#995

Things I've done this week:

1) I've said goodbye to my semester one classes. They were great. I'll miss them. I'm a bit skeptical about what semester two will bring.

2) I've finished marking all the things for semester one. My eyes got blurry at times. However, I got some sweet notes written to me by some students at the end of their exams, which made me feel good.

3) I saw Jack's Mannequin on Tuesday night. I had fun catching up with my friend Mathew and it was an awesome show. They are a great band to sing along with.

4) Exam week brings with it a lot of time to go for extended lunches with pals from work (followed by extended marking sessions in coffee shops). Yesterday we went for Dim Sum at the Pacific Mall in Markham. It was really yummy.

5) Last night Jason and I watched the movie Beginners starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer. It was really good. It had a cute dog, a good story, and Ewan wearing many cute sweaters. What more does one need?

6) Today we walked to a cute brunch place 10 minutes from school for today's lunch. We met up with my friend Fea who just had her second daughter two weeks ago. Cute child, good catch-up. Win.

7) Tonight's episode of Parks and Rec was the awesome.

8) For Christmas, my parents gave me a perfume sampler from Shopper's Drugmart. You get ten samples of perfumes, plus a gift certificate for a full-sized bottle of your choice of perfume. After sampling them all for this time, I settled on Marc Jacobs' Oh Lola. It smells good and the bottle is so pretty! I picked it up tonight.


That's about it for this week. It was fun. Tomorrow I plan on sleeping in a little, going for an early run, then heading off to work prep for second semester. It's nice not to have a set time to be there... I'm aiming for 10.

This weekend, I am hostessing a Group of 9 Bachelorette party for my pal Christa. It should be a fun time. We should have 8 out of 9 of us there... Everyone but Sandra who lives in Utah. I am looking forward to it.

Hope you all have great weekends!

Well I try to keep it steady now, but steady's not her strong suit.

I had a fun weekend.

On Friday night, I went out with some co-workers for appetizers and drinks followed by serve-yourself frozen yogurt. It was a good time.

On Saturday, I woke up early, went to the gym to run a quick 5K, then headed out to meet up with the same coworkers to head to the Buffalo area to go shopping. We started with lunch at the Olive Garden. For some reason, the Olive Garden went extinct in Ontario (or should I say it was extirpated?). I ate a lot of soup, salad, and breadsticks for lunch, but man, was it salty. I was dehydrated for the rest of the day.

We started at the outlet mall, where the girls split up with the boys. We went to the Ann Taylor Loft store first, where I got a pretty blue polka-dot dress, a white sweater with a blue polka-dot flower to match, a frilly blue polka-dot top to go with the sweater, and a simple tank top to go with a black cardigan that I have at home. I'm hoping to wear the dress in Paris, but it might be too cold. However, the sweater and top will definitely come with me.

I also got a plaid shirt at J. Crew. If you show your teacher card at J. Crew you get 15% off, and that means I'm guaranteed to buy something there. I got a pair of earrings at Fossil as well.

After the outlet mall we hit Target. I stocked up on a lot of foodstuffs: Starbucks Hot Chocolate mixes (which you can't get here), super cheap Tazo tea, raspberry lemonade Crystal Light (can't get that flavour here), my favourite Kashi granola bars (on sale), Mint Chocolate M&M's for Jason, and mint Three Musketeers fun sized bars for me. I got Miss Rilo a new laser pointer, and a new catnip mouse. For my dad's birthday, I got him a Wile E. Coyote Super Genius Tshirt which he is going to love. Lastly, I got the last two books of the Hunger Games series because they were super cheap. I still have to read the first, but I know I'll get hooked on them when I get to them and it's good that I have the whole series.

Anyway, it was a good shopping trip. I was pretty exhausted all day Sunday, and didn't even leave my house. I slept, read, did a bit of housework, and then Jason came over and we made dinner and watched Moneyball. It's a good movie. I recommend it.

Today was a quiet day at work. It was tutorials in the morning, and an exam in the afternoon, so I got a lot of marking done throughout the day. I left work fairly early with lots of energy to go for a run. However, when I started running, my head started to throb, my stomach hurt, and I felt really low energy. I called it quits and headed home after about 4K. I don't know what happened, but now I'm home and spending my evening on the couch. On the bright side, that crappy run put me over 50 miles for the month of January. I ran 51.4 miles (or 82.7 km) in January - my best month ever!

I have to recover for tomorrow night, because tomorrow night I'm seeing Jack's Mannequin, aka my favourite emo guilty pleasure! I'll probably be the oldest person there.



Happy Tuesday folks!

p.s. Jabba - so glad you're enjoying Provincial! "The Last And" also made me think of Alone in the Classroom which I have out of the library right now, but I'm not sure if I'll get it read before its due date (Feb. 6th). I also got tickets to see JKS play here in March. I checked his tour dates to see if he was playing Victoria, but nope, closest is Vancouver. :(

I'm just your little ampersand.

Remember how at the end of my last post, I was begrudging the fact that I was going to spend my Sunday marking? Well, I ended up going to the ROM with my pal Matt from Winnipeg instead, and that was super fun. I regret nothing. Yes, the pile of end-of-semester marking still looms heavy, but it'll get done somehow, it always does.

Also, I experienced good karma coming back to me at the ROM. Remember how we fessed up to the missing bourbon on our bill on Saturday night? Well, while in line for admission at the ROM, the lady behind me had an extra ticket for free admission that she couldn't use, and gave it to me. See, it always pays off to be honest! This time, sooner rather than later.

In music news, and there is always music news in my world it seems, John K Samson of my beloved Weakerthans just released a solo album called Provincial. Surprisingly, I wasn't overly excited for it. However, he was playing a free record store set at Soundscapes on College and Jason and I went to see him last night. That made me excited for the album. I'd heard snippets of songs online, but seeing the songs in person in their entirety reminded me that you need to hear the WHOLE song oftentimes. John K Samson's lyrics are very poetic and his songs are stories. I enjoyed his set very much.

If you go here, you can see a video of one of the songs from last night.

My favourite song from the evening was The Last And. When I heard it, I pictured a teacher in the 1960s who was having an affair with her married principal. It seemed like a dark Canadian prairie novel in a song. I loved it. Here are the lyrics, and the song if you are interested.



The Last And - John K Samson

So I'm the first one in again
with the quiet and the window growing snow.
When I hear the furnace rouse itself
from its slumber, somehow suddenly I know,
As my eye stops on one curled up in my lesson plan,
that I’m just your little ampersand.

When your voice springs from the inter-com,
with announcements and reminders and a prayer,
I remember how you made me feel:
I was funny, I was thoughtful, I was rare
But like the jokes about my figure
kids think that I don’t understand:
I know I’m just your little ampersand.

