3 for 365

Bonus: Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:33:00 +0000

365 Days. 454 Posts. I blogged right into the New Year. Looking back, a surprisingly good year. Coincidence?

Things I learned in 2007:

1. Ask and Ye shall receive.
2. Whosoever giveth taketh in return.
3. Folding bikes are a magic force of positive institutional, social and physical change!

Thank you for sharing my year of Good Things.

December 31: Miiine

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:21:00 +0000

1. Free potatoes, rice and peas to go with our falafels.
2. Text messages from all over sending happy wishes.
3. Little Lukas at the kitchen table, offering me his candy cane ice cream, over and over. ‘Julia [insert developing language here] try miiine?’ End that with a huge grin! I cross to the other side of the table to be fed a Thomas-the-Tank spoonful. I return to my side. Repeat. Each time with a grin bigger than the last.

December 30: Aujourd'hui

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:14:00 +0000

... more Tudors (Season One DVD).

1. More help hauling bags to Goodwill (thanks, Mama).
2. More uncovering long-missing items whilst cleaning.
3. More demolition opportunities for yours tired, truly.

December 30: Hier

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:03:00 +0000

An honourable mention from yesterday:

A. Isabelle helped me take several bags to Goodwill
B. after our delicious meal of Italian veal sandwiches
C. followed by fruit (raisins, that is, in a butter tart).

December 29: Demolition

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 04:57:00 +0000

1. 10am: My dad helped me demolish the kitchen.
2. 5pm: My neighbour helped me remove the rubbish.
3. 8pm: My missing burgundy Syrian scarf reappeared.

Then some Tudors...

December 28: Butterfly

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 04:22:00 +0000

The Best of Ordinary Days, Errands Edition.

1. Fixed soles on my Marc Jacobs shoes (for cheap).
2. Soon-to-be-fixed Argentine rabbit coat (for free).
3. No day of repairs, mending, etc. would be complete without an extraordinary film at an art house cinema to end the day.

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby. After suffering a massive stroke that left him paralyzed from head to toe, his mind intact (‘locked-in syndrome’), blinking his left eyelid was his only means of communication. The film is based on his best-selling memoir, Le Scaphandre et le Papillon, published just days before he died.

Bonus: Time (II)

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 04:06:00 +0000

‘Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable becomes available, the unattainable... attainable. Have the patience, wait it out. It's all about timing.’ - Stacey Charter

‘Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.’ - Steve Jobs

‘If you get up one more time than you fall you will make it through.’ - Chinese Proverb

December 27: Joke

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 03:58:00 +0000

1. Winning another battle in the paper war at home!

2. ‘Stalin's ghost appears to Putin in a dream, and Putin asks for help running the country. Stalin says, ‘Round up and shoot all the democrats, and then paint the inside of the Kremlin blue.’ ‘Why blue?’ Putin asks. ‘Ha!’ says Stalin. ‘I knew you wouldn't ask me about the first part.’’

3. A real estate professional took the time - over an hour - to patiently listen, and to answer my questions. [I'm so glad he's not a lawyer.]

December 26: Chalet

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 03:36:00 +0000

1. Petras is in town from Tokyo. He and I got together for dinner to satisfy his massive craving for Swiss Chalet.

2. Then he picked up the tab. He swears Swiss Chalet would be a roaring success overseas - anyone in head office listening?

3. A good friend was online, up late at night. We had a proper chat to catch up on affairs of the mind and matters of the heart.

It seems everyone returns to Swiss Chalet for that special sauce. I return for the coleslaw.

Bonus: Time (I)

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 03:24:00 +0000

‘We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams.’ - Jeremy Irons

‘Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.’ - H. Jackson Brown

‘There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go.’ - Tennessee Williams

December 25: Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:11:00 +0000

1. Holiday downtime, at last, to start reflecting on the year.
2. Christmas dinner with friends whose families are far away.
3. Beautiful gift of letterpress typography, patterns and haiku.

‘The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.’ - Albert Einstein

December 24: Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 19:47:00 +0000

1. No big rush hour: morning commute into downtown.
2. Bill the time anyway: work cancelled for the afternoon.
3. Kids' Christmas Eve: being served imaginary pancakes.

December 23: Tuesdays

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:50:00 +0000

1. Precious sleep: ‘There are twelve hours in the day, and above fifty in the night.’ - Marie de Rabutin-Chantal

2. Silver Tuesdays: All I wanted was a pair of low-rise, boot-cut jeans. Easy? Not so! After a painful hunt, it ended where it all started (thank you, Jean Machine).

