Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Thank You Very Much
Caught some good holiday movies over the weekend and came across this little gem I was unaware of: Scrooge: The Musical.
I have to admit that the prospect of a musical version of A Christmas Carol sent shivers down my spine. What a pleasant surprise this movie was. It's absolutely delightful with a then 34 year old Albert Finney playing both the young and old versions of Scrooge. Made in 1970, the production value is such that it could have been shot yesterday.
A song that's stuck in my head from this movie [and they're all rather good] is one called Thank You Very Much. It's a show stopping ensemble piece that I'd put on a par with Oom Pah Pah from Oliver! The song takes place during Scrooge's visitation by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Unbeknownst to him, what the crowd is extremely thankful for is the death of Ebenezer and therefore, the payment of their debts to him. I defy you to hear this and not have it in your head for days.
I have to admit that the prospect of a musical version of A Christmas Carol sent shivers down my spine. What a pleasant surprise this movie was. It's absolutely delightful with a then 34 year old Albert Finney playing both the young and old versions of Scrooge. Made in 1970, the production value is such that it could have been shot yesterday.
A song that's stuck in my head from this movie [and they're all rather good] is one called Thank You Very Much. It's a show stopping ensemble piece that I'd put on a par with Oom Pah Pah from Oliver! The song takes place during Scrooge's visitation by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Unbeknownst to him, what the crowd is extremely thankful for is the death of Ebenezer and therefore, the payment of their debts to him. I defy you to hear this and not have it in your head for days.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Thankful
Starting to feel better now that the antibiotics are kicking in. Was reading in the paper today though about two things that haunted me throughout the day.
The first was an article in the Toronto Star about how the situation in The Congo continues to deteriorate.
The second was about Adam Walsh and how the police feel they can now make a definitive determination about who killed and decapitated him. Adam Walsh was six years old when he was taken and killed by Ottis Toole. Adam was the son of John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted.
I looked at both the video of John Walsh talking about his son, and a picture of two Congolese boys sobbing as they searched for their parents. [According to the article, of the six million people who have died in the Congo since 1996, half of them have been children 5 or under.]
I would really like to say something profound and insightful here, but frankly I can't. I can't even begin to imagine how John Walsh or those Congolese boys feel contending with their respective circumstances, and frankly, I hope to Christ I never do.
I'm just thankful that there are organizations that are trying to help in these awful situations, and I'm going to do my best to help them. I am very blessed, in too many respects to count.
The first was an article in the Toronto Star about how the situation in The Congo continues to deteriorate.
The second was about Adam Walsh and how the police feel they can now make a definitive determination about who killed and decapitated him. Adam Walsh was six years old when he was taken and killed by Ottis Toole. Adam was the son of John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted.
I looked at both the video of John Walsh talking about his son, and a picture of two Congolese boys sobbing as they searched for their parents. [According to the article, of the six million people who have died in the Congo since 1996, half of them have been children 5 or under.]
I would really like to say something profound and insightful here, but frankly I can't. I can't even begin to imagine how John Walsh or those Congolese boys feel contending with their respective circumstances, and frankly, I hope to Christ I never do.
I'm just thankful that there are organizations that are trying to help in these awful situations, and I'm going to do my best to help them. I am very blessed, in too many respects to count.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Sigh
Well now I know why I've felt like total ass for one and a half weeks. My bladder infection is back. Went to the walk in sawbones this morning and the doctor I saw this time said that he doesn't give out three day prescriptions, but seven day ones, otherwise folks inevitably are back in his office.
Ahem. Case in point.
The sleep clinic was weird, but went ok. I'll write more when I'm feeling better.
Ahem. Case in point.
The sleep clinic was weird, but went ok. I'll write more when I'm feeling better.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
To Sleep, Perchance to Fuhreek Out
Well I'm off to the sleep disorder clinic tonight. I am so not looking forward to this it's not funny. It's like going to a hotel with none of the benefits. And people will be watching me. So weird.
