puzzlebox good wishes

Best wishes to our pals PUZZLEBOX, who are Interfilk guests at GAfilk this weekend!

Good practice with Allison and Jodi last night; we worked on prepping for Didgeri-Douze in the UK next month. We'll be doing a one and a half hour concert, a children's concert, and an arrangement workshop (plus having lots of fun during the rest of the convention, of course!). Poor Jodi is still recovering from a bad case of the flu (there seems to have been some kind of flu epidemic in Toronto this past holiday season).

Hey, from Blatherchat it sounds like there are other ABBA fans (or ex-ABBA fans, anyway :-)). Neat. I'm hyped about an ABBA musical that plays at the Royal Alex later this year, called "Mamma Mia!". Wow, looking through the CD insert is weird...I remember thinking that ABBA looked so cool back then, but now they just look so goofy and seventyish! Has anyone out there seen "Muriel's Wedding"? (I know Joey has)

My officemate Doug is fiendish. He is highly amused about how I can't resist the giant tube of mini-chocolate bars he brought to the office and "accidentally" leaves it on my desk just after I declare I've had too much chocolate. My favourites in the tube are Caramilk and Fusion (Fusion's my all-time fave right now). I avoid Crispy Crunch, though deep down I know that I'll eat even those ones when the others are gone.

My mom-in-law gets inducted into the Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame in a few months! She also was one of the top three fastest swimmers in the United States Masters Swimming, age 60-64 category, 50 freestyle (1999 USMS Top Ten SCY for Women 60-64).

limerick

Today's CD: a Shawn Colvin CD (sorry, can't recall the title and I'm too lazy to pop it out of my computer to check).

Jeff and I went to see THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH last night...it was pretty much what we both expected, so neither of us were disappointed. :-)

Started ANGELA'S ASHES; love it so far. Also was surprised to see that much of the focus so far seems to be on Limerick County in Ireland, near the Shannon river. Jeff and I and some other friends rented the wing of a castle (Limerick Castle) in County Limerick, on the banks of the Shannon River, nearly ten years ago. Gorgeous countryside, friendly people. The Knight of Glin greeted us in his bathrobe our first morning there, which was both odd and reassuring all at the same time. We had much fun rambling through the castle, exploring the rooms and castle grounds. Jeff and I also got engaged during that trip. :-)

Hey, I've incorporated! Inkspot is now "Inkspot Inc." on official documents. Interesting how that whole thing works, really...I had to choose between "Limited", "Ltd.", "Incorporated", and "Inc."; I can't really alternate between them even though they all basically mean the same thing.

back at work

Back at work. Pretty quiet here; I suspect many people are still on holidays. I'm comforting myself by playing my new ABBA GOLD album over and over again. It's the only time I can listen to it; Jeff despises the group. I'm going to try to convince Jodi and Allison to cover an ABBA tune for fun, but I suspect they'd rather eat bees first.

Scott D. left yesterday, leaving behind a subway token and a partly-used bottle of Cheez Whiz (tm). I miss the guy already.

Read Snow Falling On Cedars over the holidays, really enjoyed it. I'm curious to see how close the movie is to the original text. Other books I got over the holidays: Angela's Ashes from Ruth and Kaarel, Sherlock Holmes collection from Allison (she was shocked that I had never read any Sherlock Holmes before)...looking forward to starting those.

As a child, I used to have a goal of reading every book ever published. Too many books to read, too little time.

playdium

Went to the Playdium yesterday...a mega-complex full of all kinds of arcade games, from shoot-em-ups to car races to martial arts (you stand on a lighted circle, the image on the screen mimics your movements) to solitaire. You get a Playdium card and get it "charged up" with a certain amount of money, minimum $10. Then you road the Playdium, picking which games you wanted to play; games ranged from 50 cents up to several dollars a play. I played one car racing game and one motorcycle game, then had to bow out because of motion sickness. While the others played for a couple hours, I went home, staggered into bed, took a nap. Major wimp-out or what? :-)

There was a small "museum" section of the Playdium where they showcased several old arcade games, including Pong. Wow, remember pong? It used to be so cutting edge. I think I've even paid money to play it. They also had Pac Man, of course ("wacka wacka wacka...").

what i did on the last day of the millennium

Had breakfast with Scott D. and Jeff at Shopsy's (I had a smoked salmon omelette).

Went to Helen's place to watch videos with Brian, Helen, Scott, Jeff, Amanda, and Corey. Saw South Park and I Married An Axe Murderer. Ate way too much of Helen's homemade shortbread (yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm).

Back home to watch some of the end-of-the-millennium coverage while Jeff and Scott made dinner (pork roast, salad with feta cheese and peppers, potatoes, apple strudel for dessert). Amazing footage from around the world...very cool to see the various festivities as countries crossed over into the new century.

Got to Andy's and Christine's place around 8:30 pm. To tell you the truth, this was the most fun I've ever had at a New Year's party. :-) Good mix of people, great conversations. Saw old friends, played with my nieces, was introduced to a very nice raspberry liqueur (yum, thanks, Christine!).

And just after midnight, we all traipsed up to the roof and watched the fireworks display, our breaths misting the air as we shivered and jostled together for warmth, ooohing and aaahing as the lights burst across the sky.

Happy New Year, everyone! :-)