3. Happy convert: $150 (plus tax) buys a 1hr facial in a fancy hotel; $50 buys that same facial - for 1.5hrs - in that same aesthetician's home.

‘If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.’ - Dale Carnegie

December 22: Dining

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:49:00 +0000

This was a special three-part day.

1. Matthew: My nephew and I explored Kensington Market's art galleries, butcher shops and free cheese samples.

2. Keesh: Cabs to the 'burbs and back for dinner in a place known as Ajax (and what a fabulous dinner it was).

3. Julija: Post-Eastern European pub, dining at the 24hr McDonald's (for a McSober combo, thank you very much).

December 21: Baklava

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:09:00 +0000

1. The bootie boots I got yesterday are pretty hottie-hot!
2. Famished, I discovered baklava in the kitchen at work.
3. Thanks to a tip from Neil, I had fun exploring Good Business Day (a ‘continuously updated source of information on holidays and observances affecting global financial markets—bank holidays, public holidays, currency non-clearing days and trading and settlement holidays affecting exchanges’).

Happy National Unity Day, Zimbabwe.

December 20: Maracatu

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:09:00 +0000

1. Late Night: In a quiet corner of Dundas Street West, a midnight Brazilian drumming party. Toronto's own Maracatu Nunca Antes was performing at the one and only Lula Lounge.

2. Later That Night: Met two guys at the streetcar stop, so we shared a cab to the subway. Torontonians need to do this more often: it saves money and it's social.

3. Really Late Night: Didn't need to hop in another taxi, as I saw a bus going my way. Riding Toronto buses by night puts me in touch with the city.

December 19: Escalator

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:36:00 +0000

1. Table, Restaurant: Looong lunch with Ms. Heather.
2. Escalator, Subway: Chris ascended as I descended.
3. Sofabed, Apartment: Late-night Ocean's Thirteen.

Bonus: Listened

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:43:00 +0000

Three people listened to me today:

1. My brother
2. Ms. Sharon
3. My brother (again)

December 18: Meatballs

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:27:00 +0000

1. Memory! Got a photo print from last week's party.
2. Hawaiian meatballs! Served warm, delicious food.
3. Blog! Lingered at my desk all night... blogging.

December 17: 3:00

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:23:00 +0000

1. Finished cleaning the house (3am).
2. Picked up my abandoned phone (3pm).
3. Continued cleaning the house (3am).

December 16: Juice

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:16:00 +0000

We were pounded by a snowstorm. That was fine. But my fridge was empty and nothing in the known universe was open. Except Blockbuster.

1. Tostitos bite-size Rounds (surprisingly natural)
2. Tostitos salsa, medium (quite healthy, actually)
3. Dole orange juice (the only juice they carried)

Foodgroups in themselves, really.

December 15: Chit

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:52:00 +0000

1. A day wandering Kensington Market:
Market. Touch-ing exhibit. Helvetica film documentary DVD.

2. An evening at a houseparty:
Wine. Chopping vegetables. Turquoise ski pant advice.

3. A late night journey home:
Snow. Hailing taxi. Complimentary corporate cab chit.

December 14: Lightning

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:43:00 +0000

First, this guy sold me his $15 ticket for $10 at the door.
Then, local band Flash Lightning rocked an incredible gig.
Then, White Cowbell Oklahoma on stage at Lee's Palace.

Bonus: VerveEarth

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 03:33:00 +0000

VerveEarth is a new way to surf the web. It's just starting up, so check it out and let them know what you think!

December 13: Duprees

noreply@blogger.com (Hello from Julia) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 01:14:00 +0000

The Corporate Party:

My dinner companion shared her beef with me. (I always order salmon because it's ostensibly healthier, but as soon as beef is set on the table, I am like the family puppy.) That is my 1, 2, 3-in-one.

The Creative Party:

1. On telling the organizer I was a ‘guest of a guest’ – this was true – she replied that she appreciated my honesty, let me stay and even gave me a drink ticket.

2. A storyteller named Roger met Julia and Neil, whereupon they – all three possibly Duprees – voted on naked business cards and told each other stories.

3. At the end of the night, this to me from the remaining guests: ‘Hi, we're a bunch of straight guys and we just wanted to tell you that we totally looove your shoes.’