househunting and cool sisters

Picture to the right: house listings that Jeff and I are going to see today and tomorrow. Wish us luck.

I feel as if we've been househunting forever. It's nothing compared to stories of those who have been searching for their perfect house for years, of course, but sometimes it seems as long to me.

We've seen detached houses, semi-detached houses, townhouses. Both small ("cozy" in the listing) and spacious, in perfect condition and "needing loving care." Houses which have obviously been staged, where the owners filled the house with someone else's furniture and accessories. Houses that have been on the market for a long while and where the owners have clearly gotten tired of always keeping the place in pristine condition.

I always feel a bit strange, walking into someone else's home and knowing that (like us several months ago) the inhabitants are probably sitting in a coffeeshop around the corner or pretending to browse a nearby street shop, fervently hoping that we'll be the ones who buy their place so they can get on with their lives.

How far I've "walked" across the U.S. since mid-January. Fitnessjournal.org.

I've also become familiar with many different types of neighbourhoods around Toronto. As someone who does a lot of walking, running and travelling via the TTC (Toronto transit), I know I'll be using the immediate neighbourhood much more than Jeff. For any potential house, therefore, I've usually done a pre-visit exploration, checking out TTC access, how far the house is from coffeeshops and bookstores, whether the main street DOES have things like coffeeshops and bookstores.

According to my pedometer, I walked about 12 km yesterday and used the subway system about near a dozen times (I bought a day pass).

Here are a few online tools I've found useful in our househunting search in Toronto:

TTC schedules/map

MLS.ca: a bit out-of-date compared to the database that real estate agents use, but useful because I can search for houses within different areas, streets, by price range, etc.

Toronto area MapIt: Found out about this from my brother-in-law Kaarel. Especially cool because I can view pretty much any house from a real aerial photograph.

On a completely different topic, I now have a copy of my cool sister's new book, Me and My Sister:



...and a copy of the Newfoundland/Labrador Easter Seal campaign package (helps children with disabilities), for which she did the artwork:



Less than four weeks until FilKONtario!

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tranzac

It's been almost three months since I packed up my home office to put in storage and set up at temporary office space first in Jeff's office, then here at my mom-in-law's. More and more I find myself missing easy access to files, office supplies, and my books. I'm also watching the calendar and now wishing I hadn't packed up all my spring and summer clothes, foolishly assuming we'd have found a place by then. I miss having two monitors; the fold-out cubbyhole I'm using now would only fit my laptop, so we put my bigger monitor in storage.

Fingers crossed that we'll find a house soon.

Anyway, I went to another Tranzac session last week. I think this makes it my 4th or 5th session. I'm still spending most of my time listening, and am now recording as many tunes as I can on my iPod using iTalk as well as taking notes about what tunes are being played. Though actually finding out the names of tunes is proving a challenge, as you can see in my cartoon today. I can tell that session-types identify, since I only posted it two days ago and it's already my most-viewed image on Flickr. :-D

I'm gradually starting to recognize tunes, even though I can't play them yet, so I figure that's a good thing.

As I mentioned in my last Blathering, I also met a few more people at the Tranzac. Patricia and Bob Jones, for example; Bob maintains the Irish Traditional Music of Durham page, which I was ecstatic to discover includes a page of frequently played tunes at the Tranzac. I also met a very nice whistle player named Tim.

A few of my non-session friends have expressed some bewilderment at my interest in Irish music. I have no Irish in my background, for example, though one of my old Inkspot advertisers did mistake me for being Irish over the phone (perhaps he thought my last name was O'hi instead of Ohi). My reasons for getting into the whole Irish session thing are somewhat vague, but here's an attempt to summarize some of the reasons behind my newfound interest:

- I enjoyed the session organized by Mary Bertke at OVFF so much. Dave Alway pointed out in a LJ comment that Rob Wynne had taken this great photo of the session. You can see me near the middle of the picture with a silly grin plastered over my face. :-)

- Urban Tapestry isn't able to get together weekly anymore because of geography and we don't play music together as often as we used to. I miss my regular musicfix, especially playing music just for the fun of it rather than because of an upcoming gig.

- Attending sessions are cheaper and more convenient than attending filk conventions, which occur mostly outside of my home turf.

