I'm craving tofu - what's wrong????

Yes, folks, I'm craving tofu. I had a bunch of tofu-y stuff yesterday from Spring Rolls (e.g., red curry with vegetables and tofu, cold vegetarian rolls), but still feel like I want some more. I have never successfully cooked tofu myself. Anyone have some good, easy recipes to share???

Baby Update #n

Need another baby update? Joe has it here.

Greenspan's real courtroom challenge

Now, don’t misunderstand me – Greenspan is one of the greatest defense attorneys in Canada, and if I were ever to be falsely accused of a crime and needed legal counsel, I would hope I’d have sufficient funds to hire Eddie Greenspan. But he’s got a significant dilemma with this case, because the real predicament is not his client’s vocabulary (which could possibly be adapted); it’s his personality. The man is a pompous A-S-S-H-O-L-E.

I doubt Greenspan is this kind of miracle worker, but, IMHO, the only way to ensure a favourable interaction between the jury and his client is to arrange for Black to get an attitude transplant.

The genius of the rubber chicken

Boss, with whom I have a very positive relationship: “Oh, I’m just feeling a little frazzled and pulled in a million directions at the moment.”

Self: “Would you like to borrow my rubber chicken?”

Boss does double take, does not know how to respond. Co-worker Julian giggles. Boss catches my goofy grin, laughs, but declines use of chicken, which I have been known to mangle in times of stress. His loss.

Allow me to introduce all of you to an item of genius: the rubber chicken.

I bought the it at the AGO a couple of years ago, I think. Somehow a chicken was a symbol or icon of an art exhibit about the future, so they were selling these extremely homely rubber chickens in the gift shop. I bought a couple as gag gifts and kept one for myself,

Over many months, this chicken has received incredible abuse. Often, when I am stressed at work, I repeatedly bang its floppy little head against my desk. Or I’ll pull its leg to hear and feel it snap back into place. It is inexpressibly cathartic. (There are worse things, all right??? I take pains to not take my frustrations out on other people, for example.)

I love offering stressed people the use/abuse of my rubber chicken. It’s surreal enough to offer a laugh at least, which eases the tension that person is feeling. They may not understand the genius of the rubber chicken, but I do. And I’m not too chicken to play the clown in my own quirky way to elicit a laugh from someone who needs it.

:)

Eclecta

Angel waiting in the semi-darkness

Position 4
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.

Taken for my photography course last night

Matthew Robertson's amazing photography

Cityplace
Originally uploaded by matthewpiers.

Matt's a buddy from my photography classes whose work is just amazing and inspiring. You can check out his blog here.

I appreciate his dry sense of humour too ... again, you can find this in his blog. :)

False choices

OK, so instead of looking through my old family album for a photo that will convince you that two-day-old Reece really, really looks like my brother, I've been catching up on other people's blogs. And one of my favourite blogs has the best rant today. I must share:

So, I recently read someone’s blog where she announced her decision to quit her job and be a stay-at-home mom, and someone in her comments stated how glad she was to hear the news, because she’d always wondered why people even have kids if they’re ‘just going to let someone else raise them’.

(I may not be quoting the commenter word for word, but I believe I am capturing the sentiment accurately.)

It’s not the first time I’ve encountered that particular point of view, although it’s been thankfully rare. I know we live in a world of diverse opinions and it’s okay to disagree and it’s all a rich tapestry blah blah blah acceptance-cakes but can someone explain to me just how the hell a person comes to see a working mother as someone who does not raise her own fucking children?

God, it makes me angry. It makes me angry that as parents we are so quick to judge one another’s choices. It makes me angry that someone out there believes I provide Riley with a sub-standard childhood because he goes to a dynamic, loving childcare environment for part of the week. It makes me wonder just how much crack someone has to smoke to believe that mothers and fathers who work outside the home somehow escape the responsibilities of parenting — the joys, the burdens, the whole rollercoaster.

I have to wonder how much - or whether - our society has changed when there is still this pressure on women to choose between family and career. Why are men not faced with the same societal pressures? You would never hear anyone congratulate a man for quitting his job to stay at home with his kids "rather than letting strangers raise them".

OK, too sleep deprived to continue my share in this rant. To be continued ...

Another baby update

OK, Joe has posted more updates - with pictures! - at http://craniumoutpost.blogspot.com. Both babies are doing really well, which is most excellent news!!!! He has also posted several pictures. The babies' faces are teeny-tiny and difficult to see in these photos (makes me think they need their Auntie Eclecta with her super-duper camera!), but in my opinion, Reece has a distinct resemblance to pictures of Joe taken when he was an infant. (I was actually moved to tears when I saw the similarity - not because it's tragic that Reece looks like my brother, but so cool ...) When I get home tonight after my class (if I have the energy), I will try to find a picture that will illustrate this point, and will post it - stay tuned!

The photos on Joe's blog are also worth checking out because Joe looks comically haggard, poor guy! :)

Holy traffic, Batman!!!!

Just a slight increase in traffic to this my humble blog today!!!

I hope it didn't disappoint!

Eclecta

Latest baby update

Hey, Joe has updated his blog with the latest baby status (hint: it's great news!!!).

Auntiehood: Day One

Okay, today is my first 24 hours as an aunt, and to celebrate, I’m eating a piece of apple crumble pie with a scoop of ice cream for dinner. This aunt business rocks.

Seriously, as I just wrote to my gal-pal Monika, this morning it was all I could do to NOT skip crazily down the hallway at work, crying out at the top of my lungs, "I'm an auntie! I'm an auntie!!!!" LOL Instead, I resorted to a little irritating day-long joke: at intervals throughout the day, I'd say to my co-worker, "Julian, did you know? I'm an auntie!!!!" It was pretty funny when, at the end of the day:

Self: “Julian, did you know …”

Julian, finally worn down, starts to roll his eyes.

Self: “… that you’ve been really great for putting up with all my auntie talk today!” :->

Zing!!! Got him! LOL

There’s a sick little corner of my mind that finds it funny when I deliberately annoy people like that. :)

So yes, auntie talk throughout most of the day, sharing with unwitting co-workers my happiness with about two new babies (to be fair, they were awesome in their responses and pleasure for my sake – they’re good peeps!!!). And then one of the most amazing things happened: Daryl, the crusty, cynical, acerbic guy the next cube over peeked around the wall.

“Did I hear you say that you just became an aunt?”

[This alone is a major admission for Daryl. Despite my shameless eavesdropping and sometimes participating in his conversations when I feel there is important information my team could provide, Daryl’s still warming up to the cube-wall-isn’t-really-a-barrier concept (If you want something to blame for my behaviour, I give you my last work environment – we talked through the cubicle walls all the time). (To be clear - I don't eavesdrop on personal stuff - it's just a work thing.)]

I responded, glowingly, that yes, in fact, I did recently become an aunt.

Then he showed me a picture of his two-week-old niece who was born in Peru. He told me how incredible it was, and how before she was born, he didn’t really care about the future beyond when he died. And now suddenly it matters to him a great deal. (Sooooo “Children of Men”!!!) He glowed with (dare I suggest this?) happiness when he talked about how his brother would be returning with the baby and her mother in June.

I have heard and seen this man experience glee at someone’s folly, heard him laugh evilly when deleting unsupported software from an end-user’s machine, and enjoyed the rapier wit of this exceptionally articulate person as he excoriated someone less intelligent or aware (this usually after hanging up from a perfectly pleasant-sounding and civil telephone conversation), but this is the first time I saw Daryl be happy and – soft. And it blew me away.

So mock me if you must about the fuss that I’m creating about this brand-new niece and nephew of mine. If unclehood can do what I described above to Daryl, I figure that my reactions are well within normal parameters! :)

Auntie Eclecta

Okay, so that's a crappy title because it makes it all about me, but words kind of fail me at this point ...

I just got a call from Joe. The babies were born last night. The girl, Lorelai, was born vaginally at 8:43PM, but the boy, Reece, wasn't quite ready to come out (arm lodged against the cervix or something), so they had to perform a Cesarian. He was born at 9:07PM. Even then he wasn't quite happy about facing the world just yet and needed help breathing. He is now in the neo-natal ICU in stable condition. I think Joe said Lorelai was 4 pounds, 13 ounces, and Reece was 4 pounds, 12 ounces.

Lorelai has already had two meals since her birth (ah, Lorelai, a girl after my own heart!). Reece is still hooked up to lots of tubes and wires, which Joe says is heartbreaking to see. But again, he's in stable condition.

Despite recent labour, an episitomy (ouch!), and a C-section, Lisa apparently feels fine and hasn't felt the need to push the button for the morphine drip ever since it was given to her. Wow!

Joe repeatedly told me how amazing Lisa had been through the entire experience: calm, cooperative, a rock. Somehow I am not at all surprised. Joe, describing the most intense experience of his life (by far), broke down while we spoke on the phone. Again, I was not surprised. :)

So fingers crossed and positive thoughts for this little family - and lots of love!!!!

And profound thanks to my beautiful sister-in-law Lisa for going through so much in order to bring these little babies into the world. :)

In case you missed it ...

Lisa's in labour!

Too many bloggy entries tonight - I didn't want this one to get lost.

A bittersweet article (indirectly) on the power of love

Alexandra Marriott laughs and cries as she talks about how she fell in love with Toronto bigamist Oliver Killeen. He broke her heart, but he did change her life, making her believe that at 62, she could be more than a tired grandmother.

She lost 20 pounds during the nine whirlwind months they corresponded. She began dyeing her hair. She wore makeup. She turned off her television and took long walks by the Hudson River near her home an hour north of New York City, listening to music. She returned to reading literature, a passion of her youth ...

Marriott wondered a bit at Killeen's ardour, which seemed extreme, and which developed so quickly after their online meeting. But she admits with a laugh that she soon fell for it, hook, line and sinker. The mother of two grown children and seven adopted special-needs children ages 11 to 19, Marriott operates a medical transcription service from her home. Her online life with Killeen was like a romance novel that she could lose herself in, allowing her to escape the work and worry of her everyday life.

You can read the rest here.

Re-acquainted: an update

Lori's response to an earlier post is here.

Another amazing story/photo combo

Amazing shot of a sinking cargo ship:

French officials said that of the 41,700 tons of merchandise in the ship's 2,400 containers, 1,700 tons were considered dangerous, including battery acid, as well as explosive and flammable material. The containers also hold motorcycles, car parts, oak barrels, and household possessions moving to new homes.

So lots of bad stuff for the environment, and of course it's near some ecologically sensitive area.

But the story wanders into the surreal:

Police patrolled Branscombe beach Monday trying – with limited success – to keep scavengers away from about 40 containers that had washed ashore.

"A couple of hundred people have been on the beach today, taking things away, and there were around the same number last night," said Const. Steve Spearitt.

"Around 15 BMW motorbikes were carried off the beach last night," he said.

BMW motorbikes??????? Okay, I deplore motorbikes in general (sorry, George), but I don't think we're talking about some cheap equipment here, folks ... ( see here for an idea - let's just say that each one is about the same as I paid for my car when I bought it at the dealership!) Not exactly driftwood and seashells we're talking about here ...

Anyway, positive thoughts to all those involved in trying to contain the damage and to save the oil-slicked birds and other creatures.

Amazing story

Okay, so I had to close Firefox (with all those tabs open!!!) and re-launch it, but now I can post for your thrill and amazement an e-mail - with the all-important pictures - that my buddy Jim sent me (and probably a battalion of other people). Anyway, the story's hard to believe, but the photos seem to support it:

A guy who lives at Lake Conroe (50 miles north of Houston) saw a ball bouncing around kind of strange in the lake and went to investigate.

