It's not ready yet in our gardens, but there's lots of fresh rhubarb at the veggie store right now. I love to bake rhubarb pecan muffins and rhubarb crisp. My friend at work offered these Rhubarb Dream Bars at a meeting recently. She included some blueberries along with the rhubarb. They are really yummy.
question: do yhoubarb eat rhubarb?
mompoet - mmmmm!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
searching for szechuan
Our favourite Szechuan Chinese restaurant of years and years and years has changed its owners and chef and is no longer our favourite. Capitol Hill Restaurant in North Burnaby has been our family's gathering place for family lunches and suppers for as long as I can remember, about a dozen years I guess. Their fresh, consistent and brilliantly delicious food at reasonable prices made them a winner. I even took my work friends there. City employees know their food. They nicknamed Capitol Hill, "the Ly Thai of the North," which is fine praise indeed.
So now my family is searching for another good Szechuan restaurant. We crave the intensity and variety of a perfect hot and sour soup, the dark allure of spicy sauteed green beans with minced pork (or not, for our outings with vegetarian friends), spicy squid that makes you remember that fried food doesn't have to be gloopy, and hot pot with eggplant and tofu good enough to break the heart of anyone who comes home from 2 years in Africa, only to find the staff at the place they dreamed about has gone on holiday for 2 weeks. (That actually happened a few years ago, and we still talk about it.)
We have decided to go out and try a few places. We'll know it when we find it. Suggestions are welcome. Please make them good. Here are some things we are not looking for:
question: where do you eat Chinese food?
mompoet - wok-deprived
So now my family is searching for another good Szechuan restaurant. We crave the intensity and variety of a perfect hot and sour soup, the dark allure of spicy sauteed green beans with minced pork (or not, for our outings with vegetarian friends), spicy squid that makes you remember that fried food doesn't have to be gloopy, and hot pot with eggplant and tofu good enough to break the heart of anyone who comes home from 2 years in Africa, only to find the staff at the place they dreamed about has gone on holiday for 2 weeks. (That actually happened a few years ago, and we still talk about it.)
We have decided to go out and try a few places. We'll know it when we find it. Suggestions are welcome. Please make them good. Here are some things we are not looking for:
- sweet and sour anything
- lemon chicken
- brown sauce that tastes exactly the same on everything
- crispy wontons
- limp vegetables
- diced chicken (that's just my bias because it reminds me of food that comes out of a can)
question: where do you eat Chinese food?
mompoet - wok-deprived
May 22 the second - or, I owe you one
Dear Internet Police,
I was busy yesterday. So I didn't blog. Thanks for pointing that out.
Catching up today, I post this make-up blog on the topic of time-shifting. I hereby declare this blog-space to be May 22, not May 23, in the time of blog. While this is unprecedented in my blog practice, it is related to past practices in my real life.
When I was a teenager, my sister had a bunch of friends over for a sleepover in our basement. These girls were all good girls, serious students with busy lives. Several of them had piano lessons and other such stuff on Saturday mornings. My sister and her friend played a trick on them. She and her friend woke up early and set the clocks, and their friends' watches, ahead by an hour, then they woke their friends, all in a fake panic. "Look! OH NO! you missed your piano lesson." A hilarious freakout ensued. My sister has many friends still from this time, so I think they must have forgiven her.
More recently, about 10 years ago, we celebrated New Year's Eve at our house with family friends. One family has a girl who was 3 or 4 years old (Hi Emma!) I remember that we counted down and shouted Happy New Year at 10pm, so that family could go home at a decent hour. It was fun opening the door and shouting into the street, banging pots and pans, two hours early. Our neighbours must have thought we were nuts, or at least seriously confused. We celebrated our 10pm New Year with as much gusto and enjoyment as the real midnight one. Then two hours later, we did it again, with all who remained at ur house for the rest of the evening. That was one of our best New Years.
On New Year's Eve two years ago, we did the opposite. This time we were at a neighbour's house, again celebrating with families. Everyone's kids are young adults now, and one son had to work until just before midnight (Hi Alex C!) This time, our host used his PVR to record the New York Times New Year (which actually happens 3 hours before our New Year) until our last guest arrived. Half an hour later, when Alex C arrived, we played the recorded New Year, and celebrated together, so everyone could be there for the shouting and the kissing and the champagne popping.
The other night, at a family dinner, we were discussing how my niece's birthday this year will fall on the last day of the world as we know it, according to the Mayan calendar. Funny, my niece's name is Maya. Now did that make shivers go up and down your spine? We're not seriously worried that the end of the world will happen on Maya's birthday, but we did get to wondering: Will it happen at the same time all over the world? (the end of the world, I mean, not Maya's birthday) or will the world end one hour at a time as it arrives in each time zone?
So there now, Happy May 22nd! I mean it.
question: Have you ever time-shifted?
mompoet - besides recording or watching your favourite TV show on another time zone's network affiliate, I mean
I was busy yesterday. So I didn't blog. Thanks for pointing that out.
Catching up today, I post this make-up blog on the topic of time-shifting. I hereby declare this blog-space to be May 22, not May 23, in the time of blog. While this is unprecedented in my blog practice, it is related to past practices in my real life.
When I was a teenager, my sister had a bunch of friends over for a sleepover in our basement. These girls were all good girls, serious students with busy lives. Several of them had piano lessons and other such stuff on Saturday mornings. My sister and her friend played a trick on them. She and her friend woke up early and set the clocks, and their friends' watches, ahead by an hour, then they woke their friends, all in a fake panic. "Look! OH NO! you missed your piano lesson." A hilarious freakout ensued. My sister has many friends still from this time, so I think they must have forgiven her.
More recently, about 10 years ago, we celebrated New Year's Eve at our house with family friends. One family has a girl who was 3 or 4 years old (Hi Emma!) I remember that we counted down and shouted Happy New Year at 10pm, so that family could go home at a decent hour. It was fun opening the door and shouting into the street, banging pots and pans, two hours early. Our neighbours must have thought we were nuts, or at least seriously confused. We celebrated our 10pm New Year with as much gusto and enjoyment as the real midnight one. Then two hours later, we did it again, with all who remained at ur house for the rest of the evening. That was one of our best New Years.
On New Year's Eve two years ago, we did the opposite. This time we were at a neighbour's house, again celebrating with families. Everyone's kids are young adults now, and one son had to work until just before midnight (Hi Alex C!) This time, our host used his PVR to record the New York Times New Year (which actually happens 3 hours before our New Year) until our last guest arrived. Half an hour later, when Alex C arrived, we played the recorded New Year, and celebrated together, so everyone could be there for the shouting and the kissing and the champagne popping.
The other night, at a family dinner, we were discussing how my niece's birthday this year will fall on the last day of the world as we know it, according to the Mayan calendar. Funny, my niece's name is Maya. Now did that make shivers go up and down your spine? We're not seriously worried that the end of the world will happen on Maya's birthday, but we did get to wondering: Will it happen at the same time all over the world? (the end of the world, I mean, not Maya's birthday) or will the world end one hour at a time as it arrives in each time zone?
So there now, Happy May 22nd! I mean it.
question: Have you ever time-shifted?
mompoet - besides recording or watching your favourite TV show on another time zone's network affiliate, I mean
Monday, May 21, 2012
seriously, it is NOT May 21
Fiona asked me yesterday why I have not been blogging. She checks my blog every day. I told her that I think I have been preoccupied with other people's stories, which are not mine to tell in this blog. With other people on my mind and in my heart, I have not taken the time for introspection and thus not produced anything to tell the blogosphere about what's going on with me. I also told Fiona that I will blog every day for one week, and thus get back in the habit. I told myself that I will stick to my guns and not tell other people's stories. So I guess that means I have to look at and think about myself. Hmmm...
I have 2 shows coming up weekend after next.
On Saturday, June 2, from 4-445pm, I will perform with the Thundering Word group at the In the House Festival. I'll be on with Bill MacNamara, Rosemary Nowicki, Bryant Ross and Fernando Raguero. It will be a wonderful hour and 45 minutes of poetry and storytelling. The In the House Festival takes place in houses and yards in East Vancouver. You should check it out!