- They're on weeknights rather than weekends. The latter are much more busy for Jeff and me (and the reasons I'm unable to attend many local housefilks :-( ).

- I love the fact that it's basically one big singalong, with the focus being on everyone playing the same thing. I enjoy individual performance and the spotlight as much as the next musician, but there's also something really appealing to me about the whole "sit around the campfire and all make music" atmosphere. Immensely relaxing.

- It doesn't matter if I have to miss the occasional session, though of course I try to attend all of them.

- I get to use my penny whistle. I'm so used to only playing flute and guitar and percussionstuff that it's a nice change. I may eventually start doing flutestuff at sessions, but I'm having too much fun with the whistle right now. I'm also quite enjoying my lessons with Karen Light.

- I'm not sure if this is common at all sessions, but the atmosphere at the Tranzac sessions is enormously supportive, fun, and laid-back. Every single person I've chatted with at the Tranzac has been friendly and welcoming. I don't feel like an outsider, even though I don't know most of the tunes and spend most of my time just listening.

- I love the fact that many of these tunes have been passed down from generation to generation over hundreds of years, that they have names like Drunken Landlady and Gander in the Pratie Hole.

- What I learn through the Tranzac can be carried through to other sessions I encounter outside of Toronto.

- It's a way of stretching myself musically and socially, not letting myself get in a rut, learning something new, pushing myself.

Without cable, I'm finding I spend a lot more time reading, drawing and making music in my non-work time. I miss tv far less than I expected, and didn't even feel a twinge of regret at missing the Oscars last night.

Hm...ok, well maybe a twinge. My friend Andy told me that Edna Mode was on the Oscars!

:-)

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Wordgoddess collab: questions

An Illustration Friday collab. This week's topic: "Sorrow."

Today's entry is part of a Wordgoddess collab. Each of us came up with a question for the group.

1. "What would your My Little Pony name be?" - Alicia

Joni Rigatoni Pony. See Figure 1B later in this entry.

2. "What do you think of when you look up at a brilliant night sky?" - Athena

If I look long enough, I feel as if I'm falling into the stars, with arms outstretched, imaginary solar wind tugging at my hair and clothes. I feel small and insignificant, one with the universe, at peace with myself and everyone and everything in the cosmos.

Then my head explodes from the vacuum of space.

3. "Have you ever felt prejudice towards anyone, or felt it aimed at you? Describe/explain." - Becky

Though I was the only non-Caucasian in most of my classes through much of my grade school years, I only experienced direct prejudice occasionally. A friend commented that it really wasn't fair that I got good marks since it was a well-known fact that all Japanese people were smart, so I had an unfair advantage. I remember being called "Chink" and "Jap" and "Slanty Eyes."

Yes, I've felt twinges of prejudice towards certain groups of people in the past. But I'm always aware of when it happens, try very hard to think of people in terms of individuals instead of the group because I know how I hate it when anyone makes sweeping statements about the Japanese, no matter how innocent.

Fig.1B: Joni Rigatoni Pony

4. "You suddenly notice a doorway in your home that you've never noticed before. You open it and find *your room*! Describe it." - Carrie

It's comfortably cluttered, with colourful fabrics and crafts and photographs. Nothing matches; an interior designer would be horrified. Every wall is covered with bookshelves, from hardwood floor to cathedral ceiling; I use a rolling ladder to get to the top shelves.

One corner of the room is my writing corner (mega-computer, high-speed access, etc.), another is my music corner (with my harp, guitar, keyboard, other instruments), another for crafts and drawing, another set up just for reading, with a cozy armchair and a reading lamp.

5. "Pick a song that can make you cry every time you hear it and explain the reason why it does." - Cricket

I don't know of any songs like that, though I do know of songs (and have written songs) that will make me cry, depending on my mood. See my entry on sad songs for more on this topic.

6. "If you could, in retrospect, change one thing about your childhood, what would it be?" - Danielle

I wish I had been more adventurous.

7. "What was your first job?" - Debbie

First parttime: either babysitting or teaching piano or doing cartoons for a Christian kids' newspaper. Can't recall the exact timing.

First fulltime (summer job): Selling hot dogs at the Shopsy's booth at the Canadian National Exhibition food building. It took me years before the smell of cooking hot dogs didn't make me vaguely queasy.

