Saturday, October 21, 2006

Technically challenged - and more!

WHY is it that even after ONE YEAR of blogging, I am still unable to navigate the simple task of uploading pictures on to my blog?
Every time I try to insert a picture, something or the other goes wrong and things go askew!

I see plenty of other picture filled blogs! WHY not me???

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The housing situation is now down to the wire. We get possession of the new house on the 27th, but we still haven't sold the condo. So this means that while we're in the midst of packing things up for the move, we still have people coming to see the condo either to buy or rent - and this makes it tres difficile to uphold my mother's rule of "everything in place"! Seriously - YOU try packing things up AND remaining neat in the process! It's like trying to lick your own nose - it virtually impossible to do and you look like a total idiot in the process!

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Well if moving and packing we're enough to keep one busy, I've also got to concentrate on getting my practicum done ASAP! We do have some interest from various student groups at York, but nothing confirmed yet. I simply MUST get it done before I leave or else I'd have to wait until April when I get back... and that's just not an option.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Have Feet - Will Dance!

My dancing days began way back when my dad thought me the waltz when I was 4 and I was going to ballet classes. I was even cast as "Chocolate" in our little version of the Nutcracker - and the fattest little bonbon ever to grace a tutu! As I grew up, there was one thing I quickly realized - I had inherited the infamous "Mendonca Hips" that run rampant among the women in my Mum's family and the only thing I could do was - SHAKE 'EM!

This past summer, I started taking West Coast Swing lessons. After 2 years of intensive Salsa… this was a nice change in pace - literally! Before I started, like most people out there I thought Swing dancing was all the same - and everyone danced like Cameron Diaz in that club scene from Mask. Boy was I wrong!! West Coast, I learnt is the jazzier… smoother of the Swings. Bouncing is a strict no no and spinning is an alien word.

But this post is not a comparison of the genres. This post is about dance partners. For be it Salsa or Swing, Ballroom or Bolero….guys who go to dance classes can all be filed under one of the following categories:

1. The Sweaty-Hands Guy - Homus Handus Persperus Maximus
Be it 34 above or 22 below, this guys hands are always bathed in a thin layer of sweat. This can make dancing with such an individual a highly dangerous (and not to mention gross) feat as HHPM's partners are sometimes liable to slip right out of his hands and randomly crash into objects around such as walls, tables and other species on the dance floor.

2. The "Stompin' Tom" Guy - Homus Steppenitus Toeses
Members of this species of Prancis Homus are still caught in an evolutionary warp and feel that the best steps are the big ginormous steps. The foot is lifted as high as possible and then brought back down with a crashing force akin to stomping out a fire offa your best pal's camping blanket. HSTs often have dance partners who evolve with a counter defense mechanism which looks much like a gazelle drinking at the waterhole - always on high alert for the danger from the crashing foot.

3. The Freaky Staring Guy - Homus Breastes Starus
This kind of species dance by grasping your hand firmly, fixing their eyes on a point that would be akin to mid cleavage and then proceeding to stare firmly at that point for the rest of the dance. Any and all attempts at light conversation during the dance result in monosyllabix answers at best and pre speech grunts at the worst!


4. The Maniac Dancer Guy - Homus Loonius Mostus
If you see an HLM coming towards you on the dance floor... sashay as quick as you can outta there! Such a species views a dance more like a military conquest. Short staccato and violent movements rule their lead on the floor and often their dance partners come away like war refugees - barely escaping with the clothes on their backs and nursing their bruised and battered limbs - the ones that were spared!

A friend of mine reading the early draft of this post accused me of exagerrating and said that there's no way any guy fits snugly into one or the other category. And y'know what... he's absolutely RIGHT!

I forgot all about the combos that guys come up with! Just as soon as we've figured out what "kind" of guy they are... they either switch it up on us... or.. (oh horrors) come up with terrifying combinations of the above. Like Sweaty-hands-stomping guy or Maniac-staring guy or Stomping-sweaty hands-maniac... and worse!

Still, horror partners aside.... dancing has been and will continue to be a LOT of fun.... and a constant source of good blog posts!



Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Dream on Sister.....

I've always had the most interesting dreams... and that too most of them in techinicolour - a la Joseph and his Dreamcoat! It really is remarkable the stuff that my sleeping brain can come up with!

