21

Nearly done my first full listen of Adele's album "21". I know it seems like it's taken me forever to listen to it, but I've already found some faves that I've been playing on repeat.

Par exemple:

1. "Rolling in the Deep" - but we already knew this. Play count = 37.
2. "Rumour Has It" - so jazzy... Play count = 5 (in 3 days, let's remember).
3. "Don't You Remember"
   
4. "Set Fire to the Rain"
5. "He Won't Go"

It's a struggle not to list every single track. It's that good. One thing of many that I like about Adele is that on each album, if I'm not mistaken, she has sung 1 cover. On "19" it was "Make You Feel My Love", originally by Bob Dylan, and on "21" it's Lovesong, by The Cure. I think that's super sweet. She's paying homage to an artist that has inspired her, and I also feel like it says, "I'm good, but there are other people that are good", you know? Anyway...

Listening to Adele this morning at work made me think of something... Being a musician is an interesting profession, especially when you're a song writer. How bold is it to write about yourself and your experiences, and then release them to the world to love? Food for thought...

1 month in... RC-3

Morning y'all! Just finished my first book of 2011, which is kinda sad because January's almost over. However, I've been busy with work this month, and I have 11 whole months left to read 19 books. NBD. So, this means that RC-3 (20 books in 2011) has begun. You may remember though that RC-2 has not yet been completed (the 2 challenges were sort of combined, so...

RC-3:

1. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Reading Challenge #2:

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
2. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
   
3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
5. By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
   
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
   
7. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

I wonder what I'll read next. I can't read the 7th Harry Potter yet because my girlfriend's mum is reading it, so I think I'll read another one of the books that the nice woman lent me. She lent me By Nightfall and Bel Canto, so I imagine the other books are going to be just as good. We'll see!

As for Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, I suppose I should say a few words on it... I loved it. It was beautifully written, and whenever I had the opportunity to read for more than just 10 minutes, I got totally lost in it. Patchett is a great writer and the plot was just so unique and multi-faceted and incredible. There was a lot about love and music, but also language and communication was a big part of it, and then there was the whole hostage situation... Also, the ending was totally unexpected, but also not jarring. I totally enjoyed it!

On to the next one!

Well, alright!

First thing's first -- Adele's album has been released!!! Maybe not in North America yet, but all I care about is that there's a torrent available. Her new album (and sophomore, as they say) is called "21" and I'm 5 tracks in and already melting with awe, love, inspiration, emotion... the whole gamut. She is really bringing her "A" game with a new groove and sound, a little more jazziness, but also just the ballad-belting Adele Adkins that we fell in love with in "19". I can't wait to work my way through the rest.

Secondly -- I saw "The Kids Are All Right" yesterday and feel the need to speak on it.

I loved the movie. I really did. I thought it was funny, emotional, sweet, and honest. It was, and it also wasn't about the fact that Nic and Jules were lesbians. I mean, certainly that fact was unavoidable, but they didn't draw undue attention to it. They weren't a spectacle; they were a couple. And the drama that happened... I don't think it was dealt with in the wrong way. I thought it was real and honest and genuine. I loved it.

Here's what I will say about the fact that the main couple were lesbians...

When I used to meet on a regular basis with a LGBTQ university student-based discussion group, we used to talk about the portrayal (or lack thereof) of queer characters in the media. Often people would talk about wanting to see their lives within TV shows and movies and that it was hard to do that without queer characters.

Well, I've never had a problem relating to anyone, gay or straight, that seems at all like me on a show or in a movie. However, when I saw this movie, "The Kids Are All Right", I felt something different for the first time. I really felt more connected to the movie because of the fact that the main couple were lesbians. I really did. And the thing is that this movie is not my favourite movie - it doesn't rival "Apollo 13" or "Mean Girls" or "Good Will Hunting" - but it offered the portrayal of something more personal to me, and I felt it.

This doesn't mean that straight people or gay men shouldn't be able to see their relationships/experiences within the portrayal of a lesbian relationship, but it did mean that I took something personal out of it.

Bravo to Julianne Moore & Annette Bening for playing the shit out of those 2 characters. Especially Annette Bening. She deserves the Oscar nod because she brought such realness and rawness to the character of Nic. Well done!

Cafe et moi.

I love coffee!!!

...except a lot of people love coffee, so that's not exactly impressive or anything... Plus, it's not like I'm a sommelier of coffee...

