currently addicted to: music

Albert Hammond Jr. "Yours to Keep"

plant update

R.I.P. Aloe Vera

Well, one plant has bitten the dust.  In my defense, it didn’t start life here in the most advantageous condition.  It was ripped out of its home by my friend as we were walking through a condo complex.  “The smaller plants at the base will suffocate the plant, so they should be removed anyway” she reassured me.  But we didn’t have clippers so she had to pull it out by hand.  She struggled quite a bit with it and in retrospect this difficulty should have warned us to leave the poor thing alone.

But where one plant dies, another flourishes.  My herb plants are growing like crazy.  I may have to prune them soon and freeze the trimmings.  I also want to make pesto sauce with the basil but I don’t have a mortar and pestle which is essential to avoiding the acidic taste that basil gets when you cut it with a stainless steel knife.

For my birthday, the above-mentioned friend gave me a new addition to my little plant family (no, she didn't steal it from some family's garden, this came from her own garden).  Can anyone guess what plant this is?

No, it’s not pot, but it does bear fruit….my favourite….TOMATOES!  Now, I think I’m going to have to be more attentive but so far so good.  I’ve had her four days and her leaves are nice and perky.  This may sound crazy, but I get the feeling she’s happy.  She reminds me of the plant in Wall-E, so delicate, yet so strong.  I’ve put her in the solarium and I will need to re-pot soon but for now everything seems okay.

can a black thumb become green?

I've recently decided to give gardening another try.  well, actually, just a try...no "another" because this is the first time that I'm putting real effort into it.

In the past, I've had basil plants and they've never lasted much past the summer season.  I've also had an office plant, you know, the kind where you can forget about it and then all of a sudden it looks dead so you rush to water it hoping to have saved it in time and 10 minutes later the plant looks fresh as a daisy.  yeah, I killed that one too.  I've had a few orchids but they are so out of my league and died almost instantly.   I've also had an oleander which my grandma brought from Italy as a little baby plant (technically she shouldn't have been allowed to bring it into Canada but my grandma was a sweet little old lady) and grew to epic proportions.  It flowered every year and it was just a beautiful plant.  I didn't even have to worry too much about it.....until I took it back to my mother's house.  She decided that it needed pruning and proceeded to prune the life out of the plant....literally.  There was only a stump left.

So anyway, I want to learn to take care of plants and I thought I'd start off with plants that don't need too much attention.  This may sound like the easy way but rest assured I did not purchase any of the succulent plants in the pictures (I did buy the herbs, but that's for cooking purposes).  The plants in the pictures are all pieces of other plants given to me by friends.  I've planted them in their own pots and I'm hoping that they'll take root and grow.

these, once they start, multiply like crazy

this one when it grows will hang over the sides of the pot

this is my favourite - little brains!

I'm not sure this one's going to take root - I'm keeping my fingers crossed because aloe vera is very handy in the summer!

this is the bastard plant because it has these teeny tiny needles that stick to you whenever you get near the plant and they're painful -  however it's quite photogenic

If anyone has any suggestions or advice or if one of my plants looks like it's dying let me know!

The communication ability of a grasshopper

I've started studying for my masters this week and a passage I read struck me as funny and sad at the same time.

From Jean Aitchson's book "Teach Yourself Linguistics" (2003):

"Most animals have a very limited number of messages they can send or receive.  The male of a certain species of grasshopper, for example, has a choice of six, which might be translated as follows:

1. I am happy, life is good.
2. I would like to make love.
3. You are trespassing on my territory.
4. She's mine.
5. Let's make love.
6. Oh how nice to have made love."

It's funny to me because I had no idea how laid back and amorous grasshoppers could be.

It's sad because, adding in maybe 2 or 3 other messages (which might be 1. I'm so full, I ate too much, 2. you are a terrible teacher, 3. I'm smarter than you), it sums up the extent of my communication with a man I spent 3 years of my life with.

Being out of the relationship, now I can look back and realize how wrong we were for each other.  For me communication is key.  It doesn't have to be deep or philosophical all the time but I think that my body and mind needs it to survive.  To feel good, to be healthy, both mentally and physically.  I want to hear about the funny thing that happened to you at work or school or while you were riding the subway.  I get pleasure out of telling and hearing anecdotes.  I like to share.