On Sunday, June 3, from 3-5pm, I will perform at Poetic Justice. That's at the Heritage Grill on Columbia Street in New Westminster. I'll be on with Eileen Kernighan and Vincent Gnitt. Poetic Justice happens every Sunday. It's a lovely reading series with a wonderful following of poets and enthusiasts.
So now I have to choose some pieces and prepare them. For me that means memorizing because I like to perform, rather than read, my work. So, if you see me walking sideways down the road, talking to myself, you'll know what I'm doing. Speaking of sideways walking, my foot is feeling a lot better, but that's a topic for another day.
Talk to you tomorrow!
question: Where's the most interesting place you have seen a performance?
mompoet - getting ready for In the House and Poetic Justice
I have 2 shows coming up weekend after next.
On Saturday, June 2, from 4-445pm, I will perform with the Thundering Word group at the In the House Festival. I'll be on with Bill MacNamara, Rosemary Nowicki, Bryant Ross and Fernando Raguero. It will be a wonderful hour and 45 minutes of poetry and storytelling. The In the House Festival takes place in houses and yards in East Vancouver. You should check it out!
On Sunday, June 3, from 3-5pm, I will perform at Poetic Justice. That's at the Heritage Grill on Columbia Street in New Westminster. I'll be on with Eileen Kernighan and Vincent Gnitt. Poetic Justice happens every Sunday. It's a lovely reading series with a wonderful following of poets and enthusiasts.
So now I have to choose some pieces and prepare them. For me that means memorizing because I like to perform, rather than read, my work. So, if you see me walking sideways down the road, talking to myself, you'll know what I'm doing. Speaking of sideways walking, my foot is feeling a lot better, but that's a topic for another day.
Talk to you tomorrow!
question: Where's the most interesting place you have seen a performance?
mompoet - getting ready for In the House and Poetic Justice
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
crabwalk
Who is that woman doing the grapevine down the sidewalk at 8:15 on a Wednesday morning? Oh, it's just me. Never mind.
I am in month 3 of recovery from my foot injury. I did not ever imagine how long this could take or how limiting it would be, but I'm on the mend with lots of care and work. I highly recommend NOT getting plantar fasciitis. It's good when you don't have a burning hot knife stabbing you in the heel all day and sometimes in the night.
I hurt my foot on January 16, my first day back to work after a 3 week Christmas break. It was icy out, and I was wearing grippy things on the bottom of my boots as I walked to my office. I'm guessing I altered the way I put my foot down because of the grippy things, which triggered the injury. I'm pretty sure it was waiting to happen already. It's in my left heel, and my left knee and hip have been hurting on and off for about 6 months. Everything is connected to everything, as I have been learning.
Soon after injuring my foot, I went to New York for a week. I gobbled ibuprofen, kept a frozen water bottle in the hotel fridge for icing whenever I was in the room, and toughed it through a week in a city where you just have to walk all day long. That's how it works in New York.
When I got home I began working on my heel. I got soft orthotics, started a three month stretching program, saw a massage therapist, stopped walking (that was the hardest part). Slowly, the pain has been subsiding. Slowly I have been able to do more on foot. I now have the stetchiest, most massaged feet and calves of anyone I know. I own a foam half-roller, a grid massager and a half-ball. Want to crack up your 21 year old? Ask him to "throw Mama her half-ball." I slept for many nights in a tensor sock. In fact, the sock went to New York with us and helped me make it through "walking with a red hot knife in your foot" week. (ps Andy says the tensor sock is NOT sexy.)
Which brings me to walking the grapevine down the sidewalk at 8:15 on a Wednesday morning. My wonderful massage therapist gives me homework. One of my assignments is to walk sideways whenever I can. Her precise words were, "You know the stuff that soccer players do on the sidelines? Do that!" So I've incorporated sideways walking into my routine. I'm now walking part way to work. I just get off the bus a little early and walk the rest of the way. And part of that way, I walk sideways.
If you drive past me and see me walking sideways, please be kind. Don't honk. If you want, you can roll down your car window and shout, "OPA!" Otherwise, I don't want to hear about it.
question: what did you ever do to help yourself mend?
mompoet - OPA!
I am in month 3 of recovery from my foot injury. I did not ever imagine how long this could take or how limiting it would be, but I'm on the mend with lots of care and work. I highly recommend NOT getting plantar fasciitis. It's good when you don't have a burning hot knife stabbing you in the heel all day and sometimes in the night.
I hurt my foot on January 16, my first day back to work after a 3 week Christmas break. It was icy out, and I was wearing grippy things on the bottom of my boots as I walked to my office. I'm guessing I altered the way I put my foot down because of the grippy things, which triggered the injury. I'm pretty sure it was waiting to happen already. It's in my left heel, and my left knee and hip have been hurting on and off for about 6 months. Everything is connected to everything, as I have been learning.
Soon after injuring my foot, I went to New York for a week. I gobbled ibuprofen, kept a frozen water bottle in the hotel fridge for icing whenever I was in the room, and toughed it through a week in a city where you just have to walk all day long. That's how it works in New York.
When I got home I began working on my heel. I got soft orthotics, started a three month stretching program, saw a massage therapist, stopped walking (that was the hardest part). Slowly, the pain has been subsiding. Slowly I have been able to do more on foot. I now have the stetchiest, most massaged feet and calves of anyone I know. I own a foam half-roller, a grid massager and a half-ball. Want to crack up your 21 year old? Ask him to "throw Mama her half-ball." I slept for many nights in a tensor sock. In fact, the sock went to New York with us and helped me make it through "walking with a red hot knife in your foot" week. (ps Andy says the tensor sock is NOT sexy.)
Which brings me to walking the grapevine down the sidewalk at 8:15 on a Wednesday morning. My wonderful massage therapist gives me homework. One of my assignments is to walk sideways whenever I can. Her precise words were, "You know the stuff that soccer players do on the sidelines? Do that!" So I've incorporated sideways walking into my routine. I'm now walking part way to work. I just get off the bus a little early and walk the rest of the way. And part of that way, I walk sideways.
If you drive past me and see me walking sideways, please be kind. Don't honk. If you want, you can roll down your car window and shout, "OPA!" Otherwise, I don't want to hear about it.
question: what did you ever do to help yourself mend?
mompoet - OPA!
Monday, April 30, 2012
some good shows last week
The Vancouver International Poetry Festival took place last week. I got out to see the Van Slam Finals on Monday night and the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championship on Saturday. Both shows were excellent. Vancouver now has a team to send to championships in the US and Canada, and Canada now has an Indie Champion. Updates and information can be found on the Vancouver Poetry House website.
Alex went with me to the Canadian Championship on Saturday night. It was his first time attending a slam poetry event. He loved it! He heckled and cheered and craned to see the scores for every poem. It was great to be there with him. When Vancouver poet RC Weslowski won the championship, Alex jumped out of his seat, shouting with happiness. Well, the whole audience did. It was a great night, and a well-deserved win.
All week long, Andy has been volunteering at Lindbjerg Academy's senior students' year end production of Hairspray. He helped set up the theatre, and has been running the follow spotlight for performances. I attended the show on Sunday afternoon. It was very good. It's funny, when Fiona was a Lindbjerg student, I went to every show to see her perform. Then she became a teacher, and I went to the shows to see her students perform. This time, I watched the performance and tracked the spotlight. I was interested to see Andy's work! (He did a great job.)
Next weekend, I'll go with my parents to see God of Carnage at the Vancouver Playhouse. It will be the final performance of the final season of the Playhouse Theatre Company, which has now closed. It will be a sad day. I am looking forward to the play, which will be memorable for me as the last one.
question: have you seen any good shows lately?
mompoet - fortunate to enjoy such richness and variety
Alex went with me to the Canadian Championship on Saturday night. It was his first time attending a slam poetry event. He loved it! He heckled and cheered and craned to see the scores for every poem. It was great to be there with him. When Vancouver poet RC Weslowski won the championship, Alex jumped out of his seat, shouting with happiness. Well, the whole audience did. It was a great night, and a well-deserved win.
