365 grateful project (count=189)

Image from funthyme.com

• Red Chicory with Cashel Blue: how poetic is that?
• I liked keep calm invest on. I love forward banking.
• He found this very cool espresso bar slash cooking party slash show room at 1 Yorkville; me thinks multi-taking commercial space is the future.
• Arbeit “lies within this trajectory of structuralist biopics, focusing on the influential German economist Hans Tietmeyer: former head of the Deutsche Bundesbank and one of the architects of the Euro // Echoing this structure of nostalgia, Campbell’s examination of the European financial crisis is both a formal and conceptual treatise on images, history, revision and the uncertainty of what lies ahead.”

365 grateful project (count=176)

• New Idea Fest at Alumnae Theatre: He says he likes the second play the best because it was the most realistic; I say I like the second play the best because it was the most absurd; the play is about the meeting of two women at a laundromat; the old woman thinks life is a play; the young woman thinks life is a reality TV series.
• Preceded by Mylk Uncookies for milk (almond milk latte) and cookies (not usually a cookie person but this cookie has more salty choco than cookie).
• The barista at Crema has been giving me double stamps for some reason, so I’m getting a free cappuccino every other week.
• Lunchbox Exchange: When I cook, he gets to bring the leftover for lunch; when he cooks, I get to bring the leftover for lunch.
• Dinner at the Rosedale Diner; loved the apple cake and the duck confit (in a cassis veal jus).
• Health Mandate: I ask him if he thinks it’s constitutional; he says “No Act of Parliament can be unconstitutional, for the law of the land knows not the word or the idea”.

grateful at work (count=170)

Sometimes I notice that some people at work are not happy. Most of the time it’s because they are thinking about how they compare against other people. It reminds me of being in first grade. To join Young Pioneers, one must get 100 on both the language test and the math test. I always got 100 on the language test. I used to always get 99 on the math test because seven plus five is eleven. To say that I felt left behind when all my friends joined Young Pioneers would be an understatement. Twenty three years later, I’m certain that feeling is still with me even if I don’t think about this kind of stuff consciously.

So, what to think/talk about at work?

• Jessica and I are going to see The Job: “Will the candidates endure this Survivor meets The Apprentice competition for employment? Should they have to? This brutal examination of entry-level recruitment sheds light on the stigma of being unemployed, the power dynamics of interviewing and the roles people play in their quest to earn a minimum wage.”
• Faisel and I are doing choco exchange: He gave me choco with mint chips, which is surprisingly good even though I can’t stand choco with mint cream (uh toothpaste uh); I gave him 99.
• Michel, who used to work in Amsterdam, cannot stand Canadian coffee. He put a coffee machine in the kitchen, which is next to the entrance. The scent of great coffee hits me the second I step into the office. It’s like I’m working for Starbucks.

Do you have a good job? Take the test

365 grateful project (count=158)

• Sipping in a comfy chair at seven grams (love the splatter on wood artwork)
• Liège waffle (wiki: “richer, denser, sweeter”) from Petit Dej
• it has been six months

365 grateful project (count=105)

• coffee table inspired by Mies
• cappuccino doppio at caffe furbo
• olive oil massage
• roasted salmon sandwich at mbco. yes romantic afternoon of self.
• 105 > 100

the more i change

eight years ago i wrote

Coffee is a tier of my food pyramid, the tier beneath grains. Coffee is what life should be, a complete sensual experience: from the first whiff, the sound of pouring, the light reflected in the dark pool, the warmth, till the last sip. Good coffee has body as complex as feelings, bitter-sweet-velvety. Good coffee revives memories of coffee shops and characters in them. I had a taste when I was six years old and couldn’t let go ever since. Coffee is my first love.

If I had the habit of chewing paper, as opposed to chewing finger nails, books would also be a tier of my food pyramid. I appreciate all kinds but a certain lyricism blows me away. Whisper realismo magico. Souse in Love in the Time of Cholera. I sigh at pretty words the way some girls sigh at pretty boys. I sigh at pretty boys too, if they are purely fictional. Real people weigh too heavily by nature of existence. Books are my best friends.

Although I enjoy sipping Gin & Vodka while moving to Rhythm & Blues, I am most definitely not a party girl. A typical free night involves long walks and movies. Before Paul Thomas Anderson, before Magnolia, there was a time when I truly really believed that I am the only person who feels disconnected. I watched Forces of Nature and realized that everything happens for a reason, if only you allow yourself to perceive it. I watched Sliding Doors and hoped that the events of my life will echo, that somewhere it turned out perfect.

365 grateful project (count=91)

• Brunch inspired by petitekitchenesse. Yes, romantic morning of self.
• Preceded by ravine walk with Tanya.
• Followed by hotpot with Haina, Steven and Albert. Sesame tofu ice cream versus Häagen-Dazs.
• The Double. Exactly how I imagined Dostoevsky’s funny. First time at the studio, which is more intimate than the main stage. Love love Factory Theatre.
• Preceded by Sense Appeal Americano to go. Last timehe got Americano and I got Cappuccino.
• oxford comma

365 grateful project (count=78)

• Denise and I did spa for my bday. Nothing like letting out some steam in the steam room!
• Followed by dinner at Pangaea (winterlicious). I picked cheese platter for dessert and the blue was surprisingly good.
• His turn to pick a coffee place and he picked Capital Expresso where the cappuccino is extra foamy and …
• … where I found out that Necessary Angel Theatre Company is bringing back divisadero: “Michael Ondaatje collaborates with Daniel Brooks to adapt his novel Divisadero – a violent and passionate story exploring themes of memory, identity, love and the grip of the past on the present.”
• Come up to my room was a lot of fun and I found more Angry Asian Girl.
• It was warm with a sprinkle of snowpowder so we walked back from the Gladstone, dropping by the new CB2 at Bathurst (liking one of the candle holders but it’s not very minimalist to buy something just to hold a candle so I will stick with candles in tall water glasses) and …
• Longo’s to pick up pizza ingredients (pineapple, smoked prosciutto, arugula, parmigiano reggiano). We drenched the pizza in balsamic vinegar (oops gotta clean oven).

365 grateful project (count=60)

• I once saw a girl who looked like Francoise Hardy in Lyon. I have been looking for a striped tee ever since. I never found one that worked for me. I can do contrasting colors but I cannot do contrasting stripes. Finally I found this striped tee at Gap. Lack of contrast means I can wear this with navy trousers, black cigarette pants or ultramarine skirt.
• Shopping at St Lawrence Market with Carl. He bought bread, two kinds of cheese and lamb sausage. I bought lemon, two kinds of mushroom and duck confit. Preceded by coffee at seven grams. He seems much less stressed than other wedding-approaching guys. Me thinks Sharon is taking care of everything!
• loca loca loca

365 grateful project (count=57)

• My neighbourhood made an appearance in TorontoLife. St. Lawrence, because everything an urbanite needs is within a five-minute walk. Bisogno Espresso Bar was mentioned so we tried it out. Blackboard at the entrance: If you expect the unexpected is the unexpected expected? Nutella-cino was interesting but sweet coffee has not taken roots with me yet.
• He got a bottle of Ladybug Rose before the holidays. I tried it and thought it was okay … for a rose. I tried it again with tilapia and onion confit. It was unexpected … in a good way.
• Next Stage Theatre Festival: We wanted to see Modern Love and couldn’t get tickets; we got tickets for Tomasso’s Party and missed the show; we showed up for Hypnogogic Logic and loved it … very Waking Life.