I just cooked my purple beans. They were such a deep purple. Eggplant-ish. And after being dunked in boiling water, now they're green. The water hasn't drastically changed colour though. Maybe a tinge of green, but not too different. Lazy way to tell if the beans have been cooked enough, I suppose.
I think this could turn into a fantastic elementary school lesson.
I still wish the beans stayed purple though.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
A wonderful day
This past Saturday, I had the most wonderful day. I ended up spending the day by myself, and it was amazing. Here's the run down...
1. Sleeping in. I let my alarm clock run its course but finally hauled myself out of bed so that I could get something accomplished. I didn't want the day to go to waste or anything.
2. Lazy lazy lazy. Taking my time getting ready. Little surf time in the internet. Watching a couple episodes of The Office.
3. Clafouti. Was tired of just hearing about other people enjoying this place, so I went to see what the big fuss was about. Couldn't find any pain au chocolat...frig. Sold out. I guess sleeping in does have its downfalls. Got a croissant figue and ended up speaking half French to the waitress by accident because it wasn't a "fig croissant". The croissant was extremely buttery, but very meaty. The figue part didn't blow me away. I want a pain au chocolat next time.
4. St. Lawrence Market. Still just as good as the first time. Behold my shopping list:
- corn on the cob
- peppers (red, yellow and purple...I know, I said I wouldn't buy it again. I was drawn in my the colours. I was thinking rainbow salad.)
- tomatoes
- salade (I figured out that the lettuce I miss is arugula and also
this type a friend called Lamb's Ear.)
- purple beans (That's right. They're a dark purple and the lady beside me who was also buying them said that they turn green after you cook them. I haven't cooked them yet, so I don't know if it's true. Regardless, they're really purple right now and really pretty.)
5. Buskerfest. Here, I enjoyed a couple different acts, sampled random foods (including a chick pea dish cooked in mustard seed and
veggies - different!), people watched and got some tank top tan lines (yuck). There were a lot of your typical buskers (or well, typical in my mind), but I'd never seen an acrobat hanging in the air from large helium balloons. She didn't do very much up there, but the visual was quite striking.
My favorite act and the only act that I specifically sought out was PULP - a duo dance team featuring Robert Muraine and Garvin Tran.
You may know Muraine from
So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 or those Ikea commercials. The popper and b-boy combo put on an amazing show. I have videos but they are too large to upload. Sorry. The music was hype...I felt like dancing too. I'd actually walked
by one of their shows already in progress, but the crowd was huge and I didn't want to strain to watch. I arrived early the next time and got front row seats. Muraine didn't do anything different from his various bits on SYTYCD and the Ikea bits, but seeing him dance up close and personal was still enjoyable. Their excitement, enthusiasm, innate sense of music and love of dance was killer. A-Mazing. The event was raising funds for charity, but of course buskers were excepting money for themselves too!
6. Balcony time. Using my lounging chair for the first time, enjoying the sun that Toronto hasn't seen in a long time and reading the free Toronto Star I picked up at Buskerfest. Fantabulous.
7. Genee Competition. With the finals of the competition held at the Four Season Centre for the Performing Arts, the Genee is the Royal Academy of Dance's big international competition. The calibre wasn't quite Prix de Lausanne, but the top dancers of the competition were basically there. The gold medal winner was obviously the winner and I wonder if he would consider going for the Prix. I didn't get any pictures, because we weren't allowed to take any. Interesting how it doesn't matter at the Prix, but here it's a big no-no! Along with a great night of dancing I found out a couple things:
- Rex Harrington needs to get over himself and stop being a sour puss (and is developing a paunch)
- I need to work on my dress collection (or lack thereof)
- I notice when people wear Louboutins.
Like I said at the beginning, I had a wonderful day.
1. Sleeping in. I let my alarm clock run its course but finally hauled myself out of bed so that I could get something accomplished. I didn't want the day to go to waste or anything.
2. Lazy lazy lazy. Taking my time getting ready. Little surf time in the internet. Watching a couple episodes of The Office.
3. Clafouti. Was tired of just hearing about other people enjoying this place, so I went to see what the big fuss was about. Couldn't find any pain au chocolat...frig. Sold out. I guess sleeping in does have its downfalls. Got a croissant figue and ended up speaking half French to the waitress by accident because it wasn't a "fig croissant". The croissant was extremely buttery, but very meaty. The figue part didn't blow me away. I want a pain au chocolat next time.