And after Christmas holidays,
when you never asked to drive me home again,
and sometimes in the staffroom I
catch your eye with why'd it have to end.
But I know from how you worry at your wedding band
that I’m just your little ampersand.

At the last conjunction after every other "and"
I was just your little ampersand.

Anyway, I picked up the album at the store and I really enjoy it. I was a fool to not be excited for this, I tell you.

Hope you're all having nice weeks. Two days left.

p.s. Oh, in other music news, my former favourite band ever, Ben Folds Five, who broke up in 1999 and shattered my young heart at the time, are recording a new album right now. Woot!

Peasant child, you're into botany.

Well, after everyone's comments on my last post, I feel like the January blues are a very common experience. It makes me feel better; misery loves company, I suppose. This weekend, however, was so awesome that I feel that I've left my winter blues behind.

I had a very chill evening on Friday night with Jason. I made chickpea & cashew curry, and we ate some pretzel M&M's while catching up on this week's Parks & Rec and 30 Rock. I believe last weekend it was me who was really tired and fell asleep watching TV. It was the reverse this week, which was okay 'cuz I was able to catch up on laundry and reading while Jason fell asleep. We did, however, both manage to be awake to catch the end of Letterman which I really wanted to see because my beloved Los Campesinos! were played. With having both Kathleen Edwards and LC! play this week, I guess Dave's got the same musical tastes as me. Hmmm...

On Saturday morning, we decided to go out for brunch. Jason suggested The Three Speed, which is on Bloor between Dufferin and Lansdowne and completely hidden. I have a new hypothesis about cool/hidden gem Toronto restaurants. My hypothesis has two tenets:

a) They have little signage and dark windows, so if you didn't know about them, you'd walk right by them and never be the wiser;

b) They have hand-written menus.

The Three Speed fit both criteria, and was great. We got there before the rush, and I had some delicious banana french toast.

While we were brunching, I was looking at the extensive bourbon menu on the wall. "I think one of my goals for 2012 is to try bourbon." I said randomly. I dunno, I think I just want to be tougher or something. Bourbon seems rock and roll.

Jason said "that's a very achievable goal." Yup, it was. Achievable goals are the best kind.

After brunch, I headed to the gym and ran 10K. It was tough to finish off the distance, because I was getting tired, but I did it. I was pretty fast during the last K, which I think bodes well for May.

After my run, I met up with my pal Matt from Winnipeg, and his friend Mel, to go out for dinner before catching Los Campesinos! at Lee's Palace. I took them to The Ace on Roncesvalles, which is the restaurant that Jason and I went to for his birthday. It also supports both tenets of my Toronto cool restaurant hypothesis.

It doesn't take reservations, but we were able to get three seats together at the bar, which was actually a fun spot to sit. In addition, I noticed that they had a wide variety of bourbon, which lead me to tell my dinner companions about my goal.

"Let's do it!" said Mel, and we decided that we'd try it. Of course, neither of us knew which kind to get or how to drink it, but luckily, our waitress was able to give us advice. We went for Maker's Mark on the rocks. It was strong, but felt good going down. We both felt empowered ordering such a tough drink. However, I kind of ruined the toughness by clapping when I finished mine, which lead one of the waiters there to join in on clapping for me. It was hilarious.

The food was delicious too. I had the fried chicken, and chocolate rosemary ice cream for dessert. (They made their own ice creams there.) When we got the bill they missed charging us for the bourbon, but we like to keep our karma in check, so we fessed up.

After that we headed to the Bloor/Bathurst area for the show, but still had some time to kill so we went to Mel's favourite frozen yogurt place where I sampled a bit and technically had second dessert. To kill more time, we went to a pub for another drink. They only had Wild Turkey bourbon, which burns more than Maker's Mark. (It's the cheapest bourbon, which we completely rejected at The Ace.) I'm well on my way to to knowing my bourbons!

Finally, we got to Lee's for the show. Matt decided to join us in the bourbon club at that point. The opening band, Parenthetical Girls, were entertaining to watch. It didn't seem to take long for LC! to take the stage afterwards, and they were so fun to watch. All of their songs are easy to sing along with, and they are energizing and make you want to dance. They played a good assortment of new stuff and old stuff. It was super fun.

So a delicious dinner, a goal for 2012 made and completed in one day, and a great show made for a really good Saturday evening. Yay!

Today I need to get caught up on work, yuck. Oh well, the weekend can't all be bourbon, desserts, food, and concerts, can it? Too bad.

I'm looking for a soft place to land.

I have concluded that I dislike January. It's a tough time at work; I'm very busy wrapping up one semester, and getting ready for another one at the same time. I've been spending my week saving teenagers from themselves; why some are so prone to throwing away a credit in the waning weeks of the semester is beyond me. I've had to stage too many interventions in the past couple of weeks.

In addition, I have the worst case of the January blahs. Every task before me whether it be washing a pan, doing laundry, marking a set of tests, making a phone call, or making a grocery list seems insurmountable. Usually I can do all these things with aplomb, but I don't know what's happening to me this week. Delayed reaction to Blue Monday? Perhaps.

However, I distracted myself from me not doing the things above by accomplishing one important thing: booking a flight to Paris for March Break! It actually took a good deal of research to find this year's winning flight with the proper combination of proper airline, flight times, and dates.

A picture of Paris from March Break 2010. I spent a weekend with Becca T before I spent the rest of the time visiting her in her old French home in Nice.

Instead of flying out ASAP on the Friday, which would have been too costly this year for whatever reason as determined by the airline gods, I have to fly out on Saturday instead. It gives me one less day in Paris, but hey, at least the packing stress won't be so bad.


I am excited for my trip, of course. Becca T has found herself a tiny new flat, and has even ordered a chair that will pull out into a bed for me. I look forward to a week in Paris with a side trip. I could go visit a friend in Geneva or I could just treat myself to my own excursion somewhere random.

Self portrait of me and Becca T on the steps of the Pantheon.

I saw a book at the bookstore the other day called "The Best Kept Secrets of Paris". I am tempted to look through it, potentially pick it up, and use it to guide my week. Or maybe I'll figure out my own agenda. I definitely have to find Marie Antoinette's grave. It's one of the few Marie Antoinette things I've never done.

This is a memorial from La Conciergerie, the place in Paris when she was imprisoned. I went there in March Break 2010.

Anyway, so I have that to officially look forward to.

Here I am at the fountain at the Louvre. It was really cold in Paris that week (see hat and mittens.)

Me, my mittens, my crazy flower hat, the Seine, and Notre Dame.

Tonight I was planning on going for a run, but I went out for Greek food on the Danforth with some friends instead. I thought socializing might just be the better option.