It turned out to be a flathead catfish who had obviously tried to swallow a basketball which became stuck in its mouth!!

The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive, but unable to because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. The guy tried numerous times to get the ball out, but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife cut the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry catfish.

You probably wouldn't have believed this, if you hadn't seen the following pictures...

Be kinder than necessary. Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle..

Okay, there is the chance that this story is a fake, but the last statement is certainly true.

Things I cannot tell/show you ...

I have some great photos to share with you now that I'm in the bloggy spirit, but Blogger's acting up right now for some reason ... will have to wait. :-S

I also got the funniest news today, but can't share it - yet. I swear they could hear my evil laugh in the next office tower this morning. Okay, my laugh probably wasn't evil, just ... gleeful? Bah hahahaha ha! Just thinking about it makes me want to laugh again!!!!! It's so unplanned and yet so ... perfect. I swear I hear the Universe saying, "YESSSSSS!!!!!" :->

Because we all need to hear some good news sometimes

From the "Random Acts of Kindness" section of the Toronto Star:

One morning last month, when I was withdrawing money from an ATM my mobile phone rang. The signal was not clear, so I rushed out. In a hurry, I took my card but forgot to take the money I withdrew.

I did not realize this until late afternoon. I went to the bank branch to try my luck and told a bank representative what happened. After they verified my identity, they gave me an envelope with the money.

They told me that two gentlemen noticed the money left and notified the bank staff. They did not leave any personal information.

I was touched by their honesty and kindness. I hope that they see this. By sharing this story, I hope that people see the beauty of honesty and kindness.

A few years ago my husband and I were bringing our daughter and a friend home for the weekend from university in Kingston.

As we neared the end of the 401 on-ramp we hit some snow left by the edge of a plow, swerved out of control, and slammed into a snow bank at the side of the highway.

As we came to a stop a transport truck pulled in behind us. The driver got out and explained that he stopped to provide protection for us because he saw our kids in the back and realized if we got hit, not only might the girls be injured, but our van would be pushed over the embankment.

While he was explaining this another car came to the end of the on-ramp and hit the snow exactly like we had, started spinning in circles, and smashed into the back of the truck. Luckily that driver received only a bump on the head.

We will be forever grateful to the driver who saw our tail-lights in time to pull over and provide protection to us on that winter night.
Kim Capson, Ancaster

On Monday, December 11 during rush hour on Hwy. 410, I was driving in the center lane. A man pulled up, honking, to get my attention. After rolling down my window, he told me that my right rear brake was smoking. I managed to cross two lanes of traffic and exited at Steeles Ave. By the time I pulled into a parking lot two blocks later, my brakes were almost nonexistent.

There are no words to express my thanks to the man who told me about my truck's problem. I really believe he prevented a very serious accident. To him, and also to the people who allowed me to exit the highway so quickly and safely: Thank You from the bottom of my heart.
S. Klein, Grand Valley

In January, I was traveling from Atlanta to Toronto via Air Canada. The train from the city was extremely late and I reached the airport 12 minutes before my departure time. The check-in counter was closed, but I wanted to be with my kids over the weekend and was determined to try my luck.

I rushed to the nearest Air Canada office counter. The agent looked at my desperate eyes, picked up the phone and said: "We have a passenger coming."

I had only one carry on bag and the Air Canada agent took me all the way to the plane. Just a few seconds before the departure I was in the plane.

I still wonder who that employee was and what made her run like a sprinter to get me on the plane.

Air Canada, thank you for hiring an angel.
Mohammed Fazli, Toronto

Heard in the office today

"He's just a director??? I've been kissing his ass all these years, and he's only a director???"

LOL

What on earth am I going to do when we move offices and I no longer sit "over the wall" from Daryl???? No one - and I repeat, no one - is going to make eavesdropping nearly as entertaining. :)