4. St. Lawrence Market. Still just as good as the first time. Behold my shopping list:
- corn on the cob- peppers (red, yellow and purple...I know, I said I wouldn't buy it again. I was drawn in my the colours. I was thinking rainbow salad.)
- tomatoes
- salade (I figured out that the lettuce I miss is arugula and also
this type a friend called Lamb's Ear.)- purple beans (That's right. They're a dark purple and the lady beside me who was also buying them said that they turn green after you cook them. I haven't cooked them yet, so I don't know if it's true. Regardless, they're really purple right now and really pretty.)
5. Buskerfest. Here, I enjoyed a couple different acts, sampled random foods (including a chick pea dish cooked in mustard seed and
veggies - different!), people watched and got some tank top tan lines (yuck). There were a lot of your typical buskers (or well, typical in my mind), but I'd never seen an acrobat hanging in the air from large helium balloons. She didn't do very much up there, but the visual was quite striking. 
My favorite act and the only act that I specifically sought out was PULP - a duo dance team featuring Robert Muraine and Garvin Tran.
You may know Muraine from So You Think You Can Dance Season 4 or those Ikea commercials. The popper and b-boy combo put on an amazing show. I have videos but they are too large to upload. Sorry. The music was hype...I felt like dancing too. I'd actually walked
by one of their shows already in progress, but the crowd was huge and I didn't want to strain to watch. I arrived early the next time and got front row seats. Muraine didn't do anything different from his various bits on SYTYCD and the Ikea bits, but seeing him dance up close and personal was still enjoyable. Their excitement, enthusiasm, innate sense of music and love of dance was killer. A-Mazing. The event was raising funds for charity, but of course buskers were excepting money for themselves too!6. Balcony time. Using my lounging chair for the first time, enjoying the sun that Toronto hasn't seen in a long time and reading the free Toronto Star I picked up at Buskerfest. Fantabulous.
7. Genee Competition. With the finals of the competition held at the Four Season Centre for the Performing Arts, the Genee is the Royal Academy of Dance's big international competition. The calibre wasn't quite Prix de Lausanne, but the top dancers of the competition were basically there. The gold medal winner was obviously the winner and I wonder if he would consider going for the Prix. I didn't get any pictures, because we weren't allowed to take any. Interesting how it doesn't matter at the Prix, but here it's a big no-no! Along with a great night of dancing I found out a couple things:
- Rex Harrington needs to get over himself and stop being a sour puss (and is developing a paunch)
- I need to work on my dress collection (or lack thereof)
- I notice when people wear Louboutins.
Like I said at the beginning, I had a wonderful day.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
I get me
I think I know myself pretty well.
I'm quite proud of everything that I've done in my life. I think I've done a lot. It's a strange feeling to feel "old". It's a new experience, but luckily it will only last in this setting for six more months or so.
I'm totally a loner. Boy do I like having my space. My friends, I like you all a lot and could hang out with you forever. Y'all could do your thing and I'm content just quietly being with you - that's fine. Acquaintances though - phew. SPACE.
I'm quite proud of everything that I've done in my life. I think I've done a lot. It's a strange feeling to feel "old". It's a new experience, but luckily it will only last in this setting for six more months or so.
I'm totally a loner. Boy do I like having my space. My friends, I like you all a lot and could hang out with you forever. Y'all could do your thing and I'm content just quietly being with you - that's fine. Acquaintances though - phew. SPACE.
Friday, August 22, 2008
TIFF08
It's coming...
I decided to be proactive this year and got a 10-pack. The one downside about this is that I have to figure out which movies I want to watch before people have written up synopses and reviews about them. How am I supposed to know what I want to see?
I need to do some research. Sigh.
Doing the "rush line" thing last year wasn't THAT bad...and at least by then I was only lining up for movies that I wanted to see.
We'll see how it goes.
If you're a celeb fanatic, I can only help you in two ways:
1. Brad Pitt is coming.
2. George Clooney is not.
I decided to be proactive this year and got a 10-pack. The one downside about this is that I have to figure out which movies I want to watch before people have written up synopses and reviews about them. How am I supposed to know what I want to see?
I need to do some research. Sigh.
Doing the "rush line" thing last year wasn't THAT bad...and at least by then I was only lining up for movies that I wanted to see.
We'll see how it goes.
If you're a celeb fanatic, I can only help you in two ways:
1. Brad Pitt is coming.
2. George Clooney is not.
Still starstruck
Every year in the summer, there's a skating competition which renders me starstruck.
