Soljenitsyne

Soljenitsyne's death brings me back decades ago. My recollections are fuzzy but I remember that my father was deeply moved by his books. Seeing as his Gulag Archipelago was published in 1973, I cannot imagine I read it at the tender age of 10... I remember sleeping on the floor - or was it wanting to? - in an attempt to commiserate with the terrible fate of those who battled against all that stood in the way of freedom.

In my teenage years, I was in awe of revolutionaries. My best friend one year nicknamed herself Fidel; I was Mao. These people sounded like they were making terribly important changes (where was my thirst of freedom then?) and we were enthralled by their energy. No critical judgment - just passion and blind devotion.

It is difficult for me to remember the feelings I had then, now that their legacy is known or intuited... I cannot remember what fascinated me in those stories. I can only guess at absolutes and thirst for what was Right. An idealism that did not dwell on the shadowy sides of things, an innocence that made me believe propaganda at face value.

Atrocities and resilience, good and evil, right and wrong held me captive. Human nature is capable of all that? Can embrace all that?

I majored in psychology, trying to sort out this puzzle until it lost its urgency and life took over.

Thank you Soljenitsyne for shining a light on those shadows we would as soon forget. Thank you for revealing to me the compassionate side of my father.

Between Awe and Anguish

I've been meaning to write this blog for a long time but I keep forgetting. This morning it happened again and I was spurred into action. Sometimes when you are trying to post a comment, you have to pass a security test to avoid spams. There are some "dirty" or garbled letters you have to copy into a text field. It can be a mix of numbers and letters - either way, they are ineligible to a machine.
I am torn between awe and anguish. Awe for such a simple device: the brain automatically discards the white noise. It recognizes the shapes of letters and numbers instantly, in the same way that a person with colour blindness could make out a number in Time's big books where I, as a child, was struggling. The brain of a colour-blind person singles out the extraneous colours as mine was trying to make sense of it.
Anguish because I always get this pinch, something of a sinking feeling: can I pass this test? I don't breeze through this seemingly innocuous task. My brain rebels against nonsensical words. It is forever trying to make sense of things. S N S E - you mean "sense", right? Or did you want to write "sene" - more unusual but you are unusual, aren't you. I would know, I live in your head...
So I concentrate and write out what is there: BUL7P - buzzer sound: try again. I break into a cold sweat. I don't know what I did wrong because I am given a totally different set to transcribe. Is it easier? Do they give easier sets the second time around? What if I fail this one? Will my comment ever make it in? Is my comment worth the effort? Will it add anything to the discussion? What is this need to express my opinion, over and over again? Success! My comment is in! I forget the whole thing and move on.

Wet

Weather was never much of a topic for me. I usually get annoyed with people who are "obsessed" with weather. For me, it is what it is. The weather does not have much impact on my life, perhaps because I have retreated indoors much of the time. This year is a different matter. This year we are getting vegetables from a local farmer. The vegetables are not as plentiful as we were hoping because it`s been raining. No sun, just so much rain I swear I can see our grass growing.
We got huge cucumbers, mind you. I don't know how tasty large water-logged vegetables can be though. But I still prefer to eat local than eat a produce shipped from around the world (anybody for cheap garlic from China?). It just makes more sense.

It's Raining, it's Pouring, the Old Man is Snoring...

The Old Man - that's Me. This has been a weird week. I spent most of it sleeping, recovering it seems from all those sleepless nights. And as it has been raining a lot, I haven't feel compelled to spend time outside. The Tour de France has kept company in the mornings and I have been steadily reading The Historian all week. I finished it last night to my regret. It was such a well-crafted, compelling book, I had a hard time putting it down.
We'll be cooking today, as tomorrow we're bringing meals to my mother-in-law who has been complaining lately of the food at her old-age residence.
I am wondering a bit about the people I have left behind at work: are they doing all right? but it is a distant concern and I am looking ahead to other challenges and fun times. Not much else going on. I finally got rid of my cold and the dark shadows under my eyes are receding. Looking forward to a new dawn...

Transformers

No spoiler alert here. We won't be talking about the movie but rather of those things that go boum! in the night.
With all the high winds and storms we've had in the past few days, we had a few close calls. Eventually, yesterday, after a bolt of lightening split the sky in two a mighty roll of thunder and tremendous boum that sounded close, very close, ended with the lights going out. Yesterday was Paul's birthday and we had planned for fondue which is self-sustaining. The cake was done and we have a gas stove so we proceeded as usual, replacing the electrical light with our faithful camping lamp (kids, don't do this at home!). We had a great meal and all but after 4 hours in the darkness (a record since we moved to Kemptville), we inquired what was the situation with our neighbours. Lo and behold, they all had electricity. We called Hydro and they sent some guys. It appears our neighbour's transformer blew up so they would try and restart ours (it worked). I guess that as a protective measure, ours shut down when the surge hit it. It appears we have our own personal transformer which made us feel quite special. Now for us to make it feel special, we need to clean up the trees around it to make it accessible to the maintenance crew. The area around it is overgrown and the personnel who was dispatched last night made us promise to get the trees trimmed (the line from the road to our post has to be cleared).
Friday nights are always exciting in my household.

Time to Go

I have handed in my resignation (figuratively). I told my boss I was leaving and we are ironing out details as to an end date.
This was an easy decision after a few short anguished nights and an epiphany of sorts. After I had taken my decision - made harder by the fact I had made some true friends back at work - I realized it was summer, there was a garden that needed tending, cyclists were enjoying themselves on the road. I had been so stressed and closed upon myself that I hadn't really appreciated that summer was here (I still haven`t but at least I am aware that I haven`t and that is a step forward, no?).
Making this decision was a positive response to all the stress I have been heaping upon myself. It is very empowering to walk away from a difficult situation and decide to do what feels right. Time and again I doubt my decision but wise words from friends help me through. Or I relapse and that relapse tells me I am still fragile and vulnerable and that my decision still holds.
I need a bit of breathing time and I need to take a good look at where I want to go and who I want to be. If it sounds like a mid-life crisis well maybe it is...

Thinking on Thoughts

I haven`t been my usual cheery self lately. I have gotten back into old habits of hiding under the covers when stressed. And stressed I am: I have the insomnia and the clenched jaw to prove it. Of course the hardship is in my mind. The reality hasn't changed, just my perception of it. Which brings me to today`s topic: thoughts.

When I direct my thoughts appropriately to the present and the comfort of my home, the health I am favored with, the full tummy or proximity to food, I start relaxing. The thing is: my basic needs are met. Anything above that is gravy. When I start to appreciate those things around me - yes, even the chirping of birds that drives me nuts when my mood is off can be pleasant - I start to feel happy and relaxed. When I start projecting a few days ahead to deadlines and so on, I collapse into paralysis. And so managing stress becomes a priority. And that starts with directing my thoughts so they stay focused on the here and now and on the things that can be changed instead of possible doom scenarios.

Well, I am feeling tired, which is a good thing. I will catch a few winks while I am relaxed and I will wake up refreshed and eager to start the day. After all, it is Friday...

Tout va très bien. Madame la Marquise

My mom used to sing us a song that I enjoyed very much. "Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise" is the story of a rich woman who comes home to be told by her valet that apart from the fact that her favorite horse is dead, everything is well. Madame la Marquise is shocked: "What? Dead? How could that be? My favorite horse!" Well, says the valet, it happened in the fire. "What? What fire?" And progressively, the poor woman learns that her stables burned down because her castle was in flame when her husband committed suicide after learning of their ruin. He fell and knocked over a chandelier. Of course, there is much hilarious back and forth, and my mom would act out both the valet and the high-born lady with equal passion. She was a sight to behold.
All that to say that we bought a new car. A new car? Yes, because of the crash. The crash? The one that sent us to the hospital. The hospital? Well, you see where this is going I guess... Last Saturday, we were waiting at a red light when a six-wheeler rear-ended the Volvo. The Volvo did what good Volvos do and absorbed most of the shock. The rear passenger is feeling some residual pain that will require physio, but both Yseult, who was at the wheel at the time, and myself, in the front passenger seat, feel no long-term effect and we both went back to work on Monday. The Volvo "died" while saving us and we mourn her loss. After much legwork from Paul, who was brilliant throughout the whole ordeal, we got a good settlement from the insurance company. He secured a used V70 (same model, later year) from the dealer and we drove it home yesterday. Within a week of the accident, we are back driving a new and improved Volvo. A much better ending than in the song.
To our great surprise and with some guilt, we are enjoying the new car even more than the old one. It is plainer for sure, but the driving is more pleasant and it has a few cool additional features (such as a display indicating to-the-minute fuel consumption). So all is well - no buts to it!

Blindness

I finished reading Blindness by Nobel-prize winner Portuguese author Jose Saramago. It is a haunting book. In a rather low-key way and without moralizing, it shows human weaknesses. None of the characters have names, only descriptive characteristics. What I found puzzling was that we see what happens through the eyes of somebody who has not lost her sight.
In any case, it is a tough read - ugly things happen - but the style is something I had never read before with run-on sentences that read like real conversations. Here is a sample:
"One of them declared, I'm not budging from here, what they want to do is to catch us and then kill us all, I'm not moving either, said another, Nor me, chipped in a third."
I was surprised I had never heard of the author. I think it says more about me than about the author, though: I am always surprised when I learn something new! (I probably shouldn't have shared that...)