Oh and I'll let you know how my scheduled naps go on Friday too. LOL!
Workout Song Obsession: Peg, Steely Dan
15 min mile pace: 3.2
Jar Opening Propensity: Gettin' there
Oh and I'll let you know how my scheduled naps go on Friday too. LOL!
Workout Song Obsession: Peg, Steely Dan
15 min mile pace: 3.2
Jar Opening Propensity: Gettin' there
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
I'm Pretending It's July
The rain is falling steadily outside. It's just after 3 a.m. and I am pretending that it's the middle of summer and that if I wanted to, I could go outside and sit in the warm night air in nothing but my housecoat. It feels like it's been raining for a week, though realistically it's more like a day and a half. I couldn't tell you however, the last full day of sun we had.
I have felt wretchedly tired this week. Between workouts and work, Christmas is sneaking up on me like a bad cold. How did I get to this point? How did any of us? It just seems every year at this time I'm insanely busy and Christmas becomes one more thing to get done. It's awful and we've completely lost the meaning of the season. Every year I feel this way and I don't know how to shake it.
I have absolutely no idea given my current workload and energy levels how I'm going to get anything done and how I can do anything to appreciate the season. That's what I think is so sad. Christmas isn't about running a gauntlet. It's about taking time to celebrate the birth of Christ [if you're a Christian] and to reflect and be thankful for what you have.
I've been trying to focus my mental efforts on the latter, because I do have much to be thankful for. It's amazing how much a bad work situation can suck the life out of, well your life. My work situation isn't bad in terms of the people or the company, or even the job. It's just the job "right now."
"Right now", I have too much work and not enough resources or time to get everything done. It's been like this for months, so I need to allow for that fact and realize that it's impacting my perspective. Plus I haven't had full time support in nearly two months. The irony is that as difficult as that has been, it been far less difficult than working with the person we let go.
Plus the new year brings an influx of interns, the return of my boss from mat leave and hopefully the conversion of my contract role to full time, assuming things get approved as planned and a job offer shows up in writing. I have to admit, there is a part of me that wishes I could just finish my contract, gracefully bow out and take some vacation, but you have to trust that things work out the way they do for a reason.
Still, I wish I was awake enough to read books and write more than "I did this" and "I did that" for blog entries.
On the upswing, I'm making good progress on the voice over front and should have a demo reel pulled together in the new year. By the summer, I plan to have an agent.
A facebook friend posted that it's only 11 more days before the sunlight starts to return and our days get longer. Thank goodness.
I have felt wretchedly tired this week. Between workouts and work, Christmas is sneaking up on me like a bad cold. How did I get to this point? How did any of us? It just seems every year at this time I'm insanely busy and Christmas becomes one more thing to get done. It's awful and we've completely lost the meaning of the season. Every year I feel this way and I don't know how to shake it.
I have absolutely no idea given my current workload and energy levels how I'm going to get anything done and how I can do anything to appreciate the season. That's what I think is so sad. Christmas isn't about running a gauntlet. It's about taking time to celebrate the birth of Christ [if you're a Christian] and to reflect and be thankful for what you have.
I've been trying to focus my mental efforts on the latter, because I do have much to be thankful for. It's amazing how much a bad work situation can suck the life out of, well your life. My work situation isn't bad in terms of the people or the company, or even the job. It's just the job "right now."
"Right now", I have too much work and not enough resources or time to get everything done. It's been like this for months, so I need to allow for that fact and realize that it's impacting my perspective. Plus I haven't had full time support in nearly two months. The irony is that as difficult as that has been, it been far less difficult than working with the person we let go.
Plus the new year brings an influx of interns, the return of my boss from mat leave and hopefully the conversion of my contract role to full time, assuming things get approved as planned and a job offer shows up in writing. I have to admit, there is a part of me that wishes I could just finish my contract, gracefully bow out and take some vacation, but you have to trust that things work out the way they do for a reason.