It warmed up enough on our last afternoon in Paris that we could relax without coats in the lovely Jardin du Luxombourg before catching our flight to Nice.

In other news, my buddy Matt from Winnipeg is in town this weekend for Los Campesinos! I am excited for that show. It'll be lots of fun.

Sunday, not so much. Day of marking. :(

There's a lot of other exciting stuff on the horizon too. I keep trying to think about that in my January slump, but it's not working as well as I think. How many more days 'til February? I think that's what I have to keep asking myself.

p.s. Actually going through my old trip photos and integrating them into this emo post has cheered me. Please remind me to look through old trip photos next time I'm emo.

p.p.s. Also, I am totally treating myself to a NEW CAMERA before this trip! :D

Here is the truth: I swear I was fun.

I have just downloaded my pre-order of Kathleen Edwards' new album Voyageur and I am so excited to listen to it. Everything I've heard about it so far makes me suspect excellence. Actually, I've just skimmed one positive review. Mainly, I know it will be good because she's one of my favourite artists, and this album was co-produced by Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). Collaboration between two of my favourite musicians? Yes, please.

I've been listening to the song Change the Sheets for months. I first heard it when Jason and I caught a surprise show by Kathleen at the Dakota Tavern in the summer. It was up on iTunes shortly there after, and I have listened to it seventy times since then (thanks iTunes for counting my obsessive listening habits). It's one of my favourite running songs, actually.

Anyway, I came across the video tonight and decided to share it here. I watched it once and it's got a lot of my favourite things in it: shows, cities, road trips, and Jim Bryson.



She's also playing tomorrow night on Letterman, and responsibilities be damned, I may rock it like I'm in university and stay up late to watch someone I like on Letterman. Or I'll wait to find it on the internet the next day, we'll see.

Off I go to listen now.

ps I finished The Night Circus on time. It was brilliant.

But I miss Prairie nights and northern lights.

Last week kicked my ass.

Getting back to work with many deadlines to meet, and the never-ending piles of marking was tough. I feel a bit better than I did a week ago at this time, but I'm looking forward to getting this semester done. Fresh start please. We have two more weeks of classes, then exam week, then it's a new semester with fresh faces and different things to teach.

Also, I had a really great evening with Becca T on Wednesday. She had a whirlwind trip back to North America over the holidays, and was briefly in Toronto, and I was glad to get to see her. It felt like she was back living in Toronto because we did our usual things - go out for sushi, Starbucks, listen to music, play board games, and chit chat. It looks like my trip to visit her in Paris over the March Break is a GO! and it might include a side trip to Geneva too. Another thing I'd like to do is give Becca T a break from me, and maybe take the train to little French town and spend the night on my own. I'll have to go to Indigo and hit up France travel guides to see if that's a possibility. Anyway, I am EXCITED and will keep you guys updated as I plan.

We stayed up late, of course, and I think that late night exhausted me for the weekend. Toronto was under an extreme cold alert, so Jason and I spent a lot of time hibernating. We watched 9 episodes of Parks N Rec, this week's 30 Rock, Up All Night, lots of old Simpsons, SNL (I fell alseep during that), and goodness knows what else. We also made a yummy beef stew on Saturday evening (we had to venture out in the cold to get the ingredients), and I baked cookies from a mix that I got for Christmas. Anyway, it was a lovely hibernation. I think I needed it after the shock of holidays ending.

After a lazy morning/mid-afternoon, I went to the gym and put in a good run. Then, I came home and read and marked, and now I'm going to read again. The Night Circus is due back tomorrow, and I've read 70% of it. I am still enjoying it immensely. It's a "Best Bets" book from TPL, which means you get it for a week, can't renew it, and if it's overdue, it's a $1.00 per day. I think if I read 50 pages tonight, then I can go to the library tomorrow after school, find a comfy chair, then finish it off. I'm totally into the library these days.

Well, that's that. It'll be another busy work week, and then it's Los Campesinos! weekend. WOOT! Happy week to all.

Everybody breaks a glass.

Post of random.

1) I'm currently reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It's gothtastic! There is such gorgeous, magical, dark imagery in this book. If Tim Burton doesn't adapt it into a movie, I will eat my hat.

2) My favourite running songs right now are:
a) Super Bass - Nicki Minaj
b) Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine
c) Wild Ones - Flo Rida featuring Sia
d) Rumour Has It - Adele
e) Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn
f) Everybody Breaks A Glass - Lights featuring Holy Fuck and Shad

3) Speaking of favourite running songs, last night some of the boys in student council were working in the caf listening to music, and Otis Redding by Jay-Z and Kayne West came on. One kid said "ugh, turn it, I don't like this song", and I was like "WHAT? I love this song!"

Cue silence.

"Miss, you know this song?"

"Play it." I responded. I waited for the singing introduction to start and I rapped along with Jay-Z "I got my swagger back, truth." That one line was enough to convince them that life is pretty strange, and teachers can access their music. Maybe I ruined it for them, I don't know. Whatever. Just never assume that science nerds don't dabble in hip-hop.

4) I got new boots on sale during boxing week, and wore them to school today with leggings and a long sweater. A girl in my period two class said "Miss, you look all hot today!" A couple of my friends said the same too. I should really wear heels more often.

5) Becca T has been in Canada over the holidays and traveling all over the place. She spent a lot of time in Ottawa, and flew out to Vancouver. She's in Toronto for a bit this week, and she's sleeping over at my place tomorrow night. Yay! I'm excited to catch up with my bestie.

6) I am swamped at work right now with marking, writing exams, and various extra-curricular things. I keep alternating between feeling burned out and absolutely unstressed. It's bizarre.

Stumblin' home winter blues.

I have to go back to work in less than twelve hours.

Wish me luck.

p.s. Holidays were the awesome.

Boom, badoom, boom, he got that super bass.

Here I am, more than half-way through my last week of a super-relaxed Christmas vacation. I needed this.

I feel like I have been a bit of a hermit since New Year's. Yesterday, which was a SUPER COLD day, I managed to get myself to a relaxing noon-time yoga session. It was good. I need to stretch more. More yoga this year.

Besides being the coldest day in recent memory, it was also Jason's birthday. We went to see The Adventures of Tintin, which we both agreed was good, not great. After that, we ventured out in the cold, across the city, to Roncevalles Ave to try out a little restaurant for dinner. It's called The Ace, and it's in a tiny old diner.

When we got there, the place was filled, but we waited with a couple of beers and it seemed like we got a table rather quickly. We had bread and olives to start, and then I got steak frites (memories of Paris) and Jason got delicious fried chicken. We traded a bit o' steak for a bit o' fried chicken. When we go again, and I'm sure we will, I'm getting the chicken. For dessert, we got incredible chocolate perogies. There was cocoa in the dough, and they were filled with warm melty chocolate. SO GOOD. I wish I had some now.

