Typical day: Describe a typical day in your life. What do you think would surprise most people about your ordinary day? How do you cherish and appreciate the everyday?
Get up. Get ready for work. Work. Lunch. Work. Go home. Make dinner. Read/watch tv. Get ready for bed. Sleep. Rinse, repeat.
I really don't think that there's anything suprising about an ordinary day. Lately I've been realizing I need to do some things during the week that make it a bit less ordinary. I need to get out and explore instead of the constant bee line to and from work.
I try to look around a lot, and focus on what I see to make sure I stop for a little bit and be in the here and now. I am lucky to work in a part of town with some amazing architecture. And that I ride a streetcar to and from work, so it's easier to check out the world, not zone out with my iphone or a book.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Dec 25- Traditions
Traditions: Do you follow old traditions or do you work to create new traditions? What role has tradition played in your life over the past year? Are there traditions you hope to create or embrace in 2013?
I'm not sure if I'm so much about tradition as I am about routine. I like my tea in my tea mug, and my week day coffee in the cream mug with the blue stripe and my weekend coffee in the orange flowered mug. I don't do well with shaking things up. Especially around my coffee. I take my coffee black, I do not take it flavoured and I don't take anything in it. The HB once (just once, he's good like that) tried to surprise me with a spiked coffee, it didn't go over very well.
So, in some ways I can be quite inflexible in my routine, but I don't really do things because "it's tradition" although I would LIKE to watch White Christmas every year and make that a tradition, it's maybe not possible. (and the fact that I watch it all throughout the year makes that ok)
I guess the wedding was a tradition that I participated in. And we did a lot of traditional things- HAVING the wedding the utmost of that. But also the being walked down the aisle. Not something I wanted to do, but in the eyes of my father an important tradition that he needed for that day, cutting the cake (but a cake made of CHEESE- and yes it was as awesome as it sounds), the morning after brunch, speeches, the first dance. We tried to fit these traditions into who we were. I had a father daughter dance, but I also had a mother daughter dance, and that was equally important and special to me.
A great tradition I do want to continue into 2013 is making the winter holidays as relaxing as possible. Days spent in pjs, doing very little, maybe a walk here and there, not worrying about a big fancy dinner because it's what is supposed to be done.
And I'm sure once we have little spykings and spyqueens running around tradition will take on a whole other meaning.
I'm open.
I'm not sure if I'm so much about tradition as I am about routine. I like my tea in my tea mug, and my week day coffee in the cream mug with the blue stripe and my weekend coffee in the orange flowered mug. I don't do well with shaking things up. Especially around my coffee. I take my coffee black, I do not take it flavoured and I don't take anything in it. The HB once (just once, he's good like that) tried to surprise me with a spiked coffee, it didn't go over very well.
So, in some ways I can be quite inflexible in my routine, but I don't really do things because "it's tradition" although I would LIKE to watch White Christmas every year and make that a tradition, it's maybe not possible. (and the fact that I watch it all throughout the year makes that ok)
I guess the wedding was a tradition that I participated in. And we did a lot of traditional things- HAVING the wedding the utmost of that. But also the being walked down the aisle. Not something I wanted to do, but in the eyes of my father an important tradition that he needed for that day, cutting the cake (but a cake made of CHEESE- and yes it was as awesome as it sounds), the morning after brunch, speeches, the first dance. We tried to fit these traditions into who we were. I had a father daughter dance, but I also had a mother daughter dance, and that was equally important and special to me.
A great tradition I do want to continue into 2013 is making the winter holidays as relaxing as possible. Days spent in pjs, doing very little, maybe a walk here and there, not worrying about a big fancy dinner because it's what is supposed to be done.
And I'm sure once we have little spykings and spyqueens running around tradition will take on a whole other meaning.
I'm open.
Dec 24- Change of heart
Change of heart: Did you have a change of heart about something or someone in your life this year? What or who was it? Why?
There is someone I have known since I was in the 2nd grade, but a couple of years ago we had a falling out. I don't think anyone was to blame, it was just time- we were different and going in different ways.
I wasn't sure if we would talk again, or what would happen, but it was pretty clear we needed a break from each other. So it surprised me that as it got closer to the wedding I wanted to talk to her. Generally I wanted to find out how she was doing, but I also didn't want her to find out about my getting married via a second hand source, I just didn't feel like I could do that to her.
So I took the leap and contacted her. And after the time and the distance it was easier to see how the situation unfolded a couple of years ago was a product of the both of us, and not one of us. And to look at my own actions in a less justified way.
