where the streets have no name

Remember way back in June last year when I was so upset that the U2 concert was postponed? In the true spirit of never being satisfied, this June I'm upset because the concert is over! It was on Wednesday night, and my, how fabulous it was. Beautiful evening, beautiful music and a few great stories - this one about Bono hitchhiking is just so fantastic. Only in Canada would an Edmonton Oiler pick up a rock star on the side of the road.

I then spent the 3 hour drive back to Calgary listening to all the U2 songs on my ipod. The one below will I think always be my favourite:

I should also point out that while U2 is obviously a big-time band, they are also a sentimental favourite. My brother had both October and War before they were big and so the fact that I got to go to their concert 30 years later is one of those things that kind of throws me for a loop. But it also makes me thankful to be able to enjoy such fabulous things like good live music and singing at the top of my lungs on the open road.

christmas with the fam

I don't know about you, but I spend Christmas with my family and it always yields a few good stories. Here are the highlights from Christmas 2010 in Ottawa.

• Watching my mom balance her chequebook. She keeps all of her receipts, uses the ledger at the end to add and subtract, and then compares it against the printed statement that arrives in the mail. To the dollar she does this. Just to make sure she knows what she has spent and to ensure that the bank is not cheating her of anything. I happen to be know her bank manager and am seriously tempted to tell him that she doesn't trust his system. And then, when I wanted to return a sweater she gave me for Christmas (because it happens to be pretty much the exact same sweater she gave me last year ... from the same store) the receipt is nowhere to be found. Great system mom.
• On my first night home, we had a lovely meal. Sadly, we sat down for dinner at 7:30, which happens to be when Jeopardy starts. Now I love Jeopardy as much as the next person, but my parents feel the need to scream the answers at the tv. And they know a lot of the answers (or questions I guess?). Between the two of them, they could be the next Ken Jennings. While annoying, it also explains a lot about where I got my nerdiness/ability to remember random pieces of useless trivia.
• On Monday night we went to a cocktail party being hosted by family friends. It was quite lovely. Lots of good food, good champagne, and good conversation. Then the party went sideways. The young people, which for some reason included me, decided to go out on the town. Now I didn't expect this party to turn into a big night out, so I didn't even bring my purse with me. So I had to hit up my dad for 60 bucks to go out drinking. Yep. I'm 34, and I'm just that much of a skid. The party continued at the bar. When I decided to leave at about 2 am, one of the guys said to me "you can't leave ... it's the last day of summer, we can't stop drinking yet." Two problems with that sentence. A, it's December 27th, not labour day and 2, the bar has stopped serving alcohol, so we have to stop drinking. Anyhow, I made it home. Barely.
• An interesting post script to this story is the fact that somehow my mom made it home with only one shoe. It only really makes sense in the context of a Canadian winter, whereby you wear boots and bring shoes to wear inside at the party. She figured out it was lost when they drove another couple home and the shoe fell out of the car when she got out of the back seat. When she emailed said couple to enquire about her lost shoe, the couple was very confused because they were so drunk, they thought that they had gone home with another couple. Or a cab. They had no recollection of my parents driving them home. At any rate, the shoe was found 2 days later on the driveway. All that to say, it was a good party.
• The next day I had a full Bridget Jones/sad single moment when I went to a baby shower hung over. I'm pretty sure I still smelled of booze and stale cigarettes.

There were plenty of other memorable moments, but really these are the ones that stand out through the haze of champagne - which I had every night. Of course we had turkey, christmas pudding, and lots of leftovers. I somehow managed to get about 10 hours of sleep every night ... might be related to all that turkey. All in all, a great Christmas. On to NYE!

some boots and some books

So I made it through the weekend with my mom. I have some new boots (pictured at right) and a new winter coat to show for it. And I think I only snapped at her once. And we had some good talks. And some good food. And some good wine. So all in all, a good visit.

I also lent her a book, which brings me to my latest reading list. I've been on a non-fiction/memoir kick of late. Here is what I have been reading:

• Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man by Bill Clegg. The author is a literary agent who has a seemingly great life, but is addicted to crack. The majority of the book chronicles his paranoia as he met with dealers, got high, had sex with random men, moved from hotel to hotel and thought he was going to be arrested. The paranoia part was interesting. The reviews talk about how it's a great account of "one man's descent into the hell of addiction." And while it certainly is hellish, I still don't know that I understand how someone can get there and live there and think that it's a better way to live than clean. I suppose they're so messed up they can't really make that distinction. So a hellish life, certainly. But how he got there, I still didn't get it after reading the book.
• Open by Andre Agassi. This is the book I lent my mom. She took it back to Ottawa to lend to my dad, because I think he'll really like it too. This was a good book. Fascinating really. I always wonder with memoirs how revisionist they are - did he really have second thoughts about proposing to Brooke Shields as he was proposing to her, or is it just easier to remember it that way 6 years later. At any rate, how he became the famous athlete we all know is a great story. It's one of those books that you look forward to getting back to reading after you put it down.
• I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max. HC read this book while she was in Palm Springs and kept BBMing me little tidbits. She told me that all women should read it so we know what assholes men are. The book is made up of anecdotal stories about Tucker Max and his friends out partying, drinking to excess, sleeping with random women and insulting said women and others. I think a lot of people would find it offensive and shocking. I can't say I really did. A lot of the stories were quite humorous, which I think was the intention of the book. And while Max speaks abhorrently of women, a lot of the women seem to act equally ridiculous, so whatever. I didn't finish it though, mainly because I got bored of all the poop stories. I don't really enjoy reading about disgusting bowel movements. I will say however, that I really do hope that they serve beer in hell, because I'm pretty sure there will be a reserved seat at that bar for me.
• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I haven't been at my best lately and so thought I would take a shot at reading a quasi self-help book. I started reading it a few months ago and am only on page 91. There goes my attempt at self-improvement. The book jacket describes it as a woman's 12 month adventure "test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier." The problem is that she starts it in January and frames "becoming happy" like a New Year's resolution. As such is just become a check list of things to do. Reading it just made me feel bad about myself because my closets aren't organized and I'm not very efficient on weekends. Thanks tips, I don't need a book to tell me that. And now it's being turned into a TV show, starring Charlotte from Sex and the City. I'm pretty sure I won't waste PVR space on it.
• Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin. The subtitle is "the inside story of how Wall Street and Washington fought to save the financial system - and themselves." I think this is a book I'll be reading for awhile. It's 500+ pages on the financial crisis. Lots of concepts that I don't fully understand, but I'm trying. When you read about people taking helicopters to work and thinking that a $30 million a year pay cheque being fully explainable (really?) you can begin to understand why middle America is so upset. And why they hate the bailout. And why they hate Obama. And how it came to be that there was an legitimate campaign ad centred around one of the candidates, who for some reason had a shot at actually becoming a US Senator, declaring that she was not a witch. Okay that last bit might be a bit of a stretch, but it is all connected. And the the book is interesting. Not riveting though. But then again, I'm not sure any book on the financial system would be.

So that's me. And those are my mini reviews. Oh and tomorrow's high is -33 with the windchill. Awesome.

good news/bad news pt.3

good news = my mom is coming to town tomorrow

bad news = it's -18 here right now

good news = I love my mother

bad news = I live in 700 square foot condo

good news = my mom has lots of opinions

bad news = oftentimes her opinions and mine differ greatly

good news = we will have lots of quality time together in said condo hiding from said freezing temperatures

bad news = one of us might not make it through the weekend

no turkey, but still thankful

Today is Thanksgiving Monday. I could not be happier to have the day off. For that I am thankful. I am thankful for many other things too ... here is an incomplete list of other things I am happy for, right now, Monday October 11th at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon (I specify the time and date, because what I am thankful for changes at an alarmingly fast pace):

• my parents (obvious, but true) - they live far away and I get annoyed with them on the phone, but they are the most generous, well meaning people in the world and I could not have asked for a better mother and father.
• my friends (another obvious statement) - both near and far. I have been lucky enough to have travelled and lived in various cities and I have friends in all of these places. And I got to spend some quality time with a few of them, both new and old, this weekend, so that is wonderful.
• alcohol - this might seem weird, and mean that I have a drinking problem, but it's true. I'm thankful for the great bottle of pinot noir that SS and I shared last night over a pork loin dinner (no turkey for us), and while I was super hungover on Saturday, I'm thankful for the vodka sodas on Friday night (and from a few weeks ago at the Drake) that allowed my friends to get ridiculously drunk and provide hours of entertainment and great stories to last for years. But I promise that I don't drink alone (well not excessively) and I know when to stop. So please don't be freaked out that it's listed third here.
• BBM - I've mentioned this before, but really I think it's my favourite new technology.
• music - a soundtrack to my life makes things much more interesting.
• photography - along with the music, the images of my life that I wouldn't otherwise remember, remind me of all the good times I've had.
• the pathway system - I love that there are pathways dedicated to walkers, runners, cyclists, rollerbladers, etc that run through some of the most beautiful places in the city and that on sunny fall days like this past Saturday, people take full advantage of them.
• the Saturday newspaper - I do love the interweb and all the things you can find online, but there is still so much to be said for reading an actual paper full of stories from all around the world. Ideally with multiple cups of coffee.

There are obviously many more things that I am thankful for ... this is a list that could never end. But sometimes it's nice to stop and highlight a few.