Wednesday, January 28, 2009

if I must, 25 things

per those multiple facebook requests: 25 random things

1 for the first three months after I met Dean, I thought his name was Nate, despite the fact that I read his blog frequently (I didn't know Dean and Nate were the same person)

2 I am totally allergic to my house. North Lodge looks pretty cute, but it's a killer for the sinuses

3 An overwhelming urge to be domestic emerged in me earlier this year. Lately I want to garden, cook, sew, knit and decorate like there's no tomorrow.

4 I'm not terribly athletic, but I'm a pretty darn good wakeboarder

5 I eat constantly, but am not so interested in full balanced meals. I think it's a facet of a short attention span.

6 actually brunch is the only meal I love. I go through obsessive periods of about 6 months which have honed in on the following: eggs benedict, White Spot's Original Sunny Start, toasted PB&J, over-easy eggs on toast, my homemade banana pancakes

7 I know I should have outgrown this by now, but I'm still mildly obsessed with the idea of living in New York, and Brooklyn in particular. But I would take Maui as a backup.

8 I had my lebret pierced in Brazil. i couldn't understand any of the care instructions from the piercer. I also passed out after.

9 before we moved to the UK, I sold my car and spent more than half the proceeds on a single pair of boots - they were worth it.

10 my twin sister and I played with our Cabbage Patch kids and 'My Child' dolls until we were around 12. Everyone had a name and a role in the family. They also performed self-composed songs in front of our grade five class.

11 when I was little I was torn between growing up to be an architect or a truck driver, because everyone told me it was too tough to make it as a writer.

12 I wrote and illustrated my first 'novel' when I was seven: Nut Head's Life (featuring the adventures of a Planters-esque peanut, his wife and kids - Pistachio, Walnut, and Cashew). In the following year I wrote two sequels.

13 I really never gave a thought to pop music until some friends an I did an 11th grade lip sync to Spice up Your Life... now I harbour a secret passion for it just beyond my indie/punk rock roots

14 I am unequivocally disgusted by rubber bands (and most things rubber). I prefer not to look at or touch them. Worst when they are those big fat blue/red mail-bounding rubber bands OR the non-coloured kind smudged with news print. touching them triggers my gag reflex.

15 another one from Brazil: I was nearly knifed in brought daylight by a self-proclaimed 'skinhead' who was 'racist' against Americans. Once he was convinced I was not American, he put the knife away

16 half way through grade one, my parents saw that I was bored and plucked me out of my class to join my sister in French immersion. We did our first 6 years of school entirely in French.

17 for six months in university I had a job where I was paid to sleep, drink snapple and occasionally answer phones between 3am and 10am. The next summer I got a job for a company that does funeral sales. I worked for them on and off the next 4 years funding my education and travels.

18 In middle school my favourite afterschool snack was cheddar cheese, melted in the microwave

19 I was once invited to the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy awards by a nominee/presenter. If I'd accepted I'd have sat in the second row, behind Peter Mansbridge. He didn't win, but a couple years later, he did score himself a plumb role in US show, The Unit.

20 my doctor recently prescribed the following diet: 2 -3 litres/day of fresh citrus juice & water, spinach, dried fruit, oranges galore. NO chocolate, NO bananas, NO cheese, NO hard boiled eggs. Bananas and eggs I can do without, but the other two are just unfair.

21 my parents have funny nicnames for eachother like Schnookum, Poopsie and, erm, sugarbum... so is it any surprise I can't fight the urge to call Dean 'Pooper' as a term of endearment?

22 I'm a minor celebrity among Dean's grandparents' friends because I occasionally write for Focus on the Family.

23 actually, when I'm in Dean's hometown, i always feel like a minor celebrity because everyone knows who we are - our last name is emblazoned on one of the largest businesses in town and I think the wider Regier family is responsible for sustaining the Swift Current economy

24 i've developed a whole new appreciation for my family (both immediate and extended) since I've moved away. I've discovered that when I'm in Canada on our too brief visits, I'm as happy sitting around a table with them as I am galavanting around the city with friends.