Still, I wish I was awake enough to read books and write more than "I did this" and "I did that" for blog entries.
On the upswing, I'm making good progress on the voice over front and should have a demo reel pulled together in the new year. By the summer, I plan to have an agent.
A facebook friend posted that it's only 11 more days before the sunlight starts to return and our days get longer. Thank goodness.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Progress
"Everyday is a winding road,
I get a little bit closer." ---- Sheryl Crow
What a strange week it was.
On Tuesday, I ended up getting a last minute appointment to go see the sleep specialist my dentist had referred me to and three hours later I was leaving the hospital. I had to fill in a 20+ page questionnaire and answer all this questions on the part of the intake physician as it was a training hospital. There were a lot of questions related to my emotional state, which ironically enough, made me a bit depressed.
At the end of it all, I then had to meet with the sleep specialist himself. He struck me as one of those English eccentrics. His office looks like a bomb hit it and yet you know the man is fundamentally brilliant. He basically called my sitch in one.
“It would seem that versus a full blown depression or fatigue issue, that you have these issues on a much smaller scale and that they would vastly improve as your sleep improved.”
WORD to that La Medicin.
So next Thursday night, I have to get hooked up with all this equipment and they’ll monitor my sleep. Needless to say, I am absolutely mortified at the prospect of complete strangers observing my nocturnal wailings and nashings. But if it helps me sleep better, so be it. Then I have to take Friday off work to do a day sleep test, where they actually schedule – wait for it – naps, to see if I’m able to sleep. This apparently tests my levels of sleep deprivation as well. So I try to take 4 naps during the day, and then go to my workout to that evening. Yeah I know, life is rough.
The work gauntlet continues. I’ll finally be able to interview replacements for my former employee next week sometime. I had to delay it this week to interview some interns. I remember being an early twenty something. But these young’uns seem so much more sure of themselves and their direction. I love their enthusiasm. Perhaps I’m too hard on myself. Still, I remember those years and I’m a bit nostalgic for them in some respects. But I like where I am in my life, with a lot more well earned self knowledge to call upon. I hope I can give them a good opportunity here.
Workouts continue unabated. My relentlessness has surprised even me. I actually look forward to my workouts now, something I thought would never happen. I am a living testimony to the addictive power of endorphins. And the good news is that I’ve hit the magical three week mark, and not only am I not sick, I actually feel better than I usually do.
Working out is giving me a sense of purpose right now. I know I’ll always feel better for having worked out and I like going through my week and finding that things that used to be physically difficult aren’t as hard to do anymore. I have a sense that every workout is getting me that much closer to my goals and I'm beginning to feel more at home in my own body.
Workout Song Obsession: Superstar, Jamelia
15 min mile pace: 3.5
Jar Opening Propensity: A doddle by the way.
I get a little bit closer." ---- Sheryl Crow
What a strange week it was.
On Tuesday, I ended up getting a last minute appointment to go see the sleep specialist my dentist had referred me to and three hours later I was leaving the hospital. I had to fill in a 20+ page questionnaire and answer all this questions on the part of the intake physician as it was a training hospital. There were a lot of questions related to my emotional state, which ironically enough, made me a bit depressed.
At the end of it all, I then had to meet with the sleep specialist himself. He struck me as one of those English eccentrics. His office looks like a bomb hit it and yet you know the man is fundamentally brilliant. He basically called my sitch in one.
“It would seem that versus a full blown depression or fatigue issue, that you have these issues on a much smaller scale and that they would vastly improve as your sleep improved.”
WORD to that La Medicin.
So next Thursday night, I have to get hooked up with all this equipment and they’ll monitor my sleep. Needless to say, I am absolutely mortified at the prospect of complete strangers observing my nocturnal wailings and nashings. But if it helps me sleep better, so be it. Then I have to take Friday off work to do a day sleep test, where they actually schedule – wait for it – naps, to see if I’m able to sleep. This apparently tests my levels of sleep deprivation as well. So I try to take 4 naps during the day, and then go to my workout to that evening. Yeah I know, life is rough.
