30.1.03 ... inbox probe

Email I received transcribed verbatim (by permission; identity withheld by request; moniker added also by request):

29.1.03 ... three good things

• Charlie's Angles
• Home Despot
• Congestion Charge in London (the official website has been down all morning).   [ œ .. ]

28.1.03 ... resolution redux and brain work

I realise now that the attempt to read everything I own before exploring further afield will not work. Having tried for the past few weeks, I've come to believe that it is an artificial way to approach selection because so much of what I choose to read depends upon things like recommendations, reviews, having something new catch my eye, etc.. The act of choosing your next book should be a more organic experience, and while the exercise of making a list of unread books has proven to be somewhat therapeutic, I've started to feel confined by the boundaries of that list. So having released myself from the shackles, I can outwardly proclaim that it is never a bad idea to have a few unread books lying around, and sometimes a nice stack of them can make the perfect coffee table.

When I graduated last year and started working where I am now, I was relieved to be out of academia and anxious for a little cerebral decompression. I now feel sufficiently decompressed and find that I am starting to miss being academically stimulated, and while I search for a longer term solution, reading research blogs has provided some fulfillment. As far as the longer term solution goes, I plan to ease myself back into the groove with a French class in the Fall as well as start putting some serious thought and work into the library-related research ideas that have been percolating in my brain for a few months.   [ œ .. ]

27.1.03 ... logophobes run, don't walk

Things like this make logophiles like me very, very happy. Welcome to my world: be careful what you say, but more importantly, be careful how you say it.   [ œ .. ]


... adventures in below freezing temperatures, wet clothes & cold cats

I woke up yesterday with that last-day-of-the-weekend uneasiness, knowing that there were all sorts of chores to be done, but feeling like doing nothing more than curling up with my book and a cup of tea. My early morning restlessness was compounded by the fact that when I went into the laundry room with my first of five loads, someone had beat me to it. Never mind, it was free in an hour and I set about the laundry task preoccupied, dreaming of earl grey and Proust.

MJ had already pulled out the card table by this time and had started working for the day, taking one 30 minute break at about 3pm to fetch some suitable Super Bowl Sunday food. Just about 7pm, he started on the guacamole, and I headed in for a shower and right in the middle of browning the beef and rinsing shampoo, the power dies. And then a few seconds after the absolute darkness hit, the lights in the washroom flickered back to about 30% of normal brightness. We live in a very old house, so we are fairly used to tripping fuses and learned some time ago that the hair dryer and toaster oven should never be operated at the same time, even though toasting my English muffin while my hair dries is my idea of effective multitasking. But when we checked all the fuse boxes this time (there are about 6), none of the switches had been tripped, and then the quirks: if we turned the dryer off, the lights in the laundry room and all power in our kitchen would go; if we tried to operate the washer and dryer, all lights would go, but all other non-light electricals would work. And no matter what we tried, we couldn't get any power to the stove (hence our browning beef was sitting, partially-cooked, in a tepid pool of its own juice), and all our lights were burning at no more than 30%.

The landlord was not home, and we knew enough to know that even if he was, he'd probably have to be either an electrician or a priest to fix the problem, so we moved appliances to operational electrical outlets, cooked the rest of the beef in the microwave, baked the nachos in the toaster oven, lit some candles, and made the best of it. Meanwhile, one damp load of laundry awaits in the dryer, while a load of towels is soaking in some cold water in the washing machine, and since the baseboard heaters aren't getting any power, our cats are huddling for warmth on the blankets we placed by the radiator on this -30°C day.   [ œ .. ]

24.1.03 ... a good, cold month

It has been very cold in Toronto for a very long time. We've had temperatures as cold as -20° C for weeks, and that's not saying anything about the wind chill. And the copious amounts of snow that fell in December are still with us, not in brown, icy clumps, but in white, frozen drifs, everywhere. And while it has been bright and sunny for most of the past two weeks, the 7 minute walk to my car at the end of the day has been tear-filled, ear-burning, and extremity-numbing. I usually like winter: the warm oversized clothes, socks in bed, the joy of constraining your cat in your lap for hours for the sheer pleasure of the heat. But it's only January and I am already dreaming of Birkenstock weather.

This is a month of milestone birthdays for my family. My grandma turned 80 nine days ago, and my sister turns 30 today. That whole thing about not being able to choose your family gets me because I feel quite fortunate in knowing that I would actually choose every one of them everytime. Happy 30th birthday Ab!   [ œ .. ]

23.1.03 ... graphically speaking

I've been on a bit of a redesign bender over the past few days, playing with colour schemes, images, logos and typefacing. I would do this stuff for a living if I didn't love what I already do so much. Most recently, Bibliolatry has been retooled, so for those of you who enter and exit at this page, go over and have a gander while you're here. I'm quite proud of the outcome.   [ œ .. ]

