A Texas Girl's Adventures in Canada

My Two Worlds -- A Collision on Film (or at least an SD card)

2009-03-18T19:36:00.004-04:00

I am a Texan. But live in Canada. My life...in pictures.
Originally uploaded by charmgirl13

Chris Kelly of CBCRadio3 snapped this photo in Austin this week during SXSW. If you are at all a follower of my wee little tiny slice of the blogosphere, you have probably read by now that I am a lover of photos, both taking and looking. I haven't seen a picture this cool in quite some time, though, and it is without a doubt my absolute new favourite.

The two loves of my life. Forever preserved on film. (swoon!)

They Call It Poutine

2009-03-14T22:22:00.008-04:00

I tried poutine for the first time on Friday. Total and utter letdown. Granted, I had it at Swiss Chalet, the Canadian Boston Market equivalent, but still. This giant failure is analogous to someone ordering a taco at Taco Bell that doesn't taste remotely like an actual taco as Swiss Chalet is as much a Canadian institution as poutine. I'm usually into food porn, but the dish was so foul tasting that I couldn't even bring myself to take its photo. Also, because I was with my new boss.

What is poutine, you ask? Poutine is a French Canadian snack that, at its basic, is made with french fries (nom!), gravy and cheese curds. It's sort of like chili-cheese fries in the States, but not so much. The word means "mushy mess" in Acadian slang and was created in 1957 in Warwick, Québec. According to the people in the know, the french fries should be hand-cut and fried in pure lard, the gravy (also known as "BBQ chicken gravy") should be dark and thick like molasses, and the cheese curds (apparently the most important part of the dish) should be only fresh, white, cheddar cheese curds. A veritable heart attack waiting to happen, nón?

I've been to both Montréal and Québec City -- the epicenters of French Canadian cuisine -- but failed to try poutine in either city. I'm usually the über-tourist, trying every local thing I can get my hands (and mouth) on, but for whatever reason, I didn't try the gooey dish in either place. It just gives me a good reason to go back.

I have heard so much about poutine in my almost two years in Canada that I guess my expectations were too high. So far, though, I'm disappointed. Swiss Chalet poutine = Fail!

I love that people still use pay phones

2009-03-11T23:52:00.005-04:00

Especially underground.

Old skool.

I'm Packing Up and Moving...Again

2009-03-07T13:19:00.010-05:00

Moving can be cathartic. In my case, four moves in one month has added up to a Mt. Everest sized mountain of stress and zero catharsis. The only catharsis I have experienced lately has been six bags of clothes donated to Goodwill. In a span of 31 days, I will have moved house in Houston, moved house in Toronto, changed jobs and moved work locations, and for the cherry on top, moved my blog. Yep, that's right. I'm packing up and moving over to WordPress.com. I finally grew up, put on my big girl panties and moved to fancy schmancy new publisher. I even bought my own domain name (welcome to 2009!), although I'm not self-publishing at this point. I can't handle any more changes in the near future or I'll be in hospital, so stay tuned for that move at a (very) later date.

For now, though, meet me over at my new WordPress URL:

carmenmillet.wordpress.com

Update your RSS feeds, Goodle readers, pen and paper, stone tablets -- however you keep up with my antics -- and come see me at my new place!

Happy Demisemiseptcentennial, Toronto!

2009-03-05T23:11:00.034-05:00

Photo courtesy of peo pea on Flickr, under Creative Commons license.

Why, Toronto, you don't look a day over 174...

On March 6, 2009, the fair city of Toronto marks its 175th birthday! I realize that in the grand scheme of things, that's not very old; some cities have been around for millenia. For North Amercia, though, 175 is pretty old!

When Toronto was incorporated as a city in 1834, there were fewer than 10,000 people living in the town of York-- mostly white and British -- and Queen Street was considered the city's northern boundary. Apparently, singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was a hangable offense in those days, too (my, how things haven't changed - grin). Today, there are 2.7 million citizens in Toronto proper and over six million people living in the Greater Toronto Area.

A quick reflection on this feat includes 175 years of growth and change: from the nickname "Muddy York", so named because of its unpaved, swampy streets; to "Toronto the Good" (my personal fave) named for the city's reputation as a stern Protestant outpost in a young country; to "Hogtown", "Hollywood North" (no, Vancouver, that isn't you), "T.O.", "T.dot" and after amalgamation, the "Megacity".

Toronto is now Canada's largest and most diverse city. Over 100 languages are spoken on the city streets. It is the economic engine of the country and one of the most environmentally conscious cities in the world. Of course, there's always room for improvement, i.e. a subway that actually goes somewhere, real automated banking machines, and more 24 hour restaurants, thank you very much. But overall, Toronto has a true grit and an undying spirit that makes it, I think, one of the best places on the planet.

And now, I give you 175 reasons to love Toronto, courtesy of the Toronto Star. I could likely come up with 175 more. Scratch that. I could likely come up with 1,075 more.

Happy Birthday, Toronto! I love you.

Also, please warm up.

For Once, A Proper Rant About Canada

2009-03-03T23:46:00.019-05:00

As you all know, I have a major crush on Canada. I just couldn't love it any darn more. I am seriously considering chaining myself to the Canadian flag pole at the border on March 31, 2010. The RCMP's are going to have to push me across, I swear.

However. Because I am not a citizen or permanent resident of this fair country, I can't seem to get a credit card. I have been a homeowner for six years. I have had credit cards in my name since I was 16 years old (so, like, five years ago). Granted, in the States. The Canadian banks, however, consider me to have zero credit history and therefore, will not lend me any money. The banker I was dealing with actually told me that they don't lend to people who only have work permit status, because they "might just pick up and leave the country without paying their debts". Right. Because everyone can just pick up and LEAVE THEIR JOBS!

Look, I totally grok what they're saying, but at least check my US credit history. I have an income after all. Give me some kind of benefit of the doubt. Something.

Don't worry, Canada. We're just on a small break -- it's not permanent. And, I hope you know that despite this small setback, I still love you. It'll all get better...once you give me some damn credit!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

2009-02-26T19:46:00.009-05:00

Lucky for you guys, My Canadian Adventures will live on for another year. I officially leased out my condo in Houston today, so I (very happily) get to stay in T.O. - yahoo!

Canada, get ready for another 13 months of adventures with a Texas girl who has a giant crush on you (swoon)!

Houston Totally Rocked, Y'all

2009-02-24T10:16:00.035-05:00

My Houston trip is quickly coming to an end and it was good to Your Humble Narrator. I haven't worn a coat in six days (!) and I think that maybe - just maybe - the pigment in my skin has officially changed from Casper white to the much darker hue of milky white.

My move went well and, despite running on a total of about four hours of sleep, I still managed to have an awesome time. Some highlights:

Driving into my fair city's downtown core

Widely available sweet tea - possibly the true love of my life

Seeing my friend B. - the only person who will make funny margarita faces with me.

Seeing my friend J. who despises taking pictures.

My nearly hassle-free move. This was day 2.5 with no shower. Pretty. Does anyone else think I look like I'm attempting to do the River Dance?

Scarfing down calorie-free (not!) mexican food, minus the refried beans. Ick.

Not nearly as bright a shade of white as when I left Canada.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

2009-02-17T22:49:00.044-05:00

I'm returning to the scene of the crime. I'm "fixin" to head back to Texas, y'all! You may have already heard, oh, once or twice by now, that I'm staying in Canada another year (!). I'm really only just slightly excited about it much (yippee, yahoo, woo hoo, wahoo, backflips, handstands, pogo sticks, bouncy balls, lollipops!!).

What spine-tingling fun will I be having in H-town, you ask? Check it: Mexican food! Margaritas with salt! Celebrating my parents' 41st wedding anniversary! Target run in a currency worth something! Breaking fingernails from packing up my condo! Shoving all my worldly goods into a 10x10 air conditioned box! Finding a renter in tanking economy! Wait a minute.....

(P.S. if anyone wants to come hang and help me pack, there's liquor in it for you. We might have to drink out of yellow Solo cups, but it's free. We can work our way from business drunk into lampshade-on-the-head drunk. Just be careful with my stuff.)

I'm getting my iTouch all charged up and ready to go with some tunage to get me through the week o'hell, er, I mean fun (sorry mom). I'm adding a snippet of the playlist that I'll be rockin' out to while enduring splinters from the eleventy-thousand cardboard boxes I'll be packing. Thanks to a pretty fantastic Canadian radio fan I know, I've been listening almost exclusively to CBCRadio3 lately (except in my car where I am still (Sirius)XM loyal, but quickly losing patience. Come ON - Huey Lewis has no place on the 80's channel. Or any channel for that matter). CBCRadio3 is a nationally broadcast Canadian radio station that rocks all Canadian music by all Canadian artists all the time. Rock, pop, hip hop, alternative, electronic - if you like it, they're playing it. The best part? Their streaming is gratis. I think it's quite possibly the world's greatest radio station. People - stop listening to Britney, Taylor Swift and flippin' Uncle Kracker and do yourselves a favour - check out some good music.

A'hem...without further ado, my playlist, set to the tune of "Smack My B*tch Up" but entitled "Pack Yo Sh*t Up".

1) Help, I'm Alive - Metric (I am so digging this song right now, I can hardly stand it. Get the acoustic version free on their website)
2) Some Are Lakes - Land of Talk
3) The Reptiles and I - Shriekback
4) Hands on Fire - The Stills
5) Land of Giants - Hooded Fang
6) Sonnet - The Verve (this song makes me happy like a schoolgirl getting felt up under the bleachers)
7) Mr. Wendall - Arrested Development
8) By Your Side (Naked Music Remix) - Sade ft. Miguel Migs
9) We Are the Hunters - The D'urbervilles
10) Everything Counts - Depeche Mode
11) 14 Forever - Stars
12) Rushing - Moby
13) Ebow the Letter - R.E.M.
14) Until the Night is Over - Timber Timbre
15) 100 Days, 100 Nights - Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
16) Queen of Hearts - Juice Newton (aw yeah! Flashback!)
17) Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
18) Never Let Me Down Again - Depeche Mode
19) Where Do I Begin - The Chemical Brothers
Tie for 20th place:
20a) Jesus on the Radio - Guster
20b) Closedown - The Cure

Talk to you guys next week. Big Texas-sized hugs!

Side note: total shout out to Continental Airlines. I was scheduled to fly through Newark to Houston on the same type of prop plane that, very sadly, went down in Buffalo last week. And, there is supposed to be a rain/snow mix the day I leave. Ugh. I'm not usually a flying wimp, but I was having serious heart palpitations about getting on that plane. I called Continental and asked if there was anything they could do because, honestly, I would have been totally devoid of my sangfroid had I been required to fly on that plane in the snow (I know, I know...I live in Canada.). To my surprise and delight, they were more than accommodating and to boot, super cool about it. They changed my flights to non-stop jet service without - shock of the century - ANY ADDITIONAL FARE CHARGES OR CHANGE FEES. Continental: thank you, thank you, thank you. You guys rock. This is why I love you so.

The truth is, Canada, America isn't into you.

2009-02-16T22:10:00.013-05:00

As an American living in Canada, I can certainly relate to this article although reading it was a definite palm-to-forehead moment for me.

Reposted from the February 16, 2009 online edition of the Toronto Star. By Eric Weiner.

The truth is, Canada, America isn't into you.

It's not personal but niceness doesn't cut it in the land of the free and home of the brave.

A big ol' howdy and bonjour Canada! How are you?

We know, we know, it's been a while. Sorry about that.

We have been, per usual, rather self-absorbed lately, what with our historic elections and our economy in freefall. But, hey, good news. Did you hear? We're coming to visit. We'll be in Ottawa on the 19th. Hope you can make it. We hear mid-February is a lovely time of year there.

Look, Canada, before you get your hopes up about this trip, there's something we need to tell you. We're not sure how to put this so we will be brutally direct, as is our way. We're just not that into you.

There, we said it. We feel better already.

You've always been there for us, Canada: after the Sept. 11 attacks and now in Afghanistan. We appreciate that, really we do. But still, we're just not that into you.

It's not personal, really. It's geopolitical. You're just too ... nice. Nice doesn't get our attention. Threatening gets our attention, and you, Canada, are anything but threatening, except on the hockey rink, of course, but we don't take hockey all that seriously.

If you really wanted us to notice, you should have gotten all gussied up in that Taepodong outfit (it worked for North Korea) or maybe flashed some weapons of mass destruction – real or imagined, it's all the same to us.

Let's face it. We've been bickering a lot lately – over Afghanistan and NAFTA and that silly softwood dispute. Plus you think we hog all the water, which we probably do.

We admit we've been avoiding you lately. But can you blame us? Your loonie is loony. Up one day, down the next, then up again. We've got plenty of that yo-yo action right here on Wall Street. We don't need to go north for it.

Also, many of us Americans – especially those in their 20s and 30s – tell surveyors they find Canada a "boring" place to visit.

I know, I know, how can a country with both Cirque du Soleil and Don Cherry possibly be described as boring? What can I say, Canada? Our amusement threshold is very high.

So is our capacity for selfishness. Our pending "Buy American" campaign hurts you. We feel your pain, Canada, really we do, but we've got to look out for Number 1. And we all know who Number 1 is.

Perhaps what we have here is a classic failure to communicate. The fact is, we don't know you Canada. And no wonder: American newspapers no longer maintain bureaus in Canada.

Not that we paid much attention when they did. Most of us couldn't name your prime minister or, for that matter, your capital city. Is this kind of ignorance any basis for a relationship?

If we know you Canada (and we've already determined we don't) you're probably blaming yourself. You always do. Unlike us, you're so modest and self-effacing. It's endearing.

Remember that joke you like to tell us? How do you get 50 Canadians to leave a swimming pool? By making an announcement: Will all the Canadians please leave the pool. See, you find that funny. We don't get it. That's why, Canada, it's best we go our separate ways.

I know what you're thinking: You can change, America. You've elected a new president, one who is all about change and re-engagement with the world.

Don't believe it, Canada. Nations, like people, don't change easily. We're been around for more than 200 years. We're a bit stuck in our ways.

No, Canada, we're just not that into you and probably never will be. Don't fret, though. You're better off without us. We were very much into Iraq (still are) and look how that turned out.

