Soon it's back to normal

I've only really been watching the figure skating events during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, with a couple others thrown in for good measure.
In fact, I only clued into the fact that the Canadian Men won their gold medal because all of a sudden I heard yelling and cars honking from inside my condo. (I did instantly go online and watch the final minute of the game just to make sure I was in the look - thanks CTV online streaming.)
As I said in a previous post, I'm super impressed with CTV and their coverage of the games. Not having a TV, I was convinced that I'd miss out on everything, but it's been a wonderful experience.
In fact, I'm kind of bummed that it's over. I've enjoyed getting free Toronto Star newspapers and seeing Canadian spirit everywhere. The Olympics are a wonderful thing.
I even got choked up on a couple occasions. And I really hope that the winter Olympics come back to Canada again in my lifetime. The only problem is that I think we're running out of cities that can host it. There aren't too many mountains in our country. One can hope. And hopefully if they return, I will be able to go. Even if they don't come back, hopefully in the future, I'll be able to return to the Games. Just like a lot of other folks, I've been thinking about the different sports that I could take up and somehow hope that I have a gift and can manage to get to the Olympics. Sigh.
As per usual, I didn't buy any Canadian Olympic gear. I did buy a pair of those super selling mittens for a friend, and they were a lot easier to find than I had thought they'd be. There were a ton at the second location I went to, albeit, maybe I just got lucky because when I returned a couple days later, the stock was completely depleted.
I do regret not buying a Russian zip-up from Torino when I had the chance. It looks like the Russian Federation hasn't changed their design too much as I would have loved to have one of their pieces from these Games as well. Maybe in the future.
I'm obviously streaming the closing ceremonies right now, so it'll be another late night.
That's my only complaint about the Games this time around. Due to the time difference, it was possible to watch the events that I wanted live, but they made for very late nights, and I think my other commitments suffered because of it. I'm looking forward to getting back on a regular schedule because I haven't really been on one since December, and I'm about due.
Anyway, I'm not really concentrating on this post because I should get some dinner prepped so that I feel like at least I'm getting something accomplished while the ceremonies are going on. That's another bad thing. I've been spending more time in front of the computer with not necessarily anything to show for it.
Anyway, it's been fun. I still wish I could have been there, but what can you do. At least I had my internet and laptop.

Growth

I put mustard on my sandwich for lunch today. I liked it.
So, six years ago, when I made a conscious decision to force myself to eat this stuff that just tasted weird (I had the advantage that it way everywhere and on almost everything that I ate) in hopes that I would get used to the taste, little did I know how effective my actions would be.
Granted, I perhaps never liked mustard prior to my European adventure because I had only encountered the canary yellow French's variety. While abroad, I only had fancy mustards.
So what does that make me? A mustard snob?
Anyway, point is, perseverance pays off? It hasn't quite worked out so well with olives.

Bats!

The bat cave at the ROM is soon to be up and running again for the public. It's one of the major attractions at the museum and I remember enjoying going through the space as a child. Every group I take through the museum wants to visit it, and I love watching their reactions as they walk through the mock-up of the Jamaican cave.
Anyway, it's been a long time in the works, but they finally renovated the space and I'm impressed how quickly it got completed.
I haven't had the chance to walk through it yet, but I will be next week, for sure.
The ROM has declared March to be Bat Month to pump up the opening and hopefully draw more visitors to the museum. It's not-so-coincidentally planned so that March Break falls during the celebrations.

A sign?

Rykiel everywhere!
I was hoping to get a striped sweater from Rykiel's capsule collection for H&M, but when I finally showed up today, of course all of the good stuff was already gone.
Wandering The Room, it was clear that they were pushing the brand as well. Lots of accessories.
I was a little dismayed that The Room wasn't overflowing with PS1's. Actually, I was a little scared that they were all sold out, but there were still a couple specimens to drool over.
Do I regret not buying that voluminous Rykiel coat in 2008? No, I loved it, but I'm sure that I will find another lovely coat in the future when I'm ready to splurge.
Oh yeah, there are fashion shows going on all over the world right now. I didn't bother watching the live streams online, but in some of the pictures that I've seen, I've got to say that I love, love, love the Burberry Prorsum collection. Am I surprised? No.

