lauren

(I've updated Waiting For Frodo).

Lauren came by to visit yesterday afternoon; her family cottage is down the shore, two cottages away.

Lauren first came to visit when she was six years old, paddling across the bay in a plastic kayak, curious about the Ridpaths. When I was six, I can't imagine going to visit a cottage full of strangers by myself, let alone in a kayak! We all admired her spunk and easygoing nature.





As the summers passed, the little girl continued to visit. Sometimes in a kayak, sometimes a canoe, and later a motorboat. She never overstayed her welcome, always seemed to sense when it was time to go back to her family cottage. Greetings became big bear-hugs. We kept sporadic touch by snailmail, and Lauren would write to us from camp.

But it was the cottage visits that we looked forward to the most.

Lauren's going to college next year. COLLEGE. Holy cow, I feel ancient. But I also get a real pleasure out this 10-year friendship that Jeff and I have had with the "little girl down the shore", now a young woman.





The Class A Canoe Lake Regatta took place yesterday; I went to the awards ceremony at the Gibsons' after the races. Our shore won the team race, and JBR won 2nd place in the Class A division.





Tonight, we're having dinner with the Gibsons at Bartlett Lodge, then it's back to the city tomorrow.

While I've enjoyed this cottage visit a great deal, i have to say that I'm really looking forward to getting back to my claustrophobic little office and a normal work schedule.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Lauren and Jeff, yesterday afternoon.
	Lauren and Jeff ten years ago, when Lauren was six.
	Jeff sailing.
	Dan Gibson presenting his wife, Helen, with the Class A Division Ladies' Regatta Trophy. At age 75, Helen is more active than most friends I know my age.
	JBR, Gord Gibson (Dan's youngest son and now a producer at Solitudes), Willi Powell.

floating

Yesterday's Class A regatta race was postponed until today because of lack of wind, so Jeff and I went on a paddle to Adaskin's Bay in celebration of our 11th wedding anniversary. I've been informed, by the way, that the Canoe Lake Laser Regatta is apparently the longest running annually-held regatta in the world.

Paddling conditions were perfect: warm but not humid, breezy, calm waters. The lake was so calm, in fact, that it was a disconcerting experience to look too closely; it was like looking down at the sky, as if we were floating somewhere above the clouds.

We parked our canoe amidst some of the longer grasses, found comfortable positions in the canoe, read and talked until the sun went down. We talked about our tentative plans to move; we're thinking of buying a house in or near Toronto (hopefully in). It would be a major change for us. We're both so used to downtown condo living.





After an hour or two, we paddled to the Powells for the post-regatta party. When I went to my first cottagers' party on the lake, I hardly knew anyone; Jeff and his family had been on the lake for years, and I was the newcomer. Everyone made me feel welcome, however, and I feel like a part of the community now.

The party was fun. Louise Laurier had her guitar and harmonica, along with a binder of original and cover music. The barbecues were piled with hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, corn on the cob. We caught up with cottager friends we haven't seen in a long while.

Ginny arrived today, and we found out that Jeff's brother Case and his wife Debbie are having another baby (due in April); Larkin's and Rick's baby is due in December. Looks like the Ridpath clan is going through a mini baby boom.





Jeff and I paddled home from the Powells' after the party. Very cool to paddle at night, especially with the lake so calm. We talked a bit but mostly paddled in contented silence, listening to the lake and to the cry of a loon somewhere in the darkness.

Not a bad way to end the evening, really.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Yesterday evening, the water on the lake was so smooth that watching it was like looking down on the sky. I took this photo off the Powells' dock yesterday evening.
	Jeff took this photo of me in Adaskin's Bay yesterday.
	Willi Powell clowning around with Louise Laurier at the cottagers' party at the Powells.
	Party at the Powells' cottage last night.

sauna

I went to sleep ridiculously early yesterday (9 pm) so was up pretty early this morning, when the mist was still heavy on the lake, slowly burning off as the sun rose. I went for a short paddle by myself, just to see if I could remember how to do the J-stroke (I could); it was a wonderfully peaceful morning paddle, with the last of the mist swirling around the canoe as I paddled around Peary's Island. Think I'll go for a sauna and swim now.

I never used to like the sauna.

Maybe it's because I never considered sitting in the sauna by myself, and had always associated it with having to crowd into a sweltering closet-sized room with a lot of hot, sweaty people.

This past spring and summer, however, I'm discovering how much I like the sauna. For one thing, sitting in the sauna for a while helps work up my courage to jump into a colder-than-normal lake. There's also something enormously relaxing about sitting in the sauna by oneself, leaning against the hot wood and letting tensions and worries ease away, then jumping in the lake.





Unless it's just me, or me and Jeff, I generally wear a swimsuit in the sauna. I know traditional saunas are sans clothes, but I save those for unisex spas and health club saunas. The only time I ignore my self-imposed prudishness is on canoe or hiking trips with certain friends, when the desire to jump in a cool lake after a particularly gruelling paddle or hike without having to bother with changing into a swimsuit, overcomes my squeamishness about romping au naturel.

Speaking of skinnydipping: if you haven't ever done it, I highly advise trying it, even just once. Handy tip: Don't do too soon after ice-out.





Jean and I spent an hour playing through classical flute duets yesterday afternoon. I always look forward to sightreading through music with Jean; she and I are pretty equally matched in terms of sightreading and skill levels, and we both have the same easygoing attitude. It's a lot of fun, and half the time we'll end up in hysterics in the middle of a piece if we're doing particularly badly.

Today is Jeff's and my 11th wedding anniversary! We're postponing celebrating it because of the 30th anniversary Canoe Lake Sailing Regatta this weekend; Jeff will be participating in the races. I'll probably spend most of the day writing, but go over to the Gibsons' to catch the end of the races, and to the Powell's cottagers' party tonight.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Thermometer inside the sauna.
	Sauna. There are two benches inside, with room for approximately three people on the top bench, three on the lower bench. Higher capacity if the occupants are close friends.
	Interesting cloud patterns yesterday afternoon.

happy endings

As I figured, postings in Blatherchat in response to my poll about animated movies made me realized I completely neglected to mention some of my other favourites:

Shrek: Especially love the exploding bird scene.

Monsters Inc.

Toy Story 1 & 2

The Iron Giant: Always makes me teary-eyed at the end. I'll always forgive Vin Diesel for his over-hyped testosterone roles because he was the Iron Giant voice.

I would have included Beauty and the Beast except I hate how the movie ended. I think the Beast was much more interesting. The ending in Shrek was much better. :-)

I did see "Perfect Blue" and "Princess Mononoke". I loved the animation in both and enjoyed them, but found the underlying storyline of "Perfect Blue" too dark for my tastes, and was too aware of the moral message that "Princess Mononoke" was pushing (Debbie ducks here as avid Princess Mononoke fans go berserk). I don't mind if films have a message like the "nature good, man bad" one in Mononoke as long as it doesn't become too intrusive.

But maybe I saw it on a bad day. Everyone else I know liked the movie, including Jeff, so perhaps I should rent it and try watching it again.

I think I'm much more of a fan of children's animated films that ones made for adults; I'm looking for emotional resonance and happy endings. I don't need to be reminded about the bad things in the world. I've encountered as much as I want to on my own already (and can always find more by just watching the news). When I go to the movie theatre, I'm looking for pure escapism, even if I know it's only going to be for short time.

I suppose that's part of the reason I love sappy old musicals so much, because of their inherent benevolence (I'm willing to swallow a lot of saccharine clichés for benevolence) and they always have happy endings. I like happy endings in books as well as movies.

Perhaps that's why I wasn't keen on the end of Ghost World as much as the rest of you. I tend to prefer -knowing- that the ending is happy; I've never been a big fan of open-ended non-conclusions which leave the viewer thinking. I don't want to speculate about the protagonist's happiness at the end of the movie; there's too much room for me to speculate about bad things happening. I want to know that the good guys win and the bad guys lose, that the girl gets the art scholarship and goes back to school, that the lovers do indeed live happily ever after.

Unrealistic, I know. That's not the way the world works, Debbie, I can already hear some of you telling me gently. And I admit that a iron-clad all-questions-answered ending does not necessarily make a good movie, and can sometimes make a bad movie. Perhaps a subconscious part of my psyche is trying too hard to see loose ends wrapped up nicely and characters I care about find their heart's desire as often as possible out of a need to cancel out bad karma in my life.

Hm. Too much psychoanalysis; my head hurts.

Think I'll go jump in the lake instead. :-)





To those living in Toronto:

Merav Hoffman says that her friend, Di Zhang, is opening up a new bubble tea parlour called Manatea on August 26th. Location: in the north food court of the Eaton's center, south of the bulk candy place, next to Yogenfruit. Apparently she's offering a 10% discount to filkers if they sing her four lines of something, as long as it's quiet enough at the parlour that she can hear them.

If you're in the area, please do check it out!

News/links:

Tired of faxed junk mail, a Silicon Valley man is filing a $2 trillion lawsuit against Fax.com

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Harry, JBR and Jean in the kitchen last night, just before supper.
	Mackerel, Harry's and Jean's cat, snoozing in the boathouse.
	Jean on ukele, Harry on my guitar, last night during a music session in the boathouse. I had my flute, and JBR used a cooking pot as a drum. Jeff was working on his laptop.

poll: animated films?

Jeff and I checked out the trailer for Spirited Away, a new Hayao Miyazaki film that's coming out soon. Wow, does it ever look fantastic! I'm REALLY excited about seeing this. It has all my favourite elements in an animated film: a young girl as the main character, magic, and something "different" about the story. Can't wait until this movie is in the theatres!




Here are my favourite animated films:

Tonari no Totoro (My Friend Totoro): This is my all-time favourite by far. During our Tokyo visit, Jeff patiently suffered through my paroxysms of ecstasy when I found an entire section of a toy store devoted entirely to Totoro merchandise. The two girls in this film remind me a LOT of what Ruth and I were like when we were that age, and of course I could identify with them being worried about their mother being ill in the hospital. Parts of this film always make me cry. I love the incredible imagination shown throughout this film, the atmosphere, the soundtrack, the little fuzzy black creatures in the girls' house. A Hayao Miyazaki film. I highly recommend this. Geez, I should go out and see if there's a DVD available; now I'm overcome by a sudden longing to see this film again. Did I tell you that I adore this movie?

Majo no takkyubin (Kiki's Delivery Service): I'm not a big cat person (I'm allergic, eh?) but I do really like Gigi, the young witch's cat. Hayao Miyazaki film.

Tenku no shiro Rapyuta (Castle in the Sky): Another Hayao Miyazaki film.

Mulan: Disney film. I was pretty impressed by how well the animators managed to convey Asian features, which usually end up as caricatures in most cartoons.

Anastasia: John Cusack did the voice of Dimitri and Christopher Lloyd was Rasputin; how could I not like this?

The Little Mermaid: LOVED the music.

Snow White and The Seven Dwarves: Disney. I remember having a picture book that was part of the album cover (yes, I had the soundtrack on an LP!) when I was very young, and prop the book open to my favourite illustrations beside my pillow just before I fell asleep. Yes, it's cliched and doesn't give little girls the greatest inspiration (i.e. waiting around for their prince to come), but I've got a soft spot for this film. Plus the evil stepmother still gives me the willies.

Darn, I'm sure I've missed some. Maybe I'll be inspired your poll answers.

POLL: What are your favourite animated films?

Answer in Blatherchat

Other Links/news:

The trailer for X-Men 2 is now online. Patrick Stewart looks pretty swoony in a suit, I must say.

Television Without Pity: Wow, these people watch a lot of tv.

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Today's Blatherpic:

	An illustration from Ooo-cha!, a book by Colleen Sydor that my sister illustrated in 1999. Click on the picture to see a larger version. Please don't copy this graphic without permission of the artist, thanks.
	A Totoro hangy-thingy (I'm sure it has a proper term, but I don't know it) I picked up in Tokyo. I thought about hanging it from the end of my guitar, but it rattled around too much when I played, so I hung it on one of the tuning pegs on my harp instead.
	My Gigi and Totoro toys, gifts from my friends Mark and Andrew.