jeff visit!

Jeff's here! His flight was only delayed for half an hour, which is a good thing (at least 75% of my flights between Toronto and Philadelphia are either delayed or cancelled). He arrived at my office at about 5:30 pm, at which point I dragged him around to meet various people, including Leone. During the beer and pizza party after work, he ended up (surprise surprise) engrossed in conversation with Derek, another techie. :-)

When we got back to my apartment, I was surprised to find that Jeff didn't hate my decor after all. We talked about integrating my stuff here (yes, even my fish pillow) with our condo decor back in Toronto; Jeff is remarkably enthusiastic about this. Hm, should I be suspicious or happy? Has someone replaced my Jeff with another Jeff? Funny when I think back to the early days of our relationship, when he was the neat freak and I was the slob, and how we've both (perhaps without realizing it) subtly altered our own habits to become more like the other person's. Sometimes I catch myself shifting things on my desk at work to be all right angles with each other, and a pang goes through me as I realize how much I miss my husband.

But enough maudlin meanderings, he's here now. :-)

Within an hour of arriving, Jeff fixed a crooked stove burner that had been driving me crazy, and also discovered that my kitchen sink also has a disposal unit, something I hadn't noticed in the two months I've been here. (!)

I heated up some frozen bruschettas (they have frozen EVERYTHING here, more on this in a future blathering) but ended up burning them because I accidentally set the stove to "preheat" instead of "bake". AUGH. I could tell Jeff was trying very hard not to laugh because he could tell I was upset about starting off our weekend together in such an awkward way. We ended up having a salad and some leftover Chinese food from Leone's visit, and watching the first part of "The Green Mile", which I had on video. So it turned out to be a nice evening after all, in spite of the burned bruschettas. :-)

My harp teacher is away for five weeks (she's the harpist on some cruise ship), but I have a ton of homework. Right now, I'm learning "The Dark Isle", a very pretty piece by Iain McLaughlin (from "Music for the Heather Folk", a collection of Celtic harp solos arranged by Sue Richards). It's the first time I'm using 3- and 4-finger chords, and my fingers feel all stumbly and uncoordinated. When will I feel like a real harper?! My harper friends all tell me that my harp will tell me its name, but this hasn't happened yet...I can't blame my harp, really. I suspect she's waiting until I can play her strings without causing her pain. :-)

Today's blatherpic: my mom-in-law Ginny and my friend Brian, at Word on the Street.

powerpuff girls

Leone came over tonight. We rented a Powerpuff Girls video (I had never heard of them before) and got take-out Chinese food. She also introduced me to Dexter's Laboratory on the Cartoon Network. :-) Both cartoons were fun. I haven't decided who my favourite Powerpuff is. After having seen the video, of course, I realize that I've been seeing Powerpuff marketing propaganda everywhere.

today's blatherpic: my cuz Andrew, at Word on the Street

word on the street

'Twas mostly a working weekend, but I got to hang out with Allison and Jodi on Saturday...went to see Almost Famous at the Paramount (loved this movie), had dinner at Milestones, just beside the movie theatre, went back to my apartment and even did some practising. All three of us were wearing our Teddy socks (thanks, Teddy!). The next time we see each other will likely be at OVFF next October. I really miss Thursday night practices with Allison and Jodi. :-(

Went to Word on the Street on Sunday, Toronto's annual literary festival. I was at Booth 71, near Queen and Duncan. Very busy, lots more people stopped by the booth to ask questions and chat than last year. Spent most of Friday and Saturday morning doing the flyers and other prep for my booth, mostly in a panic-stricken state. (Amanda, I *so* wished you were in Philadelphia this past week...where are transporters when you need 'em?)

I'll be posting various photos from Word on the Street over the next few days. Fun literary festival, and this time I actually got a chance to look around because Amanda was helping me man the booth (thank you, Amanda!!!). She was also massively prepared in the food department. Sadly, I left the list I made at home, but I do remember she brought hot chocolate, orange juice, egg salad & organic greens sandwiches, President Choice wrapped chocolates, shortbread cookies, other stuff. Yes, I felt completely spoiled. Amanda is a part-time professional caterer, did I mention?

After WOTS, Jeff and I went to see Almost Famous. Yes, I had already seen it the night before...it was that good! We went to the Paramount with Parki (who had already seen it two times before).

Stayed in Toronto an extra day so I could celebrate my sister Ruth's birthday. Ruth did a signing at Word on the Street...I pushed my way through the crowds to take a photo (will be posted later this week). Some people stopped by the Inkspot booth to ask if I knew Ruth (I guess we look sort of similar, and our last names are the same :-)). One was an aspiring children's illustrator. I asked if she was a friend of Ruth's, and she said no, she didn't know Ruth personally, she was just familiar with her work.

Wow. I have such a cool sister.

Today's blatherpic: Amanda and me at the Inkspot booth at Word on the Street on Sunday.

airports

I've always loved flying.

When I was a little girl, I used to open up an umbrella and jump off increasingly high flat surfaces to see whether I would float to the ground. Fortunately I did this in a series of graduated steps (instead of, say, deciding to abandon all caution and jump off the roof of my public school).

When I turned my attention toward planes, I was fascinated by the idea of a gigantic, unwieldy-looking METAL thing actually managing to lift off the ground, let alone remain high up in the sky for extended periods of time.

I fly an average of two times a month now, back and forth between Toronto and Philadelphia. Although I still like the idea, I have to confess I've grown tired of all the baggage (no pun intended) that goes with it...waiting for cabs, waiting in cabs, waiting in check-in line, waiting in the airport lounge, waiting for your plane to actually take off (are we going to TAXI all the way to Toronto?), waiting to deboard, waiting in line for customs inspection, waiting for your luggage, waiting for the bus home. Although my actual flight is less than an hour, it's generally about 4-5 hours door-to-door.

While I'm waiting, I'll be reading or working on my computer or listening to music or playing The Sims. Before typing this Blathering, I worked for a while on the e-publishing workshop I'm presenting in Surrey, B.C. next month. After I'm finished, I'll probably let myself play The Sims. Sometimes I just sit somewhere unobtrusive and just people-watch. I love people-watching, especially at an airport...there are so many stories going on.

Today's blatherpic: A view from I was sitting when I typed this entry, in the Philadelphia Airport, near Gate C26.

comix

Went out for dinner with a friend from work recently...the first after-work "just for fun" socializing I've done since moving to Philadelphia two months ago. We had a wonderfully grease-laden dinner at a cafe-type place on South Street and then browsed a comic book shop just down the street.

I used to collect comics back in university (corrupted by my then-boyfriend Reid) but opted out when my habit started getting too expensive. Got interested in some Toronto independent comics again a few years ago, this time corrupted by my friend Rand. Allison got me reading Sandman and Preacher (Reid was kind enough to lend me some back issues). Anyway, Leone (who is also Webmistress of a comics industry fanzine) has introduced me to a number of new titles I'd never heard of before.

I used to associate comics with the "Archie and Jughead" type of fare that my siblings and I use to read on long family trips during the summer. Entertaining, but not strong on substance. Some comics are still like that, but I've found that there are many that have an amazing amount of depth, strong writing, intriguing storylines and characterization that go far beyond the "superhero nabs villain" comic stereotype. And some of the artwork is astounding.

So what about the rest of you lot? Even if you're not into comics, what were your faves from childhood? Post your answers in Blatherchat.

Today's blatherpic: Sara shopping in the mini grocery store at the children's Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia (sorry, I had erroneously called this the "Touch and Feel Museum" earlier)