How To Decide If You Should Buy More Shoes (Day 11)

It’s only day 11 of NaBloPoMo and I’ve already resorted to posting about vapid subjects like shoes (read: I’m tired). As such, I hope you enjoy this little flow chart from cracked.com explaining ever so cleverly how to decide if you should buy more shoes if you’re a girl and if you’re a guy. My answer? A resounding yes, but only if they’re 4-inch heels. 🙂

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Not Your Momma’s Bagels (Day 6)

Somehow the apparent phenomena known as the Montréal-style bagel has heretofore completely passed me by. Wikipedia has kindly informed me that a large portion of Montréal’s Jewish community  — from which the bagels originated — gradually left for other North American locations, including one Houston, Texas. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas and I can say with 100% certainty that I’ve never, ever seen a Montréal -style bagel shop in the city. Lucky for me, I moved from Houston, Texas to Toronto, Ontario two years ago, a city which I know with 100% certainty has actual Montréal-style bagel shops, being that we’re approximately 5.2 minutes¹ from Québec.

I was in the lunchroom at work making my morning Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal today when my colleague said “hey Carmen, we brought in Montréal-style bagels”. I smiled and thanked him, but though “ew”, mostly because I’m just not a bagel girl. I never have been. I’m really not a “bread” girl at all, unless it’s mixed with chocolate and sugar and called cake. 😉 However, always one to try new things, I thought “what they hey, I’ll try it”. Upon asking what “Montréal-style bagel” actually meant, I was told that it’s sweeter and more dense than a regular bagel. Hmm, sweet and dense? This might be something I could get used to. I bebopped my way in, picked up my bagel and schmear, and proceeded to drop said bagel and schmear face down on the floor on my way to my desk as I tried to poorly manage two coffee cups, said bowl of oatmeal, and the bagel. In honour of the “five second rule”, though, I snapped it up, stared at the seeds strewn across the floor, dusted it off, and went on my merry little way. For a brief moment, I considered not eating it at all. Then I considered eating just the bottom since it plopped down on its top. I finally concluded that I would likely not die from the pig flu, nor from any other overly-hyped disease, just from it sitting face down for three seconds. In I bit.

Sweet and dense, indeed! The bread had a sweet scent on the nose, and was completely flavourful, while almost donut-like. It was flaky and not nearly as thick as the bagels I’ve had. Montréal-style bagels apparently don’t have egg or salt, unlike regular bready bagels; honey is added to the water prior to the bagels being boiled (or poached, to be more specific); and they are baked in wood-fired ovens, unlike regular bready bagels.

I only managed to eat about half of it, though, because I’d gotten to work slightly later than normal² and didn’t want to spoil my lunch³. But the bottom line is that I *loved* it and may or may not have found a new favourite food. Had Montréal-style bagels been on Mount Sinai when Moses lost his temper, I have a feeling he could have calmed himself down with a little bagel and schmear, and those cursed broken tablets may just have been spared.

¹Well, more like 5.2 hours.
²I’m not a morning person, which may be why I don’t like bagels. I’m never up early enough to finish them. As a matter of fact, my colleagues like to tease me by saying I work the “afternoon shift”. I really loathe getting up early. Really. And lately, the traffic has seriously sucked because apparently, the good citizens of Toronto can’t drive in the dark.
³Lunch that I usually eat around Noon, even though I’ve only been at work for 2.5 hours at that point. Why are you looking at me like that?

104 Posts::208 Things (Day 5)

This is officially my 100th104th post! I had every intention of posting this on my 100th post, but then I lost my mind and signed up for NaBloPoMo and, in my haste to post a blog every single day (along with, oh, I don’t know, living my life), it took me a few days longer to finish this bigosity than I anticipated. In celebration of my 100 104 posts, I’ve done what I’ve managed to spare both you and me from thus far –a long, rambling list about the mundane minutiae of my life. But fret not! The list has officially arrived. You’re welcome. 😉

I’ve lived in Canada for 895 days now (!) and have done way more than 100 104 things but, apparently, someone injected me with a little bit of lazy along the way, so 100 104 posts are all I’ve written¹.  It’s taken me eons longer than I expected to get to 100 104 posts for reasons that are unimportant. Let’s just say that, like Talullah Bankhead once said, “‘It’s the good girls who keep diaries; the bad girls don’t have time.” 