25 my office is just around the corner from Sherlock Holmes'.

bonus: I went through an entire box of Kleenex in the writing of this.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

FYI

In the world of business schools there's only one authority on all things from news, to politics, mergers to acquisitions, stocks to sport to fashion (which explains sooooo much) ... the mind-numbingly dull and peculiarily pink, Financial Times.

'The FT' also has the final word on business schools themselves, and the latest issue will have you know that my very own place d'emploi is officially the best in the world.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

five disappointments of 2008

I gave you my best, now here are the literary let-downs of 2008. In themselves, these are not necessarily 'bad' books (Lewis biography excluded), they just didn't do it for me the way I thought they would:

CS Lewis: The Boy who Chronicled Narnia, Michael White
I’m new to the whole biography thing so I really can’t be blamed for picking this off the shelf at HMV. It’s about CSLewis, I’m in Oxford; what can I say? Having since read ‘proper’ biographies, I can see where this book was hugely flawed, namely that the author made broad assumptions about Lewis’ sex life without providing any evidence. in fact he provided contrary evidence but discounted it as naïve thinking on the part of Lewis’ nearest and dearest. Not everyone should be allowed to biograph-ize.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
By far the biggest disappointment of the year. It’s the worst when you think you have an idea of what something will be like (wonderful), but it doesn’t deliver (boring and convoluted). This book reads like a series of unrelated drug-induced dreams, tied together only by the character of wee Alice. Each time she turns around it’s a segue to another bizarre dream. No sequence, no climax, no insight, just a boring blur.

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marques
Never has a book been so perfectly named. It has been recommended to me at least a dozen times, so I was eager to like it but getting through it was like pulling teeth. Maybe it’s because there are 30 characters who share a total of three names. Maybe it’s because I, admittedly don’t enjoy fantasy so very much.

Mansfield Park, Jane Austen
Truth be told, you can’t really go wrong with Jane Austen. It’s just that I usually love her heroines so much. But I loathed Fanny, and the object of her admiration… all so gloatingly moral. The supporting characters were the book’s saving grace and the only reflection of Austen’s wry wit.

The Other Queen, Phillippa Gregory
I borrowed this from my sis-in-law because I’d been hearing about Phillippa Gregory from her, and from my Exec Editor for ages, and I’m interested in Mary Queen of Scots. In Jillian’s defense, she did warn me that this wasn’t PG’s best work. While I can’t actually complain about the author’s writing, the story itself is inconsequential. Absolutely. Nothing. Happens.

Friday, January 23, 2009

a little bit of christmas

better late than never - some highlights from our too brief christmas visit:

Christmas in Parksville




The best part about getting stranded at YVR - best friends on call for an evening of Rock Band



My favourite four-year-old complete with fruitpunch mustache in Swift Current

The cherry on the cake, brunch with my best gals (Rachel Pick photos)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Best of 2008

voila! My top 8 of 2008.

I've left out the all too obvious winners - namely anything by George Orwell, Khaled Hosseini and Zadie Smith - but the books below all represent reads that had me looking forward to my 5.30am wake-up so that I could get on the bus and stick my nose in book for a couple hours. I unequivocally recommend them all:

1. Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This book sucked the life out of me, largely because I read it right after A Thousand Splendid Suns and no one should subject themselves to such emotional upheaval. In spite of this, I loved it. Set in the midst of the Nigerian civil war and the ensuing famine, it tells the story of two successful grown sisters and their relationships, one with a national civil activist, and the other with a passive British journalist.

2. The Emperor's Children, by Claire Messud
Twenty-somethings struggling to find their identities in New York City. Call it cliché, but I’ll read anything that can be described in those words – as long as it’s not written by Candace Bushnell. Fortunately this was also beautifully written and geniusly set in the sweltering summer and fall of 2001. Yeah, THAT fall.

3. Jude the Obscure, by Thomas Hardy
It’s dark and nobody gets a happy ending, but it’s set in a fictional representation of Oxford and perfectly describes what it’s like to be in Oxford, but not IN Oxford. Thomas Hardy understood the best and worst of human nature – and wasn’t afraid to write it even in an oppressively moralistic time.