Besides, Canada, you're too good for us anyway.

The truth is we envy you, though of course we never admit that to anyone, not even ourselves. We envy your health-care system. We envy your prudent, sober banks. We envy your restraint on the international stage. We envy your very happiness. We envy everything about you. Except your weather, of course. Nobody envies that.

So, chin up. We can still be friends. After all, you are so close; we're practically neighbours.

Yes, we're still friends – and best trading partners for life too! And you will continue to send us your best comedians, won't you?

Hey, let's do coffee sometime. We'll call you.

Eric Weiner is the Washington-based author of The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World, now out in paperback.

Just Call Me Annie. Annie Liebowitz.

2009-02-16T19:04:00.019-05:00

When I was just a wee tyke, my parents gave me a pink - yes, pink - Le Clic camera. Did that just take you wayback? You remember the ones - they were those disc-shaped cameras from the 80's and came in cool colours like pink, purple, red and blue. (I tried finding an image online but, strangely, couldn't) The minute I opened that camera, I thought I was the coolest thing, well, evah. I really haven't stopped taking pictures since. Just ask my friends who I annoy endlessly with my photos of all things, including the mundane. It's all for the blog, friends, all for the blog.

Fast forward 25 years to December 2K8. I was in Houston for the holidays and went to a TV commercial shoot my company was doing with the Houston Rockets, specifically with Shane Battier and Carl Landry. Of course, I brought along my camera and as it turns out, was the only person there to think of doing so. I know - don't ask me. I usually don't put my photos "out there", mostly for fear of being judged. I just choose not to look like a complete ass in front of everyone on earth (just a select few). Post holidays, though, I was asked to provide some of my snaps to our PR department to accompany the contest press release. So I did.

Turns out that something way cool happened. One of the wires picked up the story and -- wait for it -- my photo was featured on the Reuters board in both Times Square and Las Vegas! Freakin' sweet.

Reuters Board in Times Square

PR Newswire in Las Vegas

The Original

Shane Battier and me

It's not really that great of a photo, imo. Still, it had eyeballs gawking at it in two of the hippest cities on the planet. I expect to get a call from National Geographic any day now because, clearly, my time has come. Don't worry -- I promise not to forget the little people (grin). And just think...it all started with a pink Le Clic.

Happy Valentine's Day, My Loves!

2009-02-13T15:11:00.046-05:00

I'm exhausted. Thank God it's a long weekend. Monday is Family Day in Ontario and as the name implies, essentially negates the existence of about 33% of the population. I'm not complaining, though...it's a day off.

I have a date tonight. Kudos to him for scheduling well in advance but conveniently not on Saturday night. That's a good thing, really - I don't know how many "ring hidden in pastry" situations I can take. I'd rather just avoid the restaurant scene tomorrow altogether. True story: I was at the dry cleaner today and the lady working said to me "oh, you must be very busy tomorrow". I had to stop and think for a second. Was there a big festival I didn't know about? Did I win the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes and they're bringing over the giant cheque and balloons? You can usually tell what I'm thinking by the expression on my face and I must have looked really confused because she proceeded to inform me "It's Valentine's Day - you must be very busy". Sigh. Even my dry cleaner is banking on me to have a date tomorrow, when, really, I'll just be at home in my pajamas. Oh well. At least someone thinks I'm cool. Life is 90% perception anyway, right?

We got fancy new copy machines at work and our Facilities team has scheduled training sessions for them next week. Training sessions on using the copy machines. And at an hour each, no less. I will be attending simply for the comedic value. This is something I have to see. "No, no...you push this button here - the one that says 'Copy'".

Sincere apologies for the watching-paint-dry-on-the-wall-boring posts as of late. I promise to try harder! Note to self: be wittier by half.

All The Cool Kids Are Doing It

2009-02-12T11:50:00.027-05:00

What is everyone's deal with the memes all of a sudden? The zeitgeist of 2009, no doubt. I've seen '25 Random Things' memes, 'Bucket' list memes, 'Who I Cheated On My Wife With" memes...too many damn memes! I have thus far refused to succumb, because do you really care to know what kind of fruit I like? Sheesh - I write a blog for God sakes! It's chock full o' totally random things about me. But, since my friends continue to harass me about not filling these things out, I'll give in. Does this mean you're going to send me some of my favorite things now? Hmpf - thought so. Find below my own "Meme" of things that make me happy. Now stop bugging me!

My passport
Witty repartee
TCM Channel's "31 Days of Oscar"
Perfume/girlie potions - It's simple...I'm addicted.
The Sunday Times
Traveling to far off places
My Art Gallery of Ontario membership card
Christmas lights year round
Mexican food
Frozen Margaritas with salt
Machu Picchu
Red Mini Coopers
4" heels
(Sirius)XM radio
White high threadcount sheets
This American Life/Ira Glass/NPR/All Things Considered
David Sedaris - met him in T.O....raunchy and hilarious.
Gin & Tonic with a twist - year round cocktail
Pimm's Cup - summer patio cocktail
The Albright-Knox Gallery - Buffalo, New York
In-town hotel stays - Hotel ZaZa (Houston), Four Seasons (Toronto)
Red wine
Great conversation
My Paella pan
Mascara
Friday nights
Laughing uncontrollably
Candles - I actually have a candle closet at my house. I know...Dork.
My iTouch, natch
Boardgames - Cranium, Taboo, Blokus, 80's Trivial Pursuit
Golf carts
Absolutely anything with chocolate
Timepieces
All things Canadian (except the taxes)

I'm done. Hope your day has now been made (grin).

Soundtrack for Today

2009-02-08T11:21:00.006-05:00

It's a gorgeous, sunny day today and I'm venturing out to take some photos. Thought I'd list my soundtrack for the day. Sing along with me!

1) This Must Be the Place - Talking Heads
2) Miles Away (Johnny Vicious Club Mix) - Madonna
3) Gold Digger - Kanye West
4) Feel Good - Gorillaz
5) The Drugs Don't Work - The Verve
6) World in Motion - New Order
7) Iris - Live
8) Poker Face (Jody den Broder Remix) - Lady Gaga
9) Hypnotize - Notorious BIG
10) Good Life - Kanye West
11) Baby Jane - Rod Stewart
12) We Both Reached for the Gun - 1996 "Chicago" Soundtrack
12) Staring at the Sun - TV on the Radio
13) Hey Ya - Outkast
14) (Feel Me) Through the Radio (Inpetto Remix Edit) - DJ Shog

Head Too Cloudy to Think of Anything Clever

2009-02-07T13:05:00.034-05:00

My friends and I went out last night and, needless to say, debauchery ensued. Brant House is the spot in T.O. for $3 drinks so it's all their fault, really.

The pounding in my noggin is relentless. I tried sleeping off the inevitable hangover but my growling G.I. tract forced me to immediately cram greasy foods down my throat. Nap time will be a requirement today, natch.

I'm certainly old enough to know better...but it's still fun anyway.

See more photos here.

Backspin, Yo

2009-02-06T12:22:00.034-05:00

I fancy a lovely little channel on (Sirius)XM called "Backspin-XL". It's total old skool rap and basically kicks it - hard. It's so old skool, in fact, that seniors and their very senior parents listen while nursing their Manhattans at the bar.

I heard one of my all-time faves this morning and was forced to share. Totally took me back to when I was, like, eight. Okay, twelve, but who's counting. Fantastic little tune to kick off the weekend, imo, as I'll be kickin' it tonight on King West. I'll personally be having a drink or two. Or ten.

So, do you remember this little ditty? I love that it's the Soul Train version, too. I mean, who doesn't have fond memories of running home from school, sweaty with scabby knees and a metal Smurfs lunchbox clanging in hand, to watch Don Cornelius and "the hippest trip in America"? Good times.

(note the retro charm of Doug E Fresh's "Coca-Cola" shirt. for shame!)

One of These Things Doesn't Belong

2009-02-04T13:06:00.009-05:00

Any guesses?

Snapped near College and Ossington.

Side note: President Obama, will you consider nominating me to your Cabinet? I've paid all my taxes.

Well, You Start By Tearing Up a Wad of Cash...

2009-02-03T19:32:00.028-05:00

It snowed in Toronto this morning. Unbeknownst to me, of course, until after I'd woken up. I was formerly an avid Canadian weather watcher but when I realized that they were wrong 90% of the time, I quit watching. The old adage heard in cities 'round the world - "just wait 15 minutes and the weather will change" - is certainly true of this fair city as well. I don't really do snow, at least when it comes to driving, and because I didn't know I'd have to deal with the little white bugs today, I got up too late to take transit. I called a colleague who lives in my building, but he had an early morning meeting. Reality was staring me square in the face: I was going to have to drive. Sometimes, you just have to put on your big girl panties and work it out.

Here's the fun part. In my haste and nervousness about the possibility of sliding off the Gardiner or, say, running down a pedestrian, I clipped a concrete post in my parking garage. I heard the loud "bang" and knew exactly what I'd done. I tried to maintain my equanimity, but uttered an expletive anyway (that can't be repeated here because my Mom's reading). So it goes. I could not even bring myself to stop and look at the gash, so I just kept driving - straight to work. Problem-free, I might add.

My beloved (and nearly paid for) car has not been washed in over three months and is therefore covered in a two-inch thick crust of dirt, snow and ice. Actually, I can hardly change lanes on the freeway because I can barely see out. I usually try to take the "glass half full" approach in life and in this scenario it's as follows: the lovely crust mix has mitigated my ability to see the scrape. For now. Once I wash it, though, the ugly scab on my heretofore perfect vehicle will be completely exposed for all the world to see. Namely me. Oh well, such is life.

Thank You Jesus!!

2009-02-02T18:34:00.014-05:00

Five words: the sun came out today!!

My makeup was ruined from the watery eyes I had after staring at the sun for about ten straight minutes, but I didn't care! Then, I sang at the top of my lungs right in the middle of the office and got the stink-eye from my colleagues, but I didn't care! The sun was blisteringly bright coming around the Don Mills curve on the DVP and my poor cornea were hardly able to adjust to the strong UV light; I was almost in a 179 car pile up because of it, but I didn't care! I'm from Texas, remember? I'm used to living on the face of the sun, so not seeing it for five months has done permanent damage to both my eyeballs and my epidermis (that, I care about).

Today, though, I'm a happy girl!

Sunshine!

Me doing a little jig after seeing the sun

Happy girl! (photo courtesy of Catherine)

The Gardiner on my way home - woo hoo!

My Week of Not Being Lame

2009-02-02T15:42:00.035-05:00

My weeks are usually manic-filled episodes of sprinting around Toronto from place to place. Sort of like the proverbial chicken. Last week, though, was a rare one where I didn't have much to do. I still managed to find a little bit of trouble - as I'm apt to do - but it was basically a slow one for me. This week, however, I am back on my A-game and have a ton of cool things lined up. If anyone wants to join, call me (picture me mouthing the words and holding up a "finger phone" to my ear).

Monday - Watching The Bachelor, sillies. Well, and hip hop dance class at City Dance Corps, too, but I'll be DVR'ing the former. I mean, who doesn't wanna watch Jason take those crazy, greedy, plastic bitches home to meet mom and dad?! It's a (made for TV) disaster waiting to happen and I can't wait.

Tuesday: Sewing Machine Essentials class. Yep, I'm diving head first into the pool of domestication. I will be learning how to turn a sewing machine on for the very first time and will be attempting to turn fabric into a pillow slip. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a true city girl at heart so this should be interesting. If I had to sew a button to save my life, well, you know.

Pics to follow, natch.

Wednesday: Watch Kobe (and the rest of the Lakers) take down the Raptors.

Thursday: "Up Until Now" at the Winchester Street Theatre (aka "The Winch"). The world premiere of a newly commissioned work from the iconic American choreographer and dance experimentalist Deborah Hay. Should be rockin'.

Friday: King West Pub Crawl. If it's anywhere near as debaucherous as December's outing, I'll just plan to talk to you guys next week. Should be fun to try and make my 9am flight to Houston on Saturday. Think I'll make it? (@Farhan - bet you can't get 16 G&T's down this time without stumbling home)

Saturday: Wake up and take aspirin. Fly to Houston. Pack up condo. Try to find renter in tanking economy. Shove as much Mexican food as possible down throat. Get waited on hand and foot by amazing parents.

My Kinda Place

2009-02-02T10:08:00.020-05:00

I tried a new church yesterday. I'm, unfortunately, a lapsed Catholic and yes, I feel guilty about it. I promise to say 10 Our Father's and 10 Hail Mary's as penance. Tomorrow.

I'm a girl who appreciates rituals, both religious and otherwise. Rituals have been ingrained in me since I was a small girl, likely from attending weekly Mass with devout parents very involved with the Church. To this day they're a comfort to me. When deciding which university to attend, I ended up choosing one steeped in tradition and rituals. Probably not a coincidence considering I had several to choose from. Don't get me wrong, I despise redundancy; but having the same routine day after day is a far cry from the deeper ritualistic experience I crave.

There aren't many churches around me since I live downtown, so I tried St. Andrew's Presbyterian, a 179 year-old church about a ten minute walk from my building. As I walked up to the church, I got that familiar little adrenaline rush knowing that I was walking into a completely new situation (and which I secretly love!). I found a seat, the service began and everything was fine - no one brought out the whips to lash me for not being "one of them" nor did anyone point and laugh. Maybe the Protestants aren't that bad after all (kidding!).

Blah, blah, blah, we asked for forgiveness, etc, etc and the sermon began. The first three words out of the reverend's mouth were "Money. Sex. Demonic Possession.", and I knew I was home.

The Do-Gooders Society (and damn proud of it)

2009-01-31T18:08:00.018-05:00

I joined the Junior League of Toronto. I was a provisional member in the Houston Junior League, but when I was transferred to T.O., I was forced to resign. Finally, after 18 months of contract extensions, waiting to find out if my work visa was going to be extended or if I was going to be personally escorted to the Canadian/US border, I decided to jump in feet first and just join already.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Junior League, it's basically a hoity-toity group of women who disguise their social climbing behind a mask of "volunteerism". It's essentially where former sorority girls go to die. At least in Houston it is. Just to give some perspective, the Toronto League currently has 88 active members not including the 15 who started today. The Houston League currently has 5,000 active members. You do the math. The Toronto League, unlike the Houston League, though, actually attempts to give back to the community (ok, not totally true, but sort of). It doesn't care if you're black, white, brown, big, small, young or old...it just cares that you care. And I care.

