An Italian Playlist

Are there songs that when you hear them can only ever take you back in time to when you first heard them or when you listened to them a lot? For me, listening to Ratatat's Classics album takes me back to the beginning of 2007 and the 1km walk from the bus stop at St Jean and Autoroute 20 to Ecole Primaire Pointe-Claire during an internship I did there. I listened to that album over and over during that walk and I can't listen to it now without feeling the same emotions I felt walking to that school every day: excitement, stress, impatience.

I recently uploaded hundreds of songs to my iTunes including Andre 3000's Speakerboxxx and when I listen to it I'm taken back to my daily walk along the beach in Scalea, Italy 2003 - 2004. It's a funny feeling to not be able to listen to it without feeling the pebbly sand under my feet and the salty scent of the Mediterranean. So, here is your very own 2003-04 Italian Playlist:

Andre 3000 - Speakerboxxx
My Morning Jacket - At Dawn
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
Bonnie 'Prince' Billie - Bonnie 'Prince' Billie sings Greatest Palace Music
The Beatles - The White Album
Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Vincent Gallo - Recordings of Music for Film
Smog - Red Apple Falls
Mirah - Advisory Committee (produced in part by Phil Elvrum - awesome album!!!)
Dntel - Life is Full of Possibilities

Here is a video edesade made for Bonnie 'Prince' Billie's New Partner which also happens to be one of the first songs Mark ever sang to me:

The other day Mark spent some time with his friend who told him of his dream to move to Killaloe, near Algonquin Park, with his wife to live among the hippies and run a second-hand store of sorts. This got us talking about dreams and while Mark's are pretty vague yet lofty, mine are very specific and perfectly achievable. I keep them specific and achievable so that I can be assured of continually being appreciative and satisfied with the work I put into achieving them.

For example, I recently came upon an a journal I had forgotten I started where I wrote of two dreams: to have a sofa comfortable enough to take a nap on and to live somewhere with a nice view of a body of water. Now, if you'd spent as many years in your 20s being a student as I had, you'd understand the unattainability of having a nice sofa. While Salvation Army has many many affordable sofas, I can assure you, those that I've bought have been far from the kind I'd want to spend a couple of hours on on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Now, though, I have a lovely sofa that I spend many hours on reading, listening to music, watching movies and napping. This sofa that I thought was so far out of my reach is finally in my living room! Dream attained!

It was timely that Mark was just talking about dreams to his friend, because a blog I find so interesting for many reasons I might get into another time, mentioned Randy Pausch and two of his lectures, one about achieving childhood dreams and another about time management. If you shed a couple of tears watching this, you'll almost definitely shed a few watching the lecture about childhood dreams. It's not that it's a tear-jerker, but Randy had cancer and died just months later. The lecture is not about his death or cancer though, and I think it's an important lecture to listen to and watch if only to light a fire under your own dreams. Each lecture is over an hour long, but worth watching because as he says, if you're not spending time reaching your dreams, what are you spending your time doing?

Today is November 23rd and it's also Saint-Catherine's Day! I don't know about children who grew up in Quebec, but growing up in Northern Ontario (at least those in French and French Immersion schools) meant November 23rd was dedicated to making "tire" and wrapping up little pieces of it wax paper to take home, forget on the "rad" and then scrape off the next day. Sure, it's delicious, but what kid doesn't leave sticky sugary on hot surfaces because naturally they already ate a ton of it at school?


The maple stuff we dip a popsicle stick in and roll through the snow at a cabane a sucre is called "tire" in French and the stuff we made out of sugar and molasses on Saint-Catherine's day was also called "tire" even though it's referred to as "toffee" in English. It's not really toffee at all - it's really molasses and sugar. We were told that Catherine was a teacher who made the "tire" in order to lure little First Nations kids into her school so she could teach them.


Maison Saint-Gabriel, which happens to be just around the corner from my house, is the farmhouse/cottage where some of the first young single women from France lived and learned to housekeep, take care of animals and grow vegetables under the guidance of Sainte Marguerite Bourgeoys.


While Maison Saint-Gabriel's website mentions "tire", it doesn't say how it's connected to Catherine, rather it explains how she is the patron saint of young girls and unmarried young women. The Maison Saint-Gabriel is inviting all Catherinettes (women over 25 who are not yet married) to take part in the Sainte-Catherine day festivities today - sounds like personal invitation to me!




edit: St Catherine's Day is not on November 23rd, it's on November 25th! Thanks to Anonymous.

What the world needs now

Wow! Friday night I found myself with two great friends at Eglise Saint-Jean Baptiste...

