Wands at the Ready

Greetings!

This, my Avid Rabid Neglected Bunch of Followers (I give you guys way too much credit...or do I?), is my first attempt at No Draft (although you would not know this, but I do. So that is what counts, here).

You have read right: I usually write my posts in some word-processing application, then carefully read it through to make sure there are no typos, then copy/paste it into Blogger. I have been doing it this way since 2006. It has, so far, been very useful, as I sometimes start writing and suffer interruptions of some sort, which results in my hitting CTRL-S and leaving the unfinished post be for a few - ahem - days.

But - fret not! - not this time. I am writing directly into Blogger. Can you feel it? Can you feel the raw, primal and uncorrected flow? (Okay - I just erased the word 'fantasticness' which was in place of 'flow').

Enough about that. Here is the 101 on what my life has been in the past few days. I'm doing it point-form, because if I don't, your eyes will start watering, and then I could be held responsible for your visits at the optometrist, and we all know that would not be a good thing. Here we go, in a completely random procession of fascinatingness (I knew I'd get some kind of 'ness'-ending word in there somewhere...):

• I have been re-reading Harry Potter, and am currently, after a month, at Book 5, also known as The Order of the Phoenix. My desire/need for escape is overwhelming, and the experiment is proving useful. As soon as I crack the book open, I instantly tumble into Harry's world and forget everything else that may be going on.
• I have been feeling rather blue, truth be told, for the past two days, and cannot identify the reason why. Let's put it, for the time being, into the X-Files category. I am sure things will clear up shortly. My life is good, I am blessed with incredible friends and a great, loving family, and I have no reason to complain. (This Little Devil on my right shoulder was hissing into my ear, telling me I am surrounded by depressing, sad events, but I just flicked it into the candle.)
• I went to lunch with a great friend of mine today, whom I am convinced is a Pixie of some sort (although she is a lawyer in the real world) and had a glass of wine with the chicken. Then I went back to work. Then I left for home at 5:30 and forgot my keys on my desk, so rode the bus all the way to The Man's office to get his keys. It took two hours.
• I just finished a Martini.
• I am wondering whether it would be a really Evil thing to have another Martini. I had a shitty day, but I am trying to be really positive about it, so I think I deserve the finer things in life. I think I am thinking this through too much. I'll be right back.

Ahhhh...How liberating! The Magic Wand of writing (if this can be considered as such) has worked its magic again in my soul. I just needed to touch base. Forgive my whining, and thanks for tuning in. See you soon!

A Trip at the Vet's.

Just for the record, this is not my cat. :)

2010: A Knitting Odyssey

Hey Boys and Girls! (But mostly girls, from what I understand...ahem. It's okay.)

I am back. I took a break. This is not my first official post of the year, I just meant this as a teaser. You know, in a drum-roll type of manner. I actually have to go make dinner, because, no matter what the time at the bottom of this post says (I have NOT figured that out yet), it is close to 8 p.m. and I have not yet had dinner. Fascinating, I hear you whisper, your thousands of voices quivering with pity.

What I did want to say, though, before I go reheat my Irish Stew (I know, pretty yum), is that this year is the Year of Knitting. I will try new stitches and patterns, and teach myself crochet.

Don't get me wrong, it won't be just the Year of Knitting. It'll be the Year of a bunch of other things which I cannot discuss right this moment now because, as you may have heard, the Little Pixies That Rule the World have embargoed anyone revealing anything before eight o'clock today. I know. Sucks to be you, doesn't it?

Well, look at it this way, Legions of Loverlies: at least, you'll have something else to look forward to. Besides that other really cool thing you've been looking forward to.

In the meantime, please accept my warmest wishes for a Healthy, Happy, Perfectly Wonderful New Year, and see you soon!

Cheers,

Mademoiselle (and Boo) xoxo

A Valid Question.

Holiday.

What, my Loverly Loverlings, is sweeter than being on vacation (even if it's only for one week)?

I'll give you a moment to think it through.
Take your time.

For me, anyway, it's very simple. There's no schedule. Sure, there a few projects, some of which have been put on the proverbial Back Burner for some time. But things happen at a natural pace, a laid-back, what-time-is-it pace, and I enjoy that very much.

This morning, for example, I spent a few minutes checking a few things on Facebook, sipping my cup of coffee while The Man shoots some people in the game he's currently playing. He's got his headphones on, so I don't know what's going on. All I know is when he gets shot, he goes "awww man I didn't see that guy coming - he scared me!" and I nod or do the " awww man that's too bad" face. We have a good balance, there.

We're slowly revving up to go buy what we need to paint the bedroom and fix a few things around the house. We spent a really nice weekend with The Man's dad. On Friday we had dinner at Café du Clocher Penché, and I had some of the most scrumptious Ris de veau I've ever had. We then attended the Cirque du Soleil's street show, Les Chemins invisibles.