Needless to say, I'm excited and am blowing my own little horn about the possibilities that our "little engine" just might achieve. Blaaaaaat!

My friend Christina and I waiting for the subway post-JLT meeting

Real Tea vs Canadian Tea

2009-01-29T14:53:00.015-05:00

I had a brief conversation with someone this week about proper iced tea. Of course, he was Canadian and therefore hardly aware of any other tea besides this kind. Granted, he has tried iced tea from McDonald's and, while that doesn't really count in my book as true iced tea, at least it's actually brewed! I am in no way trying to take anything away from Nestea - it is a perfectly reputable brand - but any alleged tea maker who has the word "Instant" on their homepage is in no way the real thing.

So, being a true Southern girl with a keen opinion on the libation, I thought I'd take this opportunity to do a little comparison for all of you tea lovers out there.

How real sweet tea is made:
1) Boil a large pot of water
2) Steep actual tea bags for 5-7 minutes
3) Remove tea bags
4) Add 1 cup of sugar while tea is still hot; stir until sugar is dissolved (note: sugar does not dissolve in cold beverages)
5) Add enough water to fill up half of your container
6) Add mint leaves, fresh lemon wedges or any other fresh additive of your choice
7) Stir
8) Pour over ice and enjoy!

How Canadian tea is made:
1) Mix up all kinds of chemicals and ingredients that end in things like "-dioxide", "-zonate", "-lactin", etc.
2) Shoot in artificial lemon juice
3) Add some dark food coloring to make beverage appear to be "actual" tea
4) Add processed air to keep bottle content "fresh"
5) Add screw top to keep preservatives in
6) Pour over ice and enjoy!

You can choose for yourself, of course...I'm just sayin'.

Things I Did This Weekend

2009-01-18T09:22:00.036-05:00

1) Completed my required prescription drugs. - You know how you get three trees' worth of paper warnings and side effects with your Rx? Well those nasty side effect don't usually apply to me and I rarely suffer from them. Until today. The evil pharmacist warned me that one of my prescriptions often causes a metal taste in your mouth. After three days - nothing. This morning, I woke up tasting so much metal in my mouth that I thought I might have sleepwalked my ass over to the Ritz Carlton being built on Wellington Street and gnawed my way through every single I-beam there. Even after being completely ridiculed for wearing braces not once, but twice, in my life (two years both times!), I have still never tasted this much metal in my mouth.

* If anyone knows how to rid my trap of this miserable chemical element taste, an email would be much appreciated.

2) Froze my ass off and woke up to shrill, grinding noise. - It's still snowing outside. I am going to have to dig my way outta here today and am none too happy about it. The first 27 times it snowed, I was completely enamored. Now? It could never snow again and I'd be a happy girl. Actually, snow is quite beautiful when it's falling and seems to silence the city in a way that it's not normally. However - if I go to sleep when snow's falling, I know I will in no way be getting a full night's sleep. This is because of the oft dreaded snow plough. Inevitably, at 3 or 4am, I am jolted awake by a noise not all that different than nails on a chalkboard. My window faces an NFL football-field-sized parking lot, so I get to hear the grinding of metal against concrete for no fewer than two hours every time it snows. So it goes. This morning, I had the pleasure of hearing him at 4:30am.

Look, I totally grok that he has to clear the snow. But is it really a requirement that it happen before the crack o'dawn? I mean, it's Sunday for Christ sake. The usually packed parking lot will nary be used today...well, at least not until after Noon. Honestly, my complaint isn't that the man is doing his job. It's simply the hour.

Please, Mr. Snow Clearing Man - get some sleep so I can too!

3) Passed this house. - Yes - those are actual plush toys glued and wrapped around this house on Bertmount Street in Leslieville. Apparently, they even change the toys out seasonally. Wow.

4) Ruined a perfectly good cheese grits casserole.

5) Did my very own science experiment. - As my blog name suggests, I am from Texas. This means that, until I moved to Canada, I had never experienced the extreme winter weather which I now get to grin and bear. It's been unusually cold over the past week (I know - that horse has been beaten) so I decided to see if water really would freeze solid if left outside on my balcony in -20C temps. Last night, I put out about 4 cups of water in a plastic jug and in a few minutes, after I peel myself out of bed and wrap my head eight times, I'll check the results.

Author's note: I finally made it outside and - brace yourself - total success! Frozen solid. Is anyone surprised? Nah, me either.

Next up for me: Nobel Prize for Science.

Saturday, January 17, 2009 8:30pm

Sunday, January 18, 2009 1:30pm

Paxil, please

2009-01-17T09:22:00.032-05:00

It's official - I have the winter blues. This is evidenced by my uncontrollable alligator tears and lack of energy to do anything, including leaving my apartment. In an effort to process, I've determined this momentary show of emotion could potentially be due to a few things:

1) I started suffering from an acute sinus infection last Saturday, was officially diagnosed on Wednesday and have been taking 3 different brick-sized pills a day since then. I have essentially been in a drug-induced haze for 3 days. Yes, clouds have filled my head and I can hardly think.

2) Toronto is in the middle of a weeklong arctic blast. My cracked, ashen flesh is showing serious signs of cellular degeneration. Today, I triple-wrapped myself in North Face, gave myself an impromptu latte-steam facial and almost sawed off my gangrene-plauged limbs in desperation. Combine the sinus infection with the face blistering extreme temps and you have a recipe for disaster. I have not ventured outside in 3 days. Now I see why Jack Nicholson went nuts in "The Shining". My mouth was so dry when I woke up this morning, despite my industrial-strength humidifier, that it felt like someone had shoved in 87 bales of cotton. I could hardly swallow and had to moisten up my hole with a Catholic-family sized gallon of water. Even the birds are looking for a warm place to park their feathers (see photo below).

Please God - make it stop.

Proof of the cold (it's on TV, so it must be true)

The poor birds

The frozen wasteland

Me trying to stay warm (note the red, chapped visage)

Time to Take Your Laptops Off "Simmer"

2009-01-15T22:47:00.007-05:00

Hi folks,
You may have noticed that I've been on a self-imposed hiatus and haven't posted anything in a while. Well, fret no more - I'm here to apologize and make nice. I've actually been super busy collecting experiences to write about...I just haven't actually taken the time to write them down! For those of you still with me, I have two spankin' new posts for your perusal. Enjoy!

For those of you who have been in hibernation with me, Welcome Back!

Tobogganing!

2009-01-15T19:59:00.012-05:00

I went tobogganing today for the first time in my life. I guess the saying "better late than never" is apt in this scenario. My friend Chris and his wife invited me to their home for an early breakfast (homemade pancakes! smoothies!) - the perfect breakfast for a very chilly day. It was -20C when I left my house this morning. Not quite the balmy day. As an aside, I really enjoy T.O. on Sunday mornings. The city is quiet and I feel like I can explore without being in my usual iPod-wearing bubble, trying to drown out the constant whirs and whines of a big city.

Chris, his little girl and I made it out to the Winthrow Park "baby hill" around 10:30am. While the hill is considered small by T.O. standards, I was more than a little nervous once I climbed to the top of the hill. Even though there were 4 years olds flying down the hill like Canadian geese in flight south for winter, I had nervous little butterflies in my tummy! Chris and his daughter went down first as I got my "feet wet" and nerves up. Up next - the Texan - and in my best Texas accent asked "now how do I do this exactly?" The stares from the regulars were intense! The three of us went down together and it was exactly what I'd hoped it would be - super fun! Because the snow was fluffy and powdery, we all got face fulls of snow on the way down. Chris's daughter was none too happy about it and thus ended her trips down the hill. I, however, was like a kid in a candy store and went down a few more times on my own. I even caught air on a big bump! Sweet. We made snow angels and threw snowballs, and then packed it in and headed home.

Later that same day, I got ready to go to the annual Toronto Maple Leafs "Have a Heart" dinner. The Leafs players serve the attendees at different stations around the venue - in this case, the Boiler House at the Distillery District - and raise money for their Leafs 4 Kids charity. My friend Carolyn came with me and had a drink at Pure Spirits beforehand (note to self: must try this place again soon - good vibe and what smelled like good food).

Afterwards, we headed over to the Boiler House and were conveniently too late to purcahse a "mystery bag", although we later found out that they were basically selling old and outdated TML merch. Bogus! We had dinner after introductions served to us by all the Leafs VIP's - Coach, GM, and players. Overall, it was a way cool event complete with a TML BBQ set and Players cookbook as the party swag...sweet!

Me with Tomas Kaberle

Can Someone Please Close the Freezer Door?

2009-01-15T19:41:00.017-05:00

It's -28C outside today. Granted, that's with the windchill, but does it really matter whether it's -19C legitimately or -28C with the wind? I think not. T.O. has become a snow-choked frozen wasteland unfit for man or vehicle. Note to self: buy long johns and a timeshare in Antigua.

Looking out my window - at 2pm

Read more about the freezer that has become Toronto here.

But I digress. I am under the weather, diagnosed by my doc-in-a-box as having an "acute sinus infection" and not "walking pneumonia" as I had concluded by surfing mayoclinic.com. I am supposed to be resting and not working but, alas, work must go on and I am doing my best to keep up with the plethora of quasi-unimportant emails (imo!). Basically, I've been slathering myself up with my newly purchased jar of Vaseline (does that turn anyone else on besides me?), trying to keep my ever-reddening nose somewhat puppy-dog moist, sucking down Halls mentholatum and wrapping myself in a warm blanket cocoon. Maybe I should get one of these monk-like garbs?

I'm not used to sitting at home all day and around 4pm today, I started to get a serious case of cabin fever. I was also starting to feel achy and since am living here alone, must self-medicate and self-serve; as such, I ventured outside to Shoppers Drug Mart to buy a thermometer so as to properly monitor my (again self-diagnosed) oncoming fever. As soon as I stepped outside, the cold took my breath away. It was *bitterly* cold. When I breathed in, my nose actually froze together. Froze *together*, people! It felt like someone opened the freezer door and amped it up x 100. As a born and raised Southern girl, I was ill prepared for it. Still, I perservered and trudged up to the drugstore. The city seemed oddly quiet and I don't know if that's because it was so bloody cold outside that people were smartly staying indoors or because I had on about 8 layers of scarves, earmufs and hats wrapped around my already inflamed head. I perused the aisles, picked up the necessary "sick people foods" (Chicken noodle soup! Saltines! Catholic family-sized jug of Tropicana!), a $14.49 digital thermometer and headed home. I force fed the soup, fresh fruit and OJ and continued enjoying my overly humidified apartment while blissfully watching the all-day CSI marathon on Spike TV. Can life can't get any better?

*New Feature Alert*
So, I am attempting to add a new bit to my blog whereby I document some of the current music I'm digging. Will do my best to post as many Canadian artists as possible in homage to my adopted country. Without further ado.....

Currently listening to (artist/song title):

Hooded Fang/Land of Giants
PPP/Lovers and Haters
Invasions/Atalantic Boulevard
Oh No Forest Fires/It's Not Fun and Games Until Someone Loses
Hooded Fang/Fall Leaves

The Most Classic of All Canadian Experiences

2008-10-06T20:05:00.023-04:00

There are many things Canada is known for - mounties, moose, igloos (yes, I jest), etc. - but this weekend, I experienced the ultimate of Canadian activities. I was invited to spend the night with my friend at her house in the Durham Region (sort of like our "county" in Houston) about 40 minutes outside of Toronto. We had planned to have her boyfriend grill his fabulous steaks, drink some wine, watch "Sex and the City" and cause general debauchery. We also watched her dog eat corn straight from the cob. Normally I would say "only in Texas", but in this case, it's "only in Durham".

The next morning, her son had hockey practice, so after having homemade pancakes with Nutella (thanks Rob!), we bundled up and headed to the arena. When we pulled up, there were about 1,000 SUVs in the parking lot with both parents and kids hauling their 200 lb bags of hockey gear and sticks in and out of the arena. When we walked in, scores of people were rushing around and the temperature was about 5C. There were 4 pads of ice in total. On one side, the figure skating pad filled with - no kidding - 3 year olds who appeared to be barely walking but with these itty-bitty tiny skates glued to their feet and helmets on their head. They were holding onto orange pylons and scooting slowly around the rink. Seriously, I think Canadian children come out of the womb with skates on their feet. There's really no other explanation.

On the opposite side of the building were the hockey ice pads. These tiny little boys looked just like the pros but were all of 5 or 6. It felt like the entire town was at the arena that morning and I was told that the same scenario was happening all over the GTA that day, like every Saturday. Once hockey begins in September, practice and games are a weekly event that occur until April of the following year. Holy crap -- that's a lot of weekends spent bundled up in North Face drinking Timmy Ho's. Not to mention, it's not exactly cheap for your kid to play hockey, averaging $450 just to join the team and not including equipment, travel, etc. Wow.

While we were waiting for my friend's son to change into his gear, we scurried over to the ubiquitous Tim Horton's to get a coffee - the MOST Canadian of all Canadian institutions. There must be more Tim Horton's coffee consumed per capita in Canada than all the Starbucks in the universe combined. There is literally not an hour that goes by without seeing someone holding a Tim Horton's cup in hand. I'm convinced they spike their coffee with something to make you come back for more (crack?)

By the way, did I mention the very good looking dads at the arena? Definitely the place to spot hot guys. But I digress. Once we got back to the arena, practice was starting so in we went. It was, of course, even colder inside and I had stupidly only brought my light scarf and coat. So there I sat - in Whitby, Ontario on a saturday morning, Tim Horton's in hand, watching little boys and girls play hockey and ice skate at the local ice rink. It was one of my most memorable Canadian experiences.

