Self-portrait & sunshine.

Today at work, my computer decided to update...again. I have Windows Vista at work (not by choice) and I have lost hours of my life waiting for updates to complete or reinstalling the OS entirely. It's ridiculous.

Anyway...

We have a spare office set up for occasions such as these (shouldn't that tell you something when you, the boss, is making a decision about computer software for your office? Okay, enough about Vista.) and I set up shop in there today. It was great because there are nice, big windows in this office with a view of the city. Today the sun was reflecting off the lake and making shine like silver. It was very pretty. On clear days you can see the windmill down at the Exhibition grounds, which I love (windmills always give me such a sense of hope). I happened to have my camera on me today, so I took a couple of pictures.

I love the graininess of this one:

And here is one of me, with my giant headphones on for podcasting:

Being in the spare office was a welcome break from my windowless area of the office. I love the sunshine and it's hard for me to watch it go as winter comes. I guess it wasn't so bad that Vista decided to update after all.

The most beautiful sound in the world

This weekend, we watched one of my all-time favourite movies, The Sound of Music. I don't remember watching this movie for the first time or how many times I've seen it, but I have loved it for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, few people I know share the same love for it and thus, I end up watching this movie alone most of the time. D watched it with me this time and though he liked it, I think he's partial to the stage version (preposterous, I know).

We have a copy of the 40th Anniversary Edition of the movie, which also included the A&E biography of the real Von Trapp family. The real story is similar, with a few key differences. One the biggest being that Maria did not love the Captain, sadly. The other major difference was the way in which the movie characters of Maria and the Captain are portrayed. In real life, their characteristics are reversed- the Captain was a sweet, gentle man and Maria was a bit of a tyrant...although, to her credit, she kept the family alive.

I just realized that this blog was turning into a book report. The bottom line is, both the movie and the true story are incredible in their own right. And as for the influence of the Sound of Music on people and popular culture...well, just search YouTube for some footage of the massive Sound of Music singalongs that take place all over the world and I think you'll get an idea.

The real Von Trapps:

Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer as the Von Trapps:

It's that time again...

I know a lot of people don't like Christmas music or just get really sick of it due to overexposure, but I love it. I really do. Especially at this exact time of year. Christmas is still a month away and the holiday machine is still warming up.

I've been particularly sentimental lately and listening to my favourite holiday songs reminds me of being a kid and going to my grandparents houses on Christmas day. I can almost smell the pine, hear the wrapping paper and feel the itchy tights my mom would make me wear against my legs.

For your listening pleasure, just a few of my all-time favourites:

Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
Rockin Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
White Christmas - Otis Redding

Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon

Vanished!

I read an article in Wired today about a writer who intentionally vanished for a month this year. It was a test, just to see if he could, in this digital age of ours.

I won't ruin the story for you, but it really got me thinking (again) about technology, communication, the future of our world and our relationship with it and each other. I've been a reluctant internet communicator over the years. First with email, then IM, then MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, etc. With each one of these steps, I've been hesitant about what I really gain from each one of them and constantly log in to to change the privacy settings. What is often comes to down to is this: it just doesn't feel good. Or real. The "it" being wrapped up in online communication and social networking.

At this point, I see the value in some of these tools, but they will never replace the real thing for me. I know most people would agree with me, but sometimes I really wonder when I see people constantly checking their Blackberrys, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I'll definitely be writing more about this topic. I think about it a lot.

In the meantime, check out the story in Wired. It's amazing. In a part of the world where people are getting carpal tunnel syndrome from using their cell phones too often, it's inspiring to read about a man willfully disappearing to see if it's still possible at this time in North America.

Photo credit: Wired.com

Oh, deer.

A deer somehow made its way into downtown Toronto this morning. I hope she's okay now.

Counting Sheep

I'm about to go to bed, so I'll leave you with a question.



After you count sheep, where do they go?

When D and I went to Germany this summer, we slept in until 5pm (!!) our first day there. Naturally, we had some trouble sleeping that night when we were back in bed a mere 7 hours later. We found each other wide awake at about 3am and got into quite a serious discussion about where our sheep go after they've cleared the fence (there's always a fence) and run off into the distance. Are they gone forever? Is there an endless stream of sheep? Or do they loop back around and jump again?

I think we both came to the comclusion that we picture the same sheep jumping over and over again.

What about you?

Saying I'm sorry

I apologized to an old man in Fed Ex the other day because I bumped into him.

He told me to watch the movie Love Story and then I would understand why I should never say I'm sorry.