Feels Like Home to Me

Banjo playing + old movie theatre + grilled cheese = Homey Feeling

Thank you Old Man Luedecke.

Waterloo Record Article

Photo compliments of W. Pemulis

Tell me the story of your life

Last night, we went to see a show at the Original Princess Cinema. It is a strange old building, and as I made my way up the stairs and through the hallways, I felt like I was going through a maze. The floors are creaky hardwood; the seats are comfortable, old, sagging and wobbly; the bathrooms are as cold as an outhouse in Janaury and I love it.

The person we were there to see play was Matthew Barber, and for the entire concert, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

His voice could go from melted butter to hot cinnamon hearts, all in the same song.

When he kindly signed my CD, he seemed to light up a little when I told him my name was Gillian. He let me know that it was also his sister's name, and thought it was a beautiful name.

Can you tell I'm swooning?

Jim: the Taxi Driver from New Waterford

So, Saint Patrick's Day has come and gone.

It was a unseasonably beautiful March day: sunny, bright and warm, and the sun certainly brought everyone out of the woodwork. The front yards in student neighbourhoods were a sea of green shirts, short-shorts and plastic beer cups. Line-ups for some bars began at noon and driving down any street in the city was nerve-wracking, as drunken adventurers were leaping across the road like suicidal green lemmings. I spent the entire beautiful day cooped up indoors, and I was cranky.

I don't know what I was expecting St. Paddy's Day was going to look like in this double university town, but this certainly exceeded any of my expectations I may have had. Being completely sober, I felt like a cast member of Star Trek, dropped in on an alien planet, trying to blend in so I wasn't shot with a laser ray and sacrificed to some sort of lepercaun-looking god. I felt like a washed up William Shatner, who hadn't yet discovered the power of irony.

So, what is the point in me writing about this?

Well, the cab ride home that left me with the biggest grin on my face.

It is amazing how a genuinely kind and friendly, happy conversation for no other reason than being happy in the moment can put a restless heart at ease; how a familiar accent can feel like a warm hug from a family member and sharing a snapshot of a person's life can be more of a connection than you'll ever make with some of the people you work with. How all those little things can make you snap-out of your temporary delusion of un-happy, and make you realize how fortunate you really are.

Dear Jimmy the Cab Driver. If you can make Waterloo work for you, so can I.

Generation X

Okay, so GenX is a movie store that has every movie ever made contained within its four walls. I returned movies this evening after work and it was there that I experienced a quirky little moment that I feel compelled to share.

A tall, flustered man, wearing a bike helmet, walked into the store and rushed to the counter.

"Have you seen a shoe? A small children's shoe? I'll go look. We were biking, but she doesn't actually have her shoe.... It's just one shoe..."

He ran around the store for a fruitless 45 seconds.
I hid my smile and stifled my giggles.

Just like an Oompa Loompa

When I was biking home from work yesterday, I was enjoying a nice, warm but slightly overcast afternoon. I was biking through the University of Waterloo campus and there were people everywhere, walking, biking, rollerblading, guys, girls and profs with dark hair, light hair, light skin, dark skin, purple skin…

That’s right. Purple skin.

I certainly did a double take.

The person in question was a roller-blader and she looked like a member of the Blue Man group or an 60's Oompa Loompa, except for the fact that she was purple and not bald or in a candy factory. Her arms were bare and purple. Her face and neck were purple. She was wearing shorts, and her legs were purple.

What was the most spectacular about the fact that there was a purple girl walking through campus?

I was the only one who noticed.

I was amazed, no one looked twice. No necks craning, no traffic stopping, no surprised expressions. I felt like I was the only one who thought this was something to make note of – does this kind of thing happen every day? Are people just not observing what is going on around them?

Here’s to you, purple girl.

My new BFF: Blue Demon

What could possibley be the thing that I would be least likely to do on a weekend visit back to Toronto?

Go to a outdoor, international Lucha Libre match on the Toronto Harbourfront you say?

Why, you are correct!

The wikipedia definition of Lucha Libre is as follows:

Spanish for "free wrestling" or free fighting, Lucha Libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries referring to a form of professional wrestling involving varied techniques and moves.

The crowd around the stage was thick with onlookers. People ranged in age from 2 year olds perched on the shoulders of their parents to the elderly - this was something the whole family could watch. We were a wide range of people, but we all shared a common goal - we wanted to be entertained, and entertained we were.

There are no words to really describe what it was like. I'm not going to even try. All I can say is that I'm planning on going again if it is held next year, but I am staking out a better spot.

Fog: Acts like a sedative on the city

There is not a lot of substance in this post, I just really felt as though I had to share how lovely it was to be up at seven in the morning behind Front Street on a monday morning and to see this.

The whole city was covered in a thick grey blanket and the tops of the buildings were completely covered. The streets were just as busy as they always are downtown at that time of day - but it seemed quieter, calmer and safer.

The CN tower is pictured to the left - and you can't even see halfway up it. And it stayed that way for the entire day, and well into the night.

I have refused to go up the CN tower for the year that I have lived here - but looking back, I really should have gone on this day. Now that would have been a unique view of the city.