TIFF-Tastic Film Reviews, By the Numbers

2008-10-06T20:05:00.022-04:00

If you've read my previous posts on the Toronto International Film Festival, you'll see that, unfortunately, much blood, sweat and tears go into securing tickets to the festival. I was lucky enough to be able to take 3 days of vacation to attend this year's festival and saw a total of 14 films. There are several package options, including 25, 30 and 50 tickets, which I can hardly imagine. It's recommended that you get to your films at least 45 minutes early because the lines get really long. While waiting for "Ashes of Time", the official TIFF survey people came by to get stats on some of us in line. I overheard the two people in front of me say that they had purchased the 50 film package. Holy snow, Batman! One couple even flew in from California for the event - they stay in T.O. for 14 days seeing all 50 movies. The man directly in front of me was from Whitby, Ontario - a Toronto 'burb - and he pays to spend 11 nights in T.O. and sees 55 movies! I basically knelt down before them in awe.

What this means for those of us who don't have the bum cartilage to make it throughthis heroic feat is that you literally start your first film around 9am and see movies literally all day through to the "Midnight Madness" film that starts at 11:59pm. Including trasnit time, you likely don't get home until around 3am and start all over again the next day. By the numbers, that's no fewer than 5 films a day for 10 days straight. *That*, my fair readers, is dedication. I asked if they had any recollection of the films they'd seen at the end of the 14 days and they shared with me that they write notes after each film and also include a rating from their very own little rating system. In keeping with that spirit, here are my reviews for the amazing (and not so amazing) films I saw at TIFF08.

Rating System:
***** - Excellent/Do not miss
**** - Great/Highly recommended
*** - Good/See it at a matinee
** - Fair/ Rent the DVD
* - Bad/Don't waste your time or $

1. Dean Spanley - with Peter O'Toole ***
2. $5 a Day - with Christopher Walken ****
3. Wendy and Lucy - with Michelle Williams *
4. Ashes of Time Redux - a Wong Kar Wai film ***
5. Birdsong * - DO NOT SEE THIS FILM! You will feel regret for the rest of the live long day.
6. Is There Anybody There - with Michael Caine ****
7. Easy Virtue - with Jessica Biel and Kristen Scott Thomas *****
8. Pride and Glory - with Edward Norton and Colin Farrel *****
9. Che, Part I - a Steven Soderbergh film with Benicio del Torro ****
10. Zack and Miri Make a Porno - a Kevin Smith film with Seth Rogen *****
11. Il y a Longtemps que Je'Taime - with Kristin Scott Thomas ****
12. Slumdog Millionaire - a Danny Boyle film (kicking ass since 1994!) (Trainspotting) *****
13. Gomorrah **
14. The Wrestler - a Darren Aronofsky film with Mickey Rourke ****

My TIFF08 Experience, By the Numbers
$225: 10-ticket package + 4 additional movies purchased as singles
$64.97: Snacks at 7 of the 14 films (excluding turkey sand hastily scarfed down between shows at Varsity and apple found at bottom of purse)
$21.97: Visine, Tums, moist face towelettes to wipe crust out of eyes, and 79 cent bottle of water
$3.09: Small Diet Coke at ScotiaBank Place
125: # of minutes spent standing in line to a) pick up booklet and order form, b) drop off order form and c) pick up tickets
56: # of minutes spent watching commercials for approved TIFF sponsors and TIFF produced promo
7: # of times I traded tickets after hearing how crappy "that" movie was

To see all my TIFF pictures, click here.

Don't Try This at Home - the Story of TIFF 08

2008-09-08T23:27:00.009-04:00

Brutal. The only word in the English language that even remotely describes the ticketing process for the Toronto International Film Festival. Much blood, sweat and tears go into snagging tickets to the highly sought after, and sometimes even lowly sought after, films that are invited to TIFF. I wholly recognize that Toronto is the only film festival in the world that allows the public to attend, but for the love of God, there has got to be a better way to make this miserably difficult process easier for everyone! If this doesn't change soon, the blister popping on my normally perfectly pedicured feet will never end from the 3 hour waits in line. This is the "people's festival" after all and a large part of its success is because the buyers and distributors want to see how a film plays with an audience of real people. Not plastic Hollywood types. So why is the process so f-ing difficult to get an actual ticket?!

I was determined not to repeat the mistake I made last year when I purchased 10 single movie tickets for $220+ when I could have purchased a ticket package for tens of dollars less. TIFF ticket purchasing is really a needlessly convoluted process so for those of you who have nothing else to do with the next 8 minutes of your life, stay tuned for a layperson's description of said process.

Unless you've signed up to receive TIFF alerts, you likely won't know what happens when, which I learned last year the hard way. I subsequently - and smartly - signed up for their emails and presto! - received the first of many in mid-May. First, you figure out how many movies you want to see, whether you want to pair up with someone else to share, etc, etc. There are packages available from a 50 movie pack down to single tickets. It's almost singularly impossible to schedule and physically get to 5 movies per day for 10 days in Toronto. Think about it. Ouch. You'd seriously need one of those blow up rings people with hemorrhoids sit on just to make it through the day. I settled on 15 tickets - a 10 ticket package and 5 single tickets. TIFF changed the process this year and no longer allowed package holders to schedule Gala screenings or Visa Screening Room films. They are their own separate packages and of course, expensive as hell. However, if you are a stargazer/fucker, this is definitely the package for you.

In early August, you are notified of the date when you can queue up at one location in downtown Toronto to pick up your official film schedule and 2 scantron-like forms that you manually complete. Said date this year was Monday, August 26. Said location was Toronto Life Square - TIFF's new home at Yonge/Dundas Square. Schedules were available only from 10 am to 6pm. Sigh. They really make you work for this. I managed to pick up my forms fairly quickly and went to get dinner to peruse the films. (As an aside, Johnny Rockets just opened up at Toronto Life Square so I decided to have a burger at the schmaltzy 50's joint. Interestingly, halfway through my meal, a 50's song came on and the entire staff - including the chefs - did a full on dance to "Stop! In the Name of Love". Oh, and they made a ketchup happy face on my hamburger. Aww.)
This year, the scan-tron request forms had to be turned in by Friday, August 30. Unluckily for me, I was going on holiday to Quebec City so had to return mine by Wednesday, August 28, giving me just 2 short days to read through 310 film synopses and make a schedule for 30 films (15 first choice, 15 second choice). Trust me, this is no small feat. There is some pre-festival blogging about certain movies but for the most part, my strategy was to get tickets only to movies that I felt wouldn't be readily available in theatres. After 8 long hours, I was ready to turn my selections in. I trudged *back* up to Toronto Life Square (if I was a gambling woman, I'd say that the TTC gets some kind of cut from the 10,000 Torontonians making 3 trips to TLS for TIFF) I thought it would only take 5 minutes to turn in my form, but alas, the line just to *turn in* the scantron was an hour long. Sigh.

Finally, everything was turned in and I got my "box number". This is the most important part of the TIFF ticketing process. I am sure that Torontonians everywhere get down on their knees at night praying that they get a good box number. Mine? Lucky #16. Once everyone has turned in their forms, TIFF draws a number at random and that's the box they begin processing ticket requests first. This year, they drew #9, so i essentially got all of my first choice since I was in box #16. Afterwards, I heard that there were over 150 boxes of envelopes this year, so I definitely lucked out.

On Monday, September 1 (Labour Day), you could begin picking up your tickets, buy single movie tickets and exchange for other films. Needless to say, the lines were again excruciatingly long. I know I've made light of the lines, but part of the fun of TIFF is actually standing in line and getting to know the people around you. People talk about what they're seeing or what they've heard is good, and the camaraderie is way cool. But after two hours of standing there, it gets old. The entire process is done manually so when you get up there, you give them your pick up ticket and they go through cardboard boxes by last name to find your envelope.

With tickets finally in hand, I did a little jig and headed home, thrilled and very much looking forward to TIFF08!

My So-Called Former Idol has Lost It

2008-09-08T23:13:00.006-04:00

Apparently Madonna's new Sticky & Sweet tour opens with a bit comparing John MccCin to Hitler and Barack Obama to John Lennon. Seriously? The man was a POW for 5 years for Christ sake. I hardly think that's worthy of being compared to Hitler regardless of whether you like the guy or not.

Today, she paid tribute to Pope Benedict at her concert in Rome. If I had to guess, I'd say that he was likely unflattered by the dedication.

What the hell is wrong with her? Has she done one too many downward dog poses? Is her Kabbalah string tied too tightly?

I am personally overwhelmed by the plethora of celebrities and wannabe-celebrities spouting off their political views about what a retard George Dubya is. Yes, I'm from Texas, so I have a slight affection for the guy, but I can still admit when we've made a mistake. And we have - big time. Still, though, I think it's a travesty that idiot Englishmen who've been in rehab for sex addiction and who showed up at work the day after 9/11 in an Osama Bin Laden costume can call the leader of the free world a "retarded cowboy" and not get even a little flak.

What are you gonna do, though? I'll still be shelling out my $250 for a nose-bleed ticket to Madonna's concert. Go ahead - call me a sell out. I won't disagree.

TIFF-tastic Voyage

2008-09-06T00:00:00.006-04:00

Toronto International Film Festival 08 is here. Finally. I've been waiting with bated breath since I realized what chaotic fun TIFF is upon my arrival in the great white north last summer. Cinephiles, star-fucker-ophiles, and bullshit-ophiles have all arrived for North America's largest - and clearly best - film festival. Even if you cloned yourself 10 times over, you still could not participate in everything the festival has to offer. For starters, 312 films - 249 features and 63 shorts - over 10 days. Let's say it's a bit akin to the olympics for film lovers and I'm planning to win a gold medal.

I'll blog as much as I can during TIFF to keep you - and me - up to date on the goings-on around Toronto and the festival.

Let the games begin!

The Highway of Heroes

2008-06-06T18:52:00.006-04:00

There are many uniquely Canadian things that surely go unappreciated in the States. For example: the concept of poutine (gravy on fries?), Royal Canadian Mounties (hot!), expertly paved roads and although they hate it, niceness beyond compare. However, there is one thing uniquely Canadian that I recently had the pleasure of traveling down. It's called the Highway of Heroes.

What is the Highway of Heroes, you ask? Highway 401, or "the 401" as it's colloquially known here, is the I-10 equivalent in Canada that runs across the country, coast to coast and is also allegedly North America's busiest freeway. The 401 runs from Canadian Force Base (CFB) Trenton into Toronto and is routinely lined with civilians and veterans as the body of each fallen Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan makes its way home during repatriation. The families of the soldiers are taken by limousine along the route as citizens pay their respects to the soldiers. Sadly, I've seen the Highway of Heroes in action three times since I moved here. In fact, it seems to be such a moving experience that NBC News recently ran a feature on it during their Veterans/Remembrance Day coverage.

It's not often that you witness something for the first time and find yourself being moved to tears. Recently, on a snowy winter evening, I was driving home on the Don Valley Parkway and noticed that people were standing along the sides with flags and people all over the bridges. There were firetrucks with firemen standing atop saluting and ambulances with paramedics doing the same. They were on every single bridge — every one. Being the "girl about town" photographer I like to pretend I am, I quickly grabbed my camera, steered with my knees and took as many pics as I could without crashing into my fellow drivers. Of course, only one turned out clearly, but you get the gist.

It's a grassroots phenomenon that takes place and has just grown among ordinary people; I find it fascinating. The kind of unified and public show of respect along the repatriation route is unusual in the world today. As far as I know, it doesn't happen in the States; it doesn't happen in the United Kingdom. And I think that's what so fascinating — the fact that none of it was organized by anyone except, perhaps, by each person's own heart to go and do it.

One of the plethora of reasons I love Canada. Lest we forget.

Let's Go to the Movies

2008-04-11T20:07:00.027-04:00

Not unlike our gas prices, the penalties for DVD piracy are apparently going up. I recently rented an older DVD ("Network", to be precise) and because my DVD player was manufactured circa 1995, I was unable to forward through the obligatory federal notices about illegal copying prior to the beginning of the film. Parked on my sofa with my extra large sweet iced tea, I happened to notice that the penalty for piracy on said page was $250,000 and went on about my movie watching. Last week, I rented "Gone Baby Gone" (most twisted movie plot I've ever experienced - Ben must have learned a thing or two from the whole J.Lo debacle after all) and noticed that the penalty for piracy this time was $260,000. So here's my take: if $250,000 didn't dissuade you from illegally burning those copies of "Dan in Real Life" for your buddies at the gym, would $260,000? The point here is, shop for the best rates before you illegally copy dvd's. You could save yourself 10G's.

Although there finally look to be some great flicks out (and a long time coming, I might add) I am for some reason mentally unable to get myself to the actual movies theatre. My litmus test these days is whether I really want to shell out $13 for a movie, plus another $5 for an extra-small coke watered down with too much ice. Standing at the concession stand, my face always gives me away. Says the 12 year old working behind the counter, "only $2 more for the gallon big gulp size, ma'am (ma'am?!). And you get a free refill, too". As if my bladder can possibly retain 72 gallons of liquid in a two hour time span at this age. What i'm saying is that $18 for one person to spend on a movie is about as steep as the Cliff Hanger game on the "Price is Right" and believe me, I hum that little theme song all the way to theatre #12. Don't they realize I could have not 2, but 3, glasses of decent red wine at my local watering hole for that amount? At least I'd get a buzz from that 9 times out of 10.

Money notwithstanding, I believe my real issue is one of control. While Canadian audiences are FAR more respectful than American audiences are with regards to being quiet and not talking or answering their phone during movies, I have no control over when the kid behind me who snuck in to see the R rated movie and who constantly kicks my chair is going to loudly scarf down his popcorn and yell over to his friend "what did he say?". I can neither spread out in my pajamas under my favorite blanket nor hit rewind when I inevitably fall asleep for 15 minutes during the movie as I'm known to do. I'm not saying I'll never go to the movies again - far from it. I thoroughly enjoyed "Juno" when I saw it and while I wasn't necessarily convinced that 16 year olds today are anywhere near as witty as the character was written, I also know that a movie about a 29 year old pregnant woman who smokes a pipe could pass as a documentary on being a grandmother in Alabama...and I'm bettin' nobody would fork over 18 bucks for that one.

How I Know It's Spring

2008-04-09T21:20:00.007-04:00

two words: open patios.