Two things worth mentioning about this year's festivities:
1. Louis Stong is a funny funny man. He is also a legend. When a legend walks up to you in the stand (albeit, I was surrounded by other people who he knew) says hello (just out of politeness - he has no idea who I am) and then proceeds to sit beside you and then continues to go about his business, well, heart palpitations ensue.
2. Sitting on the stand with Karen Preston. During a specific event we are both in roles where we're wearing headsets and can talk to each other. There are two other people in similar roles. So the four of us are talking, talking, talking...not sure how it comes up, but I learned that Tonya Harding was really scary. Intimidating as all heck and just not the most enjoyable person to compete against. Karen would switch spots in the dressing room at competitions so that she would be further away from Tonya.
Being among legends and listening to stories firsthand makes me feel like I'm part of some super-club or something. It's crazy. So many people at these competitions are the big time...and I'm right there with them. I often want to pinch myself. I hope I never become jaded and lose my excitement for this sport.
Two things worth mentioning about this year's festivities:
1. Louis Stong is a funny funny man. He is also a legend. When a legend walks up to you in the stand (albeit, I was surrounded by other people who he knew) says hello (just out of politeness - he has no idea who I am) and then proceeds to sit beside you and then continues to go about his business, well, heart palpitations ensue.
2. Sitting on the stand with Karen Preston. During a specific event we are both in roles where we're wearing headsets and can talk to each other. There are two other people in similar roles. So the four of us are talking, talking, talking...not sure how it comes up, but I learned that Tonya Harding was really scary. Intimidating as all heck and just not the most enjoyable person to compete against. Karen would switch spots in the dressing room at competitions so that she would be further away from Tonya.
Being among legends and listening to stories firsthand makes me feel like I'm part of some super-club or something. It's crazy. So many people at these competitions are the big time...and I'm right there with them. I often want to pinch myself. I hope I never become jaded and lose my excitement for this sport.
Hopefully I'll make the most of it
Tomorrow is a free day. I haven't had a free day in awhile, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm not sure how much I'll sleep in (it's hard to predict these days) but I've got a couple things in my mind that I wouldn't mind doing tomorrow. Nothing pressing (except for one thing in the evening - which I'll give a report on after the fact), but all things that I think would be nice.
Among the list is going (back) to the St. Lawrence Market. A couple weeks ago, I finally ventured down there and while it was obvious that I was paying a lot more for the produce compared to a regular grocery store (I don't know enough about produce to know if it was worth the extra bucks or not) I really enjoyed the experience.
I believe the last time I went there was in Grade 9 for a field trip which was set up like a scavenger hunt of downtown which had a goal for us to get to know our city better. It was a very well created assignment, which I hope teachers still use because children who grow up in the suburbs probably don't know enough about the city and well, I still don't know much about it and how wonderful it is and how much it has to offer.
Anyway, back to St. Lawrence Market. I love markets and I find it really hard to go to one without being tempted to buy something (even if I don't need it). The colours, the smells, the energy, the people...it's hard to resist getting caught up in it.
Let me share with you my shopping list:
- green beans
- red peppers
- green peppers
- purple peppers (I HAD to get them...I've never seen them before! They were whitish green on the inside and the taste was different from other colours of peppers...not very much flavour, in fact and I don't think I would necessarily buy them again. Especially if there are red peppers instead.)
- salad (I don't know the name of the lettuce, but it's not iceberg. Growing up, I only knew of iceberg and romaine. These two along with spinach were the only types of greens that I knew of to be used for a salad. My first market in Neuch introduced me to a whole bunch of other kinds of lettuce - which I don't really know the names, as they were all called salade regardless of the type. I'm sure that I only bought this type of lettuce at the St. Lawrence Market because it reminded me of Europe. There's another type of green that reminds me of Europe as well, but I forget its name as well too. Maybe I'll see it at the market tomorrow and be reminded.)
- yellow zucchini
- green zucchini
The next couple of days, I had the BEST salads. I get the feeling that if I make it to the market again tomorrow, I'll have the same result. Either amazing salad for days or amazing fruit. Or maybe both. I'd like to go to the Liberty Village market Sunday morning, but I found that because I was so tempted at the ST. Lawrence market last time, there was nothing left for me to need to buy to make it worth me going out to Liberty Village. I'll have to try to be selective about what I buy each time.
I should also take some pictures this time. I need to pull out my digital camera more often. I guess in Europe, I felt like I had the "tourist" excuse to take pictures of everyday things, but here in Toronto, I all of a sudden feel too self conscious to do it. I need to get over myself.
