’t. This fellow was particularly adamant, and my husband was polite in saying no, but it did take a little while for him to move off. And just as the salesperson finally left, Cody started barking like crazy. We haven’t heard Cody bark in probably about 2 years – since he lost his sight.
Cody has always had the loudest, most vicious bark – I suppose with him being 13 pounds when wet, his bark is pretty much all he has. So in that sense, he was always a great guard dog.
I guess he’s still got some of that guard dog ability – who knew?
Morrissey
Hopefully he sings this tonight – going to see Morrissey live, in concert.
(I did like the movie 500 Days of Summer, they’re both so cute in this…)
Saturday night is typically in house movie night if we don’t have any other plans. Once in a blue moon we’ll have either of our kids at home to watch with us, but with just the two of us I usually try to find something out of the ordinary. I’ve been pretty successful with a few, Will and Harper; A Street cat named Bob, Flora and Son,
This past weekend, I chose Fingernails. I thought it was an interesting storyline and the actors were of such high calibre: Jessie Buckley, Jeremy Allan White, Riz Ahmed -serious acting chops, right ?
I must admit, I was also sucked in by the song in the trailer – “Only You” – Yaz/Alison Moyet. (an aside, I am going to see Alison Moyet live next year – yay!)
So there’s this machine (looks like a microwave oven) that can test the fingernails of each of a couple and tell if you’re a perfect match. If you find out that you are, it pretty much guarantees that you will stay together, you won’t divorce, that you’re meant for each other. You can be tested at the Love Institute, where you can also undergo a program with your partner, led through a series of exercises and training, that will increase your chances of being a match before testing. Anna (Jessie Buckley) and Ryan (Jeremy Allan White) have been together for a while, have a pretty good life as a couple, and have been tested as 100% . They have a “Love Certificate” to attest to that. Despite this, Anna feels a bit restless and goes for a job at the Love Institute, where Amir (Riz Ahmad) is her mentor. And you can see where that goes. There are some funny bits, but it is a rather bizarre movie. And rather torturous when you think about the test in itself, why anyone would do that (I couldn’t watch those scenes even though they weren’t graphic).
The acting was quite good, but I was somewhat underwhelmed by the movie as a whole. There were several Canadian actors and Toronto the city acted as the backdrop, which was fun. But the ending was rather abrupt. Not that I always need things tied up nicely with a bow, but it just sort of ended.
But it got me thinking – if indeed something like this existed, would I bother taking the test?
Well not now, I’ve been with my husband since university days, married 31 years, 2 kids, we’ve grown up together and figured things out. That being said, split ups at our age aren’t unheard of (especially once kids are older). What if we were just together a few years, and hit a slump? Would one not put as much energy into nurturing the relationship if they had a certificate confirming 100% compatibility?
I don’t think I believe in the concept of soul mates, but it is helpful for a relationship when there is a foundation of similar values, compromise and flexibility, and laughter. On a daily basis, laughter is key.
At a time 
Creative writing step one
I finished up my first ever creative writing course, and got my final grade report. Honours. Cool.
This is the first Saturday in the last eight weeks that I haven’t been editing, re-reading, re-hashing a new five page scene for submission to my instructor for feedback. Once I hit “send” I could then get on with my weekend. Before picking things up on Monday, reviewing a classmate’s piece for workshopping and reading assignments due on Tuesday. Seven scenes written about my life for critical commentary. Rather exhausting, and harrowing going back to some not wonderful moments in my life. It seemed the deeper and sadder I got, the better my writing. At least that’s how it appeared to me with the feedback! So it’s a bit liberating not to have that pressure today.
On the other hand, wow, did I ever have a blast. I was engaged in a creative way. I was learning about what constitutes a great scene, I was told I was good with sensory detail, that my writing is crisp and easy flowing. I also received some wonderful constructive criticism. And a feeling that if I ever wanted to publish, there is a market for it.
I’ve got a thirst for good, great writing. Not just from some of my classmates (I was blown away)… but also from the reading assignments. We’d read an excerpt “The Bird Tribunal” by Agnes Ravatn a few weeks ago. Not a memoir but written in the first person, and we were all captivated. A Scandinavian novel, with great description of nature and an overarching mood of foreboding. When I woke up at a stupid early time this morning (6 AM on a Saturday for no good reason)… I found it as an ebook at the library, and finished it in one setting.
This course has changed the way I read. I don’t want to be a reading snob, but I have a more critical eye. I appreciate things that are done well, and lose patience for long meandering descriptions and plot lines. I may have more “DNF”s in my Goodreads selections going forward.
I think I will continue writing my scenes, just not at that crazy speed. Writing requires a lot of commitment with little reward. Perhaps the reward is just finding the creative side of myself again.
One of the pieces we read was written by an author who published her first book at 65! So there is hope.