What I didn't do yesterday...

I forgot to call my dad to wish him a Happy Birthday! I'm such a bad daughter.




It's not like it was an important birthday or anything...he only turned 65.


My hard drive is out of commission at the moment (nothing serious; I just need to relocate the power bar it used to be plugged into), so I didn't have access to old pictures of my dad. However, I think I may have done one better by locating and pulling out this (plus, of course, now having digitally preserved it*):



This is my dad's lasting contribution to my autograph book, signed about 25 years ago in 1986. I got an autograph book in 1986 shortly before heading off to Choir Camp in Berwick, N.S.,** and got my family members to sign it. I may post more of these in the future -- some are pretty funny.

So my dad is now 65. He will be retiring at the end of the summer, and my parents have decided to move to Ottawa. They are looking at buying a condo in the same building as my aunt, right near U of O. This is a bit crazy for me to get my head around. It will be fun having my parents back in the same city as me; however, it will be strange not having my parents in Toronto, which is where I am used to them being. Toronto has been "home" for me for many years, and that is going to change. Robert and Judy will be staying in Toronto (despite mine and Jerome's numerous entreaties to move to Ottawa), and I still have many friends who live in Toronto, but without a bedroom to call my own when I get there, it's just not going to be the same.


* This is also my submission for the Shutterbug Challenge for today.

** My brother's ex-wife also attended that same Choir Camp in 1986. I can't remember how we actually discovered this, but sure enough, there she is in a corner of the group photo we took. She wasn't in my cabin, but it's entirely possible I spoke to her at some point (there was maybe only 100 kids there). Crazy!

It's my party...

...and I'll blog about me if I want to.

I was going to post this picture of me, at the age of 2:


Somewhat frighteningly, I look largely the same now as I did then, though the hair is a little more unruly now. Add glasses and incorporate a slight decline in fashion sense (this was the best blue-and-red velvet dress there ever was), and voilà - me, 30 years later, on the same day, in 2008.

Anyway, as I was saying, I was going to post that picture of me, but I feel obliged to post the cover of the birthday card that Randal gave to me instead:



Hey, Andy Warhol couldn't have done this any better.

In other birthday-related news, today I learned another reason why the date November 22 is historically important/interesting. In addition to being the day marking both the death of JFK (in 1963) and of course the day when I first graced this earth (in 1976), it is also the day French troops crushed any hope of an independent Alsatian republic in the town of Strasbourg. Thanks to my good friend Mark of Marching Fishes fame for having friends as interested in history as him.

Happy Birthday, Randal

The ever-elusive Mr. K.*

Today is Randal's birthday. We don't have anything crazy planned, though we did rent a car for the weekend so we could tool around town. Tonight we are going bowling with some friends, tomorrow night we are going out for a nice fancy dinner, and Randal also took Monday off from work (lucky duck - I have two classes to teach and am not so fortunate).

He is, of course, turning 27. Give or take a decade or so.

* I like the almost-artsy feel of this pic, or at least the fact I can pretend it was planned to take it that way, rather than merely a bad cropping job after-the-fact or one of those unplanned moments where the subject suddenly turns his head as the shutter snaps. Plus the fact that there seems to be (my) fingers growing from his neck adds a certain Lovecraftian element, no?

60- er, I mean, 29...

Today my mom turns 60 or, as she likes to call it "29...no, make that 28."

As has (sort of) become my tradition, I present to you here a picture that I stole off her Flickr page:



The Birthday Girl, swimming with sharks, or at least, a noticeable lack thereof.

And now, if you will excuse me, instead of posting witticisms about my mother on the occasion of her birthday here, I am going to telephone her.*


* Good excuse, huh?

It's his party, and he'll cry if he wants to

Today is my dad's 62nd birthday.*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

While I admire my Dad for many things, not least of which is his penchant for Star Trek and a myriad of other stellar (pun intended) and not-so-watchable sci-fi shows, the most noteworthy aspect of his personality is his ability to stay calm as a cucumber and happy as a clam in the face of clear and present danger**:




* But who's counting, right? Hey, only 38 more years till your centennial! heehee :)

** With thanks to my mom (Photoshop is her best friend, but I won't tell you which part has been 'Shopped in), from whom I stole this photo without her consent. What's she going to do? Sue me? Her daughter is a lawyer, true, so I guess it's always possible.

See that white stuff? It's called snow.

When I was a kid, we lived in Halifax, and I remember thinking that my birthday was the greatest day of the year because it was always the day we had our first snowfall. Now, I have no proof that it first snowed on November 22 consistently every year, and when I think about it, I'm sure there were years when it snowed much, much sooner. But for the last 10 years or so, it's been the reverse: No snow on my birthday. Winter has been coming later.* So I was thrilled this year, when on the 20th and 21st, we had little snowfalls, and then a big one on the 22nd!



This is a picture of our little backyard and the park behind. Sadly, we are in need of more snow now, as it doesn't look so pristine anymore. The last few days have been mild, and it's started to melt and become half-icy, half-slushy. I never thought I'd say this, but I WANT MORE SNOW!!!

In other news, the birthday was well-spent. It was really low-key. I spent the first part of the day lazing around, then I went to the gym. Then Randal made me dinner and it was sooo tasty: bacon-wrapped scallops for an appetizer, butternut squash soup, salad with mangoes and pomegranates and apples, then a main course of baked salmon, and finally, birthday carrot cake and tea! Lovely.

Over the weekend, we painted one room - the little front bedroom that is now going to be our "office" (computer room, really). Instead of butter yellow, it is now a nice dark, mossy green. Today we are putting together the IKEA computer desk. Tomorrow, I'm off to the gym. Wednesday, we're painting our bedroom. Then, Thursday, we're off to Toronto for the weekend. Next week, more painting.

So you see, I don't just sit around in my jammies and play video games all day long. Though that sounds awfully tempting.

* And before you all start saying, "No snow! Isn't that great!", let me compare the lack of snow in Japan in Nov/Dec/Jan to the lack of snow in Canada during the same time period. In Gifu City last winter, the snow was almost non-existent. It didn't even get very cold, for that matter. (At least not for a Canuck.) The grass stayed green. The skies were often blue. Plants continued looking nice. And people grew flowers, yes, flowers, outside in pots throughout the winter. It was pretty and colourful. I told my students, when they asked me why I thought it was better to have lots of snow in the wintertime, that the snow, in Canada at least, where nothing else is growing in winter, hides the ugliness of winter. It is bright and crisp and clean. Of course, I left out part about the spring when it all melts and becomes a foot of slush. Yuck.

It's my birthday. So there.

Things have been so up in the air around here that I just haven't really felt like posting, not that there's much to post about. Randal and I moved into our townhouse on October 30, and since then, there has a been a flurry of shopping and unpacking and organizing and going to Toronto and coming back and more unpacking and more shopping. I think Randal and I have done more shopping in the past few weeks than we've done in our entire relationship to date!

I'm working on taking photos of our place and will start posting them, bit by bit. Still no employment for me, so I really have no excuse other than my usual procrastination and laziness. I just put up the entire Roadtrip to Winnipeg, so please feel free to amuse yourselves with viewing those in the meantime.

In other news, after two tiny snowfalls in the last two days, we are now having our first real snowfall/storm of the year. It's beautiful, but what I really dig about the whole thing is the current feed from the CBC-Ottawa webcam:



God, I love Canada.*

* In other news, rumour has it that Elliott (he of the no-I'm-never-updating-this-again blog is thrilled.

A quarter of a century ago...

My little brother, Robert, is 25 years old today. A quarter of a century. God, that makes me feel old.

Before he was born, I had been the youngest for 5 1/2 years. And I liked it that way. When my mom asked me whether I thought she would have a little brother or a little sister, I cheekily replied, "Maybe you'll have a chair!" But, alas - I was never allowed to sit on my little brother. When I first saw him, however, I was smitten. He had big chubby cheeks until the age of 2 or 3, and I gave him the nickname "Bushy", short for "Bush Boy" (I was also going through an Australian folk song kick at the time - don't all 5-year-olds?).

Anyway, Robert, I hope your day is a good one!

"Happy BIRTH-day, dear Mommy..."

My mom is 59 today. She has one more year before she will stop riding for free as a Senior's Companion with my dad on VIA Rail. Then she also becomes, well, I'll save that for next year's blog post :)


In honour of your birthday, Mom, I give you your Celebrity Look-Alikes:



Yeah, I don't know who most of them are either. But all 9 of you are beautiful! And Liza Minelli - that's pretty cool!

