365 grateful project (count=207)

• Chilly walk through Brickworks along the Danforth led to dinner at the Pan
• Rainy walk through Riverdale/Leslieville with a break at St John’s (herbed dinner rolls for me + cinnamon bun for him) led to dinner at Table 17
• I talked about the book so much that he decided to get the movie; I always love the book more but the movie does capture the quietly devastating tone
• Dinner at Guu with Denise/Jessica/Albert; I arrived at 5:15 to secure a table and it was most definitely worth the effort
• Dinner at Mideastro with Carl/Sharon

hot docs (count=197)

• The Job: “Ten French job seekers show up for a two-day recruitment session knowing only that they’re vying for a sales position in the insurance field. Will the candidates endure this Survivor meets The Apprentice competition for employment?”
• Garden in the Sea: “cinematography that leaves poetic and lasting images of a sea that is still abundant and a land that is still plentiful”.
• Tchoupitoulas: The incomprehensible one this year. Maybe life is completely incohesive. Documentaries shouldn’t be.
• Tundra Book: “In the magnificent landscape of Russia’s Arctic Circle, just across the Bering Strait from Alaska, 72-year-old patriarch Vukvukai leads his Indigenous Chukchi family in caring for their herd of 14,000 reindeer.”
• Polish Illusions: The favorite this year. Retired pilot. Aging illusionist. What is worthy of remembrance?

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=184)

• Delish brunch at le gourmand: the Spadina location; was so sad when the Bloor location closed
• Preceded by free tour of 401 Richmond as part of images fest; you can watch all the films at the media centre (+ free coffee too)
• Brunch with Tushar at fire on the eastside, his neighborhood spot; love the smoked salmon & spinach Bennie (on corn bread)
• Tanya starting super exciting new job with International Rivers; planning to visit her in Thailand later this year
• Carl’s geese fondue + Sharon’s crazy dessert that I cannot name = amazing

on a less positive note

photo from anotherstickerinthewall.com

• We saw Eames: The Architect & The Painter ten days ago at Bloor Cinema. It upset me so much that I didn’t know what to write. Charles+Ray found a successful design firm. Charles (who is described as very very charismatic) meets new girl and offers to leave Ray and start a new design firm with her. Imagine a version of the Bill+Hillary (Billary?) story where Monica runs for president.
• Reading Here Are The Women of Y Combinator And They Are Awesome, I stumble over this quote: “Women and men look at things differently. Women will go to a store and browse. But job search is built around knowing what you want and going after that.” Like seriously!!!

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=167)

Banff Mountain Film Fest
• Obe & Ashima: “There’s a nine-year-old girl from New York City taking the bouldering world by storm, and her name is Ashima Shiraishi. Guided by her coach and former bouldering star Obe Carrion, this tiny master is crushing competitions and raising the bar for her peers. A trip to the bouldering mecca of Hueco Tanks provides a glimpse of the past for Obe and the start of amazing new adventures for Ashima.” (probably one of the reasons that I’m thinking that I’m not living up to my potential)
• Spoil: “Photographers join the Gitga’at First Nation of British Columbia in an attempt to photograph the legendary spirit bear, with the help of a local guide who is deeply connected to the bear and its environment, a place threatened by a proposed oil pipeline.”

365 grateful project (count=155)

• Hugo: Yup I cried!
• Urbanized: DVD finally arrived and definitely worth the wait
• Once Upon a Time in Anatolia: At Cannes, where the film won the runner-up Grand Jury Prize, it was called “Chekhovian”. We know what that means. Nothing happens, everyone talks. // Half way between – at the 70-minute stage – comes the AGM. The Absolute Great Moment. // intertwining the frayed ends of their soul. Then beauty comes in, plain and nature-gifted, and transcendence happens. This scene is cinema of utter, purest sorcery. But one could say that of the whole film.
• Jiro Dreams of Sushi: “You have to fall in love with your job,” Ono says. “You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill.” Ono literally does dream of sushi, waking in the night with visions of better ways to serve his eel and tuna, his octopus and shrimp.

365 grateful project (count=97)

• we spent an hour perusing Mark Ovenden’s Transit Maps of the World (he bought the book at 401 Richmond West; i like bilbao’s Fosteritos; funny picture of union station yes both directions are north)
• preceded by making mulled apple cider; love the scent of mulling spices
• followed by late dinner at corner house; onion tart plus beet salad is perfect
• bday gift: hot docs pass
• steak dinner with Mum + Dad: 1 x rib eye + 1 x sirloin
• winterlicious lunch with Faisel, Fei and Vikram: love the standing knife at C5

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.