Jolly Ho

Another Christmas has come and gone, but my stomach certainly has not forgotten the bounty that we had. In fact there is still half a bounty left in my fridge, namely a delicious turkey cooked by Neil and Ai which unfortunately the more I look at it the sicker I feel. I even made a turkey stir fry to take to work for lunch today. Any way to get rid of the damn thing.

Our merry party of 11 devoured the turkey, sushi and bulgogi. There was also the munching of chips, candy cane, donuts, crazy wasabi crackers, cake. Basically goodies galore. We entertained ourselves with lots of drawing, courtesy of a big pad of paper, whiteboard and markers I had supplied. I currently display those artworks on my living room walls with pride.

Christmas 2006 in TO has been and gone, but it will not be forgotten!


L: Eat Drink Man Woman; R: Turkey with all the trimmings.

L: Santa Toshi! "Come on Toshi, come on. You're SO good."; R; Kaori, or was it Rudolf?
L: Awwww...Emi and Ai; R: Artists at work.

L: Gay Santa; R: Fugly Geisha.

Merry Christmas (or more PC, Happy Holidays - barf) and have a Happy New Year!

Christmas Parties

My work Christmas party last week sucked. Working for the government meant no spending tax payers' money frivolously (errr, I know there are SO many things wrong with that sentance) that we had to pay for our own Christmas party. We got one drink included in the ticket price. One drink.

Last night's party didn't suck. A house full of nice Canadians. One had inherited $200,000 and wore a Hugh Hefner robe. Another when asked what he did he said "Gambling. Online Poker." I said "So you're up?" He said "Yeah." I laughed with a girl about the gourmet pretzels that were out on the table. It was a Seinfeld episode. Then a guy pointed out we were standing under a mistletoe. Someone turned to me and said "I didn't mean to molest that dog." I looked and it was an actual dog he was referring to and it scampered under a chair.

I drank way too much last night.

I was still drunk when I walked to work this morning. I know this because the ground kept changing its mind about its position relative to me. I am still drunk now and I know this because I am trying to picture its movement using X, Y and Z axis.

It's 11.53am and the hangover and I are having a conflict of interest. I wish it was a death ray and that it wins. And why did I have that egg sandwich for breakfast? Oh that's right, poor judgements presides when you are not sober. That's why you don't drink and drive. Shoot.

One drink doesn't sound too bad an idea after all.

Fragile

This is a confession. Treat me with care.

I am strangely attracted to ******* and I knew from day one that this was to become a thorn in my side. He had shown interest in me first and I tried to shield away, but when you **** with someone it's impossible to diffuse that tension. We began sleeping together. Over the last few months I have been battling with myself, over my actions, over my feelings, against the obstacle that he is emotionally unavailable. He is arrogant and self-focused. So why do I like him so?

Our relationship is a volatile one. At times we act as first loves, giggles and stolen glances. At other times we behave as strangers, the chill in the air concrete and tangible. I don't know why we are like this. I've never met anyone like him before. I despise him and adore him at the same time.
This is the unhealthiest, mental and emotional place I've ever been and I hate to attribute this to him. I'm beginning to question myself and my whole being ("It's all his fault, isn't it? Or was it me? It's me isn't it? Oh my god it was me. But it couldn't have? Could it? Oh god it could."). How did I, a carefree 28 year old woman, who has travelled the world, who had always been sure of herself in matters of the heart, who always ruled with her head, become a stereotypical neurotic mess?

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas

It snowed for the first time on Monday and I took a pic from my bedroom window on Tuesday morning when I woke up. It was only a light dusting of snow but already looks so different than when I first moved in:

L: October; R: December

We also bought and decorated our tree on Friday. It's my first tree would you believe? Two years ago I made my tree out of cardboard like a right poor Martha Stewart (you'll never see those last three words in succession anywhere!).

Not the Best Pics, But It's Food.

The usual Saturday night gang plus the odd extra one or two made Saturday dinner another success.


L: My tuna potato cakes, photo by Dave, receipe by Kate; Neil's home-made cheese cake.

L: In the wake of hungry people...; R: Yumiko's teriyaki chicken.

SLOAN

Ok so I haven't taken up any challenges yet, but I was at a gig and thought I should let you know what that was like. The first show on 6th October wasn't so good, considering it was cancelled because bassist Chris Murphy was sick. We went for drinks at the Biermarket instead and on route we passed a glowing lightbox (outside a theatre for posting posters) which Neil stood in front of for this photo.

The show was postponed till last night night, 30th November. The weather has been unseasonally warm for the past week but it rained a bit. Yoko Casionos were the support band and I couldn't say I was awed by them. But to be fair this kind of music isn't my scene, so really who am I to judge?

However when Sloan came on stage the energy level of the room lifted, as fans chanting the ritualistic "Slooo-oan... Slooo-oan... Slooo-oan..." (it sounded exactly when Bart and Lisa called out "Daaaa-ryyyl... Daaaa-ryyyl..." in The Simpsons) were finally rewarded with their presence and sounds at around 10.30pm.

Far more polished and commanding than the Yokos, Sloan were relaxed on stage, exuding that typical Canadian ease I find so present in almost every Canadian person I meet. They are a band with a career spanning more than 10 years and you can see the crowd enjoying them as they once did in their teens. As a Canadian indie band they've done well to garner the affection of their fans in Toronto, their home city for most of their lives. When the band announced their last song of the night, I was surprised at the number of people heading to the door. Weren't they the beloved home-grown punk/rock/pop band they were chanting and cheering for throughout the night? Did the rain really play on their mind about how the journey home would be affected? But for those who stayed, an encore replenished them with Sloan and Yoko Casionos coming together and playing as one. Awwww... What a nice lot these Canadians are.




Visit their website at http://www.sloanmusic.com/