busy

Swamped, drowning. Fortunately, there is still some of Dave Clement's and Joey's chocolate left, so I have been nibbling gradually at those whenever I get too stressed.

Some pics have been posted from the Toronto misc.writing wrevel, for those interested. The only person I had met before was Carol Flynt.

My mom-in-law took Jeff and me to Niagara-on-the-Lake to see Rebecca at Shawfest...enjoyable production, incredible set. I had already seen the b&w movie and read the book by Daphne du Maurier, and was impressed by how well they adapted it to the stage.

Going to the cottage this weekend with Helen and Jeff.

I was astounded that Joey Shoji had heard of ONE ON ONE with Robby Benson! I'm highly interested in people's votes on their personal pick of "worst big-budget movie" in the current Blatherchat. I confess I've never seen Batman & Robin...I heard way too many bad things about it. I did try watching it a bit when it came on tv, but couldn't stand more than a few minutes.

Did anyone out there buy the Dark Knight when it came out? I still have my copy, in pristine condition.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

cottage

Had fun at the cottage. Surprised Helen on Saturday night with a birthday cake...I baked it while Helen and Jeff were swimming across the lake. Baking at the cottage is always a bit of a challenge since the oven's ancient measurement scale (a mysterious "1" through "5") only occasionally reflects the interior temperature. Cake turned out ok, though, and I managed to finish the icing before Helen and Jeff came back (I panicked, though, since I could hear their approaching voices as I was writing "Happy Birthday Helen" across the bottom, so the writing got all squished at the end). Did a lot of swimming, reading, some work. Lots of mosquitoes and chipmunks. :-)

Forgot to mention that Jeff and I went to a Nahanni meeting last week. As I've mentioned before, we'll be going on a 1-day paddling expedition down the Nahanni River in the Northwest Territories in late August. The meeting was a gathering of people going on the trip; some of us hadn't met before. We each also got a Canoe North cap, t-shirt, and sweatshirt (Canoe North is the company organizing the expedition). I'm a bit nervous about the trip since I'll likely be one of the least experienced, but also super-excited! Been going to the gym pretty much every morning, doing the rowing machine, stationery bike, push-ups, ab curls, weights...hopefully this will keep me from wimping out on the first day, begging to be taken back home again. :-) The main part I'm nervous about is the whitewater bit on part of the trip.

Penny whistle is coming along, tho I haven't had time to memorize any new pieces lately. I played "happy birthday" for Helen this weekend. :-) Ordered a tuneable Susato whistle from Andy's Front Hall last week for $16 as well as a new songbook (I've gone thru my beginner's songbook pretty thoroughly now). I've started eyeing wooden Irish flutes lately, but I can't afford to buy one yet...I've been inspired, though, by a Chris Norman CD that Jeff has ("The Man With The Wooden Flute").

Officemusic: Dan Bern.

catching up

Don't think I mentioned that Allison, Jodi and I saw Tarzan last week...great movie! I want to see it again. Love the animation, the music, and Jane's character (voice: Minnie Driver).

Going to the Winnipeg Folk Festival next week. Sadly, looks like Jodi won't be able to go. :-( Paul, Beckett, Allison and I are going, and will be staying at the Bhigg House (Dave Clement's place).

scorcher

So what did everyone do on the weekend? Jeff and I went to a friend's wedding (John Chew). The ceremony and reception were at Hart House at the University of Toronto. Enjoyed seeing my old university friends again. Many of us met in first-year Computer Science at the U of T, and we hung out together throughout university. Our main meeting place was in the basement of Robarts Library, and during lunchtimes we would sit on the floor outside the cafeteria and play Hearts. I published a newsletter called The Electric Penguin back then, and am thinking about doing a millenium issue. I've even registered electricpenguin.com. :-) Only a matter of finding time...

Speaking of time, yikes. Because of recent and upcoming vacations, I find myself constantly struggling to keep up with work. I'm hiring more help now, so things should ease up soon (in theory, anyway :-)). Some new projects in the works, like a series of online writing workshops, and a new electronic newsletter (see Global Writers' Ink). Plus my book, of course. It still feels great to be able to say "my book". :-) :-)

Scorching hot in Toronto right now. Was supposedly 34.3 deg Celsius yesterday, or 46 degrees with the humidity factored in. Apparently the heat wave is causing power blackouts because of the massive energy consumption caused by all the air conditioners being cranked up.

winnipeg visit

No Air Canada strike, yay! Allison and I are here in Winnipeg (we miss Jodi :( ). Lots of people staying in the Bhigg House...thirteen houseguests at one point! It's been interesting coming down to the kitchen in the morning and meeting new people each time. :) Allison, Paul, Beckett and I are staying in the Music Room. Other people staying here include Nate Buckland, Mark Wise, Bill Rintz, Jeri, Jack, Peggy. Most of the Bhigg house folks are staying in the campground ("country mice"). We opted to be "city mice" (my reason was because I wanted to be able to get enough sleep to be functional when I have to go back to work next week :)).

The Winnipeg Folk Festival is amazing...so many incredible musicians. Saw Sam Baardman perform several times yesterday. In one of his concerts, he sang his song about Dave Clement's guitar being stolen...pretty cool when he got the entire crowd singing along on the chorus.

Weather's been exciting. Poured buckets the first night, sunny and hot yesterday, and then cold enough last night for me to wear four layers of clothing! Really enjoyed hearing Vance Gilbert, The Four Bitchin' Babes, The Ennis Sisters, Sam Baardman, Lucy Kaplansky, Ellen Thorn, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Dee Carstensen, Natalie MacMaster.

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Tuesday, July 6, 1999

air canada strike?

So I've been on the phone for the past half hour, trying to reach a live person at Air Canada to find out whether I will be able to get home from Winnipeg on Monday (as scheduled on my ticket) if a strike happens after I get there. Called the regional office number listed in the phone book to ask for the Customer Relations phone number, was told by recorded Bell message that the number had changed. Called the new number, was told by an Air Canada recorded message that the number had changed. Called the second "new" number, was given a spiel about how Air Canada cared about its customer feedback. THEN was told that they weren't accepting customer feedback by phone anymore, and would I please write by surface mail. (!!!) Grrr.

Called the Arrivals and Departures number and instead of making any choices, waited ("if you don't have a touch tone phone, please wait and an operator will contact you shortly"). And waited. The first time, the phone rang, was transferred, clicked again, and I got a garbled message, then the connection ended. The second time, I got an endless ringing phone. The third time, I got silence.

Still very hot in T.O....maybe the heat has melted the Air Canada phone lines. :\