4. An Utterly Impartial History of Britain; or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge, by John O'Farrell
Maybe the name is a giveaway, but this was a long read. But also incredibly funny. After 2.5 years in the UK I was sufficiently armed to grasp the regional humour (which had me suppressing giggles every day on the bus), but I was still surprised at all the good stuff I didn’t know about Brit history.

5. Jane Austen: A Life, by Claire Tomalin
I’m new to non-fiction, so when I read it, it better be funny (see book #4) but this biography pulled me in and gave me new respect and sympathy for one of my favourite authors.

6. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
Thank-you Trevor Meier for leaving this at our house when you visited last. I thought I hated science-fiction, but I read this book in two riveting days. It’s about a bunch of 8-year-old whiz kids who are monitored from birth and trained from toddlers to be space-war heroes. Totally changes the way you think about which way is up… literally and figuratively.

7. A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, by Marina Lewycka
I chose this off the thrift store shelf as a light read for a heavy week. But I smiled the whole way through. About a crotchety (but horny) old man who marries an abusive/useless bleached-blonde bombshell from Ukraine to secure her UK visa, and the response from his college-professor-daughter.

8. Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt
This didn’t win a Pulitzer for nuthin. It’s the story of Frank McCourt’s childhood, moving from Brooklyn, back to Limerick, where his father proceeded to drink every penny of the dole, and oh yah, pretty much everyone dies. Yup, it’s another heartbreaker, but at the core it’s an inspiring all-American-Irish/Horatio Alger tale about a little kid who decides he doesn’t want to pick coal off the streets for the rest of his life and makes something of himself.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Oxford's bag lady, Celine Dion and me

Most Fridays I work at home, but as I may have mentioned in the past, I have a short attention span, so I quite often do what every well-meaning but unfocussed writer does: I go to Starbucks.

This past week I settled in at the only good Starbucks in Oxford, sneakily tucked in the back of Borders, far from the madding (tourist) crowd, and devoid of English-exchange-baristas, frequented only by a few savvy students, intellectual expats, and apparently, Oxford's homeless.

As I hammered out mindless newsbriefs I noticed a local crazy lady (I know this is a horribly un-PC term, but there's no other way to say it), sipping a £3 latte - as the British homeless are apt to do - and developing a frothy milk mustache on top of her already existent mustache. Unfortunately, she noticed me at the same moment, put down her latte and hobbled across the shop, extending an open bag of Fox's Glacier Mints...

Crazy Lady: Do you want a sweetie?

ASR: No thank-you, I don’t like mint candies.

CL: …I like your… pancakes… in America.

ASR: Oh, well, I’m Canadian, but I like the pancakes in America as well.

CL: You’re Canadian? I like the Canadian singer. Can you give my love to her when you go back?

ASR: Well there are lots of Canadian singers.

CL: Well I like the Canadian one. I have all of her records. What’s her name again?

ASR: Do you mean Celine Dion? [a safe, if humiliating bet]

CL: Yes, will you send my love to her when you see her?

ASR: Well, she lives on the opposite side of Canada [forget even trying to explain the whole Vegas show thing], so it’s not very likely that I’ll run into her.

CL: Okay, have a safe trip home, and send my love to everybody. In Canada.

ASR: Thanks, I’ll do my best.

CL: I have to go now…[thoughtful pause]… Do you need any help with your computer? [reaches for it]

ASR: No, no I’m just fine!

CL: You’re a WHIZ KID!!!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Orla does Target.

Please, my American friends, get yourselves to Target in February and snap up something from the new Orla Kiely housewears collection. Never have I felt less smug for having access to British shops - the affordable stuff is always on the other side of the Atlantic!

Friday, January 16, 2009

you say you want a resolution?

well, you know...

Best and Worst of 2008 Booklist is coming soon. promise. But for now, we're midway through the first month of 2009 and I really shouldn't be dwelling on the past.

Sometimes I make New Years resolutions. Of course I do. I just have a pretty bad memory and am easily distracted.

