September 9th, 2012

1000 Things We Like, third installmant: the ball is rolling

One thing that didn’t occur to me when I started this third installment of 1000 things–I know why more people, and way more diverse people, than I knew back in 2007. No longer are my closest friends the only ones reading this blog (though to be honest, you guys are still a large percentage). Tonnes of people responded to my call-for-liking, and they are posting their likes all over the place.

This is fantastic and inspiring, but also confusing–not everything is linked directly back to Rose-coloured, and I bet most of you don’t vigilantly monitor the interverse for this stuff. So I’ve decided to repost all the like-lists in the main blog (with a link to the original, natch)–that way it doesn’t matter if you posted in the comments, on Facebook, on some other blog, or on that blog’s comments–everyone will be able to see and enjoy your likings. And I’ll be able to keep the numbering accurate (secret OCD, c’est moi!)

There’s tonnes, so I’ll be catching up in installments, but feel free to add your likes wherever you want, whenever you want, but do somehow let me where it is so I can like along with you!!

From Fred in the comments

31) The avuncular handsomeness of Joe Biden (because he is on TV right now)
32) the North Shore of Hawaii
33) The iPhone 4S
34) Zumba (yes,I know)
35) Late Night Snack Ice Cream by Ben and Jerry’s
36) The Showtime series Homeland
37) Pumpkin Spice Lattes
38) Great Lakes Swimmers
39) Sally Hanes InstaDry polish
40) MSNBC
41) Ann Taylor (the clothing store)
42) The painter George Bellows
43) Cherry Blossoms
44) Dewey Beach in Delaware
45) Beirut (the band)
46) Wine served in tumblers instead of wine glases
47) The Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, NC

Siobhan O’Flynn in the comments

48) Stuff White People Like (you know the site)
49) Michelle Obama almost in tears listening to Joe Biden at the DNC (what’s up with that?)
50) Lobster rolls (need we say more?)
51) those 20 minutes right before dawn starts when the air almost starts to hum
52) Jesse on Breaking Bad – the unlikely moral centre
53) freesias
54) my dog’s belly spots…

Mo in the comments

55) waffled bacon and breakfast beans at brunch
56) the ferry to centre island
57) long walks with friends
58) flight sales
59) dusting slippers
60) patios
61) troy and abed in the morning
62) trees
63) mountains
64) melvins
65) old movie posters
66) poutine
67) magenta sunsets
68) sneaky dee’s
69) not saying words but still being understood
70) packages coming in the mail

Melanie (on Facebook)

71) fresh peaches

David (in conversation)

72) the term “email hygiene”

Saleema on A Metaphysical Concert

73) Whistling in chorus with somebody else
74) Allongés with milk
75) Making lists
76) Bouncy castles
77) Cream cheese icing
78) DIY nail art
79) Bunting banners
80) Earl Grey green tea
81) Girls on HBO
82) Radiolab
83) Lime and juniper berry doughnuts from Cafe Sardine
84) Finally getting rid of clothes that don’t fit properly
85) Learning how to purl
86) Chocolate with sea salt
87) Red shoes
88) Voting
89) Cakes decorated with fresh flowers
90) LUSH Gorilla perfume solid scents
91) Joanna Newsom
92) Kir Royales
93) Mark Bittman’s bean burgers
94) Vinyl
95) Headphone jack splitters
96) Ataulfo mangoes
97) Margaret Atwood on Twitter
98) Save-the-Date bookmarks from my wedding in all the books I’m reading