Like many of you, I am a list nerd. Lists, for me, are like manna from heaven. I make lists about lists and I write already-completed tasks on my lists just to get pleasure of crossing them off. So, in honour of my 100th 104th post, I thought I’d do what I do best and list 200 208 things about me that you may or may not already know, but about which I’m sure you are dying to know. And, all for the mighty, mighty price of free. Because Catholic-family sized soliloquies is what the intertubes was invented for, yes? The good part of all of this is that I can’t see your eye-rolling, so it doesn’t hurt as much. Anyway, grab yourself a snack, put on your Snuggie, make yourself comfortable, and read some Carmen goodness…

Growing Up

1. I am an only child. 
2. I was born in Houston, Texas. It’s like living-on-the-face-of-the-sun-hot there.
3. I started walking when I was ten months old. I have no idea if this is an accomplishment or not. 
4. Apparently, I liked to climb as a child. My mom once walked into the kitchen after putting me to sleep and I was sitting on top of the refrigerator. I still like to climb on things.
5. My surname is French and is properly pronounced “meeyAy”. My peeps came from France, through Canada and down to Louisiana. Hence you could say that, with me living in Canada, the Millet family has come full circle. Or, that we hate the heat. Discuss.
6. I grew up with a Cocker Spaniel named Buffy, who I used to carry everywhere. Literally. If we went from the living room into the kitchen, I carried him. Poor dog. After Buffy died, we got a Miniature Schnauzer named Heidi. The first time she walked into our backyard, she fell into our swimming pool and had to dog paddle her way out. She never went near it again.
7. My dad used to tell me that when you ate oysters, they would come alive in your mouth and swim down your throat. To this day, I have never eaten an oyster. Thanks Dad!
8. I have direct relatives in Alaska, four cities in California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Ohio.

School Stuff

1. I went to a private, Episcopalian² school until 4th grade. We went to chapel every Friday. 
2. I learned to speak Spanish in 1st grade and still speak it today, although not as fluently as when I lived in Texas since there are approximately 6.5 Spanish speakers in Canada.
3. I went to school with the same people from 4th through 12th grades.
4. I was accepted at all the universities to which I applied: University of Texas, Baylor University, Texas A&M University, and Louisiana State University.
5. I have a BA in Speech Communications and Marketing from Texas A&M University.
6. I was accepted into law school, but decided I didn’t want to waste my life away with my nose buried in law books. Instead, I now bury it in boatloads of email and project management red tape.
7. I have finished half of my MBA.
8. I will probably never finish my MBA, considering I reside in a country where I am not permitted to pursue any kind of formal education.   

My Deets

1. I’m 5’3″
2. Most people think I’m taller since I wear 4-inch heels 98% of the time. My knees hate me for it.
3. I have blue eyes, though they tend to change colour depending on what I’m wearing.
4. I have naturally blonde hair, but it’s getting darker as I get older. Hello,  highlights!
5. I’ve always wanted a tiny pink streak in my hair.
6. I wear a size 8 shoe.
7. I grew up with 20/70 vision in my left eye, but after wearing glasses until University, it is now corrected to nearly 20/20.
8. I’m a registered Republican. I’ve voted Republican in every federal election with the exception of the most recent one (gasp!).
9. I’m socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
10. I’m a cradle Catholic³
11. I’m a Sagittarius, which I’m pointing out only because it means you should be thinking about what to get me for my birthday.
12. I bought my first house when I turned 29 + 1. I bawled my eyes out the night before I closed out of sheer terror and six years later, it’s still a-ok.

