Recipes from Vic’s Planet……

So I just bought an apple. A really, really, expensive apple, with frills and whistles (no bells - bells are for sissies). Yeah. Who’s rockin Teh Awesome with a much, much lighter pocket? This guy. Good thing I love Guelph, cuz I’m not leaving annnnytime soon. That said, where the heck did all of the first half of summer go? Granted I am now so accustomed to walking about my apartment naked that when my roommate finally returns I’m going to have to put up sticky notes everywhere bearing the sign “PUT ON CLOTHES YOU TWAT”… but still. Ohhhh, I get it. The best part of summer is yet to come. As in, next weekend. As in, Hillside.

What is Hillside? Only the best music festival in a kajillion mile radius from here to Timbuktu (which is in Mali, did you know? Had to google the spelling.) Guelph has a lake, which has an island. Where is said magical festival? On the island. Camping + people like Sarah Harmer, Jason Collett, Los Lobos + amazing people + CAMPFIRES!! = ohmygoshfantastic.

Working a la Cornerstone is still lovely. Much more so due to the gel cooling thinger from Daneille. (We share it, whoever works the hot side gets it.) As of the end of the month I’ll be senior staff, which is crazy; a lot of people are leaving for school, and BC, and careers. Pfff. Careers. I’ve still got a year to sort that one out. I’m going to try to juggle school and work in the fall - maybe crazy? But I really want to keep the job, and I’d be doing both part time. My boss is so lovely that he’d most likely be ok with giving me two-ish shifts a week, which wouldn’t be bad. I’m also training to be the morning girl (only different menu-wise due to the addition of eggs). Morning person comes in early, but has a much more regular schedule than say, 3-11 one day and 9-5 the next. Also you get less closing shifts, and I’d so much prefer to come in and mess up a clean kitchen than come in at the end and have to clean it all. Plus, if I’m going to set an alarm, it doesn’t make a huge amount of difference setting it for 6 as opposed to setting it for 8. Just a theory.

Free engraving on my almost free ipod touch - Live every week like it’s shark week.

As in, Discovery Channel shark week. Motto for life.

whoah… so it’s been a while. couple months-ish while. woops. well, i warned you! life since christmas has progressed very slowly, but summer makes me so sluggish that i don’t notice the difference (in types of slug, heh) so i feel fine. i’m still employed! though part time for this past couple weeks. for a little while it almost seemed like my body was going to be like, ‘Hey, you know what, I’ma do you a solid and just rock out for a while!’ Oh yeah? Fo realz? That’d be super keen.

uhhhhhno. not so much. oh well. summer in guelph is just lovely. work could be less stressful, but i love it anyway. having ben makes the house much less empty (considering selling dog hair to china online by the tonne), and the stone walls keep it nice and cool during the day.

learned how to drive standard today - definitely will never, ever, buy a car that isn’t. everyone wants a racecar. and finally talked to the landlord about a monetary issue (once it got to the point where i was late for work because she wouldn’t freaking stop watering her part of the garden, something had to give). came back all resolved, and with a $148 skirt to give to a size 2 friend - “it doesn’t fit and i don’t want to just donate it” - could have gone worse.

new favourite: tubing on the speed river through guelph. involves a twenty minute trek from downtown up to speedvale (via dirt path and train line) and an hour and a half lovely float all the way back down. somehow it’s nearly all big trees and no buildings, just a few backyards here and there. so far i’ve only borrowed tubes from friends. went to zellers today and they’ve sold out with no intention of re-stocking. alors… cdn tire has cheap ones but without the useful mesh at the bottom. amazon sells them (called River Run) but 10$ more expensive. time for the search to expand…

things i’d like to be when i grow up (while i wait for some ventilation to seep through upstairs so i can sleep): traveling minstrel, marine biologist, astronaut, nomad, stage director, actor, composer… so… i could compose music, direct myself in acting out and singing the story of it, among my nomadic community where i save whales and periodically blast off into space to do important research and number the stars. win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9KMgg7T_sg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_b0I4KVpFk

so. a blog. for my ma.

i be sittin in my man boxers (comfiest pjs of all time, doncha know) eating (well having now finished) probably one of the better brownies of this world, tired and smelling like a kitchen (a good one, minimum grease). on my way home from work - two intersections away - i carried a pile of boxes a little taller than me (intended for packing purposes), wearing my grubby shorts n’ converse. (post of parentheses, in case you hadn’t noticed. i like themes.) aaaand it’s friday night, the town is busy, this IS the main drag (main / only - same thing in guelph). it’s always interesting to walk anywhere when 100% of the people you’re weaving between are drunk off their faces or crazy enough to look like it. passed some guys sitting on the pavement, staring at me bump my way across an intersection, i said “oh yeah, this is how i always go to bars”. there’s drunk laughing, and there’s drunk laughing that goes on for so long that you’re just annoyed. luckily i was walking all the while so i didn’t have to wait and find out.

but - boxes! for packing! for moving!!! purposes!!!! i’m excited. as much as i have enjoyed living where i do, the next place has four catchy shimmery bits:

1) no mice. (potato bugs apparently, but, smeh. cross that when i get to it.)
2) built in 1827 (stone walls, for REALsies.) - AND a balcony.
3) piano and ben both allowed!
4) located downtown, but just up the bend from downtown, so lacking the noise. (and the idiots.)

summer’s looking like this (as it has for the last 3/4 weeks): full time work a la Cornerstone, my favourite little vegetarian restaurant, impromptu days off spent lurking around guelph (at places like the park, gordon & taylor (like today, i’m in love with a steinway), day trips?) aaaand now i’m confused by all my parentheses. but i stand by them. ummmm aaaaand campings, excursions, possible massive tripping out to somewhere??? and a little shakespeare in toronto at the end of august. i’m kind of excited to see what this place is like in the summer, and a little nervous that it’ll get to be too small. signed up so far for an ultimate frisbee team (because they have to have a girl on the team to play - i know right - eek), an art workshop (for free!), and music days on street corners (because that’s where you always knew i’d end up).

time for bed! the sausage’s 1st birthday party is tomorrow :o)

not that it’s been exactly sudden, but from my perspective just about everything is sudden (even for the eleventieth time) - but seriously… i think i’m harry potter world. come out of work at 5 to a lovely - if overcast - warm afternoon; sit on the corner for a bit because tra la laaaa i don’t have a freaking patio. YET. anyway. and now this:

Strong south winds of 50 km/h ahead of the cold front will quickly veer to southwest as the front sweeps through this evening. Strong gusts of 80 km/h with brief gusts to 90 km/h will accompany the southwest winds and are expected to last for one or two hours as the front passes through the area. (love, weather network)

fun, right? this is the part where i’m glad i live in a block of apartments. not that anything terrible would happen, but the clouds are moving so quickly they might actually get to the bahamas before bursting. not such a tough life after all.

have been working at a vegan/vegetarian restaurant for the past couple weeks called the Cornerstone, and loving it. working in the kitchen isn’t nearly as bad as it could be - not only is it open-air so i can see the people waiting/eating/shooting evil stares but the added bonus of not cooking meat is just lovely. not to mention the bit where i live right across the street. it might be a while before i venture to no frills again. the MAKE ME A SANDWICH line is still funny…for now…

otherwise i’m just about ready for summer! all my schoolwork and crazy auditions are wrapped up, minus my directing class - whose final project involves the actors i’ve been working with over the last two months to prove my work for me, i just get to sit back and sweat. happy happy joy joy i’m both excited and a little apprehensive about summer… as snobbish as it is to say i haven’t stuck in one place all summer in years, it’s true. this one will be all about the money making for next year, and the lazy days including guitars on porches, lemonades in the sun, all that jazz. jumping right into full time work wasn’t much more than i’d bargained for, i’m really enjoying it. especially the fact that i’m able to do it… two, what, something weeks and no boot yet! it’s kind of like working at camp, only with grownups and real money. weeeird…

also on the docket for this summer (this being more of a checklist pour moi, sorry): getting around to all that stuff i keep wanting to do. ie reading through the bits of theatre books i bought for classes but only had to read a couple chapters from; learning all those songs i printed out tabs for; making who knows what from all the stuff in my craft box; TAKING CRAMAZING PHOTOS WITH MY CRAMAZING CAMERA; making expeditions into toronto to see theatre as often as possible…. oh, what a difficult life i do lead… now if only t&d would GET here already!

Warning: the following information may lead to the consumption of an entire packet of digestive cookies. Juuust sayin.

So it’s late last night, I’m grumbly and working, the kettle finally gets around to boiling and as I take down the box of digestives from my cupboard my eye happens to fall on the jar of cinnamon honey sitting on the bottom shelf. Chocolate digestives. Cinnamon honey. I’m like… really? it could happen. Oh, it happened. It was like a sugar sandwich from the gods. So. Next time you’re at that “oooiiii veyyy already” point… try the experiment How Much Sugar Can You Fit In Your Mouth.  See if you can only eat one…

Tomorrow (or the next day, meh) marks one week of listening to the world outside. I realized I hardly go anywhere these days without headphones on or at least turning off my hearing aid. Sometimes it helps me to think more clearly, without distraction; sometimes it helps me zone out. Either way, I end up removed from what I’m doing, even if it’s just sitting on a bus. Since taking out the earplugs I’ve met a guy from Antigua, learned where Antigua is on a map, heard some of the first signs of spring (come, and go), and gotten really frustrated in the library…as much as I looove listening to one-sided conversations, it does not offer much help in the focus department. Still.