...watching Burt Bacharach! I can't say enough great things about this show. The sound was incredible, the church is beautiful. He came on stage and started playing the piano for about 15 seconds, it was just him and the piano, and then he and the whole band launched into the chorus of "What the World Needs Now" - the sound was so huge and so perfect! What an experience! The rest of the show was great, great, great. Burt and the band played lots of medleys of his hits, he talked to the crowd a bit about studying at McGill and working with lots of great singers. His encore was really long - it seemed like neither he nor the crowd wanted him to leave the stage.

Look what happened at my school today!

Where to start...

Sigur Ros finally made it to Montreal again and I went to see them at the Quais of the Old Port. It was a beautiful mild evening with no rain - perfect for such a show. I got to go backstage too, but I didn't talk to the band. Cool! They were busy speaking Icelandic and playing some kind of wrestling game with the opening band. Here's my pass:

Here's me looking awesome during the show:

And here's the confetti that exploded from the stage at the end of the last song, which was Gobledigook!!! Click the link and watch the video. It's so scandalous that it was removed from youtube.com which is why I can't post it directly here. But I'm sure my readership is mature enough to handle it, hee hee!

The next big thing coming up is Pop Montreal. Hopefully I'll get to see Great Lake Swimmers, Akron Family and Hooded Fang. I'm told my connections aren't good enough to get me into Ratatat's already sold-out show, boooo!

Finally, after a couple of weeks of practice, Willow has managed to make it to the top of this door frame. She gets there by scaling the thin wooden frame around the glass of the door.

And now I'm off to catch the season premiere of Desperate Housewives!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Today I am 31 years old; I can't believe it.

Every year, I try to get in as many birthday cakes as possible. So far I had one during my housewarming a few weeks ago, another today at a restaurant and a third tonight just between me and Mark. And, there is another one on it's way next weekend. Yahoo!

Mark and I decided to climb Mont St. Hilaire this afternoon. It was a lovely hike and an activity I love though don't do nearly as much as I could. Now that I'm working just 4 days a week, it's probably time to join the YMCA hiking club, whose website I visit seasonally but then I don't act on my desire to join. It's time!

Brown paper packages tied up with string

The best thing about Saturday morning is that my most pressing decision is whether to hold the newspaper in my hands and place my coffee on the table or hold my coffee in my hands and place the newspaper on the table.

More stay-cation news: I got my hair cut yesterday and it looks like a perfect little helmet. I love it. I also put together a kitter-litter box hiding contraption from a tip I found at Ikea-hacker. Pictures of both to follow soon.

After some hemming and hawing, we've decided to spend the next week or so on a stay-cation. Here are some photos from the first few adventures...

We went to Nocochi for coffee and cookies:


Followed by the Yves Saint Laurent restrospective:

Then the Old Port to relax in the sun:

Today we'll relax at home with Willow:

And do some laundry...

Well I finally made it to a viewing of the fireworks, with only two more displays to go. We had a couple of false starts in getting out the door:

"I'm too tired."
"It's going to rain."

And then when we were actually on our bikes:

"It's too cold, let's go back for sweaters."

And then when we had our sweaters and were walking out the door:

"I'm too tired."

We made it though and good thing we did. Summer is almost over and it feels like it never really started. The rain, the overcast skies and the chilly nights are making for a glum time this year.

Mark and I are fully moved into our new apartment and compared to our previous homes, it feels huge! Sometimes, we don't even know where to find each other in here.

And now I'm going to enjoy Ratatat's new album on my sofa.

Bon Voyage Mateys!

I haven't updated in so long, and yet so much has happened! I guess that's what happens when you graduate with distinction.

First of all, I've moved into a new apartment. When I first lived in Montreal, I shared a bedroom with the friend I came here with (which resulted in a serious breakdown in our friendship), then moved into a tiny room with no windows and no door with Mark. We moved out of that room into a surprisingly spacious yet not surprisingly moldy basement apartment downtown. That lasted a month. Treat of all treats, we moved into an apartment.....above ground! And then (could it get any better??) we moved into an apartment 3 floors above ground with TWO bedrooms and a balcony! We keep feeling so blessed as we move up in the world of Montreal apartments. We are easy to please I suppose. Finally, we have moved into a THREE (kind of) bedroom apartment with TWO balconies, a FIREPLACE and a DINING ROOM!! When I count out the rooms like this, it sounds so great, but in fact all of this extra space is kind of in the wrong places. If only the dining room were a bit smaller and the bathroom significantly bigger. As in...wouldn't it be nice to be able to fit the kitty litter box in the bathroom? Yes, it's that small. So far, I've found these solutions. If anyone has encountered anything better for kitty litter housing, please contact me!