No Water

Zeroscaping is the fancy word for sensible responsible landscaping. You use native plants that require very little watering. I have done a little research on Amazon and most books are written on the US West Coast for arid climates. The local books are all sold out but I am told some local landscapers can be used as consultants if you want to convert your garden to a greener shade... My friend M. met a couple who are zeroscapers by going to a green exhibition. She was hoping to have them over to redo her landscaping for easier maintenance. Maybe next year...

Stranded

We've been sans wireless for the past two days. We get windows of opportunitues: 10 minutes here, a few seconds there. I don't know if it's because it is unavailable but I find myself longing for a connection, any connection. I accessed my emails from work but haven`t browsed the web at all. I miss my daily fix.

This brings to mind my friend M. who raves about leading a simpler life.

I read about a woman who, in her bid to go green, changes one habit a day for a year. She found giving up little things the hardest: kleenexes, for example were sorely missed during a bad cold. But she felt a lot lighter when she sold her car and embraced her bike. With the larger, more expensive items gone, a heavy weight was lifted from her shoulders. Her goal is to keep up the good habits she picks up every day for the whole year she vowed to do this.

I realize I equate simpler life with living more ecologically. I am at a loss to think how I could possibly come up with a new idea every day to live more simply. I suppose when you put your mind to it, your whole attitude changes and you start seeing things you would normally overlook. And so I have to believe that if I set my mind to it, I could achieve this goal.

If anybody finds the blog of the "green" woman, please send me the link. Hopefully, I will resume surfing soon. Our provider has promised to send help tomorrow around noon. Help is on the way!

A New Way to Party

I was introduced to the issue of kids' birthday parties by a friend who enlightened me on the oneupmanship going on between parents to make their kids' parties memorable. I subsequently read horror stories where parents went overboard with very expensive entertainment for a bunch of kids (we're talking thousands of dollars). On the other side of the story are parents who are reacting to that state of affairs.
ECHOage is such an initiative. The child whose birthday it is goes to the site (presumably with a parent), chooses a charity (Canadian or American) and sends an e-invite to his/her friends. In turn, they send money that would have been spent on a card, wrapping paper and a present to ECHOage. ECHOage divides the money between the charity and the child. The child gets to buy ONE present. The idea is that the number of presents each child was getting was ridiculous and that they did not appreciate it. With ECHOage, the child gets to choose one symbolic gift that represents that year thus eliminating waste. It also shows the child a concrete way to share with others less fortunate.
I love the idea but I am also sad that it has come to that. There is a sense of loss because of the way in which we give. For kids, somebody else buys the gift and they perhaps don't participate much in that aspect. Perhaps people will bring handmade gifts to keep with the spirit of giving alive? In any case, it's nice to see alternatives cropping up.

The 100-mile Diet

Ha! I got this fabulous book from a friend.

The 100-mile diet is a book about a couple who decides to eat, for a year, food that was grown within a 100-mile radius of their home. It is a book about food but also about the economy, evolution, ecology. The authors, both journalists, alternate the writing of chapters. The divisions follow the months, which makes sense as food is seasonal. You can go back to a chapter, fairly confident of what you will find. Each chapter starts with a recipe and a quote.

I "ate" the book. From the start, I was hooked. My expectations were low. I thought the book was capitalizing on a fad. Actually, the reverse is true. The authors were discussing the ecological footprint and then decided they would try and reduce their own by eating food grown in a 100-mile radius from where they live. They set down ground rules and went about their business eventually posting an article on the Web. People started following their efforts and the idea snowballed with others following in their stead.

Required reading if you care about your planet.

Advances in Telecommunications

A woodpecker has decided to attack our steel Bell Mobility cell tower. His tap tap tap reverberates in the house. We can`t believe his beak will survive the attack. The noise is incredibly loud. We're thinking he will go away - there are no insects to find there. Is he brain dead? Is he the victim of an environmental disaster? What has gotten into him? We go out and chase him away.
He comes back, time after time. We are surrounded by trees, some old and full of insects. What is he thinking? And then we wonder: is he trying to attract a female? Look, I can make a lot of noise. I am a BIG provider.
Finally, he leaves. We never got a picture...

Joke

St Peter is at the Gates of Heaven waiting to decide on the fate of the dead. He bases his decision on people's answer to: What do you know about Easter?

St Peter: What do you know about Easter?
Man: Easter is a time of great celebration, when the family gathers and eats turkey. I especially enjoy seeing the leaves turning, and the pumpkins!
St Peter says Humrph! as he pulls a lever and sends the man to Hell.

St Peter: What do you know about Easter?
Second man: Ah! Easter! It is a time of great joy. The family gathers to celebrate and be together. Then they go in the woods, cut a fine tree and decorate it...
St Peter, upset, pulls a lever and sends the second man to Hell.

St Peter: What do you know about Easter?
Woman: Easter is a time of grief and joy at the same time. Grief because our Lord Saviour died for our sins on the Cross on the Friday...
St Peter is tearing up, mumbling Amens under his breath.
Woman: He was then put in a tomb, and a huge boulder was rolled to close it off. On the Sunday, he rose from the Dead.
At this point, St Peter is beaming. He has opened the gates wide and is motioning for the woman to step forward.
Woman: Jesus pushed the boulder aside. Now, if he sees his shadow...

Freebies

I love pop psychology even more than trivia. My brother sent me an article that mentions the following experiment:
Passing students are offered a choice between an expensive chocolate, a Lindt truffle, for the reduced price of 15¢, and a common chocolate, a Hershey's kiss, for 1¢. Since the Lindt truffle ordinarily costs much more than 15¢, a solid majority choose that option. But when the price of each option is reduced by the same amount, one cent—the Lindt truffle then going for 14¢ and the Hershey's kiss for free—suddenly the response changes dramatically, and most people choose the free Hershey's kiss. This is one of many experiments offered to prove that people find "something for nothing" to be irresistible, even when it might not be technically their best option.

Enlightening Experience

The candles are lit. Flashlight in hand, we make our way to the living room where we got a roaring fire going in the fireplace. We settle in to read quietly for the next hour or so, in voluntary observance of Earth hour.
It is a peculiar feeling to forego the luxury of light when no power outage forces you to do so. We went about an hour of our evening with no electricity. Because it is done voluntarily, there is no ill feeling. We know we can stop the experiment at any time. When we finally turned the lights back on, we found the electric light harsh and unpleasant and decided to wait a bit more.
Because it was only an hour and we had control over the outcome (we can switch the lights back on in case of emergency), the experience was overwhelmingly positive. It also builds awareness on the luxury of electricity. It was sobering.
We are ready to do it again in a flash. Let's hope those feelings last.

What is it You Want?

1- I want the hurt to go away. I keep forgetting my leg is mending. I am reminded as I put weight on it, or twist it, or bang it softly against furniture or lift it in a certain way.
2- Purple Rain, purple rain. I just spent part of the afternoon going through UTube videos because I didn't know who sang Do Wah Diddy (Manfred Mann, so you won't have to suffer) and went on listening to their other great songs and from there, well, the afternoon was pretty well a goner
3- a Wii? We just bought one, after I had been lusting after it since last summer. A little detective work, a lot of running around, a dash of luck, and we were all set. Of course I can only play stationary, staid, very subtle games. Anything physical where I actually need to stay on my feet is Verbotten.
4- To win the lottery? 5-17-25-33-41-42 (I hope there is no typo)
5- A new puppy? I totally understand. I can't wait to replace our two beautiful, loving, perfect German shepherds with their equivalents. I can't wait but I will.
6- One of Macs sleek and sexy flat laptops - the Macbook Air. Don't you just love their tv ad with the laptop in an envelope? They rock!
7- (trying to get to 10) Peace on Earth? Sorry the link to that one is broken.
8- A year in Paris? Working on that one. All help welcome.
9- A little less logic, a little more creativity
10- (fill in the blanks)

...the hipbone's connected to the thigh bone...

I finally went to the Emergency room because the pain in my ankle was migrating to other parts of my body as it was compensating for the fracture. Yes, fracture. I broke my fibula. I always thought a broken bone would bring excruciating pain so I am glad to have learned that I can bear the pain of a broken bone (and even function somewhat) . If you like trivia, the kind doctor who looked after me said that the part of my foot that is currently numb should heal within 2 years. It seems that dead nerve grows at the rate of 1 mm a month.

I was shocked to hear I had broken a bone. It is my first fracture ever and I guess I suddenly felt vulnerable. I can't quite put a name on my feeling. In a sense I was proud that I bore the pain but in another it felt like I had mismanaged my body, allowing it to break.

On the cool side, I now wear something akin to a spaceboot - those winter boots that were so popular in the 70s? 80s? Anyways, they look futuristic and very techie. I will make all my colleagues jealous.