Saturday, we thought we couldn't beat the restaurant from the night before, and we were wrong. I had reserved a table on the very charming terrasse at Poisson d'avril, in Quebec's Vieux-Port. I had snow crab and surprised The Man and his father unit by completely showing this crustacean who was the boss. I even managed to make it look easy (for a girl who hadn't tackled crab legs in over 15 years). After dinner, The Man declared, and I quote: "Ok, that's it. From now on, I'm always going to order what you're ordering, because your plate is always better than mine." Wisdom, my friends. Wisdom, right there.

We went to Moulin à images that night, and to Grosse-Île on Sunday. A great weekend. Now, it's time to don the painting gear and get cracking. Slowly. With a what-time-is-it stance.

Three Things I Know.

1. One day, I will have children, although right now I must work hard and consciously on accepting the lingering doubt that I ever will;
2. One day, I will look back on today as just another one of those faithless moments in my life;
3. I will be okay.

Un p'tit coucou à Romain...

Une découverte pour moi, et maintenant pour vous, Adorés Lecteurs...un lien vers un billet BD de Romain Ronzeau, qui m'a fait rire aux éclats ce matin. Merci à Boulet pour la découverte!

One...two...Five!

Après Boulet, Raphaël B....et tant d'autres (que vous pouvez voir là, à droite, sous "Mademoiselle Follows"), je crois que les talents que je découvre, ça vaut la peine que je vous les partage. Click away, les amis!

True Story.

Inventory.

On the needles right now:

- a baby blanket I started months ago for a baby who is now all grown up;
- the cuff of a glove for The Man which I started months ago and am not sure I'll finish;
- the first 3 inches of an alpaca wrist warmer for my little neighbor, which I started last summer;
- about half a fuzzy scarf, striped moss green, lime green and beige;

Goddamn it. Why start if I won't finish?
Okay. I'll finish the scarf first, it's almost done.

Thanks, guys.

Note to Self.

It’s been so long, Throng of Followers. Miss me? Thanks. For the record, this post was originally written March 27th, just so you know.

I’ve missed coming here. This, after all, is my reflection pond. This is where I sit, pretend to crack my knuckles and write whatever comes to mind. I’ve truly been negligent and for that, I don’t apologize. Instead, I reflect upon the meaning of my writing here. I have left more and more time hanging between my entries (or posts, whichever you prefer), both for technical and temporal reasons. Technical, because I don’t have my own computer. And, as I think I’ve mentioned before, the computer I share with The Man is, well, a shared computer. And it’s inconveniently located. No intimacy here, except when I am alone in the house. That doesn’t happen very often. Oh – and the temporal reasons are just an excuse. I do have time off from work over 14 hours a day.

I discovered today that I need to be alone to write. I am not at home right now, as I am visiting family and have been alone all day. I kissed my relatives goodbye as they left for work this morning, and the first thing that came to mind when they closed the door, after deciding a second cup of coffee was a good idea (which it wasn’t, but that did not prevent me from having a third one later on) was hey – I could write today!

And so here I am. I don’t have a particular topic to cover, although the second thing I thought of after the coffee thing was a title for the post. Here it is, just for the hell of it: “On Self-Awareness, Denial and Apathy”. Yeah, that’s the whole thing. The whole thing is the title. I later (15 minutes ago, and seven hours later in the day) decided on “Note to self” because after all, and honestly, I think there are very good chances I will be the only one reading this post after it’s written. I know of two people who read Élucubrations. The others, if you exist, well, hello and welcome. And thanks for reading.

The other title I had thought of (the long one, remember?) actually had topics to cover in it. It was almost self-explanatory. I wanted to talk about Self-Awareness because of how I am – almost freakishly - aware of myself these days. I had a thing or two to say about Denial, because someone I know is neck-deep in it. And I wanted to write a few thoughts on Apathy, because it’s a freakin’ pandemic and I wish I could do something about it. But then I thought fuck it – too heavy.

News? Ok, news.

Nothing new, really. Except for my not-so-new kickass job. And Spring, too. Spring is here. And apparently, it’s here faster where I am sitting today than in Quebec City, two and a half hours away. With Spring comes my birthday: I turned 33 a week ago and it was a rather quiet affair, just the way I needed it to be. I received Wii Fit as a gift, which I highly recommend. When I plugged everything in the morning of my birthday (it was just like Christmas – I got to open my presents at midnight), the Wii actually wished me happy birthday. And I took a virtual jog in my living room with everyone who’s ever played with us. There’s something pretty cool to jogging along behind a small bobbing character (not too fast – you’re not supposed to catch up to them) and see the avatars of people living thousands of kilometers away wave at you as they jog along or meet you, running in the opposite direction. Of course, I did not want Wii Fit to jog. I’d rather do that outside. But I had to try it, and running in one spot for an extended period of time is not too shabby, cardio-wise. Of course, I am probably out of shape, not a good basis for comparison. I wanted Wii Fit for the yoga training, the ski-jumping and all the other fun things you can do. So voilà. I is a Happy Camper.

Happy Spring, everyone!