 My Metaphorical Suitcase

1. I spend the majority of my discretionary income on traveling. It is my absolute biggest passion.
2. I’ve traveled to 26 US states and 43 major US cities.
3. I’ve traveled to 3 Canadian provinces and 8 Canadian cities. 
4. I’ve traveled to 13 countries on 3 continents.
5. I just started writing a travel blog called A Metaphorical Suitcase. It’s all professional sounding and isn’t nearly as much fun as ATGAIC!
6. My favourite cities are New York City and Paris. It’s cliché, but I don’t care. They live up to the hype.
7. I love, love, love to fly. I am a plane geek and can identify the type of plane just by hearing the engine⁴. I still get butterflies when I see planes take-off, land, and in the air. Conclusion: I should marry a pilot.
8. I want to fly privately just once. Travel gods, you can’t see me, but I’m down on my knees begging…
9. I recently went on my first helicopter ride. I got nauseous and nearly had to use the bag. Conclusion: I should stick to planes.

 Books I’ve Finished In the Last Six Months

1. When You Are Engulfed in Flames — David Sedaris (re-read)
2. Barrel Fever — David Sedaris
3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone⁵ — JK Rowling
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets — JK Rowling
5. My Life in France — Julia Child
6. The Death of Conservatism  — Sam Teanenhaus
7. Infinite Jest — David Foster Wallace (I’m only halfway through this one, but it’s 1,079 pp, so cut me some slack, people! Also where I got my idea for blog footnotes)
8. Liberty — Garrison Keillor
9. The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry — Kathleen Flinn
10. The Picture of Dorian Gray — Oscar Wilde (my all-time favourite book)

Magazines To Which I Subscribe

1. Vanity Fair⁶
2. Wired
3. Newsweek
4. Travel & Leisure
5. Broken Pencil (zine)
6. Photography
7. The Globe and Mail (newspaper)

My Favourite Games

1. Taboo
2. 80’s Trivial Pursuit
3. Crossword puzzles
4. Scrabble
5. Blokus

My Monstrous Wanna-be Techno-nerd Tendencies

1. I have six email addresses
2. I own four URLs
3. I have 15 different blog URLs set-up over three blogging platforms, and actively blog on three of them.
4. I use an HP Pavilion 17″ laptop that is an absolute pig on weight and space, and is coming unhinged — literally.
5. I secretly want a Mac, but I’d never admit it. 😉
6. I have profiles on more websites than I care to admit; they easily number into the 30’s.
7. I currently have 161 Facebook friends. I am very selective in who I add and know all of them IRL.
8. I currently have 4,029 images on Flickr  
9. I currently have 755 unread emails in my Gmail inbox, some of which date to 2006. If you’re still waiting for a reply, this is probably why.

Edible Material

1. I started drinking coffee about three months ago after I bought a french press. I am now addicted.
2. I still drink tea, especially sweet tea (also known as the “wine of the south”).
3. My favourite cuisine is Tex-Mex⁷.
4. My second favourite “cuisine” is french fries. I recently went on a french fry crawl with some Yelp friends and I was at peace.
5. My favourite vegetable is broccoli, although the only one I don’t like is eggplant.
6. My favourite fruits are watermelon (especially good to cure a hangover), pineapple and strawberries, but I love them all except kiwi.
7. My favourite Houston restaurants are Cafe Annie and Pappasito’s Cantina. My favourite Toronto restaurants are Grace and Nota Bene.
8. My favourite cocktails are Pimm’s Cup, gin & tonic and big red wines.
9. My favourite dessert is my dad’s world-famous chocolate sheet cake. It is fierce!

Things That Take Me To My Happy Place

1. My iPhone
2. My hard, candy pink iPhone case
3. My red, cast iron risotto pan
4. David Sedaris
5. Sparklers
6. Backtalking
7. Wearing pigtails
8. Eating brunch
9. Bubble baths in soaker tubs (TMI?)
10. Blogging
11. Hummingbirds
12. Bubbling hot tubs at 105 degrees Fahrenheit, especially ones overlooking oceans
13. The CBC
14. Cats and dogs
15. Hiking
16. Musicals, especially Chicago and Spring Awakening, and singing them at the top of my lungs in the privacy of my car. Sometimes I get funny looks from passers-by.
17. Year-round Christmas lights
18. Listening to “This American Life” podcasts and swooning over Ira Glass
19. 30 Rock, Entourage, Top Chef, Project Runway
20. Snow falling at night
21. In-town hotel stays
22. Jumping on said hotel beds
23. Haiku
24. Dancing
25. My passport
26. Trying new foods (I just had Korean for the first time!)
27. Witty repartee
28. 1% chocolate milk in a frozen glass
29. The Sunday Times
30. Queen Video
31. Cherry and orange Slurpees
32. Photography/photo safaris/my cameras
33. Stepping outside my comfort zone
34. Giggling/Laughing/Chest-shaking guffaws
35. Swinging on swingsets
36. Hip Hop karaoke and hip hop dance class
37. Public Radio International
38. RadioLab
39. Jalapeño hummus
40. Classic 80’s music
41. Jarritos Mandarin flavoured-drinks
42. Arm’s length photos, thusly
43. College football.  GEAUX TIGERS!
44. Madonna, the Dixie Chicks, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Michelle Obama, my momma

Things That Take Me To My Unhappy Place

1. People who use the word “reoccurring” instead of “recurring”. People of the universe: “reoccurring” is not a word!
2. People who drive slowly in the left lane. I want them to die very slow deaths please move to the right.
3. Smoke/smoking/smokers/people smoking and walking in front of me on the sidewalk whose smoke I am therefore forced to inhale
4. Being hot, unless I’m on a beach 
5. Liars
6. Cheaters
7. Balancing my chequebook(s). Unluckily for me, now that I live in Canada but am still paid in USD, I have to manage not one, but *two* chequebooks. They are the bane of my existence.
8. Clutter 
9. Migraines — I don’t get them often, but when I do, I get really, really sick
10. Oprah
11. Americans who travel abroad and act ignorantly. When in Rome, people. If you don’t like it, go back to your bubble.
12. Paying a $60 annual tax to the City of Toronto just for having a car in the city
13. Paying 5 cents for a plastic bag. I still giggle when I buy clothes and have to cart them out of the store over my arm.

Things On My Desk At Work 

1. Two flags: a Canadian flag and an American flag
2. The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy; Hirsch, Kett, Trefil
3. Coloured file folders with labeled tabs; mostly pink, with a smattering of blue, green, yellow and red
4. The Belvedere calendar, which I’ve had on my desk every month for ten years
5. An Ikea lamp
6. Green apple-flavoured Viraguard antiseptic hand spray, so as to protect myself against the pig flu
7. Two buttons: Toronto Maple Leafs/Raptors & Vancouver Canucks  
8. A Remembrance Day peony, which is on my desk because it keeps falling off of my coat.
9. Various pens, including a pink feathered ostrich that rattles and an Incredibles pen that lights up when I write
10. My perpetually refilled cup of Diet Coke (Conclusion: I require plentiful amounts of chemicals).
11. The original Wooly Willy

Things In My Refrigerator

1. Half a bottle of Cave Spring 2007 Riesling
2. Unopened bottle of White Zinfandel⁸
3. Fig & Walnut jam (the brand which I don’t know since I threw away the wrapper)
4. Goat cheese (beneath which said unnamed Fig & Walnut spread is spread)
5. Freshly grated gruyere cheese and a block of Parmesano Reggiano
6. Jalapeño hummus
7. A case of Caffeine-free Diet Coke
8. Whipped cream
9. Can⁹ of Amsterdam beer
10. Box of Jiffy cornbread¹⁰
11. Fresh spinach
12. Red onion
13. Cilantro
14. A motherload of condiments, but most importantly, salsa