Looking Down

The best part of blogging is finding inspiring titles.
I found $20 on the ground the other day and I realized that doesn't happen to me much anymore. As a kid, it seems I was always finding money. I have a few hypotheses why this doesn't happen anymore:
a- Credit cards
b- People are more concerned with money so they keep an eye out for it
c- My vision is not as keen as before ; )

What do you think?

Bragging

Vicki left a comment in my previous post about the animals they have in Barrhaven (rabbits and skunks) so I figured I would treat you with another beautiful picture, this one of a barred owl (we only saw it once but what a treat that was). Yeah, I love living in the countryside.

Free Lunch

Somebody dropped three bales of hay on the road in front of our house. They were scattered and we didn't want the deer to start eating it on the road (they cross the road in that area) so we brought them back behind the house, and to our surprise, we had quite a few guests coming to eat at our buffet. All the snow this winter must have made it difficult for them - hopefully the free lunch will have helped. We are used to seeing their tracks but we never had a glimpse of them - certainly never when we had our two German Shephards. We took a few movies (of them running away) and a few pictures too but they are camera-shy so most of them didn't turn out as nice as this one.

They stopped coming as soon as the hay was gone and I miss them...

Love your crutches

Years ago, while living in Montreal, I sprained my ankle on an uneven sidewalk, ending my "career" in karate. Ever since, if I lose my footing, the same ankle always volunteers to get sprained. And so, yet again, I am immobilized because of a fall (always a stupid, avoidable fall). Yesterday, I did not mind missing work, but today I am already dreading the long day ahead. I am trying to make light of it and enjoy the moment. Actually, the pain has noticeably receded and I am feeling much better today than yesterday.
I am well cared for and I am starting to learn to use crutches. I also have plenty to read. I just want to recover quickly and enjoy the freedom of walking around the house. I took that for granted before Monday. The stairs were not a challenge, the carpets did not feel like vast expanses to be conquered.
Yesterday, I was rolling around the house in my office chair, noticing the hindrances underfoot. It gave me a taste of life if you are wheelchair-bound. Evidently, our household is not designed for wheelchairs... Anything left lying on the floor can hinder access to your destination. You can't jump over things or navigate easily around them.
At least this forced rest will give me time to think of things...

Health Hazard

In the paper recently, there was a fascinating article on permanent smiles in Japan. Pushing the logic to extremes, this extremely competitive nation is forcing customer-facing staff to keep a permanent smile on their faces. The problem - apart from the physical pain - is that they can't wipe the smile off their faces when they go home.

It seems that forcing yourself to smile non-stop can lead to depression. I guess your body rebels against the fact that you are not listening to it. Other theories?

Sunday smile

I read two articles in The Citizen today. The top half of the page was an article remembering the Maharashi yogi that the Beatles hung out with in 1968. He died last week at the age of 91. Peace and love (and greed).

The bottom part of the page was an article on the latest Rambo and what it says about the American public. The juxtaposition made me smile.

Kodak Moment

From a chartered bus, I looked down on a square that has a number of sculptures. They are life-sized depictions of heroic Canadians (Laura Secord, for example). They are not on pedestals - the idea being to make them approachable. You can look at them eye-to-eye.

A homeless man was standing in front of one of the bronzes, staring at his face.

I stared at the man, wondering what he was thinking.

I keep thinking back on this moment.

We're going through an acquisition at work. I get to compare with the previous situation I was in. See how this company does. They have tons of experience and a staff a thousand strong dedicated to acquisitions, so my expectations are high. Up to now, they are doing swell:
- keeping new staff informed but not overwhelmed with irrelevant info
- sending emails with practical suggestions
- centralized Q&A (pretty standard) and short info sessions
- a goodbye session later in the day of the welcome session so we can close the loop
- iterative and well-published steps to replace signage in and around the buildings

I can't wait for the corporate gifts... Oh, did I mention we're all getting new hardware? No grumbling there - everybody loves a new laptop! Coming next week already - rumour had it there was a warehouse full of goodies just waiting for the official green light.

Mucho fun in perspective!

New and Improved Grocery Shopping

We were discussing how difficult it now is to buy staples at a grocery store. There is new-found angst at buying bread and milk because of the myriad choices there are. I came up with a brilliant solution. At the entrance, there could be a "grocery consultant" to help you make your choices. He or she would ask questions about your household and values and indicate what would be appropriate for you. For example: family of four with growing children? Or aging couple? Perhaps they would ask about cholesterol levels or health issues. Perhaps they would inquire about dietary or monetary restrictions. In any case, they could either walk through the aisles with you or go over your grocery list. If you could not read the labels, they could help you with that. They could accompany you through the store and grab things on high shelves and stuff. I think it would make the customer stay in the store longer (always something the store wants) and help in whatever way to make the shopping experience nicer. Perhaps they could run an get an item while you stay in line... Hmmmm... I think that job would pay for itself...

Forget Desperate Housewives!

A colleague put up one of these motivational posters with the beautiful picture and inspirational text. Except, when I looked more closely, the picture of all those hands stretching out of business suits as an imitation of the knights cry of "All for One and One for All!" actually said: "Meetings: None of us is as dumb as all of us" in a pretty font.

I wished I had had that idea myself. Laughing, I asked him where he got it. He directed me to despair.com

Here is an excerpt of their catalog: AT DESPAIR, INC., we believe motivational products create unrealistic expectations, raising hopes only to dash them. That's why we created our soul-crushingly depressing Demotivators® designs, so you can skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow!

It's in the same vein as Dilbert, and similarly tiring after a while. But still worth a chuckle.

Boxing Day

For the first time in years, I went shopping on Boxing Day. We saw ads for great electronics and wanted in. I left at 9:00 with some trepidation. I had chosen an out-of-the-way venue, deciding the store would be unpopular and as deserted as could be. By the time I arrived (after circling a bit in the one-way streets), it was 9:45 and the store was quiet with just a few cars in the parking lot. I loaded the car with goodies and enjoyed the great savings. It was painless and I was happy (as much as things can make you happy - let's not go there, shall we?). I went to a few other stores, but a lot of them were closed on the 26 - it made sense to me. I wasn't working. Why should they?

As a teenager in Montreal, I went at least once or twice to Sam's the Record Man's Boxing Day sale. It was almost a rite of passage. You get loads of money and you get to spend it on music after waiting for hours in line talking to strangers in the bitter cold. It's a must when you're growing up in Montreal. I paid cash (I did not have a credit card yet) so my math skills had to be up to par. They were - tax was the tricky part but if you rounded up to 10% you were sure to have a safety net. Plus my brother was always there to bail me out. He received even more money than me since he was older. On our way back, we would compare our records and read the labels. There was no way to listen to them until we got home (an hour later) as those were vinyls. We did not mind the wait. It gave us time to decide which we would listen to first...

New job and old ones

I am starting a new job on Monday. My contract ran out Nov 30 and I was offered a permanent full-time position this week. Yay! I love that place! I will be heading over tomorrow to sign the papers. That's a mighty nice Christmas present.
Speaking of... I spent a bit of time shopping and what nice things there are out there! I really ought to go out more!

My to-do list is shrinking nicely:
- create and send Christmas cards Created and started sending
- create and wrap Christmas presents Created and started wrapping
- lunch with friends scheduled for Thursday
- practice the Secret hmmm... need to work on that one
- read Pullman's trilogy His Dark Material (which includes The Golden Compass, made famous by the movie of the same name) done! way cool
- de-cluttering my home office half-done
- scanning and printing old photo albums and negatives done with old photos; not started on negatives
- helping my mom to tidy her home for her Christmas party (a good excuse to catch up) planned for Thursday-Friday
- going out for a movie I think that will have to wait until the holidays proper

... and lots of rest. I am good at napping. I really enjoy that part...

Post Office

I went to the post office to retrieve a parcel. It seems I end up going every week to pick up something or mail something. It's that time of the year. I went in the afternoon, since I was home,
and had to wait in line (I usually rush on my way back home, tired and hungry). It was nice to wait leisurely in line. I don't shop much and would rather not buy than wait in line, unless I am reading a book.
This brought back memories of me and my grandma bringing Christmas parcels to the post office for my Australian cousins. First my grandma and I would pick out the fabric, then she would sew pajamas, then she would cut out paper grocery bags, turn them inside out and voilà! we had good solid wrapping paper. She would wrap the gifts and address the parcel and then we would get on a bus and go wait in line. My grandma would always complain that the shipping was too expensive. There would be a bit of back and forth while the clerk would try and figure a cheaper fare. Once, he told her if she made two parcels, it would be cheaper. We went back home with the parcel and she repackaged it and the next week we came back. I was mortified; my grandma was triumphant. All this came back in a flash. My grandma counting her coins and arguing and me wanting no part in the little drama. You gotta love the post office...

