Coffee list

I managed to "drop in" on a friend's time at a local coffeehouse this week, and was once again blessed beyond measure at the friends I have. It's probably no surprise that we don't see each other as often as we'd like but when we do manage, it always ends too soon with these words:

"We need to do this more often."

It still doesn't happen often enough, but just like my coat carries the scent of roasting coffee and lets me stretch out that cozy conversation just a little longer, I can linger over the sense of connection even those brief moments bring.

There are a lot of extra people that I'd love to have the chance to sit down with and just have a chat for a few hours. Sometimes out of curiosity, sometimes for purely selfish reasons and sometimes because I think there would be much to be learned. Here's my short list:

My dad. It's been a fairly longstanding tradition now that when we visit with my parents, no matter what town we're in, my dad and I find a local donut shop and get to talk for a time. I love my donuts, but I love those conversations with my dad even more. They don't happen as often as we live farther apart, but they're just as important to me.

Patti the Awesome Cousin. Like all the women in our family, she is smart, talented, funny and beautiful. Unlike all the women in our family, she has what some may call an non-traditional life and does it with flair and style and graciousness and a tolerance for stupidity that I could never achieve. I am so thankful for her and for the ways we have to stay connected across a continent. But the in-person moments are definitely the best.

Lisa Leonard. I don't know Lisa except through her blog and her creative work, but she, too, strikes me as a woman that is facing life with style and enthusiasm and a perspective that is fresh and unique and totally charming. I'm sure she faces challenges the rest of us will never face, but she also faces some that I have faced and I think we'd either be fast friends or else be too much alike to really ever get along well :). (And I harbor a secret hope that her studio isn't really usually that clean.)

Jay Williams. So this one might be tricky because he's dead. But Jay Williams is among my top three favorite ever writers for children. I think just some time to pick his brains would be fascinating. It also might confirm a few suspicions that maybe we'd disagree on some pretty big issues, but who knows? I think it'd take at least two hot chocolates to figure that out.

Wendy Lawton. Okay, so I've already had one mocha with this remarkable lady, but another one would be a real treat. She is a fabulous blend of creativity and clearsightedness that gives her a delightful perspective on a variety of topics. I strongly suspect that conversation with Wendy is very rarely dull.

Then there's Queen Latifah, Beatrix Potter, and Ken Dryden. Edith Head, Carol Burnett, and the guy that ran the snake and gator show at Reptile Gardens. But I'm afraid they'll have to wait for another time.

Who's on your list?

How to use a mug

This came with a gift mug that SG got for Christmas this year - guess it's always good to review the basics.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's a new year and that means a blank page. I like blank pages - so much so that I've only ever journaled once in my life. It made me unhappy to ruin a blank page so I quit.

I think it's about potential. A blank page, a roll of uncut fabric, a small child - they all have so many possibilities! A new year is like that too. But while I may be able to leave my journal blank, the year will go on whether I make my mark on it or not. And I do like looking back and seeing what happened. So let's get to it and see what 2011 will be!

It's full of potential, I'm sure.

P.s. For New Year's Eve, here's how I ruined a page in my sketch book ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MERRY CHRISTMAS ... TO YOU!

Talking to yourself?

I remember a commercial years back where a gorgeous brunette is sitting at a restaurant table, with her head lightly resting on one hand. She is saying things like "Would you like to come over tonight?", "How about 7?", "It would just be us." and words to that effect. The (slightly nerdy) guy at the next table thinks she is talking to him. Of course, the point of the commercial was how small cell phones are becoming.

Since then, they have become even smaller. And with "hands free" headsets, etc, it can be hard to know who a person is talking to. It's become very common place to see someone walking down an aisle, talking and waving both hands to emphasis their point. Or marching down the street doing the same. So much so that it really doesn't occur to me to suspect anything unusual. (Except a possible lack of manners. Which may not be entirely unusual either.)

So imagine the shock when a fairly nicely dressed woman was carrying on a conversation in front of me while shopping the other day, and I realized SHE HAD NO PHONE.

[cue creepy music]

Christmas is coming, eh?

It's the bizarrest thing. We just finished Thanksgiving in America yesterday and as I was talking on the phone with a friend this morning, I kept hearing Canadian coming out of my mouth!

I've lived here long enough that I felt pretty confident that many of the "Canadianisms" I've lived with had pretty much receded into the background. I don't tack on too many "ehs", and I think my "outs" and "abouts" are changing shape to a more local pattern. I'm teased about "bits" but I've hung onto that one deliberately and I still spell "cheques" with a "q" just because I like it better. Looks classier or something.

I mean, really, doesn't it sound better to say the "cheque" is in the mail rather than the "check" is in the mail? Or maybe that's just the Canadian reaction I have that links "checks" with slamming into rink boards.

Anyway, as I was saying, I have been noticing that fewer people are looking at me with that curious look that invariable ends with "Where exactly are you from?" Not that I sound particularly American (except to that one dear man in the senior's home in Saskatoon) but I think of it as sounding rather more generic. Like the Midwestern accent they reportedly try to teach to Indian people working for HP customer support.

The challenge is - I now HEAR a Canadian accent. Not just the distinct tones of the eastern "a" vowel, but the nuances that mark one as distinctly north-of-the-49th. And I HEARD it coming out of my mouth!!

I'm not sure whether to consider it nostalgic or alarming. But I'm looking forward to Christmas and to calls from family and friends that sound like home. And with Thanksgiving out of the way, I can be vocal about looking forward to it, too.

So Merry Christmas, eh? And here's a taste of Canadian for you:



This cracks me up!

Figures of speech

It's sniffle time of year again and I happened to sneeze as we were driving somewhere the other day. Aside: FYI, I am not, nor have I ever been, a dainty sneezer. Try as I might, I still worry about closed windows overpressurizing when I feel a sneeze coming on. It would seem it is physically impossible to re-learn to sneeze. Sort of like keeping your eyes open when you sneeze. Can't be done. Unless you know something I don't know... Anyways, this sneeze was a particularly enthusiastic blast and without much thought I said, "Excuse me. Almost lost my eyeballs on that one."

After a moment of silence, a small voice came from the backseat.

"Is that a figure of speech?"