musing on a Saturday morning

I just woke up. For the first time in a long time I have slept for 8 hours and in that time I have managed to catch up on all my REM sleep for the last few weeks. And during that time I believe I have just dreamed my own pilot episode for some twentysomething soap/drama/comedy.

Aren't dreams fun and massively disappointing all at the same time? Go to sleep and dream about pretty much whatever you like (in this case a night at an opening of some fantastic new nightspot where characters all abound and interact and some travelling hottie sits beside you at the bar while having a few, strikes up conversation and then repeatedly lefts his shirt high enough -by accident he wants you to think - to show a fantastic body, while another group of younguns get together and celebrate the closing for the season of a theme park they all have summer jobs at) and when you wake up it's just all gone.

As always the details start to fade pretty fast, but I also remember some man with a big fur coat. He was the life of whatever party he was with by the bar. Bought me a cosmo as well now that I think back. I always dream nice people. And a few of my real life friends were in there as well making cameo appearances.

Wierd.

Anyways. It's Saturday morning now. I've had a terrible sinus infection all week and have woken up feeling like it is clearing up quite nicely. I didn't get up to much last night aside from doing the laundry with Miriam and then hanging at her place for tea and long chats about all that we see in the world, and the fact that President's Choice have made their Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookies smaller in the last few years. What a rip that last bit is. The day ahead of me promises much fun: Jay and I will tackle one of the most notoriously confusing episodes of Doctor Who this afternoon and by night I am going to the movies with a gathering of friends to see Run Fatboy Run. All good times. Reviews and comments will of course be posted in the appropriate blogs.

The sun is coming up quite well, and I think it is going to be a beautiful day today.

That is all.

new dude at work

As is the norm with Canada Post these days there's a lot of new supervisors coming onboard from outside the company. I was one of them. Six months ago I wandered into my new post with no clear idea what was going on with the mail; sure I was pumped full of ideas about employee engagement and what not but as for practical knowledge... none. I was lucky that my friend Rob started working there a few months before I did and he was able to pass on all his wisdom to me, and now I find myself on the other side of things helping train a new supervisor this week.

I've got that little glow of personal well-being knowing that I am helping him learn, but it's also a bit of pride attached because in addition to teaching, I am still effectively running the stations he will be taking over, plus all my own work. And people are noticing and telling me I'm doing good work.

Fantastic.

That is all.

bananas

At the grocery store, the bananas looked lovely and yellow and fresh. In the short amount of time it took to get them home, they were bruising up. There's something funny going on at that grocery store.

I have to go to work for 9 PM tonight. Local time now is 6 PM. I can get an hour and a half nap if I go to bed RIGHT NOW.

That is all.

Horton Hears A Who

My god. A movie with Jim Carrey in it that I didn't find revolting. Probably because you don't actually see him in it. I speak of Horton Hears A Who, the CGI adventure where a happy go lucky elephant hears a cry for help coming off a small speck of dust stuck to a clover. Yes, on that speck is Who-ville, the idyllic community originally visited back in How The Grinch Stole Christmas (which started as a Christmas special and then was brutally massacred by Carrey's horribly over the top performance in a live action film some years ago) and the Mayor of Who-ville is having a hard time convincing his people that they are indeed living on a tiny speck that is in danger of destruction if it is not kept stable. Horton takes ownership of the problem and sets out to find the Whos a safe place to live, incurring the wrath of a nosy busybody kangaroo that you just want to slap. It's a story of belief, I suppose, and doing what is right even if all the naysayers tell you it is wrong just because they do not understand. I went with my sister and the kids, and we enjoyed. That was Parker's birthday adventure, along with the kids getting into my Star Wars action figures and splatting them all over my living room.

Later that night I went to meet my friend Dan for dinner at Bistro 990. Dan is one of those friends who breezes into town every so often for a visit, invites me to dinner, insists on paying, and will talk about anything. So we did just that. Dates. Economy. Family. Anything. It was a great time. And across the restaurant from us was none other than federal environment minister John Baird and his entourage; seems Mr Baird had shaved his face with some new product and was very thrilled at how smooth the results were and he was having all sitting with him feel his jowls just to see. Dan and I hiked it over to Byzantium for a martini then briefly went to Woodys before parting ways; we were both tired after a long day.