To-Do List

My contract at The Company is over and I have a bit of time before I start again over there (either full-time or as a replacement for a mat leave). Those of you who have worked with me won't be in the least surprised to hear I have created a To-Do List for my off-time:
- create and send Christmas cards
- create and wrap Christmas presents
- lunch with friends
- practice the Secret
- read Pullman's trilogy His Dark Material (which includes The Golden Compass, made famous by the movie of the same name)
- de-cluttering my home office
- scanning and printing old photo albums and negatives
- helping my mom to tidy her home for her Christmas party (a good excuse to catch up)
- going out for a movie

I have two weeks at the most! I guess that's why I am awake at this ungodly hour... So much to do, so little time. : )

Machine translation

The other day I had to evaluate a bunch of texts that had been machine-translated. The intent was to evaluate if for some highly technical, reasonably short, self-contained texts, machine translation (MT, for short) was acceptable. I did sentence-by-sentence analyses which brought to light a number of interesting conclusions:
- there are elements that are not translated. From one language to the next, some filler words (prepositions, for example) just go. They just weigh down the text and don't add meaning. An example is "then" in 'if-then' instances. The poor machine translated then as a time construct instead of causality - the results were disastrous as the added meaning was far from the original. Better to have skipped it altogether.
- some elements cannot be skipped. MT sometimes misses crucial notions. This has the unexpected consequence of making the sentence unreadable. Sometimes the verb or subject will be missing. I did not stop to analyze why - I suspect it has to do with style (syntax, really). The machine cannot recognize the element as important in relation to its position in the sentence.
- common words have many meanings that a human being understands because of context or experience. The word May was translated as a derivative of 'can' instead of the month it was representing.
By the end of the 6-hour exercise, I was in awe of the human brain. Never before had I truly appreciated the complexity of the translation work. MT really demonstrates the enormous amount of weeding that goes into choosing the correct words to translate a thought. It also highlights the thought processes and decision-making abilities of good translators.

The page-by-page analyses showed that even though individual sentences can be properly translated, it is rarely enough to get the meaning across. If important elements are dropped (a negation in a warning, for example), then no matter how grammatical your sentence is, the results are still unacceptable. The text ranged from poor to good, good being the category just above poor. I would have had categories such as laughable, miserable, poor, barely readable, understandable. Good would have been the highest possibility. This was an eye-opening experience...

Book of Revelations

Ok, so the title is already taken, but it's a fine one.
I will tell you about one little revelation: willpower. I realized this past month that what matters is not competence as much as the will to do. This quality I think is the one that guarantees things will get done. There are variants to this truth: they have to do with faith. "If you build it, they will come." And come they do.
Looking around me at work, I realize that personal integrity as well as a strong work ethics define the people with with I enjoy hanging out. These thoughts and others about how to live life fully have led me to believe that my life results not in my thoughts, my emotions or my actions - all things in which at one point I put my faith into - but in my drive which brings all of this into a neat little package. I more or less drifted into my life, not really imparting a conscious direction to it, though I felt and thought and acted in certain ways as though I had a goal or plan. Lately, I came to believe that this is not enough. All these elements need to be wrapped neatly in a direction.
Basically, willpower is the energy that propels thoughts, emotions and actions into reality. Will is the creative power without which nothing exists.
It is a very empowering notion that I plan to keep at the forefront of my thoughts day and night from now on.

Let's Talk about the Weather

So here's the thing: you can predict the weather basd on a caterpillar's colour. Not any caterpillar though. The fuzzy orange and black ones. See, the head is orange, the body black and the tail orange. The amount of black on the body indicates the dryness. You start counting in the Spring, presumably when it is born. If most of the caterpillar is orange, you're getting wet. I am not sure if you can get rings (an alternation of colours).
Anyhow, we found such a caterpillar and brought it to a learned friend who explained it to us. He showed us how we had had a rather dry summer and said not to expect a white Christmas.

It seems this ancient knowledge was used in Cambodia for centuries to plan rice crops.

Another effect of the climate change...

Work

As a rule, I don't blog about work. Today will be the exception. I started working outside my home in mid-July, as we realized Minuit was quite sick. He passed away a week later and I didn't blog for the next two months though I could have found the time. I just couldn't think of anything interesting to write about.

I had been meaning to work at The Company ever since I was laid off from my previous one. Of all the local companies, it had the best reputation, low attrition, no scandals. I personally knew ex-colleagues happily working there and was eager to have a foot in the door. After working there for three months, I still think the world of The Company. My cynicism hasn't kicked in, mostly, I think, because the people I meet are so constantly positive. It is a rare and beautiful thing to see that the core of a company is made up of so many happy people. The fact that they are competent and hard-working is an added bonus. Hard-working competent employees are fairly common in the business but a lot of them, IMHO, are disgruntled and unhappy with life. In The Company, I have met and become friends with people from various departments.

During the day, though we work in cubicles, the noise level is low. Yesterday, at EOD, I heard laughter and was really happy to be still working. It makes such a difference to be in a positive environment, with people who are happy to be there and to contribute. Some of you have heard my grievances about one of my colleagues. She behaved rudely with a number of contractors but, and that is the big thing, her behavior was NOT tolerated and our manager has followed her closely to make sure she would comply with the new behaviour and attitude he wanted her to adopt. It has been many weeks and the atmosphere around her has dramatically improved.

The way this problem was handled is also a testament to the excellence of the people in The Company. There are no perfect situations; our reaction to them is what matters.

So, basically, this is what I have been up to. Adapting to my new environment at work and at home. I think of all of you more often than this blog shows. Really. : )

Can't Explain

I have worked in corporations alongside tech writers for over 15 years (gasp). I always heard that using humor in technical texts is quite risky and should be avoided. Here is a case in point, taken from the label on my conditioner (yes, I read everything):

Directions: Try to contain your laughter. Work conditioner through clean, damp hair. Rinse and commence laughter.

Can somebody explain?

Gratitude

I just finished reading The Secret, a book that gives advice on how to live better. I incorporated a few of the ideas in my life. One of them is to write daily things that happened for which you are grateful. A friend of mine has been doing it for two years just as a general morale booster. I always thought it was a good idea - for her. I bought myself a notebook and started writing a few days ago. It's actually a lot of fun. Example: I am happy for my visit to the dentist (it didn't hurt); I enjoyed stopping for organic vegetables by the side of the road and paying though the honor system; I loved the mushroom sauce Paul made tonight...

Anyways, we'll see where that leads me.

Evolution

Minuit died on July 24. I used to write to Paul's mom as though I were Minuit and, since he died, I send her "extracts from his diary". She asked us if we thought he had been a human being reborn into a dog, which sparked a discussion later between Yseult and me when she mentioned that exchange to me. I told Yseult that I did not think it was possible to reincarnate into anything other than a human body. She argued that she did not believe humans were the highest life form and that we might be better off coming back as plants. She told me of an experiment where two plants were separated : one was kept in a lab and the other was sent into space. The scientists did things to the one on Earth and the one in space reacted immediately as though it was happening to it. "If plants can communicate immediately over such distances, why are we the evolved ones?"
Which got me thinking about how presumptuous it was of me to assume supremacy over plants and animals...

Logic and Me

I don't know why recipes are so hard to follow (see Twist: Technical Writing for another embarrassing example). Last time I baked a cake, I put too much sugar. Sometimes, if the ingredient is indented I don't see it (I tend not to read titles in red, either). This time, the ingredients were not listed in a logical manner (my logic) and the instructions were vague (it was a recipe transcribed, no doubt, from memory - but whose? a confused person, that's for sure). I managed to make a decent strawberry pudding with Paul's help - he pulled out the pudding when I realized I had forgotten to mix the eggs in! and proceeded to correct my mistake. We put it back in the oven. I then realized I hadn't put the required butter on the syrup you pour over it. Out of the oven it came again! By then, it didn't look like what it was supposed to but it turned out pretty good nevertheless.
Of course, it wasn't my fault. I decided the recipe writer must've been on drugs and proceeded to - yes, you guessed it - rewrite it to my satisfaction. And tonight, we are eating the same strawberry pudding just to prove my point (nobody is complaining). Btw - I just took it out of the oven and it is a nice golden colour... see for yourself.

Superstition

I was over at a friend's last week-end. He owns a store and was telling us about the new goods he had recently purchased. We got to talking about the cool umbrellas he carries (Yseult loves umbrellas) and he left the room and came back with a promo one. It features the polar caps and it looks really, really good. He got ready to open it and I suddenly felt uncomfortable "Surely he's not going to open it in the house? Maybe we'll all go on the balcony? You fool - what are you doing!!! You are not supposed to do that. You are only allowed to open it in the bathroom where you put it to dry!" Those thoughts spinned in my head fast and furious as quickly as I was trying to neutralize them, mock them and generally shut them down.
Wow - what a struggle! And to think I used to mock my friend who would toss salt over her shoulder if she (or I) knocked over the salt shaker. If I didn't toss salt over my shoulder, she would. It was just too strong an urge to block. Something we learned as kids and never fully understood (I think the salt blinds the devil that lurks in the shadows; as for the umbrella, I think it's a safety issue) but continue doing as adults. I couldn't believe I held such irrational and powerful thoughts.
The evening proceded without incident and - knock on wood - I hope the rest of the week continues that way...

