A good morning...
I started last night in a cranky mood - I'd stayed at work an hour later than I'd planned, working on something that has a deadline on Monday... it should have been a VERY simple job, but because I've not been using the 3-D modeling software very much in the past few years; and because they have made significant changes to all of the menus, the interface and even the function of many things since I last used it seriously; and because I have to make changes on 8 related parts which share many common components which are all inter-linked; and because of my employer's "standards" for this type of work are, at best, fantastically obscure (and worse, unfamiliar to me)... in the end, what should be a 20-minute job (which I foolishly left to the last minute thinking that it was easy, and rather less important, than some of the other things I've been working on) took me all day and I've basically still not really got to the point where I understand what it is I need to do to make it all work.
Then I headed to an appointment in Toronto for a check-up/treatment for a lingering/chronic medical problem that I've been trying to keep under control for months now. Traffic was shite and the wait at the doctor's office was longish. Fortunately the news was good - it seems this flare-up is finally over. So I go back in a month (instead of weekly, thank god) and if symptoms are still gone, I'm rid of it, unless/until there's another flare-up. That wasn't really a lot of consolation (I've been declared "clear" once before, only to have found more symptoms before the end of the month) but... at least there's a little bit of hope. Here's to hoping.
Then I met up with desert, picked up fuzzmonster and maxm and headed to my place for a quiet, reasonably-sized gathering (Ashbearfox and Matt were also there, and Dralen and tora showed up later when they were each done work) for poker (Texas Hold'Em to be more precise) and hanging out and such... 'twas desert's idea. Original intent was to serve chili as well, but time did not allow due to delays, so we just got take-out and I threw together some salsa, and hummous, and other snacks. I was more annoyed by a few little things when I got home, but my bad mood disappeared quickly with the help of a) the pleasure of cooking for people, which I do enjoy; b) some chemical distraction (alcohol is a chemical too, thanks panther!); and c) a helping of mental distraction in the form of trying to learn to play a card game and chatting with friends.
I'm not a "poker" person... in games, as in life, I do not play my cards close to my chest. I've got a decent mind for possibilities and probabilities, but reading other people (at least with the goal to determine their cards) isn't much of a strength, and I'm sure it was only the inconsistency brought on by my drunkenness (and confusion over the rules/finer points of the game) that kept my hands from being entirely obvious to everyone else. I actually won both rounds we played (no real money won or lost) including one hand with a royal flush in spades... if I understand correctly, that's the highest possible hand, and I should have quit playing poker immediately as it will all be downhill after that. ;)
Ended up with a warm, snuggly fox in my bed last night, with extra snuggles this morning... which was very, very welcome, not to mention much-needed. *pets a fox*
Venturing out today to get people where they needed to be this morning, there was a slight dusting of snow on the ground, winter weather seems to be back, and the news report seems to indicate that there was much more "winter" happening north of Toronto (where the ski hills are). Despite the weather, driving was just fine, and tomorrow's postulated trip to Blue Mountain might be a go after all!
Stopped to pick up some padded envelopes to mail out Newspaper Taxi CDs... which reminds me that I need to make a post soon about several upcoming shows, including the next one, which is at the Silver Dollar (College and Spadina in Toronto) on Thursday! (The shows are on the Newspaper Taxi website if you just can't wait to find out when/where they are!)
Then I came home and had a wonderful but simple breakfast of hot oatmeal flavoured with dried cranberries and homemade candied orange peel, sweetened with brown sugar and creamy milk, and sprinkled with toasted pepitas, all washed down with delicious orange-carrot-mango juice, while I caught up on LJ and reflected on how content I was this morning.
One of the first posts was from Cargoweasel who linked to a phenomenal doll-house-sized replica of a hobbit's den which was incredible, and also inspiring! Check it out, there are a lot of pictures of it, and it's really quite astounding the amount of effort this person put in, and the calibre of the work! Totally worth looking at!
Another thing to check out is the song "Paris" by Andy Stochansky -- I suggest downloading it, the lyrics don't do it justice, though they do remind me of myself, sometimes, and other people I know:
Paris
She is dreaming
At work today
That she's from Paris
Walks with a bright bouquet
At her fake accent
Co-workers laugh
She forgives her customers
All on their behalf
They don't know what she can see
The kids don't go to aisle 3...
She sees Saints who say
She is the only one
She can dream anything under the sun
And no one ever could take away
This All Saints Day
She learns French
From cassettes at night
Land lady saves her
Labels from her French Whites
Small Eiffel Tower
Glued to her cash
She won't take lunch breaks
She's gone within a flash
No one knows what she could see
The kids don't go to aisle 3...
[...]
She sees Saints who say
She is the only one
She can dream anything under the sun
And no one ever could take away
And no one ever could take away
This All Saints Day
She is dreaming in French today
So good.
