massage

Every few months, I treat myself to a massage at the Sutherland-Chan clinic. I have a weakness for professional massages. If I was a zillionaire, I'd have them every day. Though perhaps then they wouldn't be such a treat, who knows.

There's something enormously relaxing and liberating about having a total stranger run their hands over your body. You feel pretty vulnerable, lying there naked except for a carefully-arranged towel, but there's also freedom in that vulnerability.

I've tried different massages in different places, and I've found that not all massages are as good. On one of my Toronto-Philadelphia commutes, my flight home was cancelled; I was stuck in an airport hotel overnight. Tired and frustrated and depressed, I decided to treat myself to a massage in the hotel spa.

I was massively disappointed. The masseuse was a girl who seemed to have never gone to massage school (or whereever good masseurs and masseuses go for their education); she could have been someone I dragged off the street. She was tentative, poking and prodding me as if I was a wad of yeasty dough sitting on a kitchen counter that still hadn't risen enough.

The Sutherland-Chan people seem to know what they're doing; I've never had a bad massage in their hands. Yesterday was no exception. Yesterday was also my most painful massage...at my request. Usually when the masseur asks me what kind of pressure I want, I reply with "medium". This time, I asked for a firmer pressure because I was pretty stiff and sore around my shoulders and neck, probably as a result of the long drive we had on the weekend combined with not carrying a heavy knapsack properly afterwards.

So Stephen complied, telling me that if it ever got TOO painful, to let him know. He kneaded and pulled while I lay on the treatment table in blissful agony. One part of the treatment involved him pinching various nerves in my neck.

"This is going to hurt," he warned me. "Tell me when the pain goes away, and then I'll move to the next spot."

And wow, it sure did hurt. My first impulse was to lie and say, "Ok! It's fine now!" right away, but I restrained myself. I even dozed off once.

Anyway, by the time I came out of the treatment room, I was wobbly and lightheaded and virtually pain-free.





Sent out another query yesterday. The article query that was accepted last week is due this Friday. I wrote over 1,000 words for my novel. I'm pretty happy with how things are going with my writing in general.

Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon were across the street from our apartment building yesterday, for the premiere of "Moonlight Mile" at the Toronto Film Festival. I was at the gym on the treadmill (too hot/humid outside to run) when I saw him on tv being interviewed by the media on about thirty feet away from our front door.

Parki came over last night, and we watched three episodes of The Sopranos from Scott's DVDs. Scott watched all the Season Three episodes over three evenings already. I have a craving for Italian food now.

Links/News:

Harald Koch has a blog! (Harald writes as "chk" in Blatherchat).

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Today's Blatherpics:

	From our condo window, we get to see some pretty spectacular sunsets. Not as spectacular as the ones at the cottage, granted, but breathtaking in their own way. The light from one of them recently transformed our living room into something almost magical.
	Sign on the elevator to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

poll: what are you reading?

Of the two queries I sent out last week, one got rejected and one got accepted. I love editors who have e-mail; I can get a response so much faster. I'm also involved into two projects helping companies/organizations set up online communities.

Recently finished reading Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop (thanks to Michelle for the recommendation) and Confessions of An Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. I enjoyed both quite a bit.

The Anne Bishop is the first in a series. I'm always torn about novel series. Should I read each as it comes out, or wait until the whole series is out? The problem with reading one at a time is that by the time the next novel is published, I've forgotten what's happened in the previous one. Then I'm too lazy to reread the earlier one(s) again.

I enjoyed the Maguire book much more than I expected. I liked Wicked (told from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West) but found it a bit too dark for my tastes. I had been told that Confessions wasn't as good by several people, but ended up liking it more.

Haven't decided what to start reading next. I'm always reading magazines to research potential markets, but I also like having a fiction book on the go as well. Though I rarely get a chance to do it except at the cottage when only Jeff and I are up, I love reading an entire book at one sitting. My butt and my head ache by the time I'm finished, but otherwise I feel great.

Poll: What are you reading?

What's the last book you read? What are you reading now? Do you read one book at a time, or do you tend to have more than one on the go at the same time? What type of reading do you prefer? (fiction? nonfiction? magazines? online?). How often do you read? Answer here.

News/links:

One year ago, I was eating Green Tea Haagen Dazs in Tokyo.

Five years ago, I was angsting about whether or not to drop Compuserve.

Napster pulls the plug...does anyone really care? (Reuters)

So when's the next Harry Potter book coming out?!

A geek records the first few months of his new baby daughter. Some pretty funny bits. Thanks to Andrew for the link!

