So Long 2006

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So Long 2006, originally uploaded by Ms Cin.

I’ve closed the books, filed (most) of the papers, considered a wrap party, but in the end, I think we did well to part so quietly.

Here’s looking at you kid.

Lines Not Appearing in This Film

I’m always a little surprised to wake up on the 28th or 29th and find that life is returning to normal so quickly after all the holiday craziness. You’d think that with all the prep work that people do, it would last longer, but no – life calls and you’ve no choice but to answer.

Lunchtruck and I have a fairly steady routine – on Boxing Day we tend to stay home and avoid the 6 million people at the post-Christmas sales. I don’t normally need a deal that badly, and I bruise easily. Instead we allow ourselves to indulge in a post-holiday feast, watch movies, and hang out. If we get antsy, we go for a drive. By the 27th, we are antsy, wondering how our nice neat abode got so cluttered. The piles of stuff start to get sorted, newly-received presents get new homes, and puttering occurs. By the 28th the underpinnings of life demand my attention, and grocery shopping, taking out the garbage, picking up more cat food, returning phone calls and reading emails all start to happen again.

This year was a little different. We actually entered a store on boxing day in search of some DVDs, and managed to get out relatively unscathed (although I did have a few minutes of panic when I lost sight of him in the electronics section). We didn’t know it at the time, but that one event caused us to slide into our regular routine that much faster, and here it is, the 29th, and I feel like all the holiday madness was weeks ago.

Lunchtruck surprised me by bringing home two classic movies from our local independent movie rental place on Wednesday night. I normally wouldn’t mention that it’s independent, but experience has shown me that most of the chain rental stores don’t tend to carry classic films, or if they do by chance have a section for them, black and whites are considered film noir (regardless of whether or not they are) and ‘classic’ starts with Star Wars, to quote Roger Ebert.

Last night we indulged in The Godfather, a movie I haven’t seen since I was a child, and which Lunchtruck claimed he’d never seen. We were both enthralled. Even with the violence, it was cinematic magic. We had an ongoing battle about who the artist was that played Kay, with me insisting it WAS Diane Keaton, and Lunchtruck saying he didn’t think so. Guess who was right?

Tonight I took a break from the ongoing re-creation of my publishing project (stupid program malfunctions…) and opted to settle in with the felines and watched Casablanca, another movie Lunchtruck had not seen from start to finish. It’s been ages since I saw it, and this time round I still loved the dialogue, the sets, the obviously phony backdrops, the plot, but I caught myself considering the more technical aspects – lighting, composition, line and form… And then laughing at myself for being the photography geek I am. I mean, really, when Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa Lund is professing her love to Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine, who in their right mind is going to be considering the catchlight in her eyes and the shadowing of the room? Apparently, I do.

As for the famous line “Play it again, Sam” – you guessed right – it doesn’t appear in the film. Not even the trailer.

Thursday Thirteen #24, Phrasing

* Header Graphic by Mandy

13 Phrases I Wish I’d Used More In 2006

1. Yes.
2. Thank you.
3. Please.
4. That was kind/thoughtful/sweet.
5. I missed you.
6. I like you.
7. I respect you.
8. I love you.
9. No.
10. No, that doesn’t fit into my plans right now.
11. No, I don’t see me changing my mind about that.
12. I need to consider that for a while before giving you an answer.
13. That’s not something I discuss with strangers.

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1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The Birthday

Today was my grandmother’s 85th birthday. For those of you who were in town, you know it was surprisingly pleasant, weather-wise; the sun shone, the air was mild, there was even a hint of warmth.

I always have a tough time coming up with a gift for my gran. Over the past few years she’s got rid of many things as a way of decluttering her home, and I don’t like to add to that, so ‘stuff’ isn’t something I consider seriously.

This year I opted for the gift of time together – we (my mom, gran and I) met at the Vancouver Art Gallery and checked out the Emily Carr exhibit, then had lunch at the Gallery Cafe. I had already been quite a few times, and though that as neither my mom or gran had been yet, I might be able to give them something special.

For my grandmother it was like visiting old friends – some of the paintings were part of the gallery’s permanent collection, and she commented on them as we stopped to enjoy them. Others were generously on loan from other galleries across Canada and the world, and became new acquaintances. Those that she liked she spent a little longer with, and those that didn’t please her she gave a respectful bit of time, but didn’t stop to visit long.

I can remember being a young child when my grandmother first talked to me of Emily’s writings and of the subtleties of the native art we were privileged enough to see up close. I think time and experience has deepened her understanding of what she read, for she talked to me not only of the way in which Emily’s brush strokes changed, but also how her attitude towards her subjects changed. Listening to my grandmother, I was reminded that Emily was many things to many people, but that in the end the only person she really ever wanted to answer to was herself.

