sunny and hot, temps 90's
Everyone here says, No Pressure, no problem. What a lovely philosophy. And it seems genuine.
had wonderful news from home!!! Our great friends Danny and Lucy, who run Brome Lake books in Knowlton, have been named Bookstore of the Month in Canada. Yay! And so well deserved.
Did Tell you we finally went scuba diving??? I qualified but Michael was hyperventilating. I think Malaika might have walked by. But we went off on the power boat with a bunch of scuba-ers and a bunch of snorklers - and went down. Michael, lovely man, stayed on the boat.
It was sublime - and a little scary. I kept saying to myself...breathe, and don't get cocky. Relax, enjoy, don't eff up.
the colours of the fish were amazing!!!!
Had dinner last night at Barefoot By the Sea - our table was right at the shoreline, with waves lapping a few feet away. under the stars, some tikki torches for light. It was...sublime.
No pressure, no problem.
But yesterday I forgot to put sunscreen on my face! I stayed in the shade all day - but I guess the swimming was enough...and the reflected sun. I now look like someone peeled me. Or I've done some so terribly embarassing I'm blushing. Indeed, I forgot the sunscreen - that's embarrassing. I glow. last night Malaika (our butler..or as Michael says...Mah-lyyyy- ka-ahhh)...said I no longer look like my passport photo and might not be allowed to return to Canada. I also glow in the dark. perhaps it wasn't the Tikki torch lighting our table, but my face.
Honestly, I'm not sure I even look human...but am evolving into a whole new species...very stupid, very lazy and very red.
God - can't imagine how this will look back in Sutton against the snow. My only hope is that it is deradfully cold and people think my face is frozen. Very cold and very hot look the same.
Off to watch the Super Bowl tonight. Our last night. Can't quite believe it.
What fun we've had!
Showing posts with label Super Bowl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Bowl. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Monday, 2 February 2009
Super Bowl - arrrgh.
sunny, beautiful day, temps minus 9
So, Arizona lost...but what a game! Have to say, I think Pittsburgh deserved to win, so I don't feel too badly. And, really, we don't follow football at all. We're those awful dilitants to become interested only in the finals.
But - if you actually really, really cared about the outcome this year's Super Bowl would have killed you! So close - those last 5 minutes were amazing!!!
So now I've exhausted my sports talk. hard to believe i was actually a sports reporter. My very first job. Another lifetime.
We're heading out. Breakfast is calling. Then we'll explore more of the old city - especially want to walk around Notre Dame Cathedral and into the crypts. Still trying to connect with a man who was highly recommended for a private historical tour of Quebec. And the Chief Archeologist.
I also want to really thank all the people who read the newsletter and wrote such lovely messages. This is a fun time. Bad times come every now and then, so I always think it"s a shame not to totally appreciate and celebrate the good.
Speaking of which - we're off into Quebec City. Speak to you tomorrow.
So, Arizona lost...but what a game! Have to say, I think Pittsburgh deserved to win, so I don't feel too badly. And, really, we don't follow football at all. We're those awful dilitants to become interested only in the finals.
But - if you actually really, really cared about the outcome this year's Super Bowl would have killed you! So close - those last 5 minutes were amazing!!!
So now I've exhausted my sports talk. hard to believe i was actually a sports reporter. My very first job. Another lifetime.
We're heading out. Breakfast is calling. Then we'll explore more of the old city - especially want to walk around Notre Dame Cathedral and into the crypts. Still trying to connect with a man who was highly recommended for a private historical tour of Quebec. And the Chief Archeologist.
I also want to really thank all the people who read the newsletter and wrote such lovely messages. This is a fun time. Bad times come every now and then, so I always think it"s a shame not to totally appreciate and celebrate the good.
Speaking of which - we're off into Quebec City. Speak to you tomorrow.
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Caribou-boo
more fluffy snow flakes, temps minus 10
Actually the official forecast says minus 16 but we just came back from brunch (more eating? honestly! No self restraint) and it was fairly mild.
they've closed off a couple of blocks of rue Saint-Jean and are having a small hockey game, some music and these huge puppets - really quite macabre - wandering up and down. Look faintly Venetian. Half Venetian, half menacing.
