3 Daves. When was the last time you went to a party where 30% of the guests had the same name?
2 menus. At the Chinese restaurant before going to the three-Dave party, after scanning the menu and seeing meat in almost everything, I asked the server what she recommended for vegetarians. She pointed out the vegetable fried rice, the vegetable chop suey, and the vegetable egg foo yung. Do you have anything with tofu? I asked. Oh yes, on our other menu. Tofu and stirred fried greens, she said. There's another menu? I asked. Oh yes, she replied. Pause. Umm, is your other menu in Chinese? I inquired, wondering why a) they have two menus and b) why they weren't showing us the other menu if it wasn't in Chinese. No, she replied, and stared at me until I ordered the tofu and stirred fried greens.
1 rockin' organ piece. At the end of an Advent service I felt I had been lured to under false pretences -- it was advertised as a candlelight carol service to mark the start of Advent, so I assumed that it would be all carolling by candlelight but it was actually an Anglican service with lots of readings in between carols I didn't recognize -- the organist played a fabulously wild piece of music that made me think of this classic scene from the Simpsons. We really all should have lit our candles again. What a blast(off)!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Since I've been back
You may have been expecting a post about my trip, but for whatever reason I don't feel like writing about it at the moment. So I just wanted to say hi, and to tell you what's been going on since I got back a week ago.
I went to see Paranormal Activity 2. I went to see it with someone who kept looking at his watch and demanding to know when something was going to happen. Something finally did about 55 minutes into the 91 minute movie.
After years of complaining that I've never been selected for jury duty, I finally got an order to appear at 9:30 am on November 29. I like the “Important Notice” that accompanied the order. It tells me that even if I have been convicted of certain offences under the Criminal Code or Controlled Drugs and Substances Act I can still serve on a jury. It's an odd assortment of offences, and it makes me curious why they chose those particular ones. For example, I can serve if I've been convicted of pretending to practice witchcraft (but not, I guess, if I've been convicted of practicing witchcraft, although maybe actually practicing it isn't an offence). Trading in lumbering equipment without consent is also OK (no other type of equipment though), as is transporting a person to a bawdy house or being found in a bawdy house after transporting someone there (I didn't know “bawdy house” is actually the legal term for what I'm guessing is a house of ill-repute). Failing to keep watch while towing a person on water skis or a surfboard will not excuse me from jury duty, nor will trespassing at night. Trespassing during the day makes me unfit for jury duty however.
I had dinner with two of my coworkers, who gave me a lovely assortment of goodies. They left the price tag on everything but I didn't mind. It made me feel better that they think I'm worth that much, and can serve as a guideline for how much I should spend on them when they turn 50. We reminisced about our crazy high school days. J mentioned that her sister drove her parents' car to Florida one weekend without informing her parents about the trip (keep in mind they lived in Canada). I mentioned my one-night stand with a Mark Eden Bust Developer and my longer term but equally non-satisfying relationship with a pair of weight loss bloomers that you hooked up to a vacuum cleaner. I'm sure I've blogged about these devices before so I won't go into more detail here.
After mistaking a letter of intent to submit a research proposal for a cover letter for a letter of intent to submit a research proposal, I spent two hours writing a cover letter for our letter of intent, needlessly duplicating all the information that is in the letter of intent. After realizing this, I said to the Director of Research that the Committee is going to think we're verbiose. I hope he's hard of hearing.
I started watching the first season of The West Wing but I'm not getting hooked on the show (on the other hand, I tore through Seasons 1 to 3 of Mad Men like a bat out of hell). Maybe it's because I'm finding politics kind of scary these days. In Toronto they just elected a mayor who campaigned on the fact that one of his opponents is gay (to be fair, the gay opponent then pointed out that the newly elected mayor is corpulent), thinks the city can't take in more immigrants, and wants to get rid of bike lanes and streetcars because they slow traffic. “Holy Motherfucking Regression to the Meanie!” as Robin making a guest appearance on Dexter might exclaim.
And on the subject of politics... I've been hearing a lot of dire predictions about the US midterm elections. I detest people who always knew what was going to happen but hold back on telling anyone what was going to happen until it has happened. So I hate what I'm about to say, but I really did know that the infatuation with Obama would end. The shining armor that knights wear is too heavy to remove on a daily basis. Inevitably the crotch starts rusting out and people become disenchanted.
I've also been looking at the photos from our week at the villa and getting a bit teary. Here are the beautiful women who made Italy so special (minus my best friend from high school who took the picture).
I went to see Paranormal Activity 2. I went to see it with someone who kept looking at his watch and demanding to know when something was going to happen. Something finally did about 55 minutes into the 91 minute movie.
After years of complaining that I've never been selected for jury duty, I finally got an order to appear at 9:30 am on November 29. I like the “Important Notice” that accompanied the order. It tells me that even if I have been convicted of certain offences under the Criminal Code or Controlled Drugs and Substances Act I can still serve on a jury. It's an odd assortment of offences, and it makes me curious why they chose those particular ones. For example, I can serve if I've been convicted of pretending to practice witchcraft (but not, I guess, if I've been convicted of practicing witchcraft, although maybe actually practicing it isn't an offence). Trading in lumbering equipment without consent is also OK (no other type of equipment though), as is transporting a person to a bawdy house or being found in a bawdy house after transporting someone there (I didn't know “bawdy house” is actually the legal term for what I'm guessing is a house of ill-repute). Failing to keep watch while towing a person on water skis or a surfboard will not excuse me from jury duty, nor will trespassing at night. Trespassing during the day makes me unfit for jury duty however.
I had dinner with two of my coworkers, who gave me a lovely assortment of goodies. They left the price tag on everything but I didn't mind. It made me feel better that they think I'm worth that much, and can serve as a guideline for how much I should spend on them when they turn 50. We reminisced about our crazy high school days. J mentioned that her sister drove her parents' car to Florida one weekend without informing her parents about the trip (keep in mind they lived in Canada). I mentioned my one-night stand with a Mark Eden Bust Developer and my longer term but equally non-satisfying relationship with a pair of weight loss bloomers that you hooked up to a vacuum cleaner. I'm sure I've blogged about these devices before so I won't go into more detail here.
After mistaking a letter of intent to submit a research proposal for a cover letter for a letter of intent to submit a research proposal, I spent two hours writing a cover letter for our letter of intent, needlessly duplicating all the information that is in the letter of intent. After realizing this, I said to the Director of Research that the Committee is going to think we're verbiose. I hope he's hard of hearing.
I started watching the first season of The West Wing but I'm not getting hooked on the show (on the other hand, I tore through Seasons 1 to 3 of Mad Men like a bat out of hell). Maybe it's because I'm finding politics kind of scary these days. In Toronto they just elected a mayor who campaigned on the fact that one of his opponents is gay (to be fair, the gay opponent then pointed out that the newly elected mayor is corpulent), thinks the city can't take in more immigrants, and wants to get rid of bike lanes and streetcars because they slow traffic. “Holy Motherfucking Regression to the Meanie!” as Robin making a guest appearance on Dexter might exclaim.
And on the subject of politics... I've been hearing a lot of dire predictions about the US midterm elections. I detest people who always knew what was going to happen but hold back on telling anyone what was going to happen until it has happened. So I hate what I'm about to say, but I really did know that the infatuation with Obama would end. The shining armor that knights wear is too heavy to remove on a daily basis. Inevitably the crotch starts rusting out and people become disenchanted.
I've also been looking at the photos from our week at the villa and getting a bit teary. Here are the beautiful women who made Italy so special (minus my best friend from high school who took the picture).
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