Peaceful Canadians

For all the threats in the newspapers, there was no animosity displayed between the lawn chairs (cordoned off on the side) and the dancers. I had never been to a show where you can text messages on the big screen. It was a big part of the entertainment.... I taped that just for the fun of using the video feature on my phone...

I didn't enjoy the music as much as I did the CDs, which is a shame. I did get to buy more CDs - Metric and White Stripes - so that was cool. And I generally just enjoy hanging out at outdoor concert venues so all in all I had a good time...

Lawn Chair War

I changed camp this year and joined the lawn chair gang at the Blues fest. I'm not going to go and explain why I did that, I just did. Now I am dreading going to the concert, in fear I will be spat on and generally booed at. I will wear dark glasses and my very fast sneakers and hope I get through this ordeal without any permanent scars.

Keep your fingers crossed - I am hoping for rain to dampen the spirits of the other camp...

Canada Day riddle

Bear with me: I made up a riddle for Canada Day, but did not find the answer to it until today. What's red and white and moves?
It's me, walking with my new cell phone. The phone is white and has a red (detachable) faceplate. Spiffy! We bought it on Friday, I took pictures (yay) with it Saturday and I read the instruction manual (gasp! I hope you tech writers out there are proud of me) online Sunday. You think I would be able to make phone calls by Monday? Well, I was...
The camera is not bad at all and even has an integrated flash. We got a Canada Day rebate of $50 (I kid you not) on the package (we got 2). It has all sorts of cool features which I don't need now but might use down the road - who knows? Quite exciting. It had been a while since I had a new toy...

That's all the news, really. Had a quiet Canada Day. Had to deliver some files as I work for ... Americans who aren't patriotic about Canada... ; ) It's all right, we still had time for a little jaywalking in Merrickville - not sure if it's jaywalking if there are no sidewalks to go to and from... not many cars, either... Good fun.

I hope you all had a great Canada Day!

Expat

Today is saint-Jean-Baptiste day but it felt like any other day, here in Ontario, apart from an article in the Citizen (of all places - they are usually not too francophile) talking about 41 reasons to rejoice at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste and sending greetings to "have a good one". For the first since I moved here in 1990, I felt a little saddened by that fact. That was my warm and fuzzy feeling for the day... There were no flags, no reminder of that special day. I felt a tinge of envy towards those fortunate enough to be annoyed by the noise or resentful of the celebratory mood. You can afford to not fully appreciate the companionship when it is so freely given.
Or maybe I was just in a melancholy mood.
I sent a few emails to friends in Montreal, asking if or how they were celebrating. No answer. Were they out? Was it a no-brainer?A non-issue? What's the deal? Sigh.
We had a good dinner (no BBQ because of the impending rain, a toast to highlight the day, and that was it.
So - to all expats - Joyeuse Saint-Jean-Baptiste!

Grandma smell

I hit another "grandma smell" yesterday. I tended to the tomato patch, nipping off the little suckers that, well, suck out the plants energy and divert it to branches with no flowers (hence, no fruits, later on). The green smell I had on my hands so vividly called upon my grandma. We used to tend her vegetable patch together - she grew lots of tomatoes, green and yellow beans and... really, I don't remember much else.
As much as my father loved to experiment in his patch - growing enormous zucchinis that only a zucchini bread could handle - my grandma was a woman of tried and true things. We ate countless loads of fresh vegetables all summer, and our neighbours also benefitted from her green thumb. She also loved flowers and when we went on walks she would recognize the houses or streets by the flowers that were grown. I was fortunate to see the world through her eyes and learn to appreciate "things that grew". My world was around my friends - this is Susan's house, the neighbour has a dog. My grandma would recognize the double geraniums or the well-tended begonias. And we would go on chatting, sharing our worlds and appreciating each other's company.
I love the green smell.

Father's Day

My Dad loves trees.
When I was too young to go to church, I would go just for the pleasure of his company. We would walk to church and he would name all the trees we passed by and tell me about them.
He still goes to church. I live in the countryside, surrounded by trees.
Thanks for sharing your love of Nature with me, Dad. Happy Father's Day.

Summer Reading

For summer reading, I recommend "Heat". That's not true, though it's all about being very hot (think polar caps melting), it is not a light, fun read. On the contrary, it talks about the very serious issue of global warming. Between this and a thriller, Heat is scarier. It is also a "dry" read (no pun intended) and a slow one because of the topic.

I am not done but will start commenting on Heat now as there will be time to write other posts about it. If I don't post now, I will certainly forget what moved me, because it is such a slow read and my memory span is... well, as short as ever.

The net effect of this book is that I have started paying attention to what politicians say about global warming. I look for articles on global warming to try and make up my own mind on what is going on. Monbiot, the author, exposes where disinformation is coming from and who benefits from it.
Examples of government neglect are taken from the UK - for the Canadian edition, a virulent attack on Harper's ineptitude was added. This covers the first few chapters.

After identifying CO2 as the main culprit, we learn where the bulk of it comes from and what needs to be done to remedy that. In the UK, for example, houses are badly insulated and so people heat and heat throughout winter, burning coal and releasing tons of CO2 in the atmosphere. The author goes on to explore ways to "fix" the houses as well as alternate means of generating clean energy: nuclear power? wind mills? he goes through the list and shares his findings with us.

It is quite a disheartening and sobering read. A needed one too. The least it did for me was raise my awareness (as An Inconvenient Truth had done before) of things I can do on my own to make a difference. And so I read on and urge you to do the same.

(Add subliminal message here: Buy the book! Buy the book! jk - Blues bro lent me a copy. I am sure your local library has it.)

Sens fever

It seems a lot of fans believe that what they do influences the outcome of the game (for those not paying attention, I am talking about the hockey finals for the Stanley Cup between the Senators and the Ducks).

I heard first- or second-hand stories of magical thinking told by the most balanced people. For example: "Don't yell at them (the Senators), you will destroy their confidence." Or "If I pay too much attention to the game, the other team scores. If I go to another room, the Sens bounce back." Those people are watching the games on tv, in their homes, and are otherwise quite rational. Why do they admit to this magical thinking? I can only surmise they believe it works that way.

Babies with little experience in life will believe that they control curtains blown by the wind. We teach them about the wind and they drop that idea. Suppose we're wrong? We go to great lenght to recapture the innocence of our youth. Religions and philosophies expound on the clarity of a child's simple mind that sees things as they are. Some are based on the premise that we are all interconnected : if that is so, then every fan's doubt or vote of confidence trips his hero or sends the puck flying in the net.

The Senators won 5-3 last night. I, for one, think the fans were doing something right...

Beijing

I just came across this wonderful blog of this American student living in Beijing. She writes about her experience there and she is funny and writes so well she puts me to shame. In one of her posts, she mentions a "translation" by Ezra Pound. The word translation never applies when it comes to Pound because he was so innovative and creative in his work that they were really another creation inspired by the original. Anyway... the blog is a delight and makes me hanker for my linguistics classes - the only ones that really ever got my full attention for all the possibilities that they harboured (my bilingual dictionary is failing me).

I started a little personal blog on the side - it contains letters by my dog to Paul's mother. She keeps saying I should publish them because they make her laugh. That is my backup for them and I also intend to do little experiments with pictures and layouts, RSS feeds and whatever catches my fancy. When I figure things out, I will port the new technology over to this one... It's like going to the moon - the technology benefits related spheres (or not!)

Yes!

That's how it feels to be back amongst the living. I knew as soon as I awoke that I was better. My head was not as woozy and my ears were almost unplugged and the slight headache was only present when I blew my nose.
Two days ago I almost posted a blog on breathing - I knew only the absence of it at that time and was longing to breathe through my nose. I had a nanosecond of panic when I thought I was out of Breathe Easy strips - little strips that pull your nostrils out and help you breathe through the nose as you sleep.
I read in a book on yoga a few years back that you breathe through one nostril at a time. Something like a 90-minute cycle on one nostril and then the next cycle on the other. You were supposed to become aware of the cycle and control it, if I remember correctly.
I am thinking that if that is true, then you might be oxygenating one side of the brain when you breathe with one nostril and the other when you breathe with the other. Now, how does that affect your dreams? Are they more creative when your right side is oxygenated? What about if you are wearing strips? Does that affect the quality of your dreaming? Of your sleep? So much research to be done still...

This is my brain on cold medicine

Started a new cold. Finished a book* (yeah, they are related items: reading keeps me still.) My other brother is showing off his latest works both at the Galerie Graff in Montreal (I couldn't find my brother's name there so there's not much point in going - as well their site is still under construction - the English link doesn't work yet) and at the Musée de Joliette in, well, Joliette, starting next week. I promised I would go to the Montreal opening on Thursday so that cold better go away. Since I slept most of the day, I am hoping to be rid of it soon.

So - not much to talk about. I had a busy week working and when it's not raining, we are enjoying our BBQ...