The Last Ten Things I Listened To On XM Radio

1. The Bob Edwards Show, to which I listen every single day
2. We Both Reached For the Gun — Chicago soundtrack (Channel 75)
3. Not Ready to Make Nice — Dixie Chicks (Channel 25)
4. Enola Gay — OMD (Channel 44)
5. Kids — MGMT
6. West End Girls — Pet Shop Boys
7. Genius of Love — Tom Tom Club
8. My City Was Gone — Pretenders 
9. Bigmouth Strikes Again — The Smiths
10. Black Celebration — Depeche Mode

Random and Seriously Fun Facts About Moi

1. I will try absolutely anything at least once (except oysters. ew.)
2. iPhone apps to which I’m addicted: Fling!, Tetris, Scramble and Groceries
3. I wanted a 5-speed car after graduating University, so I bought one without knowing how to drive it. My friend Jill drove me home and taught me how to drive it the next day. I stalled my way to work for about a week, but loved every second of it! My current car has a Tiptronic transmission, but it’s really faux-manual and isn’t nearly the same.
4. My favourite artists are René Magritte, Julian Schnabel, Mark Rothko, and Cy Twombly.
5. My favourite museums are the Menil Collection in Houston; the Tate Modern in London; and the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.
6. I have an interest in both Surrealist art and art stolen by the Nazis during WWII.
7. I prefer to sleep only on white, high thread count sheets.
8. My favourite flowers are pink tulips, pink peonies and white orchids.
9. How I lived prior to having a PVR is beyond me.
10. I went tobogganing for the first time in March 2009. I was the only person over the age of five going down the hill.
11. I have a serious crush on Andy Williams.¹¹
12. My porn star name is Buffy Fairacres.¹²
13. My favourite number is 13¹³
14. I have a keen interest in the workings of the Intelligence community, specifically the CIA
15. I haven’t played a videogame since I kicked ass at Tron and Donkey Kong on Intellivision, circa 1985
16. I only run in Asics Gel Nimbus running shoes. They are like running on pillows.
17. I’ve never broken any bones or been stung by a bee
18. I don’t have any tattoos, but I had my belly button pierced during an otherwise mild rebel phase. It got infected after I went into the disgustingly polluted waters of the Gulf of Mexico and had to take it out.
19. Three of my closest friends don’t have Facebook pages. I find this bizarre.
20. I love timepieces, especially vintage ones (though I can’t afford them, so I only get to gawk at them in store windows).
21. My favourite piece of jewelry is my Tiffany “hook and eye” bracelet I bought with the first paycheque I ever earned out of University
22. My necessary extravagance is a regular 90-minute massage (I’m looking at you, Toronto Bodyworks)
23. My favourite all-time movie is “Moonstruck”
24. My lipstick is MAC Lip Glass in Flirt
25. My mascara is Yves Saint Laurent Volume Effet Faux Cils in black
26. My blush is NARS “Orgasmic”
27. My shampoo/conditioner is L’oreal Professional Lumino contrast and Vitamino Color. It smells delish!
28. Other than shampoo and conditioner, I don’t use any hair products.
29. My moisturizer is Cetaphil
30. My toothpaste is Colgate Max Fresh Liquid Gel in Clean Mint; I also have an addiction to Closys (the nectar of fresh breath gods but that isn’t sold in Canada!)
31. My summer perfume is Annick Goutal Eau d’Hadrien and my winter perfume is either Coco Chanel Mademoiselle or Annick Goutal Mandragore
32. My favourite nail polish colours are OPI “Privacy Please” for my nails and “Lincoln Park After Dark” for my toes. I switch to OPI “I’m Not Really A Waitress” or Chanel “Ruby Slippers” during the holidays.
33. I’m an absolute candle *freak*. I have a candle closet in my house and currently have about 20 unburned candles. My very favourite scent is Votivo Red Currant and anything clary sage scented. Someone just told me that candles are the new “cat” for lonely single girls. If that’s the case, then I must be a complete hermit.
34. I wanted to learn to knit since all the kids are doin’ it. I took a class and am halfway through a scarf that looks like a ten year-old made it. Actually, that’s probably not fair to the ten year-olds out there! Stop laughing like that — I’m trying my hardest!
35. I was once driving in the rain and saw a man walking in it. I stopped and gave him my umbrella, and I’ve never met anyone more thankful.
36. I once entered a cake baking contest in middle school. The cake was called “Better Than Sex”. I won first place.
37. I’ve met and had my photo taken with Julian Schnabel. !!!!!
38. I’ve met David Sedaris and was so starstruck that I could barely speak. He signed my book with a hand-drawn photo of Abe Lincoln with a mouth bubble that said “Diabetes is for lovers”. Yeah, I didn’t get it either.