Fashion is weird

Look at this bag from the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2010 collection. It's a garbage bag. Okay, it's probably some sort of industrial strength vinyl thingy, but essentially it's a garbage bag with some hardware and a partially leather strap attached to it. Look, it even has a drawstring to tie up your stuff. Is this some sort of tongue-in-cheek effort to say that ladies have a bunch of junk in their bags? For ~$2000, I'd rather swath my 'junk' in something a little more demure. Styling this bag as a simple rectangular silhouette does make it look a bit cleaner, but just imagine the garbage ties pulled up and cinched in and, well, sitting like a bag of garbage on her hip.
Although, I have to admit that I hope it shows up in the Yorkville boutique. I want to see this bag in person.
Also, if I had a gazillion dollars, I would probably enjoy getting some outrageous bags too. Okay LV, you win this round.

- picture courtesy of vogue.com

Sad-face

How much do I miss skating right now?
Are you sure I shouldn't go back to it next year?
I can do it, really I can.
I'm sad. Very very sad. (This is probably why it's best that I'm watching the Games by myself. So I can wallow in self-pity.)

Tweet, tweet!

I feel like Twitter would have come in handy while watching live events like the Olympics. Especially when I'm watching them alone by starting at a little 3.5x6inch video feed on my Macbook.
Actually, I don't know. I do like my alone time. And Twitter sometimes makes me want to barf. Just like Facebook. (yes, I'm a hypocrite because I have an account)

Amelia?

Why does Liz Manley keep saying Amelia instead of Amelie?
Also, it's Saint-Saens, not Saint-Jean.
Otherwise, she's not too bad a commentator.

Olympics

They're happening. And I'm not there. I'm kind of sad.
Not having a TV, I thought that I would miss out on the whole thing, but this past weekend, I had the luxury of being at an event where they set up a hospitality room for us Olympic junkies. And then the whole weekend, we were pampered with leather couches and a TV hooked up just for us. Definitely not the regular treatment.
The opening ceremonies were wonderful. The only part that I had reservations about was the lighting of the torch. It had nothing to do with the malfunction with one of the arms, but I guess the rumor of the avatar of Terry Fox made me expect something pretty amazing.
Anyway, upon returning back to the city, I was worried that I'd be back in my non-TV bubble, but CTV is doing such a bang up job.
I've been able to watch complete events live and then go back and watch other events that I missed. Every so often the feed will freeze, but no major problems. I'm terribly impressed. So I can watch the events live with commentary, or later on with no talking. I'm glad that they show the entire event, right from the first skater to the last. Okay, it's just skating that I really care about. I'll watch highlights of the other events, but I guess I really only need to watch the skating events live. For us hard-core fans, they even have the detailed protocols for each of the skaters. So impressive.
Well done, CTV, well done.
I really hope that the Olympics will return to Canada again in my lifetime and I hope that I will have enough money lying around to go. I also hope that a miracle will happen and I'll be able to participate in the games as more than just a spectator.

Better late than never

Happy New Year folks. I hope the year will be grrrrreat!

Dedicated folks

I've recently been taking a circuitous route to get to school. I'll walk through the Skywalk to Union Station instead of hopping on the 510 up to Spadina. It's a nice little walk. I should try to make it a regular habit. Although it would mean being a little bit more organized in the morning.
As I've had a pretty relaxed schedule for the past little while, I've taken the stroll during regular 9-5ers lunch hour. I get a little amused at the folks who stroll along the walkway getting their midday workout in. And then I marvel at the power suits that carry their gym bags to the conveniently located GoodLife for their serious midday workout. That's commitment.
I hate working up a sweat. And I hate not being able to go home and recuperate in the comfort of my own home.

Text to landline service

This is weird.
I assume that this has something to do with this service, but I don't know for sure.
I got a "text message" on my land line in the form of a automated voice mail.
Unfortunately, I don't know who left it, because I haven't memorized anyone's phone numbers and I couldn't reach my cell phone fast enough to check who's number it belonged to. The crappy thing is that there's no way of listening to the number of who sent it again. Sure, I can listen to the message, but that wasn't going to help me.
Anyway, there's probably a big chance that the person that sent it will read this and tell me, because I would like to know to properly respond.
But yeah, the service is weird, because it forces me to listen to a creepy robotic lady's voice.
And this isn't the first time that I've gotten such a message either. Maybe I should tell more people my cell phone number?

Edit: Nevermind. I figured out who it was. I had the reverse whitepages website pulled up just in case it happened again tonight. I'm pretty sure in this case, they thought they were calling a cell phone.