Anyway, it was a really good dinner, and it felt like an exotic trip since we had to go across the city. I like Toronto for that. The subway can take you somewhere new very easily. I've lived here for forever, and there's always something new to discover.

Today I eventually managed to get myself to the gym and go for a pretty good run. This evening I've just been lounging around reading a new library book. Oh yeah, I went to the library too. A day of excitement, it was. I also made scrambled eggs. Anyway, the book I'm reading is Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner. I follow her on Twitter because she live-tweets The Bachelor and is absolutely hilarious. Her books make good light reads. I'm enjoying this one so far.

Tomorrow I'm going to see the musical Mary Poppins with my work family (i.e. a couple of my good friends with whom I work). Everyone I know who's seen it loves it, and I'm looking forward to it. We're going to go out for dinner afterwards and that'll be fun times. One thing I miss about work is seeing my friends every day.

On Friday, I'm meeting up with my friend Flora for lunch and some much needed catch-up. That day I should probably also mark some *choke* quizzes, and start thinking about the inevitable, but I might go to Ikea, so maybe I'll buy shiny new things that will distract me. Let's hope.

Oh, also I forgot that today was exciting for the fact that I obtained many tickets to many things in the new year. Jason, his pal (now my pal too... but originally his) Karen, and I are going to see The Joel Plaskett Emergency in May, not once, but twice. We're going to be those people who on the second night, when Joel says "who was here last night too?" shout "woo!"

In addition, I got tickets for me and my dad to see MacHomer at the Stratford Festival in May. I saw it several years ago in Toronto; it's a one-man play that's 90% original Macbeth done in the voices of The Simpsons. It's fucking amazing. I've declared it daddy-daughter day (Simpsons reference).

I also got tickets to see Kathleen Edwards in February. I love her. She sings about things I can relate to, like your daddy shooting your no-good boyfriend 'cuz he got you pregnant. Ha-ha. I kid. That's my standard Kathleen line.

So much excitement. So much. Hello 2012.

My Year in Lists: Favourite Albums of 2011

2011 was one of the strongest years with respect to albums that I can remember. I could have easily turned my traditional top ten list into a top twenty, and I am aware that there are a lot of acclaimed albums that I missed out on this year, because, well, my pesky job gets in the way of me consuming music as much as I'd truly like.

As always, I'd like to mention that this list reflects the albums that played the biggest part in my year. Music becomes woven into my life and into my favourite moments, so sentimentality often plays a big part into which albums are my favourites. In addition, I go to a lot of shows, and seeing songs from an album live often just makes them all the more special to me. My top ten list are quite simply the top ten albums that were the soundtrack of my life in the year 2011.

Since it was such a strong year, here are my honourable mentions:

Honeymoon Punch - Jenn Grant
Siberia - Lights

People & Things - Jack’s Mannequin

Wasting Light - Foo Fighters
Lights of Endangered Species - Matthew Good
Codes & Keys - Death Cab for Cutie

Now for the top ten!

10) Ceremonials - Florence & The Machine

I’d forgotten to check out this album until I saw Florence & The Machine’s performance on SNL. Florence has such a powerful voice, and is able to craft truly captivating songs that suit it. Each song on this album is powerful and empowering at the same time. This is one of my favourite albums to listen to all the way through on a subway ride, or on a train, or just while reading or cleaning at home. Florence’s voice and the gorgeous arrangements on each song make you thankful just to be listening.



Favourite songs: Only If for a Night and Shake It Out



9) Summer of Lust - Library Voices


Who doesn’t like intelligent poppy catchy songs? Seriously, who doesn’t? I most certainly do, and that’s why I like this album so much. I think I just discovered this Saskatchewan band this year, and downloaded their previous album Denim on Denim earlier in the year, and then waited for the August release of Summer of Lust with some excitement. I wasn’t disappointed with Library Voices’ sophomoric effort. There are horns galore, and each and every song easily embeds itself in your consciousness so you’ll find yourself humming it later on in the day. As I said, the songs are smart. References are made to atoms, Parliament, Coupland, Murakami, and my favourite song title by far is Reluctant Readers Make Reluctant Lovers.

Favourite songs: The Prime Minister’s Daughter and Regina, I Don’t Want to Fight



8) Collapse Into Now - R.E.M.

This album would make my list on its merit alone, but I have to admit that my sentimental heart gave it a lot of clout: this is the last time I’ll get the opportunity to put an album by R.E.M., a band who I’ve loved since I was eight, on my end-of-year list since they are going on permanent hiatus after a 31-year career.

There are those out there who got away from R.E.M. after a couple of lackluster records at the beginning of the last decade. However, I have thoroughly enjoyed their last two records, especially this one. I love how R.E.M. can maintain an early alternative sound to their work, even though they are an older band. The songs on this album are strong, and the album comes full circle with the closer Blue (featuring Patti Smith) that echos the opener Discoverer. Collapse Into Now is an album that allows R.E.M. to end their career on a high note.

Favourite Songs: Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter and Blue



7) Seeds - Hey Rosetta!

I am always very pleased when some little Canadian band that I discover randomly ends up garnering wide critical acclaim. I think I like the feeling that my tastes are validated, but moreover, I’m elated that they are experiencing such success. Just like with their debut, Hey Rosetta! earned a place on the Polaris Prize shortlist for their follow-up. The acclaim is well-deserved for this six-piece band from Newfoundland. Seeds opens with the bombastic eponymous track, and keeps up the pace for the duration of the album. One of my favourite songs on this album, Young Glass, just makes me think of Catcher in the Rye for some reason. I think it’s the shout out to Central Park that might do it. Random tidbit: Seeds is one of my favourite driving albums.

Favourite songs: Seeds and Young Glass



6) Hello Sadness - Los Campesinos!


For those of you who keep track of my year-end album lists (i.e. myself, that’s who I’m referring to... I have no delusions), you may remember that LC’s 2010 album Romance is Boring was my favourite album of that year. It’s quite impressive that this band is so prolific with two new albums in two years. Hello Sadness is a great album too; I think the reasons why it didn’t place as high as its predecessor is firstly that the “soundtrack of my life” factor always plays a part when I make these lists, and secondly, Hello Sadness is such a sad album. Of course, a sad LC album still means that you have insanely catchy songs, but the lyrics of this one make me feel sad. The fact that this album makes me feel so sad is a testament to how good this album really is.

Favourite songs: The Black Bird, The Dark Slope and Songs About Your Girlfriend



5) The Double Cross - Sloan


There are four reasons why this album made my list:



a) This album has THE BEST THREE FIRST SONGS of any album I’ve ever encountered. There is something about the trilogy of Follow the Leader/The Answer is You/Unkind that is EPIC. EPIC. The rest of the album is great too but those three songs are special and fit together perfectly.



b) This album is called The Double Cross in tribute to the fact that this is Sloan’s twentieth year as a band. (Double Cross = XX = 20, awww, they are clever!) For a band to rock this hard after twenty years is epic.

c) The three Jay Ferguson songs on The Double Cross (The Answer Was You, Green Gardens, Cold Montreal, and Beverley Terrace) melt my little heart. Jay is my favourite.

Favourite songs: The first three, of course



4) Metal Meets - Ohbijou



I loved this album so much that I bought at least four copies of it as Christmas presents since I like to support local bands. The sound on Metal Meets is big with beautiful strings, bass, keyboards and vocals. One of my favourite moments of 2011 was seeing Ohbijou perform songs from this album in a tiny record store.


Favourite songs: Niagara and Sligo



3) Oh Fortune - Dan Mangan


This is another album that I purchased multiple copies of as Christmas presents. Dan Mangan has cemented himself as one of Canada’s emerging singer/songwriting talents with his previous album, the Polaris Prize long-listed Nice, Nice, Very Nice, and with its strong follow-up. Dan’s songs continue to be evocative, and after seeing him live, I love how he surrounds himself with wonderful musicians who help bring his songs to life.

Favourite songs: About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All and Post-War Blues



2) Bon Iver - Bon Iver


I decided not to pay attention to Bon Iver’s previous album For Emma, Forever Ago because that's what I sometimes do with albums that get a lot of hype. However, when this album came out, I decided to check it out, and I fell in love. It’s one of those albums where each song just washes over you. It’s best listened to all in one go, and makes the perfect background music for a rainy night in while reading. One of my favourite moments of this year was seeing Bon Iver perform this album live.

Favourite songs: Holocene and Perth



1) Metals - Feist


This album is 2011 for me. I was highly anticipating this album ever since Feist mentioned last year that she was going to start working on a follow-up to The Reminder. Of course, as with any highly-anticipated follow-up to an excellent album, you wonder, will the artist be able to do it?

And, of course, Ms. Leslie Feist did. How did she do it? On her own terms, of course. She continued to collaborate with her friends, and instead of gearing this album to the pop-friendly audience she might have garnered with The Reminder, she went a bit dark and away from the mainstream with Metals. And it works wonderfully.

I love the variety of songs that this album has. The opener, The Bad in Each Other, sounds dark and powerful, and includes great background vocals from Bry Webb. Things start off quiet on the second track, The Graveyard, but quickly turn into a sing along during the chorus. Later on in the album A Commotion turns a broken heart into a wonderful cacophony. Even though some songs are complex, there are some quieter simple moments such as the song Bittersweet Melodies. The album ends with the lovely Get it Wrong, Get It Right where Feist ends the album singing “get it right, get it right” and she certainly did with this album.

Favourite songs: The Bad in Each Other and Caught A Long Wind

More.

I came across this image on Jocelyn's blog, and it sums up a lot of good goals for the upcoming new year. I had to share it on here. I'll have to come back to it when the year's less new for some inspiration.

So this is the new year.

Happy 2012 everyone! I hope your new year's eve and day were special.

Jason and I had a nice night in. He cooked risotto, I drank my favourite Beaujolais, and we watched part of The Royal Tenenbaums, the Louis CK Live at the Beacon Street Theatre Special, the ball drop in Times Square, and a couple episodes of Parks and Recreation. It was a nice night, and I'm rather glad that we didn't bother going out and having to face crowds, transit, cabs, etc. We do enough of that the rest of the year.

Today we also stayed in and watched an entire season of Parks and Rec. I love that show. Bring on season 4!

I was proud that this morning I had the motivation to get out of bed and go a run a fairly respectable 5K at the gym. I've been eating all the food over the holidays, and during the preceding week, so I feel a bit better that I've been compensating with a bit of exercise.

Of course, speaking of healthy eating and exercise, new year's brings with it the whole resolution thing. I like having goals, and I like to be realistic with them. Here are my three resolutions for the year.

1) Focus on eating healthy - I resolved to do this at the end of August actually, and was doing quite well up until December hit. However, starting January 9th, I'm going to revamp my eating habits. I'm going to ease in slowly this week, but I know I'll be still doing some celebratory social eating over the week, so I'm not going to be overly hardcore until next Monday.

I find that my biggest challenge is the vast amount of social eating that I do. However, when I plan for my nights out, and eat healthy during the week and when I'm at home, it gives me the opportunity to splurge once a week.

2) Continue exercising - This is really a re-commitment to all the running that I did in 2011. I'm quite happy that my current goal is to complete a 10K race in May, and I feel I'm well on my way to doing that. I'd also like to do another 5K in the spring to see by how much I can beat my personal best time. In addition to running, I'd like to incorporate more strength training and yoga into my fitness routine.

3) Get organized - My apartment, especially my bedroom, is really disorganized these days. I have to commit some time to organized and getting rid of stuff, and investing in some new things around my home.

In addition, when it comes to work, I have to get organized there as well. My desk isn't too bad these days, but I should take time to clear out my filing cabinet. Of course, there is always the issue of keeping on top of my marking too, which helps me feel more organized.

Hopefully this week, I can work on my resolutions by doing some exercise each day, eating at least two healthy meals, cutting back on snacks, completely one housework chore each day, and marking one set of assignments. Sounds like a lot but I'll feel better if I can get a head start on some things before school goes back.

Happy new year to you all! Good luck to you if you have any resolutions.

My Year in Lists: Favourite Moments of 2011

I've recapped what I've read, and the shows I've gone to. Now it's time for my favourite moments of 2011, in chronological order.

1) Remember how I took Spanish? I barely do... I was watching a movie recently where someone said "lo siento" and I was pleased that I remembered that meant "I'm sorry". It was fun taking the course with my buddy Fea, and it did come in handy when I was in Barcelona because I was great at reading signs (I even impressed Becca T), but I think the biggest thing I learned from the course is that it's really hard to take a course during the school year, and I don't think I'll do it again. But it was fun.

2) I had a nice birthday this year. The day was during the week, and I had a quiet night in with Jason, who cooked me dinner. I also had lunch with some coworkers, and a dinner that weekend with friends. It was nice.

3) In March, I met up with Becca T in Barcelona. Barcelona is a beautiful city with a lot of neat things to do. I have such fond memories of that trip. I pretty much even forget that it was raining the whole time. I'd like to definitely go back to that city in sunnier times.

4) After my visit to Barcelona, I flew to London to spend a lovely weekend with my friend Claire. It was very low-key, and I also had the opportunity to meet up with a friend from here, who now lives there, for tea, and meet up with my cousin who was teaching there at the time. It was nice and chill, and made me feel ridiculous that I'd weekended in London.