All week long, Andy has been volunteering at Lindbjerg Academy's senior students' year end production of Hairspray. He helped set up the theatre, and has been running the follow spotlight for performances. I attended the show on Sunday afternoon. It was very good. It's funny, when Fiona was a Lindbjerg student, I went to every show to see her perform. Then she became a teacher, and I went to the shows to see her students perform. This time, I watched the performance and tracked the spotlight. I was interested to see Andy's work! (He did a great job.)
Next weekend, I'll go with my parents to see God of Carnage at the Vancouver Playhouse. It will be the final performance of the final season of the Playhouse Theatre Company, which has now closed. It will be a sad day. I am looking forward to the play, which will be memorable for me as the last one.
question: have you seen any good shows lately?
mompoet - fortunate to enjoy such richness and variety
Saturday, April 28, 2012
barack obama slow jams the news
question: are you still paying off a student loan? and how can it help America to make education unaffordable for millions more students?
mompoet - the day the president slow jams the news is the day I get TWO questions
Sunday, April 22, 2012
leaping up
What a difference a week makes! I felt bogged down when I last posted. Now I'm much better.
Believe it or not, I had a second Emergency Social Services call in my one week rotation. This time it was a seniors' apartment building. Lots of evacuees were outside the building in a church adjacent to the property for several hours. I called the rest of the team in, including a volunteer, and we took care of things. I'm still learning about the emotional dynamics of emergencies. Escaping from a burning building with your life intact is wonderful, but for many, it's just the first hurdle. After that, even if your apartment isn't the one that burned, it could be damaged by smoke or water or both. A big part of our job as responders is to help people find out the answers to their questions, and to provide reassurance that things are going okay inside their home hours, days or weeks before they are allowed back to live there. It's that much worse when there are people in their 70s and 80s involved. We do whatever we can to help ensure they are helped so that they won't suffer the worst effects of their natural distress at the situation in which they find themselves. Thanks to our great ESS director and wonderful community support services, everyone is well on the way to recovery. Thank goodness!
After a callout, it takes me several days to come back to my normal energetic and optimistic self. I find it hard to sleep for more than one night, even when I am exhausted. It's a natural human response to the distress. It helps to talk to team members, and Andy is a great listener and comforter. He accepted that I NEEDED to go to bed at 8pm, then couldn't fall asleep until 11:30. He has cooked some good meals and gone for some walks, and just generally been around and loving and accepting as I regain my footing.
Speaking of feet, my injured heel is really feeling better. I have started seeing a massage therapist, who explained to me that everything really is connected to everything else. I didn't realize that my tight upper-back muscles could translate into pain in my hip and foot. She encouraged me to try yoga again, to provide good balance with my weight training. She's also given me a hard little rubber ball which Andy cut in half for me. It's great for massaging my foot at home. I'm now back to walking 15 minutes at a time. I grab the bus to work, then get off partway to work and walk the rest of the way, then vice-versa at the end of the day. I hope I'll be walking all the way by summer. OH! The massage therapists suggested I walk part of the way sideways (grapevine style). I can't wait to try that on Monday! I wonder what people will think?
I went to church this morning. I am grateful for the courage-boost that I receive from my faith community during our Sunday worship and when we get together in other ministry activities. My friend Lynn led the service today while our minister Julie is on vacation. We continued with our post-Easter celebration of rolling back stones, emptying tombs and looking out into the world as participants in the Peace of Christ. Our little church with its expansive and inclusive warm heart is my anchor when I'm struggling, my springboard when I'm feeling energized. I am so glad I found it.
In practical matters, I got our income taxes done. Our candidate was elected in the by-election. I read a good novel. I found a place to recycle our broken toaster oven and iron.
Looking ahead, Fiona and I have booked a kayak adventure for Mother's Day. The last play of the Vancouver Playhouse season, God of Carnage, will go on even though the Playhouse Theatre company is gone. The Canucks are still in the Playoffs and we're cooking ribs and watching the game at home, hoping for the best.
Life is a jumble of things that push you down and things that lift you up. On the whole, it remains good and safe for me and my family. I'm grateful to enjoy the resources to be able to share the blessed peace and safety that characterize my everyday life. Bumpy times remind me that I should not take this for granted. That's a blessing too, I guess.
question: are you feeling smooth? or bumpy?
mompoet - regaining my bounce
Believe it or not, I had a second Emergency Social Services call in my one week rotation. This time it was a seniors' apartment building. Lots of evacuees were outside the building in a church adjacent to the property for several hours. I called the rest of the team in, including a volunteer, and we took care of things. I'm still learning about the emotional dynamics of emergencies. Escaping from a burning building with your life intact is wonderful, but for many, it's just the first hurdle. After that, even if your apartment isn't the one that burned, it could be damaged by smoke or water or both. A big part of our job as responders is to help people find out the answers to their questions, and to provide reassurance that things are going okay inside their home hours, days or weeks before they are allowed back to live there. It's that much worse when there are people in their 70s and 80s involved. We do whatever we can to help ensure they are helped so that they won't suffer the worst effects of their natural distress at the situation in which they find themselves. Thanks to our great ESS director and wonderful community support services, everyone is well on the way to recovery. Thank goodness!
After a callout, it takes me several days to come back to my normal energetic and optimistic self. I find it hard to sleep for more than one night, even when I am exhausted. It's a natural human response to the distress. It helps to talk to team members, and Andy is a great listener and comforter. He accepted that I NEEDED to go to bed at 8pm, then couldn't fall asleep until 11:30. He has cooked some good meals and gone for some walks, and just generally been around and loving and accepting as I regain my footing.
Speaking of feet, my injured heel is really feeling better. I have started seeing a massage therapist, who explained to me that everything really is connected to everything else. I didn't realize that my tight upper-back muscles could translate into pain in my hip and foot. She encouraged me to try yoga again, to provide good balance with my weight training. She's also given me a hard little rubber ball which Andy cut in half for me. It's great for massaging my foot at home. I'm now back to walking 15 minutes at a time. I grab the bus to work, then get off partway to work and walk the rest of the way, then vice-versa at the end of the day. I hope I'll be walking all the way by summer. OH! The massage therapists suggested I walk part of the way sideways (grapevine style). I can't wait to try that on Monday! I wonder what people will think?
I went to church this morning. I am grateful for the courage-boost that I receive from my faith community during our Sunday worship and when we get together in other ministry activities. My friend Lynn led the service today while our minister Julie is on vacation. We continued with our post-Easter celebration of rolling back stones, emptying tombs and looking out into the world as participants in the Peace of Christ. Our little church with its expansive and inclusive warm heart is my anchor when I'm struggling, my springboard when I'm feeling energized. I am so glad I found it.
In practical matters, I got our income taxes done. Our candidate was elected in the by-election. I read a good novel. I found a place to recycle our broken toaster oven and iron.
Looking ahead, Fiona and I have booked a kayak adventure for Mother's Day. The last play of the Vancouver Playhouse season, God of Carnage, will go on even though the Playhouse Theatre company is gone. The Canucks are still in the Playoffs and we're cooking ribs and watching the game at home, hoping for the best.
Life is a jumble of things that push you down and things that lift you up. On the whole, it remains good and safe for me and my family. I'm grateful to enjoy the resources to be able to share the blessed peace and safety that characterize my everyday life. Bumpy times remind me that I should not take this for granted. That's a blessing too, I guess.
question: are you feeling smooth? or bumpy?
mompoet - regaining my bounce
Sunday, April 15, 2012
much on my mind and in my heart
I have been walking around for the past month with much on my mind and in my heart. Life is good, but there are many challenges and events that are causing me to think hard about my choices and actions. It seems like when I'm feeling this way, I'm less expressive and more introspective. My usually boundless energy dials down. Maybe this is so I can use it more on the inside. I know I haven't been wholly myself to the people who know me. I also know that this is who I am when I am processing. So this post is less an excuse or explanation than it is an expression of where I'm at.