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Today's Blatherpics:

Watching the Fellowship of the Ring DVD at Ruth's and Kaarel's place.

my generation

Jeff and I spent six and a half hours in the car yesterday. We checked out Aurora, Unionville, Markham and Scarborough, cruising through streets and looking at the houses, getting a sense of different neighbourhoods. Many thanks to Bryan and Elizabeth for showing us around Aurora, and Luisa for showing us around the Guildwood area. In the evening, we had dinner with Reid, Luisa, Ronnie, Scott and Rita at Reid's and Luisa's place; Luisa barbecued salmon, chicken, vegetables...yum.

Bryan and Elizabeth treated us to lunch at Chinook, a great restaurant in Aurora owned by parents of one of Bryan's friends, Blake. 21-year-old Blake came by our table to chat, and Jeff and I asked him how he liked living in Aurora. He said that he spent most of his time in Toronto, that Aurora was a little too quiet for him.

"It's probably better for someone of your generation," he told us.

I almost fell out of my chair with shock. What the heck did he mean, someone of my generation? Did I really look that decrepit to him? Sure, he was young enough to be my son, but it was the first time anyone had ever clumped me in the whole "older generation" category to my face.

But then I forced myself to remember what it was like to be in my twenties, and the associations I automatically made with someone who was in their forties, how ancient that seemed. Now I'm forty, and most of the time I don't feel old at all. Funny how much one's perspective changes over the years.

I also find that I'm not as aware of people's ages in terms of friendships. When I was in high school, a year or two seemed to make a huge difference in how I perceived people. Now, I find that age isn't nearly as important as the person's life attitude. Some of my closest friends are a fair bit older or younger than I am.

I still have trouble of thinking of myself as being middle-aged. I mean geez, the phrase "middle-aged woman in her 40s" has always evoked a less-than-flattering image (as well as having a certain redundancy in its wording, of course).

I started to think a lot more about the whole aging thing once I turned thirty. I suspect I'll always feel a bit of a twinge whenever I have to change the first digit of my age. I remember when I first realized I was starting to get wrinkles around the outside of my eyes, sometimes in my thirties. I was devastated. Whenever I looked in the mirror for a while after that, all I could see were wrinkles. But then after a while I got used to seeing them in the mirror, gradually accepted them as being part of the image I had of myself.

There's a commercial that used to air on television around here about women and aging. I can't recall what product it was selling, but it basically showed a series of close-ups of late 30ish and older women's faces, with each of them saying things indicating how she really didn't mind getting older at all. One of them even said, "I want to grow old."

Gimme a break. No one WANTS to grow old (except, perhaps, the pre-teen desperate to be an adult). I certainly don't. Or rather, I'm enjoying life so much that I'd like to live as long as possible. But I also strongly believe that growing older doesn't mean you have to give up your passion for life, and that you don't have to submit to society's preconceptions of what someone your age should be like.

But enough ranting on that subject for now.

I'll get off my soapbox now, but first I need to find that darned cane of mine...

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Today's Blatherpics:

	With Bryan, Jeff and Elizabeth at Chinook in Aurora.
	Luisa and Jeff in Scarborough.

home-hunting

Jeff and I are going to start looking for a place to live in today. We plan on driving through and checking out Richmond Hill on our way to Aurora to visit with Elizabeth and Bryan, will check out Aurora, then drive home by way of Uxbridge and Markham. We're not looking for houses yet, just a general area before narrowing our search.

Our current plan is to rent a house in the area in which we plan to buy first. Meanwhile, we'll sell our condo and start researching real estate, the rental helping us decide if we've chosen the right area as well as whether we really want a house (as opposed to a condo). It's going to be a pretty radical change for Jeff and me.

We're open to suggestions, by the way! Here's a list of the things I'm looking for during research (Jeff's list probably varies slightly):

- A quieter and cleaner-air area than the one we're in now.

- Detached home.

- More interior space and light. More window area.

- High speed Internet access.

- Within an hour's drive of my sister's place in North Toronto (Mt. Pleasant and Eglinton).

- Ideally, near a park or area good for running.

- Within walking distance of at least one coffee shop, one bookstore, one grocery store where I can buy staples like milk and bread.

*** Relatively easy access to buses and/or trains to Toronto throughout the day AND evening (up to midnight). I've noticed that the buses and trains stop running around 6:30 pm for some of the potential places we were going to check out! I want to be able to get to Toronto whenever I want to on my own, without a car, and still go to Urban Tapestry practices, visit with friends and family. For me, this is one of the most important factors, no matter how otherwise perfect the location or house. When we lived out in Hockley Valley, this was a real problem, and I started to go a bit crazy with cabin fever, especially when Jeff had to spend more and more time in the city because of work.

Yesterday, I picked up a copy of David Dunkelman's book, Your Guide To Toronto Neighbourhoods, 2002 edition, to check out potential neighbourhoods within Toronto itself. So far it looks pretty good, with two pages devoted to each neighbourhood along information about the general feel of the neighbourhood, price range, types of homes, shopping, recreation, schools, transportation, and a pencil sketch of a typical home in that neighbourhood.

I looked up the overview of the area in which we're currently living:

"Downtown West is Toronto's most lively neighbourhood. This neighbourhood's vitality is due to the fact that Toronto's Entertainment, Fashion and Financial Districts are all located here."

Jeff went gaming with the guys last night again. I tagged along with my laptop and spent the evening with Cumulus, continuing to cull and organize my digital photos. I'm working backwards by month and have reached May of this year so far. I fell asleep on the couch near the end of the evening; I think Jeff and the others were playing some head-chopping card game (something to do with the French Revolution).

One year ago, I was making friends in Japan.

Three years ago, I was work-stressed with no chocolate.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	The Toronto neighbourhood info book I picked up at Chapters yesterday.
	Jeff and Scott.

poll: moving

Added 1,200 words to my novel yesterday, sent out two magazine queries, started researching a few others.

I don't feel like throwing up when I run anymore, which is a good thing. I made attempts to keep running outdoors throughout the summer ("heat? what's a little heat?"), but it wasn't always pleasant. Eventually I gave in to the inevitable and worked out at Curzon's which, although not nearly as scenic as running along the lakeshore, is blissfully air-conditioned.

But it's the end of summer now. Most of the tourists have gone home, and the morning air is cool and fresh, the trail devoid of World Catholic Youth. Running along the waterfront yesterday, I watched the reflection of the sun on the water, thought about everything and nothing. My current running music: Jeff & Maya Bohnhoff, Aimee Mann, Soul Coughing. In case you missed my fangirl ravings about their new album, "Manhattan Sleeps", and haven't bought the CD yet, stop reading this Blathering and GO OUT AND BUY IT NOW! I told JeffB that I was too embarrassed to tell him how many times I've listened to my copy already.

Felt good to run outside again, though I find that I'm more aware of the fumes from passing traffic (especially while waiting for the lights at the Gardiner Expressway to change) and smokers. Yesterday, I actually felt nauseous after a particularly noxious-smelling truck rattled by, and I could almost feel the minute oily particles coating my skin, my hair, my lungs. *gag. On my run back, I ran through at least half a dozen clouds of cigarette smoke from frantically puffing office workers on break.

So though I was originally highly resistant to Jeff's suggestion that we move, I admit that I'm gradually softening to the idea.

It would be nice to run in a place where I didn't feel the need to wear a gas mask, and having more space in my home office would be nice. Yes, I know I'm lucky to even have a home office. I think I got spoiled a couple years ago when I moved into the Inkspot office on Mowat Avenue. Reason for move: lack of space at home! I'm back to being a fulltime freelancer, but can't help but feel somewhat claustrophobic sometimes.

Even nicer would be the ability to FINALLY UNPACK ALL MY BOOKS. I still have books packed away from when we moved from Orangeville, and that was nearly ten years ago. Every so often I'll remember one of my books that I'm craving to read again but is still buried in a box somewhere. We've never had enough room for them. Even now, I have a lot of my books double-shelved.

Jeff and I have been researching house prices in Toronto and have been discouraged, so are starting to investigate outside of the city, with a focus (at my request) on places along the GO train line. Though I have a driver's license, I hate driving and also have poor night vision; I haven't driven a car since we moved to the city years ago. One of the great things about Toronto is that I can go pretty much everywhere by subway and bus (or walk!).

Thus one of my goals is to find a place from which I can access Toronto relatively easily on my own whenever I want to; I'll go nuts otherwise.

We had lunch with our friends Elizabeth and Bryan yesterday at Fune. Elizabeth lives in Aurora, and Bryan's planning to move there soon. Jeff and I deluged her with Aurora-related questions since Aurora is one of the areas we're considering.

I still love downtown Toronto, and a part of me is heartsore at the thought of leaving this neighbourhood with its bustling activity, bookstores, theatres and coffee shops. Ever since we started discussing the possibility of moving, I've found myself rediscovering what I love most about this area, shoring up memories. Sure, I can always come back and visit, but it won't be the same.

But Jeff and I both agree: it's time for a change.

Poll: Moving

Do you rent or own? When's the last time you moved? How many times have you moved in your life? Do you consider your current dwelling the one you'd like to live in for the rest of your life? Do you consider yourself more a city or a country person?

Links/News:

Two years ago: I was taking harp lessons in Philadelphia.

I've added Jeff Bohnhoff's memories of Leonard Zubkoff to the Dandelion Report.

Reid's posted way too many photos of me in his Livejournal recently. :-)

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Amanda Foubister at lunch yesterday. She brought a Lord of the Rings poster for Sara and Annie.
	Coronation Park, during my run. No more mass confessionals, yay!