Category Archives: Weather, Seasons, & Celebrations

Joy of Socks

Remember those electric heaters that were installed last summer? The ones we haven’t really tested yet because it hasn’t been cold enough?

Guess what. Yep. They’re next to useless when the temperature goes below minus ten Celsius.

Have I mentioned that it’s numbingly cold here in Montreal recently? As in minus thirty-nine-ish?

I have recently rediscovered the joys of wearing socks to bed. Last night I wore full pyjamas plus a flannel button-up nightgown over them. Over the past five years I have grown used to not feeling cold; my husband, the portable furnace that he is, usually makes up for any lack of warmth in the air. And yet, even he’s finding the apartment cold these days. Even more than my multiple layers of clothing, this fact is proof to me that the heaters are substandard and the landlords were cutting costs.

Let’s see – spring is in, oh, seventy days or so?

Out Of Whack

One of the worst things about the holidays is one’s perception and understanding of how the week is structured gets all messed up.

For example: today I am firmly convinced that it is Monday. I keep thinking that I have nothing scheduled for tonight. This misperception is further supported by the fact that a new gaming group gathered yesterday, and has chosen Sunday nights to meet. If we meet on Sundays, yesterday must have been Sunday, and today, perforce, must be Monday.

In fact, today is Friday, and I teach a class tonight.

The crazy thing is I thought that it was Monday last Tuesday as well. As Monday technically signals the beginning of my weekend, this suggests to me that I’ve been working too much. Freelance writers don’t get paid vacations, however. Nor do freelance teachers. And in the midst of rearranging and end-of-year cleaning I still have to fit in a final edit of three chapters given to me over a week ago by the publisher, a first edit of a new teaching workbook, and those three book reviews, all before Monday, as well as teaching four three-hour classes.

No rest for the weary. So naturally, I am work-avoiding by blogging and doing web work.

Out With The Old

I got my hair cut a couple of days ago. Not that you’d notice. Just an inch or so. Now it’s a shapely mass of hair, instead of just being a mass of hair.

HRH has put his foot down, and it’s squarely on the brake pedal of our car. He’s not driving anywhere this evening. Apparently, the lunatics are already out on the roads, so it’s ye olde Metro for us, which is just fine. We’re heading out to Ceri’s tonight to be with a few friends. Not that New Year’s means much to us; it’s Happy New Calendar Day in our household. It’s always nice to spend an evening with intellgent friends, however, and heaven knows we don’t want to be anywhere near the downtown core tonight of all nights…

New Office Equipment

I now have a bulletin board by my desk. It’s pinned with story mission postcards dating back from last summer, and index cards with what I’m certain seem like random words to my husband (such as “Ben?” and “Good Book”). Projects with deadlines are written on pink index cards (for example, the three book reviews I’ve agreed to write that are due next Monday – argh).

It helps.

Have I mentioned that I love my new printer? Apart from actually printing (a definite improvement over the last one), it’s quiet, and it doesn’t consume mass quantities of ink for no reason. It does indeed print on both sides of the page, by printing every second page then instructing you to flip the stack over and re-insert it in the paper feed in order to print the alternate pages on the reverse side. Smart little thing.

Balsamic Moon was, of course, the first thing that was printed. And By Many Other Names was the next project. The colour title pages I designed for both novels was next (the balance of the colour inks seem a bit odd, but I can deal with that), as were the winner’s certificates. Then they were both taken downtown and bound in hardcover. I was warned not to open them for at least 24 hours to allow the binding to cure, and the suspense is killing me. They’re currently shelved between my thesis and the three-volume anthology of short stories on a common theme written by me, t!, and Tal.

And… Ceri’s Yule gift is now complete. Muah-hah-hah-hah. Hey, better late than never. (And no, Ceri, it has nothing to do with my printer, or hardcover binding. You’ll see.)

Potpourri

We finally saw Matrix Revolutions, and all the Pagans in the back row of the theatre sort of nodded and understood why masses of people Just Don’t Get It: it’s about cycles, not about a linear storyline. In every ending, there is a beginning. The story was told in order to show us how a cycle can function without being a carbon copy of the previous (or successive) cycle. Of course, because the protagonist died, folks are confused – the Wachowski Brothers didn’t provide a nicely gift-wrapped Happy Ending (TM) to the Hollywood pap-fed masses. Granted, the film can’t stand on its own; then again, it wasn’t originally designed to be a film unto itself, so I don’t count that against it. I’ll be very interested in seeing all three installments in a row when Revolutions comes out on DVD, in order to get the proper overarching storytelling flow. The film felt very different from the previous two in the trilogy, most likely due to the emphasis on story as opposed to action. It was, if you’ll forgive me, a more human story. The men in our party were suitably impressed by the King Arthur/barge send-off for Neo as he Returned to the Source (which I missed, somehow – odd for me. But then, a burning ship sort of burial isn’t my personal cup of tea. I think it’s a guy thing.) Had there been four queens in attendance, I’m sure I would have seen it. No, really.

Teaching didn’t really pause for the holidays due to the mid-week placement of the civic holiday. Yesterday’s class on animal energies included a beautifully behaved Great Dane, a flamepoint Siamese, a corn snake and a fat-tail gecko. Nox, the corn snake, got extra cuddles from me after his turn at show and tell, and after wrapping himself around my waist for a while slipped into the hood of my cardigan for an hour of serious napping. There’s something remarkably smugness-inducing about walking around a store knowing that there’s a four-foot snake curled up between your shoulderblades and no one else is aware of it.

The weekend ended with a nice relaxed dinner with Scarlet and Skippy, and giving holiday love to the many cats who were boarding at the vet over the vacation period. An excellent weekend, all around.

Loot

Okay, everyone else has done it: highlights of the holiday swag!

The very best were the digital cello tuner I asked for, and the Pride & Prejudice DVD set (possibly the only things I did directly ask for). Classic sweater sets; much chocolate; a new set of winter accessories (hat, scarf, mitts); a sweet little fox picture; and many gift certificates (as Roo says, “the gift of getting what I want”!). Oddly enough, no books. Well, okay, one; every year my mother finds me some sort of antique volume, and this year was a red leather-bound edition of RLS’ A Child’s Garden of Verses. (Last year it was Tennyson!) Although Indigo has a Boxing Week sale on that gives 30% off all hardcover books, and the new Ronald Hutton Witches, Druids, and King Arthur is out; at $45 it’s a bit steep, but with 30% off it becomes very affordable. Especially with a gift certificate. And with a gift certificate, it sort of becomes a holiday gift, right?

And from the “completely unconnected to holiday swag” pile of nifty stuff: for skaldic fans who are also LOTR geeks, take a look at Eowulf, an epic retelling of Dernhelm’s heroic actions in the battle of Pelennor Fields. Not bad.