8. "Explain the name of your journal. How'd you come up with it?" - Heather

I chose "Blatherings" because it gave me the flexibility of talking about anything I'd like, didn't tie me down to a particular mood or style or theme.

9. "Describe your bedroom when you were 17. And now?" - HMW

When I was 17:
Small, pale blue walls, blue and white macrame lampshade that my mom made hanging over the bed.

Now:
Jeff and I are temporarily staying at my mom-in-law's condo while we're househunting, so our bedroom is her bedroom (she's not here). Exquisitely designed, white and pale sea-moss green. My bedside table is not nearly as neat and organized as Jeff's. :-)

10. "What does being a woman mean to you?" - Jenn

Independence and strength without losing an awareness of my own femininity, compassion and empathy, vulnerability mixed with courage, complexity.

I've never been what many men would consider a "typical woman." I don't wear makeup, dislike clothes shopping. "Doing my hair" consists of a quick wash/rinse, letting it air-dry.

And I'd much rather get computer hardware than jewellry.

11. "Name one thing you to did today that made you step outside your comfort zone." - Jolene

I've been working through these questions gradually throughout February and the night I came to this one, I had just come back from a session at the Tranzac. Tonight I introduced myself to two new people I had never met before (I'm generally shy so don't tend to do this), chatted with them: a concertina player on my left named Patricia, whistle player on my right named Tim. Through Tim, I found out about Patricia's father's Web site; he was sitting on the other side of Patricia and playing an accordion. When I got home, I checked out the Durham music Web site and was delighted to discover a page of tunes commonly played at the Tranzac, each tune with sheet music and MIDI file!

12. "If you could do anything, knowing that money, opportunity, talent, etc. weren't considerations, what would you do for a living?" - Katherine

What I'm doing now: freelance writing.

13. "When you're feeling down, what can you always count on to cheer you up again (even if only temporarily)?" - Kathy

Reading one of my comfort books, usually a childhood story like Heidi or The Little Princess or The Phantom Tollbooth.

14. "When you're having a bad day, what do you find most comforting?" - Lissa

Reading a comfort book (see above).
Taking a bath. Reading a book in the bath until the pages wrinkle.
Good friends: hanging out in person if possible, else chatting on the phone.
Taking a walk outside, preferably in the sunshine.
Having a good long cry to get it out of my system.
Browsing a bookstore.
Talking with my sister.
Ordering in food with Jeff and watching a rented movie.

15. "Have you ever had a friendship go sour? If so, describe what happened to tear you apart." - Lynda

For me, friendships start drifting apart (I've never had a friendship "tear apart") when the communication breaks down for one reason or another, when I feel as if I'm putting more effort/interest in maintaining the friendship than the other person, when the number of "things we can't talk about anymore" makes the relationship too complicated, when unresolved issues start building up, when I feel as if every conversation is a complex dance around potential landmines.

The ability to be upfront with each other is vitally important to me, as well as open communication, even about difficult subjects. I would MUCH rather drag a touchy topic into the open, hash it out, then put it away for good than pretending it doesn't exist or evading it. I hate conflict, but I've realized that sometimes it's much better to have a good ol' fight and then make up. And if you don't make up, then perhaps the friendship wasn't meant to be.

Of course all the above applies to me as well in any friendship; one of the reasons I feel so strongly about this is because I've been guilty of the same, and have been making an effort to change over the years.

The fact is that I have many friends, but very few truly close friends. I see this as a Good Thing.

16. "Using MapBlast or MapQuest, find the distance between your current home and your hometown (or, if you moved a lot while growing
up, your birthplace). How many miles or kilometers separate you from that place now?" - Melissa

About 25 miles.

17. "What would be your ideal job?" - Nance

What I'm doing now (freelance writing).

18. "Do you Google people you know or come in contact with, and do you think Googling people is a good thing?" - Noreen

Yes, I Google all the time and see nothing wrong with Googling people.

19. "If there was one thing you could change about yourself, personality-wise, what would it be and why?" - Reb

Less guilt.

20. "How does your current life differ from what you thought it would be like when you were 10? How (if at all) is it the same?" -
Robyn

I didn't really think that far ahead when I was ten. I guess I vaguely figured I'd be married with kids, like my mom, but was hazy on the process since I had zero interest in boys at that point. Had no clue about what I wanted to do, except that I knew I'd always be writing.

