- John Green.
- Macarons and the food bloggers who make them look easy.
- Caffeine improves my writing.
- Wine improves my French.
- Polar bears are left-handed. Who knew?
Archive for December, 2009
Rachelle’s best discoveries of 2009
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009On building character
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009Every year for nearly the past decade, I’ve forced myself to do at least one big thing that’s outside of my comfort zone. One year it was Latin American hand drumming. Another year it was snowboarding. A few years ago I mastered clipless bicycle pedals and did a sprint triathlon. This year I became a teacher.
It’s all about character-building – forcing myself to do something that intimidates the bajeezus out of me. Sometimes it turns out smashingly, as in the case of teaching – I adore it! Other times, it results in severe pain, as in the case of the clipless pedals (picture me careening down a hill toward a four-way stop UNABLE TO UNCLIP MY FEET. It was messy to say the least). But always, there is a sense of accomplishment, of fear conquered, bruises overcome.
I’m not sure what I’ll take on in 2010. I’ve tried to convince P to take a trapeze class with me, so that we have the alternate career of circus performers to fall back on. But he refuses to indulge me. Generally, character-building activities must be undertaken alone.
Maybe it’ll be something hands-on, like drawing or making macrame owls. Or something strenuous, like backpacking in the Yukon. Ooh. I could learn to scale walls or walk on stilts or do my own taxes! Or volunteer to band migratory birds in the South Pacific!
Sigh. The choices are endless. Now if only the budget was too.
For that person who has everything…
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009I admit, I’m not a watch person. The last watch I owned I bought for three dollars at a mall kiosk in Borneo. It was plastic and bendy. I lost it on a ferry and mourned for all of 30 seconds.
But many people are big fans of watches. People with large amounts of disposable income. (Don’t you just love the phrase “disposable income”? It makes me giggle and wonder if I’ll ever have it.) People who don’t mind – nay, who like – the idea of owning a watch with an indescribably ridiculous name.
And there are wristwatches for every such person on your Christmas list! For example:
For the distinguished professor emeritus of marine biology, why not buy an Oyster Perpetual Datejust?
For the neighbour who owes his fortune to racehorses, there is always the Ulysse Nardin Triplejack Minute Repeater.
For that uncle everyone suspects is in the mafia, consider the Hublot Black Caviar Bang.
And for your brother who thinks he’s James Bond, there is the Concord C1 Quantum Gravity Tourbillon.
So there you have it. All those people on your list are taken care of, and you only had to drop a few million smackers. Tis the season, people. Tis the season.
Five-year-old feminists. Fabulous.
Thursday, December 10th, 2009Today my awesome writer f
riend Ria Voros sent me a fun article all about kid lit books that could potentially teach children about gender equality. I now know what my niece is getting for Christmas: the Girls Are Not Chicks colouring book. Nineteen months old isn’t too young for a feminist education, is it?
You can read about radicalising wee readers here.
Tis the season…for lists
Sunday, December 6th, 2009With Christmas a mere 19 days away, I think I’m ready to start feeling festive. P put lights up around our balcony window yesterday, and I dug out the Santa statue that I broke last year but glued back together rather clumsily. We’re scheming about mulled wine and skating in Robson Square, and outside our window, there’s a “tree” lit up in the middle of Lost Lagoon, which is odd but also comforting.
The holidays are a time for lists, in my opinion. Like “Fun Things to Bake” lists (chocolate pixies, pumpkin macarons…). Also, “What I Want for Christmas” lists (MEC soft shell, Canada Council grant…). And of course, “What I’m Going to do Better in 2010″ lists (overcome fear of Twitter, write better grant applications…). Etc.
Apparently, my writer friend Tanya Lloyd Kyi feels kind of the same way (about the lists, not the grant applications). Recently, she posted a list of her favourite things on her blog. So since she asked, I thought I’d leap in with a list of my own all-time favourite things.
In no particular order…
- Sunshine
- Cross-country skiing on blue wax
- Dark chocolate
- Great Danes (the canine variety. Although great Danish people are cool too)
- Breakfast (like Tanya. But in particular, breakfast cereal)
- Red wine in collapsible backcountry wine glasses
- Americanos from the Wicked Cafe on 7th and Hemlock
- Deliveries from Amazon
- Green tea gelato
- Early morning road rides that end at the Wicked Cafe on 7th and Hemlock
