ice cream

So I've decided to take a first aid course, something I've wanted to do for a long time. I took Infant/Child CPR when Sara was born, but that was a long time ago. My reasoning? Similar to taking an umbrella when going outside. If I take an umbrella, I know it won't rain. Thus if I take a first aid course, I won't have to use it because no one I'm with will ever get hurt.


Okay, so maybe not the SOUNDEST logic in the world. :-)


Anyway, it's a three-day course (9 am - 5 pm!), and I'll be taking it next month through St. John's Ambulance. The course description:



Standard First Aid + Basic Rescuer

A combination of Standard First Aid and Basic Rescuer CPR combined to create one course for convenience and economy. Nationally recognized certificates that are valid for three years are issued upon completion. Yearly renewal of CPR is recommended. A recognized pre-requisite for medical, dental, nursing, police, fire and ambulance programs.



I made a mind-numbing discovery yesterday whilst e-mailing with Rand. "That's cute how you're spelling 'ice cream' all as one word," Rand says, "Are you doing that on purpose?" "What are you mean, doing it on purpose?" I reply, then look the word up in the dictionary. AUGH! I have been spelling the word as "icecream" for as long as I can remember! Maybe even all my life!


A discovery like this shakes the very foundation of my editorial/writerly existence, of course. WHO KNOWS HOW MANY WORDS I COULD BE MISSPELLING ON A DAILY BASIS EVEN NOW??? Okay, so maybe I purposely make up some words (like "writerly" :-)). But it had never crossed my mind that I was misspelling a simple phrase like "ice cream".


Speaking of which, who knows what other blind assumptions I've been making about very simple, straightforward things in life that are going to turn around and kick me in the butt with the realization that I completely missed the boat? What happens if I've been misspelling "the" all my life, for instance, but my friends have been too embarrassed to let me know?!


(pause)


Or maybe I just won't worry about it for now.


Maybe I need some ice cream.





Speaking of ice cream (there, now I've used it correctly THREE TIMES in this Blathering so far, including the title), Bryan came over last night, and the three of us went to Fune for dinner. I hadn't eaten at Fune for over a month (Jeff and I are trying to cook at home more often), so was in a state of massive sushi deprivation.


We had green tea ice cream for dessert (ha, four times).


Say, maybe I'll make it through today after all...


Links:


More evidence that I've turned into somewhat of a Tolkien Geek: I've joined a Lord of the Rings Line Party at the Paramount.


Blatherpics:


- Jeff, Bryan and I passed this broken porn film tape case was on the road while walking to Fune. I'd love to know the story behind its sad current state. Or maybe I don't.


- J & B outside Fune.


- Inside Fune. :-)


Today's Poll: (Suggest a poll question)

Have you started Christmas shopping yet?

Kevin Spacey

My friend Cathy and I went out for dinner at Milestones last night, then went to see KPAX. While at the Paramount, I bought my advance Harry Potter ticket for this Friday. I wanted to buy my advance ticket for Lord of the Rings, too, bu they aren't on sale until later this month.


This time we had nearly TWENTY FIVE MINUTES OF TRAILERS and commercials and "wow here's our cool logo with as many special effects and loud noises as we can cram in" clips. This is getting ridiculous! By the time the movie actually started, I felt like I had been on a rollercoaster (I don't like rollercoasters).


Quite liked KPAX. Kevin Spacey was, as usual, wonderful.





Ok, I lied when I said I wasn't going to do any more travelling for the rest of the year. In early December, I'm going to visit Moira Allen in Virginia for a couple of days. It's a visit I should have made earlier in the year.


Moira Allen, for those of you who don't know, was Inkspot's Managing Editor. She worked with me for several years during Inkspot's lifetime, and we exchanged e-mail on nearly a daily basis at one point. Moira has always been incredibly supportive of both me and Inkspot, even through the roughest times near the end.


In this entire time, however, I never met Moira in person.


So I'm finally going to meet her, woohoo! Moira now runs her own writers' resource site called Writing-World.com. Any of you even vaguely interested in writing should definitely check it out.





Blatherpics:


- Chicken we saw on our walk at Langdon Hall. It seemed mightily interested in my camera.


- The Harry Potter ticket I bought last night!