Here's me:




Apparently MyHeritage disagrees with 99.99% of the population and does not think we look alike, or at least that the celebrities that look like us do not look alike.


Warning: I plan on pushing the "I resemble Scarlett Johanssen" line as much as I can from now on. Sweet! On the other hand, let us never mention the fact that I also apparently resemble one of the Olsen twins.

Ma chère grandmère, c'est à ton tour...

Ma grandmaman Cosette fête ses 91 ans aujourd'hui. Elle fût née en 1916.



Ceci est un photo d'elle dès son retour des Caraïbes en mars 2001, où elle est allée avec mes parents pour un séjour, mais je ne me souviens pas quelle île ils ont visiter.

One of my favourite stories that I like to tell about my grandmaman:* When I was a small child (like 5 or 6), she would speak to us in a mixture of French and English. As I grew older, she spoke less and less to me in English. By the time I was 14 or so, and consistently ever since then, I have never heard my grandmaman speak English. She would sometimes be in Toronto visiting us and would seem slightly perplexed upon meeting some of my unilingual anglophone friends. Or sometimes, since my parents and I always speak in English together, she would remark (in French) how she couldn't follow our conversations. And she has often said how proud she is that my older brother and I have worked so hard at learning and maintaining our French so that she can have good long conversations with us (Robert is a lost cause - he will dig out his French somewhat unwillingly only).

So. Two or three years ago, Randal and I were heading to Montreal for a visit. He had never met my grandmaman before. He also does not speak (much) French. I apologized multiple times before going that my grandmaman was a sweetheart and spoke beautiful French, and that she used to speak English (she did live in Ottawa for over 30 years) but that I was sure she had lost any English she used to know. Randal says OK, that's fine, he'll fumble through dinner, etc., in what little French he knows.

When we arrive at my grandmaman's place, I introduce them, and she asks Randal, "Est-ce que tu parles français?" With a sad face, he responds, "Ah, juste un petit peu." She then proceeds to spend the entire weekend yammering away with him in ENGLISH. Almost perfect English, just like I remember her speaking. She shows him everything - her stamp collections, her photo albums from way back when, her extensive library collection. All in English. I couldn't believe it. Randal couldn't stop laughing at me. I think my jaw spent the entire weekend on the floor. When I asked her about this, she replied simply that if she'd let me speak to her in English, she knew I wouldn't want to speak with her in French. And she was right. And I thank her for that.

Obaasan [grandmother] wa suki desu.

(Now, I just need a Japanese grandmother who will refuse to speak to me in English, and I'll learn Japanese in no time flat. ...Oh, wait. I have an entire COUNTRY of Japanese grandmothers! So why isn't it working? Gah.)


* As I am much wittier in English, and besides, not all of my readers know French (though, of course, they should), allow me to make the switch. I plan on taking classes to further improve my French (especially written) upon my return home, however.

Lordy, lordy...look who's, uh, sixty-one!

It couldn't possibly be the Chicken Man!*

Yes, while I wasn't there myself to witness this event, I have been advised and do verily believe that 61 years ago today, this man, who we like to call either "Pierre" or "Dad", was born. Let me repeat that: 61 years ago today.

I did a quick Wikipedia search and have learned that February 5th is the 36th day in the Gregorian calendar. OK, I could have figured that one out on my own by counting from January 1, but it sounds really cool anyway. I also learned, amongst other things:

February 5th is Constitution Day in Mexico. Also on this day, Pakistan observes the public holiday called Kashmir Day. The national poet of Finland, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, was born on this day in 1804 (so a bit older than my dad). Also born on this day were Sanjo, a former Emperor of Japan, in 976, writer William S. Burroughs in 1914, and, in 1934, the most important Canadian ever, Don Cherry!!! As if that wasn't enough, February 5th is also the feast day of Saint Agatha of Sicily, the patron saint of firework makers and glass blowers (cool! partay!!!), and also of Saint Bertolf, whoever he was.

For political junkies, in 1963, Diefenbaker's minority government was defeated on this day over its nuclear weapons policy (that was a good thing, for sure). For sports fans, Gordie Howe played his last all-star NHL game on this day in 1980. For music junkies, Joni Mitchell was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame on this day in 1981. For monarchists, on February 5th, 1811, the Prince of Wales became Prince Regent after his father George III was declared insane. He later (the Prince, not the King) became George IV (and I guess Victoria's father?).