* The book is Anna Gavalda's Ensemble c'est tout

Beauty is in the eye...

Dandelions have taken over the backyard. So how do we respond to the invasion? Depending on who you are:
a) You take pictures - and rant about the fact that busloads come to see tulips but no one bothers with dandelions. You just hate discrimination...
b) You cut them and bring them to the banks of the creek. You seed them in the hopes they will fight erosion.
c) You harvest them and macerate them and work them into a decent wine concoction.
d) If you live in my household, you do all of the above!

Mother Day story

We never ate grapes when I was a kid.
Years later, as I was grocery shopping with my Mom, she told me that she had lifted her boycott when apartheid in South Africa was finally officially over. I was puzzled. She explained that the grapes came from South Africa and she did not want to fund apartheid. So she fought apartheid by denying them her money.

One woman standing up to apartheid. I am proud to call her my Mom.

Happy Mother's Day all!

Spring

Spring has sprung a thousand leaves
in shades of light and tender greens

Spring has sprung a thousand colors
from daffodils to trilliums galore

Spring has sprung a thousand songs
Creeks and frogs and birds

Spring has sprung a thousand flies
A buffet set for one and all

Reality is overrated

I had this interesting conversation last night with a friend from Montreal who was puzzled by how our "realities" differ. She was engrossed in the debate of the French candidates and I was busy cheering the Sens. The Habs did not make the playoffs so , basically, hockey season is over in Quebec. On to other things. That is just the latest in a series of disconnects we have been experiencing. It doesn't help that I am not very interested in politics in general or specifically in Quebec politics.
I can't relate to people who always seem to be talking to themselves about themselves - hum, a bit like a blogger, if you see what I mean. But that's a different story.

Anyways, reality is overrated. I believe we each have our reality, our own world and relate well to people who share our world view.

Life is a state of mind is my all-time favorite quote from the movie Being There. It totally captures my reality...

In Praise of the Ordinary

I went looking for inspiration on my favorite blogs and am back here, clueless.
I had a vague idea of talking about the close race in France for the election of the first female President of the Republic and make parallels with Hillary Clinton's race...but I figured, what do I know? It would not be a factual analysis, just me and my prejudices in favour of women in power. What's the point, really? We can debate all we want about differences between sexes and the imbalance of power and the way women/men use power... we are really just blowing smoke. I think I want women in power 'cause we're on the same team! Rah! Rah!

A bar-b-q is not a snowblower

I was reluctant to start assembling the bar-b-q with Paul because my previous experience with assembling something with metal was mounting the snowblower on a tractor. Do they even test the instructions? Anyway - the instructions for the bar-b-q were strictly illustrated - no text whatsoever. If everybody were so clever, translators would roam the streets begging.
But - needless to say - they are not and so I make a decent living.
The pictures worked for us. No mistakes, we ended up with a sturdy bar-b-q and we even got to try it for the first time (the word is "étrenner" and you should get used to it because I won't use the English circumlocution anymore) the same evening with our friend Steve.

Steve brought a nice bottle of South African white wine and his lovely beagle to keep our dog company. Those two had a lovely time and ended up swimming in the creek - and then a bath! I am glad to have had a chance to taste the South African wine - we are usually partial to French or Italian (with some incursions into Latino ones or Californian).

I think summer started today (and I'm not saying that because of the black flies!). Sweet...

Tenth of a picture

The point of blogging is to write, right? In my case, I want to share news with friends and family I don't often see. I haven't been writing much for fun lately and I want to get back to it so I decided I would blog every day because I lurk at this one blog just cause the guy writes everyday. I like the variety. I figure if you stuck with me so far, I should at least make an effort. So I will post short blogs - no pictures, that's cheating - well maybe I will discover I like cheating?

We've been watching the Senators play against Brodeur. Brodeur is awesome. I have always had a particular fondness for goaltenders, a certain kin-ness if you will (the newly discovered spell checker did not allow "kinness" and doesn't seem to keen on this new version either. I hope you will tolerate it).

I know I have had a relaxing day when I actually read through the Saturday paper on the same day. Quite an accomplishment. I actually enjoyed a few articles so it was worth my time.

Oh - we bought a bar-b-q today to replace our old one. Tomorrow we plan to assemble it and hopefully try it for the first time. "Try it for the first time" actually translates in just one word in French. It's funny how languages differ. I guess it shows francophones like to try new things - so much so that they invented a word for this action.

Well, I will try a new thing and write more often...

Zen garden metaphor

I used to have a little zen garden at work, complete with sand, rocks and a little rake. I would come in in the morning and reflect on how I was feeling, then trace my design for the day. It was a fun thing to do and my colleagues who dropped by would sometimes offer creations of their own.

Now the funny thing is, a colleague I didn't like produced a garden absolutely not to my taste. After seeing that creation, it occurred to me that such a garden would be a great psychology test... She had piled the rocks in a corner and the lines from the rake were unequal. To me, this was the antithesis of calmness. I didn't think of it at the time and will never know if that pile of rocks had, for her, positive things associated with it. What is certain is that the creation was distasteful to me and I wasn't sure if it was because of the author or because of the creation. In any case, I found my reaction to it quite interesting and wondered if there was something fundamental in the reason why we did not get along. Perhaps our views on life were so opposite that we did not enjoy working together?

On the other hand, I was always pleased with my friends' efforts. In their uniqueness, there was always something I could relate to. And I guess that is the essence of friendship: the acceptance of the other in his/her uniqueness.

The Soul Attractions

We had a blast last night at the Tech Rocks watching the performance of Adobe's The Soul Attractions. The guys and gals were great if you judge by the reaction of the crowd (lots of Soul Attraction tees out there) but the judges went for "rockier" bands.
Unfortunately, I didn't stay for the whole show this time around: there were seven bands in all. Nevertheless, I hear the level of competition was quite high (higher than the previous week). I had lots of fun filming the whole thing (with Steve's awesome digital camcorder - I need one!) and mingling with my ex-colleagues. I was in a very festive mood and was just generally excited at being there. The Soul Attractions played 2 original songs and one soul song which I didn't know. I am told that all the Tech Rocks performances end up on You Tube so you might want to check them out later today or tomorrow to see what you missed. You will hear excellent solos from the members.
They are playing again at the site update meeting in Adobe tomorrow. It is not a public event but it will give a chance to the Adobe people who missed it to cheer the band.

Surprise!

This is what we woke up to today. April 16. What kind of a joke is this anyway? The stoic Canadian is turning into the weary Canadian.
Bring on summer already...

Tech Rocks

Two of my best friends are participating in Ottawa's Tech Rocks as part as the Adobe Systems band "The Soul Attractions". For those not in the know, this is an annual event showcasing Ottawa's tech talents. Bands from local tech companies compete for fun and a chance to win a recording deal.
We're going to size up the competition next Wednesday (details here) and of course I will be cheering them on the following week.
There's lots happening in our little town...

The Easter Bunny Rocks!

Yseult and Minuit went for a walk and saw bunny tracks around the house. THis has never happened before. They end in fron of the house (I guess he was looking for the door). Lo and behold, this morning we had a little basket with chocolate animals - an owl, a cat and a bunny! Sweet

Have yourselves a heppy Easter!

Bloody Cold

My head will shortly explode. It's when you can't breathe that you realize how precious breathing really is.
Man, I miss the good old days when I could keep my mouth close and breathe through my nose. Tell me they will come back? Actually, maybe the people around me will miss the good old days when I was breathing through my mouth and not talking so much... Le bonheur des uns...
So - just wanted to complain and let you know if I am not blogging it's because I am busy sneezing, coughing, napping, and all that jazz.
Don't worry, you can't catch it via blog.

Knick knacks

My cousin gave me a book on Pilates exercises with a ball - I will give it a try because:

Ckeaking knees
Going down
Creaking stairs

Minuit smells good on cold nights when he comes in from outside:

Winter smell
Bare feet under
Cold fur

Objects in camouflage

How often have you been looking for things that end up having been under your nose the whole time?
I am talking about disappearing utensils and clothes.
We once misplaced a lawn mower for several weeks in the summer time. It had hidden amongst the bikes, its chrome handle blending anonymously amongst the chrome handles of the bikes.
I saw a short movie (I think it was in the Twilight Zone series) about a crew of blue people who constantly recreate our environment while time stands still - sometimes they miss an object, forget to put it back in place - and when time starts "rolling" again, you look for your keys, hat, purse, or whatever was misplaced. Then time freezes again and the object is put back in its place and when it "rolls" again, well, you find it. That's when the "Twilight Zone" music starts playing... well in my head anyways... ; )

Lucky number 3

I just read another article on weddings on July 7 of this year (7-7-07). I have a numbers story of my own on crossword puzzles.

We bought a little crossword puzzles booklet a while back which one of us would pick up and play with. Somebody else would finish it. Then we started working in collaboration with one person saying the definition out loud and the other chiming in to help. But it wasn't until there were three of us participating that it got interesting.
It seems 3 is a magic number. We are funnier, faster and more efficient going through the crossword puzzle.