Dad asked me recently how I define irony. This is my response:

Yesterday I’m toasting a bagel, being awesome in general, washing some dishes, and I think to myself, I think, “that toaster oven’s looking peaky. If there’s ever a fire in this place I bet it’ll come from there. Huh.” And I resume dish washing (the awesome carried throughout). This morning I manage to get to class on time having also squeezed in a stop at Timmy Ho’s, and sit down a little proud, having already put one fire out and it being only 9am. Yeah. I’m sitting with my ear to the radio trying to hear CBC while my toast broils and the town starts waking up, and smell something a little odd. Follow my nose to a toaster oven on fire and spend about four seconds with a frozen FUCK all over my face before unplugging it, throwing water all over it, and waving a towel at the smoke alarm…. like it would ever go off at a useful time. All finished and done without having woken either room mate. Felt the Timmies was deserved.

yeah… it’s mid feb. those are not pussy willows outside, those are DEADLY DEAD LOOKING sticks for trees. yup. constant -3C weather does not = spring. and yet. one outstanding playlist + yoga + fear of becoming a packrat (or have i already…) = one half of a tidy bedroom. plus the procrastination thing. there’s that. centipedes beware, i am a force to be reckoned with. A FORCE. or, if you prefer, my shoe is…

walked in to curry’s the other day for indian ink (having allowed myself the distraction of the feather quill) and came out with a new brush, acryllics and canvas… my fun pile also includes planet earth, mere christianity (CS Lewis), to the wedding (John Berger), and a big picture book on the history of Stratford, ON. not to mention one fabulously magnificent camera. photo-journalling is great, the only drawback being when i want to bring my purse and the chunky camera bag, both of which sling over the shoulder. if i try to bring both i end up looking like a hungry pevensy kid on my way out of london.

–speaking of which, wishing so much that i was in london for chris’ birthday! trying to plan out my summer so that i spend some time in guelph, where i’ll be paying rent anyway, and travel NOT around hillside (guelph’s music festival at the end of july). traveling though… i would love to start in italy and work my way east, get to turkey and possibly take a boat down to egypt… but how could i pass up israel and lebanon… anyone with a motorcycle hungry? let me pour you a road… wanderlust is lovely in the slush, eh?

back to vork i suppose. photos from my camera are up on facebook, if you want to see them!

How the heck is it already halfway through January?? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN!? in a sense, it is very calming and reassuring that days go by at the same speed, and that does not change. The fact that I lose track of them so easily is not helpful.
Trying to remember what I learned in three months more than a month ago is proving to be one helluva pain in the ass. Essentially I am trying to re-learn half a semester’s worth of four courses BY FEB 5th. Yeah, right. And how much am I looking forward to deferring it all yet again? The joy is just seeping through my vicious jabs into the keyboard…. can ya feel it?
On a nicer note. At this point in time I have enough money saved to make one travelly trip this year, and I would love to spend it on a family visit. The question is whether I do so on reading week in mid Feb or during the summer break. I do need to have a job at some point this summer, and it doesn’t matter much where. I don’t really want to wait for something to fall into my lap, but I also don’t really have time right now to search out spiffy opportunities. Getting my NLS would be a major plus. Finishing last semester, and then this one, would also be a plus. Come on brain, do me a solid!! (..heh…)
Sidebar — MY CAMERA BRINGS ALL DE BOYS TO DE YARD. So. Good.

Top two easiest/reachable means of procrastination when faced with the unglorious task of an overwhelmingly cluttered pigsty room: chocolate, and blogging. chocolate especially because christmas-time = chocolate EVERYWHERE - so good - and hellOOO sale on mini eggs. need i say more.

i lovelovelove christmas. i love letting it sink in through the entirety of december. i think there should be an honorary coupla weeks after hallowe’en for houses to breathe between plastic draperings, but i’m all for early chrimbling. just sad i missed getting the tree.

so, exciting news. from the beginning: i’ve had the pleasure of seeing the Guelph Symphony Orchestra (GSO) play a couple of times, and thought they were wonderful. Found them online and sent the Chair (aka conductor) an email detailing my experience and asking how i might get involved. anyway yadayada he forwarded it to the head of the percussion section, who said if i liked i should come out to the Concert band, which rehearses on Sunday nights and is basically the younger crowd, and lacking strings. which is cool, and i’m like, hey, yeah, i’ll check it out in the new year. and then yesterday he sends me this emergency email saying one of the percussionists in the GSO has dropped out and would i be available to stand in for the new year concert “Dreams of Vienna” for $50? i said mmmmm…lemme get back to yeh. ….pff froggin’ right i was all HECK YES and am now hoping i can borrow dad’s car to get to the one rehearsal, the dress on the 31st, and the soundcheck/performance on the 1st. crazy eh? here’s a link to the program: http://www.guelphorchestra.ca/programn.html lots of strauss. i’ll be playing cymbals, bass drum, and snare. !!!

meh, that’s about it. otherwise just laying low, kind of avoiding necessary schoolwork…hoping i’ll kick back into my routine of trying readings every day soon. definitely by christmas. lots of piano (relearning bach) and christmas shopping, appointments i’ve been deflecting since last christmas break… when are we going to have a proper family reunion at christmas? (or during summer, for that matter.) just putting it out there…

so… I got another concussion. and I’m deferring my schoolwork into the new year. taking time off to sleep and regenerate (grow neurons, grow!) and see how I am in january. probably will drop down to one or two classes to finish the old ones, or take the semester off and work. or visit you lot… if only. hope you’re well, send me chocolate, and happy chrimble.