Sleeping Through the Dropped Ball

I woke up this morning (okay 11:30am) to a barrage of excited and mainly positive sentiments regarding the new year via various social media. If I hadn't been sick for the past four days with the worst cold in years, I might have given more thought to the turning of the tides of time. Some people don't even give the changing of the year a second thought. My better half considers it "just another day" and we end up falling asleep at 10, forgetting to even say the perfunctory "Happy new year" before shutting off the light. But I feel like 2012 deserves some mention.

-My kids turned 3. Every day I can't believe how big they are getting and how it seemed like yesterday when they were tiny little wrinkly bundles.

-I discovered Game of Thrones. Don't laugh! I have been bereft of a good book series since Harry Potter finished.

-Wayne and I added butter chicken to our regular rotation of meals. Simple, tasty food is key.

-I have started a music project with a friend. I have a new outlet for creativity and some of the stuff we've come up with has been pretty good so far. My buddy is very skilled at the guitar, so it's also a bit of a validation for me to be able to keep up.

-Goes hand in hand with the previous point, bought a new bass.

-I met Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman and it was one of the coolest moments ever.

-My kid got his head stuck in a dvd case. (Ok not stuck, but I just think this picture is funny)

-We communed with nature and I caught a 5lb bass

-I lost over twenty pounds (and was also Nancy Spungen for Halloween)

-I dyed my hair purple (and still can't get it together to take a proper photo of it)

-And I managed to keep the love of my life. (not that there was any danger of losing him!)

And that was my year. Mind you, it had a few low moments but luckily there weren't many.

I guess if I have to pick a resolution for 2013, it will be to continue making music, to blog more, to put more focus into my 'marriage', to set a date and plan the wedding, and most important to me, to keep my kids fed, clothed, comfortable, happy, and loved.

I hope this year bodes well for you all. I'd raise a glass but I ran out of wine and I'm still too sick to move that much!

That awkward moment when you realize you're crazy

I took a few weeks off this summer to complete a few things around the house. When I moved into my house I was seven months pregnant and instructed not to pack, unpack or do anything strenuous. As a result, our basement has been something of a storage facility/ art studio/ sewing room/ computer room / whatever room. I'm on week 4 of vacation and it remains untouched. Frig, I need to keep the main floor clean because it always gets in my way.

Due to being off for such a long time I find I've been going a little stir crazy. Today I was flipping through the TMN on demand and found an option for music, and then karaoke. I grabbed my son's Wiggles microphone and started singing A Whole New World from Aladdin. That's right. I was alone in my house doing that.

Someone needs to come over and give me some motivation to finish my projects before I return to work.

First world problem? You betcha!

That's about the best I can do blog-wise lately. I'll find something better soon.

The one huge coincidence in your life

Have you ever experienced a "Holy shit! Me too!" moment? I've heard some pretty excellent stories of people finding a huge amount in common with someone else, or happenings on certain dates. I think it's reasonable to assume everyone has had some measure of a coincidence that seemed like fate.

My parents recently went to Florida and ran into none other than their next door neighbour...who would have thought thousands of miles away they'd see him walking through a flea market. My mom was amazed by this coincidence and I realized that I too, had experienced a weird coincidence.

My own story happened to me several years ago. I met a woman who I'll call Beth, through another friend. She was a piece of work, blatantly rude, ordered me not to get involved with my boyfriend (we had met maybe twenty minutes previously), abused the disability program, and she tried to make out with my boyfriend at her own stag & doe. Just plain greasy.

Anyway one day I was forced to have dinner at her place with mutual friends and she started bragging about how well travelled she was, how big city she was, how she used to live in Toronto etc. I said that I had lived there as well while going to York. I asked whereabouts she'd lived. The conversation went as follows:

Beth: Oh you probably don't know it. It's somewhere in a place called the Annex. (Remember, I told her I lived there for four years. The Annex is a very well known area. She just assumed I was an idiot)

Me: No kidding! So did I! Whereabouts?

Beth: Bathurst-Bloor area.

Me: Yeah, that's the annex but which street? I lived on XYZ Ave

Beth: That was my street.

Both of us: 394 XYZ Ave

And it turned out we both had the basement apartment. She was there in the early nineties and I was there ten years later. She asked if it still had the ugly tiles and I confirmed that nothing had changed.

Seriously, how messed up is that? Finding out that you lived in the exact same apartment as someone who you randomly met in a city 5 hours away with the population of over 2 million people...

So that was my big coincidence. I'm just lucky she didn't end up being my long lost sibling or anything like that. Do you have a similar story?

Having so much to say and not being able to say it

You'd forgotten about this blog, right? So did I, for a while anyway. Do you ever get yourself in such a mental block, knowing you *should* write something or that you *want* to write but you don't let yourself? Then it makes the issue worse?

I have been avoiding blogging for several reasons. One of them being that stupid writer's block I occasionally get, another might be I don't have much time to do so. The honest answer has been that I've been down in the emo dumps over a few things that have occurred since Christmas.

I know I've said it a few times, but I have a university degree in Theatre, and I got into the program based on an acting audition I gave. (I later entered the playwriting program) So I had some acting chops and got into a program that was/is very difficult to get into. I never really had the strong intention to work in theatre. Quite bluntly, I love money too much and I like being comfortable. I knew that having a degree was more important than what the degree was in -  for many jobs out there. Why not have fun while I force myself to go back to school? So four years later, after learning so much about theatre and writing, I moved back to Ottawa. Out of the 'broke as hell, but artsy' field I went and it carried me to retail in a goth clothing store, then to a grocery store, then a job in insurance of all things. After years of trying to escape customer service I ended up where I am now, in the gov't. So theatre isn't really in my daily life anymore and I'm totally okay with that. I just lost the passion along the way, I guess.