Ariel Gordon on The Jane Day Reader

99) Cups of tea my partner makes and sets gently at my elbow.
100) Losing a couple of hours when writing.
101) Cool fall air from an open window when I’m under my quilt.
102) A just-picked apple.
103) A new notebook, cracked open.
104) Good long walks under the trees.
105) Acceptance letters of all stripes. Anticipation of same.
106) Poached eggs and dry brown toast.
107) Screaming on scary rides at the midway.
108) Postcards. (Personal communication of all kinds, in the mail…)
109) Movies/TV with girls-doing-things in them.
110) Stands of trembling aspens, knowing they’re all genetically identical. How they gleam in the sun.
111) Date squares.
112) Poetry. Poetrypoetrypoetry!
113) Pineapple sage.
114) Sleeping in, my daughter watching cartoons downstairs.
115) Literary magazines in the mail.
116) First book launches.
117) Photographs of bad old Winnipeg by L.B. Foote.
118) Six or seven drinks in a row, then a bunch of dancing.
119) Getting to read Shel Silverstein and Dennis Lee’s poems to my daughter.
120) Leaping into cold lakes, almost colder than I can stand.
121) Cotton candy.
122) Clusters of just-emerged mushrooms.
123) The raspberry vacluse cake at McNally’s.
124) Wooden pencils and severe metal pencil sharpeners.
125) Ferns, swaying wetly.
126) Rock-hard nectarines.
127) Sitting in the dark with a bunch of strangers. Laughing uproariously.
128) A gin and tonic with a slurry of ice crystals in it.
129) Mapo tofu and a big bowl of steaming rice.
130) Silk sari wrap-around skirts.
131) Singer-songwriters. Battered guitars on their laps.
132) Carrying my daughter on my shoulders.
133) Thin metal Korean chopsticks.
134) Rainbow chard, cooked down with ginger and garlic and soy sauce.
135) Rockpicking.
136) Second book launches.

Man, you guys are amazing–we are off to such a good start! I’ll post some more tomorrow and hopefully then we’ll be caught up–such an onslaught of goodness!!

September 6th, 2012

1000 Things We Like, 2012: The Third 1000

As I said in the previous retro post, I started listing things I like and exhorting my friends to do the same in Fall 2002. It was so much fun making that community list (boy does it take a village if you want to get to 1000) that it happened again 5 years later. And, now, to celebrate the decade anniversary of 1000 things, dare we go for 3000?

I’m in. Fred, one of the best likers I know, is in. Are you in? If so, feel free to add to the list–either in the comments section or on your on own blog, with the link in the comments. If the numbering gets screwed up (it always does) I’ll fix and repost–promise! Your list contributions can be as personal or as general as you like, but do make’em specific as possible–name the band you like, don’t just say “music”–we’ll need a lot of specificity to get to three grand! It’s ok if your likes disagree with someone else who previously contributed to the list–if for example you write summer and someone else already wrote winter! We don’t have to *all* like *everything*–just submit it as a thing that one *can* like!

I think I’ll start the list off with things that I didn’t know about–or actually didn’t exist–the last time we did the list, in 2007.

1) The way iPads reoriente from portrait to landscape when you twist them–how do they know?
2) Crowd-sourcing
3) Pancake flats
4) Shopping for Japanese paper
5) Dancing at my wedding
6) When you sleep on your side and your cat sleeps in the small of your back
7) The Book of Awesome (this idea’s big enough to share)
8) Cherry coke zero
9) Sometimes being good at my job
10) Massaman curry
11) Publishing a book
12) Running into friends in random spots in the city
13) The red-sand beach(es) in PEI
14) The monorail in Tokyo
15) The dollhouse at Windsor castle
16) Teaching high school (for brief stints)
17) Tart frozen yoghurt
18) Interval training (I’ve tried it before, but I finally like it now)
19) Fun (the band)–especially the “inspiring” songs
20) Plum Points (sigh–embarrassing)
21) Nostalgia
22) My brie baker
23) Lonely cat cuddles
24) 30 Rock
25) Roots leather bags (actually worth the $$–who knew?)
26) Going on a book tour
27) Being able to say, “I’m going on a book tour.”
28) WordPress
29) Having my own YouTube channel
30) Teeny tiny lizards

Enough for now, but there’s more–so, so much more! What do you like?