Andy was laid off from his job a month ago. We saw it coming for several months. The technology he works in (motion picture film - as opposed to video) has become nearly obsolete. There just isn't work anymore to keep film labs like his going. We will be okay financially, although we'll have to make some changes. My focus right now is on how he is doing with the change to his life, and the ripples out to our family. Work is important to our identity and sense of worth in the world. This next year will be an exercise in re-discovery and re-building for him, for me, for us as a family. We have lots of resources and support, but still, it's frightening.
The Vancouver Poetry Slam Safe Space issue has rocked my world significantly. The revelation of incidents of sexual assault and harassment that have taken place in a community of people I love have shocked me and made me question my perceptions. How can people I care for be having these experiences and I didn't know or see it? I am learning a lot about the dynamics of power and coercion within communities. I am tremendously proud that so many people are stepping forward to get involved in making safety a priority at the slam. My heart soars when I hear and see people stepping up and saying they are changing their own minds and hearts about this. I am encouraged to see the strength and wisdom of so many people young and old, experienced and new to the community, coming together to make good changes happen. I am also grieving the loss that goes with finding out that there are people who I know who have done damage. I am hopeful that there will be healing. That's the way the process is shaping up. I am grateful for those who are taking leadership, and for those who are participating in any way to keep this moving forward.
Fiona is coming home for the summer. She has booked her flight, and I've arranged for storage for her university stuff for the summer. I'm coordinating long distance with her to get scholarship applications done. I am feeling echoes of the excitement and drama that we all experienced last spring as she received her acceptances and offers and decided where she would go. One year later we are all so much better at this. Looking back I can see that she and we have come a long way, taking the first big steps to launch her adult life.
Alex is going back to school part time in May to do Trades Exploration. He'll experience a bit of several skilled trades and get some basic certifications that will help him with applications for further education and employment. This may lead to skills that will complement his film-making abilities. Skilled trades are needed on movie sets, and also useful for finding work between projects. We're proud and happy that he is moving forward.
I'm on call for ESS and had a callout this week to an apartment fire. The details are confidential, but my own experience I can talk about: I am grateful that nobody was injured or killed. I am glad for the opportunity to help people in need, with a place to stay and the basic necessities while they figure out what to do next. There is always an emotional impact for me once I know the evacuees are okay. I lay away the other night, not dreaming, just seeing three apartments engulfed in red. Beds, kitchens, belongings, burning up like a blowtorch. It took a while for that image to go away. It's frightening to think what might have happened each time, and sad to know how close one can be to homelessness when a disaster occurs. I am left feeling grateful for my own network of support and love. I am practically militant about the importance of having homeowner or tenant's insurance. In an emergency, it makes the difference between staying in a hotel until you find a new place, or couch surfing or a homeless shelter.
question: How are you? Really.
mompoet - still here - just a little more on the introverted side of the wheel for a while
Andy was laid off from his job a month ago. We saw it coming for several months. The technology he works in (motion picture film - as opposed to video) has become nearly obsolete. There just isn't work anymore to keep film labs like his going. We will be okay financially, although we'll have to make some changes. My focus right now is on how he is doing with the change to his life, and the ripples out to our family. Work is important to our identity and sense of worth in the world. This next year will be an exercise in re-discovery and re-building for him, for me, for us as a family. We have lots of resources and support, but still, it's frightening.
The Vancouver Poetry Slam Safe Space issue has rocked my world significantly. The revelation of incidents of sexual assault and harassment that have taken place in a community of people I love have shocked me and made me question my perceptions. How can people I care for be having these experiences and I didn't know or see it? I am learning a lot about the dynamics of power and coercion within communities. I am tremendously proud that so many people are stepping forward to get involved in making safety a priority at the slam. My heart soars when I hear and see people stepping up and saying they are changing their own minds and hearts about this. I am encouraged to see the strength and wisdom of so many people young and old, experienced and new to the community, coming together to make good changes happen. I am also grieving the loss that goes with finding out that there are people who I know who have done damage. I am hopeful that there will be healing. That's the way the process is shaping up. I am grateful for those who are taking leadership, and for those who are participating in any way to keep this moving forward.
Fiona is coming home for the summer. She has booked her flight, and I've arranged for storage for her university stuff for the summer. I'm coordinating long distance with her to get scholarship applications done. I am feeling echoes of the excitement and drama that we all experienced last spring as she received her acceptances and offers and decided where she would go. One year later we are all so much better at this. Looking back I can see that she and we have come a long way, taking the first big steps to launch her adult life.
Alex is going back to school part time in May to do Trades Exploration. He'll experience a bit of several skilled trades and get some basic certifications that will help him with applications for further education and employment. This may lead to skills that will complement his film-making abilities. Skilled trades are needed on movie sets, and also useful for finding work between projects. We're proud and happy that he is moving forward.
I'm on call for ESS and had a callout this week to an apartment fire. The details are confidential, but my own experience I can talk about: I am grateful that nobody was injured or killed. I am glad for the opportunity to help people in need, with a place to stay and the basic necessities while they figure out what to do next. There is always an emotional impact for me once I know the evacuees are okay. I lay away the other night, not dreaming, just seeing three apartments engulfed in red. Beds, kitchens, belongings, burning up like a blowtorch. It took a while for that image to go away. It's frightening to think what might have happened each time, and sad to know how close one can be to homelessness when a disaster occurs. I am left feeling grateful for my own network of support and love. I am practically militant about the importance of having homeowner or tenant's insurance. In an emergency, it makes the difference between staying in a hotel until you find a new place, or couch surfing or a homeless shelter.
question: How are you? Really.
mompoet - still here - just a little more on the introverted side of the wheel for a while
Monday, April 09, 2012
love
question: none today
mompoet - respecting courage, feeling hope for what people can do when they open their hearts, grateful for revelations of love
Friday, April 06, 2012
safety
I haven't posted my blog in a couple of weeks. I have been pre-occupied by something very heavy, and when that happens I have to think and experience and just be before I can share, at least in my blog.
A friend in the Vancouver Poetry Slam community recently spoke out about an incident of sexual assault perpetrated by another community member several years ago. A group of leaders responded to support her. What resulted was a movement to change a culture of silence and fear into one of openness and accountability. I was invited to support the effort. It has been a frightening and enlightening experience.
If you want to know more about it, there's a blog. Please be aware that instances of sexual assault are described in some of the blog posts. These are labeled with "Trigger Warning" in their opening paragraphs.
I have learned that my life has been thankfully very safe and sheltered. I have also learned that people who are assaulted most often feel that they can't or shouldn't come forward with their experiences. This is wrong, and needs to be changed.
In the course of the past week, a survivor has stepped forward, a perpetrator has been named, a committee formed to change the way a community responds to issues around safe space. People (me included) have changed their thinking. Other survivors have found the courage to tell their stories. The word is spreading. The blog had over 10 thousand hits the first weekend it went live. I think this is the beginning of awesome changes in our community and good ripples outward.
There is also hurt, fear, guilt, sadness, anger. It's been a heavy week for everyone who is touched by the events that have unfolded. The good part is that we can do something positive with all of this. Things will be better as a result.
Please read the blog, and share it with someone who needs to read it too. Please share it with younger and older people in your life. It's never too late to change, and never too soon to start talking about this with younger members of our families. Safety is something we can all work on together.
question: what does "safe space" mean to you?
mompoet - eyes open, heart full
A friend in the Vancouver Poetry Slam community recently spoke out about an incident of sexual assault perpetrated by another community member several years ago. A group of leaders responded to support her. What resulted was a movement to change a culture of silence and fear into one of openness and accountability. I was invited to support the effort. It has been a frightening and enlightening experience.
If you want to know more about it, there's a blog. Please be aware that instances of sexual assault are described in some of the blog posts. These are labeled with "Trigger Warning" in their opening paragraphs.
I have learned that my life has been thankfully very safe and sheltered. I have also learned that people who are assaulted most often feel that they can't or shouldn't come forward with their experiences. This is wrong, and needs to be changed.