Like there was that time I dreamt that my entire Grade 8 class was in our front garden having a picnic... then my Math teacher climed a tree, turned into a Rhino and then ran off with the cat from next door. Probably the ONLY time you'll ever see a rhino in a tree!
And then there was that dream I had just before we left for Canada - I had spent too much time saying goodbye to everyone that I missed the flight and had to run after the plane and hold on to the wheeles.... and let's not forget about the time I dreamed that all the boys from work were off to war and had to practice by paracuting into work!

I don't know what's worse though having crazy dreams... or having people think I'M crazy when I tell them about the dreams! Seriously... I can't help what my subconscious cooks up.... and I'm sure those other people are just jealous! It's always the ones who either don't dream or don't remember their dreams that think I'm gaga.... and that's a SURE sign of "I-wish-I-was-her" syndrome.

But wait, this tale of woe gets worse.....


SOME people not only visit my dreams... they insult ME in my own dream! (YOU know who you are!!) I once dreamed that I was helping a friend across the street coz he had a broken leg, but I happened to stumble against his leg BY ACCIDENT... and in a rage he pickes up his cane and beats me over the head with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I ASK you... is that any way to treat someone who gives you a starring role????

I finally got back at that same someone last night - I dreamt him up in a HIDIOUS getup and had him parade in to work wearing a white LINEN suit, yellow shirt and blue tie with a lei!

I think I was still laughing when I woke up!

PS: The "someone" I'm talking about was a coworker.



Friday, October 13, 2006

All Systems GO....

After almost a month of changing dates, adding new destinations and trying to make old plans fit with new plans... its all done! My vacation - all of it- has been booked. Here's how the FINAL plan reads.

Dec 14th - Dep Toronto for London, UK
Dec 15th - Arr into London Heathrow, direct transit to Glasgow.
Dec 15th - Dec 23rd - Scotland
Dec 23rd - Jan 3rd - London

Jan 4th - March 26th - India!
1 week (end Jan) - Rajasthan: Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Ajmer and Pushkar (Delhi if possible)
2 weeks (end Feb) - South India: Hyderabad, Hampi, Bangalore, Mysore, Shravanabelagola, Somnathpur

March 27th - April 11th - Japan
April 11th - Return to Mumbai
April 13th - Return to Toronto via London.

I've never been to Scotland or Japan before, so if you'd like to pile on the suggestions for th
ings to see/ do, places to go and very IMP - CHEAP accomodation in Tokyo and surrounding areas... by all means.. let me know!

Things I MUST see/ do:
1. Westminister Abbey
2. Jack the Ripper walk
3. See the Mousetrap
4. Visit Edinburgh castle
5. Visit ancient temples at Nikko, Japan
6. Desert Safari in Jaisalmer

Things I would LIKE to see/ do:
1. Visit Loch Ness (or a similar monster infested Loch)
2. Visit Stonehedge
3. Go to Primrose Hill in London and hear the twilight barking
4. Eat pizza in a Japanese cemetary
5. Go to a place in Tokyo that has Nomihodai (where one can drink as much as one likes for preset price)
6. Visit a true blue Japanese spa with natural hot springs
7. Watch "Octopussy" in Udaipur - apparently it's screened almost every night of the week!

Other than the 3 weeks I will be travelling, the remaining time in India will be in Mumbai where I will be vlunteering with a local Not for Profit agency attached in the field of Women's Development.


Comments, suggestions and advice is welcome!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Long weekends are... Exhausting!

Long weekends.... One always looks forward to them so much and then invariably you pack so much into those 3 days that come Monday night, you almost wish you had another day just to relax and recover!

Well this Thanksgiving long weekend was no different!

It began on Thursday night when I met an old friend A who's here on holiday from Belgium with her bf D in tow. Met them at the Maddy's for drinks. In typical tourist fashion they were late... but thankfully I had a book, so I curled up in a corner of the Maddy and read and tried NOT to focus on the strange looks I was getting from everyone who passed my table.

Side note: Why is it ok to sit in a coffee place by oneself and read, but not in a bar?

Anyhoo.... A and bf eventually showed up an hour late and very apologetic and bought me drinks so HOW could I be mad???

Friday night was a quite night at Jibblet's and we went out for Japanese after AGES. Well it was supposed to be a quiet night, but I was so worked up about the whole stupid situation with regards to Thanksgiving dinner... that I just worked myself up into a tizzy over dinner.

What situation about Thanksgiving you ask?? Well.... glad you did!