So remember how I had all this plans to go to a wedding yesterday? Well, I got my laundry done. I ran to the shops and got a few things. I came home and showered and shaved and squeezed into a suit I bought 40 lbs ago (after actualy popping the button off another pair of pants) and headed for the subway only to encounter a woman with some small dogs on leashes on some stairs. One small dog decided to dart under my foot as I was stepping and when it yelp I automatically lifted my foot up right into a cat's cradle of dog leashes and I started going over. The options were: go head first or just drop onto a knee. I chose the knee. CRACK. It HURT. And it was impossible to walk on right away. I limped home. I took off my suit. I put a bag of snow from the balcony on my leg. And I missed the wedding. Warren, I'm sorry. Tara, I'm sorry. Woman with dogs - you never even said you were sorry. I hope those things gets run over my a streecar and the spray gets you in the face. So while I sat here with my knee going numb I went onto the internet to email my friends who may be angry with me (I somewhow didn't think calling with that kind of news was what they wanted). And then I chatted again on gay.com and what not.

The strangest thing happened. A guy asked me if I was with Canada Post. I said yes. It was a guy who I spotted back in November on my way to work once. I was going in early for overtime and I saw this absolute cute guy in the train and looked him over a couple times, and caught him doing the same, but as I was in uniform I couldn't really do much, and when he got off the train I got whiplash looking back and forth at him. And then I never saw him again on the subway because I usually go to work later than that. I scoured the Craigslist ads hoping he'd say something on there and then last night, outta the blue, there he was. His name's Ken. I want to meet Ken. So we shall arrange something.

It is now Easter Sunday. I believe that there is even less open today than on a regular Sunday, which makes for limited options. Still, I'm not interested in going and blowing all sorts of money; I do have a budget. Miriam will return today and I shall hear of her adventures across the country. And since I do not have to work tonight/tomorrow morning, who knows what else.

That is all.

Good Friday

A holiday! Something to do with Jesus and Christianity... or something. Whatever. It's nice to have a day off. Oh sure, you're saying, he hasn't been back to work for 2 weeks and now here he is wanting a day off. But it's how I am going to spend the day that's important.

10 years ago today on a very very stormy night, my first nephew, Parker Riley Saunders, was born, and my life changed forever. I would never look at some things the same again, and when I held this little life in my arms for the first time I couldn't help but realize how much he looked like my sister when she was a baby. As he has grown he has started to look more like his own person, although a lot of my friends who have met him all say he looks a lot like me, which I suppose makes sense as we do share a few genetic blocks somewhere down the chain. Parker has always been a very clever boy, making astutue comments here and there and surprising the adults around him. He's creative. He's funny. He's active. He's healthy. To this day I'd say 80% of what I do with my life is done with his and his brother's welfare in mind. I love those little kids and I am enjoying watching them grow up into smart little boys, and soon they will be young men looking at the world and trying to find their own place. And not only do I enjoy their love in return, but I also bask in the warmth of my sister's trust and my father's faith that if the kids are with me they are safe and I will never let anything happen to them.

Parker's plans for a birthday party on his actual birthday are a bit scuttled by Easter being this weekend so it has been postponed for 2 weeks when his friends will all be able to come and enjoy his day with him. Today, however, I have invited the kids and my sister to my apartment for a small scale birthday event that has also got an Easter egg hunt as part of the fun, followed by a mini-hamburger lunch, and then a trip up to the movie theatre to see Horton Hears A Who. I think it will be a fun day for them, and for me to see them enjoying themselves.

Speaking of enjoying, I was out last night with some associates from work. It was actually supposed to be a much larger scale event than it turned out to be; my fellow Canada Post supervisor, Steve, and I became the mainstays of the evening with a few other people flitting in and out, and a few others just not showing at all. So lesson learned, I'm not going to be trying anything like that again. Not that it was a huge problem; Steve and I had plenty of fun, even conducting a commando raid with one of my lightsabres on an unnamed location, but the people who saw us will remember.

I think I can safely say the "good" is in Good Friday for me today. Ahead after Parker's birthday event today comes an evening of visiting with my friend Dan, who is in town for a couple days, and tomorrow - ah, tomorrow - Warren's wedding!