Then last year, I randomly went to a local community theatre's website and found out they were putting on a production of Rent. RENT. I lived for that show when I was 17. I would listen to the soundtrack ad nauseum. My friends and I at York would sing Take Me or Leave Me on Queen St W for shits and giggles. I did a terrible sing/dance solo to "Out Tonight" when I was 19 during my competitive dance years. (Yes I took dance for 15 years) I sang "Over the Moon" for yet another audition in my early twenties. Like obsessed. I think I even got a perm once so it would look like Daphne Rubin Vegas' when she played Mimi.
So I took a huge chance and decided to 'come out of retirement' briefly and auditioned for the production.  I had practiced the entire day and was in the best vocal shape that I could be in, considering I hadn't sung in a long time. I sang the first part of "Take Me or Leave Me". I rocked out the high notes, got this look from the auditioners, and the pianist said "That was REALLY good." My friend was leaning on the door listening from outside and gave a really positive review. Love her.

 I left feeling really good about it, hoping against hope. If you're an actor or singer, you know what this is like. That was the most tense and horrendously long wait I've ever had, waiting for the call or email telling me hell yeah or hell no. I was smart about it though. I prepared myself for no. I knew that I gave 100% at the audition and it encouraged me to keep going with music where possible. I imagine I'll get dejected enough to join a church choir and listen to my ipod for the sermon parts.

Well I didn't cry or anything. But when I got the notification that I didn't get it, I'll admit I had a few "How dare they?I thought they liked me. I was born for this show." moments but I got over it once I actually went and saw the show.

Again, this face.  They did a very good job for a community theatre production. The girl who got the part I was after was very impressive. There were a few things that bugged me here and there, but I'm very set in my ways in how some shows should be presented. But a good show and it looks like they had a blast.

Ok so that's out with. Maybe I can get back to writing in this damn thing, now that the grudge has lifted and Spring is here. Be back soon.

The dramaturgy behind my memories

"the dramaturg works on the historical and cultural research into the play or opera and its setting." ~some website I found because I'm too lazy to explain it in my own words (and sad that it's partly what I got my degree in, you'd think I'd be able to come up with something)

I saw Nanny at Xmas and she looked good. She's gained some weight and was quite cheerful at my parents' house. I don't know if she remembered me or not but she acted like she did.

She used to tell me stories of her childhood and she was pretty good at laying the scene. She'd describe what she liked to wear, the movie stars she and her sisters would talk about, the wallpaper in her room. But I'd always wished she had more photos because I wanted to know exactly how her life reflected the time period, whether it was fashion-wise, economy-wise, music-wise etc. I really like knowing the background details of things. Ask my boyfriend, I'm a human imdb / obscure history textbook / 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon enthusiast. I like to observe how humans have evolved over time.

I imagine that I'm going to share a lot of my memories to my own kids and grandkids if I get any. I also imagine that a lot of detail will be given on the 80s. I think I'm going to create some sort of scrapbook to illustrate the stories. I don't know about you, but I'll be sure to include a lot of:

And I'll make the kids watch "Clue" for homework.

Feeeeed the worrrrrrlllllld let blah blah it's christmas time

I've been horrid about shopping for xmas this year. I still have to figure out what to get some people. I haven't wrapped a thing. I'm going the dangerous route and planning for xmas eve to do that. Probably not the best plan, I'm sure I'll revise it tomorrow.

I think because I have kids, I feel the old schmaltzy fondness for xmas. I was listening to Fairy Tale of New York by the Pogues and realized that I'd only ever heard it recently. Either my parents were way too square to know that song (most likely of scenarios), or they were sheltering me from it due to the coarse language and mature subject matter (listener discretion advised).

Then I watched THIS for the first time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5cX_ncZLls&feature=related

I think I felt a psychological need to punish myself for something because I sat through the entire thing. That song's refrain was practically on loop when I worked at a grocery store. It's like Clockwork Orange where Beethoven's 9th made Alex ill when played. Now when I hear that song I start to dry heave with memories of dickhead customers.

On the flipside, at least once a day I can depend on my daughter to blurt out "Don't you cry, back on Christmas day" (we watch a lot of Frosty). That kind of stuff I don't mind. :)

Have fun, mingle, be well.

Useless post is useless

I'm sitting here, bored out of my skull and watching Jersey Shore...I am desperately hoping that in ten years a tell-all confession book will come out written by the cast, stating that they were acting the whole time. I weep for the world if they really are that stupid. But you can't write stuff like "We're totally having guido babies. I'm gonna get a c-section so it doesn't f*ck up my vagina"

I know exactly where "The Situation" is going to end up. He's going to keep on keepin' on like a crossbreed of Fonzie mixed in with Larry from "Three's Company." Then he's going to hit rock bottom, almost die, disappear for a few years, then write an exposée on the show. Lawsuits may ensue. I honestly don't know why I watch this shit.

Time to enjoy xmas...I believe this is the fifth day of Christmas, so I have another 3 hours until someone gives me five golden rings....to the pawn shop I go.