In the course of the past week, a survivor has stepped forward, a perpetrator has been named, a committee formed to change the way a community responds to issues around safe space. People (me included) have changed their thinking. Other survivors have found the courage to tell their stories. The word is spreading. The blog had over 10 thousand hits the first weekend it went live. I think this is the beginning of awesome changes in our community and good ripples outward.
There is also hurt, fear, guilt, sadness, anger. It's been a heavy week for everyone who is touched by the events that have unfolded. The good part is that we can do something positive with all of this. Things will be better as a result.
Please read the blog, and share it with someone who needs to read it too. Please share it with younger and older people in your life. It's never too late to change, and never too soon to start talking about this with younger members of our families. Safety is something we can all work on together.
question: what does "safe space" mean to you?
mompoet - eyes open, heart full
Saturday, March 24, 2012
shelter supper
Sunday afternoon, Cathy and I met to cook up a meal for the guests at the shelter that my church is hosting this month. One month each winter, we take a turn opening up our church hall to people who have nowhere else to sleep. We take turns cooking, cleaning and offering a warm welcome. It feels good to be able to do something. I think it's a gift for us as much as it is for our guests.
I asked a bunch of my lady friends to pitch in some groceries or cash, and easily collected more than I needed. Andy took me shopping Sunday morning, and I loaded up the cart with good stuff. For the record, the leftover cash has gone to the shelter fund to help pay for supper another night, when the cooks didn't have enough funds. So I guess we provided a supper and a half. Thank you ladies!
Around lunchtime Sunday, I baked up a big batch of oatmeal cookies with raisins and pumpkin seeds to make them extra-nutritious.
Then Cathy came over. We made 2 big salads, one brown rice with veggies and a tahini dressing, the other a big old green salad. We cooked up 6 large pizzas - pepperoni, ham and pineapple and veggie. The dough was whole wheat, from my bread machine. I made it Saturday night and let it get nice and yeasty and poofy. That's the way I make really yummy pizza.
Cathy and I had such a nice visit while we washed and chopped and baked and sliced. I like cooking with Cathy aka Julia or Julie or maybe Julie-ulia.
At 9pm, Andy and I arrived at the church. We heated up the pizza and prepared hot chocolate and coffee and juice for the guests. Other volunteers set up the supper tables and beds and got the clothing and toiletries area ready. The guests arrived about 9:45. We had 15 guests that night. They were hungry and thirsty. Everyone ate a lot of pizza and a lot of salad. Several guests commented on how glad they were to get fresh vegetables as part of the meal. I think a salad makes a meal complete.
Then there was dessert. We served the cookies sundae style with ice cream, fresh strawberries and caramel sauce. That was yummy!
As soon as supper was done, the guests hopped into bed. It was about 10:30. The volunteers worked as quietly as they could to clean up the dishes and the kitchen, then we all said thank you to one another and headed for home. We were in our own bed about 11:30.
This is the last year that our church will host the shelter in our own building. The plan for the next couple of years is to have it for 6 months straight through at one church, near where most of the guests spend their daytimes, in Port Coquitlam. I think that churches and other groups will be able to sign up for week-long commitments to provide food and hosting at the church in PoCo. So I'll continue to help, but not again at St. Andrew's. In a couple of years, the shelter will move into a permanent building that will provide service year-round, day and night. I hope they'll want volunteers there too. This is nourishing work.
For now, I have 2 early morning shifts left before the shelter closes. Breakfast is simpler than supper. On weekdays we serve juice, coffee, toast and cereal, and hand out bag lunches as the guests leave. I'm glad to have this opportunity to be of service. It's what our faith community is about. I think it's what most of us crave, to be able to do something to make the world a bit more kind and helpful.
question: If you could cook for 15 new friends, what would you cook?
mompoet - pizza for you!
I asked a bunch of my lady friends to pitch in some groceries or cash, and easily collected more than I needed. Andy took me shopping Sunday morning, and I loaded up the cart with good stuff. For the record, the leftover cash has gone to the shelter fund to help pay for supper another night, when the cooks didn't have enough funds. So I guess we provided a supper and a half. Thank you ladies!
Around lunchtime Sunday, I baked up a big batch of oatmeal cookies with raisins and pumpkin seeds to make them extra-nutritious.
At 9pm, Andy and I arrived at the church. We heated up the pizza and prepared hot chocolate and coffee and juice for the guests. Other volunteers set up the supper tables and beds and got the clothing and toiletries area ready. The guests arrived about 9:45. We had 15 guests that night. They were hungry and thirsty. Everyone ate a lot of pizza and a lot of salad. Several guests commented on how glad they were to get fresh vegetables as part of the meal. I think a salad makes a meal complete.
Then there was dessert. We served the cookies sundae style with ice cream, fresh strawberries and caramel sauce. That was yummy!
As soon as supper was done, the guests hopped into bed. It was about 10:30. The volunteers worked as quietly as they could to clean up the dishes and the kitchen, then we all said thank you to one another and headed for home. We were in our own bed about 11:30.
This is the last year that our church will host the shelter in our own building. The plan for the next couple of years is to have it for 6 months straight through at one church, near where most of the guests spend their daytimes, in Port Coquitlam. I think that churches and other groups will be able to sign up for week-long commitments to provide food and hosting at the church in PoCo. So I'll continue to help, but not again at St. Andrew's. In a couple of years, the shelter will move into a permanent building that will provide service year-round, day and night. I hope they'll want volunteers there too. This is nourishing work.
For now, I have 2 early morning shifts left before the shelter closes. Breakfast is simpler than supper. On weekdays we serve juice, coffee, toast and cereal, and hand out bag lunches as the guests leave. I'm glad to have this opportunity to be of service. It's what our faith community is about. I think it's what most of us crave, to be able to do something to make the world a bit more kind and helpful.
question: If you could cook for 15 new friends, what would you cook?
mompoet - pizza for you!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
answering in full sentences
Fiona and I were in a coffee shop. She was drinking hot apple cider. I was drinking an Americano. I offered her a sip, and she declined. "What is an Americano, anyway?" she asked me. I explained, to the best of my knowledge, including a little detour into trivia: Waves coffee shops call it a "Canadiano." Fiona smiled, then she said, "You would be good for talking when they film you, so they can edit parts out."
WHAT?
I asked her if that was supposed to be a compliment. She clarified. She told me that when I answer a question, I use a full sentence, beginning with reference to the question itself. That reminded me of what I heard Alex tell the interview subjects for one of his documentary films: "Please try to include the question in your answer." When an interview subject includes the question in his or her comments, it makes for a full explanation of the subject at hand, and eliminates the need for the interviewer's voice in the finished film.
So I can't remember what I said about Americano, but I must have begun with, "An Americano is..." According to Fiona, not everyone answers questions in this manner.
Later, we were at home. I was working on Fiona's income taxes. She asked me, "What's on a T-4 slip?" I can't remember what I said in reply, but she shouted out, "Full sentence!"
"Sure is!" I replied, then I added "Sentence fragment!"
question: do your children have you figured out?
mompoet - usually pretty consistent, but sometimes unpredictable
WHAT?
I asked her if that was supposed to be a compliment. She clarified. She told me that when I answer a question, I use a full sentence, beginning with reference to the question itself. That reminded me of what I heard Alex tell the interview subjects for one of his documentary films: "Please try to include the question in your answer." When an interview subject includes the question in his or her comments, it makes for a full explanation of the subject at hand, and eliminates the need for the interviewer's voice in the finished film.
So I can't remember what I said about Americano, but I must have begun with, "An Americano is..." According to Fiona, not everyone answers questions in this manner.
Later, we were at home. I was working on Fiona's income taxes. She asked me, "What's on a T-4 slip?" I can't remember what I said in reply, but she shouted out, "Full sentence!"