September 4th, 2012

1000 Things We Like, retro edition (back in 2002…)

Youthful RR once wrote…(note I have not edited this for spelling errors, weird expressions, or other silliness–preferring to preserve my young self as I once was):

“I read a book (the title of which escapes me, damn and blast) in which the 12-ish-year-old daughter of the family is working on a list with her best friend, entitled “1000 Things We Like.” That seems like such an enormously positive endeavour, just wreaking of good karma, I’m gonna try it. Feel free to join in in commentsland. Contribute as many things as you like – if we actually reach 1000, I’ll be so excited!! Only rules are 1) Be specific (name an album or song, not “music” – we need every detailed item we can get to get to 1000 and 2) No sneaky negatives like “People who don’t put their bags on the seats on the train”. Ok, let’s do this! (it’s just gonna be again, isn’t it?)

1) Oven-dried tomatoes
2) Allan Cross and the On-going History of New Music
3) Blogs in general and mine and a few select others in particular
4) Hallowe’en costumes
5) Diet, caffeine-free soda
6) That new Madonna song (sorry, Fred)
7) Fred
8) A Place
9) Punch Drunk Love (so good, but very disturbing. Don’t go expecting Billy Madison Two)
10) *Nsync
11) Squirrels
12) Houseplants
13) Chocolate
14) Typing
15) Daylight Savings Time
16) J.D. Salinger books
17) Getting better at something that’s hard
18) Cats
19) Lists
20) Company
21) Naps
22) Heaven (the concept, of course, but here I mean the film. Film not movie, but I still recommend it. Very good, very surprising)

1000 Things We Like, part 3 (10-year anniversary edition)–coming soon

Yes, oh my god, it’s true–we’ve been doing 1000 Things We Like for 10 years. I’ve been searching for the original introduction from the 2002 edition, but while I was doing so I found this–a description of a wedding I went to in October 2002.

“Then, oh god, then it was cocktail hour, actually slated for an hour and a half on my invite. They seemed to have some trouble getting drinks out, the hors d’oevres didn’t appear for about 45 minutes, there were no chairs, there was simply nothing for me to do but stand about and not be talked to. Which is what I did, the whole time. I started out leaning against this oversized mantlepiece, and eventually discovered if I slouched just a touch, I could fit under it, so I did that. Not quite as weird as it sounds, but almost. People kept looking at me curiously, so I’d smile thinking they were about to say “Hi” or “Beautiful ceremony, eh?” or “Poor you, all alone!” or something, but then they’d look away. I was wearing the same pale floral dress as I wore to M/D’s and M/L’s weddings. Apparently, for a fall, evening wedding, black is the norm these days. I think I was the palest person except for the bride. Honestly, it would have been impossible for me to have been more uncomfortable without being on fire.”

I can just about remember how miserable I was that night, but it seems *very* distant–like that girl is a friend I don’t know well. And if you told that girl that, 10 years hence, she would be at a wedding where she knew *everyone* and that it would be her own–well, I don’t think she could have processed that.

Kay, nuff nostalgia, I’ll find the actual intro very soon.

October 29th, 2012

1000 Things–We Like Endings Too

These are from Andrew

965) Getting my braces tightened (when I had braces)
966) The smell of hop tea before it got the wort added to it, specifically as huffed during my first week working in a brewery
967) Seasons 1 through 8 of The Simpsons (RR says: there’s always such debate on where the good stuff ended on that show. My husband says season 9 is the last good one, but when I was shopping for his anniversary gift at Future Shop, like three sales associates ganged up on me and said season 12!)
968) Falling asleep and then waking up–what feels like immediately–a bunch of hours later
969) When someone asks for a recommendation in the bookstore
970) When my angry friend and I would get caught hugging on the job
971) When the stupid government sends me money I didn’t know they owed me
972) Badly Stuffed Animals
973) The first day of patio season
974) The stubborn last day of patio season
975) When I worked night shift, having a beer after work and watching the sun come up in Parc Lafonatine
976) Having a second beer while all the office shlubs came to the park for their morning boot camp workout