Why People Live in Canada

2008-04-09T20:04:00.006-04:00

i have a prescription that i have filled each month. when i went into the pharmacy to reorder it, as i had silly-ly thrown away the label the month prior, the pharmacist asked if i wanted to get more than one at a time. of course, i said absolutely! who can be bothered with walking 2 blocks to the drugstore once a month? time value of money, after all.

i went to pick up the prescriptions today and paid $2 for 3 months' supply of a brand name drug. you do the math. the annual cost is $8. i was paying $15 a month in the states, or $180 a year. oh, when you think about it, i'm def paying the same amount for the drug, if not more, through the exorbitantly high taxes i pay. as a matter of fact, gas is currently $5.24 a gallon, which i may have mentioned a time or two. i'm still in electroshock therapy from it though and my therapist has told me that talking and journaling about the excess is the only way to remedy it. but i digress. still, i'm a very happy girl when i pick up a 3 month supply of something for $2. i skipped away like a giddy schoolgirl on the last day of class - "you're the one that i want...ooh, ooh, ooh, honey."

$8 for a one year supply of drugs. this is why people live in canada.

Swap Shop and Such

2008-04-07T22:11:00.005-04:00

i've just discovered the most peculiar television show. it's called "Swap Shop" and it's on a local toronto channel on saturday and sunday mornings. it's essentially a live craig's list on television. a televised craig's list you ask? wait, it gets better. people call in from all over the gta (that's thet "greater toronto area" for those of you who don't have the privilege of living through 7' of snow during the lovely winter months) and try to sell their shit. most of the time, the hosts who are about 12 and just got out of junior high for summer break, can barely contain themselves. all kinds of people call in and part of the fun is really listening to their sad little stories about where they acquired their "item" and why they want to sell it. imagine "antiques roadshow" full of country bumpkins whose most recent technology purchase is their brita water filter. but i digress. this sunday, a man called in to sell his collection of - wait for it - "beverly hillbillies" VHS TAPES. for $300! no, i do not kid. he informed the public that he bought them over the course of 2 years and paid over $800 retail. this, my friends, is a show that simply cannot be missed. this is the reason i relocated to canada - quality television programming. http://www.rogerstelevision.com/option.asp?lid=12&rid=16&sid=264

in other news, it seems the canadians know more about the US presidential election than we do. i thought a fight was actually going to break out at my office today over who will get the democratic nom - obama or hillary. i thought to myself "9 out of 10 americans, no wait - 10 out of 10 americans likely could not name the canadian prime minister and yet my esteemed colleagues, who are canadian i might remind you, were asking each other "well, are you democrat or republican?". it's a wacky world out there.

in parting - have you all heard the news? i may potentially be having a life altering experience this summer. george michael is going on tour. i know - once you pick yourself up off the floor from the sheer excitement, get to the horn immediately and buy your tickets. careless whisper? freedom '90? all live? i can already feel the pitter patter of my heart.

No She Didn't

2008-04-07T21:47:00.006-04:00

i'm not a fan of "the bachelor" but as i was sitting here blogging, i happened to have the show on. seriously.

so the new hunky british bachelor (who is rumoured to have recently been seen out with a bachelorette who was not one of his bachelorettes on the show - naughty, naughty) just told one chick "you're handling this all really well. you're really taking this all in stride" and i kid you not, without skipping a beat, the girl giggled sheepishly and said "hee hee, what does that mean?".

insert jaw dropping and eye bulging here.

Stop Whining About Gas Prices!

2008-03-30T14:29:00.009-04:00

news in canada isn't as negative as in the u.s. and is what i normally watch. my only dose of U.S. news is from nbc nightly news which i watch on a fairly regular basis. without fail, the price of gas is mentioned almost daily and i just laugh. we have no idea how good we have it in the u.s. where gas prices are concerned. gas here went up to $1.08 per litre this week and for those of you who can do the math on the non-English system, there are 4 litres to a gallon, so we're paying $4.32 a gallon for regular gasoline. except for older cars, most cars require premium gasoline which is $1.28 per litre here. yes, your math is right. that's $5.12 per gallon. so the next time you go the pump, just think of your friends north of the border and stop whining about gas prices - we've got it good down there.

what you may notice from the photo below is the red tax sticker on the pump. for those of you who haven't yet had your lasik surgery, it reads "Taxes included in in Gasoline Prices in Ontario: 5% GST (sales tax), 10 cents per litre Federal Excise Tax, 14.7 cents per litre Provincial Gasoline Tax". that's over $1 per gallon just in taxes. we may have that in the states and i've just never noticed it. or more likely, they just don't have to post it. all i know is that they do not joke about their taxes here.

it's still cold today. it's -4C or 24F today with the windchill. and it's almost april. geebus.

i had a yummy brunch today at mitzi's cafe on queen west and sorauren. i had to wait about 25 minutes for a table for 1, but it was well worth it! ( http://www.mitzissister.com/cafe.html - i can only find a web site for its sister property, aptly named "mitzi's sister") i had english breakfast tea with cream and sugar (my usual), scrambled eggs with artichokes, roasted cherry tomatoes and grated fresh romano cheese, potatoes and the best toast i've ever had. they are well known for their oatmeal buttermilk pancakes but i couldn't really eat two whole breakfasts, so i asked for a half portion just to try the pancakes. boy, was that worth it. they were oatmeal buttermilk pancakes with poached port pears and whipped cream on top served with hot, fresh maple syrup. it was badass!! go there if/when you come to t.o.

lastly, i found a new drink i just love! it's an italian brand of peach iced tea called santal. it's a little glass figure 8 shaped bottle and they have many different flavours. it's about 100 times better than snapple peach iced tea - as a matter of fact, there's really no comparison. if you find any, definitely try it because it's fabulous! (http://www.parmalat.it/prodotti/santal/index.htm) p.s. darren, they have lemon iced tea, too :o). i found it at an italian gourmet food store in little italy here, but i bet either central market or cost plus world markets carries it in houston. fingers crossed they do!

Earth Hour

2008-03-29T23:02:00.004-04:00

tonight was earth hour organized by the world wildlife fund and t.o. was part of this year's celebration ( http://www.wwf.ca/earthhour/canada.html ). it was amazing. i saw shops today with handmade signs in their window that said things like "parkdale powers down for the earth" and "toronto celebrates earth hour". i so love toronto. they are so progressive and really care about the environment even though they're not really the ones who are polluting the earth (that would be the americans).

sure enough, i happened to log onto google.com at 8:05 and their screen was black. it said "We've turned the lights out. Now it's your turn - Earth Hour." so i looked out my window and sure enough, the city was almost completely dark. i saw people turning off their lights in my building and it almost brought a tear to my eye. we can make a difference!! yes!

there were candlelit walks all over the city, restaurants hosting dinners by candelight, and "earth hour" parties everywhere.

some fun facts about earth hour 2008 in canada:

- 170 cities participated across the country
- canada made up 1/3 of earth hour participants around the world
- by turning off the lights for the hour, 7% of the electricity that would have been used from the grid was saved.
- 1,500,000 homes are estimated to have participated in ontario alone (i was one of them)
- nelly furtado gave a free concert at toronto city hall for earth hour

what a great event - i hope houston will try to participate next year!

The Last Few Weeks...March 22

2008-03-29T21:59:00.005-04:00

it's easter weekend and the first easter that i haven't spent with my family in quite some time. my weekend kicked off early with a trip to the "one of a kind show" in t.o. on thursday, a gigantic show at the direct energy centre full of canadian artists and artisans selling their wares (http://www.oneofakindshow.com/indexT.php ). i was in heaven. i took transit over and thought i'd only stay a couple of hours. 5 hours later, i had barely made it through the first 3/4 of the show! what amazing artists there are out there. i'm always so impressed at what people think of and actualize. it makes me want to quit my job and figure out something good to sell. i would love to go around from show to show meeting cool people and seeing cool things. i made my list of things i wanted to think about and decided to think on it.

everything is closed in toronto on holidays still so there wasn't much to do on good friday. (as a matter of fact, the toronto city council recently voted against a proposal to allow businesses to open on statutory, or "stat" holidays here. old skool.) when i woke up, i decided to go to the imax theatre here to see "hurricane on the bayou" ( http://www.hurricaneonthebayou.com/ )at the ontario science center (http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/ ). i decided to take the ttc and it only took about 45 minutes! i took the streetcar to the subway to the bus...and it dropped me off right at the science centre...awesome! i was so happy. what a colossal mistake to go on good friday, though. there were about 970,000 screaming children and parents and the line to get into the imax was as long as a football field. once we got in, a little kid with a plastic coke bottle sat next to me and popped the empty bottle in and out the entire time. why do parents not say anything to their kids anymore? my dad would have broken my hands off for doing that. the movie was good but i was glad it was over. i hightailed it back downtown and ordered a cheese pizza from pizza rustica for good friday dinner and popped in "michael clayton".

on saturday, i decided i would go back to the "one of a kind show" to buy my choices and then go to high park for a stroll. yeah, right. i managed to spend another 4 hours at the show and another $400. that place is dangerous. and, everyone tells me the christmas show is double the size. wow. lots of talented people in canada! surprisingly, many of the exhibitors were from quebec and there was a ton of french being spoken. i just love that, although i have no clue what they're saying. it's such a pretty language. anyway, i bought some gold filagree earrings from a jewelry maker from t.o., 2 freshwater pearl bracelets from a jewelry designer from winnipeg, a a kari lynn bianchi armband that i love ( http://www.karilynnbianchi.com/armbands.php ), a really cute handmade purse from prickly pear ( http://www.pricklypear.biz/ ) and some cool "buddha bowls" that were on oprah's favorite things list last year from the artist who lives in b.c. ( http://flavourdesign.com/portfolio.php ). i spent way too much, but i wouldn't be able to get these things once i leave t.o. actually, i could have spent a lot more! needless to say, i didn't make it to high park and just ended up on queen west.

on easter sunday, i woke up and decided to go eat brunch early to beat the crowds. in my quest to eat brunch at as many of toronto's plethora of brunch places, i decided to eat at easy restaurant on queen west and roncesvalles ( http://easybreakfast.ca/ ). i had the huevos divorciados which was okay, but i probably wouldn't go back. it started to get really crowded by the time i left, too. i ended my easter sunday by lounging on my sofa and enjoying the beautifully sunny day.

The Last Few Weeks...March 29

2008-03-29T21:26:00.008-04:00

the last few weeks have been fantastic in t.o. (note: toronto is referred to as "t.o." for short and never "the t.o." as did diablo cody). while spring is taking its sweet time getting here, we are all willing it to get here sooner rather than later by shunning our overworn fur lined winter hats and cashmere scarves in favor of spring coats and wellies sans socks.

today wasw one of those days where i was annoyed at living in canada. although i love the people here, what they say about them can be very true - they even joke about it themselves - they can be so laissez faire and bland and accepting about everything and it can really get to you, especially when you grow up in the States. an article came out this week from the university of british columbia about costs at airports around the world. pearson international (toronto's airport) came in top for fees compared to any airport in the entire world. it's true, too. when you fly in or out, you will pay a minimum of $100 in just airport taxes and sadly, you feel trapped here sometimes. there have been many weekends where i've wanted to fly out, but it really is just so expensive that you just stay put. i truly belive this is why most torontonians have never left ontario - it's just too damn expensive. so when i was sharing this story with some of my co-workers, they were just like "oh well" and "well, i heard vancouver was expensive, too". i'm like "no, this study was for every airport around the world and you guys just accept that you're being completely and totally gouged by your airport?" and they just say yes. it's been shocking to me how accepting canadians (and ontarians, more specifically since this is where i live) can be of everything that comes their way. when the government raises their taxes, they interview people on tv who are like "well, we understand that you have to maintain the level of service, so if they have to raise taxes, it's okay". are you kidding me? nothing might change in the states, but at least we protest and get pissed off like crazy! they literally told me "well, carmen, it's just how things have always been here and we just accept it". those are really the times where i truly feel like i'm from a totally different culture, and we are very different in many ways. that being said, with that "blandness" comes a niceness and caring people that is rare to find in the states anymore, in my opinion. i really love them, but it can be frustrating sometimes.

my weekend started off as usual by making my regular friday-after-work trip to walmart. unfortunately, i was already annoyed by the very slow drivers in the left lane on the don valley parkwway (left lane slow driving here is an epidemic of gargantuan proportions) as well as the parking lot that was eglinton ave. i finally made it to walmart and had to endure a higher volume of carts than i have become accustomed. people leaving their carts in the center of the aisle to search the campbell's soup display for the chicken consomme fueled my complete loss of patience. the wheel of my old ladies grocery cart kept falling off while trying to lug my groceries in but lo and behold, i finally made it. in an effort to have a fun weekend, i had invited one of my co-workers over to watch movies in the theatre at my building. tj came over with soda, popcorn and pretzels for our movie bonanza, while i contributed pizza and bruschetta from pizza rustica. we had a great picnic and watched "gone baby gone" (great flick, although a bit depressing). we started "superbad" but it was just that - superbad. about an hour in, i could watch no more so we called it a night. that one will definitely not make my top 10. as a matter of fact, i think it will definitely make my bottom 10 instead. total guy flick.

i slept late this morning and decided to play the day by ear. i finally got myself up and dressed and left around 1pm. i returned my movies to queen video - that store is so awesome - and jumped on the streetcar heading west on queen. i was thinking i would hit roncesvalles again, but decided to stay on to see where it would take me. after over an hour on the streetcar because of traffic on queen and the sheer length of the route, i jumped off at the humber river loop and turned around. i passed high park and its still frozen lake, brand new townhomes on windermere and the queensway that i'm sure i couldn't afford and some good photo ops that i jumped off for along the way. i got some more good shots of the streetcar cables at roncesvalles and the queensway but other than that, didn't see any good ones. i got off at ossington to do a little exploring and by this time, it was 2:50pm. i happened by a store called "camera" ( http://www.camerabar.ca/ ) and noticed a sign in the window offering free documentary screenings on saturdays at 3pm. i thought "what luck" and "this would never happen in houston" and headed in. what a great place. i have been looking for a photography place like this since i got here. it's attached to a photography gallery that was warm and inviting. there was a little cafe with a bar and nibbles. the entrance to camera had a fire in the fireplace and some beautiful photos. the screening room was nearly empty but right at 3pm, the documentary began. it was called Pictures From A Revolution from 1991. it was good, but with 30 minutes to go, i thought, as i usually do in movies, "oh, i'll just close my eyes for a minute" and 30 minutes later, the lights came up. i have no idea why i fall asleep in almost every single movie i see, but i have surely lost money on that game! i just hope i wasn't snoring.

after i left camera, i went to the lens gallery to see a photography exhibit on peru by stephen moretti. i picked up a cake at the red tea box and headed to terroni on queen for dinner. it was already packed and i picked a spot at the bar. i ordered the ssame thing as last time - the tagliatelle with bolognese sauce - which i love and the warm flourless chocolate cake for dessert. i also ordered peach iced tea and was delighted by the italian tea they gave me called santal. it was the best iced tea i've ever had! i chatted with the people around me about poetry and traveling and headed home. it was especially cold today although with the sun out, i didn't think it would be, so i left my hat and gloves at home. big mistake. i was so cold that my ears started to burn. sigh. and it's almost april.