The work gauntlet continues. I’ll finally be able to interview replacements for my former employee next week sometime. I had to delay it this week to interview some interns. I remember being an early twenty something. But these young’uns seem so much more sure of themselves and their direction. I love their enthusiasm. Perhaps I’m too hard on myself. Still, I remember those years and I’m a bit nostalgic for them in some respects. But I like where I am in my life, with a lot more well earned self knowledge to call upon. I hope I can give them a good opportunity here.
Workouts continue unabated. My relentlessness has surprised even me. I actually look forward to my workouts now, something I thought would never happen. I am a living testimony to the addictive power of endorphins. And the good news is that I’ve hit the magical three week mark, and not only am I not sick, I actually feel better than I usually do.
Working out is giving me a sense of purpose right now. I know I’ll always feel better for having worked out and I like going through my week and finding that things that used to be physically difficult aren’t as hard to do anymore. I have a sense that every workout is getting me that much closer to my goals and I'm beginning to feel more at home in my own body.
Workout Song Obsession: Superstar, Jamelia
15 min mile pace: 3.5
Jar Opening Propensity: A doddle by the way.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Is It March Yet?
There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons--
That opresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes--
Heavenly Hurt, it gives us--
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the meanings are--
None may teach it--Any--
'Tis the Seal Despair--
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air--
When it comes, the Landscape listens--
Shadows--hold their breath--
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death--
-- Emily Dickinson
"Over the winter glaciers I see the summer glow;
And through the wild-piled snowdrift the warm rosebuds below"
-- Ralph Waldo Emmerson
Up early.
I'm beginning to wonder how I'm going to get through the next month. The lack of light is really getting to me this year and it seems these days at work that I barely get an eighth, if anything, done of what I'd like to.
I get some television in, but I'm too exhausted to read anything which is vexing. Right now, the highlights of my weeks are my workouts and being at home with the Marine. It's during times like this I'm most grateful for friends, family and home comforts.
I'm also trying to get into the holiday spirit a bit more this year and perhaps go to some events around the city. I was hoping Ragdoll and I could go to the Swedish Christmas Festival at Harbourfront, but it's over already. At any rate, I'm going to do some research and find some things to do because I always feel as if the season sneaks up on me. I don't like that.
My workouts continue to go well. I'm definitely getting stronger, but there's still no real shift in weight after a first week loss of a few pounds. I know for sure I'm getting stronger and I feel better. Still, dropping a few dress sizes would be nice too. I just need to be patient.
Winter Afternoons--
That opresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes--
Heavenly Hurt, it gives us--
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the meanings are--
None may teach it--Any--
'Tis the Seal Despair--
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air--
When it comes, the Landscape listens--
Shadows--hold their breath--
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death--
-- Emily Dickinson
"Over the winter glaciers I see the summer glow;
And through the wild-piled snowdrift the warm rosebuds below"
-- Ralph Waldo Emmerson
Up early.
I'm beginning to wonder how I'm going to get through the next month. The lack of light is really getting to me this year and it seems these days at work that I barely get an eighth, if anything, done of what I'd like to.
I get some television in, but I'm too exhausted to read anything which is vexing. Right now, the highlights of my weeks are my workouts and being at home with the Marine. It's during times like this I'm most grateful for friends, family and home comforts.
I'm also trying to get into the holiday spirit a bit more this year and perhaps go to some events around the city. I was hoping Ragdoll and I could go to the Swedish Christmas Festival at Harbourfront, but it's over already. At any rate, I'm going to do some research and find some things to do because I always feel as if the season sneaks up on me. I don't like that.
My workouts continue to go well. I'm definitely getting stronger, but there's still no real shift in weight after a first week loss of a few pounds. I know for sure I'm getting stronger and I feel better. Still, dropping a few dress sizes would be nice too. I just need to be patient.
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