Weddings, FKO and restaurants

My friends Tom and Sue (above) are getting married at FilKONtario this Friday! For those attending, Sue invites everyone to wear medieval garb if you have it. They're not hiring an "official" photographer, but are hoping friends take photos (I'm sure we will :-). For more info, please see Tom's blog.

I was delighted to hear that Al Thomson (from Curraugh) is flying in for the event. Al's an enormously talented musician and singer; hopefully he'll be performing in some of the open filk circles. He gave me a Northumbrian Pipes lesson back in 2002 (photo by Allison):



And here we are playing tin whistle together during Beckett's visit to the Bhigg House in Winnipeg in 2005 (photo by Beckett):



Dave Clement is coming to visit with me after the convention; I'm very much look forward to that. Below: Dave and Tom perform in an open filk circle at GAfilk:



Thanks so much for all the birthday greetings; I had a wonderful birthday. My sister and her family took me out for lunch, and Jeff and I went to Globe Bistro for dinner.

I posted on Chowhound a couple of months ago, asking for advice about where to go on my birthday. I love trying restaurants with poetic menus (y'know, the kind of menus that have over-the-top menu item descriptions that read like poetry) but Jeff isn't crazy about the atmosphere of some of those places.

After some helpful advice from Chowhound types, I decided on Colborne Lane. I left three messages over the course of several weeks, with reservation info and asking them to call to confirm...but I heard -nothing-. I tried calling during business hours, but only got the answering machine. I finally left a fourth message cancelling my reservation (if it had ever been made) and explaining why. Still heard nothing.

After cancelling on Colborne Lane, I went ahead and made reservations for Globe Bistro (again, based on recommendations from Chowhound types). Globe Bistro now has an online reservation system in place. After making the reservation online, I received a friendly phonecall confirming the reservation, and another phonecall closer to the date confirming once more.

I had asked if we could get a nice table, and they put us at a romantic table (the most romantic in the restaurant, in my opinion) in a relatively secluded corner beneath a tree on the small mid-level floor, with a lovely view overlooking the restaurant. We were both happy with our food, and I loved my dessert (lemon tart). The service was friendly and efficient. The restaurant turned off the main lights during Earth Hour. :-)



Above: view from our table at Globe Bistro (apologies for the photo quality; I only had my point-and-shoot with me).

A follow-up on Colborne Lane: I finally did receive a call from Colborne Lane ON THE DAY of my original reservation, to confirm the reservation. When we explained why we had cancelled, the person on the phone (I think he said his name was Kirby) just said that someone at the restaurant who took reservations had recently quit and besides, they had been getting SO MANY CALLS ever since Toronto Life magazine had named them one of the best restaurants in Toronto. At no point during the phone call did he apologize.

I'm sure Colborne Lane has fantastic food, but I have to admit that this incident has dampened my enthusiasm for visiting that restaurant. The quality of food is important to me, to be sure. But for me, the dining experience encompasses more than just what I'm eating.

If I had a choice between a trendy upscale restaurant with fantastic food but snobby staff and a small but friendly family-run fish and chips shop where the matriarch smiles as she hands you your change (like Penrose, for instance), I'd opt for the latter anytime.



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Pampered

Happy birthday to my birthday sister, Katy Dröege-Macdonald!

My birthday's just beginning, and I already feel incredibly spoiled.

Allison and Jodi threw a mini birthday celebration for me at our last Urban Tapestry practice. Allison gave me a beautiful blue shawl she made herself as well as some puzzlegrams (make-your-own puzzles -- can't wait to use these :-). You can see a full length view of the shawl in Allison's Flickr set.



Jodi gave me a pair of gorgeous earrings, some vanilla spice hand cream and a Hoops & Yoyo CD. My nieces introduced me to Hoops & Yoyo, some cute little Hallmark characters, and I fell in love with them.



On the way home from practice, Jeff and Walter picked me up at the subway station, and Walter gave me a wonderful birthday card made by his daughter as well as a t-shirt with a drawing of a CHOCOLATE molecule on the front. :-D

My friend Cathy sent me the soundtrack to Gosford Park as well as the movie DVD -- she remembered how much I enjoyed the music when I was visiting her in Calgary; I have the soundtrack playing as I write this, in fact.



Yesterday, both Jeff and I took the day off and wandered around the city. We dropped by Futureshop, where I bought some headphones I could use for recording (my current headphones leak noise too much), then to a framing shop to get my Blush cards framed. We went to Saved By Technology to get some recording gear for Urban Tapestry, including another microphone set, a third microphone stand, and some cords.

And we also visited the Sewing Centre (2144 Yonge St., Toronto 416-487-4438) where a very patient man helped me pick out a beginners' sewing machine and taught me how to use it.



Many thanks to Ginny for the birthday gift! I've wanted a sewing machine for years now. Not because I can sew (because I can't, at least not yet) but because there have been so many times when I've wished I could...even just to hem a pair of pants or make a simple fix.



My mom used to sew all the time, and she made many of my clothes as well as clothes for my brother and sister when we were little. She always hoped I'd pick up the sewing bug, but I never did back then -- I loathed Home Economics (those were days when girls weren't allowed to take shop).

She even put together a sewing box for me which I still have and value much more now than I did back then. My mom's not around anymore for sewing advice but I have family and friends who know much more about sewing than I do, so I'm hoping to get tips from them. :-)

Anyway, I'm hoping to eventually learn enough to sew some simple items of clothing for myself, like a summer top and a skirt. And maybe experiment with stitching art (see Bev White's Flickr set for an example of some astounding stitching art) and other crafty projects. If any of you know of good online sewing resources for a beginner, I'd appreciate you posting the URLs.