- Sara (as Arwen) and Annie (as Ariel) after coming home from trick-or-treating on Hallowe'en Night. After spreading out their loot on the dining room table for inspection, their father asked them jokingly what they wanted for their nighttime snack. To our surprise (and enormous joy of their parents, I'm sure), Sara and Annie asked if they could have some melon.


Today's Poll: (Suggest a poll question)

Have you had a cold in the past 30 days?

windsor

Langdon Hall was elegant and relaxing on Thursday. Many thanks to my mom-in-law for giving Jeff and me this gift last Christmas! By coincidence, we ran into Larkin and Chris Boland when we arrived, a couple we've known for a long time (Larkin's mother gave her that name because she liked Jeff's sister's name). Chris owns The Tasting Rooms restaurant in Toronto.


Our room had a wonderfully deep tub (I'm a sucker for baths, did I mention?), so one of the first things I did was to fill it up, add some of the Penhaligon mineral bath salts provided, and soak for about half an hour. After dinner, Jeff and I read by the fireplace. I finished Karen Cushman's Matilda Bone in one sitting. I -love- doing that.


I didn't like Matilda Bone nearly as much as The Midwife's Apprentice, but still enjoyed it (thanks to Ruth for lending this to me!). Learned more interesting facts about medieval England. My main problem with the story was that I found the protagonist a tad too weak and whiny, though she did buck up in the end.


After wandering through some of the hiking trails on the 200-acre property, Jeff and I packed up and set off for Windsor to visit with his brother and family. Slept during most of the drive. Those who know me well will tease me about my tendency to fall asleep very quickly in a car. I developed the habit early in my childhood because of my susceptibility to motion sickness (I can't even watch Jeff play Quake on the computer without feeling queasy).





We got a tour of Case's and Debbie's house, which was huge (at least compared to our apartment). I kept getting lost while I was there, not remembering which hallway had which bathroom, etc. I drooled over all the rooms and cupboards (I tend to see all rooms as potential bookshelf and book storage space), despaired in the children's playroom (those kids have every toy on the market! what on earth am I going to get them for Christmas??).


I enjoyed getting to know my nephew Garrison and niece Olivia better over the weekend. Jeff and I tend not to see them nearly as often as we see Sara and Annie. Garrison obviously adores his older sister, and follows her around everywhere. My heart melts when he toddles over with a book, contentedly settling himself in my lap.


I was quite tickled by Olivia's enthusiasm for singing (inherited from her mom, I suspect). Not only can she sing reliably on key and remember all the words, but she'll put in all the vocal expression and physical choreography associated with the song. That girl belongs on stage. :-)





While doing some test online surfing from a laptop he was helping to set up, Jeff discovered a flamewar in progress in my Waiting For Frodo message boards. Apparently several people (mainly one person) had been posting unflattering comments about J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter books, and some of the Harry Potter fans fought back.


I shut down the boards and switched to a UBB equivalent where I had control over who could and couldn't post. Have to confess, though, I was pretty disappointed. I mean GEEZ...I felt like I was a junior kindergarten teacher sorting out a squabble over a toy. Especially hard to be patient with this sort of thing (bickering and namecalling over fictional comic strip characters fighting about other fictional characters) in the aftermath of Sept. 11th.


But enough ranting. Not a good way to start the morning.


Time to make myself a nice cup of cinnamon tea (thanks, Beckett!), put on a soul-soothing Kim Robertson CD, and do some writing. :-)

Links

Experimental new comic by Scott Adams. Adams has posted 20 comics online, and invites feedback from readers.


Blatherpics:


- My niece Olivia.


- My nephew Garrison.


- Case's Corvette.


- Part of one of the children's playroom areas, which I estimate was about three times as large as my home office. :-)


Today's Poll: (Courtesy Jeff)

Are you planning on seeing the Harry Potter movie during normal work hours this Friday?

car woes

(Update 11:58 am) Graham's Madly Off In All Directions show will also be broadcast this afternoon on Richardson's Round Up at 3:30 pm.

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No Urban Tapestry practice tonight. :-( Allison is busy with an after-school practice for the musical she and another teacher are working on, Joseph and the Technicoloured Dreamcoat (the show will be in May, I think).