So I should go get things rolling a bit more now. I'm going to get some laundry out of the way and tidy this place up a bit more before everyone arrives. I've got until 12 noon before they get here, which is ample time to prepare everything. The mini-hamburgers are indeed mini, kid sized, and I have french fries as well. Always a treat. If my sister brings her camera along I will eventually post some pictures of our day.

For now, that is all.

it's a good day

Oh bliss.

Not everyone is going to get this, but I managed over 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep today, which is something of a miracle on my work schedule. I woke up thinking I'd only managed 2 or 3 at the most as is the norm, but lo... I felt great.

And on top of that, I've passed my 6 months probation with Canada Post. Anything could happen during that time, although I never really doubted the outcome. But now here I am, set. Just gotta stay on track - I have a plan, after all.

And that is all.

Star Wars - Allegiance

I suppose you should know this now; as well as loving the series Doctor Who, I am also a huge fan of Star Wars. I was 6 years old when the first of the movies came out in 1977 and my imagination was set on fire after meeting all those rich characters and seeing all those new worlds. Doctor Who came along not long after that - mere weeks - and I was truly off down my own private path towards science fiction fandom. There is no way to confine a good idea to merely one medium and both series have now evolved beyond their roots, their relative universes expanded and opened up to other ideas and other voices. Doctor Who has actually beaten Star Wars on that front, conquering stage, print, comics, audio drama, webcast, big screen, animation and making a return to its orginal televised format, but Star Wars has enjoyed its own huge successes with a second trilogy of films, a massive marketing campaign that had raked in millions, and its ever growing series of novels telling the stories that take place after the movies, and in some cases, the stories that take place between.

Allegiance is set in the short term following the destruction of the Death Star in A New Hope, the series' debut episode (although actually the fourth chapter in the six films). Princess Leia Organa and the Rebel Alliance are trying to ride the momentum of their movement's victory over the Galactic Empire, dragging Jedi-to-be Luke Skywalker and the reluctant Han Solo along in the wake. Emperor Palpatine seeks to crush the Rebellion and deploys his henchman Darth Vader to do his bidding, but also present in this cast is the Emperor's other agent: a Force-trained girl named Mara Jade, who bears the title of Emperor's Hand. Thrown into this tapestry of characters are five Imperial stormtroopers who have broken ranks, sickened at a massacre they witnesses where innocent civilians are shot down in cold blood on the planet Teardrop. These threads are all wound together by author Timothy Zahn as only this man can do, bringing our regular series protagonists within meters of their future advarsaries and allies without violating any of the continuity of the movies. Emperor's Hand Mara Jade is a character he created himself for his novel trilogy Heir to the Empire, which is set in the post-Return of the Jedi era of the series; originally he showed us a Mara who was out for revenge against Luke Skywalker for the death of the Emperor, but here we see a younger woman dedicated to serve the Empire, but not an actual Sith agent. In keeping with established Star Wars lore, there are never more than two Sith Lords at the helm, but with Mara as a peripheral character with her own set of Force abilities - and in much later years she would become a full fledged member of the New Jedi Order - the way was opened for other agents of darkness to come forward in other works, most notably the chilling Assaij Ventress of the Clone Wars miniseries.

It is also important to note that Timothy Zahn was actually the first author to write a new Star Wars novel and bring the series back into its first phase of its resurgence with Heir to the Empire. His foray into this realm was officially blessed by George Lucas, who steadfastly refused to give any information away about the real backstory to the series as there were new movies coming up, but also the caution was there not to go too nuts as Lucas was not going to alter his ideas based on what other people tried to add to the mythology. Zahn only really messed up once on that occasion by playing around with the nature of the clones from the Clone Wars, by stating that they had been born out of Spaatri cloning devices when really they were created by the cloners of Kamino. Here, Zahn's disillusioned stormtroopers are not clones at all but are proper recruits from within the Empire; the clones are still very much on the go keeping the stormtrooper ranks full but they are pressed into the service of the 501st legion at the command of Darth Vader.