It wasn't a movie-esque reunion we were/ are probably still wary of each other. It's never going to be what it was before, but I'm glad we're talking now, I'm glad I got to see her and catch up in person this year. I'm glad that link was pulled thin, but didn't break.
I'm happy we are moving into an adult friendship and I'm happy that I stepped away from my pride and took the first step after all this time.
There is someone I have known since I was in the 2nd grade, but a couple of years ago we had a falling out. I don't think anyone was to blame, it was just time- we were different and going in different ways.
I wasn't sure if we would talk again, or what would happen, but it was pretty clear we needed a break from each other. So it surprised me that as it got closer to the wedding I wanted to talk to her. Generally I wanted to find out how she was doing, but I also didn't want her to find out about my getting married via a second hand source, I just didn't feel like I could do that to her.
So I took the leap and contacted her. And after the time and the distance it was easier to see how the situation unfolded a couple of years ago was a product of the both of us, and not one of us. And to look at my own actions in a less justified way.
It wasn't a movie-esque reunion we were/ are probably still wary of each other. It's never going to be what it was before, but I'm glad we're talking now, I'm glad I got to see her and catch up in person this year. I'm glad that link was pulled thin, but didn't break.
I'm happy we are moving into an adult friendship and I'm happy that I stepped away from my pride and took the first step after all this time.
Dec 23- Appreciate
Appreciate: For what did you find a new appreciation this year?
This is pretty menial, but I found an appreciation for Sadza
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadza
I have been a long time fan of injera (holla to spending lunches at trafford out on cook st picking up ethiopian food!) which is a spongy flat bread thicker than a crepe that is both food and utensil. It's got a slightly sour taste to it that I love. If made properly, with teff, it's gluten free.
But this isn't about injera, it's about sadza which is totally different. The same in that it's also a food and utensil, but it is made with white cornmeal and looks like mashed potatoes on your plate.
The first time I had it I have to admit I was kind of creeped out, probably because the sadza got burned in the pot a little, not that we ate the burned part. And cleaning out a sadza pot is a LOT like cleaning out a poach[ed egg] pot (something I had to do every Sunday at the diner I worked at in throughout highschool.).
It also gave me a wicked stomach ache the first time I had it, I think because the more you eat it you like it "harder" which means, I think, slightly less cooked. But then the HB made it soft (like what you would give babies) and I think we got a different type of hufu (cornmeal) and I have to say I'm really coming to like it. Instead of wrapping your sadza around the food, you sort of dip it and grab it.
My next step is to learn how to make it for the HB, because it's his home food and I want to be able to cook his comfort for him. And hey, he learned how to cook a turkey this year so I think i can pony up.
This is pretty menial, but I found an appreciation for Sadza
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadza
I have been a long time fan of injera (holla to spending lunches at trafford out on cook st picking up ethiopian food!) which is a spongy flat bread thicker than a crepe that is both food and utensil. It's got a slightly sour taste to it that I love. If made properly, with teff, it's gluten free.
But this isn't about injera, it's about sadza which is totally different. The same in that it's also a food and utensil, but it is made with white cornmeal and looks like mashed potatoes on your plate.
The first time I had it I have to admit I was kind of creeped out, probably because the sadza got burned in the pot a little, not that we ate the burned part. And cleaning out a sadza pot is a LOT like cleaning out a poach[ed egg] pot (something I had to do every Sunday at the diner I worked at in throughout highschool.).
It also gave me a wicked stomach ache the first time I had it, I think because the more you eat it you like it "harder" which means, I think, slightly less cooked. But then the HB made it soft (like what you would give babies) and I think we got a different type of hufu (cornmeal) and I have to say I'm really coming to like it. Instead of wrapping your sadza around the food, you sort of dip it and grab it.
My next step is to learn how to make it for the HB, because it's his home food and I want to be able to cook his comfort for him. And hey, he learned how to cook a turkey this year so I think i can pony up.
Dec 22- Song
Song: What has been your theme song this year? Have there been several? Make us a mix tape and tell us the meaning behind it.
Well, the wedding was pretty much giant mix-tape of awesome, if you ask me.