"Sure is!" I replied, then I added "Sentence fragment!"
question: do your children have you figured out?
mompoet - usually pretty consistent, but sometimes unpredictable
Sunday, March 11, 2012
fiona is home
It's Spring Break at Fiona's university. She's home for a week. What she wants to do most is cook. I can relate. Being away from home for one week on our New York trip, I went through severe cooking withdrawal, especially staying in a neighbourhood full of truly spectacular food stores. Fiona woke up before us and baked blueberry muffins for breakfast this morning. She has invited her grandparents and cousin over for lettuce wraps tonight. I think this week is going to be delicious!
I'll be at work this week, but I've booked Wednesday off. We'll take the ferry over to Vancouver Island for the day, and go see Fiona's voice teacher Cheryl in a production of All Shook Up at the Chemainus Playhouse. That will be a treat!
We are all glad to have Fiona with us before she returns to New Jersey for the final push of her first year at university. We are glad she loves it there so much. We are very glad that she still likes to come home and hang out with us. We'll let her cook whatever she wants, whenever she wants.
question: who cooks? who cooks for you?
mompoet - could not resist doing a random owl call at the end of a blog post
I'll be at work this week, but I've booked Wednesday off. We'll take the ferry over to Vancouver Island for the day, and go see Fiona's voice teacher Cheryl in a production of All Shook Up at the Chemainus Playhouse. That will be a treat!
We are all glad to have Fiona with us before she returns to New Jersey for the final push of her first year at university. We are glad she loves it there so much. We are very glad that she still likes to come home and hang out with us. We'll let her cook whatever she wants, whenever she wants.
question: who cooks? who cooks for you?
mompoet - could not resist doing a random owl call at the end of a blog post
extra day update
On February 29, I wrote about half a dozen letters to people I know, telling them how much I appreciate them. It took me a few days to get them delivered and mailed. In fact, I still have two sitting on my desk, but they'll be delivered soon.
I have been enjoying my family and friends' reaction to the letters. I knew that it would make them feel happy to know how much I like them, and to be able to receive that information and soak it up and re-read it in their own time. Everyone who has received a letter has let me know that it was a good thing. I am so glad I did it. It's just easier to write down what is specifically and uniquely special about a person than it is to lay it out in ordinary conversation.
The other thing that happened is that I realised I have a really long list of people who I appreciate. So, if you know me and have not received a letter, and have reason to believe that I appreciate you, please know that I will try not to wait four more years to write some more letters. It feels good to do it, and it feels good to find out that others feel good receiving it. It's worth making time for, even when it's not a leap year.
question: have I told you lately that you are wonderful?
mompoet - I like telling you!
I have been enjoying my family and friends' reaction to the letters. I knew that it would make them feel happy to know how much I like them, and to be able to receive that information and soak it up and re-read it in their own time. Everyone who has received a letter has let me know that it was a good thing. I am so glad I did it. It's just easier to write down what is specifically and uniquely special about a person than it is to lay it out in ordinary conversation.
The other thing that happened is that I realised I have a really long list of people who I appreciate. So, if you know me and have not received a letter, and have reason to believe that I appreciate you, please know that I will try not to wait four more years to write some more letters. It feels good to do it, and it feels good to find out that others feel good receiving it. It's worth making time for, even when it's not a leap year.
question: have I told you lately that you are wonderful?
mompoet - I like telling you!
Monday, February 27, 2012
extra day 2012 - a day for you to do something you have been meaning to do
2012
is a leap year. That means we get a whole extra 24 hours. Don't
squander it by pretending it's like any other day. Plan to do something
that you have been postponing due to "not enough time." Finish a
project, phone a long-lost friend or relative, investigate something
you've been meaning to investigate, take an alternate route, sign up,
commit, cancel, change - it's up to you, and the possibilities are
limitless, for 24 hours only (not really, but it's a good day to begin).
If you think you've heard about this already from me, it may be because I tried this once before. I think it was Leap Year 2004. I think it was before I started blogging and I just sent emails to everyone I know. I know it was before facebook, or at least before I knew about facebook. Anyway, hardly anyone responded but I remember I celebrated Extra Day 2004 on my own. I called a friend who I hadn't called in a couple of years. It was nice to talk to her. I'd been meaning to call for ages.
This year, I am planning to take some time on Extra Day 2012 to express my appreciation and gratitude to a few people in my life. I always say thank you, but often I think I should do more: make a phone call or send a note, then I don't get around to it. I'm going to do a bit of catching up with the extra time that this day will give me.
And guess what? there's facebook now! So I created an event and invited a hundred friends who each invited some more friends. So it looks like quite a few people might join me in celebrating the day this year.
Please pass this invitation along to anyone you know who might also be procrastinating. And if you're on facebook you can join the event, and invite your friends to join. But even if you don't, I hope you celebrate the day by doing something that you have been meaning to do.
question: what have you been meaning to do?
mompoet - inviting you!
If you think you've heard about this already from me, it may be because I tried this once before. I think it was Leap Year 2004. I think it was before I started blogging and I just sent emails to everyone I know. I know it was before facebook, or at least before I knew about facebook. Anyway, hardly anyone responded but I remember I celebrated Extra Day 2004 on my own. I called a friend who I hadn't called in a couple of years. It was nice to talk to her. I'd been meaning to call for ages.
This year, I am planning to take some time on Extra Day 2012 to express my appreciation and gratitude to a few people in my life. I always say thank you, but often I think I should do more: make a phone call or send a note, then I don't get around to it. I'm going to do a bit of catching up with the extra time that this day will give me.
And guess what? there's facebook now! So I created an event and invited a hundred friends who each invited some more friends. So it looks like quite a few people might join me in celebrating the day this year.
Please pass this invitation along to anyone you know who might also be procrastinating. And if you're on facebook you can join the event, and invite your friends to join. But even if you don't, I hope you celebrate the day by doing something that you have been meaning to do.
question: what have you been meaning to do?
mompoet - inviting you!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
waiting for book of mormon
February 14, 2012
Eugene O'Neill Theater, New York City
11am
I figured we'd be good if we got here at 2pm, but it's our last day in New York - no second chances - so we show up early. We slept until 8, ate breakfast at the hotel, and walked to the post office a few blocks away to mail a gift to my little cousin in Princeton whose birthday party was canceled when she got strep throat. After that, we caught the subway to 50th Street and walked a block to the theater on 49th. I told Andy he could come join me later, but he came along from the start. It's Valentine's day after all.
Why am I here so early? Quite simply, I want Andy and Alex to see the show. I saw it in August with Fiona. Now, we're visiting her, and want to see it together as a family. later on, others will join the lineup. People line up every day for tickets. Alex will check in with us once he has finished breakfast. Fiona will come after she finishes class at the university.
There are three ways to get tickets:
1) buy them 6 months in advance at full price (the show is sold out until mid-May)
2) enter the ticket lottery 2 hours before the show - about 20 winners get $32 tickets for the front row of the theater
3) buy standing room tickets 1 hour before the show - about 20 more tickets are sold for $27 each, for spots at the back of the orchestra seating section
We didn't buy tickets 6 months in advance. We didn't plan this trip even 6 weeks in advance. We're unlikely to win the lottery. Being first in line today, we are certain to be able to buy standing room tickets.
Here I am, hanging out in front of the theater. I brought the Sunday New York Times to sit on. I brought today's New York Times to read.
11:30am
A man from Australia stops by and asks what we know about getting tickets. He decides he might come back at 5pm for the lottery. Inside the theater lobby, we see cleaning staff dusting, wiping and vacuuming.
12:10pm
Andy holds the spot while I go for coffee and stretch my legs. Colony music store is at the corner of 49th and 7th Avenue. It's the best place for Broadway cast recordings, musical theater scores and memorabilia. I'm hoping to find a CD of Closer Than Ever, the musical that Fiona appeared in at the university, to bring home to my parents as a gift. Colony has the CD (of course!) but it's $45.99 because there are 23 songs, so it's a 2 disc set. I decide I will buy them a download instead.
I pick up a large coffee for Andy and a hot chocolate for me at Dunkin Donuts in the 50th Street subway station. Back at the theater, the hot drinks warm us. It's not as cold out as it was yesterday, but after an hour, it's definitely chilly. We brought warm clothing so we'll be okay.