With the main characters we all know in play here, I almost got the feeling that they were only serving as guest stars with Mara and the deserter stormtroopers as the real characters of the story. And rightfully so; the title is, after all, Allegiance, and here we have two tests of it: the stormtroopers who leave their own ship yet still adhere to their oath to protect the Empire and its citizens, and Mara Jade's unwavering allegiance to Emperor Palpatine, even though she is nowhere near as evil as he is. It's hard to remember than in effect these are the bad guys being painted in a more sympathetic light; Mara's only real redemption comes from the fact that readers of the series know what she will become, despite the fact that she's in the service of evil at this point. With these stories to tell, and our regular protagonists unable to really be advanced - there's no way anything could really be done with Han and Leia's relationship at this point, nor with Luke's fledgeling Jedi abilities - Zahn goes ones step further to eliminate any additional narrative and never once uses the famous droid duo of R2D2 and C3P0. And they're not really missed, despite the assertation by George Lucas that the whole six movie epic is actually told through the narration of those very same characters. It's a bold step to just ditch two iconic members of the ensemble cast, but then again, if they can't actually contribute anything to the story, then why clutter the frame with them?

So I liked it. I've not actually read a Star Wars novel since around 1999, when the sudden frenzy of media attention towards the next - and chonologically first - movie, The Phantom Menace, made the world just a bit too crowded with the hype (even though I still bought all the toys and went to see the movies repeatedly). But last week at World's Biggest Bookstore I decided to take the plunge and go back to this special universe with this novel - and I got the hardcover edition because those always look so much better on the shelf, even if they do cost over $30. There's more of them out there - years' worth, really - and with Doctor Who about to take a bit of a break after the 2008 series (you can read about that in my other blog) why not play some catch up with old familiar friends? And hey, they're not even on Facebook.

That is all.

Never Back Down

I guess Cineplex was hoping for a bigger turnout for the opening night of Never Back Down; the film was billeted to their largest auditorium at Scotiabank Theatre downtown but when Crystal and I got there we were two of maybe fifty people who turned up for the show. Still, we were not going to let that get in our way and armed with our vodka-laced Kool Aid slushies, we were ready to be entertained. And in some strange way, I believe we actually were. It started with observing our fellow movie goers, who were mostly guys in pairs. "Ooh it's a buddy film," Crystal giggled. And then the film began. Troubled teen moving towns with his mother and brother after tragic drunk driving death of his father. So, displaced and angry, he's a fish out of water at a new school where he is lured into a fight with the school bully. And said school bully kicks his ass royally in front of the whole school, brutally dissecting him while everyone watches and cheers him on. As predicted, new kid finds a mentor to teach him how to fight the same style. Mother doesn't like it. Bad guy smacks him down again for fun. His social circle really sucks with one big dork loser friend with really bad hair. And then eventually comes the showdown. And the prize is the affection of some blonde bimbo. Of course none of the tortured soul stuff really flew with Crystal and I and we found ourselves itching to see more montage footage of fighting or young dudes working out. If there was a message we are pleased to say it was totally lost on us; we just wanted the hotties.

And then we wanted cheap beer so we went in search of it. A few Budweisers at the Red Room and then a pitcher of Blue at Woodys, and we were well and truly looped for the night. And then there was this bisexual woman named Shelly who seemed determined to go home with one or both of us. And she didn't. I'm sure I'm glossing over the rest of the night but really conversation repeated on a blog can be tedious. And I'm sure we said some private things too somewhere.

I had to work early on Saturday so imagine me feeling a bit sketchy heading back out mere hours after getting home. And during a coffee run I blundered into the set of some new Mark Whalberg movie they are shooting in the streets of Toronto down by the Royal York Hotel. I won't say that my Saturday was wasted, but a good chunk of it was spent not doing a lot and being paid overtime rates for it. I have decided though to take the time as comp time, not in cash, because the option to get a few days off as opposed to getting nailed by tax rates is far more attractive.

Jay came by in the afternoon for some Doctor Who, which is reviewed in the other blog, and some fun gay man chatter. And mere minutes after he left, I passed out on the couch. And I was out of it until around 1 AM when Miriam called me from Edmonton, forgetting the time differential.

So here it is Sunday morning. My dishes are done, my apartment is clean and it's a nice day out there. I would have tried to get a hold of Jamie and gone for breakfast with him but my MSN is not working properly today and I wouldn't phone anyone on a Sunday morning just in case they had chosen to stay in bed a bit longer. But I have to get out there soon and do stuff; I need some fruit, and I need some exercise, maybe go look at some beautiful things.

What's the week ahead hold? It's a short one, work-wise, but I have some additional responsibilities to handle. And there is a little soiree going on Thursday night, Friday is Parker's birthday party, Saturday is Warren's wedding, Sunday Miriam is back. Oh and Wednesday is another episode of Torchwood, which is starting to disappoint after a really strong season opener. I hope they can pick it up for the last 3 episodes of the season. And then Doctor Who will be back...

That is all.

Who is this Spitzer guy anyways?

So once more the headlines are all about some American politician who was on a crusade to weed out sick and dirty individuals, and he turned out to be one himself. He rents hookers on the public dime so the headlines say. He's going to retire and spend time with his family. Dude - I have a funny feeling your wife isn't going to be too keen on spending time with you; do you know where those hookers have been?

Two points to make:

1) This is not news. Politicians who have an axe to grind where other people's morals are concerned are usually just trying to overcompensate for their own vices and bad consciences.

2) This is not Canadian news. Why is it front page for Canadian media? We have a wishy washy opposition party who have now timidly come out to say they might bring the government down over the budget, and that's not the main headline. Still, it's pretty laughable anyways; I'm not the biggest fan of the Conservative government but I honestly don't think the Liberals stand a chance of winning an election. Jean Chretien really needs to return to the party if for nothing more than the entertainment value his antics brought to Canadian politics; this Dion guy is weak.

That is all.

single

So this morning when I was coming home on the subway I had one of those moments where the impossible happened; I actually recognized someone standing on the platform as the train I was in rocketed past. And as it screeched to a halt, I knew in those few seconds I had just spotted X. And X got into the next car. I took a look over my shoulder just to be sure, and yes, it was him. I'm pretty sure he didn't see me - he's not at his best in the morning. And as the train started moving again I felt absolutely nothing; no need to run away, no need to get into the next car and talk to him. Nothing. Time was I would feel all sorts, but now... nothing.

I think single in the city is something we eventually get used to and accept as the way it's going to be. All those happy notions of meeting someone and staying together just go away after a few years on the front lines. I don't know if I am still feeling all odd after seeing those two guys at Penelope on Saturday, but the whole idea of never actually sharing my life with anyone has really started to make me think. Again. I've thought about it before, so maybe it's a cycle I'm on, and I've not come up with anything terribly new, although this time my age has started to factor in. I mean, I'm 37 now. I am almost 40 and I've had just one boyfriend - one! - and that was only a year off and on. I look around and I see all these handsome younger creatures running around who have no interest in anyone older than them, and I see other guys still single over 40 and none of them really do much for me. Not that the under 25s mean a lot to me either; they're hot, yes, but they're not always as smart as they should be, despite some of them claiming to be more mature than their peers. And then I feel fat out of nowhere. Because one insecurity always begets another.

Ah well. It's not like I'm the only single guy out there. That's the massive irony of the whole thing; everyone who is single says how much they hate it, and they all sound like they want the same things, so it should be a cakewalk to find someone who shares some ideas and might want to share a future. But no. Toronto has become this city just loaded with single gay men, the majority of whom wander around day to day totally consumed with the business of "being gay", which is to say wearing certain clothes, shopping only at certain stores, going to certain bars and generally buying too much into their own hype. Me, I buy my underwear at WalMart, and there's not much hype about that.

I've not slept well today. I have to go back to work in a few hours and endure a long night plus meetings into the morning, and my stubborn cough will not go away. On the bright side, I've not spent any money. There's always a certain amount of joy to be had in a day which costs nothing.

I think I will go back to bed for an hour or so, though. A refresher is always good.

That is all.

Penelope

Okay so I was a bit late. But who's really reading this anyways?