I’m glad I stepped out of the usual and opted to spend the time together. It may have been meant as a gift for my grandmother, but I think I got one just as big back…

Things I Didn’t Bake

What with one thing and another, all my hoped-for pre-Christmas baking time went towards other pressing concerns. But there was a wee bit of baking in the condo, courtesy of Lunctruckus Domesticus, who happily pulled out his mom’s recipe for mince pies and made a mess of our kitchen the morning before Christmas.

They’re gorgeous aren’t they? They made the place smell heavenly, and the cats drool.

The best part? Lunchtruckus Domesticus tidies up nicely after himself, so the kitchen looked fabulous afterwards.

For You

Making Life Brighter: Beatrix Potter

I was not one of those children that grew up reading Beatrix Potter and AE Milne – my world wasn’t populated by talking bears and mischievous beasties, and perhaps I was the poorer for it. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I actually read all the Potter books, and knew I would have loved her world. Then, a few months ago, I found out that fiction-writer Susan Wittig Albert had embarked on a mystery series called The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and was drawn in even further. I wanted to learn more about the person behind the stories.

So when I heard that a movie was being made about her life, I was intrigued. What I’d read had made her out to be a rather put-upon young woman who eventually found a way to make her own life, in her own way, despite parents that were on the over side of bearing.

The movie itself focuses on her friendship and eventual engagement with her publisher, Norman Warne. Living up to the mongoose code (Run and Find Out!) I went a-hunting and found: The Miss Potter Movie Blog, a Wikipedia entry and, of course, the World of Peter Rabbit website which links to the uk movie site.

From all accounts the movie ought to be quite good, and I look forward to a lazy afternoon in the company of Miss Potter (Renée Zellweger), Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor) and Millie Warne (Emily Watson) in the new year.

Knitting & Jazz

Mocha & Yarn, originally uploaded by Ms Cin.

My knitting group had a different kind of night on Wednesday – we all met at Cito Espresso for an evening of knitting and jazz. It was the first time I’d been there, and I was pleasantly surprised – the design is fabulous (it feels like a loft set up by a serenely gifted minimalist), the coffee and desserts wonderful, and the music was inspired. If you haven’t been to Cito Espresso, I say don’t wait, pop in and check them out for yourself.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Sock ‘n’ Sole

In Christmases past, there was a peculiar stream of advertisements on Canadian TV that suggested that the truly unimaginative gave socks for Christmas. Socks became the Christmas equivalent of giving a household appliance to a woman on her anniversary when what she really wanted was jewelry. I guess the message struck home, because over time, socks became the Rodney Dangerfield of gifts, and folks who gave socks may as well have worn T-shirts proclaiming their social unacceptability to the world.

I was reminded of all this earlier today as I valiantly dug around in my dresser drawer, searching for one of the 3 pairs of black socks I own. There was cursing, and questioning: Why don’t I own enough dark socks to get me through the week? Who hated women enough to invent the ultra-binding phenomena that is the knee-high? Why do my favourites always lose their mates?

I did eventually locate my favourite pair of socks (old-school, below the knee, bought at a kids department so they fit perfectly and are oh-so-comfy), but it got me thinking. I’ve been needing socks for ages. Ages! So why hadn’t they made it to the Need to Buy list? Why hadn’t I made the effort to procur a nice collection of socks, preferably the ones with the particularly cushiony soles?

I thought and I thunk, I thunk and I thought.

I was side-tracked by the possibility that I had too much time on my hands if I was thinking this much about socks.

Then I carried on with the thinking, and in the end, I decided that the noble sock should be stigmatized no more, that not only would I add socks to my “Need to Buy” list, not only would I buy at least one pair of socks today, not only would I make a point of telling my family of my sock quest, but that I, I would learn to knit socks in 2007.

I can’t believe it’s taken this long. Especially when you consider the stats. According to Monthly Socks the average person in North America buys 2000 pairs of socks by the time they reach 65. They’ve also got a neat little sock calculator, so if you’ve ever wondered how many pairs of socks you’ve probably worn in your lifetime, you can now figure it out and sleep better at night.

As for me, I’m going to go find out more on the basics of sock knitting, starting with Knitty’s Sock Basics 101, and figuer out how I can make at least 1 of those 2000 pairs of socks…

Dear December Cold…

I wrote this on monday night, but was feeling so icky that I didn’t even have the energy to edit it. It’s a day late but bear with me, I’m posting it anyways…

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… Go away. I’ve not time for you.

This would be the cup of tea that’s helping me stave off a cold. And I literally do mean cold – I’m freezing, so I’m wearing a sweater and a fleece jacket, and I’ve stolen the cats favourite blankie, all so I can huddle in our wee computer closet, and work on my project and get back on track.