craft/kraft night

today felt like the first day of spring.

for whatever reason, i have been waking up very early recently, which has been real great. just this morning, i even had time to work on my @$&#$* paper, go pick up groceries, and get ready for the day. all before noon. unheard of.

so anyways, on this first evening of the first day that feels like it could be spring, we had our first craft night. with kraft dinner (yah that’s right, we went there).

walking over to laur’s place, i bumped into a friend who is working on her ph.d. at massey college. with heels, smart skirt, and a date, she was off to the symphony. “where are you off to, may?”

“erhm, craft night? with kraft dinner!”

we cooked up five whole boxes of kd (mmmmmmmm) and just so our mothers wouldn’t scold us for not eating our greens, i tossed up a bowl of salad with freezé (is that how you spell it i am not sure) and some resplendent looking beets. lauryn and i drank the water that we’d boiled the beets in (“beet juice!”) which totally creeped all the other kids out, but we were undetered in our hunt for the great vitamin c, our lord and saviour.

i’d written about the need to cook more here, and figured nothing could go wrong with good company, cheap wine, and everyone’s secret favourite comfort meal.

the evening did get slightly not-kosher when we decided to go on chatroulette. i had warned the first timers that at least one out of seven “strangers” will be with not much clothes. and of course, the first two connections we get were of masturbating men. in quick succession, there was screaming, pushing away of poor mac whose only fault was having a built-in cam, and down right outrage at being violated in such a personal, but primal way.

but i digress.

and while we’re at it, let me tell you something here. these girls i have come to know through environmental-y initiatives/events/activism/lobby/mobilization/classes/you name it. and they are all incredibly wholesome, and witty, super talented. and they are also all super attractive. they are the type who will grow bee hives on rooftops, plan hiking trips, devour books on Things That Matter, do remarkable things (like painting their bike helmets to resemble UN helmets cough) read the newspaper, and hold your hand if you gently ask. they are all prurient, irreverent, and ebullient. did i mention they practically glow?

and so, despite my original plans of gracing a million other engagements (well, actually only three), i ended my evening where i begin. unknowingly, i had gotten drunk adn easy off of cheap wine (why not wednesday?), and despite the truck load of work that awaits me, i retire to bed happy, well-fed, and feeling lucky to have these kindred souls close at bay.

thank god…

…the world has ernest hemingway!

an artist i interviewed once mused that at the end of it all, it always seems to come down to moby dick or hemingway. and yes, he is misogynistic and self-centered, and yet, i feel such bond with this man who was a novelist in war times.

despite his human failings, he is bound to leave an indelible mark on your mind, and that is a good thing.

an account of how he starts his mornings (“never empty but filling as when you have made love to someone you love”) makes me smile.

key west years with pauline hemingway:

below is a scene from long lunches at la consula (home of the affluent american expat bill davis) in malaga, spain (home of picasso too!) with the then wife mary. davis’ young son recounts that hemingway did not sleep well and would love be found up before day break out in the veranda that opened up to the mediterranean sea and the andalucian mountainscapes (beautiful). here, he would rise at 6 in the morning, and would work until 10 o’clock. he was researching and writing a story on spain’s great matadors for life magazine – what came of this would be the last writings to be published in hemingway’s life time. beverley bentley – who later married norman mailer – took this photo. it is particularly sobering as it marks the last summer before his death, i think:

french lover wednesday

if you haven’t gotten the flow of things just yet, i am posting one marginally amusing link everyday in hopes of thwarting these mid-winter blues.

in all fairness, the weather has been not that bad, really. but all torontonians (myself included) seem to fall into collective amnesia about the existence of february and its harsh weather; and every year without fail, take it as a personal offense that winters dare be so cold. hello, people, long johns are your best friend until well into march, remember?

so anyways. check this out. if i had a french lover, i would do the same.