Again, if only the living room were slightly smaller and the kitchen had more than 2 feet of counter space. We have managed to create more counter space, but still...

I also spent some time at Mark's aunt's cottage near Matachewan. Matachewan! What's that? For you Ontarioans, it's not that far from Timmins. And for you Quebecois, it's as far North as Val D'Or, about 200km West. We drove through Quebec to get there and stayed at Auberge Orpailleur in Val D'Or, which happens to be a lovely place to stay, run by a French couple who immigrated to Quebec about 7 years ago. They are selling the auberge and returning to France. So far only other French families have shown interest. Imagine immigrating from France to Val D'Or!

The cottage in Matachewan was absolutely perfect. We spent all our time sauna-ing, swimming, eating, singing, playing games, boating, talking and laughing.

My sister is moving to Australia. Yahoo! And booo! at the same time. I'm excited for her, but so sad to see her go! Her blog is not really happening just yet, but stay tuned and visit often for her updates!

I am also taking a French class at the YMCA and the teacher is hilarious which makes spending two beautiful summer evenigns a week in her class more than bearable. She taught us an expression that fits my apartment perfectly at the moment: mon immeuble est sens dessus dessous!

As you can see, this year's TESL graduates did not even fill one row!

I'm back from Turkey. Here are just a few photos from the many that I took. It was one of the best trips I've ever taken:

This is a photo of my nephew from last Christmas, I just thought it would give you a chuckle.

Today I'm biking the Tour de l'Ile (I think and hope), the weather isn't looking very good.

What kind of blog do you have?

I've noticed lately that I read three types of blogs: those listing the things the writer own and loves, those listing the things the writers wants to buy along with pictures and links to the online stores where they will buy them, and those listing ways the writer intends to get rid of their stuff and prevent themselves from buying more. Along with all of those types of blog entries is the usual stuff about trips taken, parties attended, maybe a few recipes thrown in, but ultimately, in personal blogs, it's easy to surmise how much of a consumer a blogger is.

So I've added a handy little poll on the left there to find out what YOU'RE blog is like.

What a show!

The Stars of the Lid show was fantastic! It was in smallish room where drinking and smoking weren't allowed. This means two things: clear, clean air and fewer people walking in and out to get drinks. The room was carpeted so I sat on the floor.


There were two violinists, one cellist and two guitarists/effects guys. The sound was incredible; not too loud. I slept soundly without ringing in my ears: also a rare event. During the show, I closed my eyes and let myself get taken away with the music; something that doesn't happen often for me. If more shows were seated, I think this could happen for more people. I had wanted the same experience when I saw Do Make Say Think at Le National but it wasn't seated and standing around in a smoky room on crushed beer bottles really takes away from it all.

Stars of the Lid - Sons and Daughters of Quiet Minds

If you can believe it, tomorrow is the last day of my last internship of my last year of my last undergraduate degree ever! I shall celebrate by attending the Stars of the Lid show taking place a the very neat Masonic Memorial Temple downtown. How many people do you know who've been inside a real Masonic Temple? I am perhaps and the only person you know who, by tomorrow night, will have been inside TWO of them (I think).

I have just taken a few photos of my cat whom you haven't seen much of since I brought her home in late December. These are just practice photos, however, for my upcoming trip to Turkey. I need to learn to use this camera before May 14th!

I finally had a listen to M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel's new album, Volume One. I had avoided it for some time, actually feeling jealous that M. Ward should even be dating Deschanel (ridiculous I know, but I'm making up for a lack of celebrity-worship felt in my teenage years). Obviously, it's a great album. Everything M. Ward touches is lovely and Deschanel's voice is beautiful.

Around town

It was a sad night recently when I accidentally spilled Coke Diète on the keyboard of my laptop. Don't ask why I was drinking that stuff in the first place. :(

And so my internet access has been limited lately, what with no computer to use.

Further to my post about the Apartment Therapy 8-Week Home Cure (which I've abandoned by the way), I was wondering if anyone else is addicted to such systems of living. Before I quit the Home Cure, I was involved quite a few: the Apartment Therapy 8-Week Home Cure, the 13-Week Walk/Run Program and the 12-day Wild Rose De-tox to name a few. Does anybody else get hooked on these lifestyle programs?

Also, why does every spell-check want to change "internet" to "Internet"? Is the world wide web, like God, only respectfully spoken of with a capital I?

Notes...

I haven't updated in so long. How many blogs have that exact line at the beginning of at least one post?