But it's not enough to just share.  It's also important that you feel an energy while you are sharing with another person.  The kind of energy that never seems to wane.  For example, I met my best friend at university.  We had a couple of short conversations in the beginning mostly having to do with the Undergrad Psych Student's Association of which I was president and he was the email guy.  Then I didn't see him again until the following school year.  When we ran into each other again we talked for something like 6 hours.  It started off in the office and then we had to move it to a restaurant because we were hungry and it was dinner time.  And even when we parted the conversation never diminished, we held it over for another time.

Unfortunately I don't often meet people where I have this conversational energy.  Actually, I think I've only met about four in my lifetime.

everything can be misconstrued.

Do you ever have fantasies?  Daydreams where you think about decisions you need to make for the immediate future?  About future conversations you may have with friends or potential friends and you're trying to figure out how they'll take it?

It's easy when you've known a person for a long time, say 10 years.  You can joke and be pretty offensive toward that person and even over email he understands that you're just teasing him and you'd never do anything to jeopardize the respect that you have for each other.  When it comes to getting to know new people, even 10 minute exchanges in person can be devastating to any kind of positive future rapport.

Do you ever think about future conversations where you might want to explain something about your past where you feel you should have been smarter and any normal person would have left or chosen option B had he known the pain that was coming?  Everything you say can be misconstrued.

news from Canada

So, I don't have a tv and I haven't had one since january. This hasn't been a problem since italian tv sucks. However yesterday I was at my aunt's house and the news was on. Amazingly there was a news item from Canada (this is rare). The news item was about the otters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno

At least it's something.

European Soccer Fans really are nuts

Last week I went to my first ever soccer game. My friend was going so I made him take me with him. Viareggio was playing against…..I forget who. The first difference I noticed was all the police. There were many and not only that but they were in full riot gear; helmets, batons, and shields. What was I getting myself into? Apparently at the game the previous Sunday, the Viareggio fans caused a wee bit of trouble…destroying property, robbing the bar, and assaulting police. This wasn’t your regular NHL game. We sat with the fanatical fans and during the first half they were on strike. Even fans strike here, go figure. After the first half some guy started strapping a megaphone to a nearby pole facing the fans. At the beginning of the second half he started screaming cheers into the megaphone along with “fuck the police” type slogans. The fans would repeat and clap and sing and hold up flags (see above). And have I mentioned that a battalion of police was sitting just to the left of these fanatical fans?

In the end, neither team scored so maybe it was better that way. Who knows what would have happened if Viareggio lost?

I plan on going to the next one in a couple of weeks. :D

Italian TV

There is one thing I miss...television. As crappy as North American television can be Italian television is FAR, FAR, FAR worse. At least in North America, we can always find some rerun to watch or even just have on in the background while cooking dinner...but here? Forget it. It's nothing but variety shows with scantily clad women, really depressing news, old westerns and, god knows why, Walker Texas Ranger. If I want I can have the pleasure of watching Chuck Norris every night at dinner. EVERY NIGHT. I'd rather watch the cheesy variety shows. And I don't watch soaps in Canada (okay, okay, when I'm home if Y&R is on, I'm watching it, but it's rare) but here every day I find myself watching the bold & the beautiful. Just to get that little shot of quality tv...and compared to Italian tv, trust me, the bold and the beautiful is quality.

Thank god I brought some dvds with me.

Well, I've arrived in Italy and things couldn't be better. At first I started to freak out about the huge change I've made but as I was strolling around town nothing has felt more right.

Today I spent the morning buying things for the apartment....the apartment is furnished but I still need little things like wine glasses, wine, food, and of course cleaning supplies. I spent the afternoon cleaning and organizing and now I need to go get myself a cell phone. I feel so out of touch! Luckily I get an open wireless signal here in my apartment so I can use the internet but it's weak and only works in my bedroom....still it's better than nothing...actually it was the discovery I was most excited about. What I was least excited about was banging my head on the ceiling about 20 times since I've been here! I'm living in a loft/attic....just under the roof so the sides of the apartment slope downwards with wooden 2x4s running across. I'm either going to come back to Canada more stupid or with a brain tumor....neither of which appeal to me.

Almost a Year!

I've had this blog for almost a year now...it doesn't feel like it's been that long....

I guess, looking back, a lot has changed in a year....people have come and left...movies were seen...decisions were made...the title of this blog has changed...and I'm still listening to and loving the broken social scene cd. either there hasn't been any albums worth listening to or I've become montonous.