22.1.03 ... blogularity

Bloggie nominees have been announced, so go over and vote if you are so inclined. These are the folks who are actually becoming famous because of their blogs, unlike the rest of us who only delude ourselves into thinking that more than 10 comments a week means that the world is right here, and yes, it is listening dammit. Once you have read the nominees, you also might be encouraged to ask: will the Anti-Bloggies be the same this year, now that one of the awards' brainmasters has been nominated for a Bloggie himself?   [ œ .. ]


... recently, in music

• Closing Time, Tom Waits
• The Bends, Radiohead
• No Name Face, Lifehouse
• Spiritual Machines, Our Lady Peace
• Stanley Climbfall, Lifehouse
• Rubberneck, The Toadies
• Everybody Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone, The Walkmen
• Away from the Sun, 3 Doors Down
• Does this Look Infected, Sum 41
• Steal this Album, System of a Down
• More than you Think you Are, Matchbox 20
• Songs for the Deaf, Queens of the Stone Age
• Sublime, Sublime.   [ œ .. ]

21.1.03 ... delight

When I stopped in at Williams to buy my tea before work this morning, I found this message taped to the counter: "59 days 'til Spring. Smile." Suddenly, 59 days never seemed so close.

This page has needed a redesign for a while, and I'm quite pleased with the difference a new colour scheme and updated logo can make.   [ œ .. ]

20.1.03 ... license vs copyright

I've been reading the Creative Commons pages for a couple of weeks now and have mulled over switching from my little copyright statement to one of their licenses. After much deliberation, I've decided to go with an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, and you will therefore notice that I've removed the copyright statement from most, if not all of these pages. Why the deliberation? Well, I really like what the people over at the Creative Commons have done, and it took me a while to decide what type of license to go with. Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike is a whole mouthful to say that anyone can use anything on these pages, as long as they attribute it to me; commercial use of anything here is prohibited, unless I say it's OK; and my stuff can be taken and changed around, but any derivative should also be licenced as Attribution-Non-Commerical-ShareAlike. If you're thinking it's hardly worth all the effort, you'd be wrong. I think licenses like these make a whole bunch of sense, and they should go a long way in making the Web what it should be, even though there will always be a few unscrupulous, pilferring, webkleptos no matter what your site's fine print threatens. Choosing to license all the same is my little attempt at keeping alive the glimmering flame of hope for A Better Web.   [ œ .. ]

17.1.03 ... potter librarian

Barely two weeks into the new year and already one of my resolutions has been broken. If you know me at all, you'll know that it's the one about the books. Today I pre-ordered two books: Revolting Librarians Redux and Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. But since both will be released only in June and also since the resolution technically requires me to cross off everything from this list before new books are acquired, I actually have until June before the resolution can be classified as truly broken.   [ œ .. ]

16.1.03 ... wisdom

A little piece of wisdom from Stephen O'Shea:

15.1.03 ... living

One of my favourite people in the world turns 80 today. Happy birthday Nan!

14.1.03 ... regularly

If you aren't already reading Uzbekistan Diary, about the life of a North American journalist living in Uzbekistan, you should start now. I've been reading it since its inception, and it continues to intrigue and engross.   [ œ .. ]

13.1.03 ... karmic forces

I spent Saturday morning sifting through my closet, creating seasonal and Goodwill piles. After about three hours, I had the closet reorganized, with clothing for all seasons put away, which was quite the coup for me, I usually have to do a summer/winter split with the current season's clothing in the closet and the inactive season's clothing in a suitcase in my parents' basement. I also managed two sizeable piles for Goodwill, all decent stuff, some of it barely worn. I used to have a fairly short attention span when it came to clothing and this coupled with very little purging meant that I had amassed a haphazard array of apparel sufficient to outit a family of four. But I have become a lot more discplined over the past few years, and tend to regard clothing as no more than a basic necessity, one that is required to be functional, much like breakfast. With the annual closet purge and reorg well into its fifth year, I now have a manageable core collection of gear that should last me a few years. So after three hours of work, it felt like I accomplished a task I began years ago.   [ œ .. ]

11.1.03 ... cleaning house

I have decided that no books will be bought or borrowed until I have read everything on my shelves that hasn't been read. To assist in this endeavour, I made this list of titles this morning. The list is alphabetical, but titles will be read in no particular order.   [ œ .. ]

10.1.03 ... 9 days, 98 images

Pictures! Get yer London pictures here!

How do you go from 240 to 98 images? With a lot of time, discipline, and whittling, that's how. My protracted silence this week is the result of all my time being sucked into downloading, uploading, designing, formatting and curating these babies. Some words of warning: if you browse with Netscape, don't even bother. Your pages will look like some sort of nasty dog's breakfast. If you use dial-up, be prepared to wait. There are, after all, 98 images here. But the link is set to open in a new window so you can look at a few pictures, go for lunch, look at some more, go home, come back tomorrow, and pick up where you left off. Simple.   [ œ .. ]


... precipitation 101

London gets snow a day after we leave.   [ œ .. ]

7.1.03 ... resolutions have been made and just in time

Copious amounts of snow fell while we were in England, and we returned to a veritable winter wonderland. It's all fun and games and winter wonderlandish until you start driving of course. But one of my resolutions for 2003 is to be a good citizen, and for me that includes being more environmentally and ecologically conscious, so I'm hanging up the driving gloves in favour of a bus ticket. Of course, I don't really wear driving gloves, but that's beside the point.