¹I’ve actually written more than 104 posts, but haven’t published 49 posts I’ve drafted. For shame.
 ²Anglican, for my Canadian readers
 ³ If you don’t know what it means, look it up!
 ⁴ This applies to Boeings only. I’ve only flown an Airbus once and that was in Europe, so I was probaby either inebriated or exhausted. 
⁵ Also known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the U.S. I have no idea why it’s called something else in Canada and the UK.
⁶ Although I despise its Canadian editor, Graydon Carter. His editor’s column was about George W. Bush every single month literally for eight years. I would think that someone as educated and revered as he is could surely come up with something to talk about other than GWB for 96 issues.
⁷ By “Tex-Mex”, I do not mean “mexican”. Everyone in Toronto thinks that I mean “interior mexican” when I say I miss mexican food. Clearly, they have never had the goodness that is Tex-Mex.
⁸ It’s from when my mom was here. It was, dammit!
⁹ Because I’m a classy dame.
¹⁰ Imported from Texas because the single, solitary store that sells it in Toronto charges 4x the price I pay in Houston.
¹¹ I am secretly a 75 year-old woman.
¹²  The name of my first pet and the street on which I grew up, yo.
¹³ Does anyone else find the irony in the fact that my lucky number is also the 13th footnote?! I swear I did not plan that!

Was It Something I Said? (Day 4)

Apparently, the RCMP enjoys reading my blog. For nine minutes and eight seconds. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but apparently my recent post about going to Canada jail turned some heads in Ottawa. 😉

 

 

Also, Internet Explorer 6? Seriously?

Gettin’ Busy (Day 3)

Confession: I’m a washroom¹ sort of girl, by which I mean that I enjoy lounging around in my soaker tub filled with seasonally-scented bubbles while reading and, preferably, while sipping a large glass of Cab Sauv. This also means that I’m a sucker for wicked cool bathrooms at wicked cool restaurants because I live a very exciting life. Anyway. Lately, I’ve noticed a trend: washrooms today seem to be quite conducive to, let’s say, gettin’ busy. Not that I’m a girl who would ever frequent a bathroom to get busy, but a girl can still make certain observations, nón? As such, I thought I’d take you on a little tour of the discriminating Toronto washrooms bringin’ sexy back.

Delux
Walk down a narrow, winding staircase covered in glossy black paint and bump smack dam into two über-private washrooms. The aesthetically pleasing sink fixtures seem to make for a good handle to grab onto, if you’re so inclined.

Spice Route
These washrooms are so big, they could be condos in Tokyo. Red light encourages trouble-making. One wall is a one-way window, looking out onto a garden. You never know who might see you. Or who you might want to see you.

Milestone’s at Toronto Life Square
Admittedly the oddest of the four, Barbie (but mostly Ken) dolls in acrylic boxes stare down at you as you wash your hands, or, say, as you straighten your smudged red lipstick aprés makeout session in the black tiled, and very darkly lit, stalls.

Grace
The Tiffany blue settee just outside the charmingly precious washrooms is a good spot to meet up. The light switch is about shoulder height which offers easy access for your elbow. Ahem.

 

¹The Canadian way of saying restroom

The Great Harbord Street Pumpkin Festival (Day 2)

What do you get when you cross a crisp, Fall night, more than 400 elaborately carved pumpkins, and closed-off Toronto streets lined with table after table? Why, you get the second annual Great Harbord Street Pumpkin Festival, of course!