See... my dad's been wanting to go see a true blue Canadian farm for a long time now, and by default it meant going to see Andy's parents who live on a true blue Canadian farm. My parents originally wanted to drive down on the Labour day weekend, but it wasn't a good time for the parental Jibbletts. The parental Jibbletts then invited them to come over on the Thanksgiving weekend instead and everything was planned and ready to go.

Well, until last week when my dad asked me if Jibblet & I were driving to the farm with them or on our own! Then when I said - neither .. we're going to Menace's... well all hell broke loose! Well to make a long story short (and YES it could be longer) somehow both Jibblet & I got into sh*t from our respective parents for not going to a dinner that we were never supposed to be at in the first place! Where's the justice in that.. I ask you!


.... so as I mentioned, we were at the Japanese restaurant and I was working myself into a tizzy... and drinking quite a lot of sake as well... and consequently was quite drunk when I crashed into bed that night!

Next day, met up again with A, D and some of A's friends at the Sultan's Tent, a Moroccan restaurant downtown. Interesting place, but a bit overpriced and I did't leave with the "wow" factor which was a pity because they did try so hard (even had belly dancing) but it just didn't come through. The highlight of Saturday was not the over priced Moroccan restaurant or the equally overpriced Russian vodka bar across the street ($12.50 for a Vodka/ Cran and $22 for a MARTINI!) rather, it was A's friend S who -for want of any other words - can only be described as a CHARACTER! A very exhausting character to be around as I could never tell if she was joking or being serious! About half way through dinner I took A's excellent advice and stepped up the drinking. After that, S seemed much easier to handle!

And if Friday and Saturday night out wasn't enough, well it was only Sunday and we had a big Thanksgiving dinner thingy at Menace's at 6 pm! There was SO MUCH food it would have made an Indian family proud!
For starters, Menace went all out with a 15 lbs turkey (That's as big as a toddler) two kinds of stuffing, creamed French beans, mushroom and spinach pie, mashed potatoes, home made bread, tofu stir fry, spicy Thai red curried beans.... I can't even remember the rest! I just know by end of that meal, I was stuffed just as good as the turkey!

A good round of "Celebrities" shook some of that lethargic feeling off everyone and by the time we left, I can truly say that that was one of the best Thanksgiving meals I've ever had!

The weekend was fun and all... but I'm just THANKFUL that we don't have another long weekend till Christmas!


Wednesday, October 04, 2006

One year.... and counting

With all the dramatic movement in my life over the past few weeks.... I only just realized that I missed my first blogerversary!

I'm just amazed that I've found enough material to keep at it for a whole year!

And judging by what's in store for the next six months.... I won't be running out of ideas any time soon!

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The weather has been all over the map lately. Last week it was cold enough for folks to run scrambling for turtlenecks and gloves (pants - optional) .... yesterday it was warm and sunny ..... today its pissing rain - wet and windy.

I simply MUST do the "changeover" from summer to winter clothes - but its always such a nail-in-the-coffin-of-warm-weather chore that I postpone it as long as I possibly can.

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Started West Coast Swing again last evening. I'm coming along nicely! Lots of folks from the Track 1 classes so its nice to see familiar faces. I simply must get meself a nice pair of dance shoes as one of these days I'm prolly going to twist my ankle right off dancing in the wrong kinda shoes. WHY do I have to have ginormous size 9 feet??



Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Adjusting

Day 2 now of my recently accquired "unemployed" status and things are only slightly better than yesterday.

For starters, the whole "sleep till the cows come home" idea that I had was shattered early as the rest of the family awakes and leaves for work/ school between 7 -9 am. Prior to yesterday, I had always been the first one out the doors each morning.. so never actually knew just how much noise and clammour they were capable of creating. (note: go buy another pillow to put over head)

Also, my mum seems to think that this is the perfect opportunity for me to indulge in organizing my domestic affairs. i:e clean my room and put away random items stored under my bed. Once again NOT what I featured in my "I'm home on a sabatical" dream.

Plans for my "Mother of All Vacations" are going sadly askew.
Les parents are not ammused by my desire to flit off to far corners of the globe. They understand the take time off to finish school part, but feel that once that is achieved, I must ardently look for gainful employment - like the nice Indian girl they raised me to be.
I have smothered the nice Indian girl in me (for now) and am now in mode of rebellious Canadian child in search of meaning of existance.

Consequently - friction.

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