Ho Humm.....

Ho hum, Spring has sprung and I'm saying "so what".

Yes, I admit I'm on a bit of a let down after singing a great solo which received a huge applause yesterday - but it's more than that.

I only seem to be living for the week-end while trying to figure out my "greater purpose in life". I'm way into a career that I'm not sure is best suited to me, now that I know who I am much better, and I'm wondering how it all happened. I can't afford to change careers - I feel I'm stuck. It's also hard to juggle work/life balance and live stress free because of competing priorities all around. Friends and family often think that because I'm currently single that it should be easier. It isn't easier - it's just different. The only shoulders I can truly lean on are my own; the only serious intimate dialogue I have is with myself and the only ones who often see me after a long depressing day at work are my two cats.... who really only use me as a petting machine, a feeding machine or pillow.

Aah yes, as I approach these final days of March, I believe I'm experiencing some sort of mid-life reflection, if not a crisis.

Ho hum

Welcome to Spring!

The first day of spring is one thing,
and the first spring day is another.
The difference between them is
sometimes as great as a month.

Henry Van Dyke
(1852 - 1933)
Fisherman's Luck (1899)

- - - - -

March 20, 2007, is a date that most of us recognize as symbolic of changing seasons. As we welcome spring, people south of the equator are actually gearing up for the cooler temperatures of autumn.

Modern astronomy aside, people have recognized the vernal equinox for thousands of years. There is no shortage of rituals and traditions surrounding the coming of spring. Many early peoples celebrated for the basic reason that their food supplies would soon be restored. The date is significant in Christianity because Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. It is also probably no coincidence that early Egyptians built the Great Sphinx so that it points directly toward the rising Sun on the day of the vernal equinox.

The first day of spring also marks the beginning of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The celebration lasts 13 days and is rooted in the 3,000-year-old tradition of Zorastrianism.

A Morning Jaunt to the Market

skiing anyone?

These strange structures are actually the "encasement" for a middle-east ski resort in the Dubai. It's only a couple of years old, but has enjoyed great popularity with it's residents who are usually exposed to "desert like" weather 365 days a year.


It is an indoor complex, and only one of the bizarre architectural structures that Dubai has to offer.


Perhaps with global warming and the ski resorts having difficulty staying afloat, they can learn from this technology !

I learned about this strange building when a friend sent me a wonderful powerpoint presentation on Dubai, which highlighted many of its architectural feats. Perhaps I'll stay there sometime, some of the hotels highlighted in the presentation only cost about $8,000 a night!

I nabbed these items off google images. There are a lot more of them to see.

Another strange structure. A building with rotating floors. Every floor rotates at a different time. They also have a hotel in the shape of a sailboat and a man-made residential development in the ocean with artificial penninsulas that looks like a palm tree from above. (Yes, I know that sounds peculiar - and yes - difficult to describe..... but it's true!)

Afternoon Tea

On a cold Saturday afternoon in the city of Toronto, four young (well young at heart) derelict woman decided to jump out of the box and see how the "other half" live.

So we put on some fine attire (by our standards) and shuffled off to The Kind Edward, one of the city's finest hotels for afternoon tea.


When we arrived, the staff looked at us and decided to sit us outside the tearoom along some tables bordering their grand lobby that was two stories high with intricate architectural touches. We were the first ones seated in this section. After a short while, a waiter with a crisp white starched ironed uniform approached us and handed a two page menu of food and tea selections. We all chose the "King's Tea" which came with an array of finely made scones with clotted cream, very dainty sandwiches (e.g. cucumber), wonderful sweets and your choice of Twinings tea. Three of us chose Lady Grey tea, while the fourth had Prince of Wales. I chuckled to myself and had to explain that I would be drinking "horse tea" because the first horse I ever rode was called Lady Grey - a wonderful beast that had all the patience in the world for a young derelict madwoman like me.

We didn't think there was enough food to fill us up because of its total snobby refinement, but we were wrong ... it was filling and it was good! While we were munching and giggling over such things as the starched white table cloths, the attire of staff and the serving etiquette, the tables around us got filled. Apparently it was a very busy afternoon for the tearoom. Some were dressed like us (outside the tea room of course) while others were a little more ... how shall I say ... used to this type of stuff. It cost a bundle, but it was a cool experience.

On the way home (by foot of course - cause we didn't have enough money for subway fare) we stopped at the Grocers and bought Lady Grey tea on sale! (Lady Grey tea is a milder form of Earl Grey).

I love Winter ...... but ....

.... this is crazy!

Last year when I took a job out near the airport I had to buy a car. It was something I did with reluctance because I loved being able to walk or take public transit to previous employment. After this week, I am still reluctant and here's why.


Last Thursday Toronto was hit with a huge snowstorm and so it took me 2.5 hours to drive back to the City core. The drive usually would take me 20 to 30 minutes. First we were hit with snow, then freezing rain, then rain. That was before it the temperature fell back below the freezing point.

Yesterday, when it was bright and sunny the aftermath of the storm still affected my drive. because police closed the Gardiner Expressway, Toronto's main artery into the city core for two days. Why? Because a combination of rising temperatures and extremely strong shifting winds caused pieces of ice, that were formed during last Thursday's storm, to tear off the world's tallest freestanding structure (The CN Tower) 435 metres up and land on the Gardiner expressway. It was reported that most of the chunks of ice falling were the size of baseballs. However, some said the largest chunk was 1.2 metres long and several centimetres thick. Wow!

The headlines, some as far away as Australia read something like this:

"Ice missiles close major Toronto expressway"
"Gardiner closed as tower sheds ice"
"CN Tower's falling ice freeezes Gardiner for second day"
"Threat of 'Ice Bombs' closes major Toronto streets"
"Falling ice chunks spark closure of major artery, area streets"

You may have heard about it - it's true. My car may even be in the picture shown above 'cause I was caught in a traffic log jam.

The picture on the right is of the Gardiner just south of the city core, near Lake Ontario. Another picture shows how close the CN Tower is to the Gardiner. The last photo, from yesterday, shows the ice that is clinging onto the CN Tower. In the 30 + years of the tower's history, nothing like this has ever occured before.

I did my best to avoid the long commute by leaving work early yesterday 1.15 hour commute and driving in at "the crack of dawn" this morning 40 minute commute. Finally the expressway is reopened, however can close again if the winds pick up again.

Book tag

Book tag

Reading my post earlier, I learned that I'd been tagged to follow these instructions by Val:

1. Find the nearest book: I'm so close to all my books here in my office and the first one was a cook-book, but after following the directions below it didn't work because it there was a full page photo of a broccoli-cheese rice pilaf (guess that means I'll have to make it this week-end). The second book is a collection of short stories by one of Canada's most celebrated authors.

2. Name the book title and author: Runaway by Alice Munroe

3. Turn to page 123: Done deed.

4. Go to the 5th sentence on the page and then copy the next 3 sentences on your blog.
He drank it down, he said, "Yeah. Sugar. Thanks." Already his voice was clearing. She remembered this too, about the girl at the school - how quick and apparently miraculous the recovery. But before he was quite recovered, or quite himself, while he was still holding his head at a slant, he met her eyes.

While the book's name is Runaway - the above caption is from the short story Soon.

OK now I have to tag three people, so as since many have already been tagged, I choose Gypsy (come back, come back), MaryBeth and Sindy (LOL).