One big pasttime at the Quebec Winter Carnival is to buy a hollow plastic walking stick and fill it with Caribou. Not the animal, nor even the meat - but this unholy alcohol. You can pick it up in lots of places, but particularly along Sainte-Therese street...or you can make it yourself out of some combination of Port/Brandy/Wine/vodka/Maple Syrup. I suspect this is what fuels Bonhomme. When I worked here years ago there was a fellow who was famous for making the best Caribou. I seem to remember he lived in the lower town, the basse ville and was named 'Ti Jean or something. 'Ti' is a Quebec diminutive for 'petit', so in effect it's a small diminutive. Never mind.
Perhaps someone reading this - Hum?? - knows the guy or the story.
The wonderful Linda Lyall, who designs and manages my website and newsletter, sent out the February newsletter today. We're giving away 2 souveniers from the Carnaval. Just tiny little gifts.
Such fun to hear back from people - and such beautiful messages. Supportive, enthusiastic, kind. And helping to celebrate the New York Times list. Honestly I don't think I will ever recover from the surprise and delight of that. And such fun to celebrate with you.
We rose late, had brunch out - bought some pastries for later (eclairs, Jesuites, escargots d'orange, and a pear and chocolate thing) and will read the papers, respond to the emails and later on watch the Super Bowl. We're rooting for Arizona because I was just there and I feel an affinity for them. And it was such fun to hear the amazement of everyone in Phoenix that they should be in the Super Bowl!
I've placed some calls and am hoping to have a few private tours of historic sites next week. I'm seeing more clearly what the crime will be, where, and how far back the crime (and the memory) reaches. Such fun. It means I have a more focussed search - though still trying to keep my options open in case something even more exciting and disturbing and rich presents itself.
I do know this - we're going to have great fun, you and me. Writing it, and reading it!
Actually the official forecast says minus 16 but we just came back from brunch (more eating? honestly! No self restraint) and it was fairly mild.
they've closed off a couple of blocks of rue Saint-Jean and are having a small hockey game, some music and these huge puppets - really quite macabre - wandering up and down. Look faintly Venetian. Half Venetian, half menacing.
One big pasttime at the Quebec Winter Carnival is to buy a hollow plastic walking stick and fill it with Caribou. Not the animal, nor even the meat - but this unholy alcohol. You can pick it up in lots of places, but particularly along Sainte-Therese street...or you can make it yourself out of some combination of Port/Brandy/Wine/vodka/Maple Syrup. I suspect this is what fuels Bonhomme. When I worked here years ago there was a fellow who was famous for making the best Caribou. I seem to remember he lived in the lower town, the basse ville and was named 'Ti Jean or something. 'Ti' is a Quebec diminutive for 'petit', so in effect it's a small diminutive. Never mind.
Perhaps someone reading this - Hum?? - knows the guy or the story.
The wonderful Linda Lyall, who designs and manages my website and newsletter, sent out the February newsletter today. We're giving away 2 souveniers from the Carnaval. Just tiny little gifts.
Such fun to hear back from people - and such beautiful messages. Supportive, enthusiastic, kind. And helping to celebrate the New York Times list. Honestly I don't think I will ever recover from the surprise and delight of that. And such fun to celebrate with you.
We rose late, had brunch out - bought some pastries for later (eclairs, Jesuites, escargots d'orange, and a pear and chocolate thing) and will read the papers, respond to the emails and later on watch the Super Bowl. We're rooting for Arizona because I was just there and I feel an affinity for them. And it was such fun to hear the amazement of everyone in Phoenix that they should be in the Super Bowl!
I've placed some calls and am hoping to have a few private tours of historic sites next week. I'm seeing more clearly what the crime will be, where, and how far back the crime (and the memory) reaches. Such fun. It means I have a more focussed search - though still trying to keep my options open in case something even more exciting and disturbing and rich presents itself.
I do know this - we're going to have great fun, you and me. Writing it, and reading it!
Sunday, 3 February 2008
Let's hope I'm not writing the 'long bomb'.
Overcast, light snow expected, mild, highs minus 2
We're off to Montreal today - plan to spend almost a week away from the country home, though it's actually quite fun. Feels like a vacation. We have lots of doctors and dentists appointments - happily just check-ups. Amazing how many pieces need to be checked-up as we age. Taking the car in to be serviced. It's a Volvo. We love it. Not completely co-incidently, Gamache drives a Volvo.