My friend Luisa took me out for dinner last night; we ate at Penelope's on King, one of my favourite restaurants. She showed me our most recent finished pottery project: a bowl with some of my Little Nightmare creatures on it. I'll take a picture and post it before FKO; I'm hoping to sell this on my art table in the dealer's room.

This morning, I woke up to find that Jeff had posted "Happy Birthday" signs all over the house, including post-it notes on the bathroom mirror!

:-D

It's going to be a good day, I can tell.

Hope you all have a great weekend. And don't forget to turn off your lights between 8 and 9 for Earth Hour!

B5 Virgin Update

SPOILER WARNING: The blog posts below focuses on my reports while watching Babylon Five for the first time. An LJ feed is also available. If you haven't seen B5 yet and don't want spoilers, please DO NOT click the links below.

Season 3, Episode 32: GROPOS



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Illustration Friday: Pet Peeves

I created the illustration above for Illustration Friday. Theme this past week was "Pet Peeves."

Only a week until FilKONtario, woohoo! I'm going to selling stuff in the dealers' room for the First Time, by the way: some mini-paintings as well as greeting cards. My Blush line of letterpress cards arrived yesterday and look AMAZING. I'm so SO pleased with how they turned out. I'm ordering more to sell on Etsy but right now I only have 10 of each design; I'm keeping some for myself but will be selling a few of these at FKO.







I'll also be selling some of my greeting cards for writers.

Tonight I'm getting together with Allison and Jodi for our last rehearsal before the convention. In addition to rehearsing for our Friday night concert, we're putting together a fun package for Interfilk. Hint: it involves squirrels.

Very much looking forward to hanging out with them (Allison and Jodi, not the squirrels). It's been a bit of a weird day.

Babylon Five Virgin Updates

SPOILER WARNING: The blog posts below focuses on my reports while watching Babylon Five for the first time. An LJ feed is also available. If you haven't seen B5 yet and don't want spoilers, please DO NOT click the links below.

Season 2, Episode 29: Soul Mates
Season 2, Episode 30: A Race Through Dark Places
Season 2, Episode 31: The Coming Of Shadows

And here's a cartoon I recently posted on BoardGameGeek. The "wood for sheep" bit is sort of an insider joke for those who play Settlers Of Catan:





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Cash 'n Guns

Nice to see there are so many other reading addicts out there!

Had fun gaming last night with Jeff and the guys, and ended up playing two games for the first time: Gloria Mundi and Cash 'n Guns.



Above: John ponders during his turn in El Grande.

Gloria Mundi is a game set during the fall of Rome. As the Visigoth moves toward Rome, destroying land along the way (unless you can bribe him), you're fleeing while also attempting to build your career as a Roman statesman at the same time.

Amazing how scary a tiny piece of red plastic (the Goth) can look. I ended up winning the game, woohoo!



My favourite game of the evening, though, was Cash 'n Guns. The premise: you're a gangster about to split your loot with your fellow criminals, and Things Turn Bad.

Each player is given 8 "bullet" cards which consist of five "click click click" cards (e.g. you don't shoot), 2 "BANG!" cards (you shoot someone), and 1 "BANG! BANG! BANG!" card (you start shooting first). Each turn, on the count of three, everyone points their gun at someone else with one of their cards face-down in front of them.

For some reason, my friend Andy and I kept pointing our guns at each other. I guess we both have unresolved issues leftover from our university days. :-)

After the guns are pointed, you have the option to duck (can't be shot at). If you duck, however, you have to take a Shame Card, which is deducted from loot at the end. After players are given the opportunity to duck, everyone turns over their card to indicate whether their guns were firing bullets or not.

Surviving/remaining gangsters divvy up the loot after each round, if the loot can be divvied. If you're shot three times, you're out of the game. The surviving gangster with the most loot wins.



Anyway, I ended up winning this game too! Andy and I had a spectacular final shootout after each having being shot twice before. I won because I started shooting first (using my one "BANG!BANG!BANG!" card while Andy only used a "BANG!" card). Jeff would have won, except I shot him the previous round. Heh.

If you're looking for a quick, fun party game and don't mind the concept, then I recommend this game.




Photo above: Walter and Vartan play Armor while Scott tries out a remote-controlled mini-helicopter.

Any photos with me in them were taken by Walter.



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Reading addict

So 'fess up...how many of you out there identify with the cartoon above?

I go a bit nuts if I don't have something to read, wherever I am. I usually carry a magazine or paperback with me, but if I've been so negligent as to forget Real reading material, I'll grab whatever I can get: advertising flyers, phone books...yes, even milk cartons and cereal boxes.

I am SO lusting after The Kindle right now, but I think I'm going to wait until the next iteration so that some of the bugs have been ironed out.

Speaking of reading, my recent reads:

- The entire Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. I read this ages ago but it was time for a re-read, particularly since we now own the big hardcover mega-compilations.

- East by Edith Pattou. LOVED this book and would recommend it for any young person who enjoys fantasy.

- A Gathering Of Gargoyles (Vol. 2) and The Pearl Of The Soul Of The World (Vol 3) of the Darkangel trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce.

B5 Virgin updates

SPOILER WARNING: The blog posts below focuses on my reports while watching Babylon Five for the first time. An LJ feed is also available. If you haven't seen B5 yet and don't want spoilers, please DO NOT click the links below.

Season 2, Episode 2: Revelations
Season 2, Episode 3: The Geometry Of Shadows
Season 2, Episode 4: A Distant Star.



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