Easter found me mostly in my pajamas with a quick trip to Ottawa for a Mexican themed dinner, homemade Beaver Tails, an annotated list of the contents of a church, the meeting of girlfriends and lots of sunshine.

March is the ending one of practicum, the beginning of another. 5.5 weeks to go and I'm done!

I'll leave you with one of my favourite songs:

Apartment Therapy Spring Cure 2008

I have finally decided to join the 2008 Apartment Therapy Spring Cure! Every year I hem and haw about joining and then don't. But as you may remember, 2008 is the year of firsts!

The Apartment Therapy Cure is an annual event where people join together to make their homes more beautiful, comfortable and livable. The investment can be either financially intensive, labour-intensive or both. It lasts 8 weeks, each of which will be outlined on the website and in the book, which I'll be borrowing from the library when I get home tonight because...

"This Week's Assignment: Get your hands on a copy of the book and read through page 69. This gives you all the ground work and gets you started with the interview and short quiz on the health of your home."

While Mark is on the campaign trail, I'm stuck in snowy Montreal marking primary school assignments and planning a trip to Turkey! Yes, this May I will spend 12 luxurious days and nights in Turkey with my mom and aunt! I will see and do lots of interesting things, but right now, what I'm most excited for is the Hamam, the Turkish bath experience. One of the best experiences I took away from Iceland is the pool/bathing culture.

There is just nothing like soaking in an outdoor heated (HOT!) pool full of sulphur and silica to put the mind and the muscles at ease.

According to my research, the traditional Hamam is a thing of the past, but you can still go to indoor pools and experience a hot sauna, a soak in a hot tub, an exfoliating scrub by an "attendant" and finally a massage. I know for some people this sounds like too intimate, but I love a hot soak or a steam bath and a sounds like heaven. In fact, I think I'll go take a nice hot bath right now...!

We're in stitches!

Willow's back from the vet! She hated the Elizabethan Collar on the first day; she went crazy, constantly backing up to get it off. Now, when I put it on, even if it's loose enough for her to take off herself, she just accepts it. How pathetic! Her little would is sewn up with real thread (unlike my other cat's stitchless suturing) and she can't help but lick and pull at the stitches when I take the collar off.

When I dropped her off at the vet, there was a middle-aged couple dropping off an even minnier cat to be spayed. The husband was holding the little cat in his arms, giving it little kisses once in awhile. What is it about little animals that makes otherwise tough folks go gaga? I wish I had a picture of that man and his new cat. He looked like the type who spent his weekends chopping wood and ice fishing.

Today is the last day before March Break! I might finally actually go cross-country skiing. Any tips on waxing skis? All the instructions I find online are over my head. I thought it was so much simpler!

I haven't yet written about the wonderful Valentine's Day I had last February 14th. February 15th was the date of my first teaching evaluation by my university supervisor and I was feeling anxious. On February 14th, I stayed at school late to plan my lesson for the next day, which was a good way to get it done without distraction, but I do not advise anyone to take the 211 East after 5pm. It. Takes. A. Long. Time.

Anyway, Mark and I usually don't do much for Valentine's Day, but this year I put in a few requests: flowers, lasagna, Caesar salad, a bottle of wine and a chick flick. I hadn't anticipated the long bus ride that day, so when I finally made it home, I was feeling pretty depressed that I hadn't seen much daylight that day, but so so so pleased to see that Mark had fulfilled my requests and then some!

Behold, the lasagna recipe:
And the Caesar salad dressing recipe, the most delicious I've ever had:


Which came from this book:

This cookbook also contains the recipe for Mark's Monday Night Bean Burrito Madness wraps. Yes, he makes them by hand and yes, Monday night is bean burrito night at my house. You're welcome to join us!

For desert, chocolate fondue and by far Cameron Diaz's finest film, "The Sweetest Thing".

Is it 1984?

According to the Montreal Gazette, Quebec's language police have ordered McKibbons Pub, the site of many after-work, after-exam and after-shopping drinks, to take down antique advertising posters from the inside of the pub. The advertising in question is for Guiness, Palethorpes Pork Pies, and St. James Gate Dublin and is all in English (durr, it's an Irish pub) and as such does not allow for French to be the dominant language inside the pub. Yikes! I wonder who will win this one. I wonder if the language police feel as stupid as we all think they are for doing things like this.

It's cold!

This week is "Teacher Appreciation Week". How are you appreciating your teacher?

In the school where I am working right now, apples are being put in teachers' mailboxes, 6th graders with overhead projector carts are wheeling around offering brioches, coffee and hot chocolate and on Thursday a group of parents is making a huge lunch for everyone.

