Saturday, October 20, 2012

Coffee Ritual

For some reason that I can't explain, my blog is only working in HTML mode this morning, not rich text. Oh well! I'll edit in my wild italics later. I had a lazy, drawn-out wake-up this morning, which I love having the opportunity to enjoy. Waking up, falling back asleep, checking my phone, rolling around, falling asleep again, and then finally around 9:30 I dragged myself out of bed and put on some coffee. That's when something horrifying happened! I looked into the fridge and saw NO MILK!!! Thankfully I live within short walking distance of a number of convenience stores, so I put on a jacket and went outside. What was horrifying then became lovely! Buying milk was an excuse to enjoy the crisp, sunny, coolness that is the perfect fall Saturday morning; that's what today is like. It felt incredibly fresh and rejuvenating to head outside and feel that sort of weather. Needless to say, not having milk was a blessing in disguise! I got my milk and then left the convenience store. That's when I noticed some newspaper boxes for those subway magazines Metro and 24-Hour or whatever they're called. I grabbed one of each and then had this funny, happy memory pop into my mind. I think I started drinking coffee around grade 12, when I was 17/18. In grade 12 I went to an alternative high school in Toronto; I won't go into great detail explaining what made it alternative, but let's just say it was different than your average high school. On my way to school every day that year I would grab a coffee at Tim Horton's, snag a Metro magazine, and head to school. Before I got to work on my schoolwork, I would lazily drink my coffee and do the Metro crossword (the teachers didn't care... that was part of the fun of being at an alternative school). This struck me as funny this morning, because I guess I didn't realize that my coffee & reading/crossword-doing ritual has now been going on for 7+ years... what a trip! It hasn't lost its pleasure either. That quiet part of the morning when it's just me awake in the apartment, and I have 20 or so minutes to eat breakfast, gently sip coffee, and engage in something that brings me great pleasure... It's a wonderful thing!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

How I moved from 99.9 to 94.1

My girlfriend and I were in Hubble (my car) driving somewhere recently, listening to 99.9 Virgin radio.  Not since I had a blank tape in my "ghetto blaster", listening to 92.5 KISS FM, waiting for a song to come on that was cool enough to anxiously run over and press "record" have I really listening to the radio.  I got my first iPod in 2004 or thereabouts and suddenly the radio seemed irrelevant.

[SIDENOTE: I saved up for my iPod mini for months!  $400 for a 4gb iPod... hilarious!]

But it's really not irrelevant, or at least it's still entertaining.  Now that I commute around 400 km a week I quite enjoy the radio.  I was inspired by my sister who regularly listens to Top 40 radio and therefore can sing to every song that comes on.  So, I began to tune in to 99.9 mostly, with a side of 103.5 and 93.5.

So my GF and I were in the car and she says something along the lines of: "Do you think we could take a break from this?  It's too much!"  With that she switched over to CBC Radio 2.  Immediately I felt a tension released; the calm voices of the DJs, the generally mild music selections, the absence of advertisements and the two-song stretch before you hear any human voices.

I haven't switched my car radio from CBC Radio 2 in weeks.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Giving Thanks

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

The first thing that I am thankful for today is my girlfriend.  She brings light to my day - every day - from the moment I get up, and that is something to be thankful for.

The second thing that I am thankful for is John Irving, his book In One Person, and good books everywhere.  After dropping my GF off this morning where she needed to be, I came back home and spent a quiet thirty minutes or so with my coffee and the last 25 pages of In One Person.  There was a lot of warmth in those thirty minutes, and like I always do with a good book, when it came to the end I got shivers, gently closed it, and spent 60 seconds or so digesting it.  I never expected my favourite author to write such an LGBTQ community-focused novel, but he did, and with an angle I've never seen, and I loved it.

I'm also thankful that once I'm done this quiet morning time and get myself showered and ready, that I'll be walking over to my parents' place - a twenty minute walk away - to enjoy a day of more warmth, loved ones around, delicious food, and a lot of blessings.

I feel lucky and I feel blessed and I feel thankful.

I hope you feel these things today, too!

~~~

rc-4 update: 

  1. What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
  2. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
  3. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
  4. Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
  5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  6. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
  7. If You Have to Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone
  8. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
  9. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
  10. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
  11. In One Person by John Irving
5 non-fiction, 6 fiction, 9 authors represented, a variety of subject matter.  Perhaps hitting the goal of 20 books read in 2012 is unlikely to happen, but who cares?!  I'm reading!

Who's visiting?