5) In April, I went to see the Tim Burton exhibition at the TIFF Lightbox with Jason. I love Burton, so it was a really cool exhibition for me to see.

6) Remember in April how I was on Jury Duty? I don't know if it was a "favourite" moment, but it was something I'd never done before! Pros: the "You & Jury Duty" film on day one was hilarious and like something straight out of The Simpsons that would feature Troy McClure; I got a lot of reading done; I got to see one trial in progress (very educational); I got to go out for lunch on Queen Street; and I got to wake up a little bit later. Cons: there was so much sitting around that I started to lose my mind by the afternoon; and I felt like I had TWO jobs because most days after duty, I had to drop by school to finish off my lesson plans. However, overall it was an interesting experience. I'm now exempt for three years, I think, which sounds like a ridiculously short period of time.

7) In May I ran my first 5K race. I ended up running four 5K races in total this year, including one across the Brooklyn Bridge, the Night Run through Sunnybrook Park with a light on my head, and the Scotiabank Waterfront 5K, where I pulled my personal best time. In total, according to RunKeeper and my fitness journal that I used before RunKeeper, I've run over 350 miles (563 km) in 2011. That's like running from here to NYC! I'm very proud that I stick with running this whole year, and I've signed up to do a 10K race in May as a new goal.

8) I went to my first Hillside Music Festival in Guelph, Ontario this year. It was three days of awesome independent music on a gorgeous and sustainable site. I wrote a really long post about it. It was so much fun, and it's something I'd love to do again.

9) My summer trip was oh-so-fun. Chicago/Utah/NYC. My friend Vern is a hoot as a travel buddy, and we had a great time exploring the beautiful city of Chicago, road-tripping through Utah to visit our friend Sandra who has ended up living there, and glamming it out in NYC. So many fond memories from those two weeks.

10) In September, I took a weekend to visit my friend Sandee up in Sturgeon Falls. I've been meaning to do this trip for years, but I finally got myself organized to do it. It was fun visiting her, going to see a pig, eating poutine, catching up, and enjoying a beautiful drive home in the fall colours of Northern Ontario.

11) Professionally, I've had a good calendar year. This semester especially, I have really great classes, and I've pulled off some big projects, such as being a head-organizer of Multicultural Day. It's good that I still like my job, despite occasional frustrations and challenges. It also looks like in the next couple of years my school will be changing (becoming more academic, I kid you not), and I look forward to that.

12) I guess my last favourite moments of 2011 include all of the times I've spent with awesome people in my life. I just came back from a really relaxing week with my parents in Stratford, and some friend time there as well. I've had visits from lots of people this year, and have also been able to see my BFF Becca T, who will be in Paris for the next three years, in Barcelona, and in Toronto over the summer. I've enjoyed all of the visits I've made with my friends from down the street in Toronto, to Utah, to Sturgeon Falls, ON. In addition, I was able to go to so many fun shows (see previous post) because I am fortunate to have a good set of concert buddies. And of course, it does help that my partner in crime this year, really likes shows and went to the majority of them with me. It's been nice having him around, and not just for the shows.

Well, that was 2011. Bring on 2012. I wish all of you the best in the new year and hope you have a great NYE. I have a night in with Jason planned, which will be chill and nice.

Happy New Year!

p.s. Best albums of 2011 post to come in the next couple of days. I'm still working on it.

My Year in Lists: 2011 Concerts

This was my most concert-going year ever. 22 shows in total, plus one three-day music festival. Total number of bands/artists enjoyed = undetermined. It was a good year. December really took the cake with Feist/Bon Iver/Tori Amos/Basement Revue w Feist/Sloan (w Feist). I like Feist.

Best New (to me) Live Experience = Bon Iver

Best New (to me) Local Band = Ohbijou

Trifecta #1 = Sloan (once in the spring, once at Hillside, once in December)

Trifecta #2 = Feist (all in December!)

Trifecta #3 = Kevin Drew (BSS at Downsview, Hillside, and the Basement Revue)

Trifecta #4 = Torquil Campbell of Stars/Memphis (2 Stars shows, plus Memphis at Hillside)

Best Bar Show = Kathleen Edwards @ The Dakota Tavern

Best Random Storytelling = Hawksley Workman

Goddess = Tori Amos

Most Adorable = Dan Mangan (once at Hillside, and once at the QE Theatre)

Best way to get into a show = Scavenger hunt to see Stars at the Edward Day Gallery

Best Nostalgia = Seeing Weezer and The Hip @ Downsview. It's been ages since I've seen the Hip and I listened to lots of Weezer as an angsty shoe-gazing teenager.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to surpass this year in terms of shows, but 2012 is looking robust so far. I've got tickets to see my beloved Los Campesinos! on January 21st, and tickets to see my emolicious Jack's Mannequin on January 31st.

Here's the complete 2011 list for posterity.

• Dec. 21st - Sloan, Rural Alberta Advantage, Ohbijou, Bonjay @ The Great Hall
• Dec. 20nd - Jason Collett presents The Basement Revue @ The Dakota Tavern
• Dec 8th - Tori Amos @ Massey Hall
• Dec. 7th - Bon Iver @ Massey Hall
• Dec 1st - Feist @ Massey Hall
• Nov 4th - Matthew Good @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
• Oct 28th - Dan Mangan @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
• Oct. 7th - Ohbijou @ Soundscapes
• Sept. 9th - Jason Collett with Zeus @ Yonge-Dundas Square
• Aug 28th - Kathleen Edwards @ The Dakota Tavern
• July 22nd to 24th - Hillside Music Festival
• July 16th - Sarah Harmer/Serena Ryder @ Olympic Island
• July 1st - Tragically Hip, Weezer, BSS, Hey Rosetta!, Buck 65 @ Downsview Park
• June 22nd - Sloan @ The Mod Club
• June 18th - Stars @ The Edward Day Gallery
• June 17th - Stars @ Yonge-Dundas Square
• June 16th - Evening Hymns/Forest City Lovers @ The Music Gallery (NXNE)
• June 10th - Joel Plaksett Emergency @ Metro Square
• April 29th - Hawksley Workman @ The River Run Centre in Guelph
• April 28th - Old Man Luedecke @ The Dakota Tavern
• April 26th - Christine Fellows @ The Music Gallery
• Feb 24th - Hey Rosetta! @ Lee's Palace
• Feb 4th - Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans @ Lee's Palace

My Year in Lists: Books Read in 2011

Total Count = 30 Books

Top Fiction

1) 11/22/63 - Stephen King

2) The Story of Beautiful Girl - Rachel Simon

3) I Think I Love You - Allison Pearson

4) The Paris Wife - Paula McClain

5) Freedom - Jonathan Franzen

Top Non-Fiction

1) Bossypants - Tina Fey

2) Falling Backward - Jann Arden

3) Just Kids - Patti Smith

4) Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns) - Mindy Kaling

5) From This Moment On - Shania Twain

And here's the complete list... for posterity's sake. It'll come down from my sidebar soon.