Invisible City

I just got home from watching Invisible City. I had desperately wanted to see this film at Hot Docs 2009, but ended up going to Taiwan instead. Of course I was excited to go to Taiwan and a couple other places (written up here, here, here, here, and here), but I had this feeling that I would be missing out on a very special documentary.
Luckily, The Royal Cinema is screening the film for a week and TVO is screening it as well as hosting a discussion forum about the documentary.
Tonight was the premiere of the film at the Royale and Hubert Davis (director), Mehernaz Lentin (producer), and three of the cast members (Kendell, his mom - Sandy and Ainsworth Morgan) were in attendance.
In education, there's a lot of talk about defining moments. Could this have possibly been one of mine? Did I (re-)discover my passion through watching this film?
For fear of forgetting (I wish that my internal dialogue had an instant transcriber), I'm just going to write a couple words to come back to if I don't get around to flushing out my thoughts from tonight in a more productive space. Teacher identity. Creating a safe environment. Caring. Knowing your student. Taking care of the person before the student. Making learning meaningful. Relevant.
I feel like I've already forgotten about some of the things that this film made me think about.
Very quickly into the film, I asked myself yet again if I'm making as much of a difference as I can. I don't think I'm courageous enough to take the steps to reach my full potential on that front. Or perhaps, (to make myself feel better) I have just chosen a different path. A different outlet for change.
I'm not going to talk about all of the issues in the documentary because there are too many. And depending on the viewer's personal experiences, I'm sure different messages ring stronger than others.
Of course, even better than the amazing documentary, was the Q&A afterwards. It started off with a bang. Kendall's father was in the audience, seeing the film for the first time. It was moving and I heard many sniffles around me. I thought Sandy's voice rang through the strongest. To persevere as a parent, to maintain as much physical and mental presence as possible with your child, to love unconditionally and look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Kendall's story seems to be a successful one, although there were bumps along the way. No doubt, this has something to do with his mother's passion, but I'm sure some of the more tumultuous stories also have a parent/parents who are trying their best, so to a certain extent I take it with a grain of salt. There is no guidebook to parenting and most are doing the best they can, no matter the method.
Anyway, it's pretty clear that I loved this film. I'm sure that there are many other films like it out there, and I hope that this one along with all the rest get out to as many people as possible.
There are many things that I have experienced in my life which shape me or compel me to want to do something. I wonder if this will be one of the things that I act one.

Like a knife in my heart

Loewe has an e-shop. I've been looking for this bag since my hair appointment ran late that one summer's afternoon in July of 2008. The next year, I was told that the house was going back to its roots, especially as it's the 35th anniversary of the Amazona, and only selling this version. I could cry.
Okay people, stop rolling your eyes. At least I'm not being overly demanding and lusting over this one. I do have my limits, although, it's soooooo beautiful and I would be extremely happy if it showed up on my doorstep. Even better was the grey stingray version. Wowsa.
I want to cry myself to sleep now.
Stuart Vevers, I beg you...if you still are at the helm of the company (and if it's not you, then this is a plea to the next guru of the Spanish house) please, please, please keep these bags around until I can somehow scrounge up the cash to get one.

Wow

He's a little too showy for me, but this is great.

Winter coat

I think winter has finally hit. This week was the first time I pulled out the heavy duty winter garb. At some point I want to get a fab coat. It's gotta be a warm one, because I'm getting old and can't seem to deal with chilly weather as well anymore.
The city has jumped onto the Canada Goose bandwagon, which seems like a pretty expensive bandwagon for Torontonians to embrace. I'm not sure if people know any better. Those darn TNA parkas are still running rampant around the city. A more affordable choice by far.
I really hope that Moncler never hits it big in the city, because it's going to be awhile before I feel comfortable splurging on a nice coat. I don't know if I'm down the shininess of their parkas, but at least it's something that you don't usually see on the streets. The styles look pretty cute. Holts definitely doesn't have the entire collection, but at least it's nice to see a couple in person. Maybe I should try one one for torture's sake.

Scheisse

Excuse my German.
So, I lost another connection to practice my French (although maybe I can miraculously develop some schweizer deutsche skills) and I actually have make some sort of decision about grown-up things? I thought I was paying someone else to do that for me.
I have to admit, it was kind of nice to listen to a Swiss accent once again.

Ouchie

Is it feasible to think that my ankles and feet have been hurting because my place has hardwood flooring instead of carpet? I'm convinced this is so.