Here is the theory:
When three people are engaged in an activity, one is likely to be a more passive participant as the other two are debating. Being on the fringe, with no pressure, the third person comes up with a creative solution. Time and time again, we verified this theory. The quiet person (which varied) who seemed passive, actually contributed the tough words.

Think about that next time you want to exclude a third person in a decision-making process...

Dream

I want to tell you about a funny dream I had last night...
I was in a school cafeteria with current friends and this guy I don't know is coming on to me. I give him the brush off. He looks really upset and goes to eat by himself at another table, turning his back to me and my friends. My friend M. comes along, looks at the guy, looks at me, and says: "Why aren't we eating with him?" I look at him, puzzled. He says: "We chatted with him for a good while yesterday. He's lots of fun. You said he should eat with us today."
I explain to M. that I don't recognize people's faces. Another friend gets up to explain the situation to the guy I rejected. M. tells me I should go and apologize so I do and explain the whole thing to him. The guy is skeptical, smoking in my face the whole time I'm there.

Geez... I don't even get a break in my dreams! I can't claim that it doesn't bloody matter 'cause it's a dream!!! That's a new twist...

Ice Birds

Frost on the window as I let Minuit out the door.

I wonder if this could become an ephemeral art form? Artists get together and throw/drip/draw shapes on a glass surface in extreme cold and try and rival with each other... As the temperatures drop, the art evolves. There could be "cold" museums, where the art is stored at set temperatures. You need to take into account the heat generated by the patrons and keep the temperature steady so the art won't melt. Or hang the pictures in an ice castle... Or, I guess, show pictures of the art before it melts.
I like the ephemeral quality of art - it mirrors Nature. You need to always be on the lookout for it. Lovely.

The Art of Finding Lost Things

On the subject of legacy, my grandmother showed me how to find lost things:
Stop looking. Sit. Think back to when you last saw the object and play back the reel until the answer comes to you. Be patient! Resist the urge to get up and look for it as soon as you have an idea (I had trouble with that last one). If all else fails, pray to St. Anthony (I had to look it up on this site because I couldn't remember the name. I never liked asking for his help. It felt like cheating.)

The gift developed slowly. The first time I became aware of it was when I spoke to a friend who was visibly upset. She had been doing her homework on the kitchen table (due for the next week). She was interrupted at dinnertime and could not find her papers afterwards to finish the task. She looked everywhere but could not find it and was considering rewriting the homework, in frustration. I listened and applied the principles I had learned. I had her describe the whole scene in detail. We were at school so it was easy to resist the urge to go look for it. It happens that she had younger siblings and I mused that her papers could have mistakenly been set aside as scrap paper for them to draw on. Based on my deductions, she retrieved most of the homework, having lost only a few pages. I was very impressed with the efficiency of the method, but frustrated that she had lost some pages (I urged her to look on the back of drawings and so forth...).

A series of small successes followed, less spectacular but nonetheless useful. One that stands out is fairly recent. Yseult asked me if I knew where a piece of clothing was. I started by given her likely places to look for it. When that avenue was exhausted and I sensed she was beginning to doubt my abilities, I said tentatively that although this was rather unusual, I had dreamt that it might be (someplace). It turned out that was where it was. I must be St. Anthony's "instrument".

Yseult - and to a lesser extent, Paul - routinely ask me where they left things, which is great practice. We often joke that I know so well, because I hide them myself. The thing is, I have trained myself to notice when things seem out of place or what people do with objects. It turns out our right hand often doesn't pay attention to what our left hand is doing... It is quite fascinating to observe someone nonchalantly put down their glasses at an odd place while undressing or talking and then looking frantically for them later as they don't recall consciously putting them out of harm's way.

I jokingly tell Yseult to "invoke" me when she misplaces things. It sometimes work. The power of suggestion is a great ally.

I have been stymied recently by a request to find a gift that was misplaced. It was intended as a surprise for me and so I never got to see it. I can't get a clear picture of it in my mind and have resorted to unsystematic searches in unlikely places. With little success. I am not used to having objects resist my will and am a little frustrated by this sad state of affairs (not to mention saddened by the temporary loss of the present) and have developed theories for the resistance:
A) I never touched the object and cannot "call" it to me.
B) My emotional attachment is getting in the way of The Method.
C) It's a cover-up. The present never existed in the first place.

Which is your answer:
If you answered A: That, of course, is strictly BS since that is the case most of the time but once I expressed the thought, I sort of enjoyed the idea of possessing a magnetic supernatural power - Magnetic Woman: Finder of Lost Socks!
If you answered B - I think you might be onto something.
If you answered C - I just made that one up. It thought it would be funny.


Oh, and BTW, this long post is testimony that I am again having trouble sleeping...

Of grandmas and other smells...

This blog was inspired by Ms. Hedda's blog.

As a kid, I would linger at my grandmother's side as she got ready for the day. She would put a moisturizer on her face and I came to associate the smell of Noczema with her. She only smelled briefly of it as she applied it and the smell faded as the day wore on, but those intimate moments, where she joked around with me where the best.
Touch: Sometimes, my grandmother would ride in the back of the car with us as we went - I assume - to church. I remember, in winter, she would wear this gorgeous fur coat with very long hair. I would bury my face in it because I loved the caress of it on my skin. I would just smile and hum, content as a cat.

The smell of independance: My first apartment was gas-heated.
The smell of freedom: the smell as I rode for hours on my bike with the feel of the wind on my face.

March 8

March 8 for me is a very special day - it's my brother's birthday. We got to tease him with the appropriate "Happy Women's Day" uh, I mean "birthday".

When we were kids, my mom bought me and my brother presents to give my other brother (and like that for each kid). We would wake up with a wrapped gift to give our sibling. So we ended up being as excited on our birthday as on our siblings' because there was a surprise involved. Smart Mom!

So I dedicate this post to him and this picture too:
Bonne fête Paul!

Scrapbooking

I have been too busy lately to enjoy my new hobby: scrapbooking! Who would have thought I would enjoy it so much? I was never too keen on arts classes. I never really had inspiring ideas that made me enthusiastic about projects. Nor was I particularly praised for my efforts. I was pretty much average, though I did not dislike the activity. What was my surprise then to discover this new passion. I guess I love telling stories, and this is a graphic way to do so.
I always enjoyed comic books (or graphics novels, as they are called now) and toyed with the idea of creating my own. Recently, a friend who shares my love of scrapbooking lent me some graphic novels. One is very badly drawn and so I thought: Hey, I could do this! (I can only do it if I lower my standards significantly... ; -) )

I have big plans for the next little while: a whole thematic album, several cards, revamping an old album where pictures are currently badly preserved. I am planning two sessions this week: one with friend, the other by myself. Much joy to be had all around!

Face Blindness

Also known as prosopagnosia (from the Greek prosopon meaning "word", "a" not, and "gnosia" knowledge) = I have trouble recognizing faces.
Here is an explanation I found on one of the sites that might give you an understanding f what that means: "People who are "tone deaf" are not deaf to tones. They can hear tones, they just can't tell them apart. People who are "color blind" can see things that are in color. They just can't tell colors apart. Similarly, I can see faces. I just can't tell them apart."
Now anybody who has hung around me long enough has a story to tell about the time when I didn't recognize somebody I had just spent the afternoon with or about me confusing co-workers that absolutely don't look alike. It seems this disorder actually is a neurological problem that is not too widespread - as far as I am concerned, it would be problematic for the survival of the species if it were.
Foe or friend? Let me think. Are we related?
There are some heart-wrenching stories of people who are severely affected.
Tests are available on the Web to see if you suffer from the condition. I think normal people will find them entertaining as you are asked to recognize celebrities in one case, pair strangers in another. They actually provoked mild anxiety in me... I took them and my results were poor.

Nonetheless, I was relieved and excited about all the info I found. Here is a link for more studies.

French sources use the word "prosopagnosie".

Happy New Year

Today is the beginning of the Pig Year. We were invited for a New Year's Eve party yesterday and it really felt like we were getting off to a good start. Our best friends were reunited and we "pigged out" on glorious dishes. The mood was serene and we had good music. It was a lovely way to usher in the New Year.

I wish you all the best in this New Year: Health and Good Fortune!

By Popular Demand (reviewed AND translated)

Rum and Orange Cake

Note: For best results, let the cake soak in the juice for a day or two

Batter
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 large oranges (juice and zest)
1 lemon (juice and zest)
2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk (I put regular milk)
1 cup walnuts (dates are good too)


Preheat stove to 350 F. Butter a tube pan.

Prepare the zest and fruit juices.
Cream butter and gradually add sugar, zest (orange and lemon) and eggs.

Sift together remaining dry ingredients. Alternate small quantities of flour mix and buttermilk to liquid batter (butter-sugar-zest-egg mix). Beat until smooth, then add walnuts (and dates, if you wish).

Pour into tube pan. Bake in oven for 60 to 70 minutes until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean. DO NOT remove from mold as you will be pouring the juice below onto it while the cake is still warm...