• 30) 11/22/63 - Stephen King (excellent)
• 29) Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns) - Mindy Kaling (awesome)
• 28) Before I Go To Sleep - S.J. Watson (quite good)
• 27) Falling Backwards - Jann Arden (excellent)
• 26) Freedom - Jonathan Franzen (worth slogging through)
• 25) Riding the Bus with My Sister - Rachel Simon (excellent)
• 24) The Story of Beautiful Girl - Rachel Simon (excellent)
• 23) Fly Away Home - Jennifer Weiner (good)
• 22) Best Friends Forever - Jennifer Weiner (okay)
• 21) A Stolen Life - Jaycee Dugard (very good)
• 20) The Midwife of Venice - Roberta Rich (page-turner)
• 19) The Women - T.C. Boyle (good)
• 18) Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Gregory Maguire (good)
• 17) I Still Dream About You - Fannie Flagg (pleasant)
• 16) The One That I Want - Allison Winn Scotch (meh)
• 15) I know I am, but what are you? - Samantha Bee (funny and Sedaris-esque)
• 14) Wishful Drinking - Carrie Fisher (okay)
• 13) The Girl's Guide to Homelessness - Brianna Karp (good)
• 12) From This Moment On - Shania Twain (very interesting)
• 11) Bossypants - Tina Fey (amazing and hilarious)
• 10) We All Fall Down - Nic Sheff (good)
• 9) When God was a Rabbit - Sarah Winman (okay)
• 8) I Love You and I'm Leaving Anyway - Tracy McMillian (okay)
• 7) A Secret Kept - Tatiana de Rosenay (okay)
• 6) I Think I Love You - Allison Pearson (very enjoyable!)
• 5) The Memory Palace - Mira Bartok (harrowing but really good)
• 4) The Paris Wife - Paula McLain (good)
• 3) Dirty Jersey - James Salant (meh)
• 2) Just Kids - Patti Smith (excellent)
• 1) The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides (dark but well written)

And any book I'll ever read, you'd be the line that sticks out to me.

This will be a quick post from my iPhone, as this town no longer has any coffee shops with working wifi, or at least none that I know of. (FYI - my parents are tecnological dinosaurs who don't have a computer or the Internet.) Anyway, today I needed to do some stuff online, so I had to huddle in a Boston Pizza parking lot and scam their wifi. It wasn't conducive to blogging, however.

Anyhow, I've been having a very nice holiday so far. I was spoiled rotten in the present department by my friends, Jason, and my parents. I got Mindy Kaling's (Kelly from The Office) book from Jason, and I read in less than 24 hours. It was hilarious, and I could totally write a post about its brilliance, and how much I have in common with her. My parents got me some new running threads from lululemon, and I've worn them for one very long run, and a short post-yoga run. In addition, they got me lots of other little things, including a three-pack of super warm socks from Ducks Unlimited. They have ducks on them, and some of their proceeds go to saving wetlands, so not only are my feet warmed, my duck-loving heart is as well. My dad got me an imitation Snuggy from Giant Tiger (you can imagine the quality). However, this joke gift has come in handy, as I've been spending a lot of my holiday curled up and reading.

I've been doing a lot of reading because I got my dad Stephen King's latest tome "11/22/63" as a gift. I decided that I wanted to read it before going back to Toronto... Goodness knows I don't want to carry that 850 page hardcover with me. (I ordered it online, so it was shipped here directly.) I started it on Christmas Day, and I've valiantly made it to page 700. I'll definitely get it done in time. It's really quite good. I haven't read anything by Stephen King in years. I forgot what a good writer he can be. I highly recommend this book as well. I'll blog more about it later.

I did get out today to do a bit of boxing week shopping. I actually managed to score a pair of cute boots at the mall. Another tradition of mine is to buy a book or two at Fanfare Books. Every year, this local bookstore has a 20% off all books sale. I picked up "The Tiger's Wife" and "The Hunger Games". I've heard good things about both.

Tomorrow afternoon is my high school friends' (Go9) annual Christmas get together. It should be fun. Then, I've got an early train back to Toronto on Friday morning. I'm hoping to get some of my year end posts (fave albums, fave books) when I'm back home.

Hope you all had a nice Christmas!

One chord to another.

Just as I expected, Sloan playing the entirety of "One Chord to Another" at the Great Hall last night was AMAZING.

Jason got sick with the flu, so at the last minute, I got my friend Mathew to go to the show with me. One man's illness is another man's rock show, I suppose. Mathew's a big Sloan fan so it totally made his day to get to go the show, plus we hadn't gone to a concert together since June, so it was nice opportunity to catch up on rock shows.

We got to the venue just in time to see Ohbijou, whom I love. They put on a really great set. They were followed by a fun set by the Rural Alberta Advantage. Heck, if those two bands had been the show, I would have gone home happy.

But I was there for the Sloan.

The two of us managed to get right two the front of the stage and had a great view. I was bummed because I forgot my camera, but Mathew brought his. The pictures in the post are his, which I have lifted from Facebook. Here's a great one of the drum kit. It's same one that they used during the OCTA days. Vintage.

As promised, the band ripped right through 1996's OCTA. They started with track #1: "The Good in Everyone" which is such a classic Sloan song. I just have to post the video. Fast forward to 2:15 to check out the drumkit back in its heyday.

They pulled no stops. They brought out horns for "Everything You've Done Wrong". Of course I loved hearing the singles from OCTA, because they are awesome, but my favourite song of the night was "G turns to D". Even a girl who has seen Sloan an estimated 25 times doesn't get to hear that one live very often.

Here are more pictures courtesy of Mathew. Here are Patrick and Chris. We were standing on Patrick's side of the stage.

Chris and Jay:

Patrick:

During the encore, Sloan kept faithfully with the theme of "it's 1996". They played "Snowsuit Sound" from 1994's "Twice Removed" and "500 Up" from 1992's "Smeared".

The show was organized by the punk band Fucked Up. Lead signer Damian Abraham joined Sloan to do a hardcore punk song which was fun.

However, the highlight of the show was when the band finished from a song they were working on for their "next album", i.e. 1998's "Navy Blues". (Love how they kept with 1996.) For "She Says What She Means", they were joined by guest guitarist FEIST. Yes! I was treated to Feist two nights in a row! WOW!!! Can you believe it? She completely rocked out! It was awesome!