But coffee's not just a functional thing for me. I don't love coffee because I need it to wake up in the morning... though I do. And I don't love coffee because I'm addicted to it... though I am. I love coffee because of the way it makes me feel!

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is fill up my kettle and plug it in. Then I take my coffee beans out of the fridge and pour the appropriate amount into my grinder. I grind them to coarse, not fine, and then empty them into my French Press. When the kettle starts whistling at me, I pour the hot water into the French Press, stir it, let it steep for 4 minutes, by which time my toast is ready, and then I pour a cup of coffee, sit down at my kitchen table, read my book, and enter into a safe & positive morning place. My happy place, if you will. This quiet moment in the morning, very much made possible by the warmth and caffeine of the coffee, gives me the energy both physically and spiritually to attack the day.

This sounds corny and over the top, and I didn't exactly try to avoid that tone, but I'm being serious here. It's the habitualness (apparently that's a word) of it.

The one thing I will say about coffee & me is that I really like the way I make it. I've been using a French Press for over a year now, but the grinder has only become part of the routine this week. I feel like grinding the beans myself (with a grinder, but still), and letting the coffee steep in the water vs. the water being filtered through it... it all just gets me closer to the coffee. With the grinder, I almost feel like I'm eating the beans... in a good way. Now I just need to master making Turkish coffee. That's the next step.

Anyway, I'm an enormous dork, but now you know!

Natalie... you are a bad-ass bitch II

I'm having Monday morning panic as I was away from work at the end of last week and I have a big and busy week this week. Between emails and the increasingly long list of to do items that I'm compiling...... I'm kinda freaking out. I don't see blogging at this moment as a procrastination tool; I see it as stress and anxiety management. Truly. I can have an extremely productive day today, but I need to start by removing myself from the situation, and then re-entering it with a fresh perspective.

SO... what should I blog about?

BLACK SWAN

I saw "Black Swan" this weekend. I had always meant to see it, but time kept passing me by and all my friends had already seen it. So Saturday I had nothing to do and I thought, "Screw it, I'll go alone."

WHOA. Black Swan... Black Swan... It was so intense. Typical of Aronofsky, the movie drew you in to a point where you were looking at your fingernails and finding yourself holding your breath. My chest was tight with empathetic anxiety. I thought the story was unique and different. It drew you into a specific world (the dance world), but the real focus was on Nina. People like Nina are everywhere, so the fact that Swan Lake was being performed and it was set on a stage with a company, etc. was sort of an aesthetic thing more than anything else. It was about perfection and anxiety and nightmares and... I was blown away.

It wasn't the type of movie that you see and immediately want to see again. Not for me, at least. It's too intense and too much of a full body&mind experience that it's difficult to watch. That said, I thought it was incredible. I thought Natalie Portman was incredible. She won the Golden Globe for best actress in a motion picture last night, and I believe she really deserved it. She was intense and weak and vulnerable... I wonder how she'll fare at the Oscars.

Alright - time to get to work. I need to do away with my own anxiety now and get going!

HAPPY 251st, S & G!!!

Guess what?! This is my 251st blog post on Sugar & Gravy. What a momentous occasion! Well, it would've been if it was the 250th, but I missed that one. Oh well, it kinda works with the whole tone of S & G, you know? Nonchalant, chill, and unconventional.

So how do I celebrate my big day?! With a youtube video, natch.



Note Maya's incredible understanding of death for someone her age. She completely gets it.

Salem - King Night

Haven't really paid attention to this video, but the song... the song... I find it haunting and mystifying and perfect. See if you can hear what piece of choral music it's based on.



Credit goes to my boy Johnni for introducing me to this track. I listened to Salem's whole album yesterday while unpacking and loved every minute of it.

ENJOY!

Resolutions II

Last year was the first year that I actually wrote down and sealed in an envelope my new year's resolutions. I'm leaving my parents' house in Toronto for my small town apartment today, so it will be this afternoon that I get to open up the envelope and see how I managed this year in achieving my goals. I remember what a few of them were, but not all, so we'll see how I did!

I'd like to make some new resolutions for this year, too. Obviously there's RC-3, but what else...? I'll figure them out over the next few days and then seal them up for next year. Moving onward and upward...

Speaking of goals and resolutions -- I GOT MY G1!!! Hoorah! I told you I'd do it. Now I just have to keep up the momentum and drive (PUN!) and schedule some driving lessons. I don't need to do the full program, as I've done it before, but I need at least a few refresher courses. I'll definitely keep you posted on the progress.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!