Juice to pour over cake
Juice from oranges and lemon
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of rum

Bring the juices and sugar to a boil. Add rum. Pour over warm cake.
The cake is at its best after a day or two. Enjoy!

Technical Writing

I was trying out a new cake recipe today.
It was given to me by someone who, perhaps, took notes from someone on their deathbed. It definitely didn't come from a book because it was very muddled and I doubt it had been tested. I ended up putting too much sugar, in the confusion. I read the recipe a number of times but it was not written in any order I could figure.
To make matters worse, there were numbered steps to make you think there was some kind of logic behind the whole thing. as though everything was carefully laid out.

There were several traps, all carefully crafted to make you waste perfectly good batter. I did not realize my mistake until the cake was in the oven and I was cleaning up.
When the cake is baked and still warm, you pour a mix of fruit juice, sugar and a bit of rhum. I had measured my ingredients but could not find the sugar... That is when I realized I had mistakenly added the sugar to the dry ingredients (mix all dry ingredients, it said). The trick was to notice the contradictions and make sense of them.

Ingredients
2 cups sugar (1 for cake, 1 for juice)
Whip butter, add sugar, eggs, zest

Later: beat together dry ingredients into batter. Later still: mix together sugar (what sugar!?), fruit juice and rhum (at that point, I was ready to drink the rhum and forget the whole thing - but I digress).

Oh, btw, for those who were wondering, the cake turned out fine.
After I was done, I rewrote the instructions following MY logic.

Who knew you were supposed to test the instructions... Maybe I should look for that job? Recipe tester sounds like just my line of work... : )

Stars and Strollers

While lurking on a friend's blog, I read that she went to the movies with her baby. It seems the cinemas have awoken to the novel ideas that parents are people too, and made accomodations for their new status. They have put aside screenings of brand new movies especially for parents. The sound is lower, the lights are dimmed and there is a stroller park (I am not sure if it is inside the movie theater or outside?-jk). You get to enjoy the latest movies while your child sleeps, nurses or whatever, with noone taking offense at your children quietly talking to themselves. No need for a babysitter! I think it is a great idea. To see if there is such a program at a theatre near you, go to: Stars and Strollers

I wonder how you deal with PG 13 with young kids... ; ) S-l-e-e-p

Current desktop backdrop

It's been awhile since I posted any pix. I figured this one was as good as any. This is what I see when I boot up every morning. This is precious because we hardly see ever catch him unawares. He was busy sniffing out the summer breeze. We usually never see a hint of teeth... I swear I can see his nostrils flaring.
You can see a hint of gray on his beard and a few petals on his blue-black coat.

Testing, 1, 2, 3

Suite française

The novel Suite Francaise is available in English. It talks of the period of WWII when the German troops defeated France and invaded the country. It was written by an incredible writer, as the events were unfolding. The French novel is so well written! I just hope the translation is up to the task.

Je lis ces jours-ci "Suite française" d'Irène Némirovski. Ça se passe aux premiers jours de la capitulation de la France aux mains des Allemands et aux sentiments qu'éveillent de part et d'autre l'avènement de ce nouveau ménage. On voit la fuite de Paris, la coexistence pacifique des Français avec les conquérants et les sentiments confus et contradictoires qui les habitent. L'écriture est délicate et nuancée. On s'y croirait. D'ailleurs, les deux romans (parus ensemble sous une même couverture) ont été écrits à l'époque et publiés tout récemment par les filles âgées de cette écrivaine qui a péri à Auschwitz en août 1942. Le manuscrit était écrit très serré, à la mine, pour ^pargner le papier qui était si rare et ses filles avaient crû y trouver des notes personnelles, un journal peut-être. L'une d'elle s'est enfin résolue à les lire, car elle remettait les manuscrits à un musée et voulait vérifier le contenu de ces pages.

J'aurais voulu citer des extraits. Malheureusement, je n'ai pas pris de notes pendant ma lecture, de ce qui était particulièrement émouvant ou enlevant. Je ne voulais pas me priver du plaisir de la lecture et briser le rythme. Et je croyais qu'en feuilletant au hasard, je retrouverais bien assez vite ces passages. Alors je feuillette, et me sens de nouveau transporté dans cet univers. Mais jene peux me décider à choisir un passage plutôt qu'un autre. Je trouve qu'ils forment un tout...

Bonne lecture!

Strees Relief Update

We bought a new box of Melba toast - in Ottawa, this time. They were all intact. Yay to Dare Foods Customer Service for their help! I emailed the girl to tell her the good news and she was politely happy for me.

All is well that ends well. : )

It's a Dog-Bite-Dog World

We rescued a dog that had wandered onto our property. He was desperately trying to get inside the fenced yard. We checked his collar and called the owner who was beside herself with joy. We fed him a bit while we he waited, but he was not very hungry. She had lost her chocolate lab in the morning (it was noonish). She was afraid he would be cold (it was a -20 kinda day). We took him in - she had promised to come shortly - and Minuit and him were running around the house.

The owner came and we chatted. She got her dog into the back of her car and Paul noticed there was blood on his hand. Minuit was missing a sliver of his ear. There had been a skirmish in the stairs after the guest tried to hump Minuit (not a good idea) but nothing unusual.

Anyway, we headed off to the vet who shaved the affected area, put a blood clotting agent on the ear, gave him a shot of painkiller and sent us off home with antibiotics and reassurances. Oh, and a bill the owner of the guest promptly agreed to pay.

Minuit's was groggy from the painkiller but otherwise fine. We are somewhat sad at his crooked ear but ok too.

Stress relief

Today was a bloody busy day as I was scheduled to deliver a small contract.
I ended up nibbling on some crumbly Melba toast and that was just too much for me. It's not the first time that these wonderful crackers come broken to my table. Other times, I have suffered in silence. Not this time. My cup overfloweth! I seized the box and punched in the offending URL, found the offending product and wrote an offending email (no no, I wouldn't do that. I was very polite, very... Canadian?). Anyway, I stated my problem and waited. Very soon, a nice lady answered back with concern for my welfare, expressing regret and asking for more details, which I gladly provided.
More exchanges followed in which she explained that though they create a superior product, the delivery guys that take it from the warehouse might just be brutes. Actually, that was a good answer. I will try a different grocery store if the supplier is the issue.
That was a nice stress reliever.
The people handling complaints are bound to be compassionate, nice, polite people. I think I will keep a list of grudges handy so that when I am in a foul mood, I will get somebody nice to talk to me and put me back in a good mood. Yeah - instant friend! Forget yoga or deep breathing for quick stress relief...

More thoughts on global warming

The preceeding blog on global warming has generated the most comments ever. Thank you for your reading suggestions (which I will take on).
I am watching the weather with dread these days as it only confirms what was said in the DVD. I can't rejoice on the warm weather - I see flooding everywhere... I guess it's good for people biking to work - the season is longer.
I didn't realize that I should be unplugging the appliances I am not using - I guess I need to turn off my computer when I stop using it. I usually leave it on all day as a way of keeping in touch with friends through IM or emails (a bad habit from the days at the office). I am sure I would be a little more efficient if I were able to severe that link. For example, I got up at 7:00 am to work today and haven't started yet...
I liked the minimal packaging on Gore's DVD, as well as his very plain, no-nonsense approach.
I wonder what habits could be changed in the workplace, where it affects tons of people? Any suggestions?

...and a Happy New Year!

We watched An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's crusade about improving awareness of global warming. It is truly sobering because of the fact that we are rapidly approaching the point of no-return. We know what must be done to leave a lighter footprint on the planet (though here are more pointers, from his site), now we need to Just Do It.
So I have only one New Year's resolution for 2007,
Save The Planet

That should keep me busy for a while...

Best wishes for a Happy New Year 2007.

The Beauty of Technology

Year end is coming fast. I am actually rewinding the reels of time (I made that up - nice image, huh?) as I go through boxes of slides my mom took over the years. I saw moments that were never printed. I saw my grandmother in mourning dress after my grandfather had passed away; I saw her with jet black hair and my aunts and uncles younger than I am now, holding my brothers and I as babies. I saw the results of a hurricane that brushed past our house (we were away on vacation so there was only material damage), and corrected a few over- or underexposed shots. I discovered some gems and polished them. I recaptured lost moments, shreds of life. Oh - and those are only 6 boxes... There are plenty more.

Thank you Santa for this wonderful scanner!

The day after

I hope everybody had a good time. We were up watching Pirates f the Carribbean II last night - a XMas present, of course. I had already seen it, so halfway through I started reading my new How-to book on writing songs. Good stuff, man. I can't wait to put it in practice. I haven't gotten to the exercise parts yet, still in the intro chapters, but it is an entertaining read and there's a lot to learn + actual songwriters are interviewed which is way cool. Evidently, everybody has their preferred work method so they contradict each other but as I (we) have been doing it for over a year now, I can use what applies to my style and not feel overwhelmed by choices.
I fell asleep in the living room and had bits of lyrics floating through my mind. Since I didn't have a notebook (Rule 1) to jot them down, they are lost to posterity. Not to worry. There is more where that came from.