Places I've Eaten in Toronto

2008-03-09T20:32:00.011-04:00

in no particular order....

Urban

Boba

Epicure

Steak

Jack Astor's

Baton Rouge

Swiss Chalet

Crush Wine Bar

Red Tomato

Montana

Peter Pan

Red Tea Box

Saigon Sisters

Bierbistro

Joe Maggiano's

Hemingway's

Cafe Nervosa

Tony Balloni's
Jamie Kennedy on Church Street

Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner

Toba

Le Petit Dejuner

Pizza Rustica

Gandhi Roti

Ci Vediamo

Six Steps

Cora's

Cafe Crepe

Sushi Extra

Hot House Cafe

Thai Basil

Thai Princess

Chippy's

Jump

Quesada

Bier Market

Jules

Old Spaghetti Factory

Spring Rolls

Bonjour Brioche

Toast

Sassafraz

The Drake Hotel

The Keg

Sashimi House

Craft Burger

Oliver and Bonancini

Terroni - Adelaide
Terroni - Queen West

Teriyaki

Strada

Rosewater Supper Club

Annona

Milestone's

Brassaii

Irish Embassy

Boom Breakfast Co.

The Foggy Dew

Milagro

Cantine

The Rosedale Diner

Pizziolo
Easy Restaurant
The Real Jerk
Kalendar
Tomi-Kro
Citizen
Shanghai Cowgirl
Mitzi's Cafe
Flo's Diner
Terroni Queen
Poor John's Cafe

and my favorites so far?

Terroni

Rosewater Supper Club

Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner

Kalendar

Yes, Virginia...It's Still Snowing

2008-03-09T19:59:00.003-04:00

it's March 8 and still snowing. i'm trying to make the best of it, but i think the "Seasonal Mood Disorder" is kicking in, therefore, i decided to spend my weekend eating at a few of the restaurants on my list and get a nice massage while i was at it. it started snowing on friday afternoon around 2pm and it didn't stop until saturday night around midnight. we got 30 cm of snow in two waves and it was close to putting us over the all time snow record for one winter from 1938-9 of 207.4 cm. ottawa has gotten 410 cm - wow! on friday, i ate at milagro on john street (http://www.milagrorestaurant.com/). it was my first foray into mexican food in canada and it was actually quite good, although one of the other texans here hated it. maybe i was just really craving it, i dunno. i had enchiladas and rice with plantains. their salsa and chips were fabulous - the salsa was very citrusy and fresh. afterwards, i went to see "be kind, rewind". i fell asleep, of course, and was ready to leave early but because the theatres here are so quiet, i felt i couldn't. when i left the theatre around 11:30pm, it was still snowing very hard and yet people were still queued up outside the clubs in their halter dresses, heels, nary a coat to be found and standing in 12" of snow. they must really need to get their dance on!

when i woke up saturday morning, it was still snowing - phase 2 apparently of the storm. i decided to snuggle up and stay in for a while - i had breakfast, watched TV, and napped. around 1pm, i headed out and decided to go to queen street east to see a different part of the city in the snow. i thought i'd head to riverdale park. when i got to queen street, it was a mess. snow everywhere and cars sliding around. the snow ploughs were coming down so the streetcars were slow. the ploughs are cool! if i lived here and could have any job i wanted, i'd totally be either a streetcar driver or a snow plough driver. when there are cars blocking their path, the ploughs lift up one of their "arms" and leave the piles of snow around that car basically blocking it in - it's great fun! i got off at broadview and walked east looking for the park. i never found it and because i didn't have my map, never realized that it's actually on the danforth and not queen east. i passed by a chocolate shop i'd seen on breakfast television called "ambiance chocolat" (http://www.ambiancechocolat.ca/). i went in and picked up some truffles - my favorite was the milk chocolate caramle with fleur de sel - and some valrhona hot chocolate. yummy on a snowy day. the truffles were only $0.85 each - cheap by toronto standards. as i was standing in the shop, 3 streetcars passed in a row so i knew i was in trouble and wasn't going to be able to catch one back. sure enough, i didn't see one so i walked around the Leslieville neighborhood for a bit. i passed moss park and there were several people out, even in the blowing snow. many of them were playing frisbee with their dogs who were clearly loving the snow, romping and rolling around. after 20 minutes of waiting, i finally caught a streetcar back down king street. everything looked like it was wearing a little white hat! i was headed to my massage appointment at campden spa (http://www.camdenspa.com/) and just thought i'd get there a little early. i got there at 3:30pm for a 4pm appointment, had some green tea and warmed up. they took me at 3:45pm - which is why i love showing up early! - and had a great 90 minute massage. i've been taking pilates and really feel stronger from it. i think it's something i'd like to stick with. after my massage, i thought i'd grab some dinner before i went home so i waited for the king streetcar. it took a while because the tracks were covered in snow and the streetcars were moving very slowly. one finally came and i headed to "the foggy dew" at king west and niagara street (http://www.thefoggydew.ca/). i picked a room with a tv and no one in it so i could eat, but i think i got really bad service because there was no one else in with me. i had the chicken pot pie, which was fierce!, and a pint. it started snowing even harder and the winds were gusting up to 60 clicks. when i was done, it took a while to catch the streetcar back home. there was a crazy guy chatting everyone up - he said he was from north bay and it was like he'd never met a stranger. no matter who or what, he was shaking everyone's hand and asking them what they did. people were staring at him like he was nuts - no one is that friendly in the big city, after all! i watched some "arrested development", changed my clocks forward and called it a night.

sunday morning was gloriously beautiful!! the sun was shining brightly, the skies were bright blue and everything was covered in thick, white snow. i decided to try a new brunch place and a new part of T.O. I'd not been to - College Street. I caught the streetcar up spadina and then west on college, and went to boom breakfast company (http://www.boombreakfast.com/). i got a spot at the bar right away. it was a nice place with good service. i ordered the "tuscan eggs" and they were delish!! i had my standard english breakfast tea and was off! i decided to walk down college street and had a great time. the snow, though, was so white and bright, that, along with the sun, almost blinded me. i don't carry sunglasses because i haven't needed them in 5 months, but i definitely could have used them today. my first stop was a home store called "ziggy's on college" - very cute things. i bought a card and some funny party cups with noses on them. then, i went into a used dvd store. they were having a "this winter sucks 30% off all DVD's" sale, so i went in and got 3 DVD's - knocked up, broadcast news and an out of print version of "a clockwork orange". total impulse buys - it must have been the nice weather. then, i stopped in a used bookstore called "she said boom" (http://www.shesaidboom.ca/) and got 5 books. it's one of the things i love most about toronto - because it's a walking city with great weather, you can just walk through neighborhoods you've never been to before and find these little gems of a store that would be "destination points" in any other city. i love happening upon random stores and finding fun things.

i finally headed home and decided to build a snowman with the thick snow on my balcony. it wasn't too bad, but the snow wasn't really packing snow so i had to add some water to make the balls. i used chocolate chips for the eyes and broken matchsticks for the nose and arms. my first and only toronto snowman!

Day 1:

Day 3:

Random Thoughts and Soap...I Mean Such

2007-08-19T20:05:00.001-04:00

didn't do much this weekend in preparation for what will likely be a busy visit from my parents next weekend. i drove for about 40 minutes to find a famous bread bakery and while it was good, it wasn't worth 40 minutes of $4.40/gallon gas. i recently started watching prime suspect - a british detective series with helen mirren that first showed in the states on pbs as part of masterpiece theatre in the 90's. it's fantastic and i've quickly become addicted. i found the best video store i've ever seen - they arrange their videos by director in addition to country and genre, so if you're in the mood for a robert altman film, you just go to that section and choose from there. they claim to have over 52,000 titles, but what i love is that their series rentals (i.e. television shows) are altogether, meaning that you get all of season one at once, rather than season one, disc 1, etc. best part is it's only $3.50 per rental which is dirt cheap for T.O. it's called queen video on queen street west - definitely a must see place for any movie buff. i also rented the new roberto bernini called "the tiger in the snow" and an indie called "flannel pajamas".

on to my soapbox for the day...
i've been surprised at how quickly i've adjusted to the culture here and how i subsequently feel very protective of the people and the country. at least once a day, i'm surprised at the kindness and generosity of torontonians; in turn, it makes me realize how unkind and judgemental americans can be, yours truly included. over the weekend, a man in his mid-30's was killed here by 4 panhandlers. as he walked by, they asked him for money and when he said no, they attacked him and killed him. for a few fucking bucks. he was a banker for one of the large canadian banks and was engaged to be married. and, wait for it.....the 4 panhandlers were american. it makes me absolutely sick and it should make you sick too. does anyone realize what a violent society we live in? fear that something could happen any minute is plaguing our once great nation. when i first arrived, i found it strange when one of my co-workers asked me whether i was afraid to go outside in texas. i'm sure the look on my face gave away my frustration at that question. now i realize what she meant and have a different perspective as an "outsider" looking back/in. of course, while canada is not a violent society, they are not saints either - there is violence everywhere and i realize that. the difference is that in the states, the first 28 minutes of the news is about that day's random acts of violence and here, they wrap them up in the first 2. i can tell that each day i live in such a tolerant culture, i become more tolerant myself. and that's a good thing. i am NEVER afraid to walk in the city alone and while this may be a false sense of security, i am not fearful because i know that the probability that i'll be the victim of a random act of violence here is slim to none. it's more likely that someone would help me than hurt me. maybe i'm living in pleasantville, but i know this - the litigiousness, selfishness, greed, violence, health care systems, political processes - are all denigrading our once great society and it's up to each one of us to stand up and make a difference.

wishing you all a safe week (keep away Dean, you bastard!),
carm

More Fun Stuff! Bet You Can't Wait, Can You?

2007-08-14T21:03:00.002-04:00

hi y'all.

i have seen so many license (spelled "licence" here) plates from the states and i love it. i get all giddy inside and give them the "nod" like we're old bro's or something. i've seen: michigan, new york, vermont, rhode island, virginia, florida, california, new jersey, pennsylvania, TEXAS (woo-hoo...okay, just mine), illinois, missouri and ohio. one day, there were 3 american cars in a row: michigan, texas and virginia! what fun! i wonder if their speedometers are also difficult to read since ours are in MPH instead of KPH? it's interesting not really knowing exactly how fast you're going - i know that 90 KPH is somewhere around 55 MPH but instead, i choose to just go with the flow. although, i do know an american who got a ticket because the speed sign said 60 (they don't actually say MPH or KPH here...it's just a number - i say technically you could argue that since it could be either) and she was going 60 MPH in her car which is actually about 100 KPH. the judge didn't let her off either. such hate! i've decided to see how long i can keep my texas plates. they've become a conversation piece - people a) can't believe you'd ever move to canada from the us and b) can't believe you'd drive all that way. every person who's commented on my plates ask me if i like canada - they are very interested in what we think of their country. oh, i've seen the majority of license plates from the provinces, too: newfoundland and labrador, nova scotia, quebec, ontario (obviously), manitoba, saskatchewan, alberta and british columbia. the only ones i haven't seen are prince edward island or any of the northern territories (like nunavut - pronounced "none of it" or yellowknife). i personally think alberta's are the prettiest.

my first best buy experience here was exactly like the states - slow. geez - even in canada it takes forever to return something (no comments, d) even though there were 974 employees standing around doing nothing.

the high today was 83 and a cool front is coming through so the high this saturday is going to be 69! nice!

i met a famous canadian over the weekend. what's funny to me is how accessible things are in T.O. i guess it's equivalent to being in new york city in the states, but everything seems to happen right in my backyard. i've seen claire danes at muchmusic right around the corner from my house, david beckham and tara reid were at a club 4 blocks from me and rachel mcadams was evidently seen riding her bike on a street 2 blocks over. cool!

i met the leader of one of their 3 main political parties, jack layton of the new democratic party. he would run for prime minister if they were to call an election since their elections aren't at specific times. he was at "taste of the danforth" and the canadians we were with were like "go take your picture with him - he's famous! so, of course, i did. he's the equivalent to obama or hillary in the us. and lemme tell ya, he kissed many a baby that night.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Layton) the elections here aren't like ours - theirs here is like the british system so you don't necessarily vote for a person, you vote for a party here and whomever is the leader of that party becomes the prime minister. it's not my best photo, but you get the picture (ha!)

i found out today that the retirement age in canada is 69. ew. moral of the story - have a baby in canada to get a year off, then move to the us and retire at 55.

ooh, i found another great restaurant! boy, research sure pays off in a city as dense with places to eat as T.O. it's called epicure cafe on queen street west (my favorite street). everytime i eat out i get so angry about how slow the service is. then, when i get my food, i realize that it takes time because everything is prepared freshly here. you'll see workers at the fast food place in the mall cutting up fresh fruit and sandwiches being made freshly right in front of you. the food that is served in restaurants never seems to have come from a bag and i can tell it's fresher because my hands don't swell up here from the salt & preservatives like it used to when i'd eat out at home. so, i guess a trade off for speedy service and always being on the go at home is slow service but very fresh and yummy food. (http://www.theepicure.ca/home.html) they play a french jazz radio station inside so it's cozy, yummy and one of my favorite new places. plus, they give you a lot of coke - at most places, i'm basically parched after eating. how do these people not drink when they eat?

signing off with hugs,
carm

Weird Factoids of the Week

2007-08-13T21:46:00.001-04:00

one more post today - here are some interesting and weird facts that i, and probably you, didn't know.