12:25pm
Alex is here. We agree to be here all together at 4:30, when the lottery is scheduled to open. For now we'll take turns holding this place at the front of the line. A young man arrives to take spot #2. I talk to him, and find out that he is an actor, playing Tom Sawyer in a dinner theater production of Big River in a nearby city. Alex decides to take the Radio City Music Hall tour, and heads off.
12:45pm
Andy finishes his coffee, then leaves to explore for a while. I settle in with the newspaper and my iPod. If I lived in New York, I would spend way to much time reading the newspaper. It's really not uncomfortable here on the sidewalk. and people here are friendly. Passers-by ask what we're waiting for. Young lovers and delivery men carry valentine bouquets up and down the sidewalk. Couples pass by, holding roses and balloons, holding hands. We watch a string of limousines pull up, wait, and drive away. No celebrities on board, just bored drivers, waiting to get called to go pick someone up somewhere nearby, we think. Inside the lobby, the cleaners are finished.
1pm
A couple of people arrive and enter the theater lobby door, re-locking the door after they enter. Andy returns.
1:15pm
#3 spot is taken by another young man. We chat with him and find out that he is a singer.
1:30-1:45
Spots #4 and #5 are taken. Andy has gone in search of a bathroom. It's now just over 4 hours until ticket time, 3 hours to the lottery draw.
2pm
Andy returns. I go out to find lunch. I find a Europa Cafe on Avenue of the Americas. Before ordering, I get a key to the bathroom and YIKES! walk in on a woman using the bathroom! How embarrassing. She comes out a few minutes later and says not to worry. It seems that the lock doesn't work properly and they are giving out 2 keys for one bathroom. I use the bathroom very quickly, hoping for no visitors!
Lunch is a delicious tossed salad. I've enjoyed a few of these at various cafes during our stay. You choose a bowl with whatever kind of greens you want, then the chef puts them into a big tossing bowl and portions in "add-ins" as you specify. Some are $1.50, some $1 and some 50 cents. Then you choose your dressing. The chef tosses it all together and puts it back into the original greens bowl, with a lid. This time I choose mixed greens, beets, broccoli, carrots, sunflower seeds, spicy tuna and sesame ginger dressing. It is very good, and cost about $8 for a meal-size salad. I bring the salad back to eat in the lineup so Andy can go get some lunch. He leaves for a few minutes and returns with a MacDonald's burger and fries. I think my lunch is yummier!
3pm
Alex returns. He reports that he has taken the Radio City Musical Hall tour, and he got his picture taken with a Rockette. He says that the theater was awesome and the tour very good. There are about 8 people in the lineup now. The atmosphere is relaxed. We should all get standing room tickets. Maybe some of us will be lucky enough to win tickets in the lottery.
Between 3 and 4:30, the lineup grows, and a crowd begins to form in front of the theater. Lots of people just want to get in the draw. By now there are enough people in the standing room lineup that it wouldn't be worthwhile to join it. Someone from farther down that line goes through the line asking each of us, "How many tickets are you going to buy?" Each person may buy 2 tickets maximum. That's why all 3 of us have to be here. We need 5 tickets in all, because Fiona is bringing a friend with her from university.
Here's the lineup at about 3pm.
Here are all of the people, getting tickets for the lottery.
Here's a draw ticket. A nice many hands them out to everyone in the standing room lineup, so they won't have to leave their spots. It's okay really, we have been looking out for one another, watching spots for other liners-up when they needed a bathroom or food break.
We put our names in the draw. Thirty minutes later, we don't win. I think there are about 200 people here by draw time. They draw ticket pairs, so about a dozen names are called. By now it's 5:15, and we know soon we'll have our standing room tickets and we can leave for an hour before the show begins.
6pm
We're ready when the window slides open. The man sells us 5 tickets for $27 each. I'm too excited to remember to take a picture, so this one is taken later. This is what a standing room ticket looks like:
The playbill we get when we're inside the theater an hour later.
10:45pm
The show was great! Andy and Alex laughed their heads off, and said it was the best thing they've seen, one of the highlights of the trip, worth the sidewalk vigil. I think the sidewalk vigil is a worthy part of the experience.
question: did you ever line up for something?
mompoet - loving New York
Eugene O'Neill Theater, New York City
11am
I figured we'd be good if we got here at 2pm, but it's our last day in New York - no second chances - so we show up early. We slept until 8, ate breakfast at the hotel, and walked to the post office a few blocks away to mail a gift to my little cousin in Princeton whose birthday party was canceled when she got strep throat. After that, we caught the subway to 50th Street and walked a block to the theater on 49th. I told Andy he could come join me later, but he came along from the start. It's Valentine's day after all.
Why am I here so early? Quite simply, I want Andy and Alex to see the show. I saw it in August with Fiona. Now, we're visiting her, and want to see it together as a family. later on, others will join the lineup. People line up every day for tickets. Alex will check in with us once he has finished breakfast. Fiona will come after she finishes class at the university.
There are three ways to get tickets:
1) buy them 6 months in advance at full price (the show is sold out until mid-May)
2) enter the ticket lottery 2 hours before the show - about 20 winners get $32 tickets for the front row of the theater
3) buy standing room tickets 1 hour before the show - about 20 more tickets are sold for $27 each, for spots at the back of the orchestra seating section
We didn't buy tickets 6 months in advance. We didn't plan this trip even 6 weeks in advance. We're unlikely to win the lottery. Being first in line today, we are certain to be able to buy standing room tickets.
11:30am
A man from Australia stops by and asks what we know about getting tickets. He decides he might come back at 5pm for the lottery. Inside the theater lobby, we see cleaning staff dusting, wiping and vacuuming.
12:10pm
Andy holds the spot while I go for coffee and stretch my legs. Colony music store is at the corner of 49th and 7th Avenue. It's the best place for Broadway cast recordings, musical theater scores and memorabilia. I'm hoping to find a CD of Closer Than Ever, the musical that Fiona appeared in at the university, to bring home to my parents as a gift. Colony has the CD (of course!) but it's $45.99 because there are 23 songs, so it's a 2 disc set. I decide I will buy them a download instead.
I pick up a large coffee for Andy and a hot chocolate for me at Dunkin Donuts in the 50th Street subway station. Back at the theater, the hot drinks warm us. It's not as cold out as it was yesterday, but after an hour, it's definitely chilly. We brought warm clothing so we'll be okay.
12:25pm
Alex is here. We agree to be here all together at 4:30, when the lottery is scheduled to open. For now we'll take turns holding this place at the front of the line. A young man arrives to take spot #2. I talk to him, and find out that he is an actor, playing Tom Sawyer in a dinner theater production of Big River in a nearby city. Alex decides to take the Radio City Music Hall tour, and heads off.
12:45pm
Andy finishes his coffee, then leaves to explore for a while. I settle in with the newspaper and my iPod. If I lived in New York, I would spend way to much time reading the newspaper. It's really not uncomfortable here on the sidewalk. and people here are friendly. Passers-by ask what we're waiting for. Young lovers and delivery men carry valentine bouquets up and down the sidewalk. Couples pass by, holding roses and balloons, holding hands. We watch a string of limousines pull up, wait, and drive away. No celebrities on board, just bored drivers, waiting to get called to go pick someone up somewhere nearby, we think. Inside the lobby, the cleaners are finished.
1pm
A couple of people arrive and enter the theater lobby door, re-locking the door after they enter. Andy returns.
1:15pm
#3 spot is taken by another young man. We chat with him and find out that he is a singer.
1:30-1:45
Spots #4 and #5 are taken. Andy has gone in search of a bathroom. It's now just over 4 hours until ticket time, 3 hours to the lottery draw.
2pm
Andy returns. I go out to find lunch. I find a Europa Cafe on Avenue of the Americas. Before ordering, I get a key to the bathroom and YIKES! walk in on a woman using the bathroom! How embarrassing. She comes out a few minutes later and says not to worry. It seems that the lock doesn't work properly and they are giving out 2 keys for one bathroom. I use the bathroom very quickly, hoping for no visitors!