Darlene's bus was a bit late due to the weather on Saturday but she still made it, and we were off into the afternoon to shop and walk and chat before we went to the movies. Our choice was Penelope, a tale of a girl born with the nose of a pig from a curse laid on her family by a vengeful witch. The only way to break the curse would be to have a blueblood suitor fall in love with her, so her parents embark on a mad screening ploy involving gag orders and every young blueblood in the land to get the girl married off and the curse broken. Part Beauty and the Beast, another part Edward Scissorhands it never really got to where it wanted to be, as far as I can see. Christina Ricci does bring a wonderful sensitivity to the role of Penelope; imagine growing up as child and being ridiculed all the time for your looks, and then having your own parents (played with panache by Catherine O'Hara and Richard E. Grant) perpetuate that by hiding you from the rest of the world as you grow up. Oh well. I have hopes that Never Back Down will deliver exactly what I expect it to, which is absolutely nothing but a lot of eye candy with their shirts off fighting to the death.

I cooked dinner for us and then turned Darlene into a Torchwood fan, sending her home with all 9 episodes of season 2 that have been shown so far this year. There was even some gratuitous Doctor Who viewing.

Daylight saving time hit and the clocks went ahead. And I went to Miriam's apartment to breathe some CO2 on her plants, make myself breakfast (because I do enjoy a change of scene) and unclog her bathtub drain for her. And she's not even there - she's away for work. Once that was all under control I headed home and got some sleep before coming into work, had dinner, watched Sunshine on DVD, then got ready to come to work. As I was leaving I took a look back and saw how comfortable and inviting the place was and wished I had another few days to enjoy it, but no.

And here I am. I'm at work. Naughty me blogging at work. But it's harmless, and I am on my break. It's been a pretty rum sort of Monday morning, there are no major anythings going on. A quiet start to the week; I'm cool with that. There are no major events brewing in my presonal life either, so I expect it all to go just swimmingly for the next few days, which will result in some pretty boring blog entries, but it can't always be exciting. I could use some more sleep anyways.

That is all.

The Party's Over

Well that vacation is done and gone and dead and buried and any other means I can think of to convey the disappointment I feel at it being over.

It wasn't a bad time though. As always with these things I find myself wishing I could have done more. My last few days were quiet, of course, but I spend the last full night in style getting absolutely annihilated on martinis at Hey Lucy! with my friend Crystal. As we sipped and glanced owlishly about us we agreed that the trailers for the violent teen movie Never Back Down look like fun so we are going to see it when it opens on 14 March.

I returned to work on Thursday night for Friday morning, for one night only, just to see how things were going there and because I didn't have enough vacation hours for a full two weeks, and it felt like not really being there at all. My fellow supervisors were all happy to see me though and said hello and welcomed me back, that felt good. And last night I had dinner with a friend from work, Brian, his wife, and their friends at a Korean restaurant around Bloor and Christie. Once we were done there I met my friend Heather at The Spotted Dick and we had us some drinks as well as the latest snowstorm that everyone is moaning about started bearing down on the city.

Yeah more snow. Just what we have always wanted. Now I'm not going to add my voice to all the bitching because I don't drive anymore, and sure the sidewalks get a bit clogged but I have good boots. This is Canada, and it snows here in the winter. There's no way to control it or stop it. If people want to sit around and bitch about the snow, they should move.

So this is Saturday morning. Once I have had my cuppa tea I am going out in said snow for my shopping expedition. I need a few things for dinner tonight with my friend Darlene, who is coming to visit from Newmarket. We'll do a movie and such fun flummery this afternoon, and I also need to pick up a new book to read. I want to get some of the new Star Wars titles but I am a fan of hardcovers so I will have to grab what I can at World's Biggest Bookstore today. I really need to read more. I used to just suck down books when I worked for Penguin Books, but now that just doesn't happen and I'm feeling like I'm turning into something stupid. Reviews of what I read will find their way onto here, unless they are Doctor Who titles, which go on the other blog.

So I have my tea, I will sip and then go out soon. A full review of today will be posted tomorrow.

That is all.