Jeff and I have decided to go to Langdon Hall in Cambridge, ON tonight. His mom kindly gave us a night's stay at this hotel as a Christmas gift last year, and we've realized that we need to use the gift certificate before it expires! Tomorrow we'll be driving to Windsor to visit with Jeff's brother and his family.


We were supposed to go over to Parki's yesterday, but our car broke. :-(


Doug kindly came over last night to jumpstart our car, so we're hoping we're okay for our drive to Cambridge and Windsor this weekend. Jeff thinks the battery itself is having problems, not holding a charge for nearly as long as it should.


In case I don't Blather tomorrow, I hope you all have a great weekend!

---

9:36 am: Jeff just called and said that the battery went dead AGAIN this morning while he was on the way to a business meeting. Woohoo, fun! He got the battery replaced.


Links


The upcoming Leonid Meteor Showers sound pretty cool. Jeff and I might drive out to the country on the weekend of Nov. 18th and get up really early to see them.


Want to know the chances of you being laid off before the end of 2002? Here's some help.


Trek memorabilia for sale in a live eBay auction on Dec. 12.





Blatherpics:


- Photo taken when Andrew and I went to Monterey Bay Aquarium. The two children were eating their lunch inside, and the little girl noticed the seagull drooling through the glass and held out a piece of bread.


- Sara's joined the Brownies, and it turns out that the handbook materials were illustrated by my sister Ruth! She did the artwork for the Girl Guides about five or six years ago, I think, it's ironic that Sara's now using them. :-)


Today's Poll: (Courtesy Mike Whitaker)

Are you right-handed or left-handed? (YES for right-handed, NO for left-handed)

online chats

Had lunch with Amanda yesterday at the Hospital For Sick Children (where she's working). Bryan and Craig came over last night for dinner (we ordered in Thai food) and to watch Enterprise. Many thanks to Allison for letting us know that Enterprise was on last night and not tonight! Apparently its schedule was temporarily changed to make room for a Temptation Island special tonight.


Dropped by FilkHaven this morning early enough to chat a bit with some of the UK filkers (Hilary and Chris Croughton, Annie Walker, Mike Whitaker) and Terence from Singapore. Online chatrooms have always fascinated me.


I know some people don't like them, find them too chaotic, a waste of time. I find that it depends on your mood and purpose. When I ran Inkspot, we tended to have two types of online chats: (1) Work-related chats, and (2) Social chats. Work-related chats were related to the craft or business of writing in some way, had a definite theme (building characters, for example, or a Q/A session with a particular author), and were usually moderated. Social chats were exactly that...people getting together to just chat about anything.





One of the criticisms I've heard about online chats is that they're a sad replacement for meeting together in person. I have to agree. But they're better than not being able to meet at all...it would take a great deal of effort and money to arrange a get-together with the people I chatted with this morning, for example, whereas opening a chat program for a few minutes was relatively effortless.


I also find that online chatting, though not as getting together face to face, has certain advantages over e-mail. The main advantage is that you're able to have more of a back-and-forth regular conversation than e-mail because of the immediacy of the environment. You can get answers to your questions much more quickly. And it's good for keeping in touch with people who don't e-mail that much (or that quickly :)).


On Sept. 11th, filkers began gathering in the Filkhaven room for a virtual headcount and to exchange news about other filkers, and for mutual comfort. Seanan, Batya, and Merav sang a song about this in a one-shot at OVFF which was really beautiful.


For me, the main disadvantage is that unless you're in a one:one chat with no other people present, or a moderated chat with a specific theme, you don't really get into involved discussions on one topic. You can hold private discussions within a public chatroom (using private messaging), but it's not quite the same as having a really good ongoing e-mail correspondence. Also online chats can be addictive...time passes pretty quickly when I'm in a chatroom, which is why I usually set a strict time limit for myself.





I'd be interested in hearing opinions from those of you who purposely attend or don't attend online chats. Please post in Blatherchat, thanks.


Blatherpics:


- My friend Andrew took this picture as we drove along the coast in California, on the way back from Monterey.


- One of the highlights of my visit with the Bohnhoffs was finding out that Maya was as obsessed with office supplies as I was, especially pens.


- You can even get flu shots at California grocery stores! :-)


Today's Poll: (Courtesy Terence Chua)

Have you ever worked as a temp?