Visual evidence of our trip is on its way, promise. I plan to spend this evening working on a website I'm designing for a non-profit, and then steal some personal design time to figure out the best and fastest way to display 240 images online. I was thinking about snapGallery but the superlong index list would be enough to put anyone off. Besides, how many different names for ten shots of Nelson's Column can a person possibly come up with?   [ œ .. ]

6.1.03 ... some random observations about London

• There is a conspicuous lack of trash cans on the street and in the underground. Despite that, there is also a conspicuous lack of litter.
• They like to paint things on the ground. "Mind the Gap" and "Look Right/Left" come to mind. This is all, of course, very handy for tourists who have no idea which way to look when crossing the street and aren't used to huge, vacuous amounts of space between the subway train and the platform.
• There are many young, variously tattooed and pierced French people trying to carve out a life for themselves in London. Practically every Caffe Nero we went to (and there were many) were tended solely by such people.
• A Carnet is not the best way to go if you are in London for nine days and plan on getting everywhere by tube and/or bus. Nine One-Day Travelcards are the more cost-effective option.
• Expectations notwithstanding, it is practically impossible to find steak and kidney pie.
• There really is no such thing as a nice corner pub anymore. At least not of the mom & pop variety. They all seem to have been sucked into the entertainment and hospitality conglomerate vacuum by large corporations like J.D.Wetherspoon. However, it's tough to complain when you have enjoyed many a reasonably priced meal and pint thanks to the purchasing power and volume discounts enjoyed by such conglomerates.   [ œ .. ]

2.1.03 ... water, water everywhere, but none for us to drink

No matter how well you prepare for the rain, you can never be quite prepared enough for London rain. As a tourist, juggling umbrella, camera, and a cup of Caffe Nero coffee or tea is a mere inconvenience, I can only imagine what the locals have to deal with on a daily basis.

Apart from the 24 hour drizzle, there have been many highlights thus far.

Friday: walked around Convent Garden and ate an early supper at Rock Garden (where U2, The Rolling Stones, and Dire Straits all played during their respective pre-stardom years. Despite that, the place has a very no-nonsense, good restaurant feel about it, thanks to a conspicuous lack of rock memorabilia).

Saturday: explored Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square. Went on the Jack the Ripper Walking Tour at night, which had all the potential of being kitschy, but wasn't thanks Tony, our guide, who was as entertaining and theatrical as he was knowledgeable.

Sunday: had a lovely day in Bristol with Meredith, Xavier, and the girls, Alix and Victoire, who cooked us a fantastic lunch, after which we played a spirited round of "Pit", a card game we have to buy when we get home. Meredith sat out one round so that she could take pictures, but the camera doesn't quite capture the frenzy that is Pit, unfortunately.

Monday: both of us woke up feeling a bit sick and we blamed it on the girl on the bus back from Bristol who sat two rows behind and across from us and hacked and spluttered throughout the entire 2 hour and 15 minute ride. So we started out a bit late (1pm) and covered less ground than we wanted to, but did manage to see the Cabinet War Rooms, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Parliamentary buildings. We rounded out the evening at The Shakespeare's Head, a pub across the street from our hotel, and retired early in an attempt to ward off the ailment-that-plagued-us, thanks to the coughing bus girl who should have just stayed home (and was being cursed that night by a whole bus load of formerly healthy people).

Tuesday: The British Museum. All sorts of treasures here, the highlight for me being the Reading Room, whose spectacular circular design was the architectural inspiration for the reading room at the Library of Congress. Walked through Bloomsbury the rest of the afternoon, had supper at Wolfe's, a nice little restaurant across from our hotel, and brought in 2003 in the hotel lounge, where we got a table right by the window, the perfect vantage point for watching all the revellers on the street. Good viewing.

Wednesday: a rest day. MJ had well and truly contracted The Bristol Bus Cough by now, and it was perfectly timed because everything in the city was shut, being January 1st. So we walked around Convent Garden a bit, and ate two of our three meals at The Shakespeare's Head.

Today we're trying to make up for lost time and have a fairly long hitlist to cover, starting with the National Gallery, Sir John Soane's Museum, and Pollock's Toy Museum. My promise of pictures has to go unfulfilled for now because this Internet cafe is not equipped to handle the download. But we're home on Sunday, and downloading will commence shortly thereafter.

Love and hugs to all at home. Big wet kisses and huge hugs to Ab & Zain, who are feeding, watering and crap-raking for Heidi & Sebastian while we're away, bless them.   [ œ .. ]