Finally, since my dad likes weather information, the coldest day in the province of Quebec in recorded history happened on this day in 1923 in Doucet (I'm not even sure where that is), when the temperature dipped to -54.4 degrees Celsius. I don't know if that's including windchill or not.

Anyway, Dad, have a good one!


* Yes, I grew up with a chicken coop in our backyard. I hated having to go collect the eggs - invariably, the nastiest hen of all would be sitting on 'em, and she would snap at me. No, I did not grow up on a farm. We lived about 30 minutes outside Halifax, N.S., in dear old Cole Harbour, and we had a large yard with a lot of woods around us, and one year, after a neighbour gave my brother and I baby chicks for Easter (what kind of a present is that???), my dad decided to get a whole brood of 'em. Yikes. It was kinda cool.

OK, five things...

Usually I don't bother with these things, since I am lazy, lazy, lazy. But Rebecca tagged me to tell you five things about myself, based on posts I've written over the last year.* So here goes nothing:


1. I took two Japanese language classes, but my Japanese still sucks. However, I made two new invaluable friends in the process.**

2. I made an inordinate number of excursions to Toronto, having travelled travelled there no less than five times, in the first half of the year. The Great Travelling Julie Roadshow also went to Montreal, and Vancouver and Winnipeg.

3. Oh yeah: I moved to Japan. Further travel has since ensued: Kyoto, Himeji, Hiroshima and Miyajima in one fell swoop, Tokyo, and Bali, as well as Gujo-Hachiman, Seki, Mino, Yoro, and Nagoya (many times), also all in Japan, and Gili Air and Taipei during my recent Christmas travels (all referenced, but yet unblogged at any length).

4. I also turned 30, but who's counting, anyway?

5. I'm an earthquake junkie, and was pleased to experience two small quakes last year alone. I still rue the one that got away, however...


Now I think I am supposed to pass this along, but I don't know many people who have had a blog long enough to do this justice (well, that, and who might actually respond). Well, let's try you, you, you, you, and, uh, either you or you (it's worth a shot) on for size.


* This took way too long. Instead of thinking about what I've written about and picking five things (which would have taken five minutes), I sucked myself into reading every post I wrote over the last year. It was interesting but it took about 2 hours and, man, am I ever starving!!! Furthermore, in compiling this list, I made a discovery. I discuss the weather far more than could possibly be healthy. A few samples: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. If nothing else, my dad is sure to be proud.

** Simon informed me before the holidays that he is never updating the site again (to which I respond "never say never") so don't wait with bated breath. You can go say hello to Elliott instead.

Too funny not to share...

So I woke up this morning, breathing and alive. Good start to the day. Thanks to those who sent birthday wishes via email - much appreciated. I also got a number of funny e-cards. But the "Best. Card. Ever." prize is awarded to Erin in Nagasaki, who sent me this (make sure your speakers are on). It's too funny. I had to watch it twice. Then again.

My supervisor came running up to me in a panic midway through lunchtime today. When she saw I was still eating (egg sandwich - what can I say? I like to live on the wild side), she started to back off, but I insisted I could finish the sandwich later and what was up? She told me to come to the physics staff room. We literally ran there, and it turned out that some of the teachers had gotten me a cake! There weren't any candles (they found one later, though), so one of the physics teachers found one of those moving fibre optic lamps (with the poufy, long strands you can run your fingers through), and we turned off all the lights and pretended that was candles.

Tonight we are going out for fancy French dinner. I am just waiting for Randal to arrive (probably in about an hour or so).

Last day ever

Tomorrow is my birthday. And as Randal was sweet enough to point out yesterday, today is the last day of my twenties. Always full of reassuring words, that man.