Speaking of him, I continued writing the book yesterday - the scene that introduces Gamache, Beauvoir etc. Each scene I write, particularly at the beginning, needs to have at least two purposes, so the story is driven along. Often, especially at the beginning, the purposes are scene and tone setting (crucial at the opening of any novel), pace setting, introducing characters and often a clue or red herring. The clues are sometimes physical, sometimes psychological or emotional...common threads.
But, most of the time, the exact method of doing all this - the contents of the scene, are a mystery to me until I actually sit down and write. Now, sometimes at the end I think - well, that's crap. That just doesn't work. But often I sit back and wonder where it came from. So many unexpected things happen. That's the beauty of planning, but not over doing it. It's a learning process, and I do it imperfectly, but I really need to leave space for inspiration. Perhaps even the divine. Those moments when ideas appear on the page out of the blue, or themes are sharpened without my even planning it. How wonderful that feeling is. Way makes up for all the agonizing and insecurities and fears.
I remember reading about Hitchcock, who was a famous planner. He story-boarded everything...every scene, so that it looked like a graphic novel before he shot a frame of film. He said that was the creative bits....as a result, the actual filming bored him to tears. I'd rather not get to that stage - so scrutinize and organize and plan a book that there was no room to breath, to see where a scene went. And not enjoy the writing.
Must run - pack up for Montreal - then on to Quebec City on Thursday for CBC radio's Sounds Like Canada. (If you live in Quebec City, we'll be doing the national radio show live at the Chateau Frontenac on Friday morning, starting at 9am. - come along and say hi to Shelagh Rogers, my friend Susan McKenzie ((she's a CBC network producer)) and Michael and me)
I'll be writing this morning, then driving to Montreal in the afternoon, ordering pizza and watching the Super Bowl. Not sure who to root for. Who doesn't love an underdog? So I'm drawn to the Giants. But also really hate to see the Patriots remarkable streak come to an end. And as much as I try not to like Tom Brady I do. I think he's just an amazing athlete, and I admire that. Great poise. Great courage. So really, whoever wins, I'm happy. I suspect that might be a female thing.
Speak soon, be well.
We're off to Montreal today - plan to spend almost a week away from the country home, though it's actually quite fun. Feels like a vacation. We have lots of doctors and dentists appointments - happily just check-ups. Amazing how many pieces need to be checked-up as we age. Taking the car in to be serviced. It's a Volvo. We love it. Not completely co-incidently, Gamache drives a Volvo.
Speaking of him, I continued writing the book yesterday - the scene that introduces Gamache, Beauvoir etc. Each scene I write, particularly at the beginning, needs to have at least two purposes, so the story is driven along. Often, especially at the beginning, the purposes are scene and tone setting (crucial at the opening of any novel), pace setting, introducing characters and often a clue or red herring. The clues are sometimes physical, sometimes psychological or emotional...common threads.
But, most of the time, the exact method of doing all this - the contents of the scene, are a mystery to me until I actually sit down and write. Now, sometimes at the end I think - well, that's crap. That just doesn't work. But often I sit back and wonder where it came from. So many unexpected things happen. That's the beauty of planning, but not over doing it. It's a learning process, and I do it imperfectly, but I really need to leave space for inspiration. Perhaps even the divine. Those moments when ideas appear on the page out of the blue, or themes are sharpened without my even planning it. How wonderful that feeling is. Way makes up for all the agonizing and insecurities and fears.
I remember reading about Hitchcock, who was a famous planner. He story-boarded everything...every scene, so that it looked like a graphic novel before he shot a frame of film. He said that was the creative bits....as a result, the actual filming bored him to tears. I'd rather not get to that stage - so scrutinize and organize and plan a book that there was no room to breath, to see where a scene went. And not enjoy the writing.
Must run - pack up for Montreal - then on to Quebec City on Thursday for CBC radio's Sounds Like Canada. (If you live in Quebec City, we'll be doing the national radio show live at the Chateau Frontenac on Friday morning, starting at 9am. - come along and say hi to Shelagh Rogers, my friend Susan McKenzie ((she's a CBC network producer)) and Michael and me)
I'll be writing this morning, then driving to Montreal in the afternoon, ordering pizza and watching the Super Bowl. Not sure who to root for. Who doesn't love an underdog? So I'm drawn to the Giants. But also really hate to see the Patriots remarkable streak come to an end. And as much as I try not to like Tom Brady I do. I think he's just an amazing athlete, and I admire that. Great poise. Great courage. So really, whoever wins, I'm happy. I suspect that might be a female thing.
Speak soon, be well.
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