Lachine Canal ...

or Jökulsárlón?

I'm a new soul...

Lately, I've been obsessed with Leslie Feist, especially her album The Reminder, which can only be listened to while sipping a Brandy Alexander (always gets me into trouble):

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz Brandy
  
• 1 oz Dark Creme de Cacao
  
• 1 oz half-and-half or heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
  

Mixing instructions:

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the brandy, crème de cacao, and half-and-half. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the nutmeg.

But I'll leave you with the song from the new MacBook Air commercial: Yael Naim's New Soul. How can you not like a girl who sings, "meeestake"?

With all the fuss about the amount of plastic grocery bags floating around everywhere, I wonder what we'll use as garbage bags in the kitchen, if we don't have them. I'd have to go out and buy them!

If you read the comment already written about this post, you'll learn about the much more user-friendly recycling system in Germany. What do Germans do with kitty litter?

What is frustrating is when the sidewalk plowers drive and plow right through your recycling box and scatter everything all over the street and sidewalk. Why does everyone hate each other sometimes?

I also have this return-ticket to anywhere Iceland Air flies; any ideas about when and where?

Here is a picture of my new cat and chair:

How many blogs do you read?

...And how many do you actually like? I read about 6 or 7 personal blogs but I only actually enjoy reading 3 or 4. What of the remaining? I think I read them the way I read celebrity gossip or occasionally eat Kraft Dinner. That is to say, I read them with a mixture of annoyance, envy and nosiness, not because they are entertaining or have something very relevant to offer me. Reading them allows me to confirm my suspicions about that those people's lives are cooler than mine. I wonder if anyone reads my blog with this same feeling?

Could you live in a glass house?

I was watching an episode of Linda Reeves' House and Home about living in a home that is somewhat open-concept, with lots of uncovered windows and very, VERY little clutter. Very minimalist. I was intrigued by one home she visited, that of interior designer Dina Theodoropoulos whose home is was so clutter-free as to be hotel-like. I would kill for a home like that! Dina said something about how she feels so relaxed and calm when she comes home to a place that is so serene and minimal. I could live like that. I find it cosy to be somewhere that has too much stuff, or even any stuff on surfaces, sort of like my house:


I also went to La Croissanterie, the one on St. Catherine near St. Marc. As part of my goal to try new places to eat, I finally went into La Croissanterie after having walked passed it a million times. It's a pleasant little lunch place with great croissants and great coffee. I had lentil soup and a ham and cheese sandwich. The soup was delicious! The service was good too and no, there is no connection to it's more popular counterpart on Hutchison in Outremont.

I also patronized Boucherie Lagace & Fils in my neighbourhood for a sandwich. Di Rienzo's it isn't, but the sandwiches were nice (too much meat though!) and Mr. Lagace was the most enthusiastic butcher I've ever met.

Welcome to Willow!

Say hello to Willow: my new baby cat from the SPCA. So far she's proven to be a challenge. Why do I get all the sick cats? Mark picked her out from the many cute little kitties in cages, so sad to leave them all behind. Willow was sharing her cage with her brother, a beautiful grey tabby, but we're not ready for 2 cats, so we stuck with just Willow. I noticed one of her eyes looked glassy, but the woman who helped us out assured me Willow was healthy. That glassy eye would prove to be indeed a cold. And complications with her cold/flu mean that she's now on a course of antibiotics, aspirin for her fever and must be force-fed because she won't eat. In our over-zealousness in feeding her last night, we knocked out a couple of her teeth. She seems fine with it and the Internet told me baby cats lose their baby teeth as a matter of growing up, so I guess I'm fine with it too.

Today Mark and I went skating for the first time in 2008. Me on my 6$ Sally Ann specials and Mark with his new Christmas hockey stick and puck. There are a couple of outdoor rinks near my house, though the ice isn't in the best shape. I'll take pictures next time.

Today I am drinking a cup of tea for the first time in 2008. I *never* drink tea, but 2008 is going to be the year of firsts.

Firstly, I went skating at an outdoor rink in my neighbourhood, first I drank a cup of tea and another first includes the absence of New Year's resolutions. Rather, I will make goals. One being to try 2 new restaurants and/or cafes each month. Another being to wash dishes at least once a day. And yet another being to make sure 2008 is a BIG year. 2008 lends itself to being a BIG year in that I will graduate from university and be forced to find a job, we might move to a new city and I'll most definitely be taking an overseas trip. Mark has a few things up his sleeve too. Stay tuned!