It was fairly un-noteworthy. The only interesting things:

At the end of the day, as I was walking down the stairs to the parking lot at school, one of my first-years (I think) whizzed by on his bicycle. He always seems somewhat interested in class, but has never said boo to me. Today, he called out, "Bye!" Then, "See you!" Then, "I love you!" (I think. He was a little far off at that point.) I have apparently taught these kids all they need to know. :)

Then, about a half-hour ago, I stepped out onto my balcony to hang the laundry I had just finished doing, and as I went to clip a sock to the laundry hanger, I almost jumped off the balcony in fright as my balcony gecko had come back to visit and was stuck silently to the wall. Upon realizing it was a gecko and not Godzilla, I ran back in the room to get my digital camera, but by the time I got back out, he was gone. It made me think of the geckos in Thailand - they were everywhere, including probably 5 or 6 on the ceiling of the hotel room I stayed in in Chiang Mai. Freaked my roommate out, but I thought they were kinda cool.

Anyway, I plan to enjoy the rest of my last day ever by cleaning my apartment (Randal is coming over tomorrow - we're going out for dinner but then back here, so it should look somewhat presentable), eating instant noodles, and if I'm really lucky, playing some Rollercoaster Tycoon. A fitting tribute to the last decade that was. I'm sure I'll be dead of old age by the morning...

35 bottles of beer on the wall...

No, not more karaoke. (Thank goodness.)

Rather, it is Randal's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Randal!



Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway. That's what I like about ya.

tanjōbi

tanjōbi = birthday

As in, getsu-yōbi wa ani no tanjōbi deshita.*



Today my brother Jerome turned 32-and-two-days.**

Happy Birthday, Jerome!

This auspicious occasion serves to underscore the fact that yours truly, in just over two months, will be turning...uh, 26. Yeeeeaahhh, that sounds about right. 26.

Jerome, your (actual) birthday was celebrated by me with a tasty tofu-and-rice meal with beer, and a mango pudding, from a lovely restaurant at the third-largest mall in Japan. All in all, it was a good day. Hope yours was too!

* I think my possessive is in the right order: my brother's birthday, and not my birthday's brother! If not, gomen nasai, and I leave it to Elliott to correct me if necessary. Getsu-yōbi, btw, is "Monday", which was my brother's actual birthday. Again, gomen nasai.

** Fact: I wouldn't be your sister if I wasn't a day or two late!!! :)

Speaking of Jerrobert...

...it's his birthday.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLOBBERT!

It's my brother Robert's birthday today. Today he turns the ripe old age of 24, reminding me that I will always be 5 1/2 years older than him. :)

I had to post a picture of the aforementioned blue hair. Though the blue hair was in 1999 or so (this is a pic from Christmas 1999) and it is long gone. I am happy (read: jealous) to report that his hair, once again dark brown, is now much longer, thicker and curlier than mine will ever be. And I have made my peace with that thought.

You're $@!- HOW -#%! old????

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (again), REBECCA!!!

As the Japanese would say: Rebecca no tanjōbi wa nijū-ichi [22] san-gatsu [March] desu.

As Julie would say: I'm still younger than you. :)

Better late than never...

It was my Grandmaman Cosette's 90th birthday on Monday, February 20. (Not the grandmother in the picture in the previous post with my dad - she sadly passed away in 2003 - but my mother's mother.) Lame excuse, I guess, but it's been a really busy week. I did send her a card (via my aunt who was going to visit her for her birthday) and a little package (ginger chocolates, of course!). I don't even know if she reads my blog (she does have email, and I gave her the blog address once), but if she does:


BONNE FÊTE, GRANDMAMAN!!!

All I know is, I can only hope that when I am 90, I am like my grandmother. She lives on her own in a condo in downtown Montreal. My uncle, who lives not too far away, goes to visit her at least twice a week, and helps her with any repairs, problems, etc., that she may have around her place. About seven years ago, she broke a hip, but still manages to get around. Once or twice a week, she picks up a bunch of her friends and drives them to wherever that day's bridge game is being held. In her house, she has a whole room just for her books. When she was younger, she travelled to some far-away places, like Australia and France. My grandfather (who died in 1985) was a botanist and in fact, I believe that's how they first met - in a botany class in 1939 at Université de Montréal:


My grandmother is the woman in the front row with the white lace collar, and my grandfather is sitting to her right. They got married in 1946, I believe, after WWII. My brother found this pic one day on the Université de Montréal archives' website.

Anyway, I will update you all on my thus-far much shorter life soon, but not tonight!

The Big Kahuna Turns 6-0

My dad (pictured here with his mother) is 60 years old today.
Happy birthday!!!