Abstract Random

Remember back in April when we had a leak in our bathroom from our upstairs neighbours? Yeah, that sucked. And it's continued to suck because it's taken forever to sort out who's going to pay to fix it (i.e. not us). It's all finally been sorted and the work is scheduled to start June 8. I'm not looking forward to the dust and mess and annoyance of the renovation but I am looking forward to getting it all over and done with and having everything back to normal.

I'm pretty chuffed about the new tile we're going to put around the shower. It's a mosaic with mix of marble, smooth glass, and frosted glass that looks multi-dimensional (though it's all actually level). I think it'll look really cool. Check it out:

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In other, totally unrelated, news, I'm joining the Infinite Summer book club and will be reading David Foster Wallace's 1000 page Infinite Jest this summer. I've read (and loved) DFW's short stories and essays but never got around to tackling Infinite Jest. This seems like a great way to do it and I think it's a nice tribute to a brilliant author who is sadly no longer with us.

My work's annual staff retreat is next week. I'll be stuck in a retreat centre in the forest with all my coworkers for 48 hours.
The actual meeting part of the retreat is tolerable (if boring) and in the evenings I usually get roped into playing cards and/or charades (two things I don't particularly care for) because there is really nothing else to do and there is no escape.

This year, however, could be even worse: there is going to be a karaoke machine. And I have a some coworkers with questionable taste who apparently take karaoke very seriously. In short, it's going to be bad.

I'm starting to put together a veto list of songs that will be forbidden because they make me want to punch someone in the throat and am asking my closest colleagues (who are also mortified by the thought of karaoke) for input as well. Here's the list so far:

Katrina and the Waves - Walking on Sunshine
B-52s - Love Shack
Chris de Burgh - Lady in Red
Any version of It's A Wonderful World
Alphaville - Forever Young
Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited
James Blunt - You're Beautiful
The Divinyls - I Touch Myself
Anything from the Grease soundtrack
Anything from any musical
Anything by Whitney Houston
Anything by Meatloaf
Anything by Celine Dion
Anything by Queen
Anything by Madonna, unless Tor is singing it.

What are we missing?

Has it really been a week since my last post? I don't know where the time has gone. And it's not like I've been spending it doing anything exceptional. I'm loving the warmer weather and am transitioning nicely into summer mode.

I gardened this afternoon, if you can call putting some plants into flower boxes gardening. I usually get geraniums because they are hard to kill but this year I got Celosia and spikes for the two big round planters (I'm hoping the Celosia will fill out a bit):

and small spikes and some sort of tall grass that I don't know the name of for the three small flower boxes:

Hopefully they'll all be hearty enough to survive a day without me watering them. Because that happens regularly.

This week in the yay! department:

- Those meetings I was worried about earlier this week all turned out fine. Phew. I love it when something that you think is going to suck turns out ok.

- I barbecued by myself last night and didn't blow my building up nor give myself food poisoning. (Arun usually handles barbecue duties, my 'cue skills are generally limited to basting and/or flipping something over once in a while.)

- Starla finished her month-long round of antibiotics a couple of weeks ago and seems to be feeling pretty good. She's eating consistently and has all sorts of energy (including a newly developed habit of running around the apartment for an hour at 4:30 or 5 in the morning). I don't know how long it will last but I'm happy to see her doing well for now.

- I have a four day weekend, followed by a three day week and a three day weekend.

- Two of our good friends are getting married this weekend and I'm excited about that, obviously but I also can't wait to give them our wedding gift because it is awesome.

I made my own mustard this weekend! It's kind of ridiculous how excited I am about it considering it was stupid easy. Still: homemade mustard! Imagine the right-wing blowback if the Obama's did that.

Before you start thinking I'm a total elitist, I'll tell you we went see Star Trek this weekend. I was skeptical going into it but it turned out to be pretty entertaining. It's not life-altering or anything but it was fun. And what more could you want from a summer blockbuster?

We also went to the Junior Boys show at Babylon last night, which was super good. Did Babylon get a new sound system or something? Because the sound there always sucks but it sounded great last night. We still couldn't see anything but it sounded good, at least.

Most of the rest of the weekend revolved around food, as usual. We had brunch with our moms, barbecued despite the weather and had steak with chimichurri sauce, and heated the apartment yesterday afternoon by having the oven on for four hours to make baked beans.

I've got a big week ahead. I have a bunch of meetings to consult with coworkers about my work's web site redesign project, showing them mockups, and they'll either go either really well or really badly.

I also have to start practicing the reading I'm doing at our friends' wedding this weekend. Again, that will either go really well or really badly—I am not known for my public speaking prowess. I do, however, have a cute new dress to wear so if I fail at least I will look good doing it.

Time for another edition of Random Radio! Click here to download the MP3 (51.7 mb at 192 kbps). Stream this and other podcasts at Zoice.com.

Track listing:
Camera Obscura - French Navy

Junior Boys - Work
La Roux - Quicksand (Mad Descent Remix No. 1)

The Von Bondies - Pale Bride
Sebastian Grainger & The Mountains - Who Do We Care For?
The Vines - He's a Rocker

Glasvegas - Flowers and Football Tops
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Some Candy Talking
The Kills - Black Balloon

Doves - Kingdom of Rust

I'm an aunt to a gorgeous baby boy. We went to the hospital to meet him last night and he is lovely.

Look at his sweet little face:

And his wrinkly little hands:

And feet:

I'm looking forward to Arun and I being his cool (and favourite) uncle and aunt.

I'm going to become an aunt sometime over the next few days or so, though for my sister-in-law I hope it's sooner rather than later. I'm pretty excited about it, and I'm really happy for my brother and sister-in-law.

Today is the first of my Fridays off for the summer. My big plans include doing some housework, going to the gym, and picking up a new pair of black flats from Browns to replace the stinky cheap pleather ones I promised Arun I'd get rid of.

My weekend project (with Arun) is to finish up the podcast we've been putting together. If all goes well we'll have something for you early next week.

Oh, and if you haven't seen them yet, you have to watch some keyboard cat videos on YouTube. Like this one and this one. It's my new favourite thing on the internet.