As you've seen with my lack of posts on the blog recently, I've been pretty busy - so I'm really excited to take tomorrow and just be. I heard it'll be nice weather too.
Among the list is going (back) to the St. Lawrence Market. A couple weeks ago, I finally ventured down there and while it was obvious that I was paying a lot more for the produce compared to a regular grocery store (I don't know enough about produce to know if it was worth the extra bucks or not) I really enjoyed the experience.
I believe the last time I went there was in Grade 9 for a field trip which was set up like a scavenger hunt of downtown which had a goal for us to get to know our city better. It was a very well created assignment, which I hope teachers still use because children who grow up in the suburbs probably don't know enough about the city and well, I still don't know much about it and how wonderful it is and how much it has to offer.
Anyway, back to St. Lawrence Market. I love markets and I find it really hard to go to one without being tempted to buy something (even if I don't need it). The colours, the smells, the energy, the people...it's hard to resist getting caught up in it.
Let me share with you my shopping list:
- green beans
- red peppers
- green peppers
- purple peppers (I HAD to get them...I've never seen them before! They were whitish green on the inside and the taste was different from other colours of peppers...not very much flavour, in fact and I don't think I would necessarily buy them again. Especially if there are red peppers instead.)
- salad (I don't know the name of the lettuce, but it's not iceberg. Growing up, I only knew of iceberg and romaine. These two along with spinach were the only types of greens that I knew of to be used for a salad. My first market in Neuch introduced me to a whole bunch of other kinds of lettuce - which I don't really know the names, as they were all called salade regardless of the type. I'm sure that I only bought this type of lettuce at the St. Lawrence Market because it reminded me of Europe. There's another type of green that reminds me of Europe as well, but I forget its name as well too. Maybe I'll see it at the market tomorrow and be reminded.)
- yellow zucchini
- green zucchini
The next couple of days, I had the BEST salads. I get the feeling that if I make it to the market again tomorrow, I'll have the same result. Either amazing salad for days or amazing fruit. Or maybe both. I'd like to go to the Liberty Village market Sunday morning, but I found that because I was so tempted at the ST. Lawrence market last time, there was nothing left for me to need to buy to make it worth me going out to Liberty Village. I'll have to try to be selective about what I buy each time.
I should also take some pictures this time. I need to pull out my digital camera more often. I guess in Europe, I felt like I had the "tourist" excuse to take pictures of everyday things, but here in Toronto, I all of a sudden feel too self conscious to do it. I need to get over myself.
As you've seen with my lack of posts on the blog recently, I've been pretty busy - so I'm really excited to take tomorrow and just be. I heard it'll be nice weather too.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
I finally watched Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. My reaction: HUH?!?
I knew that this movie probably would require a little bit of attention on my part to follow what was going to happen, so I'm not really sure why I watched it for the first time as background noise while multi-tasking. It's my own fault for not really understanding everything happened. I guess I theoretically understand it the plotline, but I didn't keep track of who got killed very well. I thought that some of the people who were alive at the end were supposed to be dead and I'm sure I'm missing one significant plot connection...but I'm not too concerned, I'll just have to watch it again. I'd seen Snatch before and as I was watching Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, I thought that the two movies were very similar. You can probably tell that I didn't make the Guy Richie connection until I did a little research on the internet just a short while ago.
The final moments of the movie made slightly annoyed, but as it was happening, I was expecting it to unfold as it did.
I need to watch this move again, but I'm pretty sure once I pay attention to it, I'll like it. I won't LOVE it, but I'll like it.
I knew that this movie probably would require a little bit of attention on my part to follow what was going to happen, so I'm not really sure why I watched it for the first time as background noise while multi-tasking. It's my own fault for not really understanding everything happened. I guess I theoretically understand it the plotline, but I didn't keep track of who got killed very well. I thought that some of the people who were alive at the end were supposed to be dead and I'm sure I'm missing one significant plot connection...but I'm not too concerned, I'll just have to watch it again. I'd seen Snatch before and as I was watching Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, I thought that the two movies were very similar. You can probably tell that I didn't make the Guy Richie connection until I did a little research on the internet just a short while ago.
The final moments of the movie made slightly annoyed, but as it was happening, I was expecting it to unfold as it did.
I need to watch this move again, but I'm pretty sure once I pay attention to it, I'll like it. I won't LOVE it, but I'll like it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)