Sigh, seriously, what a week! What a month! I've seen Feist thrice! And to top it off, Mathew scored me the night's setlist.

Sigh.

On that note, I came across a video of Feist from Tuesday's Basement Revue. Check it out, if you are so inclined.

2011 has definitely been a year of awesome shows for me. Is it over? I don't know. It's quite possible that I'll go to a show on New Year's Eve. We shall see.

Well, that concludes my latest concert wrap-up. I have to go sort through Christmas cards and gifts for my lovely colleagues. Last day tomorrow. Thank goodness. Then on Saturday, I'm off to Stratford for Christmas.

This might just be my last post until Christmas. I hope that your Christmas, wherever you are, is very merry and bright.

It's as much what it is as it is what it's not.

This evening Jason and I went to see Jason Collett's Basement Revue. This event is held annually each Tuesday in December at the Dakota Tavern, which is a tiny little basement bar, and definitely one of my favourite places. We went to two revues last year, and thankfully this year we were able to make it to one.

Jason Collett is a Toronto musician and part of the Broken Social Scene collective. During the Basement Revue, he'll open with a few songs, and then there are several sets by other musicians, and usually a bit of poetry too. You're virtually guaranteed to see some pretty cool Toronto musicians play and jam with each other. Last year we saw several other members of Broken Social Scene, Ron Sexsmith, Torquil Campbell from Stars, Jimmy Shaw from Metric, and many more play at our two shows.

The Basement Revue is fun because you never know what to expect. When we got there, we playing the crowd spotting game to see which musicians were around. Right away we saw Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, both of BSS. Then we spotted Feist! Of course my brain reminded me that she could just be there to see her friends play, and not actually be there herself. I was just going enjoy being in the same audience as her.

The first half of the show was fun, with performances by Jason Collett, Brendan Canning, legendary Canadian songwriter Andy Kim, and Kevin Drew. After the break, a really great duo called Aurora (?) played a few songs, and then I saw Feist say to Jason Collet "Am I next?" Could it be true??

Well, she wasn't next. There was some poetry, but after that, Ms. Leslie Feist took the stage. How awesome was it for me to see one of my favourite musicians, who is internationally renowned, play a tiny little basement bar? Pretty fucking awesome.

She started by playing three songs by herself with just a guitar. The songs were "The Bad in Each Other", "Graveyard", and "Anti-Pioneer". She commented that she felt a little bit nervous, because she hadn't played by herself in over six years. Awww, I love her.

Then, she brought out a shiny tambourine, and a few other musicians, including Kevin Drew, to play a percussive instruments only version of "The Circle Married the Line". It was great.

Her last song was a rather rock-n-roll version of "Undiscovered First". (All of the songs she played were from her 2011 album "Metals".) When she finished, she said "that was louder than I intended, but I thoroughly enjoyed it." It was excellent. All of the songs were. *swoon*

So that was a pretty amazing Basement Revue, and I don't know if it could ever be topped. Is there anyone else I'd take over Feist as a performer in a tiny little basement bar? I don't think so.

Thank you universe. Oh, and thank you Toronto for just being an awesome city with lots of fun stuff to do, and a really great music scene that has produced some great people.

Oh and tomorrow night = Sloan. Woot!

Better days and getaways, 'cuz every day's a holiday with you.

Greetings from a nice weekend! I can't believe that it's a week until Christmas day! Man, how quickly this time of year goes. Luckily, I am finally finished all of my Christmas shopping. I look forward to not going into a store for awhile. I'm not going to do Boxing Day... I never really do because I'm in Stratford then, and there are not a whole bunch of mega deals to be had in the small town.

But it's been a nice few days. On Thursday, we had our annual student council Christmas dinner. If you want good service in a restaurant, don't go with eight teenagers, I tell you. They took half an hour to take our hour. They'd told the VP of student council that we could only have the table for 2 hours when she made the reservation, so the kids were worried we'd get kicked out. My co-moderators and I said "we'd like to see them try to kick us out of here".

Anyway, despite poor service the dinner was still fun. Dining with teenagers is a blast because they ask questions like "what's an artichoke?" and so forth. They are cute.

On Friday, I had a delightful massage after school (gotta use up those benefits), and then some of my work colleagues and I had our own Christmas party at a pub. It was organized by the Alans (there are two), and only the "reasonable" were invited. We did a Kris Kringle, which turned out to be fun. This is what I gave:

It got stolen quite a few times so it was a hit. The gift I thought was pretty funny was labelled "Emergency Lesson Plans: Teacher's Edition" and contained Jersey Shore videos. It's fun to laugh at your job. I ended up with some cutesy shot glasses. I should have picked a bottle of wine, but I'm always intrigued by the unknown. No one wanted to steal them, so I was stuck with them.

I slept in and had a lazy Saturday. Then I met up with Jason for pho, and we went to see the movie "Young Adult" with Charlize Theron. It's quite good, provided that you can handle a comedy about an effed-up person with some uncomfortable moments. It's well done because although Charlize Theron's character is quite unlikeable, you end up feeling some empathy for her, and wishing her the best in the end. Or at least this bleeding heart did.

Today I went out to finish my Christmas shopping. I'm glad to be done.

The other thing worth mentioning about this weekend is that I decided to pull out my old black Doc Martens boots from my university days. Wearing them around this weekend brought back memories. It's strange how a pair of shoes can do that. I feel like I was connected to my younger self by wearing them. It felt right traipsing about the streets of Toronto in those things. I'm glad I'm wearing them again.

Hope that you all have great weeks. I've got a couple concerts on deck, and lots of work busyness, but I hope to check in!

You see the good in everyone.

Twitter is good for concert-ing news.

I already knew that Sloan (along with The Rural Alberta Advantage, Ohbijou, and Bonjay) were playing a benefit show next Wednesday and I was intrigued. After all, it was only $20, was for charity, plus I love Sloan, and Ohbijou's album is one of my favourites of the year. And I did enjoy the RAA when I saw them at Hillside.

But it was a school night. And I've seen Sloan many, many times. Twice already in 2011. And, I'm going to a show the night before.

This evening, I saw on Twitter that Sloan was going to play the entirety of their 1996 album "One Chord to Another". And there were only a few tickets left.

I've never seen a band play a whole album before. The Weakerthans have been doing it, but in Winnipeg, San Francisco, and NYC, and not during the summer, so I haven't been able to go. (You know that if it was the summer, I'd go.) I think Weezer did it too with the Blue Album and Pinkerton.

Anyway, OCTA would be up there with albums I'd like to see played live in their entirety, so that's what I'll be doing next Wednesday. I'm psyched.

Blog Discussion - What album would you like to see played live in its entirety?