it would take 1,200,000 mosquitoes (or "nippers", as newfoundlanders call them!), each sucking once, to completely drain the average human of blood. (discoverymagazine.com)
if the sensory nerve to a female mosquito's abdomen is cut, she will keep sucking until she explodes. ewww! (science.howstuffworks.com)
people named Paul have appeared on more no. 1 singles in the UK (57) than people with any other name. John is second (54), followed by David (53) and Brian (43). (news.bbc.co.uk)
the odds of successfully quitting smoking for at least six months are about 2.5 times higher for spontaneous, umplanned attempts than for planned ones. (British medical journal)
the air filling carnegie hall weighs about 31,750 kilograms (70,000 pounds)
barn owls are about twice as proficient at tracking sounds that move horizontally than those that move vertically. (nature.com)
here's a good one - the same ingredient that flavours salt-and-vinegar chips can be used to waterproof concrete. wow.
the three TV bosses that most remind workers of their real-life bosses are: 1. Sam Malone from Cheers (fun), 2. Charlie from Charlie's Angels (absentee) and 3. Judge Judy (no nonsense). others mentioned in the top 10: Simon Cowell (judgmental), Miranda Bailey from Grey's (tough but fair) and disturbingly, The Simpsons' Mr. Burns (sinister). (careerbuilder.com)
as a baby name, August ranked 618th in popularity last year. April was 319th. May hasn't been in the top 1,000 since the 1950's and June fell out in the 1990's.
here's one for my left leaning friends - not counting the august break that he embarked on last thursday, President George W. Bush has taken 418 vacation days. The late Ronald Reagan holds the record for the most vacation time taken by a US president: 436 days. (the Houston Chronicle)
worker performance declines about 1% for each degree that an office's temperature varies (hotter or cooler) from 22C (or about 74F).
it a man's tie is too tight, his vision gets worse.
today is International Left-Handers Day. the occasion is intended to raise awareness of "the challenges of living in a right-handed world". Their slogan? "Celebrate your right to be left-handed". dedicated to jennifer and jilly bean.
lastly, yesterday was psychic sunday. but you probably already knew that. ha!

It's All About the Food

2007-08-12T21:09:00.002-04:00

there are so many different cultures here, hence, many fantastic (and new to me) cuisines. they have tunisian restaurants, ethiopian restaurants, inuit restaurants and everything in between.

caribana, a two-week cultural explosion of caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts, is in its 40th year it has become a major international event. apparently, it's the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America (http://www.caribanafestival.com/). the city has been packed with people going to caribana and i've heard that over 1 million people attended this year. it was great for me, not only to see the multiple cultures it represented, but to try some fantastic foods! i ate jerk chicken for the first time - it was so spicy that my lips almost burnt off - plantains with sweet cheese and grilled, spiced corn on the cob. again, it was quite spicy and i almost ripped the fire extinguisher from the wall next to me and asked the hot fireman to help put out my fire. the corn ended up being my favorite of all the foods as evidenced by the picture below. as you can see, this is definitely not a date food!

i made a trip to wal-mart recently, due to the sad absence of target in canada. at home, i wasn't the biggest chip eater - my thing is definitely sweets, as you all know - but i was shocked at the sheer number of different chip types on the chip aisle here. seriously, i have never seen anything like it. i'm told by people in the know that it's a "midwest thing" (ok, i guess toronto is sort of midwest) and that evidently, this part of north america consumes the largest amount of chips anywhere. i believe it. this is just a sampling of the chip flavors i've seen:
- ketchup
- dill pickle
- tandoori
- sweet chili heat
- jalapeno cheddar
- chili cheese lime
- zesty cheddar
and those are just the doritos brands that i could remember. it's very interesting - i tried the tandoori chips and true to their name, they are very spicy. i can only imagine the quantity of chemicals i'm ingesting from eating these fancy chips.

i found another great brunch place. when i first got here, i didn't think brunch was such a big thing in T.O. boy, was i wrong! they are very big into brunch here and if you don't get to the good places early, the queues are very long. i went french this week and tried le petit dejeuner for brunch (http://www.petitdejeuner.ca/. the owner is belgian but grew up in france. lemme tell ya - the belgian waffles are authentic and to die for! in the spirit of trying more than one thing when i find new places, i also had the croque monsieur which was also fantabulous. for dinner, i ate at jules, a french restaurant near my house - V. good nutella crepes (see, i do have a sweet tooth). the steak frites were really good here, too. (http://www.yummybaguette.com/magasin.php-id=159.htm)

rounding out my food edition was a trip to the "taste of the danforth" (http://www.tasteofthedanforth.com/6tastlist.html). there is an area in T.O. called greektown, although rumor has it that no greeks actually live there anymore as they have been ousted by the urban professional yuppies. the festival is basically a huge street party - the city closes the streets and hundreds of vendors come out selling all kinds of greek foods (and others too - i actually saw someone selling churros and it felt like home for just a split second). we made our way down the danforth eating things on sticks and had a ball. i tried mousaka, baklava (heavenly!), souvlaki, spinach pie and loukemades. they also have a hot sauce store with over 200 kinds of hot sauces - i have a friend in houston who would love the place, as they encourage sampling so you can get your heat on (and not a la glenn frey)! oddly, they also sold "mad cow jerky" there - i didn't think that was too funny.

as the evening went on, people would spontaneously break out in greek song and start dancing, locking arms and spinning around in circles just like on "my big fat greek wedding". we held court at the beer garden listening to the greek bands that were playing and finally made our way home after eating and drinking for 5 hours, with proof of our attendance down the fronts of our shirts.

overall, i am feeling well. some days, i wish i could snap my fingers and be in houston. sadly, since i can't seem to find my ruby slippers, i'll have to settle for visitors coming here for now. i'll be home in october and am thoroughly looking forward to it and seeing all of you.

much love to you all,
carm

new word of the week = rye. this is what canadians call whiskey or jack daniels. they'll order a "rye & diet" at the bar.

Niagara Region and Its Glory

2007-07-23T21:48:00.002-04:00

hi everyone, it's sunday, august 12 and it's been a while since i've written. i'm happy to say it's because i've been out and about (or oot and aboot) enjoying the fabulous weather and festivals that abound. torontonians definitely enjoy their summers while warning me on a daily basis that it's because of their severe winters. i'm still skeptical, what with global warming and all, but we shall see soon enough. i've done some cool things in the last few weeks so hopefully you'll read on.

as some of you know, i've become somewhat of a wine lover in the past year or so. i joined a cool wine club when i moved here and one of their activities is a wine tour to the niagara wine region. it was a glorious july day and the wineries were beautiful. we got some special treatment at each winery with either the president or winemaker touring us! we got to touch the grapes and even eat them straight from the vine - they were bitter...not like the ones at central market! although my buying habits have slowed since moving to T.O., i still ended up having bought the most number of bottles for the day at 8! we went to the vineland estates winery (http://www.vineland.com/), henry of pelham (http://www.henryofpelham.com/), and flat rock cellars, my personal favorite (http://www.flatrockcellars.com/). flat rock's vineyards look out over lake ontario and in the distance, you can faintly see downtown T.O....it's just gorgeous.

i met a very nice couple from johannesburg, south africa on the tour. they have taken me under their wing and even though we speak the same language, it's quite humorous when one of us says a word that the other has no idea what it means and we just stare and laugh! it has been just amazing listening to them talk about the changes their country has undergone in the last 10 years and i've enjoyed every minute of it.

one of the necessary "to do's" in T.O. is making a visit to the st. lawrence market. it is one of the largest food markets in the world and on saturdays, is bustling with people buying everything from pastries, fruits, coffees/teas to $5 filet mignon wrapped in bacon. yum! i went with the couple from the wine tour and we had breakfast at carousel bakery (http://www.carouselbakery.com/) where we had their famous breakfast sandwiches with peameal bacon (basically back bacon - i don't care for it very much but the canadians love it - it's on every menu i've seen in one form or another).

david beckham was in town recently playing the Toronto FC. the city pretty much went into pandemonium mode. i heard rumours of him being seen at roots (a canadian clothing store) and the whole street being shut down to accommodate.

i've finally found my version of "warren's" in T.O. called crush wine bar. it's within stumbling distance of my house so i can imbibe in their glorious wines all i want. so nice not to have to worry about how to get home. (http://www.crushwinebar.com/) there are a few other regulars i've seen in there and they seem to be charmed by my alleged accent. i keep reminding everyone that THEY have the accent. even weirder - the main bartender's name is my middle name and it's not a common name. it was meant to be. here are a couple of wine suggestions that i tried recently and that were delish:

2005 Dolcetto Langhe "Il Masante", Poderi Aldo Conterno
1999 Rioja Reserva "Senorio de P. Pecina", Bodegas Hnos Pecina

a few friends from texas have come up recently which i absolutely love! not only because it's so great to see them, but it helps you stay connected to your real home. and, even better is that i get to share all of my cool finds with them. it's funny when i get asked for directions on the street - i must have assimilated quite well because i get asked frequently for directions. so for all of you who haven't come up yet, it's just a short plane ride away (well, it's kinda long on continental) and my sofa can be your home away from home. we can eat, drink and be merry!

P.S.

2007-07-15T22:40:00.001-04:00

i almost forgot - i'm trying to taste as many canadian foods as i can while i'm here, not only in restaurants, but at the grocery store as well. here's what i've tried thus far:

Whippets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whippet_cookie

Smarties (like M&M's in the US...not like the sugary candy we're used to): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarties_(NestlÃ©)

Ketchup chips - yes, chips flavored like Ketchup. http://www.taquitos.net/snacks.php?snack_code=369

The Verdict? yes on the whippets and smarties; negative on the ketchup chips.

I (heart) Canada

2007-07-15T21:37:00.004-04:00

hi everybody! so much to tell but rather than bore you with the gory details, i'll try to maintain some brevity going forward. i've never been accused of being long winded (at least i don't think so) but i noticed my blogs were becoming mini-james michener novels.

i've been doing so much in toronto that people are telling me that i'm going to run out of things to do by christmas if i don't slow it down. i think you just take for granted what you already know and vice versa with what you don't. this city offers so much and i want to see as much as i can that i seem to be on a full out sprint the majority of the time. i've settled into a routine for the most part as far as my work schedule is concerned. i've been very pleased at how many days i'm able to take mass transit to work - i am really enjoying taking the subway and have increased my reading time and novel completion number significantly (speaking of, i just finished a thousand splended suns by hosseni - it is one of the best novels i've ever read - go buy it today.). i've found that i am rarely driving in toronto and could easily make it here without a car. this is a good thing, primarily because i'm paying $4.40 per gallon in toronto. i will never, ever complain about $3/gallon gas again.

so, what have i done? well, i went to a blue jays game which was fun - it was weird, though, to not hear anyone sing the star spangled banner, but hear everyone singing the canadian anthem. check out the mean farmer sunburn, i got from sitting in the nosebleed section, too (see photo). who'd have known that the sun is actually more fierce here than in houston? i'm sure that milkshake will bring all the boys from the yard.

i went to the toronto outdoor art festival which was fantastic! i bought a piece of art from an artist from northern ontario that i really love. there was some really amazing stuff. http://www.torontooutdoorart.org/ . the taste of thailand festival was this weekend and it was cool. i watched some thai dancing, thai massage and had some fantastic thai food. (http://www.tasteofthailand.ca/) (what a serious dork! that serious dork got suckered into buying one of those parasols too....apparently, $1 from the sale of every one goes to charities in thailand so of course i had to model it. yeah right.)

i went to the distillery district. http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com/ during the 1800's, this area was the largest distillery in the british empire. the city of toronto has now turned the actual distillery into an area filled with small shops, restaurants and art galleries while leaving the majority of the distillery in tact. it has cobblestone roads throughout and has maintained it's industrial look. one of the best choclatiers in toronto is in the distillery district and being a professional sweet eater, it was really, really good. they use a lot of venezuelan chocolate - everything had a very pure chocolate taste. http://www.somachocolate.com/

i mentioned in a previous blog that i planned to attend the fringe theatre festival and after much haranguing with the tickets, i actually made it to a play at the gladstone hotel. it was WAY, WAY cool. the play took place throughout the hotel rather than with the audience just sitting in one place. there were 4 plays happening at once and the characters would interchange with the other plays going on. in other words, even though we were seeing one play, the actors were really going between plays. talk about timing! it was something i'd never seen before...they call it "convergence theatre" and i thought it was genius. (http://www.fringetoronto.com/ and http://torontoist.com/2007/07/fringeist_check.php - review of "The Gladstone Variations".

i've seen a couple of film shoots since i've been here. i wish i knew what movies they're for so i can be on the lookout for the scenes. hairspray was filmed here, along with cinderella man, chicago, and good will hunting. they call it "hollywood north" and now i know why. the white trailer business must be booming here.

i've finally found some good places to eat...i knew they were here, but just had to find them. my favorite place so far is called Toba and it's delicious! (http://www.toba.ca/) i'm also loving the crepes at cafe crepe. i think i talked about this place in a previous posting, but if not, they have the best nutella crepes EVER! pizza rustica has great panini, too. (http://www.pizzarustica.ca/)
the weather continues to be very nice - today, the high was 74 with 58% humidity and sunny skies. these people just don't know what they've got as far as weather is concerned.

lastly, you might know that the final installment of a little book that goes by the name "harry potter" comes out this week. i thought people were gonna lose their shit over this book here. if only i had tried harder in school and been clever enough to come up with the idea of "hogwarts"...who could have guessed?!

