Category Archives: Weather, Seasons, & Celebrations

Memory Goes First

I completely, completely forgot that I have birthday coming up in a couple of weeks. I only remembered yesterday when, frustrated with not being able to find black sandals with a sane heel, I decided to buy the new Holly Cole CD and had it in my hands when I realised that I’d mentioned I wanted it in public, on my web log, and with a birthday approaching, I couldn’t safely purchase it.

I knew I had a birthday coming up. I mean, we’ve been discussing the absence of people whom I’d like to count among those to celebrate with, and my birthday is exactly two weeks after my oldest friend’s birthday (mmm, Thai food), and my students have planned a birthday outing for me as well… but it basically slipped my everyday conscious mind.

I’m certain I would have remembered in a rush when I flipped the calendar to July. Perhaps it’s my current obsession with the July 1 concert that’s taking up room that would otherwise be gleefully chanting, “It’s going to be my birth-day, it’s going to be my birth-day…”

To all intents and purposes, I forgot my own birthday. Cake, presents, loved ones.

This is a sign of old age, isn’t it.

Canada Day Concert Plug!

Hot.

Okay, give me a break; I’m not exactly working at full power, here. Sure, Montrealers are used to 35 degree Celsius temperatures that feel like 45 degrees thanks to the humidex factor (for those of you who still work on the Farenheit system, that’s something like 95 degrees and 113 degrees), but we usually work up to it slowly over a month. This week it was bang, suddenly hot and humid, with temperatures ten degrees over the average seasonal. Looks like things will cool off nicely over the next few days, though, with a beautiful clear Canada Day of about 25 degrees.

Speaking of Canada Day, yes, it’s concert-plugging time! Please note that the concert actually begins at 8 PM, and yes, it’s free. It’s being held at St Joachim Church in Pointe-Claire Village, below the Lakeshore, right on the waterfront; you can take the 211 bus from Lionel-Groulx metro. Free classical music! Culture! And as a bonus, the fireworks are scheduled for ten PM, right after we finish, and the church steps are a glorious spot from which to watch them.

I found a lovely black linen sleeveless dress for summer concerts on sale yesterday. I might have confused the salesgirl by scouting around for a small stool while I had it on. What’s the point of buying a concert dress if you’re not certain it will allow you to hold the cello between your legs? The one I really liked, with a woven linen design along the v-neck and the hem, I had to put back because I couldn’t set my feet far enough apart. The one I ended up with runs a close second, though, and is elegant and understated. Now, of course, since I have a new black linen dress, I need dressy black sandals to go with it. I sense a trip to Angrignon Mall tomorrow…

Good Deed Done

When we got back from Angrignon Park last night (mosquito-bitten but content) we discovered a note on our door. The couple who owned the kitten got her back safe and sound. She had spent most of the day curled up on a pair of my husband’s jeans, napping and purring. The man who came to pick her up said that there was something pretty special about her, and I have to agree.

So: a good deed. And I got to cuddle a tiny kitten again.

I finished HPOTP last night. Harry’s not a kid any more; no sir. If/when they make this film, it will be phenomenal to watch. I’ll have to read it again, but not for a week or so. To give myself a complete change of pace, I read Mort by Terry Pratchett. Next? Not sure; likely more academic stuff on Norse history and society.

Kitten Love

I spent the day outside yesterday, from sunrise to welcome the Summer Solstice, to teaching my class outside, to a farewell picnic with good friends. It was glorious. I also received an early birthday present from Ceri, who’s heading off to Halifax for two months: a lovely lap desk with a tilting top, pencil trays, and a basket for books and such on each side. It’s the absolutely perfect height to rest my laptop on. I was so touched.

I woke up this morning around four AM, thinking I heard a cat in heat outside. I drowsed on and off for a couple of hours, hearing the cat, then fell asleep until a knock on our door just past eight woke me up. My husband answered it, and found our concierge with a tiny beige and grey mackerel kitten in his hands.

“This yours?” he asked. “It’s been out in the hall for hours, crying.”

When we told him no, he knocked on other doors to try to find where it belonged, but no one answered. He came back to ask for a bit of kitten food; he was going to put it in an empty room downstairs and lock it until he came back tonight, but I said, “Well, it’s so young; why don’t we keep it in the bedroom if you’re not going to be home? We have an extra litter box, and bowls, and I’ll be home all day so if someone sees your sign they can come knock right then. I’m sure they’re frantic.”

Well, after a stern warning that under no circumstances was I to fall in love with this kitten, my husband allowed her in. It’s now been five hours, and no one’s come to claim her. She’s adorable. She must have slipped out when someone came home late, or left really early. She’s fearless, and not upset at all. Mind you, if I’d been alone in a hallway for hours, crying, I’d be in love with whoever gave me water and pats too.

And I’m just over halfway through Order of the Phoenix. I can’t help reading it; it’s so smoothly written, and things lead from one to another… but I so want to make it last.

Farewell, Edvard

We were stuffed into the little music room last night, as the school auditorium where we usually rehearse was being used for graduation exercises. The heat was awful; there’s little ventilation, and about forty musicians playing lively stuff.

A decent rehearsal overall; we got some bad news, though. The Grieg is being cut from the program. A wind player exclaimed in relief when it was announced, and my stand partner seemed approving. I was apparently the only one who was disappointed, and I was sitting right in front of the conductor. “We could do it if we had just two more weeks,” I said. He smiled and shrugged at me, spreading his hands in a “no choice” sort of gesture. I love the Grieg, and I’ve worked really hard on it. Ah, well. We’ve been promised that it will be rescheduled, perhaps for our next concert in the fall.

I notice that it’s raining. That might be my fault. I decided yesterday afternoon that it would be nice to have my husband home today. He hasn’t come back yet, though; it probably won’t be much longer, since it’s hard to mow in the rain. Think of it this way: if it’s raining now, maybe it will actually be sunny on the weekend for a change.

muttermuttermutter

Is it too much to ask that people actually do a little bit of research before they post stuff on eBay?

If you’re selling costumes, listing something as RENAISSANCE / VICTORIAN / HIPPY (sic) when it’s a brand new sundress means that either you don’t know what you’re talking about, or you’re implying that your product evokes one or all of these keywords. The only thing that all three would have in common that I can think of is that they have full skirts.

No, wait, there’s a third option — you just don’t care. Or you assume that your potential clients are stupid.

I’m cranky. I was awoken rather rudely at 4.34 AM when a piece of heavy construction equipment trundled down our street, setting off car alarms as it passed. Then the cats woke up. Then my husband woke up and watched the morning news, which I heard very clearly through the pillow over my head.

I gave in, and got up.

The good thing is that it’s sunny outside again, which means my mood ought to correspond shortly.