Vacation - Day 11

Yesterday's continuing birthday fun was quite good; started with the mundane chore of doing laundry, although with Miriam to accompany me there was nothing mundane about it. I'm sure the other patrons at the Laundry Express at Davisville and Yonge either think we're a really cute couple or we're absolutely mad. Caffiennated, washed and tumbled dry and folded, we were ready for the rest of the day. Michelle and Greg arrived and together we went to the Pickle Barrel for a quick, light lunch and then upstairs to the movies to see The Other Boleyn Girl, which is the story of one of the ill-fated wives of Henry VIII.

The review:

I suppose they meant well. But come on, having your wicked way with historical facts just to make a movie entertaining is just plain wrong. Here we see Mary Boleyn give birth to a son for Henry, which was the one thing he desired the most, and it never happened that way at all. Queen Catherine of Aragon could only produce one child for him, a daughter named Mary, but before bedding Ann Boleyn (a role only slightly managed through by Natalie Portman, who obviously thought with all the wierd hats and what not on her head here that she was still Padme Amidala-Skywalker) Henry had a son by Lady Blount, a son who later died of a fever. Lady Blount is nowhere to be seen in this version of the story, nor are half the characters who should be. The Henry we see here is a less intense man, a man who is easily beguiled and bewitched by his mistress, but with no mention of the ongoing strife with Spain and France, I suppose he was easily distracted. The whole break with the Catholic church for the sake of being with Ann is treated with the same importance as one might go and buy a loaf of bread; it just, like, happens. I found that a lot of the historical detail is just glossed over to give us a chick flick in corsets. If you're thinking of seeing this film, don't. Rent The Tudors instead; the performances in that serial are much more compelling, and even though it is not entirely accurate either, it's closer to the truth than this was.

End of review.

I came home from the movie and felt a fever creeping up on me again so I was into bed quite early, making it easy for me to get up early todat and escort Miriam to the airport for her flight to Calgary. She's off for three weeks now doing training seminars for work, and I'll admit I am going to be slightly lonely without her around to chat with. But I shall survive. I have the serious business of kicking this cold to deal with, and tomorrow I have some shopping to do: two classic Doctor Who adventures will be released on DVD tomorrow so I will have to get those. I also want to hit a No Frills and stock up on stuff since they're having a big sale of items for $1. It's not exactly the way I wanted my vacation to end, with me being sick and coughing a lot, but I am going to make the best of it.

That is all.

Vacation - Day 10

I missed a couple it seems. Shall we backtrack?

On Friday the high point of my day was getting a few beers with my buddy Warren. Warren and I met in 2006; he's a sweet gent from South Africa who happens to be engaged to the daughter of a former co-worker. The wedding's come up soon, so there's bound to be a fun posting about that in the near future. Anyways, amid Friday's late afternoon snowstorm we had a few pints of Guinness and hit a few topics of coversation... good times.

Saturday (yesterday) was the big day of the weekend. I usually go down to the St Lawrence Market for some grocery shopping on Saturday mornings, and I go quite early, but this time I had companions: Miriam and Heidi. I was very impressed: Miriam awake and ready to go at 6 AM! It wasn't really the best day for the ladies to go with me as they are both going away next week for a trip, so they were not into buying a lot of food, but good times were had. After we were done there we trooped up to Eglinton and Mt Pleasant to get pedicures. Fantastic. I'll admit I get a bit nervous when they start going over my feet with that razor, but the end result is fantastic; callouses shaved down, toenails clipped and trimmed... everyone needs this. We got pizza in afterwards and watched Hot Fuzz before we called it a day.

And then I got sick.

Yes, today is my birthday, and my present from the gods of irony is illness. I managed to sleep okay last night what with having been up so early and then taking a night time cold relief pill, but at one point in the night I woke up with a horrible fever and had to pile on blankets to sweat it out of me. I still feel a bit warm right now but it could just be from the hot shower I took. I can feel sinus pressure inside my head; it's making my teeth hurt. And I have events today; Michelle and Greg are coming down for brunch and a movie, so I have to recover enough to be hospitable but not give them my cold on top of everything. I have a few hours to go before then; I should be okay.

I'm not going to dwell on the whole "I'm turning 37" thing today. True, it's that much closer to 40, but my friend Jamie will get there before me, so he can tell me what it's like. Then I will decide if I will stick with this ageing thing or dig my heels in and fight it.

So for now more tea will do, and all sorts of warm healing thoughts.

That is all.