Jen va à Montréal

Tonight, Megan and I take the first step of our first every ROAD TRIP! yay!!! We're heading to Whitby after work, where my parents (aka best parents ever) are inconveniencing themselves for the rest of the week so that we can borrow the van and not have to pay exorbinant VIA fares. Bright and early tomorrow, we'll get our Timmy's fix (ROLL UP THE RIM!!!!) and head due East towards countless adventures and endless fun. Then, I will get to be excited about homecoming, because I will surely miss Mark while I'm gone.

Itinerary: See Metric! Buy many many bagels! Drink amazing hot chocolate! Meet Megan's ex-landlord! Tour Concordia! La Sala Rosa! Road trip CDs!

See ya in a week :)

The Animal Collective

Saw the Animal Collective last night at the Opera House, a show that I've been really looking forward to for months. It ended up being a mostly just 'ok' show, probably because we were attached to the stairs (leaning posts = no dancing fun), Mark was physically and mentally exhausted, and my arch-nemesis was present. We ended up leaving pretty early after Mark fell asleep sitting on the stairs and they played the songs I was most excited, satisfied and mellowed from the abundance of trippy songs, and I didn't remember till today that I left before they played my favourite song - silly me!

Now looking forward to: Of Montreal!

Tonight will be my first-ever karaoke exerience!

CTT? TCT?

Someone has far too much time & genius on their hands:



Click HERE to see the map in it's full glory. I'll meet you at Only Booger.

Half-hearted post

I'm doing this out of guilt. I guess I really shouldn't, because the feeling that you have nothing interesting to write probably leads to some pretty boring writing, but like I said, I've got the guilt. You would have gotten a nice long post with pictures and stories, but that was Monday, and Blogger decided that that post was juicy enough to eat. Long story short: i doubt I'll ever get to Fran's Diner, small movie houses are awesome and restore my faith in humanity, and I should stay away from Magnums of cheap wine.

Also: The mini version of cranium is AWESOME. How to describe the berlin wall using only words starting with 'f': fascist fence falls for freedom. I have to get me that game!

Anyone in Toronto next Thursday should check this out:

Basia Bulat (www.basiabulat.com), The Adam Brown, Magnet, and Frontier Index at The Comfort Zone (College & Spadina)

Basia is a fantasic singer/songwriter and a great friend, go and clap for her!

with FOOTNOTES

I've decided to blog about it, since I'm so friggin impressed. I got an email yesterday, from a friend, about some wines that I should try (i.e. not a super serious/scholarly/businessy topic) and it had FOOTNOTES. Some people, they have technology STYLE. John, you are some people, and you get a high five.

(I'm also passing into a phase where I get excited about stuff and show it by writing words in caps)

This afternoon, I'm going to a job-leaving party for my mom, since she's decided after decades of service that she wants to try something new - yay mom!! So, starting Monday, both of us will be professional researchers (I'm guessing she'll be more professional than me though).

Megan has finally posted some writing on her blog. She's written some sort of extra chapter for a Virginia Woolf novel, which I haven't read thus can't really talk about. But I've read Ms. M, and she's GOOD (see? caps thing!).

Fistful of Love

I'm really starting to love my status as a fill-in for CHRY: I have none of the pressure of having to plan for and organize a weekly show, but all of the benefits of being able to be on the air basically as frequently as I want. I got a call last night from the station manager, who needed someone for this morning, which gave Mark and I a chance to do our first show together in a long time. It was perfect: great songs, great theme (yes, it was a bit predictable), great cohost, and great confidence/on-air banter. It felt good. And thanks to the world-class speedy advertising service provided by Nicole, I even had people listening all the way from Cambridge University in England!!

Fistful of Love (Love and Anti-Love Songs) featuring: Haywood, The Constantines, The Magnetic Fields, Young and Sexy, Weezer (Pinkerton), Sloan, The Meligrove Band, Hayden, Antony and the Johnsons, Julie Doiron, Snailhouse, The Arcade Fire, The Walkmen, Wilco, and ending off with Allergic to Love by Eric's Trip.

The rest of today will contain some low-key Valentine's activities with the man who loves me, which probably will entail buying underwear on sale and eating some sushi. I made a kickass valentine that I'll try to post soon, after it's been delivered.

Also, check out Megan's awesome post about our weekend which also features many photos in addition to this photo of these two hot ladies:

I have a strange desire to knit a sweater, and then wear it without pants.
(This of course, is courtesty of THIS hilarious site)

AND

My pirate name is:

Mad Jenny Flint

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Restlessness making me crazy

This weekend was very Friday-heavy. By that I mean that anything that happened, happened on Friday. Mark and I took my dad to see Neko Case at Lee's palace (finding out pretty late that this was actually a Sadies show *with* Neko Case). Arriving there, found out that what was actually happening was The Sadies wanting to record a live album, and inviting everyone they've ever collaborated with to join them. Neko was really only featured in about two songs, and I can't believe that I wasn't dissapointed by that! It was definitely one of the best shows I've -ever- seen, and I can't believe how much fantasticness I got for my ticket.

The guests:

Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Gary Louris, Rick White, Blue Rodeo, Jon Langford, The Good Brothers, The Deadly Snakes, Heavy Trash, Garth Hudson, Jon Spencer, The Unintended


Wow.

Show started at about 10, and wasn't over until 2am. I'm going to put up some pictures, probably tomorrow, but until then, check out these photos that are way better than mine:

Chromewaves


Other things: Mark got sick (boo), I got tired on Saturday and kicked myself in the ass for being so lame. Honestly, at 24 I should be going out on Saturday nights, not staying home making brownies (although they were very yummy). I was so bored yesterday that I vowed not to let it happen again. I think I may get myself a part-time job.

Foiled!

Frustrated with a lack of updates at Family of Friends, Jenistranslucent utilizes ninja-like skills to hack into the site and post on it myself, but I failed, miserably.

Instead, new post here!

Mark and I went to our last Winterlicious restaurant last night, the cutely-named Fred's Not Here. It was a pretty great night - thanks to this this 'Winter' being one that allows us to walk in light jackets and sweaters rather than force us to cower in subway tunnels.

All I'm going to say about Fred's is this: Lobster and Crab soup. With a layer of pastry baked ont op of the bowl so that it comes puffed up like a souffle. I definitely reccomend it, and it was nice to go somewhere where they don't treat you like cheapos for taking advantage of winterlicious. And nice to have a date night with my main squeeze :)

Tonight = Neko Case! woohoo (or more appropriately, yeehaw!)

<3

Cheers!

Congratulations Megan!!!!

Megan, one of Canada's next great writers, just got accepted into Concordia. I am so proud, and not at all surprised! Honestly, I can't believe how talented my friends are.

Dwall

n. A state somewhere in between wakefullness and sleep



I learned this word (apparently it's from Newfoundland, although it may be made-up) while reading The Colony of unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston. I really liked it - I felt as if I was learning (it's a fictional take on the life of Joe Smallwood, first premier of Nfld.) but at the same time, got the fiction fix that I love too. Back to Dwall... I finished the book last night, staying up a bit later so that I wouldn't have 20 or so pages nagging at me. Well, I Dwalled the whole night through. I felt like I was awake, but knew that I wasn't really, and it was pretty much like that until my alarm went off. It wasn't one of those frustrating bouts of insomnia, it was just a feeling that my mind was too active to completely rest. I guess that means that the book was good.

Also, Mark and I figured my description of the book was accurate, so I wrote it as a quote on the cover and now I feel famous.

A very Canadian-literary-prize sort of book." -Jennifer R... (I have a wierd paranoia about posting my full name on the internet...)