At Chapters in the Eaton Centre:

hope everyone's well,
carm

Canada Day, Ikea, Movies & TV

2007-07-02T00:16:00.001-04:00

today is Canada Day. everyone is wearing their red and white (no blue here) and there are many gatherings and goings on around town. i get the buffalo, new york news and they're, of course, getting ready for july 4th. so i hear "celebrate independence day" and "celebrate canada day" the next second and i'm experiencing a bit of vertigo because of it. where am i?

i went to the movies for the first time since i've been here. i'm a big movie buff so i was excited to see how they do it here. guess how much a movie is in toronto? $11.95!!! yes, that's right...eleven dollars and ninety-five cents. i almost fell over.! i saw "knocked up" which is hilarious! and, they make several references to canada in the movie so it was fun to be with the canadians watching it. they're so polite about it...they just quietly giggle. it was literally the quietest movie i've been to in years....oh, how i love it here!

i made a second trip to ikea to pick up a couple of things (they have 4 here, btw, versus 1 in houston). when i was checking out, i noticed a sign that said all credit cards have to be signed on the back. i personally don't sign the backs of my cards in hopes that the person checking me out will actually ask to see ID in the event of theft. evidently, that same logic does not hold true in canada. it was saturday and the ikea sale. needless to say, it was packed. i think i was actually almost run over by the vw car with the stacks of luggage on top. but i digress. the cashier checked me out and after he had already swiped my card and after i had signed the receipt and start walking away, he literally starts yelling at me that they can't accept my payment since my card isn't signed. he really got spun up about it as if i was some kind of escaped convict trying to steal a spatula and dishtowel. i pulled out my temporary drivers license with my name on it along with 2 other credit cards with my name on it that are signed and tried to explain to him that in the States, we have theft and so don't sign the cards. it didn't matter. the man actually pulled out his manual to show me that Visa/Mastercard don't allow purchases with cards that aren't signed. there were literally 20 people in line, all glaring at the stupid american. the manager, of course, was eventually called over, who refunded every item i bought and RERUNG everything using a different card. new experiences every day.

last thing - TV. canadian television does not censor like the US does. really, no other country censors like we do, and one could argue that censorship actually incites people to crave what they can't have. well, i'll argue that anyway. in canada, they don't bleep out the curse words on the sopranos, nor do they grey out nudity, etc., etc. it's full on here. interesting. just so you know.

New Word of the Day: Humidex http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/Meteo/Documentation/Humidex_e.html

Coming this week - the Toronto Fringe Festival (http://www.fringetoronto.com/)

New Restaurant Tried = Cafe Crepe (Nutella crepes...yummmm!)

The Adventures Continue...

2007-07-01T23:23:00.000-04:00

hi everybody! so much to catch up on since i wrote last. i've been settling in to my new home, neighborhood and most importantly, job very nicely. my car and personal effects finally arrived (yay for candles!) in toronto on friday so i'm finally starting to feel like i'll actually be here for a while rather than feeling like i'm in on an extended vacation. i'm living in the entertainment district (as i mentioned before) and here's where i'm living while i'm here so you can check out the area (http://www.tridel.com/element/). i also cleared all of my items through canadian customs with no problems. when i walked up to the counter, the man said "where are you coming from with that accent?" and i said "accent? what accent?" i never thought i had much of one, but i evidently stick out like a sore thumb here!

the newness of being here has worn off just a bit. there really aren't many things familiar here so it's a constant state of "not knowing what's where". they just opened a Forever 21 in Toronto and for those of you guys who don't know what that is, they knock off current runway looks in a very inexpensive way (it's cheap, in other words!). it was bustling and i picked up a couple of cute things. the toronto transit commission (http://www.ttc.ca/) was demo'ing their "next generation" streetcars but i must say that they look exactly like the light rail trains already in use in houston, so one up for the bayou city! on my way back from shopping, i stopped to listen to some jazz being played near city hall. one of the 2 jazz festivals that happen in toronto is going on this week so i picked up a hot dog from a street vendor (they're actually REALLY good and fresh here) along with a fresh squeezed lemonade and listened to some jazz. it was fantastic.(http://www.torontojazz.com/Pages/Toronto_Downtown_Jazz_Festival_pgM29.asp)

i haven't eaten out here nearly as much as i did in houston, primarily because i don't know what's good and what isn't. there are so many places to choose from here that it's difficult to narrow down. somewhere that looks like a hole in the wall could be the best place in toronto! not to mention, it's very expensive to eat out here because of all the taxes that are added onto everything. after a little research, i found a few local places, though, and headed out. i was in the mood for roti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti) which i fell in love with the last time i was here. there is such a large indian population here (next largest outside of india) that there is something with indian flavoring on almost every menu you see. i ate at gandhi roti which was really, really good. i got the chicken jalfoorezi and when they asked me if i wanted mine mild, medium or spicy, i opted for the medium, thinking that my texas upbringing had prepared me for all things spicy. UH UH!! not here. my mouth was on fire in about 2 seconds, but i pressed on due to the major hunger pangs that were poking my insides and took the rest to go. gandhi is a definite must when you're in town. (http://chriswalsh.vox.com/library/post/gandhi-cuisine-the-best-roti-in-toronto.html) on my way back home, i heard hooting and hollering coming up behind me. a few cyclists passed me, and then some more, and more, and when i turned around, there were hundreds of people on bicycles riding down queen street! i don't mean cyclists like lance armstrong...i mean just regular guys and girls on their schwinn's riding through the streets. they were promoting the bicycle film festival coming up later this year. one guy was on a 2 story bike that was made up of about 6 bikes on top of one another. when a red light came up, he had to lean against a light pole so as not to fall on the pavement. it was a really cool sight. (http://www.bicyclefilmfestival.com/).

one other cool place i visited was pages bookstore. it's a small, locally owned bookstore which are sadly, slowly dying out, but it's an amazing store on queen street and you should definitely pay it a visit and SUPPORT the store when you're in toronto. (http://pagesbooks.ca/)

good news for those of you spending nights worrying about this - i finally found a place to get my nails done. if you know me, you know this is a vital part of my beauty regimen and i've gone without since before i left houston. the place i found was modeled after the beauty bars that sprouted up in new york in the last few years and it's a really neat concept called polish beauty bar. (http://www.polishbeautybar.com/) oddly (!), they immediately asked me "where are you from" and get this - when i said texas, the store manager asked what part...when i said houston, she said "my sister lives in houston, well, right outside houston in sugar land...she moved from calgary to houston 3 years ago"....can you just believe it?! it's a tiny, tiny world out there. i lunched at the only repeat place i've been to in toronto and i think is my favorite little lunch spot i've ever been to. it's called the red tea box and it's like taking a trip to the mad hatter's house. it's fantastic and if you come to toronto and hit no other places, you HAVE to eat here. it's amazing. they have the best iced tea on the planet and the fondant pastries are TO DIE FOR! (http://www.torontolife.com/guide/food/coffee-tea/the-red-tea-box/). i visited the clint roenisch gallery which i believe is one of the more eclectic galleries in toronto on west queen west. (http://www.clintroenisch.com/). way cool.

overall, having a fabulous time here. the highs are still in the low 70's and i don't know if i'll ever be able to live on the face of the sun (HOUSTON!) again.

BBQ or Grill?

2007-06-25T18:55:00.001-04:00

There seems to be an ongoing debate here about the difference between a Barbeque and a Grill. Well, it may not be an ongoing debate in Canada, but it's an ongoing debate in my mind. My company's annual "summer BBQ" was the first Friday I was here, so I got really excited that I was going to get to eat a sliced beef sandwich with sauce. I was quickly corrected. Evidently, a "BBQ" in Canada is the actual apparatus used to cook the hamburgers and hot dogs, not the actual food type. I was crushed when I realized that I was just getting a grilled hamburger and not a real BBQ sandwich. When we cook out in Texas, we do it on the "grill" (and not the gold kind in your mouth) and invite people over to the BBQ...am I right?! Oh, and instead of chips and cookies like we'd have in Texas, they served the burgers with salad and fruit. (See previous post on sweets.)

New Word Learned: "Guk" = spicy mayonnaise.

New Restaurant - Lick's "BBQ"

Ah, the weekend - Part Deux

2007-06-25T18:39:00.000-04:00

Sunday, Sunday!

I was so exhausted from my first week that I actually slept until 10:45am, which, even though I need my sleep, is almost a record for me. I don't think I've yet mentioned the fun that is Toronto traffic. While I know I only had a 3 minute commute in Houston, the traffic here is beyond anything I've ever seen. Imagine this - a busy, crowded intersection on a 4 lane road with about 200 pedestrians and no left turn signals. Car in the left lane tries to turn left but has to wait until the green light turns red due to the lack of turn signals. Car in the right lane tries to turn right but has to wait until the green light turns red due to the pedestrians. So 2 cars get through per light. It's basically gridlock. To loop you back, my exhaustion was because I'm sitting in 2+ hours of traffic a day to go 25 miles total!! Anywho, on to the good stuff...

It was Pride Week in Toronto (http://www.pridetoronto.com/). For those of you not in the know (like me), Toronto hosts the 2nd largest Gay Pride Festival in the world; over one million people attended this year's festivities. I decided before I came that I'm going to go to anything and everything I can and take it all in. So off I went. There is a Whole Foods in Yorkville (the shi-shi area of Toronto) and I had previously tried to get there in my car, but because of the parking situation, I abandoned trip. I planned my route to Whole Foods where I would go up Yonge Street to catch some of the parade. It was really cool - the streets were closed off and all of the major stores were giving out rainbow flags. It was the most calm, organized parade I've ever seen - no one was out of control or acting crazy. There were lots of cool, hip people out along with families, old people, and the like. The parade started with a bang of colored confetti and down came the floats! I'll post some pictures soon. Oh, and I was on TV, too! The local TV station personality was interviewing people waiting for the parade and I happened to be standing right behind them. The camera was literally facing me head on and later that night, I was on CityTV news at 11. At the Pride Parade. Priceless.

Whole Foods was great, but still different from the ones at home. Everything's just a little bit different here, but it still felt like home. It cost me a chunk of change just like home, too.

Took the Subway home with my groceries and smiled at the fantastic weekend I had.

And so ended weekend #1 in Toronto.

Ah, the weekend - Part Un

2007-06-24T21:02:00.002-04:00

I was so excited to get out and about on Saturday that I woke up after only 6 hours of sleep, which for me, is a very bad thing. As many of my friends and colleagues know, I require a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per night or I'm not my usual cheerful self and can turn into a bit of an ogre (and not the cute Shrek variety). I had planned to ride the ferry to the Toronto Islands, but it was very windy last week, not to mention 60 degrees (15 degrees Celsius) outside.

So I decided to look for Plan B. It was a glorious day and I ran across free walks hosted by the Toronto Historical Society. I settled on a tour of an area of Toronto known as Cabbagetown (http://www.cabbagetownpa.ca/). They call it Cabbagetown because of the number of Irish immigrants who fled to the area during the potato famine in the mid-1800's. They, of course, wanted to make sure their families didn't go hungry as they had in Ireland so they planted plenty of crops in their front yards, much of it cabbage - et voila! Cabbagetown was born. The homes are semi-detached and the owners would live on one side and rent out the other side for income, usually to family since they knew where to find them. :) The architecture is mostly Victorian in period and gothic renaissance and bay & gable in style. There was a hotel built on the main street that was 3 stories; the rich people who lived in Toronto used to go to Cabbagetown for the weekend to "get away from the city" and only the richest of the rich were allowed on the 3rd story balcony so they would be able to see the unobstructed view of downtown Toronto!

We ended our walk at the Necropolis - Toronto's 2nd oldest cemetery and the only non-deonimational cemetery until the early 1900's (http://www.mountpleasantgroupofcemeteries.ca/our_cemeteries/toronto_necropolis.asp). All of the other cemeteries in Toronto were either Catholic or Presbyterian so you better have been a good paying parishioner when you died, or you would end up at the Necropolis!. It's a beautiful cemetery in a very quiet party of the city and next to the Don River. There's quite a bit of the High Victorian Gothic style and such famous Canadians as Toronto's first mayor, William Lyon MacKenzie are buried there.

After the walk ended, I went into a little pastry shop to grab a baguette and only later found out that it's evidently one of the best in Toronto. It's called Daniel et Daniel and if/when you go, you have to get a Hedgehog Rum Ball - yummy (http://www.danieletdaniel.ca/)! One thing I have found here is that there are not the plethora of sweets like we have in the US. And, the sweets they do have aren't as sweet as ours at home. I actually think my sweet tooth has lessened from lack of choices if you can believe that. There definitely isn't a Dessert Gallery here.

I had walked over to the "walking tour" which turned out to be a leisurely (not) 2.5 mile walk . i decided to try taking the streetcar on my way home, so I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, I realized I was on the wrong corner of the street and, after I got on I realized it was going AWAY from downtown! Lost again. Sigh. Thankfully, Canadians are nice to a fault and the driver helped me get to the right stop AND didn't make me pay again! While we were driving home, there was an Indian wedding outside of the King Edward (for those of you who went to the Platinum Awards) and get this - there were these drummers and a bunch of men dressed in very fancy garb on these beautiful horses with hoardes of people outside clapping and dancing. They had King Street closed down....now THAT'S a celebration!

Let the adventure begin!

2007-06-23T22:07:00.000-04:00

My first full week in Toronto passed very quickly! Although I had initial "Toronto hate" due to a bit of homesickness, I finally crept out of my hole on Wednesday and ventured out on my own. I am really starting to love my neighborhood - it's the Entertainment District and is very close to the CN Tower and Rogers Centre, many of the theatres as well as the "avant-garde" area of Toronto called Queen Street. The area is bustling and people are always out and about which I love. I'm only a block away from Rogers Centre which is where the Toronto BlueJays play (that's baseball, for those of you who aren't sports fans) and because it's summer, there are games going on all the time. It makes for interesting traffic "situations" coming home from work, but once I'm home, it's fun to have all the fans around.

Even though I don't know many people in Toronto, there are a few other Texans living here. I had dinner with a fabulous colleague on Thursday evening at a fabulous Italian restaurant called Pizzaiolo (http://www.pizzaiolorestaurant.com/). It was delicioso and so were my leftover pizza slices! A few of the other people living here from Texas got together for drinks and dinner on Friday evening in an area of Toronto called the Beaches. The boardwalk looks out over Lake Ontario which is as blue as the Logan sapphire. We walked (everyone here walks which is all new to me - no one believes when I tell them that we'd drive to a store 20 yards away!) to a lovely Italian restaurant on Queen Street East called Ci Vediamo (which means "we see each other" in Italian). We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and unintentionally entertained the locals with our Texas accents!

Other restaurants frequented: Urban (http://www.urbanrestaurant.com/)

New Word Learned: Loonie (nickname for the the $1 Canadian coin)