And these are from Scott:
977) eye sight
978) Tom Hanks doing the Nerdist podcast
979) typewriters
980) watching someone enjoy a board game
981) comfortable office chairs
982) watching the rain (RR says: my weekend in a nutshell!)
983) finding twenty bucks in your winter jacket when you first bring it out for the season
984) web comics
985) freshwater pools

And so it’s down to me…let’s do this thing

986) when the doctor says everything is fine
987) mini bags of microwave popcorns, so I can eat the whole thing and not hate myself
988) small victories
989) toddlers wearing age-inappropriate clothes, like a 3-year-old in a suit
990) naps
991) cloche hats
992) enthuasiasm
993) exhaustiveness
994) extreme weather (any minute now…Frankenstorm!)
995) meeting famous people and finding out they are nice
996) meeting anyone and finding out they are nice
997) collective endeavours
998) positivity
999) everyone who contributed to this list
1000) love

Seriously, thanks to everyone who took the time to list their likings, especially to Fred, my partner in crime. See y’all back here in 2017 for the fourth 1000, and our 15th years. Amazing!!

February 5th, 2018

The dogs of February and more things we like

Despite my best hopes, January was cold and fighty, and then I spent the last few days of it puking (I had a stomach virus) and was in such a feverish haze that I didn’t even realize it was February until I saw Mark making out the rent cheque.

Maybe February will be better??? I have deleted the extremely negative post that I wrote about January, leaving only the above, and here are some positive things that I like, which will hopefully set the tone for February.

464. Ice wine! I had a lovely weekend at the Ice Wine Festival in Niagara on the Lake the weekend before I got sick, wherein I discovered I like ice wine (bad news: they mainly don’t serve it in bars so it can’t be my signature drink). Fun surprise! It tastes like syrup!

465. The Dogs of February This is one my favourite songs by The Lowest of the Low, which is one my favourite bands of my tender youth, and I’m pissed that I could only find it to link to on a bootleg full album (it comes in at 15:50). It’s a grumpy song (“Don’t you love it when it doesn’t/work out quite the way it was supposed to”) but lovely to, so that’s something

466. My little flash story is posted on The Oddments Tray. Claire Tacon produced and Chioke l’Anson performed and it turned out lovely. Please listen–only 2:39 minutes!

467. Declarations at Canadian Stage, written by playwright Jordan Tannahill, who is a writer I’d follow anywhere. None of the programme descriptions or reviews describe it adequately and I doubt I could do so myself, but I really did find the performance haunting and affecting. It closes February 11. Maybe you should go?

468. Spearmint gum

469. The (free) browser game Fallen London, which has obsessed me for nigh on three years. Soon I will be poet laureate (in the game).

470. Space heaters

471. When other people contribute to 1000 Things We Like

These are from Fred

472. being the only person on the bus

473. the crowns at Burger King

474. night skiing

March 27th, 2017

1000 things: still likeable

From Josée Sigouin

307. Jazz instrumentals
308. Kekou’s dark chocolate-ginger sorbet
309. Riding a bike in a breezy dress on a sizzling day
310. Plain Greek yogourt mixed with cranberry sauce
311. Rediscovering an obscure song from decades ago
312. Banana sices dressed with fresh mint
313. Nina Simone
314. Cold-brewed green tea
315. Breakfast on the balcony
316. Mozzarella melted on a hot-cross bun, with a side of apple
317. A riot of colours – garden, painting, collage, fabric, etc.
318. Clementine sections dipped in Greek yoghourt & pumpkin seeds
319. Melody Gardot
320. Beets – the redder, the better
321. Night-scented stocks
322. Ataulfo mango slices sprinkled with Thai basil flower buds

And from me, because why not:

323. Seeing anybody learn anything brand new (but especially a cat)
324. Succeeding at paperwork
325. Figs
326. Chinooks
327. spumoni ice cream
328. going to bed when you’re really tired
329. finding something I thought I’d lost
330. how Lily Tomlin looks better and better as she ages–maybe that will happen to us all?

February 5th, 2013

Dumb Things People Say to Single Women

I’ve been married nearly 6 months now, and apparently starting to lose my single-girl cred. When I try to empathize with or add to stories of single life, I’ve been getting some as-if-you-know eye-rolls. This sucks, because I lived alone for 10 years, so I know a little about that lifestyle. Plus, when I actually was single, I tried to avoid too much complaining about weird comments people made to me. I didn’t want it to come off as  sour grapes. It wasn’t–by and large I enjoyed my life then, but not some of the commentary folks offered thereof. Now I wish I’d spouted off more when it was appropriate. Our society seems to give some sort of craziness license when it comes to talking to single women–you can say whatever you want to them, apparently, without worrying about coming across as mean, stupid, or a lunatic. Here is a small sampling of things said to me *in a friendly manner* when I was uncoupled:

Why don’t you have a boyfriend?
What do you eat?
How are you going to get home?
Don’t you want to get married?
You miss out on so much when you don’t have a partner–movies, parties, dinners…
It’s so hard to fall asleep alone, isn’t it?
You must hate weddings.

Oh, my gosh–I’m annoyed just typing. But I do understand that no one (almost) meant to me feel like a loser/zoo animal with these questions, so in case you are someone who wondered these things, I’ll try to answer below. And in case you are someone who gets these sorts of queries/comments, I’ll offer the best answers I came up with in my many single years–though honestly, I’m still at a loss for some of these.

Why don’t you have a boyfriend?
If I knew, don’t you think I would’ve worked on that issue? Hahaha! I know mainly folks meant the question rhetorically, as in, “You are so great, so what’s going on here?” But they did leave an awkward awkward non-rhetorical pause after the question mark, leaving me to suspect that beneath their so-called praise they suspected I was secretly spitting on my dates or poking them sticks or swearing celibacy or something else deliberate to drive them away. There is NO good answer to this question most of the time, and even when there is, it’s usually too personal to answer at a dinner party (eg., you’re not supposed to date in the first months of sobriety). But…
Best answer for someone you like: “Well, some people win the lottery a little earlier than others.”
Best answer for someone you don’t like: “I guess there’s something really wrong with me.” or “I prefer sleeping around, actually.”

What do you eat?
This question and its variants is surprisingly popular, which lead me, in harsh moments, to believe that many people equate being uncoupled in adulthood with being brain-damaged. Seriously, I know lots of people live in the ideal recipe-size of 4-person households, but surely people don’t ask this questions of childless couples, families of 3 or 5, etc? Do they really think lack of romance makes one unable to do fractions? Or order in? Or make a salad? Or eat leftovers?
Best answer for someone you like: “Whatever I want!”
Best answer for someone you don’t like: “I usually just have a fistful of cereal and cry myself to sleep in the bathtub.”

How are you going to get home?
Most of the questions here are just silly and don’t bug me, but this one, I’m still holding a grudge about in a couple cases. As a single female dependent on public transit, I considered myself responsible for myself, and I never made plans I knew I couldn’t get home from safely. I knew TTC routes, and whether I could afford a cab. If I understood the situation to be unavoidably dangerous (very very rare in Toronto) I simply didn’t attend. People casually asking if I knew how I was getting home–fine, that’s just thoughtful. Asking more than once, looking doubtful, implying that I don’t know how to transport myself safely around town–problematic.

I get more het up about this question when the asker implies I’m unsafe AND s/he is not going to do anything about it. For some, single women deserve to be unsafe, apparently. My brother always walks me to my streetcar stop and waits with me if it’s late, behaviour I find unnecessary but very sweet. It’s less sweet to make a fuss about me walking alone and then shut the door behind me! “Too bad you’re going to get mugged” seems to be the message there. Sob story: once I was walking home with a guy I thought was a friend and as we approached Carre St-Louis, he told me how unsafe he thought it was and how he always arranged his schedule to walk his girlfriend home through it if she was working late. I thought this was a long preamble to offering to walk to the far side of the park with me, but he simply bade me good night on the near side and walked off. After all these years, I’ve forgiven him, but barely.
Best answer for someone you like: “I know my way around; I’m pretty smart, you know.”
Best answer for someone you don’t like: “I have no idea. Could you walk/drive me?”

Don’t you hate weddings/talking about weddings/happy couples?
Seriously, the single woman=psycho shrew construction could not be more offensive. Even if said in a sympathetic tone of voice, this question still implies that to be single is to be so unhappy as to despise the happiness of others: nice. Yes, it’s classy to not talk *constantly* about one’s wedding planning to those who aren’t super-interested (how’d I do on that front, friends? I really tried!) But still, not being able to muster up a little proxy joy for dear friends’ celebrations seems awfully cold.
Best answer for someone you like: “Of course not. If I care about you, I want to hear about what makes you happy.”
Best answer for someone you don’t like: “Absolutely. Let’s just sit in silence for a while.”

Wow, this post is over 1000 words–guess I have some pent-up rage there… I didn’t even get through all my questions. I should try to put this stuff behind me, but not entirely–I think forgetting how it feels is where a lot of these dunderheaded comments come from. Empathy, people–it’s the only way!

Anyone got any single-girl (or guy) crazy comments you’d care to share?

October 26th, 2012

Back and last of the 1000 Things

So I went to Vancouver and it was awesome, but caused me some confusing days with the wrong number of hours in them, as well as a lot of time slouched up against an airplane window while a broad-shouldered man tried really hard not to squash me. So I’m tired but I met a lot of amazing folks, heard brilliant readings, and ate as much salmon as humanly possible without being an embarrassment (I don’t think). So let’s get a bit closer to polishing off this liking list while I’m in such a good mood.

First, from Fred,

942) Becky’s cat channel (RR says: aw, thanks!)

And from Jane,

943) paper warm from the printer

And now me, with a heavily west-coast tinged bunch

944) candied salmon
945) Walking along and suddenly seeing a body of water where you didn’t expect one
946) farmers markets
947) tiered tea trays
948) holding a baby who doesn’t mind
949) Irish accents in general and Anakana Schofield‘s in particular
950) Anakana’s novel, Malarky
951) Really good huggers, like VIWF’s head honcho, Hal Wake. In the midst dozens of authors, staff and volunteers, hundreds of audience members, too many potential problems to count, and basically a perfectly awesome festival, he still found time to hug like he meant it.
952) When Alice the kitten stands on the palm of my hand
953) Not even starting to fret that it won’t work out before it does in fact work out
954) GIFs
955) Zsuzsi Gartner
956) Angie Abdou
957) Caroline Adderson
958) Biting into a chocolate-covered cookie to discover it’s actually a chocolate-covered cream puff
959) When my suitcase is first one to hit the baggage carousel (I swear, this actually happened for my return to Toronto)
960) Toronto, city of my love
961) Fluffy pillows
962) My brother
963) Blogging
964) Swiss Chalet (less than an hour to go!)

September 18th, 2012

Exciting things

Sorry, there keep being all these distractions from the 1000 Things–I’ll get back to it soon, I promise. And it’s not like these things I’ve been posting about: cake, movies, my office…

Ok, number one, and this is a red alert: How to Keep Your Day Job, the film that Sean Frewer, Lea Marin, and Lesley Krueger, along with various other awesome, adapted from my short story by the same name, is premiering at the Calgary International Film Festival. It’s a part of Date Night, a collection of short films that will screen September 22 at 12:15pm, and then again on September 26 at 6:45pm. If you click on the Date Night link above, you can find out more, order tickets, etc. If you are in/near Calgary and can attend, please please do–I need to hear all about it.

In other, more October-ish news, I’ll be reading at the Vancover International Writers’ Festival on Octobre 19 and 21 (see the sidebar at right on this page for events). And the Festival programmers asked me to write a little mini essay on my writing space at home for the festival blog–if you’d like to read it, here it is.

That’s it for now–more lists soon, I promise!!