Held the day after Halloween, residents of Harbord Village brought their carved pumpkins, found an empty spot, and graced the tables with their gourds. At dusk, the pumpkins were lit, the street was closed and was aglow. Literally. A silent auction was held at the Art Gallery, local restaurants featured pumpkin-flavoured items on their menu, a bagpiper played, and at the conclusion of the night, the pumpkins were collected for composting. Even in the midst of a sea of orange, Torontonians still managed to stay green. 🙂

I walked down the street in awe. The night was clear and cool, and the plentifully fallen leaves filled the streets. The smell of hot chocolate and spiced cider filled the air. Parents strolled down the street holding hands; kids sprinted down the street screaming with excitement and practically burned off their fingertips from getting too much of an “up close and personal” pumpkin view. I didn’t blame them. There were pumpkins with Canadian themes, warts, wrapped like ninjas, with squash for noses, question marks, Inukshuk, a centipede-looking pumpkin made up of eight gourds, and, a somewhat humourous H1N1 pumpkin paired with a devil. I am quite sure that by “devil”, they meant “the media”. Ahem. DT Bistro had the most amazing pumpkins I’d ever seen — they looked as thought they’d somehow been flecked and there were literally hoardes of people gawking at them. Or maybe that was just me. Anyway. As I walked, I had flashbacks to the scene in “You’ve Got Mail” where Tom Hanks entertains his niece and nephew at what I thought was the Fall carnival of all Fall carnivals. There wasn’t exactly apple bobbing (thanks, H1N1!) or face painting at the Harbord Street Festival, but there was plenty of happiness, leaves, spooktacularness, and witty, amothereffinmazing pumpkins.

Check out the full set of serious pumpkin goodness here.

Let The NaBloPoMo Games Begin! (Day 1)

No, it’s not February 12. No, you didn’t sleep through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, ostensibly just now waking up for the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics. My blog title does not in any way, in fact, refer to the 2010 Winter Olympics about which I’m already sick of hearing that I can’t wait to see; rather, it refers to my doing one of the craziest things I’ve done in quite some time — signing up for NaBloPoMo! No, I’m not speaking French, why do you ask?! NaBloPoMo is short for National Blog Posting Month, where crazies like me sign up to write a blog post every. single. day. for 30 days. Click the badge on the right to jump through to all the goody-goodness (and check my page while you’re at it). It’s official, yo.

I’m not a consistent, daily blogger. I’m not a consistent, daily anything, really. If you check my archives, you’ll notice that I will go through a period where I blog like I’m going down in a blaze of glory, and then take a two month week break. However, I am consistent at one very important thing which you already know if you follow me with any regularity: I’m a photo-taking fiend. I *love* taking photos. So, I joined the group “365 Days” on Flickr, where members are required to post a photo they’ve taken every. single. day. Let me just say that it was far more taxing that I thought it would be and I flickered out (wacka wacka) after about two months. The moral of that story is that I’m not always the best about doing something when I have to do it. That is to say I’m far better at doing things when it diverts my attention from what I should really be doing (i.e., working). Anyway.

I follow a few bloggers who post every day just to say they have and frankly, most of it is a heap of junk. I mean, who cares what you ate for dinner last night? I can’t, and won’t, promise quality content during what I’m sure will be a long November. But quantity, I can definitely promise. And luckily, as I mentioned in my last post, I have 46 unpublished posts, so I’ve already got a bit of fuel in the tank, so to speak. I may end up phoning in a post here or there, but I’m going to do my very best  to publish relevant and coherent drivel material that is as relevant as possible to my adventures in Canada. You know, relevant like introducing you to outstanding internet games or how people in Canada still use pay phones. You know, topics important to your life. You know you are so excited!

This experiement in my tenacity will likely be either the best 30 days of my life or a seriously flawed and dangerously dumb way to approach the busy holiday season. Here’s hoping for the former.