So yeah... off to send CD's to people who have ordered/paid for them, or offered to distribute them, and also to radio stations who we want to play the disk... and then postering later today for this Thursday's show at the Silver Dollar. That might suck. But right now I'm happy. ;) And maybe I'll warm up after postering by lounging with xeonbunny in his parents' hot tub tonight, in preparation to leave for snowboarding tomorrow morning...
B.
Then I headed to an appointment in Toronto for a check-up/treatment for a lingering/chronic medical problem that I've been trying to keep under control for months now. Traffic was shite and the wait at the doctor's office was longish. Fortunately the news was good - it seems this flare-up is finally over. So I go back in a month (instead of weekly, thank god) and if symptoms are still gone, I'm rid of it, unless/until there's another flare-up. That wasn't really a lot of consolation (I've been declared "clear" once before, only to have found more symptoms before the end of the month) but... at least there's a little bit of hope. Here's to hoping.
Then I met up with desert, picked up fuzzmonster and maxm and headed to my place for a quiet, reasonably-sized gathering (Ashbearfox and Matt were also there, and Dralen and tora showed up later when they were each done work) for poker (Texas Hold'Em to be more precise) and hanging out and such... 'twas desert's idea. Original intent was to serve chili as well, but time did not allow due to delays, so we just got take-out and I threw together some salsa, and hummous, and other snacks. I was more annoyed by a few little things when I got home, but my bad mood disappeared quickly with the help of a) the pleasure of cooking for people, which I do enjoy; b) some chemical distraction (alcohol is a chemical too, thanks panther!); and c) a helping of mental distraction in the form of trying to learn to play a card game and chatting with friends.
I'm not a "poker" person... in games, as in life, I do not play my cards close to my chest. I've got a decent mind for possibilities and probabilities, but reading other people (at least with the goal to determine their cards) isn't much of a strength, and I'm sure it was only the inconsistency brought on by my drunkenness (and confusion over the rules/finer points of the game) that kept my hands from being entirely obvious to everyone else. I actually won both rounds we played (no real money won or lost) including one hand with a royal flush in spades... if I understand correctly, that's the highest possible hand, and I should have quit playing poker immediately as it will all be downhill after that. ;)
Ended up with a warm, snuggly fox in my bed last night, with extra snuggles this morning... which was very, very welcome, not to mention much-needed. *pets a fox*
Venturing out today to get people where they needed to be this morning, there was a slight dusting of snow on the ground, winter weather seems to be back, and the news report seems to indicate that there was much more "winter" happening north of Toronto (where the ski hills are). Despite the weather, driving was just fine, and tomorrow's postulated trip to Blue Mountain might be a go after all!
Stopped to pick up some padded envelopes to mail out Newspaper Taxi CDs... which reminds me that I need to make a post soon about several upcoming shows, including the next one, which is at the Silver Dollar (College and Spadina in Toronto) on Thursday! (The shows are on the Newspaper Taxi website if you just can't wait to find out when/where they are!)
Then I came home and had a wonderful but simple breakfast of hot oatmeal flavoured with dried cranberries and homemade candied orange peel, sweetened with brown sugar and creamy milk, and sprinkled with toasted pepitas, all washed down with delicious orange-carrot-mango juice, while I caught up on LJ and reflected on how content I was this morning.
One of the first posts was from Cargoweasel who linked to a phenomenal doll-house-sized replica of a hobbit's den which was incredible, and also inspiring! Check it out, there are a lot of pictures of it, and it's really quite astounding the amount of effort this person put in, and the calibre of the work! Totally worth looking at!
Another thing to check out is the song "Paris" by Andy Stochansky -- I suggest downloading it, the lyrics don't do it justice, though they do remind me of myself, sometimes, and other people I know:
Paris
She is dreaming
At work today
That she's from Paris
Walks with a bright bouquet
At her fake accent
Co-workers laugh
She forgives her customers
All on their behalf
They don't know what she can see
The kids don't go to aisle 3...
She sees Saints who say
She is the only one
She can dream anything under the sun
And no one ever could take away
This All Saints Day
She learns French
From cassettes at night
Land lady saves her
Labels from her French Whites
Small Eiffel Tower
Glued to her cash
She won't take lunch breaks
She's gone within a flash
No one knows what she could see
The kids don't go to aisle 3...
[...]
She sees Saints who say
She is the only one
She can dream anything under the sun
And no one ever could take away
And no one ever could take away
This All Saints Day
She is dreaming in French today
So good.
So yeah... off to send CD's to people who have ordered/paid for them, or offered to distribute them, and also to radio stations who we want to play the disk... and then postering later today for this Thursday's show at the Silver Dollar. That might suck. But right now I'm happy. ;) And maybe I'll warm up after postering by lounging with xeonbunny in his parents' hot tub tonight, in preparation to leave for snowboarding tomorrow morning...
B.