Now? No kids and no plans to have kids, but I'm married. And I'm still writing. :-)

21. "If someone were to gossip about you, what do you think they would say?" - Say-Say

Geez, I have no idea. Gossipy-types could pick anything, including my obsession with compartmentalized food, the secret lesbian affair I had with my friend Luisa back in university days and the little gnome in my nightstand drawer who quotes Lovecraft.

22. "If you could spend 24 hours living the life of one other person, just for fun and the sake of seeing how someone else lives and
feels, who would it be?" - Sherry

Thursday Next in the Jasper Fforde series: a fictional character in a fictional story about fiction.

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tea!

Many thanks to Scott and Amanda Snyder for their gift of an Edna t-shirt! I'll be posting a photo in an upcoming Blathering.

But now to my current obsession: tea.

When I was in Boston, I discovered a wonderful little shop called Teavana where I sampled a number of different teas and chatted with the nice Tea Guy (see photo below).

Teavana Tea Guy in Boston.

I've never been a big fan of loose tea up to now because of the hassle of clean-up, but the Tea Guy convinced me to try this tea-maker. And y'know, he was right.

So now I'm super-excited about trying all kinds of loose tea I haven't had a chance to sample before because that type of tea wasn't available in bag form. I bought Mate Vane and Rooibos Caramel at Teavana; both taste great by themselves and also in combination.

This morning I checked out one of the tea shops in St. Lawrence Market (lower level) and bought samples of Souwee White Tea, Lapsang Souchong, Assam, Monk's Blend and Rose Petal loose tea....total came to under $4! I can already see that one major advantage of buying loose tea is that you can try a small amount to see if you like or not without having to commit to a whole box of teabags.

And y'know, I actually like Lapsang Souchong. Smoky, slightly burnt flavour, reminiscent of campfires and late nights under the stars.

Mmmm...nothing's quite as comforting as curling up on a couch beneath a blanket with a cup of tea and a good book. Tea is the whole shebang, not just some dried leaves steeping in hot water. For me, any particular type of tea inevitably evokes strong emotional associations, a visual image, a fragment from a book or a poem. Tea reminds me of the Suttons' kitchen, of Jeff when he used to play guitar, Dave Weingart (because he posts about tea so often), Urban Tapestry's visit to UK with Lissa and Phil, Talis Kimberley introducing me to the concept of a tea library, Rand fanning out samples from his impressive collection like cards, cardomom cinnamon from Beckett, sipping Parki's vanilla tea while curled up on his living room armchair, decaf chai from Jodi, licorice tea with Allison, talking tea with the Savitskys at GAfilk.

My life summarized in tea; an ongoing project.

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looking up

Parki, Craig and Jeff. I love technonerdboys!

E-mail woes continue. Haven't been able to pick up e-mail at ALL this morning. :-( Perhaps it's for the best; part of me is convinced that by the time my e-mail does come through, it'll be 99% spam.

Househunting also continues. We keep finding houses that are nearly perfect for us except for One Thing. Eventually, I'm sure, we'll start to get desperate enough that we'll be more willing to compromise, but right now we cling to the feeble hope that our Holy Grail of houses is still out there, cruelly beckoning.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to experience some of the disadvantages of living in limbo. I recently ran out of my temporary office supply stash and had to go buy more, for example; frustrating since I can mentally picture the big box in our storage locker full of the same supplies. I'm also running out of places to put things so am starting to dump stuff in a Miscellaneous Drawer in the corner of the living room I use as my temporary home office. Not sure what I'm going to do when the drawer is full.

On a brighter note, however, my arm seems to have fully recovered from the fall on the ice, it's gorgeous outside, and I'm typing again. I still use ViaVoice sometimes to help extend my "daily arm points", but things are definitely looking up again. I'm able to write more every day, and have also started songwriting again. Might even try resume playing harp and guitar soon. I've had to miss the past few Tranzac Irish sessions because of babysitting, but I plan to get back to my whistlestuff soon. My German studies have been newly inspired by a gift from Gary McGath: a gorgeous hardcopy German version of "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende (thanks, Gary!).

FilKONtario is next month! And yay, Rand's girlfriend Erin says she's going to be attending, so it looks like we're going to meet in person at last. :-)

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