A while back, I was having a talk with a friend and he told me he thought I was conservative. this description surprised me because I have never felt that I was/am conservative...shy maybe....but conservative? So I'd like to ask you, d'ya think I'm conservative?

November 14, 2006

I booked my flight.

I have 2 more weeks here in this big country and then I'm off to the land of bureaucratic chaos! yay me!

You Belong in Milan

Stylish and sophisticated, you want to enjoy a truly European life - away from tourists! Milan fits you perfectly. Great shopping, high quality food, lots of culture... with very little hype.

What European City Do You Belong In?

pleasant surprises in book city

I was down in the annex yesterday where I was to meet my old friend Selena for an early dinner at new generation sushi. I arrived quite early having taken the afternoon off to go to the Italian Consulate. I decided to spend some time browsing in book city knowing that I would probably run into her there (she's a bookworm just like me). As expected, she was there and standing by the new releases display. We were chatting away about books when suddenly, the above jacket cover caught my eye. At first I thought is might be a book about Chuck Klosterman but upon closer inspection it was actually a new publication by him! I couldn't contain my excitement! I was not expecting to find a new release by Chuck (he had released a new book just last year) and I hadn't planned on spending any money. Plus, I had just spent an hour reading computer books for my new Mac and had decided not to buy one because I didn't want to spend any money. I didn't have that same thought when it came to Chuck.

YAY!

getting the fuck out

it looks like it's finally happening.

I just spent 3 weeks in italy looking for work and whereas most italians spend years looking for a job and an inexpensive apartment I managed to find both within the space of a week.

I can't even describe how thrilled I am at the prospect of finally living out this dream. no more minus 30 degree windchill, no more snow, no more long distances, no more over-priced crappy wine.

"If the apocalypse comes, beep me."

I spent 10 months last year catching up on all the seasons of buffy (dec 2004-oct 2005). naturally once I finished I needed a break, however this past weekend I decided to watch a few episodes here and there.

ahhh.....it's like coming home. this show is truly like crack.

six feet under is a good show!!

so I was at the video store today renting yet another volume of six feet under when the kid serving me felt the need to tell me that "six feet under is a good show". well....really? I've only been renting episodes from them for the last two months and even though he may not have served me every time I went in, he can certainly see from my history that this was not the first time I had seen six feet under.

and this isn't the first time he's graced me with his opinion on the show.

people. grrr

Viva l'Italia

what a fantastic world cup...

may the best looking team win...oh wait....they did!!

I've got nothing to say...

...but I haven't posted at all in May and May is my favourite month and now it's almost over.

I want to know why people keeping going away. Is this a sign that perhaps Toronto isn't the city for me? Maybe I should get the fuck out too. God knows this city makes me unhappy.

So a couple of weeks ago I made the mistake of driving down to the paramount theatre to watch a movie on a saturday night. At 10.30pm. Of course, as soon as I turned on Richmond, I got pulled over at the R.I.D.E. program for having a headlight out. And because it's a "no tolerance" zone he gave me a ticket anyway (how was I supposed to know?). Do the police in this city have nothing better to do? So now, I have to take time off work to make an appointment for a court date which is going to take 6 months to be scheduled. Then in 6 months I'll take more time off work just so I can go down there and show them a reciept for having had the headlight fixed within 15 days. Just so you know, I take a day off work and I don't get paid. Anyway, we were, at this point, 5 minutes late for the movie but decided to go anyway. Not having driven down to the paramount in years I decided to park at the paramount because I remember it not being too expensive. As I drive in I look at the price: $25 dollars. Are they on crack??? I turned around and got the hell out. No movie for us that night.

It's too bad...I don't often go to the movies...but when I do, it sure as hell won't be at the paramount.

There's hope...

Strangers with Candy is one step closer to release.



It hits theatres June 28.

Staggettes, sadness and early morning returns

So my friend Anna is getting married. She's shagged...*erm*...snagged herself an Australian which means she'll be moving back to the backwards country at the end of May. She's in town to ship the last of her things that represent her time in Toronto back to her parent's place in Calgary. I'm really happy she's here but it's also filled me with sadness because when she goes I won't see her again for a very long time.

Losing one best friend to more exotic places is hard enough...two in a week is madness!

Anyway, last night we had a get together for her with lots of champagne and cigarettes and I am never smoking again. I've said that before, I know, I know...but I think I've been turned off again. And it's a good thing because I'm on a slippery slope and I can feel the addiction trying to take hold again. Bad, bad, cigarettes.....how I love you.