But this song carried me through, and it still does. I want to dance everytime I hear it, I can't WAIT to go and hear it when we visit the HB's family and dance to celebrate each other http://youtu.be/uV9X3656G4g
It just reminds me, it's not what you have; it's who you have with you that makes life amazing.
the runners up would be:
For the HB and I- http://youtu.be/Am0IFwjPyYA
For dad and I- http://youtu.be/mLbOBoa8vD8
For mum and I- http://youtu.be/mmwic9kFx2c
For don and I- http://youtu.be/ZSM3w1v-A_Y because I can't get this damn song out of my head now!
Well, the wedding was pretty much giant mix-tape of awesome, if you ask me.
But this song carried me through, and it still does. I want to dance everytime I hear it, I can't WAIT to go and hear it when we visit the HB's family and dance to celebrate each other http://youtu.be/uV9X3656G4g
It just reminds me, it's not what you have; it's who you have with you that makes life amazing.
the runners up would be:
For the HB and I- http://youtu.be/Am0IFwjPyYA
For dad and I- http://youtu.be/mLbOBoa8vD8
For mum and I- http://youtu.be/mmwic9kFx2c
For don and I- http://youtu.be/ZSM3w1v-A_Y because I can't get this damn song out of my head now!
Dec 21- Look
Look: Sometimes you are left standing on the outside looking in. As you stood there, on the other side of the glass, were you thankful for the boundary? Or do you wish you could’ve been on the action-side?
As a natural born historian, I'll have to say I generally enjoy being on the outside looking in, a lot more than I do being on the inside with the action. On the outside you can see what is happening, you can make out patterns, behaviours, you are an anthropologist and these people are merely your subjects.
It's probably more of a challenge for me to be more on the action side, to force myself to participate in a tangible way rather than sitting back logging with academic interest what is happening.
During the wedding, I was in the middle of things, in the thick of the action and it was weird, I don't think I've spent that long at a function without checking out and observing. Now I can only observe in retrospect, did I make a fool of myself? Maybe I shouldn't have not eaten and had all that wine, was I polite to everyone etc. etc.
But in the end, it's the experiences and those memories that make up your life, not the categorical observation of life happening around you. So whether I was ridiculous or not at the wedding (I think it was half and half!) it was happening to me and I was THERE for it, and that's something I'm proud of.
As a natural born historian, I'll have to say I generally enjoy being on the outside looking in, a lot more than I do being on the inside with the action. On the outside you can see what is happening, you can make out patterns, behaviours, you are an anthropologist and these people are merely your subjects.
It's probably more of a challenge for me to be more on the action side, to force myself to participate in a tangible way rather than sitting back logging with academic interest what is happening.
During the wedding, I was in the middle of things, in the thick of the action and it was weird, I don't think I've spent that long at a function without checking out and observing. Now I can only observe in retrospect, did I make a fool of myself? Maybe I shouldn't have not eaten and had all that wine, was I polite to everyone etc. etc.
But in the end, it's the experiences and those memories that make up your life, not the categorical observation of life happening around you. So whether I was ridiculous or not at the wedding (I think it was half and half!) it was happening to me and I was THERE for it, and that's something I'm proud of.
Dec 20- Stuff and things
Stuff and Things: What products have you discovered this year that you love? Tell us all about them, and why you love them. Become the celebrity spokesperson of whatever it is you like!
Oh man, this is a hard one because right now I'm pretty much annoyed with "stuff" after having listened to and seen stupid commercials for how your life/her life/his life will be vastly improved if you get that special someone (or heck, just forget the other person and buy it for yourself!) something for "the season of giving".
I'm pretty sure that's not what they had in mind when that saying was thought up. It's just all so blatant and obvious now that this is just another version of the gluttony of our society, that happiness can be found in a bag.
Sooo I can't really be a celebrity spokesperson, firstly because I dislike celebrities selling things like they honestly care about the product and not the paycheque that's asscociated with the pretending. (are you honestly telling me a hollywood star uses boxed hair colour???) and secondly, well- no one's paying me.
Oh man, this is a hard one because right now I'm pretty much annoyed with "stuff" after having listened to and seen stupid commercials for how your life/her life/his life will be vastly improved if you get that special someone (or heck, just forget the other person and buy it for yourself!) something for "the season of giving".
I'm pretty sure that's not what they had in mind when that saying was thought up. It's just all so blatant and obvious now that this is just another version of the gluttony of our society, that happiness can be found in a bag.
Sooo I can't really be a celebrity spokesperson, firstly because I dislike celebrities selling things like they honestly care about the product and not the paycheque that's asscociated with the pretending. (are you honestly telling me a hollywood star uses boxed hair colour???) and secondly, well- no one's paying me.
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