Last year, for the first time (inspired by this lady), I wrote down my new year's resolutions. Locked 'em in ink. Some of them I surpassed (see the list of books below), some of them I hit spot on (gym membership and thrice-weekly attendance, check!), and some of them I admittedly totally bombed (i've yet to leave the snack aisle empt-handed).

I had a lot more goals than that and actually did pretty darn well until we moved to Oxford and i started my 5-hour daily commute. This year I held no illusions. I will not be enjoying post-work jogs or hour-long morning devotions. I've had to make some compromises. Time is at a premium kids!

In light of these time constraints, I have been tempted to follow the trend and send this blog to the e-archives in the sky, but as I pondered my aims for 2009 I had to confess, I really love this. But I HAVE neglected it - especially the part where I just write about everyday life, which is what most of you far away friends probably come here for anyway.

So 2009 new year resolution #8 is: be intentional about writing, right here on my front lawn :) Starting now.

**************************************************************

Well, let's get caught up.

Dean and I went home for Christmas. It was a whirlwind visit - actually a blizzard visit, and said weather dictated our travel schedule all along the way (complete with various unexpected layovers in various cities). But it was wonderful to be home - even the sight of junkies in Gastown alleyways made me feel nostalgic.

We've only been back ten days and already we've had a houseguest from Aberdeen (beloved Dr Anne Little), enjoyed a day of London shopping (where I finally got my long-desired Orla bag), sipped hot Winter Pimms by a pit of glowing coals, and saw some melting ice sculptures in Kensington.

Did I say TEN days? In those ten day I've also ridden the bus to and from London 14 times. The latest issue of the magazine arrived while I was away. It's okay. I eagerly anticipate the day when I find business education exciting enough to thumb through each issue again an again. ehm... but I won't hold my breath.

That brings you up to the present. Tonight we are going to catch up on some moving-watching and cab-sauv-drinking with a side of spring vegetable risotto. If I feel ambitious, I may also customise our new Habitat lamp :)

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Daytrotter Sessions

WOW. this is one of the best internet finds in a long time. restock your ipod kids because the Daytrotter Sessions has original recordings of all your favourite and soon to be favourite bands (visit session archives). Better yet, they're available to download. for FREE. I'm just giddy over this.

A big thanks to Zach Bulick for the link.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

First Aid Kit does Fleet Foxes

This video has been popping up in my blog circles for a while now.

I mentioned my love for it during dinner with some friends over the holidays, and they'd not yet seen, so I guess these adorable Swedes deserve a bit more coverage.

And if you like the Fleet Foxes cover, you'll love their original tune and their seriously awesome Christmas classic below

Tiger Mountain Peasant Song


You're not coming home tonight


Blue Christmas

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

2008 books

I made a few resolutions last year. All the fitness and healthy eating ones when out the window when I started commuting from Oxford to London every day. My more ambitious "Read 30 books" resolution, however, was a cinch to match and even surpass. The complete list is below. Stay tuned for my top ten picks and top five disappointments in the weeks ahead.

January
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
The Man of My Dreams, Curtis Sittenfeld
The Escape and other stories, Katherine Mansfield

February
On Beauty, Zadie Smith
The Kiss and other Stories, Anton Chekov
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
Run Baby Run, Nicky Cruz

March
The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton
About a Boy, Nick Hornby

April
A Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Man and Boy, Tony Parsons

May
White Teeth, Zadie Smith
Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

June
Chasing Harry Winston, Lauren Weisberger
The Emperor's Children, Claire Messud
Dreams from the Endz, Faiza Guene

July
The Friday Night Knitting Club, Kate Jacobs
Why Should Anyone be Led by You? Rob Goffee

August
Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy
The Wonder Spot, Melissa Bank
An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, John O'Farrell

September
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
CS Lewis: The Boy who Chronicled Narnia, Michael White
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Slam, Nick Horby
Jane Austen: A Life, Claire Tomalin

October
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Other Queen, Phillippa Gregory

November
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, Marina Lewycka
The Alchemist, Paolo Coelho
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkein

December
Mansfield Park, Jane Austen
Charlie & the Great Glass Elevator, Roald Dahl
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, JK Rowling
Burmese Days, George Orwell
Coming Up for Air, George Orwell
Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt