Monday, November 17, 2008

New Link

Sometimes you just gotta share.
A friend put me onto exboyfriendjewelry.com where you can get rid of the jewelry that you can't wear anymore because it's too painful or whatever. And the stories associated with each listing can be pretty good, in a horrific schadenfreude kinda way.
But that site has a new sister site called stuffthatsleftbehind.com and it is simply a website where people can post the stories of things they still have from relationships past and present. My favourite post is about Zoe the cat under the heading "Stuff you got together".
Check it out.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Transcanada - The Mini Adventure

Yesterday I found myself doing some errands in the box store business park out beyond the overpass. Out beyond the overpass is a local way of saying 'in the boonies', but as the city grows, more and more of the new suburbs are beyond the overpass. The overpass is the Trans Canada Highway which was extended only a few years ago to circle around the city, with exits for all the major arterials that lead to downtown so that the map looks like a bicycle wheel with spokes leading to the centre. Prior to that I think it just went to Kenmount Road and then used that road to get to the city proper.
It's an idea, founded in Canadian Geography, that the TCH stretches across the continent from St. John's, capital of the eastern most province, to Victoria, capital of the western most province. And yesterday, as I was just right there in the business park, so close to the actual easterly end of the TCH I thought to myself "Wouldn't it be fun to drive to Mile One?" So I got on the TCH heading east.
Mile One is the beginning of the TCH. Mile One is also the name of the Stadium downtown right next to City Hall, and I can be forgiven in thinking that Mile One of the TCH went to Mile One Centre on New Gower St.
After all, there are other cities which have important roads that lead to the centre of town. And I was expecting that somehow, I would get from the ring road to downtown St John's simply by following a route laid out in familiar white on green lettering. In Victoria there is a Mile Zero Monument at the end of Douglas Street and a Mile Zero Convention Centre and that is what I was expecting here too. (Yes, it is peculiar that Mile Zero and Mile One are 7800 miles apart.)
It started out fine. I entered a divided TCH from Aberdeen St. I passes the exit sign for Paradise. The TCH was no longer divided. I passed the exit sign for Logy Bay. Now I was down to just two lanes. I passed the somewhat smaller sign for Robinhood Bay Municipal Waste Site. And then that was it. No more TCH signs. The next sign was a 50 Maxium , and then I was on a street in Quidi Vidi with 60's era houses and neat front lawns. I came to a STOP sign at the Boulevard. I was thinking to myself, "If I were a tourist that had just driven from Victoria non-stop on the same road, I would be mighty confused."
And then I thought, "The TCH does not stretch from capital to capital. The TCH goes to a dump."
And then I thought, "If I lived on East White Hills Road, I could tell people coming for a visit to just get on the TCH going east and drive until you can't drive anymore."
It was a bit of a let down.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Remembrance Day Rant

Before I toddle off to a ceremony downtown at the cenotaph this morning, I would like to confess that I didn't get a poppy this year. Usually, I get two or three because you lose them right. And then I hit on the practise of using a small pin with a back to keep them on and that works very well. But this year I couldn't even find a poppy tray to get a poppy. I started looking on Nov 2 when the TV newscasters started sporting theirs on the CBC evening news. (This, in my opinion, is about the only useful thing the local evening news in St John's is good for because that program is usually an embarrassing hour of amateur night and technical screw ups, but that is another rant.) Usually poppies are everywhere, and it is easy to find them, but either I'm not going to the right places or there is a distinct lack of poppy trays out there this year.
Now the first option could be the case. In the last two weeks, I have been to the studio, three grocery stores and a drug store postal outlet so it is entirely possible that my lack of consumerism is to blame for my poppylessness. What can I say? I haven't trolled the mall since 1991, and usually it is Study boy that goes to the convenience store on the corner. But until this year I haven't found that to be a problem in my annual November poppy quest.
My question is this: Has anyone else noticed a lack of poppiness in the world this year? I remember that a few years ago there was a great outrage because veterans were being asked not to sell poppies in certain places. Is this a fall out from that policy?
As a result, off I go to the ceremony, feeling naked.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Back to the Studio

There comes a time every fall when gardeners just want to say "Enough already!" and stop the tedious chores associated with putting the nursery to bed for winter.
That time came about a month ago for me, when work consisted weeding, counting, grading and moving 100's of plants into cold frames. Last week it was down to washing pots, so there were no regrets when I got my lay off notice.
And for my efforts mother nature decided a reprieve from cold weather was in order and this week it is back to September like temperatures (for now). We still have pansies, snaps and a rose blooming in the garden. This bird was the only one the dog didn't try to eat.
I'm using the warm weather as an opportunity to walk to the studio for exercise so I can continue to wear my skinny jeans. It's not just a life of leisure for me yet though, the Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council has a Christmas Craft Fair each November and so my studio treks have as much to do with volunteering for that event as it does about getting muddy. If you are in NL check out the Fair webpage to see what it is all about.
The benefit of the craft fair in November to all of us non-producing amateur potters is that the kilns are running back to back everyday for all the exhibitors to get their wares ready for the fair. This means our stuff is pushed through faster than usual and the long wait to see the final result is much shorter. Instant gratification pottery.
The Studyboy is still slogging away at the exams. He begins writing the second one on Monday. There are now permanent bags under his eyes, so much so that I'm considering changing his name to Bagboy. If the last exam was anything to go by, he will be completely wiped out by the following week. I'm doing my best to keep the fridge full of food and the tea hot.