Lunch is a delicious tossed salad. I've enjoyed a few of these at various cafes during our stay. You choose a bowl with whatever kind of greens you want, then the chef puts them into a big tossing bowl and portions in "add-ins" as you specify. Some are $1.50, some $1 and some 50 cents. Then you choose your dressing. The chef tosses it all together and puts it back into the original greens bowl, with a lid. This time I choose mixed greens, beets, broccoli, carrots, sunflower seeds, spicy tuna and sesame ginger dressing. It is very good, and cost about $8 for a meal-size salad. I bring the salad back to eat in the lineup so Andy can go get some lunch. He leaves for a few minutes and returns with a MacDonald's burger and fries. I think my lunch is yummier!
3pm
Alex returns. He reports that he has taken the Radio City Musical Hall tour, and he got his picture taken with a Rockette. He says that the theater was awesome and the tour very good. There are about 8 people in the lineup now. The atmosphere is relaxed. We should all get standing room tickets. Maybe some of us will be lucky enough to win tickets in the lottery.
Between 3 and 4:30, the lineup grows, and a crowd begins to form in front of the theater. Lots of people just want to get in the draw. By now there are enough people in the standing room lineup that it wouldn't be worthwhile to join it. Someone from farther down that line goes through the line asking each of us, "How many tickets are you going to buy?" Each person may buy 2 tickets maximum. That's why all 3 of us have to be here. We need 5 tickets in all, because Fiona is bringing a friend with her from university.
We put our names in the draw. Thirty minutes later, we don't win. I think there are about 200 people here by draw time. They draw ticket pairs, so about a dozen names are called. By now it's 5:15, and we know soon we'll have our standing room tickets and we can leave for an hour before the show begins.
6pm
We're ready when the window slides open. The man sells us 5 tickets for $27 each. I'm too excited to remember to take a picture, so this one is taken later. This is what a standing room ticket looks like:
10:45pm
The show was great! Andy and Alex laughed their heads off, and said it was the best thing they've seen, one of the highlights of the trip, worth the sidewalk vigil. I think the sidewalk vigil is a worthy part of the experience.
question: did you ever line up for something?
mompoet - loving New York
Monday, February 13, 2012
New York and New Jersey
On Thursday, we had a visit with our friend Al Riggi. We first met Al through Big Apple Greeters, and we have stayed in touch. Together with Al, we walked for miles and miles around the city. We saw Central Park, 5th Avenue, Grand Central Station, Bryant Park, the New York City Library, Little Italy, Chinatown, the Brooklyn Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral near the 911 Memorial site. Al is our first and best New York friend. We are blessed to know him.
We have been getting to know the subway system and walking around the streets of the city. Our hotel is in the Upper West Side. It's kind of like Kitsilano but with much older buildings. We're very close to Central Park, which is gorgeous.
We hope to get out to see a couple of Broadway shows before we return home. There's so much to do here, you could visit 100 times and still not see everything.
We are grateful for the opportunity to see Fiona at her university, among her good friends. She is truly happy here, and will learn and grow during her 4 years of studies.
question: do you <3 NYC?
mompoet - we do!
Sunday, February 05, 2012
it's not new, it's blue, and it begins and ends with "c"
A couple of days after Christmas my trusty, beloved, old 1995 Honda Civic was stolen from the parking lot at the movie theatre where our son works. We reported the theft to the police, who said most stolen cars are discovered abandoned within a week of their loss. Our car has not turned up. Maybe it's just so ordinary looking that wherever it has been parked, nobody has noticed that it's been sitting for a month, untouched. Maybe something more dramatic has happened to it. Perhaps it's at the bottom of a lake (I hope not, that would not be good for the lake or the things that live in it). Maybe it was lit on fire or pushed off a cliff (I hope not, it's a good little car). Maybe somebody drove it to Ontario or Newfoundland. At this point, all I can hope is that nobody was harmed in it, and that it's not harming anyone or anything.
I have decided that the car was stolen for a reason. I think that small bad things happen to put us out of the way of worse bad things. Perhaps Fiona was meant to be driven around by Andy, Alex and me while she was home at Christmas. ICBC gave me a rental car, you see, but Fiona wasn't allowed to drive it because she's not yet 19 years old. It wasn't a lot of trouble for us to drive her around. We got more time with her, taking her to work and friends' places. We'll never know for sure if my hunch is right, but that's okay.
So Andy and I went car shopping, and Alex helped. Mom and Dad helped too, and now I have a new-to-me Honda Civic. My must-have list was: 4 doors, automatic transmission, electronic mirror adjustment (Alex and I move the mirrors whenever we get into the car), air conditioning (the only thing not perfect about my old Honda) and no smokey smell inside. I got everything on my list and more. So now I have a 2008 Civic, with about a gazillion airbags, and fancy wheels and a sunroof, and brand new tires and keyless entry and an immobilizer (so nobody will steal it from anywhere), and a plug-in for my iPod. I never dreamed I would have a car as lovely as this. Best of all, it's BLUE (just like my old one). Everything inside the engine and the interior of the car is updated by a couple of generations, but it feels like my old car in some reassuring ways: the lights and wipers are pretty much in the same place as in my old car. The new engine sounds something like my old one, well, not exactly, but I think it shifts gears at about the same revs. Even the windows sound the same, opening and closing although the switches feel different.
Alex and Andy have driven it and say it's a NICE CAR. I am grateful for all of the help that I have received in shopping and purchasing. I got good advice from my friends about insurance, autobody condition, and mechanical condition. Mom and Dad helped for sure - Thank you! and Andy and Alex both said, "It's going to be your car. Whatever you want, you go get it." I think it's the first time I've actually bought a car and been the one to make the decision. I think I made a good one.
So look out for me tooting along in my new little blue car. If you need a ride anywhere, just let me know.
question: what's on your must-have list?
mompoet - traveling with gratitude
I have decided that the car was stolen for a reason. I think that small bad things happen to put us out of the way of worse bad things. Perhaps Fiona was meant to be driven around by Andy, Alex and me while she was home at Christmas. ICBC gave me a rental car, you see, but Fiona wasn't allowed to drive it because she's not yet 19 years old. It wasn't a lot of trouble for us to drive her around. We got more time with her, taking her to work and friends' places. We'll never know for sure if my hunch is right, but that's okay.
So Andy and I went car shopping, and Alex helped. Mom and Dad helped too, and now I have a new-to-me Honda Civic. My must-have list was: 4 doors, automatic transmission, electronic mirror adjustment (Alex and I move the mirrors whenever we get into the car), air conditioning (the only thing not perfect about my old Honda) and no smokey smell inside. I got everything on my list and more. So now I have a 2008 Civic, with about a gazillion airbags, and fancy wheels and a sunroof, and brand new tires and keyless entry and an immobilizer (so nobody will steal it from anywhere), and a plug-in for my iPod. I never dreamed I would have a car as lovely as this. Best of all, it's BLUE (just like my old one). Everything inside the engine and the interior of the car is updated by a couple of generations, but it feels like my old car in some reassuring ways: the lights and wipers are pretty much in the same place as in my old car. The new engine sounds something like my old one, well, not exactly, but I think it shifts gears at about the same revs. Even the windows sound the same, opening and closing although the switches feel different.
Alex and Andy have driven it and say it's a NICE CAR. I am grateful for all of the help that I have received in shopping and purchasing. I got good advice from my friends about insurance, autobody condition, and mechanical condition. Mom and Dad helped for sure - Thank you! and Andy and Alex both said, "It's going to be your car. Whatever you want, you go get it." I think it's the first time I've actually bought a car and been the one to make the decision. I think I made a good one.
So look out for me tooting along in my new little blue car. If you need a ride anywhere, just let me know.
question: what's on your must-have list?
mompoet - traveling with gratitude
Saturday, February 04, 2012
family
You might say this short video is about furniture. I think it's about love.
question: who helps you build your ikea stuff?
mompoet - that's family
question: who helps you build your ikea stuff?
mompoet - that's family
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